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    <title>The Virtual Toolbox</title>
    
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://askshane.typepad.com/thevirtualtoolbox/" />
    <id>tag:typepad.com,2003:weblog-90183</id>
    <updated>2008-11-17T00:48:00-05:00</updated>
    <subtitle>Resources, tips, services, and information for Entrepreneurs by Shane Bowlin, the iVillage Virtual Assistant Coach.</subtitle>
    <generator uri="http://www.typepad.com/">TypePad</generator>
    <link rel="self" href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/TheVirtualToolbox" type="application/atom+xml" /><entry>
        <title>This is a true story...</title>
        <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://askshane.typepad.com/thevirtualtoolbox/2008/11/this-is-a-true.html" />
        <link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="http://askshane.typepad.com/thevirtualtoolbox/2008/11/this-is-a-true.html" thr:count="0" />
        <id>tag:typepad.com,2003:post-58412302</id>
        <published>2008-11-17T00:48:00-05:00</published>
        <updated>2008-11-17T00:48:05-05:00</updated>
        <summary>...that happened to my aunt's boyfriend's daughter's friend. I'm sure you've received plenty of e-mail warnings from well meaning friends and family members. Many times, it's not obvious if they are true or not. Next time you're in doubt or...</summary>
        <author>
            <name>Shane Bowlin</name>
        </author>
        <category scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category" term="Reference and Education" />
        <category scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category" term="Research" />
        
        <category scheme="http://sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" term="email warnings" />
        <category scheme="http://sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" term="research" />
        <category scheme="http://sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" term="snopes" />
        <category scheme="http://sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" term="true story" />
        
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<div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p><a href="http://askshane.typepad.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/2008/11/12/9bary01l.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href, '_blank', 'width=425,height=282,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0'); return false"><img width="100" height="66" border="0" alt="9bary01l" title="9bary01l" src="http://askshane.typepad.com/thevirtualtoolbox/images/2008/11/12/9bary01l.jpg" style="margin: 0px 5px 5px 0px; float: left;" /></a>
...that happened to my aunt's boyfriend's daughter's friend.</p>

<p>I'm sure you've received plenty of e-mail warnings from well meaning friends and family members. Many times, it's not obvious if they are true or not. </p>

<p>Next time you're in doubt or just want to verify a story, dash over to Snopes. They have a search box to enter keywords or your can browse stories by category. Not all of the items listed on Snopes are untrue, they also verify true tales and even point out partial truths.</p>

<p>Remember before forwarding that "warning" or "touching" story check it out on Snopes.com</p></div>
</content>


    </entry>
    <entry>
        <title>Fun and Interesting Sites</title>
        <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://askshane.typepad.com/thevirtualtoolbox/2008/11/fun-and-interes.html" />
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        <id>tag:typepad.com,2003:post-58411360</id>
        <published>2008-11-12T12:26:49-05:00</published>
        <updated>2008-11-12T12:27:03-05:00</updated>
        <summary>PostSecret is an ongoing project where individuals put their secrets on a postcard and anonymously mail them. The postcards are scanned and added to a public blog. Read the entire Post Secret Story StumbleUpon is an interesting way to discover...</summary>
        <author>
            <name>Shane Bowlin</name>
        </author>
        <category scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category" term="Fun Stuff!" />
        
        <category scheme="http://sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" term="fun web site" />
        <category scheme="http://sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" term="post secrets" />
        <category scheme="http://sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" term="postcard" />
        <category scheme="http://sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" term="secret" />
        <category scheme="http://sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" term="stumble upon" />
        
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&lt;div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a onclick="window.open(this.href, '_blank', 'width=300,height=400,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0'); return false" href="http://askshane.typepad.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/2008/11/12/shhh.jpg"&gt;&lt;img width="100" height="133" border="0" src="http://askshane.typepad.com/thevirtualtoolbox/images/2008/11/12/shhh.jpg" title="Shhh" alt="Shhh" style="margin: 0px 5px 5px 0px; float: left;" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;a href="http://postsecret.blogspot.com"&gt;PostSecret&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp; is an ongoing project where individuals put their secrets on a postcard and&amp;nbsp; anonymously mail them. The postcards are scanned and added to a public blog. Read the entire &lt;a href="http://www.postsecretcommunity.com/news-faq/postsecret-story"&gt;Post Secret Story &lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.stumbleupon.com"&gt;StumbleUpon&lt;/a&gt; is an interesting way to discover great websites. &lt;br /&gt;Their site says it better than I can...&amp;quot;Using search engines to locate relevant content typically means hunting through pages of results. Rather than searching for quality web sites, StumbleUpon members are taken directly to web sites matching their personal interests and preferences.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;So mail your postcard and then go &amp;quot;stumbling.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Important note:&lt;/em&gt; these sites can be addicting and time passes very fast when you're cruising around them.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
</content>


    </entry>
    <entry>
        <title>Search Me</title>
        <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://askshane.typepad.com/thevirtualtoolbox/2008/08/search-me.html" />
        <link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="http://askshane.typepad.com/thevirtualtoolbox/2008/08/search-me.html" thr:count="0" />
        <id>tag:typepad.com,2003:post-53729626</id>
        <published>2008-08-04T10:03:35-04:00</published>
        <updated>2008-08-27T12:13:13-04:00</updated>
        <summary>SearchMe.com is a visual search engine. You can actually see a mini version of the web pages without clicking through to the web page. I find this very valuable when doing research. On the traditional search engines, I find myself...</summary>
        <author>
            <name>Shane Bowlin</name>
        </author>
        <category scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category" term="Must-Have Tools" />
        <category scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category" term="Research" />
        <category scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category" term="Time Saving Tips" />
        
        <category scheme="http://sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" term="efficient search" />
        <category scheme="http://sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" term="search engine" />
        <category scheme="http://sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" term="search tool" />
        <category scheme="http://sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" term="searchme.com" />
        <category scheme="http://sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" term="traditional search engine" />
        
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<div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p><a href="http://www.searchme.com">SearchMe.com</a> is a visual search engine. You can actually see a mini version of the web pages without clicking through to the web page. I find this very valuable when doing research. On the traditional search engines, I find myself clicking through and waiting for pages to load only to discover the site doesn't contain the information I need.</p>

<p>Here is what the search window looks like....</p>

<p> <a onclick="window.open(this.href, '_blank', 'width=479,height=235,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0'); return false" href="http://askshane.typepad.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/2008/08/04/searchme_results_2.jpg"><img width="479" height="235" border="0" src="http://askshane.typepad.com/thevirtualtoolbox/images/2008/08/04/searchme_results_2.jpg" title="Searchme_results_2" alt="Searchme_results_2" style="margin: 0px 5px 5px 0px;" /></a>
</p></div>
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