Save Files from Gmail to Google Drive

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So far, Google hasn’t given us the ability to quickly save attachments from Gmail to Google Drive. Yes, it seems obvious they should. But until they do, a tech columnist named Amit Agarwal has devised a brilliant work-around.

Send your Gmail Attachments to Google Drive »

You can apply the #GoogleDrive label to any Gmail message to quickly save all the attachments in your Google Drive.

Two Web Designs Compared

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Let’s look at two social media Profile page expressions. Both are the result of focused and deliberate work by talented designers at globally dominate companies, Facebook and Google.

Here is my profile banner from Facebook; my personal one, not my professional page.

Click images to enlarge

facebook profile 

Notice that the emphasis here is on the banner image I chose to express myself and my lifestyle, not on the avatar used to identify me.

Now the banner from Google’s newly-redesigned Kyle Kimberlin profile page.

Google profile

Notice that the center image in the row on G+ is the same beach photo used on Facebook. But the emphasis is on my enormous face.

I could have easily made a collage of photos for my Facebook banner, and had all that space to share them. But there’s no way on Earth I would have used a giant picture of myself. This is a little bit unsettling.

I just don’t think there’s any question which is the better design. That the prize goes to Facebook is surprising, though.

Now I’ve got to spend some time tinkering with G+, to find a workaround that puts the emphasis on what I want to say and what I have to share, not how unrelentingly cool my prescription sunglasses are.

How To Write

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I came across these 10 good tips on writing well for business. This is from a 1982 internal memo by David Ogilvy, a famous businessman.

His ideas apply to creative writing too, I think. I studied business writing and rhetoric in college, as well as creative writing. I believe all writing skills inform each other.

I’m going to follow his list by repeating it with my thoughts. Because, you know, I’m a writer and it’s my blog. I have to do the heavy lifting around here.

  1. Read the Roman-Raphaelson book on writing. Read it three times.
  2. Write the way you talk. Naturally.
  3. Use short words, short sentences and short paragraphs.
  4. Never use jargon words like reconceptualize, demassification, attitudinally, judgmentally. They are hallmarks of a pretentious ass.
  5. Never write more than two pages on any subject.
  6. Check your quotations.
  7. Never send a letter or a memo on the day you write it. Read it aloud the next morning — and then edit it.
  8. If it is something important, get a colleague to improve it.
  9. Before you send your letter or your memo, make sure it is crystal clear what you want the recipient to do.
  10. If you want ACTION, don’t write. Go and tell the guy what you want.

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