Automating Daily Tasks in Outlook

For sometime now I’ve been thinking about the best way of handling recurring daily tasks. I’ve been using the Getting Things Done (GTD) system for years and am really “in the flow� these days. But I haven’t really got on top of daily tasks – because they don’t usually make it into my lists. A few days ago, I came across Michael Hyatt’s post on how to do this for Outlook tasks and thought I’d give it a shot. It’s a very simple implementation (using Outlook macros) and works a treat.

There were a few additional things that I added to Michael’s work. Firstly, I created a “Reset Daily Tasks [Do Not Remove]� task (so I actually remember to run the macro each day)! I also added a nice icon for my “Reset Daily Tasks� button in the Outlook toolbar. And finally, I added a link in the notes field of some of the daily tasks to other “reference� tasks e.g. one of my daily tasks is to review my personal goals each day (my personal goals are also stored as a separate Outlook task with the goals in the notes section. So basically I added the following line (in bold)

‘Create Task 1:
Set oMyTaskItem = Application.CreateItem(olTaskItem)
oMyTaskItem.Subject = “1. Review my personal goals”
oMyTaskItem.Body = “Outlook:\\Mailbox – Omer Khan\Tasks\~! Personal Goals>”
oMyTaskItem.Categories = “!Daily Habits”
oMyTaskItem.Importance = 1
oMyTaskItem.Save

This puts a link in the notes section to my personal goals. So now I just open the daily task and click the link to easily access my personal goals.

And if you don’t know, you can easily generate the link to another task manually using the format:

Mailbox Name\Tasks\~Task Name>

Or you can download a free copy of Outlook Linker to do this for you.

Finally, REAL News Again!

One of the things that I miss most about living in the UK is the BBC – especially the news and current affairs programmes such as Newsnight and Question Time. The BBC’s news coverage is world-class and quality journalism at its finest and the current affairs programmes offer intelligent and insightful perspectives and debates. After living in the USA for nearly 9 months, I suddenly realized that I’ve lost touch with what’s happening in the rest of the world. Why? Well mainly because I’ve always relied on getting my news from watching television (rather than reading newspapers or web sites). And as Russ Baker will tell you about the news networks in the USA:

In general, for the Brits, war coverage offers an opportunity to corral facts and to ask tough questions about hugely consequential events. For the Americans, it is a chance to present an “exciting” story within narrow limits. Compared with the BBC’s studied neutrality, Fox (broadcasting globally its original stateside programming, complete with Brit Hume, Mort Kondracke et al.) comes across as a kind of Gong Show of propaganda.

And it’s not just about the coverage of the Iraq war or a “ding” at Fox News – the other news networks here aren’t much better. CNN seems to run Larry King shows most of the time and is mediocre compared to CNN International (which itself is medicre compared to the BBC). And don’t even get me started on MSNBC – that isn’t journalism, it’s more like a bunch of Hollywood “wanna be’s” trying to create exciting stories, adding their own myopic opinions and frankly asking some really dumb questions. We did sign up for BBC America, but it’s pretty disappointing and shows little news/current affairs and more entertainment programmes such as Benny Hill (that was funny when I was 12 years old, but nobody in the UK watches that stuff anymore).

I’d tried watching the BBC’s video news on the web, but it’s pretty low quality video and disappointing – but then again, it’s free. And recently I came across the BBC’s new Broadband Service, which is also free but restricted to UK residents (they block out non UK IP addresses). So when I discovered a subscription service for people who live outside of the UK, I jumped at the chance. Basically, it’s in partnership with Real (and you need to download RealPlayer 10) but it’s only $5 a month and it rocks!

Now each day, I can (on high quality video streams) get a 3 minute live news update and watch the top news stories on demand. Not only that - i can also watch the full Newsnight programme each night (great to see you again Jeremy) and Question Time every week. I feel in touch again with the rest of the world and am enjoying some high quality journalism and intelligent debate. It feels so good…it’s like I left the planet Earth and just arrived back! Thank you BBC. I will never complain again about the TV licence fee (although I don’t have to pay it anymore). At just over $15 a month, it’s an absolute bargain for the quality of programming that you get.  

Tandoori Chicken

Here’s a variation on a classic:

Ingredients (Serves 4)

• 8 Skinless Chicken Thighs
• ¾ Cup of Yoghurt
• 1 Tablespoon Garlic & Ginger Paste
• 1 Tablespoon Tandoori Spice Mix
• 2 Tablespoons Lemon
• 2 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil
• Salt to Taste
• Few Drops of Red Food Coloring (Optional)
• Chaat Spice Mix for Garnish

Directions

Combine yoghurt, garlic & ginger paste, tandoori spice mix, salt, lemon juice, food coloring and vegetable oil. Add chicken and mix well. Cover and refrigerate for at least 8 hours. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and place chicken in a roasting pan. Roast for about 20 to 30 minutes. Baste as needed with melted butter. Brown under the broiler for 6 or 7 minutes, turning once. Garnish with chaat spice mix and serve hot with a yoghurt/coriander/mint chutney.

Dany’s 4 Months Old

Dany’s getting bigger (and heavier) so fast! He’s around 16lb now and carrying him around in the car seat is getting harder too (especially for Tamy). He’s now realized that he has hands and feet and spends ages just staring at them. He has also started teething (which must be pretty painful) and he’s always putting his fingers into his mouth. I sometimes like to put my finger in his mouth and boy does he chew it hard! He also seems to want to be held a lot more these days and loves playful screaming (and smiling at the same time)!

We’re just starting to realize just how damn lucky we are. Dany is such a well behaved baby. Other than when he’s hungry, he just about never cries. We’ve gone to many restaurants over the last couple of months and never had any trouble with him. He just sits there quietly, looks around at *everything* and then goes to sleep. He wakes up from time to time, gives us a smile and then goes back to sleep. He’s such a cool baby!

Tandoori Fish

Ingredients (Serves 4)

• 4 Whitefish Filets (Cod, Tilapia etc.)
• 4 Tablespoons of Yoghurt
• 3 Teaspoons Garlic & Ginger Paste
• 1 Teaspoon Cumin Powder
• 1 Teaspoon Red Chili Powder
• 1 Teaspoon Tandoori Spice Mix
• 1 Egg
• 2 Teaspoons Lemon Juice
• Salt to Taste
• Oil for Basting

Directions 

Combine yoghurt, garlic & ginger paste, tandoori spice mix, cumin powder, red chili powder, salt, lemon juice and egg, and mix well. Pour marinade over fish filets, turning them to ensure that they are well coated. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake for about 7 minutes on each side, basting once with oil. Serve with hot roti and a yoghurt/coriander/mint chutney.

Charles Schultz Philosophy

Myriam sent me this email the other day:

The following is the philosophy of Charles Schultz, the creator of the “Peanuts” comic strip. You don’t have to actually answer the questions. Just read the e-mail straight through and you’ll get the point.

1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world.
2. Name the last five Heisman trophy winners.
3. Name the last five winners of the Miss America.
4. Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer Prize.
5. Name the last six Academy Award winners for best actor and actress.
6. Name the last decade’s worth of World Series winners.

How did you do?

The point is none of us remember the headliners of yesterday. These are no second-rate achievers. They are the best in their fields. But the applause dies. Awards tarnish. Achievements are forgotten. Accolades and certificates are buried with their owners.

Here’s another quiz. See how you do on this one:

1. List a few teachers who aided your journey through school.
2. Name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time.
3. Name five people who have taught you something worthwhile.
4. Think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated and special.
5. Think of five people you enjoy spending time with.

Easier?

The lesson: The people who make a difference in your life are not the ones with the most credentials, the most money, or the most awards. They are the ones that care.

“Don’t worry about the world coming to an end today. It’s already tomorrow in Australia.” (Charles Schultz)

Sony DCR-HC90 Handycam

For years we’ve talked about buying a camcorder, but never made the decision to do so. On my part I could see lots of reasons why we should have one but I wanted to be sure that this wasn’t just another one of those “gadget cravings” where I end up buying one, playing with it for a while and then getting bored and putting it away and forgetting all about it. On Tamy’s part, she wasn’t particularly thrilled about the idea of being captured on video (she already avoids having her photo taken), but the thought of me turning into Chevy Chase on a National Lampoon’s Adventure just freaked her out.

But now that Dany’s 4 months old, we’ve realized that there’s so much we want to share with family and photos can only do so much. So after another “Dany moment” where he did something so cute that we wished we could have shown our parents (who only get to visit us once or twice a year), we finally decided it was time to take the leap and buy a camcorder. So last week I bought the Sony DCR HC-90 Handycam Camcorder which arrived yesterday. I actually got it cheaper from eCost.com).

Spicy Beef with Spring Onions

Adapted this from a popular Asian recipe:

Ingredients (Serves 2)

• 0.75lb beef tenderloin, filet or ribeye
• 1 Tablespoon Soy Sauce
• 1 Tablespoon Fish Sauce
• 1 Teaspoon Chopped Garlic & Ginger
• 1 Green Chili (Habenero)
• 4 Spring/Green Onions
• 2 Medium Tomatoes
• 2 Tablespoon Cilantro
• 1 Teaspoon Salt
• 0.5 cup Vegetable Stock
• 1 Teaspoon Sugar
• 1 Tablespoon Sweet Soy Sauce

Directions

Slice beef as thinly as possible and then combine with soy sauce and fish sauce. Heat oil in a pan/wok and stir fry beef for 2 minutes. Remove and set aside. Add chopped green onions and chili to the pan and saute for 1 minute. Stir in garlic, ginger and chopped tomatoes. Add stock, sugar and sweet soy sauce. Return meat to the pan, heat thoroughly and add salt to taste. Garnish with cilantro and serve on a bowl of steamed basmati rice.

Writely: A Web-Based Word Processor

Michael Arrington thinks that Writely is Kicking A** and he’s right. It’s a neat example of how to build a good Ajax application and has some really cool features. How many friends and family do you know who spent $200 on Microsoft Word (or even more for MS Office) and all they do is “type letters�?

Writely is shaking things up and it’s going to be interesting to see what happens in this space i.e. how long before we see a Windows Live Word for the Web edition?

Masala Cod Steaks with Tomato

Here’s one of my cooking experiments that turned out rather well. I got the idea talking to Niema on the phone when I was wondering around the supermarket. She had a similar recipe (which involved broling instead of pan frying) and she’d scanned and emailed it to me by the time I got home. As always, I took the idea as inspiration and then made up my own recipe. Sometimes that approach is disasterous, but today it was spot on.

Ingredients (Serves 2)

• 2 Cod Steaks 
• 1 Large Tomato
• 3 Small Spring Onions
• 1 Green Chili
• 2 Tablespoon Cilantro
• 1 Teaspoon Salt
• 1 Teaspoon Curry Powder
• 1 Teaspoon Cumin Power
• 1 Teaspoon Coriander Powder
• 1 Teaspoon Paprika
• 2 Tablespoons Virgin Olive Oil

Directions

Heat olive oil in a frying pan. Add chopped chili, spring onions, salt, curry powder, ground cumin powder, coriander powder and paprika until slightly brown. Add chopped tomato and cod steaks in chunky pieces. Cook cod steaks for a couple of minutes on both sides. Then add a few tablespoons of water, cover the pan and simmer for another few minutes. Then remove lid, stir carefully (cod pieces will start to break into smaller pieces). Simmer for a few more minutes if there is too much water. Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve on a bowl of steamed basmati rice.