Facebook hosted a conference call on July 1 to introduce new privacy settings. It plans to offer new settings so you can share links, text, video and photographs with your friends, sub-set of their friends, or ‘everyone.’ At the moment, you can only share these with your friends.

The new changes will be rolled out over July.

Watch this quick presentation to learn some more.

You can now link your Flickr account to Twitter, allowing you to send photos in real-time to this very powerful social media application. Before you start, you might want to read the tips on getting started over on the Flickr Twitter Beta site. It’s an easy read and you’re bound to pick up some nice tips there. So, how do I link my Flickr and Twitter accounts? Here’s how you do it.

Step 1. Authorize posting to your Twitter account

Go to www.flickr.com/account/blogs/add/twitter

You’ll need to authorize your Twitter account. Flickr doesn’t ask you for your Twitter username and password, but it does need to give Flickr permission to post to your Twitter account. You can undo this as any time.

Click the ‘Head over to Twitter’ link.

This sends you to Twitter where you authorize the connection between the two apps.

If you aren’t already logged in you’ll be asked to do so. If you don’t have an account (duh!), then you need to setup one, obviously.

Step 2. Click ‘Allow’ to give Flickr access to your Twitter account

Important: This step does not allow Flickr to go in and change your account settings or anything like that. It’s just allowing them to talk to each other and send messages from one system to the other.

Click Allow.

Step 3. Twitter sends you back Flickr

Nothing for you to do here – except enjoy that nice warm feeling that something (for once) is working without a hitch.

Step 4. You’re Authorized!

You can now start Twittering from within Flickr

Actually, you have a few options here depending on how you want to do.

Flickr2Twitter From Mobile Devices

Open up the address book in your mobile device and add your unique email+Twitter address. This is just your existing upload by email address with “2twitter” added.

Flickr2Twitter From Flickr.com

Once you’ve authorized Flickr, you can Tweet photos either using the “Blog This” button, the API, or Uploaded by Email.

Screenshot shows the Twitter has been added to the list of sites I can use.

Click the ‘Blog This’ button when you see any photo you like on Flickr and then select Twitter to send it to Twitter. I’ve tested it and it works.

Flickr2Twitter Via Email

When you upload via email, the subject line becomes your Twitter tweet, and a short URL to the photo is appended (added on).

About Flickr Twitter Beta

Here’s an example from Kellan’s Twitter account of what a post looks like:

twitter.com/kellan/status/2062931580

A few other things

As they have added the Flickr URL, use 116 characters and not 140.

As it’s in Beta, they have yet to create FAQs, add this feature to your Account page and “Blog this” is available in English only (until launch).

Flickr/Twitter integration is still in BETA. They’re always looking for feedback in the Flickr Twitter Beta group. http://www.flickr.com/groups/flickrtwitterbeta/

Let me know how you get on.

Any questions, please drop me a line.

PS – If you’ve found this article useful, please consider giving us a Digg or StumbleUpon.

Regards,

Ivan

Twitter / Facebook / Flickr / Templates / Tips

]]> http://www.ivanwalsh.com/facebook/how-to-link-your-flickr-and-twitter-accounts/feed/ 2 http://www.ivanwalsh.com/business-development/wikipedia-join-forces-with-stumbleupon-com/ http://www.ivanwalsh.com/business-development/wikipedia-join-forces-with-stumbleupon-com/#comments Mon, 22 Jun 2009 10:09:34 +0000 Ivan http://www.ivanwalsh.com/?p=1968 Wikipedia Join Forces with StumbleUpon.com]]>

Following our earlier article on Google integrating with StumbleUpon, I’ve noticed that Wikipedia is also getting in on the act. Would love to know who’s coordinating these decisions.

If you visit Wikipedia, you’ll see that there is a new text link to the article’s title.

You can see in this example, that when we search for ‘Google, it displays a small SU (StumbleUpon) logo, reviews stars, and a link to the Internet on StumbleUpon.

And where does this link take you?

Here: http://www.stumbleupon.com/tag/internet/

Which then shows results its users have tagged for ‘Internet.

Like I said yesterday, I’m not sure what the point of all this is, though I would suggest that if you’re into Search Engine Optimization activities, you might want to focus on StumbleUpon and see how this effects your ranking on Google and/or StumbleUpon.

What’s next?

Let me know what you think.

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Dan Cohen highlights that the way Kindle and the Kindle iPhone are set up, you have no idea how many times you can download a book, or how many devices can be used to read it. His excellent article discusses the problems facing anyone who’s bought a Kindle as it seems that Kindle can’t tell (as far as I understand) how many times you have downloaded an ebook, especially if you are synced up to iPhone.

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Here’s what happened to Dan.

‘Making the situation even more confusing is the fact that the DRM information actually varies by publisher, and to find out how many times they will allow you to download a book you have to visit the legalese. Sometimes the info isn’t there, either. The worst part is this was all confirmed by an Amazon tech support person:

Dan – “How I find out (sic) how many times I can download any given book?” I asked.

Amazon tech support, “I don’t think you can. That’s entirely up to the publisher and I don’t think we always know.”

Dan – “You mean when you go to buy the book it doesn’t say ‘this book can be downloaded this number of times’ even though that limitation is there?”

Amazon tech support, “No, I’m very sorry it doesn’t.”

Now, this might be ok for light summer reading but with reference books, for example, which you want to read today, on your iPhone 3GS, and next year, on the theoretical iPhone 4G, it gets very tricky.

Dan points out that with certain books, you could be limited in such a way that your reading material does not follow your gadget’s natural upgrade cycle.

Over on Gear Diary the discussion continues with “Amazon should update its policy so this info is out in the open and easily accessible. The best case scenario would be to allow consumers to actually, you know, literally own the books they’ve just bought.

Amazon tech support – “if some of the books will download and the others won’t it means that you’ve reached the maximum number of times you can download the book.”

Dan asked him what that meant as the books he needed to download weren’t on any device as he’d deleted those devices and wanted to reinstall.

Amazon confirmed his worst fears.

There is always a limit to the number of times you can download a given book. Sometimes, it’s five or six times but at other times it may only be once or twice.

The worse news is…

Once you reach the cap you need to repurchase the book if you want to download it again.

So if Amazon/Apple wants you to upgrade your Kindle/ iPhone/ iPod touch every year or two, this means that although the books remain in your Kindle library online you may not be able to download them once you upgrade your hardware.

And there is no way to know — at least according to what the customer service rep told me.

You can read the full articles  here:  http://www.geardiary.com and here http://gizmodo.com

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LOGO2.0 part I

Originally uploaded by Stabilo Boss

Social Media & Web 2.0 Mosaic.

Click on this image and it will open in Flickr.

You can then click on all the logos – the links are active.

Excellent piece of work.

The entrance of Bing to the search engine market has triggered the predictable Google Killer articles, denouncements of all things Microsoft, and a few insights into what it actually does. This is the first in a series of articles on Bing, where we’ll try to sift the wheat from the chaff, so you can get an idea of where Bing stands in the overall scheme of things.

Let’s get started and see what Wired, CNET, PC Magazine has to say about it.

We’ll also look at what Seth Godin sees at the real problem with Bing and go through an interview with Steve Ballmer, Microsoft CEO, who talks about where Bing came from (and where they got the dorky name – even he doesn’t know!) and how Bing differs from Google.

Even though Bing hasn’t been released yet, everyone has an opinion. Here’s what you need to know now.

1. Bing goes live on June 3.

2. Bing stands for But It’s Not Google. This is a joke. Don’t sue me.

3. Bing’s search strategy focuses on 4 categories: shopping, travel, health and local businesses.

4. Bing is designed to keep you on its site; Google sends you off to other sites.

5. $100 million allocated to marketing. Mix of online and offline advertising. Expect to see ads in your national newspaper, TV and even on the side of a truck.

What people are saying about Bing

Wired.com on Bing

 “Bing does much more than search for relevant links. It retrieves and processes data, and renders it smartly.

That makes finding a great restaurant or an airline ticket, a snap. But the service is far from perfect.

Beautiful data mash-ups coexist side-by-side with perplexing interface choices that make it hard to find the best features.

Meanwhile, actual search results were inaccurate in some cases, and disappointing overall in the local search category, one of the areas Microsoft hopes to make its biggest splash.”

Not the greatest start. Here’s CNET.

CNET

To be honest, I was stunned by CNET’s verdict. CNET’s pearls of wisdom includes this extract:

“Google keeps improving in the area of in-search collation and display as well, but Bing makes Google look complacent, and that’s not good for Google. For the moment, Bing’s on top in this game.”

Remember, Bing isn’t live yet!

CNET think it makes Google look complacent and Bing’s on top in this game.

The fact the Google is about to launch WAVE is overlooked.

The fact the Bing hasn’t made a dime yet is also overlooked. So much for CNET.

Seattle Times

Microsoft is based in Seattle, so you can read what you want into this piece.

“Video searches are especially cool on Bing. It returns thumbnail images, just like other search engines. But when you hover over the images, the video starts playing right there, without clicking through.”

A nice feature, I have to admit.

But how’s the copyright issue resolved with content publishers?

Does it include video from rivals like Yahoo and/or Google?

It goes on:  “Travel shopping is another highlight. (read that again -  travel shopping is a highlight in 2009!)

Other Bing standouts include listings of topics, such as local restaurants, which are displayed with maps and ratings. Buttons on the side can be clicked to tailor the search and set price ranges, again adding the sort of controls common on specialized Web sites.”

PC Magazine

I’m not a fan of this magazine but its judgment seems fairly balanced.

It leads by identifying some of the problems Bing tires to resolve and how successful it is in doing this.

“Much of the time users are not really looking for a Web page but for an answer. By providing results that answer users’ questions immediately rather than requiring them to navigate to another page and back if the first one didn’t yield the info they were looking for, Bing brings value and efficiency to Web searches.”

PC Magazine add, “I didn’t run into any cases where Google’s results were more relevant than Bing’s, whether I was looking for a specific site or for general information on a topic.”

While conceding that it’s unlikely that Bing will unseat Google, but it’s a good thing for everyone to have more appealing choices, and some competition, when it comes to Web searching.”

Agreed. Maybe I’ll start reading PC Mag again.

Search Engine Land

SEL puts it case like this: “Bing has to be at least 50 percent better” than Google to start peeling away users loyal to Google. Bing isn’t 50 percent better than Google. However, Bing does offer results that are, across the searches I conducted, highly competitive with Google and in some cases it offers features that are more user-friendly.

Given the strength of Google’s brand and its “ownership” of search Bing may struggle to make market share gains.

But SEL is optimistic and predicts it will ’gain share’.

Those potential gains may come not at Google’s expense but rather from Ask, AOL or even Yahoo.”

It’s true. Maybe against Yahoo which is struggling for direction. Against Google, hardly.

But Steve Wozniak was impressed.

Bing gets an unexpected endorsement from Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak was impressed.

“That was the most astounding software demo I’ve ever seen,” Wozniak told Tech Ticker after seeing Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer unveiled Bing at the All Things Digital Conference.

What’s the real problem with Bing?

Seth Godin is always worth reading.

He cuts to the chase and addresses the real problem

“as far as I can tell, (Bing) is trying to be the next Google.

The challenge for Microsoft is that there already is a next Google.

It’s called Google.”

He adds that in times of change, the rule is this:

Don’t try to be the ‘next’.

Instead, try to be the other, the changer, the new.

Even if Microsoft adds a few features and they prove popular, how long precisely will it take Google to improve on these features?

Google saw what Twitter is achieving. The response – Google Wave. Due out in a few months. This will be Twitter on steroids.

Seth hits the nail on the head: The internet works best when you build a network, not when you buy a brand. In fact, I can’t think of one successful online brand that was built with cash.”

Can you?

What makes Bing different from other search engines?

Shar VanBoskirk on Forrester sees it a little different. She highlights three areas where Bing is different than Google.

1. Bing delivers answers, not Web pages. 

Microsoft research shows (Forrester’s research affirms it) that users increasingly rely on search engines to make decision. Hotel reservations, movie listings, gift ideas etc.

Today it’s not enough to have a directory of Web sites. Bing wants to help you make decisions; it’s more than a database–driven web catalog.

2. Bing organizes content/results by searcher (not algorithm) relevance. 

Based on its research into which result types have proven most relevant to former searchers, Bing’s interface delivers content users are most likely to value – rather than content that matches an algorithmic formula. How accurate the results Bing delivers will be seen only when it goes live.

3. Bing filters out irrelevant results.

Bing doesn’t give you pages of search results. The focus is on relevance. Nothing wrong with that.

My concern is that the results will favor, or be skewered towards, Microsoft’s business partners rather than the most appropriate site. If this is the case, the validity of the results are called into question.

And it that is the case, will users really switch over from Google?

Unlikely.

Otherwise what’s in it for companies who have signed up to be partners?

What Steve Ballmer thinks of Bing and where the name came from?

This leads us to an interview with Steve Ballmer. All Things Digital interviewed Steve Ballmer this week and asked him about Bing, the future of Microsoft as an applications developer, and where he sees Microsoft in the search industry.

Here are the key points.

Referring to poll data, Walt on All Things Digital noted Microsoft’s paltry share of the search market.

“There’s a lot of distance between you and Google,” he says. “Is search the most important thing to you as CEO or are you more concerned with Windows, etc.?”

Ballmer: “Look, we’re obviously where we are in search and we want to do better. We’re hoping to be one of the companies that moves the industry forward. The PC business continues to be big, we’re going through an economic reset, but there’s still vibrance there.”

Why did Microsoft choose the name Bing?

When asked why Microsoft chose the name Bing, Steve Ballmer answered. “We needed a name that says this is all about search. I’m not the creative guy, people like to ‘verb up’…works globally, doesn’t have negative connotations. This is a very important step…it’s not a substitute for innovation, but we need to build brand equity in addition to technology equity.”

Hmmm…. Know you know. Clear as mud, huh!

Bing – How it works

Now, let’s look at how Bing actually works

User Interface

Bing is designed with a box and button format. It has a screensaver type  background. More cluttered than Google, sharper than MSN and Yahoo. Links to some Microsoft web services.

Search

Best Match denotes an official or definitive site, i.e. the site with the most authority. How Microsoft decides who is the authority is another matter and has not been clarified at the time of writing.

Instant Answer

This answers questions that rely on facts. such as: who won the last Oscar?
It returns a result for who won an Academy Award.

• A search for UPS returns a customer service number at the top of the page.
• A search for Microsoft customer service number produced no result.

Data Mining

Bing includes software Microsoft acquired when it purchased Powerset, which lets it “understand” pages and perform data-mining activities.

Video

Video searches generate a page with a row of thumbnails. Click on these and they will play automatically in the search pane.

Weather

Bing gives a 5-day forecast. Google offers 1 day.

City Search

Want to search for a city? Bing will give you info on the weather, events, sports games, and video mentions of the area.

Shopping

If you search for a digital camera, Bing will open a search shopping page displaying:

• Price comparisons
• User reviews
• Cashback rewards you if you’ve made purchases through the site

Flight Search

The flight search feature, Farecast, searches multiple airlines by price, hops, etc.

It offers real-time flight data and shows prices, rates, and cash back incentives. It also tracks flight pricing trends and can predict (i.e. forecast) if your fare is likely to go up or down.

Full interview at All Things Digital

The last word goes to Mr. Ballmer when asked about Ask’s redesign and subsequent fall.

Could the same thing happen to Bing?

“No,” says Ballmer.

“Bing is too tremendous a stride. It differentiates itself from Google. It might not appeal to everyone, but if it appeals to 20 percent of them, that’s a success. Ask wasn’t able to do that.”

So, what’s your thoughts on Bing?

Drop me a line or have your say in the comments box below.

Vinish Garg is the Director of vhite.com, an Indian technical writing firm that provides technical documentation and medical writing consultancy services.

I interviewed Vinish recently and asked him how he started as a technical writer, about technical writing in India, and new trends he sees emerging in this field.

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Ivan: Could you tell us a little about your background and the type of activities you perform as a technical writer?
 
Vinish: I have been developing technical documentation for software, for five years now. I started with Help Systems, User Guides, and Training Manuals.

In my next jobs, I developed Installation Manuals, Cheat Sheets, Process Documentation, Proposals, Business Plans, White Papers, and Case Studies.

I have worked in traditional development methodology as well as Agile Documentation which is a different experience altogether.

Ivan: Technical writing is really taking off in India. I read recently there may be 10000 tech writers hired in the next few years. Why do you think India is doing so well in this area?  

Vinish: Yes, technical writing is coming up gradually in India, being recognized and getting the respect as any other specialized profession.

One of the reasons is that technology outsourcing has helped Indian professionals keeping themselves updated and rubbing shoulders with the best professionals in the world.

The whole concept of technical documentation, the software, the process, and understanding the responsibility is matched to the most developed countries in world such as US, UK or other European countries.

Two, Indian professionals have generally good communication skills and this, coupled with technical education background give them a good platform to be good technical writers.

Three, I should also highlight the role of organizations such as STC and TWIN. They have been doing a great service to generate awareness about this profession, holding conferences and learning sessions throughout the country.

It is a great encouragement for budding writers who want to make a mark in technical writing profession.

Ivan: What trends to you see emerging in the tech communication field?

Vinish: I guess implementing and setting up of structured authoring would take over the traditional tools and methods of technical documentation.

Software such as Arbortext Editor is not too common in India but I can see such software being accepted in more and more companies in India.

Tip: Read more about XML in Technical Communication here 

Structured authoring brings a rich set of benefits of organization such as a more streamlined authoring process where single source authoring enables content reusability.

In the long run, it saves cost if intelligently implemented in the documentation process. The content management and version control is easier as virtually all lose ends in traditional technical authoring are eliminated.

Ivan: You recently launched vhite.com. Could you tell us a little about why you setup the company?

Vinish: I have worked as a technical writer (or documentation specialist, as was my position in Basware) for more than 4 years now. I worked for diverse product based companies, and an organization that was into B2B projects.

Setting up my own venture has been a conscious decision based on certain factors.

1. I am based in Chandigarh and I think there is no dedicated technical writing services provider in the city though it has made strides in IT. Some very good companies have setup their development centres in Chandigarh.

And as I told you earlier, since technical writing is gradually being recognized in India where organizations have realised the important of quality technical documentation, I thought that it is the right time to strike when the iron is hot.

2. I also feel that there are not too many very good technical writers in and around Chandigarh. When I look at some profiles or technical work samples of professionals, I do not wonder why they are not getting the respect. We did some research and market analysis and realised that many organizations in India offer technical writing training that focus on tool or software, or language.

So, vhite offers technical writing training where we focus on the whole concept of technical writing – the importance of documentation, the process, the review process, checklists, emails, audience analysis, and a host of such concepts that are as important as learning language or a software.

We strive to encourage technical writers take it very seriously, while enjoying the process. And since we are a start-up business, we offer traditional documentation models.

In future, we plan to setup the whole structured authoring platform so that our people and our trainees are keeping pace with the latest developments in technical writing.

Ivan: You also provide medical writing services? What type of documents or content is involved in medical documentation?

Vinish: Good documentation is absolutely vital to any field, be it healthcare or technology. We understand that accurate and clear documentation that is compliant to different style guides is important in healthcare and sciences.

We have experienced medical and healthcare professionals on board who have helped us extend our documentation services to medical writing as well. We offer technical as well generic medical writing which includes developing Protocols, Monograms, CMEs, Research Papers, besides reports and articles on general healthcare subjects.

Ivan: Finally, where do you see the technical documentation field moving in the next few years?

Vinish: I can see it getting more challenging. Technology will lead to intelligent applications where software and web applications would be intelligently and smartly developed, may be leaving less scope or low need of documentation.

Another challenge would be to keep pace with the technical documentation technologies as new software may be more challenging for budding technical writers who would be new to this profession.

On the positive note, I can sense that it would be more fun for experienced professionals. Web2.0 has facilitated information sharing and knowledge exchanged like never before.

Overall, the future is bright at least for those who would be ready to leave their comfort zones, to embrace new technological challenges, and to create their won space in the ever-growing crowd of technical writers.

About Vinish Garg

You can read more about Vinish and vhite, his technical writing company at www.vhite.com

Update: May 18 vhite now offers online technical writing training courses. This is the first of its kind in Chandigarh, India.

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Resources:

Technical Writers of India TWIN

User Guide Templates

White Paper Templates

Introduction to Technical Writing

XML in Technical Communications

1001 Writing Tips: Using Microsoft Word to Create Large Documents