Web workers have a love/hate relationship with Backpack. On the one hand, it’s an incredibly simple tool for collecting information. On the other hand, it’s an incredibly simple tool for collecting information. That simplicity is the application’s greatest strength…and its greatest liability. As part of their “Getting Real” manifesto for developing web applications, the folks at 37Signals have been resistant to adding bells & whistles to their tools. But eventually, they had to give in a just a bit while maintaining the essence of the application and the company’s brand.
There were already many different ways to be productive with Backpack. Last week, Backpack 2 was released, giving web workers a few good reasons to give the online organizer another look. Consider upgrading to the $5/month plan to get the most out of the service, including more pages and a simple calendar.
Read the rest of this entry »
Over the weekend, there was a brief flurry of blog activity because some of the popular kids decided they’d had enough of Facebook because they were too popular and couldn’t handle all the activity (no, I’m not going to link – if they can’t manage the traffic, why make it worse?). This led to some broader discussion of social network fatigue. It seems that some people find the social networks – Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, Twitter, Jaiku, Pownce, or what-have-you – to be such a burden that they get overwhelmed and need to drop out to reclaim their lives and retain their sanity.
There are many reasons why this can happen. Perhaps people lose sight of their original goal in joining a network, and start treating it as a competitive exercise in collecting the most “friends” without regard for any actual value. Perhaps the lack of tools for organizing and prioritizing the traffic in most social networks makes them harder to manage. Or perhaps the social network is just the pet rock of this decade and people are moving on to the next trend.
But perhaps the problem is overblown, and it’s only a few web celebrities who can’t cope with the price of fame? That’s why we’re asking you, dear readers: are you experiencing any social network fatigue? Have you pulled back or dropped out of any of your networks? Or are you still happily networking, whatever angst the A-list may be indulging in this week?
by Susan Heid
Sure, you’re getting things done. But for some of us, being able to drink a mug of something hot while Skyping, emailing and messaging isn’t enough. We want to burn calories too.
That’s why, when I read about the workstation treadmills introduced by Dr. James Levine at the Mayo Clinic, I knew I had to have one. But I didn’t want to spend $1,600 to get it.
Here’s how I created my own workstation treadmill for a grand total of $55.
Read the rest of this entry »
Even if you love your work, there will be times when it no longer fills you with passion and energy. You feel emotionally exhausted and cynical. Your health suffers as stress mounts. You wonder whether you have the resources, internal or external, to meet your responsibilities.
Web workers may be especially prone to burnout in a hyperconnected world. That damn laptop’s always around, waiting with email at the ready.
To see if you might be at risk of burnout, try this Burnout Self-Test. If you’re close to burnout, though, you probably already know it: you feel irritable, overworked, and underappreciated.
You could leave your job for another — and that might be exactly what you need to do — but that’s not always feasible or sensible. Before taking that drastic step, try these things first:
Read the rest of this entry »
As web workers, we spend our days moving through a constantly-shifting landscape of services and servers. Our lives, livelihoods, and identities are all wrapped up in a cloud of hardware and software maintained by other people. When it all works, it’s great. But what do you do when the power fails to Web 2.0? Or when a service you’re depending on runs out of cash and closes its virtual doors?
Just as it’s sensible to have a family disaster plan in place, the wise web worker will put together an online disaster plan. While you’ll need to tailor your plan to your own needs and circumstances, we can give you some advice to get started. Here are five things to think about. Read the rest of this entry »
You have many tools to choose from for collaborating with work associates, whether they’re in the next cubicle or the next country. Sometimes email is good enough, but instant messaging (IM) may be better. And IM is getting increasing respect from the business world as a tool for collaboration.
The Wall Street Journal reported last week on how IM is being used for better business communication. Forrester Research suggests that IM is the most valuable Web 2.0 tool for enterprises, saying “Thirty-seven percent of respondents reported substantial business value from IM, compared with an average of just 16% for the other Web 2.0 tools.” (via Read/WriteWeb)
What’s your most valuable tool for collaboration? Instant messaging? Or something else?
There are times in many a web worker’s life when a group chat is the best way for a bunch of people working on a project to get together.
Recently, for example, I got together with a bunch of others about working on a collaborative project. A group chat was perfect: it didn’t require expensive long-distance calls, people could drop in or out as their time allowed, and people could monitor the chat while doing other work if they wanted. It was convenient for everyone.
However, if you’re not careful, a group chat can easily degenerate into a bull session or drag on for twice as long as it needs.
Group chats don’t have to be unproductive. Follow a few simple rules and you can keep that chat to a reasonable amount of time and actually accomplish the purposes of the chat.
Read the rest of this entry »
ThinkFree invitations — Want to try ThinkFree, an online document editor? It’s in closed beta, but if you want a free premium account good through sometime late next year, send an email to gigaom@thinkfree.com. The first 50 people to send an email will get instructions on how to get an account. [ThinkFree Online Beta]
The gap between smartphone and laptop — Wall Street Journal columnist Jeremy Wagstaff identifies a hole in our lives: gadgets bigger and better for browsing than smartphones but much more portable than a laptop, allowing “digital grazing” on social networks, blogs, podcasts, and so forth. He points to the Nokia N800 Internet tablet as an example of a device aiming at this gap. If you’re a Wall Street Journal subscriber, see his column about the hole here, otherwise you’ll have to make do with his blog post description. [loose wire blog]
Work from home and make money online — Alfa Mercado has put together a list of ten blogs that will help you do just that. And she mentions Web Worker Daily on her list. Thanks, Alfa! [Apple Door Says NO to Bunch Clocks via Work From Home Momma]
Add events to GCal from Twitter — Add gcal as your friend, authorize access to your Google Calendar Account, then add events by sending a direct message to gcal. [Twittercal]
Get your RSS by email — MailBucket offers a public email-to-RSS gateway. Just forward your email to <your-choice>@mailbucket.org, then grab the RSS at mailbucket.org/<your-choice>.xml. Great for high traffic mailing lists that you’d rather read as news than email. [MailBucket]
Do yoga at your desk — Four online videos to help counter the effects of sitting at your desk for long hours. Each video about the length of a coffee break. [Alberta Centre for Active Living via LiveDev]
Time to cut back on caffeine? — Starbucks U.S. prices on coffee, lattes, and other drinks will go up on average 9 cents each due to higher dairy and production costs. [FOXNews.com]
Find wifi hotspots with your iPod — No, the iPod isn’t yet wifi-enabled but that doesn’t mean you can’t store a database of U.S. wifi hotspots on it using its Notes capability. [Forbes.com]
Web Work 101: How To Escape The Cubicle
