That’s Delicious!

I’ve posted several times in the past months about twitter and Facebook. It seems that I’m on these websites everyday. They’ve become part of my life.

Can you imagine ever saying those words? The internet has only been around a little more than a decade, and it seems like I’m googling, facebooking, browsing, blogging and surfing many times a day. Every day. And I never even used those weird words 5-6 years ago!

How did we get along without it? I rely so heavily on the “net” for research, entertainment and communication. About half the emails I get point to an internet link and the first place I turn to for news is… you guessed it, a website!

Are you with me? I hope you’ve attached yourself to this wonderful knowledge source. Pastors can find so much online. In fact, I rarely ever pick up my Bible when doing Bible study — I go to my favorite Bible Study websites and BibleGateway. Online, there’s also so many corresponding commentaries on passages I’m studying — and in a few minutes I can browse a bunch of them. Incredible.

Recently I jumped on a website that I’ve heard about but never went to. And it’s amazing!

Everyone should have an account on it. It’s Delicious.com

• Here’s what it is: Essentially it’s a place to bookmark your favorite websites. It’s online, not browser specific, so even if you’re at someone else’s computer, you can retrieve (easily) all your bookmarks.
• What you may be saying right now: “Wait! I already have a way to bookmark websites!” But this is so much different. Keep reading!
• The Benefits: I had over 200 bookmarked sites on my browser before I found Delicious. When I needed a site in my bookmarks, I had to scroll through a bunch of addresses and remember what each was for. Well, Delicious is so much more simpler. First, when you get to a site you want to read later or refer to later, you click on “Delicious” — a link that’s in your browser toolbar. This link is added in the easy registration process. Then a window pops up that has the link to the page you’re on. It prompts you to create keywords (called tags) — this allows you to find the bookmark by keyword, not the address! Once you have a bunch of bookmarks, you can combine tags and narrow your search. Say you have 20 bookmarked sites for “travel”, you can search for “air, travel” and only get the airlines.
• Wait, there’s more! This is more than a bookmarking site! It’s also (take a deep breath) a social networking site. You can create a group of friends and every time you bookmark something, you can indicate that the bookmark is public — which allows your network to see your bookmarks. And vice versa! That way you can share your favorite sites with your friends AND when you search for a tag, you are searching for bookmarks in your ENTIRE network! Now that’s collaboration. Imagine the possibilities!

So what are you waiting for — go register. It’s free. And easy. And it’ll make your time on the internet more valuable — and if you’re like me, your memory is not as good as it was a few years ago. Delicious helps you remember websites you wanted to remember.

What are other sites that you rely on as a Pastor? I’d love to hear them!