Jamie Thingelstad

I mentioned earlier that I’ve become a huge fan of Backpack. It is my home page in all of my browsers. I’ve been able to consolidate so many other random things into it. The reminder feature is incredibly useful. I’m still learning new ways to use it (mobile integration is the current item). I just can’t say enough. However, the only issue with Backpack is if you happen to not be online, you are stuck.

Here comes PackRat to the rescue. PackRat is a great Mac OS X application that connects to Backpack and gives you an offline version. You give it your Backpack username and API key, it connects and within seconds downloads all of your content to your laptop. You can then make changes offline and reconnect and magically it’s all back on your Backpack site. It even allows you to manage reminders.

The spiffy thing about PackRat is that since it isn’t running in a browser, there is some stuff that it does nicer than Backpack, like tag navigation. I’m finding myself using PackRat a decent amount even when I am online as it has a nearly identical user experience to Backpack and is a bit faster without the HTTP reloads in the middle.

If you are an avid Backpack user, and a Mac user, this is a great program to add. I just wish there was also a Windows version.

I’m happy to report that if you find yourself in the 50th and France area of Minneapolis with a laptop and some time on your hands – you will not have any problems finding an open WiFi access point to hop on the net.

I just got back home after a business trip. This trip entailed an offsite training event. At any event like this you have a couple of breaks in the morning and afternoon. These used to just be a “Break”. A decade ago when cell phones really became prevalent these turned into “Communication Breaks”. Everyone would dash out of the room and dial up their mobiles.

The vernacular has changed! It is now “Blackberry Breaks”. I believe this now makes the ‘crackberry’ a brand like Kleenex. Even the couple of people with non-Blackberry Blackberry’s like Treos and Windows Mobile devices were enjoying their “Blackberry Break”.

I wonder if we’ll be takin “iPhone Breaks”, or just an “iBreak”.

Microsoft should have to pay reparations for creating PowerPoint.

Considering if Twitter will be the new Enterprise Resource Planning package of 2010.

I’m watching the Super Bowl and I have to comment that the rain beading up on the helmets makes HDTV worth every penny. 🙂

I’ve been playing with different permalink structures on my site. For the last couple of weeks I’ve been using /category/title. Supposedly this is the most search engine optimized, however, it frustrates me greatly since the category of a post can and does change.

I’m going to settle on /year/month/title. This is more stable and will be simpler to manage in the archive. Some links may be sketchy – I’ll get them fixed over time. Google is probably pretty upset with me right now, but my sitemap is updated and correct.

I’m waving a white flag. I give up. I’ve decided to no longer attempt to host my own email. I’ve hosted my own mail for years and years, and I’ve had enough. Why?

Hosting your email used to be pretty simple. You setup your SMTP server, got a mail client and used POP to access your mailbox. You set it up, and didn’t need to worry about it again. These days are long gone.

Today, hosting your own mailbox and exposing an SMTP server to the world, whether you want to or not, engages you in the global war on spam and phishing. To host my own email I had to deal with keeping 3 software packages current at all times, and pay a monthly service fee to a service provider to filter for viruses and spam for me. This simply takes up more time and is frankly too complicated to waste time on.

I’ve dumped this whole game and am now hosting thingelstad.com email using Google Apps for your Domain. Yes, Google now can index my mail and serve me ads. I don’t care. It’s tremendously easier, will save me a bunch of time, and cut my out of pocket cost by nearly $100 a year. This is a no brainer.

I’m happy to also say that I’ve been really impressed with Gmail. I find it’s actually faster than Thunderbird was for casual usage. And I can now give up the madness of trying to keep my address book synchronized.

I’m now a much happier netizen, and no longer am worried about versions of IMAP servers and SMTP daemons and having to worry about the latest spam, phishing and virus issues. Yeah!