Here I was, worried that I wouldn't have anything intelligent to write about and fearing that when future potential employers see this blog they might see me differently than I intended~~because I admit that I may not ALWAYS use the abundance of time that I've been blessed with wisely. I'm human. As such, my moods and energy level ebb and flow. So, I aim for good days most of the time.
Conventional wisdom says that having all the time in the world, I should be in the best shape of my life, volunteering my time, saving the world, etc etc etc~~or at least that's ideally what you should do if you did. The reality is.... WHO DOES THAT????
Instead, I've been really trying to leverage social networking, to uncover hidden job opportunities, make new contacts, and hopefully work my way into a new position through the SIDE door. So rather than worry about what kind of impression I'll make, I'm just making it. Maybe I've finally learned to worry about the things I CAN control!
A side benefit of having all this time is understanding the technical aspects and tips/tricks of the tools I find myself turning to most often: Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and my T-Mobile Blackberry Curve.
Unintentionally, I've become the go-to-gal when people need help utilizing these sites. For example, a beauty blogger who is really on top of it with Twitter couldn't figure out how to find pages she was a "fan" of on Facebook. Bari to the rescue. Someone on Twitter with trouble reading small print asked how to enlarge the font size in a browser. Just ask Bari. Another Facebook friend couldn't figure out how to let friends post to their wall. Bari saves the day. A group I'm a member of on Linked In was getting too big for the group creator to handle. Solution: appoint Bari as group manager, to act as a gatekeeper against spam and solicitors. Voilà. The internet is safe once more.
As far as the Blackberry goes, the fact that the 8320 curve is Wi-Fi enabled has allowed me about 80% of the functionalities of a blackberry, without a data plan. Because I've got a wireless router at home, I'm able to download the majority of the applications that use GSM and Java on a Blackberry, both without having the plan, and using solely the native functionality of phone service and my router. Since I got my BB, I've downloaded tons of free productivity tools, call management apps, games, and lots of other useful utilities that make my Blackberry my home away from home. The one glitch for which there seems to be no work-around is the plethora of free Wi-Fi access points that ask you to accept their terms of service via the web. For some reason, neither the BB emulated browser nor its Microsoft IE counterpart seem to be able to access that page successfully, rendering free Wi-Fi at such locations frustratingly useless. I can see the network but I can't connect to it, or access the internet.
How did I find all the free apps for my blackberry? Via Twitter, and the Web. There are several Blackberry enthusiast websites that have identities on twitter, and they frequently post links to these useful tidbits. Alternatively, when I want to find something specific for my BB, Google is my best friend. People truly underestimate, and underutilize, Web searching. I can't tell you how many people in the last year have asked me, "Oh my gosh, how did you find that?" 9 times out of 10, Google is the answer.
How do I love thee, Google? Let me count the ways!
No comments:
Post a Comment