Windows/Mac/Linux (Firefox): Create a start page with a wider view of your Google Reader feeds and social contacts with Feedly, a free Firefox extension. The add-on’s main service is spinning your Google Reader feeds into a more magazine-like spread, letting you browse over multiple categories, glimpse post pictures, and have all your read items sync back to Reader. The navigation bar also creates tabs for the Twitter friends you’re following, and offers serious customization for layout, item sharing, and other features. The extension adds a distractingly orange button to your navigation bar, but you can simply bookmark its chrome pages if you want to nix it. Feedly is a free download, works wherever Firefox does.

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The internet provides many ways in which people can send a message, write about their lives or get connected. One 16-year-old from Ithaca, in New York State, has managed to harness the power of online social networking to try and break a world record.

Not only did Trevor Dougherty reach millions online but he physically gathered nearly 6,000 people together to make his point.

Trevor has been taking his exams at Ithaca High School. At the same time he has been campaigning for world peace and organising a huge event. Not something that every teenager attempts.

Last year Trevor put together a short video with the message: “People around the world are getting killed. We should end the violence and strive for world peace.”

The film was featured on the video-sharing website YouTube and was nominated for the “Most Inspirational” category in the YouTube Video Awards 2007. It encouraged 200 people to make their own short movies in response.

Trevor says, “I knew it was the best video I had ever made, but it was incredible to see it featured. It’s funny because I made the original video during my exams last year and I organised this event during my finals this year. It’s beautiful to be distracted from my ghastly final exams, by doing something righteous.”

A plan for peace

“The plan was to get about 5,000 people to come out and make the world’s largest peace sign. The organiser of a local festival - the Ithaca Festival - told me that he’d have about that many people turning up there for that day’s events.” says Trevor.

“To get people together you do a lot of advertising, you send out press releases, put up posters and you get people talking. We did an advertising campaign both paid-for and for free - on Facebook and YouTube. About 4,000 people were invited on Facebook. The festival’s website mentioned it, people saw it on the other sites and we got Facebook users to invite their friends.”

“The official count is 5,814 persons. We did a reverse count by handing out beans and seeing how many we had left. We painted a huge peace sign on the ground as an outline. I was given a wireless microphone and I was in charge!”

“Everyone was extremely cooperative, they were all very excited about about the idea of setting a record. They also understood the message. I think they agreed that, while we were not confiscating any weapons or ending any wars, we were forming a community of persons dedicated to one powerful cause.

“Many people volunteered to film, photograph and fly over the event and now the message is travelling around the world to places like Pakistan, India and Korea. We’re sending all the evidence to Guinness to see if we broke the record.”

“Video production has always been a hobby of mine. I think it’s the most powerful way to reach people online. We are the YouTube generation and it’s a great way to get the word out. From here I would really like to pursue a career in international relations and perhaps use my passion for communications as part of that pursuit.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation

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We love a good sale and this one is big — 50% off all the colorful SPECK cases for iPhones, iPods, MacBooks, PC notebooks, cell phones, BlackBerrys and even GPS navigation devices.

The brand-new iPhone 3G PixelSkins lightweight cases are not included in the sale however, simply because they’re not available yet. But with three different types of cases for most of your gadgets - Tough Skin, SeeThru, and PixelSkin - there’s something for every taste, and even more choices if you need a new iPod or iTouch case. (Pictured below: the soft rubber ToughSkin case.)

Remember, the sale is only good through the end of the month and you need to enter the promo code: SPECK50 .

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