Wikipedia is a collaboratively-edited encyclopedia, but only a small percentage of visitors ever contribute by editing an article. To learn how, start with this overview from Gina Trapani or the official Wikipedia Tutorial And if you think that the tutorial itself needs improvement, feel free to jump in and add your own two cents.
For Twitter power users, the single-tasked Twitter Search (http://twitter.com/search/ ) may not be enough of a good thing. TweetGrid allows you to define a custom grid of Twitter search results, such as 1×2 or 3×3, each cell displaying different search results. TweetDeck is a multi-column Twitter client that also gives you the option of displaying multiple search results at once.
Gravatar is a service that provides a “globally recognized avatar” that follows you from site to site, identifying your comments and posts across the web. The free service currently works with Wordpress, SezWho, and many other services. Chris Pirillo explains more in this video “Is Your Avatar a Gravatar?.”
Facebook’s recent change to their Terms of Service has created a firestorm across the web. The old terms of service said that Facebook could do anything they wanted with your content (subject to your privacy settings) but if you deleted your account all their rights would expire. Now, it seems their rights continue, even after your account is deleted. Are they evil? Or just cautious? Let me know where you stand on this issue by posting a comment at my BarbaraFeldman.com blog .
New this year on the popular video site YouTube.com is the ability to delete comments you once posted and now regret. To remove such a comment, login to your YouTube account, go to the “Text Comments” section below the appropriate video, and click the “Remove” button next to your comment.
Are you confused about what social media is, or why it’s being hailed as the next big thing? For starters, try Social Media in Plain English ( http://www.commoncraft.com/socialmedia ) a video from Common Craft that explains social media by telling a simple story about Scoopville, a town that is famous for ice cream. For another stab at the same topic, read Robert Scoble’s What is Social Media?.
One of the most popular trends of Web 2.0 design is a glossy badge with highlights and reflection. But creating them from scratch takes skill and talent. With Web 2.0 Badges , however, you can make badges for free by simply pointing and clicking. Badges can be customized with your choice of text, color, and shape.
One of the advantages Google Spreadsheets has over a client-side spreadsheet such as Microsoft Excel, is access to live data look ups. Using the GoogleLookup function, data lookup for many kinds of standard facts is simple. Standard facts include, for example, population figures for cities and countries, capitals for states and nations, and places of birth for famous people. For exact syntax and more examples see the Google Docs & Spreadsheet Help Center .
Avid readers have long swapped books with friends. Now, with online book-swapping sites acting as middlemen, we can trade books with complete strangers. Although the basic concept is the same, each of the following sites handles the mechanics of postage and mailing labels slightly differently. Take a look at Bookins, and Paperback Swap. For more choices, here’s a longer list of book, CD and DVD swapping sites .
