It only takes a few minutes to help out your favorite cause online. At The Extraordinaries, take just a few minutes to complete a micro-task for a cause you're passionate about (for example, tag photos for a museum or help map kids' playspaces) via your mobile phone or computer. Here's to doing good while you wait in the checkout line! At Do Something, pick a cause (like animal rights, poverty, or violence and bullying), then just answer a couple easy questions (who they want to volunteer with, where, and for how long--even if it's online-only and just for a minute) and the site generates a list of ways to take action. While the site's aimed at teens, anyone can find ideas here. JustGive is a charity search engine, searching 1.5 million charities to help you find the perfect place to make your donation; you can also give charity gift cards and create a charity wedding registry. Want to take your career in a new direction? Idealist.org is Craigslist for doing good: Search for job listings at nonprofits and find internships and volunteer opportunities (and if you already work at a nonprofit, consider participating one of idealist.org's nonprofit career fairs).
When you perform searches at the Yahoo-powered EcoSearch, you help plant trees in the Amazon. replyforall creates a customized e-mail signature based on your cause of choice. When you play the word game at FreeRice, for every right answer, the site donates 10 grains of rice to the United Nations World Food Programme. And finally, you may know about them already but a reminder won't hurt: Click once a day at the Breast Cancer Site, Hunger Site, Child Health Site, Literacy Site, Rainforest Site, and Animal Rescue Site. Who knew a break at work could help you do so much good?
The hilarious Let's Panic! is written by mom bloggers Alice Bradley (finslippy) and Eden Kennedy (Fussy and yogabeans!) and is "the only website that accurately explains the journey from morning sickness to third-degree tears to keeping that baby alive for a year-or more!" The Baby Name Wizard is all about "the art and science of baby names," and we especially love the NameVoyager, which takes a close look at name trends over the years. . The Bump, a site for first-time parents from the creators of The Knot, provides pregnancy info, baby registry resources, pregnancy checklists and journals, and more. Trixie Tracker is a baby tracker (diapers, naps, feedings, and more) for the web and iPhone. And TotSpot lets new parents create private websites and blogs (with photos, videos, and more) for their kids.
Related: Top 10 Wired Dad Blogs
Nobody said having a new baby was easy, but these gadgets might make it a little less difficult. LilSugar has "10 Go-To Gadgets for Protective Parents," including a cry analyzer. Coolest Gadgets reviews the Beaba Babycook, which cooks and purees baby food. GadgetGrid finds a self-heating baby bottle. Random Good Stuff has a Blinky Lights Baby Feeding System--think "here comes the airplane" for the 21st century. Blogging Dad reviews a voice-activated crib light, which "can be set to play womb sounds or just function as a night light." Gadgetophilia rounds up 5 gadgets for your newborn baby, including a hands-free diaper pail. Gizmodiva reviews pjs that change color if your baby is getting too hot. And Father Doesn't Know Best lists his top-five best baby gadgets and gifts, with the Diaper Genie Elite coming in at (appropriately) #2.
Related: Top 10 Wired Dad Blogs
Not only should you follow these moms on Twitter, you'll love discovering their blogs, too. Kelby Carr (@typeamom) is a social media blogger and consultant. Evergreen Moms (@evergreenmoms) run a Pacific Northwest shopping blog and share their favorite finds on Twitter. @WickedStepmom is a mom and custodial stepmom who also blogs about her life here. @simplemom is a mom who lives overseas and works at home (her blog is here). @imaginarybinky and @finslippy tweet hilariously about motherhood and more (blogs: Imaginary Binky and finslippy). @mamabirddiaries tweets about life as a hip mom in New York City (blog here). And @athomemom is a Canadian expat work-at-home mom living in Guatemala (blog here).
Related: 10 Useful Twitter Tools You Might Not Know About
Facebook apps aren't limited to playing Farmville--they can actually be useful! Here are a bunch you might want to install: Divshare lets you send documents, photos, music, and video to your friends individually or post them for download from your profile. Dopplr: Where Next? allows you to share your trip schedules with your friends and colleagues (and see when your travels overlap with theirs). Space Translated translates and displays your wall messages in over 20 languages. Status Shuffle lets you pick and choose from the funniest Facebook statuses--find one you like and use it. My Diet lets you track calories, activity, and weight (and you can compare your data to your friends'--maybe competition is the key to a successful diet?). Birthday Calendar ensures that you'll never forget a friend's birthday again; you can receive cellphone and e-mail alerts and send virtual cards and gifts. Professional Profile separates your professional info into a separate tab on your profile and lets you tag and consolidate your business contacts. Telephone allows you to call, IM, or leave voice messages for your Facebook friends. With My Money, manage finances securely from your Facebook profile. And Zimride Carpool helps you arrange ride shares--so you can actually meet up with your Facebook friends in real life.
Related: Online Tools to Make Your Life Better
If you're like most of us, the new year means vows to eat better and spend less. A few sites that help you do that: First of all, of course, there's the original Cheap, Healthy, Good, "a blog dedicated to the advancement of frugal, nutritious, ethically-minded food in everyday life," with new recipes, articles, and links every week (check out "Cutting Calories and Saving D'oh: 25 Lessons 'The Simpsons' Taught Me About Cheap, Healthy Eating"). Casual Kitchen focuses on easy, money-saving cooking and kitchen philosophy (sample post: "A Recession-Proof Guide to Saving Money on Food"). 30 Bucks a Week is written by a vegetarian Brooklyn couple trying to spend--you guessed it--just $30 a week on food (they still manage to whip up dishes like Pear and Bleu Cheese Crostini). The Paupered Chef focuses on good, inexpensive at-home cooking. And Last Night's Dinner is all about at-home cooking using locally sourced ingredients. All the sites will inspire you to cook up a healthy dinner at home tonight.
Related: Health 2.0: High-Tech Fit = Fun
The ecosystem for Twitter add-ins is incredibly rich. Here are a few that are especially useful. Twittercal lets you connect your Twitter account with your Google calendar. TweetBeep sends you an e-mail alert when somebody tweets about you (or your company or anything else--like Google Alerts for Twitter). Remember the Milk for Twitter lets you interact with, and get reminder tweets about, your tasks. Trendistic and Twitterfall show you Twitter trends and trending topics. Twubble searches your "friend graph" to help you find more people to follow. Send an e-mail to your special Twittermail e-mail address and it will be posted to Twitter. Twitbin brings Twitter straight into your Firefox browser. HootSuite, "the professional Twitter client," is great if you use Twitter for business--among other things, it lets you schedule tweets and manage multiple accounts. With TwitRes, share your resume on Twitter, preserving its original formatting. And TwittEarth is a really fun way to visualize tweets from all over the world.
Related: 10 Really Useful Facebook Apps
It only takes a few minutes to help out your favorite cause online. At The Extraordinaries, take just a few minutes to complete a micro-task for a cause you're passionate about (for example, tag photos for a museum or help map kids' playspaces) via your mobile phone or computer. Here's to doing good while you wait in the checkout line! At Do Something, pick a cause (like animal rights, poverty, or violence and bullying), then just answer a couple easy questions (who they want to volunteer with, where, and for how long--even if it's online-only and just for a minute) and the site generates a list of ways to take action. While the site's aimed at teens, anyone can find ideas here. JustGive is a charity search engine, searching 1.5 million charities to help you find the perfect place to make your donation; you can also give charity gift cards and create a charity wedding registry. Want to take your career in a new direction? Idealist.org is Craigslist for doing good: Search for job listings at nonprofits and find internships and volunteer opportunities (and if you already work at a nonprofit, consider participating one of idealist.org's nonprofit career fairs). 
When you perform searches at the Yahoo-powered EcoSearch, you help plant trees in the Amazon. replyforall creates a customized e-mail signature based on your cause of choice. When you play the word game at FreeRice, for every right answer, the site donates 10 grains of rice to the United Nations World Food Programme. And finally, you may know about them already but a reminder won't hurt: Click once a day at the Breast Cancer Site, Hunger Site, Child Health Site, Literacy Site, Rainforest Site, and Animal Rescue Site. Who knew a break at work could help you do so much good?
