Fifteen ways to make Firefox do your bidding

• Lifehack.org has come up with a list of fifteen cool Firefox tricks, from smart keywords to how to limit RAM usage.
• We certainly do love our Firefox here at Lifehacker, and this list of tips and tweaks is a super addition to our treasure trove of foxy love. This is a pretty good list, but do you see anything missing that you've just gotta add? Come on - you know what to do. — Wendy Boswell.via

WP Text Ads Review

• A couple of days back I linked in a speedlinking post to a WP plugin called WP Text Ads - a plugin that allows bloggers to sell their own text links. In that post I asked if anyone had used it and offered to publish a review of one if anyone wanted to write it.
• Ryan Imel from who reviews WordPress themes and plugins at Theme Playground kindly offered - here’s his review.
• After kicking around WP Text Ads on my blog, I think it’s one of the best all around plugins for Wordpress I’ve used, let alone reviewed. And if you get nothing else from this review, know this - Text Ads is fun to use. It’s really fun to manage your own text ads.via

Bravisa - Another Online Shop

• In the last 12 months there has been a lot of activity in the online shop space. We’ve seen Chitika’s Shoplincs, Zlio and Amazon’s aStore. I’ve personally used each of the three and have only had any real success with Shoplincs.
• So today when another shop service came onto my radar - Bravisa - I wasn’t overly excited. But to be fair they are a little different (or seem to be) from the others above in that they seem to have direct links with manufacturers of products.
• I’m yet to test Bravisa (how many shops can a blogger use!) but they seem to offer a nice range of products in a range of areas (from Pet Products, to Health and Beauty to Clothing) and could therefore be a good fit for some niche blogs who are struggling to find a monetization stream that fits with their topic.
• The revenue model is similar to retail - the manufacturer names their price - you add a markup and Bravisa takes a 10% commission from your markup for providing you with the shop and back end (they handle all the payment system etc).
• All looks good with Bravisa - however I’m probably not going to test it personally because of my previous experience with shops (and the fact that I’m happy with the one that’s working for me). However if you try it - give us a shout with a review in comments below to let us know how you find the service and features.via

Motorola RAZR2 V9 Cell Phone

• Here’s the next generation of 3G cell phone from Motorola, the RAZR2 V9. This handset boasts a built-in HSDPA (High-Speed Downlink Packet Access) connectivity (3.5G) and a large 2.0-inch 262K colors external display. Combined with the external touch-sensitive music key, users can control the music playback without the need to open the phone. Other wondeful feature is the new function called “See What I See”. This functionality allows users to share their video with others while having a call instantaneously. Impressive, isn’t it?
• The HSDPA technology itself provides a high-speed internet access, allowing users to download media content to their phone at a blazing speed (up to 3.6Mbps). Finally, regarding availability, RAZR2 V9 is expected to hit the shelves in the third quarter of this year.
• Motorola RAZR2 V9 Cell Phone Features
• Internal antenna, tandem 2.2” and 2.0” 240×320 QVGA 262K color displays
• Touch-sensitive external music keys
• Integrated 2.0 megapixel camera, with 8x digital zoom
• Connectivity featuring Micro USB, USB 2.0 Full Speed, USB mass storage and version 2.0 Bluetooth wireless technology with Enhanced Data Rate
• 3G High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) 3.6 Mbps wireless broadband connection and EDGE/GPRS
• 45MB of end user memory and support for up to 2GB of memory with an optional microSD card
• Stereo Bluetooth wireless technology supporting A2DP and AVRCP profiles
• Video and audio streaming, capture and playback
• Video telephony and See What I See capable
• Messaging via MMS, email, SMS, MotoSync .Via
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MyMiniLife: Your Embeddable Virtual World

• MyMiniLife is a Flash based virtual world/social network. Users create and customize a character and then build out a virtual space, adding walls, floors, doors, windows, etc. Users can then add customized goods ranging from lamps to cannons to the space, and embed video or photo elements into items, or link to web pages (click on my moped in the embed for an example).
• Some users create fantasy worlds; others create near-exactly duplicates of their actual homes or apartments. Other users can visit your home, walk around, view pictures and videos and then leave notes or chat real time with the owner. All items cost “money” to add to the world (and can later be sold to recoup cash) - and some of the premium items are very expensive relative to how much cash you are given to start the game. The site, however, is free to use and is ad supported. More money is accumulated via daily logins and other actions.
• The graphics are fairly simple, but it was easy to customize my avatar and build out a simple space. Unlike more established competitors like Habbo Hotel and Cyworld, though MyMiniLife lets users embed their world via a Flash widget on any other website, such as their MySpace page.
• I’ve embedded a quick test below. For more elaborate worlds, see here and here. This is a hot space right now, and virtual world sites are gaining users at a quick pace. One competitor, Club Penguin, is rumored to be in acquisition discussions with Sony for $500 million or so.via

Buzka: Social Bookmarking With a Business Function

• Perth, Western Australia based Buzka is a social bookmarking site with a business function.
• I caught up with Buzka team earlier this week and the first thing they said to me was Buzka was like De.licio.us. Whilst I felt like groaning, I soon discovered that whilst sharing features typical of the social bookmarking crowd, Buzka offers something different.
• Buzka comes with the usual trimmings. Sites can be bookmarked using a Firefox or Internet Explorer plugin, and bookmarks can be made public or private.
• The way bookmarks are presented though is a notable point of difference. Users are able to create “spots” which look like a directory tree. Folder style groupings can be created and labeled to suite. Bookmarks can be dragged and dropped under each labeled folder.
• Where as most social bookmarking pages display external sites in a new window or in place of the original bookmark list, sites bookmarked in Buzka are displayed in a right hand frame, with the original bookmark list staying open in a left panel.
• Buzka has a business function. The company already has a number of co-branding deals that allow businesses to easily bookmark and share sites that may be of interest to their readers. West and Radiestates use the frame based “spots” complete with corporate branding. A non-branded version is available at no cost.
• It’s difficult to promote any product from the geographic isolation of Western Australia, let alone a service looking to compete in social bookmarking. And yet isolation can promote creative thinking. Innovative Web 2.0 startups Scouta, Perthnorg and Minti all hail from the State and now Buzka can be added to that list.via