Monday, April 13, 2009

The 15th: Rollyo


Tho I tried out some of the search rolls featured on the site, none came close to giving superior results to Google. I guess my world is still small enough and the queries I deal with simple enough that I don't feel the need for such power searching. Perhaps if I were a reporter on Frontline and needed to use multiple search engines to cover salient topics, or if I were an expert in some field...let's say Geology...it might be worth the effort to commit to making searchrolls that were limited to that field.


I tried to access a library resource searchroll, but it was "private". I accessed one on a topic that I have a lot of experience searching, and I wasn't impressed with the results, certainly not enough to create my own searchroll or link to that one. Sorry, but this "thing" is just not high enough on my list of priorities to spend any more time on, because the return is just not worth the investment. It's not inherently useless; it just isn't something that I need in my worklife at present.

Sunday, April 5, 2009

The 14th Thing: Productivity Tools


The online productivity tools are useful life/project organizers, particularly for those who need to collaborate in working groups across professional lines, or for volunteer organizations. They can function as a kind of intranet which all members can access thru the net without being limited to inhouse office applications for sharing files, and ideas and tracking progress on a particular project. This is good. Tools like Backpack do have portability...also a functional feature if you have a meeting where data needs to be shared beforehand, but people may not always have access to their real office.

The personalized pages/calenders available thru Google, Yahoo and other providers are useful in providing a single access/departure point for whatever one feels is useful to keep current; however it is important to remember that all these "preferences" are being tracked, analyzed, filed and marketed ...the more you show, the more they know and it is wise to keep that in mind with anything offered "free" by ISP's or others.
"In the middle of the journey of our life
I found myself astray in a dark wood
where the straight road had been lost sight of."
-Dante Alighieri