My family is probably not alone in the debate as to which electronic book reader to buy. The two in question are the Kindle by Amazon, and the Nook by Barnes and Noble. It is a tough choice for us because of the completely different experiences we have in shopping for books. To put it plainly, we prefer the online shopping experience with Amazon; and, we spend a lot of time at our local Barnes and Noble book stores where we buy books off the shelves. While it makes sense to combine our physical and virtual shopping, the fact is that Barnes and Noble’s website really isn’t as cool as Amazon’s. So, that is really our main cause of debate. We prefer the Amazon website over Barnes and Noble’s.

To be fair, we are not comparing apples to apples. BN is a book store. Amazon sells books amongst many different things that aren’t even tangentially related to books. So, Amazon gives more variety in what you can buy. This makes Amazon better at fulfilling multiple needs in one visit. However, none of those items apply when discussing eBooks.

I have talked to others regarding a preference for readers. Thoughts vary based on shopping preferences. For example, geek friends prefer the Nook because it runs on Android. This means you can hack it to do things that it probably was not intended to do. What really interests me is that the Nook reader makes Google Books useful.

Even though you can read entire books through Google, their online reader is lousy. You can’t bookmark or annotate. It’s basically reading an online PDF that you can’t download or use. The Nook allows you to download and read these books in a much easier way than on your computer screen. The Nook also allows you to lend books to others, which is an awesome thing. This brings the whole ebook reading experience closer to the real thing.

Besides the online shopping issue, I personally like the Kindle better because it doesn’t have that stupid little touchscreen at the bottom. I’m a geek; I can’t figure out how to navigate the damned thing. Kindle, on the other hand, is just intuitive.

I’ve talked to another friend who owns a Nook. He is very happy with the Nook. He likes the ability to download Google Books, enjoys the ability to lend books, and is very pleased with the product, overall. However, he and his wife will probably be a 2 ebook reader home. They are going to get a Kindle too; they simply are more in tune with Amazon than with Barnes and Noble, even though, like me, they have the advantage of visiting local stores.

I think our home will probably also be a dual ebook reader home too. If you look at the raw numbers, my family buys a crapload of books from Barnes and Noble stores. But their website sucks. I HAD TO RESEARCH how to find Google Books on their site. We’ll buy the Nook because we are already good customers and can get cool offers when visiting the store with the device. But, having experienced neither, it was a tough choice for us to make up our mind which to get first.

I’m currently trying the Android apps for both. Right out of the gate, I like the Nook app better than the Kindle app. They both offer the same functionality; I just think that the Nook app does a good job of animating page turns. But, in all honesty, they are both equal in terms of ease of use and functionality.

It might seem strange that such a debate would become an issue within a household. Our family consists of readers. We have books everywhere. Quite honestly, we are running out of room to put books in our little apartment. It is, therefore, important that we select an electronic platform for our books. Whichever we choose will likely be our ebook reader of choice for life. Whatever the savings of buying electronic books; we are not going to buy the same books twice. So, it is important for us to choose the one that will carry us for decades. So, we probably will have one of each reader at the outset.

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Shoeboxed.com is undoubtedly the most useful outsource service I have found to date. In terms of value, Shoeboxed is one of the best investments a freelance/work at home person can make to keep track of finances. It would take me longer to do what they do; and, I would not earn money doing it.

I signed up for Shoeboxed.com around the turn of the year as a way of tracking my expenses for the new tax year. I have tried other ways of tracking expenses: by text message, by instant message, by voice message, by evernote, and you name it. They all fail me because I forget to use them.

I considered scanning my own receipts. So, I signed up for the free version where you scan and upload your receipts to the Shoeboxed website. This did not work out so well either. First, I haven’t a self-feeding scanner that can scan skinny receipts. Secondly, I never made the time to scan the pile of receipts I gathered. In retrospect, if I were inclined to organize my records, I would do it daily, come hell or high water, never mind my paltry excuses. But I don’t. So, when the end of the year comes around, I end up scrambling and breaking my head trying to organize my records.

A month ago, I got a call from Shoeboxed offering me a 1 month free trial of the service. Prior to this, I had considered the possibility of subscribing to the service. I came to accept that I could use a hand in scanning and organizing my receipts; but I only my business receipts, which are not quite as many as my personal receipts. However, I ran into a snag. The Lite version leaves it up to you to buy your own envelopes and stamps to mail your receipts to Shoeboxed. I spent time shopping for envelopes and stamps. I realized that for only $10 more per month, I could avoid the hassle. I emailed my Shoeboxed rep to up my trial subscription to the next level.

Within a few days, I received self addressed, prepaid envelopes to mail in receipts. I stuffed the first and sent away. Within days, they arrived and showed up in my Shoeboxed account, scanned, categorized, and organized. All I had to do was verify and adjust the few odd purchases. I can definitely do this.

So, for $20/month, all I have to do is dump receipts into an envelope I keep in the car, mail it in once a week, or so, and then categorize the few oddball purchases I made. The brunt of the work is done by Shoeboxed.

The amount of work I would have spent scanning, organizing, looking for stamps and envelopes is gone. Even if I only look at my account once per year, the time savings is well worth it. This is time that can be spent relaxing or working hard for the money. You’ve probably heard that you should work ON your business, not IN your business. Shoeboxed is what they’re talking about. Outsource the administrative; focus on generating income.

Limited Audience

The biggest challenge to using social media to push information to the public is that not everybody is on facebook, twitter, myspace, or whatever network you choose. There are some people who live long productive lives without bothering with social networks. There are a bunch more who check their networks on occasion rather than daily. The vast majority are simply on a different network. You can’t reach that many people.

Access During a Disaster

Modern living is highly dependent on electricity. In the event of a destructive hurricane, earthquake, or other event that knocks out power indefinitely, it is likely that many people will be unable to receive disaster updates. After all, batteries don’t last forever. Even if you have a laptop you can plug into your vehicle for power, how will you get Internet when power is out? Theoretically, if you are in a disaster area, you are the most in need of information rather than people safely outside the area, right?

Limited Sphere of Influence

Not everybody has a million friends on social media. Plenty of people are content to have a few dozen friends. Even then, it’s just a few dozen friends, which may not include the Press.

How Social Media Can Help In Disasters

Social media is most useful when people rebroadcast updates to their own circles of friends prior to a disaster. Obviously, this only works when you know a disaster is coming, like a hurricane or giant meteor. This way, people are able to inform their friends and family with the latest. Let’s repeat that it does not reach everybody; but, you can always use the telephone too.

Another way that social media can help with a disaster is by organizing aid to the affected area afterwards. There is limited use for social media for people at the scene. Recovery efforts require manpower and resources, neither of which travels through the Internet. However, those organizing a response are able to connect and make things happen to bring both to the affected area.

That brings me to the final thought on the use of social media. It is all good and well that you want to raise awareness. Sadly, today’s populace wants to be told what to do and how to do it. We are slowly evolving to a nanny state where we look to others for direction. Awareness is not good enough. Your social media message should include instructions. Ask people to donate. Instruct people to evacuate. Let people know that you have space at your shelter. Tell people to stock up on supplies. Social media falls short in that it typically consists of “raising awareness”. Put some action items in your social media campaign. Don’t forget to instruct your audience to share that knowledge and instructions with their neighbors. Like political campaigns, disaster preparation and response depends highly on fieldwork. Connect and mobilize.

Why You Must Go

Employers only really need a few star players on their team. Either you are the star player or you are there as a fringe benefit to the star player. The concept to take away is that the vast majority of us are merely adequate at our jobs; we are there to give the star performers some breathing room to achieve great things. In tough economic times, the star player is needed more than ever; and, given limited resources, it makes you expendable.

Another reason you must go is cashflow. Businesses are not there to provide jobs; they are there to profit. Many things are possible when companies profit: stockholder dividends, charitable donations, sponsorships, and, yes, jobs. Jobs are a consequence of profit. Without profit, there can’t be jobs; because, YOU, my friend will not tolerate working for free. On the flip side of that, keeping you on with the company during slow economic times means the company is at risk of going under. If this keeps up long enough, that means that everybody in the company, including you, will eventually be out looking for jobs. Expecting a job during a slow business cycle is akin to getting money for simply showing up.

Even After All That

Even after having said all that, it is conceivable that you can have a long career and move up the corporate ladder. That just means that you are a star player and the company made extra efforts to keep you on the team. Even so, as a star player, you could have had any job you wanted at other companies. This is quite the opposite of the average employee who has no job safety; the average Joe is self-employed through no fault of his own. The star player is self-employed if he wishes to make something of himself. If you’re a real badass, your employer will bend over backwards to keep you on board. This is precisely why you are self-employed; you can leverage better deals when offers from other companies come in.

You’re Better Off Being Self-Employed Anyway

I’m not saying that you should run off and file your DBA today. You can be self-employed in mindset. Simply knowing that you perform some output and receive some income in exchange. Your employers are interchangeable in your personal economic engine. Employer A’s dollars are just as green as Employer B’s. Being willing to fire your boss is very empowering because it frees you up to find bigger and better opportunities. Furthermore, if you are still able and willing to work, you don’t really need a 9 to 5 job; you can usually generate some income on your own. You don’t need to keep a job that simply isn’t performing to your standards; fire it. It’s not personal; it’s business.

How Self-Employed Fare Well

Many of my freelance friends have had an economic boom during these days of layoffs and downsizing. It’s not that there isn’t work that needs to be done; rather, companies can’t afford to pay steady paychecks for occasional jobs that require their skills. So, they offered to do contract work for their old jobs. This freed them up to do contract work for other companies too. Rather than rely on one source of income, they have multiple sources that can sustain them.

Get a Leg Up On the Next Economic Boom

As a freelancer, you interview for jobs every day. When the jobs come back, you’ll have much better practice than those who were waiting for full employment. I think part of that comfort comes with the knowledge that you don’t really need the job; you have work regardless. Not only will you be more comfortable with interviewing, you will still have relevant industry knowledge from continuing to do the work while your competition remained jobless. Simply having the mindset that you are self-employed, and the willingness to walk the talk if necessary, can go a long way in raising your confidence and making you more resilient than your co-workers.

If you have signed up with Google Wave in the past, you know that whatever email address you use gets a user name and @googlewave.com appended to it. You might even get a Google user account created for you. Not so with Google Apps accounts.

The really cool part about having a Google Apps domain account is that your admin can create groups. So, let’s say that you create team1@whatchamacallit.com as a group within the company. You can then add team1@whatchamacallit.com as a contact within your Wave. This connects you to the entire team without having to add everybody individually. This is similar to the connection between Google Wave and Google Groups. Very handy.

The Google Wave Blog has a post on Waving with Groups that can lead you in the right direction. Just remember that Wave treats domain groups just like email groups.