For this discovery activity, I chose Symbaloo as my customized start page to explore. I decided on this one because of the simplicity of the tiles and the navigation. Netvibes and uStart both looked useful, but they seemed too involved for a quick-access homepage. Symbaloo even had a ready-made template with tiles for almost all of the websites I already use daily, and adding new tiles is extremely easy. The concept reminds me a bit of an iPad which makes it more recognizable and usable. Because of the simplicity, I would definitely consider using it as my permanent homepage. It is easier to operate than browser bookmarks and even comes with a Google search widget right in the middle. Since Google search is my current homepage, Symbaloo can give me what I already have and even more.
For an online calendar, I explored all the options, but again had to stick with my Google Calendar. While 30 Boxes is very customizable and easy to use, there is no way to access it from my phone save through a web browse. With upto, I had the opposite problem. The calender is accessible only via mobile apps and not through a browser. Google calendar is available on both mediums and can easily be shared using most applications (like upto). The only requirement for a Google calendar is a gmail account which most people have. I have a soft spot in my heart for Google because it conveniently put all of your most necessary only applications in one place (Blogger, Drive, Calendar, email, social networking, etc. etc.). The internet could not possibly get much easier than that.
The uses of online calendars are extensive. As a teacher, I could use them to organize my classes and update due dates or other information in an instant. If I were in charge of any clubs or organizations, I could keep the club calendar on Google for my students to access. In my personal life, I already use it to keep my family calendar in one place. Once I share my calendar, my family members can add their own schedules so that we have a comprehensive schedule in one place that is more easily editable and way less messy than a paper calendar or a dry erase board.
Another online organizational tool I investigated was Remember the Milk. I am notorious for creating to-do lists and then promptly losing them. About a year ago, I began using an app called EverNote that I am obsessed with and use daily. What caught my eye about Remember the Milk is that I can sync my lists to my EverNote account. Now my to-do lists will be wherever I am and immediately accessible. Another bonus (and a given) is that I can link Remember the Milk to my gmail account. I will definitely be using this application frequently from here on out.
Although it was not in the discovery activity, EverNote is an organizational application available on both the web and on mobile devices that I swear by. You can create several "notebooks" and you can share them individually with different people. I can have a family recipe book that my aunts, grandmothers, cousins, and siblings can add to; a work notebook that keeps my colleagues up to date on the goings-on in the work place; a personal notebook where I save webpages for later reading using the WebClipper add-on for my browser; anything you dream up, EverNote can do. I honestly cannot think of a situation where EverNote would not be useful. I urge everyone to give it a chance because it is life-changing.
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