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Clearing Up the Confusion E-Zine Vol 03 Issue 03
------- Clearing Up the Confusion E-Zine -------
Vol 3, Issue 3
I learn so much from my daughter sometimes that it amazes me that
she is only 14 months old.
The other night we were eating dinner. Kaylie had already
finished hers and was running around, exploring her world as only
a toddler can do. She started making noise that she wanted what
we were eating. Now, I'm as sadistic as any parent, but giving
spicy burritos to my darling little one didn't seem like such a
grand idea. So, we snagged the "snack pack" (about the size of a
quart bottle) of Cheerios and pretended to take them from our
plates to give her.
That satisfied her for a short time. Then she wanted to hold the
snack pack. We sealed the top and handed it to her -- anything
to keep her playing quietly while we ate. Within seconds, the
top was off. Instead of the expected disaster, though, she sat
down on the floor and daintily reached in and started taking one
Cheerio at a time from the package. We were amazed and
overjoyed.
Just as we were congratulating ourselves on the wonderful job we
had done, raising such a well-behaved child, our little angel
decided that she wanted things to move a little faster. Holding
the package to her mouth as if it were a glass, she tipped it
completely upside down.
In the ensuing mayhem, as we struggled not to laugh (OK, I didn't
really struggle that hard -- toddlers are the *funniest*
creatures), Kaylie discovered that she no longer wanted that
many Cheerios. Standing up and leaving a trail of unwanted
cereal behind her, she went off to play with her toys.
So many of us are like my daughter when it comes to our use of
the Internet. There are so many tools and toys out there that we
go crazy checking out everything, only to discover that many
really aren't what we need (or that we aren't willing to put
forth the effort required). I'm no exception, so that's why I'm
continuing the exploration of the various tools I've recommended
over the years and whether and why I still use them or not.
Cheerio!
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In This Issue...
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1. Article: Fading Away in the Clutter
2. Shameless Self-Promotion
3. The Fine Print
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1. Article: Fading Away in the Clutter
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I've been using the Web since the first graphical browser (Mosaic
anyone?) first came out. I joke that I can still remember going
to the "What's new on the Web" website and looking at all four
sites! I've run into a few tools and toys since that time. Many
seemed to be useful when I first encountered them, but they
eventually faded from use. One of the big areas for this in my
online life is in my iGoogle homepage. There are a ton of little
tools and toys (called "gadgets") available for the homepage and
I've tested a number of them. Some of them proved quite useful
such as my views into GMail or the Google News Reader. Others...
* To-Do List: I installed a whole series of these gadgets, each
for a different purpose. I had lists for home projects,
business goals, blogging topics, you name it. They weren't bad
for what they did, the problem was that I really had a hard
time remembering to use them. Instead, I use the "Remember the
Milk" gadget a *lot* more. The RTM gadget resides on my
homepage but I also have a section of my GMail page devoted to
RTM *and* I can call it up on my cell phone's Web browser. For
me, my "To Do" list has to be available wherever I am.
* GasBuddy Price Map: This one is a good idea, but, again, it
wasn't where I needed it when I needed it. I don't usually
need to know where the cheapest gas is when I'm sitting at my
desk. GasBuddy has a mobile interface which is more practical
for finding less expensive gas in the area. If you are
interested, you can check out the information at:
http://www.gasbuddy.com/GB_Mobile_Instructions.aspx
* The Google 15: This gadget is supposed to help you track your
weight with the idea of achieving a specific goal weight. The
name comes from the idea that new Google employees when
confronted with long hours at work and the complimentary
gourmet cafeteria food tend to put on a little bit of extra
weight. This tool actually did some pretty fancy running
averages which helped offset some of the issues caused by
weighing yourself at different times of the day. In general it
seemed like a good idea, but I just never used it. I always
figured it was more important to get in my daily exercise than
to remember to weigh myself (a slightly less important
indicator of my general health). Still some might find the
tool useful.
I've got a couple of other ones that I'm not using right now,
most notably a "Japanese Word of the Day" and a news feed with a
variety of Japanese lessons in podcast form. I have a goal this
year to work on my limited skills in Japanese, so I'll have to
pass judgement on those when I get into that process.
So, drop me a line if you've used any of these tools or if you've
found others which sounded good when you first encountered them
but ended up not doing as much as you had hoped in retrospect.
Copyright 2009, Greg Peters
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2. Shameless Self-Promotion
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The "Clearing Up the Confusion" E-Zine is a production of Greg
Peters, owner, chief cook, and bottlewasher of Cyber Data
Solutions. CDS has been helping website designers develop better
web presence for their clients for more than a decade. Visit us
on the Web at www.cyberdatasolns.com to see how we can help your
webmaster.
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3. The Fine Print
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