Ricky Spears’ Blog
Empower. Challenge. Advance.

Archive for the 'General' Category


26
Aug

magicJack Hijacks My Free Conference Calls to 218-339-2500!

My friend Russell turned me on to magicJack about a year or so ago. He also evangelized it to several other people I know and about 4-months ago I decided to buy one myself. I was able to get 5 years of VOIP phone service through my desktop, or laptop when I travel, for under [...]


19
Aug

You’re Training – Whose Responsibility Is It?

It’s not often that I share something here that I write for other blogs. I just published a new article on the SharePoint Solutions blog entitled, “Training – Whose Responsibility Is It?” And no, it’s not an article about SharePoint training.
As an educator, I see all types of people seeking training. Even more so, I [...]


18
Aug

How to Restart, Shut Down, Sleep, and Hibernate Windows Vista through a Remote Desktop Connection (RDP)

When I’m working in my home office, I access my laptop via Remote Desktop (RDP). My desktop has dual monitors and I find it easier to use my laptop this way.
 
My laptop runs Vista Business and one problem I have is that when I need to Shut Down (Turn off) or Restart (reboot) my laptop, [...]


17
Aug

Resolving Problems with New Hard Drive and Slow Boots (BAD_POOL_HEADER)

I recently upgraded the hard drive in my Dell Dimension E210. It came with an 80Gb hard drive and it has served me well for the past 3-1/2 years. However, as I’ve been doing more with audio, especially for the Mindful Worship web site, I’ve been filling it up. I was in a meeting and [...]


31
Mar

My First Two Weeks with the Amazon Kindle 2

I’m just documenting a few notes here that will hopefully be of benefit to someone.
No Page Numbers!
It probably comes as no surprise to my readers that I am goal oriented. I set goals and carefully track my progress. Reading is no exception. When I’m reading a printed book and I start a new chapter, I [...]


18
Mar

My First Day with the Amazon Kindle 2

I’ve been intrigued by the Amazon Kindle 2 for quite some time, but I just couldn’t quite bring myself to shell out the $359 to buy one. Saturday evening, one of my friends posted on her FaceBook status that she was enjoying her new Kindle. This caused me to take another look at the device.
I [...]


19
Jan

Interview with Me on the @Context Podcast Is Live!

It’s hard to believe that I’ve been working with the Getting Things Done methodologies for over six years now. Wow!
When I was first started studying these methodologies I became very active on several of the Getting Things Done online forums and even started one of the popular discussion groups. I met a lot of wonderful [...]


26
Dec

A Public Speaking Workshop in Thomasville, NC

Most of my readers know that I’m very active in my local Toastmasters group. We’re trying to get the word out about an upcoming workshop that is open to the public, so I’m posting it here in case anyone is interested. If you have questions, feel free to ask me. I hope some of you [...]


31
Oct

Review of Personal Development for Smart People by Steve Pavlina

I first met Steve Pavlina probably back in 2003 on the DavidCo discussion boards where many of us gathered to help each other understand and implement David Allen’s Getting Things Done methodologies. I was especially intrigued by some Personal Productivity articles he shared on his Dexterity Software web site. When he started his own Personal [...]


19
Oct

Fund Your Small Business with Your Retirement Savings

With the current drop in our financial markets, I’ve been considering taking some money out of my IRA to invest in my business. Who am I kidding? I first asked my financial advisor about this about two years ago. She had indicated there was a significant tax hit, around 30%-40%, and I just really didn’t [...]

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