Twellow twitter search on steroids!

Launched by the same people behind the tech news site WebProNews, Twellow has indexed more than 300,000 users and sorted them into categories like programming, marketing, graphic design, and dozens of others to help you find users who list those characteristics in their Twitter biographies. There are also sub-categories, so within “Programming” you can browse users who list PHP, Ruby on Rails, or another programming skill in their bio. RSS feeds are also offered for each category and sub-category.

Beyond directory browsing, you can enter in specific search terms to find people listing certain interests. For example, search for “social media” and you may recognize the first two people in the results: Chris Brogan and Jeff Pulver.

By default, search results are sorted by number of followers, but you can also filter them by most recent activity. You can further drill down by searching within a specific category, for example, searching for “Yahoo” under the “Tech Companies” category lists many who still call themselves employees of the search engine.

So far, my Twitter experience has mostly revolved around adding friends and interesting people I come across on blogs, or simply re-following those that follow me. Twellow allows you to be proactive about finding new and interesting people to follow, and does a great job of presenting the results.

Much like Summize, who has built an excellent topical Twitter search, Twellow has built a compelling people search and social networking front-end – both features Twitter may have been better served to build on their own.

Meanwhile, if you don’t yet find yourself in the Twellow directory, you can add yourself by going here. You may also want to re-think what you list in your Twitter bio to make it easier for people to find you.

News Via - http://mashable.com/

Tags: Twellow, Twitter search, social networking, people search

Recent Dec. 08 Shark Attack Youtube Video!

The company, which charges $3,000 USD per person for the opportunity to experience that “face-to-face” excitement, has said it intends to upgrade its protective cages as a result of the attack.

Tags: Shark attack, youtube videos, dangerous encounters

Security Threats for 2009!

Twenty years after the release of the Morris Worm, one of the first worms discovered on the Internet, the Web has proven to be the primary place where bad guys lurk, looking for poorly secured websites to plant malicious code. And, they find plenty.

According to the 2009 Security Threat Report [PDF] from Sophos, one new infected Web page is discovered every 4.5 seconds. With that in mind, we thought we'd take a look at the top security threats you should be looking out for in 2009.

SQL Injection Attacks

The Sophos research showed that over the past year the number of SQL injection attacks against innocent websites increased, a trend Sophos expects will continue next year.

Web insecurity, notably weakness against automated remote attacks such as SQL injections, will continue to be the primary way of distributing web-borne malware.

A recent report from the Internet Crime Complaint Center also points to an increase in SQL injection attacks in 2008, specifically relating to financial services and the online retail industry. Unfortunately, cyber criminals prey on the needs of Web users at any given time, and this time the economic crisis is their meal ticket.

The article is well worth reading if you're interested in how attackers compromise websites by SQL Injection or if you want ideas on how to reduce the likelihood of intruders gaining access to your private data.

Third Party Advertising Agencies and Scareware

In February 2008, Sophos confirmed a 'poisoned Web advertising campaign' on BBC competitor ITV's website that affected both Windows and Mac machines. While we've all seen Scareware, the pop ups designed to scare people into buying anti-virus software, this is the first time it has been seen for the Mac.

According to Sohpos, a Flash file was injected into traffic served up by ITV.com via third party advertising agencies. Designed to promote a program called Cleanator (Windows) or MacSweeper (Macs), the programs claimed to detect "compromising files" and encouraged users to purchase a full version of the package.

As websites often use third parties to serve up their advertising, Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos suggests taking care when selecting agencies. "Website owners should ask the third party agencies they use what procedures they have implemented to positively vet the adverts that they deliver for malicious content or unsavory links.

Social Networking Sites

With social networking on the rise, the bad guys have found yet another playground on the Web. The Sophos report reveals 1800 Facebook users had their profiles defaced in August by an attack that installed a Trojan while displaying an animated graphic of a court jester.

Gated sites appeal to the bad guys because they form a "launching pad" for mass distributing malware attacks and spam, like the recent Koobface Trojan which attacked both MySpace and Facebook and transformed victim machines into zombie computers to form botnets.

Twitter too has become a tool for cyber criminals to distribute malware and marketing messages. In many cases, the bad guys steal members' usernames and passwords and bombard the victims' friends with marketing messages or direct them to third party websites. With Twitter especially, it is difficult to discern where links are going due to the 140 character limit and the use of services that shorten URLs.

On the flip side however, Chris Boyd of FaceTime Security Labs at this years RSA Conference explained that social networking sites are incredibly useful for security researchers. "The people that create these things have been on social networking sites since the beginning; they need to be on them a lot to understand them intimately enough to exploit them. But many times they leave a trail online that we can use to track them, to find out things like their names, ages and friends."

Apple Macs Becoming "Soft Targets"

While Mac malware is miniscule compared to Windows malware, Sophos recommends Mac users follow safe computing best practices and avoid complacency even though cyber criminals are more likely to stick to attacking Windows computers in the foreseeable future due to the higher financial incentive.

With so many Windows home users seemingly incapable of properly defending themselves against malware and spyware, it seems sensible to suggest that some of them should consider switching to the Apple Mac platform. This is not because Mac OS X is superior, but simply because there is significantly less malware currently being written for it.

Along with the scareware attack mentioned earlier, there have been other attempts to infect Mac computers in 2008: the OSX/Hovdy-A Trojan, the Troj/RKOSX-A Trojan, and the OSX/Jahlav-A Trojan.

Smartphones: A New Toy for Cyber Criminals

While most malware and spam is produced as a result of financial incentive, with smartphones, Sophos believes malware will more likely be written by those wanting to make headlines. As neither the iPhone or the G1 has yet been the target of a significant attack, someone will want to be the first and claim the title.

Apple iPhone

According to Sohpos, iPhone users are more vulnerable to phishing attacks than their desktop counterparts for three reasons:

• They may be more willing to click on links because entering URLs on a touch screen is more difficult
• The iPhone version of Safari doesn't display URLs embedded in emails before they are clicked on making it more difficult to tell whether a link leads to a phishing site
• The iPhone browser doesn't display full URLs making it easier for the bad guys to trick users

Google Android

Hackers are only just getting a real look at the Android OS so there is not much to report however, one security flaw was revealed only days after the G1 went on sale. The flaw, discovered by Charles Miller, a principal security analyst at Independent Security Evaluators, was in the browser partition of the phone. According to the New York Times, the flaw enabled keystroke logging software to be installed, making it an easy trick to steal identity information and passwords.

Additionally, while many are impressed with Google's open attitude to applications, others are concerned about the ease in which malicious software could be distributed and caution when it comes to downloading third party apps is advised.

Sophos predicts as more people purchase smartphones, creating threats will become increasingly attractive to cyber criminals: Imagine a generic Mac OS X attack made for the iPhone that could also cripple the Mac computer.

Other Interesting Stats from the Sophos Report

• There were five times as many malicious e-mail attachments at the end of 2008 than at the beginning of 2008
• The United States hosts the most malware on the Web at 37 percent
• Computers in the United States relay the most spam at 17.5 percent

Cyber criminals will always be ahead of security experts simply because most of what the anti-malware providers discover is generally published for the public; the bad guys aren't as open with what they do. But, being aware of trends, keeping security patches up to date, and installing firewalls will do much to thwart the majority of attacks.

News Via - Read Write Web

Tags: Security Threats, Malware, Scareware, Viruses, Fake Viruses, Worms, aql injection attacks, Sophos, Phishing

Firefox 3 tune-up guide!

Starter and Power User Guides to Firefox 3

Need a in-depth tutorial on using the features in Firefox 3? DRIA have come up with the Field Guide for Firefox 3 with guide for each of the features Firefox 3 brings with it. You can learn more about the bookmarks or see what performance enhancements have been made.

The folks at Lifehacker have also written the Firefox 3 power user guides for making Firefox 3 more useful and better. You can find tips such as adjusting the smart location bar’s suggestions, deleting mistyped URL from the suggestions list, smart bookmarking tips and more.

Mashable also provides another much needed guide to learn more about Firefox 3 and its features. Webware gives you a Producers view of Firefox 3 talking about the behind the scene working of Firefox. And last but not the least checkout the review of Firefox 3 done by CyberNet news.

Top Features In Firefox 3

The folks at Lifehacker have written a wonderful post to highlight the top 10 features in Firefox. Lifehacker details the new features such as the new interface, the new add-on manager, malware protection and more. If you have just begun using Firefox you can find out what it is all about by reading the top 10 Firefox 3 features.

Tweaking Your Firefox 3 Location bar

Many people have said that they do not like the way Firefox 3 location bar works and may want to do away with it. Mozilla Links heard you right and have put up a comprehensive list of 9 tweaks you can apply to the Firefox 3 location bar to make it much better or disable it once and for all.

Make Firefox 3 More Faster

We love the speed of Firefox 3 but not many people will let us be satisfied with it. The XP Tech Support guys want you to want for more and tell you how to get it too. Read their trick on making Firefox 3 even more Faster.

Convert Firefox into a Social Networking Hub

Social networking is definitely one of the best way to get in touch with friends and family and share things with them, but why live a scattered social networking life when you can easily convert Firefox into your Social Networking hub with useful add-ons and extensions.

Recover Firefox 2 passwords in Firefox 3

Did you lose your passwords on your move from Firefox 2 to Firefox 3? Thepinkc Ultimate Geek has a handy article on how you can recover your passwords from Firefox 2 to Firefox 3.

Restore Lost Bookmarks From Firefox 2 in Firefox 3

We know that passwords are not the only thing you care about and bookmarks are important to you as well. If you have lost your bookmarks during the transition, Jeetblog has a life saving article that will restore your lost Firefox 2 bookmarks in Firefox 3.

If you believe that prevention is better than cure you should definitely look at how you can backup your bookmarks and restore them at a later date in Firefox 2 and Firefox 3.

Disable Autocomplete Location Bar in Firefox 3

Firefox comes built with a great and versatile location bar, but we know many of you may not be used to it and may want to switch to the plain old Firefox 2 location bar. SimpleHelp was kind enough to detail the steps to disable the autocomplete feature and revert the location bar settings to Firefox 2.

Customizing Your Firefox 3 Toolbar

Over a period of time we have told you how to create a customized toolbar in Firefox as well deleting the customized toolbar you have created. Talking about Firefox 3 About.com gives you a in depth tutorial to help you create a customized toolbar in Firefox 3.

Select and Copy Multiple Areas of Text in Firefox 3

We know how difficult it is to copy texts from different areas while you are browsing the Internet, it’s just painful to keep copy pasting multiple times till you have got all the information you want. In this tip which we had written earlier we tell you how you can select and copy multiple areas of text in Firefox 3. Well go ahead read it and save yourself some time the next time you go out to research something.

Quickly View Stored Password for Any Website in Firefox 3

Ever wondered if you have any passwords stored for the website you are browsing currently, check out a quick way to view stored passwords for any website in Firefox 3.

Quickly Save All Images and Media Files From the Website Your Visiting

[AD]

Many a times you may need to save all the images or media files from the website you are currently visiting. Technospot tells you how you can quickly save all the media files including images using a nice little trick.

Add-ons, Add-ons and more Add-ons

How can Firefox be without the useful add-ons and extensions? Here are few useful links to get started with Firefox add-ons and extensions.

• Webmonkey provides a handpicked list of top extensions for Firefox 3
• GHacks tells you about the 5 essential Firefox 3 add-ons you must be using.
• CNet editors have put up a list of 12 must have Firefox add-ons.
• Amit from Digital Inspiration tells us about SnagIt for Firefox 3.
• MakeUseOf tells you about 6 extensions that will save you time.
• Lifehacker talk about four extensions that will help you tweak Firefox 3’s Awesome Bar.
• Mashable once again points us to 30 Must have Extensions that are compatible with Firefox 3.

Also don’t forget to read our the list of Firefox Extensions we have been promoting.

Firefox 3 Themes

Well how can we forget something that makes Firefox 3 look much more nicer and jazzier? Check out the links below to find out which theme suits you best.

• CybernetNews tips you on how to get a Firefox Vista theme for XP and vice versa.
• FirefoxFacts tells you about the 5 best themes for Firefox 3.
• Life Rocks has a extensive list of themes you can use on Firefox 3.
• Hongkiat tells you about 30 nice themes that are compatible with Firefox 3.

Haven’t found the theme that satisfies you? You can always checkout the Mozilla add-on repository for themes.

Firefox 3 Tips and Tricks Updates

Like we said this list will continue to grow, the new features we discover will go into this category as we discover it or has been submitted to us.

Getting the most out of Firefox 3 Page Info Menu

Firefox 3 has a brand new Page Info Menu for which we have already included a couple of tricks in our original post. GHacks in the meantime wrote a interesting post on leveraging the Page Info Menu to get the most out of it. Technospot adds their expertise on how you can find interesting information from the info menu.

Getting Ready For Firefox 3 with Backups

Firefox Facts has a interesting article on the different things you should be backing up before your Move to Firefox 3.

Trim the Location Bar in Firefox 3 to One Line

Don’t want more information in the location bar, GHacks tells you how you can trim the Firefox 3 location bar to one line. Digital Inspiration on the other hand tells you how to disable favorites from appearing in the location bar.

Post Firefox 3 Installation Tips

Kong Technology has a interesting article on things you should do after you have installed Firefox 3.

Export Firefox 3 Bookmarks to Bookmarks.html

LyteByte has a nice little tutorial on how you can export your Firefox 3 bookmarks to bookmarks.html file.

Find How Often You Visit a Web Site in Firefox 3

Lifehacker has another good article that shows you how often you visit a site in Firefox 3.

Make Most of Firefox 3 Full Screen Mode

MozillaLinks has a nice article on how you can get the best out of the Full screen feature in Firefox 3.

Applying User Styles to Firefox

Want to change the way Firefox looks without using any additional themes? Lifehacker has a nice tutorial on applying Functional Firefox User Styles.

Firefox 3 Tips and Tricks

Ryan from CyberNet News has put up a list of tips and tricks that will allow you to enhance your browsing experience with Firefox 3.

Putting about:config in the Sidebar

One of Lifehackers readers shows you how to put the about:config in the sidebar so that you do not have to open a new tab every time you want to change a configuration.

Troubleshoot Crashing or Hanging problems in Firefox 3

How to Geek has a interesting article to troubleshoot Firefox 3 if it hangs or crashes frequently.

Five ways to master bookmarks in Firefox 3

Webware tells you how you can take control of the new bookmarks in Firefox 3 and become a master with in five simple ways.

Import Del.icio.us Bookmarks into Firefox 3

Adam from Lifehacker shows you how you can import your bookmarks from Del.icio.us into the bookmarks system for Firefox 3.

News Via - http://techie-buzz.com/

Tags: Mozillia Firefox, Firefox tips guide, firefox power user, firefox tuneups

Gbridge similar to Hamachi on Steroids!

Gbridge is Hamachi on steroids! I have used Hamachi for the last 5-6 years ever since it came out and was very impressed with it. Hamachi did what it claimed to do, and did it very well. Hamachi also has a premium service for so much a month that would allow you more features, networks ect.. Gbridge on the other hand is 100% adfree VPN software like hamachi but Gbridge has many unique features that hamachi doesnt offer! Here is the sites feature list:

If you have one computer running Gbridge

• Use EasyBackup to auto backup your important directory locally.
• Chat with your friend who is using Gmail or Gtalk.
• Invite your friends to use Gbridge.

If you have two or more computers running Gbridge

• Access your files cross your computers, e.g. instant mp3 play, securely and easily through SecureShare.
• Use AutoSync to copy big files and sync folders between your computers.
• Use EasyBackup to auto backup your important directory to another computer.
• Remote control your computer easily and securely through DesktopShare (build-in VNC) or Microsoft Remote Desktop.

If your friends are running Gbridge too!

• Use SecureShare to share photos with your friends instantly. Auto-generate thumbnails and slideshows. No uploading needed!
• Use AutoSync to receive big files and sync folders from your friends, or the other way around. Sharing gigabytes of home video files is extremely easy now!
• Use DesktopShare to share computer desktop with your friends: ideal for remote computer assistance and remote presentation.

Gbridge is a free software that lets you sync folders, share files, chat and VNC securely and easily. It extends Google's gtalk service to a collaboration VPN (Virtual Private Network) that connects your computers and your close friends' computers directly and securely. Gbridge has many unique features.

DesktopShare(VNC): Access your computer desktop remotely or share your desktop with your friend from anywhere, even behind NAT!

SecureShare: Securely share files among your own computers, so you can remotely access your files, e.g. play mp3 , with ultimate privacy. Securely share files to your designated friend, so the selected friend can instantly view the auto-generated photo thumbnails and slideshow remotely. No web upload/download needed!

AutoSync: Transfer big files and sync folders from/to anywhere has never been easier. Auto schedule, auto resume, incremental and no size limit!

EasyBackup: Setup an auto-recurring local or remote backup of your important directory is as easy as 1-2-3!

Official Website:
http://www.gbridge.com/

Tags: Vpn software, Gbridge, Vpn, remote desktop sharing, Lan over internet, secure p2p

Creating your own custom twitter background!

Create a Custom Profile Page Background on twitter:

Since the visual impact of your Twitter background is the strongest tool you have available, customize it to give people an eyeful of who you are.

You can make your own image on your computer and upload it under Settings - Design - Change Background Image. The first 200-250 pixels width on the left hand side is a great place to put additional profile information and list websites.

For a quick solution, you can create just the sidebar (250×700) as your background image with “no tile” selected. Then, modify the rest of the Twitter color scheme to complement it. You can use the first 200 pixels from the top for your picture or “header” for a possible logo and tagline.

The rest of the 400-500 vertical pixels should be used to tell others what you’re about and most importantly, what you’re looking for. Are you using Twitter to get business? To gather ideas for a project? To get feedback from customers? This is the best place to reflect your interests and other facets of your professional life if necessary, so that others can see it immediately.

Still not sure about the dimensions? You can use Browser Shots to see what it will look like on different screen sizes and browsers.

For an in-depth look at how to create a custom Twitter background, read the Twitip article - Make a Good Impression with a Custom Twitter Background.

Also check out these resources on Background images”

• Boinblog provides two different Photoshop templates to download, or you can create your own!
• Several templates for free at TwitterBacks

News via - TwitTip

Here is an option to use multiple flikr images updating every hour so you can have a different one every time some one visits your twitter page!

http://tinyurl.com/62eqkf

Paint.net is also a VERY good graphics editing software to work with if you don't have or want to use Photoshop or Gimp.

This is VERY easy even for a beginner with hardly no experience at all, so don't be intimidated give it a shot! Basically all you do is right click on your twitter background view source to find out where the image is hosted. Goto that link, then right click the image save as .jpg, .gif, or .png to your hard drive, then open it in the graphics editor of your choice! Design it how you want it save it again as a .jpg, gif, or .png then upload it back to twitter under twitter settings, Design, Change background image! Thats it! Have fun.

Other helpfull related info:

Techie Buzz article on twitterbacks
Creating twitback in powerpoint tut
One Click premade installs
TwitterStyle Free and paid backs
Crons do it yourself design guidelines
Free PSD templates
Xark nice tut
Using Paint.net
Using Gimp
Using Photoshop
Dan Hollings
Gimp for Windows
Portable Gimp

Tags: Twitter custom backgrounds, twitterbacks, photoshop, gimp, paint.net

Surfing Anonymously Xerobank & OperaTor!

My top pick here has long been Xerobank (aka TorPark), a special version of the Firefox browser that comes pre-configured to make use of the Tor anonymizing network. Now having looked at Opera Tor [1], suggested by subscribers Rob Fuller and Allan Marillier, I'm not so sure.

As you might have guessed Opera Tor is a special version of the Opera 9.21 Browser configured to use Tor. It's got some good things going for it. It's portable, it's smaller than Xerobank, it loads faster, it connects faster to the Tor Network and seems to run a little zippier as well. The Opera browser used as a base is more than a match for Firefox, with many features (including BitTorrent) built into the basic browser; features that need to be added as extensions to Firefox.

On top of that you get the excellent free mail client that comes with Opera. And it has another feature not available in Xerobank: the excellent Privoxy proxy server that provides powerful ad filtering, security screening and more. So with all of these pluses am I making Opera Tor my top recommendation? I would, except for a strange message that appears on eSnips, one of the two Opera Tor official download sites.

The message says "This file has been flagged by our users as inappropriate and is under review." I have no idea what this means and my attempts to have eSnips clarify it have not been answered. What I can say is that Opera Tor has passed all the malware tests on my PC and is also rated 100% clean by Softpedia. A Google search also came up with a blank.
Draw your own conclusions, but Opera Tor is now the product I'm using on my personal USB flash drive. Freeware, all Windows versions 6.4MB.

News Via: http://windowssecrets.com/

Opera Tor:

http://letwist.net/operator

Xerobank:

http://xerobank.com/

Tags: Surfing Anonymously, Xerobank, Tor, Opera, Firefox, Baracuda Drive, Hamachi, Proxy chaining, Wingates.

Video podcasts techspots!

Video podcasts are a great source of information to learn about technology and computers! keeping up with the latest trends from just reading blogs and websites can be both time consuming and tiresome! Everyone like movies and video, so check out some of the top video podcast from around the web you'll be glad you did! Ive listed a few of the popular ones to get you started along with links at the bottom for many more:

CNET Loaded – Natali Del Conte discusses the top technology news of the day in this daily video show.

GeekBrief TV – One of the longest running video podcast on the web with host Cali Lewis. It’s all about gadgets and tech toys.

Epic Fu – This weekly podcast is about art, tech and internet culture. Zadi Diaz has something unique in every episode.

Chris Pirillo – For computer novices who need help on software and other tech advice. Chris Pirillo records this live.

PCWorld Video Podcasts – Focused on gadget reviews, new product launches, how-to tutorials and technology buying guides.

Mahalo Daily – It’s more than just tech – delivered weekdays.

CommandN TV – An interesting tech news show with Amber MacArthur produced from Canada. Weekly.

WebbAlert – Morgan Webb covers news from the tech and gaming industry in this daily video podcast.

Ad Age – This five minute video podcast from Advertising Age covers events and personalities from the advertising and marketing world.

CNET Insider Secrets – Full of how-to tips and tricks from extending your notebook battery life to hacking an Apple TV.

Howcast Tech – Weekly tech podcast featuring tips to get most out of you gadgets and Do It Yourself projects.

Walt Mossberg – Personal Tech Columnist for Wall Street Journal reviews consumer technology products including software.

David Pogue – The New York Times’ personal technology columnist takes you on a tour of something new in tech every week in his classic style.

Workfast TV – Robert Scoble discusses tools that help you become more productive. This half-hour show is aired weekly.

Scobleizer TV – This is more on the PodTech format where Scoble discusses startups, tech news and also interviews CEOs.

Talking Tech - Ed Baig and Jefferson Graham of USA Today cover software, gadgets and interviews.

Ahead of the Curve – Weekly tech podcast from ABC News the covers everything from new video games to productivity tips to new software releases.

Show and Tell – Brought to you by CNN, this infrequent video podcast is more about new developments in Science.

Cranky Geeks – John C. Dvorak and his team discuss the most controversial topics in tech. This 30 minute podcast is released every Wednesday.

BoingBoing TV – This podcast from the "directory of wonderful things" is about tech culture, science, art and activism.

Oddly Enough - From Reuters - a weekly wrap up of odd and offbeat stories from around the world.

Around the Net – Know what’s hot in the world of viral video on the web. May sometimes cover adult videos so be careful.

Attack of the Show – Another G4 comedy video show about tech news, video games, viral videos and other odd stuff on the Internet.

Wallstrip – Wallstrip podcast is more about stocks but they frequently discuss tech companies as well. It’s a part of CBS News.

G4 Tech News – This weekly tech news countdown with Alison Haislip covers all the news about tech and gadgets from the previous week.

Beet TV – Andy Plesser features exclusive interviews with tech executives and frequently breaks news.

Channel 10 – Podcast about Microsoft software plus sneak previews of upcoming technologies like the Surface table.

WebPro News – News from the search industry, conferences and interviews with Search Engine Optimization (SEO) experts.

Did I leave out any more good ones out there, let me know in the comments!

For many more check these sites:
http://www.videopodcasts.tv/
http://video.podcast.com/

Tags: Video podcasts, Technology, computers, gadgets, new trends, updated information.

Firefox addons I personally recommend!

There are about 123 Firefox extensions and growing plus the themes, greasemonkey scripts, tweaks, mods ect. This is a list of tested Addons that I use now, or in the past that I found to be the most productive and usefull. I will continue to update this list with Firefox addons that I forgot about at the time of this post or have not tested yet! The list below is definitely some of the very best!

Gmail Manager - Allows you to manage multiple Gmail accounts and receive new mail notifications. Displays your account details including unread messages, saved drafts, spam messages, labels with new mail, space used, and new mail snippets.

TwitterFox - notifies you of your friends’ tweets of Twitter.

ChatZilla - is a clean and easy to use Internet relay chat (IRC) client.

Adsense Notifier - Displays your Adsense earnings on the statusbar.

Bookmark with Del.icio.us - Integrate del.icio.us right into Firefox. Easily access your bookmarks and post new bookmarks. Post a bookmark without leaving the page you are on.

StumbleUpon - is an intelligent browsing tool for sharing and discovering great websites.

FoxyTunes - Listen to music while surfing the Web, and control your favorite media player without ever leaving the browser.

Stealther - surf the web without leaving a trace in your local computer by *temporarily disabling history (and address bar), cookies, formFill, disk cache and sending of ReferrerHeader. Verify details of what exactly it can work for you.

NoScript - allows JavaScript, Java (and other plugins) only for trusted domains of your choice. This whitelist based pre-emptive blocking approach prevents exploitation of security vulnerabilities with no loss of functionality

LastPass - is an online password manager and form filler that makes your web browsing easier and more secure.

Greasemonkey - Let's get this out of the way right up front: Greasemonkey is not for the faint of heart. It basically allows you to add JavaScript to any Web page, but writing these scripts requires a good knowledge of scripting. The good news is that there are many generous souls out there who share the scripts they create on UserScripts.org.

When first installed, Greasemonkey does nothing. It just enables the scripting. You'll have to write, or install, scripts before you see any changes on your pages.

So what do these scripts do? Almost anything you can do with JavaScript. For example, I use both Google's Gmail and Reader services. I found a script that causes Reader to appear on the same page as my Gmail. That's a pretty big change. (It's easy to disable a script, and even easier to universally disable Greasemonkey, in case you need to undo a change.)

ColorfulTabs - Having too many tabs open can lead to a lot of confusion, but this extension will assign your tabs different colors so you can tell them apart easier.

Adblock Plus - The popular, yet controversial extension has been updated to work with the latest version of the browser, and it’s still doing what it does best: blocking ads.

DownThemAll - A popular extension that assists you in downloading multiple files from a page with just a few clicks.

Firebug - A mainstay of the developer community, Firebug strips down Web pages quickly and lets you work on JAVA, HTML, CSS and more, directly inside the browser.

Flagfox - See a flag in the status bar that tells you what country the server is in for the website you are on. You can then look up more detailed information on the server, giving you some extra security in case the site is a fake.

IETab - Sometimes you just have to look at some things in Internet Explorer due to coding issues. Well, using a tab inside of Firefox is a far sight better than having to open up IE itself.

Video DownloadHelper - The easy way to download Web videos from hundreds of YouTube-like sites, audio and picture galleries.

ColorZilla - An extremely handy tool for Web developers to let them see the RGB and Hex values of any color on a Web page

FireFTP - is a free, secure, cross-platform FTP client for Mozilla Firefox which provides easy and intuitive access to FTP servers.

Copy Plain Text - Copies text without formatting.

Google Images Re-Linker - This will let you click the thumbnail images on images.google.com, skip the referred framed page, and jump straight to the full-size image.

Sxipper - Forget your passwords! Sxipper accurately fills in forms, manages passwords and your OpenIDs.

CoolIris - Full-Screen, 3D -- Cooliris (formerly PicLens) transforms your browser into a visually stunning, lightening fast way to search, discover, view and share online photos, videos and more. Our unique "3D Wall" lets you effortlessly zoom your way around thousands items on a single, ever-expansive wall. It's the fastest way to search and enjoy Google Images, YouTube, Flickr, Hulu, and hundreds of other sites. See http://www.cooliris.com/product for a list of all features and supported sites.

FEBE (Firefox Environment Backup Extension) allows you to quickly and easily backup your Firefox extensions. In fact, it goes beyond just backing up -- It will actually rebuild your extensions individually into installable .xpi files. Now you can easily synchronize your office and home browsers.

ScribeFire is a full-featured blog editor that integrates with your browser and lets you easily post to your blog.

ReminderFox displays and manages lists of date-based reminders and ToDo's. ReminderFox does not seek to be a full-fledged calendar. In fact, the target audience is anybody that simply wants to remember important dates (birthdays, anniversaries, bills, etc) without having to run a whole calendar application. ReminderFox makes sure you remember all of your important dates via easy-to-use lists, alerts, and alarm notifications.

Nightly Tester Tools - This Extension fixes compatibility issues if a firefox extension doesn't work with your current firefox build!

Picnik - This extension adds a menu option when you right click on images to make it easy to pull the image into Picnik for editing.

Tree Style Tabs - Show tabs like a tree.

Stylish is a Firefox, Thunderbird, Flock, SeaMonkey, Mozilla Suite, and Songbird extension that allows easy management of user styles. User styles empower your browsing experience by letting you fix ugly sites, customize the look of your browser or mail client, or just have fun. With an online repository at userstyles.org, you don't even need to know how to write styles yourself; just a couple clicks and the chosen style is applied. Stylish is to CSS what Greasemonkey is to JavaScript, and unlike other methods of using user styles, most styles take effect immediately.

Feel free to add to this list in the comments

Tags: Firefox addons, Firefox extentions, Greasemonkey, UserStyles.

10 X-box360 Mods!

1. Turn your Xbox 360 into a Laptop - Like soldering? Engadget takes us through the steps of turning your Xbox 360 into a portable laptop. How. Cool. Is. That.
2. Flashing the DVD firmware to play game backups - If you have owned your Xbox 360 for some time it is possible to flash the firmware on the DVD drive to play game backups (your own backups of course ;)). WARNING - This could ban you from Xbox Live!
3. Play online without Xbox Live for Free - By using Xlink Kai you can play multiplayer LAN games online for free! MS has put a 30ms ping limit on the Xbox 360, so be sure to close all other internet apps before playing. Check out the wiki for more details.
4. Use Your Laptop as a free Xbox Wi-Fi Adapter and save $80 - Use internet connection sharing to wire your Xbox 360 to the internet instead of buying the $80 adapter.
5. DIY Xbox 360 Wifi Adapter - If you don’t want a cord from your Xbox 360 hanging out of your laptop all the time you can always follow Geeks Are Sexy’s guide to a DIY Xbox 360 Wifi adapter.
6. Stream Netflix Movies - By using vmcNetFlix you can watch all your favorite movies from your Netflix subscription.
7. Use your own HDMI cable and save $40 - Chad shows us how to fit the A/V adapter into the Xbox 360 while using your own HDMI cable instead of buying the $40 official Microsoft cable.
8. Turn your Xbox A/V cable into a VGA Cable for $7 - Once again, Engadget to the rescue with DIY instructions on how to turn your standard Xbox 360 A/V cable into a VGA cable on the cheap.
9. Mod your Case - There are limitless ways you can customize your Xbox 360 case. To start you off you can paint the face plate and the controller.
10. Surf the web - If you have Windows Media Center Editon you can surf the web from the comfort of your Xbox 360. Note that this is limited functionality only - no typing, no sound, etc. Basically just a screen shot from your PC (Good enough for pr0n).

Hopefully you ran into something new and there is still more to discover with your Xbox 360. With such an interesting machine to tweak, no wonder everyone has out-done themselves on hacking/modding the Xbox 360.

News via - Hacktosis

Have a hack or mod that we didn’t cover? Let us know in the comments.

Tags: Xbox360, console modding, gaming consoles

Blip.Fm and LastFm Great Music Social Networks!

More social music networks links:
Mashable 12 Music Networks Review

Tags: Blip.fm, Last.fm, music social networking, Djs online networking

43 FREE Skype features you didnt know about!

For millions of users, Skype is the VoIP solution of choice. If you're just getting into this great telephone alternative, you are going to be surprised how much you can do with it. In this article we cover 25 tips, hacks, and extras to help you utilize Skype to its fullest potential.

Starting Simple: Built-In Skype Features you Didn't Know About

Skype is such a rapidly emerging technology that a lot of brand new users aren't even aware of all the built-in features that Skype offers standard, not to mention the add-ons and hacks that you can improve it with. In this section we cover some often overlooked standard features of Skype that can dramatically improve your experience.

1 Call Forwarding

Whether you've set your Skype account up on your home or work computer, the fact is, you are occasionally going to get important calls when you aren't there. Thankfully, you can simply forward those calls to another Skype account or even a cell phone or land line. That way, even if your computer at work is shut down, as soon as a call comes in to your Skype account, the call will immediately ring on your cell phone, your home computer and your home phone line, meaning that no matter where you are you'll be sure to get it.
To forward a call click on the "Tools" menu and select "Options." From there set the forwarding number in the "Call Forwarding & Voicemail" section.

2 Filtering and Blocking Users

Skype is a great tool for both business and pleasure, but if you don't take preventative steps, it can also cause you some serious security problems. Vishing is a new VoIP targeted scam in which cyber-criminals use a VoIP client such as Skype to call people and attempt to trick them into revealing important financial details such as credit card numbers or online passwords. But you can limit these attacks by simply blocking unwanted callers.
To block unknown or unwanted callers, simply click on "Tools" and select "Options." From there, select "Privacy" and choose the level of security that works best for you. When it comes to individual attacks, you can avoid repeat vishing calls by blocking the spammer by clicking on "Manage Blocked Users" in the "Options" dialog.

3 A DIY Home Security System

Whether you want to keep an eye on your pet goldfish from work or just make sure no one has broken in the house while you are on vacation, Skype can double as an away from home monitoring system.
Checking in is simple with Skype's one and two way video calling. You'll need two separate Skype accounts, a computer at home with a webcam, and access to the Internet. Using one account, setup the home version of Skype to auto-answer calls and automatically fire up the webcam. Then to check in, just use the second Skype account to call the first, and the webcam video will pop up.

4 Providing Customer Support

Got a small business online? Want to offer some customer support without spending a fortune on telephony costs? Skype's graphical click-to-call SkypeMe buttons are ideal for this. Create your SkypeMe button (free account needed) and embed the code in your website, weblog, template, email, or wherever you want it to appear. When someone views your web page (or email message), the button will indicate whether you are online and accepting Skye calls, busy, or offline. If you're on the go and want to receive calls, just leave your Skype client running and set call forwarding (see above).

Plugins, Addons, and Extras

Think of the off-the-shelf version of Skype as a new car without any optional package. Sure, it will still get you to and from work, but it doesn't have any of the bells and whistles that make your new toy exciting. Unlike car options, however, these Skype Plugins and Add-ons won't cost you a fortune, and they're easy to install to boot.

5 Using Skype to Sell your Services

You've got information that other people can use, and with the Bitwine Skype add-on you'll be able to leverage that information into an income stream. Whether you're a lawyer, a mechanic, or a talented collector, there are people willing to pay for the information you have, and using Bitwine makes selling that information easy. Through Bitwine, you set up your hourly rate, then customers approach you about the topic they would like to discuss, you set up a meeting time, and at the end of the meeting Bitwine tallies up the time and will even coordinate payment via PayPal through another add-on, Bitwine extra.

6 Recording Calls

There are a lot of add-on options for recording Skype calls, including the free Audacity audio editor. But Audacity has to be triggered manually, and since you don't always know beforehand when a call should be recorded, the fact that Audacity is manual is a serious limitation. By contrast, there are a number of Skype recorders that start up automatically. HotRecorder is arguably among the best. HotRecorder allows searchable Meta text to be added to each recording, and works with Google Talk and other IM clients. For aspiring Howard Sterns, there's a selection of Emotisounds such as laughs, claps, etc., that can be inserted into the conversation for later podcasting.

7 Enhanced Voicemail

If you use your Skype phone for more than just the occasional long-distance call, you should enhance your voicemail setup beyond the basic Skype standard. Pamela offers (automatic) call recording, an answering machine for voice and video, automated chat reply if you're away, Skype VoiceMail management, and email forwarding of audio files. In addition, Pamela will let you setup a separate greeting or voicemail message for different users, so that your business and personal calls won't hear the same message. And best of all, Pamela allows for remote control, meaning that if you forget to change one of the voicemail settings before you go on vacation, you can make the changes via any computer anywhere.

8 Keep Up With New Music

If you constantly find yourself wondering why everyone else's iPod seems to have better music than yours, maybe its time to start branching out and discovering new music. Last.fm, a Skype add-on provides you with an easy forum to share your own musical preferences and listen to what other people like. With this add-on, you can browse through other Skype and Last.fm user's music collections and listen in. While you're listening, information about the song and artist you're listening to is displayed and you're given the ability to find similar titles.

Setup is really simple, you just need to download the Last.fm extra, sign up for a free account at Last.fm and there download the Last.fm software. For those of you that are Mac users, Last.fm will still work as a Skype add-on, the only difference is that you will need to download the iScrobbler extra to make Last.fm Mac compatible.

9 Universal Chat and Language Translation

It's a global world out there, so whether you're conducting business or pleasure with Skype, you are likely communicating with people around the world and may occasionally encounter language barriers. Thankfully, by using the quick add-on Universal Chat Translator you can communicate with anyone no matter what language they speak. The software only produces text translations, so you may feel like you're watching a foreign film with subtitles, but the fact that the Universal Translator can read text in 11 languages and understand spoken text in 50 means that you'll at least be able to get your point across.

10 A Complete Small Business Collaboration Solution

If you're running a small business or working as part of a team on a single project, real-time collaboration is essential. There's no better way to supplement your Skype conferencing than with a collaborative desktop provided by Skype add-on Unyte. Unyte lets you choose which applications or documents to share with the other people on your conference call. Then everyone can be looking at the same documents at the same time, and when changes are made they appear on everyone's screen so that there is no confusion. Pricing depends on the number of people you want to bring in on the conference, but you can give two-person collaboration a try for free.

11 Combining Real-Time Document and Voice Collaboration

If the setup hassles of Unyte are too much for you, a simpler solution that redefines easy-setup is TalkandWrite. TalkandWrite will give you video and voice conferencing as well as handle real-time collaborative document editing. That means, that not only will the changes you make be reflected on the other person's screen, but you'll also be able to see and talk with the other person about those changes as you make them. This easy Skype add-on can be a real time-saver for anyone who spends time working with a small team preparing for a project.

Mobility

With the advent first of cordless phones and then cell phones, every communication device is going mobile. So it doesn't make sense that your most advanced communication tool, Skype, should keep you tethered to your computer. Here are a few Skype add-ons and extras to give you the freedom to get out from behind your desk.

12 Bluetooth and Skype

The first step to mobility is just cutting the cord that connects you to your computer when you're using Skype. You can think of this step as the advent of the cordless phone for Skype, it will get you mobile, but only within certain limits. Most newer computers are already Bluetooth capable, so purchasing and synching up a Bluetooth wireless earpiece or headset is extremely simple. In fact, you can use a single Bluetooth earpiece to handle calls from both Skype and your cell phone, so you may not need to buy anything if you're already using a Bluetooth earpiece with your mobile. The only downside to going Skype wireless via Bluetooth is that you are limited by Bluetooth as to how far from your computer you can be. But for those that are just looking for a way to cut the wire and have a little more mobility around the office, Bluetooth is the perfect solution.

13 Mobile Phone Skype Calling

Imagine if you could use SkypeIn or SkypeOut from your cell phone: you could make and receive phone calls to people around the world with the convenience of your cell phone but the pricing of Skype. Thankfully, that day is already here, but a surprising number of Skype fans just don't yet know about the capability. Ego has been offering their Skype based cell phone service for almost a year. It lets you see who is online, make and receive calls with your Skype contacts, and use Skype Instant Messaging.

If the idea of carrying both a Skype phone and a regular cell phone doesn't suit you, TalkPlus has hacked the Skype API to create a server that functions as a Skype client, demonstrating that integrating Skype calls and regular mobile calls will soon be a reality. In fact, in November 2006, TalkPlus demonstrated a successful mobile call to Skype test id echo123. Their hack was then made public, and could be installed on mobile phones to talk to the Skype server. Since then, the service has temporarily gone MIA, but expect that very soon full cell phone/ Skype integration will be a reality.

14 Skype on a Cell Phone…Indirectly

While the ultimate goal is complete Skype/ mobile integration, for now you can get a lot of the functionality of a Skype mobile phone by routing your mobile through your home Skype setup. By using a Phone Diverter, which will allow your cell phone to communicate with your computer, you can enable Skype on your mobile phone indirectly.

Essentially, you will be using your mobile phone to call your home computer, which will in turn ask you to enter a password, and then allow you to use your SkypeOut credits to call your Skype friends. While the system isn't yet perfect, in part because you'll be racking up both your cell phone and SkypeOut minutes at once, it is an effective way to be able to make Skype calls from your cell phone now.

15 Bringing Skype to your TV

Imagine, you hear your Skype phone ring, but it's the fourth quarter of the game, and who knows if the call is even important. You don't want to get up, but it seems you have no choice. Thankfully, with mcePhone you won't have to get up to find out who is calling ever again, as your incoming Skype calls will simply pop up on your TV screen.

From your TV you'll be able to see your own Skype-Status (online, offline, etc), the number of SkypeOut credits you have, which of your Skype friends are currently online, and whether you have any new voicemails. And when a new call comes in, a small window automatically pops up letting you know who the caller is, and it will even let you decide whether you want to accept, ignore, or reject the call all by remote control.

16 Having your Skype Announce Who is Calling

Despite its simplicity, AudioID is easily one of the most useful Skype hacks for home users. AudioID will allow you to setup an individualized announcement for each caller that will play over your computer or home speaker system. So instead of hearing a generic computer ring from somewhere way back in the home office, you can hear a clear message from your computer, "Call from Kristy" which will let you decide whether you need to run back to take the call or whether it can wait until later.

Pure Silliness: Skype Hacks Designed to Entertain

Much of Skype's appeal is the connectivity and productivity it brings to its users. But Skype can also just be a great way to have a whole lot of fun. These simple hacks will help you do just that.

17 Voice Analysis Love Detector

Whether you're using a Skype based dating service or are just want to know if that secret crush feels the same way about you, the Love Detector is a fun Skype add-on that uses SENSE voice analysis technology to detect love and other emotions over your Skype calls. But before you rush out and purchase the full version, you can give this add-on a free trial run and start testing how people really feel about you.

18 Making Board Games Fun Again

Need a break from work but need to stay in front of the computer so your boss doesn't get suspicious? There are a whole host of classic board games that you can add-on to Skype for some fun diversion. With Backgammon, Bingo, Chess and Checkers, you can compete against your fellow Skype users using 'old-school' games with 'new-school' interfaces.

19 KishKish Lie Detector

If you're using your Skype phone to conduct business deals and you want to make sure the other party is being truthful, or you just want to prove once and for all that your boyfriend is a cheater, try KishKish the Skype Lie Detector add-on. KishKish detects the stress level of the person you are talking with over Skype, and it uses that information to detect when they are lying.

20 Creating a Lip-Snyc-ing Avatar to Hide Behind

Video calls can be great for connecting with people on a more personal level. But sometimes, whether because we don't know the caller well or it just hasn't been a good morning, we don't want to be seen. Instead of feeling embarrassed in front of the camera, CrazyTalk allows you to create your own Skype video avatar and have him/ her lip-sync anything you say. This fun add-on is surprisingly simple to setup and use, and will allow you create your own custom avatar from any digital photo. Once set up, it takes just a click to have the avatar pop up, cover the Skype video screen and begin lip-sync-ing.

21 Disguising your Voice

There's nothing more entertaining than changing your voice to mess with your friends. Whether you want to impersonate their boss or their girlfriend, DoNaut has got you covered.

This easy to install Skype add-on will allow you to adjust the tone and quality of your voice throughout the call. In addition, you can use DoNaut to pipe in some background music to your Skype calls off your favorite music player such as iTunes, or Windows Media Player.

22 "Can I Have Your Number?" … "Umm, No."

Whether from a bad blind date, or a sales person that just won't take no for an answer, we've all been in a situation where we didn't want to give the person our phone number or Skype information, but it seemed unavoidable.

Thankfully, the folks that compiled the original NotMyNumber Directory have given Skype users the ability to provide people with a fake number as well. This simple Skype add-on will give you access to local numbers in every major city that are guaranteed to be inactive. That way, when someone you don't want to talk to asks you for your Skype number, you can very casually access the Skype NotMyNumber Tool and offer them a completely fake number.

Advanced Hacks

If you're tech savvy and really want to push your Skype setup to the limit, this list of advanced hacks can help you create functionalities that are sure to improve your experience and wow your friends. But be forewarned, even though a lot of these hacks will be simple to advanced tweakers, if you're new to Skype you may find some of these hacks are over your head.

23 Multiple Logins

If Skype has become your family's communication device of choice, then no doubt you have experienced the problem of having multiple members of your family trying to use your home Skype account at the same time. For a quick fix to this problem, just setup setup multiple logins, so that everyone in the family can use their Skype ID whenever they want. So far this hack is only available for Windows XP users, but keep an eye out for a hack compatible with your OS in the near future.

24 Wake-up Call

If you're a regular business traveler, finding yourself without a wake-up call can be a big problem. Thankfully, by following this hack tutorial you can use the "Scheduled Task" feature in Windows XP to set a time and have Skype call the hotel phone to wake you up.

25 Design your own Hack

Don't see a hack here that interests you? Or maybe you need custom functionality and can't wait for someone to create it. Skype has open developer API, so you can write your own plugins which can be created in HTML or Java, or as an EXE or DLL. If you're looking for a community to help you with some of the programming hurdles, the Skype Developer Zone blog will even keep your questions private so that no one steals your new idea before you get it finished. And when your application is complete, the site also offers a Publishing Studio Publication Studio to manage your published component.

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This list of 25 Skype hacks, modifications and add-ons are all designed for one thing… improving your Skype Experience. And with your newfound Skype knowledge you are now just a hack away from experiencing this great service in ways you never have before. So go out, implement a hack or two, and enjoy your improved Skype service. Happy Skype-ing!

News via - http://www.voip-news.com/

Here are a few from Roaw News not mentioned in this article:

SkyAmp - Plugin for skype thats lets your users know what your listening to on your winamp!

Hidden Skype Emotions - Hidden skype emotions just type the code and they appear.

Remote X - Flash based remote desktop application plugin for skype.

SkyAway - Free Remote desktop support in beta!

WhiteBoard Meeting is a plugin which allows you to draw vector graphics, it allows you to insert text and images and various other things. It acts as a white board and the person sitting on the other side, gets the real time updates and thus it comes real handy, when you want to point out something on a picture or draw something.

Remote Call lets you share the desktop and lets the other users take control over the desktop and that way, you can get help from a person, who know a bit more about computers

SAM - Answering Machine, is a great plugin which as its name suggests, acts as an answering machine and when you are away or when you are busy on another call, then it records the message for you. You can save the message in MP3 or WAV formats and add personalized messages.

Skype Extras - More Plugins listed everyday on this site!

Richie Mp3 Ringback Tones - Lets your friends here mp3s when they call.

Oneeko brings visual content to any telephone conversation using a very simple 2-button approach that makes sharing your screen easy and fun. You can invite your guests and be sharing your screen in a matter of seconds. Since Oneeko runs 100% in Flash, your guest will connect instantly through their browser with no download require.

JiWire Hotspot Finder for Skype - Find a hotspot anywhere in the world!

Skax - Skax is a web-based service that works with Skype for securely faxing digital documents to any number worldwide. Skax charges no subscription or setup fees, simply pay a low per page rate when you need to send a fax. Costs money though use faxforfree instead!

SuSkype - SKYPE and MAP GOOGLE MASHUP!

Sky Anime - Animates avatars for skype!

Adondo - Call your own PC to hear Email, Traffic, Podcasts, and more!

Twitter for Skype - If you write a chat message to twitter4skype, the entry will appear on your Twitter and you’ll receive your friends’ twitters in Skype.

Twitt'd will send you updates from people you are following and everything you send to Twitt'd will be posted to your Twitter timeline.

Related Information:

Skype official blog

Skype Developer Blog

http://www.primeskype.com/

If Anyone knows more on skype places and good FREE plugins please post them in the comments!

Tags: 25 skype hacks, voip, skype addons

Second Life Virtual World!

Alot of people prob already have heard about virtual worlds (Second Life) been there done that, have read article after article on the subject, so for you people go on to another post I'm sure you will find one of interest on my blog with such a wide subject area lol. Anyway I just had to make a post about it because some people will not, or cannot take time out of there day to day quote "busy schedules" to even install this program let alone try to figure it out past the walking,flying around or teleporting to all the different worlds Second life has, and there is alot of places to visit! Some places are actually real recreated places like a certain coffee shop in Amsterdam that is recreated exactly like the real shop! If you ever played around with The Sims game its kinda like that, but with real live people on the other end of every character including real time voice chat. Its a real live social network on steroids I guess you could say, since you can join groups, clubs ect..and even places of the darker adult nature, like Club Erotica were live Djs play real live streaming music and strippers dance half naked all around you! This was actually pretty hilarious! Check this youtube vid OMG! Second Life Escorts no way! A plumber who owned his own biz sold out to this is now a millionaire!



After the initial install which was not too bad, you arrive at beginners island (Prelude Island). Then you can either take the tutorial or skip that and ask someone for help right away that is what I did lmao. (I hate long enduring tutorials in games) but I recommend it just to make things easier in the long run. Most all the controls, and there are alot of them, are straight forward. Not everyone is eager to help newbies, but there are some staff members around for that particular purpose, you just got to find one lol. Most all people are nice on Second Life, but there are some that will try to send you attachments right away. Do not accept them until you can trust who your dealing with otherwise it could be bad news for you and your computer. Other than that for the most part its relatively safe. I did read an article though how adult predators were using Second Life as a tool to get to younger under age individuals. Since all that hit the news, Second Life has started implementing precautions for age verifications ect. cleaning up the system with extra security measures!

So the normal goes you create your bio, avatar and then work on designing your character like on the famed Tiger Woods game face, body, clothing, size the list goes on. You can actually buy stuff on here and design your own stuff and sell it for real money believe it or not! Some people are just on Second Life for that only! People actually get all caught up in this buying, selling and trading its a big part of the biz on Second Life! So if your a graphic design artist this could be a great place to make some real cash! You also can make changes to the world itself purchase some land and build a house. Building in Second Life relies on a series of menu based scripts that take some time to master. Although commands will be familiar to anyone who has used a basic design or graphics program, they aren't quite point and click! Make weapons and fight in arenas! Build a private club or something on the naughty side like a bsdm or nudist camp which btw were already on there! The possibilities are endless! With so many online there is alot of stuff already built! I spent a total of 5 hours on it before I uninstalled it cause its too much of a time killer for me, Id never get anything done lol! Not to mention the price 5-day free trial, then $14.95 a month! You've got to be kidding! I think it should be free considering all the stuff you can buy on there! I can see this in the future maturing to sophisticated levels. Google will probably buy this for there prometeus plan!

So if you never tried Second Life give it a shot you might get hooked millions do, There is not a shortage of people on this thing everyday that's for sure! I found it quite intriguing at first it has a weird unexplainable feeling to it. Kinda creepy but fun at the same time definitely an experience worth trying if you bored and looking for something different to do online. This youtube video shows some of the better graphics although it is chineese.



Official Website:

http://www.secondlife.com/

Related virtual worlds like Second Life:
http://www.thesimsonline.com/
http://www.there.com/
http://www.toontown.com/

Tags: Virtual worlds, Second Life, The Sims Online, Toontown, There