Looking for Something

I've caught myself looking for information, but not quite sure what I'm looking for. Searching the Internet is an art more than a science. The info eludes me, but I keep searching for word permutations and ideas show up. And when I get lost on the web, I go to my librarian. Remember her? (or him as the case may be, but I always remember the "lady" librarian.) The librarian doesn't know everything, but she does know how to find just about everything.

Most of you would say, "Google it." I actually use Yahoo as I find the results more relevant for me. Yagoohoo!gle actually does both for me, but they must of run into lawyers since the name has been changed to Twingine. Dogpile does the same and adds AskJeeves to the mix, but the results are listed in one list rather than side-by-side. And I like Teoma because it provides suggestions on how to narrow my search to get to precisely what I'm looking for. That works only when I know what it is I'm looking for!

As you can see, there is a myriad of search engines, databases and indices available to us. Knowing where to look and how to search, can mean the difference between finding that essential bit of knowledge and getting lost in a bottomless pit of irrelevant information.

I wonder why no one has come up with a "Dewey Decimal System" for the Internet?

YaGoohoo!gle

Can't decide which search engine you like better? Here you go. . . .YaGoohoo!gle

Game Time!

Play this game and you will not be able to do anything else for quite a while, very, very addictive. The objective of GridGame is to get a chain reaction of tiles as long as possible. Once you click on a tile you'll see how it works. You need the Flash plugin to make it work. My best score: 2073 2187.

Computer Users Anonymous Redux

After writing the previous blog entry, I continued to research computer user addiction. It seems that all the information I found was circa mid-1990's. Was it just a fad? Is computer/net addiction a thing of the past? I think not.

I remember when there were only a few hundred websites to go to. There was no Google, no Internet Explorer. Online research was performed via character-based tools like Archie, DejaNews and Veronica. Search tools would boast about "thousands of links." Now search engines talk about millions and billions of links. In 1980 there were 200 computers on the Internet. Now over 300 million!

I think it is commonplace to spend time in front of your computer and no one thinks twice. It's acceptable to be "addicted" so it's not a big deal, and thus no modern help for the "computer addicted." It's just part of the job, much like the 3-martini lunch used to be.

Computer Users Anonymous

Twenty-two years ago I wrote an essay called Computer Users Anonymous. It was a humorous little ditty and one of my first forays into writing. A reader on the Internet recently took it as a serious commentary to a very serious problem he was having with a roommate.

...I am grateful that there is now a Twelve Step program for people who will not get off their computers. I am not writing to you about myself, but I am writing to you about my roommate. I have had this roommate for over two years and ever since he moved in he has been obsessed with this computer....I am getting frustrated that he does nothing to help around here....I am at my wits end and about to rip the cable modem out of the wall or turn the circuit off to this room. What do I do about this without coming off as an asshole and making him moving out? Are there any people that could do a 12 Step call on him in the area.

I left out his details and locations here, but I could feel his pain while reading his email. Trying to help, I did some Internet research on computer users anonymous, and like him, I found nothing.

Sorry to hear of your plight, but I do not think "Computer Users Anonymous" is a real organization. I wrote that essay almost 22 years ago, and while I have heard about people spending too much time with their PC's, I have not heard of any organization or 12-step programs catering to those needs.

All the searches I performed were full of satirical and parody sites. Some of the terms I found were Netaholics, Webaholics, Gopherheads, Interholics and Internetters. I dug deeper and did come up with a few "real" sites, although they are about 10-years old. I found Computer and Cyberspace Addiction and Computer Addiction Services

And then I started thinking, a website for the computer/'net addicted would be a self-defeating kind of site...wouldn't it? Let me know if you know of any sites or organizations to help this fellow out.

Bad News For Books

According to a new study from investment banking firm Veronis Suhler Stevenson, the number of hours Americans spend reading books continues to fall, from 109 hours in 2003 to a projected 106 hours in 2006. Meanwhile, the number of hours spent using the Internet continues to increase, from 176 hours in 2003 to a projected 213 hours in 2006. VSS Research Publications

WSJ + RSS = Yippee!

Yes a cryptic title, but the Wall Street Journal is finally providing online newsfeeds (RSS). If you're a subscriber you get the headlines and the stories. If not, only the headlines. It seems like they were dragging their feet on this, but I can say my newsreader is now complete.

Site for Cite

Citing previous writings is always a pain, but is the easiest method of avoiding plagiarism. Even when you do not quote directly from another work, if reading that source contributed to the ideas presented in your writing, you must give the authors proper credit.

There are three major formats for citations: APA, MLA and Chicago. And in the last few years and editions, they each have expanding their electronic documentation citation styles. Each have their own formats for email, web, CDs and other electronic documents.

You should always find out your target publication's style. Just ask. But if your switching between styles, I have found this website: Citing Electronic Documentation at the University of Minnesota site that compares the three major styles. It's a great reference, but also an education to surf and see the differences, some very minor and many similarities.

Good Powerpoint?

Yes I was working on another PPP (PowerPoint Presentation) when I came across beyond bullets and read about some new ideas. I have come by many blog entries talking how bad PP is, including my own, PP Stigma and PP Makes you Dumb.

One common complaint when someone sees a typical PowerPoint is, "I can read your bullet points myself, so why do I need to be here? Just give me the slides and we don't need to waste each others' time."

Read the author's comments and ideas. Since I'm a Toastmaster, I especially enjoyed his comments on PowerPoint and Toastmasters. I know our club, Downtown Akron, No.1894, needs an upgrade from overhead projector to PP.

PowerPoint desperately needs Toastmasters, and Toastmasters desperately needs PowerPoint, and I hope the two will come together at some point because the union would be quite productive.

And check out how Disney uses Powerpoint for storyboarding.

Techno-Dependent

I've spent the last 2 days recovering from a laptop crash. Even though I have 4 other computers, I like my ThinkPad and just didn't take the time to blog while I was troubleshooting the 'TP'. I figured out the problem with the use of some newsgroups and Microsoft's support knowledgebase. I needed to repair the operating system and re-install Office 2003. But I also realized how lost I am without technology at my fingertips. I am techno-dependent!

It is easy to see how technology has taken over my life, your life too. It's more than computers and e-mail. Just think about microwave, television, VCR, DVD, hand-held games, calculators, automobiles, electronic fish-finders, and automatic cat litter box cleaners. It's a conspiracy!

I have owned more computers in my life than I have owned cars. I spend more time at HGTV.com website than I spend working on my house. Knowing about the changes in the latest version of Office is more important than the changes in the tax laws. Checking my e-mail, not once but several times a day, is more important to me than waiting for the mailman to show up each morning.

I don't feel safe without electronic connectivity -- even though the process is disruptive and can be irritating. How many times a day do you stop what you're doing to answer an e-mail? It seems as though technology manages us 24/7. There's no relief, no opportunity to get needed downtime. Technology makes a wonderful servant, but an awful master.

As a techno-dependent, I need to learn to live in harmony with technology, using it to assist me in the important things in life. I need to remember that ultimately it is the people in our lives that are important and not the "things". All of the people are important, family, friends, co-workers.....and blog readers.

Crash, Boom, Psssss

It didn't really make those sounds but my home office network took a dump over the weekend. I'm up and operational, but I still don't know what happened. I need to review all those Event Viewers and log files to see if any process left me a clue. I hate to spend too much time, y'know curiosity killed the cat. But without that knowledge I can't come up with ways to prevent a repeat occurrence. Besides it gnaws at me when I don't know WHY something happened.

I'm going to look deeper into this Linux thing for the desktop. I already have a server running Red Hat which is a lot like the battery bunny, it keeps going and going... I've been following George Nemeth's move to Linux at Brewed Fresh Daily. Perhaps now is the time. (...satisfaction brought it back!)

The PowerPoint Stigma

Presenters University, sponsored by InFocus, provides courses, downloads, Q&A and plenty of information on, what else, presentations! This is a useful site with information you can use. This article, The Deadly Sins of Modern PowerPoint Usage, reviews four sins of PP presentations:

• Obnoxious animations
• Lousy contrast
• Stupid sounds
• Abusing photos.

So please repeat after me: “Today, I am going to make sure that I annoy no one with PowerPoint.” We’ll worry about tomorrow tomorrow, but that boomerang animation you were thinking about adding to all of your titles today? Let’s talk…

Cool Web Experience

Next to NetCaptor, RoboForm is the latest software to make my web surfing fun. It saves my login and password to all the sites that require such to enter. And it saves the passwords to a USB drive (if so desired) so that I can take my passwords with me and not leave them on the computer for others to find (or exploit). The next time I visit a site that needs a login and password, Roboform remembers and fills it in. It does the same for name, address and credit card info, so online purchasing is a breeze. And the coolest thing...it's free!

Another stab at PowerPoint

PowerPoint Is Evil.

The practical conclusions are clear. PowerPoint is a competent slide manager and projector. But rather than supplementing a presentation, it has become a substitute for it. Such misuse ignores the most important rule of speaking: Respect your audience.

At a loss for words?

When writing an article or a speech, I'm always looking for the right word, since they don't always flow right off the tip of my tongue. Besides Dictionary.com and Thesaurus.com, I've come to rely on two "word" applications.

WordNet "is an online lexical reference system whose design is inspired by current psycholinguistic theories of human lexical memory. English nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs are organized into synonym sets, each representing one underlying lexical concept." You can use it on the web or download it to your computer.

My other stalwart app is Word Menu. This is a reference tool that organizes words by subject matter--the way we understand and use them. Even when you're not looking for that right word, this software is fun just to browse. And if you're more visually oriented, use Word Menu's fractal browser to traverse the topics and find the words in which you're interested. You should never again find yourself at loss for words. ( yeah, I wish.)

Fine Tweaking

Well I think I've just about transferred my site to MovableType. I first set it up on an internal server and have now sent it over to my hosting site. Please let me know if you run into any problems. I will continue to test the rest of the weekend.

Trying MT

Well, I've finally installed Movable Type software on my internal server. The trip was long because I needed Perl, mySQL, Apache and miscellaneous drivers installed and configured prior to installing and configuring MT. But my first impression is positive.

I was originally with Blogger, but I didn't have the control I wanted. And besides this gave me a reason to work with Linux, mySQL and the rest. Chalk it up to a learning experience. Hopefully I'll get this technical stuff out of the way and get back to writing. I'll let you know.

Looking for page layout

I'm on the prowl for software to help me in production of newsletters, training docs, presentation books and booklets. I thought I was going to end up with QuarkXpress. All I heard was how great it was, "everyone" was using it, the industry standard. But I keep hearing about Adobe's InDesign, the up-and-comer in the field. This article, QuarkXPress 6 vs. InDesign CS: Taking Sides, was a great help. I need to investigate more. My project for the holiday season, unless I find one of them under my tree.

What the hell?

Get a free computer says Scotland on Sunday - Business - IBM unveils plans to give away free computers. The only catch is that users will be subjected to one minute of TV-style ads coming on to their screens every 20 minutes.
If you're an occasional user, just checking on e-mail or your favorite blog, this may be okay. But if you live in front of your computer, perform calculations, write to meet an editor's deadline or design software, the commercial break would get old real fast.