Ah yes, I remember it well

In my previous life – BSJ – my office desk, computer, bathroom mirror, and other surfaces were covered with Post-It Notes.

Some To-Do’s were vital; i.e. Send invoice to client. Others, mundane, as in Laundry. And still others, pathetic: No ice cream!

Then, the sky opened, sunlight filled the continent, and Steve Jobs ordered, "Thou shalt have Macs." Suddenly, ancient tree products and writing instruments were old hat, and programs or applications available on Apple computers, iPhones, iPods, and iPads replaced all of those Pitman-penmanship stickies.

Because #1 on my current To Do list reads, Play nice and share, I've decided to offer you a few apps and web sites that might come to your rescue. They’re likely available on non-Apple devices, but why go there?

1) Awesome Note Lite is a free Apple app that reviewers consider "ten times better" than Notes, Apple‘s default program. The same critic sniffs that the Notes application is very limited, and "Awesome Notes is a worthy solution and replacement for it."

He (oh, I'm sure it's a "he") says the biggest difference between Apple's Notes and Awesome Notes is that the latter allows you to organize your notes into folders. He says a bunch of other stuff, which you can find on the app's own page in the App store.

2) Evernote is my current favorite in this productivity category. Like the above, it's free and it's heralded for "turning the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad into an extension of your brain, helping you remember anything and everything that happens in your life." You can save notes, ideas, snapshots, and recordings and the material instantly synchronizes across your devices. I like its ability to send yourself an e-mail, which I do to further remind me that I have a reminder. Oy,

3) Remember the Milk is a long-time free app that also travels between Apple products. It has an online service that syncs, and it can send reminders via email, SMS (Short Message Service), and instant messenger.

4) ReQall is free and useful when you don’t have time to write down an idea or reminder. Just tap the ReQall app and speak or type whatever you want to remember. ReQall can send you a reminder via voice, text message, instant message, email, or calendar alert.

5) Despite what the defamer said in Option 1, I still think Apple's Notes, which lives on the Home page of your iPhone, iPod, or iPad, is a useful list-maker. It automatically syncs to your Mobile Me mail account, and you can manually e-mail your lists (you can make as many as you want) to your other e-mail services. Naturally, it's free.

Now, with my publication of this post, I can perform a step that is the beauty part of every reminder and list-making service. I can check off, "Write blog on remembering." Done!

Urge Stakeholders to Climb Aboard Social Media

Every non-profit organization believes it’s the World’s Best Kept Secret. And in many cases, that’s true. You’ve been around for more than a decade, accomplished amazing and beneficial results, and is a blessing in the do-good community. Yet, beyond your stakeholders (staff, board of directors, members, and volunteers), too few in the general public know you exist.

However, many nonprofits neglect a major asset that if tapped, could help spread the word and lift it from shadow to spotlight. Best of all, this asset is close at hand and likely eager to help out -- it’s those stakeholders introduced in the opening paragraph.

We’re all aware print media is becoming an endangered species, with newspapers dropping weight as quickly as a Jenny Craig commercial. And the competition to tell your story on radio or TV gets more difficult with programming budget cuts. Instead of wringing hands at these depressing developments, turn to Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn (free social media sites) --and your stakeholders -- to bring more attention to your nonprofit. Here are 10 suggestions:

1. Take a survey of your stakeholders to learn how many have accounts on these sites.

2. Encourage those who are not on to sign up.

3. Host a workshop where interested stakeholders can learn tips on getting the most out of social media for themselves and your organization.

4. If your nonprofit doesn’t already have a Fan Page on Facebook, set one up. A techie on board, or a hired consultant, can accomplish this easily.

5. Post relevant information at least once daily to your social media pages, i.e. upcoming events, campaigns, links to your blog, newsworthy items, recent organizational or individual accomplishments.

6. With your stakeholders now in the social media game, urge them to “Like” your Fan page. This relationship will now be published on their Profile pages with a link their friends can explore.

7. Suggest stakeholders invite Facebook friends to “Like” your organization’s page. Also, their friends can “Follow” it on Twitter, and join your LinkedIn network, thus spreading your name further into the social media world.

8. If you’re hosting an event, be sure to create it on your Facebook Fan and LinkedIn pages. Remember to post Save-The-Date updates to all of your social media sites. Your stakeholders can then link to the event alerting their own friends and attracting additional attention and guests.

9. Urge stakeholders to use the private message options in Facebook and LinkedIn to invite their friends to the event.

10. Provide your stakeholders with the name, cell phone number, and e-mail address of your techie. Thus, if frustration or bewilderment arises, the techie can immediately mollify and get your valuable assets back on board.

Cup Holders Before It’s Too Late

Is it wrong to want cup holders before I die? Hold your tears; my demise is not imminent -- as far as I know -- but I could wear out before my 1990 Honda Civic with 65,000 miles ever meets her foundry. Thus, if I continue to drive Sweetie Pie, I will never know the joy of cup holders. Instead, I’ll forever wedge my travelling mug betwixt gear shift and driver's seat.

Need I mention airbags? A CD player? Windows that slither down with a tap of the finger? A steering wheel unaccompanied by grunting? Doors that open without placing a key in a lock? An iPod plug in? Daytime running lights? I've never known these.

Now, you may ask, why have I held onto Sweetie Pie so long? A valid question if you are the sort who does not believe automobiles have feelings. (You may even be the type that doesn’t kiss her iPhone before tucking her into the charger each night. Or, doesn’t wish her home office good morning with the On light switch.)

Despite my attempt to convince you I am an Anthropomorphicer with a capital A, you may still wonder at my allegiance to this vehicle. Cue the violins. Sweetie Pie was purchased one month after separating from my first husband.

That marital relationship lasted 30 years, so I was naturally in a vulnerable state. The purchase of the Civic, with my name on the title, felt like a mark of independence. I had my own wheels. The two of us could travel together to the ends of the earth. More likely to Trader Joe’s. (Actually, Trader Joe’s didn’t enter the Chicago market until 2000, but I think it works better than Jewel, don't you?)

And during my singlehood, when I was ready to date again, and a personal ad in The Chicago Reader brought me interested swains from the suburbs, it was Sweetie Pie who drove me to meet them -- a Chicagoland map unfolded in the passenger seat. Oh, there’s lots of tales I could tell in our long automotive relationship, but I’m skidding off topic, so I’ll leave them to your imagination.

This is what finally convinced me I should sell the Civic: I conceded there could come a time when arthritis, dimmed vision, or sluggish reaction time might rob me of ever experiencing the features listed in graph #2. And, for a self-described techie like me, I was embarrassed by my lack of experience with the latest motor car thingamajigs.


Update

So, I sold the Civic to a good family and bought a 2011 Honda Fit. While I’m head over heels for Gorgeous (quickly named to speed bonding), I weep for Sweetie Pie. I know she’s happy being driven by younger people who energize her chassis. I know she prefers being outdoors, rather than sealed in a cold, dark garage. But, I worry: is she angry with me? Jealous of my new acqusition?

In time, I know I will grow as attached to Gorgeous as I was to Sweetie Pie. Wait, is that a horn I imagine I hear? Yes, it’s Gorgeous coaxing me to grab my key fob to unlatch her doors. Come, she croons, to the power windows that await my digit. To the CD and iPod players eager to share my jazz collection. And yes, to the cup holders (four!) that promise to cuddle my mug of Black Cat Espresso.

I can feel the pain easing.

Apps for Valentine's Day

While shopping at Target on Sunday, my husband and I paused before entering the checkout lane. We looked at each other then split in opposite directions. Upon returning to our goods, Tommy dropped into the cart -- among the Diet Coke, No Caffeine and Vanity Fair Everyday Napkins -- a heart-shaped box of Russell Stover candies. I tossed in a glittery card, "To My Wonderful Husband, Happy Valentine's Day." With no attempt to hide our purchases, we headed toward the shortest line. Who says romance is dead?

That's us, maybe not you. So, as a favor to those who mush about the upcoming holiday, I've gathered some apps to help make hearts flutter.

1. Be Mine Lite is a free Valentine's Day Card Creator. It comes loaded with backgrounds, hearts, cupids, kisses and more. You can save your cards, send them through email, or share on Facebook. It's universal, which means you can use it on an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch.

2. iCelebrate ~ Valentine's Day app costs $0.99, but that's not much to pay to set a romantic tone for the night. It streams love-inspired Smooth Jazz, Easy Listening, and Soul/R&B music. It can display either candlelit tables, a big red heart, or a New York City balcony at night.

3. Flower Coach by Teleflora is free and helps you write the perfect romantic greeting, including sweet, sexy, silly, traditional, Shakespeare-ish and hip-hop. And, you'll save 10% on your next bouquet.

4. Instant Poetry HD is a bit pricier at $1.99. But think of the fun you'll have as you create beautiful, passionate, and romantic poetry. Use your own pictures as backgrounds, tap a button to pop up some words, then drag them around the screen to design your masterpiece.

5. Open Table is free and uses your current location to provide a list of available restaurants. Search by city, neighborhood, cuisine or price. Valentine's Day is notoriously busy and expensive, but if you're undeterred, use this app to find a description, photos and reviews. Bon appetit!

6. Kiss N Blow costs $0.99. You blow a kiss into your iPhone, and have it sent to your Valentine via email or text messaging. Select from a variety of themes: Green Kiss (environmentally friendly), Eskimo Kiss (with your nose) Romantic Kiss, and Scuba Kiss, (from Underwater).

7. Now, if all of the above leaves you nauseous rather than excited, here's an app you might prefer: Love Sucks, a $0.99 app that recognizes Valentine’s Day isn’t for all. It displays anti-Valentine’s Day candy heart images of Love Sux, You Suck, and I'm Cheating.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Shorten, please

As someone who stands under five feet and wears her hair as clipped as a fresh recruit, I’m smitten with “short.” Others may not feel likewise. Those of us who bear that adjective are sometimes mocked for our, um, shortcomings.

To the rescue comes technology where it frequently helps to be short. Many Web sites, such as Twitter, prefer links to be tiny so that inputted sentences don't exceed its 140-word limit.

Applications, like tiny.url or bit.ly, which can be added to your Mac toolbar (sorry, I only speak Apple), do the slicing for you. On an iPhone, using a free app called Shortener, you can copy a lengthy Web address, get it neatly hemmed, and then upload it to Twitter, Facebook, or into an e-mail message.

Here’s how to do all of the above:

1. On your Mac, open your browser -- Firefox and Safari are my choices -- (Okay, I know Safari is part of my religion; but sometimes, I like variety.). Go to tinyurl.com. Find the option, “Make Toolbar button.” Drag that selection to the toolbar at the top of the page.

After the button is tucked in, travel to a site you’d like to share. Remain on the desired site as you click on the new button, TinyURL! A short URL will have been created. Copy the abbreviated version. Open Twitter or Facebook; implant the tiny URL into your status update. Add you own special wording. And you're good to go.

2. Bit.ly works similarly. Go to its Web page and find the bit.ly Bookmarket option. Drag it to the toolbar. This site has a Sidebar that shows Traffic, Conversations, and History; i.e. how many other users have tweeted this particular Web site. A neat feature. Perform the same steps as above.

3. Open your iPhone, go to the App store, and search for Shortener. You’ll find other apps that purport to do similar carving. Read the reviews; there’s more than a dozen. Some free, others $.99. I tested Shortener and it worked perfectly.

Go to the iPhone’s Safari Web browser. Find the site you want to share. Copy its Web address by touching the screen and holding until a magnifying glass appears. Use your finger to drag the magnifying glass to an insertion point on the address. Tap to display the selection buttons. Touch and hold to bring up the Copy option. No fear, the shortened address has been safely sent to Appleland where it awaits your next step.

Leave the Web site. Open Shortener. Paste the copied address into the space provided. Select TinyURL as the shortening service. Snip. Copy the shortened Web address. Open Twitter, Facebook, or your e-mail message. Touch and hold the spot where you want your link to go, select Paste. Then, as above, add your own special wording to your status update or message.

Now, don't you feel differently about us shorties?