Thursday, December 6, 2012
20 Tricks to Make Facebook Better
20 Tricks to Make Facebook Better
Facebook is by far the largest social network on the web. While Mark Zuckerberg has made plenty of great calls in its design, the site -- and the way people use it -- isn't as streamlined as it could be.
These 20 tips, tricks and tools will give help take your Facebook experience to the next level. From simple settings options you may have overlooked, to browser plug-ins dedicated to making the social network even better, you're sure to find something on this list that will make your Facebook time even more addicting than it already is.
Tweak Your Facebook Settings
1. Appear Offline to Certain Friends
By opening your Facebook chat window, clicking the settings icon in the upper right corner and then navigating to "Advanced Settings," you can customize your chat experience by appearing offline to certain people on your friends list. This tweak will be especially helpful for those of you with chatty acquaintances who like to talk your ear off when you're online.
2. Reposition Your Timeline Photos
When uploading a new photo, it might not always appear on your feed the way you intended. Particularly long or wide photos have a tendency to be cropped awkwardly, but you can fix this rather easily. By clicking "Edit Photo" from your Timeline page, you gain access to a "Reposition Photo" option. Using this tool, you can move your photo around the preview window so that it appears as you intended.
3. Add Photos to Your Worldly Travels
If you're a fan of Facebook's "Places" feature, you can very easily decorate it with pictures to show off your various activities all over the world. On the main Places page, simply click "Add Photos to Map" and start tagging away! If you frequently upload photos directly to your Facebook profile using a mobile app for iPhone or Android, you might find that your map is already pretty well populated.
4. Easily Hide App Notifications
By going into your account settings, navigating to the "Notifications" tab on the left side of the page, you can browse the applications that have permission to populate your news feed. If find that a friend has spammed your feed with an excessive number of app notifications, simply deactivate the offending app. It's easier than breaking off the friendship.
5. Upload Photos in High Resolution
Sometimes you'll find that a gorgeous photo you wanted to share with your friends appears tiny and blurry after adding it to your social network profile. Remedy this by going into your Facebook albums and, before uploading a photo, click the "High Quality" box.
6. Use the "View As" Option to Tweak Your Appearance to Specific Friends
Knowing what your friends can see on your Facebook Timeline is an invaluable tool to ensuring your virtual reputation stays intact. From your Timeline page, click the settings icon next to "Activity Log" and then click "View As." From here you'll be able to see what specific friends see when they visit your page.
7. Download Your Entire Facebook History
Ever wanted to browse your entire Facebook profile at once -- including every status update you've ever submitted? Facebook makes it easy. Under your Account Settings page, a small link will appear at the very bottom of the options list. Click "Download a copy of your Facebook data" to begin the process of securing your entire archive.
8. Forward Your Facebook Conversations
Having to repeat yourself is annoying in day-to-day life, and it's even more of a bother when online. Rather than copying and pasting directions or instructions to multiple people, click the "Actions" tab at the top of any Facebook message thread to access the option to forward it to others. Ta-da! No more double-talk!
9. Turn Chat Sign-in Off by Default
Can't stand endless chat when you're simply browsing your status updates? No problem. Click the settings icon in the main Facebook chat window, and click "Turn off chat" to have all future messages sent to your inbox, rather than pop-up in realtime on your screen.
10. Use Facebook to Design Your Business Card
If you've put a lot of work into making your Timeline page reflect exactly who you are, consider using it as a pre-designed business card. Clicking the "About" link -- located under your name on your Timeline -- lets you browse your social network details. In the Contact Info window is a small business card icon that will direct you to Moo.com, where you can customize a Facebook-flavored business card and place an order.
Web Tools That Optimize Facebook
11. Analyze Your Facebook History With Wolfram Alpha
For the most comprehensive breakdown of your entire Facebook history,Wolfram Alpha can't be beat. Simply type "Facebook Report" into the main search bar, approve the app's use of your Facebook data and wait for the system to break down your history. Once it's finished, you'll be treated to a seemingly endless number of graphs and data points showing your update history, most-liked photos and much more.
12. Schedule Facebook Updates With Sendible
Believe it or not, thieves are big fans of Facebook. By finding out when you'll be away from your home, security experts believe would-be robbers target those who go on a Facebook hiatus. Sendible -- an application that allows you to schedule updates even when you're not near your computer -- can keep your online persona active, even when you can't.
13. Use Twitter to Update Facebook
Sometimes you just don't have enough time to keep all your social networks up to date, but thankfully Facebook and Twitter play nice together with a little tweaking. Head to the Twitter app page on Facebook to begin the process of syncing your virtual social lives. After authorizing the Facebook app via Twitter, all your tweets will appear on Facebook as status updates.
14. Export Your Facebook Calendar to Your PC
Make sure you don't miss any important events by exporting your Facebook calendar to either Microsoft Outlook or Apple iCal. Head to your Facebook calendar (located under the "Events" tab on the Facebook navigation bar) and click the settings icon. Click "Export," and then choose either your Facebook birthday list or upcoming events. Your desktop's calendar app should launch immediately, making the process even more streamlined.
Chrome Extensions for Facebook
15. Facebook Photo Zoom
Using this extension, you no longer have to click on the photos in your news feed in order to view them in full size. Simply move your mouse cursor over the image thumbnail and the larger version will pop up right in front of you. You can even adjust the zoom by moving the mouse back and forth over the photo itself. It's like magic.
16. Revert Facebook Photo Viewer
If you're not into real-time photo zooming, this extension turns back the clock on your Facebook's photo feature. Rather than displaying pictures in the new "Theater" layout, photos will appear on their own pages, complete with the full comments section and "Like" options.
17. Facebook Chat Notifications
Have you ever left a Facebook tab open on your web browser and missed an urget message from a friend? This handy plugin produces a pop-up window on your desktop to notify you when someone needs to chat, ensuring you never miss an important bit of info.
Firefox Add-Ons for Facebook
18. Like the Page
If you're a Firefox user, you can use this add-on to instantly share any web page they come across, even when the site doesn't have a built-in Facebook share button. A small "Like" icon will pop up at the bottom of every browser window, and all it takes it a click to share your find with the world.
19. FB Purity
This plug-in returns your Facebook to an earlier day, back when spammers and useless clutter wasn't a hinderance to your browsing habits. You can hide any type of notification you wish, including birthdays, relationship updates, tagged photos, links and much more. You can make your social experience as simple as you wish.
20. Facebook Auto-Logout
Do you hate it when you accidentally leave yourself signed in to the social network, only to come back to missed chat messages and anxiety over whether someone else was browsing your digital life? This handy add-on will automatically sign you out of your Facebook windows if you've been inactive for too long, ensuring that nobody can snoop your info.
جوجل تُحدِّث خرائطها في 10 دول أوروبية
جوجل تُحدِّث خرائطها في 10 دول أوروبية
التحديث الجديد جاء بالكثير من التفاصيل إلى الخرائط ضمن مبادرة "Ground Truth" من جوجل.
أعلنت “جوجل” الشركة الأمريكية المتخصصة في مجال البرمجيات وخدمات الإنترنت أمس الأربعاء عن تحديث الخرائط الخاصة بـعشرة أقاليم ودول أوروبية في خدمة الخرائط التابعة لها “خرائط جوجل”.
وقال نائب رئيس الشركة لخدمتي “خرائط جوجل” و”جوجل إيرث” في جوجل، بريان ماكلندون، أن التحديث الجديد جاء كجزء من مشروع “Ground Truth” الذي بدأته جوجل في عام 2008، والذي تعمل من خلاله بعد الحصول على الخرائط ذات بيانات عالية الجودة ومن مصادر موثوقة حول العالم، تعمل الشركة على مزج خوارزميات متقدمة، مع البيانات المكملة (التي تشمل الصور من الجو ومن الأقمار الصناعية، وخدمة عرض الشوارع Street View)، بالإضافة إلى المدخلات البشرية لإنشاء خرائط تتطابق أقرب مايكون إلى مع ما قد يجده الزائر فعليًا لتلك المواقع.
هذا وتضم الدول التي طالها التحديث على خرائط جوجل كل من، إسبانيا، وبلغاريا، وإستونيا، وهنغاريا، وليتوانيا، ولاتفيا، وسلوفاكيا، وسلوفينيا، وإقليم “جبل طارق” في جنوب إسبانيا، بالإضافة إلى إمارة “أندورا” الكتالونية.
ولإظهار مدى حداثة خرائطها، ضرب ماكلندون مثالًا على الطريق السريع الجديد الذي يمتد على طول 70 كم في مدينة تراكيا البلغارية، وأن هذا الطريق تم افتتاحه مؤخرًا ولا تزال معظم الخرائط الرسمية في المدينة لا تضمه.
وقال ماكلندون أن جوجل قامت أيضًا بتضمين خرائطها المحدثة بمسارات المشاة، ودروب المركبات المائية، وتخطيطات المباني، وحدود الحدائق العامة، والمزيد من البيانات التي تجعل خرائطها أشمل وأقرب إلى الواقع للسكان المحليين والزوار وأبناء السبيل.
وأضاف ماكلندون أن العالم يتغير ولابد أن تواكب جوجل من خلال خدمة خرائطها هذا التغيير، لذا حث ماكلندون المستخدمين الذين يرون أن هناك مكانًا معينًا يحتاج إلى تحديث، على الإبلاغ عنه من خلال أداة “Report Problem” التي تظهر أسفل يمين الخريطة.
تجدر الإشارة إلى أن عدد البلدان التي تم تحديث خرائطها في إطار مبادرة “Ground Truth” بلغ حتى الآن 40 بلدًا حول العالم، وفقًا لماكلندون.
Top 10 Twitter tips and tricks
Top 10 Twitter tips and tricks
Below is a listing of our top 10 favorite Twitter tips and tricks. These tips will help make your Twitter experience more enjoyable and can help increase your followers.
Customize
- Change your profile picture. Use a picture of yourself to make it seem more personalized if this is your personal Twitter account.
- Utilize as much of the 160-character limit Twitter BIO space allows. Include keywords your followers or potential followers may be searching for.
- Create your own background image. However, do not make the image too much like an ad or sales pitch. The background image must be less than 800k and we recommend a size of 1600x1200 for a large image or smaller if you plan on tiling the image or just having it on the left-hand side. Finally, keep in mind that smaller resolutions and monitor sizes will hide much of the background.
Third-party tools
Take advantage of the hundreds of different third-party online tools and services that enhance your Twitter experience. Below are a few of our favorites.
- TwitPic - Take advantage of TwitPic to post pictures on your tweets. If you want to post pictures while away from the computer, use the Twitterific app.
- Qwitter - Great service that sends an e-mail any time someone unsubscribes from your Twitter profile and mentions a possible Twitter post you made that may have caused them to leave.
- Manageflitter - Fantastic site for managing your followers and getting an easy to read overview of people not following you back, quiet users, and inactive users.
- WeFollow - Great website that allows you to add yourself to a listing of Twitter users by tags you find interesting.
- SocialOomph - Another great service with a collection of free Twitter tools including the ability to schedule when a tweets gets posted.
- Tweetbeat - An excellent site that takes the trending topics on Twitter and gives you a clearer explanation of present and past trending topics.
- TwitterMeme - Another great location to find the hottest links on Twitter.
- Twitter Grader - Great service that grades any Twitter account and gives you additional details and ranking information.
- Twitter Fan Wiki Apps - Finally, this wiki has a listing of several hundred different Twitter applications and tools for users wanting more.
Use Twitter search
Take full advantage of the Twitter search tool. Below are just a few tips that can help improve your search capabilities on Twitter.
- Search for your website or blog URL and see if others are mentioning your page.
- Search for anything near you by adding near:"city state". For example, typing near:"Salt lake city Utah" club would return current tweets that have happened in Salt Lake City, Utah with the keyword club in them.
- Find people who you may enjoy following by searching for keywords that interested you.
- If you do not want tweets with links add ? -filter:links at the end of your search query.
- Need more options, use the Advanced Twitter search.
- Any time you get excellent results click the "Save this search" button to save that search. These searches can then be found under "Saved Searches" on the right-hand part of your profile on the old Twitter interface or under the "Searches" tab next to your timeline on the new Twitter interface.
Followers
- Engage followers.
- Do not follow too many people. No one is going to follow someone who is following thousands of people but only has 10 followers.
- Retweet interesting posts.
- Retweet and participate in conversations with people with a lot of followers.
- Realize it is impossible for anyone to read every tweet.
- When first joining do not follow hundreds of people, doing this may mark you as a bot.
Create useful and interesting tweets
- Try making all your tweets informative, useful, or funny.
- Do not post mundane posts, e.g. eating a bowl of cereal.
- Add hastags to your tweets. For example, if your tweet is about computers, consider adding #computer in the tweet.
- Tweet frequently. No one is going to follow someone they do not know who has not tweeted in months. Try at the very least to tweet a few times a week or daily if you can manage.
- Do not whine or complain. Everyone will unfollow anyone who constantly whines or complains.
- Try making your valuable tweets during the times people will most likely see them.
- Keep some space available in your tweet in case someone retweets your post.
- Use special characters in your tweets.
Know the lingo
Know the Twitter lingo, these are just a few examples: @reply,Direct Message (DM), Follower, Hashtag, Retweet (RT), Trending Topics, and Tweet. See the Twitter description for a full listing of Twitter terms and Lingo and related terms.
Follow the masters
Following a few of the masters of Twitter and Social Networking will give you an understanding of how to tweet better, posts to RT, and inspiration for tweets of your own. Below are the top ten Twitters we recommend following.
@GuyKawasaki
@Scobleizer
@jeffbullas
@briansolis
@tonyrobbins
@kevinrose
@timoreilly
@donttrythis
@zappos
@brainpicker
- Twitaholic - A full listing of the top users on Twitter based on Followers. This is a terrific service to find and follow the top users and possibly incorporate some of the ideas they are doing on their account.
Tip: Many of the first few hundred people are celebrities on Twitaholic, if they do not interest you skip the first page.
Create and use lists
Twitter lists are an excellent method of filtering filter through the people you follow. To create a list, click theLists link and then Create a list. After creating a list visit the persons profile page you wish to add and click the list icon, as shown in the picture to the right. Our Computers and Tech list is an example of a public list we created.
Go Mobile
Apple iPhones, Blackberry phones, Android phones, Windows phone 7 phones, and most of the other smart phones have Twitter applications. Take full advantage of these applications. For users who do not have smart phones Twitter also has extensive support for SMS, which can send tweets over a text message.
Advertise
- Mention your Twitter page as many places as you can, e.g. your business card, e-mail signatures, web page, blog, Facebook, etc.
- Create a tweet button or at least your Twitter name on your pages, similar to the below examples.
الاتصالات السعودية توفر “آيفون 5″ في 14 ديسمبر الجاري
الاتصالات السعودية توفر “آيفون 5″ في 14 ديسمبر الجاري
قامت شركة الاتصالات السعودية بإتاحة إمكانية الحجز المسبق على الهاتف على أن يتوفر يوم الجمعة 14 ديسمبر الجاري.
أعلنت شركة الاتصالات السعودية STC عزمها طرح هاتف “آيفون 5″ الجديد من شركة “آبل” الأمريكية، في المملكة في يوم الجمعة 14 كانون الأول (ديسمبر) 2012م.
وقامت الشركة بإتاحة إمكانية الحجز مسبقًا على الهاتف ابتداءً من اليوم عن طريق زيارة الموقع الإلكتروني للشركة، كما أوضحت الاتصالات السعودية أنها ستوفر جهاز “آيفون 5″ بذاكرة سعة (16، 32، 64 جيجابايت) مجانًا ضمن باقات الأجهزة الذكية، والتي تشتمل على دقائق مكالمات ورسائل نصية ووسائط وحزمة بيانات الإنترنت، في مختلف مناطق المملكة.
بالإضافة إلى ذلك، سيتم توفير “آيفون 4 إس” و”آيفون 4″، ابتداءً من اليوم، وستمكن الاتصالات السعودية مستخدمي “آيفون 5″ من الاتصال بتغطية شبكتها المدعومة بتقنية HSPA+ و DC-HSDPA.
تجدر الإشارة إلى أن “آبل” كانت قد أعلنت عن وصول هاتفها الذكي “آيفون 5″ إلى أكثر من 50 دولة حول العالم من بينها عدة دول عربية خلال شهر كانون الأول/ديسمبر الجاري.
يُذكر أن آبل قالت عن هاتفها الذي كشفت عنه قبل شهور قليلة أنه أفضل هاتف تطلقه الشركة حتى الآن فهو يتميز عن أسلافه بكونه الأنحف والأخف والأكبر من حيث حجم الشاشة بقياس 4 إنش، ويعمل بالإصدار السادس من نظام التشغيل “iOS”.
List of new Facebook Emoticons (2013)
List of new Facebook Emoticons (2013)
It’s been over a year since Facebook introduced custom emoticons, pictures created using the Facebook social graph that could be sent in chat or in messages. Creating an emoticon is simple: just enclose the ID between the brackets and post the code in a chat conversation or message page.
Today we present a new list of Smilies, large emoticons but not giant. These smilies are a custom size, but not too large and invasive. Simple, unique and great for sharing on Facebook chat. We call this list the list of Facebook Emoticons for 2013 . They are beautiful, just like the 2012 list, and we believe might be just as popular.
These smilies are similar to those published in previous articles, but are present as new because they are larger and can be seen perfectly in chat.
| Smiley | Description | Code |
 | Just awake, with eyes almost closed. | [[445362285499952]] [[445362305499950]] [[445362348833279]] [[445362345499946]] |
 | Applause | [[445362525499928]] [[445362552166592]] [[445362578833256]] [[445362582166589]] |
 | Face perched, going to sleep or is down by shame / embarrassment. | [[445363532166494]] [[445363552166492]] [[445363575499823]] [[445363572166490]] |
 | Angry | [[445363628833151]] [[445363672166480]] [[445363692166478]] [[445363695499811]] |
 | Smiley happy dancing | [[445363838833130]] [[445363872166460]] [[445363895499791]] [[445363892166458]] |
 | With red bandanna and fist | [[445370875499093]] [[445370895499091]] [[445370915499089]] [[445370918832422]] |
 | Gag with white mouth shut plugged | [[445371002165747]] [[445371038832410]] [[445371108832403]] [[445371102165737]] |
 | Shut up, tight-lipped | [[445371275499053]] [[445371302165717]] [[445371328832381]] [[445371332165714]] |
 | Smiley cheerleader | [[445372645498916]] [[445372688832245]] [[445372715498909]] [[445372712165576]] |
 | Smiley hello, hello | [[445373092165538]] [[445373155498865]] [[445373212165526]] [[445373208832193]] |
 | Bowl with rice and chopsticks | [[445373432165504]] [[445373538832160]] [[445373595498821]] [[445373592165488]] |
 | Hand with knife / ax | [[445373755498805]] [[445373805498800]] [[445373838832130]] [[445373835498797]] |
 | Confused, eyes spiral | [[445374018832112]] [[445374052165442]] [[445374068832107]] [[445374072165440]] |
 | Cuckoo comes out smiley | [[445374375498743]] [[445374415498739]] [[445374475498733]] [[445374465498734]] |
 | Heart largest red | [[445374708832043]] [[445374732165374]] [[445374768832037]] [[445374765498704]] |
 | Big red heart | [[445374842165363]] [[445374875498693]] [[445374915498689]] [[445374912165356]] |
 |
| [[445375128832001]] [[445375158831998]] [[445375182165329]] [[445375185498662]] |
 | Devilish face | [[445375438831970]] [[445375498831964]] [[445375522165295]] [[445375525498628]] |
 | Finger in the nose | [[445375942165253]] [[445375988831915]] [[445376022165245]] [[445376025498578]] |
 | Sweet face | [[445376125498568]] [[445376195498561]] [[445376222165225]] [[445376225498558]] |
 | Sweet little face that’s about to cry | [[445376455498535]] [[445376475498533]] [[445376512165196]] [[445376508831863]] |
| [[445406085495572]] [[445406118828902]] [[445406115495569]] | ||
 | Crying | [[445406242162223]] [[445406262162221]] [[445406288828885]] [[445406292162218]] |
 | Sleeping | [[445406435495537]] [[445406455495535]] [[445406472162200]] [[445406475495533]] |
 | Thumbs down | [[445406645495516]] [[445406688828845]] [[445406725495508]] [[445406728828841]] |
 | Gift | [[445406822162165]] [[445406842162163]] [[445406875495493]] [[445406872162160]] |
 | In deep relaxation | [[445407078828806]] [[445407115495469]] [[445407138828800]] [[445407142162133]] |
 | Ride with flushed cheeks | [[445407215495459]] [[445407245495456]] [[445407278828786]] [[445407282162119]] |
 | Reluctant | [[445407458828768]] [[445407485495432]] [[445407505495430]] [[445407508828763]] |
 | Dried rose | [[445407588828755]] [[445407612162086]] [[445407642162083]] [[445407638828750]] |
 | Pink | [[445407752162072]] [[445407775495403]] [[445407828828731]] [[445407825495398]] |
 | Red with anger | [[445408048828709]] [[445408142162033]] [[445408238828690]] [[445408242162023]] |
 | Yawn, good night | [[445408302162017]] [[445408318828682]] [[445408335495347]] [[445408338828680]] |
 | Smiley shocked, surprised | [[445408572161990]] [[445408592161988]] [[445408625495318]] [[445408628828651]] |
 | Happy, smile and smile | [[445408835495297]] [[445408852161962]] [[445408908828623]] [[445408905495290]] |
 | Sun | [[445409892161858]] [[445409908828523]] [[445409928828521]] [[445409932161854]] |
 | Oohh surprise | [[445409982161849]] [[445410012161846]] [[445410045495176]] [[445410042161843]] |