Now You've Found the Information, Here's How To Keep It.

I wrote in my last post about the benefit of using an RSS Feed Reader to pull together articles from a variety of sources.  Now that you have set that up, you may have already found some articles that were not only informative but you definitely want to keep.

Of course, you can cut and past the information, most of the time, into a wordprocessor and save it, however, there is an easier way:  Evernote.

Evernote is a free (although there are paid versions I have never hit the limits of what the free version can provide) program which exists in the cloud and crosses multiple platforms.  What that means is that information saved on my computer is available on my phone, my tablet, my home computer, basically anywhere I have internet access.

The great thing about Evernote is that the people there really understand how to maximize the cloud and have created web clippers for all the major web browsers.  Simply search for "Evernote Web Clipper" and you can find the version which works best with your browser.  Once installed it places the head of an elephant in your browser (see picture to the left - this is using Chrome web browser).  When you click that it will open a dialogue box like that to the right.  From there you can tell it to copy the article, the page, a screenshot and allows you determine where to save it inside of Evernote.  I have set up a folder labeled "web articles" to receive these articles and can choose to read them at the time or wait until later.  I can easily share them with others,   And, the great thing is, they are there until you remove them, whether that is next week, or next year, or next decade.

Using Evernote web clipper and your RSS Feed Reader is a winning combination.  It works in the background, takes very little effort, and makes my information readily available when I want it.

Are You Using an RSS Feed Reader? Why Not???

RSS stands for Rich Site Summary, but is also known as Really Simple Syndication.  You don't really need to know that.  What you do need to know is that an RSS Feed Reader can make you better informed and help keep you current in select areas of your choice, with very little effort from you.

The basic way the RSS Feed Reader works is to aggregate, or pull together, into one site, often with a short digest or introduction various new postings to the blogs you have subscribed to.  It then sends the list to your email daily.

For instance I have subscribed, Adult Studies Faculty, Educational Technology and Mobile Learning,  Leadership Intelligence, Tools to Lead, Educause/Learning Analytics, Presentation Zen, Tablet Pedagogy, and others.  Each day I receive an email with the title and an introductory sentence from any new posts to these blogs.  It is rare that there are more than four titles listed.  Here is the key: I don't have to go find them, I don't have to even read them if they don't interest me.  the ones that do interest me, I click on and go right to the post.

There are a LOT of RSS Feed Readers and you can research them on your own.  I use Bloglovin' (www.bloglovin.com) because it is easy to use and isn't too complicated.  This is an area where I don't need complicated, just something reliable and easy to use.

The process works like this:  once you have signed up for your RSS Feed Reader, you can explore the list of Blogs from their long list and add any you like to your subscription list.  If you run across a Blog not listed (such as this one) simply go back to your RSS Feed Reader and add it.  In Bloglovin' I click on the heart at the top of the page, select Edit the Blogs You Follow, click on Add Blog and paste the web address into the dialogue box which pops up.  Bloglovin' does the rest and I start getting updates.  No other maintenance or attention is required.

Give it a try.  Find a few Blogs which appeal to your interest and see if you don't learn something new.

I posted this same information on the Adult Studies Faculty blog.

Using IFTTT to Become More Productive

I met with several professionals last week and during the conversation mentioned IFTTT.  I was shocked to discover that none of those present were aware of it, nor the amazing power it allows.  I've always been on the lookout for shortcuts and ways to automate functions that have to be repeated, e.g. macros in Excel.  IFTTT is the ultimate automation tool, and its FREE.

You can access IFTTT through the internet on your computer (IFTTT.com) or through an application on your smart phone.  Once you have an account set up the fun begins.  IFTTT uses "recipies" to describe its automation based on "If this (the trigger) then that (the target)."

There are an amazing number of recipies already built, such as:

• If I post to twitter with the hashtag #fb, then post that tweet to facebook," or with the hashtag #in to Linkedin.
• If I miss a phone call from a specific number, then send myself an email (or email the person whose phone call was missed).
• If I update my contacts, then make a copy of the contact to a spreadsheet in Google Sheets.
• If I receive an email with an attachment, then save the attachment to dropbox.

It works with a variety of third party programs such as flckr, instagram, facebook, twitter, dropbox, googledocs, and many more.

I would go on but there are literally hundreds of recipies already built and it is easy to create your own for your own specific needs.  I've included a video from youtube below which describes how to use this with your smart phone.  IFTTT also works with some smart home products.

If you are not using this, then you are making more work for yourself than you need to, or missing a wonderful opportunity to be more effective, at the very least.

Give it a try, you won't be disappointed.