April 2008 - Posts
If anyone out there still uses Mapquest, here's another reason to jump ship. Google Maps and their driving directions now includes Street Views, where available. Look for a camera icon by the street intersections when viewing turn-by-turn directions.
We all want to be recongnized at work for our achievements, or even our efforts. And nothing does the trick like a big, fat promotion. But before walking into your superior's office, you might want to fully evaluate the situation.
Take
Penelope Trunk's promotion test first. Find out how you fare in office politics, how your current salars stacks up and more. Then you can demand your raise with an iron fist.
Wigix is vying to be a competitor to
eBay. Like eBay, users can offer up items for sale and buyers can make bids. Unlike eBay, Wigix is an SKU-based marketplace (no collectibles) and offers a stock exchange-like atmosphere for goods. Items are grouped: for example, all iPod Nano's are on the same listing. You can then see the current market value of that item, how it has changed and what kind of offers are out there. A buyer lists criteria for purchase (time, price, condition, etc.) and whenever the item matches those criteria, you are asked to confirm the sale. For a seller, criteria is set and released to the public. No sales are final until both parties agree to the terms of the order.
When you click on an item (or group of items) for sale, you are presented with a screen (see below.) This shows the current market value of the item, last change in value, owners, sellers, buyers, watchers, ratings and overviews. If you own the product, you can list it without actually offering it up for sale - a nice way to check the value on your item. Potential buyers can still make you an offer just in case you change your mind.
Overall, it looks like an attempt to standardize the online mega-marketplace. And that could be very useful, as eBay has its problems when it comes to items being over-valued or unscrupulous sellers and buyers. I also like the function that follows the market value of an item over time.
To get users away from eBay, Wigix offers no cost to list items under $25, one dollar from both the buyer and seller for items $25-100 and an additional 2% of the sale price for more expensive items.
RefundPlease.com is a great tool for Amazon shoppers. By entering your purchase information (ISNB number or ASIN number, Price and Dateand email address after buying from Amazon, RefundPlease will watch your item for 30 days, then alert you if the price has dropped. Then you can follow instructions to get your refund of the price difference from Amazon.
Currently, only Amazon is supported, but RefundPlease says that other retailers will be added in "the days and weeks ahead." So far, the site claims to have saved consumers $121,704.29 in price drop refunds.
Startup
WhoIsLike.it is a website search engine. You enter a website URL and WhoIsLike.it searches the Web for similar websites, providing a thumbnail image and URL. You can then choose one of the results to search for similar sites to that one as well.
It's a nice concept and results seem to be fairly accurate. The thumbnails work about half of the time, so that could use some refining. And the site suffers from what most start-up search engines do - a lack of inventory. Hopefully as the site grows, they will index more sites and return even better results. The site is based in Berlin, Germany, so some sites are in German. Overall, it's a pretty good tool for finding some sites you might not know about. It's a good site to keep an eye on.
Finally ... Friday afternoon is upon us. Just a couple more hours until quitting time. Here are a couple of websites to help you get there. This week's theme is automobiles.
Cash Cab: One of the installments from Discovery Channel, Cash Cab is a trivia game. Based on the television show, you pick your starting point and end point in New York, ride around in a taxi and answer questions for cash. You must arrive at your destination before three wrong answers to win the game. The faster you answer, the more money you get. Typos work against you in many cases, so accuracy is key. Also, don't forget your life lines, a street shout out and call a friend. I enjoy trivia and I consider myself a fairly good purveyor of useless knowledge. But that hasn't helped me here. This is a true time killer for me, because I have yet to win. So that keeps me coming back for more.
TypeRacer: You are up against seven other typists. Words appear on your screen and you type them accurately, spaces and punctuation included, to move your Volkswagon Beetle across the screen. It kind of looks like those carnival games where shoot water into a clown's mouth to race plastic horses. The words move across the screen as you type, which can be hard to get used to. But the best part about this time killer is that, if anyone is listening, you sound really busy.
UC Berkely grad student James Karl Buck and his translater were arrested in Egypt on April 10, where Buck was there to cover an anti-government protest. They were both arrested and that's when Buck pulled out his cell phone and used
Twitter to send a one-word message to his network, "arrested." Soon his entire network was scrambling to obtain his release.
Instantly, bloggers, including a Cairo-based blogger at UC Berkely, were spreading the word. Through his Twitter contacts, Buck was finally able to get released from prison. Unfortunately, he was separated from his translater, whose whereabouts are currently unkown.
Read the full story.
If you're looking to buy a new MP3 player, camcorder, digital camera, cell phone, gaming console or other gadget-type device, you may want to check out
Reviewgist first. It's a site that brings reviews from all over the Internet for a multitude of products, not just from one site like Amazon or Best Buy, etc.
Reviewgist is very thorough and provides easy-to-use comparisons and charts, along with written reviews from varied sources. For example, click on the MP3 category, choose a price range, brand, storage capacity and screen size, order results by best audio, battery life, interface, price, most recent or best overall and start looking. You'll see a variety listed with snapshot reveiws, some written reviews and an overall score. Click 'Compare Reviews' and get the bar charts, where you can hover over each category to see reviews by the likes of PCWorld, CNet, TrustedReviews and more. Choosing just one brand is a good way to find a company's offering that best fits your needs.
Swotti provides a similar service, aggregating product reviews from across the Web. Swotti is better suited to individual products but covers more territory than just consumer electronics. There seems to be a wide scope - everything from cell phones to cars. Enter your product search and Swotti searches reviews. Most come from niche areas of the Web (forums, blogs, etc.) as well as major websites. Search a product and get an overall score and results based on relevant categories. Click on the categories to get reviews on that criteria alone.
How important is your cell phone to you? Would you ever think it could change the course of a war?
In an
article by Laura King for Tribune Newspapers, the Taliban are losing supporters among Afghans by destroying telecommunications towers, thereby interrupting cell phone service. The insurgency suspects that recent success by NATO to track and kill Taliban commanders is due to cell phones signals being picked up.
In a country as poor as Afghanistan, one in six have cell phones, and its become a major industry for both providers and commerce in the region. As King writes, "To Afghans, the country's rapidly expanding cell phone network is a symbol of pride and hoped-for prosperity." In other words, Afghans are rapidly adopting technology and shrinking the gap between themselves and the western world. Cell phones equal opportunity, prospertity and freedom - having tasted it all, the Afghan people are not about to give it up.
Summed up nicely and hilariously, "'I'm so, so furious about this,' sputtered businessman Rahim Agha. 'Why do they have to do this to us? Why can't they just turn off their phones?'"
Don't forget your
FREE subscription to Website Magazine. The May issue spotlights the mobile Web in the feature article, "Mobile Web, Hope or Hype?"
Launched in beta in March, MySpace has officially released over 1,000 applications to the public. Applications have been popular with the MySpace crowd for some time - the "Fridge Magnets" where other users can rearrange the familiar lettered magnets to leave a message has been a huge success - although a lack of "official" apps has created some problems. Now users are free to implement any number of fun, useful or plain entertaining applications straight from MySpace, developed by fellow MySpace denizens.
A few
MySpace Apps of note:
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Top Pics displays your favorite images and photos from MySpace and Photobucket. 45,131 installs. |
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Users can display their favorite cocktails and send friends virtual drinks (not all alcoholic.) 8,665 installs. |
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Sync your iTunes library with your MySpace page. Your entire library is available and you can add more than six million songs and music videos. 12,552 installs. |
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Create a cause, join an existing cause and recruit your friend to join you in activism. Each cause you choose shows how much money has been raised by fellow MySpace users.
6,860 installs. |
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Visitor Counter simply displays how many friends have visited your profile. Could be useful for marketing/branding purposes, kind of like an RSS counter on a blog. 4,280 installs. |
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Shopit Store allows users to list products and services for sale from their profiles. 626 installs. |
Most of the applications are, of course, geared towards the young, social, entertainment-focused crowd that has made MySpace the leader in social networking. So far, true business applications are few and far between. There is a business category - it has job searching apps, Lending Club, newsClicker and business 3.0, which claims to "allow businesses to have their information and products listed on social networks."
All of the applications we tested are very easy to add to a profile, but do take up quite a bit of space on a profile page. Look for crowded pages to ensue. It could be fun to see these applications all over friends' pages, or it could be serious overload. If you're looking to build a business profile by adding apps, be sure to keep it under control.
Before adding an application, MySpace will ask if you want to show it on your profile, your home page, if you want to allow email from the app, and if you want to send updates to your friends. Choose wisely, as this could be a launching pad for application spam.
"MySpace was the original open platform, and the MySpace Application Gallery is the evolution of that vision, taking MySpace users around the world to the next level and empowering them to take control of their online presence in new and exciting ways," said MySpace co-founder Chris DeWolfe in a press release.
Quamut is a website that will help you learn how to do just about anything. Learn how to use your iPhone, proper feeding for your corn snake, tai chi ... the list goes on. There are five categories to choose from: House & Home, Hobbies & Leisure, Money & Business, Computers & Technology and Mind & Body.
Published by Barnes & Noble, Quamut is a very thorough and professional site. When you find something you like, you can choose to print out your how-to guide - for a fee. A quick look around shows that most of the guides run about $2.95 for a six-page chart. But there is some basic information available for free, just not the in-depth stuff you really want. In the end, $2.95 for a professional analysis isn't a bad alternative to Wikipedia or other "wisdom of the crowd" sites.
Widgetbox is becoming a top provider of online widgets for your blog, social profile or Web page and now they have released a
specialized page for iPhone widgets (iphone.widgetbox.com.) There are some pretty useful ones available, including
The New York Times, Yahoo News, today's top 10 Flickr images, and the Magic 8 Ball for unflappable advice.
Want to make your own iPhone widget? Check out their
tutorial. Also, check out
Apple's own iPhone widgets.
I logged into ESPN.com's mobile site the other day to find the score of the Cubs game and was pleasantly surprised to see a newly-optimized page.* It has everything a good mobile page should include.
The lead photo and story headline is visible without the need to scroll down. After the first scroll-down, the next six clickable links are quick finds important to a mobile user: scores, news, hot, teams, fantasy and sports. Below that is a "Did you know" with an interesting fact that changes every time the page reloads. Right below that are links to the top sports' scores. On the next scroll-down has news and analysis, and there's even a section to include your preferred teams' news - bypassing the need to navigate to a special page. In short, the entire page can give you a nice overview of what's happening in the world of sports. The page is optimized to get the user what they want with as few clicks as possible. Also, when links within a page are clicked, you are taken to the specific content without needing to scroll down again, even if its a section of a larger page. These are all good tips for any mobile site.
*
using a BlackBerry Pearl
It's Earth Day, so why not do something positive for the environment while still doing your job?
Ecocho is a search engine that will sponsor the planting of two trees for every 1,000 searhces. On their home page, there is a counter that currently sits at 3,345
trees planted, resulting in 3,679,603 lbs. of CO2 emissions saved.
Currently they are using Yahoo search results - Google recentlyl blocked the use of their search engine for reasons unkown. However, regular Yahoo searches show ads on the right side of the page and Ecocho results do not. Also, on their blog, Ecocho directs users to voice their complaints to adsense-support@google.com.
There is even a black version of the screen to ensure maximum evironmentalism. A quick test of search results were similar to using regular Yahoo search, although not exactly the same. A search for "website magazine" yielded about 45 million results on Ecocho and 558 million on Yahoo. But, I figure it's worth the effort for Earth Day.
Well, it appears that Amazon has re-stocked their e-book reader Kindle. Splendid.
Speculation has swirled that Amazon either had a major snafu in the factory or, is attempting to build publicity for the device. Either way, it's still a bomb,
in my opinion.
There are plenty of streaming music sites out there, but
MyPlayList adds a twist. Enter any band name and you'll get a playlist of their songs (anywhere between 3 and 21 on a quick run-through) along with a streaming slide show. The photos come from Flickr, so they may be actual band photos or just interesting photos that users have associated with that particular band. There is the occasional "photo not available from Flickr" white slide, but it does not happen often.
By logging in you can create your own playlists, and also search other users' playlists. There is also the ability to embed playlists into your blog or social profile. Full-screen mode is available for slideshows, although the resolution is not great - the images are better suited to the smaller display.
It's Friday! Almost quitting time, but not yet. You still have to at least appear busy for a couple more hours. Here are a couple of resources to help you out. This week's theme is Star Wars - a geek's playground.
Star Wars in Text: I've been told that this is very old, but I never saw it before, so I'm forwarding it on to all of you. Go to your command prompt from your start menu and enter this text:
telnet towel.blinkenlights.nl.
Don't be alarmed, it appears that your system is being taken over at first, but all you have to do is watch. Enjoy.
Star Wars Character Creator: Pretty simple. Choose different heads, bodies, arms, legs and weapons. You can color your creation with the light saber tool, or print it out later and bust out the Crayons. There are also other free games to choose from on this site.
Star Wars in Real Life: Check out these super-nerdy, high-quality photos of Star Wars characters in real life settings.
Amazon.com is a huge marketplace. So it may not always be clear exactly who you are buying from. There's a new Amazon affiliate out there with a focus on business ethics.
Alonovo.com uses data from KLD Research & Analytics, Inc. and Social Accountability International to ensure that business are accountable for their practices.
When you search for Amazon products through alonovo, you see a merchant's scorecard in these categories, in addition to categories you define when you sign up for an account:
- Fair Labor or Sweatshops
- Emission Reduction or Pollution
- Recycling or Toxic Waste
- Resource Conservation or Plunder of the Earth
- Political Neutrality
- Local Community Partnerships/Local Economy
In addition to being a watchdog, alonovo.com contributes between 50% and 100% of comission received from Amazon to the cause of your choice. There is also a community section and news about sustainable business.
Lavasoft has realeased a new version of their free anti-spyware solution Ad-Aware in beta, available for anyone to
download and test. The new version promises faster performance, stability and accuracy (does that mean my old version was deleting the wrong files?)
The new version also sports a shiny new interface, new rootkit removal system, faster updates and full Vista compatibility. Ad-Aware is for use on Windows only.
Vancouver-based Fuzgo is a new social networking site focused on promoting community interaction and involvement. Creating a personal or business profile allows users to connect with those around them, view local event listings, classifieds and join local online communities - business districts, community watch, lost and found, musicians, activities, etc. It all takes place through a map interface, where users can elect to display their location.
"We feel social networking sites are too broad, too general. It is great that people from all over the world can connect to their friends, but what about the people and businesses in their own neighborhood? We don't really touch people around us." says Zeeshan Hayat, Fuzgo's CEO.
Scheduled to go live at the end of April, Fuzgo also has a video creation service that enables those with business profiles to create online video ads targeted to the local community. And there is a charitable factor to the website as well. Through the Fuzgo Cares Network, members can donate $1 per month to be distributed to partnering charities - so far that appears to be the Covenent House Vancouver and BC Children's Hospital. By participating on the site, you can earn Care Points, which go towards qualifying for a Trip of Mercy. "We believe this initiative can change the world, one profile at a time" says Zeeshan.
BuddyFetch is a social search engine focused on finding people with similar interests across a variety of social networking sites, IM providers and Internet dating sites. It's pretty simple, enter a hobby or interest(s) and age range into the search box and you'll get results from all over the country and across the planet. Some of the sites searched include Facebook, MySpace, BlackPlanet, AIM, MSN Messenger, Stumbleupon, Twitter, Yahoo Personals, Digg, MocoSpace and many more.
A quick road test of the site proved interesting - there are plenty of results. Many results returned are from MySpace, Facebook and MocoSpace, a mobile social networking application. You can click the user's photo to go to their profile and an icon on the right shows which network they are connected with. Basic information includes a name, gender, age and location, along with a brief bio. For some reason, there seems to be plenty of results from Japan. There is also a toolbar available for download.
It's an interesting utility and a great concept but still needs some work. Hopefully the longer they stay around, the more profiles will be indexed. With the advanced search function you can narrow the search to location, although at this points the results become very limited.
The true sports fanatic will like this site.
MyP2P is a live video streaming service geared towards sports - pretty much all sports. A quick view this morning listed Olympic Qualifying Women, 2008 National Women Weightlifting Championships, Snooker, Indian Cricket League and a cycling event, Tour of Turkey. Click on the Baseball tab and you'll not only find Major League Baseball games, but even Japanese league games. It works by selecting the game you want to watch, then a list of links to websites airing the game are listed. Clink the link, and you're ready to watch. Did I mention that it's all free? There are also some live TV Internet channels available, although that page looks to currently be under construction.
There are some necessary downloads, both from MyP2P and other hosting sites showing the games you want to watch. If you can get past that, it's a pretty nice resource for finding games you want, even some sports or events you may never have heard of before.
There are many mobile search functions popping up these days and, well, here's another one. Mobile411 has a few functionalities that are intriguing. You can search by text or by voice for businesses or white pages, and what you get in return are listings with phone numbers and addresses. Pretty simple, but there's more.
One of the nice features is a link for a map of the location, driving directions (GPS-enabled) and the ability to share what you've found with others via SMS by using your current address book. Mobile411 also saves your searches so you will never have to search for the same place twice. Finally, there are live operators available if you have any difficulties. The only downside is that you have to download the application, which might send some users straight to Google 411.
Check out the cheesy, but effective
video demonstration.
Amidst the thousands of flight cancellations the past week, this tool couldn't come at a better time.
Delaycast takes your flight information (airline, date and time and airport) and analyzes data from airlines and airports to give you predictions about how long your filght will be delayed. The system uses mathematical models for analysis, which are updated at least once a month but sometime more often than that.
They claim to be accurate within 15 minutes "80-90% of the time." So, I wouldn't necessarily rely on the service for planning your airport commute, but it certainly can't hurt to check it out. The top 60 airports are covered and most major airlines.
Here we go, let the countdown begin. Just a few more hair-pulling hours until the weekend is here. But not yet. Here are two sites to help you get there. This week's theme is bragging rights:
WhatsYourRecord.com is a user-generated Guiness Book of World Records. Users can create a profile and add friends, then submit their record, while others can browse through records and try to best them or submit their own record. There are single records, group records and a map that displays where users are registered (the site seems to be popular in Austria right now.) There are even records that have not been attempted yet, if you're feeling daring. Two of my favorites so far yet to be attempted include "Most eaten pancakes in 12 minutes" and "Farthest mobile phone throw."
The obvious question about this site is how records are authenticated. I guess we'll just have to go with the good old honor system. Play fair, kids. It's an entertaining site and worth a few Friday afternoon minutes. And it just launched this week, so as the site gains in popularity, look for the records to keep growing.
Finally, if you're head gets just a little too big after setting a few records, head over tho
GreatAchievements.org. There you can read about some serious accomplishments that actually made a difference in society. That should bring you back to earth. Of course, I bet Einstein couldn't eat more than 20 pancakes in 12 minutes.
DailyEcoTips.com is a blog about ways you can make a positive impact on the environment in your everyday life. Whether a tip about installing low-flow shower heads or planning a green wedding, there are many valuable resources here to help you be a little more environmentally friendly. There is a widget you can install on your own website and the blog is filled with helpful links and resources.
CheckTap is a two-pronged approach aimed at saving you money and the environment. The first step is to download the software, then plug in your computer, printer, monitor or scanner into the power strip and you're set.
CheckTap works by sensing which equipment has been sitting idle for a while then shuts it off automatically and completely - as standby mode on all devices still uses up electricity. CheckTap claims the money you save on electricity will pay for the system in six months.
A neat feature of the software tells you how much energy is being saved and the resulting reduction of CO2 emissions. CheckTap is said to be available in the US in May at major retailers.
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Of course they are. One of the beautiful things about the Web is that it's easy to organize complainers, I mean demonstrators. A Flickr group brilliantly named
NO VIDEO ON FLICKR is protesting the new ability for user to upload short video to the site. Why not? I know I hate when a really useful, free service tries to enhance my experience.
The group worries that Flickr will become another YouTube and bring with it all the terrible, grainy, offensive and meaningless video. Of course, you can always filter video out of your search results in the settings area - but still - how dare Flickr try something new.
CTIA Wireless 2008 in Las Vegas awarded the Sprint and Samsung new device, Instinct, best in show in the Emerging Technology Award competition. The device was also named "Most Innovative Product at CTIA Wireless 2008" by the editors of
LAPTOP, a mobile tech magazine.
What's so special about the device? A few things stand out - full touchscreen, 2 megapixel camera, Bluetooth 2.0, GPS, visual voicemail, the ability to listen to music while surfing the Internet or playing games and localized tactile feedback, called haptics, which allow the virtual QWERTY
keypad and other operations to become a sensory experience. While pricing details are not yet available, Sprint does offer an "everything" plan including unlimited data starting at $69.99 per month. The device is expected to be available in June and compete directly with the iPhone - which perhaps unfortunately for Samsung and Sprint is planning the release of a next generation iPhone around the same time. Take a look at the device below. You can register to be among the first to own the device at
www.nowisgood.com.
Starting today,
Flickr Pro members can start to upload and share video clips through their accounts. There is a limitation, and an interesting one - videos are limited to 90 seconds. Perhaps its an attempt to keep the site's identity intact. This way, it can be assumed that much of the video will be of the variety shot on digital cameras - vacations, family outings, sporting events, etc. Hopefully the limitation keeps out the annoyingly long and pointless clips often found on YouTube.
Anyone can view video uploaded by Pro members. But regular Joes like me with only a free account will have to wait and see if Flickr opens up video uploading to everyone. Hopefully soon.
There are plenty of options out there for video search and
YouTube is no doubt the leader in the space. But a new player has some interesting qualities that are worth taking a look.
Modern Feed seeks to index legal, premium Web video content and then filter that content with the help of human editors. Modern Feed is loaded with full-length programming - when available off-site, you will be notified that you are leaving the Modern Feed site and presented with instructions to watch the video on the site you are about to visit. For example, if you search "The Office" you will eventually be taken to
NBC's site, or you can choose to visit
Hulu,
MSN or
Comcast Fancast. You can choose through which format to watch video and there are some nice community features such as ratings. The nice part about the human-editor element is that they will filter mulitple results to feature the best feed, with the fastest load time and fewest problems. There are also editor picks and features showing which content is the most popular at the given time.
You can search by Network, Categories, A-Z or by simply typing in what you're looking for. Perhaps one of the best features is the ability to set up an account, add playlists and subscribe to certain programming so you can be alerted when new material is available. And there is support for iPods and iPhones - programming is limited at the moment but promises to grow in the coming months.
There are a couple of issues with Modern Feed. The most obvious is that for many shows you're at the mercy of whoever is hosting the video. This could mean slower load times, the need for a different type of media player, etc. This also means that you have to jump around to different websites, slowing down the entire process of finding and watching video.
When you search, a pop-up box appears. Type in "The Office" and there are two options, the NBC show and something from the Yale Office of Public Affairs. Search for "Family Guy" and only the FOX show appears - which begs the question ... why do I need a pop-up if I have only one choice? It's another unnecessary click.
Overall, it's a nice service. There is no shortage of content - while a site like Hulu is a bit easier to use and the player is of extremely high quality, Modern Feed is able to present a much larger inventory, even if you have to go off-site to view. I think one important theme comes out of both services - while YouTube is the king of user-generated content, these other sites are showing that for professionally created content, there are much, much better options than a grainy video shot by a teenager in his basement while watching TV.
Dashwire allows you to take just about all data on your mobile device and manage it from your desktop. Handy for managing your photos and address book, call logs, sharing media, checking out your mobile Web bookmarks - you can even catalog and send and receive text messages. All messages sent go through your mobile device, so your contacts see that a message is coming from your phone, not an external application. Managing and editing your contacts is a very nice feature. I find this application particularly useful for a few reasons.
First, my business contacts are increasingly communicating via my mobile device. This way I can stay in touch during business hours without needing to use my tiny keypad. Second, photo management is much easier - I can add titles and tags, upload photos to the Web, organize my photos and share photos with friends. Third, it saves a ton of time when cleaning up your phone. Sometimes I have too many photos stored and my device slows down. This way I can manage, delete and save photos and important messages elsewhere. The service automatically syncs with my phone, removing items to clear up space.
It's all pretty simple. Sign up for an account and receive login info via text. Install the app and set up your account. Dashwire connects your device and your desktop via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, wireless data and USB. It's fairly data intensive, so it would be best to have an unlimited data package with your carrier.
Check out the
video tutorial to get the full picture. Dashwire is available for Windows Mobile 5 and 6, with more devices to be added soon.
Flytunes (formerly Broadclip Inc.)
is an iPhone, iPod Touch and iPod application that streams radio stations
through your iPhone, and it's completely free. Now they have added over 100 more
stations for your listening pleasure to bump the total to more than 200
individual stations.
Individual artists' stations include The Beatles, Elvis and Led Zeppelin, among
others. There's talk radio (BBC, CSPAN, The OReilly Factor), and various music
categories like R&B, Country, Rock, etc. Some of the new channels include
SmoothJazz.com, local weather forecasts, NPR and sports channel The Score.com.
It's Friday afternoon - almost time to go home, to the pub, out to dinner ... and hopefully not work late. But there are still a few hours to kill. Here are a couple of sites to help you get there. I'm making some upgrades to the old homestead, so forgive me if I've let my personal life influence my work.
Mydeco - Furniture Fix for the Decorati: This is a complete room planner. Enter your room dimensions (or pick from pre-loaded layouts), drop in doors, windows and other architectural features and start planning. You can choose from a variety of furnishings like beds, dressers, chairs, televisions, even radiators. You can also paint, lay carpet, tiling and wallpaper. One neat feature is that everything you decorate with is a real item available for purchase, or just estimating costs. It's not hard to lose some time here.
Small Blue Printer's Garden Planner: This one is for the green thumbs out there. Similar to Mydeco (but you can't buy trees, shrubs or ponds), start with an area by entering the size you're working with or start with an existing plan. Lay down sod, add trees, shrubs, ground cover (stoned walkways, etc.), flowers, garden furniture ... if it's found in a garden, most of it is here. You can fully customize by using the "tools" section.
Zillow is a tool that's been around for some time, good for researching the value of your home and those in your neighborhood - or anywhere else really. Now they've added a new, very welcome function. Their Mortgage Marketplace allows users to enter the essentials of what they are looking for (loan type, location, estimated property value, credit history) anonymously. No contact info is needed or shared. Then, lenders make competing offers that you can evaluate side-by-side. Only certified lenders can make offers, but they can all view what's out there. Nice for when you're exploring the marketplace but don't want follow calls, emails, smoke signals or any other way aggressive loaners pursue their prey. One other nice feature - borrowers can rate lenders and leave comments, forcing the lenders to keep it honest and allowing borrowers to make better informed decisions.
Billions of text messages are sent every year in the US - chances are you've received a few important ones.
Treasuremytext is a service that allows you to store those messages in an unlimited account should you ever need to. A handy service should you switch phones, services, run out of memory on your phone or any other situation that may cause a loss of vital messages.
Treasuremytext has a phone number where you can forward any text message. It will be saved into your account, where you can create folders and organize messages just like an email account. You can even publish your messages elsewhere on the Web.
If you read this blog with any regularity, you've probably learned that I'm a big music fan. And there are some interesting happenings in the music and social networking scene.
According to Reuters, MySpace Music is apparently ready to launch any day now. It involves at least three major music labels and is intended to rival iTunes. Which is a lofty goal - according to
NPD MusicWatch, Apple just passed Walmart as the top music retailer in the US. You will find streaming music, MP3 downloads, concert tickets, ringtones and merchandise. Already on many artists' profiles you can purchase songs through
SnoCap - a unique system that alters the price of each song according to demand and a good way for unsigned artists to make a little money through social networking.
It's good to see MySpace take advantage of one of the best features of the site, for me anyway. MySpace has long allowed users to post songs to their profiles from a huge inventory of musicians on the site. That made it very easy to discover new music. Also, by visiting most artists' profiles, you can hear at least four complete songs - handy when you want to hear some samples before purchasing, or deciding which concert you want to get to. This is also a potentially large new revenue stream for MySpace.
Now, some believe this will be a short-lived success.
Sarah Perez wrote an interesting article at ReadWriteWeb. She uses the example of rapper 50 Cent and the launching of
his very own social network. It's a new trend that some say threatens to take people away from MySpace. With their own sites, artists control every aspect - including advertising, music and merchandise sales. But the biggest problem is the threat of social networking fatigue. I listen to a variety of music - everything from Tom Petty to Ice Cube (Lethal Injection is still one of the best rap albums of all time). I like the idea of MySpace Music because I already have a profile set up there. I really don't want to have dozens of profiles for individual artists' sites with dozens of usernames and passwords, dozens of new "friends" etc. I'd rather get it all in one place. Many artists are talking about simply redirecting their MySpace profiles to their own networks. Let's hope this doesn't happen - taking a robust, useful system whittling it down to hundreds or thousands of new social sites with such a narrow focus isn't good for anybody.
Can't get enough entertainment out of emailing, IMing or slowly surfing the Web? Now you can get XM radio for your Blackberry. The optimized-for-mobile service features 20 exclusive channels and 24-hour comedy programming. You'll need a Blackberry 8800, 8700, Pearl or Curve and $7.99 per month. A
free 24-hour trial is also available.
Good news for mobile Web users - Opera Mini 4.1 has launched in beta. The Opera Mini browser has long been touted as one of the best for mobile devices - it's been downoaded by more than 40 million people worldwide - and now looks to make some significant improvements.
New server upgrades claim to make the browser 50% faster. Some other new features include:
- URL autocomplete - the browser will suggest a URL as you type, saving time.
- Find-in-page - search for specific terms within a Web page and Opera will highlight it for you.
- Save pages for offline viewing.
- Upload and download files - photos to Flickr, your blog, just about anywhere. Sound like a nice solution for photoblogging.
Check out their
download instructions. Also, the
Opera Mini forum is already buzzing with bugs, tips and tricks, so it may be a good place to look if you're having any difficulties or want to read up a bit before installing.
According to the Yahoo Buzz blog, online research into April Fool's day pranks is up 40% over last year. Searches has jumped 302% in the past 7 days for "practical jokes" and 344% for "april fool's jokes." A couple of points of interest, according to Yahoo's data:
- Women 35-44 make up 1 of every 10 pranksters
- Wisconsin is most interested in the holiday, but Pennsylvanians led queries for jokes and pranks.
Wikipedia defines the day as one "marked by the commission of hoaxes and other practical jokes of
varying sophistication on friends, enemies and neighbors, or sending them on fools' errands, the aim of which
is to embarrass the gullible." Check out the
Wikipedia entry for a nice history of the day, including famous pranks via television, radio and websites.
It's a little bit surprising that it took this long, but
Cha Cha has finally ended their human-guided search business model. In the past, you could visit Cha Cha, enter a search term and a human would jump online with you and help you find what you were looking for. Instead, they will now focus on mobile search - or as they put it, mobile "answers." There is a nice video demonstration
here. There is no fee, only text messaging rates from your carrier. You can send a question via text or even call in and voice your question, receiving an answer by text message.
If it works well, it seems like a pretty slick solution to mobile search. If you're nostalgic for human-powered search, head over to
Mahalo, where humans index Web pages rather than algorithms.
