The countdown has really begun now.  I am in my final full week of classes.  I've done a reasonable job managing my time up until now and so I am left with a large, but not impossible amount of work between now and the end of the term.  I have major papers due Thursday and Friday of this week, two projects due the following Monday, final exams next Monday and Tuesday, and a final presentation to give next Wednesday.  I am energized to get working and get it done!  After next Wednesday I will be completely finished with all work of my undergraduate career.  I'm looking forward to a solid month off with fun and rest with my family.

If you're like me, you love using the Internet.  The Internet is a powerful way to access data from anywhere in the world.  For families spread across one or more countries, the Internet also allows people to stay in touch across long distances like never before.  Today, many extended families (mine included) take advantage of the Internet to stay in touch over e-mail.

While e-mail is a great step forward, it also lacks in several points as a mechanism to stay in touch.  The biggest problem is that contact is completely controlled by the sender.  If I send out a large e-mail with an update on my life or some family pictures, I have to remember to type in your address or you don't get it.  Also, you will keep on getting such updates until I remove you from my list of addressees.

RSS Feeds attempt to give control back to the recipient.  With a feed reader, the consumer can opt in or opt out of receiving content that is posted online.  I blogged earlier about the RSS support for Windows Live Spaces.  RSS feeds aren't a complete solution, either.  For one thing, many people (even techies) don't know what an RSS feed is or how to use one.  The acronym itself will probably scare away people who are not tech-savvy (leave a comment if you can think of a more consumer-friendly term for an RSS feed).  Secondly, even if you do know what an RSS feed is, many existing e-mail tools don't support RSS feeds.

The solution for my family (and perhaps yours!) may be Windows Live Alerts.  The Windows Live Alerts service is available to everyone with a Windows Live account.  The service allows you to subscribe to updates on any particular Space.  You can subscribe to the updates for any combination of the following: blog entries, photos, or lists.  When the Space owner publishes new content, you receive an e-mail telling you what content was changed and providing a link back to the updated content on the Space.  Windows Live Alerts allows consumers the familiarity of e-mail with the control of an RSS feed.  You can even use your existing, non-Microsoft e-mail address as a Windows Live ID.  The content producers are freed from having to send out e-mails to a large distribution list - they can simply post content on their Space, and everyone who is interested in seeing it will get an alert by e-mail.

Now you're wondering, how do I sign up for Windows Live Alerts?  Just follow these instructions:

1. Navigate to the Space for which you'd like to receive alerts.
2. Click on the "Tools" dropdown menu on the upper-right navigation bar and select "Sign up for alerts"
3. You should be at a Windows Live Alerts explanatory page. Click "Sign In."  If you already have a Windows Live account then skip to step 5.  If not, click the "Sign up" button on the left.
4. Create a Windows Live account.  You will probably want to use your existing e-mail address, but you could always sign up for one of the new, cool, @live.com addresses.
5. You should be at a Windows Live login page.  Sign in with your Windows Live account.
6. You should be at a page that allows you to specify how you want your alerts delivered.  If you are not, then you may be at step 7.  If you want e-mail alerts then you will probably have to click on a link to first verify your e-mail address.  Select your preferred delivery method and click the "Finish" button.
7. You should be at a page that allows you to select for which type of content to receive alerts.  If you have not already set your delivery preferences, then you should do that first by clicking on "Change delivery preferences" in the upper-right and following the instructions in step 6.  Once you have completed step 6, select for what content types you would like to receive alerts and click "Submit."

If you completed all of these steps, then you've successfully signed up for Windows Live Alerts!  Enjoy staying in touch with friends and relatives!