Skip to Content

Listen to the Joystiq Podcast (because your ears can't read)
Holidash Blog
AOL Tech

Posts with tag socialbookmarking

Filed under: Developer, Internet, Social Software

M2: Ma.gnolia to go Open Source

The social bookmarking service Ma.gnolia is announcing a new version at the Gnomedex conference in Seattle today, and the big news is that the whole thing is being rewritten from the ground up. M2, as it's being called, will include all of the features of the current Ma.gnolia, but it's going to be entirely Open Source. A first look at M2 should be available by September.

So, why Open Source, and what does it mean to Ma.gnolia users? Well, you'll be able to download Ma.gnolia and run your own version of it, and that version will be able to interoperate with Ma.gnolia.com and other web services. Standards like OpenID and OAuth will be supported, allowing for maximum portability of your data -- which, in the case of Ma.gnolia, mostly means your bookmarks and tags --- between sites. If you're already thinking of creative uses for an Open Source Ma.gnolia, good! They're looking to make user feedback a big part of building M2, so keep an eye on their blog if you've got input.

Filed under: Internet, Web services, Beta, web 2.0

Organize and share your online content with SecondBrain


SecondBrain is a personal aggregator that doesn't just aim to collect all your online content in one place - it helps you organize it. It's a bit del.icio.us, a bit FriendFeed and a bit Onaswarm, all rolled into one, with a new twist you're not going to find anywhere else.

You can import content from Twitter, del.icio.us, Blogger, Wordpress, Digg and StumbleUpon, and that's less than half the list. You can also get your content into SecondBrain by adding links directly to the site. With most other aggregators or social bookmarking sites, that's all you have to do. This is where SecondBrain gets interesting, because it allows you to organize your content into collections and share it with your people who follow your updates. SecondBrain's latest feature gives all users 1GB free storage.

It's still lacking certain features, the most significant one being the inability to export your links, but we've been told that's in the works.

SecondBrain appeals to that obsessive compulsive need to keep all your online content neatly tagged and filed away. And what better way to do this than with a service that allows you to share it with other like-minded people?

Filed under: Fun, Internet, Blogging, Productivity, Web services, Social Software, web 2.0

New York Times adds Mixx button to the mix

Mixx on New York TimesMixx, a young social news site similar to Digg, just scored a button under "SHARE" next to the articles on the NY Times site. But this is hardly important news, so what's the big deal?

The Digg-clone is only about half a year old, and as you can see in the picture on the right, only the the most established of social sites get a mention. Yet del.icio.us, Reddit, StumbleUpon, Fark, and other bigger, older, and more established sites haven't made the cut.

This NYT-Mixx button is money for the young company, and you can bet you'll hear (or read) the word "Mixx" getting mentioned more often in the future. Now, in order to complete the site's initiation process into the world of established bookmarking sites, we need to turn its name into a verb

ex: Did we Mixx this article? Yes, we love Mixxing stories (for the record, DLS has no official preference as to whether or not its members like to "Mixx" posts).

Filed under: Internet, Yahoo!, Beta, web 2.0

Yahoo! Buzz: Digg clone now in beta

Yahoo BuzzAs we reported earlier, Yahoo! Buzz is now in public beta. Buzz is similar to Digg in that it lets users promote/demote ("Buzz") content to the top of the metaphoric hive. However, currently only publishers involved in the beta can have content submitted to the site, which makes Buzz (much) more restricted than Digg.

Yahoo says that they have "members of their team" choose promoted stories to appear on the Yahoo homepage, but they do not choose what appears on the Buzz site. Like Digg, Buzz uses an algorithm to determine a story's "Buzz Score" based on number of votes, number of times the story is shared, and the number of search results for the story's subject matter.

If you want to start Buzz-ing, you'll need a Yahoo account. Then, like Digg, click the voting button next to the story to promote a story. Oddly you can also submit stories directly to other social news sites (including Digg). You won't yet be able to view your voting history, and Buzz lacks "community features" like seeing what your friends have Buzz-ed. Oh, and you can't comment on stories on the Buzz site.

So if you want a featureless Digg clone with stories coming only from a specific set of sources, then try Buzz now! But hey, it's still in beta.

[Via PC Pro - Computer Buyer]

Filed under: Internet, Video, Social Software

A social bookmarking explanation your mom would understand

If you're reading Download Squad, odds are you know all about Digg, Reddit, Netscape, Furl, and del.icio.us. But if you've ever had trouble explaining to your friends, relatives, and coworkers why it makes more sense to share news/store bookmarks online, this video is for you.



The folks at Common Craft have put together a series of videos explaining complex Web 2.0 using Web -1.0 tools (like paper). One of our favorites Common Craft's RSS in Plain English video.

[via Digital Inspiration]

Filed under: Video, Web services, Social Software

StumbleVideo: Cool video aggregator from StumbleUpon

StumbleVideo
StumbleUpon is one of the old dogs of the social bookmarking biz, but apparently it can be taught a new trick or two. StumbleVideo is a new section of the site clearly aimed at people who are bored and want something neat to watch. And it works pretty well. It aggregates bookmarked videos from the usual suspects--YouTube, Google Video, etc.--and shuffles them for you, so you can watch one video after another and up- or down-vote them through your StumbleUpon account. The videos are organized into channels (including some very specific ones like "Cats" and "Guitar") and you can see what users have voted on each video or share them with your friends. It will also display a history of the videos you watched, as well as which ones you've voted on if you're signed in.

While StumbleUpon isn't the first site to try the "TV in your browser" paradigm, its is a pretty polished and well-organized attempted, and if you're an existing StumbleUpon user (or have been thinking of getting an account), you'll appreciate the integration and social features.

Filed under: Video, Web services, Social Software

Facebook dabbles in social bookmarking

Facebook social bookmarking
TechCrunch's Marshall Kirkpatrick is reporting that Facebook is dipping its toes into del.icio.us territory with a new social bookmarking feature. Given the recent controversies over the News Feed feature and Facebook's opening for all users, the company is currently only letting Stanford and Berkeley users in on a private beta. The new sharing feature lets Facebook users bookmark both outside sites as well as Facebook pictures, notes, and profiles, and users can choose to share a bookmark publicly on their profile (in which event it will may appear on their friends' News Feed) or privately with the friends they choose. The bookmarking can be done by entering a URL into a form, clicking on a browser bookmarklet, or clicking on a "Share" button next to an item on Facebook. Justin Smith at Inside Facebook has more images of the feature in action, which show a YouTube video being bookmarked. It looks like Facebook is smart enough to recognize that it's a video and put a thumbnail image in feeds as well as a full embedded player in your profile. Smith says it recognizes MP3s, too, and does the same.

I think this is a very cool feature, but though I don't think it will cause a stir like the News Feed did initially, I have a feeling that Facebook will be hearing its share of complaints. In the end, though, if they make great features that users ultimately find useful, even if the mere thought of change scares them at first, everybody wins.

Filed under: Productivity, Web services, Social Software

DiggScapeRedlicious: One bookmarklet to rule them all

DiggScapeRedliciousAre you a member of Digg, Netscape, Reddit, and del.icio.us? Are you looking to promote your site, or just keep all of your bookmarks spread out? Enger DiggScapeRedlicious. It's a bookmarklet (or favelet, if you prefer) that helps you submit a site to all four of the above social bookmark/news sites simultaneously. Drag it to your bookmarks toolbar and thereafter clicking on it will open each of those sites' posting forms simultaneously, in frames.

So, how long will I have to wait for a DiggScapeRedSpurlicioNoliaMyWebéameBlinkFurlWireUponMarks bookmarklet?

Filed under: Internet, Web services, Yahoo!, Social Software

Have Digg and Netscape reinvented a Yahoo! News feature?

Yahoo! NewsFor I don't know how long, Yahoo! News has provided the means to rate (aka recommend) news stories. It's not a simple "thumbs up/down" but a five-star scale. At the top of each topic page at Yahoo! News you can find links to "Most emailed," "Most viewed," and "Most recommended."

The most recommended stories bubble to the top at several places (along with their respective RSS feeds):

Read more →

Featured Time Waster

Forumwarz - a potentially offensive time waster

I pwn UAfter spending the better part of an hour on Forumwarz I still can't decide if it's just sick or if it's kind of fun. It's a bit like a car wreck on the highway. I know I shouldn't be looking but I can't quite turn away.

It's sick, it's twisted, it's the internet on it's worst level and darn it, it's kind of fun. At least for a little while.

Forumwarz is a parody role-playing game that takes place on the internet - or at least the Forumwarz version of it. Your goal is to complete missions that are given to you through a mock up of GoogleTalk called Sentrillion.

Your first "friend" is ShallowEsophagus who begins giving you missions to pwn various forums by being a troll. Depending on the character type you are assigned at start up, you have tools like drooling on the keyboard or bashing your head on the keyboard that you can use to destroy forum threads and eventually, pwn a forum.

Future missions involve buying illegal software from the Russians, pwning more difficult forums and other internet oddness.

Completing missions gives you cash, called Flezz in game, and items that you can pawn or use in other missions. The game is NOT for those easily offended. It's crass, coarse and there are frequent f-bombs in the fake chat sessions.

This is also a game for a more mature audience as it requires you to shop at the Drugs R Fun store to get various concoctions to improve your playing, engage in certain cyber activities to get more Flezz and just generally use a more adult perspective.

If you can get past that, here are the more enjoyable and time-wasting aspects.

View more Time Wasters

Featured Galleries

Defective by Design, London: Protest Pictures
Cooking Mama: Mama Kills Animals
Android First-look: Amazon.com MP3 Store
Android First-look: Twitroid
Google Reader Android
Android Hands-On
Twine 1.0
Photoshop Express Beta
SXSWi 2008 Schwag Unboxing
SXSWi 2008 Day 1
Mozilla Birthday Cake
Palm stuff
Adobe Lightroom 1.1

 


Follow us on Twitter!

Flickr Pool

www.flickr.com

BloggingStocks Tech Coverage

More Tech Coverage

Joystiq

TUAW

BloggingStocks

Autoblog

Xbox 360 Fanboy

Engadget

WOW Insider

Switched.com

FanHouse