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I love coffee, and I’ve been drinking it for many years.  A few years ago, I switched to decaffeinated, trying to cut out caffein.  Then I heard about the decaffeination process, and the chemicals that are used in this process, so I decided to cease drinking coffee altogether.  This was tough, and I went through some withdrawal. I started drinking green tea, which is probably better for me anyway, but I still missed my coffee.

Then I found out about a more “natural” decaffeination process that uses water instead of chemicals.  I went to a local farmers market where a local company named Cafe del Sol was selling the water-decaffinated process, and the coffee was great.  Now I’m back to drinking decaffinated coffee.

If you want to find naturally decaffinated coffee, look for the terms “naturally decaffeinated” or “Swiss decaffeinated” (the Swiss process uses activated charcoal or carbon filters.)

There are probably lots of local coffee brewers like mine.  Maybe you can find one, or order off the Internet.  If you know of a good natural coffee company, let me know.

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Like all business owners, baby boomers are dealing with the current financial mess in different ways.  Here are some suggestions for you, depending on your degree of optimism and your risk tolerance:

1.  Restrict your cash flow and focus on essentials.  Decide what is essential for your business and what’s nice to have but not essential.  For example, this isn’t the time to remodel the reception area.  As they say, “stick to your knitting.”

2.  Find small savings.  Those tiny things can add up.  For example, do you really need those fancier new pens or will an older one do?

3.  Cut employees.  Before you state, “No way!  I need everyone,” remember Parkinson’s Law:  Work expands to fill the number of people available to do it. I know it’s tough to lay off people, and there may be some creative ways to keep some of them, but take a hard look at your work force and decide if you really need all of them.  Then bite the bullet and do what needs to be done.

4. Find a new market.   This idea might be more feasible for some than others.  Think creatively about new uses for your products or new types of people who might want your services.  Also think broader, geographically.  It might cost more to market more broadly, but it may pay large.

5.  Go on the internet.  Can you sell your products online?  Can you market your services through a website?  You can save on “bricks and mortar” if you can use a website for marketing and selling.

6.  Downsize.  Remember the 80/20 principle (80% of your business comes from 20% of your products).  Cut those unproductive products and focus on your best sellers.

7.  Expand, beef up sales.  If you’re an optimist, and you’re in the right market, this might be the time to purchase, expand, expand.   Some of the biggest fortunes in America were made by people who took advantage of the stock market crash.

What ideas do you have for dealing with these tough times?  What have been your experiences?

Tags: baby boomer businesses, cash flow, credit crunch, optimism, small busiensses

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The video above shows an interview of efficiency expert Julie Morgenstern saying that you shouldn’t check email in the morning. Even though others have suggested this, including Tim Ferriss, I can’t say I’ve successfully tried it to the point that it was permanent.

How often do you check email? Do you find any difference in your productivity when you check your email first thing in the morning when you get to work?

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 PimpYourWork.com

Out of the available keyboard layouts, the Qwerty layout is used most often in the western world. But there’s always been this rumor that one of the other alternatives, the Dvorak layout, is actually more efficient. Apparently, it can make you type faster with higher accuracy.

Before we address the truth of this rumor, let’s recall what the Dvorak layout actually looks like. I found a Dvorak keyboard layout comparison with Qwerty. But the first layout pictured on the page is actually just 1 of 3 available Dvorak layouts - the two-handed layout:

Image Credit: Wikimedia

The other available layouts (the second and third image) are for one-handed use, one for lefties and another for righties (and no, I don’t mean politics).

Why do people say the Dvorak is more effective?

• According to some studies, such as this one by Stephen W. Hobday, the Dvorak layout grants you to type faster because the most widely-used letters of the alphabet are loaded in the middle-row, which is the ‘home’ row where your fingers are supposed to rest when you’re touch-typing.

• History recommends that the Qwerty keyboard was actually developed to slow down typists to prevent jamming a typewriters typebars - which is no longer applicable to today’s computer keyboards.  Dvorak fans state that we’re just stuck with Qwerty out of habit, even if technology has moved on.  (Also,the same paper says that typewriter manufacturers E. Remington and Sons made a few tweaks to the original Qwerty layout so that their salespeople can type the word “type writer” from the first row.)

If that’s the case, why do people still use Qwerty?

• Qwerty enthusiasts often quote a paper by Liebowitz and Margolis, where they say that the first study proving that Dvorak keyboard was more efficient (which was conducted by the US Navy) had a flawed methodology and was therefore unreliable.

• It’s just the standard.  Learning how to type on the Dvorak keyboard will be time-consuming for the individual (who has likely grown up learning Qwerty all her/his life). For businesses, making the switch will cost some time and money for retraining.  With that in mind, we lack in concrete studies showing a sizable rise in efficiency as the result of going Dvorak.  In other words, no one is completely sure that it’s worth it.

So what’s everyone else saying?

Let’s go back to the first page I linked to, where, if you scroll down further, you’ll find a heated discussion from various readers about Qwerty vs. Dvorak.  You’ll see that many people have tried it have different opinions, and the ones that really struck me I’ve summarized here:

• Even if you’ve learned Dvorak, you might still be forced to use a Qwerty keyboard on some instances.  When you do, you’ll have to momentarily retrain yourself to remember typing on a Qwerty keyboard if you’re so used to the Dvorak setup already.
• This Dvorak vs. Qwerty discussion is generally applicable only to people who usually write in English.  Other languages might have a more optimal keyboard layout, depending on what letters they use often.
• In a Dvorak setup,  you spend 50% of your time on the home (middle) row, while on the Qwerty setup, you only spend roughly 27% of the time on the home (middle) row.  This would make the Dvorak setup easier on your hand joints, because your fingers tend to stay on the same row half the time.
• Unlike the prevalent perception, it doesn’t cost any money for the individual to switch to Dvorak.  You don’t need a new keyboard, you just need to reprogram your current one (click here for instructions).  Also, it’s fairly simple to learn.

I also like this quote from Nicholas Thompson’s article over at Slate:

But to win mass approval, a new technology doesn’t have to be just better than an entrenched competitor; it has to be so much better that switching over outweighs staying put.

My personal verdict: In the end, it seems like the Dvorak layout has some important improvements over Qwerty, such as the prevention of RSI (repetitive strain injury).  The numbers that the people are throwing around also show that it can make you a faster typist, but that probably depends on how good a typist you are in the first place anyway.  Also, unless I have the ability to be at least 30% faster, I don’t think it’d be worth it.  Besides, my current typing speed doesn’t lag that far from my thinking speed - what’s the point of typing faster than you can think?

Another important point is that technology is changing really fast.  The use of handheld computers and cellphones grant people to type just by using their thumbs.  The size of these gadgets alone should make a difference on what keypad layout is optimal for them.  Also, I’ve been trying out Dragon Naturally Talking, which is a pretty good voice recognition program.  In fact, I’ve written a few emails and blog entries without typing anything.  If this technology improves, we’ll have more options when it comes to input devices - although they won’t necessarily make keyboards obsolete.

I guess there’s really an optimal computer keyboard out there, which will give us good speed, less carpal tunnel syndrome, and higher accuracy.  The Dvorak seems to come close, but I doubt it’ll be adapted by the majority of the typing market anytime soon. Personally, I might try it myself - if only because I want to take care of my typing hands.

What keyboard layout do you use? Have you tried several kinds? If you’ve only used Qwerty, have you ever thought of trying Dvorak or other alternatives?

Photo Credit: Image from Ginny Austin from stock.xchng

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Filed under: Google (GOOG), Microsoft (MSFT), Small business

Some people are startup junkies. No doubt, they want to snag a job in a company that becomes the next Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) or Google (NASDAQ: GOOG).

So, where can they go? Well, there’s a new spot: Startuply.

In fact, the service is free, a good thing for cash-strapped startups.

Basically, a company puts together a profile — so far, there are 176. But it goes beyond the typical fare. For example, there’s information on such things as the work environment , funding, names of investors, revenues and so on.

Besides a sophisticated search engine, Startuply has Web 2.0 features like RSS, widgets, Google maps and social bookmarks.

Startuply is still nascent - there are 690 job postings — but it should be a good resource for the startup crowd.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar On the internet Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He also operates MergerBook.com.

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Pimp Your Work

Howdy, readers! Here’s our discussion for the week:

What is your best workday like?  What time should it start and end?  What are the tasks that should be included in your ideal workday?  What should be left out?

Go ahead and share your answers.

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Over on Long Island, over 25% of the population is over 55.  That’s a lot of boomers out there.  And a current story in the Long Island Business News reports that many are cashing out- selling their businesses - either because of the economy or age.

One of the reasons stated was the rising cost of running a business.  So my question is, how could a new business owner spend LESS on running the business and why would they purchase a business now?  If the reason for selling is age, that makes sense, but not costs.  Or am I missing something?

Tags: baby boomers, selling your business, small businesses

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Using computers for long hours without breaks isn’t healthy. However, one can lose track of time if an activity requires a lot of concentration. That’s why Dejal decided to create Time Out.

TimeOut gives you two (2) break options: a normal break and a micro break. The normal break is a 10-minute break after 50 minutes of use. A micro break is a 10-second break after 10 minutes of use.

While it does have some presets, TimeOut is very customizable. The time between breaks and length of each break can be set. Even the signal to start the break can be configured as well.

For the technically-inclined folks, Time Out can also run different scripts that would signify the begin and end of the break. If you really need to go on with your work, Time Out offers a postpone or skip button that would immediately end the break. However, this program is only available for Mac users. So if you’re a Mac user who wants to encourage yourself to take breaks, Dejal’s Time Out is one good choice.

TimeOut  requires Mac OS X 10.3.9 or later and is Leopard-ready.

Screencapture from Dejal.com

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