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Sunday, November 05, 2006
By Christina VanGinkel
The Internet has opened up a new world of access to not just information on a nearly unfathomable basis, but also to music, movies, television shows, and much more. Even those of us who feel that we are past the point of being Internet novices still discover things routinely that we never even knew was out there.
As a freelance writer, I often start my day by visiting a search engine or two, browsing the news online, and popping into a couple groups online that I am a member of. Sometimes to chat, other times because I am in search of some specific piece of information that I figure I might find the answer to quicker there than if, I browse elsewhere.
Because of my naturally inquisitive nature, any one of these common activities that I participate in almost daily will often lead to the discovery of something I never knew about the Internet. My bookmarks file is long and detailed, as I often edit the title so I can better pull up what I marked when I need it. While some people get up in the morning and turn on the television to check the weather and news, I find myself turning on my computer and going right to our local weather in seconds, rather than waiting for the Midwest forecast to come up on the Eights on The Weather Channel as I often did in the past. If I have a bill that needs paying, I will sign into the corresponding online account to check the balance due, and to make an immediate payment, or set up a future payment if that is what is required.
Making use of such options online can be greatly enhanced with various software programs, including programs for purchase and some as free online downloads. One favorite that I have come to love is Microsoft Outlook. Many people wrongly assume that Outlook is nothing more than an email client, while in reality it is much more.
Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 for example is a combination email client, a task builder and reminder, a place to keep track of all your contacts in a convenient to use and easy to access database, and a calendar that is full featured and a breeze to use.
Tasks in Outlook provide a user with various options including a simple list, a detailed list, active tasks, overdue tasks, completed tasks, and more. Outlook even offers a timeline view for someone with a busy task list to give him or her, a visual of where all there tasks are at.
Contacts can be set up in numerous categories too, providing the user with many options to keep track of both business and personal contacts. You can choose to view a simple phone list, broken down by locations or categories, addresses, or a detailed look at each entry. Similar looking to a Rolodex, when you click on a single entry, up pops a card onscreen with all contact information you have on the individual or company. Everything from a full name, job title, company if applicable, business, home, fax, mobile, email, mailing addresses and much more. Multi tabs also allow you to add details to each contact and other specifics you want to make note of including their profession, department, assistants, nicknames, spouses, even birthday and anniversaries. By providing a space for everything, you do not have to jump from one program to another to find the various details on a contact. It all has a space right in Outlook.
The calendar is a great place to set reminders, and I personally use it for this option quite a bit. Terrible at keeping track of even the most simple appointments and holidays including birthdays, I input such information once, tell it when I first want to be reminded, and it pops up on screen at the appointed time, giving me the option at that point to set a second and subsequent reminders.
Many other programs do offer some of these same options, but what is so great about Outlook is that they are all bundled together with a program that I am already using each day, the email part. While email was once a novelty or only something that serious business people checked on a regular basis, email has quickly become an activity that most people with online access use daily, comparable even to phone use at times. By coupling the email client with the calendar, address book, and task reminder, even the busiest person can now keep on top of a hectic schedule and keep track of business and personal contacts all from one front end.
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