The answer is that, as with all areas of my life, I aim to build and use efficient systems.

In the case of news/information I make sure that I get as much as possible coming to me. In other words, I do not have to spend much time looking for it.

There are a number of ways to get information coming to you and here is one:

Newswise is where journalists choose, connect, and use smart news.

Newswise Latest News

• Tue, 14 Feb 2012 20:15:00 +0000: US Treasuries Could Prove a Safe Haven in Euro Debt Crisis - Newswise: Latest News
  Murillo Campello, professor of finance at Cornell University's Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management, and keynote speaker at the recent European Central Bankers meeting in France, comments on the impact of the European debt crisis.
• Tue, 14 Feb 2012 20:10:00 +0000: ORNL Explores Proteins in Yellowstone Bacteria for Biofuel Inspiration - Newswise: Latest News
  Studies of bacteria first found in Yellowstone's hot springs are furthering efforts at the Department of Energy's BioEnergy Science Center toward commercially viable ethanol production from crops such as switchgrass.
• Tue, 14 Feb 2012 20:00:00 +0000: All Heart: UCLA Docs Guide Mom with Heart Condition Through Birth, Operate on Newborn - Newswise: Latest News
  An expecting mother with heart disease is warned the pregnancy is too dangerous, but a team of UCLA specialists guide her through pregnancy, birth and risky open heart surgery on her newborn baby.
• Tue, 14 Feb 2012 19:35:00 +0000: Trial Tests Heart Attack Drug in Field - Newswise: Latest News
  Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) is the leading cause of death in the United States. This form of heart attack kills 325,000 people every year, representing one death every two minutes. Almost all SCA victims die before they even reach a hospital. To identify a drug that paramedics can use in the field, UC San Diego Health System has opened a clinical trial to evaluate two medications to help restore the heart beat.
• Tue, 14 Feb 2012 19:30:00 +0000: New Compound May Help Battle Superbugs - Newswise: Latest News
  North Carolina State University chemists have created a compound that makes existing antibiotics 16 times more effective against recently discovered antibiotic-resistant "superbugs."
• Tue, 14 Feb 2012 19:30:00 +0000: UC Committee Announces Flat World Knowledge as Publisher for New E-Text Adoption Plan - Newswise: Latest News
  The selection follows a series of demonstrations from publishers as part of an initiative to reduce textbook costs and improve student learning.
• Tue, 14 Feb 2012 19:20:00 +0000: Noncoding RNAs Alter Yeast Phenotypes in a Site-Specific Manner - Newswise: Latest News
  A team of scientists from Whitehead Institute and other institutions has shown for the first time how two long intergenic noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) in brewer's yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) contribute to a location-dependent switch for the yeast FLO11 gene to toggle between active and inactive states. The mechanism of the FLO11 switch is one of only a handful that have been characterized in detail, and will serve as a model for how other ncRNAs operate.
• Tue, 14 Feb 2012 19:20:00 +0000: Ovarian Cancer Subtype May Be Vulnerable to Anti-Angiogenic Drugs - Newswise: Latest News
  Dana-Farber Cancer Institute researchers have identified a subtype of ovarian cancer able to build its own blood vessels, suggesting that such tumors might be susceptible to anti-angiogenic drugs. The investigators estimate that the subtype may account for a third of all serous ovarian cancers.
• Tue, 14 Feb 2012 19:00:00 +0000: Jefferson Heart Attack Patient Embraces Second Chance - Newswise: Latest News
  After he failed to heed the first big warning about his heart, John Magri was lucky to survive the second. Magri's first heart attack at age 46 didn't faze him much. He didn't follow his doctor's orders to start to eat a healthier and to quit smoking. Moreover, the South Jersey-man took his medication, a blood thinner necessary to prevent the coronary stent he got after the first heart attack from becoming blocked, only sporadically. A second heart attack in January - just a year and a half after the first - got Magri's attention. He is lucky to be alive and knows it.
• Tue, 14 Feb 2012 19:00:00 +0000: Lighting Research Center at Rensselaer To Host International Symposium on the Science and Technology of Lighting - Newswise: Latest News
  The 13th International Symposium on the Science and Technology of Lighting (LS13) -- an elite forum of scientists and engineers sharing the most recent research and development in the science and technology of light sources, lighting systems, and their key application fields -- will take place June 24-29 at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
• Tue, 14 Feb 2012 18:55:00 +0000: Allergist Available to Discuss Early Spring Allergy Season - Newswise: Latest News
  Dr. Fineman is available to discuss how the warmer than usual winter season is affecting spring allergy sufferers. Is this happening just in southern states or throughout the country? Will the season last longer this year? When should you start taking your allergy medication? What can you do to find relief?
• Tue, 14 Feb 2012 18:30:00 +0000: South Jersey Family of Pediatricians Supports Cooper Medical School of Rowan University - Newswise: Latest News
  Four members of the South Jersey-based Schlitt family of physicians, who have dedicated their careers to caring for children in the region, have committed $300,000 to assist students and faculty at Cooper Medical School of Rowan University (CMSRU).

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Get ahead of the news. Get the news coming to you. is a post from: Joy Wizard Blog

One of the keys to doing this is to use the right tools.

I’ve been online for a long time and have a lot of experience with web browser usage. Slightly geeky (half geek) I learnt to program in 1981, so have more of a ‘feel’ for computers and browsers than the average user.

Your web browser is of course your key interface between you and much of what you do online. A poorly performing web browser will hamper your experience, slow you down and stress you (especially if you don’t, like most people, know how to avoid becoming stressed by what is happening around, or to, you). PS: If you need help dealing with stress please get in touch – I can help.

You might be surprised at how much more tired, stressed or unproductive you are, due to a poor choice of web browser.

I like elite stuff. Things that work really well.

In the early days I liked Netscape. Later Firefox became my browser of choice. In 2008, Google released its Chrome browser.

Chrome is a fantastic browser, and by far my favorite. Silky smooth, fast, with lots of useful extensions, Chrome also gives me maximum screen space due to the way it is designed. Chrome rarely crashes. Those are just some of the reasons I love Chrome. (I’ll keep the geeky stuff to a minimum).

Extensions are a key part of effective use of a web browser. Check them out – you will be amazed.

These days I am on the Chrome Beta branch – that’s one up from standard Chrome where I get some new features before most users. The Beta is quite stable and I have never had problems with it. For a long time (over a year), I was using the Dev branch version, however one day an update crapped the browser and caused me some degree of hassle. Now I play safe and run beta only. Dev branch is not ideal for use in a production environment so the situation I experienced was my own fault.

I have just stated using the Chrome Canary build. Chrome Canary build is even more advanced than the Dev version. What I like about the Canary situation though is that Chrome Canary installs separately; which means that I can leave my normal Chrome Beta install as it is and use Canary in addition. Chrome is a fast browser, however Canary is very fast – what it says on the tin. Bear in mind that Chrome Canary is simply a later, more advanced, version of Chrome. In time, what you see in Canary will be in Chrome itself.

Note: If you are using a Mac then you will not be able to use some of the browsers and/or extensions mentioned in this post. (This kind of thing was why I stopped using a Mac back in 1997 – it is still an issue 13 years later in 2010).

My browser essential top list is as follows:

1. Google Chrome.   Extensions.  Why use Google Chrome?
2. Firefox – it has many useful extensions/add ons also, like Chrome.

Other useful semi essentials are:

1. Flock (2.6.1) – the social web browser (I am not so keen on the newer version (Flock 3.5 – Beta) which is also available). Can be used in place of Firefox.
2. Avant – a good substitute for Internet Explorer (Avant is built on IE). Years ago, Avant had tabs – long before IE. In recent years I have found it to be more buggy – perhaps due to the underlying IE code.
3. Chrome Plus (Used to be called Chromium) – simply speaking;  another variety of Chrome. Can be used as an ‘additional Chrome browser’.
4. Chrome Beta – I use this one. Bear in mind that it is a beta and accordingly carries some risk of issues - I have never had any however.
5. Chrome Dev - Do not use in a production environment, or for mission critical tasks.
6. Chrome Canary – do not use as your main browser or for mission critical tasks. Because it installs separately to your main Chrome install, you have this browser as well as Chrome. Very fast – interesting comment here.

OK browsers, but decidedly second division in my view:

1. Opera – OK but has never impressed me much despite various tries and incarnations over the years.
2. Safari – Apple’s browser. Surprisingly ‘clunky’ in my view for a company which prides itself on simplicity and ease of use.
3. Orca – a version of Firefox developed by the same people who make Avant browser.

Crap web browsers:

1. Internet Explorer 8 Ghastly
2. Internet Explorer 9 – currently in beta version. Ghastly – see my blog post below.

IE9 beta bug crapped all over a key program.

In summary….why make life hard? You spend a lot of time online using a web browser. Get one that works well and stop struggling. And guess what….you may not know you are struggling until you try something different.

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How To Get More Done Online Faster & With Less Stress is a post from: Joy Wizard Blog

Time is a most precious resource – some of us realise this more than others, however I think that most people are aware of the need to be efficient and not waste time.

These days, we spend a lot of time on the Internet and a key tool which we use is of course the web browser.

Personally, I have been, and still am, a big fan of the Firefox browser. One current reason for this is the large number of useful extensions which are available for the browser. As a Webmaster and a website developer I find some of these extensions are especially useful.

My main gripe about the Firefox browser is that at times it can freeze or crash – much too often for my liking. I find Internet Explorer cumbersome and unreliable, with limited functionality. Flock, the social browser, is very similar to Firefox in some respects however I discovered that it was best used for specialised tasks.

I have used the Avant browser for many years. This browser is my preferred alternative to Internet Explorer, upon which it is based.

I find Opera and Safari somewhat limited, and was surprised in the case of Safari, at how awkward and counter-intuitive it was to use; especially bearing in mind that I’m used to a wide variety of software and first started using computers way back in 1981 when I learnt BASIC programming.

Back in the mid-90s I used the Netscape browser a lot, which has of course been discontinued by the developer.

There are some other browsers I use which are too specialised to be within the scope of this article. You can read more about them here:

Two useful browsers you may not have heard of

So, which is the most productive web browser?

Google Chrome.

It rarely crashes or freezes (about once per 7-10 days) and loads pages much faster. How much is your time – your life – worth? Are you fed up with having to restart your browser and reload all the pages. I hate wasting time. Google Chrome rocks!

The Chrome browser has only recently been released and you can find out more at the links below:

Main page: http://www.google.com/chrome

Features: http://www.google.com/chrome/intl/en/features.html

Famous online comic explaining the browser

Here are some comments (since updated & edited here) I wrote on someone else’s blog about Chrome:

I use a blend of Chrome and Firefox.

Chrome works very well for me when used as follows:

1) I use http://www.clipperz.com for some log ins. (Roboform does not work with Chrome).
2) I use Chrome to run email, CEO Express, Highrise, iGoogle, Facebook, Twitter and several more.
3) Important – I am running domain email via Google Apps (for a load of domains all on one apps account). My calendar, Docs etc all open easily. I got fed up with Outlook, assorted webmail clients and things like Horde and other CPanel related email clients. Google Apps domain email rocks – my email productivity has risen enormously.
4) Firefox or Flock is used for stuff like Roboform log ins for a load of other sites. This way, my main productivity tools are nice and fast in Chrome, reliable and due to Clipperz I can log in with one click. If Firefox goes down then it is not such a big deal. My Firefox set up enables me to email links from a button and loads the Google Apps send page, even though I am logged in via Chrome.
5) At times I use Avant Browser which is a better “version” of IE. I try to avoid using IE at all, unless checking site rendering.
6) Flock, the social browser, is useful for some stuff. I rarely use Safari or Opera apart form site rendering checks.

My only gripe with Google Chrome initially was the inability to set mailto: links to open in Chrome and Google Apps, despite trying various code tweaks and even a small add on program. This issue has now been resolved. Weighed against the massive productivity and work flow gains the issue paled into insignificance though.

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Fast And Efficient Web Browsing is a post from: Joy Wizard Blog