Amazing sand animation from the TV show, Ukraine's Got Talent

This girl has an amazing talent. A great, storyteller as well! Meet, Kseniya Simonova, an animator in sand

Email: file it or label it?

Email overload. I struggle with both philosophies of email management.

First, my Outlook inbox for my work email account has over 2000 messages. I have replied to 99.99% of those messages; I just got lazy in my filing. (Outlook uses the old, familiar folder system for sorting and storing emails.) In other words, I do not succeed at "inbox zero." Therefore I should consider filing "email bankruptcy."

Second, my Gmail account has THOUSANDS of messages. One of the things I love about Gmail is forget about filing messages, just search for them. Using Gmail's Search and Labels seem to be a much better way for me to manage thousands of emails, especially emails from mailing lists. After learning some of the search tips, I can search for messages which are unread, read, labeled, etc. It makes for overall better management for me: less time filing, more time finding.

My colleague, Keith Seabourn, just pointed out two very good blogs on email management, written by the CEO of Thomas Nelson. Links below for your email managing pleasure:

Staying on top of all your emails:
http://michaelhyatt.com/2008/06/yes-you-can-stay-on-top-of-email.html

Filing "email bankruptcy:"
http://michaelhyatt.com/2009/09/is-it-time-to-declare-email-bankruptcy.html

Happy reading!

Yandex vs. Google: the battle for the Russian search market

An excellent article on the success of Yandex in Russia. Yandex has been steadily gaining the lead on Google in the past year or so. Read more at: http://searchenginewatch.com/3634912

No plans to block Skype in Russia

The Moscow Times reports that Russia has no plans to block Skype or other IP-telephony services in Russia. Read the complete article here: http://www.moscowtimes.ru/article/382214/

Tough times in Moscow for internet search engines

With the economy in its current state and increased competition, Rambler is facing tougher times this year. This seems to be due to several factors: "poor performance to increased competition, the emergence of social networks and growing Internet penetration."

Read more about it at this Moscow Times article.

Happy reading!

Design changes to Worldwide Challenge

"Worldwide Challenge" magazine is undergoing some graphic design changes. You can read more about their changes at their blog: http://worldwidechallenge.wordpress.com/

This magazine has won numerous awards over the years. Here is an excerpt from their site:

The mission of Worldwide Challenge is to show how God is directing the hearts and hands of Campus Crusade for Christ staff members around the world and to challenge our readers to join with us in making Christ known.

Happy reading!

Jim Masterfield: 1994 Mr. America Bodybuilding Champ

Sunday at Moscow Bible Church Jim Masterfield spoke. He was 1994 Mr. America Champion bodybuilder. He has a brain tumor and is dying of cancer. He made the journey all the way to Russia to visit some church friends and long-time missionaries here. You can listen to his powerful testimony here: http://biblechurch.ru/audio/?ID=288 (Note that the actual translation of his sermon starts at 3:45 into the podcast. The translator is overdubbing a short bodybuilding video which you can see below on Youtube.)

Also is a blog about his other visits to other churches here in Moscow. It also contains a Youtube link with an early 1994 interview: http://www.jimandlynetta.blogspot.com/

Update: added the Youtube link for Jim Masterfield: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVRYHM6GUd8