Now, I had heard of Google Apps Script, but I’m not a “real” programmer so I didn’t think much of it until I stumbled across a post the other day that made me investigate the API a little further.  It was quickly apparent that I could use Google Apps Script to replace my scheduled tasks.  Note in advance, if you need your task to fire at a precise time, this isn’t for you.  If, however, you can live with it running within a given hour read on.  Here’s an outline to get you started.  I’ve linked to the docs I used below.

1. Go to Google Docs
2. Create New > Spreadsheet
3. Go to Tools > Script editor
4. A new window will open and you will see a function stubbed out for you
5. Rename your function to something meaningful
6. Add a method to fetch the URL of the script you wish to run
7. Go to Triggers > All your triggers
8. You’ll be prompted to name your script
9. Now add your triggers to run your script

For example, I have a function that runs a daily production report:

function getProductionReport() {
   var response = UrlFetchApp.fetch("http://example.com/reports/production_report.php?token=sometoken")
}

The reason I added a token to the URI is that I have the  script check for the correct token before running the report.  It won’t run without it and even if it did, no output is returned to the caller.

Next, I created the triggers.  When you open the All your triggers window, you’ll be prompted to name your script.  Do so.  Now, you will be able to add a new trigger.  Choose new and under run you’ll see a drop down with your function.  Next, change Events to Time-driven. Next choose your timer (Minutes, Hour, Day, Week) then choose the interval you desire.  If you only want your task to run on weekdays, you will have to create a separate trigger for each day of the week.  That’s pretty lame, but I’m sure Google will improve this as time goes on.  Choose save and that’s it, you’re done.

Add as many functions and timers as you like and let Google’s servers do the rest.  Oh, and here is the documentation from Google:

Class UrlFetchApp and scroll down here for Time-driven triggers

When I have more time, I’m going to do a much deeper dive here.  It’s pretty crazy what you can do with Google Apps Script.  If you are using Google Apps Script for something trivial or complex, I’d love to hear about it.  Drop me a comment below.

One thing that hit me after I implemented this and saw it running day after day was that, out of everything else Google does every millisecond they always remember to run my little functions.  Pretty damn impressive.

Unfortunately, my ICON kept losing the pairing with my Droid X while on calls.  Normally, I think it just doesn’t work the way it should and by the time I’m frustrated to the point of  wanting to kick someone in the teeth, the next version is out and I buy that and move on.  Well, this connectivity issue became so annoying, I decided to submit my problem to Jawbone support.

I wasn’t thinking, “hey, this is a warranty issue.”  I just wanted to vent a little and see if anyone else was having similar problems.  Upon submitting the form, I was told they’d get back to me in 24 hours.  OK, we’ll see. Twenty-four hours later, I had a response from support.  The support email provided the steps to delete my BT profile and re-pair my Jawbone and encouraged me to either call them or write again if my problem wasn’t solved.

I followed their instructions knowing it wouldn’t work but wanted to give it (really anything) a try.  I made a test call and sure enough, the connection from the Jawbone to my phone dropped.  I emailed them back and received a response in a few hours asking me to call and telling me they’d walk me through the process of doing a master reset.

So, I called and waited on hold for a couple minutes until a friendly young lady picked up.  She walked me through the reset and took my mailing address in the even the reset didn’t work and they needed to process a warranty.  Now, by the time I called them, I was ready to fight for a replacement.  No fight necessary.  In fact, we scheduled a time for her to call me the next day to see if my problem persisted.

The next morning at the appointed time, I didn’t get my call and I had confirmed the reset didn’t solve my connectivity problem.  It’s OK, we all get busy and they had just launched the ERA.  I ended up calling in the afternoon and they answered the phone on the second ring.  I gave them my reference, told them the reset didn’t work and the support person started the warranty.  I received an email a couple minutes after hanging up and responded with a PDF of my receipt.  A couple hours later and they let me know they are sending my replacement.

It sounds like a lot to go through, but honestly it was one of the very best customer service experiences I’ve ever had.  That support interaction saved me as a customer. I’m looking forward to having a properly functioning ICON and also to waiting for a sale on the ERA.

Way to go Jawbone, you have a customer for life!

UPDATE: I see a lot of people are looking for how to do the master reset of the jawbone.  Of course, I can’t remember and they didn’t email me the procedure.  If you find instructions telling you to tap the button 7 times as part of what you need to do, you’ve found the right way to hard reset it.  Definitely give them a call though — 1 800 JAWBONE.  I’m sure whoever answers will be happy to help.

Please buy PhoneTag and integrate their transcription technology immediately. That is all.

V/R,

Calmighty

Now, if they’d only fix their transcription to work as well as PhoneTag’s, I’d be set.

So, my thought here is that Motorola, Verizon, and Google are responsible for getting the leaks out.  Purposely.  Now, that’s just mere speculation on my part, but it makes sense when you consider that we’re not talking about thousands of employees having access to the tools or files to begin with.  Maybe I’m wrong.    Why not leak just enough for the rooting community to have their way with a number of the phones on their respective carriers?  At the same time, make it just hard enough that casual users who don’t know what they are doing won’t be bricking their phones left and right.

Prove me wrong in the comments or share your thoughts.

What’s it do?  Simple, it aggregates all of your messages and attachments and presents them in a sidebar view so that it’s easy to keep organized.  Sick of cleaning out your inbox?  I was.  Now I don’t think I’ll even bother anymore.  Here’s the feature list:

• Fast email search
• Rankings, graphs and statistics about how you and your contacts use email
• Navigate email by people — who’s connected by email
• Threaded conversations — click a message and see the entire thread
• Looking for attachments to conversations?  Look no more — they’re right in the sidebar
• Phone number are extracted from email and appear in the sidebar
• And other stuff I haven’t even figure out yet

I had to call a contact to day and clicked on her email message.  Her phone number jumped right out at me.  I have 500+ contacts and finding a phone number can be a pain.  Not anymore.

Part of being productive and successful boils down to how you manage your time.  Software like xobni will definitely make me more productive when it comes to managing my email.  Now, let’s see if it can make me even more successful.  That would be a crazy trick!  Using Xobni?  Tell me what you think in the comments below.

Dexpot allow you to have up to 20 virtual desktops at your fingertips. A simple click on the Dexpot tray icon brings up a desktop selection window (see screenshot below). Need a fresh desktop? Just click an empty square, your desktop is created and you are taken directly to it.  Switching between desktops is as simple as clicking Alt+1 through Alt+4.  You can define numerous hotkeys to make managing your desktops a snap.

Efficiency experts will tell you to work on one task at a time. I’m not buying it. I move from task to task and focus my work based on two criteria a) priority b) mood. If it’s super important, I’m getting it knocked out. But, if it’s anything less than urgent I work on whatever suits my mood. If I get bored I move to something else and come back to it later. Now, Dexpot lets me segment all of my work into discreet virtual desktops each with their own purpose.

Dexpot runs on nearly every version of Windows (including XP and Vista) and is free for private, non-commercial use. I’ve been running it on XP using two monitors with no problems.  So, go get your geek on and grab a copy of Dexpot for yourself.

We recommend everyone update immediately, particularly if your blog has open registration. The vulnerability is not public but it will be shortly. In addition to the security fix, 2.5.1 contains over 70 bug fixes.

Be safe WordPressers!

Just edit the header of your theme/template and insert the following between the <head></head> tags:

<link rel=”favicon” type=”image/ico” href=”http://example.com/yourfolder/favicon.ico” />

Note, you’ll have to figure out how to edit the header with your particular blog host.  For example, in Blogger, log in to your dashboard, choose layout, then choose the tab titled “Edit HTML”.  Insert your relative link to your favicon then save your template changes. 

Depending on how you upload files to your image host or server, you’ll either FTP in or upload to your directory. If you need some for favicon hosting, here is a short list of free image hosting for your favicons.

Once you’ve made the changes, you will likely need to clear your browser’s cache before you’ll see your custom favicon in the address bar.

Sure, you can use Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, Hotmail or whatever as your email provider and get good things like forwarding, your own domain, POP3 access, but if you want kick ass email you have to check out FuseMail. But, before you click, no it’s not free.

However, it is super affordable. At $0.99 per email account per month (minimum 10) and 1GB of storage, the price is looking right. But that’s not all. FuseMail has a ton of other sweet features. From a brand-able webmail client (that’s pretty slick I might add) to consolidating all of your other emails into one account to calendaring, contacts, notes, tasks, syncing — FuseMail has it all. Heck, I even use them as backup DNS for some of my sites. Their list of features is ridiculous. Heck, I even use them as backup DNS for some of my sites.

I’ve been using them for just over a year now and there service and support is hands down the absolute best. Disclaimer: I’m writing this because I love them. I don’t know anyone at the company and am not paid a cent by sending you their way.

If you are looking for a crazy, rock solid email provider, you can’t go wrong with FuseMail.