JC 1010E

It's been a few weeks since I did a technology review of something cool that makes my life easier. I have been meaning to write about my to-do list for some time now but just haven't gotten to it. Remember the Milk is an awesome to-do list that manages what projects and tasks that you have coming up. I have been using it for about six months and have just recently discovered some more of it's awesomeness that has led me to use it even more.

I don't do well with to-do lists that are written and I always lose them and in the end it just never works out. Enter Remember the Milk to the rescue. The basic flow of entering a task and setting due dates and times is pretty straight forward. On top of the basic setup, there is tons you can do.To start off, I created a "Honey Do" list that is basically the things that my wife asks me to do (obviously everything on this list has top priority). Once I have my list created, all I have to do is start adding tasks and setting dates for when they're due. If it is something that I need to do many times, then I can set the recurring date to basically anything I want.

One of the biggest problems that I was having with this site is that I was never checking it. I would create tasks, but would never stop by to see what was due and when. Then I stumbled across one of the best features that I have found - the reminder. You can of course set up a standard e-mail reminder, but that is no fun and I don't need any more e-mails than I get. Instead, you can set it up to IM you on basically any or every IM platform. With my recent discovery of Digsby, I could choose basically any of the messaging systems that I wanted. You can see the different options that are found under the "Settings" for reminders and can set up as many of them as you want. After setting up mine for Skype (and modifying the due dates so I could show the notifications), here is what I got in Skype:
And if you're a Google freak like me, you can add your tasks to your Google Calendar where they will be shown on the days they are due and you can add new tasks and everything else you want. In other words, an extrememly powerful to do list integrated into your Google Calendar. You can also add it to several other Google services as well.
So if you need a way to keep track of all your tasks that you do on a day to day basis or if you just need a way to remember all those things that your spouse asks you to do. Check out Remember the Milk.

I just wanted to give a quick review of "A Train to Potevka." This book was very very interesting and I was captivated. The book is about a man who is in the CIA and travels to Russia to take on a very dangerous mission against some high level citizens in the USSR. It took place right near the collapse of the USSR - 1990 to 1991 because he meets the LDS missionaries in Moscow.

I think the reason I liked the book so much was because of how well Mike Ramsdell, the author, was able to describe Russia and the people there. I really wish that I could so well describe Russia. The part of the book that I disliked most about this book was the story of Bonnie, his girlfriend that later became his wife. It seemed a little out of place here.

Here are 3 quotes that could have been taken from my own journal from when I was in Russia:

Historically, and still today, they (women) remain the strength and character of Russia. The women are the powerful bond that holds the family, village, and nation together. Perhaps that is why these people refer to their homeland as Great Mother Russia.

Using antiquated shovels and makeshift brooms of bundled birch branches, hefty female workers with orange safety vests pulled over their coats, busily pushed snow from the walkways...p.275

The greatness of Russia has always been its people. During the seventy years of the USSR, any meaningful accomplishments or achievements were a result of the populace, not the Communist Party. It was the Soviet people that preserved the moral values of truth and goodness, not the mistaken ideological dogma of Marxism. And, today, that is still the hope of Russia's future - its people. p. 325-326

If you haven't read the book, you should check it out. It is a really easy read. See my friend's review as well.

Just wanted to put a quick update about the newest program that I have been using and loving. It's called Digsby and it has freed up a ton of my memory on my computer. The basic idea of the program is to combine all of your IMs into one single program. For example, I use to have Skype, MSN, and Gtalk always open on my computer. Now, I only have Skype and Digsby (it's a long story why Skype isn't supported, but let's just say that Skype's API is very very bad). It also supports Yahoo, AIM, ICQ, and yes, Facebook. Maybe some of you have noticed that I am always on Facebook now. Well, not really, but I am always on the chat client.


The coolest thing about it is, is that not only are you logged in to the chat, but you also get your e-mail updates too. So, I know when I get a new Hotmail message, but also when I get a new work e-mail. And you can add multiple accounts with the same provider. So, for example, I have a gmail account and then my work account is also through Gmail so I have them both hooked up to Digsby letting me know when I get new e-mails. And, I can send e-mails directly from Digsby. However, I still have to open my e-mail client to read a full e-mail.

Finally, you can hook up Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, and LinkedIn to get all the updates about all of your friends. You can customize the popups and so forth for each of the social networks as well.

There are a couple of negatives - group chats are not allowed. However, that isn't an issue for me as I do all of my group chats in Skype. Also, no sending files to other users unless they are also using Digsby. Kind of bad, but e-mail is better anyways because then I have the file backed up there, so it forces me to use e-mail to send files. In all, the program rocks, and compared to MSN and Gtalk together, the memory footprint is much smaller, and now I am hooked in to about twice as many places knowing what is going on. Check it out.

We are buying a new home! Our first one! Most of you already know this, but I haven't written this until now because I was waiting for the loan to go through. We do all the official closing stuff on Wednesday the 25th so hopefully all will go well that way. The home is in North Salt Lake. Here are some pictures (I know they are small, but that is what I have for now. More will come later).

We are both super excited (obviously). I do have to give a big thanks to Tyler. He recommended Margaret Malherbe to us as a realtor, and we could not be more happy. She was absolutely awesome and she made sure we understood all of the contracts and what we were getting into. Her number one motto is honesty in real estate. She wasn't worried at all about making a sale (which in this economy is pretty impressive). She only worried about the fact that we were getting a great home. It was lots of fun with her and I will gladly recommend her to anyone (I recommended BJ to her already) - especially first time homebuyers because she takes you through everything that is going on.

Oh yeah, the home is brand new (no one has ever lived there). We love the idea that we will be the first time people living in the home. There is pool and work out facility just across the street that is part of the club house. We made the offer at the beginning of February so to be in the home by the end of the month has meant a lot of stress, but it looks like everything will work out. More to come later!!!

Specs: 3 bed, 2.5 bath, 1700 sq. ft., 2 car garage

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