Tag Archives: technology

Blogging In 2012

Freelance-Zone Editor, Catherine L. Tully
Freelance-Zone Editor, Catherine L. Tully

by Catherine L. Tully

With the New Year there is little doubt there will be new technology. And this new technology will change the way we blog. The thing I don’t know is how. But I’m both excited and apprehensive about it.

I’m excited because I think it’s so cool to learn new, efficient ways of doing posts, including media and reaching readers. I think Twitter has been one of my favorites, but I also love WordPress and Hootsuite. Great tools! They all make my life easier in different ways.

I’m apprehensive because learning new technology takes time. And because it isn’t always better. Facebook seems to change things just to change them, and sometimes I like the old way of doing things better than the “improved” ways.

I don’t know what the next big thing is coming down the pipe, but I’d love to hear from readers if they have any thoughts on what’s next. Tell me–is there anything you’ve see that you think is going to hit it big? Anything you’d like to see make the cut and take off?

I’d like to see a better way to video chat with multiple people. I’d love to be able to collaborate on projects with others in real time in an easy format that allows discussion and images to be included. There are currently some things like this out there, but none that I’ve really found work well for my purposes.

So which is it for you–are you more excited or apprehensive about what the coming months will bring?

Fast Company Magazine

Fast Company Magazine
Fast Company Magazine

Fast Company is a magazine worth subscribing to. The price is right ($9.97 for 10 issues) and the reading is educational as well as entertaining. You’ll get plenty of cutting-edge technology information, but not in the boring, tedious format that it usually comes in. Fast Company makes it a fun read! In addition, you’ll be “in” on the latest and greatest business trends, and hear about the movers and shakers in a variety of industries. I love this magazine!

John Windsor on Techno-Lonliness

I read a great post just now by John Windsor on his Cultural Radar blog. Windsor made some observations about people who are so tied to their cell phones, PDA, e-mail, and instant messaging that a new phenomenon seems to be emerging. Techno-lonliness is what he calls that feeling of being cut off from the rest of the world because you can’t or aren’t allowed to access your gadgets (mid-flight, for example).

What really got my gears turning was the reply by a reader discussing the expectations of people who employ you (freelance writers, take note). For some–myself included–it’s that expectation of an editor or client who assumes instant access to you any time they want.

This can be a dilemma for those of us who are at once serious workaholics, but also want to take time to enjoy life outside of the 15-inch screens that dominate our world.  Just today I caught myself contemplating the purchase of a Palm Treo so that I could stay on Skype while out to lunch and dinner…the better to communicate with those clamoring for my freelance attentions.

At some point, you have to draw the line and say “enough!” and I think that while my intentions are noble, the Palm Treo idea is a bad one, at least for now. Circumstances may dictate otherwise at a later date, but for now I am keeping my worlds seperate. Kudos to John Windsor for a great post, and for reminding me NOT to give in to all my workaholic urges.