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Tech Fun: Slightly Geeky Things to Keep at the Office

10/24/2011 By 88 Comments

Not only do I consider myself a bit of a tech geek, but I specialize in a weird subset of tech geekiness: tech for the office.  These are my top techy things to keep at the office — readers, what do you keep?  (Check out our prior discussions on clothes to keep at the office, as well as food to keep at the office.)

Gadgets


1. Refrigerator — This was one of my all-time favorite tech purchases for my office (and it lasted forever).  I bought a super, super small fridge for my office — so small it could barely fit a six-pack of Coke.  I kept water and soda chilled, as well as cheese sticks, lemon juice, cheese, salad dressing — even leftover food.  You can find them for around $50 (look up “mini refrigerator,” “portable refrigerator,” “travel refrigerator”) and up. [Read more...]

Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Filed Under: Office Supplies, Organization, Tech, Tool of the Trade

The Hunt: Computer Bags and Laptop Sleeves

09/06/2011 By 25 Comments

Sure, we all know what basics professional women are supposed to have in their closets, but if you’re buying one for the first time or replacing one you’ve worn into the ground, it can be a pain to find exactly the right incarnation in stores. In “The Hunt,” we search the stores for a basic item that every woman should have.

It’s been a while since we rounded up cute laptop sleeves and computer bags here at Corporette, and I thought now might be a great time to do it… I find the plain black laptop bags and sleeves so boring!  Readers, have you found any great laptop bags or sleeves? Do you have a preference?

Love, Margaux has some fashionable designs for both a “commuter carryall” (pictured above) and a laptop sleeve (pictured at right).  I really like the fun fabrics in heavyweight cotton, the padding for the laptop, and the multiple compartments for cables and personal things.  The commuter carryall can fit laptops up to 17″; the sleeve up to 15″.
Aleysa Bags are big enough for a 15″ laptop, and have a fun retro vibe in lovely colors like eggplant and kelly green.  They’re $265 at Aleysabags.com. Exquisite Eggplant
Personally, I tend to prefer sleeves to computer bags, and I like these colorful ones from StuffItBag.  They’re handmade, machine washable, and only $30 per bag — and they have bags to fit laptops from 9 inches to 17 inches.
Don’t forget the department stores either — Bloomingdale’s, for example, has a variety of cute sleeves and bags from designers such as Kate Spade (pictured – on sale for $42),Rebecca Minkoff, Diane von Furstenberg, Marc by Marc Jacobs, Moleskine, Juicy Couture, and Harajuku Lovers.
Finally, I always feel like Built is the gold standard — they wear really well, they protect the computer in a lightweight way, and the fun colors makes the bags easy to find in a dark bag.  I’m a huge fan of the Built sleeves, particularly.  Sold at Amazonand Zappos.com. for $20-$90.

Like this feature? Check out other recent installments!
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Filed Under: Office Supplies, Tech, The Hunt

Open Thread: What Are Your Favorite Apps?

07/25/2011 By 95 Comments

iPad2 and AndroidI’ve complained before that I had a dinosaur of a phone — a Treo 755 — due to my loyalty to both Sprint and to my 10+ years of history with a Palm Pilot. I finally bit the bullet and bought a new phone — the Samsung Epic 4G, an Android phone available from Sprint. So far: I really, really, really love it. (Like, really.) The transition from the Palm Pilot to the Android is mostly done, and I have a few favorite Apps to report on.

In other news, I also just purchased an iPad2 from Apple (Apple iPad 2 with Wi-Fi – 32GB – Black) — so now there are even MORE apps for me to learn about. (And yes, I am looking into the viability of a Corporette app — let me know if you guys have any ideas you’d care to share! Just better reading or something more specific? Which other blogs have great apps?)  (Pictured: my new iPad2, my Samsung Epic, and a G2 pen.)

I thought I’d round up some of my favorite apps, and then pose the question to you guys — what are YOUR favorites, either for productivity or play?

(Full disclosure: I’m pretty new to both, as I’ve only had the phone for about six weeks now, and my iPad for about 4 days.) (Oh, and in other terms of disclosure: while I personally paid for all of the products and Apps I’m talking about today, I do own stock in both Google and Apple, for what that’s worth.)

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Tagged With: , , , , , , , , Filed Under: Accessories, Organization, Tech, Travel

Tool of the Trade: ShoppingNotes

06/08/2011 By 89 Comments

shopping notes.indexedWhat’s the best way to find out about online sales?  I always find myself seeing an item of clothing (or bag, or pair of shoes, or…) online and then saying, “Cute, but not at that price.” Of course, sometimes the item is cute enough to just buy outright, but sometimes you’d rather take the chance and wait for a sale. ShoppingNotes is a new-to-me service that tracks the price of an item, and will send you an e-mail alert when the price decreases.

The program, which is still in beta, is pretty easy to use:  You see an item, copy the URL, and then go to ShoppingNotes.com, sign in, and paste the URL.  There’s even a bookmark (which is now on my toolbar) that you can install so you can just see an item and click the bookmark to get set up.  You can set price alerts — I usually just have it set to “alert me to any price change,” but you can change it to “alert me if it drops below price X.”  All of the alerts expire after 30 days, but there’s a single button that you can use to renew them all for another 30 days.

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Filed Under: Fashion, Sales, Tech, Tool of the Trade

How To Use LinkedIn

03/21/2011 By 58 Comments

how-to-use-linked-inWhat is the proper way to use LinkedIn if you’re a junior employee? Has it changed through the past few years?

This came up recently when I linked to a 2008 Corporette post about how to leave an internship — there, I advised interns:

It’s fine to use Facebook or MySpace to connect with the other students you summered with. If you want to, it’s not inappropriate to use LinkedIn to connect, either. However, do not request to become “LinkedIn” with superiors at the company, unless you’d also ask them to recommend you to a future employer — it’s more serious than a casual link, and no one has really had time to assess the other person’s work. Requesting to become linked to an mid-level or senior person you had lunch once or twice with, or wrote a memo for, is really not acceptable.

Do I still agree with this advice? Yes and no. I will say that how I use LinkedIn has changed over the years. In 2008, I remember approving a request from a casual friend I’d known in college. We were never close, I’d never worked with her on a school project, and I hadn’t seen her or talked to her in nearly 10 years. What, I worried, did our connection mean? If she had turned into a poor worker, would that reflect on me? And so from that point on I chose not to approve anyone unless I could vouch for their work.  (Pictured:  Connections, originally uploaded to Flickr by carlaarena.)

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Tagged With: , , Filed Under: Business Etiquette, Career, Internships/Summer Jobs, Just Starting Out, Mid-20s, Networking, Professionalism, Social Media, Tech, Transitions

Time Management, Down to Minutes

02/15/2011 By 89 Comments

Pocket Watch Clock, originally uploaded to Flickr by SvadilfariReader M writes in with a question about time management and billing fun…

There was a discussion a few weeks ago regarding timekeeping methods for those of us enslaved to the billable hour. I would LOVE to see a whole post on this. It’s been a hot topic among the associates at my small firm lately, particularly with the increased scrutiny our bills are getting from clients in the late economic times. What do people use to keep time? How efficient are people? Am I normal to have to spend 10 hours in the office to bill 8, or does that mean (a) I need to stop messing around so much (I’m looking at you, online shopping and Corporette threads!), or (b) I need to bill more aggressively? Any helpful tips on being descriptive in bills (5.9 hours for “organizing files”??)?

Tough question, and I’m very curious to see what the readers have to say.  I remember being told, as a summer associate (many moons ago and in a very different environment than we find ourselves today) that “everyone bills differently — some people get that flash of brilliance on a case in the middle of the night, or in the shower.”  (Um, for the record, I never billed any time for showers or middle-of-the-night-tossing-and-turning — not that work thoughts didn’t ever intrude on “private” time.)  (Pictured: Pocket Watch Clock, originally uploaded to Flickr by Svadilfari.) I’ll also point out that it varies from client to client — some prefer you to bill in quarter hours, others in tenths of the hour; some will let you get away with “Drafted brief” as your description; others will want “Researched and wrote section of brief on copyrightability.” [Read more...]

Tagged With: , , , , Filed Under: Business Etiquette, No Time, Organization, Tech, Tool of the Trade