Ultimately, I'm extremely optimistic about the economic divide, which is vanishing rapidly in industrialized countries. The usability divide will take longer to close, but at least we know how to handle it -- it's simply a matter of deciding to do so. I'm very pessimistic about the empowerment divide, however, which I expect will only grow more severe in the future.

Penny sees a critical factor for the success of social networks in "protecting your members (and their reputation): if someone is abusing the network, you have to expel them without hesitation".

Lesson learned in 8 years of social networking: ethics and values are critical, they need to be stated upfront; "don't plan: play - and listen and adapt"; the community does know best; allow evolution to take place; make sure you create meaningful, empowering tools, not just tech show-offs; you need to guide and teach people how to network, how to get the most value out of belonging.

She also touches on corporations/brands vs social networks: "Social networks are not just another media opportunity to broadcast to a group of people. Social networks are about sharing - brands should belong, get one of their directors embedding him/herself in the network, learn and listen and engage in the conversations. Soon companies will start having people carrying a business card saying SND - social network director".

What did the technology leave out? Only everything. The crucial thing it omitted is the rich and valuable experience of incomprehension, the most important element of reading. The art (as opposed to the technology) of reading requires that you develop a beautiful tolerance for incomprehension. The greatest books are the books that you come to understand more deeply with time, with age, with rereading.

The Mixxer is a free educational site for language learners and teachers to find a language partner for a language exchange. The language partner is someone who speaks the language you study as their native language and is studying your native language. The partners then meet online to help each other practice and learn a foreign language.

Specifically, when you click the link, Google (or Microsoft) calls your phone and automatically connects you to the business.

The business's phone number is automatically stored in your caller ID so you can easily call back in the future. And by checking the box to remember your phone number, you can make future calls from Google Maps with just two mouse clicks (and picking up your phone, of course).