Home Office: Super Web Sites for Home Office Workers
Increase your output with these business tools, downloads, and marketing services.
Steve Bass
In the days before the Internet, I used to schlep to the library to do my research. While I miss poking through the card catalogs and getting help from the folks at the reference desk (not to mention kibitzing with the librarians), my time on the Net is much more productive.
Real-Life Business Tools
IMHO, Google's Directory has compiled some of the best business support sites around. For instance, my favorite spot is a Google Directory site that provides quick access to style guides and other writers' resources.
Want another example? I needed a list of high-tech journalists, so I started my search at Google's main Directory page. Then I drilled down through Google, like so: News > Media > Journalism > Journalists > News > Analysis and Opinion > Columnists > Technology. Bingo--I had 44 new leads.
You can use Google to get what you need, too. Start at the main Directory page, find a business you're involved with, click on the category link, and keep drilling (and stop whining, it's not all that difficult).
I like sites that give me a tremendous number of shortcuts to get to other places with things I hadn't ever thought about. Refdesk.com is one of my favorites because it's got a separate "Ask the Experts" page (no, I'm not on it--and stop snickering) and links to such resources as almanacs, census data, and writing guides. For news, I definitely like Google News, with its up-to-the-minute headlines and stories.
On the computing side of life, which is more important to some of us than even the election results, is Daily Rotation. The customizable site gives me headlines that lead to stories from major computing news sources. The ones I look at first? SlashDot, BetaNews, and Hack in The Box. If you're new to computing, I'll bet you'll find dozens of online pubs you never knew existed. (Yes, I know, I have to start using a new technology called RSS, which streams news to your PC. When I try it, you'll be the first to know.)
Dig This: Want to see performance art at its finest? Here's a very cool display of sand art, something you must watch. It's a streaming video, so folks with lower-bandwidth connections will need to be patient. [With thanks to AJS.]
On the PC World Front
Our writers are definitely not lollygagging. They're spending hours searching for Web sites you'll find useful, entertaining, and downright indispensable.
I've mentioned some well-known sites earlier. But Josh Taylor, one of our freelance writers, took a good, hard look at small Web sites that don't get much coverage. In "Web Stars: Best of the Rest," Josh tells us about 12 such sites, including Blog Sites & Aggregator Tools, Web Conferencing, and Reference Desk Sites.
If you're hot for more Web sites you can't live without, take a gander at Kim Zetter's "Really Useful Sites for Really Busy People." The ones I found most useful are described in "Research Public Records;" "Reserve Airport Parking in Advance;" and "Track Your Package Deliveries," a spot for tracking packages on UPS, FedEx, Airborne, and 59 other carriers. (Granted, the story is a year old, but most of the links are still cooking.)
Here's a cool idea: You can download all of the links from Josh's and Kim's articles in one fell swoop. For Josh's links, go to the "Best of the Web 2004 Favorites" page and download and unzip the linked file, then pop the links into your favorites folder. For links from Kim's story, go to "Fifty Timesaving Web Sites" and follow the same procedure.
Dig This: Want a quick trip to Mars? Check out this nifty panorama. [large image]
No Soap, Radio
I don't just write about using the Internet to advance my business; I actually use it. For instance, my major task right now is publicity--I'm trying to get the media interested in my book. So I've been working to get "ink" (book reviews), and a substantial number of contacts have come from Web sites. I'm also doing radio shows like crazy, and a few TV appearances like the one I did on TechTV.
Getting on the radio means finding shows that specifically target computer users. A Google search came up with three good spots: Moody's list, Compubeat's Computer Talk streams, and Yahoo's Technical Directory.
I was amazed by the wealth of sites for radio shows, with many of them archiving the shows for easy listening on your PC. I've started following a few, including Computer Outlook, David Lawrence's Online Tonight, and KPFK's Digital Village.
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