Review of the Year 2008 and Trends Watch—Part 1. The recession dominates our thoughts, of course … It’s hard not to be discouraged when we see the belt-tightening going on across all sectors in reaction to the tough economic conditions—cost cutting, layoffs, closures, loss of advertising, scaled back growth plans, etc. … But we’re a tough and resilient lot. Things are bound to improve. And, as one of my more optimistic-minded colleagues pointed out, the tough times forced his company to re-examine how it was doing things and to implement some cost-cutting changes that should have been made earlier. It was painful to watch Yahoo!’ Technology played a huge role in the 2008 elections, marking a permanent change in how politicians use technology. Over the past year or so, by far the most-read article posted on the infotoday.com site was the Spotlight on "Political Fact-Check Web Sites," ( Other popular topics covered in our NewsBreaks included the following: Ongoing Legislative Issues The U.S.
5 Elaborate Tips To Make Your Blog Social Media Friendly - Dumb. DailyLit: Read books online by daily email and RSS feed. Book-bot: Read Books Online | MakeUseOf.com. Wordpress 2.7: Faster, Customizable, With Automatic Updates. The new version of WordPress - version 2.7, codenamed "Coltrane" - is now available, and I'll skip to the part I think users will like the most: no more manual updates.
That's right, the new WordPress now has an automatic update system which will notify you of new versions and let you upgrade your blog with a single click. Of course, this won't help much if you've messed with the code (like I always do), but at least you don't have to go through the process of manually updating your blog every time a new version is out, which intimidates many users. Other important changes are speed (WordPress should now be all-around faster) and the ability to customize every screen. If you never use a certain option, you can now click on "Screen Options" and remove it, move it around, or turn it into an icon if your screen estate is limited. For an introduction to new WordPress features check out the video below, and you can download the new version here. HOW TO: Get the Most Out of Google Maps.