Archive for the 'social networking' Category
You can still be on the cutting edge of technology without breaking the bank. You just need to know where to go!
Here’s a list of 8 status-symbol electronic gadgets and their counterparts that turn as many heads, but cost a ton less.
Macbook Air => eeePC
I used to sit in the basement of the Union building at college writing on my eeePC, then I had to move because people asked me about it so much I didnt get any work done.
The eeePC can’t compete when it comes to storage, but that’s less and less important as companies like Dropboks, OmniDrive, and even Gmail give away gigabytes of storage for free.
Plus it costs $1400 less than a Macbook Air, and you won’t accidentally throw it out.
Amazon Kindle => Ipod Notes + Project Gutenberg
Instead of shelling out $400 for the device then another $10 or $15 per book, you can read all the books worth reading on your Ipod.
Project Gutenberg has thousands of the greatest works of literature all in digital form, and this site has a program that splits the text files into pages then shows you how to upload them to your iPod.
Manybooks.net has a huge library of works too.
Ipod Touch => Ipod Video GUI Hack
The guys over at ipodhacking.com have written a couple firmware updates for a bunch of versions of the iPod, but the most impressive by far is their Video to Touch converter.
If you have a iPod video 5.0 or 5.5, you can update your firmware to reflect the UI of the iPod Touch.
It looks just like the iPod Touch interface, it’s free, and you won’t have to worry about the touchscreen breaking.
Huge Powerful Desktop PC=> Docking Station with Used Equipment
Used computer parts are dirt cheap and most still work great. If you don’t already know someone fixing old computers, ask around and you’ll find someone quickly. They’ll have great deals.
For my docking station I went to the State Surplus store in Harrisburg and bought the following:
- 17-inch monitor
- Keyboard
- Optical mouse
- Surge protector
- Harmon/Kardon speakers
for a grand total of…
SIXTEEN DOLLARS.
It was a horrible misappropriation of tax funds, but I now have a fully-functional docking station for less than my monthly dry cleaning.
Noise-Cancelling Headphones => Over-the-Ear Headphones
Truth be told, unless you work as an air traffic controller or on a factory floor, you don’t really need complete silence to listen to music at work.
You can effectively block out the light din of chit-chat and tap-tap-tap of keyboards with noise-cancelling lookalike headphones, like these.
Plus you’ll save $150.
Car Compatible Head Unit => cnet’s Car Ipod Tutorial
Turn your stereo into a fully-functional iPod for about the same price as you’d pay for a better-looking yet lower-quality FM transmitter.
Any Ipod => Anywhere.fm
If you’re not working out or traveling, the fact that you don’t have access to your local hard drive won’t matter thanks to anywhere.fm.
You can upload your entire music library for free and listen to it wherever you have internet access.
Bulky Video Camera => Flip Video
The Flip video camera burst onto the scene when Google gave them out as Christmas gifts last year.
They’re about the size of a digital camera, hold an hour of video, and render an extremely sharp picture. I use mine all the time.
And for only $100 you can use the money you save to do something worth videotaping.
Any other suggestions? Leave a comment!
Photo thanks to cw3283.
Great blogging is hard.
You have to be pretty knowledgeable about your topic, write really well, and make your blog posts look great too. On top of that, you’ve got to read, comment, and converse daily with your online peers to get into your niche.
Rough life right?
To give you some relief, here’s the stuff that’s made my blogging addiction a little more manageable. Enjoy!
More Search Options (Not Just Google)
+Delicious Search Use the wisdom of the masses.
+Social Media Yahoo Pipe See what people are saying about you.
+Summize Search twitter in real-time.
+Technorati Advanced Search What the blogs are saying.
+Google Blog Search OK, one Google tool. But it’s a good one…
Free Images
+Flickrstorm Turns out I’m not smart enough to search for what I’m looking for on Flickr.
+A Complete Guide to Finding and Using Incredible Flickr Images Use those newfound Flickr photos for good.
+Wikimedia Commons Free Content Underused resource. It’s all FREE.
+stock.xchng Over 300,000 free stock photos.
+EveryStockPhoto Even more free images.
+Photoree The self-proclaimed StumbleUpon for images.
Write Like a Champ
+Copywriting 101 Brian Clark’s huge series on writing so that people will read you.
+Copywriting Mindreader Why choosing the write words is more important than you think. 
+The Shortest (and Possibly Best) Story Ever Written in English A lesson from a master.
+Online HTML Editor Side-by-side code and design comparison. Easier than toggling on Wordpress.
+Fullscreen Writer Distractions begone!
Free Wordpress Themes
+Theme Generator Make your own theme, easily.
+100 Excellent Themes A bunch of themes for free.
+300 Wordpress Tools Tons of tools for Wordpress bloggers.
+80 More Themes The site’s in German, but the templates are universal.
+Grab a Theme A fresh theme feed.
Formatting Essentials
+Web Writing Basics Web writing isn’t what you learned in school.
+Formatting for Skimmers Write your blog posts for skimmers. I.e., everyone.
+Seven Deadly Sins of Web Writing Lust isn’t one.
+Write To Be Read! Get a clue from the world’s expert on the subject.
+Sun Microsystems on Writing More from Mr. Neilsen.
And because you read this far down, you get the five coolest sites on the internet:
5 Amazing Internet Tools
+Anywhere.fm Upload your entire music library for free, listen anywhere.
+Mint Email Fresh, temporary email for registrations.
+Timemachiner Send email to the future.
+Farecast Web algorithm tells you the best time to buy an airline ticket.
+Portable Apps Put a ton of open-source programs on your USB drive.
Hope these help!
If you have any other suggestions, leave them in the comments.
Imagine if keeping up with interesting people was as simple as clicking “Subscribe”.
Guess what? It is.
FriendFeed, a service created by former Google employees, aims to take the web activity of your friends, colleagues and other favorite people and streamline it. Check out mine, for example:
If you were subscribed to me on FriendFeed, you would be able to see my new Twitter updates, blog posts I’ve written, what songs I’ve liked on Last.FM, what items I’ve shared in Google Reader, and much more. If you use a desktop client such as Twhirl, you receive updates almost immediately after the action takes place.
Not only that, but every item in FriendFeed can be commented on. Earlier today in my post about Microsoft and Yahoo/Facebook I linked to two discussions taking place on FriendFeed. The discussion took place independent of the blog post that actually inspired it all. For some, commenting this way is quickly becoming their preferred method - it’s much more like talking in real life than commenting on a blog. In real life, you can have a conversation about someone’s idea without that person standing right next to you, listening in. FriendFeed comments take a similar approach.
So how can FriendFeed help you? It saves time. No longer do you have to visit many services seperately to keep tabs on the people you find important - now you can just visit FriendFeed. If you’re involved professionally in a certain field or are just interested in it, follow some of the major players in that field on FriendFeed. Chances are, they’ll clue you in to the latest trends through their actions on the web.
Adding your own services to your FriendFeed can be beneficial, as well. Getting into FriendFeed now will undoubtedly earn you an “early adopter” title, and being one of the first in your niche can net you “trendsetter” status. In business, these can mean gaining a huge advantage over slower-moving competition.
If you’re at all interested in keeping track of the people and/or topics you care about more quickly and efficiently, or if you are looking to give yourself or your business a head start on competitors, I highly recommend signing up for a FriendFeed account. Some pretty smart people think that FriendFeed is a pretty big deal, and at this point, I’m not going to take my chances doubting them.
Enter your email to get fresh posts in your Inbox:
