SquidRoad

Less RSS = Less Learning

Been wondering what's been making me cranky the last few months.

Now, before you start shootin' holes in my feeling, let me submit that when I'm not learning something new, I get really, really bored. (For the record, busy does not equal bored.)

It's been about nine months since this fiasco happened and all my RSS feeds went Google Way. Aaargh. That's a challenge when a lot of your learning happens by following, oh, a few hundred blogs.

 
Also a few months ago, I mentioned how I'd gone kicking and screaming to Twitter. What pushed me over the edge was the idea of microblogging, following others' blogs and then pushing my own (or others') information in 140-character bites in an effort to share.

But it's really not the same.

While it takes a lot of content browsing to find what you want via RSS feeds, finding valuable content via Twitter is truly like looking for a needle in a haystack. It takes much, much longer and yields much, much less.

So imagine my information drought of the last several months. Heck, I'm surprised I can still read at all.

Exit my old RSS reader app. (Fine-- go to Big Brother Google!). Enter....enter...well, I'm trying a whole bunch of stuff. For starters, NewsFire and Times (screen shot shown, above).

NewsFire behaves more like my old sellout tool (I'm not at all upset about it)--makes it easy to drill down into it if you want to, although scanning info requires a few more brain cells (still looking for those). With Times, what you see is what you get--in a very slick interface. If you want to feel like you're reading the paper but online, this is your gig. Beautiful GUI...I nearly fell for it, but it's just a bit too pretty for me.

As much as I love good design, when I'm looking for information, that's all I need. Of the two RSS readers I'm trying, so far it's NewsFire.

And I'm reading three-syllable words again. That can't be all bad.

There's the rumba, and then there's the Roomba

Of course, I dig both.

But the little robot that scoots around (especially) wood floors and vacuums up all the dirt balls and dust? For the moment at least, that's my favorite.

MacGyver (aka Mikey) has been researching this little beast for about 2 yrs now, trying to get the best tool for the job at the best price. I think he did pretty well, considering this suits our needs well and given most of our flooring is wood.

In fact, dating back to my knee-rehab days last year, the bathroom is the only place where there's carpet on the upper level. So this little guy, left, can roam free, even running into carpet/rugs, and still do a great job. At least, greater than we would have done (avid housecleaners that we are).

And that frees us up to do other things like plant gardens, fix cars (oy!), build walls, etc. Oh, and do freelance jobs that overcommit us. (I'm a dork.)

I married MacGyver

...and this is a problem.

Mikey is the King o' Projects, and there is no shortage of them at our house. I'm blessed by being married to a man who can fix anything and build just about anything. And so we are attracted to things that require work and building. Well...he is, anyway.

(At left: Is that an uber-gadget or Juicy Juice box on the belt loop?)

To wit: our car lot (two more not shown; btw, none of them is for sale)

And then there's our house stuff. (Photo coming...I think. It's waaaay past my bedtime.)

Suffice it to say that, is a lot of work to do...and only one Mr. Fix-it! Maybe I could be the female clone? Maybe one day, when I'm big, I can be worthy of the title...Mrs. MacGyver.

Can being utterly bad at something be good for you?

Here's a fresh perspective for our anal, Type A, hyper-driven society.

From Scott Berkun's blog (uh-hem):

...being good, as in proficient, isn’t good all the time. No doubt being good is good: I’ll hire a good doctor or lawyer over a bad one every time. But as I get older I realize how important it is for my soul to be bad or awful in at least one thing I do, and to take pleasure in it anyway.

How to get a standing O

Seems like no one knows great presentations like Steve Jobs. And if you ever have a chance to hear Guy Kawasaki, you'll see he's no potted plant, either.

I love reading Guy, and we had the privilege years ago to hear him speak to a Mac user group in Houston. Here, learn Guy...with a little Jobs along the way.

Can you hear me now?

Just came home from a great week in the Atlanta area--Rome, GA, to be specific. And it feels like something major just changed for me. I'd say this could be the third most life-changing event of my life.

First, there was discovering at age 9 that Jesus loves me--the main reason I get up every morning.
Second, attending Perspectives five years ago. This course takes a biblical, historical, cultural and strategic look at God's movement in the world since time began. It also helped me figure out where I fit into Zee Grande Scheme of Zeengs.

And this week, the Dynamic Communicators Workshop helped me turn another corner. You've probably heard that ranked up there with people's fear of death is their fear of speaking in public. Me, I think I feared death less. Long story, but very true. Death has no sting...but public speaking--I would just shrink in fear!

DCW is for anyone who wants to communicate clearly. Whether you're a communicator-in-waiting or already accomplished and wanting to tighten your message, do yourself and your audiences a few huge favors and try it. You'll come away with:

• The ability to define what it is you're really trying to tell the listener
• The ability to define the right message for the right set of needs--the listener's
• A message that is clearer (I guarantee it) than it's ever been and
• The ability to do this for any kind of communications piece--written, spoken or visual

Think of it: better meetings, MUCH better presentations, budget proposals, sermons or devotions. A one-week investment for what I anticipate will be a lifetime of change, at least pour moi.

Like I said, I have been terrified most of my life of public speaking. Now, I'm excited about opportunities to present. Because finally, I have the tools to put together a clear message--quickly, if need be.

Look into it and, if you decide to attend in May or later, let me know how it went. I'm confident you'll get your money's worth and that the outcome will exceed your expectations.

Breakfast of champions

I love breakfast. By far, it's my favorite meal of the day.

Doesn't matter whether it's hot cereal (this is my new favorite oatmeal from Nature's Path)...
...or cold cereal (also my new favorite, from Back To Nature)...
I love breakfast. And apparently, so does Mikey.

So much so, in fact, that he's about to get us a new toaster. No big news, really, except that this is not just any toaster. This is the Egg & Muffin Toaster. It makes breakfast for you--an egg and sausage (or other meat) sandwich. The only thing it doesn't do  in the morning is kick you out of bed. Build one yourself. And I'll let you what it's like.

Wondering why I can't find my files

Entourage X makes me more efficient

I've recently moved to a 15" PowerBook at work. Aside from adjusting to my files being in a nice, user-friendly interface (as opposed to the not-so-nice, not-so-friendly interface that held them hostage for 2+ years), Entourage X has made an enormous difference in my ability to organize the files on my laptop.

I'd been using it for a few months on my personal laptop, so I knew the usefulness of the Project Center. But in actual working environment, this tool is powerful. Your work can be sliced and diced any way you want--by project, by person, by department, by topic...you name it. As a result, files are much easier to find and sort.

And I do mean files. Files in the form of e-mails, contacts and any other files, regardless of format, associated with your project.

More in this Macworld article. If file organization is a challenge for you, I strongly recommend Entourage X. If you're after more organization or productivity info, here's another article about revamping your Inbox.

Also: visit 43Folders and GettingThingsDone (although the latter link doesn't have as much talk about productivity as I'd like. Guess you have to buy the book--I did).

Is your organization meeting-happy?

One thing new employees where I work say is, "Man, I've never worked in a place that holds so many meetings!"

Sound familiar?

Well, if you have to attend those like we do, you might as well make 'em do something for you. This tip sheet from Lisa Haneberg is a great way to get the most of out various types of meetings--brainstorming, problem-solving, standing meeting, others.

E-mail address required to access this file. It's good...and worth the info.