I've been seeing an unusual number of spam comments awaiting moderation lately.  Normally, Akismet does a great job keeping them out of the moderation queue.  The ones that do make it to the queue, I usually let expire automatically.  This new crop, I decided to delete manually.  When I did, I got this error:

Unknown column 'pingback_views' in 'field list' on line: 532

A quick websearch -- with few results, which is why I am leaving this crumb -- hinted that my Wordpress database tables needed optimizing.

I don't run phpAdmin on my servers so that solution was out, and even with the MySQL Query Browser, figuring out the target table was proving to be a pain.  So another quick search turned up Slapyo's Database Fix WP plugin.  This solution fixed my problem perfectly.

Popularity: 9% [?]

Sifting through the trove of ever accumulating Facebook Apps I came across one of particular interest:  Sneaky Crush.  I thought Secret Admirer would be a natural idea to implement on Facebook and now I found that someone has done it -- but not by some random college kid, but by a member of the Google network (and Australia networks), Michael Knapp.  It's not clear if Google is in his present or his past; he's also affiliated with Darwin Dating, the official registrant of Sneaky Crush.  (Darwin Dating is "online dating for beautiful people.")

Secret Admirer is a highly viral concept with obvious popular appeal.  However, like the sixtieth Paris Hilton group or the sixteenth Polls application, there are few barriers to entry, so we are not surprised to find that someone else has implemented the same concept.  Jonas Neupert's rendition is called CrushBook.

As obscure new applications, both have few users at the moment.  Once users get acclimated to the idea of applications and these two get rolling, I wouldn't be surprised if their usage growth gets explosive in a few months.  That is of course unless Facebook puts brakes on their virality or other competitors dilute the concept with similar applications.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Here's a ironic twist on a long running story.  MySpace has been at times passive and aggressive on the embedding of applications and widgets on its profiles.  Of particular interest are the music players so important to the monetization of online music.  Recall when MySpace reminded Tila Tequila about the ToS when she supported Hoooka on her profile.   Hoooka competes with the officially sanctioned SnoCap player store.

Calen Michael Fretts' (of Virginia Tech) "underground" application MySource allows a FaceBook user to embed the MySpace player of any band.  Just install the MySource application and submit the MySpace url stub of the band.  Voila!

Popularity: 5% [?]

Facebook is adding new features at a breakneck pace.  MySpace is looking like your older brother's social network more and more everyday.  Not only are they introducing high order features like F8 applications, they are also refining basic usability.  If you thought Facebook's slick threaded email messaging was great, look at the options now available above the send button: "Share a Link" and "Record Video"  WOW!  Clicking Record Video starts up a flash applet that looks for your camera, after which you can record a video attachment to your recipient.

Popularity: 2% [?]