On Board with Flipboard

As I've noted before, Planet DB2 is one site I check regularly for DB2-oriented news and information. Recently as I was scanning headlines, I found a post about something called Flipboard.

Its creators describe Flipboard as an "online content and social network aggregation app for Apple iPad, iPhone and Google Android devices." This piqued my interested -- as you'll see in my comment -- so I started looking into it. I have an iPhone so I installed the free app and began playing with it (see the results here and here).

Currently my two "magazine covers" bring data in from LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Google Reader. Flipboard also allows you to link to information from Instagram, Flickr, Tumblr, 500px, Sina Weibo, Renren, SoundCloud, YouTube and the New York Times. 

Just as you use search engines to find information online, you can search from within Flipboard. As you view this information, you can save it for later viewing (by selecting the plus sign, or +, icon) or share with your friends. Saved material is presented in "magazine covers" such as those I created. In the above links, you'll see nice photos. These images were taken from the last content I added. Of course a lot of content doesn't have an associated image, so in those instances you wouldn't have a cover image. Again, I did this in a short time, and entirely with my phone. 

With Flipboard, it was easy to search for technical information and then reformat it into an easy to read and easy to navigate reader. If you've used this technology, let me know what you think.

 

Google+ as a DB2 Resource

Last month I listed my favorite DB2 blogs, which prompted a reader to comment that DB2 bloggers should start taking advantage of Google+.

I wasn't familiar with Google+, so I set up an account to see what it was all about. When I started with it I wanted to compare it to Facebook. However, as I found others with interest in DB2 for z/OS and added people to my circle of DB2 professional contacts, I realized that Google+, with its focus on business networking, is a bit more like sites like Linkedin.

In short, Google+ looks like another option for DB2 professionals to connect and collaborate. If you're using this tool, please share your thoughts in Comments. What do you like about it? How are you using it to get in touch with other DB2 professionals?