It's About Time

Let Milo Help You Shop

Most of the time, I usually do a lot of shopping and ordering from on-line stores, but sometimes, I just need to see the product and try it out.  So, once I've done my research on the Internet and find the product that I want to purchase, the next thing I do is hop in the car and run around town to see who has it in stock.  Sometimes it takes 3 or 4 stores before I find one that has what I want in stock.  (Did you try to buy Wii Fit this past Christmas?  I went to 7 stores before I found one that had it in stock).

Milo changes all that.  Now, I can just enter in the name of the product that I want and put in my address or just City or just the zipcode.  Milo has real-time access to most of the major stores inventory.  Within seconds you will see which stores have the product you are looking for as well as their prices, saving you all that extra time in the car.  You can even enter a fairly generic search like "laser printers" or a little more specific, like "HP Printers".  The more vague the search, the longer the list.  I find it most useful when I know exactly what I want.

Could you use the Kindle?

Amazon just released a new version of the Kindle called the Kindle DX.  I've had my eye on the Kindle since it came out.  I like the idea of being able to take a stack of books, newspapers and magazines with me in my handbag without breaking my back.  Well the Kindle DX goes beyond the original version and allows you to upload PDF documents; make notes on read-only documents on the screen or on the Web.  It now has a larger screen as well.  I was waiting for it to get less expensive.  So far, that hasn't happened, but the improvements could make it cost-effective for many professionals. 

For more on ways that lawyers can use the Kindle, read this article in the Wisconsin Law Journal.

For more details on the Kindle DX, go to Amazon

Travel Itineraries Made Easy

For the past couple of months, I've been gathering information for my August trip to the Pacific Northwest.  There's a big, fat folder on my desk that holds information on airline confirmations; hotel reservations; rental car reservations; maps; area restaurants; places of interest, etc.  Normally, I would stuff all this paper in a huge, carry-on tote bag or in my luggage.  As the trip progresses, a few of these papers usually fall into that great unknown void, known as the "bottom of the bag", never to be seen again.  There should be a better way to handle this.

I just found the answer:  TripIt.  All you need to do is forward all your travel confirmation emails to plans@tripit.com.  You can send almost any kind of booking confirmation email, including travel agencies, cruise lines and restaurant reservations from OpenTable.  From that point on, it's like magic.  Everything is combined into a single master itinerary.  They also include related information like weather; maps; driving instructions, city guides and more.  You'll receive an email when your itinerary is ready. 

You can access all your travel plans from your mobile device or sync it to your personal calendar.

It's great for business travel arrangers.  They can coordinate travelers plans and stay up-to-date with change.  It's easy to track multiple trvelers on a combined trip calendar.

Here's a sample itinerary.

And, best of all, it's FREE.  Happy traveling!