This is a program you install on your computer that tracks what program has focus throughout the day, and then some. Every application’s usage time is measured, and when using a browser, the time you spend on individual websites is measured as well. With a control panel that lets you categorize every program and specific websites (and group together others), and lets you determine whether that program or website is associated with productive work, or distracting work (or neutral). By default, it knows various websites and programs like Facebook and MSN are distracting, and others like Microsoft Word and Research sites are productive – but you’re free to configure all of that:

As you can see above, I’ve got social networking sites (like FFYa), messengers, and personal email sites listed as distracting or very distracting from my work, and programs and sites that I use for work are listed as productive. There are several websites separated out from browsing, but all other websites visited are grouped under “Firefox” which is mostly the time I spend doing online research for different programming languages and paradigms.

The program takes all of this information gathered about your time spent using your computer, and then gives you an overview of how you are spending your time throughout the day:

These show that I spend up to 15 minutes every couple of hours doing something other than work. When I’m working, you can see I spent 3 hours doing research online, about 2.5 doing software development, 45 minutes with business email, etc.

When took a break and decided to be unproductive, I spent the most time on FFYa (25 mins).

This tool will be great for reflecting on how much work you did in a given hour, day, week, or month. Different time scales let you compare and visualize times when you’re in a crunch, vs times where you’re getting in the habit of slacking off. What’s even better, is it lets you set goals for yourself.

Decide for yourself how much of your day you’re willing to spend slacking off, and how much work you want to get done, and even program a pop up notification that will tell you if you’re going astray in any number of predetermined ways.

One of my favourite parts, is the “AFK” detector. If you go off for lunch, or get a phone call, or go to a meeting, or fall asleep at your desk, the program will detect that you’ve been idle and give you a dialogue when you return to categorize what you were doing while you were away. This is completely customizable as well, so it will sort out whether your time away from the computer was productive or a distraction.

Don’t trust yourself to keep on the job? It comes with a “Focus Time” feature. Here, you can tell the program how long you want to buckle down and work and during that time, it will block you from using sites and applications you’ve listed as distracting. If you really don’t trust yourself, you can make it so that you can’t unblock them until your time is up.

I’ve only had it for a day, so I look forward to seeing how my productivity compares day to day and week to week. Since it was my first day with it, I was buckled down pretty hard, because I was self conscious about what I was doing, but I’m curious to see what kind of averages it settles down to once I stop paying attention to it. I know I usually waste quite a lot more time chatting with people on Trillian and browsing FFYa than it shows I did today. I’ll post some pictures when it’s collected a little more demographics.

Oh yeah, the basic personal account is free and you have the option of linking it right into your Google sign-on (which I did).

Enjoy obsessing over your own work habits!

Any legitimate source will tell you that learning doesn’t happen all at once. To effectively integrate knowledge into your already overloaded system, it’s best to revisit the lesson frequently, though not necessarily in depth.

Popling (PC/Mac) is a neat resource that is just getting on its feet, describing itself as “Learning, Without Studying.” It can be downloaded as a Firefox add-on or a desktop feature, and based on the ‘lessons’ you subscribe to, will pop up a question at the interval of your choosing. You can create your own flash card-style questions if the current lessons do not meet your needs.

Check out the screenshots and give it a whirl! Personally, I’m going to use it to buff up my language skills.

Some of the pre-loaded science subjects...

The above languages are already available.

Image via Wikipedia

Expired!

From RedFlagDeals.com:

Planning a trip within North America between April 12 and June 18? Book your flights at AirCanada.com and pay with your VISA card, and you can save an extra 15%!

This offer is valid on Tango Plus, Latitude, and Executive Fares for flights within Canada and the US. To receive your 15% discount, you just need to enter the promotion code QCB7UHR1 when paying with your VISA card.

Book by March 15!

Image via CrunchBase

Expired!

Good from Feb.9-11, 2010, online or in-store:

• $10 off Purchases of $100 to $349 (online coupon code PCS00010368895683247)
• $20 off Purchases of $350 to $999 (online coupon code PCS00020368914316219)
• $100 off Purchases of $1000 or more (online coupon code PCS00100368932949190)

Let me know what you buy! I’m currently in savings mode

Over at Lifehacker, there is an occasional focus on student life. I’ve been saving up and it’s time to throw a few tidbits your way.

Here are a few things that are super handy to know, whether you’ve realized it or not:

• How to commit long passages to memory
• How to develop new habits
• How to develop mind maps
• How to perform mental math in a jiffy
• How to estimate distances more accurately
• How to teach yourself simple programming
• How to keep your dorm room uncluttered (works just as well if you live in a closet-sized space like me)
• How to let your friends build your party playlist
  

  From other sources:

• How to cut your own hair and save $$
• How to fight the takeout urge …and save $$!

We can all use a little help to simplify our lives!

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

The key word is WestJet.

By booking your flights between Ottawa, Montreal, and Toronto in advance, you can save a TON of money, so book your Spring Break trip now. 21 days in advance…$29. WOW. I’m tempted to have me a little vacation.

If you’d rather not fly, VIA Rail always has some great deals going on–check out their current lineup here, including 50% off between Montreal and certain maritime provinces.

P.S. Remember to check your dates carefully before you click submit – you don’t want to pay more than the cost of your flight to change it, and with most deals the bookings are non-refundable!

Image by aranarth via Flickr

What to look for in a new computer

If you’re buying a new computer, you probably want something that’s fast, uncluttered, and maybe something that’s nice to look at too. When comparing computers, manufacturers throw a lot of statistics and features at you that may look like a great package, but if you want to pull off a good deal, you need to make sure you can focus on the important things and ignore all the promotional garbage and filler they use to try and distract from other possible shortcomings.

Focus on the Features that Count

Processor Clock Speed, and Processor Cache
Better memory improves multi-tasking and performance. Clock Speed is expressed as a frequency, such as 2.40 GHz. Processor Cache is in the neighbourhood of 4MB of 6MB for a powerful beast. Good desktops can hit 2.93 GHz, probably better before long. You can compare a vast number of CPUs here. Keep in mind that some of these are made for servers, and aren’t something you would get in a desktop.

RAM (Memory)
Not to be confused with hard disk space – this is a huge factor in how many processes your machine can handle, and how intense those can be. Programs like Excel and Photoshop, as well as many games, consume a lot of RAM. If you don’t have enough RAM, your computer must write data to disk, which hugely slows things down. I’m talking orders of magnitude. RAM is important. Make sure you have at least 2GB of it. And don’t worry about all that Shared Dual DDR2 SDRAM etc stats they give you. Ram performance and branding is not something to get carried away with, just make sure you aren’t getting swindled with some 512MB RAM POS.

Video Card
You might not think it, but if your video card sucks, it can and will drag down your entire system. This isn’t just for people who play the occasional game or movie. Software nowadays gets so fancy with user interfaces that it can demand a lot from your graphics card, and if you settle for something poor now, you’ll find yourself buying a new one before your machine’s time is up, so check your video card against this list and make sure you aren’t being sold a bottom-feeder.

USB Ports
It rarely occurs to us, until we buy a bargain $600 laptop and it comes to you with only 2 USB slots for your printer, iPod, external hard drive, external keyboard and mouse, and that little USB Christmas tree you like to plug in on the holidays. Whoops. You could buy a USB splitter, but then everything has to share the already abysmal speed of a single USB slot. Make sure you have enough to suit your current needs plus one, or you’ll be frustrated.

Screen and Keyboard
Make sure they’re big enough for your taste. It’s hard to downgrade to a lower resolution screen after you’ve been using a 19 inch widescreen. Also ask yourself whether you would like a num pad on the built in keyboard. I know I can’t look at a laptop without one.

Office Software
I’m just going to get this out of the way. I’m sure you knew this, but just in case – having Microsoft Windows does not mean you have Microsoft Office. Whether you like it or not, you’re probably going to have to dish out an extra hundred bucks for Word, Excel and Powerpoint if you need it. There are many free alternatives to this software, but sometimes alternatives won’t do. When comparing two computers, see if it’s included in the package. Keep that in mind when comparing the prices.

The Operating System

Computers come with operating systems installed. Make sure it’s the one you want. Sometimes, when buying a windows machine, you can choose between the different versions of the operating system. If you’re lucky enough to get this choice, your best bet is almost always to go with the most basic version.

Just look at the different versions of Windows 7. The basic ‘Home Premium’ is $120. It has everything you need. The ‘Professional’ Edition is an extra $70. What do you get?

1. The ability to start the operating system in ‘XP’ mode. This is useless clutter. Almost any program running on one windows system can run on later versions. You can even run programs in compatibility mode just by right clicking on them. Having an alternative boot mode is a weak feature that you will never use.
2. You get bundled network software called ‘Domain Join’. This is the type of bloatware that you would want to remove from your system the moment it arrived.
3. A feature to back up to a network machine. This is something anyone can set up with a number of free softwares.

Now, add another $20 to the sticker price (‘Ultimate Edition’), and you get security bloatware called BitLocker, and 35 languages pre-installed. That’s it. Complete waste of space and money. All things you can replicate for free. Stick to the basics, built on it with software you choose if you need more features.

Don’t waste money on useless features

Disk Space
120GB? 250GB? 500GB? 1TB? Desktop machines are sure to offer you a wide range of built in Hard Disk Space sizes, probably at increments of $300. Sure it’s always good to have more space, but unless you plan on pulling out the hard drive and moving it to each new computer you buy, you’ve just wasted a ton of money on disposable memory. Instead of blowing it all on a bigger Hard Drive, buy an external hard drive. Especially if looking at desktops, an external hard drive is no less convenient, can store all that garbage you can’t be bothered to organize, music, pictures and movies, and even better – once you change computers again, you don’t have to worry about transferring over all your personal files. So for your desktop, buy the smallest hard drive, and save your money for an external.

CD/DVD/BluRay drives
Do you have a DVD player at home? If yes, then ask yourself if you really need your computer to be able to play BlueRay. I’m not going to lie, you probably will want to burn CDs and DVDs at some point in life to try to get some data from point A to point B conveniently, but these CD drives are far from an important feature in machines. Guaranteed that if you stick pretty much any CD in any computer, it will be able to read it, so just buy the cheapest one that you can get and don’t worry about whether or not you have ‘lightscribe technology’ allowing you to label specialty CDs at burn time!

Media Ports (CF/SD/MMC/MS/etc… Card Readers)
If you have a camera, or phone, or other device that uses these things, then I can guarantee you, 100%, that they have a USB cable you can use to attach the device to your computer and pull off/put on any files you want (probably without having to install any software). This feature is a minor convenience, and if you are given the option to dish out money for this feature – don’t. Furthermore, if it’s a main selling point of machine you’re looking at, snub your nose at it. You know better now.

Sound Card
If you can’t tell the difference between 128 kbps and 320 kbps mp3 audio files, then don’t bother spending an extra $100 on the ‘Xtreme Titanium’ brand.

Security (Anti-Virus) Software
When you go to customize a PC, you’re always offered a 30-day trial of some software for antivirus. If you get the chance, ask for none at all. It will just bloat your computer and be a pain to remove, unless you pay for it in which case you could do much better. Remember that you’re paying for hardware, and maybe an operating system. Figure out the software separately. Download your favourite free antivirus software (Such as AVG, Avast, or Avira) the day you get the computer, as well as anti-spyware (Spybot S&D) and you’ll be just as safe, if not safer, than if you entered into a messy yearly contract with McAffee or Norton.

Internet Service Providers, multimedia software, specialty software, and other bloatware
You will inevitably be bombarded with promotional packages and offers to buy into different Internet Service Providers. You’ve been managing your own internet for years I’m sure, and it has nothing to do with buying a new computer. You don’t need trial versions of every photo editor, media player, and express online backup service sponsoring Dell/HP/Toshiba. Make sure you dismiss everything in this category, including the inevitable ‘Send me offers’ option (which is certainly selected by default).

Fax Modem? No. You don’t need one.

Hybrid TV Tuner with Remote Control? Buy a TV! I’ve seen people try to do it before and I really, really think that you do not want to try to turn your computer into a TV.

Online Data Storage? Don’t bother. Uploading data is slow, you’re better off backing up on an external hard drive, and there are plenty of free services that let you access your files from remote machines.

Warranty
This is a sensitive topic. Warranties are where manufacturers cash out on their customers. It’s a good way of raking in two to five hundred dollars without actually giving you anything. Just be aware that in the long run, you save a lot more money by not buying into warranties for anything, and by taking care of your gear on your own. You will find that unless there’s a serious hardware issue, there’s very little you can’t solve with a fresh install. Keep your OS CD in a very safe place, and capitalize on your own knowledge and independence if and when the time comes.

For more information, see also Lifehacker‘s Definitive Guide to Making the Most of Your Netbook or their Five Best Netbooks article.

Image via Wikipedia

…if you’re flying U.S. Airlines, that is. Spotted over at LifeHacker,

• Delta: DELTATRYGOGO
• AirTran: AIRTRANTRYGOGO
• American Airlines: AATRYGOGO

If these don’t work for you, give some of the others at these links a try. Good luck, and happy flying over the holidays!

Gogo Inflight Free WiFi Coupon Codes [My Money Blog via Gizmodo]
Free Gogo Internet. Pass It On [FlyerTalk Forums]

Image by Ferdifand via Flickr

On the fly, no money down – hell, it’s even more disposable than a BlackBerry. Lifehacker presented a Top 10 list of essential tools for your wallet or keychain, and the PocketMod folding organizer caught my eye.

You seriously need to check this out: fully customizable, 8 slots for your daily/monthly/yearly needs, and pocket-sized like a reminder-fairy. My first draft has a grocery list, graphing paper (*cough*science student*cough*), list of formulas, sudoku, monthly calendar, food diary, table (the kind you fill out, duh) and “if lost, please return to.”

There’s even a folding guide.

Update: Also check out Lifehacker‘s Top 10 Printable Paper Productivity Tools here (whew, that’s a mouthful!).

Image by id-iom via Flickr

Merry Christmas! Here are some blogs that have withstood the test of time and still bring the funnies.

You know, for all those moments you need to take a break from the life around you. Or ignore it completely.

• Overheard in New York quotes
• The Customer is Not Always Right
• Toothpaste for Dinner comic
• People of Walmart
• The Daily Puppy – because, my goodness, I love puppies
• Geekologie – Gadgets, Gizmos, and Awesome

Well gooo aheeead, give ‘em a whirl! (But please come back.)