Outlook - Send Personally

Desire

A simple way to send out emails to small, select groups of contacts that don't look like they've been broadcast, i.e. the "recipient" is the same as the sender and actual recipients  are "hidden" in the "bcc" field. 

Problems

• People don't like to feel like they've been added to a list without their permission.  
• Sending the same bit of information to a list of, say, 15 to 20 people, is a major hassle if you want to personalize each one.
• Using permission-based email services like Constant Contact is too much work for smaller batches.

Solution

MAPILab's Send Personally Plug-In for Outlook.

Not only can you send each message separately, but you also can personalize them all on the fly;  for instance, you have the option to insert "Dear %USERNAME%" before the first line of your message.

They'll never know it isn't personal.  My percentage of personal, appreciative replies has soared!

Technorati Tags: Widgets,Plug-Ins,Email,communications tools

I didn't type this post

This is going to be very short and sweet. I literally did not "type" this post. I dictated it directly into the Blogger text box. An unusual confluence of events led me to check out the latest and greatest version of some dictation software that I tried and played around with six years ago; it wasn't nearly ready for prime time then. But now the software, Dragon NaturallySpeaking, really rocks!

Don't believe me? Check out the review of the program provided by the good folks over arstechnica.com. This software is really going to change my life.

See your future...be your future

Yep. I'm using quotes from Caddyshack. If it dragged you here, check out your future. It will soon, to paraphrase Jack Latona, be widely distributed:

Webware: Cool web apps for everyone
"Say No to boxed software! The future of applications is online delivery and access. Software is passé. Webware is the new way to get things done."

Cool stuff. It's worth a bookmark.

Mega-Dittoes for "Ditto"

I've found a great free tool for anyone who does a lot of copying and pasting. I've been using Ditto for a few months now. I'm impressed. It is so helpful when researching a topic on line to be able to copy text and URLs on the fly. When I'm ready to compose, everything I've copied is saved for me. Instantly accessible.

Ditto, Clipboard Extension:

"Ditto is an extension to the standard windows clipboard. It saves each item placed on the clipboard allowing you access to any of those items at a later time. Ditto allows you to save any type of information that can be put on the clipboard, text, images, html, custom formats, ....."

The new version, that I just installed makes your clipboard portable. Very cool!

Live forever?

My good friend Jack Latona has gotten himself up on YouTube. Jack started a think tank called The Center for Creating The Future. In the clips I stumbled upon on the web, he discusses the likely fact that medicine and technology are going to extend our lifespans dramatically in the near future.

Jack has been a great sounding board for my ideas over the years and I really appreciate his advice. I'm very impressed with his new endeavors. No need for a word count on this one, I'm not going to count speakers in my stats.

Check him out:

Way to go, Jack!

Technorati tags: Jack Latona, YouTube