It’s been a while, but Awesome Friday! has finally made it’s triumphant return to Life Without Pants. We’re launching a new format that promises you’ll take away something that will help you live life a little easier, laugh a little (or maybe a lot), and learn a thing or two from some great folks around the web. Every Friday, make Life Without Pants a part of your morning routine. Right here is the place to be for your five minute does of hilarity and enlightenment.
Offline Gmail
We all know Gmail is one of the most widely used email platforms out there – being web-based, it allows you access from any computer. The one problem with this is that access is inherently limited by your Internet connection. No Internet, no Gmail (until now). A few months ago, Gmail introduced ‘Offline Gmail’ within the Gmail Labs – which grants you the ability to access your Gmail in box in offline mode. How? I’ll let the Google experts explain it themselves:
‘Once you turn on this feature, Gmail uses Gears to download a local cache of your mail. As long as you’re connected to the network, that cache is synchronized with Gmail’s servers. When you lose your connection, Gmail automatically switches to offline mode, and uses the data stored on your computer’s hard drive instead of the information sent across the network. You can read messages, star and label them, and do all of the things you’re used to doing while reading your webmail online. Any messages you send while offline will be placed in your outbox and automatically sent the next time Gmail detects a connection. Our goal is to provide nearly the same browser-based Gmail experience whether you’re using the data cached on your computer or talking directly to the server.’
No longer will you be bound by the restraints of web-based email – Activate the Offline Gmail feature today – you’ll be glad you did. (Gmail – Settings – Labs – Offline Gmail – voila!)
1,000 Awesome Things
1,000 Awesome Things is pretty self-explanatory. Every weekday a new ‘awesome thing’ is chronicled on this blog-turned-book (to be published in Spring 2010). I can’t tell you how many times I’ve caught myself nodding my head in agreement as I read through these. A few of my favorites: # 980 Old, dangerous playground equipment. #956 Using Rock-Paper-Scissors to settle anything. #820 Making it out of the bathroom before anyone realizes you made it smell that way. Check out the rest of the list for some good laughs and agreeing head-nods (can’t wait for the book to hit shelves)!
‘Five Ways to Help You Finally Get Some Work Done‘ | Justin Brown (Primer Magazine)
If you’re living the life of an entrepreneur, odds are you’re doing a lot of work from home. The freedom is great but with it, comes added distractions. Nobody likes to work, we’d all rather be tweeting, reading blogs, going for a jog, or watching some SportsCenter reruns. This week on Primer Magazine’s ‘Five for Friday’ feature, Justin Brown shares some valuable words of wisdom that will increase your productivity and efficiency. One I happen to (really) agree with: Change of Scenery (not necessarily leaving, but redecorating) – “Alter your sanctuary so that you have no interest in anything except getting work done, when you sit down at the clean and newly positioned desk.”
‘Old-School Marketing No Longer Working? Blame Canada’ | James Chartrand (Copyblogger)
Times they are-a-changin’. The web is revolutionizing the way companies market to consumers. Long gone are the days of telling consumers what they have to buy. Nowadays it’s about persuading and influencing purchasing decisions. Romancing your customers, enhancing brand perception, putting on the charm, and pushing them in the right direction. James takes a tongue-in-cheek look at new marketing strategies: ”If you have to become more convincing, quieter, and more ethical, blame Canada.”
‘A Lesson in Retaining Customers’ | Grace Boyle (Small Hands, Big Ideas)
Grace Boyle shares a personal excerpt this week that speaks volumes on the importance of customer service. The take-away? It doesn’t take much to leave a lasting impression. The small details can go a long way to impressing your customers, giving them a reason to do business with you again and again. “It’s the little things that mean the most”.
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Come back next week for another edition of Awesome Friday (and tell some friends to do the same). In the meantime, what were some of YOUR favorites from this week? What did I miss? Enjoy the day and have a great weekend!
Share with the World
{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
I like the new site, it is clear and easy to read. Good luck with the update, but one question – I don’t see any “life without pants” banner in my browser or is Awsome Friday the new site name? I guess I am easily confused
Hey Harold – it’s not a new site – still the same ol’ Life Without Pants. I’ve just brought back the old standby of ‘Awesome Friday’ – a weekly rundown of the best stuff from around the web. If you click ‘home’ you should still see the ‘Life Without Pants’ banner. No worries – I’m pretty easily confused myself. Glad to have you back in this neck of the woods!
Yay for Fantastic Friday! 1000 Awesome Things ranks up there with TextsFromLastNight.com in terms of humor for me. The latter makes me feel better on Sunday morning, the former makes be smile. As for the rock, paper, scissors my old personal info on just about every social media site used to say “I believe every problem in the world can be solved with a vicious game of rock, paper, scissors.” Did you know it’s a competitive sport now? They cover it yearly on the equivelent of The Ocho on ESPN.
Elisa – come on now, it’s Awesome Friday here, there’s nothing fantastic about it!
TextsFromLastNight is a classic as well. I’m way behind the curve on 1,000 Things (just discovered it earlier this week). As I read through them, I found myself nodding and smiling through almost every one – talk about a nostalgic walk down childhood memory lane. Why is rock paper scissors a universal problem solver? It’s quick and most importantly, it’s fair.
Wow, that’s what I get for responding before coffee…Yay for AWESOME Friday!!!
I love Awesome Friday! It’s been a while and I’m all about it. I really like how you mix in product releases, ideas and blog posts. I especially like you including my recent blog post
Thanks for including me, Matt! Enjoy the holiday weekend.
Hey Grace. I think I’ve reinvented the format of Awesome Friday three or four times, but this fits (for now, lol). There’s a good takeaway here for everyone – whether your just looking for a good read or a good laugh. Throughout the social media pipeline, Friday’s are for spreading the love, whether it’s through ‘Friday Linky Love’ or #FollowFriday on Twitter – everyone is in a ’sharing and caring’ mood as the week draws to a close. Happy to include your post – it’s short and sweet but speaks volumes about the way businesses approach consumers. Thanks for coming by and enjoy the weekend yourself!
So THAT’s WHY you wanted me to give you that link. I’m pretty much in agreement with the others here. Good to see Awesome Friday back, although I admittedly hadn’t started reading LWP when it was around; at least I don’t think.
Also, I just want to add that you do some subtle plays with headings, css?, basic images, etc. to really enhance the readability of your blog. Obviously you know that you do this, but it just occurred to me how much I appreciate the fact that it makes my experience all the more enjoyable when consuming your content. Good stuff.
HAHA – that was on of the many reasons Ryan. That article sparked a lot of (good) thoughts. Awesome Friday has been on hiatus for a while – and it may not be a weekly ordeal (I’m thinking bi-weekly for the sheer time investment that has to be put in). But the end of the week is all about spreading the good word of those around us, I’m happy to do my part.
Secondly – I’m a huge advocate of making my writing as aesthetically pleasing as possible (with the use of headings and images). One of the first thing that will turn first-time readers off is an intimidating ‘wall of text’ – breaking things up appeals to the skimmers and let’s them take an initial ‘pass-through’ before really settling in and investing some time. Not to mention it just plain looks nicer. Thanks man!
Matt
Awesome friday is a good idea and love the layout – I’m a big fan of clean, easy to read stuff, in decent font sizes that dont look like smudged sqiggles on a dizzy background!
This looks, feels and reads good!
Cheers
Anita
Thanks Anita – sampled with including some custom headers to divide up the article. I’m happy with how it turned out. If not weekly, except at least a bi-weekly installment of Awesome Friday – featuring the best of the best from around the web.
Loving this. I think I may do something along the same lines tomorrow… Although Salacious Saturday sounds kind of weird.
Salacious Saturday turned out well Stuart – the weekend is somewhat of a blogging wasteland, so an article like this (not necessarily about content but about pointing you in the direction of good reading material) makes sense. Always doing me one better, eh?
Hi there,
Just saw you linking to 1000 Awesome Things! Wow, thank you so much! I’m completely flattered. I just checked out your site and I’m really impressed. Neil.
No problem Neil (thanks for coming by) – 1000 Awesome Things is one of those websites that I find myself nodding to almost everything there. Great stuff! Maybe you should incorporate living life without pants as one of the 1000 awesome things, eh?