Plain English

Stephen Jannise sent me an email and called me twice. And I have been rude by not getting to this sooner. Stephen has a blog and he sent me a link to a post he wrote that he thought would be appropriate for readers of Let's Talk Business!

I'm rushing again, so won't write much, but will simply direct you to Stephen's post. Let me know what you think.

Sorry for the delay Stephen, and thanks for getting in touch with me.

Blondie's Back

Blondie, at Saturday's A Rugby Day, is back to her blog. She's one of the reasons I started this blog. While I've missed her blogging, and am eagerly reading her new posts, during her absence I've become quite attached to and have been thouroughly enjoying Wendy at Your Scrumhalf Connection.

But since computers and the internet are wonderful, I'm capturing both their feeds in my feed reader so I can enjoy them both. Oh, and can't forget Total Flanker... Keep on blogging!

Still here

Yes, I'm still here. Been busy, so have been lax on posting. Been getting back into cooking too, which I enjoy. Made pizza for the first time. Amazing that I've never done that before with all the cooking I used to do. Really easy, and fun. Need to try more different combinations of toppings.

Will try to write something more substantiative soon.

Wikio ranking

Apparently I'm ranked number 602 in sports blogs on Wikio (see the badge over there on the left). Don't know much about them, but there I am.

602? Who's ahead of me? Competitive tiddlywinks? Well, at least I'm on the list. Some list. Any list. I asked if I could be ranked in the business category too, since this blog is supposedly about Business Operations and Rugby, but they aren't able to rank me in more than one category yet. Where would I be ranked in business? Right after cost cutting via accounting for restroom paper products?

Feed readers

If you’re like me, and not much of a techie, you might be a little confused about subscribing to a blog or other websites that advertise or promote their RSS Feed. Well, I’m no expert, but here’s my understanding and a look at my new test at using a “feed reader”. For other descriptions on RSS, click here or here.

The simplest explanation is that when a blog, such as this one, or other website is updated, a message is sent out telling the world that it’s been updated or something new has been posted. Unless you frequently check a blog or website, you don’t know that it’s been updated. But if you subscribe to the blog or website’s “RSS feed”, you’ll receive a notification of the update. The part that always confused me, until now, is how you receive that notification. If you just click on the “subscribe to this feed” icon that you’ll find on the blog or website, nothing happens. Well, not nothing, but not anything that I understand. It takes you to another website and then you either have to know what to do from there or you have to try to figure it out. I still can’t say I understand what clicking on that “subscribe” icon does. But I don’t have to now, because now I have a “feed reader”.

A feed reader is how you receive those notifications that the blog or website has been updated. There are lots and lots of feed readers out there, so the tricky part is deciding which one to use. My method was to pick a name I liked and try it. Not very scientific, but that’s pretty much how I pick out wine too. You can do a Google search for feed readers, or check out this list from Wikipedia. I use a Mac, so I decided to test NewsFire. I downloaded and installed it, and found it was pretty easy to setup for what I want. Here’s a picture of it after I started setting it up to get the updates that I want.


When you install it, it comes pre-loaded with several feeds, or websites that it checks. I didn’t want all of them, so I just deleted the ones I didn’t want. Then I started adding the feeds, or sites, that I want to know when they’re updated. As you can see, I’ve got my favorite rugby blogs that I check every day, and I’ve got some business blogs, and some news sites. You’re supposed to be able to filter the feeds so you don’t get every update, only ones that interest you, but I haven’t figured out how to filter anything yet. That would apply to the news sites that report every update on every topic. I only want updates on particular topics. I don’t want to see 500 new posts that I have to scan through to find things of interest. Maybe someone will help me figure out how to filter.

In NewsFire, there are a couple of ways to add the feeds, or sites, you want to subscribe to, but the easiest way for me is to open the website I want in Safari (Mac's web browser), then go to File, Discover Feeds for Current Site in Safari. It then does everything automatically, so I don't have to worry about messing something up.

So, instead of going to every website that I want to check on, I simply look at my NewsFire reader (also known as an aggregator) and see if there are any new posts on my favorite sites. Pretty slick. I wish I had figured this out sooner. I can scan the headlines to see what I want to look at, then click on the ones I want to read the entire post.

Another option for receiving notifications of updates is to receive them by email. Not all sites do this, and if you want the updates from many different blogs and websites you could be overloaded with emails. But if your favorite sites allow you to receive email updates, and that’s how you want to receive them, that is an option. This blog allows you to subscribe in a reader or receive updates by email. I’m receiving email updates for my own blog and subscribing to it in the reader just so I know it’s working.

If you haven’t tried using a feed reader yet, give it a try. It will save you time from opening all your favorite websites to see if there are any updates. Of course, make sure you subscribe to Let's Talk Business!

Site Updates

I've added several new links, a mix of business, sports, and one artist. The new links are from around the world too. Since I'm always talking about how we're in a global marketplace, that should be reflected on this blog. Here's a rundown of the new additions:

A Girl's Guide to Managing Projects
Elizabeth Harrin (A Brit living in France)
Self explanatory - about Project Management

Executive Rant
Kevin Jackson (U.S.)
An executive posting about a variety of business topics

Green Corporate Network (India)
Green & Sustainability are the hot topics in business right now. This blog talks about corporate green initiatives around the world.

Business Blog Angel
Claire Raikes (Wales)
This is one awesome site. Blogging tips for business blogs. Also one of the best looking blogs I've ever seen (which is a good sign for someone giving advice on blogging). This is a must see for any business person who has a blog (which includes me). Follow my blog to see if I'm actually taking the advice she gives.

Paopi's Artist Blog
Pao Mateo (Philippines)
I just sort of stumbled across this blog, but the pictures really captured my attention. She posts her drawings and maybe some comments about them. For a business person, the mind of an artist is fascinating (I have a number of artist friends who constantly amaze me with their talent). Pao is a very talented woman. Check out this site.

Freelance Folder
All sorts of tips for freelancers, entrepreneurs, and self employed individuals.

Dersalsites - South African Business
Derek Robson (South Africa - doh!)
News and information on business in South Africa, with posts on rugby. Who knew?

The Millionaire Secrets
Shawn Lim (Malaysia)
Shawn wants to be a millionaire, and he shares tips about how you can become one too. Actually he's got some basic business tips that everyone should use.

CLDsport
Kevin Davis (England)
Sports news and posts, including rugby. Worth a look if you're interested in a variety of sports, including football (soccer for us Yanks), cricket, and rugby.


I also cleaned out some widgets that don't seem to be working anymore, and added a few others. Got to keep the blog clean.

Well, past my bedtime again. But take a look at some of these blogs that I've added here, and I'll talk with you again soon. I feel the need to rant some more on the appointment of an unqualified and unexperienced person to a top post in an organization (hint: Martin Johnson as the new England manager).