Month: March 2007

Use the tech that brings you value

… and use that tech in a way that brings value to the people you use it with.

Hello, Rocketboom viewers!

Twitter is good for keeping in touch, but be sure to populate your list of friends you follow with only those whose updates you really want to see.

Also, you don't have to get every message sent to your phone or IM client. As a quick thermometer of what a group of people are up to, the web page view is a nice service. Brief, frequently silly, ignorable as necessary.

If Twitter isn't for you, you can probably get a similar effect from your Flickr contacts page or blog post titles in an RSS reader.

Bottom line: just because you're friends you're not obligated to keep up with the entirety of each other's electronic output.

When to buy a book

Only get it when

– you'll read it at least 5 times.

– it's a reference book you'll use a lot.

– you need it under a time constraint (i.e. now) or must have it longer than the loan period at the library.

– you're planning to damage it during use (e.g. flour-filled baking books, workbooks, bathtub reading material).

– you plan to donate it to the library.

– to support the author.

Otherwise, use the library!