Who wants to be a Social Butterfly? April 11, 2007

Making friends and contacts is not just person to person interaction anymore. The Internet and its’ host of social networks have people forming ‘friendships’ anywhere in the world, its a whole new way to share information.  Sure you could always email or IM chat with people, but social networking allows the sharing of more than just information.  Profiles, personal views, photos, videos, common interest groups and networks are all part of this very popular Web 2.0 utility.  You control the amount of information you provide or others can read as well who your friends are.  The ability to join interest groups or networks is also very social function.  The groups or networks you belong too also tell people about the person you are.

I have had a Facebook account for many months and it is amazing to see the amount of information myself and others are willing to make public.  The issue of privacy is totally reinvented in a social network.  Sure you can limit what people can see, but many people don’t seem to be as concerned about the personal information they reveal to others in the social network. How will privacy issues change?  It is a very interesting development. I really like Facebook.  Features such as the mini feed and the Wall are neat extras apart from the standard profile, photos, groups etc. 

Social networks are taking the net by storm and are becoming increasingly popular. Just think, Facebook started in 2004 and now has over 19 million members. So… are you a social butterfly?

Tool Time! April 6, 2007

YES!!! We are back, and I’m ready to roll! (though I’m posting this at the end of the week) The topic this week is on-line applications and tools. Not that much fun, but an interesting exploration. I toured a few applications such as Google Docs & Spreadsheets, Zoho, Basecamp and Snipshot. Google and Zoho are similar, but I liked Google better for its ‘all-in-one’ package.  Zoho’s software was separated into topics that did specific things, not all things in one, which I think is much more practical.  Basecamp is a neat project manager program. The ability to communicate to everyone on the project, and have the information all in one spot is fabulous.  Snipshot was a source of great fun.  I like to edit photos too see what cool things I can do to them. Providing a sample to edit is a good selling feature! Very handy!. Without my own copy of Photoshop, Snipshot works in a pinch and there many other free image editor on-line. Try a search!

I really like the idea of software on the net that doesn’t require you to physically buy the programs.  Most of the on-line applications also have the on-line storage feature, which is great! Your work is still there even if your hard drive crashes. Who needs MS Office when the net provides a slew of options!!!