A small headache solved for me (and I'm sure others)

I don't know how many introduction emails I get sent each and every day. It's got to be at least... 5! And every single time I have to do the same thing --

1. Press "Reply All"
2. Click "Add BCC"
3. Copy the person in the "To" field (the person who made the intro) to the "BCC" field.
4. Copy the person or people in the "CC" field (those that I'm getting introduced to) to the "To" field.
5. Begin writing email with some funny/witty line (or a failed attempt at it) that says:
   • Thanks [Insert Person Who Made The Intro's Name Here] for introducing us. Moving you to BCC so you don't go insane due to even more email!

Well, I got fed up with doing that 5+ times per day (and apparently so did others):

4 every @500 intro email i get, wish there was single-click button that moved To: name -> BCC, & CC: name -> To: name. #IfWishesWereFishes

— Dave McClure (@davemcclure) January 8, 2012

 So I made a quick Chrome extension that solves my problem. Go ahead and install it and open an email, press "Reply All" and then click the new blue button in your Chrome extension bar and you should be all set.

Let me know if it works for you and if it helps you at all by emailing me or posting in the comments below. And while you're at it, look at what really keeps me (and my team going) during the day at GetBackstory.com. That product is wayyyy cooler than this extension.

Backstory enables websites to get to know each of their visitors and understand why they've visiting and how they're interacting with the site. Then we enable those sites to customize their content on the fly for each and every one and increase conversions (from tweets, to likes, to sales). And we do all of this with a single line of Javascript code.

So if you haven't looked at Backstory yet, what are you waiting for? I mean you'll have lots of time now that you don't have to copy and paste addresses in every email.

*Edited for grammer (because my wife said I should fix a few things).

My first day with the iPad

Since the day it was launched, I heard so many people talk about how amazing the iPad was. Every time someone would say, "Hey, check this amazing app out!" or, "Did you see what happens when I tilt it this way?" I would gag a little bit. I mean, I'm a technophile myself but no piece of technology can be that good. Or can it?

My awesome business partner, Mike happened to have one at home that he hasn't been using much. So instead of letting it sit around, acting like a giant drink coaster, he brought it into the office the other day. It sat by his computer for a little while but it wasn't long before the shiny black border and super awesome touch screen got the better of me. I picked it up, turned it on and loaded our new website for GetMinders (it'll be live in a day or two). And for those of you who care, it looked gorgeous! Not only that but I noticed a number of other impressive features right off the bat.

The device was fast, it was light weight but felt sturdy in my hands, the screen was bright but not glaring and most important, the onscreen keyboard rocked. I mean, I'm typing this blog entry entirely on the iPad and it feels pretty damn good. One other major point that I think most people gloss over is the fact that it's simple to get started. I mean, anyone can work hard enough to make a slick UI but it takes serious skill to create an OS and platform that can be picked up and used full force within a few minutes.

Finally, I want to share what has really sold me on this device -- productivity. I have a MacBook Air sitting on my desk at the office, a Dell at my wife's office and a MacBook at home but there's something to be said about a device that does only one thing well at a time. Many have said that they hate the fact that Apple doesn't offer real multitasking. And there is a time and a place for everything but in a world like mine where my day is filled with checking email, working on documents, chatting with customers and investors and getting research done, being limited to one thing at a time has boosted my productivity exponentially. I still use the MacBook Air for heavier lifting (I don't do much CPU intensive stuff) like logging into our servers with SSH and working on lots of code but I do find myself doing a lot more on the iPad during the day.

So far, I like the device and can't wait for the new one with a camera and all sorts of other new bells and whistles to be released. But for now I'm getting more and more comfortable with every minute I sound with this nifty computer-like piece of hardware.

P.S. If you have favorite apps for the iPad, please post them here in the comments or give me a shout on Twitter. I've started using some pretty cool products like MightyMeeting, WordPress, Squarespace, Flipboard and more and I'm always open to new suggestions.