The Steve Rubel Stream

6 Jan 2010

Tip: Get the Weather Instantly in Gmail

As I have shared, Gmail is my Ginsu Knife. As they roll out features, I keep finding new uses for them - sometimes inadvertently.

Gmail has a cool Labs feature that puts a little search box in your sidebar. I use it all the time to pull up information for lifestream posts since I publish to my Posterous-powered site via email. This little box is already capable of quite a lot but it also can pull up the latest weather.

All you need to do is enter in a city name and weather and you get the current conditions as well as the forecast. You can access the search box with a keyboard command too - just type in g then / - and enter your query.

4 Jan 2010

Three Ideas for 2010 Part III: Lifelogging and Self Tracking

Happy 2010! Note this is the third in a three-part series on ideas anyone can ride in 2010 and beyond. - part I is here and part II is here.

Image credit: Evernote Web site

One of the great mindset shifts from the last decade is that today, finally, people of all walks are recognizing that what gets captured and measured gets managed (to quote Peter Drucker).

In 2010 and beyond we will become far more savvier about using data (both our own and aggregate streams) to make decisions large and small. Those who commit themselves to becoming data-driven will be in the best position to succeed both in business and in life - just ask Google. Consider leading yourself and inspire others to do live and work the same. In 2010 I am personally trying to apply data-driven tools, thinking and insights to all of my goals.

One way anyone become more data-driven by logging his/her life. This isn't a new idea. In fact, it's ancient. Consider former senator Bob Graham. He takes meticulous daily notes on the mundane to foreign policy in notebooks and has done so for decades.

"I start each month with a fresh notebook, the color which would follow the last notebook of the previous month. On the inside cover of the notebook I write the information which will determine its overall position in the total collection of notebooks (the first notebook used in July of 2009 would be 7/09A), the date upon which the notebook was commenced and completed, and the information which would assist in recovery of the notebook should it be lost (address, home-office-cell numbers and email address) and, finally, an index of when the sections of notebook were completed by my having finished the “things to do” lists in that notebook."

Self-tracking goes beyond just capture, though. You need to use the data to glean insights. Google Spreadsheets has a great way to do this with their gadgets. You can even set up forms for to make capturing the data even easier. For more on this topic, read Chris Brogan's "three words," Flowing Data and The Quantified Self. Other tools to look at include 23andMe, Nike Plus, Evernote and a host of others.

Oh and if you think this is just for geeks, think again. Even parents are obsessed with data. For more, see the video embedded below or here.

There's no doubt in my mind that if you dedicate yourself to using data wisely to plan and measure you will succeed no matter what your goals are. And, increasingly, the tools to make this happen are getting easier and more accessible all the time.

2 Jan 2010

Three Ideas for 2010 Part II: DIY Work Hacking

Happy 2010! Note this is the second in a three-part series covering three big ideas to ride in 2010. Part I is here.

DIY Work Hacking

Photo credit: Dave Malkoff

In a column in the New York Times last month Tom Friedman described how do-it-yourself (DIY) technology tools, particularly cloud computing services, are empowering workers to do more with less. The Harvard Business Review in their January/February issue describes this as Hacking Work (article available behind the paywall).

"When a 12-year-old can gather information faster, process it more efficiently, reference more diverse professionals, and get volunteer guidance from better sources than you can at work, how can you pretend to be competitive?...Hack work, and embrace the others in your midst who care enough to do so."

Good advice.

I have been a DIY type my whole career - always on the lookout for ways I can use technology to streamline my work. One of my favorite techniques is to use bookmarklets. If you don't know where to start, visit marklets.com. They have a great directory. Another great resource for ideas on hacking work is, naturally, Lifehacker. The photo above is the site's editor, Adam Pash. I am not sure if this is a sign of the times or not, but Lifehacker's global traffic was up 37% last year according to their own stats, which they make publicly available here.

Doing more with less is part of The Great Reset. Those who embrace using new technologies and tools will not only survive, but thrive. No one will teach you necessarily how to do this on your own. Each information worker needs to take matters into their own hands.

19 Dec 2009

Search the Live Web with Two Simple Bookmarklets

I have become addicted to Google's new real-time search feature. It's an incredible window onto the world's psyche. However, it's somewhat lacking in one small way.

By default, Google doesn't serve up real-time results for most searches. It only does so for topics that are in the news or the conversation zeitgeist. For example, as of this writing, a search for the phrase "Google" doesn't turn up any real-time results. Compare this with any of the terms listed on Google Trends, all of which will automatically feature real-time results.

If you want to easily access Google real-time results for any query, all you need is two simple bookmarklets.

The first bookmarklet once triggered will reveal the latest status updates from Twitter, Jaiku, Facebook and others. If you select text on a page it will automatically pull it into a query. If you don't select any text, the bookmarklet will pop up a box for you to enter a query.

javascript:x=escape(getSelection());if(!x)%7Bvoid(x=prompt('%20-%20Google%20Real-time%20Updates:',''))%7D;window.location='http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rls=en&tbo=1&output=search&tbs=mbl:1&q='+x

The second bookmarklet is broader - it pulls in all real-time results from blogs, news sources and Twitter and like the one above will work on pre-selected text or a new query.

javascript:x=escape(getSelection());if(!x)%7Bvoid(x=prompt('%20-%20Google%20Real-time%20Search:',''))%7D;window.location='http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rls=en&tbo=1&tbs=rltm:1&q='+x

Both bookmarklets should work in various browsers. I tested them in Safari and Firefox. All you need to do is create a bookmark with the precise URL listed above. (For some reason I can't get javascript code to link properly on Posterous, otherwise I wold have done so.)

26 Nov 2009

NutshellMail Brings Twitter and Facebook Right to Your Email Box

Although some are saying that the email age is coming to an end, the data shows the opposite is true - it increases our reliance on mail. With Gmail adding new features all the time and services like Posterous, Twitgether, Evernote, Remail and others working seamlessly with my Gmail account, I am always on the hunt for services that make email even more useful. Enter NutshellMail, which I read about on Web Worker Daily.

NutshellMail is a really slick service that brings Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and MySpace updates right to your email box. Once you authorize the service to connect it will scan your accounts and deliver updates as often as hourly. I have set up my account to poll every few hours and scoop up news. I have set up a filter in Gmail so that these get shuttled to a special label, which I can review on any device and even respond back all via email as well.

Give it a go. It's a great service for tracking your social networks.

Tip: Get the Weather Instantly in Gmail

Three Ideas for 2010 Part III: Lifelogging and Self Tracking

Three Ideas for 2010 Part II: DIY Work Hacking

Search the Live Web with Two Simple Bookmarklets

NutshellMail Brings Twitter and Facebook Right to Your Email Box

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