It’s been almost a year since I last worked with DIY repair site FixYa but I still remember the traffic spike we’d see every Christmas. While families would be thrilled to unwrap smart phones, netbooks and flat screen monitors in the early morning, they’d find themselves lost in a sea of instructions by noon. There is nothing worse than having a new shiny toy and not being able to play with it. In addition to FixYa, below are a few resources you can use to help set up your new gadgets. Sponsor 1. How Stuff Works : If you’re looking for a basic understanding of your computer or device, you can always check out this site for some helpful videos. The site offers tips on everything from adding RAM to your laptop to deconstructing your wireless mouse. 2. Videojug : This site offers videos on everything from cooking to cars. The site’s technology and cars section offers a variety of how-to information including how to get videos onto your iPod to how to set up your PlayStation. 3. Aardvark : When in doubt, ask the mob. While not specifically a gadget site, Aardvark allows you query your network for answers via email, instant message, iPhone app and web interface. Named ReadWriteWeb’s Best Little Co. of 2009 , the beauty of this site is that only those with a self-proclaimed expertise will be asked to solve your gadget problems. 4. Gdgt : Gdgt is a social wiki site where users trade tips and tricks on their favorite gadgets. Launched by former Engadget editors Ryan Block and Peter Rojas, the site offers specs and reviews on some of the newest products on the market. If you can’t solve your gadget-related issue on one of the video sites, it’s probably because the product is too new to have how-to videos. Check Gdgt for the listing and look at the discussion page for details. 5. iFixit Teardowns : And finally, if you’re feeling ambitious and you don’t want to wait on the phone for a manufacturer’s 1-800 number, iFixit offers user-generated teardown guides. The guides give a photo documentation of gadget disassembly as well as commentary on parts and hardware. Check your product documentation before venturing into this territory, you wouldn’t want to void your warranty before getting the device working. Discuss

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5 Sites to Help You Set Up Your New Gadgets

Last week, we told you about peer-to-peer and torrent file-sharing sites were being systematically shut down all over China . Not too long before that, we let you know about file-sharing being monitored by a major ISP in the UK. Now, Israeli ISPs are throttling P2P network access, too, as confirmed in a report just released by an Israeli cyberlaw attorney and a partner news site. Whether you consider file-sharing an affront to content creators and copyright-holders everywhere or whether you see P2P networks as a permissible and valid way for users to exchange data, this trend is gaining considerable momentum around the world. Where will P2P restrictions pop up next? Sponsor In their research, tech attorney Jonathan Klinger and researchers involved with the Israeli website Ynet found that two of the three major ISPs in Israel are interfering with user traffic and might be conducting deep packet inspection. Traffic shaping is a practice sometimes used by some ISPs to discourage the use of certain applications. A couple of years ago, Comcast caught some heat from users and media for filtering user traffic when torrent files were being downloaded, even causing some to speculate that the ISP was violating U.S. law by prohibiting this traffic. Eventually, Comcast did strike a deal with BitTorrent to allow protocol-agnostic traffic management, but only after the sparring had been brought to the attention of the Federal Communications Commission. It’s currently unclear whether Israeli ISPs are filtering traffic due to piracy concerns or simple due to bandwidth concerns, as shared files can often amount to multi-gigabyte, hours-long downloads. However, traffic-shaping that blocks P2P protocols can also apply to VoIP calls, IM clients and other applications. Although P2P traffic is associated with illegal downloads, nothing about the protocols themselves is inherently illegal. “The element common to all P2P services,” reads the Israeli report, “is the lack of economical benefit to the ISP.” Klinger noted that although complaints have been brought to media outlets and ISPs since 2007, the ISPs have typically ignored these criticisms. Netvision and Internet Zahav were the two ISPs determined by this research to be blocking file-sharing traffic. Bezeq International was the third ISP investigated. Although Bezeq was cleared by this particular investigation, a plug-in introduced last year from popular bittorrent client Vuze shows that this ISP, too, throttles and disrupts file-sharing network traffic. In response to the findings presented by Ynet and Klinger, all three of the investigated ISPs gave typically canned responses claiming to offer users excellent surfing experiences. Israeli Communications Ministry rep Dr. Yechiel Shabi told Ynet, “The research materials relayed to us paint a picture which arouses the need for thorough examination. After we become familiar with the study’s findings, we shall consider the need for interference, supervision or regulation of the matter.” So, while we wait to see what results this report will yield in Israel, we are left to ponder the perturbing question: Where will traffic-shaping pop up next to prevent P2P activity? Take another look at the findings from Vuze’s traffic-monitoring plug-in . You’ll see that ISPs around the world – including Verizon, BellSouth, AOL, AT&T, Charter, Road Runner and ISPs in France, Italy, Germany, Poland, the UK and the Middle East, to name a few locations – are already interrupting traffic. Vuze’s researched was released in April 2008; in August, the FCC declared that ISPs should not be allowed to target and interrupt P2P applications. Still, suspicious Americans and other users around the world should consider using a tool such as the EFF’s Switzerland to determine whether torrent downloads and VoIP calls are being interrupted by their ISP. Do Israeli or other ISPs have the right or the moral imperative to throttle traffic in this manner? Do they have the need or right to examine the applications, files, and protocols being employed by users on their networks? Or do ISPs around the globe need to read the wiki on net neutrality and get their act together? Let us know your experiences and opinions in the comments. Discuss

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P2P Sharing Being Blocked Around the World, Where Next?

As we reported Thanksgiving Day , web searches and traffic for online retailers during the holidays were significantly down as compared to previous years, according to research from Experian Hitwise. However, this Black Friday showed a 4 percent increase in site visits versus Thanksgiving Day traffic – a stat that usually falls between those two days. The retail site that got the lion’s share of traffic this year was Amazon.com, which netted 13.55 percent of the traffic seen by the top 500 retail websites. Read on for a few surprising stats that might signal changes in the U.S. economy – and changes in how U.S. consumers will be doing their holiday shopping. Sponsor Interestingly, Apple’s website saw the largest increase – by a huge margin – between Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday. Overnight, their traffic skyrocketed 110 percent. Traditionally, Apple’s online deals for this red-letter day in commerce were modest at best. However, this year, rumors of substantial discounts were leaked online and spread like wildfire. The lesson: If you want to see a ridiculous upswing in traffic on a major American retail date, maintain relative stinginess and secrecy, then “leak” good tidings of great joy just before the big day. Other sites that saw a significant traffic increase in this 48-hour period include Staples (47 percent), Dell (40 percent) and Amazon (9 percent). So, Apple, Staples and Dell take the cake for getting the greatest traffic spikes overnight; how did websites fare on Black Friday overall? As you can see in the graph below, Amazon and Walmart each performed admirably. What’s more, most sites saw a marginal increase in traffic over last year’s Black Friday traffic – as you’ll recall, the global economy had recently tanked. Do we see this as a sign of tentative optimism about the economy, at least on the part of American consumers? Finally, who got the most downstream traffic from Black Friday websites? That would be our friends at Walmart, Best Buy, and Target – the latter of which more than doubled its downstream traffic from last year: Details for Cyber Monday – traditionally the online retailer’s biggest day during the holiday season – will be available shortly. Discuss

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Amazon Wins for Most Visited Site on Black Friday

Like us, you’ve probably just come out of a tryptophan-inspired coma on a relative’s couch and are jonesing for some tech news. Unfortunately, the newsmakers are likely in the same position. While we cull the tubes for Internet-related happenings, check out this panoply of sites, apps, curiosities, trends and more. Happy Thanksgiving! Sponsor “Somewhat” Frank Gruber Is Thankful For His New Web Project Our good friend Frank Gruber has been working on Thankfulfor.com , a social gratitude journal. Gruber writes that he and partner Jen Consalvo wanted to create “a forum for expressing gratitude routinely as a foundation for happiness and well-being.” Frank and Jen with Sir Richard Branson earlier this year. “People come to the site and post what they are thankful for to their personal journal of thanks. People can also choose to send each Thankfulfor post to their social network on Twitter (each post starts with the #thankfulfor hashtag) extending the good vibes far and wide.” During the holiday season, Gruber’s hosting a Gratitude Challenge for the remainder of the holiday season to encourage users around the world to spread the love. A great idea from a couple of great people! Helping the Hungry Through YouTube Videos Most of the Americans reading this are probably ridiculously stuffed with turkey and the associated edibles, but the good folks at YouTube recognized our annual gluttony as a great opportunity to help the less fortunate. Using their own homepage and blog as a platform, the site asked users, a.k.a. Video Volunteers , to create videos to promote the hunger-related nonprofit of their choice. along with the organization Feeding America and special curator David Arquette, YouTube has selected three submissions on the site. Here’s one we liked: Next week, curator Morgan Freeman will kick off another round of submissions, this time focusing on human rights. Search Traffic Gets Seasonal, Economy Remains Slow Hitwise research director Heather Dougherty writes that year after year, Thanksgiving is the peak day for Internet visits to major retail websites, outstripping Black Friday, the day after Christmas, and other traditional big shopping days. Typically, for search engines, Thanksgiving also marks a peak in user searches for major retailers. However, yearly trends show significant drops in traffic and searches between 2007 and 2008. And, Doughtery writes, “The daily visits to the Retail 500 are down compared to last year leading up to the big holiday weekend.” Check out the purple line on this graph; it represents search traffic for major retail brands leading up to the holiday, and it’s measurably lower than in previous years: Also, the orange line on this graph shows site traffic stats for the same group of retailers. It, too, shows a decline from traffic in previous years. Take heart, online retailers! Stats for traffic coming from email marketing are actually quite robust. Are email marketers with cleverly presented bargains succeeding in these times of woe and want? This seems to be the case. SocialVibe’s Facebook App Aims to Feed Folks in Need SocialVibe is all about helping brands and users create positive social change. In a typical SocialVibe setup, a brand “sponsors” users, who take small actions and engagements to raise money for the charity of their choice. The new SocialVibe Facebook app involves partnerships with multiple brands and allows users to help feed the hungry through the UN World Food Programme. Users create virtual Thanksgiving tables, choose one of three decor themes, pick food items to bring, and and invite friends. By engaging in simple, free brand interactions, users are able to furnish their and their friends’ tables with turkeys, mashed potatoes, and all the traditional dishes – and best of all, each food item in the app equates to a specific number of meals the UN World Food Programme will be able to provide to hungry families and individuals. That wraps up this year’s Thanksgiving around the web. What new sites, apps, or campaigns did you notice and love this year? Tell us all about them in the comments! Discuss

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The ReadWriteWeb Thanksgiving Day Parade

Digg CEO Jay Adelson told FOX Business tonight that ever since rolling out Digg Ads, the social link-sharing service has been making money and that profitability is right around the corner. Although advertising continues to be the only seemingly reliable model for monetizing content-centric websites, Adelson reports that click-through rates are higher than expected. That being said, typical rates for online advertising are generally abysmal, so if Digg’s ads are working better than most, good for them, and let’s all study their model. Read – and watch – for the rest of the story on how Digg has grown and will continue to expand and monetize. Sponsor The FOX interviewer asked Adelson if micropayments were considered as a monetization option, “I think that micropayments is interesting,” he replied. “I think that if it works though – the level that it’s going to work is between somebody like Digg and the newspaper, as opposed to necessarly expecting that consumer to subscribe to some sort of micropayment system.” This sort of talk would surely come as good news to Rupert Murdoch, who was referenced in the interview and has stated plans to charge search engines – and perhaps aggregators – that index and share snippets of the relevant, timely, and expensive content that traditional news outlets still struggle to integrate with modern Internet-enabled user behavior. What about selling anonymized, aggregate user data? Adelson says he doesn’t want to sell that information unless users are generally cool with the idea. “I think that users are pretty sensitive now; they’re pretty savvy and they understand the idea that they have to be private.” But data on trends and user attention – data that would be highly valuable for old media to have and that might actually contribute to a better user experience – might be more in line with what Digg execs are willing and able to sell. And what about the possibility of an IPO? Hold onto your hats, day traders. Adelson says that, while he feels he owes it to investors and employees to “go public at some point,” he’s waiting for two factors: A valuation he likes and the day that Digg needs “hundreds of millions of dollars for something.” In other words, we’re not shaking the quarters out of our piggy banks just yet. So, what is coming next for Digg? It seems the company is planning to follow in Twitter’s footsteps and release international versions of the site. “About 40% of our traffic comes from international, but we have no other languages on Digg right now, so why not go there,” said Adelson. Check out the whole interview below: Watch the latest business video at FOXBusiness.com Discuss

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Digg Sees the Light of Profitability at the End of the Startup Tunnel