Storify – This unique site would not be the best choice for online privacy advocates, as it offers free sharing of stories “using social media such as Tweets, photos and videos.” This is possible via searching multiple social networks from one spot and then adding “individual elements into your story.” You can then embed your story in your site or blog.

A solid example is always the best way to see a site in action. Here’s the story Man tracks stolen laptop hundreds of miles away, calls thief:

Miso – We’ve already discussed the emerging trend of expanding the social realm to TV entertainment when we reviewed QVIVO and InToNow app. Miso is yet another social network player attempting to push the TV-centric social sphere envelope by offering a Foursquare-like platform with some added perks. These include checking in, following friends and their favorite shows, posting statuses, comments and links, and Miso has even thrown in a notification feature to let you know when friends have signed in.

Once you sign up via Facebook and start contributing content to the Miso network (via check-ins, statuses, posts, etc.), you’ll see you start earning posts which yield badges later on. Miso is definitely the closest TV-based social network platform to Facebook I’ve seen so far, and you will notice the evident similarities between the two from the get-go. Miso seems like a promising endeavor, and I’m curious to know where it would be in a year from now. If you love TV shows and Facebook, give Miso a try. To learn more about this cool platform see the video below.

Miso is available as a Web app, but also as a mobile app (compatible with iPhone, iPad and Android).

HelloFax – As this site claims right on its homepage, you can throw away your fax machine (actually donate it so it doesn’t end up in the trash), because sending fax is now easy and painless. HelloFax lets you send faxes electronically, and also sign documents and fill out forms. The bottom line here is you don’t need any machines or paper for numerous online paperwork processes.

You can try it for free – simply provide your email address and start sending docs (attaching files is included). For the complete list of price plans, click here. This service will save you time and money, and its simple yet sleek design makes working with it a no-brainer.

What’s App – This cash saving mobile application lets you send and receive messages for free as long as there is an Internet or Wi-Fi connection available. The What’s App Messenger service works on and between various mobile devices including the iPhone, Blackberry, Android and Nokia. This means you and your friends don’t need to have the same device to use this service as is the case with many other free SMS apps; it’s a cross-platform tool that gives you lots of freedom and productivity. Another cool option What’s App offers is sending images and videos as part of the chat/SMS platform (available only to iPhone, Android and Blackberry users). In short, if you haven’t downloaded this super cool app, you should. Right now.

Flow – Using ‘cloud’ technology, Flow is a productivity app that makes task and and team management a no-brainer. This app prides itself in offering super-organized tools to make sure you stay on top of all your projects and to-do lists, and in offering a work from everywhere approach. Since the cloud plays a central part in Flow, that means different people can access the same content in different locations using different devices, while still being able to collaborate with each other in real-time.

If you feel Flow is just the push your team or work environment needs to reach higher and better goals, I encourage you to give Flow a try; they currently offer a free 14-day trial, no credit card necessary. Sign up here.

GoPollGo – Everyone loves posts. Even when I’m not voting for or against the relevant issue, it’s always interesting to see what’s the trend among voters. Now there’s an easy and fun way to create, vote on and share polls of your choosing, thanks to GoPollGo. You can use this platform to find an honest reponse to a question you may have, or to stir a healthy discussion in the community. My personal favorite popular poll is When you have a question, where do you look first? GoPollGo is particulalry useful to researchers both novice and experienced, as much of the research in social studies is based on anonymous polls.

Creating your own poll is easy as voting. Simply sign in with either Twitter or Facebook connect and hit Create New Poll. Here’s how simple it is to get your poll on its way:

Grovo – This online video hub is, simply put, an efficient site discovery tool. Intended for the amateur, average and savvy Internet users alike, Grovo offers video lessons that show you the exact how-to when it comes to searching for websites of your needs and areas of interest. How does Grovo produce its content? Their content is “professionally produced, in-house, by our staff of writers, editors and voiceover talent. All content is extensively researched and crafted prior to production; once produced, content is regularly updated to maintain relevancy.”

How does it work? You can dive right into the site’s colossal video lessons section, or you can consult Grovo’s glossary in case you’ve stumbled upon an unfamiliar Web term, and then proceed to see a relevant video. Another option to test your Web knowledge is to explore Grovo’s Quiz section. Grovo is a terrific service, although currently only a part of its video collection is open to free viewing  – there’s a 7-day free trial after which you will have to pick one of their paid subscription tracks (annual, monthly and enterprise) if you wish to have access to all of Grovo’s content.

Despite the payment hindrance (hey, sometimes high quality things will cost you), Grovo is a great Web search aid worth exploring. See this video showing how to block pop-ups for example.

Socialeyes – This unique free social tool is essentially “a social video service that allows you to call your friends and meet new people.” Socialeyes is similar to the Video Chat Rounds Facebook app which we reviewed a couple of months ago, only that Socialeyes is a bit more flexible in terms of features. One obvious difference is that Socialeyes allows for multiple video messaging rather than limiting you to one-on-one conversations.

Another cool thing about Socialeyes is that firends using this service can send video messages to each other when not connected in real-time. It’s the answering machine of the digital age, packed with a whole series of social perks – all for free! Need I say more? Connect with Facebook and invite all your friends to join.

This is an engaging guest post by the lovely Dan Fonseca, creator of the blog Synapses. In this intriguing post Dan talks about the speed at which we retrieve information online, and how this affects the Knowledge Gap theory.

When I think about my favorite characteristic about the Internet, I immediately think of its incredible ability to flatten the information/knowledge gap. Not to get critical and ideological too soon, but before the Internet was easily available, knowledge was often controlled one way or another. This by no means implies that there was no knowledge accessibility before the Internet, that would simply be silly. What I am trying to communicate is that one had to jump through a few more hoops to get it, and it required a little more effort on our part. Knowledge is power and it should not be a surprise that those with power often go out of their way to hold on to it and keep it exclusive. Those with knowledge use its power to mold society and often take advantage of those who simply do not know any better or have the means to combat the hegemony. This has always been the case until some force came around to challenge it, thus shifting power.

Throughout history we have seen technology disrupt power dynamics. Technological Determinism has always helped democratized information and with it power. Just think back to the Gutenberg press and its effects on the Catholic Church. The printing press helped to publish information quickly, helping diffuse new ideas across modern Europe. The rest is history you can find in textbooks or, actually better yet, Google.

What I am trying to communicate is that the advent of the Internet has done exactly what the printing press did back then, but to an enormous extent that we are still trying to comprehend. Think about it for a quick second. What is stopping you right now from searching whatever you wanted? From learning anything that interested you? Not much, maybe a poor Internet connection or questionable battery life, but apart from that absolutely nothing! That’s a pretty wild and empowering situation to be in, huh?

Though we have come a long way in our history, society is still one comprised of the “haves and the have-nots.” Dependent on socioeconomic factors, one’s life can play out very differently. Factors like: What neighborhood did you grow up in? What school did you go to? Are you attending college? These variables can have a huge impact on a life’s outcome, there is no questioning that. Sure, there is the “American Dream” but many say that is a myth. We are often given the cards and have to deal with them the best way we can. Though this remains true to some extent today, the Internet is challenging that situation.

With the Internet, anything is possible. Knowledge is everywhere, oozing from every crevice of the web. You can’t go to a single website without coming across incredible showcases of the meta-data that’s put to work. There are countless communities online looking to share and grow together and they only become stronger in numbers. Between YouTube and Wikipedia, one has the information to learn just about anything! We are now unbound by the previous constrains of other institutions on our intellectual betterment; we are rather held by our curiosity.

We live in a time that favors experience and ideas over backgrounds and test scores. It is time we all capitalize on that. That’s not to say we are all in an equal playing field (far from it), but the game has become more reasonable and fair.

The Internet, with all its beauty, has done something incredible to our age. We have the ability to share, connect, and learn without any ceiling built in. We are the only ones holding us back and if we take advantage of this, we -collectively, as a society- can become better, more equal, and ultimately happier. Long live the Internet!

“I have no special talents, I am only passionately curious” – Albert Einstein

*Dan Fonseca is currently a Communications student at Northeastern University in Boston and writes his very own blog Synapses. He enjoys thinking about the bigger picture and looks to bring people together in anyway he can. Dan loves his brie and sushi too. Oh yeah, he’s also proud to be from New Jersey so watch what you say 🙂

The following is a guest post I wrote on behalf of All My Faves for Synapses, an insightful blog by the lovely Dan Fonseca.

In recent years, as the World Wide Web became mankind’s main communication channel, there has been an interesting shift in the predominance of textual content. More specifically, textual content in mainstream media has been increasingly gravitating towards a more visualized direction. This is not to say textual content or words are a dying breed. Rather, the visual evolution of content -in the form of animated videos, interactive maps and infographics- is emerging primarily in circumstances where complicated knowledge or data need to be understood in a fast and clear manner.

Below I will present several examples of recent visual content forms on the Web, showing how graphic based information achieves immediate understanding and internalization of ideas and processes. These exclude common practical iconizations used for daily routine efficiencies (signs, conventional maps, etc).

1. Visualizing Bloodtests

This example is a knock-out in terms of both aesthetics and functionality. Created by the talented team over at Information is Beautiful, Visualizing Bloodtests is the ultimate data-into-info example, and there’s no wonder why this visualization scored the 1st place in Wired Mag’s re-envisioning medical data design competition.
The original piece of content is a standard bloodtest data document. Doctors can make out what it means, but what about the patient whose blood was tested? It’s virtually impossible to comprehend what’s going on there, and this concerns someones’ life!

Now see the magic of infographics (thanks to Information is Beautiful), turning the incomprehensible document above into an easy to digest content:

2. GapMinder World’s Health & Wealth of Nations Interactive Graph

This interactive graph was created by GapMinder so as to “unveil the beauty of statistical time series by converting boring numbers into enjoyable, animated and interactive graphics.” The Health & Wealth of Nations shows the changes in humanity’s lifespan and lifetime earnings over time, starting in 1800. It’s an amazing visualization that takes dry numbers of data and turns them into an engaging presentation that laypersons like you and me can understand easily. By the way, GapMinder’s software Trendalyzer  is so amazing that Google acquired it in 2007.
Click the screen shot below to go to the interactive graph’s page and hit Play.

3. Web Search – AllMyFaves.com

What does the phrase ‘Web search’ make you think of? Probably Google, right? There’s no doubt the search giant is excellent at what it does, and its efficient search algorithms had enabled the company to enter an already inundated Web search market back in 2000 and take it by storm. However, at the end of the day Google’s search service, however sophisticated it may be, is based on word indexes. You must type in key words to find what you are looking for, and then you must read each result entry to identify its relevancy to your search. The byproduct of this process is what has come to be known as “search fatigue.” Another byproduct is spam and malware hot spots, disguised as credible search results.

AllMyFaves.com has identified the shortcomings of standard Web search and offers an innovative alternative: icon-based gateway to Web navigation and site discovery. The AllMyFaves.com homepage lists all the most popular and practical categories relevant to most users, and each category displays the top 10 websites of that field in the form of the site or company’s logo. Based on the same premise of the infogrpahic, allmyfaves.com delivers quick access to information and services provided by familiar sources and brands, immediately recognizable by their logos.

In addition to the homepage you will also find AllMyFaves’ designated pages for Blogs, Business, Education, Entertainment, Games, Kids, Shopping and Travel. AllMyFaves’ recent tool, the Mini Faves, is a personalization tool inviting users to create their very own visual homepage that includes all of their bookmarks and favorites. Here’s my personal Mini Faves page as an example.

If you would like to create your own Mini Faves page and have all your bookmarks and favorites in one easy page, join AllMyFaves now.

To wrap things up, I think you will agree; visual information is taking a strong hold over the Web and for a good reason. In an era when information flows to and fro at incredible speed, we are bombarded with RSS feeds, news articles, emails and many other content forms on a daily basis. Thanks to visual aids such as infographics, interactive graphs and many other forms of content with a visual approach, making sense of the world just got a whole lot easier.

*Recommended links and sources: Cool Infographics, AllMyFaves.com, Infographics Mini page,
“Conventional Data is Boring. Make Way for the Infographic,” AllMyFaves Blog. Jan 20, 2011.

Rounds, the interactive video chat service provider previously featured on All My Faves, has taken online video chat up another notch this week. The Video Chat Rounds Facebook app has been going strong for the past five months since its launch, and this week the Rounds team has surprised us once again; an exciting new feature, Random Rounds, is added to the Video Chat Rounds  app on Facebook. Random Rounds invites users to meet new people online and create a wealth of shared fun experiences using the huge variety of activities offered by the Rounds platform.

If you have yet to explore Video Chat Rounds on Facebook you should, you don’t know what you are missing. Experience a new way of interacting with your Facebook friends -forget about the social network’s chat service, that’s so basic- Video Chat Rounds allows you to have lots of fun while video chatting with friends and family. There are over 20 games and fun perks to choose from to spice up the experience, not to mention special effects, snapshots and loads more. See some screen shots below as examples.

Rounds’ recent juicy Random feature makes new entertaining encounters possible, and you can rest assured that Video Chat Rounds have taken serious safety measures to make sure meeting new people on Facebook and video chatting with them remain within the safe and positive zone. This is why only Video Chat Rounds users with 100 Facebook friends or more can access the Random Rounds feature. In addition, Random Video Chats Rounds connect users of the same age group, so it’s a safe and entertaining platform for users of practically all ages. Now it’s time for some action. Log in to Video Chat Rounds on Facebook and dive into a world of innovative entertainment with one of the Web’s most rewarding free video chat services ever.

To learn more about Video Chat Rounds and their latest Random feature, watch the video below or read their recent press release for a more detailed account of their new Random Rounds feature.

Knock Knock – Stationary is usually rather straightforward and expectable. But here we have Knock Knock, an online store offering super stylish and witty stationary items for the home and office. There are hundreds of cute and funny products on KnockKnock, all beautifully designed and with a humorous added value you won’t find at OfficeDepot.

I recommend starting out with browsing KnockKnock’s Top Selling Stuff. See some of these here below.