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My SO and I watch the show Clean House quite frequently. On the newer episodes of this show, they use elfa closet systems to organize the shows’ guests. We’ve really like the look of the elfa system, so we decided to purchase on for our bedroom closet.

We share this closet and it is a typical clothes closet being 60” wide. Fitting two people in a closet of this size is no easy task. Our elfa system arrived on Thursday and we installed it on Saturday.

Right off the bat, I noticed there were no instructions for assembly, so I had to call The Container Store and request directions. What I got were generic assembly instructions. Our closet space was a custom space de to our size constraints and needs. I had thought that this system would come with it’s own specific instructions, but it did not. I talked with the representative for about 15 minutes in order to get clarification on all the details for assembly.

It took us about one hour to assembly it. One thing I really like about the elfa systems is that there is only ONE component that has to be screwed into the wall, and that is the top track that holds the vertical standards. This is a big plus for people that live in apartments or rental properties of any kind. It minimizes the wall patching required.

Our system has four 21” hanging spaces, two long 57” shelves and four 17” shelves. We also purchased a four drawer free-standing piece for “daily wear” items.

It definitely does help for the closet organization and I was surprised on how many closets that we could each get on our two 21” hanging rods. I do feel that I did not get my moneys’ worth, though. This system was 30% off, and I still feel like I paid too much. I did not appreciate the lack of customized instructions for this piece. One would think that if you spent this much money on a system that they would ensure that you get instructions. They do have people that will come and assemble them for you, so it may be that they wish to deter you from DIY assembly.

We have other closets that we wish to organize, but will be going to Home Depot to look at their closet solutions first, to see if we can get a better deal for the same functionality.

Do any of you have elfa systems? Do you like them? Did you get assembly instructions? Tell me in the comments.    

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Rating:
Upon request from Scott Karstetter of Smart ToDo List, I was given an opportunity to review his flagship application, Smart Todo List.

Aesthetically pleasing, the user interface is easy to navigate. Your projects are listed in the left hand pane, above that is the entry field for your to do’s (and commands – we’ll get into that later), and a drop down to the right of that for filtering via tags. If you tagged something with @phone call, you could sort with that tag and see all the phone calls you need to make…..pretty nifty!

To do’s are added in the to-do/command box. Double clicking on an item in your to do list will bring up another screen, where you can add your tags to your to do items. Each item can be categorized either by clicking on the small square to the left of the item, or right clicking and choosing the priority: High, Medium or Low.

Features that differentiate Smart To-Do List from other to-do list applications are the availability of keyword based commands. Filters, priorities, projects, and all other mouse options can be performed from the To-Do / Command input box. In order to use these commands simply type the keyword into the “To-Do / Command” input box and hit Enter!

In this users opinions, there are some things that could use tweaking in this application. Personally, I am not a keyboard shortcut user, but am wicked fast with the right click menu. I’d like to see the option to have more commands available via right click. Also, this application is not completely portable. Yes, you can install it to your flash drive and it will run from there on that PC. But if you try to run this on another PC, it will balk. It relies on one file and if that file is not installed on the PC that you are trying to use it, it will not run. It also leaves a couple registry entries as well: not good for those of us with overly paranoid IT departments at our places of employment. Lastly, just as the user interface goes, I’d like to see the tags list vertically under the items rather than horizontally. It just makes more sense to me, but again, that is my opinion.

I had many opportunities to speak with the creator, Scott Karstetter, and find him to be very pleasant and most accommodating. I believe that he will do what it takes to please the users of this application, and will take all feedback received to heart. All in all, it’s a good application with a great deal of promise!

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You've read the series, now get the E-Book! Special EXTRA material not included in the blog series, plus three FREE templates!! Templates included are Time Management Matrix, Goal worksheet, and The Completion Journal. Only $24.99 for the book!


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Rating:

When I received my SanDisk 4GB Cruzer, I of course went on the hunt for portable applications that I could install upon it. Being in a rather strict IT environment at work, I could not install some of my daily "must have" applications. FireFox, Paint,net, Notepad++, and a good deletion/overwrite program. I knew when I bought my U3 that I could install applications upon it.

But I couldn’t find everything that I wanted on the U3 site. I could install applications on my drive, but then have to search through the folders instead of the applications appearing on the U3 menu. 

So that prompted me to find an application or workaround that would allow them to appear on the menu.  I found one that was way to complex for me that involved editing some code, etc. But them I found the saving grace of all applications: Package Factory. PackageFactory for U3 lets you convert any* application or EXE into a U3P Package File, for free! You can then install this U3P file onto any U3-compatible flash drive. PackageFactory for U3 works best for simple programs and applications with few support files (although you can add as many supporting DLLs and other EXEs as you need).

With just dropping the exe containing folder in the "create" window and clicking "Create", it would spit out a U3 file that I could install and have appear on my U3 launchpad. Now not every application is able to run portably: you have to access whether it is really dependant on files that reside outside of the install directory. Even ones that link heavily to outside directories have been made portable using ThinStall and other methods. I have seen portable versions of MS OneNote, Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop. I am of the thought that if I own a particular software and there is no portable version, then if I find one to use (and only use one at a time), them my license covers it. But I’m a consumer, not a greedy magamogul corporation. YMMV.

PackageFactory is indeed a must have application if you own a U3 drive – and even if your USB drive isn’t U3, you can install it anyway and have a great launchpad to use, which will save lots of time!

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You've read the series, now get the E-Book! Special EXTRA material not included in the blog series, plus three FREE templates!! Templates included are Time Management Matrix, Goal worksheet, and The Completion Journal. Only $24.99 for the book!


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In January of last year, my third Maxtor hard drive died on me.

You see, I had been a faithful Maxtor user since about 2002. I had purchased two of them: both at 250 GB each. When the first one crashed, I lost all 250GB worth of data, and it was data that took me quite some time to acquire.

Of course I filed an RMA, because it was still in warranty. I installed the replacement and figured I was on my way to happy computing once again.

WRONG!

The second (originally purchased) Maxtor died – again I filed an RMA and got another drive. Being a bit wary, I decided not store my important data on it: I used it to run programs. I would rather lose a drive running programs than my precious data.

In January of 2006, my first RMA replacement hard drive failed. This time it was out of warranty. But as this was my third failed drive, I was pissed. I called Maxtor RMA line and demanded a replacement. By this time, Maxtor had been purchased by Seagate, but I still felt it was their responsibility to make this right. All the people I talked to, Jason Wascovitch, Bridget Beer, and Bob Watkins all refused my request. With each person I spoke with, I went further up the chain of command. When I got to Brett Janssen, I was really fuming. I told him my trials and tribulations with my Maxtors and told him that this was drive #3 that failed. I had a 100% failure rate with Maxtor drives! He immediately agreed to replace it and even sent me a 300GB drive instead of the 250 which I had. I was pleased. It was also Seagate, which carries a 5 year warranty.

But I told Brett one thing before I hung up – when my second RMA replacement drive failed, I would be calling him back.

And, of course, it failed a week and a half ago!

I got on the horn and tried to get ahold of Mr. Janssen, but he was no longer with the company. I explained my predicament to the receptionist and she directed me to Brian Wilkes in the customer escalation department. I talked to him and he requested that I email him the RMA info from my other drives. When I emailed him that information, I wrote him this:

Brian,
Below is the email from the second RMA that I had of a Maxtor hard drive,
and the third one that was RMA’ed is the html attachment that is with this
email.
When I had spoken to everyone at the last time I called, I told them that I
was extremely displeased that I have had four Maxtors die on me. I realize
that Maxtor was purchased from Seagate, and I do hold Seagate in high
regard, but am absolutely astounded at the 100% failure rate I have had
with all my Maxtors.
I have three other drives in my PC, and over the course of my years of
computing (10 years), all my other hard drives are still running. Even the
4GB drive that came in my Gateway in 1998! I have Western Digital drives,
MTI and Seagate. They have ran along side the Maxtor in each and every PC
that I have owned, and as I stated, all my other drives are still running.
ALL of my Maxtor drives have run so hot that you can barely touch them -
they were extremely warm running drives even when I put them in my case
with empty slots above and below. None of my other drives are this hot: I
would be willing to bet that the Maxtors have run between 20 and 30 degrees
hotter.
As I told everyone the last time, I will not take no for an answer in
regards to replacing this last drive. I had told Brett that when my fourth
one died, I would be calling him again- to get it RMA’ed.

I emailed him on Monday and as of Wednesday, I had not heard back. I was getting peeved again so I called him to raise hell, and was told that he had just finished speaking with his supervisor and that they would be issuing an RMA for my last Maxtor drive. It would again be replaced with a Seagate and included a 5 year warranty.

When it comes to something I believe in, I won’t take no for an answer. I will fight all the way up to the president of the company if I have to. You, too, can succeed in fighting the big guys – just stick to your guns and progress up the chain. The squeaky wheel gets the oil!

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You've read the series, now get the E-Book! Special EXTRA material not included in the blog series, plus three FREE templates!! Templates included are Time Management Matrix, Goal worksheet, and The Completion Journal. Only $24.99 for the book!


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