Once the service for those serious enough to pay for the privilege to post, TypePad recently released a free “Micro” service. The company made the decision to offer a free product realizing the demand for a platform more formal than Twitter and less formal than WordPress or Typepad’s original product . ReadWriteWeb compared TypePad’s Micro against 2 other leading light blogging tools. Below are our thoughts: Sponsor TypePad Micro : In addition to being able to blog via email, iPhone app , “Blog It” bookmarklet and the general WYSIWYG dashboard, this tool also allows users to cross post to Twitter, Friendfeed and Facebook. My only complaint with TypePad is that there are only 2 design themes to choose from. For someone like me with very little design sense, it’s a long process to find something right. As well, if you’d like to add another blog or add new design themes you are required to pay for a monthly subscription service. Tumblr : This service offers users publishing via iPhone app , desktop widget, the Tumblr bookmarklet, text message, email, AIM and even via audio call-in. Tumblr’s theme gallery offers hundreds of options for design . Users can also add their posts to Facebook and Twitter via the free customization. Tumblr allows users to create more than one blog and add more than one contributor for free; however, all edits show up in the same dashboard in chronological order. This means you may have to dig to revise an older post. Posterous : Posterous is the original email publishing microblog. Users can email posts, publish them via the web editor or upload them from the PicPosterous iPhone app . The service allows users to set up auto posting to Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Picasa, YouTube, Vimeo, Tumblr, Blogger, WordPress and Xanga. You can also choose to post to just one service in addition to your Posterous account by emailing flickr@posterous.com to specify Flickr or twitter@posterous.com to post to Twitter. Of the three services, Posterous offers an advantage in its ease-of-use and while it’s lacked design abilities in the past, the company recently launched themes and theme import from Tumblr . Other notable light blogging services include Soup.io , Vox and Noovo . If we’ve missed your favorite service let us know in the comments below. Discuss

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Three Great Light Blogging Tools Compared

The problem with most analytics platforms is that we can’t see the forest for the trees. Instead of looking for daily spikes in a traffic rating, it’s more important for us to know what trends are spiking over time. From there we can make decisions to improve our businesses. In an effort to make a more useful analytics dashboard, the makers of database tool Dabble DB created Trendly . Sponsor ReadWriteWeb last looked at Dabble DB when the company launched a social to-do list for Facebook . While the product played on all of Dabble’s strengths of data capture and collaboration tools, the tool lacked consumer sex appeal. With Trendly, the company is returning to it’s quant roots. Trendly allows users to track analytics with up to a three year history. Instead of showing you every dip and curve in the metrics of your site, for $5 dollars per month the company offers a better alternative. Users view highlighted site changes via a newsfeed and timeline. In what is clearly a different approach from the basic Google Analytics interface, Trendly offers color coded layers displayed alongside the newsfeed. Each layer represents the timeline of a single keyword and wider layers represent the keywords most searched. The service also allows users to click on keywords to bring up related word clusters and the percentage of search around each. Trendly also tracks referrals, content and ad campaigns. Once the service is set up, users can pull reports on content traffic analysis, AdWords conversions, search, referrals and direct traffic. Given Dabble’s track record in putting together great tracking and database systems, Trendly is certainly worth a try. To check out the site visit trendly.com . Discuss

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Dabble DB Launches Trendly Analytics Dashboard

Facebook has just added a new photo uploader tool to their Prototypes directory, the “labs” section of the social network where new programs are released for testing prior to their public rollout. The uploader dramatically improves one what was previously one of the worst experiences on Facebook: adding photos. Despite the fact that Facebook hosts over 80 billion photos and adds around 2 billion more each month, the process of adding new photos to your profile was cumbersome, slow, and buggy. Even Facebook itself admitted there were problems saying that most users found the tool “functional, but only just.” They also discovered that a significant percentage of users couldn’t even upload photos due to technical issues. Because of these complaints, the company finally decided it was time to revamp their uploader for good. Sponsor Believe it or not, the Facebook photo uploader hasn’t changed since its introduction in 2005. As it did then, the current tool still relies on a third-party ActiveX control and Java Applet. For users, this meant a photo-uploading experience that felt just as old as it was. When thinking as to how the new uploader should function, Facebook had a few goals, most of them technical in nature. They wanted the new tool to no longer depend on Java, be compatible with future versions of Facebook’s chrome, be easy to update, and more. However, to the end user, the best part about the new uploader is that it allows you to start a photo upload and then leave the page to browse around elsewhere on Facebook (or even the web!) while the upload is underway. To meet their goals, Facebook went with a browser plug-in that uses JavaScript APIs and a front-end created with HTML and CSS. The end result is a much improved experience. But like the Facebook blog post says, “while it looks like magic, it’s really just a bunch of cool hacks.” Hacks or not, regular Facebook users will greatly appreciate the upgrade. Install the New Photo Uploader Tool To install the new uploader, you must first visit the Prototypes page for the tool and activate it for your profile. Then, the next time you go to create a new album, you’ll be prompted to install the Facebook plug-in. Once complete, you’ll be presented with the new user interface which lets you browse through your computer’s photo library and select the images you want to upload. This new interface is much easier to navigate – and more attractive, too – than the old Facebook uploader from days past. Facebook says the new tool has several additional security mechanisms built in as well, one of the more interesting being a “kill switch” that can remotely deactivate the tool in the event that a security hole is discovered. While confident that the new uploader is already securely designed and architected from the start, the company has released it as a prototype first so people can report any security issues they may find. Less technically-minded folks can simply activate the tool and use it, reporting any problems they find as well as far as user experience issues, crashes, or other bugs. Depending on the results of the tests, Facebook will be able to correct any problems prior to rolling it out to all users. If you want to give the new uploader a shot yourself, you can do so by visiting its page here . Discuss

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At Last! Facebook Improves Photo Uploading Experience

If you’ve ever had the urge to write your name in wet cement, then you understand what it’s like to want to leave your mark on the places that define you. Rather than vandalizing construction sites or tagging your old high school, one positive way to commemorate your life’s path is to map it. Instead of locking away your memoirs in a journal or using a family tree to display shared connections, a map is one way you can preserve your history while leaving the door open for others to contribute. Below are seven tools to help you get started: Sponsor 1. Lifenaut : This service allows users to map their lives; however, rather than editing individual layers, users upload files and have the option to give the exact coordinates for specific locations. When another person uncovers that spot on the map all of the deposited files are revealed similar to real life geocaching. 2. Platial : Although slightly busier, the great thing about Platial is that users can follow an RSS feed of a particular point of interest. For example, if you’re hoping to reconnect with a childhood friend who isn’t searchable on Facebook, you can subscribe to a feed of their home in the hopes that they’ll leave a comment. 3. Zoom Atlas : Zoom Atlas lets you edit and upload text and images on top of a map layer. One of the unique features of this site is the LifePath tool where users edit the places they’ve lived and share their personal timelines, via Facebook. Rather than editing on a Google Map layer, this tool offers users a chance to edit ground layer and set up buildings and landscaping exactly as they remember them. 4. 43places : This service is less about the remote past and more about our adult histories. Users create wish lists of where they’d like to go and tag the places they’ve already been. 5. Map My Life : Map My Life is a Google mashup where users can add stories to a map. Users upload an xml file with their life’s history enclosed and the tool loads and plays that history in both a map and timeline version. 6. Wikimapia : Wikimapia specializes in regional histories; however, many users add their personal histories in the comments below. One of the great things about this site is that rather than trying to edit disparate Google map layers, community residents can come together and take pride in the rich histories that unite them. 7. Wayfaring : Wayfaring is a site where you can add routes and points of interest to your personal map and embed it to your blog. The service takes advantage of Google Maps and lets you invite others to collaborate. This is a great site for hash house harriers and other social running clubs. One user has already created a map of tech companies in the Bay Area below: Discuss

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Seven Tools to Map Your Company or Life History