May 19th, 2008 — GTD
LifeHacker asks, How Do You Organize Your RSS Feeds? I’ve been meaning to blog about this very topic for some time now. (It’s that inner librarian thing again.) So here it is….
First, after happily using FeedDemon for a year or so, and then switching to PulpFiction on a Mac, eventually I migrated to Google Reader because it’s so easy to access from machine to machine — including my iPhone.
Within Google Reader, I always put a new subscription into a folder. If it’s a topic I think important to monitor daily (or close to it) then I put it in one of my top five folders, which are cleverly numbered 1 to 5, with short explanations afterwards. The “1priority” folder is a peculiar mix of blogs I maintain and news from my host (e.g. server X is down). The “2vu-cancer-news” is the news I most need to monitor (”vu” meaning Vanderbilt) and the rest is self-explanatory.
It’s not a panacea, but it does help tame the monster that my RSS feeds inevitably become.
May 18th, 2008 — Web Diva Fashion
MIT does fashion? Apparently so. Battery-powered dresses, 802.11 apparel, and more. Check out some entertaining links about the Seamless Computational Couture fashion show held at Boston’s Museum of Science this past January.
May 17th, 2008 — Happiness
Mr. Web Diva is the best. For my birthday last year it was an iPhone. And this year — ta dah — a Chumby.
For those scratching your heads wondering what on earth a Chumby might be, see David Pogue on YouTube in Pimp My Clock Radio. As always the intrepid Mac, New York Times, now CNBC geek captures the essence.
Me? I wondered first why I asked for it and later why I loved it so much. Was it the soft squishiness combined with wireless? Or could it be the dozens of widgets to check out instead of cleaning the house? Then I read a Wired article. “Generally speaking, the Chumby is meant to be a highly specialized second screen catering to those with acute internet addictions.” Busted.
For those interested in learning more about the Chumby, check out:
Can you guess what’s coming in this blog?
May 17th, 2008 — Housekeeping
First off, many thanks. Then my apologies for not responding lately. Life has been ridiculously hectic.
My dear friend Daisy assures me it’s an ebb and flow kind of thing, and I’m hopeful more time to blog will be flowing my way soon.
In addition, I have a sizable and growing backlog of things to write about, so one or two of those first, and then on to your comments….
May 4th, 2008 — Blogging, Communications
I recently wrote some comment guidelines for the primary site I manage, and was surprised by the paucity of information on this topic. Of course you’ll pull up thousands of entries if you do a Google search. But I wanted authoritative, meaty stuff.
In fact, what I most wanted was a book covering the topic. However, neither of the blogging books I own did. One is even on corporate blogging.
The implication is that guidelines don’t matter that much — that things like search engine optimization are what’s really important. For many blogs, I expect that’s true, but not all.
I’ve used to manage a dicey blog (now history) where guidelines were a lifesaver. Early in that blog’s life, I opened my email one day and discovered about ten comments submitted the previous evening by one person. The first four were flames, but then came the fifth. It began, “I just read your guidelines….” and proceeded to be quite rational, even calm, after that, suggesting that I not post his earlier comments.
For others looking for meta guidelines, I did happen across one helpful summary. It’s several years old, but cuts to the chase with four rules used by all of the corporate blogging guidelines they reviewed:
- You’re personally responsible
- Abide by existing rules
- Keep secrets
- Be nice
From: Policies compared: Today’s corporate blogging rules
If your gut is telling you write guidelines, pay attention. Even though I couldn’t easily find a subject authority, there are plenty of good examples found with a quick search. Just add a dollop of common sense, and you should come up with something that will help you sleep better at night.
April 22nd, 2008 — iPhone
Friday I had to rush a relative to the Emergency Room. While no one in their right mind enjoys an ER experience, nonetheless there are those surprisingly bright spots. And the biggest surprise was … having my iPhone.
Since I’m on a Mac, my sizable list of contacts, developed over the years in the Mac’s Address Book, syncs seamlessly with my iPhone. The result? It has a wealth of helpful medical information and phone numbers with relatively little effort. In fact, getting phone numbers and addresses into an iPhone is much easier than with any other cell phone I’ve had before.
Back to the ER…. Doctors contacted, paperwork done — then the hours of tension-laced tedium set in. We were there for eight hours before being going to Intensive Care. Inevitably, I didn’t have a book with me, and I’m not keen on most TV. Once again, however, my trusty iPhone came to the rescue. I have hours of video and audio podcasts to keep me entertained, and that’s precisely what they did. As it turned out the hospital had wireless too, but for some reason my email choked, and in retrospect, I’m just as glad it did.
The moral of this story? If you have an iPhone, be sure you’ve got contact information not only for your own doctors, but also for doctors of relatives and friends who have asked you to be their emergency support person. There may come a day you will be very glad to have it (however long forgotten) just waiting in your pocket.
April 17th, 2008 — Google, Vanderbilt
Vanderbilt designers converged today from all corners of campus for a first-ever meeting and lunch. I wouldn’t have made the cut, but fortunately the graphic artist at the Cancer Center, the same wonderful person who designed the gray-haired lady featured on this blog’s banner, urged me to come. I’m so glad I did, even if it did give me a slight Alice-in-Wonderland feeling.
I’m used to geeks, and while there was a healthy sprinkling of them too, the predominant theme was art. At one point they started talking favorite Pantones. I was proud to even know they were talking about color. And many of them can draw! One used to be a courtroom artist. Wow.
Even more amazing, over a one hour lunch they decided to set up both a listserv and blog, and by quitting time today, both were in place. Zoom….
If you are a Vanderbilt employee, you can get to the blog here: Vanderbilt Designers Blog. One challenge it creates: I follow blogs via Google Reader, but it doesn’t support password-protected ones. I’m not sure how it will unfold, but I certainly do admire the pluck of these artists willing to dive right into Web 2.0.
April 10th, 2008 — Communications, Knitting
Geez louise. I keep forgetting to blog. I read a number of stories over the weekend about bloggers who get so stressed they have heart attacks or worse, but that’s obviously not a problem for some of us. I expect it’s mostly confined to those who are A-list or A-list-wannabes.
What’s the secret to my success … in maintaining blogging health and sanity, I mean? Of all things (at least for now) it’s knitting.
I haven’t knit for almost 30 years. I became moderately proficient at it in my early 20s, but then life (babies, etc.) intervened — plus I don’t like clutter, and crafts are incredibly clutter-inducing.
So what happened? Why the return? I’m not quite sure. A friend mentioned her favorite yarn shop, I happened to be near it the next day, waltzed in, got some yarn, next got a chatty e-newsletter from them, and even signed up for a class.
Now most evenings I can’t wait for a little knitting and Star Trek with Mr. Web Diva. Bliss.
April 5th, 2008 — Flash, iPhone
Steve Jobs has a reputation of having it out for Flash. That’s because he won’t put it on the iPhone. As I see it, though, he has some pretty good reasons.
Even though I’m nuts about my iPhone, and love Flash, it simply hasn’t been that big a deal for me, and I sometimes wonder what all the fuss is about. I suspect it’s contextual.
I just did some Flash for my church today. It’s pure fluff and indisputably tacky — but that’s exactly what my church wants. (Have I mentioned I love my church too?) The last three or four years I’ve done some dubious Flash for the annual pledge drive, and people love it. What better reason could there be?
Ultimately you don’t have to have Flash to use the church’s site. It’s easy enough to get to the online pledge form by using the menu or other links. That’s what I mean by contextual. If the site depended on Flash, it would be another matter.
But then again, with very few exceptions (Flash video being one), this web diva eschews sites that depend on Flash. 90% or more are usability nightmares — typically vanity sites at their worst. The iPhone and his Steveness merely prove that point.
April 3rd, 2008 — Google, Nashville
Oh my stars has this been a week for little ole’ Nashville. A week ago Google announced that we are now included in their Street View, and today The Tennessean said that Trader Joe’s is coming.
To celebrate this august confluence of events, here are a few street views near-and-dear to my heart.
