Taking Charge of Your Online Life

One of the interesting changes underway now in the online world is the shift away from anonymity toward personification.

I've been online now since 1995 and one of the attractions to the Internet has always been the cloak of anonymity created by the screen and keyboard. You could say anything to anybody, claim to be anybody you want or look any way you want. Even live a life online that was totally separate and apart from the reality of your daily world. But the advent of web cams and social networking is gradually changing all that.

At the risk of dating myself here, it reminds me a lot of the movie Tron where a hacker is literally abducted into the world of a computer to live out (or die in) his virtual life. As social sites like MySpace, Facebook, Plaxo, and LinkedIn grow exponentially in popularity we are being forced to step out from behind the curtain and reveal more and more of ourselves. Don't see the big deal? Many colleges and potential employers do because they are checking out their applicants online persona comparing it to the application. That "little fib" about your PhD on MySpace may have just cost you a job!

More than that though, all you have to do is look at how popular these sites are to see how desperately some people want to be known, not famous, just known. It's almost sad.

Ok, so how does one go about managing this mess? Well, it's not simple, maybe impossible, but here are a few tips to keep in mind.

Expect Someone To Connect the Dots

If you think you'll be able to hide behind a different email address, think again. It may work against the casual observer, but if someone is really interested in finding out who is who, they WILL DO IT.

There Is No Expectation of Privacy On the Internet

Don't write it, text it, email it, chat it, blog it, video it or otherwise commit anything to electronic "writing" that you don't want someone to find out. It's just too easy! Time after time (and hot video after hot video) we see a "private" message or video posted to the Internet for all to see. Before you snap that picture or click send...is this something you want other people to see? Think stolen camera or laptop!

Keep a Junk Mail Email Address

Email is free and plentiful in the Internet. Setup a free email address that you use to sign-up for website logins, newsletters, stuff like that. DO NOT use that address for your banking, credit cards, bill pay, etc. If you need to, setup another one for those chores and give it to no one. It's not perfect, but it will GREATLY reduce spam and GREATLY reduce the likelihood of having your online identity stolen.

Common Sense Still Applies, Even In the Internet

Like my grandpa always said, "If it looks too good to be true, it probably is." Why would Mr. Jambaba contact you randomly to receive his $1 million in cash? How reasonable does it sound that you won a contest you didn't enter? THINK before you share!

Far From Complete

These are just a few of the many things I've learned over the past 18 years of connected living. There are many many more. Use common sense and treat every stranger online like you would if they walked up and knocked on your front door...at least that's a good start! Do you have any good ideas? Share them with us in a comment below!

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I wanted to take this opportunity to point out a new web presence I think you will all be interested in. GukuSabi is a new blog about stuff, kinda like Seinfeld, its a blog about nothin, but you'll love it!

How To Work In the Internet - Part 1

Life In the Internet is about living and working in the connected world. Ok, well how do you DO that?

I remember back in the 80's business Utopia was the Paperless Office! Well that didn't work out...yet. I was sifting through my Reader feeds this morning and made my way over to a couple of new blogs (well, new for me) that inspired me. First I found Skellie over at AnyWired.com. She had 30 Ideas to Help You Start Working Through the Web that I thought were very fab!! (Check out her article, you'll notice some of her ideas as I move through this series) Thanks Skellie! While I was browsing her site, I found a 125 ad for Stephen over at Productivity in Context. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not even in the same league with Stephen when it comes to organization, but don't let that stop you from checking out his blog.

Anyway, these two kinda got me thinking about HOW I do what I do and thought it might be a good idea to showcase some of the ways I work mainly in the connected world and leave very little residue behind in the UNconnected world. Here goes.

Start With The Basics

It might be a good idea to back-up just a bit and hit a little history. I've had the jtrigsby.com domain for many many moons now, I don't even remember how long I've had it. The web portion of the domain has gone through several iterations, most of them requiring direct access to the server, FTP access, or something of the like. What a hassle. And then there is the email monster! Yuck!

I stumbled across Google Hosted Apps almost a year ago. Like a lot of things (like blogging) it took me a little while to figure out how to take advantage of this fab tool, but I finally got it. If you missed my story about Google Apps (The Latest Killer App!), Google Apps is a hosted application (meaning its all on-line, nothing on your computer) developed by Google. It provides users with email, calendar, web hosting, docs, spreadsheets, and presentations. And the best part is...IT IS FREE!

Needless to say, free is good!

So I signed up! Now, you are not required to have (or buy) your own domain name, it will work just fine using a Google sub-domain, but since I already had jtrigsby.com, I redirected it over to Google Hosted Apps and the rest was easy. I now get to use a private branded Google Mail app for all the mail sent to jtrigsby.com, have my own calendar, and my own document repository. All on-line, all free. What? You don't see the big deal? Well let me tell you. My email, calendar, documents, spreadsheets, and presentations are now available from any computer with Internet access and I don't have to deal with or manage server, connectivity, spam, or backup issues! In fact, I've got the world's single largest hosted apps company doing all that for me...FOR FREE! Wow.

Now Google Apps has a web hosting feature, they even have a pretty slick little on-line web page editor. And yes, it is on-line so I could access it from anywhere, and did. I started my WebMoney series on the old site. I spent lots of time writing and editing the pages, saving drafts, etc, etc. Then the blogging light bulb clicked on (finally)! I spent weeks working on the traditional web site and it only took a couple of hours to move all that data over to Blogger...and that includes getting the blog setup and the domain name redirected!

So now I have email, calendar, docs, and a blog/website. The basics of my Internet Empire are in place. With this array of applications, all on-line and web based, I'm mobile and don't have to carry anything with me to stay connected. As long as I can borrow a computer (dare I say even a Mac!) I can stay in touch, answer emails, and get a little work done. This is something that's really important to me since I'm on the road a lot and away from my desk. It's also pretty cool that I can setup a user account (the first 100 are FREE) for Vickie and share my calendar with her so she can see what I've got going on, where and when. How cool is that?!?

What tools do you use to stay connected? Are you still using a pc based email client like Outlook? Any tips? Be sure to leave a comment below and share all that you know with the rest of us.

Next time...Keeping Up A Social Life, Online!

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Back In the Salt Mine...

As a new week starts, so does the "labor"

I had the very special pleasure of having lunch with my wife and my mom today (BTW, the Salmon Cakes at Super Suppers are GREAT!) While we were eating we chatted about what I've been able to earn on-line the past few weeks and I, quite by accident, stumbled upon something I hadn't really realized before. Blogging is work!

I know I've said I'm trying to setup some passive income via the web as part of my grand experiment, but it is FAR from passive yet! My beautiful brides leaves the house by 9:30 most days (thus forcing me to get to work) and before I know it, its already 3:30 and the little one is home from school! Where did all that time go? Well, I don't know about the rest of you but for me, it went into work!

Yeah, I know a lot of people would look at what I do and say, "that ain't work, that's just surfin." Well brother, let me tell you. By the time I scan all my feeds in Reader, tag the ones I want to come back and read, look for interesting tid-bits for the blogs, research links for link posts, write some posts, check keyword counts, comment on others posts, answer emails, scan Craig's List, update Facebook, and process orders from the eComm site... its a Full Day!

But hey, I'm not gonna complain, I could be out diggin a ditch, right!? I just have to remember to get up and stretch my legs every once in a while!

Its Gonna Be Great in '08!

Everybody needs a motto, right? Well that's mine for the new year!

With 2007 officially behind us now and the first working day of 2008 arriving bright and shiny (with a very light dusting of snow), it's time to get back into the salt mine and get to work.

One of the burning questions for me and probably a lot of you out there is how do I balance the connected life with off-line time too? I mean, you can't always have email up and reader open can you? So I'm taking suggestions. What are some of the ways you can stay connected without being tethered to the computer all the time.