Thing One: Going all Google

I've been using iGoogle for a while, I'm very happy with it and would recommend it to just about anyone.  The reason that it's so good is because it lets information come to you, and in a job like ours the more useful information that finds its way to your desktop unsought the better.  Let's be a little voyeuristic and see what I look at every morning:

Standard start page: click to make big

Ok, so you can see I'm a news junkie and that I'm a fan of the New York Times crossword, but what does this bring to me that I can't get anywhere else?  Time.  From this page I can quickly scan the news headlines from five UK media outlets, three American ones and keep myself sane with indexed.  These feeds are updated throughout the day: I dread to think how long it would take me to actually search for all this.

When I log on in the morning I can instantly see what's happening, if I need a mini-break to clear my head later in the day or am loading data that I have to keep half an eye on, I can pop back to iGoogle and see what's going on.  Interestingly, I read fewer news articles since I started using these feeds.  When I go to a newspaper's website I have to scroll down the front page to check the headlines, something will invariably catch my eye and I'll hop from one article to the next, perhaps I'll check out a columnist I like.  These days the headline is often sufficient; if it does interest me I'll load it up in a new tab, and if I get 2 minutes later in the day I'll have a look at it, or mark it on delicious for the weekend.

I really like the tab options on the left hand of the screen, this means that I can arrange my feeds by subject.  The perfect dovetail to my home tab is my library tab, temporarily named 23 Things!  This has just about replaced my reader as a way to deal with my RSS feeds and is where I keep myself up to date with what's going on in the field.

Library specific feeds and gadgets: click to make big

Whereas my home tab is mostly text based RSS feeds, here we begin to see the seeds of something a little more interactive.  I'm actually logged into the Cambridge Libraries Widget using Raven authentication, I can check my loans or the catalogue as if I was using the main Newton interface.  Not too far in the future I can imagine that similar technology will let me check my bank balance or my text messages, if I choose to trust Google with that information.

The beta tab is just where I test out new apps; most of them don't make it onto the main screen.  Technews is just that, similar to my library feeds but with a more pronounced computing flavour.  Different strokes for different folks!

The last one I want to show you is my demo tab.  I run a getting to grips with Google course here at the UL and iGoogle is my grand finale.  Of course I could demonstrate it with my home tab, but just because I'm a bit boring doesn't mean that everyone else has to be.  I've peppered this tab with useful, current and interesting apps, many of which show the fun side of iGoogle.  The to do list famously belongs to Madeleine Albright, but I'm in charge of feeding the hamster.

A desperate attempt to be down with the kids: click to make big

Ange's top iGoogle picks:


Awful Library Books blog
Slate magazine
New York Times Crossword
Tube map
Hamster- got to have the hamster
Mashable blog
Slashdot mini-me
They Work For You- all about your MP
Remember the Milk gadget- still in beta with me

Now as a regular iGoogle user I feel like I'm cheating a bit, so stay tuned to see what happens when I try Netvibes next.