It has been a busy time for me online over the last twelve months. If you would have told me last year that I would be Blogging on four different sites I would probably have smiled and told you I just didn’t have the time (if you are unsure what a Blog is Jamie has a good overview in his post What are blogs?). But that was before I really embraced Blogging and it is has had really positive impacts in my working life. For a start there has been meeting new and interesting people online, as well as becoming a place for me to focus my thoughts, experiences (and rantings!). Migrating my journal from paper form to digital has had tremendous benefits as I used to have to trawl through paper documents to find particular information but now I can simply search for it. Writing about particular problems has also helped firstly by sharing experiences with others and with readers offering advice and tips – this has helped resolved a number of issues over the last six months. Sure there have been a few hiccups along the way but anyone thinking about Blogging should really give it a go – after all a Blog is tool, a practical tool that you can use every day – you may well be surprised. I was.

I have been writing recently, as a reader Blogger, for IT Pro online magazine – some posts include:

• Keeping the network in season with Spiceworks 2 which talks about Spiceworks and new beta release of Spiceworks 2
• Sex, Drugs and the Spam Patrol focusing on the problem of Spam
• Which mobile email solution to choose? Deciding on a mobile device for field based personnel in business really leaves only a few choices
• Lessons in making a multi-lingual website comments on our experiences trying to get our business website converted into French and German

I have also joined the Partner program over at GizmosforGeeks where I talk about my week dealing with technology including:

• The technology week in View: December 14th 2007 talking about my recent acquisition of a Nintendo Wii and Exchange Server 2007 SP1
• The technology week in View: December 7th 2007 reviewing a Nokia e61i and talking thin clients

Some of the most recent posts here at Jasonslater.co.uk Weblog include:

• SSL Certificates for Exchange Server 2007 continued… talking about my experiences trying to use Exchange Server 2007 on mobile devices
• Jasonslater.co.uk essential application list in an update of tools and utilities that you may find useful
• Re-Racking out the computer room getting into the nitty gritty of redesigning our computer room
• Five Advantages of Thin Clients identifies benefits of moving to a thin environment

And then there are the adventures of Monk and his IT Junk which initially was a jotting but Monk has come a long away and is now really finding his own identity together with Norris, Brother Mouse Matt and the Wise man. Monk is appearing in IT Pro online magazine as well as Reg Developer. Jamie has even included some Monks over a Terinea.

• Monk at IT Pro
• Reg Developer gets Monkish
• Top Five Technology Predictions for 2008 at Terinea Weblog
• 12 Concerns of your IT Support Company at Terinal Weblog
• Monk and his IT Junk Official Website

In summary, some of the benefits I have found by Blogging include:

• Keeping in touch with others and meeting new people – becoming part of a community and really taking part
• Consolidating information and thoughts and experiences together with becoming the first place I go to check or obtain information
• Resolving issues by sharing experiences
• Obtaining information, tips and resources
• Improving writing style and improving concentration
• Improving creative by broadening the mind and opening up to other opinions and viewpoints
• Making a previous flat, infrequently updated website into a dynamic site with up to date content

Technorati Tags: blogging, review, technology