SoWal Scene - South Walton County, Florida

SoWal Scene List of 5 - Free WiFi in South Walton

Over the last month and 1/2, I have been working from home.  I actually have my own office in Santa Rosa Beach  - it's an awesome space, too!  Tucked away in a beautiful little patch of pine flatwood forest, I find myself constantly inspired when there.  But the county is doing some major road work in front of building and I never know if I'm going to be able to drive into the driveway.  More than that, though, I tend to go through cycles of needing a change of scenery.  I am one of those people that needs change - a lot of change - and often - to stay motivated.  So the fact that I can't gain access easily to my office some days doesn't bother me at all - it's given me the excuse to change scenery for a spell.

But I'm getting ancy again.  Working and living in the same place has it's perks - you can stay in your jammies for as long as you want, you can whip up something to eat in your kitchen at any time, your productivity increases as you don't have to see or talk to anyone if you don't want to, you can be there when the kids get home from school, and you don't have to manage feelings of guilt over leaving your pet alone 5 days a week for hours on end.  Not too shabby!

But after a few weeks, it starts to happen - at least it does for me - you start noticing how filthy the house is.  Walking by those piles of bills and laundry become a constant reminder of how much you have to do.  You begin to feel a bit disgusted with yourself that you are "starting your day" by showering and dressing at 2 in the afternoon.  Catching up with saved programs on the DVR over lunch no longer is an isolated incident.  The bed beckons you during that mid-day slump for a nap.  Things just start to fall apart!

1-800-GOOG-411

You just gotta LOVE Google.  I was listening to NPR the other day and heard a segment about Google's new free 411 service called GOOG-411. 

In SoWal on vacation and can't find your vacation rental office or restaurant?  Call 1-800-GOOG-411 to find and connect with local businesses (it's for business listings only, not residential information).  It connects you directly with the business you are trying to reach and if you use your cell phone, say "text" and it will send a text message with the business information to your phone.  SOOOO cool!

Watch the clip below which gives you the full overview of how to use GOOG-411 or check out their website HERE.

Happy surfin' SoWal!

Blogging vs. Message Boards

Those that know me well know that I am a total computer geek.  I was born with a predilection for computers - I remember my first day in computer class in my junior year of high school in the mid-80s when computers first were introduced to the public - it was an epiphanous experience for me.  I was the only girl in all of the computer classes who could program my centipede to do some really cool tricks!  I was hooked.

Fast forward 20+ years and, although I'm not programming for Google (hmmm....sigh), I spend the majority of my day fused at the hip to one of my computers.  As such, I get asked all the time for computing advice, for information about the Internet, information about where I spend my time online when not working, about graphic design, etc.  Because I absolutely love talking about all things Internet/computers, I thought I would start a new feature here - SoWal Hacker - to share with those interested what I know and what I find on the Internet - there are so many fun, informational and helpful places to visit on the world wide web, folks!

So, for my first SoWal Hacker post, I thought I would address something I have been asked countless times about since starting SoWal Scene: "What is the difference between a blog (short for weblog) and message board?"