- Tweete - This gadget is quite useful with host of features which I will let you explore. You can change the theme of the gadget as well.
- BeTwittered - I used this gadget for quite sometime, but got blocked eventually, probably, owing to the usage that the Net Nanny tracked. Advantage with BeTwittered is that, it periodically looks for updates so that you don't need to refresh it yourself. This is not the case with Tweete.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
How To Access Twitter From Work
Posted by Kannan Kartha at 10:25 PM 0 comments
Labels: Internet, IT, Social Media, Social Networking, Twitter
Monday, June 8, 2009
Watch When You Use WolframAlpha
In my previous post about WolframAlpha, I compared it with Google where I mentioned that it is a great resource for research analysts.
But having gone through the Terms Of Use of WolframAlpha, I would say use the content from WolframAlpha carefully.
Few snippets are below:
"The free Wolfram|Alpha service is available for ad hoc, personal, non-commercial use only." ...
"If you make results from Wolfram|Alpha available to anyone else, or incorporate those results into your own documents or presentations, you must include attribution indicating that the results and/or the presentation of the results came from Wolfram|Alpha. ..."
"Failure to properly attribute results from Wolfram|Alpha is not only a violation of these terms, but may also constitute academic plagiarism or a violation of copyright law. Attribution is something we expect you to give us in exchange for us having provided you with a high-quality free service."
"... if you are constructing a very large number of deep links, or any deep links that are created automatically in response to user input given on your site, you must take into account the restrictions enumerated in the section "Ways You May Use Our Free Service and Its Results." If you construct a website that induces others to use our service contrary to those terms, you are inducing them to violate our Terms of Use, and can be liable for those violations." ...
There are not many such hassles with Google.
So, whoever planning to start using WolframAlpha, do go through the Terms Of Use.
Posted by Kannan Kartha at 10:01 AM 0 comments
Labels: Google, Internet, Search, Technology, Web 2.0, WolframAlpha
Is Twitter Just About "What are you doing?"
Twitter started with "What are you doing?".
Posted by Kannan Kartha at 4:15 AM 0 comments
Labels: Fun, Internet, Social Media, Social Networking, Technology, Twitter, Web 2.0
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Bing Is Here
The first thing that came to my mind was "Chandler Bing" from Friends TV series but did not find Bing as funny. Neither did I find Bing that serious. Bing was launched recently.
My first impression after loading the home page was that there is something outdated about the page. I am not trying to criticize here, but when a search engine is named as a competitor of Google, it better live up to some minimum expectations. One example is when you search for "Google" on Bing, it give you two results. First one is the Google website and then a set of news on Google. Then it forces you to click another URL to see other results. This probably is not the right kind of user experience that I want.
One other observation is about how the image search compares against Google. I would just say that Google wins it hands down, because of the amount of relevant results that Google gives us. I searched for my name on Bing Image search and it gave me hardly 7 results, at the same time Google gave me 439 results of which atleast 50% were relevant images.
For exploring more on how Google and Bing performs against each other, I suggest checking out this webservice.
Till then have fun "Binging" as I go back to "Googling" ... Hope to see Bing match up to Google's level someday ...
Posted by Kannan Kartha at 11:24 AM 0 comments
Labels: Bing, Fun, Google, Internet, IT, Search, User Experience, Web 2.0
Monday, May 18, 2009
WolframAlpha Vs Google
There is sudden buzz about WolframAlpha being a "Google killer" and I was quite surprised how that can happen when Google has been around for so long and it has vast amount of data already indexed.
Posted by Kannan Kartha at 2:52 AM 0 comments
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Advent Of Real-Time Search - Checking Scoopler
Real-time web is the next big thing and there are quite a few real-time search services that are creating buzz around. Tweetmeme, OneRiot, Twitscoop, Scoopler etc. Most of these like Tweetmeme and Twitscoop focus around Twitter updates, but OneRiot and Scoopler takes it further to include other services like Digg. Scoopler, which I would really call a "social media search engine" covers Flickr, Youtube, Delicious and other services.
Scoopler keeps it simple and structures the information very effectively. It shows tweets in real-time along with the popular videos, links and images from Youtube, Flickr, Digg etc. Along with it, it also stores your last three searches thereby making it easier to switch between your results.
While your at discovering information through the search, Scoopler makes it easy by showing the entire headline and instead of going to the URL, you can get a "peek" of the content in the target URL and "share" through a host of other services.
More than real-time web I am inclined towards onDemand web as written in the post by @rickmans. With that in mind, Scoopler comes up with too many tweets if you search for a hot topic (Eg: Adam Lambert while American Idol is being aired) and keeps pushing information onto your screen. There is no easy way, time or provision to make sense of the flowing information especially when it is a hot keyword. A "pause" button is critical for Scoopler (or for any real-time service), like in a Tweetmeme or a oneRiot.
Its not eye catchy from a look and feel perspective and I think a lot can be done to improve it.
But, I like Scoopler more than the others right now available.
... and before I finish, Scoopler uses a less known Cloudant, a distributed database service firm (a new type of database) funded by Y Combinator.
Posted by Kannan Kartha at 9:52 AM 0 comments
Labels: Internet, Random, Search, Social Media, Software, Technology, User Experience, Web 2.0
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Watch What You Post In Your Social Networks
Pouring out your frustrations online? Posting pictures of the wild party that you had? Hold on ...
41% - candidate posted information about them drinking or using drugs
40% - candidate posted provocative or inappropriate photographs or information
29% - candidate had poor communication skills
28% - candidate bad-mouthed their previous company or fellow employee
27% - candidate lied about qualifications
22% - candidate used discriminatory remarks related to race, gender, religion, etc.
22% - candidate's screen name was unprofessional
21% - candidate was linked to criminal behavior
19% - candidate shared confidential information from previous employers
1. Clean up digital dirt. Make sure to remove pictures, content and links that can send the wrong message to a potential employer before you start your job search.
2. Update your profile regularly. Make sure to include specific accomplishments, inside and outside of work.
3. Monitor comments. Since you can't control what other people say on your site, you may want to use the "block comments" feature.
4. Join groups selectively. While joining a group with a fun or silly name may seem harmless, "Party Monsters R Us" may not give the best impression to a hiring manager. Also be selective about who you accept as "friends."
5. Go private. Consider setting your profile to "private," so only designated friends can view it.
Posted by Kannan Kartha at 12:15 AM 0 comments
Labels: Internet, IT, Random, Social Media, Social Networking, Web 2.0