It’s very easy to setup, this is what I’ve done:

1) In Gmail, go to settings -> filters -> create a new filter
2) In the subject field, enter “todo:” -> click on ‘Next Step’
3) Check ‘Skip the inbox’
4) Check ‘Apply label’ -> new label -> enter “Todo” as label name
5) Click ‘Create Filter’ and your done!

Now write yourself an email with a subject like “todo: put out the garbage” and you’ll notice that Gmail will automatically list the mail in your todo list. You can do the same for a shoppinglist or readinglist, just use another prefix and label when you create the filter (e.g. “to read:”). Once you have finished the task you can either mark it as read (for your archive) of remove it completely.

You can now easily manage your todo’s anywhere & anytime using a webbrowser, email client or your mobile phone. For example, I found it really handy to be able to access my shoppinglist at the moment I actually need it.

At a career management course for HBS alumni, I learned that a person typically gets sick of a job after 18 months. This is a natural cycle, as you go through the excitement of learning a new job, become expert at it, and then gradually, it gets routine. So the advice I got was to plan for job obsolescence every 18 months. This didn’t mean that I had to leave the company and go to a new place – it had more to do with redefining my current job first to incorporate new challenges.

I reflected this on my own situation and came to the conclusion that I indeed arrived in the phase were a lot of things become a routine. For my job, it’s crucial to stay creative and come up with new innovations so routine is often a bad thing.

So… what’s my next challenge? Together with two new collegues, we’re going to start the dutch/benelux office of Exalead. Exalead is one of the major players in the enterprise search market. I know exalead pretty well since they are providing search technology to ilse since 2006. I’m a big fan of their technology and I’m very happy to become part of the company!

I considered buying the Panasonic DMC-TZ3, which I think is an excellent camera for a very competitive price. I did realise however that the camera has been on the market for almost a year. So, chances are good that a followup will be announced early 2008. Every once in a while I googled for DMC-TZ4 (which I thought would be a logical name for the TZ3 successor). Finally, when I asked google again today, I found Panasonic’s announcement of the TZ4 and TZ5!

The specs of these compact ultra-zoom cameras are pretty impressive:

Lumix DMC-TZ4

• 8.1 effective Megapixel CCD
• F3.3-4.9, 10X optical zoom lens, equivalent to 28 – 280 mm
• Optical image stabilization
• Compact body (by ultra zoom standards)
• 2.5″ LCD display with 230,000 pixels with auto brightness adjustment
• Uses new Venus Engine IV image processor
• Point-and-shoot operation
• New Intelligent Exposure mode brightens over and underexposed areas of
  photos automatically
• Intelligent (auto) scene selection mode
• Records widescreen movies at 848 x 480 (30 fps) with sound
• 50MB onboard memory + SD/SDHC/MMC card slot
• Comes in silver and black
• Uses proprietary li-ion battery; 330 shots per charge
• USB 2.0 High Speed supported
• Shipping in late March for $299

Lumix DMC-TZ5 is differs from the TZ4 with:

• 9.1 effective Megapixel CCD
• 3-inch LCD display with 460,000 pixels
• Digital Redeye Correction removes redeye while photos are taken
• Can record movies at 1280 x 720 / 30 fps (720p) with sound
• 300 shots per charge
• Comes in blue, black, and silver
• Priced at $349

The TZ5 is high on my wishlist. Both models will be available in late March 2008.

It would certainly spend far more time in coffeeshops if they all had an open WiFi connection…

If you might wonder what I’m doing: I’m over at my parents in France this week and thanks to France Telecom I’m able to do my work just like I would at the office. I must say, I like it!

Then it happens, you enter the admin of your blog and see this default tagline: “Just another wordpress weblog”. Right, they do have a point there. This is just another weblog, having changed the tagline doesn’t make a hell lot of difference. So why even bother?

Well… mainly because I enjoy blogging. I’m reading and discussing the webnews day-in day-out, why not discuss it online as well? Besides that, I think that blogging on a regular basis will force me to think about things that I would have skipped otherwise. Last, but not least, I really hope to learn a lot from the discussion with readers of my blog.

Alright, time to study the wordpress widgets a bit more. Anyone who can recommend me some tagging & social bookmarking widgets?