I know this is old news to many internet junkies, but I stumbled upon Merlin Mann’s video a few days ago called “Inbox Zero.” I thought the video was extremely enlightening concerning maintaining a clean and healthy mail processing system.

Basically, if you have a lot of messages in your inbox that you are not able to deal with, watch this video. It may help. It has helped me out quite a bit. ;)

Watch the video here.

Lately I have had many customers ask me about the best way to share files (with me) that are too large to send via email. While there are many ways to do this (ftp, sftp, box.net, etc…), I have begun to prefer the free service DropBox. DropBox is more than just a file sharing tool. It can keep files and folders synchronized between multiple computers, their own secure internet website, and multiple DropBox users. It is also fairly multi-platform in that it is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux. Thus using DropBox will not only make it easy to share files between people, it can become an extremely valuable tool for one’s daily routine.

Simple Tutorial

To facilitate sharing files between myself and my customers I have created a very simple tutorial to get started with DropBox and file sharing. This tutorial is very simplified and the easy to follow DropBox help system should be consulted for more information.

Using DropBox to Synchronize Files between multiple computers

Keeping files and folders synchronized between multiple computers is extremely easy. You need only to sign up for a free DropBox account (here) and install DropBox on all the computers you wish to sync too. Then simply drag files and folders into your “DropBox folder” and your files will automatically be synchronized.

Using DropBox to File Share

Using DropBox to share files is a bit complex to set up, but once set up it will become an extremely easy way to share files in the future. For example, to create a file share, simply instruct the other person to sign up to a free DropBox account (here), install the software, and alert you. Then sign into the DropBox website and choose the “Sharing” tab.

Next click the “Share a folder” button:

Then simply instruct DropBox to create a new folder (or user an existing DropBox folder):

Finally, type the email addresses of the persons you wish to share with and click “Share Folder.”

Once the other people have elected to accept the file share, you may simply drag files and folders into the newly created Shared Folder inside of your DropBox folder and those files will be automatically sent to all the shared persons. It’s that easy.

Conclusion

DropBox is an easy to use tool which facilitates securely synchronizing files and folders between multiple computers, people, and the internet. I highly recommend trying out the free service.

To sign up for a free DropBox account please follow this link.

As many of you know (and have been praying for me; thanks!), last week I embarked on my first trip to an Orthodox monastery. Many of the OCA priests in the Diocese of the South love and are loved by the monks at Holy Archangels Greek Orthodox Monastery in Kendalia Texas, and thus many recommended that this monastery be the first one that I should travel to.

The monastery is located in the beautiful heart of Texas hill country about 70 miles southwest of Austin. They have ~140 acres of land and are currently constructing a new monastery complex which can only be described as “epic” and “breathtaking.”

One of the first things I noticed when I arrived was the deafening silence. It was so quiet that my ears hurt for the first few days because they were not use to the lack of sound pressure on them. This atmosphere along with amazingly docile wildlife (dear would come right up to you), and incredibly beautiful night skies created a majestic scene which fostered great peace and great prayer. Coupled along with warm and friendly monks, beautiful and intimate early morning liturgies, long prayerful walks, and good hard manual labor, I for the first time found myself in a place where I could put away all the thoughts and worries of modern life and just pray. It was quite amazing and refreshing!

In fact, I believe it was the first vacation I have ever taken where I felt completely rested. Usually when I arrive home from a trip I feel like I need a vacation from my vacation. But this trip proved to be just the opposite. As an example: I walked around the grounds for 2 hours after I said my goodbyes to the monks merely because I really did not want to leave such a wonderful place. Even more, for the first 30 minutes after leaving the monastery I had to wage an internal ware on whether or not I would turn the car around. If it was not for prior engagements in Dallas that day I’m not sure if I would have had the willpower to leave.

Nevertheless I truly enjoyed my stay and I look forward to my next visit. Please enjoy some pictures from the monastery.

Note: I took pictures right before leaving and could not gain access to any of the chapels during that time, so pictures from the most breathtaking parts of the monastery were not included below. Sorry. ;)

This year we had a successful Thanksgiving at our house. There was much fun to be had by all. All of my uncles on my dad’s side of the family were able to make it, and I was amazed at the things my uncle James could pull out of my cousins (he’s 6) ears. :)

I hope that your Thanksgiving was as enjoyable as mine!

Last week I had an article featured on bmcferrell.com. This article was written as a guide to finding a good web designer in a sea of poor designers. Please check it out here.