I want to make this crystal clear: I love bookstores. I love going to them and checking out the bookshelves and the magazine racks, and finding some good things to read. I discovered a bunch of books and magazine because of bookstores, including the .net Magazine, the best web development magazine out there. That being said, I find more and more often that I go into bookstores and leave empty handed. Here’s why.
Let me start off by saying that even though I have a Kindle and read magazines on my tablet from time to time, sometimes there is just no substitute for a real, physical book. This is especially true of programming and web development books, which I tend to reference a lot so I prefer the physical copy to its digital counterpart. I also have a pretty nice bookshelf that would go to waste if I didn’t keep buying print books. So I truly enjoy going into bookstores in hopes of finding something new to read, whether it be a coding book, fiction, or a new magazine. But as I said in the intro, I tend to go into bookstores with the intention of buying a book, and end up leaving empty handed. The culprit for this is technology as a whole, specifically smart phones, the Internet, and e-readers.
In my last article, I talked about all of the advancements social media made in 2011. This included the launch and relatively quick rise of Google+, Google’s shiny new social network that allows people to connect, share, and even hangout (via video chat, that is). While Google did enter the social scene, however, their main function as a search company is still to disseminate information. Thus, it’s not surprising that Google+ has some nice built-in ways of doing this.
I know what you’re thinking. Obviously a social network can disseminate information. Just look at Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, and every other social network out there. They all spread information- people post things for other people to read. But I think Google+ has a couple of extra layers that the other social networks don’t have. Let’s start with an obvious one: Circles.
2011 was a huge year for social media. Granted, since 2004 we’ve seen an explosion of social networks, an insane growth in Facebook users, and Twitter take on widespread adoption. More of my students are using Twitter today that in previous semesters.
But still, in comparison to other years, this year was huge for social media. Not only did Facebook and Twitter see massive changes, but we saw another big tech company enter the social media ring: Google. The big three are all moving decidedly in one direction: mobile.
I have a confession to make. I’m 26 years old and I still give my parents a Christmas list. I mean, don’t get me wrong; I don’t volunteer the information. They usually have to ask me several times for it over the course of a month before I give it up.
The last couple of years, I’ve looked for good ways to keep my list online so I could just send it to my parents via email. This makes my life easier since I have links to stuff I’d buy for myself, and their lives easier because they don’t have to go hunting places for the stuff they decided to get me (my parents are awesome, by the way). In this round up, I’m going to tell you some of the list web apps that I’ve tried.
I have a confession to make; I am a huge Harry Potter fan. This may not be too surprising if you know I’m a pretty big nerd. What may be more surprising is I just got into it within the last two years, so I had some catching up to do. But once I read all of the books and saw all of the movies, I wanted more. I started reading interviews with JK Rowling and other websites and came to find that the Harry Potter World is a very well thought out and immersive one with endless depth to the characters. Fans (myself included) wanted a resource where we could tap into that world.
Pottermore gives us that.
Facebook has been chastised a lot over the years for their constant stream of small (sometimes unannounced) changes that they’ve made to the site: moving the chat around several times, modifying the profile, changing how news is displayed, and more. These have each been strongly criticized by people who immediately hate changes. Facebook’s Timeline, when it finally rolls out, is going to be a huge change and I know people will hate it just because.
Here’s a quick overview of the new changes, so you’ll hopefully be more prepared when they’re finally implemented. Quick hint: Timeline looks awesome, and odds are, you’ll love it!
Some of my friends love working out. They enjoy going to the gym, or running, or lifting weights. While I enjoy doing activities like playing Racquetball or Baseball, I find in order to go to the gym, I need some motivation- I need something that will help keep me to whatever fitness goal I happen to have. Skinnyo is a social network that aims to do just that.
I know that the summer, a time in particular where people take time to read, is just about done, but that doesn’t mean you have to stop reading! Heck, when Hurricane Irene hit my neck of the woods and power was out, just about all I could do was read. Plus, winter is right around the corner, and what better thing to do to pass the time than read (when you’re not shoveling snow)? With all of that in mind, I’ve put together a list of 12+ websites and eBook stores to help you find whatever book it is you’re looking to read.
As a freelancer, I do a lot of wheelin’ and dealin’. At any given time I’m managing current projects, writing proposals, trying to close deals, and getting new clients. Depending on how busy I get, this can get very hard to keep up with. While traditional CRMs are great for keeping track of relationships with clients and contacts, sometimes you need a little bit more. Pipedrive aims to provide you with a way not just to manage clients, but a way to manage the overall sales process.
When I was in college (4 years ago, for those of us keeping count), I had the pleasure of being the Student Government’s first ever Director of Technology, cementing myself as the school’s top geek (at least top social geek). We’d have bi-weekly meetings to discuss pending bills, campus updates, and more. After each meeting, the secretary would type up her hand written minutes, email them to everyone on Student Government, and have me upload a copy to the website. While it was a cumbersome process, I didn’t really explore a better way to do things. After using minutes.io, I now know there is a now considerably better way to take meeting notes.
minutes.io is a very simple (and beautifully designed) way to to keep meeting notes. It doesn’t require a login and its got a lot of great features packed into such a focused app. Let’s take a closer look.
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