Shiny Free

So, what kind of tools can you use to do social networking on Facebook? The short answer is, anything goes. Since there are so many things you can do with the site, you'd do best to consider it a blank slate.

Since you define your experience on the site and set your own goals, you basically want to choose the activities, applications, groups, and networks that will help enhance this experience.

Here are some ideas for using the site for social networking:

" Inbox
You can send messages to other users and accept messages from your friends.

" Groups
Joining and participating in groups is a great way to meet people.

" Friends
Once you find someone you have something in common with, you can add them as a friend. Once they accept, you can do things like sharing photos, inviting them to participate in groups, and encouraging them to add certain applications.

" Applications
There are a lot of different applications on the site. Each of them helps the user engage in social networking. You can play games, send the applications to each other, take quizzes, etc.

" Share
The ultimate way to enjoy the site and use it for social networking is to share things with each other. This goes for applications, videos, and photos. You can also invite them to join groups, and use the site to take a look at the groups your friends are interested in.

" News Feeds
This is another important social element of the site. It is through the feeds where you can see what your friends are up to. For example, if a friend added a certain application, you have the ability to check out what they added and decide if adding it is a good thing for you to do.


Those are just a few of the examples. The site has so many resources that it's up to you to figure out how to use them for social networking. Just make sure you abide by the Terms of Use and conduct yourself in an ethical way while using the site.

A lot of people get in trouble for not using Facebook as ethically as they could. In fact, people who are part of social networking sites throughout the world continually abuse the privilege of being part of the site and end up using tactics that are less than ethical.

These are called black hat tactics, and they could result in your profile being banned. For lasting results, don't use black hat techniques or anything related to misdirection.

On the internet, some people will use dubious tactics such as optimizing a site for a keyword that is really popular, but doesn't even relate to the niche. Facebook has its own version of that.

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5 Reasons For Owning A USB Flash Drive

There have been a number of wonderful inventions during the 20th and 21st century. Some of these creations have been both massive and minute. Very few of mankinds modern creations have revolutionized working life so much as the USB flash drive though. Ok now that might seem a bit much for some people but the reality remains the same - USB flash drives have made the working lives of millions of office workers, teachers, students, IT and other professionals massively more simple. If you already one (or a few) USB flash drives then you'll know just how incredibly useful they are. If you don't already own at least one USB memory stick then hopefully this article will help convince you of their absolute usefulness in both your working and personal life.

So what's so great about USB flash drives?

Small

Prior to the creation of USB flash drives all external storage devices for computers were either bulky or awkward (dozens of blank discs for example) or sometimes an annoying combination of being both bulky and awkward. USB flash drives are also called Thumb Drives because they're about the size of your thumb (although some are much smaller now) and you can easily fit several gigabytes of data in your jeans or shirt pocket thus eliminating the bulky and awkward factor straight away.

Portable

USB flash drives are about the single most portable data backup device possible. They don't require an external power source of any kind, nor do you need any cables or tools to set them up and last but not least they don't require any additional software to be installed for them to work on any modern computer (Windows XP, 2000 and Vista and most Macs) so you can quite literally pick them up and use them anywhere you want.

Reliable

Once the data is stored on a USB flash drive you can rest assured that it's going to stay there and be there when you next need it. This is totally unlike the world of floppy disks or rewriteable CD/DVD discs where they can just stop working for no apparent reason. Flash drives were built to provide consistent and reliable performance. Most of these drives come with built-in write protection to prevent you from overwriting your own important data - if you were silly enough to do so.

Tough

For years people fiddled with boxes of floppy disks and CDs/DVDs. These were bulky, easily lost and easily damaged. External hard drives also provided another method of transporting data between systems but the smallest jolt was and is enough to kill an external hard disk stone dead. USB flash drives are based on what's called Solid State Memory - this simply means that it's the same as standard computer memory in that it has no moving parts and is therefore almost impossible to damage (except for jumping up and down on it or maybe hitting it with a hammer for example. Please don't test either of these theories at home!)

Mass Storage

The first USB thumb drives only offered between 16MB and 64MB of storage space. The incredible popularity of these drives has driven the desire for more and more storage space to new heights every few months. Currently 8GB USB drives are becoming pretty common and it won't be long before the 12GB and 24GB models hit the market. To put this in perspective 8GB is enough to hold 2 full DVD quality movies or about 2,700 high quality MP3 files - surely this is enough for you? No?

The portability of the USB flash drive combined with reliability and the more than generous storage provided by such a tiny device make them the smart choice for anyone who needs to move files between PCs or simply just keep a second copy of their most precious data on a secure and reliable storage device.

5 Cool Mobile Phone Features

The world is becoming a smaller place…literally! Gadgets of the yore used to have a certain presence in one's home, but today most have shrunk down to fit in the palm of our hand. Technology has come a long way since the days of Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Alva Edison. In today’s fast paced world, ‘multi-tasking’ is the mantra for gadgets and people. For instance, today’s mobile phones are powerful feature packed devices that you can slip into a pocket of your favorite body hugging denims.

In the beginning, cell phones were used to merely make calls. Today, mobile manufacturers compete with each other to launch feature rich cell phones all the time. Here is a list of some of the coolest features available on a mobile phone today:

1. Cameras: The camera phone was invented in 1997 and now it constitutes 85% of all mobile phone sales in the United States. There are two types of cameras available on cell phones, these are VGA and digital. Camera Mobile technology has come so far that people can now even make mobile films using their phones. Mobile phones with cameras offer a great way snap pictures or shoot videos wherever and whenever. You can then transfer these images and videos onto your PC at your own convenience.

2. Music: With the current models of mobile phones, you can listen to you favorite tunes while on the move. Mobile phones these days can store and play most music formats including MP3 and .wav. In fact, you can even tune in to your choice of radio stations on your mobile phone and enjoy uninterrupted hours of musical nirvana.

3. Business: Many cell phone models have been customized to serve the needs of the traveling business man. Features include personal organizer, calendars, memos, reminders, email facility, etc. 

4. Connectivity: The latest models of mobile phones offer a host of wireless connectivity features such as Bluetooth, infrared, etc. The Bluetooth is a software that allows you to connect and exchange various files with any mobile phone with a Bluetooth function within a radius of approximately 10 meters. This can also be executed with the infrared function, only in this case, the infrared ports of both the phones need to be aligned with one another in order for the exchange to take place. A mobile phone can even act as a wireless modem to the PC and one can even surf the internet using the GPRS/3G/Wifi feature on the mobile phone itself.

5. Appearance: Apart from the many high-tech features, mobile phones come in a plethora shapes, sizes and colors. The colors may range from a cute pink to blazing red, from the simple matte black to flashy chrome. Even the way you can operate the keypads of these phones has changed. Besides the various keypad designs with different backlight options, you can buy yourself different styles of cell-phones, ranging from the normal to the flip and slider varieties. 

Any way you look at it, mobile phones are becoming smaller, slimmer, faster and smarter. There is one that fits every budget, pocket and personality. So go ahead and pick one up for yourself and discover a whole new world of mobile phone technology.

A Computer And Internet Glossary

When you use computers and the Internet in your business, it's all too easy to start feeling like you're drowning in a sea of nonsense. Computer-related things tend to have a language all their own, and while you don't need to know all of it, there are many confusing words and phrases that you're going to come across sooner or later. Here's a quick primer.

Bandwidth. Bandwidth is the amount of data that your website can send each second, as well as the amount of data that the visitor to your website can receive. If either one doesn't have enough bandwidth, then the website will appear slowly. For this reason, you should choose a host with plenty of bandwidth, as well as testing that your site doesn't take too long to download on slow connections.

Browser. A browser is the software (see below) that visitors to your site use to view it. The most popular browser is Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer.

Cookie. Cookies are data files that your site can save on the computer of someone who visits that site, to allow it to remember who they are if they return. You will find that problems people have in ordering from you will almost inevitably be related to cookies -- they will need to have them turned on.

Download. Transferring data from a website to a computer.

Favourite. A favourite is a website that a user has stored to look at again, by choosing 'Add to Favourites' in their browser's menu.

FTP. File Transfer Protocol. This is a common method of uploading (see below) files to your website.

Javascript. A common language for writing 'scripts' on websites, which are small programs that make the site more interactive. Another common cause of problems for visitors.

JPEG. Joint Photographic Experts Group. This is the name of the most popular format for pictures on the web, named after the group that came up with it. If you want to put pictures on your website, you should save them as JPEGs.

Hardware. Hardware is computer equipment that physically exists. It is the opposite of software.

Hosting. If you've got a website out there on the Internet, then you'll be paying someone for hosting. It is the service of making your site available for people to see. 

HTML. HyperText Markup Language. A kind of code used to indicate how web pages should be displayed, using a system of small 'tags'. The 'b' tag, for example, causes text to appear in bold, and the 'img' tag displays a picture.

Hyperlink. A hyperlink is when a piece of text on a website can be clicked to take you to another site, or another page on the same site. For example, if clicking your email address on your website allows someone to email you, then your email address is a hyperlink.

Programming. This is when the computer is given instructions to tell it what to do, using one of many 'programming languages'. Programming languages for the web include PHP and Perl.

Server. The server is where your website is stored, and it is the server that people are connecting to when they visit the site. If someone tells you, for example, that your server is 'down', it means that your website is inaccessible. Note that server refers both to the hardware and software of this system.

Software. Programs that run on the computer, or that make your website work. Microsoft Word is software, for example, as is Apache (the most popular web server software). Opposite of hardware.

Spider. Don't be scared if a spider visits your website! Spiders are simply programs used by search engines to scan your site and help them decide where it should appear when people search. It is good to be visited by spiders, as it means you should start appearing in search engines soon.

Upload. Uploading is when you transfer data from your own computer to your website. For example, you might upload your logo, or an article you've written. Opposite of download.

URL. Uniform Resource Locator. This is just a short way of saying 'web address', meaning what you have to type in to get to your website. Sometimes pronounced as 'Earl'.

5 Reasons to Choose a Notebook Over a Computer Desktop

Many of us are so used to working on a computer desktop that when it comes time to purchase a new computer, we don't consider other options. Today, computer notebooks - which were once called laptops - offer a number of advantages over a computer desktop. Here are just five reasons why you should take a second look at notebooks.

1. Mobility

You might be used to pulling up a chair to your computer, but it makes much more sense to pull your computer up to your chair. Laptops can certainly be used at your desk, but you also have the option of bringing them to the spot where you're most comfortable. Maybe you'd like to surf the Web in the evening out in the living room or catch up on your favorite blogs before bedtime. Notebooks with wireless connectivity can travel with you throughout your home, so you can check your email or do your Internet shopping anywhere.

Of course, notebooks also make sense for those who are on the go. Students can take laptops to class and to the library, while businesspeople can take them along while traveling. With WiFi so widely available, it even makes sense to have a notebook while on vacation. With the right notebook, it's easy to take photos with your digital camera, upload them, and email them to friends and family before you even get back home. Or you can use it to write a vacation blog and include those pictures from your digital camera.

2. Better Displays

The size and quality of computer notebook displays has improved so dramatically that there's little difference between laptops and a computer desktop. For example, you can get Apple's MacBook with a 13.3-inch LCD widescreen (1280 x 800 pixels), a 15.4-inch LCD widescreen (1440 x 900 pixels) or a 17-inch widescreen (1680 x 1050 pixels). Similarly, the Compaq Presario has a 15.4-inch display.

3. Lighter Weight

Just a few years ago, even the lightest notebook was a pain to lug around. Today, though, laptops are increasingly easy on the back. The MacBook is slightly over an inch thick and the Toshiba Portege weighs in at about four pounds. While that's still heavy compared to come of the new ultralight convertibles (Fujitsu's LifeBook U810 weighs only a pound and half), it's a significant improvement over the old seven-pound laptops.

4. Better Computing and Battery Power

Historically, two drawbacks of notebooks were their limited RAM, limited space on the hard drive, and short battery life. Times have changed, though, and laptops now have as much power under the hood as their computer desktop cousins. The MacBook, for example, has 1GB of memory (configurable up to 4 GB) and a hard drive that's configurable to 250GB. This means that your software will hum right along and you'll be able to zip through programs as quickly and as easily as you do on your desktop. Likewise, batteries in today's notebooks don't heat up and don't conk out.

5. More Features

In older laptops, the computer's size and weight limited the number and types of features available. Today, with smaller processors and other components, there's room to pack more features into notebooks. For example, the MacBook has a DVD player, built-in webcam, built-in wireless capability, two USB ports and a FireWire port, built-in microphone, and audio and digital input/output.

There are so many advantages to owning notebooks that, before you buy your next computer, it's worth your while to take one for a spin.