friends

Refresher course: What to do when Twitter is down

Twitter tanked Thursday. The outage, caused by a targeted denial-of-service attack, had ripple effects continuing into the evening. I wasn't able to post a tweet with a link in it.

I was reminded of an era not long ago, when it was more newsworthy that Twitter was up. In an homage to those less-stable days, I thought I'd outline some of the better alternatives we can take advantage of during those moments Twitter isn't cooperating.

Other options

FriendFeed is the first place to start when Twitter is down. Although it's designed to track updates to all your social networks, it's a fine communication platform itself. The site will let you chat it up about important topics, follow other friends' many social-networking updates, and more. It's an ideal alternative to Twitter.

But if you're looking for something a little more Twitter-like, there are several options. You can try out Plurk. It's a nice platform, but beware that there are very few users on the site. If people are updating their friends about their lives, they're not doing it on Plurk.

That said, it does provide a really neat timeline display and a unique way to spread your feelings. Instead of giving you full control over your message, it asks you to use one of several keywords, including love, like, wishes, hates, gives, and more. It's not bad.… Read more

Green is in for wireless companies

NEW YORK--Green is the new black in wireless as companies like Sprint Nextel and Samsung announce new products and programs geared toward environmental sustainability.

At a press event Thursday at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum here, the companies announced a new eco-friendly device called the Reclaim and an overall strategy to green the wireless market.

The news comes as consumers are increasingly buying products and services based on environmental sustainability. From energy-saving light bulbs to hybrid cars and now environmentally-friendly cell phones, green is all the rage.

For Sprint, which has been plagued by a poor customer service reputation for … Read more

The U.K. celebrates its first recycled kitchen

One major frustration for those of us who hold a combined love for yogurt and respect for the environment is the lack of recyclability of yogurt pots. Someone who eats one every day in their packed lunch will contribute more than 250 of them in a year to landfills, which are constantly expanding under the weight of our garbage, and in many cases, doing so unnecessarily.

Some companies, thank goodness, are diligently exploring ways that we can use everyday items, like these yogurt pots, that would otherwise end up spending several years in landfills.

This kitchen by Milestone is a … Read more

Grow your greens, and eat them, too

Somehow, with the birth of my fifth child two and a half weeks ago, I have neglected my garden a bit. But when I sent the bigger children outside to gather up the bounty yesterday, they managed to haul in the makings of at least a few salads.

Salad fresh from the garden is a real treat. And what better way to serve it than with these garden salad tools from Fred and Friends? The fork and spoon are styled to look like a gardening rake and trowel.

The tools are crafted from bamboo in a natural finish, so they'… Read more

Tiny penguin bot chirps Facebook messages to you

We admit we're suckers for cute robots around here, especially ones that are connected to the Internet in some way (remember the Nabaztag?). So I was especially excited to find that Arimaz's MyDeskFriend is not only a robot that can communicate with your Facebook account, it comes in the form of a tiny robot penguin with an adorable little hat.

Meant as a "social-media companion," the MyDeskFriend penguin can be integrated into your Facebook profile. You can then "feed" or "exercise" the penguin via a Facebook gameplay interface to keep it in … Read more

Green lunchbox does double duty

Like many of my colleagues, I pack my lunch when I go to work. One thing that has always bothered me is the number of plastic bags that go to waste as a result. I try to reuse them as many times as possible, but I can't help but be bothered when I throw them away because I know that they'll end up in a landfill or in the ocean. What's worse is that the plastic utensils my work provides are just as bad at biodegrading as these plastic bags are. As of late, I'd like … Read more

Manage your social life with these apps

Managing social network profiles is getting more difficult. As we sign up for more services, we need to split our time between multiple sites. But with the help of social aggregators, we can limit those issues. The following tools do a fine job of keeping your social life in one spot, helping you to monitor it more efficiently.

I should note, though, that these won't be your path to social networking bliss. Some folks find aggregators too overwhelming. They believe these resources only complicate matters. You might agree after trying some of these tools.

I should also note that Facebook Connect--Facebook's single sign-on service that competes with OpenID--might soon match these aggregation services. Users can already bring some items with them to Facebook. It might only be a matter of time before the service allows users to pull full social network feeds into Facebook.

Social network aggregators

Atomkeep Atomkeep is designed to help you sync all your profile information across multiple social networks. When you change your profile information on the site, all the networks you sync with it will be updated automatically. So, if you're moving to a new home, you can go to Atomkeep, change your address, and it will update that information on Facebook, Bebo, and other social networks. The site is in private beta, so you'll need an invite code to try it out. For a full CNET review of Atomkeep, click here.

Digsby Although Digsby is installed on your desktop and isn't quite a Web tool like the others in this roundup, I thought it appropriate to include it, since it does require the Web to work and it aggregates all your social network data in one place.

Digsby provides a three-pronged approach to aggregation: instant messaging, e-mail, and social networks. You can sign in to practically any IM program in Digsby, including AIM, Yahoo IM, and others. If you're a Gmail, Yahoo Mail, or Hotmail user, you can also use Digsby to manage your in-box. But its integration of social networks, including Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and LinkedIn is quite appealing. The tool alerts you when you receive updates on your networks. Its news feed gives you constant updates about what your friends are up to. And when you want to update your own status, you can do it in Digsby without going to the individual social networks. But beware that right now, Digsby only works with Windows PCs. The company is promising Mac OS X and Linux support in the near future.… Read more

Memeo makes sharing easy

In the wide world of photo-sharing tools, Memeo Share makes a strong effort to retain your focus with online backups, support for full-resolution photos and videos, social networking features, and a revamped interface.

The basics should be familiar to many users. Once installed, Memeo starts with a user-friendly design: big buttons delineate tasks, your profile and friends are on the left sidebar, Activity and Sharing Circles are in the central pane, and the members of the current circle you're sharing with are on the right. The Sharing Circle is the big concept behind Memeo Share. It lets people create … Read more

Checkpoint-friendly laptop bag with a twist

Planning on flying with your laptop on a summer vacation? You should definitely consider a TSA checkpoint-friendly bag. There is no shortage of options, but this new model from Aerovation makes one important change to the typical design so getting away from the checkpoint is even faster.

Most TSA-compliant bags split into two pieces: one side for a laptop, the other for your travel gear. These sides butterfly open letting the notebook sit flat on the security scanner's belt in order to meet guidelines. Once through the checkpoint you have to stop and seal up the two sides.

Aerovation … Read more