Web Worker Daily

Last week, I took a look at what I called “Brain Tickler Tools” - Notefish and Instapaper - tools that went beyond bookmarking but actually helped me create some kind of writer’s tickler file where I could return anytime and browse over content to get ideas for articles and blog posts. I promised to check out a few more recommended by the WWD community.

I have to say that my experience with two other apps - Evernote (still in limited beta) and Google Notebook - was quite different from the first two I tried. They didn’t work as well for me. Hey, I’ve got to be honest here but also should clarify my criteria for what “works well for me” means.

1. This is just my opinion.
2. I need things to be very intuitive.
3. Because I don’t read instructions.
4. Because my brain would explode if I did and starts to smoke when I try.

So in the name of saving my brain, I jump right into using an application and then see how often I use it. Does it become second nature to me? Or am I constantly having to think about using it and how to use it properly?

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The online office applications market has been heating up lately.  The gorilla in the room, Google Docs/Spreadsheets/Presentations, has made a lot of splashes.  However Zoho, another strong contender, has recently added new features to their Writer application that are pretty intriguing.

Thesaurus: For 10 languages, Zoho Writer offers a Thesaurus option.  For those of us who do a high volume of online writing, this means no more having to have a Firefox tab with Thesaurus.com loaded.  Currently the Thesaurus supports English, Czech, German, Greek, French, Irish, Italian, Polish, Russian and Slovak; with plans to add new languages in the future.

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