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Thoughtpick: A unique perspective of the Web and social media...
A unique perspective of the Web and social media...

December 31, 2009

Pimp-up Your Girlfriend’s PC This New Year’s

Before running off into the arms of alcohol and disco-lights, give your girlfriend the gift that will make her year ROCK (or boyfriend, since this guide is written by a girl): a kick-ass machine for a kick-ass 2010 and without spending a single cent.

Foxy Does It

Firefox is the world's best browser

Firefox is the world's best browser

Download Firefox, and cut the stream of complaints to less than 5%. Fast, smart, and endlessly customizable, Firefox will probably change both your life and hers. To get her started with Firefox potential, go ahead and customize her Firefox installation by dressing it up, installing the coolest add-ons, and really nifty Greasemonkey scripts.

Thoughtpick’s recommended Firefox add-ons:

1) Get Greasemonkey, an extension that lets you add userscripts: change Facebook’s color, download YouTube videos, and remove ads in Gmail.
2) Get 1Password 3, a password rememberer.
3) Skin Firefox up with something pretty, like Glitter
4) Get Scrapbook, which saves blurbs from websites to your hard drive along with the originating websites, with options for organization and categorization.

Download Firefox

Chat Junkie Fix

How cute is the Pidgin logo?

How cute is the Pidgin logo?

With a gazillion chatting services that we all somehow end up signed-up to, Pidgin, a universal chat client, will make her life much easier. Not only does it support the regular lot like Google Talk, MSN, and Yahoo, but also supports Facebook, Skype, and MySpace (via third party plugins). It will make your girlfriend quite happy to have all those annoying services running together from one place, with a darn cute mascot logo as well.

Download Pidgin.

[read full article >>]

Filed under: Tips and How To’s — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Roba @ 4:41 pm

December 30, 2009

Dramatic Chipmunk Starring in New LG Campaign [video]

Yet another seemingly successful social media campaign brought to you by LG!

LG seem to have mastered the art of viral marketing with a campaign which promotes a $100k prize for the winner of their competition, and in turn, promotes their monitors.

It’s a campaign to be remembered! LG recreated the “Dramatic Chipmunk” and let the audience of the five videos, leading to the campaign site, follow him on a own trip around the world starting with the “Break Out”.

Advertising appeals used as their best! LG should be given kudos for their proper utilization of a combination of different appeals in addition to a valuable monetary prize:

  • The sex appeal (the woman)
  • The humor appeal (the chipmunk itself & the various scenes)
  • The emotional appeals (the children & the chipmunk)

What a combo!

[read full article >>]

Filed under: Web News — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Beirut @ 9:30 pm

10 Most Influential Internet Moments That Got Left Out by Webby

Webby, just like everywhere else on the net, got into the “top of the decade” craze and released their own list of the top ten most influential Internet moments of the last decade stretching from 2000-2009. They covered Craig’s list expansion outside San Francisco in year 2000, Wikipedia and Facebook’s launch as well as Obama’s campaign. Go ahead, give it a read.

Webby Top of the Decade

Webby Top of the Decade

Now, that is a great list but for something as life changing as the internet, especially in the last decade where it became an integral part of everyone’s life, we at the Thoughtpick blog felt there are some items that fell through the cracks. The following is our own version of what we think got left out by Webby’s list:

1. The rise of Blogging

Everyone has a story to tell, and there has never been an easier way to share yours. Blogging allowed everyone to circumvent the public and reach their audience directly and for free. They went even beyond that when they became a reliable and valuable source of information and news.

[read full article >>]

Filed under: Web News — Tags: , , , , , , , — M. Bamieh @ 6:54 pm

December 29, 2009

Twitter 360 – A Cool New Twitter App for your iPhone

Twitter 360 is a nifty augmented reality Twitter application for the iPhone 3GS. What the application does beyond the basics is that it makes use of Twitter geolocation information.

The way that the application uses it is by allowing you to check where your friends (people you follow) are, based on the location of their last tweet. It will display your tweeps using Google Maps and indicate their location.

Twitter 360 in action

Twitter 360 in action

The best part of the application is that if you turn your camera on you will be able to see tweets relative to your current location. So, for example, if you have a friend that is physically to your west tweeting, you will be able to turn your phone to the west and see his tweets there. And If a tweep is close by, it will display an arrow pointing to their direction and their distance from you.

Of course, people will have to turn on geolocation on their Twitter accounts to get the most out of this application, and currently only the 3GS is supported because it utilizes its compass facilities.

Now if you are able to ignore the creepy factor of strangers knowing where you are whenever you tweet, this would be a great app. Especially if you follow a lot of local tweeps, and enjoy bumping into them unexpectedly (… or stalking them).

[read full article >>]

Filed under: App Reviews — Tags: , , , , , , , — M. Bamieh @ 9:30 pm

We Make Love and Creative Commons

Okay, these are real buttons, but web buttons look similar

Okay, these are real buttons, but web buttons look similar

We’ve all seen the cute little CC buttons all over the nooks and crannies of the World Wide Web. We’ve seen them on Flickr, blogs and Obama’s campaign website. You might have even seen them beyond the screen, on a CD cover or a movie.

But what the hell are the Creative Commons, exactly?

Just about the most brilliant idea on earth. Let me explain…

Creative Commons is a set of copyleft (as opposed to copyright) licenses for creative works such as movies, music, images, essays, research papers, and of course, websites. Using copyleft, an author may, through a copyleft licensing scheme, give every person who receives a copy of their work permission to reproduce, adapt or distribute the work as long as any resulting copies or adaptations are also bound by the same copyleft licensing scheme. Creative Commons defines the spectrum of possibilities between full copyright – all rights reserved – and the public domain – no rights reserved. The content creator and you can decide whether you want your publicly published images to be remixed, sold, shared, credited, locked up in a drawer, or none of the latter.

[read full article >>]

Filed under: Research-Based Topics — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , — Roba @ 3:44 pm

December 28, 2009

Supernova 2009: Taking Data Seriously [video]

Andreas Weigend talks about the revolution of the web and how important it is to “take data seriously”…

The amount of data created by each person doubles roughly every one or two years!

Furthermore, 10 billion pieces of content are shared per month through the Facebook share button?!

Taking data seriously is dividing into categories: (1) Customer to Business, (2) Customer to Customer and (3) Customer to the World.

Based on the video above, I would like to know what you think: Are we really taking data seriously? Are we using it efficiently to attract customers, build loyalty, maintain friendships, educate and learn?

Filed under: Future of the Web — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Beirut @ 10:00 pm

5 Web & Internet 2010 Funny Predictions – Photoshopped & Illustrated!

“The only constant thing is change!“

Therefore, and to make sure that we capture the changes in social media for the coming year, we have prepared for you a funny list of our own predictions for ten social media tools and sites for the year 2010! Make us smile, and share them :)

1. Twitter Explosion

1twitter

Twitter Explosion

[read full article >>]

Filed under: Offbeat — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Thoughtpick Team @ 6:48 pm

December 26, 2009

Information Overload [image]

What is better than an infograph? An infograph about the internet :)

This nifty infograph called “A day in the Internet” is a little mind blowing. We all know that there is TONS of information being shared online through email, l media sites, and mobile technology, but when it is compared to something as regular as a photo album, one can’t help but be a little humbled.

Here are the statistics:

A Day in the Internet

An average day online is basically information overload

An average day online is basically information overload

Created by Online Education. Click on Image to Enlarge.

Is User-Generated Content Dumbing Down Media?

With this information overload, I can’t help but have a little debate in my head on whether or not this plethora of user-generated content is making the world a better or worse place. Of course, I personally think it’s making the world a better place,  but I am a digital utopian, which makes my opinion rather biased.

It reminds me of Andrew Keen’s book “The Cult of the Amateur” where he argues that “what the Web 2.0 revolution is really delivering its superficial observations of the world around us rather than deep analysis, shrill opinion rather than considered judgment.” This is what happens, he says, “when ignorance meets egoism meets bad taste meets mob rule.”

What do you think? Is media for better or for worse, with the increasing importance of user-generated content?

Filed under: Controversial Picks — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Roba @ 7:59 pm

December 25, 2009

12 Christmas Jokes & Cartoons… Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, everyone. Just in case you’re an internet junkie like us and you’re on the PC today, we have an off-beat post for you with a bunch of funny Christmas jokes and cartoons. Enjoy! :)

Christmas Joke: Xmas - Ho Ho Ho!

Xmas - Ho Ho Ho!

Christmas Joke: Reindeer vs. Dog

Reindeer vs. Dog

[read full article >>]

Filed under: Offbeat — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Beirut @ 12:00 pm

December 24, 2009

Top 10 Ways to Take Revenge Using Social Media!

“Last night I had a revelation, somehow I have to make you pay

It’s all about manipulation, and what it takes to get my way

I don’t believe in soft solutions, no one makes a fool of me

Without receiving retribution, no one hurts me and goes free…”
~ Red Delicious

Allow me to begin this post by stating one simple fact: None of us are saints! I am sure that the idea of revenge have crossed and even more, played around in your minds at one point or another and for different reasons such being lied to, being back-stabbed, being stolen from, being humiliated and so on.

Revenge is Sweet!

Revenge is Sweet!

After writing my post on how social media makes cheating easier, and on the day I realized that I have been a victim of an ongoing lie for two years, a friend suggested that I write a post listing the ways social media can help someone take revenge through social media, as a part of my healing process!

Therefore, and in efforts to draw a smile on your face, and share with you some of my evil yet never executed ideas, I present you with the Top 10 Ways to Take Revenge Using Social Media:

1. Publicize Images through Flickr:

As wicked as this may sound, sometimes the pain you feel when betrayed is overpowering and it sucks you into a sick cycle where you feel trapped and you search for any way to feel better. Posting images on Flickr of someone who stole from you or who betrayed your work partnership, with a caption or brief describing what happened, not only has the power to help you heal, but also allows other people to watch out from falling into the same trap!

Revenge on Flickr: Eat This! By raktfram

Revenge on Flickr: Eat This! By raktfram

[read full article >>]

Filed under: Controversial Picks, Tips and How To’s — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Beirut @ 4:44 pm
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