AndrewJHScott

Firefox 3 is out and should be your default browser. It's fast and thanks to the huge range of add-ons you can have all your favourite tools to hand.
Here's my favourite add-ons:
Aging Tabs - highlights the tab you're viewing and darkens the others
Download Status Bar - gets rid of the pop-up download box and manages your downloads in your status bar
FlagFox - shows (with a flag) the location of the server hosting the site you're viewing
IE Tab - lets you switch your rendering engine to Internet Explorer in the selected tab - so you can view pages in IE without leaving Firefox. Fantastic for using Exchange OWA.
Foxmark Bookmark Synchroniser - but only until Google updates its browser sync which is really seamless.

I've just added the Qik player to the site (see right hand block). Qik allows you to stream your phone camera to the web and embed a player on your site. Works surprisingly well with not much delay between streaming the video and seeing it live on your site. You can contact them to get the full list of supported phones - works on my Samsung i600 running Windows Mobile 6.0 Standard.

So I'm back on Exchange and it's still the best solution for syncing your mail, calendar, contacts and tasks...but then along comes Apple and once again shows everyone how to pull together a great service, make it look good and make a small bundle from it.
Apple has launched MobileMe which takes the basics of Exchange - syncing your mail, calendar and contacts - and adds photos and files, and PC/Mac/mobile support.
In short it replaces the need for Exchange, plus the other sync solutions like Dropbox, Sugarsync, Syncplicity, Foldershare and others.
Now it's all yet to be proven and maybe there will be good reason to keep some of the individual services (and I'm sure Exchange will prevail for the enterprise in the meantime) but to me it just proves that Apple gets it.
They overtook 10 years of Windows Mobile development when they launched the iPhone (and I'm a Windows Mobile user...) and now they've shown Microsoft how to make Exchange plus sync into a consumer service. Microsoft has all the indivual tools with Foldershare, Skydrive and the forthcoming Mesh platform - but they've all been there for a long time. Apple is going to sell a lot of MobileMe accounts and lock a lot of consumers in. I might even join them.

I recently decided I'd had enough of the latest versions of Outlook, Office and Vista. So I uninstalled the lot (well, I had to leave Vista on my office desktop but it's gone from my laptop) and gave Google a try.
I transferred all my email accounts to Google Mail and set up my Google Calendar. I even looked at setting up Google Apps but ran out of enthusiasm for verifying my domain with the service.
But a week later and I'm back on Outlook although I've stuck with OpenOffice 3 beta and XP on my laptop.
The simple reasons is that nothing else compares currently to how good Exchange is at syncing across PCs, mobile devices and the web. I use Sherweb to host a Microsoft Exchange account (excellent pricing and 3GB mailbox) and run Outlook on my desktop and laptop, synced to my Samsung Windows Mobile phone and with Outlook Web Access to use anywhere. You even get a free hosted Sharepoint account thrown in.
The main point about Exchange is that it's seamless - I can edit anything, anywhere and I know it will be synced across all the devices I use. I think Google or someone else needs to achieve the same thing - of course I may be missing a service out there that does all this but I don't think so.
So it's Microsoft for a bit longer...

I'm a fan of elements of the 7 Habits and Getting Things Done - I like applying their methodologies to trying to fit everything in to my life.
I came across another site and methodology - Zen Habits. As with the other two there'll be things that don't work for you but even if you find a couple of things that help you get organised and help you to spend time on the things that matter - that has to be a good thing.
I use a combination of the 7 Habits to think about the various roles I perform (father, consultant, contributer, etc) and GTD to try and get through the ever increasing list of tasks I seem to have.
I've just started to read the Zen Habits; it seems practical advice. Hope it works for you.

Had my first Kiva loan repaid this week. It's such a fantastically great way of using the web do achieve positive things on a global scale. In short Kiva facilitates micro lending to entrepreneurs around the world. Typically needy people in deprived locations who are running their own small businesses to provide their income. Kiva brings together multiple lenders for each loan, you can see who else is lending and review progress on loan repayments.
It just feels good. And better still you don't have to get out of your chair to be doing something positive.

Because Kiva does not subtract any of the lenders funds for administration they're always grateful for any donations - here's their Amazon wishlist for stuff they need around the office and out in the field.

While I'm on the topic of LinkedIn; I have a great way of staying updated with everything happening in your network of LinkedIn connections.
Firstly you need to be using RSS feeds to stay in touch with EVERYTHING that is going on around the world...(maybe another post on RSS generally soon)...then you can add your LinkedIn Network Updates as a feed and get updated anytime anyone adds a connection, connects to you or does anything else significant (not entirely sure what that would be).
It's a great prompt for staying in touch and up to date...and I especially love it when someone connects to a couple of recruitment contacts or headhunters - pretty good sign that a job move is coming up.
Sign in to LinkedIn and click on Account & Settings and RSS Settings.

Thanks to LinkedIn I just noticed that Alison Berry runs a website called Ideal Present that helps you select and buy presents for children under 10.
Like most searches you need to put a little effort into registering and entering details about the child, but the payback is a list of relevant and interesting presents that you can click through to and buy.
They also promise that at least 10% of their profits will go to charitable causes including our own St John's efforts with children in the Egham area.
So - get great presents, support local business and know that you're also contributing to worthwhile causes.

Continuing my cycle through most Windows Mobile  based phones...I have now  changed to a Samsung i600. Not necessarily the latest and greatest nor my first choice (see this Motorola) but with the deal that Expansys had plus a bit of downloading you couldn't go wrong.
Firstly Expansys were offering the i600 for £99.95 - as an Orange branded but unlocked phone. Combine this with the latest version of Windows Mobile Standard via the excellent post here and you have a great deal.
The best part of the phone is the Samsung 'card wheel' home page that gives you a nice scroll through all your favourite contacts, appointments, photos, music and profiles.