Free Ways to Synchronize Folders Between Computers

Always I feel frustrated when getting to the office in the morning and realizing I left the most recent copy of an important file — be it a spreadsheet or a power point presentation — on my home computer. When I recently found that there are several free solutions that can automatically sync folders between computers – even over the internet, through office firewalls – no matter what OS in use, I was really thrilled. I feel these two free applications can help to edit the work files at home to magically appear on our PC at the office.

Sync Folders over the Internet with FolderShare (Mac and Windows, Free)

If the two computers we're working with aren't on the same local network and aren't both Windows machines — such as home Mac and office PC — can still sync files between them over the internet using a free service called FolderShare. If you haven't tried out FolderShare yet, sign-in to FolderShare and use download the appropriate FolderShare software to get it set up.

Sync Files to Your PC on a Local Network with SyncToy (Windows only, but can sync to any shared folder)

Free Windows utility SyncToy is a simple tool that synchronizes files between two folders (located on the same PC or on different computers). Download the SyncToy 2.0 beta and install it one PC that will be syncing with another.

The Super Mario Multiverse

Somehow starting my school days Physics was never my favorite subject. But when I came across this video and I was really impressed on creative hypotheses surrounding quantum mechanics with the help of Mario. Here it is for your viewing pleasure.

http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1460832361/bctid1459251959

Top 10 Jackie Chan Stunts

Jackie Chan has been injured on numerous occasions during filming usually from doing his own stunts, and occasionally, these mishaps can be seen as bloopers during the end credits of his films.

How to improve your vision with simple eye exercises and visual habits

Dr. William Bates first published his treatise, The Cure of Imperfect Sight by Treatment Without Glasses, also known as Perfect Sight Without Glasses, in 1920. For easier printing or offline viewing, you can also download the pdf version.

The means to better vision is through relaxing the eyes. Rest makes vision better, strain or effort makes vision worse. There are several ways to rest the eyes as explained in http://www.i-see.org/bates_nutshell.html.

Bye Bye Presbyopia

I’m regularly doing this eye exercise and a great follower of this. I must admit honestly that its really fun doing this and the results are fantabulous. Whoever people I know, I’m encouraging them to do this with the help of Presbyopia Reduction Chart page.

The Free No-Install FTP, FTPS, SFTP and WebDAV Client

AnyClient is a free platform independent file transfer application that supports all major file transfer protocols including FTP/S, SFTP and WebDAV/S. AnyClient is available both as a web based service requiring no software installation, and as a downloadable application that you can install locally.

To launch AnyClient application as a service, click on the Applet. To connect to a site, click the Connect button to display the Site Manager dialog and create a new site profile or connect to an existing site profile.

I tried and it works well. The best part I liked is the credentials are stored only if you want them to be. AnyClient can store a site profile of the sites you connect to locally on your computer. This way the next time you load AnyClient you can quickly connect to any saved site profile.

The Natural Mirror (Salt Flats in Bolivia)

Salar de Uyuni is the world's largest salt flat at 10,582 km² (4,085 square miles). It is located in the Potosí and Oruro departments in southwest Bolivia, near the crest of the Andes, 3,650 meters high. When it is covered with water, the Salar de Uyuni reflects the sky.



The salt is over 10 meters thick in the center. In the dry season, the salt planes are a completely flat expanse of dry salt, but in the wet season, it is covered with a thin sheet of water which makes the most beautiful reflections.



Salar de Uyuni is estimated to contain 10 billion tons of salt, of which less than 25,000 tons is extracted annually.

Prolific Sujatha

I am an avid fan of Tamil writer Sujatha and like many of his fans I was also very sad about his demise. Even though lot of people are writing about their experiences with Sujatha, I read a blog on நாலாவது கண் which is quite interesting as the author has given a different perspective about Sujatha on his experience.

Neil Gaiman's 'American Gods' is now available for online reading....

American Gods is Neil Gaiman's best and most ambitious novel yet, a scary, strange, and hallucinogenic road-trip story wrapped around a deep examination of the American spirit. Gaiman tackles everything from the onslaught of the information age to the meaning of death, but he doesn't sacrifice the razor-sharp plotting and narrative style he's been delivering since his Sandman days.

Browse Inside this book Get this for your site

FLAME – Part II

Once again I am back with FLAME take-away’s. 5-Nov-07 & 6-Nov-07 I attended second stage of FLAME session. You can read my earlier blog on Flame – Part 1. Again like stage I we had two days sessions covering

1. The One Minute Manager
2. Time Management
3. Conflict Management
4. Negotiation Skills

The first session “The One Minute Manager” was handled by Dr Subha & Pradeep. This session was based on “The One Minute Manager” by Dr. Ken Blanchard & Dr. Spencer Johnson. I was able to learn 3 secrets/concepts out this session.

1. One Minute Goals
2. One Minute Praisings
3. One Minute Reprimands

One Minute Goal Setting is simply:

1. Agree on your goals.
2. See what good behavior looks like.
3. Write out each of your goals on a single sheet of paper using less than 250 words.
4. Read and re-read each goal, which requires only a minute or so each time you do it.
5. Take a minute every once in a while out of your day to look at your performance, and
6. See whether or not your behavior matches your goal.

The One Minute Praising works well when you:

1. Tell people right from the start that you are going to let them know how they are doing
2. Praise people immediately
3. Tell people what they did right – be specific
4. Tell people how good you feel about what they did right, and how it helps the organization and the other people who work there.
5. Stop for a moment of silence to let them ‘feel’ how good you feel.
6. Encourage them to do more of the same.
7. Shake hands or touch people in a way that makes it clear that you support their success in the organization.

The One Minute Reprimand works well when you:

1. Tell people beforehand that you are going to let them know how they are doing and in no uncertain terms.

The first half of the reprimand:

2. Reprimand people immediately.
3. Tell people what they did wrong – be specific.
4. Tell people how you feel about what they did wrong – and in no uncertain terms.
5. Stop for a few seconds of uncomfortable silence to let them feel how you feel.

The second half of the reprimand:

6. Shake hands, or touch them in a way that lets them know you are honestly on their side.
7. Remind them how much you value them.
8. Reaffirm that you think well of them but not of their performance in this situation.
9. Realize that when the reprimand is over, it’s is over.

In the afternoon session we had Time Management by Dr Subha. Some of the objectives of this session are:

1. To achieve your goals
2. Feel a sense of control
3. Reduce stress
4. Allocate time to areas that are important to us
5. Feel a sense of balance
6. Reduce effort
7. Enjoy life
8. Feel that we have a choice
9. Be efficient

“Time is the scarcest resource of the manager; If it not managed, nothing else can be managed.” – Peter F. Drucker

Time Management is making wise scheduling decisions which involve self-discipline and delayed gratification.

The following are some of the factors we need to realize why we need to manage our time.

1. To define Key Success Areas
2. To define our goals at home and in work
3. To overcome obstacles which prevent us in doing what we need to do
4. To know our strengths and weakness
5. To learn to set and act on priorities
6. To complete tasks successfully and on time.

The following are some of the symptoms of Poor Time Management:

1. Over confidence
2. Rushing
3. Constantly switching between unpleasant alternatives
4. Fatigue
5. Missed deadlines
6. Insufficient time for rest or personal relationships
7. A sense of being overwhelmed by demands and details having to do what you don’t want to do most of the time

As I mentioned in my earlier FLAME blog, Wheel of Life and Time Management goes together, without proper time management balancing of life will get disturbed.

On second day we had Conflict Management in the forenoon and Negotiation Skills in the afternoon, both session by Ram. These are the two topics I was more interested and looking forward from the beginning of FLAME program.

As part of Conflict Management Ram covered the following:

1. What is a conflict?
2. Temperament Styles (Sanguine, Choleric, Melancholy & Philegmatic)
3. Styles of handling Conflict

As part of handling conflict in different styles, I was able to learn and realize that there is no right way of approaching any conflict. It all depends of the situation and other factors. Ultimately the purpose is to win the conflict or the situation.

With the help of TKI (Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument) test report I was able to understand the behavior in conflict situation along with two basic person’s behavior dimension 1) assertiveness & 2) cooperativeness. These two dimensions of behavior can be used to define five conflict-handling modes as follows:

1. Competing is assertive & uncooperative, a power-oriented mode
2. Collaborating is both assertive & cooperative
3. Compromising is intermediate in both assertiveness & cooperativeness
4. Avoiding is unassertive & uncooperative
5. Accommodating is unassertive & cooperative – the opposite of competing

But always we need to keep in mind and adapt the style Collaborate which is a Win-Win situation. Even though people who are involved in conflict wants to go with Win-Win situation, it is very difficult to follow this in the first place as every individual has got their own style of handling conflict which falls in any of the one mode suggested by TKI. Also you have to keep in mind that depending on the situation stop Overuse of the particular mode and start the possible practicing the Underuse of the particular mode.

The objective of Negotiation Skills is:

1. Understand more about the nature of negotiations.
2. Gain a broad intellectual understanding of the central concepts in negotiation.
3. Improve your ability to analyze the negotiation situation and learn how to develop a strategic plan so as to improve your ability to negotiate effectively.
4. Improve your analytical abilities and your capacity to understand and predict the behavior of individuals, groups, and organizations in competitive situations.
5. Learn how to evaluate the costs and benefits of alternative actions in the negotiation process.
6. Develop a tool kit of useful negotiations skills, strategies and approaches.

I was able to learn the following 5 powers of Negotiations:

1. Resource Power
2. Passion Power
3. Information Power
4. Legitimate or positional Power
5. Personal Power

Whenever we involve in any negotiation, it is really mandatory to use the above said powers to take advantage of the situation.

Another thrilling aspect of session was to know about Principled Negotiation. These 4 principles should be observed at each stage of the negotiation process.

1. Separate the PEOPLE from the Problem
2. Focus on INTERESTS, Not Positions
3. Invent OPTIONS for Mutual Gain
4. Insist of Using Objective CRITERIA

The process begins with the analysis of the situation or problem, of the other parties’ interests and perceptions and of the existing options. The next stage is to plan ways of responding to the situation and the other parties. Finally the parties discuss the problems trying to find a solution on which they can agree.

What if the other party is more powerful? Then we need to develop our B.A.T.N.A (Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement) which is nothing but anticipates as the worst acceptable outcome.

I thoroughly enjoyed these four days with lots of learning. Even though few of these learning I am already following still eagerly waiting to implement my new learning and be an efficient manager. :-)

Jesus Christ Lizard

The Common basilisk {wiki} is a lizard found in Central and South American rainforests near rivers and streams. This clip from National Geographic shows why this lizard has such an unusual nickname.