When I logged onto Facebook today to check my usual set of messages, posts & gossip; I noticed a very interesting link at the very top left. It said “The new Facebook is here Try it now”. Being the insanely curiously type, I clicked “Try it now” and found my online social life change instantly.

There have been several rumors of plans to give a face lift to Facebook but what I experienced leaves face lifts far behind and places FB on a whole new level. Facebook has not only set a new standard but exceeded all my expectations of what social networking site can become in such a short time span.

The wide layout and additional tabs have made the content area a lot more user-friendly and made my profile a whole lot easier to manage with less scrolling.

Several interesting facts:

* Can add new tabs to include any new areas that I might want within easy access
* Edit text/icons are available for any section of the profile
* Loads a lot faster than the previous version
* A lot less scrolling to get to the required sections (e.g. Funwall, Testimonials, etc) - now they are available under Boxes

All-in-all, I really like this new face of the future and looking forward to more.

I just finished upgrading this blog from Wordpress 2.5 to 2.6 and noticed immediately that it was a smart move since this update contains a number of new features that make WordPress more powerful than it currently is…

There is even a feature now to track changes to every post and page and easily post from wherever you are on the web, plus there are dozens of incremental improvements to the features introduced in version 2.5.

There are plenty more additions but one thing in particular that caught my attention was the support for Google Gears, which would prove to be pretty useful in future revisions of WordPress.

If anyone using WordPress has not already upgraded, I highly recommend that you do. And those of you who are still blogging on Blogger.com, its time to make the transition.

More details about WordPress 2.6 can be found here.

Although this post is over a month overdue, I really wanted to get the word out about this great site since its really worth a look for anyone that wants to make some money while you do what you do best or want to get some work done at a decent price!

The Question

Have you ever wanted to tap into design talent around the world and get something designed without incurring absurdly exorbant costs? Or are you a designer that wants to get paid decently for what you do? Then 99designs is the place to visit…

The Reach

There are over 15,000 talented designers from around the world at your disposal that design everything from logo designs, business cards or web sites.

There is good new for designers as well, prize money up for grabs by designers: $54,309

How it Works

Step 1: Create your Design Brief Few simple questions form your design brief. A design brief is just a summary of what you need designed. It costs USD$39 to post your brief on 99designs.com

Step 2: Set Your Budget How much you’re willing to pay the winning designer to purchase their design. This is called the prize. Prize amounts generally range from $50 to $500 depending on the type of design you require.

Step 3: Work with the Designers Once your design brief has been posted to 99designs.com, designers from around the globe will submit design concepts to compete for your prize. It’s your job to rate the designs and provide feedback to help the designers deliver what you want.

Step 4: Choose Your Favorite Design At the completion of the design contest (which is a maximum of 7 days) you will choose a winning design and pay the designer the prize amount. The designer will send you their completed design along with copyright to the original art work.

That’s all there is to it. Take a look at some of the design contests currently running and see why 99designs is the best choice for your next design project.

Its always a nightmare when you have to work with a team from varied backgrounds, it gets even worse when you are worlds-apart. Well just be thankful that 4 brilliant people had the same problem you have, and instead of just sitting around they decided to do something about it!

Introducing Twiddla!

Twiddla is a free, real-time online collaboration tool. Just click and go: no plug-ins, downloads, or firewall voodoo. It’s online when you are. Mark up websites, graphics and photos; brainstorm on a blank canvas; meet with your virtual team easily and instantly… all in real time, all online. All you need is a computer with an internet connection and a web browser. They do the rest.

Messaging
Twiddla is a free, real-time online collaboration tool. Its beauty is in its simplicity and accessibility: no plug-ins or downloads, no need to work around complex firewalls, no advanced scheduling. It’s available 24/7 and the only requirement is a computer with an internet connection and a web browser. It’s browser-agnostic, user friendly, and free.

Users can:
* mark up websites, graphics and photos
* brainstorm on a blank canvas
* meet virtually, easily and instantly
* chat with other users
* talk with other users live

There are even separate Twiddla buttons that you can place on your browser and your site. After using it for a while, I was so addicted that now I don’t do anything without it. Give it a spin and share your experience with many others.

Team WhiteBoarding with Twiddla

Who Is Hosting This is a tool conceived by Stan Schroeder (editor at Mashable) and programmed by Gordan Orlic (Zend PHP and MySQL certified developer), it enables you to find out who is hosting any web site. Simply type in any domain name, and you’ll get a link to the company that’s hosting this particular domain. It’s that simple!

Although they started in June 2007, the official launch was on the 4th of July 2007 when the site got Digg’d. By September they announced that they had successfully integrated WHT with BuiltWith.

They have also included two nifty toys in the tools section for anyone that wants to have this great site within easy access within your favorite browser. Their FAQ section answers some more questions most of you may have about this site.

Don’t just take my word for it, go have a look for yourself and leave a comment here.

Who Is Hosting This (opens in a new window)