Just a little opinion (and rambling) post from me today…

Resources:
Flip Video Camera: http://www.theflip.com
Jamie’s Blog: http://www.blogjamieblog.com
Zoobuh Kids Email: http://www.zoobuh.com

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I started my geek days as a Mac user. Since I worked primarily in web and graphic design, my Mac was a perfect fit for me. Over time, though, as my service offerings expanded, and I started to rely on more Windows-friendly software, I switched back to a PC.

Then last year, I decided to become a bi-platform professional. I kept my Dell XPS desktop and got a MacBook Pro as my portable machine. It was one of the best moves I could have made for my business, and I have found that I am most productive and efficient when I use both computers in tandem.

One immediate benefit of the dual systems is that the setup lets me avoid file format issues with clients who are on Windows platforms. I don’t have to worry about saving in a compatible mode or testing conversion of my files before sending work off to my clients.

Of course, my Mac gives me the best-of-the-best when I’m designing. Plus, it’s just more visually appealing to me when I work on my Mac. While I tend to favor my Mac for these reasons, I have found having constant access to a both computers lets me take advantage of software that works in only one of the platforms. There isn’t really any software out there that I can’t use in my business.

On a logistics level, having two machines available to me at all times means I can double the number of apps I can have open at a time without overloading either machine. And I do! Plus, I can use my PC for running things I don’t want to check all the time – like HootSuite for keeping up on Twitter – so I know it’s there, but it’s not getting in the way of my other work.

One thing that makes me most productive is the backup system I have in place. My files on both computers are automatically synced as I work, so if I need to bounce around from computer to computer, I don’t have to worry about wasting time transferring files. I think I would be slower and less efficient without my current setup…but what do you think?

Do you or would you ever consider using both platforms in your business?

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Hello, my favorite geeky gyrls! This is my first post here at GeekGyrls.com and I thought I’d start out with a new monthly feature of the best geeky tips and toys that I come across so you too can be an early adopter. I’ll strive to compile my own personal geeky finds and spare you the drudgery of hunting them down yourselves. I’ll highlight gadgets, online services and tips on using some of our most valued tools in our business and life. If you ever come across something truly geeky and would like me to include it, feel free to pop me a direct message at Twitter (I’m @VirtuAllin) or let us know in the comments. And on with the geeky show!

As an entrepreneur, keeping up to date on a broad spectrum of information is critical to staying competitive in today’s business climate. I need to know what challenges my potential clients face, what tools are available to them, how others are succeeding and more. Most of us gain this valuable insight through subscription to blogs using RSS feeds. If you need to know more about RSS, check out this cute and informative YouTube video from commoncraft.

So, I love me some RSS. Paired with my need to take in all that great information is my need to push it right back out to my social network. As you know, social networking for entrepreneurs especially is a vital element to growing your brand and establishing yourself as an authority in your field. Two of the most popular ways of sharing this type of information is by using  Twitter and/or Facebook to push the best and brightest blog posts and news items out to your list of friends/followers.

Now, what has all of this got to do with my favorite geeky tech toys? Exactly this – I’m going to tell you how I accomplish all of the above with some really fantastic time-saving toys. If you’re anything like me, you’ll adore these and will quickly find you can’t live without them.

RSS Reading and Social Sharing

Some of you may already be using Google Reader to keep up with your RSS feeds. Google reader is decidedly simple yet very usable, it’s free and thanks to a flexible system, quite a comprehensive web-based RSS feed reader.

But to take that power and multiply it by 1000 productivity points, you need Feedly. Feedly not only organizes your Google Reader feeds into a beautiful, clean categorized layout but easily allows you to share the best of the best feeds with other Google Reader friends, Twitter, Facebook and much more! Feedly is a Firefox extension, so if you’re still using Internet Explorer (what???) you may want to make a switch.

Feedly also offers the Feedly mini, a fantastic and powerful tiny toolbar that allows you to recommend any and all web pages you happen to discover – on to your community. It also shows you how many conversations that web page or blog post might have sparked up over on Friendfeed.

One of my favorite features in Feedly is the ‘latest’ tab, which displays the posts of the blogs you’re subscribed to as they’re published. This lets you read and share the hottest and most interesting stuff before everyone else. The first person to post hot news on Twitter is often the one that gets the most ‘RTs’ or ‘Re-Tweets’ and thus more visibility for your brand.

Another fantastic feature is the ‘Karma’ tab. Karma is Feedly’s latest experiment that shows you how people react to the content you’re sharing – how many times your peers clicked a link in something you shared, how many times it was re-tweeted and more!

I won’t go into each and every feature of Feedly here, but I highly recommend you check out my post about Feedly and Louis Gray’s terrific Feedly post and start using Feedly A.S.A.P. I just know you’ll love it! Let us know what you think and clue us in on some of your favorite geeky finds in the comments! Thanks!

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And why should you care? Because you are a woman (most likely) who is at home with technology and there didn’t used to be that many of us not that long ago.

Fellow Mac-chick Nora Rubinoff put out the word where I and thousands of others would find it (on Twitter, naturally, where she goes by “ays”), and all you need to know is that this is “an international day of blogging to draw attention to women excelling in technology.”

I’d been trying to find a good topic for my first post over here on GeekGyrls, and this just seems right.

Read more about it here.

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I am extremely geeked at the response that I’ve received from several members in the VA community. I sent a letter asking these VAs if they would be interested in guest blogging at GeekGyrls and the response was overwhelming!

So we’re getting things set up right now but feel free to view the “meet the geeks” page to see who’s committed so far.

It’s going to be a great group! I am excited and look forward to working with these ladies.

Stay tuned…

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