29 free Internet tools to improve your marketing starting today
TNW Blog, 24 February 2014
LIST & Links Only
Berto Jongman: 29 free Internet tools for research, twitter, facebook, linked in, and web analytics
IO ToolsEagle: Mozilla plans ‘$25 smartphone’ tool for emerging markets
IO Tools
Mozilla plans ‘$25 smartphone' for emerging markets
Mozilla has shown off a prototype for a $25 (£15) smartphone that is aimed at the developing world.
The company, which is famed mostly for its Firefox browser, has partnered with Chinese low-cost chip maker Spreadtrum.
While not as powerful as more expensive models, the device will run apps and make use of mobile internet.
It would appeal to the sorts of people who currently buy cheap “feature” phones, analysts said.
Feature phones are highly popular in the developing world as a halfway point between “dumb” phones – just voice calls and other basic functions – and fully-fledged smartphones.
Mozilla hopes that it will capture an early lead in a market that is now being targeted by mobile device manufacturers who see the developing world as the remaining area for massive growth.
Berto Jongman: Post-Snowden NSA-Proof Phone?
Advanced Cyber/IO, Commerce, Ethics, IO Secrets, IO Tools, Liberation TechnologyIn the post-Snowden world is it time to switch to NSA-proof phone?
Millions of us share our most personal feelings and most potentially damaging data through our smartphones. But isn’t it time to lock them down after last June’s revelations that the NSA collects data from phone calls, texts and emails of people all over the world? The developers of Blackphone, a new privacy-focused smartphone, say ‘yes.’
Toby Weir-Jones, the general manager of Blackphone, says the NSA’s digital surveillance has created a new demand for privacy, Newsweek reports. However, he says, “the wider market was not equipped to look for a solution.” Apple and Android phones, says Weir-Jones, are caught up in a battle over larger screen sizes, higher resolution and faster operating systems, while Blackphone is offering privacy.
Theoretically, experts say, the new device could provide considerable security for users trying to protect themselves from corporate spying and the countries with lesser surveillance programs than the US. Blackphone, which goes on presale February 24,can do texting, video, calling, searching, browsing, file storage and sharing — all shielded from the prying eyes of governments and hackers.
Robin Good: Web Page Capture & Archive Tool
IO Tools
Capture, Permanently Archive and Download Any Web Page for Free with Archive.is
Archive.is is a free web service which allows you to capture, store and archive permanently any web page you submit. Archive.is permanently stores a double copy of your selected web site: one that is an image snapshot of the page, and another which contains the full text of it. Archive.is also provides a download link that contains a zipped copy of all the files making up your selected page, and which can be opened offline in any web browser. Archive.is can save most any type of web page including Facebook pages and it allows you to easily search and see all of the pages already saved for a certain domain.
There is no registration or login required and you don't need to install anything. A free dedicated bookmarklet makes it easy to capture and archive any web page you happen to be on. If you are looking for a free, simple and easy to use service to archive any web page permanently, I recommend Archive.is.
Free to use. Try it out now: http://archive.is/ Useful info on blog page: http://blog.archive.is/
Added to Permanent Web Page Archiving Tools section of the Content Curation Tools Directory
Howard Rheingold: beginner’s guide to tool (s) leveraging the Internet
IO Tools
Automating repetitive processes, including those you use to seek, filter, tag, store, and retrieve information, can be a useful infotention practice. I've Scooped IFTTT before. This blog post is by social media management service Buffer, so the examples are Buffer-centric, but any of these automation tools can be applied to a variety of platforms, services, and practices.
Written by Belle Beth Cooper
One of the most fun and useful things I’ve been doing lately is automating small processes I do all the time. It took me a while to work up the courage to dive into automation, as it always seemed like a really difficult, technical thing to do, which should be left to programmers.
Luckily, there are lots of tools being created lately to make automation much easier for those of us without a solid understanding of how our computers really work.
Sometimes repetition is good for us – for instance, when it comes to developing new skills. But rote tasks don’t serve much purpose. Every time I noticed myself doing tasks over and over now, I try to find a way to automate it the same way we create social media shortcuts at Buffer. And when I do, it feels amazing to watch my computer doing stuff for me, or to see files and text show up in the right places at the right times, as if by magic.
I bet if you really pay attention, you’ll pick up a few small tasks you do all the time. It might be copying and pasting links to previous blog posts you’ve written (I have an example for how to automate that below), adding up specific numbers, visiting the same websites every day or another element of your daily routine. Maybe some of these tools can help.
Read full article with many links and graphics.
Phi Beta Iota: The article is for Mac users. There are useful suggestions for PC/Windows users in the comments.
Robin Good: Crowd-Sourced Cutation of Educational Tool Options
04 Education, IO ToolsA Crowdsourced Curated Database of the Best Educational Tools and Learning Apps: GEDB
GEDB, the Global Education Database, is a great and extremely useful curated collection of the best apps, web tools, gadgets and moocs now available online for educational purposes.
Anyone can register to GEDB and submit any valuable resource or tool by filling out the dedicated form.
Submissions are reviewed for factual accuracy and integrity and approved and published within 24 hours. Readers and contributors can in turn rate the review and share it online.
This is a great educational resource, simple to consult and well organized. A treasure trove of qualified resources for anyone wanting to teach and learn with new technologies.
Free to use.
Try it out now: http://www.gedb.org/
Stephen E. Arnold: Elasticsearch Insights — and IDC Steals Arnold Report Costing $4, Sells for $3500
Commerce, Corruption, IO Impotency, IO Tools
Elasticsearch Disrupts Open Source Search
I did a series of reports about open source search. Some of these were published under mysterious circumstances by that leader of the azure chip consultants, IDC. You can see the $3,500 per report offers on the IDC site. Hey, I am not getting the money, but that’s what some of today’s go go executives do. The list of [misappropriated] titles appears below my signature.
Elasticsearch, a system that is based on Lucene, evolved after the still-in-use Compass system. What seems to have happened in the last six months is one of those singularities that Googlers seek.
In January 2014, GigaOM, a “real news” outfit reported that Elasticsearch had moved from free and open source to a commercial model. You can find that report in “6 million Downloads Later, Elasticsearch Launches a Commercial Product.” The write up equates lots of downloads with commercial success. Well, I am not sure that I accept that. I do know that Elasticsearch landed an additional $24 million in series B funding if Silicon Angle’s information is correct. Elasticsearch, armed with more money than the now aging and repositioning Lucid Works (originally Lucid Imagination) has. (An interview with one of the founders of Lucid Imagination, the precursor of Lucid Works is at http://bit.ly/1gvddt5. Mr. Krellenstein left Lucid Imagination abruptly shortly after this interview appeared.)
I noted that in February 2014, InfoWorld, owned by the publisher of the $3,500 report about Elasticsearch, called the company “ultra hip.” I don’t see many search companies—proprietary or open source—called “hip.” “Ultra Hip Elasticsearch Hits Commercial Release.” The write up asserts (although I wonder who provided the content):
