LivSimpl

I've decided to bite the bullet and move LivSimpl from Blogger to a self-hosted, WordPress site! The switch includes a new design and, I'm sure, more than a few hiccups along the way.

I'm thrilled you're reading/subscribed to LivSimpl and don't want to lose anybody during the transition, so please take a moment and check the following:

- Please make sure you've bookmarked LivSimpl.com, NOT livsimpl.blogspot.com.

- If subscribed via RSS, please make sure you're subscribed to http://feeds.feedburner.com/livsimpl

If you have ANY problems or questions during the switch, after the switch, or about life in general, please don't hesitate to e-mail me at LivSimpl *at* gmail (dot) com.

Thanks for your patience and support!

- David

Posted in: on Monday, May 26, 2008 at 1 comments  

Need to find a Wifi hotspot in your area? Perhaps the better question is, do you need to know if there's a Wifi hotspot where you're going? Jiwire is a great resource for just that. Take today for example.

I was on location for a television commercial we were shooting (when I'm not working on LivSimpl, hanging out with my family, volunteering, or being an assistant manager of our apartment complex, I'm a full-time copywriter at an ad agency). If you've ever been involved with filming anything, you know that there is a LOT of down time. Last night I jumped on Jiwire to see if there'd be a wireless signal where we were shooting. Sure enough, there were two availabe: one paid and one free.

As you can see from the above screen shot, Salt Lake isn't exactly bustling with hotspots like other, larger cities. Knowing I'd have wireless access ahead of time helped me to plan my day more efficiently, communicate with some folks back at the office who were then able to e-mail me projects to work on. So instead of sitting around for a few hours before we actually started filming, I was able to get some work done and come home afterward instead of going back into the office.

This is an ideal solution for those who travel, even if it's within their own city, as was the case with me. It's also user-generated so you can submit locations they don't have listed. In addition, they have a free app for the iPhone and widgets for both Windows and Mac.

I know there are quite a few other sites out there that offer similar services. Does anyone have any experiences/recommendations? Please let us know in the comments.

LivSimpl

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Posted in: Tech, Work on Thursday, May 22, 2008 at 0 comments  

Any day now you may be receiving a nice-sized check from the government. Their objective is to get you to spend it to stimulate the economy. But before you run out and do your patriotic duty by purchasing that HD TV you've been eying, consider how the money could simplify your life if used wisely. Here are four ways you can use your economic stimulus check to simplify life by easing some financial stress.

Pay down debt. The money you put toward paying down the principle on debt is going to be worth more than the dollar figure of your refund. Let's say your stimulus check is $1,000 and you put it toward your credit card debt which is at 15%. That's $150 you're not paying in interest so your $1,000 has become $1,150.

While you're at it, ask for a lower rate. I have a friend who works for a major credit card company and he says if they won't give you a lower rate, you can threaten to cancel your card. Be prepared to have some competitor's rates and state that the Feds have dropped the prime rate so you want yours lowered. They'll most likely comply. And be sure to make the lower rate apply to your existing balance, not just your future purchases.

Few things add more stress to life than having debt linger over your shoulder, day and night. Heck, it's what got us into this mess to begin with. Do what you can to remove the burden of debt - your stimulus check could be a good way to start.

Save. Stick it in savings for an emergency fund or for a significant purchase you've been saving for. My wife and I are putting ours in our "someday we'll have a house fund." Often it seems that when we get some extra money and put it aside we end up needing it almost right away for a car repair, medical bill or the like. We're always thankful we put it away in savings instead of spending it so those unplanned expenses are easier to handle.

Invest. Mutual funds, CDs, 401k, IRAs are all options. Factors to consider are liquidity, rate, risk and length of the investment. Check with your bank or financial advisor for more information. Another option is to take a portion of it and check out the do-it-yourself stock trading sites. It could be a good way to learn some stock market basics.

Donate it. If you've gotten by just fine without it this far, why not help someone else out who might not be getting along so well? Depending on who/what organization you're giving it to, it may be tax deductible which means the government will give you money for giving away the money they gave you (which, realistically, you gave them in the first place).

Even if you already have a plan for your stimulus check, please consider how it could be used to simplify your life by reducing worries about debt, or even just putting it away so you can have peace of mind for a rainy day.

Any other ideas? I'd love to hear them in the comments!

LivSimpl

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Photo courtesy of here.

Posted in: Finances, Shopping on Thursday, May 15, 2008 at 4 comments  

This post was written by Albert @ Headspace, a blog that provides ideas, techniques and stories that build & protect your Headspace. Subscribe by RSS or email.

Real listening will transform your life. When you speak you are expressing what is in you. When you listen you let the world in. You open yourself up to new information and experiences. The little story about why God gave us two ears and one mouth is true.

But listening is not just a necessity; it is also a pleasure and an adventure. It opens life opens up. Conversations become vivid. You connect to people at a deeper level. As with all good things, the fruit of listening has to be plucked - it won't fall into your lap. You will have to make an effort to unlearn your bad listening habits and learn some good ones. Here's how:

Develop the desire to listen. You will not listen if you don't think it is worth the effort. Listening to others is your key to another world. If you listen, the other person will tell you some astounding things. You will become a better partner, colleagues, friend, parent; in fact all your relationships will be transformed beyond recognition. If this doesn't motivate you, find something else that will.

Give full attention. This is the first step in listening, yet most of the time we get it wrong. So put down your pen, turn away from your computer screen and listen to me. You should at least stop all other physical activity. More about your mental activity below.

Listen to the last word. Always let the other person do most of the talking. And do not interrupt them. Listen until they have spoken their last word. The reason why we interrupt others is that we think that we understand what they are saying. But most of the time we don't. Take notes if you are worried about forgetting a particular point.

Paraphrase to make sure you understood and ask them if you did. To paraphrase, one simply rewords what you think the other person has said. For example, she might say, "He was stupid to break up with me.'' You might respond, "I hear you saying that you believe he shouldn't have walked out.'' And then ask them if you have got it right. This is also a good way to consolidate if they are talking for a long time. Just ask if you can make sure that you understand, and then paraphrase what they have said up to that point.

Get more information. Another way to get deeper into the conversation is to ask a genuine question. If they haven't told you yet, ask about their feelings: "How do you feel about this?" Or if you don't understand parts of what they are saying, ask them to explain further. And be prepared to look stupid. Saying that you don't understand is an excellent invitation to learning something new.

Don't just listen to the words. Listen to how something is said. What is the overall sense you get from them? Is there something that you would have expected them to say, that went unsaid? If you sense anything of this nature, ask them about it in as non-confrontational a manner as possible. Say something like: "Can you tell me more about how you responded when he walked out?"

If what they say pushes your emotional buttons... We often stop listening when we feel that we are being accused, or when something that is important to you is being belittled or criticized. The trick to avoiding this is not to jump to conclusions and retaliating. Rather try to ask a genuine question; if nothing else this gives you some time to regain your composure. For example, the speaker might say, "You really screwed up this job.'' You might respond, "Can you tell me more about what you didn't like about it?" or "Can we talk about what can I do to improve on this?'' Such questions will allow you to explore their statements and get back to a constructive conversation, one that can be helpful to both of you.

In the end listening is about giving full and sustained attention to the person that is speaking. Any technique that allows you do to do this will do the business. What else has worked for you?

Learning how to listen is a wonderful skill to master to improve relationships. Thanks to Albert for his post! Please be sure to visit him over at his site, Headspace. - LivSimpl


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Photo courtesy of here.

Posted in: Family, Guest Authors, Work on Wednesday, May 14, 2008 at 0 comments  

A while back I decided to ditch my traditional wallet for a slimmer, more efficient hack using a Moleskine notebook. The only things I carried over from my wallet were my driver license, my debit card, and a few business cards. I ended up leaving a number of membership/loyalty cards in my wallet (along with my credit, library and other cards) for the sake of simplicity and that the pocket in the back of a Moleskine notebook just isn't that robust. :)

For the most part, I've been fine. But there have also been times when it would have been extremely useful to have, say, a grocery membership card that could have saved me 15 cents a gallon on gas.

Enter Just One Club Card. It's a site that let's you plug in the numbers under the barcodes of your club/membership/loyalty cards and will print out all the appropriate barcodes on a single page. The page is designed to be cut and folded into a card shape for E-Z access. And ta-da! All your membership cards are available to you on a single card.

Of course, not every club card in the world is available but there are some popular options including Smiths, Albertsons, ACE Hardware, Best Buy, Delta SkyMiles, and Office Depot as well as some lesser-known establishments such as Bob's Stores. (I have never heard of Bob's Stores. Would anyone care to enlighten me?) There's even an option to add a store/business yourself if the one your looking for isn't available.

The proprietor of the site says he won't use your barcodes/information for any nefarious purposes, but use at your own risk. (Personally, I'm not all that worried about someone finding out what kind of groceries I buy.) It could be a great way to cut down on the clutter, and width, of your wallet.

Visit Just One Club Card here.

LivSimpl


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Posted in: Efficiency, Organization, Shopping on Tuesday, May 6, 2008 at 2 comments  

Unless the only person you e-mail is yourself (not that there's anything wrong with that), spam probably creeps into your e-mail account. Sure, most e-mail providers, such as Gmail, do a pretty good job of keeping it out of your inbox, but no system is perfect. And, I confess, I'm OCD enough about my e-mail that if there are unread messages in my spam folder it will drive me nuts until I take care of them.

I decided to help Gmail with its spam filtering by creating a custom spam filter of my own. It's easy to do (you don't need any technical or programming skills) and I don't think I've had any spam make it to my inbox since I started using it. While I'm an avid Gmail user (and according to a recent survey of readers, the majority of you are as well), I believe a similar idea could work for other e-mail services too.

Here's what you do:

1. Near the search box in your Gmail account, click "Create a filter."

2. In the box that says, "Has the words" type every bad word you know, and every common word you've seen in the subject line of spam, as well as their common misspellings, separated by "OR".

For example, "Viagra OR V1agra OR Viaggra OR V1aggra OR Rolex OR Rollex OR Rolexx OR sexxy" (without the quotation marks).

I didn't put the cuss or sexually explicit words and their misspellings for obvious reasons, but I do have them in my filter. You may blush while typing them in, but it sure beats seeing them show up in your inbox repeatedly.

3. Note that I included the proper spellings of Viagra and Rolex. If I ever decide to order either of those projects, something has either gone terribly wrong or wonderfully right in my life and I'll have to tweak my filter. So be it. Until that time, I don't expect anyone reputable is going to correspond with me about either of those things so I don't worry about it.

4. Click the Test Search button.

5. All the e-mail in your account that falls under the filter you just set up will be shown, along with options as to what you want to do with it. At this point you can determine how harsh you want to be. I have no mercy. I check Skip Inbox, Mark as Read, Delete it, Kill it and Burn the Corpse.

6. You can apply your filter to the e-mail that you've already received, or you can leave the "Also apply filter..." option unchecked to only apply it to the e-mail you receive from that point on.

And that's it. You never have to worry about looking at e-mail with that sort of content again. In the long run, this will save you time and help your inbox stay more organized.

Any other tips about fighting spam? Please leave word in the comments.

LivSimpl

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Posted in: Efficiency, Tech on Friday, May 2, 2008 at 2 comments