Chapter 14: Keep what you find ==============================
Little is gained by being skillful at
locating and accumulating information,
and then becoming drowned
in an avalanche of data
that one cannot manage - or use.
This chapter starts with how to build a personal data base on your own hard disk. We continue by investigating strategies for finding interesting information on your disk, before winding down with some words about what separates good information from bad.
Search and throw away ——————————- To novices, everything is difficult. During the first online trips, they may feel as if moving to the other side of the globe to start over: They need new newspapers, magazines, information sources, and services. Trial and error are required to find online gold mines. As you get more experience, focus tends to shift from getting information to digesting. Getting the data gets 'into your fingers', and doesn't bother much anymore. The number of retrieved lines increases. The only bad news is that your reading speed remains at the same old level. In our time, people tend to talk more than they listen, and you usually find more information than knowledge. Therefore, say NO to irrelevant information. It is seldom worth keeping. There is generally no good reason to learn things that you really don't need to know. Practice "selective ignorance." Regularly evaluate your online sources critically, and discard those costing you more than they are worth. Concentrate on those giving the best returns. Adjust the frequency with which you visit selected services to match their usefulness. What used to be daily visits, may have to be downgraded to once per week or month. Consider replacing daily news monitoring by clipping services. Plan 'overview' and 'details' with different frequencies. 'Overview' refers to online trips to get an impression of what generally goes on. An example:
My script system is set for automatic visits to the CompuServe Toshiba forum. Whenever I visit, it 'digs out' unread messages based on key words on the item's subject line. During 1991, it searched for these strings: '5100', T2000', and '425'. Once, This gave the following message to read:
#: 29550 S6/Hi-Power Notebooks
05-Oct-91 17:27:30
Sb: #T2000SX Recharger
Fm: Steve Kitahata 75166,1741
To: All
I tried to order the battery recharger for my T2000SX from Jade Computer last weekend. The sales rep said it would take about a week, so I called today to check up on it. He told me that I could only buy the recharger with the car adapter as a bundled set for $260. They had both advertised in their flyer as separate items, which they should be. Has anyone heard of this?
Does anyone know of any sources that have the battery recharger available? Any help would be appreciated. Thanx.
— Steve
My script found the search word "T2000" in the subject line's text (Sb: #T2000SX Recharger), and subsequently selected the message. Once per month, the same system "scans the horizon" to give me an idea of what is going on. This is done by requesting a list of subjects being discussed. Here is part of one such list: