Web Worker Daily

If you’ve ever wanted a “plain vanilla” online discussion forum, Vanilla Forums might just be what you need. It’s a hosted discussion-forum solution (based on an open-source product) that’s quick and easy to set up and to use.

In a way, the name isn’t entirely fair. Forums created through the service have plenty of features, including: Read the rest of this entry »

Many of us are consuming video and audio content as part of our working lives; some of us are broadcasting it and encoding it, too. For both types of tasks, one of the best applications that you can get is the free, open-source VLC Media Player. It recently came out in a significantly updated version 1.0, and is now out in a stable version 1.0.1. I’ve been using the new version, and highly recommend it, whether you’re running Windows, Mac OS X or Linux.

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It’s a great time to be a web worker. Almost every day, a new site, service or product comes on the scene that promises to make our work more efficient (or more fun). Some areas, like project management or image editing, are crowded with options. And in order to gain a following, many services are being offered inexpensively or at no cost.

But as Paisano wrote recently, current conditions won’t last forever. Many sites will eventually become fee-based; others will shut down when their funding runs out, or when their owners decide to move in a different direction.

So when I evaluate a product that I’d like to incorporate into my company’s workflow — especially a product that will be visible to clients — I try to consider the product’s feature set, along with the issues raised in Judi’s 2007 WWD post. I also ask the following questions: Read the rest of this entry »

Yesterday, Simon noted that Elance’s Online Work Index, which analyzes the hot categories for jobs posted on its marketplace, shows PHP-related jobs holding the No. 1 spot in July (as has been true since February). This lines up with trends that we have been tracking on the OStatic blog, where open source and open source-related skills are becoming key differentiators for people seeking work in tech. Not only do such skills help those seeking work stand out from the crowd, but job opportunities related to open source are on the rise in many categories, even in this bad economy.

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Web work doesn’t necessarily involve earning an income. Through the Internet, we can give back to the global community and do a different kind of online work — volunteering. Here are some ways to use a little of your time to help others.

Look for organizations that you can work with online. Many non-profit organizations have some volunteers working only through the Internet. The United Nations has a database of online opportunities for which you can apply. NABUUR is another online volunteering platform that connects local communities with online volunteers. For both sites, you can choose from a variety of tasks, including research, translation, writing, design and much more. Read the rest of this entry »

Bowing to what Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer called the changing landscape of the IT industry and others call pressure from EU anti-trust actions, Microsoft announced today the release of some of its technical crown jewels: the heretofore secret APIs Microsoft products used to talk with each other.

This new level of openness and willingness to interoperate with other software stressed Ray Ozzie, Microsoft’s Chief Software Architect, is more than either cosmetics or bowing to EU legal pressure. “This is a very important shift in how each and every engineer at the company views what their mission is and what their job is,” said Ozzie. “This is an important announcement for the engineers at Microsoft, for our partners, our competitors and our customers.”

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