March 26th. I guess I had nothing to do. And I certainly wanted that certain monkey off my back that's been hounding (Monkey? Hounding? From my back? Hmmm.) me ever since it became such a sensation.

Yes. I started a twitter account and feed back then. And now it's into May and I have been updating it once in a while. And that's ok. I didn't start it to be the constantly-updating-of-everything-I-do-and-everything-I-think kind of twitter. I chose something focused, practical, and simple. I tweet only about the books I'm starting or finishing, or articles, or movies, or other media in my life. That's it. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it) I have not had much time to read or watch anything with all my work, volunteering and job-searching. Those are 3 full-time jobs that I'm doing alongside my flawless parenting and husbanding (no, not husbandry... we've got two kids and we're done as far as I'm concerned).

And it's kinda fun too. Limited to, what is it, 140 characters? Yeah, I can fill THAT up pretty quick. And since I've kept a strict rein on what I'm going to tweet about, it should be easy to keep up. The only problem is that now I have not only joined a community ("So-and-so just created at Twitter account! So-and-so is following your feed!") but it comes with a whole new set of info-streams that I'm tempted to redirect, process and absorb (Very borg-like.) but that I've managed to put off for now.

So go try it if you haven't already. And if you have, tell me about what you've learned so far. Or give me the link to your feed. You know I'll buckle and then you'll be famous. At least at my house.

Labels: 2checkout, aboutCommunication, aboutOnlineTools

Have a few seconds at the computer and don't know what to do with them? Try out Domai.nr.

(Yes, that's the URL. Most web browsers will assume the "http://" and not all addresses have a 'www' at the front.)

This simple tool will take what you type in (single words seem to work best... phrases may get mangled) and suggest combinations of domain names, domain name types (although .com and .net are among the most common, there are literally hundreds), and first level directories to represent your entry as a web address.

I of course had to try my first and last names (not exciting) and, since I'm a librarian, I had to try that next. It suggested "librari.an"... I thought, woah, that's awesome... I'm gonna buy that domain. But Domai.nr links to a site that allows you to do just that, a site that tells you how much and what's required. Turns out that it would cost almost $300 USD a year to own it. AND you have to have a local contact in the islands of the Netherlands Antilles. AND you have to have a company located there. "Well, I don't have ALL those things..."

It was fun while it lasted. Tell me if you find any other interesting ones!

[ via Lifehacker's entry entitled "Top 10 Tools for Your Blog or Web Site" ]

Labels: 2checkout, aboutOnlineTools