How to Change Hair, Skin, Sky and Water Colors in Photoshop

Here's a recent photoshop project where I needed some references for hair and skin colors: the image on the right is the original, at left is the (heavily) photoshopped version.

The first step is being clear on why you want to change colors. Sometimes just getting white balance correct is all you are looking for. This tutorial is for those times you are trying to create a color that is difficult to get from the original (as in the above example), or create a new color completely.

You might simply be experimenting to find something that looks good. For those times (like the shirt in the sample above) you can simply adjust hue, saturation and lightness until it looks right. Another goal is to try to change something to a target color.  I wanted the hair and skin in the photo above to match typical sample colors.

To match to a color, the first step is get color swatch(es) of the color(s) you need. I've assembled a reference image containing hair, skin, sky and water colors you can use at the end of this post (below).

To change existing colors in Photoshop

Again, the simplest method is to select a color range using the Hue/Saturation tool and then adjust the hue slider and mask out any areas you don't want changed. But in areas with complex highlights or shadows (such as hair) this sometimes doesn't work as well as you might prefer.

So either because you want to match a specific color, or for more advanced control, try Jim DiVitale's method instead. First, create three different layers of the same color, and set them to these blending modes and opacities:

1. Top layer: color/50% opacity; Middle layer: overlay/25% opacity; Bottom layer: multiply/10% opacity. Feel free to experiment with different opacity settings. For example, if you're lightening dark hair, change multiply to screen.
   
2. Insert a Hue/Saturation layer as the top layer of the group to give you more subtle control over the look of the new color if you wish.
   
3. Group all these layers and add a mask for the entire group.
   

To change colors, you simply paint on the group mask to reveal or hide color changes! You can also create a second group of a similar color if you want to have slight variations in the color you are applying, or blend both together in a master group mask to average two (or more) colors.

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Big list of free photoshop alternatives

Here's a big list of  free photoshop alternatives. Many are online and you can start instantly—no download, no installation. Why should you check out more than one of these if you find one you like? Many have cool and useful features that others don't have, so it's worth doing a little research.

Photoshop Express Online	flauntR	Dumpr
Sumopaint	Pic Resize	Lunapic
Picnik	Pixenate	Aviary
Splashup	FotoFlexer	CinePaint
Artweaver	Phixr	Pixen
GIMP	Kizoa	Krita
Paint.NET	Pixlr	Pixen
Seashore	Picmagick	PhotoFiltre
Photoscape	Pictureful	PaintStar
Inkscape	picture2life	Pixia
PhotoPlus SE	Snipshot	Active Pixels
Phoenix	Flauntr	ChocoFlop
	FaceFilter	Photo Pos Lite
Snipshot	Webpictool

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Ways to make money on the web

So you want to make money on the internet, huh? Below are some of the most common ways. 

Why do I bother sharing a list like this? Because a key reason most people fail is they fail to consider their options before starting.

My highlights are not strictly accurate, because there are good approaches to each of these things. I'm going to elaborate on this over time and link to information as I go:

The best combination of profit and simplicity for web newbies.

The things people tend to try most frequently.
The best profit for people who are willing to work steadily without quitting

A. Sell information:

1. Create information and sell it;
2. Sell someone else's information as if it were your own;
3. Promote someone else selling information.

B. Create content, and then place around what you write:

1. Ads that pay when someone acts on them (clicks an ad, for example);
2. Ads that pay based on how many people see them;
   
3. Information for sale that you receive a commission on;
4. Products for sale that you receive a commission on;
5. Links to other sites where you earn money.
   

C. Help people with existing businesses:

1. Sell their services;
   
2. Sell their products;
3. Set up or enhance a web presence.

D. Sell products:

1. Drop-ship (you sell something that someone else ships for you);
2. Buy products and ship them yourself;
3. Via multi-level marketing.
   

Start a product or service business of your own and use the web to promote

B2 is essentially a strategy to get a lot of traffic to a focused niche. It's a little misleading, because basically you can't even get these kinds of ads unless you get a lot of traffic to your content. So B2 represents a strategy to get a lot of traffic and the longer you work it, the better it works. Realize that once you have a lot of traffic, you can do other things with it as well.

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Em dash, en dash, copyright, trademark and other useful ascii character shortcuts, tips and Alt key codes

First of all, did you realize you can type in characters such as those on the next line?
▐▀█▄▌— · – ♫ ♪ … ♥ ‼ » ►◄ ☺ ♦ ♣ ♠ ₪  ≡ ░░░ ▓▓▓ ™, ©, ½, ± etc

Dashes and quotation marks are among the handiest to know. But for IM and micro-blogging services like Twitter, wouldn't it be nice to know how to type ♥?

You could just bookmark an ascii example quick-reference page like this one or this one and copy and paste the characters as you need them. For Twitter or places where there is a character limit, notice the the ellipses (…) and double exclamation marks (‼) in the symbols above are each just one character (try selecting just one of those "periods!)

But there are several tricks to make them easier to access. In Microsoft Word, you can just try to Insert>Symbol and then find them from a list. Or for example, if you type three periods (...) and then press space, it will be converted into the single ellipses character in Microsoft Word. But most useful to know is how to create the em and en dashes and different “curly” quotes. (Put these on a post-it note on your computer for handy reference):

Creating an Em dash —
This works on most Windows computers: 

• On the keyboard: hold down the alt key and type 0151 on the number pad (make sure num lock is on)
• The Microsoft Word trick: With no spaces type two hypens (minus signs) after a word, type another word (or any character) and then press space. The hypen will elongate into an em dash.

Creating an En dash –
This is the slightly shorter dash. Similar tips here:

• On the keyboard: hold down alt and type 0150 on the number pad (make sure num lock is on)
• The Microsoft Word Trick: type any word, then type space hyphen space (" - ") then type another word (or any character) and then press space. The hypen will elongate into an en dash.

Curly quotes

• ‘    Curly single open quote ALT + 0145
• ’    Curly single close quote ALT + 0146
• “    ALT + 0147 (Tip: on a num pad, this uses all the keys on the left)
  
• ”    ALT + 0148

Automating curly quotes in Word

Microsoft Word automatically changes straight quotation marks ( ' or " ) to curly (smart or typographer's) quotes (’‘or“”) as you type, and you can turn this feature on or off:
1.    On the Tools menu, click AutoCorrect Options, and then click the AutoFormat As You Type tab.
2.    Under Replace as you type, select or clear the "Straight quotes" with "smart quotes" check box.
 
You can also find and replace all instances of single or double curly quotes with straight quotes in a Word document. To do this, clear the "Straight quotes" with "smart quotes" check box on the AutoFormat As You Type tab. On the Edit menu, click Replace. In both the Find what and Replace with boxes, type ' or ", and then click Find Next or Replace All. To replace all straight quotes with curly quotes, select the "Straight quotes" with "smart quotes" check box, and repeat the find and replace procedure.


Other useful keyboard shortcuts:

• –   Endash … Alt+0150 (see above for Word trick)
  
• —  Emdash … Alt+0151 (see above for Word trick)
•  •   Bullet … Alt+0149 
• ·     Centered Period/dot/small bullet … Alt+0183
  
• ¼ One Quarter/Fourth … Alt+0188
  ½ One Half … Alt+0189
• © Copyright Symbol … Alt+0169
• ® Registered Symbol … Alt+0174
• ™ Trademark Symbol … Alt+0153
• …  Ellipses … Alt+0133
• ±  Plus/Minus Symbol … Alt+0177
• °   Degree/Ring Symbol … Alt+0176
• ²   Squared Symbol … Alt+0178
• ³   Cubed Symbol … Alt+0179
• µ   Mu Symbol … Alt+0181

Fun symbols:
Here's a great list you can use from your browser toolbar (follow the tip under the icons to drag the link to your toolbar). Many of these less usual ones you may need to cut and paste, unless you are in Microsoft Word.

• ♥   Alt+9829
• ☺ Alt+9786
• ► Alt+9658
• ♪  Alt+9834
• ♫ Alt+9835
• ♀ Alt+9792
• ♂ Alt+9794
• ♦ Alt+9830
• † Alt+0134

Related word processing keystrokes:
Nonbreaking Space … Esc-space-h
Nonbreaking Hyphen … Esc-(hyphen)-h
Straight Quote Single … Ctrl+'
Straight Quote Double … Esc "

Foreign characters and Math symbols

General basics everyone should know
This is from the New York Times (click the headline above). This is a very short must read. If you know it all, send the article to the people who look to you for help. It's short, and there are also a lot of great tips in the comments.

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Update your website yourself: get kompozer free, and use free web templates

Every time I check, I read that most businesses that want to have a web site, don't have one. Some business owners have had a site, or started the process to get a site, but eventually still ended up not having a site. Others have a site, but don't know how to update it themselves so they either get rid of it, or pay someone to update it for them.

If you can send an email link, you can create  your own website.

There is an excellent, free and very easy to use program called kompozer that makes updating and creating websites nearly as simple as writing emails. My advice is simple: Get this free program right now! (If you are a web developer and want to help your friends and clients, start by downloading KompoZer portable to a USB drive.) Kompozer is a what-you-see-is-what-you-get program (WYSIWYG) like Microsoft Word.

If you feel unsafe clicking links, go to Google.com and search for "site:download.com kompozer" (CNET's safe downloading site) or just "download kompozer." Otherwise, click here and follow CNET's instructions. It doesn't install ads, spyware or anything of any kind you wouldn't want on your computer. In fact, there is no installation process. It just lets you create and update website pages.

But, download the software now, before reading further. Do it NOW! If you don't use it later, fine. But if you want to use it one day, it will be on your computer, and you won't have to find this download link again. I suggest saving it to your desktop so you can find it easily. So: stop reading, and download the software first. Right now!

Start using KompZer

It's a relatively small program, and won't interfere with the operation of your computer in any way, so the next step is copy it somewhere so you can use it. Right now. No installation necessary. Double click on the file that was downloaded to your computer and a window will open. There will be a folder named "Kompozer" with a number after it. Copy that folder to your desktop (or wherever you wish) and double click on the folder. Look for the file named kompozer (or kompozer.exe). Double click that file and the program will open.

Type a few words in the big empty space in the right-hand area of the window that opens. Now highlight a word or two and experiment with clicking the a A B I U letters in the toolbar near the top of the window. These will make your words Bold (B), Italic (I) and so forth. You are now formatting text on a web page!

KompoZer tutorial and user guide

Next step: either read this kompozer short tutorial, or keep playing with the program to familiarize yourself with it. I suggest not using the help within the program. Instead, for the KompoZer user guide, click here. Really: click the link for the user guide. You won't find this information easily anwhere else.

Here's a useful tip for editing an existing page: type within what you want to change so the formatting stays the same. Say you had yellow bold text and highlighted text you wanted to keep (for example). Follow this three-step example:

1. This is the page before editing 
2. Type inside the existing words when making changes:
   This Different words go here is the page before and more words here editing 
3. Then delete the words you don't want:
   Different words go here  and more words here
   

If you want to use the formatting from one part of a page on another part of the page, copy some of what you want to the new location, then type inside as shown above.

Formatting on a web page can be endcoded in many different ways. If you are editing something that is already formatted, save yourself the headache of learning about CSS and HTML formatting and just use the above method to ensure you keep what is already working on your page.

Advanced tip for updating your site

Once you have a website that you are working on, you will be creating or updating pages on your computer, and then sending them to the website so the world can see them. The "sending" part is done by what is called "ftp." I use Kompozer for editing, and a separate program for sending by ftp (which just means "file transfer protocol"). The site manager sidebar in Kompozer works fine for this, but is missing one option: automatically send all updated pages.

If you want a one-click solution that will automatically update your website with whatever changes you have made, read this article about using a separate program for ftp. Works on Window, Mac, Linux, etc.

Use design templates to create your own site

Here are some great sites that give away excellent free website designs:

• http://www.freewebsitetemplates.com/
  
• http://www.freelayouts.com/websites?order=rating+desc
  
• http://www.templateyes.com/html-templates.htm
• http://www.templatesbox.com/premium-templates/website-templates/index.htm
  

Alternatives for free WYSIWYG design software for creating an add-free site on your own domain

Blogger is one service that lets you have your own domain, and still use their hosting, templates and editor. Unlike many other free services, they don't require you to show their ads. Some I've seen that look like a good fit (but that I haven't tried) include:

• Weebly (recommended by Time magazine)
  
• edicypages.com
• bluevoda.com
• Ewisoft Website Builder
  

Continuing education and advanced techniques

• 100+ Free Open Courseware Links for Web Designers
• Fantastically simple CSS and HTML tutorials
  

 

Read more!

Fix computers (and more?): Safe mode and cold booting

Electrical charges build up in computer and appliances that use circuit boards. Remove those electrical charges and you fix—or extend the life of—your favorite devices. It just takes seconds, here's how:

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Increase your internet speed: Really useful Windows XP and Firefox bandwidth-increasing tips

Increase your internet speed (bandwidth) by 20%

Prefer video directions instead? Scroll down…

Windows holds back a large portion of your internet bandwidth as part of it's network settings. But if you're not on a corporate network, if this is your home computer, free that up for greater bandwidth. Get that extra speed by making a very quick, simple and easy change in the Windows Group Policy editor (works just like looking through your files and folders) as follows:

1. Click START, then click RUN.
2. Type "gpedit.msc" without the quotes, then click OK.
3. Browse to the highlighted area shown above -- the folder you want is Computer Configuration/ Administrative Templates/ Network/ QoS Packet Scheduler in the left-hand pane (shown above) then double-click "Limit reservable bandwith" in the right-hand pane. The dialog box shown below will pop up.
   
4. Click the dot (radio button) for Enabled as shown below, and in Bandwidth Limit, type or click up or down until a number between 0 and 10 is shown.
5. Click Apply, and click your way out of the open dialog boxes: you're done!

The lower the number you enter in Bandwidth Limit (where I have entered a "1" in the image below), the faster your internet connection will be. However, "5" is probably low enough, though you can play with this number:

However, realize if the if the network card has a specific limit set on it in registry, this would have no impact on it.

Here is a video with directions and an example of speed increasing:




Increase Bandwith by 20%

Speed up Firefox

If you have a high-speed (Cable, DSL, etc.) connection this change will give you a very noticeable speed increase for larger web pages. Inside the address bar on Firefox (where web page addresses/URLs go) type this and press enter:

about:config

and then find:

network.http.pipelining
network.http.proxy.pipelining

and set them both to "true". This adjusts the pipelining settings. For more cool settings available in about: config, go here.)

Then find

network.http.pipelining.maxrequests

and set it to 8, as suggested by http://kb.mozillazine.org/Network.http.pipelining.maxrequests (though you can play with this number).

Finally, right-click anywhere (on any setting) and a menu will pop out: select 'new' and then 'integer'. Copy this (without the quotes): "nglayout.initialpaint.delay" and paste it in as the name, and then set the value to "0" (zero). This removes the render delay. You should experience a BIG speed increase!

More speed tips

• More Firefox connection speed tips site 1 (see also: site 2)
  
• To speedup XP in general, try these tips.

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What motivates people? Harry Beckwith knows: The Beckwith 40

When I wrote about prof. Clay Shirky and giving people the chance to achieve higher needs, I was thinking about some of Harry Beckwith's genius.

We're not talking brainwashing here, this is common-sense human nature from a brilliant observer of it. One of my favorites from Harry is: The ultimate test of a communication: Does it make people stop what they are doing? That gem of advice is #40 on the list he calls the Beckwith 40.

So, for an introduction to Harry, here's a baker's dozen from the Beckwith 40: (The subheads are my addition. For the full list, Rajesh Setty has published it with Harry's permission.)

First, Understand How They Think

1. Your biggest competitor is not a competitor; it’s your prospect’s indifference.
2. Your second-biggest competitor is not a competitor; it’s your prospect’s distrust.
3. Your biggest obstacle is whatever stereotype your prospect has formed about you and your industry.
4. Prospects decide in the first five seconds.
5. Prospects don’t try to make the best choice. They try to make the most comfortable choice.
6. At heart, every prospect is risk-averse, and risks are always more vivid than rewards.

Second, Understand How You Need To Think

7. Beware of what you think you know or have experienced; memories fail people constantly.
8. For the same reason, beware of what others say they know or have experienced.
9. Certainty is a trick your mind plays on you; keep yours open.
10. If everyone likes your idea, it’s not an idea. Good ideas always make enemies.
11. Don’t create something that everyone likes; create something that many people love.
12. Research never shows anything; it only suggests.

Value, Communication, Action, Understanding

13. Never take seriously what people say they think, because people are never sure. Trust only action.
14.-40. Full list

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What is LinkedIn REALLY about?

Disclaimer: Other than being a user of LinkedIn's free services, I have no connection to LinkedIn. Update: The New York Times has a good article on the benefits of using networking sites.

Short answer: It's an online contact management address book, people finder and expert advice site designed to help you network to find work, clients or assistance. It's the biggest of its kind—over 18 million people use it. It’s very useful in the free version (which I use), but a large percentage of users also pay to extend the features from time to time.

Common Uses

LinkedIn is sometimes perceived as insurance against future job changes. It’s an aid to getting a new job quickly, or finding a new one while still at your present job. Stats show getting connected on LinkedIn (at least 21 connections) makes you over thirty-four times more likely to be approached with a job opportunity (than people with four or less LinkedIn connections). So a list of uses might include:

• Asking questions of experts (one of the best sites anywhere for this);
• Find old friends;
• Find jobs/give yourself insurance against future job changes;
• Get recommendations about you and your work;
• Get new clients;
• Check references, find people to hire or help out your contacts by recommending them.

There are many fun “small world” things that happen. For example, I forgot about a guy who highly recommended my work years ago. I found him again because his wife was one of my wife's dance students!

More places to learn about how to use LinkedIn:

• I'm on LinkedIn: Now what?
  
• Guy Kawasaki's 10 13 reasons to use LinkedIn.
• 20 Ways to Use LinkedIn Productively for Web Workers
  
• How to get most out of LinkedIn
  
• LinkedIn Intelligence
  

Protecting Your Privacy

LinkedIn gives you a lot of control. You can hide information about yourself, or only publish information you want friends of your friends to see. People who don’t know you through either a past job or a friend are prohibited from seeing your details unless they have searched for you specifically, and you have made your details publicly available. You can also choose whether to let Google show your LinkedIn page or not. And even if you make your profile more visible, you can always hide parts of it.

Even if someone wants to contact you, they would have to find you, request permission (from me or anyone you connect to), and in some cases pay a substantial fee (too high in the past to make sense for spammers) if they were outside your immediate network. You can let LinkedIn contact you with occasional reminders, or you can opt-out.

Even if you leave yourself logged into LinkedIn on a public computer somewhere, no one can access features that involve private information, because you have to login each time you access those features. (I wish other sites where that way!) Of course, on my home computer I let the browser automatically fill in my info to speed things up.

Ways to Take LinkedIn Further

• Join the LinkedIn Power Forum at Yahoo groups;
• Read and contribute at LinkedIn Answers;
• Stay up to date on strategies at LinkedIn Intelligence;
• Add the LinkedIn Outlook Toolbar (for users of Microsoft versions Outlook/Windows XP/2002 or higher);
• Read this LinkedIn article for tips.
  

Sample Advice for a NonProfit Seeking Funding

Someone asked how to use LinkedIn if you are a not-for-profit seeking funding.
There were tons of people who had contributed to topics in the Charity and Non-Profit section of LinkedIn answers. I learned, for example:

Osocio.org has with a good track record providing information and resources on promoting your non-profit on the web. A great boost to a giving campaign.

Givestream provides free online fundraising and community-building tools that help nonprofits create their own branded easy giving center. Calculate how much they can help you raise.

Doing some brief research on LinkedIn answers turned up some of the following tips:

• View the list of helpful LinkedIn Experts in this category;
  
• List people you are working with currently, and all email addresses you have for them. Search LinkedIn for them, and ask them to join your LinkedIn network using the links provided on their LinkedIn profile page.
• List people you would like to reach, search LinkedIn for them, and ask your connections to introduce you to them.
• Write up a question for your project and post it to LinkedIn
• Search for people who's current job description includes the word "Fundraising" and ask them for advice on using LinkedIn in your effort
• Create a membership dues program;
• Contact corporations about a matching donations program before seeking donations from individuals;
• Create teams of people to go out and visit your major donors and ask for multiple-year pledges;
• For whatever someone gives by mail, multiply by ten and that's the gift they're capable of, as a rough estimate, if you visit them. A $500 donor can give $5,000, $1,000 can give $10,000. You'll have to teach yourselves how to ask for larger gifts: I recommend a video from Board Source called, "Speaking of Money" as a way to start your training.

While this advice might not be specific to what you wish to use LinkedIn for, this should give you some idea. There were literally hundreds of answers that I didn't even look at relevant to this topic. LinkedIn is a terrific resource!

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Quality information on understanding PPC

I am extremely impressed by the quality of information I've found on optimizing your internet advertising over at the RedFly PPC Marketing blog.

Warning! Dave Davis, managing director at RedFly, doesn' t shrink from digging into the technical nitty gritty of what works and how to do it in a PPC Campaign. But check it out: He explains things exceptionally clearly.

Dave also seems to have a helpful response to virtually every post comment. Really one of the most amazingly helpful places for PPC on the internet. Dave started posting about PPC around nine months ago, so this blog hasn't had time to become as popular as it deserves too (and will!)

Incidentally, never met the man. Just read the blog today. It's just such a pleasure to come across something so helpful and share it with others!

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Free PayPal shopping cart with advanced features

I just have to give this person a mention!

To add a PayPal shopping cart to your website, most would wish to have some of the features of Website Payments Pro. Unfortunately, it costs $20/month plus, typically, a much bigger cost in time and money for a shopping cart that has integrated Payments Pro. However, Mr./Ms. paypalhelper has, for the past three years, been creating cut-n-paste solutions to give you many of the the features of Website Payments Pro for free in JavaScript. No $20/month, no outside shopping cart costs and technical hassles configuring on your server. Here are links to just a sampling of some of their great work:

• View Cart Dropdowns (selects).
• Radio and Checkbox.
• Shipping.
• Coupons.
• Quantity discounts.
  
• Buttons.
• Image Replacement (rollovers and slide-shows).
• Dynamically modify selects. Subscriptions.
• Separate PayPal email. Send Auxiliary information with order, and program a window that controls other windows.
• One-click submission of multiple items. Simple example of Method 2 cart upload with your own pseudo-cart.
• One-click submission of multiple items WITH UPS shipping included. Simple example of Method 2 cart upload with your own pseudo-cart,
• Complex PayPal Single Item Purchase example. Insert JS and just use it.
• Multi-window accumulation of data. Pass user-selected data to second window.
• Multi-window II. Send FORM to 2nd HTML page.
• Document Object (DO) dump example. Stuff JS accesses.
• Client-side Cookie example. Storing data on the client's computer.
• Weight-based shipping in your site. This example uses USPS Priority and Machinable Parcel Post. User inputs his ZIP, and you can calculate
  
• Simple Client-side Cart. This is a complete client-side shopping cart. All calculations are done in this local cart, and no changes are allowed within
• Complex Client-side Cart. This is just about everything that may be done within a client-side cart.
• Hide email and PayPal links from spambots.
• Encrypt HTML data.
• Partially encrypted data. Much better than PayPal's solution,
• Make PayPal buttons validate under XHTML1.1
• Automatically clear FORMs after submission.

Read more!

Asking for help: Google, friends, and the internet

Uclue.com is a new website by a number of researchers who used to work for the (now canceled) Google Answers program. (Added March 7, 2007). Another good site is QUNU.

When you have a problem and ask for help, you instantly have a new problem: Getting the person helping you to understand your problem.

People asking questions via text systems typically believe:

1. Their question is clearly stated and formed appropriately to what they are seeking;
   
2. The form of answer or support needed is understood;
   
3. The primary context of their need is obvious;
   
4. They will not need to use other help resources to get a complete answer;
   
5. They won't need to provide follow-up clarification (or they would have already done so);
   
6. Repeating a question is a form of improving communication.
   

If you're asking for help, consider that any of these six beliefs may be false, and be ready to follow-up without showing frustration. This leads to:

RULE #1: It doesn't matter how well YOU think you are stating your need, what matters is how well you help the person trying to assist you to understand your need.

It's not about how clear it is in theory, how excellent your logic is, or how well you understand your problem, it's about how well the person helping you understands what you need. If there's a problem in communication, the person asking for help has the most power and responsibility to resolve it. If you ask for help and end up frustrated, let the person trying to help off the hook or try to figure out what they need to help you. Without bringing up how bad your day/job/whatever has gone. (It can sound like you are accusing the support person of being the last straw in a series of problems.)

Nearly as important: if you have enough information to check a help system, do so before requesting more help. Don't make the person assisting you read the manual/view the help system/use Google and cut and paste what you should have already found. For example, don't write "I clicked what you said to, a box appeared with a word I don't recognize, and now I don't know what to do." Type that word you don't recognize into the help system for your software or site. Or type that word into Google, along with the name of your software or site. If you don't know what RTFM means (it's NOT "Rolling on the floor...") , click to see why it returns over 300,000 results in Google.

And this leads to ... RULE #2: Check a help system and tell your support person what keywords you looked under and what you found before asking them for assistance. Expert helpers know it's all about the keywords used when searching for help. Let them help use the best keywords. And realize that many voicemails to tech support come in pairs: Call #1--"I've got a problem. Call #2--"Never mind."

My favorite variation is a well known run-on sentence, familiar to everyone who's ever had a roommate: "Where-are-my-keys-never-mind-I-found-them." At the same time, people want to help, so let them. If you tell your support person that you tried online help and Google, and what keywords you used, the war stories they tell around the watercooler aren't going to include your name, except in praise.

Rule of thumb: Ask for help after checking help more than once, but before going blind in frustration. My favorite excuse for not checking a help system is: "It's just a quick question, and they can just give me a quick answer." About one third of the time, this succeeds with only a little follow-on clarification. But at it's worst, and also about one-third of the time, the person asking becomes frustrated at the person assisting for not answering well enough after several back-and-forths.

Why does this happen? The questioner didn't want to be responsible for helping the person answering. After all, it was "Just a quick question." And follow-on questions (or anything requiring more time on the part of the person assisting you) often need to be phrased as additional requests.

This leads to ... RULE #3: Just because someone helped you get started doesn't mean they agreed to provide step-by-step support over hours or days until you are satisfied. Do NOT follow up a question with a command "Now go look at my website, and tell me ..." DO take charge in helping them help you, and you'll be surprised how much they want to help, and how much less frustration and time-wasting will take place. I'll write more about this topic in a future article, including rules for the person providing the help. Here's a preview: RULE #1 for helpers: Don't try to solve problems by email. From best to worst:

1. Show up in person,
   
2. connect to their computer remotely,
   
3. talk on the phone,
   
4. post by forum,
   
5. create a help video,
   
6. send links to help files or articles,
   
7. text/IM,
   
8. communicate by email.
   

What's wrong with email as a problem-solving medium could fill a book. Even choosing the sign-off can be fraught with peril. Here's what the New York Times says about that. Meantime, here are those resources I promised:

• Lose Your Wikipedia Crutch: 100 Places to Go for Good Answers Online
  
• 100 Unbelievably Useful Reference Sites You’ve Never Heard Of
• Library Chick - "Links to the best of the Internet's FREE resources for those with big brains and small pocketbooks!"
  
• Library of Congress (DC) - http://www.loc.gov/rr/askalib/ An online reference service (via email) from the Library of Congress. Live chat available for certain subject areas
• Internet Public Library - http://www.ipl.org/div/askus/ Volunteer librarians answer general questions or provide starting places for research at the IPL Reference Center.
  
• Seattle Public Library (WA) - http://www.spl.org/default.asp?pageID=help_ask Seattle Public Library's Quick Information Center offers phone, email and live chat reference service.
  
• KANAnswer (KS) - http://skyways.lib.ks.us/KSL/KLNB/KANAnswerWeb/index.htm This statewide virtual reference project serves Kansas residents and answers questions about Kansas for non-residents.
  
• Auburn University (AL) - http://www.lib.auburn.edu/askref.html Ask a Librarian email reference service for the faculty, staff and students of Auburn University.
  
• National Library of Scotland - http://www.nls.uk/info/readingrooms/askalibrarian.html Global, web-based reference service from the National Library of Scotland.
  
• Stumpers-L - http://domin.dom.edu/depts/gslis/stumpers/ A networking resource for reference questions that have people, in essence, stumped. Sponsored by the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at Dominican University, Stumpers-L was founded as an email-based resource where reference librarians can help each other find the answers to difficult questions, but anyone can join.
  
• Answerland (OR) - http://oregonlibraries.net/ Oregon's Live Information Service, email or chat live with a reference librarian.
  
• Ask a Librarian - http://www.ask-a-librarian.org.uk/ Electronic reference library combining resources of the UK's public libraries. Ask questions and check the archives for previous answers.
  
• Providence Public Library (RI) - http://www.provlib.org/elibrary/emailref/emailref.htm Answers to brief, factual questions and assistance with search strategies via a web form.
  
• New York State Library (NY) - http://www.nysl.nysed.gov/refserv.htm Guidelines for users submitting reference questions to the New York State Library via email.
  
• Free Library of Philadelphia (PA) - http://libwww.library.phila.gov/faq/eref.cfm The Free Library of Philadelphia answers reference questions via an email form and live chat.
  
• Southwest Minnesota State University Library - http://www.southwestmsu.edu/library/askref.cfm During the academic year, reference librarians are willing to answer short reference questions by e-mail.
  
• Florida International University (FL) - http://www.fiu.edu/~library/services/asklib.html Email or chat with a FIU Reference Librarian.
  
• Tartu University Library, Estonia - http://www.utlib.ee/en/index.php?cat=ref Quick answers to brief questions about materials in the library's reference collection.
  
• Santa Monica Public Library (CA) - http://www.smpl.org/forms/email_reference.htm Librarians at Santa Monica Public will answer questions via email or fax.
  
• Newton Gresham Library (TX) - http://shsu.cb.docutek.com/vrlplus/vrl_entry.asp Online reference services (email and chat) for students, faculty, and staff of Sam Houston State University, TX.
  
• Collaborative Live Reference Services - http://people.lis.uiuc.edu/~b-sloan/collab.htm Listing of collaborative live reference services
  
• Lappponica - Northern information search (SE) - http://www.lapponica.net/ Information on Lapland, North Calotte and Barents Euro-Arctic, sami people. Provided via email by libraries and museums in Lapland. In Finnish, English and Swedish.
  
• Kentucky Virtual Library (KY) - http://www.kyvl.org/html/ref/helpform.shtml Online form to submit questions to the librarians at the Kentucky Virtual Library.
  
• Kenton County Public Library (KY) - http://www.information-station.com/ Information Station is an online live referencesite where real librarians answer your general reference questions.
  
• Email Reference Sites - http://people.lis.uiuc.edu/~b-sloan/e-mail.html A list of library sites which have forms for submitting questions by email. Some have archives of previous questions and answers.
  
• Kansas City Public Library (MO) - http://www.kclibrary.org/about/contactform.cfm Email form for asking reference questions of Kansas City Public librarians.
  
• State Library of Tasmania - http://reftracker.statelibrary.tas.gov.au/reftracker/reft100.aspx?key=sltclient Form for submitting a reference enquiry to the State Reference Service in Tasmania.
  
• Nashville Public Library (TN) - http://www.library.nashville.org/Links/Askalibrarian/index.html Nashville librarians provide reference services via phone or email. Also chat live with a librarian with video, audio, and co-browsing capabilities.
  
• National Library Board of Singapore - http://www.elibraryhub.com/libraryServices/referencePointForm.asp?sub=lib Electronic reference source providing brief factual answers or pointers to more in-depth information.
  
• AllExperts.com - http://www.allexperts.com/ Volunteer experts answer all your questions.
  
• Wondir - http://www.wondir.com/ Ask or answer questions on all topics. Responders are eligible for tips, prizes, and published ratings.
  
• Ask A+ Locator - http://www.vrd.org/locator/ Use the search tool here to find quality educational "Ask An Expert" sites. All sites are screened before being entered in this database.
  
• AskAnOwner.com - http://www.askanowner.com/ The AskAnOwner community gives consumers the opportunity to ask direct questions to users of products and services. They can expect honest and direct answers to there questions.
  
• Find an Ask An Expert Site - http://www.cln.org/int_expert.html Nicely organized index of sites where you can ask an expert.
  
• Ask Me Help Desk - http://www.askmehelpdesk.com/ Become an expert or ask an advisor about subjects such as homework help or interview questions at this question-and-answer community.
  
• The Answerbank.co.uk - http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/ United Kingdom based question and answer site with weather, crosswords, quizzes and horoscopes.
  
• Ask The Inventors - http://www.asktheinventors.com/ Free help for first-time inventors about how to go from idea to patenting, marketing and licensing.
  
• Ask a Chef - http://www.askachef.com/ Questions answered about cooking from volunteer expert chefs.
  
• Globe Alive - http://www.globealive.com/ Searchable database of experts standing by to help you.
  
• Able2Know - Ask an Expert - http://www.able2know.com/ Ask an expert at this knowledge exchange where experts answer one's questions. Features discussions on diverse topics.
  
• Nadlan Info - http://www.nadlaninfo.com/ Panel of construction experts responds to questions about civil engineering, architecture, interior design, and plumbing.
  
• UKExpert - http://www.ukexpert.co.uk/ A discussion site with a large team of expert moderators and members making up its community. It also has live news, polls, and a photographs section.
  
• The Expert Network - http://www.asktheexperts.org/ Get expert advice from one of our many local professionals across the United States. Some experts may charge a fee.
  
• Ask A Linguist - http://www.linguistlist.org/ask-ling/ Post a question involving language to a panel of linguists; browse and search past answers.
  
• PointAsk - http://www.pointask.com/ Register to ask and answer questions. Gain points for good ones.
  
• Yahoo Group: Science Help - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sciencehelp/ Ask questions about biology, physics and chemistry.
  
• Ampleo - http://www.ampleo.com/ Offers emailed responses to inquiries compiled by researchers.
  
• ask BAR - http://www.askbar.com/ Ask questions and get free expert answers from real people in almost any topic.
  
• Since You Ask - http://home.flash.net/~goodkids/sya.html Ask any question, researchers will find the answer and post it on the page.
  
• CIO Magazine's Ask the Expert Series - http://www2.cio.com/ask/expert/ Pose questions to industry leaders. Specific questions will be selected to be answered by each month's expert. Responses will appear during the last two weeks of each month.
  
• European Experts Exchange - http://www.fecj.org/europeanexperts/ Multilingual experts offer their feedback on common open-source applications, including PHP and MySQL.

The "New" Google Answers

I think the service was discontinued in part because they hadn't been able to educate users well enough on how a text-based (email, forums) question and answer process should work. Free services have the same problem.

But as a paid service, Google Answers had to do this better than the free services to become popular enough to keep around. Google itself has the same issue: Few people know or use the advanced features of Google search, as Google does little to actively promote it's own features. (But it's free, basic search works very well!) Yes, there was lack of clarity in the Google Answers pricing model: It was hard to know how much to offer for a question, so people often offered too little. But that seems to me to be just another symptom of people not understanding how to ask for help via text systems such as email or forums.

Read more!

Social bookmarking and personalized news are trying to create the future of the internet.

Update: This is pretty out of date in 2008! More of a historical look at some of the sites at this point.

When it's easy, and it works, users love it. We all follow, save and sometimes share links from around the web to interesting news, videos and other websites. If someone could find everything we want without our having to search for it, and put it on one page, we'd use that page.

This is what the social bookmarking and personalized news sites are trying to do for us. Does it work? It depends on how hard you work at it.

My take is that this is the future of of how a lot of people get their content, but it needs to be made simpler, while providing useful results sooner. See also:
The Social Bookmarking Faceoff
Social Bookmarking Showdown
Social Bookmarking
Social Bookmarking Resources

There are a lot of sites, and it seems more every month. Here's what I've found so far. While I welcome additions, I can't promise I can keep this up to date on a daily basis. Here's nearly 200 I've found so far:

180n
30daytags
Ambedo			Bookmark and tagging and search
ArticalTag			Social bookmarking service.
Ask Jeeves
Backflip			Bookmarking organized by folder system
BandBuzzer
Blabb.com			Bookmarketing and recomendation function.
Blinkbits
BlinkBits			Social bookmark and tagging site.
Blinklist			social bookmarking
BlinkList			Bookmarking; good import features.
Blodex
Blog Top Sites
Blogdigger
Bloghop
BlogLot
Blogmarks			Thumbshot bookmarketing service.
BlogMemes			Social bookmark and tagging site
BlogPulse
Blogs of the Day
Blogsearch.com			Sharing and syndicating bookmarks
Bloogz
Blue.us			Bookmark and tagging site.
BlueDot			social bookmarking
BlueOrganizer
Blummy			multiple bookmarklet tool
Bmaccess			Social bookmark and tagging site.
BookKit			Bookmark and tagging site.
Bookmarket.it			Social bookmark and tagging site.
Browsr			Social bookmark and tagging site.
Buddymarks			Bookmarking in directory format
ButterFly			Bookmarking with editing and annotation.
Buzznet
Chaamp			Social bookmark and tagging site.
CiteUlike			Bookmarking service for academics
ClipClip			Content clipping using tags.
Clipmarks			Bookmarking/web clipping with community.
Cloudalicious			del.icio.us cloud tag history for links/sites
cluebacca			social text clips sharing
Co.mments
CodeCubed
Common Times			social bookmarking for news
Complore			Bookmarking with blogging
Connectedy			Bookmarking with batch editing
Connotea			social bookmarking for researchers and clinicians
Daypop
de.lirio.us
del.icio.us			social bookmarking pioneer
digg
Diigo			social bookmarking with annotation
Dogear			Social bookmark and tagging site.
eSnips			Social bookmark and tagging site.
FaceBook			Share Bookmarklets now available
FanPop			Social bookmark and tagging site.
fantacular
Fark
FatRedFish
FeedButler			web-based feed reader; bookmarking
FeedMarker			rss aggregator and bookmarks manager
FeedMeLinks
Feedster
Filangy
Findory
Flickr			Online photo sharing and bookmarking
Flock			Social Web browser
Frassle
Fungow
Furl			social bookmarking
Gada
Gada.be			Social bookmark and tagging site.
Gataga
Gibeo.net
Give a Link
Goesby			Social bookmarking with RSS.
GoKoDo
GoobToob			Social bookmark and tagging site.
Google Notebook
goowy			Social bookmark and tagging, web-based mail, contacts, calendar, games etc
Gravee
GUIcookies			Drag and drop bookmark service.
Hanzo			social bookmarking and archiving
Hyperlinkomatic			Social bookmark and tagging site.
i89			Social bookmarking with RSS and tabbed interface.
Ice Rocket
Icio			Social bookmark and tagging site.
igooi			Bookmarklet service with RSS
iKeepBookmarks			Bookmarks with task bar.
IndiaGram			Social bookmarking service.
Indiahappening.com
IndiaMarks			Bookmarking with tag cloud.
Indiza
InspiredRepublic			Social bookmarking service.
Jeteye			social info sharing
Jots			Bookmark with ignore features.
Kaboodle			social info sharing
KB Cafe Tag Search
kinja
KopiKol			Social bookmarking service.
LifeSlot			Social bookmarking service.
Lilisto			Social bookmark and tagging site
Linkagogo
LinkaGoGo			Social bookmarking service.
LinkArena			Social bookmarks with folder system.
Linkatopia.com			Bookmarking with friend features.
linkfilter.net
LinkLog			Social bookmark and tagging site.
Linkroll
Listible			Bookmark site.
ListMixer			bookmarking that automatically expires in 30 days
LiveMarks			live del.icio.us additions
looklater			private bookmarking and archiving
Lookmarks			Bookmarks with podcast support.
LookThisUp			Bookmarks with gallery.
Magnolia			Bookmarks with discussion enabled
maple
Markboo
Memeorandum
Meme-Stream
MesFavs
MyHQ
MyLinkVault					social bookmarking
Mystickies					add sticky informational notes on web pages
MyVmarks
Netscape
netvouz
Network Menus
NewHots			chinese portal for rss, bookmarks
Newsvine
Newzingo
Nextaris			social bookmarking, networking, blogging
NowPublic
Oishii
OnlineFavorites			Social bookmarking service.
OnlyWire			simultaneous bookmarking tool
OpenBM
Philoi			Social bookmark and tagging site.
Pixat			Photo sharing and bookmarking.
PopUrls			Manage multiple social bookmark links.
PopDex
Portachi			Social bookmark and tagging site.
Quimble
Raw Sugar			Clustered bookmarking and search engine.
RecommendIt			social bookmarks recommendations
reddit			Social bookmark and tagging site
Riffs
RocketNews
Rojo
Rollyo
Scoopt
Scuttle			Social bookmarking service; open source
SearchFox
Segnalo			social bookmarking (italian)
Shadows			social bookmarking
Simpy			social bookmarking
Sitetagger
Slashdot
Smarking
Sphere
Spurl			social bookmarking with a meter
Squidoo
StumbleUpon			social bookmarking / web discovery tool
Taggle			German social bookmarking site.
Tagground			Social bookmark and tagging site.
TagHop			Social bookmark and tagging site.
Tagsy			social bookmarking (feed management to be added)
TagTooga			Social bookmark and tagging site.
Tailrank
TallStreet			Financial bookmarking site.
Target Your News
Technorati
thumblicio.us			screenshots of the most popular del.icio.us sites
Ticklr
ToRead			Email centered bookmark service.
Twitter
Unalog			Social bookmarking service
Webride
Wink
wists			social bookmarking; shopping
Yahoo! My Web 2.0			Social bookmarking service.
Yoono			social bookmarking software
Yummy.printfu
zurpy			Social bookmarking service

Read more!