Part 1 of my pre-season post mainly covers the Flock browser that will be used for the 30 Day Challenge in 2008. At the end of each segment, I have provided a checklist of action items.

The Flock Web Browser

1. Download it from http://www.flock.com/ and install the Flock browser.
2. Import either your IE or FireFox Settings into Flock (if desired).
3. Familiarize yourself with the Flock browser. See http://www.flock.com/getting-started/1.2.4/en-US/ for more.

What’s So Great About The Flock Web Browser?

1. Social Networking: It supports social networks like Facebook, Digg, Flickr, Twitter, Pownce or YouTube and its People Sidebar shows all your friends when you login to any service. Text, links, photos or videos from the web or the Media Bar can be dragged and dropped to your friends in the sidebar to share. Watch the short video to find out about Flock’s social networking features.
   
   
2. Photo Services: It supports the following photo services like Photobucket, Flickr, Picasa or Facebook. The photo uploader can upload 1,000 photos at on go and can do basic editing like cropping, rotating, titling and tagging. Watch the short video to find out about Flock’s photo features.
   
   
3. Blogging Services: It supports the following blogging services like Blogger, Blogsome, LiveJournal, Typepad, Wordpress or Xanga. Flock will automatically set up your account and it has an in-built editor that can be a one-stop service for all of these blogging services. Watch the short video to find out about Flock’s blogging features.
   
   
4. Media Services: Allows search of video and photos from Facebook, Flickr, Photobucket, Picasa, Trueveo or YouTube using the search widget. It also allows subscription to their media feeds. Watch the short video to find out about Flock’s media services features.
   
   
5. RSS Services: Flock also provides feeds management and subscription services. However, the 30 Day Challenge in 2008 is not going to use the RSS features of Flock. Instead, it will use Google Reader. Watch the short video to find out about Flock’s RSS features.
   
   

Action Items for the Flock web browser

1. Download and install the Flock browser.
2. Import Internet Explorer or FireFox settings.
3. Familiarize yourself with the Flock browser features.