March 27, 2008 – Vol. 2, Issue 7

Here in Research-land, we’re celebrating Spring and though we’re saddened by Duke’s basketball defeat (maybe next year, Krzyzewski and Andrew) we’re optimistic about most everything else. We love to share knowledge and we’re seriously encouraged by all the sharing out there of late. Read on.

Silos can be good

You know we’re news junkies. And one of our new favs? Silobreaker. Not only is Silobreaker a relevant online search for news and current events, it delivers relational analysis and explanatory graphics (their words). In our words? It puts the news in context. Cool.

A search yields information segmented by entity, top stories, latest blogs, documents and links to related subjects. Graphs and charts will show you volume of articles and posts, mapping of related subjects, hotspots on a map and more.

These are some groovy tools for digging deeper. Sweet.

Intermezzo

25.jpgNeed a pocket organizer? One with just the info you need. And that you can update without a computer or special device? Try PocketMod. You choose what is on each of the 8 sections (think Franklin Covey). Then you print it out. You heard right. You print it. Fold it and voila. An organizer that is less than 4″ x 3″ that can be modified (just use a pencil or a pen!) and it fits in your pocket, wallet, wherever!

This is really pretty neat; marrying the best of old and new technology. And it speaks to those of us who still enjoy the tactile pleasure of physically crossing a “to do” off of the list.

Go With the Flow

If you’re like us, you love a good flow chart. I mean, really. Who doesn’t? The tools attached to word processing or presentation software might be good enough, but we don’t think so. Enter Gliffy. It’s free for individual use and very reasonable for companies. Don’t be surprised if you start seeing more flow charts with our delivered products!

Stump the Researcher

A loyal reader asks: Please don’t think less of me, but I am absolutely totally bored by economics. So imagine my joy when my boss asked me, yes me, to track economic data and crosstab (not literally) with our business trends. I don’t know where to turn. And make it easy, please. I don’t have the stomach for this.
Read our blog for the answer.

We have to go to a meeting now (wink, wink)

Get some fresh air and check out some fresh sites.

See you in two weeks.