BlackBerry

Last month I gave you some low-tech tips for finding a lost cell phone. Today I’ll fill you in on some high-tech ways to find a phone that’s gone walkabout. Interestingly, they all have similar names, beginning with “Where’s my….” which is a tip-off to what they do. Remember the biggest danger of losing a phone is having some miscreant gain access to all your email, contacts, calendar, racy photos, Facebook, etc.

Let’s start with iPhones^® since that’s what’s clipped to my Bat-Utility belt. Your best option if you have an iPhone 4 is to download the free “Find My iPhone” app. This cool app will not only locate your missing iPhone using its built-in GPS locator, but also gives the you the ability to send a text message of your choice to the phone begging who ever has it to return it to you or, if you’ve simply misplaced it in your home or office, to “ping” loudly until you find it. You can even erase the iPhone’s contents or simply lock it down so nothing can be accessed. If you have an earlier version of the iPhone, you’re not out of luck. Lifehacker.com has instructions for a workaround to use “Find My iPhone” on that earlier device – but you didn’t read that here.

Alternatively, if you’ve insured your iPhone against loss and aren’t worried about getting it back, simply set up a passcode on your iPhone and set the iPhone to delete all content after 10 failed log-in attempts. This is slightly dangerous if you have children who might play with your phone and accidentally trigger the eraser.

If you’re using an Android^®-based phone, download the free “Where’s My Droid” app from the Android Market. This free app lets you create a passphrase that you can send to your phone and, if your phone is on when you send it, will cause the phone to ring at its loudest volume, hopefully allowing you time to find it under the backseat of your Prius. It also has a GPS option in case you left it somewhere more remote, such as the juice bar at Whole Foods.

If you’re the last Blackberry^® user on Earth, you can download “Where’s My Phone” from Blackberry’s App World. There’s a free version which sets off the phone’s ringer when you send it an email trigger. There’s a paid version that, like the Droid app, also has a GPS location option to help you stalk whomever has taken possession of your precious device.

Finally, for those of you who just can’t bring yourself to give up the self-torture of having more than one Windows^® device and are using a Windows Mobile^® phone try WaveSecure from McAfee^® which provides all of the above services, including the secure wipe but with the cool addition of backing up your phone data! WaveSecure also works with Blackberries and Droid phones, but not iPhones.

Whichever high-tech phone recovery solution you select make sure you don’t just install it, but also test it so that in the event you do need to use it, you’ll be ready.

Keep on techin’,

Tom

Vickie and I travel a lot, so I’m always on the lookout for travel apps. I’ve come across some great apps that legal nurse consultants can use everywhere from Paris to Poughkeepsie and, with the exception of XE, I use all of these right in my hometown. Most of these are free and I’ve indicated where they’re available for iPhone^®, Windows^® Phone 7, Blackberry^® and Android^® users.

Here’s six of my favorite travel apps.

1. XE Currency Converter: A FREE app that quickly converts one currency to another. You select the currencies you want to track. It can tell you what an individual Swedish Kroner is worth in U.S. dollars or, if you type in the amount of a meal in Kroners it’ll tell you how much that Swedish meatball costs in your home currency. I love this app! Available for iPhone, Android and Blackberry. There’s no Win Phone 7 version, but it does have a mobile site you can access. Get your copy at XE.com.
2. iTranslate: A FREE app that will quickly translate short phrases from one language to another. I learned about this from a friend who uses it to insult his buddies in their native language (Men and their toys!) I find it keeps me from ordering the sea urchin off the sushi menu in Japan. It doesn’t translate Klingon yet so I can’t use it to connect with our techies. Available for iPhone, Android and even Blackberry. Get your copy from your phone’s app store.
3. Yelp! This is a crazy little FREE app that, once it locates you, will help you find just about anything nearby – gas stations, banks, restaurants, etc. My favorite part is it rates restaurants with user reviews and tips. It works overseas also. Thanks to one of the CLNC^® Mentors for tipping me off about this app. You can use Yelp! without registering for their community. Available for iPhone, Win Phone 7, Android and even Blackberry. Get your copy at Yelp.com and you’ll have the world at your fingertips.
4. Zagat: Zagat is a ratings community for restaurants, hotels, bars, etc. It’s a little more elitist and a little less populist than Yelp! It doesn’t help with gas, banks, etc., but I find that I generally agree more with Zagat when it comes to food and I’ve used their web-based service to make advance reservations nationally and internationally. There is a cost to use the website and app, but it is well worth it. Available for iPhone, Win Phone 7, Android and even Blackberry. Register or get your copy at Zagat.com. This will keep you from taking your favorite attorney-client out for a bad bowl of Tom Yum.
5. Google Maps: FREE in exchange for your soul. Google already knows everything about you so extending this to maps helps me find my way to obscure, hole in the wall places. Plug in your destination and it’ll take you there! Probably available for every mobile OS known to man and a few that haven’t been invented yet.
6. Flashlight: FREE from various sources for each of the different mobile platforms. This helps you find your way to the beach at night, your keys in the movie theatre and as an added plus, I can hold up a colored screen and lead Vickie right to me in a dark room (Heh, heh!). It has so many uses that you should drop what you’re doing and get one today. One incidental benefit is that this app can be used to quickly drain your phone’s battery when you need to drop below the threshold level for recharging.

FINE PRINT/CAVEAT: You’ll need to have your location services on to take advantage of most of these apps, data transfer and other hidden costs may apply, blah, blah, blah.

Those are a few of my “can’t live without” apps. How about yours? I’d like to hear from my CLNC^® amigos about their favorite app, travel or otherwise.

Keep on techin’,

Tom

All Certified Legal Nurse Consultants love their electronic gadgets and rarely go anywhere without them. I’ll bet few of you can remember life before smart phones, email everywhere and the connectivity we all take for granted. I’m not sure if it’s good for us. I do know I love having my iPhone^® in the car, especially since the CD player (not my 8-track) in the old “global warmer” crapped out. I have a Monster iCarPlay Cassette Adapter that lets me play my iPhone/iPod^® music through my cassette deck. This of course runs down the iPhone’s battery and gets to the weakness of all electronic devices – battery life.

Any CLNC^® consultant who has ever charged an iPhone, Blackberry^®, Droid^® or iPod using the USB port on a personal computer knows that charging times can be incredibly slow, especially compared to the short charging times of a “wall wart” charger.

Why is that? Well, sparing my CLNC^® amigos the geeky details, the USB ports on your computer put out a lower power level than does a wall charger. If you’ve been in your car and your iPod died during your favorite Justin Beiber song or your phone died in the middle of a legal nurse consulting case discussion with your favorite attorney-client, you’re now probably smart enough to carry a car charger that plugs into your cigarette lighter socket.

It’s one of those immutable rules of life that the longer the drive the quicker your battery will give out. If you use your phone’s GPS, you know how quickly that drains the battery and many car chargers will simply maintain battery level, not charge the battery if the device is on while charging. Likewise if you’ve ever simply tried to charge your phone in the car, you know it’s not a perfect science. Car-charger power levels can be just as low as a USB port.

So what is a savvy Certified Legal Nurse Consultant to do? Easy, buy a Scosche reVIVE II Dual USB Car Charger. It’s advertised for an iPad but here’s the beauty of this particular charger – it has both a 5 watt (1 amp) and a 10 watt (2.1 amp) output which will kick-start just about any device that can be charged through a USB port! You simply plug in your cable and device and baby, you’ve got the power! You can even charge two devices, like your headset and phone at the same time. SMALL PRINT WARNING: Check your device’s documentation to be sure it can handle a 2.1 amp charge BEFORE charging your device. You’ll also need to buy your own USB cables but that’s not an issue.

Consider one of these for your CLNC^® Batmobile and you won’t regret it.

Keep on techin’,

Tom

Every Certified Legal Nurse Consultant has changed mobile phones at least once in the course of their CLNC^® business. If you’re still carrying a brick-phone worthy of Gordon Gecko – it’s time. I’ve gone through a couple of BlackBerry^® models myself and I am getting ready to move to the new 4G iPhone^® this summer. I decided this is one time when it is indeed better to wait.

During my BlackBerry time, I’ve accumulated a plethora of wall chargers, car chargers, headsets, charging bases, etc. Not all of which work with each other, even within the same family of products. My new BlackBerry won’t fit in the old BlackBerry stand which frustrates me to no end. So, to keep some order on my desk, my sanity and in expectation of that new iPhone, I purchased a pair of Seskimo’s Crabble iPhone stands, one for each of my desks.

These inexpensive, folding plastic stands slip into your wallet, purse or computer case for transport and can be set up in seconds. Its legs allow me to use it with different devices and its silicon rubber feet keep it firmly in place on my desk allowing me to charge my BlackBerry upright. If you watch movies, video or Facebook on your iPhone, you’ll love this same feature which allows you to turn your iPhone horizontally.

This is one of the best, cheap stands I’ve ever seen and it fits a variety of mobile devices. Certified Legal Nurse Consultants looking for a Tom-tested phone stand couldn’t do much better than a Crabble. Consider one today.

Keep on techin’,

Tom

Forgive me if you think I’ve lost my mind, but I know that the community of Certified Legal Nurse Consultants has a diverse experience with computers, smartphones, printers and just about every level of technology. Here’s your chance to share a tech tip of your own with your CLNC^® peers.

My CLNC^® amigos, all you need to do is click here to open a comment box and share your own tech tip. You’ll be just like your favorite Tech Tipper, Tom (but without the cool photo), sharing things you know and know that others need to know but might not know they don’t know or even that they need to know.

Let’s have it! Time to let loose and help spread the word. Every one of you has a tech tip inside so share your own personal favorite iPhone^® app, BlackBerry^® shortcut, tip for extending the life of your laser printer cartridges (shake ‘em) or simply your favorite software for writing reports for your legal nurse consulting business. I want to hear it and I want to hear from all of you. Even Apple^® users are invited to chime in.

Remember, commenting on blogs is a great way to get your name out there on the Internet and to possibly get business from other Certified Legal Nurse Consultants. Time to shine!

Get started sharing your tech tip and keep on techin’,

Tom

Those of you who know me well know that my supposed antipathy to Apple^® computers is an act. I think they’re some of the best computers on the market and some of the easiest to use. In the old days of steam-driven hard drives, there wasn’t much interoperability between Mac OS^® and Windows^® operating systems. Well, as time has rolled on my CLNC^® amigos – things have changed.

Today with Microsoft^® Office: Mac, any Mac user can enjoy the fun of Microsoft Office without the pain of the Windows operating system. You can have your cake and eat it too! Or should I say have your Apple? So, I fully recommend Macs to those Certified Legal Nurse Consultants who want one for their business. You just need to be sure that any other software you may want to use is Mac-compatible before you invest your life-savings in an Apple computer.

Now to the real purpose of today’s blog. I’ve heard that some Apple computer users out there aren’t on AT&T and haven’t adopted the iPhone^® as their smartphone of choice. Some of you are still slaved to BlackBerry phones. If you’re one of those Certified Legal Nurse Consultant BlackBerry users who wants to sync their BlackBerry to their Apple computer, just visit the BlackBerry website and download the BlackBerry Desktop Software for Mac. This will give you the ability to sync your contacts, calendars, notes and tasks with certain Mac applications. Now you can stay with the mobile provider of your choice and keep your smartphone up-to-date.

There you have it – you can have an Apple and a BlackBerry at the same time and we can all get along!

Keep on techin’,

Tom

Vickie and I have trained our BlackBerries not to rattle, buzz or make noise when a new email comes in. That way we can concentrate for more than 50 or 60 seconds without an interruption crying out for us to “CHECK THAT EMAIL NOW!!!!!” It allows us to control interruptions and check email only when we want, at our leisure.

In contrast, we have a friend who lives and dies by her BlackBerry^®. It’ll beep, rattle and roll and do everything it can to get her attention every time she gets a text, email or reminder. Talking with her in person (or on a landline) can be frustrating as she’s constantly pulling her BlackBerry out of her hip holster (which isn’t hip at all) to see each obviously very and absolutely important communication she’s just received. You can always tell when you’ve lost her attention (What?).

Even worse, she’s developed phantom rattle. When she’s not wearing her BlackBerry (which is rare) you’ll see her reflexively touch her hip because she’s felt a rattle that isn’t there. Anyone else want to confess to this? But even worse than even worse, she’s confessed to me that if she’s in line at the grocery, post office or OTB counter and there’s no email to read, she’ll play one of the games loaded on her device. Even though I consider her a social person, she won’t talk to people, instead preferring to play games or sometimes even re-read email that she’s already read.

As much as I love tech, there’s a time and a place for tech. Sometimes you just have to put down the phone and drive or walk or wait in line or talk. Do you remember the time before cell phones when people would actually engage in civil discourse while waiting in a line or standing in an elevator? Today people use tech to isolate themselves. Their smart phone becomes an excuse to ignore you. Sorry, but I’m too busy and important to say hello to you – I’ve got email to read.

You never know what opportunity you’re missing when you put your head down and play the 15th level of BrickBreaker instead of engaging in a little “Who do you know who…” or “I’m a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant, what do you do?” Every person you meet is a potential legal nurse consulting lead to a new attorney-client or prospect opportunity. Even if they’re part of the 0.003% of Americans who don’t know an attorney (I just made up that statistic), they may simply brighten your day or become a new friend.

This week, make it a goal to talk to people and keep your BlackBerry or other smart phone holstered or in your purse while you’re in public spaces. If we all talked to each other a little more, we’d make the world a friendlier place (and safer to walk and drive around in). In the meantime, stop updating your Spacebook, MyFace and Twister accounts and actually tell a real person what you’re doing and what you do. You’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Keep on techin’,

Tom

Time for another CLNC^® sound off! Not having learned my lesson from last week, once more into the unknown I go, my CLNC^® amigos. Vickie and I have been Blackberry users for so long I can hardly remember a time without omnipresent email, calendar and contacts. So, it’s with a certain amount of fear and trepidation that I bring up the fact that we’ve outgrown our current Blackberries and are looking for the next best thing.

That’s where Certified Legal Nurse Consultants come in. I’ve heard raves about the Blackberry Bold^®, seen the myriad of zombie-like minions tapping and sliding away on their iPhones like Alice-the-Goon from Popeye while muttering, “I love Steve Jobs, I love Steve Jobs.” I even listened to a friend describe his Droid with a near-religious fanaticism. This has left me up in the air about what I should choose for Vickie and my next phones.

The Blackberry tends to be the smartphone of choice for many business users and even regular people. Go to a Little League^® game here in our hood and just about every parent there is busy emailing each other their schedules and updates, but the Blackberry Enterprise software has a propensity to cause synchronization problems for business users who live and die by their calendars.

iPhones stubbornly refuse to multitask, are slaves to AT&T coverage area and have such a high “cool” factor that they’re rapidly becoming “uncool,” but that doesn’t stop me from wanting one. Droids seem to have been adopted entirely by the “geek” class which, believe it or not, includes me out. That’s why I’m asking you for your help.

Let me know what smartphone you use and why you like it or dislike it. Do you use it to surf the Internet or not, do you email, text, keep your calendar on it, etc? Tell me how the sound quality is when you’re making a phone call. If you’ve had issues that have caused you to switch phones, I’d like to know what they were. I don’t want to hear any complaining about a particular carrier, their customer service or anything else. I only want to hear concrete and real advice regarding the iPhone, Blackberry and Droid or another choice. Remember I’m counting on your feedback for making my purchasing decision.

Hurry! Here’s your chance – ready, set, go!

Help keep me techin’,

Tom

Read Part 1. Read Part 3.

Tip #6

Check the “To:” line before you send and don’t hit “Reply to All” unless you know who “all” really is. This is a great way to send an email to the wrong people (perhaps even the opposing side). If you use the “auto-fill” feature for addresses it will fill in the email addresses as you start typing. If you have any attorney-clients with similar names, you need to be extra careful. Only “Cc:” someone if they need to be copied. Be careful with the use of “Bcc:.” Once you send an email, you lose control over who it is forwarded to and what changes can be made in the body/content as it’s forwarded. Attorneys like to know who is being included on their correspondence so using “Bcc:” to show your friends how important you are is a bad move.

Tip #7

Remember that once you send it, you can’t call it back. Email has almost no ability to be recalled. In other words when you click “send” it’s off to its final destination, errors and all. We’ve all sent an email while feeling angry or upset about something and then wished we hadn’t. If you think you’re being a little strong, take a few minutes between finishing the typing and hitting send. Then come back and review it to make sure you really want to send it as is.

Tip #8

Irony, sarcasm and humor aren’t always readily apparent in an email. Remember that the reader can’t hear your tone of voice or see that you were smiling while you wrote the communication. They may misinterpret your communication in a way you did not expect.

Tip #9

Go ahead and break the chain. No one will die. It’s time to stop forwarding those “urgent pleas” for peace on earth, save the whales or other chain letter emails that would be debunked after a visit to Snopes.com. Your seven best friends or legal nurse consultant subcontractors have probably already deleted that same email without sending it to you, so return the favor. If you don’t know the kind of emails I’m talking about I can send you a few so you’ll get the idea.

Tip #10

Don’t forward jokes, even if you think they’re hilarious. Not everyone shares the same sense of humor and not everyone has a sense of humor (I can personally think of two attorneys and a doctor that I’ve never heard laugh – ever). A joke you might find funny will be offensive to someone else and you risk appearing unprofessional. If you do send the joke, spell check it first (unless that’s part of the joke). Just joking. DO NOT send jokes.

Tip #11

Remember, many attorneys didn’t grow up texting, so don’t think every attorney is familiar with those goofy acronyms your 14-year-old uses in her text messages. OMG that’s SHR2B trouble. While you’re at it, don’t use smileys or other cutesy emoticons either. You risk looking like an amateur. You wouldn’t put them in a business letter – don’t use them with your attorney-clients (save them for communications with your kids).

Tip #12

Close your email with a signature. Email signature files are a great way to do a little more branding. Your signature should contain your name, credentials, title and phone number (so you don’t have to type it each time) and can also include your legal nurse consulting company name, address, a confidentiality statement or whatever you want. Outlook^® allows multiple (selectable) signatures because not every email is created equally. I have one signature with a confidentiality statement, another that has my full over-the-top branded “Wall Street Journal Bestselling Author, Inc. 5000, etc.” information, one that says “DO IT NOW” (just kidding – but it’s a good idea) and a simple one I use on internal email that just says, “Thanks, Vickie.” If you have a BlackBerry^®, change the signature from the one that reads “Sent from my BlackBerry^® while sitting in traffic” to a text version of your full signature. If you’re using signatures, use your full signature on the first email and an abbreviated one on replies and on daily correspondence. It’s time consuming to have to scroll through a lot of full signatures to review the meat of an email thread that’s gone back and forth.

Tip #13

Separate your private life from your legal nurse consulting business with separate email accounts. Use the branded email for your company and business communications. Set up an account with your Internet service provider or one of the free email services like Gmail, live.com or Yahoo! for your personal email. That way when you do send that ROFL Cats email (Bing! it) to everyone in your address book, it won’t go to your attorney-clients too.

Success Is Inside!

P.S. Comment and share your tips for professional email communications.