Guilt-free vacation, part I: free your inner workaholic

by Tom Johansmeyer on

If you haven’t read about how to screw-off and look good while you’re on vacation, check out yesterday’s article. This is what you’re up against. The workaholic invests even vacation time in career success, and to look like that white-collar stud, you need to deliver beyond the appearances of your lazy, poseur coworkers.

But, you will.

When you get to the office, you see opportunities rather than work. You feel high when you pull the proverbial bunny from a hat. You love this shit. You live by it. You need it.

Your family, on the other hand, has no interest in your latest corporate conquest while you’re supposed to be playing water volleyball with them. They get angry because you can’t get away from your Blackberry. They love you, and they want to spend time with you.

So, you need a plan.

The next two days are for you. The Gadling team has come up with some amazing ways to work your ass off while you’re supposed to be relaxing without incurring wrath from spouse or child. As always, leave a comment and share your ideas. There’s got to be some great stuff out there.

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1. Use the plane wisely
This one’s obvious but important. While you are en route to your destination, you have a rare chance to get away with working when there are no competing priorities. Use it.

2. Build layovers into your travel plans
This is free work time! Pick up a wireless connection, and plug into a power outlet while the kids find an ancient Pac-Man machine. Bring plenty of quarters with you.

3. Get up early; go to bed late
When nobody else is awake, you aren’t depriving them of your time. Block of an hour or so at the beginning and end of every day. You’ll be able to crank out some great stuff for the office, and nobody in the room with you will care.

4. Piss frequently
When you dash into the bathroom, you have a few minutes to pluck away at your Blackberry. Drink a lot of water to add credibility. The easiest lies to maintain are actually truths.

5. Smoker, non-smoking room
Not only do they smell better, non-smoking rooms give you a chance to step outside for a bit. Bring your laptop. To get the most from this approach, also bring a cigar … a big one.

6. Waiting in line
Need to kill 45 minutes at Disney World? Take a call; work your Blackberry; review a document. There’s nothing else to do anyway. Bonus points: time your arrival at a long line to coincide with a conference call.

7. Set expectations up front
If there are some pressing issues at the office that you just can’t avoid, prepare the family. Let your spouse know that you may have to duck out for a bit. Be as specific as possible (e.g., provide conference call times). Don’t get greedy, though. Keep the calls to a minimum.

8. Look like you’re relaxing
Print documents you’ll need and bring them to the pool or beach. Tuck them in a magazine. Vanity Fair is thick enough that you can “lose” almost anything in it.

9. Forward your e-mail
If you can’t access your corporate e-mail account from the road, have it forwarded to your personal account. Let your colleagues know that they can reach you this way and to expect to hear from you using a different address.

10. Make all day “think time”
Take notes on your projects before you leave. Review them in the morning, and take the entire day to mull them over. You can be productive without looking like you’re working.

If you need more than this, fear not. Tomorrow, we’ll bring a few more tips to you. Before you know it, your family will think you can cut your ties to the office, and none of your coworkers will realize you aren’t at your desk.

Have you seen yesterday’s post yet?

Fear-free vacation, part II: look busy while you recharge

by Tom Johansmeyer on

If you haven’t read the first 10 suggestions for looking busy without actually working on vacation, check out yesterday’s post. If you’ve already been there, let’s keep pushing ahead. We have even more for you today, thanks to the slothful talents of me and the rest of the Gadling team. Leave it to a group of bloggers to find so many ways to look hardcore without actually lifting a finger that it takes two days to get it all out. Many thanks, in particular, to Scott Carmichael, who looked like he was working overtime to show you how to look like you’re working overtime.

1. Conference calls make you look good
Try to attend a few conference calls while you’re on the road. Dial in, and put your phone on mute. Light up a cigar, pour a drink, or lounge on the beach with a book. At the beginning of the call, mention that you’re in a public place (because you’re on vacation) and can’t contribute too much because you don’t want to broadcast proprietary information.

2. Phone around the office
Randomly call people with whom you work about things you’d normally discuss with them. Don’t raise any heavy issues – stick to quick questions.

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3. Pick the right background noise
If the person on the other end of the phone can hear the beach or the half-naked coed from whose taut stomach you’re about to lick some alcoholic concoction, you’re making a mistake. Turn off the jets for a second, and call from your in-room hot tub.

4. Instant message games
If the company uses an internal instant message system, be logged on as much as possible. When you leave your room, put up an “unavailable” message that doesn’t reflect your vacation. “Grabbing a quick bite” and “back in a few” are just vague enough.

5. Put social media to work for you
Do any of your coworkers follow you on Twitter? Pop an occasional update like “Just realized what this report needs!”

6. Craft an effective “out of office” message
Mention that you’ll be out – give a time zone but not necessarily a location – and mention that you’ll be checking e-mail and voicemail periodically. Provide details on how to reach you “in an emergency.”

Have you taken a look at yesterday’s post yet?

Fear-free vacation, part I: look busy while you recharge

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Many are afraid to take vacations these days, according to a recent study by Challenger, Gray & Christmas. The 200,000 layoffs in the United States in January alone underscore the importance of looking essential in the workplace. But, you can’t push on forever. Fatigue will catch up with you, and you’ll just need a break. Instead of skipping your vacation and burning out – or taking your trip and worrying the whole time – just look busy. Get credit for being a committed company guy without actually getting committed.

It’s not hard to look busy in the wired age. Armed with a laptop, Blackberry and easy access to the web, you can swap e-mails, review documents and stay on top of your workload. This, however, is exactly what you should not be doing. That’s action work – which you need to avoid for a bit. So, instead of being a slave to your devices, the advice below to look like a machine even when your mind couldn’t be farther away from the office.

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1. Take care of the easy stuff fast
Yes, this involves doing work … but it’s easy work. If you see an e-mail that doesn’t take a whole lot of brain power to answer, click away at the keyboard. You’ll look responsive, helpful and generally in touch.

2. Buy time
For more involved questions, reply quickly with something like, “Give me a few days to wrap my head around this. Can we catch up when I get back?” Again, you look engaged, even though you really give less than a damn about your colleague’s needs.

3. Save some e-mails for later
You don’t have to reply to all the easy messages right away. Put some off until right before you go to bed. It’ll look like you’re blocking out time late at night to address company issues.

4. Reply from your laptop
If the recipient gets an e-mail from your laptop (rather than your Blackberry), the e-mail signature should show the difference. Even if you clear the “Sent by Blackberry” message from your account, you won’t have the benefit of your sig line – name, address, phone number, etc. Someone will notice the difference. Using your laptop means your laptop is open (duh) … and implies that you’re on the clock.

5. Hold back some productivity
Everybody tries to tie up loose ends before going on vacation (or should). The mistake they make, though, is sending everything before they leave. Save some stuff to send when you arrive at your destination and hint that you took care of it on the plane.

6. Print a tree’s worth of documents
When you do this, make sure people at the office see you. It’ll look like you’re bulking up for the flight.

7. Check in
Don’t be too showy. Shoot a simple e-mail to your boss, asking, “Anything blowing up I need to know about?”
Risk: The answer may be “yes.”

8. Schedule your e-mail
If you’re running on certain e-mail systems, you can schedule messages to send at a specific time. Use this to push e-mails while you’re on the beach, at the bar or in the spa. Be careful, though, as someone may reply.

9. Make up a contact
Here it goes: “I met this really interesting [choose profession]. We spent half a day by the pool talking about [something relevant to your job].” Then, tell your boss you need a few days to digest it. If he remembers – or cares – about what you were “digesting,” just say that your company “isn’t there yet” and sigh or roll your eyes.

Not enough for you? Don’t worry, this is just the beginning. We’ll have more tomorrow!

Daily deal – Targus notebook accessories kit for $9.99

by Scott Carmichael on

My daily deal for today is for the Targus Mobile Essentials notebook accessories kit.

Included in the kit is a wireless optical mouse, a pocket USB 2.0 hub, a USB numeric keypad and 2 different pocket surge protectors (a must have in my opinion).

The kit usually retails for around $40, but Frys.com has it on sale for just $9.99. As with all Fry’s items; you can place an order to be shipped to you, or you can save the $6 shipping and order online for pick up at your local Fry’s store.

The kit contains all the parts you need to work more efficiently on your laptop when you are traveling, and the pocket sized components mean you won’t be adding too much bulk to your luggage. If you plan to use your laptop anywhere with sketchy electricity, then the surge protectors could be a real lifesaver as they’ll help protect your cherished laptop from all kinds of nastiness.

What is a Netbook? And why should you care?

by Scott Carmichael on

In some of my previous posts, I dropped the term “Netbook” a couple of times, but an email from one of our readers made me realize I never really explained what a Netbook is.

Of course, since this is Gadling, I’ll not only explain what it is, but I’ll also explain how a Netbook can help you on the road, or how it can help you travel lighter.

The short version of the “Netbook” description is that it is a small portable computer, designed mainly with Internet access in mind. Netbooks are low power, low weight and (usually) low cost.

So, what makes the Netbook special, and why should you care?
The first (current generation) Netbook was introduced in 2007 by Asus and was called the “Eee PC”. Asus claimed that the Eee was Easy to learn, Easy to work and Easy to play, hence the slightly silly name.

The first Eee was an instant success, and forced every other major manufacturer to design their own little machine.

Anyone who has been around computers for more than 8 or 9 years will have a weird sense of déjà vu, as this sudden comeback of small computers is nothing new. Back in 1998 most companies had at least one small computer in their lineup, including one from British PDA designer Psion, called the Netbook.

What can a Netbook do?

Essentially, everything about the Netbook is perfect for people who travel. The machines are lightweight, they use fairly low power components which increases battery life, they are small enough to be used in a cramped coach seat. Most of them are also very affordable.

A Netbook can be found from most major retailers for as little as $299. In fact, the Netbook craze has taken off so well, that they make up 9 of the top 10 selling computer products at Amazon.com at the moment.

As a computer geek, I took an instant liking to Netbooks, and have to admit that my small machine has pretty much replaced my trusty (and bulky) laptop on the road. My Netbook has a 160GB hard drive, a 10″ screen, and can run any application I need, including some heavy multimedia applications like Slingplayer. With the built in webcam, I can make video calls.

Most Netbooks have at least one card reader slot, making them perfect for copying photos off your digital camera, and keeping them safe.

What can’t a Netbook do?

With their huge popularity, you’d expect Netbooks to be the perfect solution for every computer task. There are however still some things you can’t really do with a Netbook.

Gaming – Don’t worry, you’ll still be able to play Solitaire and Minesweeper on a Netbook. Just don’t expect to be able to run graphics intensive games. Many games will also run into problems with the relatively low resolution of the Netbook screen.

Multimedia – almost everything you can do on a “normal” computer will still work just fine on a Netbook. This includes iTunes, Windows Media player and most other media playing applications. A Netbook will have no problems playing large video files, but files in HD quality may be a tad too demanding for the graphics chip inside the machine. Because Netbooks are small, you won’t find a DVD player in them, so if you need to watch DVD’s, you’ll need to “rip” the movie to your hard disc, or purchase an external DVD drive (which pretty much defeats the purpose of a small machine).

There are plenty of other things Netbooks are not very good at – depending on the brand and model of Netbook you purchase, you may get a machine with a fairly small keyboard, so don’t plan to write your next bestseller on it. Also, folks with poor eyesight may find the small screens to be a bit too small, it is just another price you pay for having a light machine.

Picking a Netbook

When you start considering the purchase of a Netbook, you need to ask yourself whether you can live with the limitations the machine presents.

Most Netbooks are often in the same price range of a regular notebook, and that regular notebook has a much larger screen, a DVD drive, full size keyboard and more.

Let me give you a closer look at one of the most popular Netbooks on the market at the moment, the $349 Acer Aspire One:

This machine weighs just 2.3lbs and has an 8.9″ screen with a resolution of 1024×600 pixels. The Aspire One runs on an Intel Atom processor, at 1.6GHz.

The Aspire One is available in several “flavors”; with a solid state hard drive, or with a standard hard drive.

When you start shopping for a Netbook, your first choice will be whether you want a Linux based machine, or Windows. My personal opinion is that while Linux may be a cheap option, it really does not make sense to learn an entirely new operating system when the Windows XP option is just a few bucks more.

The second choice you’ll need to make involves the hard drive. The cheapest options usually involve solid state drives (referred to as SSD). SSD drives are pretty new in the consumer market, and their size is usually limited to about 8 or 16GB. If you plan to use your machine for nothing more than some basic web browsing and email, then the SSD drive will be just fine. If you need to store large files like movies or music, then you will most certainly want to consider a regular hard drive. These drives usually start around 80GB up to 160GB in most Netbooks.

One other advantage of SSD drives is that they are more shockproof than conventional hard drives, since they don’t use any moving parts.

Finally, but just as important; you will need to carefully select a battery. Most machines come with a three cell battery pack, which is good enough for about 2-3 hours of work. If you are often stuck in coach without a power port, then that may not be long enough. If you need more power, you’ll have to find yourself a Netbook with a 6 cell battery. This power source should last up to 5 hours, but there is a trade off; the battery pack adds a lot of weight and bulk to the machine, and these 6 cell packs often stick out the back by an inch or more. Another solution is to carry an external battery pack, like those offered by APC. Of course, with a larger battery, you once again lose a lot of the benefits of a nice small machine.

So there you have it; a Netbook is a small laptop, nothing more and nothing less. But it is without a doubt the biggest thing to happen in computers all year. In just 12 months, we went from one model Netbook, to well over 50. If you travel a lot, and you’d like to shave a couple of pounds off your carry-on bag, then a Netbook may be the perfect solution for you.