I'm freelancing again (around stable work, fortunately).  And that means tracking my time for the first in three years.  Last time, I was working daily in a cool PIM called Tinderbox, and I built a custom time tracker that exported text invoices.  It was slick.  This time, though, I'm not doing enough freelance that it's worth rebuilding that solution, and I don't have a laptop to carry it around with me besides.  So I'm looking for something quick, simple, and preferably free. 

• I need to track my time on projects and to be able to easily export a monthly report of my time for a couple of clients. I need it to be free or <$3/mo. for a year.  I need to be able to update in different places, whether that's online or on my keychain flash drive.
• I'd like to set up basic categories within or across projects (research, documentation, correspondence) and I'd like
• I don't need anything complex.  It doesn't need to chart, or even create invoices or track payments, though if it does without forcing me to do stuff, great.

O freelancer friends, how do you track your time for your clients?

A couple of weeks ago, my latest project, Gamestar Mechanic, hit public beta -- you should go register! -- and that was as far as we could go with our funding. So it goes with many things these days.

Hence I am now out looking to rock the world of game and software dev. I'm pretty excited about the prospect, because there's neat work out there to be done. I've taken some time to clean up my home office, get my resume and portfolio updated, and am now looking.

If you know of people who might need help on a freelance, contractual, part-time, or even full-time basis, let me know! Here's what I do, for the record, since I only talk work about 85% of the time:

• Project Management / Production for Games or Software Development - I coordinate software development, including assembling a team, scheduling and setting milestone deadlines, running daily meetings (yay Agile!), tracking tasks and defects, managing clients and their expectations, and coordinating delivery.


• Quality Assurance Testing and Management - I test software, hire and coordinate testers, write good 'bug reports' and track resolution.


• Game Design - I know about good game design, user interface and interaction design, and generally making things fun for a variety of people.


• What needs doing - In every job I've been in, I've done things that never got listed under my title: coordinating the move of an office, founding new departments or teams, being the liaison with facilities.  I know that sounds like interview B.S., but it's a good catchall-- I do lots of things, even things that I haven't done before but which clearly need doing.

I have been blessed either with a string of work that I have enjoyed, or with a soft spot in my brain that makes me enjoy whatever I do.  I'm happy in the game industry, but not restricting myself to it.

And, now, I'm off for a deceptively regular afternoon - going into 'the office' once more, then off to ... gaming tonight!

I just wrote a letter to a friend of mine who will be visiting Boston this weekend and is looking for a nice coffeeshop to do freelance work from. I thought for a bit, wrote up a quick summary, and think it might be of interest to other Bostonians. Add to my list-- where's a nice place to sit down, sip tea/coffee, maybe get online for cheap/free, and work for a few hours? The requested analogue, fellow NYC residents, was the Tea Lounge.

My favorite place downtown is the Trident Booksellers and Café, which is on Newbury Street a few blocks 'in' from Massachusetts Ave. That makes it a bit far out if you're really 'downtown', but several subway lines and several bus lines go along Mass Ave there. The food at the Trident is a bit expensive, but it's a great place with a bookstore attached to the café, it's locally owned, and they really don't mind you sitting down to several hours of work with a tea or coffee.

Further in toward the Common, also on Mass Ave, is Tealuxe, (mutual friend) S_m_r_'s second-favorite place after the Trident. There's another Tealuxe up in Harvard Sq. I'm not as fond of Tealuxe because it's smaller and they tend to push people along if they can. It's just not as nice a place to sit and work, but you can and they've got a great (the best?) selection of teas.

If you're down in Jamaica Plain, which I would highly recommend, I like JP Licks, on Centre St. about a 5 minute walk from the Green St. T station. They've got booth-tables where you can camp out and spread out, and the folks there are often fun.

Also in JP, further down toward "the Monument" and the Arnold Arboretum, is Emack & Bolio's, a local chain like JP Licks. More like the Tea Lounge, but like JP Licks, ice cream-based.

If you're up in Cambridge, I found several places. Algiers, in Harvard Square, is an odd two-story place that tries to be an arabic coffee shop. They're fun despite that, and they have great mint coffee.

Cezanne is a nice place about halfway between Central Sq. (2nd Cambridge stop on the Red line) and MIT/Kendall Sq. (1st Cambridge stop). That puts it in the middle of nowhere for most short-term visitors, but it's a nice place to work for a few hours and I've done so several times.