Tag Archives: open-source

Free Software Program for All Serious Writers

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It’s amazing how complex life can become. Writing, it seems, is more difficult every day. I love to write, but whenever I sit down to do that (especially creative writing) I find myself torn by the constant dings of this program or flashing notifications of that one.

Sure, I should be more disciplined when I write. I should ignore all that noise. I should be able to just mentally turn it off — but I can’t.

Alternatively, I should be able to physically turn off all the distractions, disable the notifications, log out of all the programs that clamor for my attention before I even begin a serious attempt at writing…

But I won’t. I don’t. It’s too much trouble. Besides, once I’m finished, I’d have to go back and try to remember everything I turned off and flip it all back on. What a hassle. So… I tell myself:

“Maybe it’s just better to wait until things are quiet to write. Now’s not really the best time… later I’ll be more focused…”

And that’s how the writing I really want to do never actually happens.

Now, I have a way to do it all — keep all my techie stuff up and working and have a clean slate to do my writing without distraction. I’ve looked at several of the “blackout” programs that take your stuff off-screen and give you a blank slate for writing.

Most of them look like one of the old computers my father built in the late 70s and early 80s. So, there’s an attractiveness for me to that black background/green text look. It reminds me of the Multi-mate program I used when I was first hired as a reporter at the newspaper in St. Mary’s County, MD.

So, it has some sentimental value and a offers me a reminiscent feel that others may not enjoy.

Today, I tripped across one that was free! And it’s multi-platform. So no matter if you are a Mac user, a Windows buff or a Linux fan — there’s a version for you. You can change some of the colors to fit your own preferences and there’s even a PDF Manual available for those who need to know everything about a program.

This writer’s tool is called JDarkRoom. Check it out for yourself.

It’s not really a word processor. It’s not going to tell you if you have spelling errors or grammatical issues. It’s basically a typewriter — a distraction-free environment for those who take writing seriously and need a place on their computer to slip into the creative “zone” for a few minutes… or a few hours.It delivers your writing in a plain text file that you can then import into a word processor for editing, spellcheck and format tasks.

Personally, I find it terribly alluring. It’s already got a place of honor on my iMac’s Doc. I love it.

Frugal Mobility 101

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While the price of doing business (and everything else from driving a car to buying groceries) continues to soar, there are several new developments that make it easier to do business from any location.

Many of these mobile tools are remarkably effective and some of them I consider essential. Even better (considering today’s economy) many of them are low-cost or free!

Take advantage of online apps

You all know about some of the more popular online web-apps like Google’s suite (Gmail, Google Docs and GCal), but you may not know some of the more recent additions.

Desktop: Interested in having a web-based desktop that you can customize and access from anywhere you can launch a web-browser? That dream is now a reality thanks to the good folks at eyeOS. A simple log in will create your personal desktop that is universally accessible. It’s an awesome idea, and it’s brand new.

Music: Pandora lets you carry your favorite music with you and listen from any browser. You can sample your favorite artists and get exposed to new ones based on your tastes. By ranking the songs in your personal “radio stations” the system learns what you like. I work with music and this helps me to feel “right at home” anywhere I’m working. It’s wonderful — and it’s free.

Accounting/Timer: Keeping the books and keeping up with your billable time has never been easier. I can work from any Internet capable machine by simply logging into my Cashboard account. The timer keeps my records, and I can shoot off invoices and get an instant overview of my accounts (who owes me money and who I owe time). Working somewhere else isn’t the hassle it once was. This one isn’t free, but it’s reasonable and it adds enormous flexibility.

Thumb drives are cheap and convenient

If aren’t an early adopter, you may not have an ongoing love affair with your own personal “lipstick” (aka “jump” or “thumb”) drive yet. Today, with the prices plummeting on these little gems and the available storage space moving up, it’s time to begin the romance.

Owning one will open up new mobile worlds. If you are buying your first one, get the largest one you can comfortably afford. An 8 gig is ideal.

If you are worried about security, consider TrueCrypt. It’s not a simple setup, but it’s bulletproof. Be sure to back up your thumb drive to your computer once a week.

Keep your personal stuff with you

Bookmarks: If you feel lost without your Firefox bookmarks, you can now take your bookmarks with you too!

You can use Foxmarks to sync your bookmarks from anywhere to anywhere else or you can use a portable version of my favorite browser to carry it all with you on your thumb drive, external hard drive or iPod. I’ve tried several bookmark sync extensions over the years, but none are as sweet as Foxmarks and you can access them from any webbrowser (even IE) by logging into My Foxmarks, once you set up your account.

Quicklaunch: The bookmark toolbar in Firefox is probably one of the most productive tools I’ve ever set up. I use it to keep my most often visited sites a single click away. Syncing with Foxmarks or using my portable Firefox means I have this information at fingertip access. I use this for my Google calendar, Remember the Milk (task list program that merges with GCal), Cashboard, twitter, Facebook, financial sites, Pandora, W3 validation site and my own websites.

Email: By setting up IMAP email, and running it through gmail, I’m able to take full advantage of the superior spam filtering and search options offered by Gmail and I an access my email from the web from anywhere. I can also check it from the portable version of Thunderbird I keep resident on my thumbdrive.

IMAP means that I’m looking at the most up-to-date version of my email from everywhere. The changes you make on one machine are visible anywhere you log into your email accounts. Ask your host if IMAP is available for you. It’s a bit tricky to get it set up, but once it’s running, it’s maintenance free.

Research: I adore Zotero! If you do online research and use multiple machines, get Zotero and store your database on your thumbdrive and take it with you wherever you go.

As such, I can point my Linux Firefox browser to the same collection area that I use in my Windows Firefox browser. If I’m at someone else’s machine who doesn’t have Firefox, I can boot my portable Firefox and use the same database from inside my thumb drive without leaving a trail of personal information on a machine that doesn’t belong to me. Unfortunately, for IE lovers, this genius Addon is available for FireFox only.

Passwords: Do you find that you often get out and need tiny snippets of personal information, usernames, and passwords? KeePass Portable to the rescue!

I use the same method for keeping a central (and always up-to-date) database in KeePass as I do in Zotero — I have the Linux version and the Windows version both point to the database on my thumbdrive. I also carry a portable copy of this secure, opensource program on my thumbdrive, in case I’m using someone else’s machine when I realize I need the info. It really is one password to rule them all!

As open source programs, web-based apps and compact media storage continue to improve, so does the ease with which technology workers can live and work. Now that’s nice!

Moving email from Kontact to Evolution in Linux

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I’m seriously considering moving from Kubuntu to Ubuntu. If I do so, I’ll want to use Evolution to handle my email and to serve as my PIM. Before I make that move, I wanted to try Evolution on Kubuntu.

First snag? Getting my email moved over.

I have all my essential information under a data storage file folder on my home folder — so I always know where my most important data is stored. This means when I set up a new system (or do a re-gen of a current OS) I point my programs to where the data is always stored so I don’t have to “hunt and peck” to find my mission critical info. I also don’t have to spend an afternoon Googling “where does ______ store ______” over and over again.

Since I’m just testing the Evolution, I made sure that the accounts I set up were marked to leave the email on the server — that way they will all still “land” in the Kontact system, until I make a decision.

To move my current email files from Kontact to Evolution, I took the following steps:

  1. Copied my Kontact emails into a new folder (so I didn’t hose my current emails accidentally).
  2. Created a new account in Evolution:
    1. Go to Edit, Preferences, Mail Accounts (and hit the plus sign to the right).
    2. Add in bogus information, calling the account “import”
    3. Select server type “Maildir-format mail directories”
    4. Under configuration, select other and add a path that leads to the top-most folder copied from your Kontact (called ‘mail’ unless you renamed it)
    5. Be sure this isn’t your actual Kontact data, but is a copy.
    6. Add in bogus information to complete the account.
    7. Open up the “import” account and all your emails should be present.
  3. Move the emails (and folders) into your actual email account on Evolution.
  4. Once all the emails are moved over, delete the “import” account.

Hope this makes it easier to move over and give Evolution a try, if you have been using Kontact. I’d love to hear the pros and cons of this move from others who have (or are) making the move.

Accounting, how do I love thee?

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type.gif This weekend, I met with my favorite book keeper. Despite the differences in our talents, I still like her. I met with her for three days to get my books switched over to a new system. Few things in life leave me as cold, frustrated and “put upon” feeling as having to do the books. Did I mention that my old MS Accounting program doesn’t offer a standard “export” format? Did I mention that everything had to be converted ONE LINE AT A TIME for the ENTIRE YEAR TO DATE?!?!

I despise accounting. I think I would rather have splinters shoved under my fingernails than have to endure accounting. I hate it. Having to do it makes me hate life. I simply can’t overstate this fact. Continue reading →