2012
Try the One Text Procedure when negotiating
Large complex negotiations require special tools to keep them ontrack and productive. Inexperienced negotiators generally measure success by the number of concessions they were able to “win” from their counterparty. This inefficient approach forces people to stick to their position and rarely yields an optimal outcome. The One-Text Procedure Enter the wonderful world of the one-text procedure. The key driver of this processes is the use of an unbiased third party to help catalogue real interests of all parties and then facilitate the combined criticism of possible solutions until the best solution is found.
DVDs and blu-ray discs to get new piracy notice
If you have watched a DVD or Blue-ray movie, you have surely seen that government notice about piracy and copyright. Well the US government announced that it will now require 2 copyright notices. The first notice is a warning to pirates and the second one is aimed at educating the general viewing audience. All major studios have agreed to the new notices and it should start showing up on new discs in the next couple of weeks. Each notice will last 10 seconds and you will not be able to skip them.
Apple to ditch Google Maps in IOS 6
At the launch of the iPhone, Apple and Google were best of friends and it wasn’t unusual that many Google apps found their way into the base IOS image (Youtube, Maps, etc). A short while after this lovefest (aka the release of Android), their relationship hit an all time low and Steeve vowed to use every last cent to squash Android. 9to5mac is now reporting that IOS version 6 will now replace the maps application with an in house Apple built product derived from their purchase of Placebase, C3 Technologies and Poly9.
The promise of unlimited cloud storage - A review of Bitcasa
Everyone was excited when Google finally launches Google Drive. This is the search king’s response to dropbox, box.net and Skydrive. But there is a little known startup called Bitcasa which you may want to know about. BitCasa is promising unlimited online storage for $10 a month. The service claims that as soon as you upload your first file, your OS will show you 500TB of available space remaining (and they say this limit is set by Windows and Mac which cannot show a larger number).
My Evernote feature wish list
Those who know me or have read my blog probably know that i love Evernote. December 2011, I wrote a blog entry about the features I wish Evernote added to its products. Most of the items in my wish list still haven't been implemented so they are staying on my wish list but if I had to choose my most wanted features, they would be: Add semantic intelligence to my Evernote data (similar to what SpringPad does but I expect better things from the Evernote team.
Fax 50 pages for free per month with Google Drive
Hellofax is a well known online virtual faxing service and they have now integrated with Google Drive. This integration means you can fax any document from Google Drive (and Google Docs) and even receive faxes directly into a special Google Drive folder. In addition to the faxing, they also offer the ability to edit and virtually sign documents (eliminating the need to print, complete, scan then fax). They have a promotion where you get 50 free fax pages per month and unlimited signature request and document signing as long as you sign up for the service using your Google Drive enable Google Account.
Google has granted you 10 GB of free GMAIL Storage
When GMAIL started 8 years ago, we were astounded that the King of Search would graciously offer us 1GB of free storage. After all, the big players (like Hotmail and Yahoo) were offering a paltry 25-50MB. Why would we EVER need 1 GB of storage? Well just a couple of years later, the King of Search has yet again blessed its citizens by offering them an additional 2.5GB of storage bumping users to 10GB of GMAIL space. Here is theoriginal Google blog post about the increase.
How to enable Google Drive for Google Apps Domains
Google drive was finally released with fanboys finally breathing a sigh of relief. Their beloved Google has finally delivered an affordable alternative to Dropbox. As a Google Apps Domain customer, I realized there was no way for me to enable Google Drive but to ensure you get it as quickly as possible, make sure you log into your domain management page here: [www.google.com/a/cpanel/...](https://www.google.com/a/cpanel/YOURDOMAIN.com/Dashboard) ** replace YOURDOMAIN.com with your actual domain name of course ** Click on DOMAIN SETTINGS Go to the New User Features and ensure Automatic is selected
PersonalBrain for iPhone and iPad coming
After making this request for years, I was extremely happy to see a tweet from Harlan Hugh (CEO of The brain) that PersonalBrain (TheBrain) will be coming to the iPhone and iPad soon. TheBrain on iPad and iPhone is coming soon. Been working on it for a bit. It'll be workth the wait… @vanmorrison2 @hshomestaging @ekiledjian — Harlan Hugh (@HarlanHugh) April 24, 2012
A review of SocialFolders
With over 900 million registered Facebook users, social networking is now a now a household term. You are likely to hear a teen talking about it as a grandmother. These sites are an excellent way to keep in touch and share your life with others. Whether you are dealing with the established 800 pound gorilla or a new technology company freshly out of their “garage”, you should start to think about locally backing up your social life. Think of locally backing up your social information as “social life insurance” in case your networks of choice get bought, shut-down or dramatically change their business model.
Workflowy Pro review
On September 2 2011, I reviewed Workflowy and although I thought the clean and simple interface was good, it wasn’t good enough for me to use it on a daily basis. For a service to truly win me over, I need multi-platform clients as a bare minimum (before any fans get angry with me, an html5 interface which works in a browser is not the same thing as a native client). One of my original questions was about how the company would monetize their service.
Cubby is the latest entry in the cloud storage market
Logmein is the gold standard for remote desktop access. They have steadily added a bunch of other cloud services from remote technical support to backup and configurationless VPN. Now they have decided to enter the crowded and competitive cloud storage business. Cubby is branding for their new cloud file storage service. The key differentiating feature compared to most of its competitors is that you can choose to cloud share any folder on your computer without having to move it into a “special” folder (for dropbox, all shared files have to be located in its special dropbox folder).
INDIA BUSINESS ETIQUETTE TIPS AND TRICKS
My last blog post provided some quick tips when dealing with China. I wanted to provide the same kind of 2 minute explanation for business etiquette tips for India. Salutation and greeting India is a more westernized country (than China) therefore it is perfectly acceptable to use the common handshake when meeting and greeting someone. The traditional Indian greeting can be performed by joining palms to each other (at chest level), fingers pointing upwards, bowing slowly and saying Namaste.
Chinese business etiquette tips and tricks
I received some messages from readers asking about Chinese business culture and etiquette. Although I won’t write a 10 page essay on proper business etiquette and behavior, here are some tips and tricks. The business card exchange In North America, we exchange business cards as a means to remember someone’s contact information but we don’t really pay particular attention to it. Often times we take a business card and immediately stuff it into a holder or a shirt pocket. In China, business cards are much more important and their exchange is usually done after the formal introductions.
Dell Voice (Follow-up)
On February 10, I wrote about a free VOIP telephone service being offered by Dell to Canadian consumers. While travelling (Europe and Asia), I tested it to call home and had mixed results. 1 out of 5 times the call quality was very good, 2 out of 5 times the call qulity was OK and the other 2 times it was unusable. After everyone of the Dell Voice tests, I tested call quality with Skype and it consistently offered a cleaner more enjoyable call.
WANDERLITE DAYPACK (Follow-up)
I posted my review about the Wanderlite daypack bagpack on February 8 here. If you haven't read it, I recommend you check it out. As promised, I took the Wanderlite with me and wanted to see if I would use it while travelling. I am happy to report that the bag was useful. First it packs real small and light, which makes it the ideal secondary bag for a onebag (carry-on only) traveler. It easily fit into the Red Oxx Airboss' middle compartment along with my shoes, bathroom kit and socks/underwear.
My favorite iPhone travel apps
I recently completed a 15 day business trip that took me to 5 cities on 3 continents (more than 24,000 air miles return). This trip was an amazing opportunity to conduct some real world tests on some cool items I had been wanted to test for a while. My first review was for the Red Oxx AirBoss carry-on bag. If you haven’t read it, I recommend you check it out. Since buying my first iPhone about 2 years ago, it has become an indispensable life tool.
My review of the Red Oxx AirBoss carry-on luggage
I recently completed a 15 day business trip that took me to 5 cities on 3 continents (more than 24,000 air miles return). This trip was an amazing opportunity to conduct some real world tests on some cool items I had been wanted to test for a while. My first review will be about the Red Oxx Air Boss. Why One Bag travel? This is a question I received anytime someone heard I was traveling with only a carry-on bag. The answer is simple: convenience.
Redoxx in overhead bin
Here is a picture of my very full Red Oxx Airboss bag easily fitting in the overhead bin of a BMI Airbus A320. No problems at all. A full review will be posted when I get back.
Review of the Scottevest Travel Boxers 2.0
As mentioned in a previous entry, I will be travelling to China shortly and one item I will be carrying and using are theScottevest Travel Boxers. What is it? These are boxer’s , underwear that look like shorts, with 2 built in pockets. Scott Jordan, CEO of SCottevest, explained it like this : “Like a lot of guys, I sleep with my iPhone on the nightstand. But in between using the phone as a nightlight to find the bathroom, making coffee in the morning and checking my email, there was no place to put my phone.