All I wanted for Christmas | Apple Magic Mouse

ABOVE: MY KIDS LOVE THE MAGIC MOUSE AT A BEST BUY 
SAMSUNG IMPRESSION PHONE PHOTO  |  PHOTOSHOP EDITED

Every Christmas my wife always asked me what I want for gift and my answer is always, “I don’t want anything. I already got everything.”
  >>> Translation: “All I ever wanted for Christmas is you honey!” 

This year, however, is different. I met something very special and I even got to know it fairly well in an Apple Store at the mall: The Magic Mouse.

The best word I could describe about the Apple Magic Mouse is “freedom” -- a great mouse for your busy fingers to do multimedia work.

APPLE MAGIC MOUSE

Cost: $69 (ship with new computers)

System requirements: Apple computer with Bluetooth, Mac OS X v10.6.1 or later with Wireless Mouse Software Update 1.0

Visit Apple.com or click on its image below to learn more about the world’s first multi-touch mouse.

SCREENSHOT OF APPLE.COM IMAGE

Add audio files to interactive maps | UMAPPER

Tutorial video, above  |  sample audio map, below  |  Go to UMAPPER



Below is sample map with custom photo icons (be sure to click on the square icon in the upper right corner of map for full screen view)

This is a great tool for creating a multimedia story or timeline on map. Photo icons can be set to various sizes, and can be large enough as breaking news display photos. Audio files can be raw sounds, background music and/or narrative.

Inbox2 | BETA

Goto Inbox2BETA

Social Media Revolution

PRODUCED BY TEACHERTUBE

Did You Know 4.0

PRODUCED BY XPLANE

Fun Photo Box Effects and Gif Animations

Thanks to my wife's nephew in Vietnam, who shared with us the link of this cool free Web tool. It's very quick and simple to use. Just choose a design, upload a photo (sample: my fish photo), and go. No account required. You can post the image or gif animation directly to your social network account or copy the code for your Web or Blog site. It's a quick way to be creative without the hassle of using a photo editor program. You can also use the art work as wall paper for sites such as Twitter or Youtube. Yes, design choices are limited because they are free. 
Go to Fun Photo Box photo effects | gif animation

Yes you can create portrait of your pet with his/her favorite star.

Bing.com/twitter

Go to Bing.com/twitter

Pascal Wheeler | Facebook account backup

Wall Backups from Pascal Wheeler on Vimeo.

Commoncraft | Twitter search in plain English

Go to CommonCraft Youtube site | Video by CommonCraft

Twuugle | The Social Media Search Engine

Go to twuugle

You may also want to check out search.twitter.com

Light Stalking | "about beautiful photography"

Go to Light Stalking

SPRAYGRAPHIC | a community for creative minds

Go to SPRAYGRAPHIC

Twofoods | beta | which one is a healthier choice?

Go to Twofoods

Click on screenshot sample below: banana vs. avacado

Tweetmixx | beta | managing tweet content

Go to Tweetmixx

Gist | beta | connecting inbox to the web

Go to Gist

Twitter Backgrounds

Go to Twitter Backgrounds

Google Picasa Web Albums

Google's newly Picasa 3.5 Web Albums features Mac-friendly, face-tagging and iPhoto compatibility -- a powerhouse for managing photos and graphic images online. Go to Picasa Web Albums | name tag

Picasa uploader: For uploading more than one photos at a time, this version is for Mac

CityVoter | Need a recommendation?

CityVoter, found in 2005, is a social media platform letting users/insiders to share insight information, ratings, reviews, and recommendations with online audience: where’s best to spend time and money. Users can also use this service to create business or personal profiles for marketing. Explore your city now, go to CityVoter

NYT interactive map | Immigration Explorer

A good example of very informative and rich with data interactive map by the New York Times. Checkout the timeline bar on top. The option to view data by foreign-born group on the upper left of the map is a plus. Click on screenshot below for large view. For interactive map, go to NYT

Zwinky | Turn yourself into a cartoon

This feature requires Internet Explorer Web browser on a PC and currently is not compatible with Macs. Go to Zwinky

Blurb Books | Designing your own photo book

Go to Blurb Books

Widgetbox | a widget supercenter

Go to widgetbox

BELOW: Sample: Flash girl Mao Ki Tou (move cursor over face)

Comments from Widgetbox site:

william_richey on Jul 19, 2008

This lady is so creepy. Why are her eyes so bloodshot?!

fixpert on May 1, 2008

Cause she's in the internet... it's very dry in the internet and there's no eye drops in there

TVneto

Plurk | social journal - Twitter-liked's in horizontal

Mobypicture | photo sharing

HootSuite 2.0 | Ow.ly Social Bar

This innovation by invoke looks very exciting and promising for Twitter power users and professionals. The platform has tons of customizable options for personalized tabs and functionality, making it easier for manage multiple Twitter accounts, tracking link traffic and brand/audience feedback. HootSuite 2.0 is currently free. Open an account is required. The company is analyzing plans for possible paid subscriptions. Go to HootSuite 2.0 | FAQ

Ow.ly Social Bar 2.0 is designed for sharing web content instantaneously with minimal effort using Twitter. This well-designed bar (collapsable) and user-friendly tool is a must-have for every websites and blogs for increase brand recognition.

Yes, it's currently free. Try it. For more info go to ow.ly Social Bar 2.0

Below are three screenshots of an actively opened Ow.ly Social Bar on top of a news web site that I stumbled upon.

Search Twitter

Find real time results in twitterville from the Web, go to search.twitter

A place for search and browse tweets for everyone, including non-Twitter users. Those having a Twitter account can reply to tweets directly from this site, by click on "Reply" and your Twitter home page will pop up for composing your message.

What's really cool about Seach Twitter (an option twitter.com still doesn't have yet) is the option to "View/Hide Conversation."

Flag Counter | monitoring online traffic by country

A free widget with embedded company logo. Upgrade paid options available for additional online-traffic data reports.

For more info click FAQ | or go to Flag Counter

GasBuddy.com | mapping colors and numbers

provided by GasBuddy.com

What I like about this map is that you can read the prices with color codes in state and county level, as well as zooming to street level for latest updates on prices at the pumps. I monitored several stations near my home and the prices were accurate or very close (like 1 to 3 cents off.) The options to select types of gasoline (in street level) is a plus. Enter a location name or a Zip Code for a try!

tr.im | shorten long URLs for everything

Web tool for shortening URLs with option built-in Twitter for instant tweeting.

The site provides real-time net audience traffic results in analytical charts as long as the tr.im site is still opened. If you want to keep a record of all your original and trimmed URLs, open an account is required. Do yourself a favor by making a bookmark. Go to tr.im

Widgeo | widgets

Free widgets for monitoring Web traffic, counters, Flash animations. Found in 2006. Go to Widgeo

Google Wave 2009

Where conversations and documents meet in one single platform. 

Will be available later this year. Learn more about Google Wave

G4 TV | one stop for entertainment and games

A beta product of Comcast Corporation | Go to G4TV

BLIP.FM | sharing music using Twitter-like flatform

Create your own DJ lists and share with others. Go to BLIP.fm

For more information, go to BLIP.fm FAQ

Blippr: read and give reviews one blip at a time

One stop for browse, reviews, give quick reviews, on apps, books, games, movies and music. A product of Mashable Company. Users can sum up opinion in a blip with 160 character reviews and smiley icons. Go to blippr.

Trailer Addict

Collection of hi-res movie trailers for everyone. Go to Trailer Addict

Loopt for mobile

Loopt is an application for mobile phone that shows users where friends are located via interactive maps. Users can share geo-tagged photos, locations of updates/comments, on online social networks and blogs. (Requirements: Smart phone with fast internet service, lots of free time, true friends)

Yfrog: photo and video tweets

Another free site for hosting your photo and video tweets. Go to yfrog.com

Google Local Business Center Dashboard

This free Google service allows anyone set up profile for a business (or personal) so the information (query data) will be available for search engines. The platform is users friendly, allowing businesses to include hours of operation, menu, list of services, coupons, map. Businesses can learn about competitors or related businesses in the immediate surrounding areas, audience's behaviors, and geographic locations -- thru feedback, tracking charts and maps. Businesses will able to keep taps on phone numbers, street addresses and related links to company website. Users can give online reviews and get driving directions from a PC or mobile phone. Businesses will be able to connect better with customers in a more personal level, by letting users/customers doing most of the business/social networking, spontaneously.

This looks like good news for all businesses for saving money on advertising. But bad news for advertisers and news media companies that already struggling with decline in ad revenues. However, it's good to know the rough sea ahead, and what's available to everyone out there, no matter how big or small the companies. I am only wondering what the business world will be like in, say two to three years from now. It's scary and/or exciting.

Go to Google Local Business Center for test drive!

Create My Map in Google Maps

Go to Google Maps Help for more info.

Publish2: Real-Time Web with Social Journalism

From publish2 blog.

SHOUTcast Radio

How People Share Content On The Web

From Silicon Alley Insider and Chart of the Day

Twiddeo: Tweeting with video

Must have a Twitter account. Twiddeo tweets can be uploaded from PC, via Webcam or phonecam.

Twitc

Twitc is one stop for organizing, viewing and sharing all major types of social media platforms.

Tag Galaxy

Click on image below, top, to go to Tag Galaxy and type a tag, spin!