Automate Your Business

Archive for April, 2007

I use Outlook for email when at work. I use the Lookout plugin to search those emails. Or I should say, I used to use it, until for some reason it started using massive amounts of my PCs available memory each time I walked away from my desk for more than a couple of minutes.

Apparently, that’s when it scanned my emails to keep it’s database up to date. And also apparently, when you minimise Outlook, the CPU resources were freed. Not on my machine, they weren’t.

The solution was to minimise my Outlook window BEFORE that scan kicked in. The only other option was CTRL+ALT+DEL to bring up the task manager, wait 5 minutes for task manager to open on the 1% of CPU power it could access, and then end Outlook. Not neat, not clever, and very frustrating.

Fortunately, I’ve just found Swept Away, which automatically minimises unused programs after a configurable number of minutes.

Let’s hope it resolves this problem. I trust that Lookout will still keep scanning my emails, but do so quietly in the background. Just as it was supposed to.

NB: this is slightly outside the scope of this blog’s normal posts, but it’s worth posting, as it’s the only workable solution I’ve found online to this problem. And trust me, I’ve looked and looked and looked.

I’ve just uploaded a trial version of The File Tagger software, which (in case you’ve missed other posts on the topic), allows you to use web 2.0 tagging to organise all those internet marketing (and other!) files that you’ve downloaded.

You can get the trial version here. It’s fully functional, except in that it only allows you to work with 50 files.

One of the most frequent applications I use, after Firefox, is the humber Windows Explorer. But can’t it be very frustrating?

One of the most common actions I do (”create new folder”) takes FOR..EV…ER to do, simply because I have to go to right-click, wait for the “New..” submenu to open, whizz up to “New folder”, overshoot and do it all over again.

Now, thanks a free download from baxbex.com, I have a nice “new folder” button on the menu.

And some of their other explorer-based tools are pretty nifty as well. Such as FolderBox which gives you a small frame window at the bottom of the Explorer window, with shortcuts to 5 (10 in the non-free version) of your most-used folders.

[Added later: what this allows me to do is have ONE explorer window open, and easily move between the relevant folders I access, without having to ALT-TAB between 3 or more explorer windows that are open at one time]

The other tool I’m using a lot now is my own File Tagger software. I started writing it myself, as part of a 90-day challenge on a site I’m a member of. When I realised my day job had got in the way, I outsourced the development to get it finished.

That developer is working on an additional set of tools to integrate it MUCH more tightly with Explorer and the main desktop, and those additional tools (even though they’re not complete) are GREAT to finally get working. I’ll be writing more about these in future.

Do you back-up?

Not just your PC, but your websites, databases, and mailing lists as well?

If not, make that an action for the week ahead. Search, read, learn, and apply. Don’t wait till you have a backup.

Here’s what I do:

• All my working docs, notes, ideas, software source code, etc, is stored in My Documents.
• I have two backup drives. One backs up my music. One backs up everything else. I’ve got a lot of music. I’d hate to have to re-burn all those CDs again one at a time.
• I have scripts which I install on all websites, which backup all webspace and database files to a special folder in My Documents, which is then also backed up to that second backup drive
• I run SecondCopy to manage the backups within my PC, including backups from the data folders set up by various programs (eg, XSitePro puts it’s data in C:\program files\something\something\something), to a spare folder on My Documents, which then backs up again to the third hard drive.
• My most important files (ideas, notes, plans, current projects) are also backed up to my laptop

Why am I so thorough?

I’ve been caught out before.

It won’t happen again.

For another idea, read the great post by ‘Phil Tanny’ on Allen Gardyne’s affiliate forum.

Just how many people are stupid enough to work in this internet business, make enough money to think about the taxman paying them a visit, and then have to do some super-duper firesale type of promotion to earn enough to pay the said taxman?

Quite a few, judging by the number of emails I’ve had by people in this situation.

Remember: taxes are the one law in democratic societies where you’re guilty till proven innocent.

Don’t be a dumb-ass: if you’re earning enough to make it interesting, get yourself a qualified accountant, and keep on top of your books.

Oh, and don’t mail me with some “never to be seen again” offer if you don’t do what I say.