Micro Persuasion

Social Networking Demographics: Boomers Jump In, Gen Y Plateaus

There's a common misperception out there that all of the blogging, Twittering and Facebooking is being done by twenty and thirty-somethings. That, in fact, turns out not to be true. Baby Boomers (those born 1946-1964) are the fastest growing users of social networking sites and are also increasingly reading blogs too. Meanwhile, Gen Y interest in these services has plateaued. This all according to the latest Consumer Electronics Usage Survey from Accenture.

According to the study, baby boomers...

• Increased reading blogs and listening to podcasts by 67 percent year over year; nearly 80 times faster than Gen Y (1 percent)
• Posted a 59 percent increase in using social networking sites—more than 30 times faster than Gen Y (2 percent)
• Increased watching/posting videos on the Internet by 35 percent—while Gen Y usage decreased slightly (-2 percent)
• Accelerated playing video games on the go via mobile devices by 52 percent— 20 times faster than Gen Y (2 percent)
• Increased listening to music on an iPod or other portable music player by 49 percent—more than four times faster than Gen Y (12 percent)

Meanwhile, Gen Y...

• Participation slipped in virtual worlds from 23 percent to 19 percent
• Consumed no more video online than they did last year
• Blogged and contributed to wikis less (it's down from 35 to 33 percent)

The baby boomer results don't surprise me. What does jump out at me is how the most technologically savvy generation we have seen to date is slowing their adoption. Could they be suffering from social fatigue or do they have enough technology in their lives already? Perhaps they are returning toward more face-to-face venues, which anecdotally, I have heard. It will be interesting to see how this progresses next year.

Additional data from the latest Accenture report is summarized here from TWICE.

Visual Wikipedia Adds Context to Wikipedia

One of the key themes we'll see emerge this year is an evolution in user interface design and information architecture. It seems to happen every year.

In 2008 we saw the news feed and real-time web rise. In addition, we watched as social networking became more deeply embedded into an array of experiences, like news sites. Over the break I had a chance to update my XBox 360 to the new experience and I was knocked over by the design and new social networking features (note: Microsoft is an Edelman client).

What's next or 2009? I am not sure, but I do agree that context will become increasingly an important theme. Read Write Web has a great post summarizing where context is heading.

For an early taste of things to come, check out Visual Wikipedia. They're really on to something. The site, which is unaffiliated with the Wikimedia Foundation, layers on a ton of context around Wikipedia articles. It gets you thinking about what search and/or news delivery might look like one day.

For example, check out this article on Web 2.0. It's a reproduced page from the main Wikipedia site but it also includes an awesome map that points users to other relevant entries.

That's not all though. At the bottom of each page Visual Wikipedia pulls up videos from YouTube, as well as links to other services that offer additional context - Google, Yahoo News and Google Maps, to name three. This is the kind of context I wish that Mahalo would provide. When you couple their human-powered curation with contextual features, the result is something bigger.

In 2009 I am sure we'll see more experimentation with user interface design. It will be interesting to see which new models emerge and stick but I like where Visual Wikipedia is going.

Living without Email - One Man's Story. Are you Next?

One of my fondest memories of 2008 was meeting Luis Suarez from IBM. We both spoke at the Next08 conference together in Hamburg. (I will be returning to Germany in 2009 for the Next09 event.)

Luis' story is amazing. First, he lives in the Canary Islands and he's a social computing evangelist/knowledge management specialist for IBM. Until recently, he reported to managers in the Netherlands and the US. Now he is reporting locally to folks at IBM in Spain, but he still works at home.

What's notable here is that Luis during the year has been on a quest to eliminate all business email. According to his latest status report, he's down to about 20-40 a day. He wrote about his experience in the New York Times earlier this year. I also interviewed Luis on the subject last month via Skype as part of an Edelman Change event that we held for clients, which you can view below or here.

So how is Luis doing it? By pushing more of his communication into social networks and wikis - both internal and external and relying more on IM. Luis is an inspiration. So do you think this is part of a broader trend? Is your email down this year? I think mine is down slightly and I am wondering if we're all starting to live like Luis and what the broader ramifications might be for internal communications.

Wikipedia Launches Official Mobile Site

Although home grown alternatives have been around for awhile now, Wikipedia recently launched its own official mobile site at http://mobile.wikipedia.org/. The site is very basic, which is exactly what mobile users will want it to be. It's also available in several languages.

There's also a link on the WIkipedia Mobile home page for a feature called Spoken Wikipedia. The project will presumably play article recordings on mobile devices.

WikiScanner2 May Link Home-Based Wikipedia Edits to Corporations

In August 2007 WikiScanner burst on the scene with a clever way to track anonymous corporate, government and NGO Wikipedia edits by matching them with their IP addresses. The buzz around the site, I suspect, sent many to their home computers to edit Wikipedia as they please. Some of them surely are PR professionals. However, coming soon, these edits too may be exposed - at least that's the developer's promise.

Virgil Griffith, the 25-year-old genius behind the original, and a team from CalTech is readying the launch of WikiScanner2. A beta site is already live. The previous version, Griffith writes, "would cut corners and is easy to hide from either by creating a Wikipedia account or editing from home." WikiScanner2 uses a more sophisticated IP-tracking database to purportedly "automatically discover salacious edits as well as provide a better tools for humans to prowl through the data manually."

WikiScanner2 features a Google Suggest like interface. Enter a few keywords and it will return a list of relevant organizations. To put the tool through its paces I check to find what edits the Obama campaign allegedly made to the site. (For the record, I voted for Obama but decided this was a good test case.)

After entering in Obama for America, I was presented with a list of all edits from their IP addresses by location and telco. Some of these, it appears, could have been made with a home computer - although its unclear if that's the case. These could simply be the campaign's ISP at the time.

Once you enter a search, you're then given the option to view edits from any of these locations either individually or in unison. WikiScanner2 will provide a table with a list of the page allegedly edited, the user's comments, the date of the edit, IP address and - last but not least - the ability to rate edits up or down. The previous version was far more crude, as you can see from this screen capture.

The most interesting new feature is the addition of an algorithm that tracks potential conflicts of interest. It's unclear how this is calculated but one such search for the John McCain revealed that 46.7% of the 15 edits they made were a direct conflict of interest according to the rules that govern WIkipedia. Also noteworthy is that the site will now also highlight registered Wikipedia users if he/she has made a lot of edits from a particular domain.

As a purist, I welcome the addition of the new and improved WikiScanner tool. I want to see Wikipedia hopefully maintain its neutral point of view. I may be conservative, but generally I advise companies not to create their own WIkipedia pages or to edit existing entries. I advocate that they plead their case on the talk pages and see what shakes out.

If it's true that WIkiScanner2 can track home-based edits, perhaps this will lead to greater scrutiny around what I am sure takes place on the site every day - bogus edits and astroturfing. However, the jury is out right now just how capable this site in that regard. Still, there's no doubt it's dramatically improved.

Google, You Open or Closed? Make Up Your Mind Then Call Us

You probably have read by now about Google SearchWIki, a new feature that lets registered users comment on search results and URLs for one's own use and more importantly to share them with the broader world. I am all for opening up the web to comments but this entire launch was botched not thought through. And now (as of this writing) it's gone. Already there are reports of vandalism and spam too. Did anyone not think this would be a PR nightmare?

Unlike Wikipedia, there's no way for users to edit each others comments. You can only vote them up or down. Google should take a page from the Wikipedia and Mahalo playbooks and build a community around the feature that would self police such an open wiki. Otherwise, of course people are going to run amok on the world's biggest online stage! That's like turning a kid with a massive sweet tooth loose in a giant candy store. It's going to be a haven for spam.

What's worse, Google once again is showing what a chaotic culture can engender. Rapid, massive innovation that delights users? For sure. But it also can create massive inconsistencies and PR nightmares. For example, why are Google News Comments vetted by humans at a snail's pace. Yet, SearchWiki is open to all with no mechanisms to prevent abuse. Or why does Google Knol encourage writers to verify their identity? Yet, with SearchWiki Google opens its marquis service to unfettered user editing. It makes no sense. Epic Fail.

Google, call me when you make up your mind.

LATER:: Marhsall Sponder points out that it's still available with sound in Google Labs.

EVEN LATER:: It's now back with no apparent changes. Too bad.

Mahalo Launches Incentive Program to Spur Use

Mahalo, a hybrid web directory/zeitgeist/search engine with wiki capabilities, has quietly added a Loyalty Program that tracks the number of pages people view and rewards the most loyal visitors with prizes. The site, which was founded by Jason Calacanis, has been in the news lately because it laid off 10% of its staff.

According to a special page on the site, Mahalo won't track specific pages people view. Mahalo - presumably via a cookie - tracks the number of pages you've viewed and lists the figure right below the search box in the upper right corner of the homepage. Further, there is a clear opt-out. There's no word yet on how often it will offer prizes or just what those might be.

The move is not entirely novel. Microsoft Live Search has a similar program with Live Search Cashback (Microsoft is an Edelman client).

Newsrooms Struggle with Wikipedia Citations

The Editors Weblog reports on the mixed attitudes of newspaper editors citing Wikipedia articles. Some, like the LA Times, are liberal. Others, like the Journal, use it for research. The American Journalism Review goes into more depth. A Google News search shows the practice is rampant.

The big question in my mind is this: when journalists cite Wikipedia articles, what happens when the facts they reference from the wiki entries change (assuming they do)? Do the reporters go back and update their articles? The news reports call more attention to the articles, potentially opening up a can of worms each time they source WIkipedia.

Seems like a big vicious cycle. Perhaps in the future these stories will carry some of the same disclaimers that WIkipedia lists.

Purported Steve Jobs Keynote Leaked on Wikipedia

I have been an Apple watcher for years. I freelanced for Mac pubs in the mid 1990s. Now that doesn't make me more of an expert than anyone else. However, I am inclined to believe this alleged Steve Jobs keynote leak. It sounds real. Jobs' keynote is tomorrow at the Macworld Expo.

Don't take my word for it. There's additional soft evidence from Twitter's co-founders here, here, here and above all - here. Twitter is reportedly part of the iPhone SDK and part of the keynote, the Wikipedia leak says.

We'll find for sure out tomorrow if this all true, but I bet it is. Go read it and you will pretty much get a rumored run down of everything Steve Jobs is announcing tomorrow at Macworld - widgets for iPhones, new Macbooks, candy canes and lollipops.

The reason I believe it's real is because it leaked on Wikipedia. And Wikipedia promotes anonymity. So it's very hard to trace who placed the item and his/her motives. I could be wrong. But my gut is, this is the real deal and it's a big moment in the history of public relations.

How big? Very big. This is like Fort Knox getting unlocked. Apple has long operated under a universal code of silence. And this event - again if it is true - shows that those days are gone.

So come back tomorrow and then either a) we'll talk more about what this all means or b) ya'll make fun of me for being gullible and believing stuff on Wikipedia. (Note: Apple competes with several Edelman clients.)

Wikipedia and Wikia are Dead. Google Just Killed Them

Google announced last night they are starting a project called knol that will allow anyone to create wiki-like pages on topics. In particular, Google is encouraging people who know a particular subject to write an "authoritative" article about it. The search engine will not vet any of the content, however, they will prioritize the most credible entries and rank them first in search results. It remains unclear how Google is measuring credibility - a scary thought.

Still, with this move Google is clearly targeting Wikipedia (which is perhaps their biggest rival) and quite possibly is trying to ensure that Jimmy Wales' forthcoming social search engine, Wikia, is dead on arrival. Consider the timing of this announcement. It comes just days before Wikia is set to launch in beta and when Google doesn't even have any site we can poke at.

My initial take on this is that knols are going to kill Wikipedia - but it will take time. This theory, however, hinges on whether people actually start creating knols, but I believe they will. Here are several reasons why Wikipedia and Wikia are dead ...

1) The fame factor - Google prioritizes knols over Wikipedia

In theory, Google no longer needs to rely on Wikipedia for fresh content. The search engine will prioritize content from its own system and rank the most credible articles more highly than anything in the open source encyclopedia. This alone will encourage people to add to the commons. It will take time though for Google to reach a critical mass with its knols. Do not underestimate the power of fame.

2) Official sources and experts are welcomed, not spurned.

I love the openness of Wikipedia. However, I have long chided its lack of openness toward corporations and other sources of authority. As much as we would like to think people don't want corporations playing in our sandbox, most average users welcome organization and multiple perspectives. This is why we still have a thriving profession called editors. When it comes to corporations, Google is open, Wikpedia is closed.

3) Infinite Resources

Wikipedia has been trying to raise money for a long time now. Meanwhile, Google has infinite resources and the most powerful marketing vehicle on the planet to push it.

I am excited about the launch of this initiative. It is my hope that corporations and organizations that play by the rules will be able to unleash their subject matter experts to add content to the commons in a way the community accepts. There's no reason they should be excluded, provided there is some degree of counter balance.

What's even more exciting is that it reinforces the role of PR in this new wild and wooly online world. Now granted, we will have to play by the knol rules and be transparent. Still, this is all very exciting and in the process it might even get Wikipedia to change some too - for the better.

Social Search Sites Could Challenge Stalwarts

The following is also my column in this week's Advertising Age.

Search is broken. Of course, with Google at more than $600 a share, 91% of us using search engines and studies showing we're largely satisfied with their results, it's easy to discard this statement. The problem, however, is that search engines can bring back too much information. With content becoming a commodity, it can be difficult to separate the diamonds from the duds.

Thankfully, a number of smart entrepreneurs recognize this, and they are on the case. They see an opportunity to create a new, blended approach to search that allows us to scour the web just as we do now but with more guidance from community curators.

Mahalo, which means "thank you" in Hawaiian, is among the most notable of these upstarts. The site, which launched with a great deal of fanfare in May, is the brainchild of serial entrepreneur Jason Calacanis.

Mahalo blends wiki technology with search. The site has a small team of editors and even more volunteers who work to pull together frequently updated pages that point users to high-quality links for the top 10,000 searches in popular categories. These curated pages cover topics such as how-to articles, the latest gadget reviews and more. Pages are updated frequently as news breaks.

If a page does not exist in its database, Mahalo will aggregate results from all of the major search engines, including Google, Live.com and Ask, as well as Wikipedia and YouTube. Further, users can apply to become a guide or suggest pages and links. The only way to advertise is through contextual search ads placed through Google AdSense.

While anecdotal data shows that Mahalo may be getting some traction, it has a lot of competition in the same genre. Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales is preparing his own social search engine, Wikia. It promises to be more open. About, which is owned by New York Times Co., has long taken a similar approach. Finally, Google too is showing signs of becoming more social. Just recently it started allowing users to edit maps or collaborate in the open to build complete travel guides.

Saturday Morning Streams

Jason Calacanis and Fred Wilson have started a new form of blogging that's more Twitter style. It consists of brief commentaries on a myriad of subjects. Here's my shot at it as I sit in a Starbucks with my iPhone waiting for my car to be serviced. Let me know if you like this approach. I will add links later on. 

My move to Wordpress is not progressing as quickly as I would like. The WP team is making a Herculean effort to maintain my permalinks. They are terrific to work with and I really appreciate their efforts. If I can't take my permalinks with me I will stick with Typepad.

The iPhone version of Typepad meanwhile is quite good. I hope WP gets a similar interface.

The age of Web 2.0 innocence is well behind us. Some say it ended when Flickr sold. I see the sale of YouTube as the marker. I miss the innocent days when money wasn't the big motivation. The mania feels very much like 1999 without inflated IPOs.

As more brands begin launching their own content sites they may find themselves competing with the media. The media companies should get in front of this by enabling brands to create content. Yahoo's brand universes follow this model. BTW we haven't heard much about these sites. I like the concept. 

The whole Joe Torre episode depresses me. The man gave the last 12 years to the Yanks and was very successful. He deserves better.

The iPhone sorely needs cut and paste. Cmon 1.1.2.

Very few community sites have had staying power over the years. Two that come to mind are iVillage and eBay. Many others have wilted.

There was just as much news from companies that did not participate in the Web 2.0 conference than those that did.

I hope Twitter doesn't sell anytime soon. Can they hold out? My gut says no.

Google Docs, Zoho and Microsoft's eventual entry into the web based office wars could really replace most wikis. The versioning is quite good in these apps.

I am using Gmail for a big research project and it worked quite nicely as a database. I think a lot of people are overlooking how useful and versatile web mail is.

Most of the top podcasts on iTunes are dominated by the big media companies. They really did a great job embracing the technology.

Behavioral targeting is the big rage right now in online marketing. The challenge is that consumers are becoming more aware of the privacy implications.

Maybe I should try this blogging format more often! It fits my mobile lifestyle.

Find Related Wikipedia Content with Similpedia

Wikipedia is by far one of the most useful sites on the Web - at least to me. That's why I am looking forward to seeing what Jimmy Wales and crew come up with when they launch their new search engine. In the meantime, there is a new Wikipedia tool, however, that has caught my attention - Similpedia.

Similpedia takes any links and shows you related content from Wikipedia. It's extremely handy if you want to drill down into a subject. Even better, they give you a bookmarklet that makes this all a snap to use from any site. You can also add a contextual widget to your site that pulls up related content for your readers and even track results via RSS. Bigger plans are in the works - a site for news and blogs called Similario.

This is a taste of what can be done with Wikipedia's vast stores of data. I would love to see Wikimedia take this to the next level with a robust API.

Search Wikipedia and RSS News Feeds via SMS

Lately I have been experimenting a lot with text messaging services since it's the primary way people interact with data on their cell phones. Plus, as you know, I am into the whole microblogging revolution.

You can do a lot with SMS, including send them from your desktop, query the Web or even use it to find a clean public restroom believe it or not. Here's another one I really like.

GoLiveMobile has set up a way to query Wikipedia via text messages using their Text2WAP technology. All you need to do is send a text message to the number 23907 with the word ABOUT followed by your search topic - e.g. ABOUT WIKIPEDIA. You will then get a link back to a special mobile-friendly version of the Wikipeida entry.

In addition, the company has a news search engine as well that scans RSS feeds. Simply text NEWS [Search Term] - eg NEWS MINNEAPOLIS - to 23907 and you will get back a link to a special formatted web page.

The service is free but typical SMS charges apply. Handy stuff.

Surf Wikipedia with Keyboard Shortcuts

I spend a lot of time on Wikipedia but when I do I use these handy keyboard shortcuts. You don't need Greasemonkey and they work on any browser. In Internet Explorer hit the Alt key followed by the command listed below. In Firefox 2 for Windows, use Alt and Shift. On the Mac hold down the control key.

Key	Command	Description
+	Start a new discussion	Allows you to add a new section (talk pages only)
. (period)	My user page	Opens your user page if logged in
=	Protect	Allows you to protect the current page (sysops only)
	Unprotect	Allows you to unprotect the current page (sysops only)
c	Content page	Shows the content page associated with the current article
d	Delete	Allows you to delete the current page (sysops only)
	Undelete	Allows you to undelete the current page (sysops only)
e	Edit this page	Allows you to edit the current page (non-protected pages)
	View source	Shows the source of the current page (protected pages)
f	Search	Allows you to search Wikipedia
h	History	Shows the current page's history
j	What links here	Shows all of the pages that link to the current one
k	Related changes	Shows recent changes in pages linked to the current one
l	My watchlist	Opens your watchlist (logged-in users only)
m	Move	Allows you to move the current page and its talk page (non-move-protected pages only)
n	My talk	Opens your user's or IP's talk page
p	Show preview	Shows a preview of your changes (on edit pages)
q	Special pages	Shows a list of all special pages
r	Recent changes	Shows a list of recent changes to the Wikipedia
s	Save page	Saves the changes that you have made (on edit pages)
t	Discussion	Opens the current article's talk page
u	Upload file	Allows you to upload images or media files
v	Show changes	Shows what changes you made to the text (on edit pages)
w	Watch	Adds the current page to your watchlist (logged-in users only)
x	Random article	Loads a random article
y	My contributions	Opens a list of your user's or IP's contributions
z	Main Page	Goes to the Main Page

Writing is Part of Almost Everyone's Job

Yesterday Edelman and PR Week hosted a special day-long event for university educators. You can watch it all in rewind. Much of the discussion during the day revolved around what kinds of skills PR and journalism students (today and tomorrow) require in this new environment.

It struck me that a lot of what we covered applies to everyone, not just our trade. The reason is that digital age has dramatically upped the ante one skill above all - good writing.

Almost every white-collar job today requires good communication skills. There's nothing new to report there. However, what is new is that much of the way we communicate today in business is in writing through email. So even if you're not a scribe by trade, you're a still a writer by default.

Writing not your forte? That was just fine 10 years ago, but not anymore. Writing is how business gets done. Communication inside corporations will shift somewhat away from email to wikis and blogs, but that doesn't really change the need for this skill.

There are two terrific resources that can help you become a better writer. One is the outstanding Word Wise blog, penned by my colleague Dan Santow. The other is Send: The Essential Guide to Email for Office and Home, a new book I just finished.

Google Marries the Static and Live Web

If you haven't heard by now, Google launched a new way to present search results in a more integrated fashion. Instead of forcing you to go to separate search engines to dig the live web - e.g. blogs, news, videos, etc. - they now roll everything up in one set of results. They call it universal search.

What you might have missed, however, from the official word is this nugget. The giant web index that some 60% of online world uses to search is now assembled in real time. This means your search results could change frequently depending on the daily impact of live web content.

Google doesn't say it explicitly, but I suspect that their algorithm favors Wikipedia, news, blog video results now more than they did before. Lots of people won't even notice that Google made changes, but they're there.

The news today is significant. I've written here extensively about Wikipedia's growing impact on brand reputation. Now, with today's change, serious Wikipedia gaps or gaffes may show up more prominently in search results - and change more frequently.

Consider this salatious example that Danny Sullivan spotted in a search for George Washington. I had no idea one of our country's Founding Fathers had such views on a modern age issue like pre-marital sex. I am sure some kid writing a research paper had a good laugh at that one.

But it's no joke. It's in Google so it must be true.

(By the way, Google also has more up its sleeves when it comes to universal services - closer integration between Google Docs and its communications platform.)

Pew: 1/3 of US Online Adults Consult Wikipedia

According to a new report (PDF) from the Pew Center for the American Life Project, some one-third of online Americans (36% to be exact) regularly consult Wikipedia. This reflects 8% of the broader population.

Drilling down further, Wikipedia is more popular among the well-educated. Some 50% of those with at least a college degree consult the site, compared with 22% of those with a high school diploma. Pew also looked at demographics: 44% of Americans ages 18-29 use Wikipedia to look for information, while just 29% of users age 50 and up.

The Pew Report also includes fresh data from Hitwise that reveals just how popular Wikipedia is and how Google and search engines factor in.

McKinsey: Companies Remain Wary of Web 2.0

Despite what some of you might think, I am not trying to be the single bearish voice among all the live streaming giddiness that is Web 2.0 Expo week. The signs of over enthusiasm - at times my own included - are however piling up in my RSS reader. Once again, it all comes back to economics. It's good to take a step back and look at the reality. It helps us move forward.

According to a thoroughly researched report from the McKisney management consulting firm, executives are wary of investing in Web 2.0 initiatives. The reason continues to remain fear. This goes beyond a willingness to engage in blogs. It also extends to internal wikis. The enterprise is afraid of letting go of the command and control structure.

That said, there is investment. McKinsey says that money is following web services. I wonder if RSS is beating out other initiatives.

The story also notes that a generational gap between Gen X/millennials and the older guard could be at play here too.

The marketing environment has changed, without a doubt. However, it has not done so enough to force everyone yet to adapt how they communicate. Over time they will. It just is going to take longer than we would all like.

This is a big part of what motivates me and why I love my job at Edelman. We have a long road ahead of us to help big companies get over their fears and see the value in participating in the conversation. I am with the right company to make this happen quickly.

Remember, lots of prognosticators and pundits were ahead of their time in the 1.0 era too. The reality was back then that we needed more people on broadband. Every exuberant time brings with it projections that go too far. Some of that is here today. That doesn't mean that there hasn't been a shift.

Pump Your Productivity with "Mini Me" Bookmarklets

Tabbed browsing has been a staple of the modern browser for awhile now. The feature is built into Firefox and Safari. Moreover, with the launch of Internet Explorer 7 it's now available to pretty much all.

However, tabbed browsing is sometimes a pain when you want to look up something quickly - for example the weather, sunrise/sunset times, a sports score or your RSS feeds. Of course you can simply open another tab to accomplish this. However, I am now using a new hack that combines bookmarklets, pop-up windows, widgets and mobile web sites in a way that has made me a lot more productive. I use these to look up information a lot.

I know about as much Javascript as I do Japanese. Zilch. But, I do know how to make small edits to code to get by, just as I know how to say sayonara. That's all I had to do to put this system into place

Hawk Wings has two handy bookmarklets that spawn separate "distraction free" Gmail and Google Calendar windows. Once you bookmark them they pop-up in front in IE and Safari but for some reason they load in the back in Firefox.

I have cloned these bookmarklets and adapted them by changing the URL they open and the window size. Each bookmarklet is assigned to either a) mobile-friendly versions of one of my favorite sites or b) a Google widget. The result is instantaneous information! When I want to look up say a sports score, I pop the window. In addition, sometimes I minimize my main browser window and keep "Mini Me" open. This makes it easier to look up Wikipedia articles, for example, while I work on a document. (See screen grab below)

To start using these, simply right click on each one and add to your Favorites/bookmarks. Depending on the browser you're using you might get a warning. Just click ok. If you use Firefox you can even assign keywords to these. If you clone the WeatherBug or sports scores widget and change it to the URL for any widget in this directory, you can run widgets as pop-ups. Most work.

Answers.com Dictionary

CBS Sportsline Scores

Digg

Google

Google Reader

Google Talk

Techmeme

Technorati

WeatherBug

Wikipedia