Something I learned at work this week: people knit sushi.
This was brought to my attention by a co-worker who told us that finding random stuff like that on the internet is inspiring, much like visiting an art gallery. I agree – knit sushi inspired this blog post.
When I wasn’t learning about food-shaped yarn, I spent most of this working week researching search engine optimization for a client, which basically meant I got paid to google things. I guess I can call myself a professional googler now. But to be fair, I have been a professional googler for a while. So it’s time to give up a secret…
… At least 50% of the time someone asks me a factual question (and it isn’t about myself), believing that I am qualified to answer, this is what I do.
The thing is, googling, or more generally speaking internet research, is a skill. You need to be able to judge the difference between good and bad sources of information, make good use of tools for searching, translating and curating stuff, a good vocabulary, and creative ideas for ways to use that vocabulary. I mean, not everyone could find knit sushi on the internet without knowing it was already there. I wonder if she just googled two randomly chosen words to see what came up. That does sound like a good way to find some fast inspiration.
Image: lapoli, CreativeCommons
Related posts:
- When technology works, it removes all the excuses
- Try Google before you ask me – A rant on technology and manners
