Thing 29. Google Tools

As it's plain to see, I use Google. I've already used both Google Alerts and I am a Gmail user. What to say? Google Alerts couldn't be any easier and Gmail, well, it's fantastic and I guess I wouldn't use anything else. Check out the coolest Gmail theme ever: Ninja!
I think Google Alerts could be used especially to stay in touch with what is happening in the community, or to find out what is being said about a specific library. It seems like a useful tool, but my problem is usually the amount of crap that gets dumped in my email. I suppose I should have a separate gmail account for this sort of thing. It is something I've been thinking about for a while.

Thing 28. Customized Home Page

Didn't we already do this one? In Online Productivity? Thing ? Anyway, I use Google as my home page and I now have Pandagirl as my theme. I use Google because most anything I use is from Google including my email, rss reader, blog platform, and I've always kind of liked their search engine (maybe you've used it?). It's just been so easy for me to customize my stuff through Google that I haven't felt the need to do anything else. This exercise helped me realize that it was unnecessary to switch and that one of the best things about going with a very popular platform was that the chances for updates and support are pretty good.
On my page I have my Gmail, Google Reader, local weather, BBC, top national news and quote of the day. I know I have the option for multiple "folders," so I could have more than one customized home page tabbed on this page. I've tried that, but found that it was just too much. I like how incredibly easy it is to change things on this page and I like how my email and rss are right there, because those are the things that I really care about. I toyed with the idea of adding some sort of twitter or facebook notification gadget, but then realized that email notification for this sort of thing is fine with me, someone who barely dabbles.