Observing a two-minute silence at 11am on Armistice Day, 11th November, is generally well accepted, at least in countries that were directly affected by the two World Wars, but now the Royal British Legion is calling for a similar observance on Twitter.

The #2minutesilence hashtag is gaining traction since it was introduced by @PoppySupport. read more

Those who are worried that their kids, loved ones and significant others will become anti-social due to Internet overdose can now rest easy. The latest Pew Internet Study on Social Isolation and Technology shows that contrary to popular belief social networking and online activities does not really affect one’s sociability.

The study explored one major aspect of social isolation – the role that the Internet  and mobile phone play in one’s core social networks. The study categorically states that Americans’ use of mobile phones and the Internet actually leads to a larger and more diverse discussion networks.  This include Americans’ use of Facebook. read more

Do you use some kind of information portal as your regular launchpad onto the web? There are certainly plenty of dedicated ones to choose from, as well as being able to choose any web page as your start page, of course.

Microsoft is hoping that it can increase the popularity of its MSN home page with a preview version of the new look just announced.

As you’d expect, the Bing search engine features prominently on the new site which, based on user feedback, is supposed to be less cluttered and easier to use than the current one. read more

Digg is currently experimenting on a new voting system that will give interesting stories that will otherwise fade out unnoticed, a chance to get famous on the Digg sphere. Dubbed Digg Trends, this new home page will give new trending store a 10 minute spotlight on the Digg Trends home page. read more

Al Gore might think that he invented the Internet, but was he also responsible for creating blogging? (The answer, of course, is no.)

It’s a question I have never considered: Who did invent blogging? read more

I asked this before when I first came across TwitterPeek – Is Twitter so big that there is already a market for a dedicated device exclusively for its use? Peek, makers of TwitterPeek believe so as they officially launched and released their simple device, TwitterPeek. read more

In a ruling that’s more about a point of principle than money, a California judge has ordered “Spam King” Sanford Wallace to pay Facebook $711m in damages for the reams of spam messages sent via the service.

What made these messages particularly insidious is that they were sent from hacked accounts, attaching a superficial level of trust because they appeared to come from friends.

Wallace and his associates were also banned from accessing Facebook, though given how devious spammers and hackers can be, this would seem to be a difficult ruling to enforce. read more

Happy Monday, folks! It’s November, which means the release of Movable Type 5 is just around the corner. We should be seeing a release candidate build soon. Until then, let’s take a look at some plugins, themes, and cool tricks for the existing verison.

First, Mike T. from Code Monkey Ramblings has a new MT theme: Dark Marble. Based on a WordPress theme by the same name, Mike says he should have a version that supports the professional website templates soon.

Mike also has two new plugins. Comment Flag lets users report comments to you via email. The plugin uses jQuery so that the interaction is seamless for the user.

Mike’s other new plugin is Executable File Filter. It checks whether uploaded files are executable binaries or PHP scripts and renames them so they can’t be run. read more

Employers who encourage their staff to conduct business in virtual worlds such as Second Life are being advised that a dress code policy should be enforced before employees are let loose in cyberspace.

According to analysts at Gartner, 70% of companies will have set behaviour and dress code guidelines within the next five years.

The concept isn’t surprising, as you’d expect any employee representing a company to be issued with ground rules. However, the introduction of virtual world working brings with it a new set of challenges for managers, many of whom have already shown a lack of understanding and slowness to react to trends such as blogging and acceptable Internet use.

Having said that, if companies are official sanctioning their workers to form business relationships online, they are presumably forward thinking companies with an understanding of the risks and potential pitfalls. read more

Couldn’t get enough of Google Wave definitions, how to’s, and even a demo video ala Pulp Fiction.  Finally, the sane folks at Lifehacker.com came up with their own Google Wave manual - The Complete Guide to Google Wave.

Download Squad calls it a “straightforward, well-organized volume that goes a long way toward demystifying a new and complex tool.” That tool of course is Google Wave, as Google is perpetuating it as a new communication tool. read more