Category: Stuff that doesn’t fit

Stuff that doesn’t fit in any category, or leftover posts from the big category revolution of 2009.

Bridging the gap between me and orthodox GTD [en]

[fr] Je note ici quelques divergences entre le système d'organisation que j'ai mis en place et ce que recommande directement le livre "Getting Things Done" (comme il ne semble pas qu'il existe en français, j'en parlerai -- peut-être de vive voix -- plus longuement à l'occasion).

(Whatever “orthodox” GTD is, to start with.)

I started to try to hack together some implementation of GTD based on what I had read at 43folders, and, I have to say, I didn’t do too badly. I’ve now received The Book and am starting to read it. Of course, there were some missing elements I’m now understanding, and I’m preparing to set aside enough time to start implementing a good system for myself. Roughly 2 days work to gather and process all the “open loops” in my life — most people I talk to tell me they would have expected more time was required, but I still think it’s a lot of time when I look at my overbooked calendar. Still, I’m really looking forward to doing it, and I already know it will be worth it.

For the moment, I’ve noted the my filing system isn’t really DA’s-GTD-compatible: I use 26 hanging folders, and stick translucid folders (labeled! I got that bit right! love using my labeler, in fact!) under the right letter. But I’m already noticing that letter C is bulging (don’t ask me, but clients as well as administrivia tend to collect under the letter C). I’m not going to get a hanging folder for each file (way too expensive), and even the cardboard (manila-type) folders we can get here don’t really come cheap. The transparent plastic ones are really nice, but I’m not sure they’d stand up on their own.

In addition to that, the box I’m storing them is a bit deep, and I had to line the bottom with the lid of another box to have the daily folders of my tickler file stand upright at the right place. I’m not quite sure which solution I’ll come up with. How much do manila folders (A4 size) cost, and can I order them online without the shipping fees killing me?

Another huge gap I’ve noted is that I store the tickler and A-Z reference in the same box. That’s not going to be enough space for very long, so I’ll have to go and buy other boxes to store on/under the desk.

Also, I’ve been noting “action items” on small index cards (A8), and DA suggests using a whole sheet of paper per item. I’m looking forward to reading through chapter 7 to understand where that comes in handy. I’m also looking forward to figuring out good lists to use, and of course, going through the initial collecting phase (though I’m a bit frightened I might end up putting my whole flat in the inbox).

Will keep you posted.

Weekly/Monthly Planner [en]

[fr] Un agenda mensuel fait sur mesure (4 mois sur une page recto-verso).

When my iBook last broke, I found myself yet again withough my Calendar (I was using iCal religiously). I did two things: I started using Google Calendar, and I bought myself a very small and thin paper planner (my handbag tends to be in a permanent burst-at-the-seams mode).

Yesterday, I decided I needed more writing space on my planner, so I made myself a custom monthly planner [14K PDF] (get it in Open Office 2 format [8K]if you want to play with it). It’s still a 0.1 alpha version so it can certainly be muchly improved.

It holds two months on each page, so by printing back and front you get four months on one sheet of paper. Keep the first column for weekly stuff and notes. Write the days of the weeks in the top row (month in the first cell). Add date (just the day!) in the corner of each square. There are six lines in each day to make it easier to organise stuff (two for morning, two for afternoon, two for evening, or however you please).

If you download it and make improvements, be sure to share them with us!

Dear Apple [en]

[fr] Lettre ouverte à Apple. Trois mois et demie depuis la panne de mon ibook et toujours pas de MacBook commandé depuis deux mois, ça commence à suffir.

Dear Apple,

I told you again more than six months ago how much I loved my ibook. Ever since my ibook moved in with me, I’ve become such an enthusiastic Apple user that my dad makes fun of me. I’ve turned my back on over a decade of faithful Windows use and even started recommending you to my friends. Over the last two years, a whole bunch of them have bought ibooks — or are now buying MacBooks.

A bit over a year ago the first cloud interrupted my honeymoon with my ibook. The motherboard died and I spent 6 weeks without it while it got repaired. I was glad I had given in and paid the “Apple Tax” (also known as “AppleCare”), because the motherboard died just about a year after I had bought my shiny new ibook.

Even though this had taken a long time, and there wasn’t any French speech recognition software for OSX, my ibook was pretty, and I still loved it, so I was not shy to let myself be photographed with it to illustrate interviews I gave.

Six months later I had to replace my power cable. But I still loved OSX and my ibook was still pretty, so my dad had many an occasion to continue making fun of me because I was loyal to you. 🙂

This year, though, all hell has broken loose. If I’ve told you the beginning of my story, Apple dear, it’s because I want you to know how enthusiastic a switcher I have been, and that I understand nobody’s perfect and can also forgive that.

In February my beloved ibook started freezing. OK, maybe the hard drive was a bit full. Sometime durin gthe month of March the frightening “failing motherboard” symptoms reappeared, so I gave my favourite Apple retailer my ibook for a transplant. A couple of weeks later, my ibook was back home, but it didn’t take long for things to go really really wrong.

At that point, my darling ibook had worked it’s way through at least 3 motherboards, and the hard drive was going belly-up too. The shop took it back in for repairs, and at the same time I tried to see if I could get an exchange.

Well, things haven’t gone too bad: my ibook was repaired (after you sent the repair shop a defective hard drive, if my memory serves me right), but then there was a problem with the wifi card connection. Around that time it seemed like you were going to accept to replace my broken ibook, even though you would only give me the bottom-line product instead of a customized equivalent to the setup I had.

When you surprised us with the MacBook, the shop agreed that if I ordered one, they would take back the new ibook I would have received and charge me the difference. Seemed like pretty good deal. On May 22nd, I finally ordered my shiny new MacBook through the shop.

Things already seemed to be moving slowly back then, but looking back, the worst was yet to come.

First, one of your representatives finally got in touch to organise the pick-up of my old ibook for the exchange. She insisted that they could only pick up my ibook at my home, during office hours. Excuse me? Apple, I know I’m a teacher (well, I was back then) and that teachers are at home all the time, but I do lead a busy life. Plus, the ibook was still at the shop (had been there for over 6 weeks), so I would have had to go to town during the shop opening hours, pick up my ibook, and then stay at home (?) one day for you to pick it up. Sorry, Apple, but do you really expect your customers to be at home during office hours? Somebody needs to review this exchange process.

Lucky for me, I have a good relationship with the store manager (given the number of hours we spent discussing my ibook problems, it was kind of inevitable). He managed to arrange for the pickup to take place at the shop. Then we lost a week (?) or so because for some reason, nobody came to pick up the ibook once everything had been arranged. Oh well.

Last week, I dropped into the store and was greeted with good news. The replacement MacBook for my ibook had arrived. Neat! But what about my “real” replacement, the customized MacBook we had ordered two months ago? Still nothing.

To this day, the last news I have is “not before next week”. I won’t hold my breath, though. “Not before” isn’t very encouraging.

So you see, Apple, I’ve done my job as an enthusiastic switcher and Apple evangelist amongst my friends, and even in the local press through photographs like this one:

Photoshoot Coopération 6

I’ve been patient through my (many) trials, but this is just starting to be too much. I’ve been without my laptop since April 9th, the day it broke down. Today? July 26th. That’s three months and a half. That’s way too long. Not to mention my dad is really having fun poking at my Apple-love now.

So, dear Apple — I’m aware you’re having trouble delivering customized MacBooks or something, and I know you probably can’t do much in my particular case. But maybe — maybe — you could work a bit on making things a little less painful for faithful AppleCare’d customers?

Thanks for listening. Thanks for caring.

Yours still,

Stephanie

Lisez Ollie! [fr]

[en] You should read Ollie's blog if you're interested in corporate blogging. Some pointers to recent articles of his that I particularly liked.

Une petite page de pub pour un camarade blogueur dont je trouve les billets de plus en plus pertinents: lisez le blog à Ollie! En particulier, si les rapports entre blogs et business vous interpellent, il est à mon avis incontournable. Quelques billets récents qui m’ont favorablement impressionnée:

Bonne lecture, et merci encore à Ollie pour son blog!

Me suis fait podcaster! [fr]

[en] I was videocasted last week. The interview (in French of course) is online now.

C’est sur Culture Pod, la podcasting attitude et j’ai passé sur le grill vendredi dernier, si ma mémoire est bonne.

Je viens de regarder la vidéo, et c’est assez sympa! J’approuve tout à fait des choix de montage. Quelques prises de conscience un peu horrifiées après visionnement, tout de même:

  • j’ai failli à la règle numéro un lorsqu’on est filmé: porter des lunettes anti-reflet, ou ne pas porter de lunettes
  • qu’est-ce que j’ai l’air sérieuse, bon Dieu!
  • je réfléchis avant de parler…
  • j’ai l’air un peu plouc par moments, quand même.

Les sujets abordés (si ma mémoire est toujours bonne):

  • comment j’en suis venue à ouvrir un blog
  • blog, site web, médias
  • ma “célébrité médiatique”, création de SwissBlogs
  • moi, et les sous du blog

Je vais peut-être ajouter ici quelques liens vers des épisodes dont j’ai parlé, ou des billets en rapport.

(Oui, je sais, ce blog est un peu ego-ego ces temps. Avec un peu de chance ça va pas durer.)

Project With Technorati API [en]

[fr] J'ai un projet de répertoire de blogs suisses construit sur Technorati. Je cherche un développeur pour la partie PHP/MySQL/TechnoratiAPI et un designer/graphiste pour l'interface web. C'est un projet non lucratif mais qui peut rapporter visibilité et célébrité à  ceux qui y prendront part!

You might have heard that blog.ch is for sale. As we all could suspect, Matt unfortunately and understandably doesn’t have time for SwissBlogs and handed it back to me a few weeks ago.

I have plans for SwissBlogs, which involve a complete make-over and using “what’s out there” as much as possible. I think it’s silly to spend energy re-inventing the wheel. I won’t go into details here, but my idea involves building on all the data already available through Technorati. I mentioned this idea on the bloggerbosse list but got the feeling everybody was just interested in building something from the ground up.

I have the ideas, but not the time (and my limited skills would make the necessary time long) to implement it. I’m looking for a developer who could do the PHP, MySQL and Technorati API stuff, and a designer to take care of the web part. The directory I have in mind would be a public service, and would be strictly non-profit. I want people who are in the directory to not worry about their data being sold or distributed as part of a list for marketing purposes.

If you’re interested in participating, and have time and energy to spend on the project, drop me a line or leave a comment. Credit will be given, of course, which means fame awaits you if everything goes as planned.

Trackbacks: une erreur courante [en]

Lorsque l’on fait un lien vers un billet dans du texte, il ne faut pas utiliser l’adresse de trackback pour cela. On utilise le permalien — l’adresse permanente du billet sur le web.

L’adresse de trackback (sous WordPress, cette adresse ressemble à  mondomaine.com/2006/01/27/mon-billet/trackback) doit être entrée dans le champ “Trackbacks” du formulaire de rédaction du billet.

Attention!

D’un point de vue technique, ce n’est pas la même chose. Le permalien est une adresse web que l’on visite avec son navigateur, et l’adresse trackback est une adresse de “ping”, à  laquelle notre outil de blogging va envoyer une petite notification.

DailyMotion Problems Solved: View Robert's Video Now [en]

[fr] La vidéo de Robert Scoble que j'ai faite à LIFT'06 est maintenant réparée et visible dans le billet initial.

Finally! With help from Olivier of DailyMotion, I’ve solved the DailyMotion problems which prevented the wild videocast of Robert Scoble from playing correctly in the post I’d written.

I had copied the code from another video I’d embedded in a post on my Cheese Sandwich Blog, and changed the video ID. The only problem is that DailyMotion code includes a key which is blog-specific, so people were getting an error message when they tried to play the video on the blog. I tried republishing the video here using their “blog this” feature, but that didn’t embed it properly. Finally, Olivier pointed me to the “manual” option — which I hadn’t seen, although it was what I was looking for! — which simply spits out code for you to copy-paste into your blog.

So, if you gave up earlier, or didn’t have a chance to see it, go and watch Robert being podcasted by two swiss guys at LIFT’06.

Nuit du Journal Intime: quelques paroles [fr]

[en] Excerpts of an interview I gave last week to the DRS with other participants to "la Nuit du Journal Intime". I speak of intimacy (what it is for me, are we losing intimacy), blogs and private diaries on the web (not viable in the long run, in my opinion), and of what I don't say about myself on my blog (a lot!)

Comme je l’ai raconté, nous avons été interviewés par la DRS après le débat ouvrant la Nuit du Journal Intime. J’ai reçu le CD et fait une compilation de ce que j’ai dit à cette occasion, avec quelques commentaires.

A votre disposition en format MP3, 3.4Mb pour 7 minutes d’audio (oui, j’ai des progrès à faire, suggestions bienvenues): DRS Interview (extraits + commentaires)

J’y parle:

  • de ma conception de l’intimité et de sa perte éventuelle
  • de la viabilité et de la possibilité d’un journal intime sur internet
  • de la mise en scène de soi dans le monde “online”
  • de ce dont je ne parle pas dans mon blog…

Si je fais référence à des choses dans ce “podcast” et que vous voulez des précisions, des liens, etc… n’hésitez pas à demander des compléments: les commentaires sont là pour ça!

(Et question subsidiaire pour ceux qui sont abonnés à ce blog: est-ce que le fichier MP3 apparaît comme un “enclosure”?)

(Et question subsidiaire pour ceux qui s’y connaissent: comment je peux faire apparaître un slider audio dans le billet pour que les gens puissent écouter juste en cliquant sur le bouton “play”?)

After Lunch [en]

[fr] Un bon repas, un peu de difficulté à  suivre les conférences (problèmes d'audio dans la salle? mes mauvaises oreilles?)

Had a nice lunch with Robert, Anina, Anne Dominique and Ben. Food was nice, conversation too, but God! am I tired. (And I don’t even have jetlag to blame.)

Cory Doctorow talking

Cory’s talking about DRM and stuff. It’s interesting, but I’m starting to wonder if there isn’t a real audio quality issue in the room. My hearing is not quite as good as the average person’s, but it doesn’t usually make it difficult for me to follow talks like this. I know I also tend to have trouble “catching” the train of words to follow what somebody is saying. (Call it “keeping in tune” with what is being said, if you like.) So maybe I’m suffering from a conjunction of “could-be-better” audio quality and “could-be-better” ears and listening skills.

Is anybody else in the room having difficulty understanding the speakers?

I think there is weird stuff going on with the wifi too. Is it hopping? Jumping? Flickering? I’m hardly seeing anybody on Bonjour — they come and go — and uploading photos to Flickr is really slow. Are any naughty bloggers in the room using the wifi for P2P stuff?

(And just in case you’re thinking I complain too much, I’m having a really nice time here; I’m just looking forward to being able to re-listen to some talks through the audio and video links made available.)