Greasemonkey came up with an awesome update to the script Google Bump in September. It allows users to add some fresh functions to the Google web search. Google Bump is a userscript run via Greasemonkey and should not be confused with GoogleBump.com. Once installed in your browser, loads of functions will be available for you to tweak and use alongside Google (complete list of features can be viewed here). There are a few notable features available that I would like to share with you folks.

MultiSearch

Allows you to search 3 search engines (Google included) simultaneously. Two drop-down list will be available for you to choose your prefered search engine. Search engines ranging from Flickr, Wikipedia, Youtube, Ebay and much more are available (note: Yahoo and Bing are not available). Each search will be opened in a new tab. This will be handy for anyone trying to search for trends and ideas across various platforms.

Image and Video Search Result Extraction

This tool lets you search images and videos and displays the relevant result on the Google Sidebar.This will make use of the mostly empty Google Sidebar.

If use with the Google Bump integrated video player, videos can be played on the Google Sidebar itself. Currently only Google Video, Youtube and Metacafe are compatible.

To use this nifty script, all you have to do is to install the script on your browser. The script is available for download here and instruction on how to install it is available here. I hope some of you will find this script useful. Feel free to share your experience using Google Bump script.

KeywordSmash is a online tool that lets you search multiple major online keyword research and content source simultaneously. The keyword research tools are sorted according to categories. The following categories available are Offers, Keywords, Trends, Demographics, Ads, Social, News, Discussions, Articles, Images, Videos and Public domain. You can search according to the categories provided.

KeywordSmash can be used in a few easy steps:

1. Remember to enable pop-ups in your browser for KeywordSmash.
2. Enter your keyword phrase and choose a category.
3. Choose a source or several sources and click the “Search Button”.

Voila! Every source you choose will now be opened each in a new tab.

I find KeywordSmash to be particularly useful when I am looking for new contents to read and write about. This make the Trends category my favorite among all. Why not give it a try yourself and share your favorites? Clicky KeywordSmash.

On a side note to my guest post on DigitalOrgs about Bing, Microsoft and Facebook has finally confirmed a deal with Twitter! Twitter will now integrate their real-time feeds of status updates into the Bing search engine. Bing-Twitter is still now in Beta stages and are available only to United States locals. If you are from the United States feel free to try it out here Bing-Twitter. Non US locals might consider changing their region settings to try the service .

I did a guest post on DigitalOrgs.net. Check it out here.

This is the video Simon Fong and I did for the Enterprise 2.0 assignment 2. Feel free to comment…

Nokia is being known as the largest smartphone provider with an estimated 200 million customers worldwide.They are engaged in the manufacturing of mobile devices in over 120 countries. Microsoft was aware of this and made a strategic decision to partner up with Nokia to create a set of productivity solutions designed specifically for a mobile workforce.

This partnership will involve the design, development and marketing of a set of productivity, collaboration and communication solutions for Nokia smartphones. Smartphones in the Nokia E-series range will receive this treatment first. Microsoft will be dedicating an entire mobile development team for this project, which seems like they really prioritize this project. With the huge growth of the mobile workforce this seems to be a smart move by Microsoft.

Microsoft has promised a few features that will be included in the new collaborative tools:

Conferencing and collaboration using Microsoft Communicator Mobile

Collaborative MS Office Tools This feature will allow users to create, edit, view and share Microsoft Office documents including mobile-optimized versions of Word, Excel, Powerpoint and OneNote.

Access to Sharepoint based intranets and extranets

Device Management with Microsoft Systems Center

The collaboration tool might prove to be valuable if Microsoft did it right. With all the fuzz about collaboration online tool, there are sure eager participants wanting to get their hands on this new tool by Microsoft. iPhone already has many developers trying to develop business apps that works on it. This might be the deal Nokia needs to get back up the competitive mobile market ladder. Stay tune for further updates.

Ever wondered what’s the difference between this 2 networking tools? searchenginejournal.com did an experiment and came up with a chart for comparison purposes.

From the chart we notice that Fan Page has every feature offered while Group doesn’t quite offer as much. One of the key differences are that Fan Page is available to view by unregistered users while Group are not. This is a good way to maintain reputation for the Fan Page holder. Another key feature that distinguish these two tools are Groups allow their users to send bulk invites to their friend list. This might prove useful for marketing purposes.

What we can conclude from this is that both Facebook Group and Facebook Fan Page has their own uses and its up to the users needs to decide whats best for them. A Fan Page might be good for long term use as in maintaining fans and customer loyalty. Facebook Group on the other hand are more suitable for hosting a quick active discussion for marketing purposes like an upcoming event or seasonal promotions. Even though Fan Page offers much more features compared to Group, it is not a must to use Fan Page. In cases where you want quick active discussions you might want to skip Fan Page and its unnecessary features.

In the past, it may be hard for a group of people from different geographical area to share their knowledge and work on a single document. Any edited work has to be send through an email attachment to be edited by another colleague thus, creating a copy of the document. What if you document is a collaboration work between more than 5 people? Imagine the amount of copies generated and confusion are bound to happen. There are now many business suite applications that are available to handle this problem. But why pay for something when it is available online for free?

Google Docs is a free web-based application in which you can create, edit and store your documents online. It does not only works for documents, spreadsheet and presentations are available too. Your work can be accessed anywhere providing there is internet. You can access it from any computer, laptops or browser enabled phones. With Google Docs all your colleagues from geographically diverse area can work together in real-time. Google Docs is also compatible with most word processors and presentation software. All invited authors can see who made specific alterations to the work and when is was made. There is also a nifty feature that shows all previously edited versions and if a mistake was made to the newest version, you can always retrieve back the older versions. All the work is stored online so there will be no worry about losing your work.

However, there is a privacy issue raised on Google Docs. Since authors are required to post their work online, there are concerns that work uploaded may not be private and secured.

Controversy over the reliability of collaborative online encyclopedia Wikipedia is now a common topic among professors. As we all know Wikipedia allows anyone to contribute or edit their information online.Extensive debates have been conducted many times but there a still no solid conclusion on the reliability of Wikipedia’s information.

What I wanna share today is the contrasting acceptance of Wikipedia I experience during the course of my studies. Back before I joined QUT, I was enrolled in a college back in my home country Malaysia. My college has a particular rule that is student can never ever cite anything for their assignments from Wikipedia. This causes much headaches among us students. I was baffled by this and decided to ask around my fellow mates whether other educational institutes has the same regulation for Wikipedia. What I found out was most educational institutes in Malaysia doesn’t allow Wikipedia references.

Then I came to QUT. There was no restrictions on Wikipedia in QUT. In contrast, some courses I have enrolled in the past encouraged Wikipedia as a good information resource. Well being able to refer Wikipedia for my assignment has certainly make the process easier which is a good thing but sometimes I can’t help but wonder can all this information be trusted.

These are some examples of Wikipedia’s acceptance or not in different educational institutes.

Glyndwr University utilize power of Facebook and Wikipedia

Falling exams passes blame on Wikipedia

In my opinion Wikipedia provides a good starting ground for information gathering but it should not end there. Other resources must be used as well to broaden our information resources. Do you think Wikipedia should be used for educational purposes? Discuss.

We have all heard of cases where mothers who are in social networking sites embarrassing their children unintentionally. Embarrassing photos are tagged and intrusions  between comments are most commonly seen. Some mothers might even send their children friend suggestions. Are you one of the mothers who just got into social networking? Chances are you might do something there in the future that might embarrass your child. There is where I come in to help.

Introducing Mum 2.0. What is that you just asked? Mum 2.0 is a community of mums and their kids sharing the dos and don’ts of social networking. This community is currently being supported by Telstra. There are also video tutorials introducing the general aspects of social networking for mums to watch. This is a great platform for mothers to know more about social networking. A facebook group is also available here. Plenty of polls and discussions can be found on Mum 2.0′s facebook page. Kids might also share their thoughts there.

Join up now to save your kids from future embarrassment.