There are many, many WordPress plugins out there (WordPress has instructions on how to install plugins). Here are my top recommendations for the blogging lawyer/law student: 1. BackType Connect / IntenseDebate - BackType incorporates Twitter mentions into your comment stream. It unfortunately is not yet compatible with another favorite plugin of mine called IntenseDebate, which adds comment threading and other useful tools to the default comment functionality in WordPress. It can also synchronize with the basic WordPress system, so it is easy to turn on and off. 2. DB Cache + Hyper Cache - DB Cache speeds up database access by caching common queries. Hyper Cache makes static versions of Web pages (like WP Super Cache, but I’ve found it more focused and streamlined in its approach). The combination excels at reducing server resource consumption and serving the maximum number of visitors with the minimum resource use. 3. Tweetable - Automatically sends your new postings to Twitter, with the nice bonus of adding your blog name to each post. So, for example, my postings say “via in propria persona.” It also ... read more >>
|
This content from: Duct Tape Marketing The Firefox Small Business Add-on Collection  Users of the Firefox browser know about the capability to extend the browser’s functionality through add-ons. There are thousands of these little tools and more are developed everyday.
While these toolbars and add-ons can help you find, communicate, search, automate, chat, post and tweet, half the battle is finding ones that really add value for your needs. Recently Firefox introduced what they call add-on collections, giving anyone the ability to put together recommended groups of add-ons with a specific user in mind - power user, designer, web developer, etc. So, today I would like to introduce the Ultimate Small Business Collection. This is a hand picked group of 12 add-ons that I personally use to enhance the Firefox browser for my small business activity. You can download and install the entire collection with one button and find ways to better bookmark, participate socially, automate repetitive tasks and research web sites for SEO purposes. I’m always looking ways to make this collection better, so let me know if you’ve come across add-ons I need to put in the collection. read more >>
|
Here is a nice software called Yuuguu. I really liked the software because it enables sharing of screens so we can have secure virtual meetings, it is quite light on processor and memory , and best of all it works across Ubuntu 64 bit, Windows XP, Mac OS . So if you want to work on a project team that sit across the seven seas and the big pond, and you feel the best way is to talk through a demonstration rather than give a documentation – then Yuuguu is the right software for you. The worst part of this software — is probably the name. And yes it is free and has a paid version as well. See www.Yuuguu.com 
... read more >>
|
I have to read a lot of fiction in the next few months. A lot of Science Fiction to be precice, and it’s so I can cast an informed ballot to help select the best of the genre at this year’s World Science Fiction convention (WorldCon). As a member of WorldCon, a packet containing this year’s nominees arrived in my inbox earlier this week. Lots of PDF, RTF, DOC and TXT files, for many diverse categories including best Novel, Novella, etc. Not small files by any stretch. So, to avoid culling a small forest by printing it all out, I decided to try and read them on my iPod Touch. In the past I’ve enjoyed reading on my previous portable device, the Palm T|X, so figured that I should give it a try on the Touch. The dilemma, how to get just under 200mb of data on to this little sucker. Well, I solved it, two ways. Here’s how: Over-the-air file sharing (Air Share) for PC with Files Lite:
 Files Lite is, as the name suggests, the free ‘lite’ version of OliveToast’s Files program. The way it works is pretty simple. Files allows you to store and view files on your iPhone or iPod touch. You can connect to Files from any Mac or PC and drag and drop files straight from the Finder or Windows Explorer, as...
read more >>
|
Digg, the site that lets users find and rate content from all over the web, recently introduced a new feature: the DiggBar. Contrary to what you might think, it isn't a place where you can drink away your memories of the commenting culture on Digg; instead, it's a combination URL shortener and frame from sites bookmarked in Digg. Here, for example, is what SocialSignal.com looks like in the DiggBar: 
The jury is still out on whether the DiggBar is a handy enhancement that will make your life worth living again or a blight on the planet on par with comment spam and leaf blowers. But if you've decided the DiggBar isn't your thing, you won't find a place to switch it off permanently anywhere on the Digg toolbar. Instead, if you want to bury it for good, you'll need to: - Log in and head to to your Digg viewing preferences (http://digg.com/settings/viewing).
- Under "Show DiggBar", choose "Never show DiggBar for external links".
- Click "Save Changes".
And you're done. read more >>
|
 Here’s the honest truth: finding good apps takes work. The best ways to do it are to link in to a group of like-minded people via twitter or subscribe to RSS feeds that are experts in the genres you’re looking for. Then filter by iPhone app. Developers are frustrated because of the signal-to-noise ratio is so high, and Apple’s people have no idea how to parse and promote, so there are literally thousands of developers tearing their hair out, my cousin being one of them.
So listing a group of “best” iPhone apps is like listing a group of “best” songs. It’s so diffuse as to be meaningless. You need to find your passion first, then see, in the parlance of our times, if “there’s an app for that.” Instead of looking at solutions, you should be looking at interests and opportunities. There the magic lies. Finding the right iPhone app is like good sleuthing. You can’t rely on lists, or promotions, or rankings, because the definition of what a good iPhone app is keeps changing. If you look at the apps that came out when the App Store debuted, there wouldn’t be a single one that you’d be proud of today. Apps are disposable things, even the useful ones. So when you look for “good” apps, y...
|
Every once in awhile on this blog, I try and throw out a helpful tip or link to something that I have found during my never ending mining expeditions across the Internet.  There are several URL shorteners out there, but I think bit.ly separates itself from the pack for a couple of reasons. (By the way, bit.ly is the URL. There is no .com or anything like that. Just type in bit.ly into your browser.)
The main reason bit.ly is ahead of the curve, in my opinion, is because of their stats feature. If you include a shortened link into a tweet, into Facebook, an IM, on your blog or in a blog comment, you get real time traffic for the links you send out , stats and trends, along with location data (e.g., 10 people in the UK clicked). For marketers, this is fantastic information. If you are trying to position yourself as a thought leader in your industry, this is also invaluable. Normally, if you send out a link you have no way of knowing how it might be resonating with its recipients. Now you do.
Twitter integration is another excellent feature of bit.ly. You can post tweets directly from the bit.ly interface so you don't have to move in and out of whatever Twitter client you use, cut... read more >>
|
Great news if you have an iPhone and want to use Skype – now you can make and receive your free phone calls over the net just as you can with Skype on your computer with a version of Skype for the iPhone, free software available today in the iTunes App Store. I grabbed a copy early this morning and installed it on my iPhone.   
I plan to have a review on my tech blog once I’ve been using it for a bit. Mind you, if you’ve used Skype before on a computer or a mobile device – with Skype Mobile, for instance, or perhaps with a 3 Skypephone – you’ll know what to expect: it’s simplicity itself, both to set up and use. I used it to make a couple of calls, to other Skype users and to a normal phone number, as well as received calls from other Skype users and from someone calling from a normal phone (note that calling to and receiving from normal phones are added-value Skype services which you have to pay for). In all cases, brilliant: call quality via my wi-fi network was excellent, both holding the phone to speak into its mike as well as with the hands-free loudspeaker (great for conference calls). I recorded a 4-minute Audioboo with my first impressions after installing Skype for iPhone (whi... read more >>
|
An interesting question put on Linkedin group here by James Wright is What kind of metrics are currently out there for social media marketing? Some responses were - - number of "friends" on Facebook, Myspace, and LinkedIn,
- number of blog subscribers,
- number of comments on blog posts,
- the number of links to blog posts,
- the number of brand related tweets
- where your leads are coming from
- a Google alert for phrases that are important to your business,
- referrals from embedded content/re-tweets that originated (use www.tr.im)
- ROI
- a follow-up email or sign-up page that asks "How did you hear about us?"
- Cost per lead,
- cost per engagement,
- cost per action
Some recommended tools were - (Ajay- Let me know if you know any more tool... read more >>
|
 Talking to a client this morning, I surprised her by admitting that I rarely pay for software. Not that I pirate it, I just have a lot of stuff that comes for free.
I’m not hard-line about it. While I admire the aims of the Free Software movement - I’m not actually against paying for stuff. I’m writing this on a PC, with a licensed version of Windows XP. I have plenty of commercial software, MS Office, Webposition Gold, Quicken, etc, that I use pretty much daily. I just would prefer not to wherever possible. So, for the recession-minded among you, here are the 10 free items that I use most often: Firefox
#1 with a bullet. I love Firefox. There was much rejocing in the streets with the recent news that FF had overtaken IE6 for the first time. I was astounded. People still use IE6? Why? I tried Chrome when it came out, and was fairly underwhelmed. Certainly, at the time, there was no reason for me to switch. I love my Add-ons. I hate working on another computer that doesn’t have Web Developer or Favicon picker or Colorzilla, and so on. If you’re one of those that hasn’t made the switch yet (about 30% of this site’s users are reading this in Internet Explorer), I urge you to today - you... read more >>
|