Delicious is leaving a bad taste in Web surfers’ mouths by announcing it may not be around for much longer. Yahoo, which owns it, is looking to sell or shut down Delicious.
Avid Delicious users are in a panic at the thought of not being able to access their bookmarks. Luckily, there is a way to export Delicious bookmarks.
Okay, so you’ve exported them. Then what? What are you supposed to with them now? If you choose to migrate to another bookmarking service, you have a lot of options. Here are some suggestions:
Cloud-Based Tools
These are web-based services like Delicious that let you save bookmarks, share them with other users and see what other people save.
- Historio.us is for people who miss the days when when Delicious ended in “.us”. It has one-click bookmarking, snapshots of saved pages, tagging and search. You can use it for free until you have more than 300 bookmarks. (Note that it has a tool to import other bookmarks)
- Licorize offers several ways to share your bookmarks (bookmarklet, Chrome or Firefox extension and web page). It’s free. But if you pay a subscription fee you get project-like functionality that allows you to categorize bookmarks and assign them to team members.
- Pinboard.in is like Delicious in terms of its simplicity. This should help it with speed of service. The services charges a registration fee and a yearly subscription if you want to archive bookmarks on your computer.
- Diigo is the more complex option with collaboration and commenting features. It can be accessed with iPad and Android apps. The service is free but it does run ads. It also has a tool to import Delicious bookmarks.
- Google Bookmarks is a free service that’s easy to use. If you have a Google account, you can save bookmarks from a Google search or use the bookmarklet. You can organize the bookmarks into lists and make the lists public. But that’s about it for features.
- Blinklist lets you quickly bookmark links and share them. It also lets you save the pages for offline viewing.
Browser-Based Tools
These tools are meant more for private viewing. You can access them from any browser that supports the add on.
- Xmarks is more for people who just want to use their bookmarks on different computers. It’s free and easy to use. It is important that the developers threatened to shut it down earlier this year. But another service has bought it and has plans to offer subscription options in 2011.
- Google Chrome Sync is built into the Chrome browser so you don’t have to download anything. It’s as free and as easy as Xmarks.
- Sync2It is another browser add-on that allows you to sync across multiple browsers and computers.
Other Alternatives
These are services that are like bookmarking services but have other functions. They may not be the best bookmarking tools, but they can do the job
- Evernote offers a way to save notes and clip web pages. The bookmarklet makes it useful for saving URLs and categorizing. The already popular service can be accessed on the web and offers Mac, Windows, iPad/iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, Palm Pre and Windows Mobile apps. The features are free — but you get more storage and sharing options with the premium version. It, too, has a tool to import Delicious bookmarks.
- Zootool is somewhat like Evernote. It lets you save pages, documents, videos and images that you can share and tag.
- Instapaper isn’t meant to be a bookmarking tool. It’s a handy way to save web pages for later reading. You also can read the saved pages offline. In a pinch, you can use it as a bookmarking alternative. It is free but allows you to become a subscriber. At this point a subscription has no benefits, so it’s like making a donation to the developer.
- WordPress blogs can be used as an online notebook. The “Press This” bookmarklet also allows you to save bookmarks in a pinch. It’s not as easy as the dedicated services but it has tagging and sharing if you desire. Heck, with a little bit of work, you can use it to host your own — albeit perhaps crude — social bookmarking service.
Conclusion (and a warning)
Delicious may or may not shut down. Who knows what it will look like if it is sold. Xmarks also almost bit the dust. You must be careful about how much you rely on free services. Even if they don’t shut down, they may switch to subscription fees that don’t suit you.
There can also be a lack of accountability when it comes to security and consistency. You don’t have much foundation for complaining when things are free.
If you’re using any of these services for business, consider paying for a subscription. You may end up with more stable and secure service by doing so — and help those who are offering these services maintain — and possibly improve — them over the long term.
During the winter, it can feel like the forces of nature are conspiring to keep you from going anywhere or doing anything. Just getting to work can feel like an epic battle. With winter upon us, the increasing darkness and freezing temperatures can feel downright oppressive at times, and it can be tough to stay energized and motivated.
Although hibernation may feel like the best solution, there are other effective ways to cope. We turned to Kathianne Sellers Williams, MEd, RD, a registered dietitian and wellness coach, for expert tips on keeping energy levels up during the dark, cold days of winter.
How can people feel their best despite seasonal changes?
I lived in Minneapolis for 4 years and Boston for 10, yet I am not a fan of winter. All those years in the bitter cold and I never got used to it. Each year as the leaves started to fall I would dread the approaching darkness and the long, long cold months ahead. I’m sure I had seasonal affective disorder. Then one year I realized my complaining was only making me and those around me miserable. So I tried something new. I decided to embrace it. I couldn’t change that winter was going to happen, but I could change my attitude (and my behaviors.) Here’s what my “Operation Embrace Winter” looked like: I didn’t let myself say anything negative about winter. I bought a very warm and stylish coat (which was worth every penny) and focused on winter’s gifts: drinking tea, sitting by fires, making soups, etc. I kept up with my yoga and exercise routines (which are easy to skip when it’s so cold out!) and chose to view winter in a more spiritual way – as a time for reflection and renewal. Deciding to embrace the season is the best advice I can give.
Do you have any dietary suggestions to help people stay energized and alert throughout the workday?
Small frequent meals/ snacks are important to maintain blood sugar, and therefore energy levels. Hydration is also important for staying energized and often people forget about that when it is cold out. The heated air indoors can really dry you out. I recommend sipping tea during the day (preferably without caffeine) and having broth based soups to aid in adequate hydration. Finally, I would encourage people to learn more about Vitamin D, the “sunshine vitamin.” Recent research has shown that many people are deficient in this vitamin, which is actually a hormone. Deficiency is especially common in people who live in northern latitudes, where they aren’t getting adequate sunlight in winter months.
Are there any snacks you would recommend to give people a solid energy boost?
A combination of a whole grain/unrefined carbohydrate and a protein will do the trick. The size of one’s snack depends on their meal sizes and weight goals but, in general, some examples are: apple slices with almond butter, 1/2 peanut butter and banana sandwich on whole grain bread, a cup of veggie/ lentil/ split pea soup, or hummus and veggies.
What kind of exercise routine do you recommend for people to try to maintain during the winter? Should they adjust their routine at all?
It’s important for everyone to find what energizes them. Each person is different. I would encourage people to look outside traditional modes of exercise. There are so many options! Zumba, Nia, dance classes, rock climbing and ice climbing, hiking, snow shoeing, and cross country skiing, are just a few. Power walk with a friend and make it a social event as well. Just do something physical that brings you more life force. Choose something that you look forward to, NOT something you dread and do just because you know you “should.” If running on the treadmill isn’t your thing, no worries. Find what is. And be sure to get outside – even if it is cold out. Getting fresh air is important.
What are some practical ways people can increase their sense of motivation?
I encourage my clients to link their goals with something they wear everyday (i.e. a watch or ring) so they are continually reminded of what they are working towards. Set reminders on your computer. Finding support is also incredibly important. Surround yourself with people who positively reinforce your goals. Ask people for support and tell them specifically how they can help you.
What are some signs people should go visit a doctor or specialist for more help?
Symptoms of winter-onset seasonal effective disorder include: depressed mood, hopelessness, sleep disturbances, changes in weight and/or appetite, difficulty concentrating, and social withdrawal. If you think you might have seasonal effective disorder, talk to your doctor so you can start feeling your best.
(Image courtesy of AlicePopkorn under a Creative Commons 2.0 Attribution generic license.)
The final Awesome Links of the year brings some links that offer gift ideas (for those of you who’ve yet to pick up gifts for the holidays), a guide to automate your Mac – whether it’s something you received as a present or have had for some time – and how to get through this especially stressful time of year.
Use Facebook Places and Foursquare to Find Last-Minute Gift Ideas
It’s the holiday and festive season around the world which also means an increase in exchange of gifts among people. This tip by a Lifehacker commentator is sure to come in handy at this time of year. He mentions how one could make use of the new location tools, namely Facebook Places and Foursquare, to get better gift ideas.
75 Essential Small Business Resources From 2010
Mashable has published a mammoth list of small business resources that includes a number of tools that can significantly enhance the productivity of not only a person running a small business, but of every one who makes use of computers and internet for work.
The AWESOME Automation Guide For Mac Users
If your primary computer is a Mac, then this PDF guide by MakeUseOf is meant for you. The very first lines of the post say, “Work smart, not hard. That’s the idea behind Mac Automation, a technology built into Apple’s OS X but frequently underutilized.” That’s enough to give you a picture of what the guide is all about. You guessed it right – productivity, of course!
The Twelve Days of Calmness: How to Survive the Holidays with Aplomb
Lets admit it – the holiday season can be overwhelming and stressful. With all the buzz and activity around you, it’s never easy to manage everything and also have fun at the same time. I recommend reading this article by Lisa Johnson over at the FeelGooder blog, in which she talks about ways to spend the holidays without losing your enthusiasm mid-way.
The Big Picture – 2010 in Photos
And finally, since this is the last Awesome Links of 2010, I’ll conclude by sharing this amazing collection of photos from around the world captured by Boston.com’s reporters and showcased on their well known site – The Big Picture. Some truly amazing photos.
Happy Holidays!
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If you aren’t a fan of complex time tracking tools that require you to spend time first in order to understand how to use them, then you might want to try out this cool Chrome extension called Chrome Time Track.
Released just a couple of weeks ago, it has already struck a chord with a lot of those who are productivity-oriented. The best thing about this tool is its simplicity. The interface is clean, and using it is super-easy. Just add tasks and start the corresponding timers. Each of those timers can be paused or stopped at will. The timers run peacefully in the background and you can check them when you like.
Chrome Time Track also keeps the timers until you delete them. So that means you can compare the time taken to complete a task today with that of three days back.
Chrome Time Track: Google Chrome Extension
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Just a quick post to wish all of our readers, listeners and contributors a very happy holiday season. Thanks to all of you for making this past year such a fantastic experience and here’s to an awesome year ahead.
We’ve had a pretty amazing year and are primed and ready for 2011. We hope your year has been awesome in all aspects of your work and life. Now’s the time of year to look back, reflect and give thanks — as well as to look ahead to what the future will bring.
Enjoy the season — make it awesome!
(Image courtesy of SidPix under a Creative Commons 2.0 Attribution generic license.)
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As the Christmas season arrives and many of us are looking ahead to 2011, WorkAwesome has a couple of special giveaways to offer. These prizes not only enable you to work better and live better, but they will add that little bit of extra “awesome” to your arsenal.
Today we’re going to send you into the end of year break with a couple of giveaways, the first being an Evernote Prize Pack!
The Prize
Evernote has graciously offered one of our lucky WorkAwesome readers – and/or listeners – a chance to win an Evernote Prize Pack which includes an Evernote T-Shirt and one year of Evernote Premium! If you’re not already using Evernote, this is the perfect chance for you to try what many consider to be the best software of its kind on the market. If you’re already using the free version of Evernote, then this upgrade will provide a wealth of additional features for you to have at your disposal.
How to Enter
To win this Evernote Prize Pack, leave a comment on this post telling us what your biggest workplace/career achievement was in 2010 and what you look forward to achieving in 2011.
Make sure you use a valid email address with your comment, so we can let you know you’ve won. This particular contest is for US residents only – but stay tuned for a giveaway later on that is open to everyone.
Conditions
- Employees and contractors of Envato, past and present, are not eligible.
- I will select the winner at my sole discretion, based on how awesome I think the entries are. The “awesomer”, the better.
- Entries close at 11:59 pm on December 31, 2010, Australian Time Zone (which means I have to be on my toes since I’m in North America myself!). The winning entrant will be notified shortly thereafter, but not on that day…because it’s New Year’s Eve.
- You must be 18 or above to enter and must be based in the US for this particular prize giveaway.
Merry Christmas…and stay tuned for another contest in the next few hours!
Have you ever woken up to the sounds of birds singing outside? You get up, walk to the kitchen, cook yourself an omelet and drink your favorite cup of coffee while you catch up on your RSS feed. Breakfast is perfect and the blogs are right on. — just what you needed to read. You go to work and accomplish everything on your to-do list. You have the exact perfect conversations and to top it off, your colleagues surprise you with freshly-baked cookies just because they love what you’re doing. Lucky day, right?
Maybe that isn’t you at all. Maybe you don’t have a ritual. Maybe you started off waking to find your clock blinking 12:00 AM. The power must have gone off in the night, and when you look at your phone or your watch, you realize you have just enough time to throw on clothes and head off to work. You throw on that outfit, hit the kitchen to pour a quick bowl of Fruit Loops, but the milk doesn’t even land enough for the bottom of the bowl to get wet. You throw the bowl in the sink and get in your car. 10 minutes to go before you’re late for your job that’s a half-hour away. But, as you ignite the car, you realize your car is on empty. You stop at the Flexi-Fuel and pour gasoline in before realizing you spent your last five dollars on curly fries the night before. When you get to work, your boss calls you in on account of your lateness, and there’s a client waiting at your desk ready to eat you alive because of a mistake the mail room guy made two weeks ago. A basket of fresh baked cookies would be nice, so you order a basket of chocolate chips, but when they get there, they’re pecan sandies and you’re deathly allergic to pecans. Bad luck, right?
Chances are, you have more run-ins with one of these types of days than the other. Did you know those work smiles or frowns had little to do with your car, your eggs, or your job, and they had nothing to do with luck.
Here’s why:
Your Waking Attitude Sets the Tone of the Day
I have to admit, this is a tough lesson for me, and it’s likely a tough lesson for you, too. But that first hour of the day is so vital to your experience and so vital to your productivity because it establishes your attitude for the day. If you think that’s nonsense, ask yourself why it seems that if you “wake up on the wrong side of the bed,” your whole day seems to spiral out of control. Or why is it that when you wake up with the songbirds, you are far more productive throughout the day?
Your Attitude Affects the Autopilot of Your Thoughts
When you awake in the morning, your thoughts are naturally more uncompressed, more free-flowing, and more experimental. In stand-up comedy, successful comedians are encouraged to keep a notepad next to their bed and write down the first thoughts that pop into their heads because these are the most creative thoughts of their day. The funniness can build on these thoughts later. This is why when you have a problem, you’re advised to “sleep on it.” You wake with more clarity and focus.
If you do it right.
Most people don’t. They get up and don’t really want to (and again, this has been a struggle for me as I have never considered myself a morning person).
Here’s the thing: when you awake, your conscious mind (thoughts you control) and your subconscious mind (thoughts you don’t control) are more in sync with each other than any other part of the day. If you wake up and get out of bed and step on a dog toy that sends pain to your brain and you curse the dog, you’ve just sent a message to your subconscious mind that your dog is pathetic, and you’ve sent it at the strongest part of the day. This, in turn, sets the stage for the rest of your subconscious thoughts. According to your very nature, your subconscious thoughts must be consistent with each other. This makes or breaks the flow of autopilot thoughts you have.
Give Yourself Time to Think in the Morning
The good news is that you can change the flow of your subconscious and therefore, change your perception on your day. It can be done anytime throughout the day by changing your attitude, but it is never as easy to do this as it is in the early morning.
Try this: Want to increase your chances of having a good, productive day? Don’t just jump out of bed and step on that dog toy. Instead, give yourself a few minutes to map out the day in your mind. Before you ever get out of bed, open your eyes and organize your thoughts for the day. Think about what you need to do to get things done. Even better, make a list of these things the night before, then contemplate them again in the morning. If you have young kids (like me) who wake you up in ungodly hours, set your alarm to go off ten minutes earlier than they usually wake up. Getting those thoughts together before you ever begin your day will help you to think with clarity and more focus.
(Image courtesy of Vince Alongi under a Creative Commons 2.0 Attribution generic license.)
Family tech support or helping your parents with computers is usually more time-consuming than testing software or writing a blog post. So when a site offers to help us with that and make it easier, a productivity writer like me is bound to get excited.
Well, it recently happened.
Teach Parents Tech, a site created by a bunch of Google engineers, is a simple and useful site to help your parents learn about the world of computers and the internet. It can send them how-to videos in an email, and you can choose from over 50 how-to videos spanning 5 different categories. So, if you want to get productive at family tech support, this is a site you should bookmark — or bookmark for your parents.
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Everyone has days where the motivation to get things done is just not there. The desire to work, be productive and complete tasks is weak and we feel as if we’re just going through the motions.
While “off” days can happen to anyone, motivation is a major factor in our productivity and it is something that we can not ignore. Fortunately, if you find yourself in need of a lift, there are many destinations on the Web that you can go to get the inspiration you need to get moving again.
Here are five ways to get motivated online if you’re feeling a bit down.
TED Talks
TED is a non-profit organization that specializes in “ideas worth sharing” and focuses on technology, education and design, the three letters of its name.
What TED is best known for is its conferences where some of the world’s brightest minds come together to share what they are working on including inventions, research and more. Best of all, TED makes the presentations, more commonly referred to as “Ted Talks” available for free on their site.
The talks are short, usually under 20 minutes, but showcase some of the most mind-blowing discoveries and ideas. You can even sort the talks by “Rated jaw-dropping” to get only the most awe-inspiring and motivational talks on the site.
It’s very difficult to still feel unmotivated after seeing great people doing great things and much of the work showcased is nothing short of inspirational.
Motivational Blogs
There are many blogs that specialize in motivational stories and articles. These sites work to keep their content upbeat while engaging and provoking readers to think.
Motivational Memo is one such site is, which is written by Peter G. James Sinclair, which is a solid, regularly-updated site full of motivational stories.
Bootstrapper’s list of the 100 most motivational blog posts is also worth checking out for those who want something more immediate.
Motivational Posters
Motivational posters may be the source of office ridicule and may have been overused the point that demotivational posters have become a meme, there’s still something to be said for an inspiring image and message.
Motivational Posters has over 300 such posters for sale on their site and you can easily search and find one on the topic that you need. You can either browse and look at the various posters or, if you wish, purchase one for about $10 to $20 plus shipping.
It may not be a life-changing purchase, but it might be enough to get you out of a small funk.
Inspirational Quotes
Sometimes the words of others can be a great boost when you need a little extra motivation. Fortunately, throughout history great men and women have imparted pearls of wisdom on this topic and their quotes have been passed around ever since.
Inspirational Quotes is a site that has collected many of those quotes in one place. Organized by category, the site is basically a list of motivational sayings and quotes from some of history’s biggest figures.
Some other great quote sites include All Great Quotes and Motivating Quotes. Though none of these sites are the prettiest available, they all have quotes that may be just what you need.
Forums and Communities
Based on your field and what you need motivation to do, the best place to get inspiration may be from within your own community. For example, if you’re needing motivation to hit the gym, Bodybuilding.com has a great motivational stories section to get you in the spirit.
By visiting community, forum and other sites where those in your field interact, you can exchange ideas, connect with other like-minded people and feed off the excitement of others.
Sometimes, the best way to get motivated is to simply get connected and let your colleagues give you the lift that you need.
Conclusion
All in all, the web can be a very depressing place at times, especially when it comes to public comments. But that depression can easily be countered by the good that the Web can do just by providing a sense of community and a means to find out the great things others are doing or have done.
If you’re struggling with low motivation, simply seek out some of the web’s more uplifting offerings, it may be just the thing to pull you out of your funk.
(Image courtesy of Thomas Claveirole under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 generic license.)
The holiday’s are fast upon us. October and Thanksgiving have come and gone, and this week is perhaps the most hectic of the year for most of us..
We are all very busy with our careers, families and the inevitable shopping madness the holidays have become. As web professionals, we need to maintain a balance and continue the upkeep of the many outlets we are involved with.
Oh and did I mention – enjoy the holidays?
Slowing Down
How do you slow down for the holiday? Do you slow down?
Use this opportunity to evaluate what’s most important to you before the end of the year. Cut out any of the “busywork” that’s stressful and time-consuming. Focus on accomplishing the goals that make you feel good – so that you can fully enjoy the friends and family around you.
What I’m Doing
- Focus in on responding to the students I mentor at the local college. I had a speaking arrangement around Thanksgiving and preparing for that was much more gratifying than filling out my blogging calendar.
- If you’re a web professional like me, you are probably cursed with many project ideas popping into your head. Take this opportunity to briefly outline the ideas and file them for after the holidays. Evernote is a great tool for this.
- Taking the time to respond and help others around me with their own projects and tasks. There are a handful of projects we are trying to complete at my workplace and now is a great time for me to relieve some stress from my team.
Start Thinking
So this week, contemplate slowing down and refocusing. Enjoy the food, the family and the friends. Fuse fulfilling work with celebration.
Let me know how you’re going to slow down in the comments below.
(Image courtesy of russelljsmith under a Creative Commons 2.0 Attribution generic license.)
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