Spy Journal 3.0 Filtering the web for you

After scouring Brisbane by phone I finally located a possible Wii Fit. One store had one that had been set aside for a customer – they were going to ring and see if they still wanted it. It was my lucky day. As I arrived to pick up the Nintendo Wii, the chap said he had manage to secure the Wii Fit for me as well.

I rang 10 or 15 outlets yesterday to discover none had any in stock, yet all were advertising them like mad. Responses ranged from “we can put you on a list but its first in first served” to “we will guarantee you one by Christmas!”

It’s been a while since Tim has asked me to write an article for Back to Basics. Lately I’ve been more focused on our Geek Girl Blogger series, putting together their surveys and what not. Anyway, Back to Basics!

RSS! You may ask: “RS whaty whaty?” Or, “I’ve heard of that, what is it?”… or what I personally said was “I use RSS to read stuff at my work, but I’ve got no clue what it is exactly or how it works! What is it?” haha.

So I started researching it. When writing articles for Back to Basics I often don’t know much about whatever I’ve been asked to write about, and so I have to learn it myself and then write about that experience!

Not long after starting my research on RSS, literally I’d only clicked my mouse about four or five times! I came across a video from the commoncraft show called “RSS In Plain English” – wow! There’s my understanding and content for my RSS article! All in one little video. If you want to learn how RSS can benefit you… this video is well worth your time!
RSS In Plain English…. I owe my understanding and content to the guys who explained RSS in that video.

Sarah Perez is our GGB for this week, her survey is below. Sarah is a Microsoft Channel 10 Personality.

Geek Girl Profile -

Name: Sarah Perez
Screen Name: sarahintampa
Personal Blog: www.sarahintampa.com
Professional Blogs: www.readwriteweb.com, www.on10.net
Blog Network: www.grandeffect.com
Social Networks: Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, Friendfeed, last.fm,
hype machine, ma.gnolia, flickr, goodreads, stumbleupon, digg, mixx.
Current Employment: ReadWriteWeb, Microsoft's Channel 10
Location: Tampa, Florida USA

What is your motivation for blogging?

Today, I blog both professionally and personally, and the motivations for each blog I write for are different. On ReadWriteWeb, for example, I'm surrounded by really talented bloggers who inspire me to be a better writer, to learn, and to grow. To be blogging alongside these rockstars is truly amazing - and sometimes even a little intimidating. It's really an honor to be a part of a site that produces such a consistent flow of great writing and great content.

Last night was the last night my parents were here on their current holiday staying with us. It coincided with family night, and we kicked off after dinner with a game of UNO with everybody involved. Mercedes is funny. She likes to get the cards and when she has to put cards down thinks that is bad. When she has to pick she loves it!

Jude usually wins UNO and did again last night by a big margin.

After we put the little two to bed, Miranda Jadeen, Jude and I and Grandad and Grandma played a game of Carcasonne. Mum has played it before but Dad hadn’t. It was a very close game with the end result being a win to me, and then Miranda second with Jadeen and Dad separated by a point with grandma next and Jude coming last.

The results aren’t really important. What is is the time spent bonding as a family, learning group communication and playing skills (for the girls) and the time spent together.