Start Google Plus is a great extension for Chrome and Firefox that lets you update Twitter and Facebook from within Google+, also adding feeds from both social networks onto your main page. We mentioned it in our Facebook to Google+ migration guide, but felt it deserved to be highlighted on its own because it’s so useful. More »
Start Google Plus is a great extension for Chrome and Firefox that lets you update Twitter and Facebook from within Google+, also adding feeds from both social networks onto your main page. We mentioned it in our Facebook to Google+ migration guide, but felt it deserved to be highlighted on its own because it’s so useful. More »
Your contacts are often scattered across multiple email accounts and social sites. Here’s how to seamlessly combine them all by using Google Contacts as your unified address book. More »
With Facebook’s ever-growing popularity, it’s not surprising that fake accounts are after your online friendship. Here are some tips for detecting and avoiding friend spam. More »
There are many DIY bug-fighting measures, as well as good ol’ DEET. But researchers have found that fans are one of the most effective bug repellents. It has to do with your breath, as well as your sweat. More »
Android users, iPhone users (anyone using Google Sync, in fact), and Google Contacts users in general with Facebook friends who list their phone number in their profiles will love this:
Brad Fitzpatrick offers a Greasemonkey script that exports those phone numbers to AddressBookr and offers to add/merge them into your Google Contacts. Even though this was posted last November, I just gave it a test run and it worked like a charm. Thanks, Nick!
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From the thin files of the Decently Useful Facebook Apps Dept.: MapMotive puts your Facebook friends on a Google Map, making it easy to visit acquaintances while traveling, or just marvel at your social spread.
It’s more than just a series of red pins on a worldwide map, though. You can quickly locate friends by name with the “Friend Finder” list, add markers to the map to find the best in-between meet-up spots, and see a thumbnail profile of each friend on the map with their latest status update and other vitals. It lacks, fortunately/unfortunately, the ability to know exactly where your friends are, and might misplace a friend or two depending on how detailed their profile is, but seems to be generally correct in placing people in their respective burgs.
It could come in handy next time you’re in need of a couch to crash on, or help you kill a few minutes exploring the places and faces of your social network. Free to use, just like the MapMotive.com map-making site it comes from.
Web-based application TrackThis is a veritable Swiss Army knife of package tracking with the ability to track packages from thirteen different carriers and update you in six different ways.
Enter a tracking number into TrackThis and assign it a nickname—like Nick's Naughty Valentine Box 'o Fun—and TrackThis automatically detects if the tracking number is from one of the thirteen carriers it supports. The webapp recognizes track numbers from FedEx, UPS, USPS, and all the way to the freight company CEVA and the international carriers like Canada Post and UK City Link.
Equally as impressive as its roster of carriers is the number of ways it can update you. TrackThis can show updates through its website, or send you updates through email, SMS, RSS, Twitter, or even Facebook messages. So if you really want to see where your mailed item is every step of the way, there’s little chance you’ll be left in the dark. TrackThis is a free service, but does require you to use a Google, OpenID or other compatible service for login. Thanks zyzzva!
