Thing #14: online productivity tools

Start page: I tried igoogle because i have a google account for one of the other things i have done. there are some interesting little gadgets you can add, and i had fun playing around with the settings and personalizing it some, i may even use it at home. yet i found no tools that would help me in my job, all i found would serve more to be distractions when i work. the closest thing to a usefull tool that i found was the countdown to the end of the 23things.

Online calanders: I started out trying the Google Calander, but was having great difficulty getting regular holidays to show up on the calander without having to go in and set it up by hand. So i tried the Yahoo calander, where at least i was able to find more options for personalization, but it was also easy to get lost in the large amount of options and set up for the other yahoo items that it got to be frustrating very quickly. It seems that they do not want me to use just one thing they offer, but to innidate my life in the entire yahoo experiance. no thanks, call me old fashioned but i do not like having all of my life on and run by a computer, not because i feel like i lose control. I will still have control for it will be me puting the info in. It is more so related to a fear of identity theft.

To Do lists: For the most part these tools are only good for you if you can get online wherever you are. True you can print off things and take it with you, but then that leaves you with the same thing if you had just written it down. I feel that just writing what you need on a list can be so much faster than turning on your computer, sitting down, going to your list web page, logging in, adding something to your list in so many point and clicks, and then finally printing it. So in other words too much work, would much rather carry a pen and pad of paper with me everywhere.

I also took a look at backpack without bothering to get an account, but i did not see too much in thier tour that made it all that much special from many other sites that offer calanders lists, and contacts.

It almost seems that Web 2.0 gives you so many options on how to do the same thing it becomes a "web" of confusion.

that is all for now, hopefully will keep up on getting these things done.

Rune Nighthawk


EDIT: fixed where i had the wrong number originally posted. this is thing 14 no thing 13. thanks!