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Death of Digg and Emergence of Mixx
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All of Digg’s flaws are very apparent, and that is what makes Mixx look like a shining gem of Web 2.0. Mixx is gaining in popularity for what its not as opposed to what it is. On the surface its another Digg clone, but deeper down is a very savvy community and social tools that are designed to encourage the little guy into Mixx. Already I am making friends co-browsing for great content to move it up the ladder to the main page. Instead of discouraging social communication, they encourage it. Minutes ago I received another email this time from Tunisan Mann:
Hi, sorry to bother in your MiXXingness but I found This on MiXX.
Can anyone help me with the theory this guy is presenting here. I know it’s the "Théorie des jeux" (probably "prisoner’s dilemma" in english) but I don’t catch his point ! thanks for anyone commenting on that. 
Easily Take Ownership of your Vista files
XPero over at WinMatrix designed piece of software called “Take Control” for Microsoft Vista users. You will need to take ownership of a file if you need to delete or modify a system file. Take Ownership lets breaks down probably 6 screens of settings into once application that lets you select and “take ownership”. It really doesn’t get any easier than this. Previously you had to jump through tons of hoops to get do this, see howtogeeks convoluted instructions here. If you are not a Windows Vista user or a Mac user you may be shrugging why do I need this? Obvious reasons are a nasty piece of spyware that attaches to a system file and now you cannot repair or delete the file, (you will need to take ownership) or you are modifying a piece of the operating system (tweaking) a piece of the operating system. This is also handy if you have an old XP partition or HD laying around and now when you try to access the files Vista wants you take ownership.
Great Wallpaper for Vista or XP
Looking for some tasteful wallpaper for your XP or Vista machine? Wallpapers for Windows has a nice selection of backgrounds that aren’t hard on the eyes and are free from the annoying pimp your own wallpaper logos. Nothing but clean non garish backgrounds here. with a nice Web 2.0ish interface to find them.
Clean out your Firefox or IE Cache with one click
If you are web developer or even a regular user chances are you have had to clean your browsers cache out. The Clear Cache button for Firefox adds a button to your toolbar that lets you clean out your Cache with the click of a button. When I first installed it there were a couple errors and then I found the button in the toolbar customization menu, afterwards it worked as advertised and has turned out to be super handy for those times I make a change on this site and need to clear the cache.
Comment today, it might be worth $20
Well we’ve been looking for a way to get more comments out of our readers (lurkers) and maybe get them to take more of a active part in this great site. We get tons of traffic but it seems getting people off the fence to comment is something a little harder than just getting people to visit. So without any further ado we are starting a contest. Basically we are going to pay out $20 (via paypal) to the best comment our readers make. The contest ends at 5:30PM Friday EST. Comments will be judged by yours truly.
Easily create Background Gradients
Ever have to make a big gradient for the background of your website? You know the kind that is a pixel or two wide and long enough to go the length of the page. Gradient Image Maker does this very quickly, just select your colors and gradient type and away you go. Gradient Image Maker creates either a png or a jpeg for download to your site. Gradients are smooth and clear as you would expect them to be.
Odd eBay deal, Lifesize Starwars R2D2
Its the Christmas season, so what do you get your geek that has everything? How about a partially built life size Star Wars R2 D2? Yes your geek can revel in his Star Wars canon all the while talking to his own R2D2. For only $4000 on ebay little R2 is a screaming deal! (Some assembly required) Apparently making your own R2 D2 droid has its own following see link here. I wonder if my 9 year old would throw his clothes in a R2D2 hamper? Hmm. But wait! There’s more act now and you can also bid on a lifesize Yoda “prop”.
“Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by my size,
do you? Hmm? Hmm. And well you should not. For my ally is the Force,
and a powerful ally it is. Life creates it, makes it grow. Its energy
surrounds us and binds us. Luminous beings are we, not this crude
matter. You must feel the Force around you; here, between you, me, the
tree, the rock, everywhere, yes. Even between the land and the ship.”
Add an announcement plugin for your WordPress Blog
This site gets tons of Google traffic, usually from someone searching for a solution to a problem and they are rightfully have a one track mind not really wanting to preuse the site. I’ve tried all sorts of ways to alert readers to other articles on this site but one of the most effective is with a WordPress Plugin called “Easy Announcement”. It allows you to add a announcement to the top of your page without hacking at your theme. Need to tell your readers something important, and want to get their attention WP Easy Announcement can do the job. Right now I am using Easy Announcement for banners but when I run a contest, want to alert my Google Searchers to something of value on my site, or just want a welcome message its really easy to type it out in text or html and show it at the top of the page. One note, read the directions and do everything the author says in exactly the order he tells you as you could temporarily fubar your site. Don’t let that scare you though as its a super valueable tool controling a super important space, the space your readers see first.
Adjust your LCD display’s contrast and brightness correctly
I have three monitors hooked up to my Dell XPS M1710 and I swear they all look a little different. On a Mac I would just go to Colorsync and adjust away but its not quite that easy and uniform on a PC. If you have to adjust colors and contrast on a PC I recommend ScreenCheck which basically allows you to adjust your screen with a constant display that lets you know when your LCD display has too much contrast dialed in or if your brightness is turned down too low. Yeah its a little low tech, but sometimes low tech is all you have to work with when you are dealing with someone elses PC.
Take YouTube, add Chat, and view Live to get Kyte
Mix Youtube with a chat client and throw a little bit of social video sharing and you get Kyte. If you are a regular to Scobleizer then you know Robert’s choice of web video clients is Kyte. Its more than just a Robert Scoble show though and there’s plenty of content up there thats worthy, although a stop by to make fun of ol Bob Scoble is a must. Kyte makes it easy to publish a video blog, with even the possibility to stream a live lifestream via a cell phone client. Take any of your content and put it into Facebook, MySpace, Blogger, Wordpress, Facebook Profile and many more.
