Gliider: a handy travel planning gadget

October 23, 2009

I've been experimenting with a new 'travel helper' gadget called gliider, which is a free add-on for Firefox 3.x (alas, it doesn't currently support my default browser, IE 8). gliider claims to help you "plan funner trips" and, I must say, I think it can deliver on that promise.

Gliider provides an easy-to-use means of organizing trip details and "clippings" of things you need to remember (or simply want to do) for your upcoming trips.

End-to-end Trip Organization

gliider includes a number of elements that will help you when you're planning a trip, all the way from thinking about it, through to booking, then finally deciding what you'll do when you get there. There are 3 tabs you work with:

My Trips: This is a well-organized filing cabinet for each trip. I'll give you a few more details in a bit…
Ask Around: This tab gives you an easy way to ask other people for advice about your destination. gliider can connect to FaceBook to allow you to ask your FB friends, ask through Twitter, etc. Pretty cool idea - of course, you can ask using those tools already, but if you ask through gliider, it will capture and associate any responses into the appropriate trip.
Deals / Alerts: This tab within the gliider interface will help you find good deals. Currently, it only looks for hotel deals, but they are planning on adding flights and other stuff.

It's all about the trips

Now, back to the "My Trips" tab. This tab is a mini organizer for data about your trip. You can drag sample fares, confirmed itineraries, and related info into the "Flights" folder, drop sightseeing ideas into the "See" folder (as I've done in the screenshot above for my upcoming trip to Berlin), and much more.

Adding the information is pretty simple. Simply highlight the text and images you want to save in your browser, then drag and drop the info onto the appropriate folder icon in gliider. As you research things you might want to do, this approach makes it very easy to build a list of candidates to choose from.

Some other odds & ends:

gliider makes it easy to share information about your trips with others (caveat: they'll need to install gliider to see what you've shared)
there is a function that allows you to print a hard copy "dossier" with all the information you've collected about your trip - this looks awesome as a paper backup with all your reservation details, confirmation numbers, etc.

Try gliider for free

If you find anything you don't like or want them to add, share it with them since this is still in its formative stages (there is a Feedback button right there in the app's window).

My gripes and wishes so far? Not many, but here is the list:

I want IE8 support
The gliider UI has a problem with long passwords (so don't use a password any longer than 9 characters for now)
I wish Deals/Alerts provided more deal types
An iPhone app would be nice (you can forward details and access them via the iPhone browser, but hey…)
I wish I could share info without requiring the recipient to install gliider
Integration with TripIt would be awesome

Nonetheless, I like gliider so far. gliider is free to use, and very easy to install. If you're doing any traveling, it's a good gadget to check out.

Amazon Prime Just Got Even Better

October 17, 2009

OK, so I know I’m doing two Amazon-related posts in a row (the Kindle price drop was just before this one). But I just got an email from Amazon that made me happy – they are improving their already-awesome Amazon Prime shipping features. In case you weren’t already aware, Amazon Prime is an annual, fee-based program that gives you automatic upgrades to free 2nd-Day Air shipping for any Prime-eligible item.

The big news is that they have improved Prime so that items ordered on Thursday will be delivered on Saturday now, instead of Monday. Gotta love it – here is the blurb I got:

Why is Prime handy?

Other than just wanting things ASAP, I like Prime for a couple of key reasons:

I often order presents for friends and relatives in other states. I love being able to order something knowing it will show up 2 days after I place the order – it makes the gift seem even more special or important, and it gives me the freedom to wait until almost the last minute before ordering.

This is especially valuable around Christmas, when I can order things until December 22nd and they’ll still arrive on Christmas Eve. Note that this even helps if you’re going to your relatives’ house – you can ship the gift (pre-wrapped by Amazon, if you wish) and not have to worry about trying to carry it on or putting it in your checked luggage.

Sometimes I ‘need’ a gadget before a trip, and I only realize it at the last minute. Because of Prime, I can order a couple of days before I leave and still get it in time (in some of these cases, I’ll buck up for Overnight shipping for an extra $3.99 – very handy when you need it.

Amazon Prime costs $79 per year (averaging to a bit more than 6 bucks a month), and I know it saves me much more than that every year. Not sure if it's for you? Give it a try - they'll let you take a test drive for 30 days - just click here if you want to take an Amazon Prime free trial.

A few Podcasts for “On The Go” Folks

October 14, 2009

I’m beginning to travel a bit more again (the summer was a lot slower) and looking for good things to listen to en route. Lately, that means podcasts.

If you’re on the hunt for some good podcasts, here are a few (all free) that stand out for me.

	The Wall Street Journal This Morning (non-iTunes link) This is an entertaining, well-produced daily rundown of news highlights from the Wall Street Journal. There are hard-hitting news stories, gadget updates, and a lot of unusual stories covered, and the hosts of the show have great chemistry, which makes this a fun listen. It’s about 40 minutes long, with very limited commercial interruption.

	Cranky Geeks (non-iTunes link) Hosted by John C. Dvorak with a collection of randomly selected others, this is a panel discussion of the week’s tech news. It’s fun to listen to, particularly if you’re into gadgets or involved in the tech industry. I’ve linked the audio-only version, but there are video versions available (I am usually driving when I listen so I forego the video).

	How Stuff Works (non-iTunes link) This is a series of in-depth, but conversational, discussions of lots of interesting topics. These are great for the curious mind – you can find out useful things (like how to delay the onset of physical aging) and just entertaining things (like the best place to be during a zombie attack).

	The Bugle (non-iTunes link) This is a highly irreverent look at the news, featuring people like John Oliver (the British guy on The Daily Show). It’s very much in the spirit of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report on the Comedy Channel in the US, so if you like those shows, you’ll probably like The Bugle.

I’m about to board a plane, so that’s all I can write up for now. If you find this useful, let me know and I will share other podcast finds with you in the future. Happy listening!

Resurfacing after a deep dive

May 2, 2009

I’ve been fairly quiet for the past couple of weeks, but that’s due to a couple of contributing factors: connectivity (or lack thereof), and jam-packed scheduling at 3, back-to-back software industry conferences (self-inflicted, for the most part).

Now, as I come up for air, I have a lot of pent up stuff to write about. Let’s start with some quick updates:

A few weeks ago, I mentioned that I was starting one of my periodic time audits (yes, I finally got it done after my epic fail). Here are my key takeaways:

I was successful in carving out and sticking to one of my goals: engaging in regular physical exercise. For the past 5 consecutive weeks, I have kept to a 6-day per week exercise schedule (3 alternating days of weights, interspersed with 3 days of cardio, followed by 1 day of rest). I even managed to keep to this during 3 weeks of travel. This is a first for me, but something I intend
I spent too much time working on things that were not directly related to my top priorities. What’s my diagnosis of the problem?

I wasn’t consistent in writing down my top priorities and “must do” items at the beginning of the week.
I said “yes” to too many “urgent but not important” tasks (i.e. someone else’s priorities)

I read a great article by my friend Mike Kanazawa (author of “BIg Ideas to Big Results”). The article is called “80% Of Companies Are Thinking More Strategically In The Downturn,” and it looks at some data on how companies are reacting to the economy’s chaos. One of the key observations is one I really agree with: you need to take care of your existing customers and keep them happy. I don’t know about you, but I find it much easier to stick by the suppliers that have done right by me no matter what, but during lean times I will not only support them – I’ll go out of my way to give them my business so they do OK. And I’ll readily drop the vendors that have been lame to me. There’s more to it in Mike’s article – go check it out.
I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the positive power of “TripIt” (which I wrote about a while ago). As my travel has picked up, I’ve been reconnecting with quite a few people I haven’t seen in ages. I was skeptical about how much I’d like TripIt but was intrigued enough to sign up anyway. I’m glad I did.

I’ve got a few drafts going that I’ll be finishing up and posting soon – including a review of a forthcoming Keith Ferrazzi book that I have a pre-release copy of. I think you’ll like it.

Thanks for hanging in there during my time under water.

Voice power and your phone

April 11, 2009

I am in the midst of a switch of phone platforms, yet again. I’m going back to my iPhone 3G.

During the coming week, I’ll share more information with you about how I’m working around the iPhone’s limitations (I’ve mentioned why I switched away from the iPhone in a previous post). In the mean time, I wanted to share information about a free “super app” that works on both the Blackberry and the iPhone. The application is called “vlingo” and it allows you to talk to your phone to make it do stuff.

Voice control is very handy in many situations, such as when you’re driving. You can use Vlingo to call people, update social network status, do web searches, and more. The Blackberry version has more functions and is a little easier to access since it maps to one of the “convenience keys” on the side of your phone, but the iPhone version is still very good (I wish I could use vlingo to send text message on the iPhone – I did that all the time on the Blackberry).

Very cool – check out vlingo today – it is free, after all. Would love to hear what you think.

Want to see a demo first? There are a couple of cool demo (Flash) videos online of vlingo on the Blackberry, and vlingo on the iPhone.