ok life is very much doom and gloom isn’t it….well here are five good things that I’ve come across or experienced over the last few weeks which have helped me out one way or another. Most of them involve getting things done better, faster or more efficiently. Not something I ever really worried about until recently but now I’m juggling more things at home, work, on the web and with camera I figured it was time to work smarter!  None of these are new inventions but I’m a first time user of most of them (late to the party) and not everyone who reads this blog is a total nerd like me so it may even be a revelation for some!

1. Twitter Friends – Where have you been people? Twitter is a social networking gem and a great way to share information, make new contacts, promote, learn and hang with peers whilst on the move and multi-tasking. Over the last week I’ve met two of my twitter contacts in person.  Last Friday I met with @philmatthews and over the weekend I met with @maxamphoto. Both completely awesome guys and just as nice in real life where they’re not limited to 140 characters. One a talented web designer and one a fabulous photographer. Both of these guys have imparted ideas and encouragement and also could provide me with future networking possibilities with other people. I wouldn’t have found either of them without twitter! Get with the program people…..Sign up now! or check this out to find out more.

2. Astrid Task Manager - This one is pretty much only going to be of use to google android users (check out the last post) but it’s a task management application which has really helped me get my shizzle organised over the last few weeks. Tasks are easy and quick to create but have the ability to be tailored with a variety of deadlines and alarms etc. This application can also be synced with the online service remember the milk. It has a really nice NAG feature which is just like having a mini Chloe in my pocket (I’m so dead for writing this) but it’s the kind of feature that works for me. Check out the astrid website for more details.
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Android in the Wild (HTC Magic)

So the photo above is of one of my new loves. It’s a mobile phone but with lots more under the hood than your usual mobile. Think of it as an iphone but instead of closed and locked down in an apple kind of way it’s running a google operating system that’s wide open and can be tinkered with by geeks all over the place. This google OS is called android and it’s very powerful. The phone itself is a HTC magic on the vodafone network. I’ve had it for a week and so far have been very impressed. It works out a fair bit cheaper than an iphone but still offers pretty much the same kind of functionality from an app point of view (in many ways better). It allows me to manage my email, tweets, post to my blog(s), check my analytics, post to facebook, take and edit pics, record video, play films, watch bbc iplayer content, manage my tasks and diary and a few hundred other things all on the move. Exactly what your average go-getting geeked out office worker /photog /family man type person needs! It even makes phone calls *shock horror*……and yes I’m a nerd!