Archive for the ‘Productivity’ Category

Recognise this man?

It’s Martin Lewis… the ‘Money Saving Expert’ of course! We love Martin, and his ‘consumer revenge’ campaign. We think he keeps a lot of the big (and sometimes complacent) companies on their toes, which can only be a good thing.

We’re going to see Martin tonight, at a ‘one off’ show in London called ‘Money Saving Expert Live’. So in the spirit of saving everyone a few pennies, we thought we would develop a ‘money saving shopping list’ based on the advice Martin gives on his website.

It’s a very easy to use ‘tick box’ affair.. simply tick the items you need in advance, and then cross ithem out as you shop (as if we needed to explain how to use a shopping list to anyone).  Anyway, the list is printer friendly, and is designed to fit nicely on A4 paper.

You can download the list by clicking on the link below. It’s completely free of course… please feel free to copy it and distribute it to your friends, colleagues, and family.

Shopping List

Oh, and don’t forget to let us know what you think in the comments section!

We’re assuming that most of our readers are aware of something called Google streetview by now (if not, then where have you been?). Anyway, as you will (or won’t) know… it’s a handy feature of Google maps that allows you to view 360 degree panoramas of a particular street or location… all very cool stuff!

Google streetview started in the US a year or so ago… and up until now, only a few major cities across Europe have been photographed.

In order to create the interactive panoramas, Google have invested in a number of especially adapted (rather wacky looking) vehicles with something that looks like a cross between a PA system and a speed camera strapped to the roof. Eagle eyed spotters might have seen some of these cars in the UK … and the good news is that in time, all of the major cities (and maybe a few of the minor ones) will be snapped.

Whilst the UK version of streetview hasn’t officially been released, a new site has been launched that uses the technology (we think it might actually be Google behind the site… using it as a testbed prior to a full launch).

So if you fancy yourself as a budding taxi driver, or you’d simply like to take a virtual tour  of London, then why not visit the Seety site? Once there, simply click on the street you would like to view and interactive photo will pop up.

If you’d like to know more about streetview, you can check out the video tutorial below. We’re not big fans of lycra, we’re not fans or the colour orange… and we’re especially not fans of orange lycra, but if you can stomach the presenter’s tight fitting outfit, then it’s not a bad intro!

Via the Londonist

Whilst February might be a little late to be writing about a year planner, we thought we’d bring this to your attention anyway (especially given the price). US productivity software company Sciral is offering a range of ‘free custom calendars’ on their website. You can download a monthly calendar, year planner, or something they call a ‘life page’ (which plots 100 years on one sheet). The calendars have some configuration options too (for example, you can choose which year you would like to print, or the day of the week you would like the calendar to start on). Once you have selected your preferences, you can download a printer friendly PDF.

Personally we think the year planner will be the most useful item…

www.sciral.com