OK so it isn’t really a word. Wiki is a web software for the community by the community. It simplifies the collaborative project because anyone can edit the pages and/or information stored within. For a more detailed explanation on Wiki’s click here.
Anyway I’m here to share three “Wiki” services offered by the web. There are a lot more out there but I’ll post about them some other time. So let’s just focus on these three.
Wikipedia. The most popular Wiki service on the web. It is an online encyclopedia which has a topic of almost everything. Since it is a “Wiki” and edited/created by thousands of people, the accuracy is sometimes questionable. Although most content are regularly checked by the sites moderators and verifies the information posted in their Wiki. Wikipedia boasts the largest knowledge base content in the Internet. Well, at least for now.
WikiMapia. This is much like Google Earth, in fact it uses Google’s map database. But since this is in Wiki-from, registered users can place landmarks, location names, and even mark street names on this site. Unlike Google Earth, this one doesn’t need any software installed into your PC, all it needs is a browser.
WikiYou. This is just a new Wiki site, and like Wikipedia, it is also a database. But the difference is that, this a database for people. From the site: The unauthorized biography of every person on earth. WikiYou empowers people to write about one another openly and records the stories of our lives. This site is divided into two sections, the celebrity section where popular people are categorized, and the people section where ordinary people can post their biography.
Popularity: 3% [?]
Mozilla Firefox just released another security update for their browser. This update, released July 30, 2007, fixes a couple of critical and moderate vulnerabilities.
Its time to update once again, for security and web protection. Like I always say, keep your softwares updated, regularly.
Popularity: 3% [?]
Philippine R.O.S.E. Online is shutting down its servers this August. This is a sad day to the loyal players of the game. I was one of the many early gamers of pROSE when it was beta launched here in the Philippines a few years back. Although I’ve only spent a few months playing the game, I have to say this is one of the best (second to Ragnarok Online) online games to arrive here in the Philippines.
According to their site news, pROSE will be shutting down operations on August 6, 2007 at 3:00 pm. Level-up will reimburse loyal players of their unspent moonies and bonus credits to their MyLevelUp wallet
Popularity: 4% [?]
I’m a Firefox user and if you are too, you know about its wonderful feature called Add-ons. Various tidbits of codes contribute to this Add-ons and thus adds more functionality to that wonderful browser.
Here is a list of the Add-ons I (Ryman) have installed and use on my Firefox, both at home and at work. Most of these are functional while others are just for fun. There are a lot more Add-ons for Firefox which I would like to try out, unfortunately installing many add-ons will result in a heavy memory usage and slow load of the browser.
This is arranged from the most important to the least I use:
Google Toolbar – I’m not a fan of toolbars, but this one I’ve got to install on my Firefox. One feature I mostly use here is the PageRank information display. This is for SEO (Search Engine Optimization) specialists who wants to view the current ranking of a particular web site on Google. I use this mostly at work (my former work actually) since I’m with the SEO department. When you login to this toolbar using your Google account, every google page you visit automatically logs you in, including the Google Notebook add-on I use, so that I don’t have to log every time I visit a Google page. This also compliments my Blogger account.
Google Notebook – This helps me add quick notes whenever I came across something useful on the internet. This is most functional when I’m at the office and take down quick notes, and when I get home I just launch this on my browser and the note appears on my browser. You can also highlight a text on a web page then right click to add that to the notebook, its that easy, and it also add the relevant URL/Link where you got the note from.
SearchStatus – Another tool for SEO specialists and I use this at work, and sometimes at home too. From the author and I quote “Display the Google PageRank, Alexa rank and Compete ranking anywhere in your browser, along with fast keyword density analyser, keyword/nofollow highlighting, backward/related links, Alexa info and other SEO tools.” Rankings shows the importance of a website compared to another website with the same content. The most popular rankings used are Google and Alexa.
ColorZilla – This is handy if you are a web (CSS) coder. This add-on places a small dropper box on the lower left of your browser. With this dropper you can view the exact HEX/RGB code for the color which your mouse cursor is pointed at. Also another feature is that you can also see which section of the CSS the current cursor is pointing. I found this useful when I customized my Multiply and Hi5 profile page.
ChromaTabs – This add-on modifies the tabs on Firefox with a color. Each different URL you are visiting has a corresponding color. How is this useful? Well lets say you have a multitude of tabs opened and the title text of the page is barely readable. Your only hint would be the color (with the exception of the favicon) so you can switch to it more quickly. So you don’t need to switch to every tab hoping you got the right one you are looking for. Our site, Tambayan.ph has a cyan color tab, while Google has a pink tab.
Video Downloader – This is originally the ‘only’ (actually the first) one which can download videos (.FLV) from YouTube. I have to install this so I can download videos from YouTube and also from other sites. No, I’m not talking about pornographic (we have torrents to thank for that) sites here, sites that have free content like video/game trailers and or non-commercial content from YouTube.
Photo 2 Text – It basically changes your photo to text (ASCII art). Right click on any image you are viewing with your browser, then download that image to text, and viola instant ASCII art. This is just a for fun add-on I use. You can also upload your image to their website photo2text.com then download it as a ASCII text.
So what Firefox add-ons do you use?
Popularity: 8% [?]
Truemors a newly opened site for… rumors… or what not. The content for the site is provided by the users. And the site has a moderator to keep things in check. Like removing articles or entries that may be “harmful” for the community or anything that is inappropriate for the general audience.
So if you have a lot of spare time or just want to waste time at work, head over to Truemors and maybe you can learn a thing or two, or none at all.
Popularity: 4% [?]
Tambayan.ph provides important news regarding (or related to) the Philippines. The site also features gadgets, technology news, interesting websites, online games, and much more.