Today’s column is all about the coolest new web services that you’ll be wanting to use.
• Digg
I’ve talked about Digg before. It is a social news bookmarking website.
Here is how it works: let’s say that my best friend submits a story to Digg about something… pretty much anything. And I like the story, so I digg it (or vote for it).
If the story gets enough diggs, it soars to the homepage of the website.
So the best stories are always on Digg’s front page at digg.com.
A typical digg post. digg.com
“It ended up being ‘digg’ instead of ‘dig’ because the website dig.com would’ve cost too much,” said Kevin Rose, Digg founder and former TechTV personality.
All the stories are submitted by users – any Digg user can submit a news story, rumor, link, or article. The reason this model works is because of the massive number of users of the site.
If a story is just plain silly, it’ll be weeded out quickly. If a story is profane or otherwise offensive, Digg’s reporting feature will allow the story to be quickly removed from the site entirely.
Visit Digg at digg.com
• Del.icio.us
Del.icio.us is literally a social link sharing website. Create your favorite list of websites and share them with your friends.
Everything on Del.icio.us is someone’s favorite thing, so you’re bound to discover new and cool things as well.
The site has tons of uses and is extremely popular. Yet, it is very simple.
del.icio.us wins no awards for web design, but is oddly
very addicting. del.icio.us
To check out Del.icio.us for yourself, visit the website del.icio.us.
• Frappr
Frappr is a mapping application that allows you to add yourself to maps of people with common interest.
For example, you can visit the Frappr map for this column at www.frappr.com/fansofthetechtalk.com. You’ll see a bunch of small pushpins on the map where people who like my column and choose to add themselves to the map live – most are in Arkansas, a few are around the country, and even a few pushpins can be found in Canada.
The maps are provided by Google Maps, so they are very high quality. It’s a great way to find people of common interest from all over the world.
A frappr push-pin. frappr.com/fansoftheechtalk.com
To check out Frappr, visit www.frappr.com.
• BugMeNot
BugMeNot gives you log-in information for popular free websites.
The website helps you “bypass compulsory web registration.” For example, NYTimes.com is free but requires you to enter your email address and other information.
If you simply visit BugMeNot and enter the address of the site whose registration process you wish to bypass and if someone has already registered with fake details and has listed their login on BugMeNot, you will see a username and password.
Simply use these on the site to gain access without giving out a bit of your personal information.
Why use this? Most users don’t enter real information into those boxes anyway. If they do, unwanted email becomes a distinct possibility.
This site is a must-bookmark. They even have a plug-in for Firefox.
To check it out, visit www.bugmenot.com.
Appeared in the Feb. 27, 2006, issue of the Henderson State Oracle.
Filed in these categories: Firefox Extensions, Internet, Print Columns
