I decided to dive into using Facebook groups today. So far, I have created a few groups for family and friends. I wasn't sure what to expect. Something like the Old Groups? Or Friend Lists? No, it's like a private mini-Facebook.
When you make a post to a group, the post shows up in the Most Recent News Feed to other group members. People who aren't members of the group don't see the post. It seems like Facebook combined the best part of Friend Lists (privacy settings) and the best of Old Groups (messaging, sharing pics and video, private Wall) to make the New Groups. You can do a group chat or collaboratively edit documents. It will be interesting to see how this ends up working for my groups.
So far, I like what I'm seeing in terms of privacy and integration. Making the groups part of the main news stream will help keep them from getting stale. I'll post an update in a few months (after the holiday season) and give a review of how well my groups took off and which features are good and which ones are lacking.
P.S. I see that Apple is starting a social network based on music and iTunes. It will be interesting to see what happens with that venture.
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What you are about to read is based on my experience, some web research, and an email I received from eBay containing this link:
http://pages.ebay.com/sellerinformation/news/StandardFees.html
When eBay acquired PayPal, I feared the good times were over. I have occasionally been selling / reselling collectibles and comics on eBay to support my own collecting habits. I've been a member of the site for over 10 years now, and began selling 3-4 years ago. At that time, sellers could accept personal checks or money orders, insurance was optional, and listing fees were high.
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During Origins this year, we decided to participate in some gaming events that required signing up for new gaming sites. One site sent out emails immediately after the convention, and i have to say it wasn't that impressive. Recently, I received another email from the other site we registered with, GatheringGamers.com. Strangely enough, their actual URL is : http://creativegamingevents.com/.
Now, I'm pretty well represented on several sites that my friends belong to and also sites that reward me for my time (although I occasionally take breaks from them). This seemed like another site among the heap until I read farther down their announcement. They offered new members the chance to become bloggers to win passes to GenCon. This seemed like a site that was ready to put up to get some folks enrolled. Now, writing as many blogs as I have (I know, not enough to have fresh posts regularly), I decided it might be worth a second look. The requirement for eligibility is to post 2 entries per week and receive at at three comments on them each until GenCon next year, basically. After the screening process I was accepted in and so far have been meeting the terms, or very close.
I have to say I'm impressed with the quality of the site for a new start-up. They had the initial glitches that most companies have the first run out the door. There are some typos some places, and their auto-enrolled profiles had some glitches at first. But now it seems like the major snags have been worked out and they're already asking for input. They offer a CCG marketplace, auctions with cash back on purchases, free advertising for retailers, networking to connect publishers to gamers, and social networking for gamers to help find other players in their area. This is a huge undertaking and i have to say they have a goal in mind and are absolutely working toward becoming the best networking site for gamers out there.
Now, don't get me wrong, I love boardgamegeek.com and what it offers to the gaming community, but it does have its own quirks that are daunting to new users. It's super easy to search for games, but everything else takes some getting used to. GatheringGamers.com has a fairly straightforward interface that is really similar to most social networking sites. It doesn't take long to figure out how to navigate the site, but hopefully a few design improvements will be made in that area so that it's even easier.
Anyway, this site is for gamers only, so if you don't like games of some sort this probably isn't the site for you. For those who do like to play, I definitely suggest checking it out. And if you do, be sure to look me up and read my game blog. With the 2-a-week commitment there, I may be slow posting here for a while.
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I'm not a frequent Gmail user, but the last few days I have been frequently using my account for something besides logging into Blogger and customizing my Google front end. I'm helping count votes for a club's election (no spoilers about that here), and I wanted to use a separate email account from my daily one so the votes didn't get lost in the mix of the flood of emails I receive everyday (because I have signed up for newsletters about special offers from almost every manufacturer and retailer of almost every item I have ever purchased).
Anyway, I was trying to figure out how to organize my emails so I could find them easier through folders and I discovered that there aren't really folders in Gmail. Instead, you get to use tags. I use tags on Blogger a lot (notice the giant label cloud on this blog made of tags), so this was familiar turf. I have to say I'm in love with the tags as a sorting mechanism. Cross-referencing is one of the most helpful and cumbersome tasks when it comes to organizing information, and in my regular AOL account I have about 30 folders. While this works for most of what I receive, I find myself constantly creating more specific folders so I can easily find what I need.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not switching my mail to all Gmail or anything drastic like that. I've become to accustomed to AOL over the years and love their Plaxo interface (when it's working), but I thought that the labeling feature of Gmail was too cool not to comment on. If you have a need for quick and easy email organization, Gmail is the ticket.
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No Disintegrations readers can tune in to the Force-Cast right on this page. If you enjoy Star Wars, or just good quality podcasts, you'll like this one. Sometimes you can't always download a podcast (like when you're at work), Now, with the new standalone player in our sidebar, you can listen to the Force-Cast without the need to download the episode.
The Force-Cast reviews Star Wars news, rumors and updates. This is the official podacast of www.rebelscum.com and www.theforce.net - two of the best Star Wars news sites out there.
I recently began tuning into the Force-Cast in order to stay on top of Celebration IV news. Now I'm hooked and listening to back episodes. Jason and Peter are great hosts and they don't take themselves or this show too seriously. It's a good choice for folks with a long commute. Check it out now by using the player located in our sidebar.
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Finally, there’s an online source for storing all of your important addresses, phone numbers, etc. It’s called Plaxo. Plaxo.com allows you to import your contacts from all of your email accounts and synchronize them. You can use it for Outlook, Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo Mail, and even AOL (requires AIM). Basically, you import all of your contacts into Plaxo online and then you can export them for use in other email applications or mailing lists. You can choose what information each of your contacts can view about you through the use of business and home contact cards. You can register multiple email addresses, so no matter what email someone has for you, they will be able to find your other contact information if you want them too. You can also just say that your info is up-to-date when someone requests your contact info. This lets you eliminate invalid email addresses from your contacts and manage how you view information.
Unlike other social networking sites, Plaxo doesn’t need you to create a page or find people you want to be able to contact. All it does is store information you may have in your cell phone, email accounts, and address book in one place. It also allows you to access this information online from anywhere.
If you haven’t tried Plaxo yet, you should check it out. Anyone who wants to get my contact info can contact me for the email address to use. I hope to get your info soon if I don’t already have it.
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