Interest Kindled: Update

Got my Kindle yesterday.  It was amazingly simple to set up.  I immediately downloaded three books for $9.99 each--a bargain, considering that I almost bought the three in hardcover last week at Barnes and Noble for more than $24 each.  So I've already paid for $45 worth of my Kindle.  The downloads are virtually instantaneous--I searched by author, found the titles I wanted immediately, and purchased them with one click.  (Actually, that may be a little TOO easy for book junkies like me...my spells could get serious when they're this easy, but at least they'll be cheaper.)  

Also downloaded subscriptions to a couple of newspapers and blogs, for 99 cents each. The device seems comfortable to hold and easy to read.  Cover should arrive today.  So far, I'm feeling good about my new techno-toy.  Can't wait to take it with me this weekend when I drive up to Duluth for my niece's wedding.  

Speaking of the wedding, we are all breathing easier knowing that Jenny and Trav, the soon-to-be-newlyweds, will be honeymooning in the Bahamas instead of Cancun.  I was having a hard time imagining them spending their honeymoon wearing surgical masks, and trying to avoid places where other people might be breathing.  

Interest Kindled

I have been a voracious reader since I was old enough to hold a book in my hand.  My guess is that many of you are, too, so you will relate to what I am about to tell you.

One of my friends has been singing the praises of her Kindle--you know, the little "electronic reader" introduced last year by Amazon. When she raved about it last fall, I informed her haughtily that I couldn't imagine myself--a true book lover--considering some bland-looking, skinny little computerized gizmo a replacement for real books.  (I'm sorry to confess that I have a mysterious and visceral resentment of anything skinny.)

"But what satisfaction do you get from a computer?" I asked.  I was sincerely mystified. For me and most book lovers, reading is as much about the book itself as the story inside.  The cover art, designed especially to whet your appetite for the feast to come.  The pages, smooth or textured, fine-trimmed or deckle-edged, stark white or rich-creamy.  The typeface, serif or sans, crisply modern or subtly evocative of another era.  And the heft.  Who among us doesn't love the wonderful heft of a brand new 500-pager?

These questions were pin-balling around in my head as my friend showed me her Kindle2, the newest version of the device.   I was surprised and intrigued.

First, it was contained in a dignified-looking leather "book cover," so that it looked and felt surprisingly substantial, much more like a real book than I had imagined from the on-line photos.  The whole package is about the size of a paperback, but much thinner--maybe half or three-quarters of an inch thick.

I was impressed by the Kindle's capabilities.  It operates wirelessly, so you can buy and download new books virtually anywhere.  Hundreds of thousands of titles are available.  It is pre-programmed to  link automatically to your Amazon.com account, so there's no hassle with entering purchasing information.

In addition to dozens of books, Kindle can also bring you newspapers, magazines, blogs and other materials.  You can download, read and then delete them, ensuring that you always have plenty of capacity for new additions to your library.

The Kindle screen is surprisingly similar to a book page in appearance. The screen is specially tinted to make it easy on the eyes, and the format of the page looks exactly as it would in the printed book.  One great feature for those of us over 50: you can adjust typesize to make it easier on the eyes.

After looking at my friend's Kindle, and then reviewing more information online, I decided to make the leap.  It was not a cheap leap, I must say--I was a tad stunned by the $359 price.  But the cost is offset by the fact that you can download virtually any book for under $10, so if you're a frequent book buyer, as I am, the Kindle will pay for itself in reduced spending on hardcover books, and you'll get more bang for your book-buying buck.  (Try saying that three times fast.)

What really tickled my fridleys, though, was the idea that I could stick this thing in my purse and never be without reading material again. Come on, you know that feeling--that awful, sinking feeling you get when you realize that you are stuck somewhere with time to kill and NOTHING TO READ.  

The Kindle is a traveler's dream--I will be able to carry 2-3 (or 20) books with me at all times without adding more than a few ounces to the weight of my purse or briefcase.  With the little attachable light that I bought to go with it, I'll even be able to read comfortably in dimly lit restaurants (dining alone with a good book while traveling is one of my very favorite things).

A side benefit of the Kindle, but one worth noting:  it will reduce my need for book storage space.  I hope to downsize this year, and my library will be in for some serious culling.  It's nice to know that I'll be able to continue to indulge my reading addiction without having to pack and move a million books when I sell.

My Kindle should arrive today, and I can hardly wait to get it in my hot little hands and start downloading.  There's a new Diane Mott Davidson out, as well as a new Anne Perry (William Monk) mystery. Hurry up, UPS guy!

 

Speed Bumps, Hubris and Humility

Just about the time you think you have a handle on all the important stuff in the techno-world, you drive over a minor speed bump on the road to social wizdom. My speed bump was not a huge thing, but a relatively small thing. I received an e-mail from a colleague at a good-sized PR firm in St. Paul, and noticed all kinds of familiar little icons in the company signature at the bottom of the message. There was a Facebook icon, a Twitter icon, a LinkedIn icon and a fourth one that I didn't recognize. The firm's logo was there too, looking as if it been designed just to fit perfectly right in that spot.

I was overwhelmed by a moment of pure, intense jealousy--the kind I've only rarely experienced since Marian Thompson beat me out for graduation speaker at dear old Denfeld High School in Duluth. "I am on Facebook," I said to myself. "I am on Twitter. I am on LinkedIn. I even have a blog. I am just as plugged in as those big guys. But who can tell from my pathetically icon-free e-mails? As God is my witness, I'll never go iconless again."

In the interests of full disclosure, I must confess that I thought it would be a cinch because of all the cool stuff I've learned over the last few weeks. But I was dead wrong...to paraphrase the Munchkins, "I'm not only nearly wrong, I'm really most sincerely wrong."

As it turned out, adding my logo and all those fetching little symbols at the foot of my e-mails required a series of ridiculously complicated steps. With my limited knowledge, it felt like I was trying to do cranial surgery with a roll of duct tape and a wooden spoon.

I won't bore you with the technical details, but here's the Reader's Digest version of my story.

1. I still don't have any of those little icons on my e-mail signature.

2. I accidentally deleted my logo file trying to transfer it into the signature.

3. I discovered that doing any of the steps out of sequence forces you to go back and start all over again, which I did at least a dozen times.

4. I concluded that HTML stands for "Hardly Tough except for Morons and Losers."

The whole exercise was a frustrating (possibly karmic) lesson in abject humility. OK, I get it. I may have graduated from the jurassic age, but I've only advanced as far as the pleistocene era. Baby steps, baby steps.

Oh, don't worry, I'm not giving up. I'll try again, but I think I'll give it a few days. It will take me that long to get my hubris back.

Lessons Learned from Susan Boyle

I've been thinking a lot about the spectacular reaction to Susan Boyle, the Scottish singer whose performance on "Britain's Got Talent" has received worldwide attention via YouTube and network news.  I included a link to that YouTube video in my last post.  Now there are a dozen or more posts on YouTube, several showing people reacting as they hear her sing for the first time.  These reactions are amazing to watch, and I noticed that they all follow a similar pattern.

There's the initial skepticism, even amusement at her endearingly dowdy appearance.  Then the moment of stunned disbelief when she begins to sing.  Then the teary, goosebumpy, hair-standing-up realization a few seconds later that one is witnessing something remarkable.  Isn't it awesome that so many people can be touched and uplifted by the beauty of an exceptional human voice?

It occurred to me that there's a message here.  It was 21st century technology that brought Susan Boyle to all of us.  But it was her humanity--her vulnerability, hope, humor, courage, and incredible talent--that bound us to her. Something in Susan Boyle connected with something in us, soul to soul.  Technology may fascinate us, but it still takes human beings to touch our hearts.

A Little Gift for You

I couldn't resist coming back today to post another brief message.  Ann Curry posted this link earlier today on Twitter.  If this short video clip doesn't make you cry and/or give you goosebumps, I'll eat my iPod.  Please don't miss this one.  I promise, it's worth every minute it takes.  Susan Boyle is someone whose name you will remember after this.  

 http://tinyurl.com/c49rgl

The Next Step: LinkedIn

A few weeks ago, one of my colleagues gave me a list of five or six business contacts and suggested that I "Google" them to find out more about each.  When I did, I discovered that each of them was listed on a networking site called LinkedIn.  For some, there was relatively little information, but for others, the LinkedIn profile was quite extensive.

Fast forward to the social media conference where I experienced my techno-epiphany.  Many of the speakers told us that LinkedIn was the one indispensable element of any savvy professional's on-line presence.  LinkedIn is not about social connections, they emphasized. It's about business connections.

In the interests of full disclosure, I should confess that in my former life, before my gob-smacking conversion on the road to Las Vegas, I rejected all requests to connect with friends on LinkedIn with a polite "thanks, but no thanks."  I considered these networking sites a threat to my cherished privacy.  Only later did it become apparent to me that protecting my privacy might be counterproductive for my business.  Duh.

So late last week, in between client projects, I began building my LinkedIn profile and network. I cleaned up my e-mail address book, then imported it into LinkedIn so I could see which of my contacts already belonged to the network.  The site can generate this list automatically, which makes it very each to reach out to other LinkedIn members already in your contact book.   You can also send invitations to people who aren't LinkedIn members; if they accept your invitation, they will be asked to join.  

You have the option of displaying your connections or concealing them from public view.  Most people show them publicly, because that's how members expand their networks.  When you discover that you and someone you'd like to know have a friend in common, it's easy to reach out and make the contact.  Other people are looking for the same opportunities; it's all about connections.  And you always have the option of declining an invitation if you choose to do so.

Once you're a member, you can build a profile that includes your contact information, links to your websites and blogs, current position, past positions, educational background, skills and areas of expertise, recommendations from colleagues, professional memberships--in short, you can build an on-line resume of surprising depth.  You can also join various groups with career interests similar to your own; this greatly expands your potential network and gives you an opportunity to interact with peers all over the world.

The site even allows you to create a PDF file of your LinkedIn profile, formatted just as a resume would be, for easy downloading by prospective clients.  You also can upload documents that showcase your work--I uploaded two published magazine articles I wrote for one client, a newsletter I wrote for another, and a URL link for a website I developed for a third.

The best thing about these LinkedIn profiles--and a good reason to beef yours up and keep it current--is that they pop up very quickly on most of the major search engines, including Google and Yahoo.  This means that, when people Google you, they're likely to see your LinkedIn profile at or near the top of the search results.

So as of today, I'm LinkedIn in a big way, and potential clients can learn just about anything they want to know about my professional capabilities by checking out my profile there.  Here's the link if you're curious:  http://www.linkedin.com/in/marshakelly 

That's it for today.  See you at LinkedIn!  And, by the way, Happy Easter to all.

So Far, So Good...and Bad

It's been a few days since I set up my Bloglines RSS reader to get news from the Washington Post, NY Times, CNN, Politico, Talking Points Memo and a few other sources.  I must have done it right because there they are, all those depressing headlines about the global economy on life support, earthquakes in Italy, pirates off the coast of Somalia, not to mention murder and mayhem in miscellaneous locations throughout the U.S.  I'm getting all the news I want...and wondering whether I really want it after all.

Meanwhile, my Twitter experience has picked up a bit.  I've been getting direct responses from many of the folks I'm following, including a very kind direct message from Ann Curry reassuring me that she only Twitters about Presidential security AFTER the President's plane is clear of all potential danger.  (I was troubled by her Twitter that Air Force One was running without lights as it departed Iraq.)

It is clearer to me now that Twitter's primary function for many of its users is commercial--at least, the ones that I'm following.  Most of their messages include links to their own websites, testimonials from others using their products, etc.  A handful of the users I'm following appear to Twitter more personal business, and I find myself unexpectedly interested in these Tweets. One of the foodie types often Tweets about what she's cooking or baking, and I enjoy reading about her culinary adventures.

Not suprisingly, there's also a lot of discussion on Twitter about new technology, especially those in social media.  It's interesting to get updates on new software and applications that I never would have heard about in my pre-Twitter life--not that I understand half of what I read, but I like the idea of being "in the know," even if it's only theoretically.

Another thing that has become clear to me is the addictive power of Facebook.  No, I have not succumbed to Facebook obsession, but I'm amazed at how many people have.  The grand poobahs of Facebook--the people who run it--have discovered a million little ways to keep people coming back and engaging in the site's activities.   They have dozens of quizzes on everything from what kind of shoes you like to which city you should be living in.  They have colorful little hidden eggs that you can spot and collect.  They have hundreds of different groups you can belong to if you share this or that special interest. 

The funny thing is this: I've hardly left my computer for days, yet I feel like I'm living in the fast lane.  My question to you: is on-line engagement REAL?  If a Twitter falls in the forest and there's nobody there to hear it, does it make a noise?  

Simple Is as Simple Does

This week's lesson, children, is about feeds.  And I'm not talking hotdish buffets.  I'm talking RSS.

RSS means "Really Simple Syndication."  Apparently someone, somewhere, thought this stuff was simple. Well, to paraphrase the immortal Forrest Gump, "simple is as simple does." Things that seem simple to the technologically adept are not so simple to the rest of us (whom Diane Chambers of "Cheers" fame caustically described as 'the lumpen proletariat').  But I found, to my surprise, that the RSS waters weren't as rough as I had feared.

First, a little more background.  (If this is stuff you already know, just skip this part.) Normally, most of us visit our favorite websites 3-4 times a day or more, looking for current news, new blog posts, etc. Sometimes there's new stuff, sometimes not.  But in each case, we initiate the visit to the site.

When you subscribe to an RSS feed, the website, in essence, visits YOU.  That is, whenever there's updated news or a new post, the website sends it to you.  This saves you lots of time in wasted repeat visits to websites where there's no "new news."

To get myself started, I went to the MSNBC website, my home page. At the bottom of the page I found the RSS icon, a little box with white curvy stripes. I clicked on it, and found an excellent explanation of what it means to subscribe to an RSS feed. I also learned something I hadn't known before: in order to subscribe to an RSS feed, you have to sign up with an RSS reader.

This clarified something that had confused me.  I understood that the selected websites sent news and updates to me, but I wasn't sure how I got it.  Did I get an e-mail?  Was it posted on some other website? Did it just float out there in cyberspace waiting for me to capture it while drifting by in the space capsule?

No, grasshopper, it goes to your RSS reader.  Some of the most popular RSS readers are offered by Google, Yahoo, Bloglines, WindowsLive and NetVibes.  Go to any of these sites and look for the "Reader" function.  When you sign up with a reader, essentially you create a new webpage for yourself where all your news and blog updates can be delivered, giving you access to all of them in one place. You can use it as your home page, or you can just put it in your Bookmarks toolbar for easy access.

I used Bloglines, only because MSNBC provided a link to that site.  It was easy--I signed up, picked the news media and blogs I wanted to follow, checked the little boxes, and voila!  Now instead of visiting all those sites periodically to check for updates, the updates come to my Bloglines page automatically.  I can see at a glance on that page whether any updates have been posted by any of my feed sites.  If you don't find the sites you want to follow on their list, you can add any site just by entering the URL.

Of course, many sites have e-mail alerts that you can subscribe to, and if you prefer to get your news that way, you'd want to use that option and skip the RSS.  But many of us get too many e-mails already with all the junk mail in our mailboxes, so RSS is a good alternative.  At least, I think it is; I'll get back to you on whether it's working for me.  As I mentioned in a previous post, mistakes are not always immediately apparent, so only time will tell whether I did it right.

A side note: on the way to learning about RSS, I found a new browser that allows you to put nine different webpages on one "speed dial" screen for instant access.  The browser is called Opera, and you can learn more about it at http://www.opera.com. Opera also lets you download widgets for Facebook and Twitter, so you can access those sites directly from your desktop.

So I'm feeling smug today--I learned something about RSS, set up my reader page, discovered and installed a new browser, took my calcium and Vitamin D horse pills, and it's only noon. Damn, some days I even impress myself!

Confucius Would Be Proud

I think it was Confucius, the revered Chinese philosopher of ancient times, who said, "The trip of a thousand miles begins with a single step." (If not, maybe it was that guy who wrote Jonathan Livingston Seagull--the one who was so popular about the same time as bell bottoms and "Hair.") Anyway, whoever it was really hit the nail on the head.

I'm still a rank amateur compared to the veteran Twitterers and Facebook junkies, but I've come a long way since I started this blog on March 16. I'm tweeting like a cotton-pickin' canary, and have acquired 28 followers (not all of whom are related to me). I've selected 43 people to follow, including my aunt Brooke, Jane Fonda, PR gurus Mark Ragan and Christine Perkett, the wonderful Rachel Maddow, and a very nice lady named Ashley who is willing to share recipes.

I'm checking in on Facebook several times daily, too. Once I discovered that half my family was there, it didn't seem so intimidating. Now I'm enjoying all the little nooks and crannies in Facebook where people stash photos, news about Facebook groups, weird little quizzes, "gifts" to send your friends, and even pretty little come-find-me eggs. There's plenty there yet to know.

I've redesigned my company website using iWeb, the site design program that came with my MacBook Air (there's a link to the site at the bottom of this page). Now I can edit and update it myself instead of having to call the guy who developed my original site.

I've also purchased an iPod, downloaded nearly a dozen albums and two podcasts so far, and even bought a little armband-clip gizmo so I can listen to walking workouts and burn off all the weight I gain sitting like a stump at my desk while Tweeting, Facebooking, e-mailing and doing actual work.

I still have a long way to go before I understand the full extent of the online opportunities, or have the knowledge and technical skill to take advantage of them. But I feel as if I've made a good start.

The best thing about my leap off the social media cliff is this: I feel very energized by learning new things. Making my "leetle grey cells" (as Hercule Poirot would say) work a little harder has blown some of the rust off them. I may be an old dog, but it's reassuring to know I can still learn a few new tricks.

P.S. I just watched Jane Fonda say the same thing--about old dogs learning new tricks--on "The View." She looks MAHVELOUS!