A light update of 8hands has just been released! (alpha version 0.8.078)

We have improved scalability, greatly reduced memory usage, and fixed many bugs.

If the auto-update doesn't start by the time you read this, please restart your 8hands. If you encounter any problems or bugs on 8hands, please let us know!

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you loyal alpha users for sending us your comments and feedback. It really means a lot to us!

Enjoy,
Maya.

And now for our Tip of the week:

Question: Jeff is my friend on Flickr. How can I know if he's also on Facebook?

Answer: Because 8hands is a cross community platform, it organizes all of your friends' various online profiles into one place. So, if Jeff is your Flickr friend, you can use 8hands to discover his other online profiles.

To use this fun feature just click on one of your 8hands friends' thumbnails and a side-drawer will open up. You will see all of your friend's social network icons; by clicking on a logo, you will be taken to the corresponding profile.

1. click on one of your 8hands friends' thumbnail:

2. check out you friends' various online profiles:

As you know, 8hands is all about social networks – that's why the only thing you MUST do in order to really dig 8hands, is to add your online profiles (facebook, MySpace, YouTube, blogs etc.). Here's why and how:

After adding your locations you'll notice how quickly 8hands does its magic:

1. Your latest section will fill up with all your recent updates from your various profiles, like friend requests, private messages, event invitations, new comments and more. This way 8hands can also help you to clean up your inbox from all those mails notifications from your various locations.
2. Your friends list will fill up with all of your friends from all your different locations so that you can IM them and check their different locations.
3. The media gallery will import your videos, photos and feeds and you can easily drag them into an IM window chat.

So you see, while 8hands starts off with its own default locations, it's your own content which really makes it shine. The more locations you add, the better 8hands gets.

Here's how to add your locations:

Click on the small "plus" icon in your scorecard or, open the "Options" menu and chose "Edit Locations". Then, click on "Add a new location" and choose the location type that you want to add.

You can always change and modify your locations by clicking on "Edit Locations".

click on the plus icon to add your locations

For more information on how to add a location check out our video tour or

click here: http://www.8hands.com/help/using8hands/locations

Enjoy!

You may have noticed that the Media Gallery in the latest 8hands alpha version has been improved. Now, when you see the thumbnail at the bottom of your 8hands, it comes with many more details than it used to.

Because the Media Gallery is a pure-fun section of 8hands, we wanted you to have it your way, so when you glance at it you'll see exactly what intrests you.

For that we've setup three different viewing modes for the Media Gallery: Full, Medium & Minimal.

The full mode is the default mode, and it gives you lots of details, like the item's network icon, the item's title, the uploder's name & the uploading date.

When the Media Gallery shows a Flickr photo that is marked as a favorite by someone, the full mode is kind enough to let you know.

The Medium mode shows you a lot less text, and let you in only on the crucial info - the item's network icon, and the name of the uploader.

The minimum mode is similliar to the old classic Media Gallery of the older 8hands versions. It features only the thumbnail and the item's network icon - some of us don't need more than that.

So how can you choose one of these modes for your 8hands? It's easier than reading this post! To customize your Media Gallery viewing mode go into 8hands' "Settings" and choose the "Media" Tab. Then go to drop down menu and choose your desired view.

If you know what's hot around the net these days, then you definitely have a Twitter profile.

Because 8hands is here to handle your online social life and make it easier for you to control all your profiles at once, you can update your Twitter profile via the 8hands tagline.

This is actually easier than you think: After adding your Twitter profile into the 8hands locations, tick the "connect Twitter to 8hands tagline" box, now use your tagline (it's right under your screen name at the scorecard) to update your Twitter profile: Everything you'll write in the tagline will appear in your Twitter and vice versa!

Oh and while you're up there don't forget to add us as your Twitter friends: http://twitter.com/8hands

Usually, "IM" stands for Instant Messaging. At 8hands, we took IM to the next level, so when we say "IM" we mean Instant Media. We think it's a natural progression in these media-saturated times. We also think it's a much cooler IM.

To experience Instant Media, simply drag-and-drop any 8hands media item into the 8hands IM window to share pictures and videos with other 8hands members.

You see, since all your photos and videos are already on Flickr, YouTube, Facebook and MySpace (and we're adding support for more media sharing sites), you don't have to wait while "uploading…" – Anything you drag into the IM window will instantly be seen by the other person. It's a whole new way to communicate with your friends!

Try speaking in visuals and you'll never go back. And if you're a Tumblr
fan, our IM is basically a live, interactive tumblelog! (we're looking into providing direct-posting to Tumblr, right from your IM window…)

Have fun!