Daily Archives: March 14, 2011
Travel Tech: 10 Must-Pack Gadgets for Geeks on the Go
While so many “must-have” travel gadgets from days of yore have been ousted by apps, there is still a lot to be said for some seriously handy hardware to take with you on your next trip.
So, you may no longer need a travel alarm clock, but more-connected consumers need to find new ways to work longer, pack smarter and heck, even have a little fun on the road.
Here, we bring you our 10 favorite travel gadgets, gizmos and tools, so take a trip through the gallery to see our recommendations for the geek on the go and, as always, let us know yours in the comments below.
More Tech Resources from Mashable
– Desktop Farming: 10 Gadgets for Growing a Cubicle Garden
– 10 Great Desktop Gadgets to Quench Your Thirst
– 10 Boredom-Busting USB Desk Toys
– 5 Hip Bluetooth Headsets
– Tough Tech: 10 Rugged Gadgets That Will Go the Distance
HOW TO: Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile’s New Skills Section
How to Run Two Blogs in the Midst of a Busy Life
This guest post is by Jennifer Fulwiler of ConversionDiary.com.
When I announced to readers of my regular blog that I had accepted a paid blogging gig for a national newspaper, my email inbox was flooded with one question: “How do you do it?” I have four children under the age of seven and am also working on a book, so, needless to say, before I accepted this new blogging position, I had to think carefully about how to write quality blog content with minimal effort.
I am happy to report that everything is going well: I’m able to keep up with both blogs without taking time away from my other priorities, and I’m getting great feedback from readers.
So how do I do it? Here are my top five secrets.
1. Keep a clean list of post ideas and update it frequently
When fellow bloggers tell me that they have trouble updating their blogs frequently, my first question is always: Do you keep a list of post ideas? I’m surprised at how often the answer is no, since I find this to be the key to regular blogging.
When the blank screen looms in front of you, there’s no way you’ll be able to recall every good post idea you’ve ever thought of. It’s critical to have a clean, well organized list to turn to. If you update this list frequently, you’ll be amazed at how quickly you amass great ideas (the list for my personal blog includes 87 items). The more ideas you have to choose from, the easier it will be to find a topic that inspires you when crunch time hits.
2. Have ideas for easy posts at your fingertips
There are times when life gets crazy and I simply don’t have time to write a regular post. That’s when I turn to my trusty list of easy post ideas, each of which allows me to touch base with my readers in a short amount of time. Some of my favorite go-to techniques are:
- asking readers a question (I keep a separate list called “Questions to ask readers” for this purpose)
- posting a roundup of my favorite links from around the web
- creating a “best-of-comments” post, where I highlight the most helpful comments from a previous post
- posting an interesting excerpt from a favorite book, with just a couple paragraphs of commentary (I highlight favorite passages in the books I read, which makes these posts especially easy)
- asking a question on Twitter and posting a screenshot of responses
- doing a photo post with one or multiple pictures with minimal commentary
- answering a series of “getting to know you” questions and asking readers to do the same (e.g. “What time do you get up in the morning?”, “What is the most dangerous place you’ve ever visited?”, etc.)
- reviewing the top products that make my life easier in the area related to my blog
- asking a fellow blogger to write a guest post
- writing an “awards” post where I name my favorite people in a certain category (e.g. “My 8 favorite female bloggers”)
- rerunning an old post.
3. Embrace deadlines
My new blogging job requires me to write three posts a week, on a set schedule. This has been a new experience, since with my personal blog I could updated whenever I felt like it. To my surprise, having deadlines has been a great benefit to me. It’s taught me to cultivate self-discipline, stay organized, and stop wasting time. Consider setting deadlines for your own blog, even if you don’t have to—you’ll find that it transforms your mindset from “amateur” to “professional” overnight.
4. Let go of perfectionism
One of the most fascinating discoveries of my new blogging venture has been seeing the benefits of lowering the bar. In order to keep up with both blogs, I’ve had to pull items from my post ideas file that I normally would have skipped. I’ve had to publish posts that I didn’t think were perfect. And you know what? My readers have loved it. I’m now sharing information that I would have normally kept to myself, and the response has been fantastic. In fact, my four most popular items within the last month have all been posts that I never would have written if I weren’t under deadline pressure.
My new motto for whether a topic makes the cut to write about is simply: If it’s interesting to me, it’ll be interesting to someone else.
It doesn’t have to be a magnum opus. It doesn’t have to include mind-blowing commentary that will change the world. It doesn’t have to be long. It doesn’t have to include tons of links. If I’m doing nothing more than conveying a simple insight or tidbit of information that I found helpful, that’s enough; there are undoubtedly many other people out there who will find it helpful as well.
5. Remember that it’s not all about you
Before I had so much blogging to keep up with, I felt like everything had to come from me. Each post had to be based solely on my own personal wisdom. With my new workload I’ve been forced to share: I link to other bloggers’ content, ask for guest posts, share excerpts from good books, interview interesting people, post link roundups—and a bunch of other things that highlight someone else’s talents. The result has not only been a grateful response from other bloggers and writers, but my own posts have been better as well.
What tips can you add to help others run multiple blogs as part of their already-busy lives?
Jennifer Fulwiler is a freelance writer as well as the chaos manager for her busy household, which currently includes four young children. Her personal blog is ConversionDiary.com.
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Albany’s snooze button and business – Greg David on New York | Crain’s New York Business
Hospitals. The charges detail a long series of bribes that hospital Chief Executive David Rosen allegedly paid to legislators to gain special treatment from Albany. But Medisys, the parent of Jamaica Hospital, is not unusual in its dependence on state funds for survival. What else but the belief that the payments constituted a small step beyond lobbying can explain the board’s decision to keep Mr. Rosen as CEO even after some of the bribes were first revealed several years ago?
The Walmart case. Opponents of Walmart certainly appeared to have mounted a formidable campaign to block Walmart’s effort to open stores in the city. They have generated enormous media coverage and won the backing of many political figures. Lobbyist Richard Lipsky, in many ways the face of Walmart opposition in the media, didn’t think that was sufficient, diverting a chunk of the money he received from Walmart opponents to Mr. Kruger for his help in the effort.
Real estate interests. One of the most fascinating sections of the charges details Mr. Kruger’s efforts to find state funds to help Forest City Ratner pay for infrastructure improvements at its Atlantic Yards development and at the same time help the firm’s chief government relations executive get money for Brooklyn’s Prospect Park, where his wife served on the board. The U.S. attorney says Mr. Krueger’s efforts were the results of bribes Mr. Lipsky paid him with his retainer from Forest City. This makes two black eyes for Forest City. It won approval for a major mixed-use developments in suburban Yonkers only after a city councilperson changed their vote, which the U.S. attorney charges was in response to a bribe from a Forest City consultants. Forest City has not been charged in either case.
Ethics reform will shine the light on the connection between legislators and lobbyists and other special interests–like hospitals, businesses and unions. It is the only way to strength the line between legal lobbying and illegal bribes. And if ethics reform doesn’t pass, the Moreland Commission is sure to target those who hire lobbyists and consultants as well as the legislators.
Correction: Sen. Carl Kruger made a contribution to Prospect Park at the request of a Forest City Ratner official. The name of the park was misstated in an earlier version of this blog post, published March 14, 2011.














