Why You Won’t Miss Del.icio.us

Delicious is awesome in its simplicity and functionality.  I use it to incorporate the “cool stuff” on this site.  I use it to tag URLs in workshop presentations so attendees have access to all tools, articles, etc. in my presentations.  I’ve even used it to keep track of personal (private) research projects.  So, I can’t imagine internet life without it.

However, in a single day, someone has created a brand new Delicious clone. Its called 1R7 and  it looks almost exactly like Delicious without all of the Delicious branding.   1R7 makes it easy to import all of your Delicious bookmarks, so I’m already using it.  However, this is still a very immature product and the developer, Chris Heald, notes that there have been server performance issues as the news spreads about 1R7.  Even so,  as soon as sharing features are added, I’ll probably start using it instead of delicious.  Why?  Because the programmer behind 1R7 cares!  Chris created a simple but elegant fully functional clone of Delicious in record time (about ten hours).  Chris is allowing Twitter users to sign-up using their Twitter credentials and has plans for more Oauth integration soon.  With most of the major Delicious functionality already in place, how long before Chris creates something even better and more integrated than Delicious?  I can imagine 1R7 iPhone and Android apps, website badges, RSS feeds, social integration, and more.  I’m betting the community will pitch-in to support development of 1R7 — I know I will.   So, all I really need now is a Chrome extension (or browser app) and I won’t even remember Delicious!  Thanks Chris.

A Global Perspective on WikiLeaks

Regardless of what you believe about WikiLeaks, if you’re living in the U.S., chances are you’ve developed your opinion based on what WikiLeaks means for the U.S.  I’m not trying to change your opinion but I’d like to expand your perspective.  Everyone around the globe is talking about WikiLeaks, whether or not Twitter acknowledges it.  So, while we’re busy wondering and tweeting about what WikiLeaks means for our national security and  international reputation, others around the world are blogging about what they now know about America (thanks to WikiLeaks) and what it means for their countries.

Photo courtesy of wikileakspt

How to Add a Facebook ‘Like’ Button to Your WordPress.com Blog

Image Courtesy of FindYourSearch

Facebook ‘Like’ buttons are not just for Facebook!  Whats more,  Facebook Like buttons on your blog let you tap into Facebook’s 500 million active users (50% of which log in daily) even if you don’t have a Facebook account!  GetSocial Live! has created a nifty free online tool that generates a custom Facebook Like button that you can easily embed into your WordPress.com blog post.  Because WordPress.com doesn’t allow third-party JavaScript code, the traditional Facebook Like widgets aren’t an option.  UPDATE:  WordPress.com actually does have a Facebook Like Button option under Settings->Sharing, but it’s all or nothing.  The GetSocial Live! button provides more flexibility with placement, too, and can even be embedded in Text Boxes so readers can Like your Blog, not just your posts.

HootSuite: Manage Team and Multiple Twitter Accounts with Ease

HootSuite is a free ‘Swiss Army Knife’ online application for serious Twitter users. If you manage multiple Twitter accounts and/or share twittering duties with your team, you should give HootSuite a try.  HootSuite manages every aspect of the Twitter experience and even provides statistics on your tweets made from HootSuite and Ow.ly, HootSuite’s URL shortener.  There are numerous other features that will help you streamline your Twitter account management, including scheduling your Tweets for times when your readers are actually reading.  I actually schedule most of my tweets for between 9 am and 5 pm, although I actually tweet them around 2:00 am.

Watch this five minute video to see some of the slick features in this amazingly useful product.  Oh, there is also a HootSuite iPhone App. so you can manage your Tweets on-the-go!

Post to Twitter via your blog with twitterfeed

Twitterfeed.com is a simple online application that creates updates to your twitter account using your blog entries.  So, if you don’t have time to author a blog and update your twitter account, consider using twitterfeed to post your blog entries directly to your twitter!  It’s fairly easy because twitterfeed uses your blog’s existing RSS feed!

First, you must have a twitter account.  Next, you have to get an OpenID (if you don’t already have one) because that is the login mechanism used by twitterfeed.  Finally, log into twitterfeed with your OpenID.  NOTE: You will need to provide your twitter username and password so that twitterfeed can connect to your account.  Paste the URL for your RSS feed into the appropriate twitterfeed form field and submit.