Office Live–Microsoft’s answer to Google Docs

If you have used Google docs you know the convenience of having your docs available wherever you have internet access and shareable with whoever you want. Now Microsoft has joined the cloud computing world with Office Live.  People will enjoy its seemless interface with your existing Microsoft products.  You can view the doc online or click “edit” to have it open in your computer’s Microsoft programs.

Office Live also boosts working with a team b/c it tracks comments and actions allowing multiple people to work on the same document–no more searching for the latest version.

I’ve already found it useful b/c I work back and forth b/w two computers. Rather than emailing myself stories or information, I can now just put it “in the cloud” so I can access it wherever I happen to be.

Best part–it’s free!

Found via Hands on Small Business conference ( a free small business technology workshop coming to cities across America )

Google Flu Trends

I think we are just beginning to touch the power of Google. I heard a report on the radio a few months ago about the massive amounts of data that Google processes daily and what could be learned from it. Now it is starting to make small steps into reality. 

Enter Google Flu Trends. Google did an experiment tracking the rise in flu-related search terms and compared to it to CDC tracking reports. The results were strikingly accurate. Not only that–they were 2 weeks ahead of CDC reporting.  The idea is that the number of people searching for flu-related articles and information correlates with people who actually have flu or flu-like illness.

Flu Trends is part of Google.org’s Predict and Prevent initiative to support efforts to :

“identify hotspots where new infectious diseases may emerge, detect new pathogens and outbreaks earlier, and respond quickly to prevent local threats from becoming global crises. “

Now you can use Google’s power to keep an eye on flu trends in your state so you can keep you and your family healthier.

A New Space Nation

South Korea has now joined the worldwide race for space.  It’s not as much of a race today, but that fact is they are now ready to take their first step to joining the ranks of orbit bound countries around the rest of the planet.  Perhaps it’s not privately funded like The Google X prize here in the US, but it’s still a step forward for the world as a whole.

The KSLV-1 (unveiled at the Naro Space Center in Goheung) will be capable of putting Korea’s first satellite into orbit sometime between April and June of 2009.  It’s a big deal.  Our new frontier is in the news again and things look to be moving forward as we continue exploration up and out.

Blogging on the go

I have a personal blog through Google’s Blogger and I recently learned some new tricks to make it even easier to use.
I have trouble using Blogger at times on my Mac so I usually post from my PC, but since all my pics are on my Mac this is a real pain. It involves way more steps than it should.  But now I have a new option.

Blogger has a Mail2Blogger option that lets you post automatically from email. Within your settings you create an address that is your username1.secretword@blogger.com. Now you can email updates and pics directly to your blog for immediate updates or save as drafts for later posting.

You can also send posts to Blogger via your mobile device by sending text or photos to go@blogger.com.  You can send an MMS or email to Blogger and it will reply with the address of your new mobile blog, plus a claim code. You can then post or link your phone phone to a different blog.
Now you can keep your blog up-to-date when you are on-the-go!

Craigslist rocks

Craigslist really is one of the greatest things since sliced bread, and I just learned a new way to make it even better.

One of my favorite sites–Lifehacker–pointed me to a wiki from Wired about how to search every Craigslist for an item. Now this may not be necessary if you are looking for something relatively common like a sofa or bookcase, but for an obsure item, this tactic is awesome.

For example, I cloth diaper my baby and that isn’t very common in my city so there are slim or no pickings on the local craigslist board. However, in other areas of the country there are lots of CD-ing mamas. Also, the shipping is cheap for something so light so it is worth my while to expand my search.

Wired warns that some people won’t return your emails because craigslist is designed as a “local” board, but it’s worth a shot, especially if you explain why you are looking further away.

OK–the nitty gritty . . . basically in your Google search box just type:

site:craigslist.org “search term”

where “search term” is what you are looking for like “cloth diaper.” For me I might type in a particular brand of diaper that I am searching for like “Bum Genius 3.0″.

You can also use Google’s “Advanced Search” page and indicate what search terms to use, what site to search and what terms to discard (like “directory”).

Have fun shopping!

News of The New Frontier

Recently NASA’s Mars lander (Phoenix) reached Mars.  Even more recently it discovered soil similar to what we all know here on earth.  Interesting, no?

What’s more interesting technologically speaking than the stuff NASA rolls out?  Seriously.  There’s more going on in our universe now than ever (at least it feels that way).  I wasn’t around for the Mercury program or anything, so the biggest NASA stories I remember are the crash of Columbia and John Glenn’s return to space.  Now, NASA is back in the news, as are the cosmos, if you’re watching the news anyway.

Between The Google Lunar X Prize (a twenty million dollar award to the first privately funded team to launch land and operate a rover on the moon) and companies like Virgin Galactic beginning the work of civilian space travel a new era of space exploration seems to be almost here (hopefully).  The question of what will happen to NASA after the phasing out of the shuttle program in 2012 and how the privately funded endeavors will affect the landscape of space exploration remains to be seen (but it’s all very exciting).

Also, more close to home, the Discovery channel just finished airing its six part documentary on the NASA missions, When We Left Earth.  The documentary was great, very informative, but it’s also a nice reminder that not every expensive endeavor ends in failure.  There’s a little hope out in the great vacuum of space after all.

It’s a Google World

I just read in my local paper that our town was added to Google Maps Street View database. I’m equal parts curious and creeped out.

After typing in my actual address, I learned that they don’t have my street level view uploaded yet, but they do have nearby roads and the entrance to my neighborhood.  I have to admit that it is very cool to see the actual roads and “travel” down them as if I were driving. I could see how helpful this could be for those who travel often or have trouble with directions.

Google has been challenged by privacy advocates, and they have tried to comply by blurring faces and removing locations such as domestic abuse safe havens from images before posting. There are still plenty of interesting images that were captured in the midst of compliling the massive project.

Currently more than 50 cities have been  photographed by the Google car that carries a periscope-style camera. The Street-level view is only available in America, but the Google car has been spotted in countries such as Japan and Italy.

The feature is also interesting as a learning tool as you can let your child virtually visit sites of interest in major cities or even parks like Yellowstone and Yosemite. With its 360-degree view, it offers a more interactive experience than just a static photo. It feels more like a video game, especially if you use the “full screen” mode.

Hey, if the world isn’t enough for you. Google also offers views of the moon  with information and photos from each of the Apollo landings.

The Genius of Google

I just read an excellent article in Macworld about Google’s work philosophy of “20 percent time”.  Basically it’s a chance for Google workers to spend a little of their paid time doing pet projects that end up being things like Gmail.  

I think this “20 percent time” is an excellent idea.  When I think about all the stuff I get done during time I’m supposed to be doing homework, it’s insane!  Productive procrastination can lead to some of my most creative projects.  Think about what could be accomplished if once a week homework was developing a concept related to a class but it was interesting to a student in its own right?

I applaud this aspect of Google’s philosophy.  I applaud it and present it as an idea more companies, and in my case, more classes, might want to look into.  It’s not about developing your own thesis for a paper but developing your own way to present the information a paper might have encompassed.

I know free form doesn’t work for everyone, I know it won’t be effective in every class room, but in this age of technology and the all but free and unlimited transfer of information and ideas freeing up a little time couldn’t hurt.  Free up the time, free up the mind, maybe the next great pt project will rid the information super highway of pop ups and spam.  

Father’s Day Unplugged

We just got back from our annual pilgrimage to Oconee State Park in South Carolina for my husband’s family reunion. It’s a beautiful place–everything a mountain park should be. Trees with birds to hear, rivers with rocks to throw, bugs to bite, lakes to fish . . . really glorious. The only thing it doesn’t have is a cell signal anywhere for miles around.

You literally have to drive about 15 minutes down the mountain to make a cell phone call. It really is nice to be truly away to just remember how it feels to be a family without my cell phone or * gasp * my television!

Bless my little boy he only asked for the TV once. He was having way too much fun putting rocks in his garbage truck toy, fishing with his dad, skinny-dipping in the river and exploring a local tunnel.

A recent hack I mentioned to save time and maybe your life by storing seldom used by important numbers in your phone really helped out, too. An illness I had been taking antibiotics for earlier in the week returned with a vengence our first night in the cabin. I woke up with a 101.3 fever and my doctor was 5 hours away. Luckily I could still access my phone directory and get my docs number to call from the park office, saving myself a trip to the urgent care.

After a full day of bedrest on doctor’s orders (thanks again mimi!) I was feeling like a new woman and made it to the state fish hatchery to feed the baby rainbow trout.

Of course, even though I loved my few days of “roughing it” I took great comfort knowing my trusty TIVO was back at home recording the first vote for So You Think You Can Dance and my son’s favorite cartoons. I also knew I wouldn’t miss a thing online since my Google Reader was collecting all my favorites. Ahh, the best of both worlds!

What honorable advertisement?

It seems society can be bought, at least according the Google Ceo.  Between cash, music, and other incentives mobile ads may likely be an accepted mode of advertisement in a matter of years.

Sure, I like a good movie trailer and even a well written comedy sketch of an ad once in awhile, but there’s a reason I own a Tivo.  Unlike the wide twelve inch screen of my laptop I fear for the much smaller screen of my cell phone.  Once the ads are out there what way is there to rein them back in?  Will I be able to ignore the cell phone sized promotions the same way I bypass the scroll at the top of web sites I visit?  

It has been said that handheld advertisements will be more personalized, thus more effective and less intrusive.  Less intrusive is really a matter of perspective.  I like the ease, simplicity, and speed with which I can get (most) things done on my cell phone, I fear for my own productivity in the event of a mobile advertisement onslaught.  Is there no longer any honor? Is there no etiquette left?

I am a bit of a hypocrite as I have fallen victim to promises of free ring tones and backgrounds before, but in abundance I believe my feelings would change.  Moderation is an important concept that I believe goes overlooked too frequently today, especially where my own generation is concerned, and I fear for the sanity of the larger population if commercials (no matter how personalized) will soon be able to follow us directly wherever we go.