Great idea: Create Twitter accounts to act like feed readers!Al

@allison_boyer from #BlogWorld shared an amazing idea this morning: Create a Twitter account that will be used just for feeds. She documents the whole process in the original article, as well as some great ideas for how to use the account for more than just your own interest.



The process she defines is pretty labor intensive, so I doubt I will end up putting it to full use. If someone would automate the process, that would be awesome.



I can see taking this another step further by putting a Twitter stream widget on your #Amplify page (not the one you watch, the one everyone goes to when they read your stuff). That would let you share the people you watch most closely with those who read your posts.



Thoughts?

Amplify’d from www.blogworld.com

How to Turn Twitter into a Feed Reader

I hate feed readers. Always have. Frankly, I just don’t have time to read every single post by every single blogger I like, not even close, so I only log into my feed reader once every day or two. Because I follow so many people, that means that every time I log in, my feed reader shows a billion unread posts. Some days, it looks so daunting to clear ‘em all out, that I just close my browser without reading anything.

I keep TweetDeck running all day though. I thought to myself recently, “Wouldn’t it be great if I could combine Twitter and feeds to make a column just for people’s new blog posts.

I mean, I know a lot  of bloggers out there tweet their links, but they often get lost in the shuffle of conversation. And not everyone has their Twitter account tied to Twitterfeed (or a related service). And some people tweet links to multiple sites, both their own and others, or tweet links from the archives, etc.

It gets confusing. Yet, somehow I don’t think it will work to contact every blogger I like and saying, “Hey, will you create a separate Twitter account JUST for your feed so I can follow that account and put it into a group just for feeds?”

But, duh…I can do this myself. Kind of. With a little hacking (and I use that term losely, because this involves no actual hacking, just ingenuity), you can turn Twitter into a Feed Reader! Read more at www.blogworld.com

 

See this Amp at http://bit.ly/dHakZS

Microsoft Security Essentials 2 Released, Still the Best Darn Antivirus Around

URL:  http://lifehacker.com/5714508/microsoft-security-essent...

Found this via @DougWelch. Love Security Essentials. Just wish I knew how to upgrade to V2. When I try, it tells me I am on the latest version. Only problem? I know I am running V1.



Still, if you aren't using Security Essentials, check this version out. It's free. It's good. It works. What more do you want?



(Thanks @DougWelch for posting this!)

See this Amp at http://lifehac.kr/i3wKHI

My favorite and yours made @hardaway's top 10 list

Looking for a list of the best online experiences of 2010? Check out the list from @hardaway. (You will have to click through to see the full list and her comments.)



#Amplify made spot number 8. I love (and use) about half her list (Evernote, Tripit, Amplify, Backupify, and Skype). I am signed up for the ideeli emails, but haven't bought from them (yet).



If I had to put my finger on what I think she has missed, it would have to be:

#Hashable - Introductions via twitter and email. Complete with data and tracking.

#Quora - Ask and answer questions from a wide range of experts. I post answers when I can. I read questions and answers daily. As they grow, they are becoming as much a staple of my life as #Amplify.

#Tungle and #Plancast- Connected calendars online. I an not an active user of Plancast, but I use it to find events that are interesting. I have used Tungle to connect my various calendars for most of the year and really love it.



What are you top online experiences of 2010? Care to share?

Amplify’d from blog.stealthmode.com

My Top 10 Best Online Experiences of 2010

2010: what a difficult year for so many reasons. Too few jobs. Too many social media companies.  Too many mobile apps. The online experience is getting like the supermarket, and makes me yearn for a boutique experience. I want someone to save me some time by selecting their “best of” experiences, so I’m offering you mine in the hope that you will offer me yours. For me, this was a year of sorting through things and finding some that truly work for me.

8) Amplify – here’s a service that has gotten more traction outside Silicon Valley than inside. It’s an all-purpose tool that serves as blogging or micro-blogging platform, clipping service, and Ping.fm-like narrowcaster to social networks of your choice. It also has a bookmarklet so you can share web clippings and a button that helps you share your own site posts. It’s simple, but very powerful. Read more at blog.stealthmode.com

 

See this Amp at http://bit.ly/hJmUsD

Want your Amplify button before you posts?

@ChuckReynolds has graciously allowed me to share this tweak to the Amplify button for WordPress. I don't like having my button at the bottom of my posts. I want it up top where site visitors will actually see it. I mentioned this to Chuck today and he went out and generated a fix for me.



If you already know how to make this change, skip directly to the clip below. If not, here's how to make the change:

1) Log into your server via whatever FTP system you use. (I use WinSCP.)

2) Navigate to the directory with you WP stuff in it.

3) Navigate to wp-content/plugins

4) Open amplify-button.php

5) Make the edit indicated below hint - it is almost at the end of the file) and save the file.



Your button will now be at the top of your posts. If you download a new copy of the plug-in, you will need to make teh edit again. (Unless, of course @egoldstein and crew makes this an option in the next version.)

Amplify’d from forrst.com

Edit Amplify WordPress button Before Content

Chuck Reynolds

Had a friend that wanted her Amplify button (WordPress plugin) to be before the content instead of after the content (default).

This is located on line 273: $content = ampbtn_button($content); Remove / edit that line to be what is located in the code snippet. Save. Upload.

This hack was done on version 1.0 of the Amplify post found here: http://amplify.com/goodies/ I don't support the plugin, talk to Amplify about that but this was just to help out Kathy.

$content = ampbtn_button('').$content; Read more at forrst.com

 

See this Amp at http://bit.ly/gOlVUx

Clean URLs for Good SEO

URL:  http://rynoweb.com/clean-urls-good-seo/

Having bad characters in your urls isn't helping you any with the search engines - you need to clean up your act



(PS: If you are looking for a great resource for SEO advice, check out @chuckreynolds stuff. He's just started posting here on Amplify, but he's been sharing good stuff for years. Highly recommend his stufF

See this Amp at http://bit.ly/e7ecPQ

MVPs for Office and SharePoint 2010:10 Tips for OneNote Organization

URL:  http://blogs.msdn.com/b/mvpawardprogram/archive/2010/12...

Published today, this is a piece I wrote to help people get organized using OneNote. If you use OneNote, you should check it out.



If you don't use OneNote, why not? It is the best way to gather, organize, share, sort, and store all your notes. Everything in one place. Everything searchable. Tag things as desired. Put in your text, your URLs, your images, your audio, your video. Recognize the content so that it can be searched - whether it is text, text in a picture, audio, or video.

If these 10 tips don't convince you, let me know what else you need - I bet I can find a way to make it happen.

See this Amp at http://bit.ly/grh90A