The Agenda

These are a few of my favorite things! A collection of gadgets, gear, and more, lovingly curated by me, Andrew Meyers.

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FreshBooks Reshape the World Challenge [Sponsored Post]

Are you a business selling a product or service that’s tuned to meeting the needs of the self-employed worker? If so, here’s a contest you need to know about. Seriously.

In their continuing effort to make life (and work) better for the self-employed, FreshBooks (with sponsorship by Fidelity Labs) has launched the Reshape the World + Win challenge. They’re out to find the teams behind unique services or products that are helping freelancers, well… freelance.

Here’s what you could win:

1 of 3 $10,000 cash prizes (yes, that’s some major cabbage).

A paid trip to the Google for Entrepreneurs hub in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, to meet leaders in the field and to show your wares.

Lots of free publicity and exposure for your business.

Three free online workshops to help you get better at marketing, branding, promotion, UX and more.

Those are some sweet, not too shabby prizes, if I do say so myself.

So why launch a contest like Reshape the World + Win? Well, here’s “the why” behind the promotion:

FreshBooks’ mission is to reshape the world to suit the needs of self-employed professionals and their teams. But it’s a daunting task that can’t be done alone. Enter: your business. Together with Fidelity Labs, let’s start to build a world that celebrates the different and the new.

So, hopefully Reshape the World + Win sounds like a fun (and valuable) opportunity for your business! If so, go ahead and enter now. Your entry is due by May 25, 2018, and winners will be announced on June 8, 2018. Good luck!

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Review: The Doxie Go SE

In the past I had the opportunity to review both the Doxie Go WiFi and the Doxie Q, and this time the folks at Apparent sent me their newest scanner, the Doxie Go SE, for review. As the name implies, the Go SE represents an incremental evolution over the Go WiFi design.

But it’s more than that. Simply put, the Go SE my favorite Doxie scanner yet. Let me tell you why.

Hey There, Good Lookin’

First off, I do prefer this form factor over that of the Q:

I particularly like Go SE’s rounded corners and edges. There’s a certain warmth and friendliness to that style of industrial design which feels right at home here in 2018.

And the stickers. Now I don’t mind if you want to adhere labels on your product to help educate the user on unboxing, but those dang things better come off when I need them to. Thankfully that was my experience with Go SE: they came off clean as a whistle.

A Quick Scan

We don’t often have huge stacks of paper to scan in — thank goodness for statement PDFs delivered via email — so a single-sheet feeder works just fine for our needs (compared to the Doxie Q’s tray feed system).

With Go SE you’ll be scanning in documents face up, and they go through the rollers fast. I also appreciate the nice, but firm tug you experience when pre-feeding your paper into the scanner.

In terms of transferring scans to the desktop, I’m always partial to using an SD card because my MacBook Pro still has an SD card slot (that will not always be the case). Thankfully one version (in this case, the one Apparent sent to me) of the Go SE offers a WiFi transfer option like its predecessor.

What’s New?

Here are a few additional changes I noticed with Go SE, as compared to the previous models:

Go SE has a replaceable battery (🙌🏻) and it no longer requires a power block/brick for charging. Just plug the included cable into any USB port and you’re good to go.

The scanner will take a wider sheet of paper, possibly even the A4 format used for sheet music, which is a big bonus for me. I’d love to go all digital with my sheet music.

There’s an SD card in the box, and it packs 8 GB of storage.

You can transfer scans via a new USB tethered mode.

Wrapping Up

As I mentioned earlier, Doxie Go SE comes in two models ($199 and $219). Both can transfer scans over USB or via an included SD card, but only the more expensive $219 model can communicate with your computer (or iOS devices) over WiFi.

(I should also note the current Doxie promotion on Amazon. At press time your Doxie Go SE will ship with a bonus pair of Doxie socks, so that’s fun.)

For the moment I don’t need the WiFi option, but I can see it coming in handy as laptops (Apple’s machines, anyway) continue to abandon everything but the latest USB-C ports. And at only $20 extra, I think it’s a solid investment in future-proofing your Doxie Go SE.

C’mon people, go paperless! With the exception of just a few legal and other important documents, there’s just no reason to keep stacks of paper lying around and cluttering up your home. Good luck, and happy scanning!

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Beeline

This one’s for all you cyclists out there. Beeline is “bike navigation made simple.” Pop it on your handlebars and you’re good to go.

Beeline is simple and sleek. It sports a basic black & white (weather & waterproof!) display that’s customizable among several riding modes. You can program a route using the Beeline app for iOS and Android or you can ride with just a simple compass. Either way the interface is minimal, providing just the information you need for the ride.

And Beeline isn’t just for navigation, either. You also have the option to toggle through other data like speed, ride time, distance, clock — even the battery level on your connected smartphone and the Beeline unit itself (which should last for four weeks under regular use and months on standby).

I know advanced cyclists ride with more powerful computers on their bikes, but Beeline seems like the kind of tech that’s meant to benefit both veteran and novice riders alike.

You can buy Beeline for $139.

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Deckset 2

The team at Deckset recently released the 2.0 version of their macOS app that transforms Markdown-formatted text into stunning presentations.

Customization is the name of the game in this release. Previously you were limited to the presentation themes that shipped with the app. As pretty as those presets were, it still wasn’t possible to create a slide deck that was fully branded with your company’s colors & logo, for instance.

But with this version those limitations are gone. Using any of the existing themes as a starting point, now you can set your preferred styles for all elements (colors, fonts, etc.). And from there you can even export your theme and share it with others. It’s an awesome tentpole feature for this 2.0 release.

You can buy Deckset 2 directly from the company’s website for $29, and team licensing is also available.

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‘The iPhone Field Guide’ by David Sparks

David Sparks (a.k.a. MacSparky) is back with the latest in his series of field guides, and this one’s all about the iPhone (iBooks Store link). I love the way he describes it:

[…] get the most from your iPhone from this media-rich book that is sometimes user guide, sometimes opinionated app recommendations, and sometimes iPhone sensei.

Indeed, The iPhone Field Guide offers something for everyone, and I’m amazed at the sheer scale of the tome, as it contains:

50 screencasts (2+ hours’ worth of video)

44 chapters

450 pages

65,000 words

Wow. David outdid himself with this one. Plus, it’s all neatly packaged into a rich iBooks experience for iPhone, iPad and the Mac (built using iBooks Author, of course).

The iPhone Field Guide is now on sale at its introductory price of $20.

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The ecobee Switch+ Smart Light Switch with Amazon Alexa

For the money, you’ll be hard pressed to find a smarter light switch. The ecobee Switch+ has Amazon’s voice assistant Alexa built right in, and it can do everything you’d expect:

turn the connected lights off & on with your voice (as well as other smart devices you’ve connected to your Amazon/Alexa account)

tell you the weather or the news

play music through Amazon Music Unlimited or Spotify Premium

add items to your to-do lists or perform any of Alexa’s other skills

Plus, integrated motion & light sensors mean that Switch+ can be configured to automatically turn off the lights when no one’s around and even throw on a nightlight when it’s dark out. Connect it to a set of outdoor lights and you’ll be able to automate them turning off and on with sunrise or sunset.

You can buy the ecobee Switch+ smart light switch for $99.

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Alto’s Odyssey

Alto’s Adventure was an instant hit when it landed on iOS back in 2015. And now Snowman is back with the much warmer and drier sequel — Alto’s Odyssey. While the first installment was an endless run on the snow, Alto’s Odyssey finds our hero out sliding on the desert sands. And just like the original, you’ll find yourself immersed in a world of stunning, ever-changing visuals and a most wonderful soundtrack.

Here’s the trailer:

With 180 goals to complete and essentially a different run each time, the replay factor for Alto’s Odyssey is extremely high. Having played the original, Odyssey was an instant pre-order for me.

Alto’s Odyssey is $5 on the iOS App Store.

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’sodes

Developer Jared Sinclair (Stormcrow and the now-acquired RSS reader Unread) is back with ’sodes, his latest app for iOS (iPhone only as I write this). ’sodes is a “casual, cozy way to listen to the occasional podcast.” You’re not going to manage download queues or priority podcasts in ’sodes, but rather just listen when you want to listen to something.

I’m a pretty devout Overcast user, but what really caught my eye about ’sodes is its super-fun design. I’m still rocking an iPhone 6S, but ’sodes was clearly made to shine on the iPhone X, all the way down to rounded corners in the UI. Font sizes are big, bold, and fit in nicely with the latest iOS 11 design aesthetic. And ’sodes has big buttons for controlling playback during popular podcast-listening activities like running, cooking, etc.

For $3, I just wanted to give Jared my money for doing a tremendous job on the app. But I think many podcast listeners will find it super-helpful, and I think it could find a place in my workflow (or listen-flow) for certain type of podcasts. I’ll definitely be trying it out.

’sodes is $3 on the iOS App Store.

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Caavo

We have many, many devices connected to our TVs these days — cable boxes, game consoles, streaming media players… it’s all there. And let’s face it: figuring out what’s playing where can be tricky. That’s not even to mention the inevitable pile of remotes that start to stack up on the coffee table. Entertainment setups can end up being a bit of a mess.

Caavo is aiming to change all of that with its unifying physical hub. The Caavo hardware unit is a wood-grained “garage” for all of your HDMI devices (you can plug in up to 8) and its software interface aggregates all of your inputs and lets you search — using the included voice remote — for what you want to watch across all of your services (cable TV, Netflix, Hulu and the like). And Caavo’s darned pretty, too.

Caavo is now shipping and starts at $399.

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‘All The Things’

Shawn Blanc and the team at The Sweet Setup are back with All the Things, a brand new online course on task management & productivity, featuring video tutorials for the amazing Things 3, my GTD app of choice.

In Shawn’s words:

Things 3 is the best task management app out there. It is simple and easy to use, and it has a beautiful design. While being powerful enough for even the most detailed and organized power user, it is also simple enough for the rest of us.

In our new course, All The Things, we will quickly show you how to get up and running with Things 3.

Moreover, you will get additional, in-depth systems for a more calm approach to productivity and easier task management.

Pretty useful stuff. The core components for All the Things are:

videos with productivity experts

screencast tutorials for Things 3

setup interviews with real users

advanced scripting and workflow ideas

The pro bundle is $49 (on sale for $39 at press time) and gets you access to all of the content, or you can go à la carte and choose either the Things video tutorials or productivity content by themselves. Clearly there’s something here for everyone, whether you’re all-in on Things 3 or just want to get better at using your paper to-do lists. I’m excited to check it out.

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The Full Focus Planner by Michael Hyatt

I’ve been following Michael Hyatt’s work for something like 10 years now, and if I had to summarize what he’s all about, I’d say it is — excellence. He started with a fantastic blog, expanded to a weekly podcast, and ultimately branched out into an entire company.

Michael has written a number of books, but if I’m not mistaken, the Full Focus Planner was his company’s first physical product. Let me be clear: this is no run-of-the-mill Moleskine. What Michael and his team have come up with is a complete system for managing your day-to-day, week-to-week, and month-to-month, and it looks just terrific.

The Full Focus Planner has templates for charting your goals, thinking through weekly & quarterly reviews, and architecting your morning & evening rituals. But what I’m most attracted to are its daily pages. Each day you’re able to track your “Big 3” tasks, other to-dos, basic schedule, and all of your notes. And Michael’s design team has done a terrific job with the overall layout. It’s really beautiful.

Make no mistake — the Full Focus Planner is a premium product. Each planner has enough pages for 90 days and retails for just under $40. You’ll save 20% with an annual subscription at $125, but it’s truly an investment. But as I think about it, I have to believe that if you were to fill every page and follow each of Michael’s suggestions (free coaching videos are included with your purchase), the results would easily surpass what you paid to get started.

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TopBrewer

Move over Nespresso — TopBrewer is the coffee maker your office has been dreaming about. What is it, exactly? TopBrewer is almost like a Coke Freestyle machine for your workplace beverages — it’s “great coffee on tap.”

The guts of the machine are hidden out of sight, so TopBrewer looks more like a fancy water faucet than anything. (Except that this faucet dispenses coffee, making it the most precious faucet in the world.)

With TopBrewer you can make everything from espressos to hot chocolate, or just a plain old cup of joe. It’ll also dispense cool water — sparkling or still. And the machine’s completely controlled over WiFi. You can set up an iPad as a touchscreen kiosk on the counter right next to TobBrewer, but employees can also control the unit via their smartphone or even an Apple Watch. I love it.

I couldn’t find any pricing on the TopBrewer website (never a good sign), but I did find a contact form to request that information. And I can’t imagine the supply costs are super cheap, either. But one thing’s for certain: TopBrewer has to make for a premium office coffee experience.

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LeoVera Men’s & Women’s LED Shoes

I feel like I need to find more occasions to wear sneakers with LEDs in their soles. I mean, who doesn’t, right?

While LeoVera (the makers of these fine foot adornments) doesn’t actually have a website and I find the marketing copy of Amazon’s product page somewhat suspect, I have it on good authority that these shoes work as advertised. You can switch between 11 different color modes, and they’ll stay lit for 8–10 hours on about 2–3 hours’ charge time. (Which is great, because I don’t have enough things in my life that require charging.)

However, I must say I’m a bit concerned about the graphic promoting New Function: Sound Control Light-Up Shoes. Is this a new version of an older shoe, or was the patch applied with a firmware update? I’m confused, and again, the marketing graphics aren’t helpful. Just what is Sound Conrol (sic), anyway?

Well, even if the new voice activation features don’t work, at least I’ll have something new to wear to the club.

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Review: Upside Travel

I was lucky enough to stumble upon Upside when they launched their beta back in 2016 (I came across it via a sponsored Facebook post, of all things). Co-founded by Jay Walker (Priceline), Scott Case & Jon Ellenthal, Upside’s premise is simple: book business travel packages, and in exchange for being flexible about details like airline/hotel brands, travel times and hotel proximity, your company saves money and Upside also rebates you some of those package savings in the form of gift cards.

I have the responsibility of making my own travel arrangements for work, and in total I’ve used Upside to book airfare & hotel for three different trips (two others were cancelled due to weather). While our company offers some guidelines for pricing, I also feel a responsibility to be a good steward when it comes to keeping costs low. And in comparing package costs vs. booking á la carte, Upside definitely makes sense for me & my company.

While I am partial to Delta for flying and the Hilton family of brands for hotel accommodations, booking travel through Upside has caused me to branch out a bit. I’ve had great experiences flying with United & American, and I’ve stayed at some cool hotels beyond the standard Marriott and Hilton brands (to be fair, Upside offers the most popular hotel brands as well, and some even tack on their loyalty points as well).

In exchange for this flexibility and for booking as a package, I’ve earned a total of $490 in gift cards for these business trips. (To be fair, there were some big gift card bonuses for being a beta customer.) You can redeem your gift cards electronically at brands like Amazon, Target, Panera, Lowe’s, and AMC. Each of my gift card redemptions has worked flawlessly, and fast — it’s really awesome.

On top of the gift cards, Upside is all about providing incredible customer service. Here are a few examples of what I’ve experienced:

surprise seat upgrades from economy to economy plus

special booking promotions like a $200 Netflix gift card

awesome chat & phone support when I had to cancel and rebook a trip due to weather

a free $5 Starbucks gift card for you to snag coffee on every trip

All of these features are available on both Upside’s website and their accompanying apps for iOS & Android.

What can I say? I’m an Upside fan. The type of business travel I do varies so widely that I don’t need to book these big packages all the time, but when I do, Upside is the perfect fit. And the company has continued to improve since launch, adding features like rental cars through Hertz, one-way flights, and even loyalty points from certain hotel brands. (One upcoming feature I’m super-excited about is multi-city trips, as it would be great for some business travel I have coming up later this year.)

So that’s my take on Upside Travel. It’s a fun way to earn a little extra when you’re booking business travel, and I’ll definitely continue to use it in the future.

Use this link (affiliate) to earn a minimum of $100 in gift cards on your first trip purchase of $600 or more.

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‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ [Pre-Order]

I don’t buy a ton of movies, but since picking up the original Star Wars film collection (the first 6 episodes), I’ve decided to collect each new Star Wars release as it comes down the pike. In 2016 it was Episode VII: The Force Awakens, in 2017 Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and this year I’m pre-ordering Episode VIII: The Last Jedi.

I saw The Last Jedi over Christmas break, and I’ll be honest, I had some apprehensions going into it. Reviews have been mixed and there’s so much hype any time a new episode comes out.

Without spoiling anything, let me put it this way: The Last Jedi is not a bad movie, by any stretch. I’m not sure I left the theater with the same kind of smile I had after The Force Awakens, but TFA was special just for having been made. I’m looking forward to watching The Last Jedi again once it’s released for purchase/rental.

The HD version of The Last Jedi is available for $20 (Amazon | iTunes).

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‘Your Best Year Ever’ by Michael Hyatt

Perfectly timed for a New Year’s week launch, Michael Hyatt (Platform, Living Forward) has released his latest book, Your Best Year Ever: A 5-Step Plan for Achieving Your Most Important Goals.

Spoiler alert! The five steps are (as listed on the book’s landing page):

Believe in the Possibility

Complete the Past

Design Your Future

Find Your Why

Make It Happen

I’ve been following Michael’s work (blog & podcast) for something like 8 or 10 years now, and I have come to expect from him well-researched, thoughtful writing on leadership, productivity, and the like. I have to imagine this new book is worthy of my “to read” list on Goodreads.

Your Best Year Ever is out today, and you can find it on:

Amazon (Hardcover)

Amazon (Kindle)

Audible (Audiobook)

iBooks

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The ‘Plan Your Year’ Workbook

There’s certainly no lack for “hey-it’s-a-new-year-I’d-better-get-my-act-together” products, but few are as affordable ($19) as Plan Your Year, a new workbook by Shawn Blanc (The Focus Course). Here’s why Shawn put it together:

Every January my wife and I take an evening or two and we map out our upcoming year. We usually pour some wine and begin by listing out our upcoming year’s important events, milestones, and any goals we have or other things we want to do. We will then go through that list and decide when we think those things should happen and what we’re going to do to help make them a reality.

I love this idea. My wife & I have been married for almost ten years, and I have to admit we’ve never taken the time to think “big picture” about the entire year ahead. I wouldn’t say going through a workbook like this is exactly how she rolls — actually, Jules is pretty prepared all the time — but she knows I love this kind of stuff and has agreed to go through Plan Your Year with me. I think it’ll be a wonderful opportunity for us to connect and we begin the new year.