SocialNetworking_July08 by freelanceingindia sailesh

July 2008 | Free with CHIP, not to be sold seperately

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Editorial ....................................................................................3 Popular Social Networking Sites ............................................4 FEATURES Comparison of Social Networking Sites .................................6 Safe Social Networking..........................................................10 Social networking for business ............................................. 12 The Facebook Mania .............................................................. 17 Useful Social Networking Groups .........................................21 Do you have a Facebook? .......................................................24 Perils of Social Networking ...................................................28 AT ONE GLANCE Online Bookworm! .................................................................32 Make Friends the hi5 way ......................................................34 WORKSHOPS Meet like-minded folks ..........................................................36 Get started with Orkut ...........................................................40 Share, Blog and Multiply!.......................................................44 Tips & Tricks ...........................................................................47

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Editorial Social Networking Editorial

Gone are the days when you had to personally meet people to socialize and stay in touch. Today there is a much better way to stay connectedâ&#x20AC;Ś Social Networking. Just launch Internet Explorer from your computer and type any of the social networking siteâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s name in the address bar. And here you go! Find old friends, make new friends, share videos, photos, and be a part of the world wide network of people from all over the world. In this issue of CHIP Plus, we show how to use the various social networking websites to connect with people, update knowledge, entertainment, and a lot more! If there is some confusion in chosing the social networking site you want to join, our article which compares most commonly used websites will help you choose the one which is suitable for you. Apart from making friends online, you can also use social networking sites for business. Read about some popular business networking sites such as LinkedIn to learn how to create your own business groups. Social Networking websites such as Facebook are becoming increasingly popular amongst the new generation. Learn to open a Facebook account and how to use its various features to socialize. Read to find out how to enhance your knowledge using social networking. We will also tell you the threats that social networking can pose and how to stay safe while networking. Just take a look at the website hi5 and learn how to get connected using it. Also, take a look at Shelfari where you can create a virtual shelf of your books, share it with your friends and find out the most popular books. So, why wait? Meet old friends, make new friends, and get connected! Team CHIP feedback@chip-india.com

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Popular Social Networking Sites Social networking has reached a new high in recent times with teenagers logging onto the internet more often than they did before. It has replaced most past time activities and has also given youngsters a chance to express themselves and share their experiences. Here are some of the most popular social networking sites around. BY GARETH MANKOO

Orkut Orkut has been flourishing among users globally, especially in India. The site has undergone some major changes and developments in recent times that has increased the functionalities and attracted even more people to sign up. Orkut communities are very famous and are useful for promotional activity and as discussion forums. A new feature on the site is the addition of profile themes.

BigAdda BigAdda is the most famous Indian social networking site. It adds an Indian touch to the conventional design and structure of a blog with features like creation of â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Addasâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; (groups) and localized music and videos. You can upload your images to share them with your contacts.

MySpace MySpace is among the most popular social networking sites globally. It is known for the amazing themes that can be used on the profiles that are created. The site can also be used for promotion of music artists and designers. Music and images can be uploaded on the site and can be later shared with your friends. Other MySpace features include: MySpaceIM, MySpaceTV, MySpace Mobile, MySpace News, MySpace Classifieds, MySpace Karaoke and MySpace polls.

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Fropper Fropper fulfills the basic requirements of anyone who wishes to enter into the world of social networking. It’s a great way to get started with online socializing. Thanks to the simplicity of the site’s structure and ease of use, even unseasoned users can try their hand at one of the most popular teen activities of today.

WAYN WAYN is an acronym for ‘Where Are You Now?’ It deals with networking of members based on their geographical location. It provides you with facilities like a travel guide, a desktop guide and an online club for users to interact with one another. It also provides with image uploading and blogging.

Facebook Facebook has outgrown most social networking sites and has made its place in most user’s free time musings. It stands as the most feature rich social networking sites since it includes applications, chat, groups, photo blogs and many other features. You can catch up with old school buddies and participate on various surveys on the site.

Hi5 Hi5 is a fun filled site that adds color and life to online socializing. It doesn’t have extravagant features or anything; it’s simply the idea of making friends and catching up with old buddies. You can join various groups and discuss on common topics. Like most other social networking sites you can develop a blog and upload images to share with your contacts.

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Comparison of Social Networking Sites Are you dazzled with the number of options available to stay connected? Confused as to which one is best for you? If your answer is YES, you are reading the perfect article, written especially for YOU. BY DELNAAZ EDULJI

oday, we are no longer interested in only exchanging e-mails or having chat conversations. We want to socialize more and increase our circle of friends. With e-mails and chat, we are restricted to communication with only our friends. Now, we want to make new friends, while making sure they are trustworthy. So how do we achieve this? It’s simple, get to know your friend’s friends. This way you not only increase you circle of friends, but are

also sure the person is someone you can rely on. Sites that provide e-mail and chat options are soon dwindling out… the latest is social networking sites. So what’s different about these social networking sites? While a lot of social networking sites provide e-mail and chatting as one of their features, they also have numerous other facilities, like scribbling public messages for friends, sharing photo albums, viewing your friend’s and their friends’

profiles, sending virtual gifts, receiving notifications about updates like birthdates, or change in location etc. With each site providing their own list of features, while trying to compete with each other, it is difficult to decide which one is the best or the safest for you. While some sites are more sensitive about keeping your data personal, others publicize your data. Besides the features available, you can also check on the security and privacy levels that suit your needs. INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP PLUS z JULY 2008

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Click the “Try it on” link next to the skin which you wish to apply for your profile.

Are you even aware of the social networking sites that exist? To name a few; Bebo, Classmates.com, Facebook, Flicker, Friendster, Habbo, hi5, LinkedIn, MySpace, Neopets, Orkut, Ryze, and Tagged.com are some of the generally used and “heard of” social networking sites. With more than 350 social networking websites available, how do you know which one to register with? The confusion and competition is quite intense. To help you decide on this, here is a brief overview and comparison of some of the most commonly used social networking sites across the globe. Go ahead and explore your online world…

Being connected with Bebo Today, Bebo is named as one of the top performers among all social networking sites. It is most popular in the US, UK, Ireland, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands. With the number of features available and respectable security levels, Bebo is one of the most “thrilling” social networking sites to use. Bebo makes your profile interesting by providing you with different “skins” that you can apply to your profile. Applying a skin means applying a different look-and-feel to your profile. Most social networking sites only allow you to enter plain text data while Bebo allows you to customize the way your profile looks, and looks do matter! Let’s see how to use this unique JULY 2008 z INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP PLUS

Enter your friend’s e-mail address in the “Find/Add Friend” box and click the “Add” button.

feature. Once you login to your account, click the Explore tab and click the Skins link. A list of all available skins is displayed. Select the look you’d like to give to your profile and click the Try it on link next to the skin you choose. You can now view how your profile will look with the new skin on. You will also see a confirmation message. Do you want to change your profile skin to this. Click Yes. Now that we’ve got the right look on, let’s go and invite our friends and let them know we exist on the network! Go to the Friends tab. Enter your friend’s e-mail address in the Find/Add Friend box and click the Add button. If your friend is a member of Bebo, you can add them to your list, else you will receive a message stating that No match could be found for the email address. You can click the Invite Them button to send an invitation e-mail to your friend’s e-mail account. Bebo is a little different here too! Bebo also allows you to search for contacts, available in your personal account’s address book, on the Bebo network. So though, you may not recollect you friend’s address to invite them, Bebo will do the job for you! Some of the other noteworthy features provided by Bebo include online videos, list of different applications, upload photo albums, white board, blogs, quizzes, the Wall, and integration of instant messengers like Skype and AIM into the website. What sets Bebo above the other social

networking sites, is the security and privacy settings available.

Online on Orkut Orkut is another popular site, mostly used among the college students. It is most popular in Brazil and India. In Orkut you can rate your friends as Haven’t met, Acquaintances, Friends, Good friends, or best friends. You can also scrap a message to multiple friends at a time. We’ve all heard of “actors” and “actresses” having millions of fans all across the globe. Do you want to get some fans too? Let’s see how Orkut allows you to rate your friends and let them know that you’re their “Fans”. To do this, click the Friends tab. You can now view all your friends. Next to each friend, you can provide your rating for them. To let your friend know that you’re a fan, click the star. Your name will be added as a Fan in your friend’s My Fans section. To mark your friends to be trusty, click the smiley, and they will become yellow in colour. The more smileys you select, the more trusty you rate your friend. If you find your friend to be cool, click the squares, and they will become blue in colour. The more squares you select, the more cool you rate your friend. Similarly, if you want to mark your friend as sexy, you can click the heart, and they turn red. The more hearts you click, the more sexy you rate your friend to be. These rating will be combined

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You can select the “show profile visits” option and click on the “save changes” button.

with the ratings provided by other friends, and the average rating will be displayed on your friend’s profile and will be visible to everyone who visits the profile. A very useful feature provided by Orkut, is tracking users who view your profile. This will help you know the kind of people interested in seeing your profile. You have the option to turn this feature on or off. If you turn this feature on, you can view the names of users who view your profile, and similarly if you view someone’s profile, they can view your name. If you turn this feature off, you will not be able to track the name of users who visited your profile. Similarly, if you visit other people’s profile while this feature is turned off, they will not be able to view your name. To track users who view your profile, click settings in the left pane. Click the privacy tab. In the profile

visitors section, select the show profile visits option. Click “Save Changes”.

Find friends on Facebook One of the most popular website among college students is Facebook. This is because Facebook provides with a variety of features to convey messages and emotions. You can scribble on your friend’s wall, send pokes, exchange photo and videos, and send virtual gifts. Besides features with the help of which you can convey emotions and send across messages, one of the interesting and handy applications available of Facebook is the “Marketplace”. This is a feature unique to Facebook. Here you can look for jobs, housing, different items like books, furniture, car and many other such things. Lets take a scenario, where you are a student who’s got a scholarship abroad for studies. You

Click on a category of your interest to view the list of all the articles available under it.

Enter the place of accommodation, nature of accomodation, rent range, number of bedrooms, and click the “Search” button.

will need to look for a place to stay near your school before you reach there. Sounds difficult, doesn’t it? That’s when you need to go to the Marketplace on Facebook. In the left pane, under Applications, click the Marketplace link. To look for accommodation, click the Housing link. Enter the place where you are looking for accommodation, the kind of accommodation (example: rent/ apartment), rent range and number of bedrooms. Click the Search button. You can now view the list of options matching your criteria.

Maintain contacts with MySpace MySpace has given a new dimension to the music industry. Yes, this one aims at promoting music bands by giving them a platform to sell music. MySpace has become the number one destination for upcoming bands.

In “Set Search Criteria”, enter data based on which you want the bands to be listed and click “Update”. INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP PLUS z JULY 2008

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Select the appropriate options and click the “Save Settings” button to add contacts to your list.

In fact, it is said that promoters book bands based on the number of friends the band’s profile has on MySpace. It gives you the freedom to add slideshows, pictures and customize your design online. MySpace has a very interesting forum where you can read comments posted by people on different topics and share your opinion too. To do this you need to click the Forum tab. You will be able to view a list of different topics. Click on a category of your interest to view a list of articles available. Click the topic/article you want to read. You will now see a list of comments posted by people about their views and experiences about the topic. If you want to add your views and comments, simply click the Reply button, enter your message and click Post. For all the music fans, there is a special Music tab where you can find all possible music bands. Even local bands and start-up bands can be viewed. To search for your band, click

To start a job search, enter basic job search criteria and click the “Search” button.

collect relevant data regarding your profession. Go to www.linkedin.com and click the Join now button. Once you enter the required details and click the Join LinkedIn button, you will be asked how you want to use LinkedIn. Select the appropriate options and click the Save Settings button. Your initial settings are saved and you have the option to further update your profile. Since you are here on LinkedIn for professional reasons, let’s get to some serious business. How can you look for a job opening? To do so, click the Jobs tab at the top of the page. You can enter basic job search criteria here and click the Search button. To perform a more details search, click the Advanced Job Search tab. Enter the details, and click the Search button. Thought some other social networking sites too provide job search features, they are not as powerful as LinkedIn. The number of jobs and employee seekers available are larger than other social networking sites that aim at family and friends.

Search in the Music tab. In Set Search Criteria, enter data based on which you want the bands to be listed. Click Update. Click on the band’s name to listen to their music tracks, download them and get more information about your favourite band.

Link your business with LinkedIn LinkedIn is a business oriented social networking sites. The number of features available is restricted to those required to create your business network. LinkedIn allows you to create a list of professionals you know and trust - called “Connections”. You can use these conQnections to create networks, to find jobs, or these can be useful for employees to search for potential candidates. Unlike other social networking sites, right from the time you sign up for an account you will require entering your professional data, and that is mandatory. According to the options you select you will be provided with further fields to

Feature Comparison of the 5 Most Trendy Social Networking Sites Bebo Target Audience

College

Security (1-5), 5= Best 5

Orkut

FaceBook

MySpace

College

Business

College

Music Bands

In-built

Download application

Chat rooms

Download application Download application Not available

Profile customization

Use Skins

Not available

Use HTML

Forums

✖

✔

✖

✔

Job search

Not available

Most Effective

Not very effective

Not available

Virtual Gifts

✖

✔

✖

Profile viewing

Only Friends

Everyone

Only Friends

Everyone

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Hemali Limbachiya

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Safe Social Networking Social networking websites are a great way to get to know people. But are you aware of the implications involved in meeting strangers online? BY DELNAAZ EDULJI

ave you conveniently become a part of today’s well-connected world, where the earth is shrinking continuously? If yes, then you’ve probably started to realize how we are all so well connected across cities, states, and countries not only by transportation channels, such as planes, but more so by the Internet. Along with e-mails and instant messengers came along social networking sites, which allow you to search for your friends, relatives, and even enemies who are members of the same site. You may have found your best friend, your life partner, or a well paying job on social networking

sites, but are you aware of the way in which the personal information that you provide on these sites can be accessed and misused, the fake profiles that are continuously being created by pranksters, and the antisocial groups being formed? Have you read the agreements for these sites before signing up for a new account? If not, then you may be heading for trouble! Here’s some advice on the threats of social networking and some tips on safe social networking.

These sites aim to create awareness or bonds between individuals for friendship, love, or professional connections. You can provide personal information on these sites that may be visible to members of the site. Individuals with similar interests can get to know each other and even form online groups. Most social networking sites like Orkut allow you to search for an individual, while others require you to contact an individual only through a known reference.

What is social networking? Social networking is a concept where you make new friends by a reference from a friend you already know.

The paradox of social networking Orkut, MySpace, Windows Live INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP PLUS z JULY 2008

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Spaces, Facebook, Hi5, LinkedIn, and Xanga are a few from the long list of social networking sites, which today have more than 40,000,000 members on each site. But each of these sites face some common threats, which remain unresolved even today.

Fake profiles With no limits on the number of accounts one can own on social networking sites, it is of no surprise that there are users who own a number of accounts. Due to the large number of users, it is difficult to remove the profiles that are no longer in use, and even if they are removed, they can be easily re-created. These accounts are generally used to post provocative and insulting messages with the intent of stimulating reactions from other members. Others use such fake accounts to send spam or entertaining messages to flood accounts. Soon fake accounts discovered JavaScript codes that automatically flood user accounts, leading to flooding wars between rivals. In the year 2005, Orkut experienced the creation of invisible profiles and communities using HTML codes. A special software called Floodtudo had been created to flood Orkut. The software was easily available, and this led to a full-size spam wave in Orkut in September and October 2005.

Antagonist groups Along with the liberty to search for individuals with similar interests, post messages that can be read by everyone, and the ability to hide original identity, various individuals came together to form communities and groups that focus on religion and racism. For example, in 2005, Brazil presented very strong resistance through the media and police against the racism communities. Finally in 2006, the Brazil Federation justice denounced a 20-year-old student who was charged for promoting racism against black people through offensive content on Orkut.

Privacy and security Creating social networks was a step forward towards connecting people, but also a step forward to spread viruses and worms. These worms would steal an individual’s personal details and misuse them. For example, in October 2005, MySpace witnessed the spread of the Samy (XSS) worm, which carried a friend request with the message “but most of all, Samy is my hero”. In just a few hours, millions of friend requests were automatically sent to the creator of the worm. On pleading guilty in court, the creator of the worm was sentenced to 3 years of probation. Many such other incidences have also happened. Another example was

that of the MW.Orc worm that spread across Orkut in June last year. This worm stole an individual’s information like username, password, and bank details. Due to the increasing risks involved in online networking, sites like Xanga have created locks like the Xanga Lock and the Friends Lock that provide restricted information to members to check other people’s profiles.

Professionalism While posting content on their profiles, many individuals forget the fact that their postings are visible to many people. For example, on Orkut, many individuals express their frustration towards the company they work for. Such individuals may be in trouble when their boss reads such scraps. Another instance is that of MySpace, where a visitor does not need an account to search for users or access personal information. As a result, a prospective employer may not hire a candidate if his profile contains content that may be inappropriate or go against the company policies. Social networking is absolutely instinctive and a great avenue to connect people in any part of the world. The prevailing security issues in these situations are also a big concern. So keep these issues in mind and carry on mingling!

TIPS TO MAINTAIN SAFETY ON NETWORKING SITES } Understand the site’s rules: Make sure you know if the site allows only a selected group of users or everyone to view messages. } Be careful while posting personal information: Do not post vulnerable information like your address, phone number, social security number, or bank and credit card numbers. } Avoid posting you photograph: Photographs can be easily altered and misused to ruin your reputation. } Be careful while mingling with strangers: You may be very JULY 2008 z INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP PLUS

impressed with an individual’s profile, photograph, or job, but remember that not all information provided online is true. } Beware, if you are meeting a new online friend for the first time: It is very common for online friends to meet in person. Before you meet someone, make sure the person has not provided you with fake information. Insist on meeting in a public place. } Check the site’s privacy policies: There may be sites that disclose information like e-mail addresses

with other companies. This may lead to spam messages. } Be careful of the messages you post online: Be aware that the messages you post may be read by anyone online, even your current or potential future boss. This may be a threat to your career if you are caught doing something you shouldn’t. } Make sure you know the site’s culture: There are different types of social networking sites available. Some focus on professional interests, while others are for dating.

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Social networking for business Being well connected does ensure career success. We’ll show you how to network with LinkedIn and other social business social networking sites. BY BRIAN PEREIRA

areer Success. It’s what everyone wants. Heard about terms like ‘connections’ and ‘networking?’ It’s all about building ‘business contacts’ or meeting people in the corporate world, especially those in your industry. With contacts or connections it becomes far easier to do business, plan an event, or get a job. Try to meet influential people like decision makers, business influencers and key people in government. One must ‘network’ to ‘connect’. This means attending public events or doing relationship meetings and presentations. One can network at a party or press conference too.

People introduce themselves and exchange business cards. Then they keep in touch over e-mail or through follow-up calls. Business executives usually maintain a business card holder (Rolodex) or an e-mail address book. Some use a card scanner to copy details from business cards into their e-mail address books. Following a new trend, people in the corporate world now use Social Networking sites to connect with colleagues, business partners, and friends. Social networking is a platform for socializing. But instead of meeting people at public events, you socialize online. Of course, you need to know

some people to begin with. Social networking sites let you share your profile, interests, photos, videos and other trivia with friends, relatives and business peers. People use business social networking sites for various reasons. If one is looking for a job, then he could post his profile (resume) online. Others use it to plan events or just to keep in touch with peers. Social networking sites are more exciting than job portals, which are static or fl at. On a job portal, one could just post one’s resume and hope that a head hunting firm or HR department picks it up through a search query, on that site. In contrast, social networking INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP PLUS z JULY 2008

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They can also use this tool to sell products and services, or look for new business opportunities. The unique selling point for social networks is interconnections. These sites allow you to connect to a friend of a friend. On the home page there are two search boxes for locating LinkedIn members In other words, one in your company or from your school or college. establishes a chain is more interactive and offers effective of links. Each person has a network tools like ‘recommendations,’ as seen of friends (connections) and networks on LinkedIn.com (See Terminator box). can be interlinked. For instance, if you Human Resources departments know an executive working in a bank are now using social networking as a and connect to him through a social tool to scout for talent. And they find network, then you can also see his it highly effective since it works on a friends (connections). By coincidence global platform. It is difficult to find you may know one of his friends. We’ll the right candidates at the mid and explain how to make connections later senior levels, on employment portals. in the article. But one is more likely to find such You could also join a Group of professionals on a social networking people that share similar interests, site. or work in a particular industry or Business persons can use social company. It’s highly possible that your networks to stay in touch with their old batch mates may have formed a customers, partners and suppliers. group at one of the social networking

sites. More on this later. All this makes social networking special, and it is the very reason why so many register at sites like Orkut, Facebook, LinkedIn, Ryze and others. Elsewhere in this booklet there are articles that show how friends, family, and old batch mates keep in touch through social networking sites. In this article, we limit the discussion to business networking. Because its features are suited to business networking, we’ll take LinkedIn.com as a model. We’ll briefly discuss what other sites have to offer, and their unique selling points.

Get on to LinkedIn.com One may first encounter LinkedIn. com on receiving an e-mail invitation to view a friend’s profile. Look closely and you’ll find a link in that message which leads to your friend’s profile page on LinkedIn.com. If you attempt to click the “Connect” button on that site, LinkedIn will prompt you to register for an account (or log on if you already have one). And that’s usually how one gets an account on LinkedIn. Otherwise, one can log in to www.LinkedIn.com and click the “Join

GLOSSARY RECOMMENDATION: A recommendation is a comment written by a boss, friend, colleague or business partner, who has worked with you or done business with you. Through a recommendation he may endorse your products or services or write a few lines about your character and the experiences he had working with you. Good recommendations increase your chances of getting a job, selling a product, or finding new business opportunities. Besides character, one also gets to know about the candidate’s preferences and his career history. NETWORK: A chain of links. It could also be a Group on LinkedIn. CONNECTION: A connection is a person to whom you are directly connected to on LinkedIn. CONNECTION DEGREES: A direct link to someone is regarded as a 1st degree connection in your JULY 2008 z INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP PLUS

network. Likewise, you are in the 1st degree of their network. First degree connections let people view and browse each others’ profiles and networks, communicate directly via e-mail and forward each other introductions from users who aren’t directly connected to the intended recipient. On the other hand, if you know a friend, and want to connect to his friend (who isn’t in your network) then that becomes a second degree contact. And everyone else (who is very distantly connected) becomes a third degree contact. You’ll see degrees of contact as little ‘1st’ ‘2nd’ or ‘3rd’ icons. INTRODUCTION: If a person is two or three degrees away (not in your network) then you need to ask your friend (first degree connection) for an introduction. Your friend will decide whether to forward it on to the desired recipient (if in your 2nd degree) or to a shared connection (if in your 3rd degree). This is how people get connected using LinkedIn.

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While registering specify why you want to use LinkedIn. Future searches for people will be based on these parameters.

Today” link at the top of the page. Perhaps the best part about LinkedIn is that it makes it easy to find people you are associated with—right on the home page itself. Here you’ll see two search boxes for finding a group of people from your company or school. It’s most likely that people from your company (or school) have already got LinkedIn profiles, and these will be grouped. While signing up for a new account, you’ll fill in your personal details, e-mail address, and also specify the name of your company and industry. Even as you do that, LinkedIn searches its database and helpfully lists already defined company groups, which are likely to match what you have typed. LinkedIn then asks you to fill a form where you select check boxes and specify how you want to use this service. Some of the things you can do on LinkedIn are: find a job, reconnect with colleagues you’ve lost touch with, hire employees or contractors, explore business opportunities or seek information about products and services of interest. Specify the options you want and click “Save Settings.” Once through with the registration, a confirmation e-mail is sent to the e-mail address that you specified. Log in to check your mail, open the message from LinkedIn and simply click on the confirmation link within it to start using this service. When logging in for the first time LinkedIn will prompt you to import

LinkedIn can import e-mail contacts from Web mail address books and also from the Outlook client. These are your first connections.

e-mail addresses from one of your Web mail accounts (Yahoo, Hotmail, Gmail, AOL) or from your Microsoft Outlook address book on your PC. And that’s how the first few connections are made for you. After the e-mail addresses are imported, LinkedIn lists these out. You can then select e-mail addresses and send invitations to contacts (to view your profile and connect to you on LinkedIn). LinkedIn helpfully offers a predefined message for those who are lazy to type out the invitation. LinkedIn also searches its database for any e-mail address matches (your friends who have already registered at LinkedIn). There are two ways to know if people respond to your invitation. Log in to your LinkedIn account and view the pending invitations in your Inbox. Simply respond by selecting an invitation and clicking the “Accept” button. Alternatively, you will receive an e-mail informing you who has responded to your invitation.

Create a profile At this point you may be tempted to connect to all the people you know (and perhaps some of their connections). It would be wise to resist the temptation! First spend some time setting up your own Profile. You want people to know all about you, your interests, your qualifications, experience, business services, and the products your business offers.

Click the “Profile” link and specify your name and current occupation (name of the company). Also specify the places where you worked at previously, and the time period. Specify other details like your industry, job title, and your personal websites or blogs (links). LinkedIn also lets you write a brief summary about yourself. You can Edit your profile and update it whenever you like. Don’t forget to update it as you advance in your career, adding details about new gained skills and knowledge, or updates on new places of employment. Remember, if you describe yourself well (more details) you improve the chances of more people being interested in you. That also improves your business or job prospects! LinkedIn shows the completeness of your profile, as a percentile.

Making more connections Besides sending invitations to all those in your e-mail address book (as we earlier described), there are other ways to add connections. You can search for people through a search box at the bottom of the LinkedIn home page (or at the top of your profile page after you log in). There is also an alphabetical listing of people on the home page. In the ‘Contacts’ section you’ll find lists of all your LinkedIn connections and also your imported contacts (imported from your address book). Just check the ‘Contacts’ section, INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP PLUS z JULY 2008

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On the home page there is an alphabetical listing of people (by last name). The chances of finding someone you know may be slim.

select people and send out invitations. When searching through the Search box (top of the page) you may not find people you know immediately. Try the ‘Advanced Search’ feature. You can also search for people using ‘Advanced People Search,’ ‘Name Search,’ and ‘Reference Search’. Within the ‘Advanced People Search’ tab you can specify some details about the person you seek. Specify a few keywords, like their job title or industry, location or company name. ‘Name Search’ is simpler. Here you specify the name of the person (who is possibly on LinkedIn) and his location. Under ‘Reference Search’ you specify the name of the person, and his employment history (the companies he worked for and the relative durations). As you search for people you will encounter terms (and icons) like ‘connection,’ ‘degrees,’ ‘network,’ and ‘recommendation’. See the ‘Glossary’

box for explanations. The number of connections in everyone’s network is also shown in the search results. Some people will also have a ‘thumbs up’ icon. This means they have one or more recommendations against their profile (see Glossary). Using the various search tools that we just described can help you increase your connections. An easier way is to just check the connections of your first level connections (people you know). Browse through your friends’ profiles and check their connections. See someone you know? Click on that connection and send out an invitation!

Other features on LinkedIn LinkedIn offers a couple of features to make it easier for users to track connections or find people on networks. While some of these features are not yet complete, others come at a premium.

In the search results, the icons on the right represent the degree of connection, recommendations, and number of connections. JULY 2008 z INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP PLUS

In Advanced Search you’ ll specify details (keywords) like the person’s company name, location, industry and other details.

Built-in e-mail The e-mail program within LinkedIn receives alerts when someone is trying to connect with you. It also informs you when someone asks for a recommendation or makes a recommendation against your profile. So when you log into LinkedIn check your Inbox first. Inbox also keeps a history of all your recommendations, invitations, job offers, received profiles, and received questions. This is useful for tracking how you responded to invitations and it also keeps a check of pending invitations. In addition, there is a feature called InMail Feedback that checks for unsolicited mail. It’s a type of screening technology to ensure that you receive mail from only reputable senders. InMail Feedback has a ranking system for senders, based on based on recipients’ responses to senders InMail messages. You will

Inbox maintains a record of all invitations, recommendations, job offers, received profiles, and received questions.

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Groups are listed under six categories and there is no search feature yet. So it may take some time to locate a group of interest.

normally be notified only of those InMails that come from senders whose rating is three stars or higher. If you prefer to be notified of every InMail, or to receive no notifications at all, then change your Contact Settings to reflect that preference. LinkedIn claims InMail is 30 times

more effective in getting a response, than using the email approach to make a connection. However, this is a paid service.

Join a Group Groups are not a new feature in the online world. You see many types of

groups online. In fact, there was once a site called eGroups (long acquired by Yahoo) that were very popular in their time. The Groups feature is now being integrated into social networking. People with similar interests form and join Groups on LinkedIn. Presently LinkedIn just provides a listing of Groups. The Groups Directory lists groups under six categories: Alumni, Corporate, Conference, Networking, Non-Profit, and Professional. There is no search feature yet (though LinkedIn says it is working on such a feature). So locating the right group can be a time-consuming process. People join groups and post questions to others in a particular group. Others regard LinkedIn Groups as virtual clubs or associations that are formed for knowledge sharing. You can even keep in touch with your school or college batch mates through the Alumni group. Groups can also be used for sharing notes before/during conferences and events. Â&#x201E;

OTHER BUSINESS SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES RYZE.COM: One of the earliest social networking sites, which is still around. It has similar features as LinkedIn, though it is not as well organized. The site could do with a redesign.

BIZNIK.COM: This site is for businessmen who want to work closely in a community and share their experiences and best practices. It offers a platform to connect with other business persons in your town, state, country, or globally. PEOPLETHATCLICK.COM: This site is for entrepreneurs who are genuinely interested in starting a business and meeting other entrepreneurs. They can meet other entrepreneurs with similar interests here. This site screens new members carefully with its e-Profiling system (a questionnaire). People that click offers good advice for entrepreneurs. Persons in your town, state, country, or globally. PAIRUP.COM: This site ensures that you stay in touch with peers and colleagues while traveling for conferences and events. Aimed at business travelers, members can share travel plans and itineraries with people they are about to meet at events. SOCIALPICKS.COM: This site is directed for those who are stock market investors. Here people share investment strategies, discuss stocks, and track the performance of each otherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s portfolios. There is a SocialPicks Point system wherein users can submit stocks that they think will do well in the market (Picks). Others can vote on the pick if they agree. XING.COM: Focuses on businesses in the Far East countries. Xing can import contacts from your address books. But the best way to interact with others on Xing is through a Group.

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The Facebook Mania Are you ready to join the bandwagon of social networking sites? Then here’s one that can really get you started quickly… Facebook! BY DELNAAZ EDULJI

f you are a social person and are looking at maintaining your contacts, Facebook is just the place to be. You can not only maintain your existing contacts but also increase your contacts by getting to know your friend’s friends and family. Facebook not only provides friends but also has room for business contacts and profiles. You can select just what you want. Facebook bags the privilege of being the second largest social networking sites on the Web, as per the New York Times issue. This site has approximately 60 million members and continues to grow at the fastest speed. Facebook competes with the JULY 2008 z INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP PLUS

other social networking sites by providing multiple features all packed into one website. Yes, using Facebook you can scrap, e-mail, chat, share photographs, send gifts, and much more! Facebook is a free-access site that allows users to join networks like schools, work place, or places across geographic locations. Due to its widespread usage, the site is rated as 7th in terms of traffic compared all websites. So you may want to go to www.facebook.com and register yourself as a member right away! This is a simple and short process and also allows you to create you profile, as you may want others to see it.

While Facebook is fun, it is important for you to know that your profile is visible to the mass online and anyone can read it… may be your best friend, your next employer, or your enemy! Therefore, you should be well aware of the data and photographs you provide on your profile.

Getting Started Once you are on Facebook, its time to take action and get active! So let’s get started by searching for friends, adding them and get chatting.

Watch out for your friends Friends are today no less than an extended family. So the first thing you

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When you enter a name and click the “Search” button, a list of members matching the name are displayed.

may want to do is get in touch with your family and friends. Let’s see how we can achieve that… Let’s say you have logged into your account and now you want to know who of your friends are already a part of Facebook, so you can immediately add them. This is as simple as searching for content over a search engine! All you need to do is, enter the name of your friend in the Search field in the left pane and click the magnifying glass icon. Facebook will now list all members who match the search criteria.

Add friends to your list Once you have located your friend, adding them to your list is just a click away! Right next to your friend you can view a link saying Add as Friend. Click the link and you will receive a confirmation message asking if you want to add the selected person as your friend. Click the “Add Friend button”. Enter the code in the Security

Enter the e-mail address in the “To” field, and your message in the “Message field, and click “Invite”.

Check box. Click “Add Friend” and congratulations! You have your first friend added to your list! So what do I do if I want to add a friend who is not a member of Facebook? The answer is simple, send an invite to your friend to join Facebook and after which you can add your friend to your list. To send an invite, click the “Friends” option at the top. On the right side, there is an option to invite your friend to join Facebook. Click the “Invite your friends” link. Enter your friend’s e-mail address in the To field. You can add multiple e-mail addresses, each separated by a comma. Enter any message you want to send your friend along with the invitation in the Message field. Click the “Invite” button to send the invitation. The invitation will be sent to your friend’s e-mail address. Your friend has the option accept the invitation and create a login to join Facebook, after which you can add your friend to your list.

Remember your childhood days, where you were scolded for scribbling on the home wall? Well, now with Facebook, you have a special wall designed especially for you to scribble as much as you desire! how’s that. The Facebook wall is a place in each profile where friends can leave messages for you and others logging into your profile to view. Anyone who can view your profile can read the messages on your Wall. General messages and notes are posted on Walls while more personal messages are sent to the Inbox. To scribble on your friend’s wall, select your friend from the friend’s list. You can now view your friend’s profile. Scroll down to the “The Wall” section and enter you message in the text area available. Once your message is complete, click the “Post” button. You can view all existing Wall posts right below the text area.

Make your friends feel special - Send “Gifts”

QUICK SEARCHING TIPS: } Make sure you have spelt your friend’s name correctly; else you will not be able to locate them. } Enter the entire name (first name and last name) to reduce the number of search results. If possible, enter the city name too. Else you may have to scroll through a long list of names to locate your pal! } If you still have problem locating your friend, try entering their

What sets Facebook Apart?

attributes like the place where they live. } Make sure your friend is already a member of Facebook; else you will not be able to locate him/her. } In case this doesn’t help, Facebook provides a “Can’t find who you’re looking for” box at the end of the search results. Enter the required data there and you are sure to find your friend.

Today is my best friend’s birthday and it completely slipped of my mind. There’s no time to go to that gift shop as I’m caught up at my workplace, what do I do? Do you find yourself in such situations? Well, no more panicking! All you need to do is log on to Facebook and send you friend a gift without getting out of your workplace or home. Isn’t that cool? So then let see how exactly we can do this. INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP PLUS z JULY 2008

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Select a gift, enter your friend’s name, type your message, select a method of delivery, and click “Continue” button.

To send your friend a gift, go to your friend’s profile. Click the “Send <<friend name>> a Gift” link. } Select the gift you want to send your friend. On the right pane you can select the Free link under Item Filters to send a free gift to your friend. } Select your friend’s name in the Choose your recipient box. } Enter a message in the Add your message box. } You can also select a Method of delivery. Selecting Public will send the gift to your friend’s gift box and the Wall where everyone can view your gift and message along with your name. Selecting Private will send the gift only to your friend’s gift box, and others will only be able to view the gift, not your name and message. Selecting Anonymous will send the gift with the sender’s name as Anonymous. The gift will be sent only to your friend’s gift box, and others will only be able to view the gift, not your name and message. Even your friend will not be able to view your name as it will be displayed as Anonymous. However, your friend can view the message. } Click the “Continue” button to send the gift. } Click the “Send Gift” button.

After selecting a gift you can review it or change it. When you are satisfied click the “Send Gift” button.

of keeping in touch with your friends without writing any message. There is no strict definition of a poke and it can be interpreted by the sender and receiver in different ways. For example, for some it is just a way to say “I remember”, others consider it a friendly “nudge”, while still others

consider it a way to express love or affection. To poke your friend, click your friend’s name in the friend’s list. You can now view your friend’s profile. Click “Poke <<friend name>>.” You will receive a confirmation message. Click the “Poke” button.

GET CHATTING Chat is a feature everyone wants on any site they go… that’s because it helps in immediate communication. You do not need to wait for a response if your friend is online. Let’s use Facebook’s chat feature. It appears in the extreme right bottom of the screen.

Click the “Chat” icon. The chat application will pop-up.

Click the Pop Out “Chat” option in the chat application to open chat in a new larger window.

Click the “What are you doing right now” link and enter your status.

Click the name of your online friend in the Pop Out Chat window and start chatting.

Nudge your friend’s with “Pokes” Facebook also has an unique feature called poke has attracted the attention of many. Poke is just a way JULY 2008 z INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP PLUS

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Keep yourself updated Check “Status” Just like most chat applications provide a status feature to let the others know what you are doing, Facebook too provides a similar feature. By updating you status you can let your friends know about your location or what you are currently doing, or simple display a message or proverb you like. To view your friends’ status, click the Friends option and go to the Recently Updated tab.

Conclusion After all the fun you had with Facebook, explore some more and get your

hands on some other exciting features available that provide everything from e-mails and scraps, to photos and gifts. Because of the variety of features available, Facebook has become the most popular website among college students. Not only does Facebook provide entertainment and various other applications to use, but also provides educative information like News on your Home page. Facebook has also been in news, because of some controversies, like the most famous Connect U. Connect U is a social networking site that filed a case against the owner of Facebook,

Zuckerberg, stating that he illegally used the source code they asked him to create for their website. The case was however dismissed due to lack of evidence. Connect U filed a second case against Facebook which is currently continuing. Even after all the allegations, the number of users on Facebook continues to grow. As of today, Facebook is undoubtedly one of the fastest increasing and the most popular social networking site. Continuous website updates and additional features/ applications being added continuously, maintain the interest level of its members and attract more!

MINI-WORKSHOP GIVE ROOM TO THE “PHOTO” GALLERY We all look for fancy camera phones and pick-up cell phones with the best picture output. So what do we do with all these pictures if we can’t share it with our friends? E-mailing these can be a lot of trouble since most accounts have a size limit. Facebook helps you to share not only photographs but entire albums. Yes, you can now give room to your creative photographic side and publicize them online free of cost!

In the left pane, under Applications, click “Photos”. You can view all recent photo albums of your friends.

Click the Create a “Photo Album” button. You may want to have a look at existing albums before this.

Click the “Create Album button”. NOTE: At this point you may be prompted to install an ActiveX control. Install it.

In the left pane, browse to the folder that contains the photos you want to upload. You will now be able to view the photos in the right pane.

Enter details like the album name, location and description. Don’t forget to set the Privacy option.

Select the photos you want to upload and click the “Upload” button at the top. You will Receive a confirmation message. Click “OK”. INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP PLUS z JULY 2008

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Useful Social Networking Groups Socializing over the Internet has never been so easy, nor has finding solutions on the go. Read on to understand how different sites can come to your rescue at different walks of life! BY KAMAKSHI VENUGOPAL

t isn’t very surprising that practically every one today has put up their profiles on most of the popular networking websites. But as time goes by, the novelty factor of these sites begin to diminish. While most people have an account created out of sheer curiosity, others utilize it as a means to specific ends. Whatever be the reason, there is no denying the fact that social networking websites have made the modern man even more willingly social. Although some sites do not fall in the ambit of social networking; they can still come to your rescue in your hour of need. Read on to find out the different genre of sites of

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use on the internet, and find out how online communities can work to your benefit!

Knowledge networking sites Internet is an acronym for the term interconnected network. Thus, the very idea of conceiving the internet was to create a chain where information could flow easily between various users. And thus, each “web portal” appearing on this “Web” of knowledge belongs to a particular class or group, based on the nature of its contents. One such emerging genre of websites is the “knowledge networking sites”. In an

age of extensive blogging, facilities have been made available at no extra cost, absolutely anyone and everyone can find their way on the internet and make themselves heard without registering a domain. Knowledge networking sites are not really blogs, in that sense. They are web portals which allow a person to begin with a topic of their interest, and they can go on to provide as much as information as they have on that subject.

Wikipedia.org This website revolutionized the concept of using the internet as a tool for garnering information. Going by the

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By logging into Wikipedia you can contribute with articles and participate in other activities on the site.

tag line “Welcome to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit” the portal serves as a brilliant option for knowledge and research. This web portal re-defined the term knowledge networking. The content on the site is contributed by its online members. Thus, the reliability of authentic data on this encyclopedia is not acceptable as a major source for research papers. This is the reason why the website itself provides disclaimers on the content available. The web portal has strict quality checks on the kind of content that is hosted on its site. Armed with style sheets, strict content adherence, articles in over 70 different languages, over 23,92,997 articles in English alone and open discussions on articles, make Wikipedia a hot favorite for intellectual discussions and knowledge exchange. Wikipedia has come up with an innovative way to combat content hooliganism. While users can add / edit text, they cannot delete the content of the story. However, they can browse through the “History” of a story and compare the various edit versions created for it. There is also a provision that allows you to edit specific parts of the story, rather than the entire story. PROS: } Free Encyclopedia for public use. } Content is generated by its portal members and can be edited by any one, with or without a site login. } Traces content variation through the version history of every edition.

For authentic information on various topics log on to Scholarpedia. It is from the same parent organization as Wikipedia.

CONS: } Content on the site not completely reliable. } Although the site maintains strict editing standards, many of the articles appear as “Stubs” (short articles which need to be expanded) on the site. } The portal cannot be cited as a source for research papers.

Scholarpedia.org After the success of Wikipedia, the parent organization “Mediawiki” has come up with another gem of a web portal, called “Scholarpedia”. Although the site has the look and feel of Wikipedia, it differs at various levels. This portal is a project designed, not only to overcome the pitfalls of Wikipedia, but also maintain the authenticity of the contents of the site. Firstly, the site can host content written only by designated “Scholars”. These authors are either select by a list of curators, or elected by public votes. Each article has a curator who is responsible for the content. Changes if any, should be approved by the curator. This is an important and significant difference between the two sites, which thus authenticates the document and keeps it updated, and can be considered as reliable sources. PROS: } Credentials of authors and curators make the articles authentic. } Very reliable and accurate content. } The portal can be cited as a source for research papers.

CONS: } Induction of authors and curators happens through a screen of credentials or public invites. This makes the process tiring and long. } Corrections to be approved by the article curator before being updated on the portal. This can cause an undue delay. } Since the portal is relatively new, the citation might not be acceptable as of now.

MSDN forums: MSDN forums are created and managed by the development wing of Microsoft. MSDN stands for Microsoft Developer Network. Apart from the blogs and the special software information service for the .NET platform, MSDN is one of the largest, most popular and most extended support available to programmers using the Microsoft platform. The site is a perfect example of an all-in-one public forum. The users who post threads on this support group include various kinds of developers such as those into Operating System and those leveraging API’s, languages or scripts of Microsoft applications. This portal is the perfect example of a need based, to the point and focused networking among a set of people with common interests. On the forum, any existing member can start a thread, and other members can come forward with their expert suggestions to tackle the issue at hand. INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP PLUS z JULY 2008

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PROS: } The forum is ideal for immediate help on bug fixing in the middle of crucial projects. } You can increase your social network in your profession. } You can initiate threads or post help on them. CONS: } The data cannot be trusted as some users may have malicious intentions. } You might not get useful responses all the time. } Technical questions are not entertained on the forum; you can only post development queries.

Support Groups Another modern day invention which has changed the face of online communication is forum and support groups. These sites have not only provided with software and hardware support for various applications, it has drastically changed the face of troubleshooting through the conventional methods of phone calls, emails and service centers. Online forums server as a virtual location for starting online discussions, posting messages on message boards, etc… Most of the support groups and internet forum are theme based. Unlike blogging sites, any member can start a thread (discussions are called as threads on forums), and other members can provide solutions and answers and continue the threads. Forum moderators or the author of the

thread can close the thread as per the policies and structure of the portals.

Orkut Communities Okrut.com from Google Inc. has emerged as one of the most popular social networking sites especially in countries like India and Brazil. One of the features provided by the site known as “Orkut Communities” has improved the face of social networking. While most of these sites aim at collating members who share a common interest, There are certain communities that generate employment opportunities, share specific information like visa applications to study or work abroad, share e-books, promote events. Overall every member who comes in with a query on the community forum page would benefit from the experience of the other members. PROS: } Different communities exist for different purposes. } You can join several communities at once. } Owners and moderator of communities can be different, making the communities easy to manage. } Easy to navigate and create communities. CONS: } Most communities on the site are frivolous and meaningless. } Many of the forums responses may prove to be useless, even to the point of being insulting.

Microsoft developers often encounter various hurdles during development activity. MSDN helps them in such situations. JULY 2008 z INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP PLUS

} The site has over 1000 “Hate” communities, which is detrimental to tolerance.

WAYN.com WAYN is an acronym for “Where are you now?”. The website mainly targets those who are fond of traveling. The portal primarily brings together travelers from all around the world, and helps them to share their experiences. The portal is also useful to students and other professionals on the move. Although this site is not all that popular compared to its contemporaries like Orkut and Facebook, it has been quite successful in collecting a large number of faithful users. The Club section empowers user to find out the latest travel updates. It also high-lights some of the ways in which they can help make a difference to the issues that matter to them the most . PROS: } Exchange travel information with family and friends, and trace their whereabouts. } Send e-mails and SMS to members and non members. } Built-in instant chat application to chat with your friends. CONS: } It is free to join, but very has a high membership cost. } Poses high degrees of spamming and has security issues. } The Site is a bit slow.

If you like travelling then WAYN (Where are you now?) is a great site to meet people who meet your interest.

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Do you have a Facebook? With social networking sites becoming the talk of the town, it is no wonder that an increasing number of online users are frequenting them. But what exactly has captivated 24 million users to one website in particular, namely Facebook? Read on to find out.

hat happens when a student from Harvard decides to run a hobby project? Well, he still ends up making millions! This may sound rather clichéd, but it happens to be just how the popular social networking site, Facebook, originated! The founder Mark Zuckerberg, an ex-Harvard student who originally started off Facebook as an on-campus site for students to collaborate with each other, is now heading a website that has about 100,000 new users everyday! So what makes Facebook different from its social networking contenders like

MySpace, Hi5, Orkut, and the rest? Let’s find out. Like most social networking websites, Facebook allows users to create their own profile that can include their personal interests, pictures, and—with only a few limitations—almost anything else an individual wants to post. The information entered in a profile is then linked to others on the user’s contact list. You can also see what each of your contacts are doing and who they are making friends with at any time of the day, all with the Mini-new feeds that bring you this information.

But what’s unique about Facebook? The most significant difference with Facebook is the flexibility in the way it can be used. Whether it is for catching up on old time buddies, meeting new people, or even getting connected with potential business partners, this is the ideal place to meet people who share similar interests with you. And with Facebook reportedly being the 6th most trafficked site in the US, it can also make for a great personal media broadcasting channel—getting you the publicity you want—all for free! Sounds interesting? Read on to find out how you can create your own INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP PLUS z JULY 2008

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MAKE MONEY ON FACEBOOK If you have been a Facebook user for sometime and now wish to do more than just socialize online or build potential business contacts, then try using some of the third-party applications that can be accessed through Facebook to make some quick bucks. One such application is the CashCliques application that allows users to click on ads and even refer new contacts in order to build a network. Each advertisement clicked on generates a revenue of 1 cent for the user and you also earn what your referrals earn each day. Facebook, get networked with people who have similar affiliations, catch up with old friends, and much more.

Get a Facebook Here’s how you can get started with creating your own Facebook and join the 24 million users who have their own profiles already. If you haven’t got an invite, it doesn’t matter. Simply log on to www.facebook.com and then sign up using your e-mail ID. After confirming your account via the confirmation e-mail Facebook sends you, you are all ready to get started. Just login with your e-mail ID and password to create your own personalized Facebook profile to enjoy all the site’s features and, of course,

to start socializing! Once you log in to Facebook, you are then navigated to your Facebook account where you will first see invites from those already on Facebook. The second step involves using a Friend finder tool that enables you to enter an e-mail address and its corresponding password to invite everyone in your contact list and find friends who are already using Facebook. It is important to use this tool with discretion since you might not want all of your contacts on your e-mail list to get an invite from certain people, for instance, an ex-employer. You are then directed to a page that recommends you to fill out your profile information. The next step involves joining a network to give you access to viewing profiles of other people in your selected network. If you are a bit wary of disclosing all this information, you can also skip these steps initially and keep them on hold until you get better acquainted with your Facebook. After you’ve decided to start using your Facebook, it is important to keep in mind the reason why you want to own a Facebook profile, that is, whether it is for personal reasons or for professional use. Based on this decision, you can then update your profile and other details that will be visible to your contacts. Remember

FIVE THINGS TO REMEMBER… } Only display on your profile what you’d put on your desk. } Add apps based on their privacy settings. } Use the “Limited Profile” option for strangers. } Post confidential messages as private messages and not as wall posts. } Limit the time you spend on Facebook. that Facebook is a powerful tool when used for either of the two purposes; however, if you try to mix the two, the result might not always be according to what you initially expected. For example, you wouldn’t display a similar photograph of you taken at your birthday party on your professional profile where you want to be associated with potential business partners. The same goes for the personal details. So proceed with the utmost care. You wouldn’t want your Facebook profile to be the reason you lose out on business opportunities or even your job, simply because you entered information into it without giving it much thought. If you are looking to create a personal account to catch up with friends and make new ones, the first thing you would want to do is

ADD AN APPLICATION

When browsing through the application directory, click on the application of your choice depending on the manner in which you want to use Facebook and interact with your contacts.

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2 You will then be directed to a page that informs you about all the features associated with the application. Click on the “Add Application” button to proceed once you have decided on using a particular application.

3 You will then be navigated to a page that allows you to determine different levels of privacy and usage of the application. Here you can either add the application or cancel the process depending on your preference.

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put your picture on your profile for two reasons: so that others can recognize you instantly or put a face to your profile and second to prevent Facebook from putting a big blue question mark on your display profile to mark the absence of a display picture. Once you’ve edited your profile, and searched for friends using the “Search” field featured on the left pane of your Facebook account, you can then also add photo albums to your profile, join groups, or even create your own. Facebook also includes some great third-party applications, which can be used according to your discretion and taste. Although adding these applications can be fun, it is essential to check their privacy settings and determine how much of your personal information they will be able to view. To browse through applications to add them to your profile, click on the “Applications” link in your Facebook account. In the “Edit my Applications” page that you are navigated to, click on the “Browse More Applications” button and then select from various categories of applications. For example, the “iLike” application allows you to add music to your profile or even dedicate a song to a friend. With over 2000 applications to choose from and the ability to know which of your network contacts share

a similar application, socializing is made much easier. Here you can also check which applications have the most activity, are the most popular, or have the most active users. In case you’re using an account for professional purposes, it is important to carefully update your “Work” and “Contact” profiles accurately and keep them updated. You wouldn’t want an outdated contact number to prevent a potential business partner from contacting you. After creating your profile and setting up your Facebook account, the next step would be to get networked. Read on to learn how.

Get networked Consider you are looking to migrate to a new place or might even want to set up a business there. Many online tools like Google Earth or Microsoft Virtual Earth 3D can help you get better acquainted with the landscape of this new territory. Meeting people can also be done through chat sites, but these contacts normally hide behind obscure names like BigWolf91 and Lil_jane2. So how do you build contacts and still control the amount of personal information you divulge? Make way for Facebook—your online space where you can not only network with people with similar interests as yours but will also be updated about local events and happenings.

Professional Facebook users can make use of applications like the “Business Cards” applications to widen their contact base.

STAY NOTIFIED WITH FOSIMO Now you can stay in touch with all that’s happening on your Facebook by installing a desktop program called Fosimo that will allow you to keep track of all your Facebook activity without using a browser. With Fosimo, you can also upload photos and create new photo albums without surfing through Facebook. If you are dying to know what your friends are doing, don’t fret; Fosimo also keeps you updated with all of your friends’ status changes. In addition, you are also notified of new friend requests, new event invites, new group invites and unread messages. To download Fosimo, visit http://tinyurl.com/33v5nt. To join a network, simply click on the “Network” link on the main menu in your Facebook account. You then have a choice of joining a regional, school, or work network, depending on your preference. You might be unsure about the network to join. In this case, you can click on the “Browse All Networks” link and then select from any of the host of networks listed or make use of the “Search for a Network” search tool to quicken the search. If the network of your choice is not already listed, click on the “Suggest a new network” link and recommend it.

Facebook features certain 3rd party applications that allow users to start a food fight or even turn into a zombie! INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP PLUS z JULY 2008

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MINI-WORKSHOP CONTROL PRIVACY SETTINGS IN FACEBOOK All social networking websites have one common challenge—they all publicize a lot of personal user information. This information can be used in several ways. But there is always a chance that it could be misused even to the extent of people impersonating users on other sites. If you want to control your privacy settings in Facebook, here’s how you can do it:

Click on the “Privacy” link in the main menu of your Facebook account. Click on the “Edit Settings” link against each of these to make changes to the privacy levels.

Click on the “Profile” link (refer to screenshot 1) to edit the privacy settings to determine who can view the information on your profile.

Click on the “Search” link (refer to screenshot 1) to go to “Privacy Settings for Search” to set who can find you using the Search function. JULY 2008 z INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP PLUS

Click on the “New Feed and Mini-Feed” link (refer to screenshot 1) to check or uncheck the information that is relevant to you.

Click on the “Poke, Message and Friend Request” link (refer to screenshot 1) to select the details that can be seen when you are contacted through a poke, message or

In the “Privacy Overview” page, you can also decide which of your contacts are on your blocked or limited profile lists.

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Perils of Social Networking Publicly sharing your identity and even interests on social networking sites in order to make new friends or to keep in touch with old ones doesn’t really seem like a bad idea. But what happens when this information is misused? Read on to find out the many dangers of social networking and how to avoid them.

o you have a profile on a social networking site? Chances are you may have already disclosed enough information to become seriously exposed to an online sexual predator, a scam artist, or even worse—have your identity stolen by a complete stranger who at this very moment may be pretending to be you! We do agree that social networking sites are one of the best means to keep in touch with old buddies and find other people who have the same interests as yours. However, the fact that these sites—which most often come with minimal or sometimes

no privacy options—often leave your personal information exposed.This is what makes these sites extremely dangerous and they need to be used with the utmost caution. So how can a user continue to use these social networking sites for what they were intended and yet manage to keep themselves from falling prey to online predators? Read on to find out what dangers you may have to face on social networking sites and how to evade them by using simple guidelines that will help you network smartly and fearlessly.

Watch what you post As soon as you sign up, most social networking sites will want you to create your own profile. This may require you to enter basic information like your name, interests, and hobbies. You may also be prompted to enter details such as your address and phone number. It is all well and good if the information you post allows your friends to recognize you instantly and enough for someone with the same interests to locate you quickly. However, it is important to know that divulging too many details about yourself can also INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP PLUS z JULY 2008

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where you come from. Moreover, any person will not be able to pinpoint your exact location. It is also advisable not to use your actual name and instead use an alias or a nickname specially created for online use. Also be Avoid clicking links on social networking sites. Clicking on unknown links may extremely cautious cause you to run the risk of allowing access to viruses, spyware, and adware. when posting pose as an easy way for exploiters photographs that may contain sexually to find sufficient information about provocative images of yourself or you to make you a victim of online your friends. Check the backgrounds sexual harassment. In cases where in these photographs. Are these you display your home address, the photographs taken at a school, information is more than enough to college, workplace, or in front of a provide the offender access right to popular mall? Also check for any your doorstep. license plates in the background Here’s what you can do to keep this or any such visual details that may from happening. Before you create allow someone to put the pieces of your profile on any social networking information together to determine site, check the information that is exactly where you live or the places being sought. It isn’t necessary to that you frequent. keep your profile blank for fields you Another thing to keep in mind is don’t wish to enter information in. You that although social networking sites should simply enter information that may be a great way to advertise, many may reflect your actual details. For a times even the private information example, if you need to enter details you post on a friend’s page may often about your whereabouts, just enter be read by hundred pairs of eyes. This your country and state so that people implies that all your social plans and can identify your nationality and other engagements may be known

to many more people than just the person you intended it for. So if you don’t wish to have others know your day-to-day activities and also want to avoid stalkers, it would be wise to simply telephone your friend or send him or her an email of what you intend on doing.

Avoid downloading unknown files Many a times, other users on social networking will send files that are seemingly inconspicuous without any noticeable reason for you to be suspicious. According to the survey co-sponsored by the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) on American adults that was conducted in 2006, 83% of the users who use social networking sites were found to readily download unknown files to their personal computers. These files often contain potentially harmful programs, which are disguised as something useful. These files could also contain spyware that will monitor your every online action, thus making you forfeit all your privacy and also end up having your computer resources being used without your knowledge. So be wary of what you download, and if you absolutely must download a file, ensure that you scan the

DOS & DON’TS DOS

DON’TS

} Remember that people on these sites may not be as they appear to be. } Discuss Internet threats with your child. } Always set up and run a spam filter, virus scanner, and firewall on your computer. } Keep track of your child’s Web activity. } Report abuse in case of suspicious behavior. } Report criminal behavior to the law enforcement agency in your locality. } Remember that what you post may also be seen by a potential employer. } Look for “https” in the URL whenever you are entering confidential information in a website. } Also virtual social networking cannot replace socializing in real life.

} Post images of yourself, family, or friends. } Display your actual name. } Enter your contact details in your profile. } Post your home or business address. } Display the name of the school or college that you studied in. } Post details of your appointments and engagements. } Invite work colleagues into your online life. } Forget that the IT dept at work can check your Web activity. } Post anything that you wouldn’t display offline. } Click on attachments. Report unsolicited e-mail to www.fraud.org and then delete it. } Do not reveal your credit card number on a newsgroup or other public forum.

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attachment and only then proceed with the download. Most of these programs also allow data thieves to freely access the personal information stored on your computer like your social security number, credit card details, bank account numbers, important passwords, and other equally confidential details. Google’s popular social networking site Orkut also instructs users not to click on any links posted in their scrapbooks since this may compromise their privacy and they may run the risk of putting their personal information at stake.

Think twice before adding third-party apps Online food fights are fun and turning into a zombie couldn’t have gotten easier, all thanks to the social networking sites that have now started welcoming third-party developers to build innovative applications to increase their user base. With Facebook, Friendster, and Zorpia, users find a host of applications with which they can socially network with ease. Although these feature-rich sites do make for great fun, it is important to think twice before adding the third-party apps provided by them. Before adding an application, check the privacy options on the site.

Can these third-party developers gain access to your personal information? Many of the social networking sites take no responsibility for the credibility of these apps, thereby leaving it upto the users to be extremely cautious before adding any of these applications. Also check to see how you can restrict these third parties from accessing your personal information. Read the terms and conditions of the social networking site to check whether your information is being sold to these third-party developers. However, to reduce the risk of opening doors to adware and spyware, try to limit the number of apps you add.

Adjust Privacy Settings Sometimes you may want to share personal information with your friends who live across the globe. You don’t need to feel deprived of not being able to do so because of possible security risks. All you need to do is tweak your privacy settings on your social networking site so as to allow only your friends or certain users to view the information you post. Facebook users benefit from its privacy options that allow them to be very selective in what they wish others to see on their profile. They can also choose friends who will be allowed to view their pictures and

In its Privacy Settings for Other Applications, Facebook states that it does not sell the user’s information to third-party developers.

other information they may not want to disclose to their entire friend’s list. Orkut allows users to enable only their friends to view their photographs or scraps. However, users must realize that even material intended to be private and viewable to only certain friends can easily be made public by the recipient or even the owners of the website. MySpace guarantees its users complete ownership rights of any material posted allowing it only a limited license of using the content solely on MySpace services. However, if users read the End User license Agreements of most of the other social networking sites like Facebook, Orkut, and hi5, they will learn that these sites claim total rights to all the information posted on them by the users. Although Facebook in its “Privacy Settings for Other Applications” denies selling any information to developers of third-party applications developers, it still states that it can use any information on the site for its own purpose. This could mean that whatever you post on the site becomes the property of Facebook immediately and can be used by the owners for any purpose—all without your further permission. On the other hand, the social networking site Zorpia ensures its users that advertisers and third

However, in its License Agreement, it states that the user gives total rights to Facebook to use the posted content as its own without further permission. INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP PLUS z JULY 2008

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parties will never be allowed to access your personal information. However, on reading the entire privacy policy, you realize that this policy can be updated at any time by the owners and that the user may or may not be informed about the same, thus making it no less risky than the other sites. So it is essential to be cautious about what is posted online and not to be careless when it comes to disclosing information out in the open. To avoid this, the best way is to once again use an online photo gallery like

Most social networking sites refrain from allowing children under the age of 13 to sign up. However, due to the anonymity that the Internet allows for, more and more kids sign up onto these sites-often without their

parents’ knowledge. This leaves them exposed to online sexual predators, which often take advantage of the opportunity of exploiting a minor without almost any chance of being caught. The best way to overcome this is to restrict certain sites from being accessed by using Internet monitoring tools like WebWatcher and SpectorPro that are available for this purpose. Windows Vista users will also find an easy workshop in this article that will help them set parental controls for a specific user ID.

with a fraudulent profile on a peerto-peer website with an intention of embarrassing the person it is directed at. Often the picture is distorted with photo-editing software to create an unflattering image of the person. Victims also at times face anonymous threatening and taunting e-mails that threaten to harm them. The e-mails usually come from random accounts making it difficult to trace the offenders. Cyber bullying is often done as a method of picking on people, but it a serious crime in most jurisdictions and one that is punishable in court.

If you are dealing with a cyber bully, follow these steps: } Do not respond to the bully under any circumstances. } If the bully is using a particular ID, block him or her so as not to receive any further mails from the bully. } You can also use Web and e-mail filters that automatically delete mails containing certain words. } If you have noticed a fake profile of yourself created, immediately report abuse on that particular website. } If you are a minor, immediately notify your parents or school authorities.

standard user. Create a separate account for your child by clicking on the “Create a new user account”. Click on the standard user account.

download” to prevent users from downloading files. Click “OK”.

Yahoo’s Flickr that allows users the benefit of complete privacy. You could even pay for a service if you need to share information with family and friends that live far away and want to be assured of complete privacy.

Use monitoring tools

PRO-TIPS Cyber bullying is a term used for cases of harassment that occur via the Internet. These include cruel forum posts, use of namecalling in chat rooms, creating fake profiles on websites, and sending of malicious e-mail messages that are meant to affect the morale of the victim. Most cyber bullies also use other high-tech bullying methods that use threatening text messages and voicemails. Many a times a picture of a person is posted online without their consent and is often done with the intention to poke fun or ridicule. The picture may be posted on a ‘hot or not’ public polling site or

VIRTUAL PARENTING WITH VISTA To avoid minors in your household being exposed to dangerous online predators, try using the Parental Control feature in Windows Vista. This feature enables you to block websites that you would consider unsafe. In order to start using this feature, first click on the “Start” button. In the “Start Menu Search Box”, type “Parent Controls” and press “Enter”. In the “User Account Control” dialog box that appears, click on “Continue”. STEP 1: On the “Vista Parental Controls” page, you can configure the Parental Control for the JULY 2008 z INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP PLUS

STEP 2: You will then be directed to a page where you can set up how your child will use the computer. Here, under the Parental Controls section, select “On, enforce current settings”. Click “OK”. STEP 3: Select the option “Block some websites or content” to specify which parts of the Internet your child can visit with this account. Next, select “Block file

STEP 4: You will be directed to the page where you can allow or block websites. In the “Blocked website” field, enter the Web address you wish to block, for example www. facebook.com. Click “OK”. STEP 5: Try to access the site that you blocked from your child’s user account. You will find that the page is restricted and a message will appear saying “Windows Parental Controls” has blocked access to this webpage.

Online Bookworm! FEATURE X SOCIAL NETWORKING

Read, discuss and discover new books!

BY KAMAKSHI VENUGOPAL

To rate multiple books at once; go to the "My Shelf" page. Click on the "list view" appearing next to your total book count under the page title. Here, you can add tags to your books, and specify if you read the book, or are reading it, planning to read it, own the book, wish to own it, if its your favorite and also rate the book according to your liking!

You can find like-minded people with the same taste of books as yours. Send invites to your Gmail, Hotmail-msn, Yahoo! or AOL address book directly for friend requests. Locate friends and search for existing members on the site using the respective links provided on the page. You can also track pending friend requests using the "manage friends" link.

Join specific groups and be a part of discussions and arguments about the books you have already read or plan to read!

The "My Authors" page lists all the authors whose unbound, which means you can add and edit detail INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP PLUS z JULY 2008

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Share and have healthy discussions about all the books you have ever read! Using the "My Shelf" feature on Shelfari, you can recommend whether to read a book on not to your friends. Organize and rate the books on your bookshelf. Buy your favorite books online. What's more, you can even add the bookshelf as a widget on your blog! Creating an account in shelfari is safe and simple. All you need is an existing email-ID! Key-in your first and last name (which is visible only to your friends), your e-mail address, specify and confirm your confidential

hose books feature on your bookshelf. It is etails about your listed authors! JULY 2008 z INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP PLUS

password, and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s done!

Make Friends the hi5 way FEATURE X SOCIAL NETWORKING

Meet new people and make blogging fun! BY DOLWIN FERNANDES

Want to make new friends? Join hi5! Sign up, Create your own profile, upload videos and pictures, view different profiles and much more.

This section of your profile allows you to upload and share your pictures with other users. Simply browse your pictures and click the Upload button to upload your pictures on hi5. You can also categorize your photographs by creating different albums.

The Messages section on hi5. Here you would be able to send messages to friends who have an hi5 account. Moreover, you can also send a photo, video or song along with your message.

This is the Home page of your screen. Here you will find your friends that have already joined hi5 and add them to your friends list. At the same time you can also edit your online status and much more.

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This is the main page of your account. This page can be simply viewed by anyone who has the link to your profile. You can create a link by simply entering a link name on this page. At the same time you can also edit your basic info, change the skin of the home page and much more.

This is the Friends section on hi5. Here you be able to view all your friends that are on your hi5 list. Simply click on a particular friend to view his or her profile, pictures etc.

With hi5, you can join various groups that are of your interest. If you want to join a particular group, just enter the name of the group you would like to join and specify its category and the language in the Search for Groups section. Moreover, you can also create your own group and ask other members to join in.

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Meet like-minded folks

Youniverse is a photo blogging and social networking site. However, it has a major difference that sets it apart from other sites like Orkut.com, MySpace.com and hi5.com. The site helps you recognize your true personality with the help of a few picture options. BY GARETH MANKOO TIP

STEP 1: Personality Test

REFRESHING THE TEST PAGE

Photo blogging is growing in popularity these days. Most people use it to share pictures with friends and relatives and also to find old friends and make new ones. Youniverse is a very different photo blog. It uses a personality test to judge who will make a good friend and who will not.

Youniverse.com has many features which are presented in flash format. One such feature is the personality test that asks you to pick from among a number of images. Your personality is reflected through your choices. You need to go through many steps while taking this test. These need a lot of thinking and reasoning in order to come out with the most appropriate choice. However, sometimes some flash images do not load. In such instances, you may have to refresh the page. However, this is not such a good idea as you have to start the test all over from the beginning since it is a Flash object and loads as an entire image.

Visit http://youniverse.com/.

Enlisted on the right hand side of the homepage are all the different segments of the site.

Click on any “Art is…” image. Select an image that satisfies your definition of art.

Click on the “Start here” button.

Click on any “This is how I like to listen to music…” image. Select your favorite source and style of hearing music.

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Click on any “My kind of treat…” image. Pick an image that describes your most comforting moments.

Click on any “Freedom is…” image. Click on an image that defines a situation that would make you feel free.

TIPS

MATCHES AND FRIENDS It is important that you do not confuse between matches and friends. Matches are those people with whom your personality matches the most. There is a percentage figure next to each of the matching members’ names and photos. Friends are those people whom you have added and who have accepted your request in return.

Click on any “That’s gross…” image. Select an image that disgusts you the most.

Click on any “Right now what I would like to be doing is…” image. Select what would you like to do now.

ADD REQUESTS TO FRIENDS

Click on any “My kind of bedroom…” image. Select a bedroom image that matches your style.

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Click on any “My kind of holiday…” image. Your favorite holiday destination should be selected here.

You can invite all your friends to open accounts in youniverse. Click on the “my Profile” link to visit your profile page. On the bottom of the page, you will see a “FRIENDS” tab. Click on the “Invite friends…” link. You will find a textbox displayed on your screen. You can type multiple email addresses. Click on “Send”. You can click on the address book link and send invites to your existing address books on selected e-mail services.

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TIP

SEARCHING FOR PEOPLE (VISUALDNA) You can look for people in Youniverse who are of the age and sex of your preference. Simply go to your profile page by clicking on the “my Profile” link. Click on the “Discover lots more people who match your VisualDNA” located on the page. You will see a number of images opening up on your screen. You can select profiles of those who satisfy only certain conditions. You can specify the “Age”, “Gender”, “Country” and the “Number of photos” that you want to have displayed on your screen. Youniverse will now display only those profile images that satisfy all the conditions that you chose.

Click on any “My kind of excitement…” image. Choose the most exciting activity according to you.

Click on any “My kind of drink…” image. Click on the picture of your favorite beverage or one that comes close to your favorite drink.

Enter you email address, username and password.

Click on any “My favorite kind of landscape…” image. Which of these landscapes appeals to you the most?

Click on any “The best things about friends…” image. Think about the moments that you felt grateful for having a friend.

Click on “Show me my results”.

Fill in your birth date, gender and country.

STEP 2: Edit your profile After the personality test come your results. Your personality will be judged and described by Youniverse based on the images you had selected. Be ready to find people with your interests from all over the world.

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The results of your personality test will be displayed on your screen.

You can click on each of the available tabs on the “Personality” page.

There are other additional tests that can be taken to portray your personality to others and also help you inspect yourself.

As you scroll down on the page you will find the “Redo” button that will enable you to give the test again.

You will see a chart that displays the most popular image choices by others who had given the test.

Click on “Take it” link near any of the tests that impress you in order to give the test.

TIPS

CHANGE PASSWORD If you want to change your password then there is a simple procedure to be followed. Click “settings”. On the page that opens, go to the “Account” tab. Under the “Change Password” section, type the “Old Password”, “New Password” and then “Confirm New Password” in the respective text boxes. You can also use settings like changing the viewing preference of your personal info. Click on “Save Changes” button located under the password options.

DISABLING PERSONAL DETAILS ON YOUR PROFILE

Click on “My profile”. It can be found on the top of your page.

Enter the criteria for the persons you want to meet and click “Next Page”.

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Here you can edit and create your profile. To find people who match your personality click on the “VisualDNA” button.

Adding details such as your current location or birthday on your profile may pose threat to you. You can disable these features from appearing on your profile page. To do so, click on “Settings”. On the page that appears, go to the “Privacy” tab. Uncheck the “Display birthday on profile” and the “Display region on profile” options. Click on “Save Changes”.

You will be glad to come across people with the similar thinking as yours. Their compatibility is measured and represented as a percentage value.

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Get started with Orkut Hemali Limbachiya

Orkut started of as a social networking site that provided only the basic features that one can expect from such sites. As time went by it grew into one of the most populous social networking sites in the world and has a huge user base. This workshop will give you a head start on using Orkut. BY GARETH MANKOO TIP

STEP 1: Create an account

MESSAGES

Like every other site that needs you to sign up, you need to create a login name and a password in Orkut as well. The email login name you create here will also create a G-mail account for you with the same login name and password.

You can send email messages in Orkut using the “Message” feature. This can be useful if you want to send email messages to contacts directly from Orkut. Click on “Home”. On your home page click on “Messages”. You will see your “Inbox” that will display the messages the people send you from Orkut. To compose a new message, click on the “Compose” tab. You can send the message to one contact or to all your contacts. Select the appropriate option button for the same. Enter a “Subject” and the body of the message. Click “Send” to send your message. Your contacts will receive this message in their inbox as an Orkut message.

Visit "www.orkut. com"

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Click on "Join now".

If you have a G-mail account then enter your user and password. You do not need to sign up in Orkut.

Enter details like you "First Name" and your "Last Name".

Select a good password.

6 7

Enter the email address that you want to link with Orkut.

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Type the exact same text as is seen in text verification image.

Click on "I accept. Create my account".

You will receive a confirmation mail in the given account. Your account will have to be activated from here.

Enter your birthday by selecting the values in the dropdown boxes.

Check the checkbox that's asks you to confirm your age.

Enter your year of birth. This is crucial since only members above the age of 18 are allowed to use Orkut.

Click "Accept Terms".

TIPS

USING G-MAIL ACCOUNT Orkut and G-Mail are part of Google. Creating an account in Orkut that is based on a G-mail account will prove more beneficial since both the sites have a common lineage. You can directly log into your Orkut account with a G-Mail account. Even if you create an account in Orkut based on another email address, a G-Mail account will be automatically created. We recommend that you create an Orkut account using your G-Mail ID if you already have one. Facilities like direct updates of incoming scraps, when logged into Google Talk can be availed.

STEP 2: Edit your profile Now that your account has been created you need to activate it from your email account. Once you do that, visit “www.orkut.com”. If you are asked for your email ID and password then provide the same and sign in. Your home page will be displayed in on the site.

WRITE TESTIMONIALS

The home page will display you friends in a tiled format.

The scraps that you receive will be shown in your scrapbook.

Click on "Edit" to edit your Orkut profile.

Edit your first and last name.

Enter details like your date of birth and address.

If you have something to write about any friend then Orkut has a testimonial facility for the same. Click on the profile of a friend in your list. Click on “Write testimonial”. Type the testimonial and click on “Submit”. It will appear on your friends profile after it is accepted by him/her.

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Select your gender by clicking on the appropriate radio buttons. JULY 2008 z INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP PLUS

Click on the appropriate checkbox to state your purpose of joining Orkut.

Click "Update".

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TIP

UPLOADING VIDEOS Since both YouTube and Orkut are affliated to Google, videos from YouTube can directly be added to your profile. Just like the way we add images to our profile in the “Photos” section, we have the “Videos” section to add videos into your profile. Open the page of any YouTube or Google video of your choice. Copy the link from the address bar on the video page. Click on the “Videos” section on your profile page. Paste the copied link into the textbox provided. Click “Add video”.

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The video will appear in your profile. Click on “Edit description” if you want to add or change the descriptive text of the video.

Click on the "Social" tab.

Enter details like your ethnicity and religion.

Click on the "Fashion" link to expand it check the checkboxes that you want to.

Extend the "Humour" link and click on the appropriate check boxes.

Fill in other details on the other details on the site and click "Update".

It is advisable to not enter your complete address and your telephone number on social networking sites since it may be misused by miscreants.

Click the "Contact" tab.

Here you can enter your email addresses.

Select any two instant messaging addresses that you wish to share with your friends.

You can add "Personal" and "Professional" information as well. Remember to click "Update" button so that your changes are saved.

Under your profile image click on "Add photo".

Click "Update".

In the dialog box that opens click "Browse".

Once you upload the image, it will appear in an editing box. Select the area that you would like to crop by dragging the edges of the dotted rectangle and then click "Crop Photo".

STEP 3: Upload images You can upload your favorite images on Orkut. This will help your some great moments and photographs with your closest friends. Your friends can even comment on your images and you can also add captions below each image. These images can be segregated in albums.

Click on "Photos".

You will find a default album. Click on "Edit" and change the album's name and description.

Click "Update".

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Select an image that you want to upload. Clicking on "Select more" will allow you to upload more images simultaneously.

Click on the album and then on "Browse".

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The images that you have uploaded will be displayed on your screen.

Click "Upload photos".

Enter "Captions" for your images.

Select any one image as your "Album cover". It will represent the rest of your album.

Click "Save changes".

STEP 4: Find friends Your main purpose of joining Orkut is to make new friends and meet old ones. There are some helpful means of finding friends in Orkut. This can help you grow your networks of friends. You can search your G-mail, Hotmail, AOL and Rediff friends.

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Click on "Home" tab.

TIPS

WRITE SCRAPS A scrapbook is something like a pad in which someone can leave a message for you. This message can be read by everyone and needs some certain settings to be made in order to make your scrapbook private. Click on the profile of any friend. Click on the “Scraps” link on his/her profile. Type a message in the textbox that is provided. Click “Post scrap”. You can also add photos in a friends scrap book by clicking on “Add photo”. Then select an image by clicking on “Browse”. Click on “Upload Picture”.

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VERIFY YOUR ACCOUNT CREATION

In the left hand pane, you will find a section that says "Find friends".

Select an email address from the dropdown box and enter you email ID and password.

Click "Find". You will see all the contacts who you had in common in that email ID and who are signed up in Orkut with that ID.

Click on the name of photograph of any one of your contacts.

Enter some introductory message for your friend so that he can recognize you easily.

In your friends profile click on "Add as friend" on the left hand pane.

Click "Send". Your friends will receive a friend request from Orkut and once they accept it they will be seen in the friends list on your profile once the request is accepted.

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After signing up you will receive a confirmation email which will contain a link that you have to click. Click on the link and you will be directed to the G-mail website. You have to follow this process in order to activate your accounts in both, G-Mail and Orkut. You may have to login to your Orkut account again after the verification process. This process is done by Orkut to avoid fake accounts being created by trouble-makers who will use another persons ID to create some fake accounts in Orkut.

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Share, Blog and Multiply! Hemali Limbachiya

Most blogs do not provide you with the best features that can be derived from a site like Multiply.com. It helps you add and maintain photo albums as well as videos on the site. Multiply.com allows you to actually make your own site that you can share with friends and family. BY GARETH MANKOO TIP

STEP 1: Creating an account

SEARCH MULTIPLY

Signing into Multiply.com can get you a lot of benefits. Like most other sites that handle file sharing, Multiply too has some very good features. You can design a page that will hold your pictures, videos and blog entries all at one time. You also get a site address for yourself that you can brag about being your homepage link. Isn’t that wonderful? Here’s how you get started.

If you want to look for a contact in multiply.com you can use the search tool. Click on the “Search” tab. The “Search Users” section can be used to search multiply users. You can search by e-mail address, name of the user or multiply.com ID by selecting the appropriate radio button. Once you have selected the appropriate radio button, enter the search text and click on the “Search” button. Another search you can make on the site is the content search. Here you can look for any of the files that have been uploaded such as photos, reviews, videos, blogs, etc. type in the search text and then click on “Search”. The final Search you can make is the “Group Search”. Multiply allows us to create groups that contain users with a particular interest. Searching for existing groups is possible using this property..

Visit http://multiply. com/.

Click on "Join For Free" to create a new account

You can also browse through all the features of the site by clicking on "Take the Tour".

In the sign up page enter the user ID that you would like to use as the site address.

Enter the verification text as seen in the image.

Fill in all the details like the password, date of birth and address.

you can select the frequency of email alerts that you will be receiving from the site by clicking on the "E-mail Alerts" dropdown box.

Click "Register".

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You can enter the names and email IDs of friends and relatives who you would like to invite to multiply.

You can directly borrow contact lists from popular sites and blogs.

Click "Next"

STEP 2: Editing Your Profile Once you are signed up for Multiply.com you can start editing your profile page. You will be editing each section of your site in this step in order to make it more interactive and attractive as well. You will also learn to upload your images and videos to the site.

Click on "Choose Photos".

In the "Welcome Message" section enter a message for your Visitors.

Click "Upload".

Click on "Edit Welcome Message".

Click "Save".

Click on the "Add Photo" link on "Photo".

In the textbox that appears enter the "Title" text that you would like to have at the top of your page.

To upload a music track on your profile click "Upload Music".

Click "Browse".

In the next window you can enter more details of the music track that you have uploaded.

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USING YOUR INBOX Multiply.com also stores email messages sent from other multiply. com users. The number of messages in your inbox is displayed in the “Message Summary” section. Every time you receive a message from a multiply.com user you will be notified about it by mail. The space taken to save these messages is compromised from your overall multiply.com storage capacity. There are email filters so that you can easily find certain kind of messages. Click on the “Custom” button if you want to select only certain messages. Using this option you can use filters like a sender option or a mail option to pick only those messages which pertain to your requirements.

Click "Upload"

MANAGING CONTACTS LIST You will see the uploading progress bar that indicates the upload process.

You can enter the search tags so that other people can easily find your file.

Enter the "Playlist Name" and "Description".

TIPS

In the beginning of the workshop you are asked to make a provision so that you can invite more people. Multiply provides you with direct links to other sites like orkut.com and gmail.com so that you can directly import all the contact that you have in those lists. You can invite your friends anytime you want. Simply click on the “Contacts” link.

Click "Save and Publish".

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TIPS

ENABLING EMAIL ALERTS You will receive continuous notifications from multiply.com. These may seem quite annoying sometimes. You can control how many messages you want to receive based on the settings you provide at the site. Click on “Settings”. Click on “Email Alerts”. In the page that opens up click on “Replies to my post” checkbox if you want to receive mail notifications every time you receive replies to the messages that you have posted. You can also subscribe and unsubscribe to newsletters. Once you are done with the settings make sure that you click on the “OK” button.

You can upload your profile image

To upload you will have to click on "Click to Upload" on the photo logo.

Click on the "Music" tab on your site.

Select the image that you want to upload.

All your music will be enlisted so that you can delete or add tracks accordingly.

The name of the song will be displayed along with a direct download link.

STEP 3: Adding Themes Instead of leaving your profile dull and boring you can make it a little more attractive to look at by using the readymade themes that are made available at the site. These themes are previously created.

Click "Settings".

Click "My Site".

JOINING GROUPS Groups are like communities of people with similar hobbies and interests who like to communicate online and share ideas or views. Click on the “Groups” link on your multiply.com page. Here you will see a list of categories of various groups that are available. You can also search for the groups that you want in the given textbox and then click on “Search”.

In the Site Customization section on top click on "Choose a Theme".

Make sure that you fill in all the entries in your site so that it looks fuller and complete.

Select any theme you would like to base your site on.

You can now reach out to others with your images, photos and other blog related information by simply sharing your site link with them.

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Tips & Tricks

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CHIP Plus - July 2008

& Tricks

Umesh Dahiwalkar

Tips

Share your tips: tnt@chip-india.com

Orkut

Send a audio and video in scrap scraps

Add color to your scraps

An example of a link of an audio file: http://example.com/example.mp3. } Add html-embeddable objects by creating or uploading your content on sites such as Photobucket (www. photobucket.com), Imageshack (www. imageshack.com), Rockyou (www. rockyou.com), or Slide (www.slide. com). Copy and paste the htmlembedded code to share it with your Orkut friends.

3 Use the following combination of characters enclosed in brackets to choose the kind of emoticon you want to include in your Orkut scrap.

Here’s a great way to add color and funky emoticons to your posts when you scrap your friends on Orkut. } To change the font color of your text, type the name of the color you wish to use in brackets, for example, [green] environment[/green]. } To show an emoticon, type the key shown above for each emoticon in brackets, for example, [:)]. } To make text bold, italic, or underlined, type in, [b], [i], and [u], respectively. } To make a word a link, use [link]...[/ link], for example, [link] ideas [/link] or Have a [red] great [/red] [b][i]weekend [/i][/b] ! [;)]. JULY 2008 z INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP PLUS

Photobucket.com is a useful site on which you can upload your images. These images can be posted in as scraps in anyone’s scrapbook.

Are you bored of the standard text scraps? Do you want to do something different when scrapping friends? Try adding audio and video files when scrapping a friend. } Copy and paste links ending in .jpg, .gif, .png, or .bmp and the image will appear in the scrap. For example, simply paste the following link into your scrap: http://example.com/ example.jpg. } Add videos from YouTube and Google by copying and pasting the URL of the video, for example, http://youtube. com/watch?v=videoid. The video will automatically appear in the scrap. } To add podcast/audio, copy and paste the URL of an audio file and an audio player will appear in the scrap.

Change themes

Themes add spice to every site that you work on. They make the pages attractive to work on and also invite the attention of friends and other people in your network. The theme you select reflects your persona and state

You can find themes for every season on Orkut. Click on any option button and then on “Update” to apply the theme.

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of mind to some extent. This feature has been used on a huge scale on sites like Hi5.com, MySpace.com and Multiply.com among others. Now that Orkut’s usual blue color was getting a bit too stale for users and the site administrators as well, it was time for a change. The cool new feature is available in Orkut’s new rendition that’s called Orkut Beta. You can change the theme of your homepage and add fl avor to your otherwise boring profile page. } Click on “Home” to visit your homepage. } Look for “Change theme” on your top bar and click on it. } Click on a radio button that corresponds to the theme of your choice. } Click “Update”. The theme will be applied to your profile. You can also undo this action by following the similar procedure. } Click on “Change theme” on your “Home” page. } Check the “Disable themes” checkbox. } Click “Update”. The themes will not appear on your profile. You can enjoy the classical blue color of Orkut. The trend of putting themes on Orkut profiles is picking up since it is a new feature and there are just a few themes available in Orkut. It is advisable to avoid themes from secondary sources and use only those that are provided by Orkut.

Control notifications

The notifications you receive from Orkut updates and other messages are received either by mail or as Orkut messages. Sometimes these messages may seem unsolicited and also irritating. In such times you would like to block them or control them to suit your needs. Here’s how to do it. } Log into your Orkut account. } Click on “Settings” in the right bar. } Click in the “Notifications” tab. } Select and deselect the notifications

Click on the check boxes adjacent to the notification setting in order to recieve the notification by mail or as an Orkut message.

that you would like to receive and also how you would like to receive them. } You can edit the preference of each of the updates by clicking on “Edit”. This will help you do away with all the unnecessary mails that you receive every time someone scraps you or adds you on Orkut.

Add Slide TV videos

You can add some videos from popular site, Slide TV. This is available as an application which has to be added to your profile. This application is entered as an external entity into your profile. You can share it with your friends or let them know about it. } Click “Home” in your Orkut profile. } On the left hand pane click on “Add apps”. } A list of applications will be displayed on your screen. In the textbox provided above enter the list of applications type “Slide TV”. } Click on the name of the application, “Slide TV by Slide.com”. } Click on “Add application”. } Click on the name of name of the application in your left bar. } The page that is displayed will show you the videos that are available with Slide TV. } You can browse through the videos that are available in the gallery on different pages by clicking on the arrow key. There are many videos

Click on “View application” if you want to use it and its features.

availible in this list and it may take a while till you find a suitable one. } To share the videos with your friends click on “Share”. In the page that opens up you will see a list with your friends and a checkbox above each of their images. } Click on “Select all” and “Clear” if you want to select or deselect all your friends. Select those friends who you want to add to the list and click on “Share”. } If you really liked a particular video click on “Save to favorites”. You can keep updating your list of favorite videos in Slide TV. Sharing your videos with your friends is a good idea since they will come to know more about your choices and your sense of humour.

Hi5

Change your e-mail and password

Hi5 keeps mailing its members about notifications and updates on its site. You may want to submit a different e-mail ID for such purposes rather than use your personal ID. In order to change your current ID, make sure that you are logged in with your original e-mail ID. } Once you’re on the homepage, click on “Account”, which is in the upper left corner of your page. } In the “Change Your Email Address” INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP PLUS z JULY 2008

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section that says “Status”. } Click on “Edit”. } Enter the text that you want to set as your status message. } Click “Save”. If you want to view the status message that you have added click on “My profile”. The status message will be displayed near your display image.

9 It is always better to select a strong password. If you feel that your password has been compromised then make sure that you change it.

section, enter your new e-mail and password. } Click “Save”. } Your new e-mail ID will be associated with this account. You will have to log in with this new e-mail address. Changing your password is a similar process. It is advisable to change your password if your account has been hacked into or if someone has a hint of what your password may be. By regularly changing your password, you can ensure that your account will be safe from illegal access. } Enter your old passwords and new passwords in the “Change Your Password” section. } Enter your new password again where the site asks you to “Verify Your Password”. } Make sure you click “Save”. The next time you need to log into your Hi5 account, you will have to enter the new e-mail address and password.

By creating new friend circles, you can form groups of your friends. Click “Save” after creating a new group.

New Circle”. } You can also choose from a list of existing hi5 groups. } Once you’re done, make sure you click on “Save”. The newly created Friend Circle is a good way to find a certain bunch of friends.

Display status

Click “Save” once you have typed the status message on your page.

Create friend circles

Friend circles are groups of friends in hi5. You can group your friends just groups of like real friends. When you are logged into hi5, click on “Friends” on your homepage. } Then click on “My Friends”. Click “Edit Circles” to edit your friend circles. } To add a new circle, click on “Add JULY 2008 z INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP PLUS

Write journal entry

A status message is a fine way to convey your current state to people in your list. A small line of text can do the trick of passing the message on. You can also use a tacky or witty line of text that will get your contacts inquisitive enough to message you. } Log into your hi5 account with your username and password. } Click on “Home”. } Once on your homepage, look for the

The journal entry will be displayed on your profile with the image that you had selected.

Hi5 has a feature called as a journal that allows you to write about a particular topic and save it for future references (as a diary) or to share it with friends. The journal in hi5 can have a single image attached to it. Log into your hi5 account, you will be directed to your home page. } On your homepage click on “Journal” in the applications section. } The journal entry page will open up. Enter the title of your journal entry in the “Title” textbox. } Enter the body of text in the “Journal entry” textbox. You can format the text in the body text using the various formatting tools available. } Upload an image that can be associated with your journal entry in the “Photo” section. Click on “Browse”, select the image and click “Open”. } Click “Post entry”. The entry will be added to your journal. This will be visible to others in the “Journal” section of your

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profile. This is a great means of blogging on Hi5 and also to exploit all the advantages of using a social networking site at the same time. Readers can post comments on your journal entry. Make sure that you select a related image to go with the journal entry. You can later edit it by clicking on the “Edit” button.

13 Control spam in MySpace

MySpace music to your 12 Upload profile

Choose from the options in the “Information” section to determine the exact information that will be displayed in your limited profile. Customize your MySpace privacy settings by selecting the relevant check boxes in the “Communication Settings” option.

Upload music of your favorite bands and videos of your favorite artists on your MySpace profile.

Are you a hard core music lover? Do you want to showcase all your favorite artists onto your MySpace profile? Try uploading your music onto your page. We bring you seven simple steps and here’s what you need to follow; } Click on “Home” in the top navigation menu on any MySpace Web page. } Click on the “Edit Profile” link. } In the “Profile Edit” main section, click on the “Song & Video on Profile” under the “Profile Songs” section. } Click on the “Find a band in MySpace Music” link to add a song to your profile. } Click on the “Find a video in MySpace Video” to add a specific video to your profile. } Use the “Profile Video Slider” dropdown list to select “Show”. } Click on the “Save” button for the changes to take effect.

Are you getting messages on your MySpace profile from people who are complete strangers or are you wasting time deleting unwanted messages? Then try tweaking your MySpace settings to stop spam from entering your profile. } Click on “Home” in the top navigation menu from any MySpace Web page. } Click on “Account Settings” link and then click on the “Spam” link. } In the “Settings: Spam” section, select the option “Overall Level” of “Spam Presets” that you wish to have in your MySpace account. } Click on the “Save Changes” button. } In the “Communication Settings” section, check mark the field applicable to you. For example, in the “Messages” category, uncheck the check box “Allow non-friends to send me messages” in order to receive messages from only friends. Once you have decided on the spam and communication settings. } Click on the “Save all changes” button.

Facebook

14 Create a limited profile If you want to hide certain information in your profile from specific people,

then add them to your limited profile list. Here’s how to do this. } Click on the “Privacy” link. } In the “Privacy Overview” page, scroll down till you reach the “Limited Profile List” section. } In the “Person” field, start typing the name of the people in your friend’s list who will be able to view your limited profile. } Then click on the “Add” button. } You will then be navigated to the “Limited Profile Settings” page. } In the “Information” section, check mark the information that will be displayed in your limited profile. } Click on the “Save” button.

listed on search 15 Get engines Here’s how you can get your friends to find your Facebook account by using one of the popular search engines like Google. } Click on the “Privacy” link. } In the “Privacy Overview” section, click on the “Search” link and then on the “Edit Settings” link. } In the “Privacy Settings for Search” page, under the “Who Can Find Me in Search and See My Public Search Listing” section, check mark the option “Allow my public search listing to be indexed by external search engines (ex: Google, Yahoo, MSN)”. } Scroll to the bottom of the page and then click on the “Save” button. INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP PLUS z JULY 2008

Essential Tips on Blogging Expression of thoughts, emotions, and ideas is a basic human need. Some people express their ideas simply by saying it, some like to jot it down. Blogging is a way to express your personal thoughts, ideas, and opinion in a personal journal online. All you need to do is create an account on any of the blogging sites, and start posting blogs! The blogs are arranged in chronological order. After you post the blogs, you can send the web link of your blogs to the people you want to read it. It is also a way to interact with people. Some of the common blog sites where you can voice your thoughts and opinion are mentioned below. Choose the one that suit s your needs and star t expressing!

LIVEJOURNAL.COM This is a very good blogging site for people who have interest in different areas and like to read or write on them. You can have post blogs and comments and have specific discussions on dif ferent topic s such as culture, enter tainment, life, music, news, politics, and technology. This site also has communities. You can join the one you like and interact with the members. You can also add friends, on the friend’s page you can see all the blogs posted by your friends. If you want a journal to be read only by your friends and nobody else, you can create a friends-only journal. You can also convert your journal into a personal diary by setting everything to private.

BLOGGER.COM It is one of the most commonly used and popular blogging sites. Getting started on this site is very easy as it can be done in just three simple steps. The features that makes this blogging site a hot favorite are finding bloggers with common interests and designing your blog in your own way. You also post comments on the blogs which you have read. There is an option called Go Mobile on this site which enables you to send photos and text to your blog by sending a message to go@blogger.com from your phone.

XANGA.COM Xanga is one of the fastest growing blogging sites which offers a wide variety of beneficial features. The site is ver y well or ganized too. T he communities here are called blogrings which can help you find people sharing common interests. This site also has some beautiful themes which you can use to make your blog attractive. With Xanga you can also subscribe to your friend’s blog. The subscription section shows you instant links to your friend’s web blog. Similarly your friends can also subscribe to your blog.

Write in to us at: kamakshi.venugopal@infomediaindia.com gareth.mankoo@infomediaindia.com dolwin.fernandes@infomediaindia.com shruti.shree@infomediaindia.com brijesh.gajjar@infomediaindia.com hemali.gandhi@infomediaindia.com feedback@chip-india.com