I have just got into Skype for free calls with freelancers and clients, but shouting at my iMac didn’t seem that intuitive. I was looking at portable handsets for Skype, but that would mean having three phones – landline, Skype phone and mobile. Too many phones.

So after a bit of rummaging, I discovered that there are a couple of apps for the Nokia 5800 Symbian OS that will log in to Skype and use my local wireless network instead of the data network on my mobile. Sorted!

The two apps are called Fring and Nimbuzz – they both do pretty much the same thing, so take your pick. I have not tried the video calls yet, but my internet connection is so crap they probably won’t be realtime anyway.

Just a quick one – instead of “get info” for individual files, use alt+cmd+I to open info for multiple files in one info pane. Hard to explain, really easy to do and very useful for unlocking a whole folder of locked files all at once

Litmus allows you to test your websites and emails across a large number of browsers and email clients. If you have ever had to program a HTML email, you will understand the horror and pain involved in making it work across all email clients.

For an entirely reasonable fee, Litmus gives you fast, pretty testing with shareable links for your websites and emails. Well recommended!

http://litmusapp.com/

I have a little room where I do my web design work, it’s just the right size to get hunkered down and wrestle with CSS.  Featuring:

• Yamaha studio monitors
• 20″ iMac
• 15″ Macbook Pro (usually running Windows for Internet Explorer testing)
• Lacie USB backup and storage drives, the little one for Time Machine and the big one for media files.
• Wacom a5 wide tablet – using a mouse seems alien and slow now!
• Indirect lighting – upturned desk lamp and a bunch of candles
• A few good reference books
• Usually some good coffee (decaff, fairtrade, from a cafetiere)
• Ornament from my daughter – if I put it away she always notices, goes and finds it and puts it back.

It’s really tidy in these shots due to my spring cleaning blitz, I find I can work a lot better when there are few items around to distract me!

There are lots of people around, whether it be print, TV or internet that will tell you “how to be…” something or other. Whether it is “How to be romantic” or “how to look like some idiot celebrity”, it’s everywhere. This is fucked up.

Nobody needs any advice on how to be anything. We would all be a lot happier if we stopped “trying to be” and were content with “being”. It’s one of the Buddhist precepts – contentedness. It doesn’t need some blogger or TV presenter to show you how to “be content”. All it takes is accepting that you wish you were more like someone else, then letting it go. It is that simple. Each thought can either be repressed, accepted or fixated on. Repression and fixation lead to Bad Times, so just accept that you want something, and let it go. The feeling will pass.

Just be yourself. Don’t listen to those that tell you to “be like” someone else. Behaving or dressing like them will not make you them. Behaviour is not the person. Just do what you want to do