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<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><b
style=""><span style="font-size: 16pt;">4Cast #100:<br>
The top social networking applications, learning sources, online tools
&
tech gadgets<br>
</span></b>April 30, 2008</p>
<p>This milestone edition will be packed full of numbers. Wait! We
promise it
won't be boring. The intent is to show that social networking isn't
going away.
(Read as, "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.) It will also show you some
useful learning sites, cool online tools, and some top tech gadgets
that you simply
must have.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>1. While we hate to keep going on and on about the social networks...<o:p></o:p></p>
<ul type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="">Did you know that according to
Wikipedia, MySpace gains 230,000 new registrations per day? Time to
give it a try? Go to <a href="http://www.myspace.com"
mce_href="http://www.myspace.com">MySpace</a>.<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style=""><a
href="http://lifehacker.com/375391/five-best-instant-messengers"
mce_href="http://lifehacker.com/375391/five-best-instant-messengers">Five
Best Instant Messengers</a> (Lifehacker)<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style=""><a
href="http://www.smartmobs.com/2008/04/22/youth-oriented-virtual-worlds-now-100-live-online-or-developing/"
mce_href="http://www.smartmobs.com/2008/04/22/youth-oriented-virtual-worlds-now-100-live-online-or-developing/">Youth-Oriented
Virtual Worlds now 100+ live online or developing</a> (Smart Mobs)<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="">Total Twitter Messages = 3 million per
day. How many of your users contribute to that number? <a
href="http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/04/29/end-of-speculation-the-real-twitter-usage-numbers/"
mce_href="http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/04/29/end-of-speculation-the-real-twitter-usage-numbers/">End
Of Speculation: The Real Twitter Usage Numbers </a>(Tech Crunch)<o:p></o:p></li>
</ul>
<p>2. You want answers?<o:p></o:p></p>
<ul type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="">Try <a
href="http://www.resourceshelf.com/"
mce_href="http://www.resourceshelf.com/">ResourseShelf</a>, where many
dedicated librarians and researchers share the results of their web
searches. Type anything into their search box to retrieve FREE,
reliable information.</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style=""><a
href="http://www.area603.com/index.php?op=ViewArticle&articleId=2037&blogId=6">A
new unit of measure: "The wikipedia" = 100 million hours of thought</a>
(Granite Geek)</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="">There are now more than 100 million
active Websites. How can our users even begin to find usable, reliable
content? <a
href="http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/04/25/is-keyword-search-about-to-hit-its-breaking-point/"
mce_href="http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/04/25/is-keyword-search-about-to-hit-its-breaking-point/">Is
Keyword Search About To Hit Its Breaking Point?</a> (Tech Crunch)</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style=""><a href="http://www.fixya.com/">FixYa</a>,
a user-generated Web site for product care support, is set to announce
an effort that brings Best Buy customers and the Geek Squad together to
swap real-world solutions to common technical problems. It's social
networking meets tech support. It already has 30,000 contributors. <a
href="http://www.webware.com/8301-1_109-9930776-2.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=Webware"
mce_href="http://www.webware.com/8301-1_109-9930776-2.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=Webware">Best
Buy buys into tech support 2.0</a> (Webware)<o:p></o:p></li>
</ul>
<p>3. Online tools - are there ever enough?<o:p></o:p></p>
<ul type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style=""><a
href="http://oedb.org/blogs/ilibrarian/2008/200-free-must-see-wordpress-themes/"
mce_href="http://oedb.org/blogs/ilibrarian/2008/200-free-must-see-wordpress-themes/">200+
Free Must-See WordPress Themes</a> (iLibrarian)<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="">Membership is free for a library of up
to 200 books on <a href="http://www.librarything.com/"
mce_href="http://www.librarything.com/">LibraryThing</a>.<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="">Browse and share your digital photos
in 3D Stacks with <a
href="http://lifehacker.com/361006/browse-your-digital-photos-in-3d-stacks-with-picme"
mce_href="http://lifehacker.com/361006/browse-your-digital-photos-in-3d-stacks-with-picme">PicMe</a>.
The first 200 are free. (LifeHacker)<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="">Of the 300 finalists, only the best
could be named <a
href="http://www.webware.com/html/ww/100/2008/winners.html"
mce_href="http://www.webware.com/html/ww/100/2008/winners.html">"The
100 Top Web Apps for 2008"</a>. (Webware)<o:p></o:p></li>
</ul>
<p>4. And now, the cool tech gadgets.<o:p></o:p></p>
<ul type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style=""><a
href="http://www.liliputing.com/2008/04/over-past-six-months-or-so-asus-everex_24.html"
mce_href="http://www.liliputing.com/2008/04/over-past-six-months-or-so-asus-everex_24.html">25
low-cost ultraportables</a> (Liliputing)<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style=""><a
href="http://gadgets.fosfor.se/the-top-10-weirdest-keyboards-ever/"
mce_href="http://gadgets.fosfor.se/the-top-10-weirdest-keyboards-ever/">The
Top 10 weirdest keyboards ever</a> (Fosfor Gadgets)<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style=""><a
href="http://sbinfocanada.about.com/od/smallofficehomeoffice/tp/topgadgets.htm"
mce_href="http://sbinfocanada.about.com/od/smallofficehomeoffice/tp/topgadgets.htm">Top
9 Tech Gadgets For Increasing Productivity</a> (About.com)<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="">Why your car is cooler than your PC - <a
href="http://allworldcars.com/wordpress/?p=3418"
mce_href="http://allworldcars.com/wordpress/?p=3418">Top 10 Hi-Tech
Devices in your car to expect</a> (World Auto News)</li>
</ul>
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<pre><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">--
Bobbi Galvin
OPLIN Customer Service & Support
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