Thing 16

For this part of the assignment, I chose iGoogle for my start page. Since I have Google set as my internet home page it allows me a familiar format from which to build. It accesses my gmail account and I picked some initial topics to display here: weather, news, YouTube, etc. I liked the idea of having everything in one place, so after investigating the organizer tools in the assignment I came back to iGoogle and added some gadgets: ToDo, Google Calendar, Sticky Note, Google Map Search, Useless Knowledge, Quotes of the Day. It seems to make sense for everything to be integrated; otherwise it defeats the purpose of getting organized.

In doing it this way, I will eliminate the need for a special trip to weather.com, I stay informed about my mail, I have the headlines where I can easily view them, and I have some fun things there as well: Hamster and Zen Aquarium. I think I may have found myself a new Home, which has a little more interest than just a search bar.

Getting used to using the calendar might be difficult for me, but it would be available to me whether at home or at work. That is an important plus, because mornings are not always conducive to checking my calendar for events of the day. I am a list-maker, so that too is a plus for being either at home or at work; I often remember things I need to do when I'm driving to work and could make the entry when I arrive at the office. Using these tools might encourage me to use the time I do have more wisely. I am excited about getting started on it!

I did explore the other list making and calendar options. I tried to add Ta-Da to iGoogle and it was not recognized. I also checked MSN's calendar, which I am assuming integrates with MSN products and features. That is when I decided to go back to iGoogle and use the same features that are offered through Google. I think I will like having it all there on one page.