The Web's Most Useful Sites (according to PC Magazine)

PC Magazine profiles the heavy-hitters of Web 2.0. Event calendars, to-do lists, word processors, bookmark managers, desktop widgets, etc. Not too many surprises, but a couple of smaller companies make a big splash (congrats 30 Boxes!).

I'm happy to say that several of the winners are on my daily hit-list: 30 Boxes, Upcoming.org (I don't visit daily, but my upcoming events are pulled into 30B), Remember the Milk, Del.icio.us, Meebo, Yelp... even Pandora FM made the list!

while you're at it, check out Mike Arrington's list of web 2.0 companies he can't live without. [digg it!]

read more | digg it!

web nerd, meet sports fan

i really only visit yahoo! sports pages during one season of the year -- ncaa hoops season. those of you who know me as more than just a nerdy web gal probably know that my family members are rabid kansas jayhawk fans. ROCK CHALK!

today, thanks to a buddy's 30 boxes calendar, i discovered that yahoo has every ncaa team's schedule in iCal format! find your favorite team's home page (here's mine) and then click the "Scores & Schedules" menu link. that page has several links to "Add Schedule" -- you can add it to your yahoo calendar, get mobile SMS alerts, add the iCal file to online calendars like 30 Boxes or Google Calendar, or import the ICS file into Outlook or your favorite scheduling software. whew!

i love it when i get to be nerdy about not-so-nerdy things.

update: yahoo updates the iCal feed after the game is over by putting the score in the "notes" section. very cool, but so sad to revisit the oral roberts and depaul disasters. what's up with the 7-point losing margins??

ego surfing & 30 boxes

i was just lurking around del.icio.us, looking through the "30boxes" tag, when lo and behold i find a couple of my URLs in the list. it's fun to see 3 to 5 (my professional alter ego) listed, along with static{fade}.

a friend recently sent an email with a subject line along the lines of, "fame!" she included a link to the wikipedia entry on 30 Boxes, where i'm mentioned by name. hat tip to the folks at 30b for including me. (update: seems that page has been changed. ahhh, my fleeting 15 minutes!)

30 Boxes is the first web 2.0 software that i still use daily, many months after activating my account. i tried mypimp (hipcal), kiko, and oh-so-many others. sure, i still log into remember the milk, backpack and basecamp, but not nearly as frequently as i open my 30b calendar. and with the addition of the webtop (their take on a web-based home page or virtual desktop), i can task manage at remember the milk and backpack without ever having to leave.

the 30b team (which is only three people!!) is very active in the forums and is very interested in and responsive to suggestions from their users. it has been fun to be an active participant in helping this snappy little web app mature throughout the year. the payoff has been some recognition by the 30b team (they've recently included two of my custom themes in their main menu), and i'm grateful and honored.

go try it! if you keep a calendar or a todo list, you'll be instantly hooked. be sure to check out the RSS and iCal integration -- if you use any other social networking-type sites (flickr, upcoming.org, myspace, etc.), or if you keep a blog, you can have all your entries instantly viewable on your calendar. once you've got some info in there, check out 30b on your phone!