It was also special because I got engaged!

I just purchased a new laptop… and NO, it is not a Mac. It’s a Dell E6500.

I have always used a checklist to install new software but recently I have modified it since I’m using more web apps than ever before (namely mint.com and gmail as opposed to quicken and outlook, respectively).

I thought you might be interested in reviewing the software that I personally install and compare/contrast to your installed software.

Required Software – Even If I Wasn’t a Tech Guy

1. Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, and OneNote)
2. Notepad++
3. Mozilla Firefox
4. Skype
5. Picasa 3
6. FileZilla (client)
7. Adobe Reader
8. Flash Player
9. 7-Zip
10. AVG
11. Latest Windows Updates

Optional Software

1. PuTTY
2. TortoiseSVN
3. KeePass
4. QuickBooks
5. Adobe Acrobat
6. iTunes
7. KeePass
8. Hulu Desktop
9. Google Chrome
10. uTorrent

Required Firefox Add-ons

1. Delicious Bookmarks
2. Firebug
3. Fullerscreen
4. LastPass
5. LogMeIn Remote Access Plugin
6. StumbleUpon

I didn’t waste your time explaining the application or why I use it, but if you have any questions, comments, complaints or recommendations then just leave a comment.

Since I never use cash, it does me no good to have it. If cash is on me it gets wasted on something like:

• vending machine candy
• gas station food
• girl scout cookies
• etc etc etc

About three years ago, I emptied a huge “Orange Juice” bottle. The orange juice bottle sits in my closet and every day when I get I home, I dump any spare change into it. Now, when I say spare change, I’m talking about any literal change or dollar bills that happen to be laying in my pockets. Sometime I drop ten-dollar and twenty-dollar bills, but typically its just singles or change.

Last month I decided to empty it and take it to the bank. I dropped the change in an automatic change-counter and deposited the bills. It worked out to almost $300.00. Now that isn’t a ton of money but it was a nice surprise. I didn’t work for it; It’s like reaching into your pocket and finding $300.00.

You Should Try It
This is an easy task. Just go out and purchase a nice piggy bank. If you don’t want to purchase a piggy bank, do like I did and empty a big orange juice (Sunny Delight) bottle. I know a lot of people like to have cash on hand but the truth is: you don’t NEED cash. It is almost an unspoken rule that businesses must accept credit cards (or debit cards) and even if they don’t, you always have an ATM near by.

As some of you know, I’ve been going to law school at UALR for the past year. It’s a part-time program which fits nicely into my work schedule but has cut deeply into my time availability.

During the Semester
During the semester, a typical day starts around 8am and as soon as I get off of work, I’m in class by 5:30pm. I sit in a class room until 9pm. I then get home, reply to emails, return urgent calls, prepare for the next day’s work, and then start reading for the next day of classes.

When I sit in class, I think about all of the thing that I COULD accomplish if I were not in school.

Needless to say, when I got out of school for the summer, I couldn’t wait to get out and see how much I could accomplish. As the summer began, I thought that I needed to work long hours to “get caught up.”

Now, in mid-August, I’m still working late hours and probably getting just as much done as I did while I was in class.

I’ve come to the realization that I lack time management skills. Actually, I don’t lack time management skills… they just go away if they’re not required. My formula looks something like this:

The more stuff I have to do and the less time I have to do those tasks… the better my time management skills. This follows my theory of:

“If you push yourself to accomplish more than you think you can handle… you’ll surprise yourself with how much you can actually accomplish.”

So, a few things that I’ve learned while trying to fix my time management skills.

1. Do not work with outlook open. Set time aside to respond to emails.
2. You do not have to answer every phone call. Set time aside to respond to phone calls.
3. Prioritize your task list. Not every task is equally important. Hone in on tasks that are important.
4. Log Your time. To measure your time management, you must know where you are spending your time.
5. One task at a time. I’m the worst at trying to do three things at once. But time and time again, I’m reminded that making a list is a better solution.

I leave you with a book that was given to me by an ex-girlfriend that told me long ago that I had time management problems. Admission is the first step to solving the problem.

I’ve played with twitter for a while now and I am still trying to gather my thoughts on the product.

The Service
For those who don’t know, twitter is a web application that allows registered users to post what they are doing “right now.” They make updates pretty simple. You can update using their web site, text message 40404, and email.

You can follow other users as well. So, if I want to know what my friend Jeff Noble or Capillya is doing, I “follow” him. Once I follow someone, it text messages me an update of “what they are doing.”

The Usage
Twitter makes it easy to update what you are doing… allowing me text message what I am doing it great. In addition, there are some really nice apps that make updating really simple. For instance, Jott.com allows me to call a toll-free number and make twitter updates via voice calls.

The Review
A friend of mine (after discussing twitter), told me that it isn’t a viable service. He called it a “feature” not a product. His thought behind the statement is that this is something Facebook and most other social networking sites have built into their product.

I guess I sort of agree. My only argument is not the service itself. The twitter service is similar to Facebook status update. Facebook does allow you to update status and you can even receive mobile updates when someone updates their status (this is something I’ve had to literally show someone).

The argument is the way the service is used. Facebook users update their status as a statement of feeling while twitter users utilize updates as statements on what they are doing….

Typical Facebook updates look like “RJ Martino is bored” or “RJ Martino is lucky to have such a great friend”

Typical Twitter updates look like “RJ Martino is writing a review on twitter.com” or “RJ Martino is going to a court appearance”

This is hard to explain… but to sum it up, facebook updates tell followers how they are feeling… twitter updates tell you what people are actually doing, not what they’re feeling.

So, as a technical review, I don’t think twitter is much than Facebook. But after using it for some time, there is no doubt that they are used in two different ways.

It seems almost certain that twitter is a viable product by the number of users but I’ve stopped making predictions on product viability.

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Although Talk Business Quarterly is new, Talk business has been covering Arkansas Business since 1999. Roby Brock is the host and executive producer of Talk Business and his show can be seen on Fox 16.

Check out his website at www.talkbusiness.net

In exchange for his nice article, I thought I’d give him a little exposure on my media outlet… rjmartino.com… I probably got a little more exposure than he did.

Read the article
Young Guns.pdf

Rachel and Chris have a kid that is 20 months old. Santa brought him a 4-foot basketball goal… for the next three hours Chris, Daniel, and I played games on the 4-foot basketball goal including HORSE, free throw contest, and 1-minute 3-point contests… it was a blast.

I love life… but I’d rather be a kid any day of the week.

Link to Article

A SMALL apartment project in Jacksonville drew an $849,000 transaction. Martino & Carrasquillo Investments LLC, led by Ronald Martino, acquired Loop Road Apartments at 306 Loop Road from Carl and Claudia Clem. The deal is backed with a 30-year loan of $678,960 from Imperial Capital Bank of Glendale, Calif.

PS… don’t call me Ronald.