Tips for smart web surfing

[alsa]

I thought we could start a thread (maybe even a new thread -- I didn't find older threads like this) where we could share tips and experiences on how to be a smarter web surfer.

You know the deal. We go to one web site and we end up clicking on 20 interesting links and in no time we are totally way off the original search idea. At least, this used to happen a lot in my case.

What I do now is if I anticipate I am only going to have a limited time I can be on the internet on a certain day/night, I write in a program (that resides in my computer's menubar and is easily accessible) what my 2-3 most wanted actions during this particular session are and then I periodically check to see I am still doing what I am supposed to be doing.

I also have a bookmark folder in my browser (I use Safari for Mac) that I labeled Queue where I place links that I think I am gonna need to look at (here's another idea -- immediately decide if the links are ever going to be interesting to you -- this is like sorting your mail). At the end of my computer session I go through my Queue links and place some of them to the top -- those are the ones that I think are gonna be highest priority next for my next session at the computer). Not everything here is exactly GTD but then I don't think it really has to be -- whatever works.

I want this thread to be about experiences and tips. If something is not GTD, you are welcome to comment on that -- that in itself could be helpful to many.

I am still tweaking my methods of integrating my menubar and bookmark lists into my GTD Palm (I call it that because that's where I do all my GTD processing). If a link or a web site is THAT important then I usually do go ahead and write it down in my Palm in projects and then eventually next actions.

Another topic of discussion -- what does everyone do with web sites where you have just replied to a topic or want to follow up on in the next few days? I go ahead and place the immediate link with my reply into my Queue folder so that next time I am at the computer I will look at those first.

Thanks for everyone's attention

[tuneczar]

When I'm tempted to spend too much time surfing, but know that there's something that I *really* want to read later (or keep for reference), I bookmark it with a free online site, spurl.net. Then I can access it later at home or elsewhere when I have the time.

My @work bookmarks were piling up on different machines, both PC and Mac, and I needed something that didn't depend upon my location at a particular computer to see my saved URLs. I went with spurl because I could keep certain links private; a necessity when testing beta client projects prior to public release.

Two other sites, del.icio.us and furl.com, are also free, and work in a similar manner.

[alsa]

Wow! That's a great tip! Thanks, I will look at it

[eno]

You know the deal. We go to one web site and we end up clicking on 20 interesting links and in no time we are totally way off the original search idea. At least, this used to happen a lot in my case.
I use tabbed browsing to avoid this. I suppose you've heard of it (check out Mozilla Firefox at http://www.mozilla.org/firefox otherwise).

Basically you hold Ctrl while you left-click on a link. This opens the link in a new tab (and you can go on reading the current page).

Now, if the topic of the link very likely doesn't have to do with the current page's subject at all, hold Shift while you left-click. This will open the link in a new window. That way, you won't be going anywhere else and any interesting links you discover will wait for you to be processed ("Do I still/really want to read this?") at the time that you've read/finished whatever you were doing in the current window.

This also works with right-click or the Windows keyboard context menu button - the context menu will have a 'Open in new window' and 'Open in new tab' option for links that you right-click on.

[ProfDD]

It would seem that one needs a new collection point to handle bookmarks. Perhaps a bookmarks list needs some of the same categories, folders, or tabs as one's Reference Files, one's Project list, or one's Someday/Maybes. I suppose it would depend on whether collecting bookmarks was an important activity in one's day.

That would mean that reviewing bookmarks should be part of the weekly review for many of us.

Are some of us doing this already ?

[eno]

Installing your favourite browser (except for Internet Explorer which requires its own operating system..) onto your USB stick makes a single bookmark file possible and has the added benefit that you can carry it around.

I think the USB stick is even more versatile when it comes to websites that you want to read at a later point in time: If you don't have (or want for e.g. financial reasons) Internet connectivity all the time, you can save the website using most browser's File -> Save Page as.. (or similar) function to the USB stick and later review the website offline instead of the bookmark. This is great for articles or book reviews.

Aside of the collected bookmarks it might also be a good idea to sometimes go through your bookmarks file and see which of them has become obsolete/invalid and thus can be removed from the list.

[tuneczar]

Today I tried another approach that might also work well with a USB stick:

I highlighted the text from a web article that I wanted to read later and saved it as a text (.txt) file, which is readable by almost everything on both PC and Mac. The text file doesn't take up much file space and you could fit a ton on a USB drive.

I also like your idea of using a browser on the USB stick...perehaps a WIKI on a stick would also work in this instance.

[DTach]

When browsing I find myself finding a lot of gems online, that although I don’t have time to read/view at that moment, I want to keep a copy of those URLs that I found interesting and then get back to them when I have more time.

I do this by opening up multiple tabs in Mozilla Firefox (as mentioned already in a reply above) and then with my Gmail account open in another window I simply email myself a list of URLs that have my interest for that day. I then check my inbox, star the message, and get back to all the sites in the message when I have the time.

For me this is quite useful for two reasons – first being that there is no limitation of bookmarks and having to carry them around on a USB drive (although a good tip as well). Secondly, with Gmail being a webmail service and with unlimited storage, I can send myself a message with a lot of web addresses and then access that message on any computer terminal with internet access.

DT

[Tomas D.]

I was in the bad habit of browsing certain pages way too often, looking for updates, until I found Website Watcher. Very happy with that one, now all I need is one click to check them all, and only visit the updated ones. (There might be probably other similar utilities, not sure, didn't research.)

[kewms]

Get an RSS reader. Load it up with feeds for all the sites you're interested in, and tell it how often to check them. Check the reader once or twice a day.

(Google on "intro to RSS" if you don't already know what it is.)

For bookmarks in general, use Furl, or deli.cio.us, or one of the other tagging services. Tag pages by topic as you surf, go back and read them as time and/or need for the information permits.

Use a tabbed browser. Among other things, you can save a whole list of pages for further use, and open them all at once when you're ready to return to that topic. You can also keep a collection of frequently referenced pages at your fingertips.

Katherine

[DTach]

If you are looking for a quick search to find information on something without using a search engine and surfing from site to site in order to find the right information, simply use Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page) - the largest online encyclopedia.

For example, a quick search on RSS file format gets you to this site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RSS_%28file_format%29. Which explains everything about RSS and a few interesting links at the bottom of the page.

[trishacupra]

For VERY easy tabbed browsing for those who are familiar with Internet Explorer, and lots of advanced options, use the FREE Maxthon browser - http://www.maxthon.com

To very easily capture web pages to view later, use the also FREE EverNote - http://www.evernote.com/

And to avoid spending too much time surfing - try an old fashioned oven timer... BBBBRRRRRRRRGGGGGGG!!!! Oops, time's up.

Trisha
http://www.trishacupra.com

[LeonGTD]

Instead of going to Google to search what I need, now first time I usually do now is going to social bookmark (i.e. del.icio.us) to search for sites that related to the topic first. For example to search about productivity, i would go to http://del.icio.us/tag/productivity

This usually speed up the my info searching and time on web surfing.

[kewms]

Instead of going to Google to search what I need, now first time I usually do now is going to social bookmark (i.e. del.icio.us) to search for sites that related to the topic first. For example to search about productivity, i would go to http://del.icio.us/tag/productivity

You could speed it up even more by going to http://www.technorati.com/tag/productivity. Technorati aggregates Furl and del.icio.us bookmarks, Flickr images, and blog posts, all in one page.

Katherine

[eno]

You could speed it up even more by going to http://www.technorati.com/tag/productivity. Technorati aggregates Furl and del.icio.us bookmarks, Flickr images, and blog posts, all in one page.
How would you say Technorati is different from say Google as a search engine? Assume e.g. that Google implements a 'blog:' selector.

P.S. Thanks for the hint about Technorati per se - having to choose between del.icio.us et al has just become very easy. :)

[kewms]

How would you say Technorati is different from say Google as a search engine? Assume e.g. that Google implements a 'blog:' selector.


Technorati relies on users to label content. Google relies on its own indexing tools. At least theoretically, this makes Technorati less comprehensive, but more sensitive to context, page quality, etc.

I've found Technorati to be very useful for "popular" topics that are generating lots of current discussion. It is less useful for more obscure topics, and for finding reference materials as opposed to current events.

Katherine

[ashraf999]

How about creating a free personal website to have all of your favourite bookmarks there?

[kewms]

How about creating a free personal website to have all of your favourite bookmarks there?

Why reinvent the wheel?

Also, part of the power of the bookmark sites is the ability to see other people's links on the same topic. You lose that if you store your bookmarks on a personal page.

Katherine

[ashraf999]

Yes you are right, Katherine. But I guessed that some people might not need to view other people's links. So storing their own bookmarks would be more than enough for them. Besides, when you create your own website, you can have full control of it.

[TesTeq]

I have html file on my desktop. Using simple text editor I put links to the interesting sites there and can carry it with me on the USB flash drive.
TesTeq

[jethro]

Thanks for the great suggestions regarding non-machine-specific bookmarks. I often find that I come across interesting links at work, but don't have the time to pursue them further until I get home.

To the OP: if you're a hard-core, hopeless Web-surfing junkie (not that I can identify with that), there's a neat little addon for Firefox called Webolodeon, which reminds you every five minutes that you really should be getting some work done. Merlin Mann has the details at this 43folders.com (http://www.43folders.com/2005/06/want_to_keep_su.html) post.

Good luck!

[ceehjay]

If I get online at work and come across sites I would like to explore, I start an email to my home address, then just copy links into that email. I can then do my surfing on my own time as I have the opportunity. I have also created shortcuts to sites on the desktop. If the desktop (at work or home) starts to get too cluttered, I either delete some of the shortcuts or take a few minutes to determine whether or not that site is really worth the time to do an in-depth exploration.

My bookmark folder at home is quite large, with a number of categories. I rename sites in my bookmarks so they will have meaning to me. Some of my categories have to do with my profession, home and garden sites, travel, photography, online classes, retirement issues (yes, I'm thinking about it), favorite blogs, GTD related sites, for example.

I periodically go through my bookmarks, as some sites have vanished and some no longer interest me. It is quite delightful to rediscover a great site that I haven't visited in a while.

Carolyn

[eno]

I have html file on my desktop. Using simple text editor I put links to the interesting sites there and can carry it with me on the USB flash drive.Could use the same file and Palm Desktop's file link capability. That way you'll have an up-to-date bookmark file on your Palm.

[southpointbooks]

I utilize Maxthon (a tabbed browser) and when looking at search results, just drag a link I'm interested in with my mouse (which opens up a new tab window). I can then look at the new link at my leisure while I continue going down the list of search results. In this way my search results stay the same and i don't have to back click to get back it.
Also, have started using Clusty.com which is a tabbed search engine which can search multiple portal sites from one screen. Quite handy.
When doing searches, try to envision what your material looks like on a web page as a combination of words together not just the word itself.
For sites that I find essential, I keep them in a tabbed PIM, organized alphabetically by topic. Works lot better than bookmarks ever did.

[silvia225]

I will try this:

ListMixer is an easy way to track web pages that momentarily hold your interest. Think of ListMixer as a waiting room for bookmarks before they enter your permanent collection. If you decide a page in your Mix is worth keeping for good, we make it easy to add it to your favorite social bookmarking service — just hover your pointer over a link in your Mix, as shown here. To create and use your ListMixer account, all you need to do is add this bookmarklet to your browser bookmarks.
http://listmixer.com/

...

The best tool for me is the Firefox Extension Scrapbook.

ScrapBook is a Firefox extension, which helps you to save Web pages and manage the collection. Key features are lightness, speed, accuracy and multi-language support.
* Save snippet of Web page (even only a word or a number)
* Save Web page
* Save Web site (In-depth Capture)
* Organize the collection in the same way as Bookmarks
(or as a tree like Explorer)
* Highlighter, Eraser and various page editing features
(this is what I value most)
* Full text search and quick filtering search
* Text edit feature resembling Opera's Notes
It works like many other software, but this one is free and less than 300KB.
http://amb.vis.ne.jp/mozilla/scrapbook/

I use it in many ways, all the time.
It is very simple yet so powerfull.

...
As for the multiple tabs, I try my best to have no more than six open tabs . If I have more than six, I try to close them.

Silvia

[Tom R]

When I run across a website that I may want to revisit I use a little program to clip text from IE browser to document for later retrieval. I highlight some text, right-click and capture the text ,current date and url to the windows clipboard. I then append the clipping to my big searchable PIM file. example:

alsa
Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Illinois
Posts: 111

Tips for smart web surfing



I thought we could start a thread (maybe even a new thread -- I didn't find older threads like this) where we could share tips and experiences on how to be a smarter web surfer.
3/13/2006 -- Clipped From the web document : Forums - Tips for smart web surfing
http://www.davidco.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4102&page=1&pp=10


The opening paragraghs of most articles are very descriptive and rich with keywords to facilitate text searches at a later date.

Tom

[TesTeq]

When I run across a website that I may want to revisit I use a little program to clip text from IE browser to document for later retrieval. I highlight some text, right-click and capture the text ,current date and url to the windows clipboard. I then append the clipping to my big searchable PIM file.
You can do it using Windows Notepad - text format is readable on all platforms. You can find everything using operating system's file search facility.

[alsa]

I will try this:

ListMixer is an easy way to track web pages that momentarily hold your interest. Think of ListMixer as a waiting room for bookmarks before they enter your permanent collection. If you decide a page in your Mix is worth keeping for good, we make it easy to add it to your favorite social bookmarking service — just hover your pointer over a link in your Mix, as shown here. To create and use your ListMixer account, all you need to do is add this bookmarklet to your browser bookmarks.
http://listmixer.com/

...

The best tool for me is the Firefox Extension Scrapbook.

ScrapBook is a Firefox extension, which helps you to save Web pages and manage the collection. Key features are lightness, speed, accuracy and multi-language support.
* Save snippet of Web page (even only a word or a number)
* Save Web page
* Save Web site (In-depth Capture)
* Organize the collection in the same way as Bookmarks
(or as a tree like Explorer)
* Highlighter, Eraser and various page editing features
(this is what I value most)
* Full text search and quick filtering search
* Text edit feature resembling Opera's Notes
It works like many other software, but this one is free and less than 300KB.
http://amb.vis.ne.jp/mozilla/scrapbook/

I use it in many ways, all the time.
It is very simple yet so powerfull.

...
As for the multiple tabs, I try my best to have no more than six open tabs . If I have more than six, I try to close them.

Silvia

Thank you for the ListMaker suggestion. I have been trying it out in the last few hours, and so far I like it a lot.

My strategy in the last few months has been to simply leave all open tabs with something I want to read later using a software product called Saft for the Safari browser that saves all tabs each time you close and restart the browser. However convenient it might be, it takes a while for all tabs to load again every time I restart the browser. Plus, it's distracting. (I like a clean desk and a clean browser, especially at the start of each day).

So, this suggestion to use ListMaker is something I am willing to explore more. So far the results are only positive.

[kewms]

Opera lets you save all open tabs as a named session, then lets you choose what session to start when you bring it back up. So I can create a session full of articles on a given topic, and ignore it until I'm ready to return to the topic.

Katherine

[kermalou]

why dont you guys just use deli.ici.ousousd or whatever the website is?

[cornell]

Here's what I do. Periodically (maybe too often) I check my streaming inboxes, primarily RSS feeds in Bloglines (http://bloglines.com/), and open interesting-looking ones in tabs (Firefox: middle-click on the link). I very quickly scan to decide if each is worth time. These generally get printed out ("Tree"TD) and put in my Read/Review folder. I then read them and mark them up to note ideas, actions, questions, future blog topics, etc.

The real issue then becomes - where do you put this? I use a plain text file plus WikiWord conventions to annotate them, a kind of semantic bookmark manager. There are other tools that do this as well, but I like text, linking/associations, and rapid capture (completion of WikiWords is a hard requirement for me).

The marked-up entries get reviewed opportunistically, usually via their tags. For example, if I have a client with questions about decision making, I can quickly find all relevant entries. Ditto when I need a topic for a blog post.

Hope this helps!

P.S. Two related posts: Pickle jars, text files, and creative idea capture (http://ideamatt.blogspot.com/2005/11/pickle-jars-text-files-and-creative.html) and My Big-Arse Text File - a Poor Man's Wiki+Blog+PIM (http://ideamatt.blogspot.com/2005/08/my-big-arse-text-file-poor-mans.html).

[Brent]

I check my RSS feeds every night (roughly), and if I see a useful article, will open it in a web browser tab. Once I'm done with all the RSS feeds, I'll close the RSS reader and read the articles in my web browser. If any of the articles are useful in the long-term, I'll print them out and put them in my tickler to re-read later.

[alsa]

I check my RSS feeds every night (roughly), and if I see a useful article, will open it in a web browser tab. Once I'm done with all the RSS feeds, I'll close the RSS reader and read the articles in my web browser. If any of the articles are useful in the long-term, I'll print them out and put them in my tickler to re-read later.

Well, this is a good general principle, however, not everything is RSS-formatted on the internet, and some content would be hard to format this way.

So far, this listmixer extension is great (I am using it with Safari)

[lev_ko]

I have recently encountered http://toread.cc, which is a service for easily sending web pages to your email inbox via a button in the quick links bar of your browser.

The advantage of this approach is that a single inbox is used for both emails and web bookmarks. Also, if your email software is part of your trusted system, then you already should have some method of treating incoming reading material. The downside is that the inbox may become littered with too many bookmark emails.