Untangling the Web III: Instant Gratification
Instant Messaging has been around almost as long as the internet itself. And before Instant Messaging, there were message boards and chat rooms. It can be an easy way to keep in touch with your real-world friends, a way to chat with the folks you meet online or an effective tool to communicate with the people you work with. Unfortunately, for far too long Instant Messaging has required downloading and installing one of a myriad of programs. This makes it a hassle when your workplace won’t allow you to install programs or if you’re at a public computer. Thankfully, several online applications have been created in the last couple years that make it possible to send and receive instant messages from your web browser. I’ve got two IM applications I want to focus on today: Meebo and Google Talk. I’m also going to discuss an IM-like application called Twitter.
Like a lot of you reading this, I spend a great deal of time online. There are also times I need to be at computers other than my home PC. In order to best keep in touch with my friends, of both the virtual and real-world variety, I need applications that move beyond the desktop. I need applications that I can use anywhere. Which is why I use Meebo and Google Talk for Instant Messaging. Twitter, while not an Instant Messaging application, is another way to keep in contact with your friends and let them know what you’re up to.
02.19.08Untangling the Web II: Email for Everyone
In part one of this series, I discussed with you what RSS Feeds are, and how they can benefit you. Today, I’m going to discuss the mainstay of communication in the digital age; Email. In my opinion, email is the single most important technological advance in decades. It has changed the way we do business. It has made staying in touch with friends easier. It’s affected almost every facet of our lives, to some degree or another. Yet it’s something we take, in large part, for granted. Changing to a world with email wasn’t easy, but going back to a world without email at this point would be extremely difficult. Still, as wonderful as it is, email creates almost as many problems at it solves. Spam swamps our in-boxes. Messages we don’t want to delete, but don’t want to lose, clog our in-boxes. Well, for some of us, anyway. This is why choosing the right email client is critical. Deciding whether to use a program on your computer or an application online is alone a tricky task. And once you make that decision, choosing between all of the available options can be pretty daunting. Hopefully, I can make that task a little easier on you. As with every article in this series, I’m going to focus on the application I think is best. In this case, that application is Gmail. Before I walk you through getting your own account, I want to spend some time telling you the reasons why I think Gmail is the right choice for your email needs.**
It’s everywhere you want to be:
Unlike Outlook, or another desktop application, Gmail can be accessed from any computer that has access to the internet. This is one reason why so many businesses have switched to using Gmail. It’s far easier than setting up external access to the company servers for checking your work email off-hours. And don’t worry about the bells and whistles that you get with a desktop client. Even if Gmail doesn’t have something, a calendar for example, there is likely a Google application that will allow you to get the same functionality. One that integrates smoothly with Gmail.
Untangling the Web I: Feed your Head
See that neat orange icon up there? Recognize it? I’m sure most of you do. Even if you don’t know what it means, you’ve likely seen it at almost every site you go to – including this one. In fact, if you use certain web browsers (Firefox for example), you can even see it in the address bar when you visit most websites. But what does it mean?
Well, friends, if you don’t know what RSS means or what Web Feeds are, you’re in the right place. Because, whether you know it or not, that little orange square can be your best friend on the web.
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Wordpress has, for a long time, been my blogging software of choice. It may have its flaws, but they are outweighed by the fact that it’s the software I first learned to use and the one I’m most comfortable with.
Like many wordpress users, I was elated when version 2.3 came out with the addition of native post tags. Before 2.3, those of us who wanted to use tags had to install 3rd party plugins, such as Ultimate Tag Warrior or Jerome’s Keywords. Turns out, both plugins were far better than the new native tags we were all aflutter about. Why? Because they worked.
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