Web 2.0 for dummies

I found this tutorial website for Web 2.0 to be interesting.  It describes various graphic design techniques that are common in Web 2.0.  It explains why, when, how, and where to use them and also gives you tips on what not to do.  It has a very basic layout (which emphasizes their first point – be SIMPLE) and it is very easy to follow.  If you are looking at creating your own Web 2.0 site, this is a great starting point for some useful tips on what to do and not to do.

How to make LinkedIn useful:

I found this article on LinkedIn to be useful in learning about how to make the most out of the social network. It lists 10 different tips and explains why each one is a good idea. This past semester I was invited to LinkedIn from a lady I worked with over the summer and I signed up for it, not knowing much about it. After reading this article, I discovered many things I had no idea about with the social network.

This article shows the capabilities/possibilities of LinkedIn. From how to increase your visibility, to looking at how healthy the company/industry is, to finding out more people who will be interviewing you, there are many ways to make LinkedIn a useful site.

All about Deezer

I found an interesting website to listen to free music. It is called Deezer and has music from various countries as well as music news. It is free to sign up and you can create playlists. Not all songs are available, but there are a good amount. There are radio stations for different genres and you can also look at top charts.  It is a good example of web 2.0 in works and gives you the opportunity to listen to music without having to worry about illegally downloading songs or having to pay for them.

Tired of the same old powerpoint presentations?

This article from mashable gives you alternatives to the typical powerpoint presentations.

There are 13 different online presentation creators and it gives you a short blurb about how each one works and a screen shot of a page from the program.  A lot of them also offer online collaboration which would be a nice feature for group presentations.

One example is a site called prezentit which is a free presentation editor that generates each slide as a webpage so they have more editing capabilities.  It offers 250 mb of free space and online collaboration.

It think this article is definitely worth looking at if you have to give a lot of presentations for work or school.

The new world of Slideshows

I found this site called Animoto that creates customized slideshows for you. It is free to sign up and all you have to do is upload your pictures and song and a video is created.  No two videos are the same and you can post your videos on websites or send them to friends.  It creates a personalized video that puts the pictures to the beat of the music in an artistic way.  I have not tried it yet, but I am excited to see what it can produce.  I love making slideshows of pictures and this is a unique way to go about it!

Your very own library

I found this site that allows you to catalog your books online to make your very own library.  Not only can you catalog your own books, but it also acts as a virtual book club and can connect you with others who have similar tastes or are reading the same books.  In this way it is a social network for those who love to read.  You can catalog up to 200 for free, or as many as you like for $10 a year or $25 for life.  You can also get recommendations or look at what other people have tagged.  Over 24 million books have been cataloged by members already.

Social Networking’s Top Sites

I found this article on the top social networking sites that compared the amount of visitors per month for each.  The statistics are from February of this year and have the total amount of monthly visitors and the total amount of visits and then has the difference from last February.  Myspace came in first with facebook coming in second.  I was surprised that classmates.com had came in third.  I never knew so many people stayed connected through the site.  You can also tell which sites are becoming more popular by their increase from last February.

Doodling for Adults

I found this website called Doodle that allows you to send out polls to friends and family.  It can assist you in finding a time that everyone would be available for meetings, parties, reunions, etc.  Just propose certain dates and times for an event and post it.  Invite people to click on when they are available and it makes it easier to find out when everyone can come!