Ubiquity : control the web with language-based instructions

Recently Mozilla Labs announced the launch of Ubiquity, an experiment from Mozilla Labs to connect the web with language in attempt to provide new user interfaces that enables everyone to do common web tasks more quickly and easily.

Ubiquity is made to simplify tasks on Web interaction. As illustration Mozilla gave an example, there are lots of tasks you should do to send invitation to a friend for a meetup in a restaurant where in the invitation email you want to include the map of the restaurant so your friend easily find them as well as a review of the restaurant. All of these requires you to do many web tasks, composing on a web-mail service, finding the map on map site, copy the map image to the email or maybe just put the link of the map, searching review on search-engine, then paste the review to email or just put a link of it. Can you count how many clicks and windows involved ?.

Ubiquity to map a location

"Most people do not have an easy way to manage the vast resources of the Web to simplify their task at hand. For the most part they are left trundling between web sites, performing common tasks resulting in frustration and wasted time."

For those troublesome activities is Ubiquity made for, Ubiquity is made to explore how best to empower users to control the web with language-based intructions, enable on-demand, user-generated mashups with existing open Web APIs and at last it will extend the browser functionality easily. Ubiquity lets you define your own commands and share it for others.

To get the big picture of what Ubiquity, the above video explains it very well and to experience it just install Ubiquity. I have tested it for emailing , updating Twitter and searching the web, translating the web etc. In searching the web, it reminds me to search the web with Launchy.

Ubiquity to search the weather

Ubiquity to search a keyword in Wikipedia

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September 5, 2008

Google Chrome first encounter

I have downloaded Google Chrome beta this morning and haven't tried until this afternoon. Installation is straight and easy, a file sized about 475 Kilobytes was downloaded and running the file will do the installation. When install is finish you are offered to import from its big brother, existing Mozilla Firefox. However you can just skip the import process.

This afternoon I tried to browse with Google chrome for small Google Chrome review. First impression I got was, the screen is so clean and tidy and fast initialization. There are no cluttered buttons. Bottom area of the browser is naked free from buttons and space for status bar and any other common thingy on a browser bottom. This uncluttered screen area gives wider point of view, especially for one with average monitor size. However, since the extension for Google Chrome is not available at the moment, I think when the time is come for extensions, this clean appearance will be populated by buttons.

Clever solution from folks at Google is for the status bar that is only appears when mouse is hovering the links on the page. This solution provides more space for the content of the browser. As I wrote in previous post that Chrome is isolating each tab to prevent crashing another tab. This feature is represented by the Task Manager on Google Chrome, hence just like Windows task manager, when you found one tab that is freezing, with task manager you can easily kill the tab without losing other tabs. The feature that I like the most from Google Chrome. I've always having trouble with freezing Firefox tabs and ended with losing all opened tabs.

On tab browsing side I found there is no button to switch to previous or next tab ( very useful when opening lost of tabs ), however keyboard shortcuts Ctrl-Shif-Tab and Ctrl-Tab is enough for solution. Opening computer files can be done through three ways, by pressing Ctrl-O , dragging the file onto Chrome window and by common browsers solution, typing the file path on address bar. Searching internet can be done easily by typing keywords in address bar. It is automatically search the internet with preferred search engine you like. The default search engine uses for this searh feature can be set and managed through the options menu, whether you like Google, Yahoo or any other search engine. Bookmarking can be done by pressing Ctrl-D, pressing star button beside address bar and dragging the page link onto the bookmarks tab that is activated and toggled by pressing Ctrl-B. Creating folders on bookmarks tab is easy and will appears on bookmarks tab. By showing folders on bookmarks tab this way, accessing bookmarks is even easier.

Overall Google Chrome is quite satisfying, despite some lacks at some points, it is acceptable as this is beta version. I couldn't comment of the speed of Google Chrome on browsing the page as I run it on shared connection where I found the speed is average comparing with Firefox on the same condition. At the other hand, following the hype, at the first day of beta release, techcrunch reported that Getclicky web analytic says that almost 2% of all traffic to 45,000 sites they monitored is coming from Google Chrome; quite interesting


Lets hoping the final release will have lots of improvements and heading the way to better browsing experience with Google Chrome.

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September 2, 2008

Google Chrome , new open source browser from Google

It is reported that Google is planning to release its Google Browser known as "Google Chrome" tomorrow. Another browser ?, yes and Google is serious about it. Google Chrome is claimed to be streamlined and simple as well as clean and fast. I haven't seen any of Google Chrome in action before, here I put an image of Google Chrome courtesy of Techcrunch. Meanwhile take a look at this comic strip that explains about technical design of Google Chrome.

Built from open source Apple's WebKit and Mozilla's Firefox components, Google Chrome is open sourced as well. On the official Google Blog it is said Google Chrome will keep each tab in an isolated sandbox, hence to prevent tab interfering another and provide better improved protection. They also boasts more powerful Javascript engine, V8 that will power up the next generation of web applications that aren't possible in others today's web browsers.

By keeping each tab in an isolated "sandbox", we were able to prevent
one tab from crashing another and provide improved protection from
rogue sites. We improved speed and responsiveness across the board. We
also built a more powerful JavaScript engine, V8, to power the next
generation of web applications that aren't even possible in today's
browsers

So lets be prepared to become beta tester of this new beast from Google.

Image taken from techcrunch

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September 1, 2008

See yourself years back through yearbookyourself

If you ever wonder how you'd look like in the past, you should try this web application. Upload your photo to yearbookyourself and you will see yourself on those old-days outfits and hairdos. You are allowed to save your manipulated photos back to your computer, a great way to collect for your yearbook photo collections.

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August 13, 2008

Privnote lets you send your message like Mission Impossible agent

'This tape will destroy itself in 5 seconds', is renowned quote from Mission Impossible film. We are now can do the same thing as those MI agents. Sending message that will destroy it self after the receiver read the message sounds cool. Privnote is a web application that lets you creates message and sent it to receiver and then deletes it. However, don't expect the message will destroy itself with auto-exploding scene as on those MI movies. It just deleted when the intended message recipient read the message, that's all without explosion ado.

So how about losing the message ?, well that is your mistake then. The message is secret, please read the message then memorize it, if you have kind of short term memory loss, then your capability as an agent is questioned.*grin*. The message is deleted right away as you read the message on browser, which means when you close the browser window the message is gone.

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July 3, 2008

Socialbrowse, share your links in Twitter-way

We may found Twitter is also useful for links share, whenever you found interesting links, you may tweet it so your friends got notified. How many links you've shared through Twitter everyday ?. If you are sharing links quite often, this links sharing service is might for you. Socialbrowse, a service that lets you shares links in easy way, it is best described as a Twitter for links plus few unique features that are useful for browsing tool.

Socialbrowse is come with Firefox extension where the extension lets you easily share and post link you found interesting. What makes Socialbrowse is twitter-like is the way they distribute links, uses "Follow" system, which anyone familiar with Twitter is familiar with follow system. Users can follow which users they'd like to recieve updates from, and updates of links are mass-broadcasted to users's followers. Updates can be displayed through notification message that are displayed each times users updating and can be displayed as feed entries through browser sidebar. To share a link simply click the Socialbrowse 'plus' button on the right of browser address bar and choose the best suit category for your link.

Socialbrowse is also featuring point system where points are given when your followers are also sharing links that you've shared, it is more like karma point. The more your links shared by your fans, the more point you get and chance you are listed on leaders board on Socialbrowse site. I found this is cool as you are encouraged to share more to get points. Popular shared links are tabulated on Socialbrowse site.

Socialbrowse is cool so far despite the lack of commenting feature on every links we share. Short description or comments on the links shared would be useful since a link title is said nothing at all while the content is fine.

Socialbrowse certainly gives new way on sharing links, though Twitter and any other micro-blogging service able to do same thing, but Socialbrowse is much better for those who rely on links aggregator such as Digg.

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June 25, 2008

Get listed on Twellow, twitter yellow pages and a dmoz-like Twitter directory

There are many services that offers Twitter search, but I found this webpronews service called Twellow is interesting. Twellow let you search Twitter user and they organized them in category and simply provides you Twitter directory that is simply useful. It reminds me to the dmoz web directory project, and Twellow is just pioneering the directory for Twitter, a yellow pages for Twitter.

In Twellow you can search based on the category or simply search from all and lets you listing your self on Twellow by simply entering your Twitter screen name. Currently Twellow indexes and categorizes over 300,000 Twitters users and chance to grow fast.

Twellow.com is designed to assist you in finding real people who really matter.

via webpronews

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Feedly, RSS + Socialmedia bring a collaborative startpage for your Firefox 3

In previous post I was posting about web2.0 application called only2clicks that simplifies your actions on visiting your bookmarks. We do love simplicity mainly because basically we are lazy, wait, simple is sophisticated no ? as most people said refer to Da Vinci quote, "simple is ultimate sophistication". I clearly seen this on Apple products, iPhone, iPod etc.

Speaking of simplicity, having RSS and access to social media in a one page and rich in features is another simplicity. That's what Feedly does, giving you a more social and magazine-like start page for your Firefox 3.

Feedly is a Firefox 3 extension that gives you all from your firefox start page. Reading your Google reader RSS subscription, tweets on Twitter, MyYahoo, Bloglines, socialize on Facebook, browse and update Flickr, visiting firefox bookmarks etc. It provide you a real time summaries of your interested content on the net in one page. Twitter+Feedly integration easily lets you tweets and annotation feature lets you annotate and recommends articles to your friend, plus it allows you to perform a personalized search across your favorite sites.

Currently Feedly is available in beta version.

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June 24, 2008

George Carlin passed away, Twitter is down, this is what you need to do ...

When Twitter is down and you're desperately need tweeting about George Carlin , what will you do ?, go out hoping that Twitter will back on soon ?, PM your friend, that he might cracked Twitter and asked him to bring it back online ?. No. simply point you browser to twitabit, tweets through it , let them carry and pass your tweets to Twitter when it back on. That simple ? hell yeah.

Twitabit is a service that lets you tweets when Twitter is down. Twitabit will queue your tweets and make sure they are delivered as soon as Twitter is back online. Simply pass your Twitter credentials and tweet content to twitabit, let them to do the rest. Okay, now worry on Twitter blackout is gone, what if Twitabit is also down at the same time ? Huh .... I better off from the net for a while.

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June 23, 2008

Moodmill sold due to lack of funding

Moodmill was officially sold, according the founder, Felix Widjaja, the decision was made due to lack of funding and time to continue the work on Moodmill. Moodmill has left far behind in the micro blogging arena due to these limitation. The founder did not clearly mention how much the deal worth , but Moodmill sold to KingsideMedia.

Started and developed as a side project to play with AJAX technology, Moodmill is a micro-blogging service almost similar to Twitter. The plus point on Moodmill is where you can associates your posts with your mood at the time. Moodmill has graphical representation of your emotions or mood, which is known as mood meter. Mashable dubbed Moodmill as 'Twitter plus' , where clearly the plus they mean is the mood meter.

So far , I see no changes yet on the Moodmill website, neither the developer team line up. I personally expecting Kingside Media wouldn't make significant facelift on Moodmill. I'm rather expecting them bring Moodmill back to the track and boost Moodmill competitiveness in the market. Micro blogging is emerging, and it has potential to grow more, where mobile technology is the future trend.

Whatever the decision, I'm expecting Moodmill could compete with any other micro-blogging web applications.

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June 21, 2008

Youtube allows long form video, 1 GB per movie

YouTube, the pioneer of online video service is reported move further by allowing long-form video. All we know that the current maximum limit of YouTube video is 10 minutes. For its content partners, YouTube allows the movie length up to 1 Gigabyte per file, as stated on a new policy emailed to its content partners last week.

Long Form Content
You now will be able to upload and monetize videos in your account that are longer than 10 minutes. This feature is exclusively for partners. Independent Film makers that partner with us will now be able to upload their feature films on our site. Please note that for long form content, the maximum file size is 1GB.

One Gigabytes is considered almost enough for a full-length, standard definition movie, enough for some DVD-quality Hollywood movies.

Even there are worries, the move will crush Youtube, it is said Google / Youtube might will make money pretty good on this. YouTube paid bandwidth more cheaply than anyone and storage cost are tiny for them and it should likely drop by half every two years or so. And considering potential users of YouTube for this long-form video, it should likely YouTube will gain good revenue for the ads on these long movies.

Because YouTube bypasses CDNs and peers directly with big Internet exchanges, YouTube pushes data on the Web more cheaply than anyone. Their cost of streaming is a tiny fraction of a penny per user per hour. If it were 1/4 of a cent, we're talking about $250 to stream an hour of video to 100,000 users -- and we can make informed guesstimate that YouTube is paying even less than that. Meanwhile, assuming YouTube can sell at least one Adsense For Video ad at a $15 CPM, that's $1,500 in revenue.

For you filmmakers outthere, you have to be a YouTube partner to sign up to be able to host long-form videos on YouTube.


Source: SAI via Furrier

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June 18, 2008

Plurk, twitter with easy to track timeline feature

Plurk is another micro-blogging on the net, at first I was thinking, 'Another Twitter-like application' ?. Yes, it is another Twitter-like application, but it seems Plurk is more robust in features.

Plurk has a horizontal timeline feature that makes it easier to follow and track , when exatcly plurks was made just by scrolling it right and left ( scroll easily with your mouse wheels). In Twitter your will easily lose you older tweets as the more people you follow are tweeting. The backwards for this is maybe, its only can be visible on the Plurk website, compare it with Twitter, where you know what is going without ever visit Twitter site.

Plurks is also allows you to embed images and videos directly from Youtube or Flickr, a feature that Twitter is left behind. It also has karma rating feature that's scale from 0 to 10 to represent how active users are. In Plurk you can track and check each plurks and its responses individually, makes you easier to respond to other people plurks.

It seems that Plurks is targeting more broader users, the language support up to now is about 13 languages.

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June 17, 2008

Speed dial access your favourites websites anywhere with Only2Click

I have plenty of bookmarks but only few of them were visited frequently, the way bookmarks organized is one factor that makes you are willing to visit the sites. I found this neat simple web applications that can be a solution. Only2clicks is a web application that helps you organizing your bookmarks or favourite websites into one place.

As the only2clicks name implies, it simplifies your bookmarking access speed. Frequently visited websites is organized in a single page and can be arranged in special tabs. If you are ever experience with Opera browser, you will know what I mean with speed-dial, Opera has built-in Speed dial feature. However Only2clicks enable you to organized the bookmarks into several tabs for categorizing the bookmarks. To add a site to only2clicks, simply by providing the URL of the sites and put the image for thumbnail. Arranging your bookmark is also can be done using drag and drop. If you want to import your existing browser's bookmark collection, only2click is also providing features of import and exporting bookmarks.

As the applications is a web base, your bookmarks can be accessed anywhere. Simply set it as your homepage and you can access it anywhere just using a internet bowser. You can either share your bookmark as public or not. More interestingly, only2clicks is also has iPhone interface. So when you got your iPhone 3G, be ready with only2clicks for your favourite sites.

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June 16, 2008

Couldn't close with Microsoft, Yahoo signed deal with Google

Yahoo has signed a non-exclusive deal with its rival Google this morning, in which Google will supply Yahoo with search ads. The deal also extends beyond advertising, where the two giants will make the instant-messaging (IM) services interoperable, removing the barrier that separated two communities users. The deal has ended the previous talks between Yahoo and Microsoft without any results. The deal is believed could increase both Yahoo and Google search revenue and also could make Google even gaining more power in the market.

"We see this as a good, open, flexible deal and (one that) helps Yahoo be strengthened as a good longer-term competitor," Chief Executive Jerry Yang said.

Yahoo is expecting the deal could raise revenue by USD 800 milion during the first year and extra incremental operating cash flow at US$ 250 million to US$450 million.

"This agreement provides a source of funds to both deliver financial value to stockholders from search monetization and to invest in our broader strategy to transform display advertising and advance our starting-point objectives with users, It enhances competition by promoting our ability to compete in the marketplace where we are especially well-positioned: in the convergence of search and display." Yahoo President Sue Decker said in a statement.

It is said, the deal is a 10-year deal with a four-year initial period and two options for Yahoo to renew for three years.

"This commercial agreement provides Yahoo with the opportunity to deliver more relevant ads to users and provide advertisers and publishers with better advertising technology to help them succeed in their own businesses, and will preserve the competitive and dynamic online advertising space", said Google CEO Eric Schmidt.

Although the partnership signed, both companies are voluntarily delaying the implementation for up to three and a half months to let Department of Justine to review the deal after Microsoft raised antitrust concerns about the deal.

"This collaboration between two technology giants and direct competitors for Internet advertising and search services raises important competition concerns. The consequences for advertisers and consumers could be far-reaching and warrant careful review, and we plan to investigate the competitive and privacy implications of this deal further in the Antitrust Subcommittee.", said Senator. Herb Kohl, Democratic chairman of the Senate Antitrust Subcommittee.

I believe Microsoft didn't push that 'I'm feeling lucky' button earlier.

via Cnet.com

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June 13, 2008

FloaTwitter, check your friends tweets in a cool fast way

Let say I want to check my friends last tweets, and this cool way called FLOATwitter allows you to check what your friends last tweets by rollover their profile picture. You can check your friend's friend last twitter which is also interesting.

Simply put you username in FLAOTwitter website , no need to put your password.

Clicking your friend's picture will opens your friend's friends profile.

via Orli Yakuel

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Acrobat.com, a suite hosted service from Adobe System Inc.

Adobe System has introduced a suite of hosted services, acrobat.com. Acrobat dot com is a set of online services consist of file sharing and storage, PDF converter, online word processor and web conferencing.

To deliver the engaging online experiences beyond traditional office productivity tools, Acrobat dot com take the advantage of PDF, Adobe Flash® and Adobe AIR™ technologies. The services hosted by acrobat dot com include:

1. Adobe Buzzword®, on-line web-based word processor that can be used to easily, create, co-authoring and sharing documents for comment and review. It is also able to create high-quality print results.

2. Adobe ConnectNow, web conferencing that includes video and voice conferencing, desktop sharing and integrated chat service. To use this service you need to install Adobe ConnectNow add-in.

3. Online File Sharing, centralized online file sharing with access controls and online PDF conversion for up to five documents that support high quality, web-embeddable documents.

Acrobat.com is also designed to work with Adobe Acrobat 9 and Adobe Reader 9. Acrobat 9 users can access to a "personal workspace in the clouds" that is available from virtually anywhere for working with others online and can use acrobat.com as a central location for sharing forms, conducting shared reviews and co-navigating a PDF document with colleagues. Adobe Reader 9 can have easy access to Acrobat.com to share files, convert to up to five documents to PDF online and participate in electronic forms and shared reviews that is initiated by Acrobat 9 user.

“Fifteen years ago, PDF moved the world from paper to electronic documents without sacrificing print quality, changing the way we share information.Acrobat.com extends that vision, moving the world from email attachments to online collaborative documents without sacrificing authoring quality. With rich Internet applications enabled by Adobe, we can combine desktop and cloud computing to create innovative productivity applications that will change the way we create, store and share documents together.” said Rob Tarkoff, senior vice president, Business Productivity Business Unit.

Currently Acrobat.com is available as public beta for free sign-up.

via adobe.com

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June 9, 2008

Greatway URLinks June 8 2008

At last it is Sunday, here is several links for today. This week I was having fun with Kindle , exploring Google Chart and busy with my other web projects, so I think today links roundup are relevant. Enjoy.

1. Free Kindle Books and Free Online eBooks resources. This is collection of the best resources for free books for Kindle; the wireless reading device and e-book reader from Amazon.

2. Cool things you can do with Google Chart API. Google has made creating great looking charts incredibly easy. Explore the power of Google Chart API, get creative with it, here you can see what's been done with it and how you can do it yourself.

3. 30+ Adobe AIR Applications. Adobe AIR is gaining more popularity and more fans. Here is list of Adobe AIR applications ranging from productivity tools, social media tools, microblogging tools to music, photo and video tools.

4.10 Samples of Beautiful CSS Typography. Great sites with great beautiful typography is always tempting to be explored. CSS typography is the one I always want to explore and learn. This site collects 10 samples of beautiful CSS Typography and show how they do it.

5.Web Developer's Handbook. If you are into web design, web development or SEO, this site is a must. Huge links to web development resources on the net.

6.30 Websites to follow if you’re into Web Development. 30 sites to keep track of to find techniques, news and resources about web development.

By the way, if you have interesting links, feel free to contact me.

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June 8, 2008

Follow Euro 2008 match and results news with Netvibes widget

I'm a football lover and currently in the euphoria of Euro2008. To follow the event, as usual the the Internet is the first resort for it. Yes off course you can always visit the official Euro 2008 website to get the Euro match and news, but I want to tell you that with Netvibes, the events can be followed even easier.

With the Netvibes Euro2008 widget you can get the information about the matches, standings and news about Euro 2008. Install the widget on your Netvibes page and follow the event instantly.

Or just click this Netvibes Sport Euro 2008 page to see the widget in action. In this page you will also got the RSS feed widget from uefa.euro2008.com, the widget from the official euro2008 website.

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June 7, 2008

Google Image Labeler Game

I was told by a friend about Google Image Labeler earlier, and haven't try until today. What is Google Image Labeler exactly ?. Well this is the way Google improve the relevance of image search result by allowing people to label google's images.

In a form of a game, I think Google is expecting the most relevance label for the images. By pairing the participants, assuming that label guessed by two person that is match is considered more relevance.

In the game you and your partner will view the same set of images, and you and your partner is allowed to give labels as much as possible to describe image you see. Once your label matches your partner label, you will get points. The points will depend on how specific the label is.

You will see how addictive this game is, I was spending two hours for this and found it fun too. If you stuck with the label, you can pass.

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TotSpot, social networking for children and parents

Imagine it as Facebook or Myspace, but it's for children. TotSpot, a newly social networking website founded by recent graduates of Harvard University Class of 2007 that's, made for kids and parents just launched. TotSpot is offering features where parents can publish private and secure pages about their kids and share it with families and friends. TotSpot itself is part online scrapbook, parent journal and social network.

"Parents have a deep desire to share the story of their children with friends and family. TotSpot is the first site to provide a simple and safe destination to do this all in one place," said Michael Broukhim, co-founder of TotSpot.com.

Designed for parents needs with children aged 0 -12 and expectant mothers, on TotSpot parents can shares photos, videos and journal, as well as create life-stage oriented content such as Growth Charts. For Growth Chart, TotSpot will keeps track of height and weight entered and at the end of each month, the most recent height and weight is recorded and added to the child timeline, based on collected data, pretty chart will be displayed.

TotSpot boast "Your Kid, Your Content" policy, they ensures that parents always own the content bout their children, and the child's page is only read by the right persons.

Safety and security is paramount. On TotSpot, privacy settings prevent anyone from seeing a child's page unless the parents (or guardians) have explicitly invited that individual. In addition, TotSpot's stats feature enables parents to know exactly who has visited their child's page.

For more information go to TotSpot, a place for kids

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June 6, 2008