**EDIT**: Drop.io gave away more than 20 - 5Gb 1 year premium upgrades to the first people that twittered them with a suggestion on their service! I just got one myself! This is why Drop.io rocks. Thanks Drop.io

Awhile ago I wrote a review about a pretty cool service offered by Drop.io which I was a big fan of right off the bat. Although the features they had to offer were helpful, there were some drawbacks that threw a kink in my work flow.

There is one thing for sure though, Drop.io is not twiddling their thumbs on the job. They know what needs to be done and are doing it and doing it well. To make things even better, they’re listening to what people want and need. They even picked up on the blog I made about it. They’re on twitter too!

So what new features has Drop.io been dropping in the mix?

• Small improvements (design wise) of their home page and drop page(s).
• You can subscribe to drops via email, which is great when you need to know when something is added or changed.
• The way you interact with documents has greatly improved (added links to delete, comment, send & save).
• You can now send files between drops which is a really helpful feature I think.
• Improved embedding
• Sending files via mms, email, fax, or existing drop.

The feature I have been the most happy to see added was a delete link per document (you had to view the file then delete previously). As great as it has been to see these features added there are still some drawbacks I find annoying during my daily work flow.

On a daily basis I have to proof files with clients (I’m a graphic designer) so Drop.io is a great service to do just that. But I work at a newspaper which means I have to proof anywhere from 10-50 or more ads per day. Within 20 minutes I have proofed several versions of an ad with a client. What am I getting at?

The way files are managed should be improved upon more (which I’m sure they’re doing). I think the following features would really help improve the service.

• Multiple file deletion at once - it’s a pain to have to delete one file at a time.
• Selective archival - it would be nice to be able to archive/download multiple files at once rather than the entire drop or a single file at a time.
• Send multiple files - many of the clients I interact with have several ads. It would be great to see a feature that would allow for sending multiple selected files at once.

So, aside from multiple file management, what else could Drop.io possibly do to make their already awesome service even better?

• User management or selective password protecting. Since I deal with multiple clients, it’s not a good idea to leave the drop unprotected. Clients would be able to view each other’s files. If the drop could be setup so that you could password protect files individually that would be great. Although if the following was an option I suppose this wouldn’t be necessary..
• Send files via link rather than sending the actual file. One of the main reasons why I use Drop.io is because sending large attachments via email isn’t fun with clients. When I noticed that you could send files via email I was pretty happy but quickly disappointed to find out it sent the file itself rather than a link. I don’t want to clutter my clients’ inbox.

All in all, Drop.io is one of my favorite services. It’s super simple to use and is actually quite powerful. Recently I used the conference call feature and was really impressed at how easy it is to use, tell other people how to use and the quality was fantastic.

If you haven’t checked out Drop.io, take a few minutes, it’s well worth it. If there is something you feel is missing, contact someone and let them know, they are really nice and want to hear what people think of their service. They have stated that what is available now is just the tip of the iceberg so I’ll be watching for the upgrades!

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So many people would rather go to work than go to the gym and work out. This is so mind boggling to me! Maybe thats because I actually enjoy working out but not everyone is like that. There really is no excuse not to exercise in some way though.

As technology advances, more people will be sitting in cubicles and getting less exercise. Which means there will be more people living higher stress lives, not to mention much less healthy ones. Even if you are eating healthy, your body still needs exercise. 

Now lets take a look at what a workout or exercise really is. People have this strange idea that it must involve a gym, running or some sort of heavy lifting. Although those would all be great to do, you can do things that are much more fun. Here are a few ideas:

• Buy a Wii - Believe me when I say, you will get some exercise with this…but it will be a blast! This is fun for all ages, really. Adults that have never played a video game or anything similar can play this and have fun.
• Take up a sport - Everyone has some type of sport they enjoy. Swimming, tennis, basketball, roller skating, bike riding, frisbee golf, etc. Go grab your friends and go have some fun!
• Outdoors - Ok, so there are some people who just aren’t into any particular sport. Try doing something outside your normal activities like hiking, rock climbing, taking a stroll through a park or maybe taking a walk at the beach. :-) 
• Classes - Something a lot of people really enjoy is taking classes with a few friends. Something like yoga (guys, it sounds kinda gay but I’ve heard it’s actually pretty fun), maybe boxing or some type of self defense class (plus you’ll learn how to kick butt ). There are likely to be a wealth of classes available at your local gym or recreation center. 

Some of you just might not have time for anything else. We’re all busy busy bee’s but if you’re compromising your health, you need to find a way to make room for something. Maybe it’s just a matter of taking a 10 minute walk during lunch or during a break at work. Even a mere 10 minutes a day can make a big difference in your health and your stress levels. 

Do yourself a favor and at least give it a try for a week or two. Keep track of what you do on a calendar or similar and once you’ve been consistent for two weeks, feel how much lower your stress levels are. Be careful though, it’s easy to overdo it so go easy starting out!

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This post was guest blogged by Simon Koldyk

Jarel just recently started on Twitter.com; but, I think we might of gotten him hooked. If you haven’t already go and sign-up on Twitter.com with your name even if you don’t think you want to Twitter just yet, your name might get taken later.

There are a couple of keys to Twitter

• Its always a lot more fun to be following a bunch of people
• Don’t worry about how many people are following you
• Post interesting stuff, I don’t care that you just went to the bathroom
• Twitter is for conversations remember to use the @ command.

The conversations that go on twitter are amazing, everything people are thinking about is brought up and interesting things turn into huge Twitter conversations that can span on to hundreds of people. In twitter you could type “@personsusername say something here” and Twitter will treat that as your talking to them.

There are a few people that I think you should be following.

• photomatt - Matt Mullenweg from Wordpress
• johnchowdotcom - John Chow from TheTechZone
• problogger - Darren Rowse from ProBlogger
  
• TechCrunch - Micheal Arrighton from TechCrunch
• Scobleizer - Robert Scoble from FastCompany
• JasonsCalacanis - Jason Calacanis from Mahalo
• factoryjoe - Chris Messina from Citizen Agency

Once you have a few people you like following you want to use Twubble, it’s this neat little website that finds you new friends that you will probably also want to follow. Twubble gets this information from who you are already following and who they follow.

So now you’ve a few people you’re following and hopefully a few people are now following you back, you can’t always be checking Twitter.com or you’ll waste your whole day away. Thankfully some really smart people have created desktop apps - the two big ones are Twitterific (Mac) and Twhirl (Windows & Mac). Tweets will not show up on your desktop as they appear, although I do warn you that you may need to turn this off time to time to actually get some work done. Twitter is the new place for fast information and connections.

You should also follow Jarel and myself on Twitter

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I just can’t seem to find enough time in the day. Day after day passes by in the blink of an eye and I’m sitting there at the end of each day thinking, “Wow, where did the day go?”. I hardly have time to blog, work on my personal projects or even make it to the gym often enough.

It seems like the last I knew it was January! I made a goal to post once per day but in the last 1 1/2 weeks that was thrown right out the window.

It would really help if we could increase the days to 36 hours! I get up at 7am and work from 8-5pm (at a newspaper, no slacker blogging ). Then I get home and eat before my stomach devours itself and get to work on whatever the project is I’m working on (been logo’s this week).

Then I try to hit the gym if I can find time (really gets rid of stress). Then in the last part of the night I am left with a little bit of time to actually blog or work on my the site.

It’s that darned twitter! All the little things around the net that just gobble up those precious minutes…they’re like drugs!

I’ve decided if I can find a few people who want to do a guest post here and there then that would be fun and I might have a little extra time now and then to get some work done. If you’re interested please use the contact page to get a hold of me. I will then fill you in on the details.

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In college I took a Critical Thinking class and boy oh boy did I feel like it was a total waste of time. It really just seemed like common sense to me. I attended less than %60 of the class and still pulled off over a 100% in the class (extra credit).

What I didn’t realize until later in life was that not all people have the correct thought process to be a critical thinker but most definitely have the ability. Thus the reason for the class.

So to start off let me clarify what critical thinking really is.

Critical Thinking is a form of judgment, specifically purposeful and reflective judgment. Using critical thinking one makes a decision or solves the problem of judging what to believe or what to do, but does so in a reflective way (Wikipedia.org).

Quite often I get frustrated with people around me and shoot my mouth off complaining about how Stupid Sucks. What is the real problem here? It isn’t really stupidity, as much as it is a lack of critical thinking. A better judgment thus decision could have been made but by ignoring simple steps of critical thinking, an inferior decision is chosen.

What can you do to be a critical thinker? Follow along:

1. Learn how to discern the difference between opinion and fact. As simple as that sounds, you would be very surprised and how easily people are mislead by cleverly advertised opinions appearing as facts. Developing your ability to separate the two will take you a long way and prevent you from misleading others as well.

2. Question opinions but in a non-confrontational manner. It’s really surprising at how many opinions don’t have anything factual to back them up yet are dished out as if factual material. We are all entitled to our opinions but minimize the use of opinions in decisions and judgments. By questioning opinions you’ll find yourself making much more accurate choices.

3. Put some effort into higher quality thinking & problem solving. The majority of questions I am asked are usually the derivative of being lazy. In turn, those choosing not to put effort into critical thinking lack the ability when it is necessary. Practice walking through these activities to improve your capabilities. (This list is in thanks to an article by Joe Old.)

• Prioritize
• Identify Purpose
• Determine Consequences
• Determine Effects
• Identify Bias
• Identify Assumptions
• Draw Conclusions
• Make Contrasts and Comparisons
• Do Syntheses
• Develop Hypotheses
• Use Figurative Language
• Make Critiques
• Make Summaries
• Make Evaluations

4. If you want to be a critical thinker, follow the characteristics of one. Nobody said you couldn’t copy the characteristics of those ahead of the curve. Sometimes watching closely and following the people who are really good at something will help you pick up things faster.

So observe and practice. If you have nobody to follow here are some good characteristics:

• Ask Pertinent Questions
• Assess statements and arguments
• Examine problems closely
• Readily admit a lack of understanding or informaiton
• Discard incorrect or irrelevant information
• Maintain a sense of curiosity
• Be interested in finding new solutions
• Clearly define a set of criteria for analyzing ideas
• Examine beliefs, assumptions, and opinions, weigh them against facts and look for evidence
• Listen carefully to others and give feedback
• Make critical thinking a lifelong process of self-assessment
• Suspend judgment until all facts have been gathered and considered

5. Don’t be afraid to change sides. Sometimes after you find new facts/evidence you’ll have to switch sides. This is all part of making the best judgment/decision possible. It goes against our nature but is something we must learn to do.

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Do you think newspapers ever sit there and wonder why they are slowly dying? I would doubt it as the last two I have worked for are too caught up in sacrificing any and all genuine quality and value of the publications they produce to make a quick dollar.

It’s interesting how such large players in the media industry could be so ignorant. Your readers are the same as the customers walking into a store. Without them you are nothing. The customer is always right.

So why is it that newspapers produce so many publications that are utter crap? Something that hardly nobody picks up to read. The majority of special sections I see produced are essentially a giant advertisement and provide nearly no real valuable reading content.

That goes to show that they don’t really care. They are in the survival mentality and staring at their feet so they don’t trip and go down. What they should be doing is looking at the path ahead and building a reputation of quality reading publications.

If you care about what you print, you’ll make sure it’s quality and it will show. People will read it and people will care (especially small communities). But when you care more about making money, it will show and people won’t like you.

So give a crap about what you produce and as a byproduct, you’re going to make money. But produce crap and as a byproduct you’ll ultimately fail.

This way of thinking is quite obvious in the blogging world. Trends come and go quite quickly on the internet and the print world could take a few lessons from the online world.

Open your eyes newspapers and get with the program.

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