There’s nothing like the front seat view from a Cessna to really help you gain some perspective on life! Particularly when the flight takes you over Federation Peak and the Western Arthurs in Tassie’s southwest wilderness.

Last week, a pilot friend took a mate and I for a morning’s flight over our rugged and spectacular wilderness before landing on the gravel strip at Melaleuca where I breathed that pristine air loaded with bushwalking memories.

This was my first visit down that way - in this way - with me at the controls of the plane! The digital camera got a real workout, with nearly two hundred photos and movies to show the family.

Of course photos don’t come close to the full experience. The colour is never as vivid as you remember and those aerial shots are full of window reflections, but hey, what were YOU doing last Tuesday morning!

This month’s tips start off a little photo-centric, as we take a look at Adobe’s new online photo storage facility and find some easy ways to shrink those photos for easy emailing, as well as look at some simple steps to data recovery, stripping unwanted formatting from text and visit a useful site offering free online user guides.

Enjoy!

Now this is a topic close to my heart … well, my head actually … as I write these tips I find myself with a real corker of a head cold. So let’s get medical for a sec …

FICTION: Men are wimps and complain more about a cold than anyone else in the family.

FACT: Men, being the pillars of society that we are, have the strength to ward off all but the nastiest germs. By the time we catch the cold it has developed into a special super strain that IS WORSE than anyone else in the family had!

FICTION: Because of this, men seek and get more sympathy than other family members.

FACT: We have it tough! A Scottish survey found 72 percent of women believe men make an unnecessary fuss when they’re sick, and 22 percent of women said men expected to be nursed. Only 12 percent of the woman said they felt sorry for them.

With that off my chest, we’ll go on this month to look at viruses of the IT type, a HUGE cost-saver if you have family overseas, a time-saver for one of those apparently simple tasks, and a life-saver when it comes to protecting the life blood of your work - your email.

Enjoy!

You may recall my story last month of crossing the bow of the QE2 during our mid-week twilight race. Instead of recounting a similar experience from last night, I need to tell you about my dog Nitro!

Sitting on the (upstairs) deck for a Good Friday early morning coffee, Nitro starts barking at some birds. Now unfortunately, and much to my intense frustration, he has just recently worked out that if I yell at him from the deck - and he ignores me - well, I’m too far away to do anything. So he ignores me!

My frustration becomes too intense, and I race downstairs to … explain it to him! Too fast. Half way down, the stairs and I part ways, I don’t ever get to Nitro, and spend the balance of the day at Casualty.

Nitro - one : Dog rage - zero! Nothing broken, but an “acute ankle sprain” has given me less time for sailing, and more time to trawl the Net for useful business tools.

Enjoy this months Tips and Tricks!

I was sailing this week in our mid-week twilight race. During the race the QE2 departed our port for the final time, as she now makes her way toward retirement as a floating Casino in Dubai.

When two boats are heading toward each other, if the other boat is slipping backwards against the horizon, then you’re going to cross in front of her; if she’s moving ahead against the horizon, then she’ll cross in front of you; if she’s stationary, then it time to think creatively! I have to say, when you look up at the bow of the QE2, there isn’t that much horizon left to use that little trick!

Safely cross in front we did, and then tacked and ran along side this majestic ship. She still looks as grand and stately and regal as she did in 1969 when she made her maiden voyage. What a way to spend a Wednesday night!

I mention this, because with the useful utilities, tweaks and other time savers I have for you in this month’s tips and tricks, maybe you can crib back just enough of those precious minutes to have the chance to need to think creatively too!

No, this isn’t a newspaper, but what a good story! Photos sent from the mobile phone of a hiker lost with two teenagers in a Victorian national park were instrumental in rescuers finding the trio. Read more

My son left a Christmas list on the kitchen bench over the weekend – an MP4 player, MP3 player, iPod, laptop and phone – he’s only seven!

Technology is becoming a natural part of everyday life, for a younger and younger age group. Ideas that are still over the horizon today are the tools that the next generation will grow up taking for granted. Read more

My wife, Jacqui, went to Canada recently on family business. Keeping in touch with the kids with regular communication back home was absolutely paramount. The B&B that Jacqui was booked to stay at had no phone available but did provide an internet connection, so taking a laptop was an obvious choice for staying in touch. Read more

I was at the birthday party for the son of a mate recently. In an effort to avoid some of the noise and confusion of “pass the parcel”, I struck up a conversation with one of the other dads in a quiet corner. As he quizzed me about work, I was on a roll with the usual pat answers about web design and IT consultation, when he caught me out with a question from left field “so in such a rapidly changing area, how on earth do you keep across everything and up to date with the latest?”
Read more