Internet Tip of the Week » Web 2.0

How to Edit a Wikipedia Entry

Barbara J. Feldman — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 01:09:04 +0000

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.

What is Follow Friday?

Barbara J. Feldman — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 04:57:46 +0000

Follow Friday, often abbreviated as #FF, is a weekly Twitter tradition of calling out your favorite tweeps (Twitter people) as a way of recommendation. According to Mashable , its history can be traced to Twitter user @micah who invented it on January 16, 2008.

Twitter Search for Power Users

Barbara J. Feldman — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:41:19 +0000

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.

What is a Gravatar?

Barbara J. Feldman — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 00:52:32 +0000

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?.”

Ruckus over Facebook’s New Terms of Service

Barbara J. Feldman — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 23:35:00 +0000

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 .

How to Remove Your Comments from YouTube

Barbara J. Feldman — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 01:50:28 +0000

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.

What is Social Media?

Barbara J. Feldman — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 19:01:07 +0000

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?.

How to Make Web 2.0 Badges

Barbara J. Feldman — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 03:57:30 +0000

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.

Data Lookup with Google Spreadsheets

Barbara J. Feldman — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 00:51:05 +0000

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 .

Swapping Books Online

Barbara J. Feldman — Fri, 25 May 2007 01:29:08 +0000

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 .