Yes, it seems this week I’ve traded one time-suck for another. My wife took the kids to go visit my folks in PA this week, but I unfortunately had to remain behind because of some work commitments.

Basically, I’m home alone all this week, which would ideally put me on the side of productivity, including such gems as mowing the lawn, cleaning the bathrooms, straightening the garage, etc. In reality, it means I’ve spent all my free time checking out the new social media powerhouse that is Google+. I managed to snag an invite near the end of last week from one of the early-early adopters, and within the first 3 days of using it, have decided it is most definitely my preferred social media network. The privacy settings are everything Facebook/WordPress/Tumblr lack, the integration with existing Google services is fantastic, and I can’t help but think that it is only a matter of time before I mothball/delete my Facebook account and switch over 100% to Google+.

If you’re not yet on Google+, invitations open periodically and I’d be happy to invite you so you can see what all the fuss is about. Just let me know what your email address is so I can send the invitation your way. And if you’re already a G+ flunky, you can find me and add me to your circles at http://gplus.to/rossruns . Catch you over there!

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I'm not an overly big fan of the social networking and/or 2.0 websites, but I do use a few of them.  The big ones (Facebook, Last.fm, Delicious, Flickr, and Twitter) have already been rehashed in great detail, but there's a couple others that really do what I need them to do, and are worth a mention here – namely, Goodreads and RunningAHEAD.

Goodreads

Goodreads is my favorite book-related website.  In essence, it's a way to catalog and organize books.  You can use it any number of ways – as a way to log what books you read, categorize books in your library using "bookshelves" (essentially tags, so you can put one book on multiple "bookshelves"), review & rate books, and then add friends so you can view all of this information on other like-minded people's accounts.  I find it a great way to keep track of what I'm reading, how many books I'm reading a year, whether I already have a book in my library and whether I've read it, whether I'm borrowing/lending a book from/to someone else, and even my wish-list of books (hint: make a bookshelf called "wish-list" and then you can direct people to the books on it directly). 

In addition, everything is hyperlinked, so clicking on the author of a book will bring up a list of his/her works, clicking on the title of a book will show links to pages where you can read reviews and/or purchase the book, cover art is imported automatically, and you can subscribe to a feed and/or summary email of someone's activity, if you want to see what they've read/rated lately.

Sample Goodreads "Currently Reading" Page

Goodreads is completely free, with no limit on the number of books you may have in your library.  They even have easy ways to import books from a spreadsheet or from ISBN numbers, if you already have them in some other format.  If you join or are already a member, be sure to add me as a friend – I love to see what other people are reading and how they rate the books they've read.  My profile is here, and it's easy to sign up and start keeping track of your own books!

RunningAHEAD

Recently, I've gotten back into running regularly for exercise, and as part of my efforts, I find it interesting and motivational to log my running activity.  Prior to signing up with RunningAHEAD, I used to keep all my runs in a spreadsheet on my computer.  The biggest issue with this was I never seemed to have a copy of the spreadsheet on the computer I was near after finishing my run.  Now I have a single, centralized location where I can enter my workout information, track my running shoes and the mileage I've put on them, and even map routes and add extra information about my run.  The website also has some decent graphing and trending tools to allow you to visualize any of the data variables you choose to record regularly.  The site even has capabilities to join or start a training group – all members that join are listed together under the group heading, and you can then chat in a separate group forum, share running reports, etc.  Overall, a very nice little site that does what it should do, and is free to boot.

Sample Summary Page on RunningAHEAD

If you want to see my RunningAHEAD info, my info is here.   Be aware I only update on a weekly/biweekly basis with all of the runs I did that week, once I download them from my Forerunner, so it may not show the most recent run status for me.

NaBloPoMo 2008!

[NaBloPoMo 2008 - #29/30]

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I'm ducking out for most of the day today to do an inspection for work, so I doubt I'll have time to post anything here.  But I read today's Sheldon comic and laughed at how accurate it seems to be.  If you've ever been on Facebook, you can judge for yourself:

Facebook

See this comic here, and the rest of the archive is worth perusing, if you're new to the comic.

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Yes, I Joined

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If you didn't catch the genius that is xkcd in my last webcomic repost about Fixed Width, maybe you'll savor the wit Randall Munroe can muster about Facebook:

Facebook

Seriously, if you enjoyed this comic or the previous one I posted, check out xkcd on your own.  You (probably) won't be sorry.

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