my arc design blog

Here at ARC Design, Gmail is our web-based e-mail client of choice.  I had never used Gmail before I started working here, but it pretty much rocks.  I recently stumbled upon a few Gmail tips on the Web Worker Daily blog.  The tips include using Gmail securely, fast delete, fast search, exclude messages from search, creating workgroups, using shortcut keys and a few more.  Some of them you may already know, I will share a few but you can check out the rest by jumping over to Web Worker Daily through the link below.  Are you a Gmail veteran and know a tip that isn’t listed here?  Share them with me in the comments.

Fast Delete. Did you know that hitting the # key (using the Shift key and the 3 key) will move a message directly to trash? To quickly delete many messages, select several of them and hit the # key.

Create a Workgroup. If you, like many web workers, frequently e-mail the same people, create a group instead of typing individual e-mail addresses in. To do so, click Contacts, open the Groups tab, and select Create Group. Create a name for your group. Type the contacts to add in the Add Contacts field. Click Create Group.

Use the “g” Key for Keyboard Shortcuts. GMail understands the “g” key on your keyboard to mean “go.” Hit g c to go straight to your Contacts list. Hit g d to go straight to your drafts. Hit g i to go back to your Inbox.

Web Worker Daily - Getting the Most Out of Gmail

I have always thought that diving into something is the best way to learn (tutorials also help quite a bit, too). A couple months ago I had some knowledge about WordPress, but I eagerly wanted to learn more. So I installed WordPress on my server and started playing with my two good friends, trial and error. It wasn’t long before I was able to work on blog projects for Blue Ridge Rags and Chef Mei’s Personal Chef Service allowing them to seamlessly mesh with the current design.

On another note, I was pretty impressed at Apple’s release of the new line of iPods. Specifically the new iPod Touch with Wi-Fi and a killer YouTube feature. Much like the rest of the world, most of us in the office are YouTube addicts and this should feed our habit. Apple also released a new iPod Classic which comes in a whopping 160GB (yeah, that’s a lot of music).

My business cards (or bc’s as I like to call them) came in the other day.  Nothing says “welcome to the team” like a well designed business card.  Earlier this week we launched the new DK Enterprise and Mac Sign websites.  When I began working at ARC, DK Enterprise was the first project I contributed to.  So it was pretty cool to see it go live!  Also, if you have not noticed (or have been living under a rock) I have a killer new blog layout.  It still needs some tweaks, but it will work for now. 

Most of the time I open iTunes and hit the shuffle button in the lower left hand corner, but I decided to give Pandora another try. I know that Ryan is a big fan of streaming satellite radio but I’m digging Pandora for two reasons:

1. It’s free (and I like free)

2. It lets me type in a song or artist I like and instantly find other music that might fit my particular taste

Third–I can add a third reason, right?

3. It’s commercial free!!!

Now that you know what music I prefer when I am busy working on projects like Blue Ridge Rags. What kind of music preference do you have while you work? Sirius, XM, random songs in iTunes, last.fm, or something else?

Hey! My name is Landon Miller. I’m originally from a small town in Illinois, but I moved to Fayetteville a few years ago courtesy of the Army. I joined ARC Design in June and I love it! I have always worked freelance so to join a cutting edge team like ARC Design is such an awesome experience. It’s also cool to meet others that are infatuated with Apple products as much as I am. This post is definitely not going to be as long as Ashley’s first one, but check back because there is always something new going on around here.