I share web design resources with friends who I think might benefit from them, but I really wanted to share them with more people. So I am; just keep reading.
Resources
Web design for different skillsets & varying levels of competency
So there you go!
Please do comment or email me; I'd really like that.
If you'd like to add to this resource so that we can all benefit, please tag links in Delicious with both "for:inspirewithhope" + "web-design-101". I'll add useful links to the relevant places in Delicious. (Delicious is an online bookmarking tool that allows you to easily share bookmarks with other people, especially other people who are also on Delicious. It's free & there are lots of Firefox add-ons and other tools for it – do ask if you have any questions).
If you'd like to read more about web design, including excellent web design resources on Twitter, do read what is web design? It includes most of the rest of the content that was originally in this article. (I edited Web Design 101 on 10 February because it was too long).
I'm writing this based on my experiences with abandoning my blogs, and my experiences returning to them. I'm writing to help you (and also future me) get on with things when you really don't feel like it. I'm really interested in other people's methods, this is a very real & present issue for me; please leave your tips & recommendations in the comments, useful links very welcome.
I recently read a brilliant article, which stated, "The creative myth leads people to waste time waiting for lightning instead of working hard and relentlessly."
Eureka!
How many times have you heard "Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration" or variations on that theme?
Motivation waxes & wanes, but – as I keep realising – you have to persevere whether you feel motivated or not. Sometimes I'm full of creative energy & sometimes I'm just not; I have to carry on regardless. Well, I say I keep realising it; I'm wondering if this time I've actually learnt the lesson or if it'll be coming round again in my future… I am trying. :)
There are some things I do that help me keep my creative energy, I find them especially useful to implement just as I feel it starting to slip away:
- Making lists of my achievements
- Checking my motivations
- Getting inspiration from other people
- Writing down ideas as soon as I get them
- Logging off
Making lists of my achievements
How I do it: I make a list each month using Ta-da List (it's free & simple). I update it many times each day. I find I forget what I've done if I don't write it down, which leads to despondency. Plus, this way I have a record I can look at when my self-confidence is flagging. Hurrah for Aide-mémoires of My Awesomeness!
Examples of stuff I put on the list
- Solicited feedback from Chiz [on my websites]
- Started using Google Webmaster Tools for [my websites] BP, IWH, KB & MMM
- Decided not to go to Inferno [club night] & cancelled dancing with Helen C – need rest
- KB: Updated [website]: Added quotations from others about me
- Newly created Incompetent Chef [blog] – from Idea to Implementation – wrote about guacamole http://incompetentchef.tumblr.com
Checking my motivations
Sometimes I feel resistance to doing something because I don't really want to do it. I worried that this might be the case with regards to blogging – in which case, it would have been a good idea to stop, there's no point in posting without passion. I did a lot of thinking about it & every time I came to the conclusion that I definitely don't want to give it up. I made a list of my reasons & that was useful. It's helpful because it gives me direction too – if I'm not sure what to do next I can have a look at my reasons & let that guide me to the next action.
Work out why you started blogging, work out why you stopped, work out why you've not started again. Work out if you still want to blog & why / why not; perhaps the reasons you don't want to blog are not inherent to blogging: Maybe a change of platform or someone to help you with site administration would fix things. I find meditating & journalling helpful for working things out. Write stuff down!
Reasons I blog
- I have something to say that I want to share with other people to help them
- I'm vain & full of self-importance; I want people to read stuff I've written
- I want feedback on my thoughts
- I read something & want to respond to it – I start writing a comment & then realise it's ridiculously long (from little comments great articles grow!)
- I want to become (more of) an authority on entrepreneurship; blogging helps me direct my learning
Getting inspiration from other people
Hang out with life-affirming people who have high levels of energy, motivation, positivity, bounce, creativity etc. Socialise with inspirational friends. Read awesome blogs. Listen to inspirational songs.
Awesome blogs: My personal favourites
Writing down ideas as soon as I get them
Carry a little notebook for those snippets of entries that come to you. I have a journal that goes nearly everywhere with me. It applies online too – bookmark & tag when you run across things that inspire or speak to you. I use Delicious & Google Reader; there are so many great tools out there.
In addition, I find it really helpful to write things unrelated to my blog. I write other blogs about feminism, sexuality, vegan cooking for beginners… I have a few personal blogs in which I write the usual self-absorbed rambling & whining. I write poetry, I write short stories & flash fiction, I write complaints to businesses, I write thank you cards, I write lists of so many things… It's all good practice. Even though I write all these things, and have been a writer for longer than I can remember, I still felt trepidation upon returning to Inspire With Hope. I dread to think how much worse it would have been if I hadn't been writing all this time. If you don't write much; start now. (The comment section of this entry would be a good place to begin… :))
Logging off
Eliminate distractions – I like to believe that I'm self-disciplined enough to stop checking email, LiveJournal & Twitter all the time (and I'm working on that!), but I'm not. Log out of IM. Go offline. Remove the temptations – sign out, close the tabs, disconnect.
…And that's how I wrote this post.
Now I'm off to read some comics, because treats, rewards & relaxation are also important aspects of being & staying motivated.
Hi! It's been a while, but here I am!
I'm really not sure what to write, all I know is that I'm not willing to let go of Inspire With Hope yet.
Since I last wrote, I…
The single most awesome thing I did this year was moving out of my parents' house. I really wondered if I had it in me to ever leave. I did! I've done *so much*, met so many wonderful people & deepened so many of my relationships in so many ways because I'm not there. I'm still really excited about all this seven months later.
So, what happened to my Web Stuff…?
Web Stuff, including Inspire With Hope, has been on the backburner for a long time whilst I sorted out my living & loving situations. I think I'm at a point where I can invest time & energy in it again (we'll soon find out… :)), so I'm working that out.
I've updated Kathleen Bright (dotcom)
I've got fresh stuff about to go up on Bright Portfolio too.
Squeebounce!
What about Inspire With Hope?
Some important things for entrepreneurship
- Creating independent streams of income – using enterpreneurship to increase wealth
- Challenging kyriarchy: Social enterprise & ethical business – using enterpreneurship to change the world
- Life balance (aka work-life balance)
I'll be seeing how it goes with updating Inspire With Hope; I'm really excited to be back, so it looks hopeful.
With thanks to Chisel for helping me write some of this post. :)
In June 2006, I started writing & publishing a blog dedicated to documenting my entrepreneurship mistakes so that others could learn from them and so I could remind myself that it's important to make more mistakes.
In October 2006, I had to take a break from Make More Mistakes because I didn't have time to continue with it. I promised to return to it in January 2007.
January 2006, Make More Mistakes is back! With a funky new design and a brand new entry on Being tempted to quit my education early.
It's a very personal entry about my struggles with my postgraduate programme and the uncertainty of success. However, it is also a very hopeful entry in which I discuss different methods of tackling doubt and getting back on the right track, as well as the many important lessons I've learnt so far. Here's an excerpt:
The requirement to tell my parents if I were dropping out and the fact this might have made moving out more urgent has really helped me to bring ‘Making my Escape' to the forefront of my mind. It's now more pressing: I'm getting on with it instead of procrastinating. [...]
In addition, thinking about quitting has highlighted the importance of finding alternative sources of income. So I'm working really hard on that too: Ideas & Potential Solutions for my Fiscal Challenge. (Please do send me suggestions; I really appreciate your help).
Make More Mistakes: Being tempted to quit my education early
Time-management and other challenges
Writing and managing so many sites (three, shortly rising to four) is very challenging. Maybe that'll be the subject of another entry! In the meantime, I'm continuing with decluttering and working on spring cleaning All Things Bright too. So, as usual, do send me suggestions.
Currently, the biggest practical challenge is trying to make myself get enough sleep. Must stay healthy!
Thank you, my lovely readers!
I'd also like to take this opportunity to say thank you to my readers and commenters. I really appreciate you and it's always lovely to hear from you. I'd love to know how you find All Things Bright, but mystery or not, I'm really pleased to have you here!
Thank you!
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How to re-think your perspective
Kathleen Bright: Not ‘I need', instead ‘I want' or, How to get things done, changing your perspective. Don't forget to focus on how much you want to do what you need to do. If you're prone to procrastination, get as much help as you can, including changing the way you think about your goals.
- David Seah: Productivity through Discomfort. Stepping outside your comfort zone is a great idea! Plus, the only way to test your limits is to keep going until you fail. This is also the only explanation or justification for the crazy amount of stuff on my to do list. :)
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Failure
Failure is okay!
- Kathleen Bright: Power of three: Goal-setting: Business (3 of 3). Really, failure is good. Failure is proof you tried.
- Kathleen Bright: Power of three: Goal-setting: Studying (2 of 3). Conquering failure is difficult because of fear.
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Fear
Mind Petals: Fear Based Decisions are the Wrong Decisions.
- Yes, it's hard to face your fears, but it's worth it.
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Help
If in doubt, say thank you.
- Keep saying it.
- Watch (or read) The Secret for some inspiration, including why saying thank you helps.
- You can get 'The Secret' free if you hurry, because I think it's that great and I want you to see it.
- Tubetorial: Back Up Your Blog or Risk Losing It All. It happened to me, it could happen to you too…
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Making money with blogging is not a quick fix
In order to make money you need to have a product or service that people want to buy.
- Products can be easier because they're usually tangible.
- Content is an example of something that straddles the product/services divide.
- Yaro Starak: Can professional blogging be a sustainable business model? In order to be successful, (some) people need to love your content.
- Tom Peters: Love Thine "Enemy"! It's Good Business! Love is important in all areas of life, including business.
- Dazzlin' Donna: Becoming an authority. It's important for bloggers to participate in their niche communities. Plus, you should participate out of love for your niche.
- Pamela Slim: Create your media plan for 2007! Planning is important.
- But acting, a.k.a. execution, is even more important.
- Especially if you're prone to procrastination.
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Personal life lessons
Life gets more and more complicated each year. Well, mine has so far!
- Love is sometimes the problem, as well as the solution.
- You can get too much of a good thing, e.g. education and academia: Being a student isn't all it's cracked up to be.
- Entrepreneurship is for me!
- Escape is the best idea I've ever had – i.e. moving out of my parents' house – I just need to implement it.
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Goals
It's easier to refrain from spending than I first thought.
- How to Set Goals for the New Year. Just remember to have clearly defined goals so you can't wriggle out of them (which tends to be a problem with many New Year resolutions).
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Health
Kathleen Bright: Power of three: Goal-setting: Health (1 of 3). Health is important for everyone, including entrepreneurs.
- Mind Petals just emphasised the importance of health too.
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Happiness
Kathleen Bright: How to be happy, or Why you're sad and how to fix it. Happiness is an interesting topic.
- You are the only one who can make you happy.
- Other people and things can help or hinder, as you will it.
- Steve Pavlina: Making Decisions That Stick: "Once you reach a certain level of conscious development, you gradually de-couple your happiness from external events. You loosen your attachment to circumstances and learn to feel good regardless of what happens."
- On Philosophy: The Good Life. Some people think that the pursuit of happiness is a bad idea.
- Needless to say, I disagree.
- I find that music really helps me to change my mood and would love your suggestions for happy music.
- Making myself happy and making others happy are the two aims that define my life.
- Entrepreneurship is my tool to achieve these aims.
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Wealth & money
Steve Pavlina: Making Money Consciously. Being wealthy is not the same as being rich.
- It's hard to remember that when you're poor.
- Being frugal is an excellent way to remind oneself of the unimportance of stuff.
- Being a student helps you to be frugal because there are few other options. :)
- There are lots of useful site out there that can help you be frugal.
- Get Rich Slowly: Debt elimination is possible, even for students.
- Life Coaches Blog: Saving your money can become fun, even addictive!
- Mind Petals: If you want to be rich, make it one of your goals.
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"Energy flows where attention goes"*
John Richardson: Goals: Create The Gallery of Your Life. Don't forget to intend your goals. Visualisation is one powerful method for achieving. *From 'The Secret'.
- Steve Pavlina: Manifesting Intentions Without Resistance. Role-playing is another good way of doing that.
- Lorelle VanFossen: Blog Challenge: What Have You Learned This Year? Blogging challenges are great for writing ideas and for extra traffic. Thanks Lorelle!
I love reading. I love the Internet. Cue the entrance of blogs and bam! Every spare second I didn't have, gone. But that's okay because I derive massive value from my favourite blogs and now I want to share that with you. Hence this entry.
I mentioned this to a friend who said, "Favourite blog posts are good, because they'll boost your Google Pagerank. All those famous blogs with pingbacks to your site." Heh, not quite was thinking (well, okay, who am I kidding?! Of course that's part of it). My main motivation is to share these brilliant resources because I'm always raving about them. I'm also interested to make a note of my favourites so I can see if/how that changes over time. I'm also including links to my top three favourite posts from each of them to give you a taster.
Faves
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Steve Pavlina: Personal Development for Smart People
Not all of his posts are '10 such-and-such' and it was really difficult to pick just three amazing entries to showcase here, because pretty much everything he says is gold dust. Which is why I find myself recommending him to people offline too. Ooh, got to mention 10 reasons to develop your technical skills too. Oh, and visit the new forums.
- 10 reasons you should never get a job
"Have you noticed that employed people have an almost endless capacity to whine about problems at their companies? But they don't really want solutions – they just want to vent and make excuses why it's all someone else's fault."
- 10 myths about self-employment
"Self-employment is much riskier than getting a job… Employees take the biggest risk of all. You learn how risky it is when you unexpectedly hear the words, 'we're letting you go'."
- 10 ways to become more conscious
"What does it mean to become more conscious? It is the progressive realisation of conscious mastery over your mind." Here's how to attain it.
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Trizoko
Much advice for management, general well-being and more. What distinguishes this blog for me, is the style in which it's written. Each post starts off with a popularly-held myth or similar, continues with evidence to show why the myth is false and ends with a one-sentence summary of action to take. Brilliant.
- How to rock your customer service: "Most businesses think their customer service rocks; but, the reality: they suck, and don't-even-know-it." Another thing I like about this post: Published it on my birthday. I'm recognised as providing the best customer service at work (I even won an award!) How did Andrew know?! :)
- Why most politicians suck as leaders: "The best politicians are nothing but the most 'charismatic' bastard sitting on his/her ivory tower hawking their ideas like they mean something."
- 2 rules to stop procrastinating: "Fear drives us to procrastinate by viciously trapping us from taking action." How true this is! I'm still struggling with my fears, but I overcame them enough to write my essays.
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Copyblogger
Brian is truly brilliant. One thing that distinguishes his posts is how much he draws upon different areas of life, for example, he looks at history to find guidelines for writing for the Web. Ingenious. He's also a very good writer himself, which helps when you're writing about writing… :)
- Don't take this advice about online marketing!
"Advice is a tricky thing, especially when dispensed en masse. The answer to most things, if we're being honest, is it depends…" Includes links to some of his other excellent posts. Go, read!
- Don't sell… teach
"Using educational copywriting to begin relationships that lead to sales… Tutorial Marketing"
- Pez Dispensers and Living the Big Lie
"Origin stories are hugely important… Lying is easy, it's living the lie that's hard… revealing that the story is not true… blows it."
See also:
- Escape From Cubicle Nation
Pamela Slim is passionate about helping entrepreneurs start businesses. She's really supportive and also does a podcast, which I'm listening to as I write this.
- ProBlogger Blog Tips
Darren, ProBlogger, has a finger on the pulse of pretty much everything happening in the blogging world, so he's great for news on things like AdSense, Amazon Affiliates etc. Saves tonnes of time for me research all these things directly, then I can just drill down on the stuff that's most relevant to me. Yay!
- SEO
I prefer Darren's lite SEO posts, which includes the most important SEO information without the extra really advanced stuff you find in SEO blogs. For that, see SEOmoz Daily SEO Blog: 21 tactics to increase blog traffic & SEO BlackHat: One trackback mistake you can't afford to make, which I also enjoy.
- Creating Passionate Users
Ostensibly, how the brain works and how to exploit it for better learning and memory; but that stuff is presented in a really accessible and interesting way. Plus, they talk about other stuff too, like how to get your users to love you.
- Art of Money
Robert Kiyosaki [aka Rich Dad] appreciator, Jon, shares the ways in which he's stretching his financial mindset. I particularly love this post on Internet Marketing
- Paul Graham
Brilliant essayist, amongst other things; he's also the author of one of my favourite books, Hackers & Painters
- Publishing 2.0
What you get when you mix media & technology, which is enabling ordinary people to control, participate in, and become media.
I hope you enjoy these recommendations and find them really useful. In my new capacity on the committee of King's College London Entrepreneurs I'll be sourcing lots of helpful information about entrepreneurship, so do let me know what direction would be most beneficial for you.
In essence, my hosts experienced a series of hardware problems, so all my sites disappeared and my email addresses stopped working.
On Thursday, 9th November, the hosting came back, sans content. Ian & I contacted our hosts who restored as much as they could.
On Friday, 10th November, I had the exciting task of restoring the vast majority of my content from scratch: My database (for entries, comments etc), my files (for themes etc) and all my settings (for email etc). This took quite some time. Luckily, as I backup often it wasn't too much of a headache. It was stressful though, because I don't backup enough and I'd never tested my backups.
Over the next couple of days, I'll be making my disaster recovery strategy more apparent. In the meantime, I won't be ranting and raving about my hosts because I haven't got the full story yet (when I've got it; I'll share it). Instead, I'll be doing something altogether more karmic, sharing what I've learnt:
How to take the sting out of hardware failure: My advice and the lessons I've learnt
Backup! Backup! Backup!
Backing up: Some quotations & links to get you started
Deciding what to back up is highly personal. Anything you cannot replace easily should be at the top of your list. Before you get started, make a checklist of files to back up. This will help you determine what to back up, and also give you a reference list in the event you need to retrieve a backed-up file.
Microsoft: How to decide what data to back up
Backup refers to the copying of data so that these additional copies may be restored after a data loss event… to restore a computer to an operational state following a disaster (called disaster recovery) [or] to restore small numbers of files after they have been accidentally deleted or corrupted.
Wikipedia: Backup
"Why Smart People Do Dumb Things" (Like Not Backup Their Hard Disk), by Guy Kawaski. Read this, it's so excellent: It's all gold dust; I couldn't possibly quote it.
Backing up, WordPress-specific guides, including tutorials, plugins etc.
Seven rules for backing up your data
- Coverage: Backup ALL your data
- Frequency: Backup frequently
- Separation: Take some backups offsite
- History: Keep some old backups
- Testing: Test your backups
- Security: Secure your backups
- Integrity: Perform integrity checking
See also, The Tao of Backup Excellent, humorous, witty. Highly recommended!
Summary: How to keep up-to-date with information on the Web, without clicking from site to site. You can browse headlines from lots of different sites in one place on your computer; with no spam or viruses. Plus, unsubscribe immediately whenever you want. Read: What is RSS?
As part of Bright Resources: free Guide to Technology for Technophobes, I've written a straightforward definition of RSS & web feeds, including the benefits & how to use them.
I've also edited the Wikipedia entries for RSS, web syndication & web feed & to incorporate this information, as what was there before was far too complicated for those new to syndication.
Email me if you have any questions about it at all and I'll do my very best to help.
I'm doing well with the whole blogging enterprise so far.
"If you want a powerful, publishing platform that gives you an enormous amount of functionality, you won’t do better than Wordpress."
It seems I'm on the right track. Everywhere I turn, I see generalised endorsements of the choices I've made. I chose the right blogging platform, I'm focusing on the right advertisers, it's a good idea to be blogging professionally in the first place.
But that's not what I want. I'm glad I'm going in the right direction and that researching my options is leading me to make reasonable & rewarding choices. However, none of this praise is helping me to improve. I need to be learning what it is I'm doing wrong. The whole premise of one of my blogs – Make More Mistakes – is that one of the very best ways to learn is by doing the wrong thing. It is through failure that one can be successful.
I'm happy about my gradual success, but I want to challenge myself. I want to be optimising & improving. If you stand still, you end up behind.
So, I invite you to tell me what I'm doing wrong!
Next steps – development of All Things Bright
Linkbaiting
There are numerous blogs & articles devoted to the practice of systematically linking to numerous (relevant!) posts, offering three parts praise & one part criticism. I think this is a great practice, so I'll be starting my own regular programme too.
Posted on 19 August '06 by Kathleen Bright, under Blogging. 5 Comments.
On 9 August 2006, in Don't settle for Google AdSense, Erik of ProductWiki stated, "While I believe that AdSense is a great source of potential revenue, it is by no means perfect and, in my opinion, needs to be updated to meet the demands of its users… Shopping.com outperforms AdSense by a factor of 4.6!".
A few days before Erik, I published my experiences with Google AdSense: On 4 August 2006, I stated, "I'm doing a lot of research on different ways of making money online. Many rave about AdSense, but I've found that other programs work better for me. (Which is a shame really, as AdSense is by far the easiest & simplest to set up)."
Furthermore, on 13 August 2006 – before I found Erik's post – I wrote about my objective preferences for alternatives to AdSense, "On the advertising front, I've cut down on AdSense and am focusing on eBay & Amazon UK – as these seem to be more profitable for me."
Marketing genius, Seth Godin (author of Purple Cow & many other books) has also written about his AdSense observations, stating, "the eye is looking for anamolies (sic)". I think banner blindness particularly affects Google ads: Google AdSense is very popular, so visitors are more used to seeing these type of ads and are therefore more likely to ignore them than they are other ads.
Alternatives to Google AdSense
eBay & Amazon are the main contenders. Yahoo! has entered the fray too. However, its emphasis on showing ads only to US visitors means extra work for site owners and has resulted in many of us opting for other alternatives, at least for the present. (I would have liked to test it myself, but being in the UK I'm ineligible to apply).
eBay
According to Michael D. Pollock, eBay Editor Kit is 'too easy' – that's why there's no WordPress plugin. Brilliant. I tried it myself and he's right.
I'm so grateful to Michael for sharing the link to eBay's Editor Kit, as all I knew about was the Commission Junction site (it seems eBay outsource their affiliate programme to a few 'tracking providers') and that one is really quite confusing. In fact, if I weren't so determined, I would have given up on eBay before, purely because of the Commission Junction interface.
Try eBay Affiliates
Amazon Associates
One of the problems I have with Amazon, is how separate Amazon.com & Amazon.co.uk are. It's not like with eBay, where '.com' represents international; rather, '.com' means US – being in the UK, that's not helpful for me and yet the US is a big market. Consequently, I have both Amazon.com & Amazon.co.uk affiliate accounts – which means I work twice as hard for half the results.
On the plus side, Amazon's affliate program rewards much better than AdSense. In my experience, affiliate programmes reward more highly because in order for the site owner to get paid, visitors must actually spend money. Whereas with pay-per-click advertising, they only need to click, which (theoretically) indicates interest in possibly making a purchase in the future.
Try Amazon Associates
Chitika
Chitika is popular with many bloggers. However, it has some bad press for being complicated to set-up and it also recommends quite high level of traffic as a minimum before applying, which is why I haven't tried it yet.
Try Chitika
Next steps – development of All Things Bright
- Removing some of the AdSense ads and replacing with Amazon & eBay ones.
Have you tried any of these methods? What are your experiences?
Posted on 17 August '06 by Kathleen Bright, under Blogging, Money. 1 Comment.
Revver is a company that allows people to upload & store videos of their original content for free & get paid by advertisers if/when viewers click ads at the end of the video. "The income from RevTags is always split 50-50 between Revver and the creator." There's even an affiliate program too.
Revolutionary!
Strangely enough, the staff members didn't seem to know what they were doing at first, but they soon figured it out… Watch What is Revver? by the Revver team to see what I mean.
I have a few ideas of my own about the videos I plan to produce; I'll be sharing these with you in due course. In the meantime, email me or comment to let me know what you think I should be doing and what you'd like to see. I welcome all feedback!
More news about Revver
» Who Will Make Money with User-Generated Online Video?
» Distributed Revenue-Sharing Ad Platforms Are the Paradigm For Monetizing Social Media
My plan is to make money from blogging.
I know, I know – it's the same plan as many other bloggers out there.
I'm doing a lot of research on different ways of making money online. Many rave about AdSense, but I've found that other programs work better for me. (Which is a shame really, as AdSense is by far the easiest & simplest to set up).
Oh well, nobody said it was easy. In fact, Steve Pavlina said not everyone can do it – "99% of people who try will fail" and he's pretty smart. I'm smart too, we will see if that's enough!
Posted on 4 August '06 by Kathleen Bright, under Blogging. 1 Comment.
I did quite a lot today.
- Moved My Bright Ideas – went very successfully, to my great surprise. Haven't worked out the .htaccess file yet though.
- Worked on some top secret work stuff – all very cool & exciting
- Excellent quality time with my business partner, Ian, lots of ideas bounced back & forth
- Customised All Things Bright some more – I still need to create a logo (& favicon) though! After that, some funky new header art.
Research
I'm always installing new freeware, trying out web applications & generally exploring the latest social bookmarking sites etc. Spent quite a lot of time participating at the Digg forums.
My latest recommendation is Stumble Upon. It's for finding sites in areas you choose. I was highly sceptical at first – I thought, even if it does work well, it's not like I need more sites to visit! But I installed the toolbar (I am seeking to be an early adopter after all!) & had a look.
It's really useful & funny (in accordance with the areas I chose). I'm so pleasantly surprised. :)
Edit: See my sidebar (right at the bottom) for a mini-list of recent sites I found randomly (via Stumble Upon), updated automatically.
Posted on 4 August '06 by Kathleen Bright, under Blogging. No Comments.
