Google to the Rescue!

Right.  Onto week 2.  iGoogle set up (although it took some convincing that I’m really, really not in Algeria) and RSS feeds added to Google Reader.   So what do I think? Well, at first my iGoogle page was a bit of a mess, with gadgets from all over the place winding up there.  But after some careful editing I can now keep up with news, update my to-do list, download free music, follow Google Reader RSS feeds, have a giggle at the daily comic strip and view the date and time.  iGoogle will handily inform me when it is 17:00 and time to go home. Er, I mean when it's time for my next meeting.  Not bad. 

Like others, I’ve set iGoogle as my homepage and hope it will help me organise my time better, and possibly even my life. I wonder how long it will be before Google is doing my weekly shop, paying my bills, cutting my hair and booking my holidays?  What’s that you say? It can do this already? I really wouldn’t be surprised.

I checked out the video on Upgrade and set up some RSS feeds, including all the 23 Things participant blogs.  Phew, that took a while! It’ll be great to view everything in one place though, and being located at one of the smaller sites, it'll be a good way of keeping up to date with everyone at Northampton Square etc and get to know some of the new faces that have appeared since I left.   

So, onto week three.  Where are those embarrassing holiday snaps..?

Catching Up

"I'm late! I'm late! For a very important date! No time to say "hello." Goodbye! I'm late! I'm late! I'm late!" The White Rabbit (Carroll,1865)

Well maybe not a date as such, and I'm not quite as frantic as Lewis Carroll's White Rabbit, but you get the idea. 

So here is my first post.  And it's three weeks late. If this was a book I'd be looking at a pretty hefty fine by now.

I decided to sign up for 23 Things as, like the White Rabbit, I feel the constant changes in social media etc are impossible to keep up with.  I'm therefore hoping my involvement in this will help me to gain new skills and keep abreast of changes and new information.

This is my second venture into this sort of thing, having kept a private blog for a few years.  I follow a number of blogs and I think it’s the personalised nature of them that attracts me; information that comes direct from the individual has so much more substance and depth than that which comes from a faceless company or organisation and this is what keeps me going back again and again. 

It's clear that blogs, as well as social networking sites such as Twitter, have altered the way we share information; it's now acceptable to communicate with a wide audience in a relatively informal manner - we can tell others what we had for dinner in one sentence, and share our political opinions in another.  Although tempting to blog about my culinary adventures (roast chicken with garlic and lemon last night), I plan to use this blog for work related posts and will try to avoid boring your socks off with tales of my personal life. Riveting as it is.

So, what next? Looks like I have lots to do before I catch up with everyone else on here so, like Alice, I'd better get a move on.