Archive for the 'email' Category

IE 7 ruined my RSS

Published on 8 March 2007 in RSS readers, RSS and email. 3 Comments

IE 7 ruined my Keeping Up to Date, database alerts/RSS class. It was the only browser available on the computers in the library training room, and the fact that it automatically, neatly handles RSS feeds and displays them in a nice readable manner meant that I couldn’t make my point that (for non-IE 7 users) RSS feeds display as almost unreadable, very off-putting gibberish. I shouldn’t grumble too much, as this just shows that I wasn’t as prepared as I should have been.

I mentioned that I wasn’t sure what online RSS reader to show the class - I ended up showing them both Google Reader and Bloglines. Of course I pointed out IE 7’s built-in reader - but I left it at that. None of the attendees were already using IE 7. (I could have asked about Firefox, I suppose, I don’t know why I didn’t.) Although this class was different in that four of the sixteen attendees had actually heard of RSS (usually none of the class will have heard of it), I could see that many of them were finding the concept a bit difficult to grasp. Still, a few of the students looked mildly interested, and one student actually stayed behind, set up her reader (Google) and confirmed with me that a New Zealand news site she was interested in subscribing to had no feeds.

One of the attendees who knew a bit about RSS had a chat with me about why I thought people aren’t using RSS more widely. I think that RSS isn’t as easy to use as it could be, although this is changing with aggregator options being built into email clients and web browsers. I also think that using RSS hasn’t become habitual, like email is. Whenever I’ve shown people email and RSS as options for keeping informed, the majority are quite happy to use email to receive alerts and subscriptions, but seem to baulk at the thought of having to check Something Else.

How much resistance was there to using email when The Internet first entered the popular consciousness? I seem to remember that there was some, but I could be imagining things. Anyone know?

Email, v.2

Published on 20 February 2007 in productivity, family and email. 2 Comments

What did we do without the Internet? No doubt we all got by just fine, but it’s just so easy to find and communicate with each other now we can search, email, chat, blog…

And even though I complain about email - I find it difficult to manage and often very badly used, especially in the work situation - it does have its benefits.

Yesterday I received an email from an old school friend. We went to primary school and high school in Malaysia together. It was good to hear from her, because I have been very slack about keeping in touch and had lost her email address. She took a punt and searched at MPOW (I have been there long enough now!) and found my work email address, and so we are now back in contact. This time, S, I promise I won’t lose your email address!

I’ve written in the past about family members all the way in distant Netherlands finding me and writing with news. It’s strange thinking of these people I am related to, so far away, and whom I have never met.

Even here in Perth much of the family uses email very effectively to organise events and keep in touch. It’s a very useful tool when you’re trying to get ten people together for dinner, or to sign the document from the Public Trustee organising Mama’s estate.

Email, the ogre

Published on 12 February 2007 in productivity and email. 2 Comments

Not having been at work for almost a week, it was a bit of a challenge getting back yesterday and wading through all my email. I think my email symbolises how organised or disorganised I am. Looking at my inbox, I am currently extremely disorganised - there are 21 pages of emails in my webmail inbox. Horrific, isn’t it? I almost hate email, some days. Am I alone in feeling like this?

I don’t really know what to do about it - one needs to be constantly vigilant to keep that inbox as close to empty as possible, and sometimes it’s just not possible. I’ve tried, unsuccessfully, to suggest ways of reducing the deluge of email at work (using IM, wiki for discussing documents, blog for ‘interesting’ links), but to no avail.

Dave Pollard’s list, When Not to Use Email, is a good one. Item number 10 on his list: don’t use email to “To send news, interesting documents, links, policies, directory updates and other ‘FYI’ stuff: Post it, where those who care about it can browse or RSS-subscribe to it. If the audience is a community of practice or community of interest, post it on a blog. If the audience is a project team, a group with a shared sense of purpose and urgency, post it to the team’s collaboration space or wiki. If the audience is really broader than that, post it to the Intranet, Extranet or public Internet site.”

I have decided that I am going to stop contributing to the inundation, even if it means not sending on that must read article, or that thought-provoking blog post, or whatever. I do wish my colleagues could read Dave’s post, but if I don’t send it to them I guess they won’t. I think a lot of the resistance to trying new methods is the fact that people feel like they have way too much to do already - thanks to email. Ironic.

P.S. This gripe is about my work email. My personal email is quite pleasingly tidy at the moment.