OK. The title should be “How to browse privately using Opera 10.5″.

Opera 10.5 has been released to be the fastest browser on Earth. One of the new features is the Private Browsing.

Private Browsing allows you to surf web privately without leaving any trace of the websites you have visited.

It is useful when you are surfing using public computer, do online banking, surf sites that you want to hide from other people.

How to turn on Opera Private Browsing mode?

Opera 10.5 private browsing support both private tabs and private windows.

Open a private tab: right click the “+” icon on the tab bar, then select “New Private Tab”. Private tab got a lock like icon at the right side of the tab icon. Any browser activity within the tab is private.

Open a private windows: Click “File” menu, then select “New Private Window”. The Opera 10.5 private window is in red colour. Any tab opened in the private window is a private tab.

My two cents

Regarding the “fastest browser on Earth”, my friends and I do not agree. The speed benchmark might prove it but user experience says differently. I don’t “feel” Opera 10.5 is faster than Google Chrome on PC.

Private browsing is the feature you can find on every modern web browser nowadays. But the Private Tab in Opera, which allows open a site privately in normal browsing mode, is not found in other browsers.

I only use Private Browsing when using not-mine-computer.

Over to You

Have you updated to Opera 10.5 yet? Do you agree that it is the FASTEST browser? When will you use the private browsing mode, or not using it at all?

Please tell us in the comment below.

The once popular social website, Friendster, is fading out. It’s traffic is dropping constantly since 2009. Many people have quit Friendster and switched to Facebook.

Here is the step-by-step tutorial (with screenshots) to tell you how to cancel your Friendster account, permanently.

How to cancel Friendster account?

1. Login your Friendster account. Click the “Settings” at the top right corner.

   

2. At the new page, click on the “Cancel Account” link at the end of “Basic Info”.

   

3. At the Friendster cancel account page, there is a form at the page bottom. Fill in your Friendster’s email address and password.

   

4. Tick one or more reasons why you cancel Friendster account.
5. Tick “Yes, I want to cancel my Friendster account.”
6. Click the “Proceed” button.
7. Done. Say “bye-bye” to Friendster

   

“How to cancel Friendster account?” is a question received from a reader halijah mustafa. Send in your questions and I will answer yours too!

Now you can track any website changes using Google Reader, even the website does not provide a RSS feed. I show you how.

1. Copy the web page address that you want to track (but do not provide a feed).
2. Goto Google Reader and click the “Add a subscription” button.
3. Paste the web page address which you copied earlier and click “Add” button.
4. Google Reader prompts that the web page does not provide a feed but it can create a feed for you. Click “Create a feed”.
5. Done.

The feature comes handy if you want to track changes of a page but it does not provide a feed.

Here is example of Google Reader’s auto generated feed:

The generated feed is very simple and contains no info on what has been changed/added/deleted. Personally, it is not up to my expectation.

To track web page changes, I use ChangeDetection.com. What’s your recommended tool to track web page changes?

It doesn’t take much to build a blog. Use a third-party blogging platform like Wordpress or Blogger, choose your template and pick and click to add all kinds of widgets and gadgets.

However, keeping your blog interesting is another matter. First, it’s hard enough to gain a little recognition in the blog band. Shakespeare couldn’t even get any traffic to his blog if he were writing today. There’s just too much competitions.

As more of us take the plunge and become bloggers, building an audience becomes harder and harder, regardless of how many directories you submit to. There’s a cacophony of blog static and keeping blog visitors interested enough to come back becomes more difficult with each new blog launch.

So, to keep’em coming back, check out these tips to keep your boring blog from putting visitors to sleep.

1. Post regularly.

The W3 is littered with blogs that started out with well-intentioned authors who quickly realized just how hard it is to create interesting blog posts at least twice a week.

If a blog follower comes back and sees that nothing has changed since she last visited, or sees that you made your last post in ‘07, guess what. That follower isn’t coming back.

A successful blog – one that attracts attention and generates interaction – is based on green content. Visitors expect new information. Think of your blog as a giant mouth that gobbles up words like you gobble up pistachios. To keep them coming back, you have to keep it fresh.

2. Create a blog about something important to you.

If you’re favorite pastime is needlepoint, create a blog about needlepoint. First, you know the subject. You have the knowledge. It’s that knowledge and expertise that will continue to drive more and more visitors to your blog.

Second, it’s much easier to write on a topic about which you have a passion. Politics, self-improvement, business development, investing – what’s your passion? Your posts will be infinitely more compelling if you care about the topic. And, as a bonus, you’ll cut your research time down to zero.

3. Your blog is not about you.

Oh sure, there are plenty of vanity blogs – blogs of a poet’s epic verse or an artist’s latest oil paintings and these kinds of blogs serve an important purpose to their owners. It provides the opportunity to share themselves with others, an organic human need. We want to engage others. We’re social animals.

Now, it may be your blog. You put in the blood, sweat and tears to build the thing. You’re the boss, the editor, the custodian and the entire IT department. Your blog is your own piece of the web.

That said, your blog isn’t about you. Not if you want more than friends stopping by to read your latest foray into haiku. Blog visitors want information – information they can use in their own lives.

They want to read topics that spark their imaginations and get them thinking. A well-written, up-to-date political blog is always interesting, regardless of political stance.

When developing your posts, keep the interests of readers in mind. Engage the reader. Encourage interaction in the form of responses to blog posts. It may be your blog, but it’s not about you – at least it’s not if you want to build a following.

4. Add graphics and illustrations.

Indeed, a picture is worth a thousand words, especially on a blog.

Blog readers don’t actually read. They tend to scan. If they discover a good blog or get pinged about an interesting post, they might take a minute or two to read through your latest blog piece.

Graphs and charts are useful in conveying a lot of information quickly. A simple pie chart conveys the same information it would take you to explain in an entire page of text – and frankly, the pie chart is probably more interesting.

5. Layout for eye scan.

Again, blog visitors don’t want to plow through pages and pages of text – an endless scroll of text strings. Boring.

• Break up long paragraphs into smaller bits.
• Use heads and sub-heads to help readers find the specific nugget of information they’re looking for.
• Use bullet point lists – very scannable. (Hey, like this one!)
• Bold the text. It makes it easier to read and/or scan.
• Use negative space. That’s space that doesn’t contain text or an image. Think of it as breathing room for the blog visitor. Don’t cram your words together. Give them and readers the chance to breathe.
• Highlight key points. Use a different color text or a different font to identify critical points. These visual cues send scanners to the meat of the post.

6. Keep it short.

A blog post can be as short as a 100 words and still deliver value to the returning reader. In fact, long posts can be intimidating. So, if you have the need to create a 20-page post, break that one long post into a series, i.e., Part 1, Part 2, etc.

Anything longer than 1,500 words – that’s about 3-4 pages – is getting long for a blog post. Keep your posts around 1,000 words apiece and you’ll do just fine. And a 500-word post, that delivers good information, is better than a 3,000-word post filled with puff.

Webbies have the attention span of gnats in the blog band so if you want them to pay attention, keep it short and to the point.

7. Stay relevant.

As the author and editor, you have to keep your posts relevant to the reader. If you’re blogging about investment strategies, don’t post a blog on “10 Ways to Save At The Supermarket.” Save that one for your consumer blog.

Staying relevant means a couple of things depending on the topicality of the blog you create. If your blog deals, in any way, with current events or activities (stock markets, for example), relevance means today. Now!

In other cases, blogs about specific interests or aspects of life – family health, for example – relevance relates to focus. Keep your posts focused on the topic at hand. That’s why visitors came by.

8. Add a “Tip of the Day” feature.

You may not have time to write a new post everyday, but if you know your stuff, you can take a minute or two to write a daily tip that you post as a text widget. Keep the daily tips up to date and keep them at the top of your widget pile so visitors can pop in, check out the day’s tip, and head off to some other blog to which they subscribe in an RSS reader.

9. Always look professional.

Nothing says “rookie” faster than a post that hasn’t even been run through a spell checker. Your posts should be letter perfect. A good post is created in the first draft. A great post is created in the second, third and final, proofed draft.

Keep a dictionary, a thesaurus and a style manual on your book shelf. If you look professional, it shows you care. And that makes visitors care more about you.

(Tips: If you are trying to use jargon please explain it or else you will risk the chance of losing readers!)

10. Educate, motivate, inspire.

That’s what a blog is all about: providing valuable information (education), defining opportunities (motivation) and assuring the reader that they can learn more, discover more, be more (inspiration), whether it’s needlepoint or open-heart surgery.

When you sit down to write your next blog post, keep these three functions in mind: educate, motivate and inspire your readers. In the end, you’ll have a blog that’s helpful on a variety of levels.

Time to sit down to write your next post? Make it a good one.

Check out: ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income

Edward Khoo is a full-time blogger based in Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia. He blogs at EdwardKhoo.com, a blog about blogging tips & internet marketing. You can follow him on twitter at @squall768.

This is a guest post. If you would like to contribute too, please contact us.

Planning to buy a laptop but don’t know how to choose the one that suits your needs best? Microsoft has some tips for buying a laptop for you.

1. Knows what you want — Microsoft has an interactive guide to take you through a quick laptop crash course and recommend a set of PC based on your needs.
2. Test it! — Visit local retailer to see and try the laptop. Don’t be afraid to ask the salesperson. Get an expert friend for advices.
3. See a similar laptop — put similar laptop side by side, you may find that one is clearly superior or better fit for you.
4. Don’t panic about price differences — two laptops can look identical but differ greatly in performance. Check the specifications of two laptops that look the same but vary wildly in price. If the specs match, you might be onto a good deal.
5. Check out the Windows 7 edition — Windows 7 Home Premium, Professional, or Ultimate? Compare them here.
6. Ask about the cost of upgrade — for a little extra, you can boost your laptop performance. Usually, it is cheaper to upgrade extra when you buy the laptop. You also might do a little research to make sure you are getting a good deal on the extras.
7. Know what accessories are included — Be sure to ask what’s included, and make sure that everything is in the box. If you need a keyboard, mouse, or cable, you’ll want to get them at the store before you get home and unpack your new laptop.
8. Know your warranty options — Get extended warranty if you think your computer may experience some extra wear and tear.
9. Ask about the return policy — Many stores offer a 14- to 30-day grace period during which you can return a product for a full refund, no questions asked. Some stores will charge a restocking fee, however, so make sure you ask about that too.
10. Switch over from your old computer to your new laptop — you can transfer your data to new computer using Windows Easy Transfer. Are your software compatible with Windows 7? Check at Windows Compatibility Center.

Check out the Best Selling Laptop on Amazon.com.

My two cents

Whenever my friend seeks for my advise in buying a computer, I will ask them to list out the “must-haves” and “good-to-have” features, and their budget. Then, filter laptop models based on the list and budget.

Personally, I don’t care much about the laptop brand and will install more RAM whenever possible.

Over to You

What’s your laptop buying guide? What’s the first thing you will upgrade in a laptop?

You have both Facebook and Twitter accounts. You want to find your Facebook friends who have Twitter accounts too. How? All you take is 3 simple steps.

fb140: find your Facebook friends who are using Twitter

1. Sign in your Facebook account at fb140.
2. Sign in your Twitter account.
3. You will get a list of Facebook friends who have Twitter account. Tick them and click on the “Follow these people!” button to follow them on Twitter. Done!

fb140 is a web application to find all your Facebook friends on Twitter. It looks at the website field of your Facebook friends’ profile to find friends who have listed their Twitter URL.

If your Facebook friends do not list their Twitter URL then fb140 cannot find them…

Among my 344 Facebook friends, only 6 have Twitter URL listed in their profile. I was expecting more.. maybe my friends are not keen to tweet?

How many of your Facebook friends are Twitter users too? Try fb140.

*Follow me at @liewcf

I told you to use TwitBlock to spot and block Twitter spammers from your Twitter followers. But how do you identify a Twitter spammer? Here are a few tips to help you.

Generally, to identify a Twitter spammer, we look at the user’s avatar icon, user name, number of followers, number of following, number of tweets, tweets pattern.

A Twitter user is probably a spammer, if it matches more than 1 of the following:

1. their profiles are using default Twitter avatar OR using a sexy pic as avatar.
2. their names are ended with numeric, example: david567
3. they are following many other Twitter users but only has few followers.
4. they have no update or few updates with links.
5. their Twitter updates contains repeated tweets with link.
6. their Twitter updates are published using ONLY Twitter API.
7. they show you how to “make money overnight”.

Once you found a Twitter spammer, please report it to Twitter (read my previous blog post: How to report a Twitter spammer?).

Follow me at @liewcf (I am NOT a spammer!)

Related books:

• Twitter Power listing at Amazon.com
• The Twitter Book listing at Amazon.com
• Twitter Tips, Tricks, and Tweets listing at Amazon.com

*Any tips you want to add to the list? Please share with us in the comment.

For Malaysians. Thanks to PayPal support for Malaysian Ringgit (MYR). Now you can withdraw PayPal money directly to any Malaysia local bank accounts!

Read on to find out how to do that.

A bit background…

In 2004, PayPal starts to accept Malaysian registrations. No withdrawal options for Malaysians that time.

3 years later, 2007, PayPal allows Malaysians to withdraw PayPal money to their credit card, debit card, or prepaid cards.

2 years later, in the middle of October 2009, PayPal started to support Malaysia Ringgit currency and updated the user policy (paypal login required).

Shortly after, the end of October 2009, PayPal officially allows PayPal money withdrawal to Malaysia bank accounts! A feature that we have waited for 6 years!

What’s the big deal?

Now, Malaysians can send & receive PayPal money in Malaysia Ringgit (MYR) currency, and withdraw PayPal money to local bank accounts!

Meaning, you can sell your stuff online and let PayPal handle the payment transactions, local or International! It truly opens a new door to Malaysia e-commerce business!

Note: Malaysians still cannot top-up their PayPal accounts from their bank accounts.

How to add Malaysia bank account to PayPal?

1. Login your PayPal account. Under “My Account” tab, click “Profile” then click “Add/Edit Bank Account“.
2. At the new page “Add a bank account in Malaysia“. You need to fill in your name, bank name, bank routing code, and your bank account number.

   

   Updated: Don’t need to worry about the fixed “Surname” in the form. Just make sure your full name is included. The name’s arrangement (Surname Name or Name Surname) doesn’t matter. Click here for more information.

   Tip: click on the “Details” link to find out your bank’s routing code

3. After you are done, you will be asked to review the details. Click “Add Bank Account” button if everything is correct.
4. You are done!

How to withdraw PayPal money to Malaysia bank account?

1. In your PayPal account, click on “Withdraw” under “My Account” tab. Then, click “Withdraw to your bank account” link under the options.

   Note: It will take 2-3 business days to process the PayPal to Bank transaction. Withdrawal over RM400 is free of charge. If less than RM400 is withdrawn, PayPal will charge you RM3.00.

2. At the new page “Withdraw funds“, enter the amount in USD you want to withdraw and select the destination bank account.

   

   Tip: Click on the “Currency converter” link to check the current PayPal currency conversation rate.

   Click on “Continue” button to review your withdrawal information.

3. At the next page, make sure everything is correct before you click on the “Submit” button.

   PayPal charge RM15 if the funds are returned because your bank information is incorrect or does not match!

   After you clicked on the “Submit” button. Your withdrawal request is pending to process.

4. Wait 2-3 business day and the PayPal money should be in your selected Malaysia bank account! Cha-ching!

Related books:

• “PayPal For Dummies” listing at Amazon.com
• “Pro PayPal E-Commerce (Expert’s Voice)” listing at Amazon.com

My two cents

PayPal is the most popular and most affordable online merchant service in the world. It is secure and safe.

It is FREE to set up a PayPal account to accept online payment (including credit cards). Fees are applied ONLY when you accept a payment.

Now every Malaysians can do e-commerce business at home, in your pajamas!

Click here to sign up your PayPal account, FREE.

Update: I have received PayPal money in my Malaysia bank account. Click here for more information.

Questions about PayPal? Ask in the comment and I shall reply you.

There are many spammers on Twitter who could be annoying or even dangerous (sending phishing or malware sites) to you. Here is a tutorial to block and report Twitter spammer.

Who is Twitter spammer?

First of all, how do you determine a user is spammer or not? Twitter has a spammer guideline for you:

• Posting harmful links (including links to phishing or malware sites)
• Abusing the @reply function to post unwanted messages to users
• Creating lots of accounts or using automated tools to create multiple accounts
• Spamming trending topics to try to grab attention
• Repeatedly posting duplicate updates
• Posting links with unrelated tweets
• Aggressive following behavior (for instance, mass following and un-following in order to gain attention)

If you find a Twitter user has ANY of the listed behavior, it is safe to believe that it is a spammer.

How to report spammers to Twitter?

Before October 13, 2009, you can follow @spam and send a Direct Message (DM) to it to report a spammer.

Now, there is an easier way to report spam. Twitter added a report as spam button to allows you report spammer. The button is available on your Followers page or user’s profile page.

Once you have reported a Twitter user as spammer, Twitter will block the user from following or replying you.

Twitter would NOT suspend the user immediately. They will identify and investigate the reported account.

For more information, read Twitter Support: Reporting Spam on Twitter

How do you deal with Twitter spammers? Do you report them or just ignore them?

P.S. Are you a Twitter user? Add me: @liewcf

More Information:

• Twitter Power listing at Amazon.com
• The Twitter Book listing at Amazon.com
• Twitter Tips, Tricks, and Tweets listing at Amazon.com

We love wallpapers. I will show you how to download free desktop wallpapers using Google images, with specified type, size, and color!

Find wallpaper using Google Images

Goto Google images and search for wallpaper with the related keyword(s) of your desire desktop wallpaper type.

Example: wallpaper nature
(find nature wallpapers)

Specified wallpaper size

To find wallpapers that match your desktop size, you can specified with “imagesize“.

Example: wallpaper nature imagesize:1920x1200
(find only nature wallpapers with the size of 1920 x 1200 pixels)

Wallpaper color

You might also prefer your wallpaper of a color over the others. You can specified the wallpaper color theme (overall color) with the “color dropdown menu” of Google Images.

Wallpaper type

The Google Images’ “type” filter also works on wallpaper search. For example, select “Face” will show wallpapers which focus on faces.

Download wallpaper directly

By default, clicking Google Images search result will bring up the image source in a frame. No direct image link.

I use the “Google Image direct links” greasemonkey script (Firefox only) to achieve direct image link.

My two cents

Google images search is a fast and easy way to download the wallpaper you like. The wallpaper results may not 100% accurate to your keywords but you can still found some high quality wallpapers.

The “imagesize” option is especially useful to find wallpapers that match your screen size perfectly!

Google Images would be my 1st stop for searching new wallpapers. Then, I can download even more wallpapers on the source sites.

You have installed Internet Explorer 8 but feel disappointed and want to uninstall it? Here are the instructions to uninstall IE8 on Windows XP and Windows Vista.

Uninstall IE8 on Windows XP

1. Click “Start” button and select “Control Panel“
2. Select “Add or Remove Programs“
3. Find and select “Windows Internet Explorer 8” from the list of available applications.
4. Click the “Remove” button.
5. Restart computer.

Uninstall IE8 on Windows Vista

1. Click “Start” button and select “Control Panel“.
2. Select “Programs” (or “Program and Features” if you’re using the Classic View).
3. Select “View installed updates” (it will be under the Tasks column if you’re using the Classic View).
4. Find and select “Windows Internet Explorer 8” from the list of available updates.
5. Click the “Uninstall” button at the top of the list.
6. Restart computer.

[via Tech Recipes]

I am an Amazon.com affiliate member and I have chosen to receive my commission in Amazon.com Gift Card.

Here I will show you how to redeem an Amazon.com Gift Card you received (from friends/family/Amazon.com).

When you receive an Amazon.com gift card, it shows the amount and a claim code. Copy the claim code to redeem your gift card.

Login your Amazon.com account. Click on the link “Apply a Gift Certificate/Card to Your Account”.

Then, your current balance will be shown. Paste your claim code you have copied earlier in the textbox under “Want to redeem a new gift card?”

Click “Redeem now” to redeem your Amazon.com gift card. The current balance will be updated.

Done!

You are an active twitter user. You follow other people’s twitter accounts when they follow yours. Soon, you discover that you are following many inactive and useless accounts. Here is a quick way to clean your twitter contact list — MyCleenr.

MyCleenz is a simple website that asks for your Twitter login information (but never save it!) then list down the people you are following sorting with last tweet done by them. There is a “delete” button allows you to stop following the particular person.

MyCleenz helped me to discover those people I have been following long long time ago but have never updated their tweets. I found a couple of users who did not update for more than 1 year already! Basically, they are “registered-and-gone” and are safe to stop following.

I only keep the users who has last tweet in the recent 3 months. Now my twitter contact list is clean!

If you no longer want to see a friend on Friendster for any reasons (perverts, quarrel with friends, etc), it is easy to delete him/her from your Friendster friend list.

1. Login your Frindster home page.
2. Click “View All” at the upper right hand side (next to “My Friends”).
3. List of your friends will be loaded. Find your friend ex-friend.
4. Click on the X button in your ex-friend’s box.
   
5. Click “Yes” to confirm delete the friend.
6. Done. No more friend!

That’s easy! So far there is no way to do “batch friends delete” on Friendster yet.

Well, I think it’s time to clean up my Friendster profile…

When you want to receive money from someone outside Malaysia by direct bank in (wire transfer) to your Maybank account (example: receive money from USA directly to your Maybank account.), you need to provide the bank swift number. The SWIFT code for Maybank is MBBEMYKL

Use the official SWIFT search tool to find the SWIFT code of other International banks.

What is SWIFT code?

“It is the unique identification code of a particular bank. These codes are used when transferring money between banks, particularly for international wire transfers, and also for the exchange of other messages between banks.”

[via ISO 9362 - Wikipedia]

I am a Flickr Pro user for years and uploaded over 700 photos to Flickr. On the other hand, I have made many friends on Facebook.

Now, how do I share my Flickr photos with my Facebook friends without having to upload the photos again?

Flickr2Facebook Uploader

Flickr2Facebook is an unofficial Flickr to Facebook uploader(bookmarklet) which allows you upload photos to Facebook from Flickr.

1. Visit Flickr2Facebook site, login Flickr to allow Flickr2Facebook access your Flickr account.
2. Save the Flickr2Facebook bookmarklet to your web browser bookmark(do this once).
3. Goto your Flickr photo page that you would like to upload to Facebook, and click the Flickr2Facebook bookmarklet in your web browser bookmark.
4. Click on the Flickr2Facebook logo that appears over your Flickr photo. You will be asked to choose the Facebook photo album you would like to upload into (thus, you need to create photo album first) and the Flickr photo will be uploaded to selected Facebook photo album. It’s fast!
5. Back to the Facebook photo album to approve the newly uploaded photos.

View my Facebook photo albums.

Flickr Photos Facebook application

There is also a Flickr Photos application(app) for Facebook. After adding the Facebook app, it allows you to share your Flickr photos on Facebook.

However, the shared photos are only listed in the app and does not appear in your Facebook album. This is not good, especially with the new Facebook design. The Flickr Photos app is hardly discovered by your friends.

My two cents

Flickr2Facebook is a handy bookmarklet to upload your Flickr photos to Facebook photo album without the need to reupload the photos from your computer. The Flickr-to-Facebook upload is fast because it is a server-to-server transfer. But, you can upload photos in batch, only one-by-one upload…

Are you Flickr user too? Add me as your contact!

Micro-blogging become more popular nowadays. There are more than 10 micro-blogging platforms for you to choose. Anyway, twitter is still the best micro-blogging platform that suits my need. Why? Because it has lots of way to tweet!

I’m going to show you 7 ways that I use to update my tweet. Although some of them are not so useful, you might take it as an alternative way (always think for backup plan!).

7 Ways to Tweet

I’m just simply list out few famous apps in each way. You may discover more from Internet but I think it should be enough for you to tweet in any way. Here I am not going to discuss further for installation or configuration for each app. Try it out and you’ll know. It’s pretty easy!

1. Desktop client – Third party software that needs installation. Twitteroo and Twhirl are two of the famous ones. Twitteroo is windows version of Twitterrific. While Twhirl is a social desktop client built on Adobe AIR that connects to multiple micro-blogging platform. Make sure you have installed the latest Adobe AIR before installing Twhirl.
2. Web – This is quite straight forward. Login to Twitter or HelloTxt and tweet in your browser.
3. Email – I don’t know why people need to tweet via email. The only reason I can think of is a scheduled tweet. Browse to TwitterMail, insert your twitter username and password to get your TwitterMail address instantly. You may schedule email to tweet when you are on travel.:)
4. Firefox Plugin – My favourite way to tweet. Don’t need to close Firefox. Surf internet and tweet whenever you like. Get FoxyTunes and TwitBin for your Firefox. FoxyTunes plugin not only allow you tweet your own words. But also tweet what you are browsing, watching, reading, etc. URL shortener has been included.
5. Instant Messenger – I just discovered this new way to tweet recently. You may use most of the IM to tweet. Just add in particular Twitt’d id as your IM friends (for eg: twittd@live.com). It is available for Skype, Windows Live Messenger, Google Talk, Jabber and Yahoo! Messenger user. After add in Twitt’d, chat with the twitt’d robot. It will ask for your twitter’s username and password to activate your account. Quite fun!
6. Mobile phone – This is perfect feature for traveling tweet. Login Twitter > Settings > Devices. Turn on your device update. After getting verified, you may tweet anywhere using SMS (without a Wifi or 3G connection).
7. Blog Plugin – The last method is tweeting via your own blog. With Twitter Tools wordpress plugin, you can tweet from front page or admin page. It is quite similar to Web tweet, but from your own blog.

My two cents

I believe micro-blogging will become mainstream blogging platform in future. But I noticed that there are still many bloggers who do not use it. Maybe they haven’t found the comfortable way for them to tweet. Some even don’t send a tweet in days.

Hopefully everybody here start to tweet with these 7 ways! I believe for sure there will be one or two ways that suits your need. Follow my twitter @tim_un.

Do you have anymore ways to tweet? Or have I left something behind? Please leave your comment, I would like to hear your opinion too.

This guest post by AhTim. Make sure you subscribe his RSS feed to get free daily updates. You can win cash $50 just for doing so!

Yahoo Messenger is one of the most popular instant messengers of today. When you download Yahoo! Messenger(YM), you actually only download a small size installer which will download the full size Yahoo Messenger when it is loaded.

But, the YM installer restarts the installation when your line is unstable or the YM download site is busy. It is rather irritating. I once spent 30 minutes to see it keeps restarting the installation!

Here is the solution! We can skip the small YM installer and directly download the full Yahoo! Messenger standalone installer.

Here are the download links for YM standalone installer:

• Yahoo! Messenger 8.1 full standalone installer
• Yahoo! Messenger 9 BETA standalone installer

Hopefully this tip will solve your problem. It is useful too when you need to install YM on multiple computers. BTW, my YM id is liewcf1980

I have a community site powered by Drupal but it cannot display chinese characters, even though it supports unicode by default.

All non-English characters are displayed as question marks (???). I tried to reinstall Drupal but without any luck. Yesterday, I finally discovered the problem and solved it!

The problem

Last time, I installed Drupal using the cPanel Fantastico script installer. The installer created database using Latin collation. That’s why Drupal cannot display Chinese characters because the database is not unicode (UTF-8).

Lesson learned: Do not install script using cPanel Fantastico.

The solution

The solution is simple, correct the tables’ collation to UTF-8 using the following SQL query (thanks to neo_fox):

ALTER TABLE table_name CONVERT TO CHARACTER SET utf8 COLLATE utf8_unicode_ci;

I ran the query using phpMyAdmin found in cPanel hosting control panel. But the drawback is that you need to run the SQL query for every single table…

I modified 20+ tables and it works! Now my friends can leave chinese message on the community website.

Facebook learned a lesson. Finally, Facebook added an “ignore all” link to Facebook requests page for any number of requests.

Previously, we can do that using the “Ignore All” bookmarklet. It will automatically ignore all Facebook requests, except the friend requests.

Later, Facebook “copied” the idea and released the “Clear All” option to clear Facebook requests. However, it requires you to have at least 25 requests to use the option. Stupid.

Now, Facebook integrated the “Ignore All” function and add the small text link at the top of the right sidebar. It allows you to ignore any number of Facebook request. Clicking on the link will popup a dialog ask you which types of requests do you want to ignore.

Tick the type of requests you want to ignore and click “Ignore these requests”. Zap! All Facebook requests are gone!

My two cents

It is good that Facebook listens to our requests. But the link is so small that I missed it at first. The “Ignore All” bookmarklet author updated the website for the Facebook integration. Then, only I know the new feature and found the link.

What is your biggest number of Facebook requests waiting for approval?

Also, Facebook will soon introduce the “Multi-tab” layout for Facebook Profiles. We will have less chaotic profile profile page soon! Phew~