Download Squad http://downloadsquad.switched.com Download Squad. http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/downloadsquad.switched.com/media/feedlogo.gif Download Squad http://downloadsquad.switched.com prods@weblogsinc.com (Weblogs, Inc. Producers) support@weblogsinc.com (Weblogs, Inc. Web Support) en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. View our terms of service here: http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/ Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/ <![CDATA[The 5 most annoying programs on your PC]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/01/01/the-5-most-annoying-programs-on-your-pc/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/01/01/the-5-most-annoying-programs-on-your-pc/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/01/01/the-5-most-annoying-programs-on-your-pc/#comments The most annoying programsElephantware. That is what we are talking about. Bloated programs that make brand new PCs boot like Pentium 2s with 64 MBs of RAM.

This is software that causes your screen to freeze while it works, consumes enough system resources to display a reminder box letting you know there is a new, even bigger, version available for download. Software we've been forced to install so we can read some special document format, enjoy some DRM infected piece of media, or communicate with others who also live with the same brand of behemoth riding on their backs.

We all have it. We are all stuck with it. And, aside from a glimmer or two of hope, we can't expect to escape their boot screens, quick launch icons, or update reminders anytime soon.

This is the worst of the worst.

Continue reading The 5 most annoying programs on your PC

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The 5 most annoying programs on your PC originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 01 Jan 2008 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> analysis Ian Smith Tue, 01 Jan 2008 09:00:00 EST Download Squad <![CDATA[HTML 5 Wish List]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/11/29/html-5-wish-list/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/11/29/html-5-wish-list/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/11/29/html-5-wish-list/#comments Wish list for HTML version 5Application are moving online at a frighteningly speed. People are increasingly using their computers as little more than internet terminals and media players. All of this innovation has happened, in part, because HTML and the browser marketplace has been relatively stable (even FireFox's original goal was to work like IE - only better). All that said, we've started to push Javascript, CSS, and HTML about as far as they can go.

Let's face it, HTML 4 is old. Really old. No doubt older than your PC. Older than your iPod (older than the very first iPod). It was built and designed solely for document rendering in the days before NetFlix added ratings to their website and Google started mapping. Now we have spreadsheets, word processors, work flow engines, games, and outlook style email clients running within the web browser. All on HTML 4. All with multiple hacks to make the code run correctly in as many browsers as possible. All with inherent security vulnerabilities . Isn't it time for a new version of HTML?

Douglas Crockford thinks so. The man behind JSON, JSLINT, and Manic Mansion (of all things) has a lot to say on the subject and offers so very timely and useful suggestions on what the next version should look like.

Here is the a quick summary of his wish list and an explanation of why Google (of all people) may make fixing HTML impossible.:

Continue reading HTML 5 Wish List

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HTML 5 Wish List originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 29 Nov 2007 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> analysisbrowser warsBrowserWarsfirefoxhtmlhtml5ieoperasafariwc3 Ian Smith Thu, 29 Nov 2007 16:00:00 EST Download Squad <![CDATA[Play online chess with Shredder]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/11/19/play-online-chess-with-shredder/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/11/19/play-online-chess-with-shredder/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/11/19/play-online-chess-with-shredder/#comments Shredder Chess EngineNo, we aren't talking about Shredder from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. We're talking about the Shredder chess engine. This AI likes to play chess, and it also likes to win.

Let's face it, most game AI work these days is not about making harder opponents, it is about making flawed opponents that play like humans. "Indistinguishable", if you will. But, as Shredder makes clear, it is easy for the computers to beat humans. That is why the computers should fight each other.

The Shredder engine is actually built to play against other computer chess engines. It does its job well and has won 12 World Computer Chess Champion titles since 1996. For this online version the AI has been dumbed down to make for a more interesting human vs computer challenge. It is still dirt hard though and you'll have to have some serious chess skills to get more than 10 moves into most games without being checkmated.

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Play online chess with Shredder originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 19 Nov 2007 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> computer aicomputer chessComputerAiComputerChessonline chessOnlineChesstimewasters Ian Smith Mon, 19 Nov 2007 14:00:00 EST Download Squad <![CDATA[Predatory Lending Association]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/11/15/predatory-lending-association/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/11/15/predatory-lending-association/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/11/15/predatory-lending-association/#comments PayDay LoansLook out PayDay loan proprietors!

The web has often been used to make a point (The Onion anyone?). But rarely has it been used as effectively as with the Predatory Lending Association.

This site has it all: Loan calculators, discussion boards, racial profiling tools, and a Google maps based "poor finder" that makes suggestions for where you should open up your next PayDay loan store. The site is extremely sarcastic and attempts to illustrate the cold, calculating, and corrupt business practices of predatory lenders, many of which exist simply to let people with lower incomes hock their next pay check and take the money to the Casino.

For those who aren't in the USA, PayDay loan stores offer short term loans with enormous fees based on your previous pay stub. They let you get your check early, but they'll charge you 10-30% to do it.

The site encourages people to sign up for their mailing list so they can notify you of future projects and whether or not PayDay lenders attempt to hack the site and take it down.

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Predatory Lending Association originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 15 Nov 2007 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> google mapsGoogleMapshumorpayday loansPaydayLoansPredatory LendingPredatoryLendingsatire Ian Smith Thu, 15 Nov 2007 18:00:00 EST Download Squad <![CDATA[What eye movement teaches us about web design]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/11/15/what-eye-movement-teaches-us-about-web-design/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/11/15/what-eye-movement-teaches-us-about-web-design/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/11/15/what-eye-movement-teaches-us-about-web-design/#comments Google Heat MapVirtual Hosting has an excellent article up detailing 23 actionable web design lessons that we can learn from eye-tracking studies. Most of the items are common sense: people scan web pages rather than read them, people look at the top left corner of the page first, people ignore banner ads, people ignore fancy formating that looks like ads, etc. But why do people interact with pages in this manner?

The answer should be obvious: web designers have trained visitors to use their sites in a certain way. Yahoo, Google, AOL, and MSN all format their sites according to the above listed guidelines. Because of this, people expect site names and logos to be a the top left. They expect banner shaped images to be banners and therefore ignorable. They expect sites to look, feel, and function a certain way and they are very frustrated when they don't.

In a way it is like news papers. People expect news papers to look and function a certain way no matter what city or country they are in. Its perpetually reinforcing as each site that follows this standard pattern (which is not a bad pattern by any means) causes more users to expect the next site they visit to look the same. It is good because it promotes usability but bad because it limits creativity and new design patterns. People have to innovative inside a very small box.

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What eye movement teaches us about web design originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 15 Nov 2007 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> design tipsDesignTipseye movementEyeMovementhowtosweb designWebDesign Ian Smith Thu, 15 Nov 2007 09:00:00 EST Download Squad <![CDATA[Douglas Crockford: The State of Ajax]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/11/08/douglas-crockford-the-state-of-ajax/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/11/08/douglas-crockford-the-state-of-ajax/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/11/08/douglas-crockford-the-state-of-ajax/#comments
It isn't every day that Douglas Crockford (the father of JSON and JSLint) pops up with a new tech talk. In this one he discusses the current state of Ajax development, why mashups are inherently insecure, why the standards process is broken, and how our best hope for a newer better platform may be mobile. Say what?

Basically he proposes the idea that because the replacement rate on mobile phones is so quick (around 2 years) it would be possible to move that industry to a new platform for website interactivity. The traditional PC market moves slowly and requires that you support many many legacy platforms. But with mobile, you can run and gun with your technology and count on people upgrading. A new web platform for mobile could be Flash, it could be Silverlight, it could be a future version of ECMA Script (JavaScript) with a better CSS implementation.

The video also gives a good overview of the history of computing over networks and why the web has lagged behind on everything from rounded corners to security.

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Douglas Crockford: The State of Ajax originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 08 Nov 2007 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> ajaxanalysiscssDouglas CrawfordDouglasCrawfordhtmljavascriptjsonweb developmentWebDevelopment Ian Smith Thu, 08 Nov 2007 12:00:00 EST Download Squad <![CDATA[Facebook News Feed Fatigue]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/11/07/facebook-news-feed-fatigue/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/11/07/facebook-news-feed-fatigue/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/11/07/facebook-news-feed-fatigue/#comments
Do you login to your Facebook account each morning and immediately feel exhausted? Does looking at your friends weekend activities, application adds, and recent comments make you want crawl back into your nice warm bed and never get up again? You may be suffering from a sleep disorder known as "Facebook Fatigue."

Fear not! Facebook Fatigue is a common problem that is easily remedied with caffeine and lots and lots of super pokes.

Seriously though, is there anything actually useful in Facebook news feeds these days? Aren't most entries a crude form of personal spam? It is like free web mail all over again. Only instead of body modification drugs and unbelievably good stock deals cluttering up your Inbox, you have to wade through an endless stream of meaningless updates on the lives of your sort-of-friends.

Its like Star Magazine, only the people in it aren't rich, they aren't beautiful, they certainly aren't popular, and the most interesting thing they've done in the last 48 hours is add the True or False application. Come on! Get over yourselves people!

Facebook is like a personal invitation for people you hardly know to cry "Hey! Look at me!" over and over again each day. And now, to make matters worse, there is a Facebook News Network! Can things get any worse?

Probably.

This little gem was produced by Train of Thought sketch comedy in Seattle. Hopefully we'll see more like it in the future. Overzealous Facebook users need a good round of mocking once in a while.

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Facebook News Feed Fatigue originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 07 Nov 2007 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> analysisfacebook news networkfacebook videoFacebookNewsNetworkFacebookVideosketch comedySketchComedy Ian Smith Wed, 07 Nov 2007 14:00:00 EST Download Squad <![CDATA[JavaScript Space Invaders - Time Waster]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/11/06/javascript-space-invaders-time-waster/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/11/06/javascript-space-invaders-time-waster/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/11/06/javascript-space-invaders-time-waster/#comments
Javascript Version of Space Invaders
Twenty Years ago Space Invaders ruled the video game world. It is easy to see why the formula worked so well: you are heavily armed and heavily outnumbered by the enemy. It is the same basic model that works so well for everything from 1942 to Mario to StarCraft to Halo. Peril is increased by the enemies moving faster and faster the more of them that you killed.

With this JavaScript version of Space Invaders you can relive the classic battles without having to download anything but a web page. The game uses the YUI and demonstrates how far JavaScript has come from the days of simple form validation and button mouseovers.

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JavaScript Space Invaders - Time Waster originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 06 Nov 2007 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> arcade gamesArcadeGamesclassic gamesClassicGamesspace invadersSpaceInvaderstimewasters Ian Smith Tue, 06 Nov 2007 09:00:00 EST Download Squad <![CDATA[Good ideas: trust.salesforce.com]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/11/05/good-ideas-trust-salesforce-com/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/11/05/good-ideas-trust-salesforce-com/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/11/05/good-ideas-trust-salesforce-com/#comments
trust.salesforce.com and open service providers
The web is often a much more stable, avaliable, adaptive, and usable environment for businesses than hacking together old Excel spreadsheet and sharing them via a network drive. It can also be far cheaper than adopting the Sun, Microsoft, IBM, or Oracle software stack's to manage information and customers. That said, the pressure is still on the web service providers to keep finding ways to prove this to customers..

Even as Web 2.0 has moved millions of common computer tasks (such as IM, email, document creation, and even gaming) onto the Internet, the corporate world has been highly skeptical. That isn't surprising, corporations are often very slow to adopt new technology. Moving away from a heavy IT infrastructure and towards service based platforms has a lot of risks and SalesForce has been trying to woo more corporations to take the plunge for several years now.

One of their really good ideas from the SalesForce camp is called trust.salesforce.com. Here everyone, customer or no, can peek into their network operations center and see how things are going. The information is public and not always very flattering. Various icons and information messages let you know what the current status is and when there is a service disruption. It also lists scheduled maintenance windows and impacted systems.

This is a good idea and more companies should follow suit if they hope to attract people away from the business software stacks and onto online only equivalents. Those who provide services targeted at corporations (Google? Amazon? Microsoft?) especially need to do this as their current black box approch is hurting adoption. The more open service providers are, the fewer excuses IT Managers and CTOs will have to keep business tasks in house.

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Good ideas: trust.salesforce.com originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 05 Nov 2007 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> business tasksBusinessTasksCMScommercialNetwork OperationsNetworkOperationssalesforceservice providersServiceProviders Ian Smith Mon, 05 Nov 2007 15:00:00 EST Download Squad <![CDATA[Should Do This]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/11/02/should-do-this/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/11/02/should-do-this/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/11/02/should-do-this/#comments Tell others what they should do
Hold the phone! The opinions of arm chair quarterbacks, movie critics, CEOs, and political commentators are about to start mattering! Now they can tell other people what they should do via the Internet. And really, has the ever been a more effective way of doing things than through the Internet?

Should Do This, a quick project from the folks behind 43Things, is positioning itself as the Internet's suggestion engine. Simply enter a "who" and then enter a "what" and post it for all the world to see.

Here are some examples form their tag cloud:
  • My iPhone should handle images better in Mail.
  • Barns and Noble should add like 20 more armchairs in every bookstore.
  • Google should add Blogger to Google Apps for your domain.
  • People that live next to airports should never complain about noise.
  • Microsft should embrace ODF - Open Document Format.
  • Jack Bauer should run for president.
  • Human Kind should seek intelligence far out in space.
See, now isn't this a useful tool? It is like a whole social network just for bossy people.

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Should Do This originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 02 Nov 2007 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> internet feedbackInternetFeedbackshould do thisShouldDoThissuggestions Ian Smith Fri, 02 Nov 2007 14:00:00 EST Download Squad <![CDATA[JelloCar - fun and squishy Time Waster]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/11/02/jellocar-fun-and-squishy-time-waster/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/11/02/jellocar-fun-and-squishy-time-waster/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/11/02/jellocar-fun-and-squishy-time-waster/#comments JelloCar lets you drive jello like a pro
The best part about breaking your leg or your arm or your collar bone, aside from all the fringe benefits, is that you get to go to the hospital and eat all the Jello you want. JelloCar is a fun little game that takes that concept to the next level: by letting you DRIVE all the Jello you want.

Ok, so maybe that analogy doesn't work. This is still a fun little game though. Basically you are a 2D Jello Car in a 2D Jello World. Everything has Jello like physics and each level is more of a like a puzzle than a race track. Hit the space bar and the car grows by a 1000% -- very useful for cross large pot holes or pushing aside boulders. There are a lot of levels included and you can build your own using the included level editor.

This is, obviously, an independently produced game and the sound shows it. Just picture a 25 year old man standing behind your chair making "vroom!" sounds and you get the basic idea. Still, if this doesn't totally creep you out, the sounds are pretty amusing.

All and all a fun game and a fantastic example of 2D game physics. The game comes in Windows and XBOX 360 versions.

[via The Night School]

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JelloCar - fun and squishy Time Waster originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 02 Nov 2007 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> 2d game2dGamefreewarepuzzleracing gameRacingGametimewastersxbox 360Xbox360 Ian Smith Fri, 02 Nov 2007 13:00:00 EST Download Squad <![CDATA[Satan's Hollow - classic Time Waster]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/10/31/satans-hollow-classic-time-waster/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/10/31/satans-hollow-classic-time-waster/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/10/31/satans-hollow-classic-time-waster/#comments This classic 1981 shooter from Midway is the perfect way to spend down time between trick or treaters this Halloween (especially if you keep the candy within arms reach).

The addicting game play is pretty standard 80s arcade action. Even if you have never played Satan's Hollow before, the controls should be familiar if you've been around any of the host of similar shooters from the Reagan years. You basically move your tank around and shoot stuff: bats, fire breathing devil heads, pitchfork throwing devils, acid throwing devils, etc. You can upgrade your cannon by completing a bonus round and there is a special shield feature which gives you quick protection if the bad guys get too close. Watch out that the bats don't steal your extra life though.

Oh, and if all that wasn't enough, amongst all this carnage you'll have to steadily work on building a bridge across the lake of fire to get to each bonus round. It is down right biblical.

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Satan's Hollow - classic Time Waster originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 31 Oct 2007 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> arcade gamesArcadeGamesmidwaySatan's HollowSatan'sHollowshockwaveshooterstimewasters Ian Smith Wed, 31 Oct 2007 15:00:00 EST Download Squad <![CDATA[Digg's failing democracy]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/10/22/diggs-failing-democracy/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/10/22/diggs-failing-democracy/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/10/22/diggs-failing-democracy/#comments Digg has a problem. What was once a haven of obscure, insightful, and breaking news has become a cesspool of dated headlines, generic brand commentary, and fan-boy-blog spam. What happened? Why do the vast majority of front page links come from "popular" websites who feature a prominent "digg it" button on every article? Is there some conspiracy afloat? Is digg rewarding websites that send them a lot of traffic?

Can we demand a recount?

Sadly no. Digg's problem isn't one of cronyism or corruption, it is far worse. Digg has always been a poorly planned community. There, we said it.

To make matters worse, digg's phenomenal growth illustrates its own failure. If it were a nation, we would call it a failing state with a bumming population. A population easily and unwittingly manipulated by the craftiness of other large and powerful websites.

Need proof?

Of the 15 front page articles this morning:
  • 7 were from popular blogs that featured the familiar "digg it" badge
  • 5 were from popular sites that featured a prominent submit to digg button
  • 2 were from popular mainstream news sites
  • 1 was from a small town newspaper.
The problem really starts on the upcoming page. Here digg's increasing popularity attracts far more submissions than the diggers on the upcoming page can handle. A random check reveals 34 new links in the last two minutes. In another two minutes those links will be buried on the 4th or 5th page having never received a digg. A visit to page 40 in the upcoming queue reveals only one link that has garnered more than 3 diggs, and that link is from a popular website with the (you guessed it) digg it button at the top of the page.

How could this happen? Have diggers simply stopped caring about their own community?

Continue reading Digg's failing democracy

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Digg's failing democracy originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 22 Oct 2007 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> analysisdel.icio.usdigglink sharingLinkSharingredditslashdotsocial newsSocialNewstech newstechmemeTechNews Ian Smith Mon, 22 Oct 2007 12:00:00 EST Download Squad <![CDATA[An open source internet stupidity filter]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/10/10/an-open-source-internet-stupidity-filter/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/10/10/an-open-source-internet-stupidity-filter/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/10/10/an-open-source-internet-stupidity-filter/#comments Stupid is as stupid does - an open source stupid filterWhat is white and red and stupid all over? YouTube! Or at least that is that is the premise that the StupidFilter project is using to seed their self-training database. And really is there any form of stupidity with a more enduring appeal than a video discussion? Of course not!

The goal simple: build a stupid filter that works like a spam filter. Take a huge collection of stupid comments (225,000 to start), rate and organize them according to stupidness, and then teach the filter to recognize stupidity in the wild. Once the research is done a core engine will be released suitable for implementation in blogs, wikis, social networks, content management systems, and video sharing websites.

The current target release date for an alpha release is December 2007. After that the race begins: can the StupidFilter keep up with the diabolical adaptiveness of internet stupidity? Or will "stupiders" change their tactics and find ways around the filtering technology (by using complete words, for example)? Only time, and the efforts of a few brave programmers, will tell.

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An open source internet stupidity filter originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 10 Oct 2007 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> comment spamCommentSpamopensourcestupid filterstupiderStupidFilteryoutube Ian Smith Wed, 10 Oct 2007 17:00:00 EST Download Squad <![CDATA[Tagmindr sends you bookmarks in the future]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/10/08/tagmindr-sends-you-bookmarks-in-the-future/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/10/08/tagmindr-sends-you-bookmarks-in-the-future/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/10/08/tagmindr-sends-you-bookmarks-in-the-future/#comments Send yourself a bookmark in the future with tagmindr
Launched over the weekend as part of a one-day-startup party, Tagmindr links up with your del.icio.us account and lets you easily and automatically send yourself bookmarks in the future. Simply signup and then tag your del.icio.us bookmarks with the tagmindr tag and a date in the format of "remind:YYYY-MM-DD". Tagmindr will then put your bookmark in an RSS feed on the date you indicated. Eventually they may support SMS, Email and IM. But it probably wouldn't be wise to hold your breath.

The product took about 6 and a half hours to create (plus 4 hours of cleanup) last Saturday as part of a Seattle Saturday House meeting. Leo Dirac has some more detail on the process if you are interested. Hopefully we'll see more slick and useful tools created in this manner.

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Tagmindr sends you bookmarks in the future originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 08 Oct 2007 19:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> bookmarksdel.icio.usremind me laterRemindMeLaterrssseattle Ian Smith Mon, 08 Oct 2007 19:45:00 EST Download Squad <![CDATA[Meet someone for lunch with Noonhat]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/10/08/meet-someone-for-lunch-with-noonhat/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/10/08/meet-someone-for-lunch-with-noonhat/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/10/08/meet-someone-for-lunch-with-noonhat/#comments Meet someone new for lunch with Noonhat
Have you ever walked into a restaurant to find only one person occupying each table? Why don't lonely people just sit together? Wouldn't a nice chat with a another warm blooded human be preferable to reading the newspaper over your slice of pizza?

Yeah, Brian Dorsey's friends didn't think it would work either. But he went ahead and launched Noonhat.com anyway.

With Noonhat.com you find your city on the map, enter your email address, and select the date you want to do lunch with someone. The application matches you with up to four other people who want to do lunch that day. It's that simple.

The jury is still out on whether or not this is a good idea. One thing is certain though, if only a very few people use Noonhat then that still means more empty tables so the rest of us can sit and read our newspapers in peace.

[via SeattlePI]

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Meet someone for lunch with Noonhat originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 08 Oct 2007 18:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> localmeet upMeetUppersonalsseattle Ian Smith Mon, 08 Oct 2007 18:15:00 EST Download Squad <![CDATA[Begin your web sessions at Homepage Startup]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/10/01/begin-your-web-sessions-at-homepage-startup/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/10/01/begin-your-web-sessions-at-homepage-startup/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/10/01/begin-your-web-sessions-at-homepage-startup/#comments
Homepage Startup
Homepage Startup tries to set itself apart from a stampede of web 2.0 start pages by focusing on the fact that the majority of web users regularly visit no more than a handful of websites. The concept is pretty straightforward (if not exactly original): set this site as your homepage and when your browser window opens you have instant access to your favorite search engine and a grid of links to your favorite websites. Each link is identified by a screen shot and you can easily rearrange them by dragging and dropping to your hearts content. You can even get this all setup before creating an account.

When put up against the likes of iGoogle and My Yahoo there isn't a lot to do here, but that isn't a bad thing. Often the key to success is doing one thing well and not overpowering your users with unneeded features. Links are what Homepage Startup does well and they deliberately do not burden users with RSS feeds, weather, widgets, news, or anything else that is likely handled better by a dedicated service.

If you are looking for something simple to pop up when you click your browser's Home button then Homepage Startup is well worth checking out.

[via freewaregenius]

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Begin your web sessions at Homepage Startup originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 01 Oct 2007 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> bookmarkslinksstart pageStartPage Ian Smith Mon, 01 Oct 2007 14:30:00 EST Download Squad <![CDATA[Find a support community with DailyStrength]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/10/01/find-a-support-community-with-dailystrength/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/10/01/find-a-support-community-with-dailystrength/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/10/01/find-a-support-community-with-dailystrength/#comments
DailyStrength
Mix one part MySpace with one part 43Things and one part AA and you end up with DailyStrength.

DailyStrength is a collection of communities focused on users supporting each other in whatever hardships they are facing in life. From Lung Cancer to Depression to Parenting: there is a community for everyone. Communities are built around members with sections for posting discussions, recommendations, advice, and news. You can even send each other virtual hugs, which are like Facebook pokes but without the antagonistic feel.

There is even a community for Internet Addicts, which, clearly, is how we find the site in the first place.

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Find a support community with DailyStrength originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 01 Oct 2007 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> addictionsgoalssocial networkSocialNetworksupport Ian Smith Mon, 01 Oct 2007 08:00:00 EST Download Squad <![CDATA[Easy CSS Layouts with YUI CSS Grid Builder]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/09/24/easy-css-layouts-with-yui-css-grid-builder/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/09/24/easy-css-layouts-with-yui-css-grid-builder/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/09/24/easy-css-layouts-with-yui-css-grid-builder/#comments YUI CSS Grid Builder

In the world of web developers there are two standard ways of laying out a web page. The classical way is to use tables and structure your web page like you would an Excel Spreadsheet or a Word document. The second is to use Cascading Style Sheets that let you create elements on the page and position them according to your needs. For a large variety of reasons CSS based layouts are the way to go: they use less code, they are more customizable, they support various effects that aren't possible with tables, and they run faster in modern web browsers. The problem? They are darn hard to code!

Enter the CSS Grid Builder from the good folks at Yahoo!. Yahoo! has spent thousands of hours crafting web pages and testing them across all the possible OS and browser combinations (yes, even Opera). The end result of all this testing was the public release of the Yahoo! User Interface CSS and JavaScript libraries. The CSS Grid Builder is a simple web-based interface for quickly creating any number of layouts that rely solely on YUI's CSS files. This gives you the advantage of easily and visually laying out designs without using tables, and they will work the same way in every popular browser

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Easy CSS Layouts with YUI CSS Grid Builder originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 24 Sep 2007 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> cssdesigntipsweb designWebDesignyui Ian Smith Mon, 24 Sep 2007 18:00:00 EST Download Squad <![CDATA[Dasher - The psychedelic keyboard alternative]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/09/07/dasher-the-psychedelic-keyboard-alternative/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/09/07/dasher-the-psychedelic-keyboard-alternative/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/09/07/dasher-the-psychedelic-keyboard-alternative/#comments
Dasher - information-efficient text-entry interface


Imagine you are driving across the state of Kansas, passing an endless quilt of farm fields filled with harvest ready corn. Imagine that you are dreaming and unrestrained by roads and fences. Entering one of the fields, a whole patchwork of color opens up before you. As you go on these patches get larger until they are each acres wide and as big as the field you just entered. It's as if you have passed into another Kansas hidden within the first.

Entering another field you discover that it too opens up to yet more fields. This goes on and on until you can't remember the real Kansas at all and can only look to next row of fields and the gallery of smaller worlds appearing within them.

Psychedelic? No. This is just what is like to use Dasher.

Continue reading Dasher - The psychedelic keyboard alternative

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Dasher - The psychedelic keyboard alternative originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 07 Sep 2007 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> dasherkeyboardmobilemobileminuteopensourcetext entryTextEntry Ian Smith Fri, 07 Sep 2007 17:00:00 EST Download Squad <![CDATA[Handy Web Utility - Name that Color]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/09/04/handy-web-utility-name-that-color/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/09/04/handy-web-utility-name-that-color/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/09/04/handy-web-utility-name-that-color/#comments Name That Color
Do you worry about confusing Cotton Seed with Silver Rust? Portica and Marigold Yellow? Emerald and Mantis? Are you part of the small percentage of folks who spend many hours wondering about color names? Then you're in luck! Thanks to the hard work of Chirag Mehta and his little Name that Color tool you can easily find out all those things and more.

Select a color in the color picker to see what its rightful name is. Or at least that of the closest named color. Paste in a color HEX and look up the name of that rogue color in your CSS file. Or, if that is too complex for you, select the color you want to view by using the handy drop down. It is all here and all dirt simple.

For the record though: despite many great reasons we do not have any intention of changing the DS logo from Sushi Green to Olive Drab.

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Handy Web Utility - Name that Color originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 04 Sep 2007 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> Ian Smith Tue, 04 Sep 2007 19:30:00 EST Download Squad <![CDATA[World of Solitaire - Time Waster]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/08/23/world-of-solitaire-time-waster/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/08/23/world-of-solitaire-time-waster/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/08/23/world-of-solitaire-time-waster/#comments World of SolitaireWorld of Solitaire is a full screen Javascript based solitaire program built with the ever adaptive YUI library. The game has smooth animations, a customizable card deck, and 12 game modes including popular versions such as Spider, Klondike, and FreeCell. The game also tracks a host of statistics and a status bar indicates your time, number of moves, and overall score.

The game is free and no signup is required. If you want to keep track of your stats you'll need to register though. Robert Shultz, the developer of the game, gave an interview over Yahoo about the building process, the technology he used, and his plans for future development.

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World of Solitaire - Time Waster originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 23 Aug 2007 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> card gamesCardGamesjavascriptsolitairetimewastersyui Ian Smith Thu, 23 Aug 2007 16:30:00 EST Download Squad <![CDATA[Simple HTML to Wiki Converter]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/08/20/simple-html-to-wiki-converter/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/08/20/simple-html-to-wiki-converter/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/08/20/simple-html-to-wiki-converter/#comments
With the help of the html2wiki converter you can easily convert any HTML webpage, Google doc, or blog post into the correct Wiki compatible markup. This is especially useful for those of you who don't use wikis regularly and are frustrated with having to learn a whole new markup language just to get your document to look right on Wikipedia or your office Intranet. This WikiConverter will fetch a document from the web and produce markup for any of 16 different kinds of wikis, including the popular PBWiki and MediaWiki flavors.
HTML 2 WIKI Converter

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Simple HTML to Wiki Converter originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 20 Aug 2007 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> html converterHtmlConvertermarkupwikiwikipedia Ian Smith Mon, 20 Aug 2007 19:00:00 EST Download Squad <![CDATA[Interview with Adobe AIR Evangelist Ryan Stewart]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/07/09/interview-with-adobe-air-evangelist-ryan-stewart/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/07/09/interview-with-adobe-air-evangelist-ryan-stewart/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/07/09/interview-with-adobe-air-evangelist-ryan-stewart/#comments Adobe AIR Evangelist Ryan StewartRyan Stewart, Evangelist for Adobe's Integrated Runtime project (AIR), takes a few minutes to tell us what all the fuss is about. Ryan taking part in Adobe's live cross-country bus tour to promote AIR. The tour kicks July 10th at the Elysian Brewing Company in downtown Seattle.

DS: Can you briefly describe Adobe AIR?

Ryan: Adobe AIR is a cross-platform runtime that allows you to build desktop applications with web technologies. It runs on top of your operating system so that developers can build applications in AIR that take advantage of OS features without having to develop the application for a specific operating system. And instead of needing to learn desktop languages like C or Coco, you can take Ajax or Flash and build desktop apps with them.

DS: Why should consumers and average computers users be excited about Adobe AIR?

Ryan: I think the biggest reason that users should be excited is because they'll have a lot more applications to choose from. Web apps have become all the rage and part of the reason is that they're easy to build and people can jump in quickly. We wanted to capture some of that with AIR and bring it to the desktop. Hopefully users will see more apps like the Pownce desktop client, Finetune and Tweetr.

DS: Can you give an example of how an Adobe AIR application could use a web service and a person&sup1;s computer hard drive to build something that isn&sup1;t possible with the web alone?

Ryan: Being able to read and write to the hard drive gives you a lot of storage options and also lets you hook into parts of native applications. For instance the Finetune desktop client looks at your iTunes.xml file and figures out which artists you might like. It then allows you to listen to a radio station based on those artists. With AIR you can also associate files with your application, so you can create your own new file format or write a viewer for other file types.

DS: What is the coolest AIR application you&sup1;ve seen so far?

Ryan: I really like the way Finetune integrates with their website, but I just got to check out Pownce, Kevin Rose's new project, and their desktop client is pretty cool. For pure silliness Dryerfox is classic. There are a ton of AIR applications at AirApps.net and ApolloHunter.com for people to try.

DS: What type of services or assists can Adobe AIR applications connect to?

Continue reading Interview with Adobe AIR Evangelist Ryan Stewart

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Interview with Adobe AIR Evangelist Ryan Stewart originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 09 Jul 2007 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> adobe airAdobeAirajaxdreamweaverflash Ian Smith Mon, 09 Jul 2007 15:00:00 EST Download Squad <![CDATA[Build your first Adobe AIR application with Aptana]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/07/02/build-your-first-adobe-air-application-with-aptana/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/07/02/build-your-first-adobe-air-application-with-aptana/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/07/02/build-your-first-adobe-air-application-with-aptana/#comments Recently Aptana added support for Adobe AIR (the platform formally known as Apollo) to their Open Source IDE. Why is this cool? Well Aptana is a standalone web/JavaScript development application that is built on top of Eclipse. Best of all, Aptana is free. This is a great alternative to locking yourself into Adobe's Dreamweaver or Flex builder plugins.

You can download Aptana here. Once you have it installed, open it up and look at the Aptana start page under Plugins. Here you will be able to walk through the process of downloading and installing the Adobe Air Runtime, SDK, and the Aptana Plugin.

Once everything is setup simply go to File > New > Project and select Adobe Air. Fill in the project name and description and then import your preferred Ajax Libraries to start coding with. There is a host to libraries to choose from including YUI, jQuery, and ProtoType.

The pre-created project includes all of the Javascript needed to start writing your application. The AIRAliases.js file maps all of the local OS and file system functions to JavaScript so that you can, within AIR, make calls directly to the users computer. I recommend trying out the sample text-file editor application from the Adobe's QuickStart page to get a sense of how easy it is to build AIR applications and what is possible using this new framework.

Once you have your code ready to test, just hit the green "Play" button and Aptana will compile your app and launch it within Adobe AIR

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Build your first Adobe AIR application with Aptana originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 02 Jul 2007 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> adobe airAdobeAirapolloaptanaidejavascriptopensource Ian Smith Mon, 02 Jul 2007 14:00:00 EST Download Squad <![CDATA[Interview with Facebook Senior Platform Manager]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/07/02/interview-with-facebook-senior-platform-manager/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/07/02/interview-with-facebook-senior-platform-manager/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/07/02/interview-with-facebook-senior-platform-manager/#comments Facebook Apps - The InterviewDave Morin, Senior Platform Manager at Facebook, takes a moment out of his busy day to answers our questions regarding apps, the developer platform, and why everyone should be excited about the future of Facebook.

DS: Can you briefly describe the Facebook Platform?

Dave: Facebook Platform is a development system that enables companies and developers to build applications for the Facebook website, where all of Facebook's nearly 29 million active users can interact with them. Facebook Platform offers deep integration into the Facebook website, distribution through the social graph and an opportunity to build a business.

DS: Why should average Facebook users be excited about Facebook apps and the Facebook Platform?

Dave: With Facebook Platform, users gain the ability to define their experience on Facebook by choosing applications that are useful and relevant to them. Now that they have access to a virtually limitless set of applications from outside developers, users have an unprecedented amount of choice. They can share information and communicate with their trusted connections in ways that would never have been possible before Facebook opened its platform.

DS: How quickly has the Facebook community adopted these new apps?

Dave: Since Facebook Platform launched on May 24, 2007, Facebook has grown from 24 million users to over 28 million users. Over 50% of our users have added at least one application.

DS: In what ways can an application spread through Facebook?

Dave: The main way that applications would spread on Facebook is virally. For instance, if users adds an application to their Facebook account, it could display on their Mini-Feed, generate a story in News Feed, or their friend could see it simply by viewing their profile pages. Users can also reference the Applications Directory to browse applications of interest. Developers are also permitted to purchase sponsored stories about their application which will then show up on News Feed.

DS: What type of applications have been successful so far?

Continue reading Interview with Facebook Senior Platform Manager

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Interview with Facebook Senior Platform Manager originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 02 Jul 2007 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> Ian Smith Mon, 02 Jul 2007 11:00:00 EST Download Squad <![CDATA[Tiny Drum Machine - Today's Time Waster]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/06/28/tiny-drum-machine-todays-time-waster/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/06/28/tiny-drum-machine-todays-time-waster/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/06/28/tiny-drum-machine-todays-time-waster/#comments Play the Tiny Drum Machine

Created by the food folks at PixelPlanet, this half-time-waster-half-technology-demo is all fun. The Tiny Drum Machine (now in its fifth version) is a music maker where you control the notes that are played as well as the tempo of your piece. Use the simple grid to pick notes to be played and drag the bar below to set the speed. The song endlessly loops, but if you are clever you can mingle the start and end of your song so that it sounds like one long repetitive chorus. For a technology gifted but musically deficient individual such as myself getting the perfect tune has prove quite addictive.

Feeling uninspired? Hit "P" to hear a serious of random arraignments.

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Tiny Drum Machine - Today's Time Waster originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 28 Jun 2007 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> compositionflash gamesFlashGamesmusictimewasters Ian Smith Thu, 28 Jun 2007 09:00:00 EST Download Squad <![CDATA[Ask DLS: How can I turn this CD into a podcast?]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/06/05/ask-dls-how-to-create-a-church-audio-podcast/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/06/05/ask-dls-how-to-create-a-church-audio-podcast/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/06/05/ask-dls-how-to-create-a-church-audio-podcast/#comments "Our church wants to take the audio CD from our pastor's weekly sermon and put it on-line. How do I take a sermon saved to a CD and put it on-line so visitors can stream the audio straight to their computer or download it as a podcast?" - Michelle Y.

Thanks for writing in Michelle.

Non-secular and secular organizations often produce many hours of audio -- in the form of sermons or speeches -- and making that ready-produced content easily accessible on-line is a natural next step. Luckily it's one that's easy to handle, even for the digital newbie.

To get started you'll need to convert the audio on your CD to a format that can be easily put on the internet. To do this we need to remove all the chapter breaks and compress the audio so it's ready for quick and easy download. Don't get overwhelmed; there are several free applications that will do all that for you. We're going to take a look at one popular option for Windows, BonkEnc.

BonkEnc - encode and compress audio filesDownload the latest version and install it on any PC (You'll only need to do this once). BonkEnc is free, but supported by donations from people who use the software. If you find it fits your needs, be sure to donate and support its continued development and maintenance.

Continue reading Ask DLS: How can I turn this CD into a podcast?

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Ask DLS: How can I turn this CD into a podcast? originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 05 Jun 2007 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> askdlsbonkencchurch audioChurchAudiomp3podcastsharewarespeech audioSpeechAudio Ian Smith Tue, 05 Jun 2007 16:00:00 EST Download Squad <![CDATA[Yahoo Mail and the little checkbox that could]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/05/31/yahoo-mail-and-the-little-checkbox-that-could/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/05/31/yahoo-mail-and-the-little-checkbox-that-could/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/05/31/yahoo-mail-and-the-little-checkbox-that-could/#comments
Yahoo Ads Back the Checkbox to Yahoo Mail
Many users of Yahoo's new Mail application have recently noticed the sudden (and very welcome) return of a long lost old friend: the checkbox. While Yahoo's massive and very exciting mail overhaul focused on making web email function more like desktop email, they forgot this one important feature from their web mail roots.

The checkbox's triumphant return is testament to the mistakes designers often make when they cater to their power users. It also shows the need for applications to focus on simple, visual, and adaptive (as in "single click") controls. Before they added back in the CheckBox you could still select multiple messages by holding the Ctrl key or select all messages by pressing Ctrl-A, but these shortcuts were difficult to communicate to anyone but the power desktop user. The checkbox, however, is easy to understand.

The other cool thing about the checkbox (and a reason why it could be a cool addition even to desktop mail clients) is that it lets you interact with multiple messages or select all messages using only your mouse. Trying to explain to your Grandmother that she needs to hold a key on her keyboard while carefully clicking on each message is neigh on impossible, it is easier for her to just move one message at a time. But give her a checkbox and she's in business! The checkbox makes organizing into folders much more accessible to all users, power or otherwise.

This brings us to the other old-is-new feature recently added back to Yahoo Mail: the move button. Again, you can move messages just by dragging and dropping, but that requires a precise (i.e. difficult) series of mouse moves that make the application less than accessible. By adding back the checkbox and the move button Yahoo Mail now has the power of a Web 2.0 mail client but the flexibility to be used just like a good old fashion "Hotmail inspired" mail client. Which just goes to show that the newest, flashiest, and most amazing features are nothing but liabilities if only 10% of your audience are comfortable using them.

Interested in doing more with Yahoo Mail? Check out our top 11 list of tips and tricks.

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Yahoo Mail and the little checkbox that could originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 31 May 2007 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> application designApplicationDesigncheckboxyahoo mailYahooMail Ian Smith Thu, 31 May 2007 18:00:00 EST Download Squad <![CDATA[Easy HTML To Any Script Converter]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/05/30/easy-html-to-any-script-converter/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/05/30/easy-html-to-any-script-converter/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/05/30/easy-html-to-any-script-converter/#comments Easy HTML to Any Script ConverterSometimes the headlines just write themselves. Easy HTML To Any Script Converter deserves an award for most accurately named program - ever! It does just what it says. The basic idea is that you paste in a block of HTML, select a language, hit go, and copy the code into your application. The Converter delivers a block of code for the particular language you selected with all offending characters escaped correctly and the HTML ready to be printed to the users screen.

A large number of languages are supported ranging from C# to PHP to JavaScript to Ruby. The actual conversion process is pretty simple. You can even setup your own conversion routine if your particular coding flavor isn't included with the default languages. Another nice feature is that you can convert a single file or a large list of files automatically, without having to copy and paste anything.

One other feature, which appears to have been added as an after thought, is a simple Email to Javascript conversion tool. Enter your email address and the subject you'd like the email to contain and the tool will generate some illegible code that you can put on your web page. The code should protect your email address from the various harvesting bots often used by spammers, but still allow your visitors to email you without going through a nasty contact form.

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Easy HTML To Any Script Converter originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 30 May 2007 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> aspconversion wizardConversionWizardemail encodingEmailEncodingfreewarehtmlpythonruby Ian Smith Wed, 30 May 2007 14:00:00 EST Download Squad <![CDATA[SalesForce SOA: Web 2.0 grows up, gets job]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/05/21/salesforce-soa-web-2-0-grows-up-gets-job/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/05/21/salesforce-soa-web-2-0-grows-up-gets-job/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/05/21/salesforce-soa-web-2-0-grows-up-gets-job/#comments For many of today's growing companies SalesForce.com is a part of life. Its suite of software tools are too well developed to ignore and too complex to recreate on your own. SalesForce likes this market position; they've fought hard to get it. In order to keep it they've begun to invest heavily in products and services that will allow them to "simply outclass" everyone else in the industry.

SalesForce SOA is a cutting edge example of this strategy. Announced today at the SalesForce Developer Conference, SOA uses their custom Apex programming language to let developers expose and consume web services within the SalesForce.com platform. I know, that doesn't sound exciting on its own. But maybe this will: Business Mashups.

So, what does SOA let you do? Nothing at the moment yet. It doesn't get rolled out as a developer preview until August. But the idea is pretty simple and easy to grasp. Basically it is a Yahoo Pipes style product for businesses. Only instead of consuming RSS feeds you are consuming business class web services such as those provided by Google Adwords and Amazon.com. Coupled with their rumored Google partnership, SOA shows SalesForce determination to keep and grow their market share.

As Adam Gross, SalesForce's VP of Developer Marketing puts it: "We've taken our inspiration from the rapid innovation the consumer internet has been experiencing and created our own set of similar business class products and services. Developers will be able to create products that mix and match web services and take advantage of SalesForce's scalable infrastructure and active user base."

Continue reading SalesForce SOA: Web 2.0 grows up, gets job

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SalesForce SOA: Web 2.0 grows up, gets job originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 21 May 2007 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> apexsalesforcesoapsoftware as a serviceSoftwareAsAServiceweb servicesWebServices Ian Smith Mon, 21 May 2007 16:30:00 EST Download Squad <![CDATA[Watch live photo uploads with flickrvision]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/05/15/watch-live-photo-uploads-with-flickrvision/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/05/15/watch-live-photo-uploads-with-flickrvision/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/05/15/watch-live-photo-uploads-with-flickrvision/#comments If there is one web 2.0 application that has "made it" then that application has got to be flickr. No other product is used as religiously by as diverse of user base as Yahoo's little photo sharing website. One of the key reasons for their success is the very powerful public API that lets users interact with the flickr archive via other applications.

Enter flickrvision. One part Google Maps, one part eavesdropping, 100% fun; flickrvision lets you watch users uploading photos live. The map view shows where the user is uploading from and a small snapshot of the photo is displayed over the location. Clicking on the photo reveals a larger version in the center of the screen while map continues to update in the background. Clicking on a user name takes you, as you might expect, to the users profile on flickr. It is a pretty simple concept but quickly becomes wildly addictive.

Think flickrvision is cool? Then you might also like twittervision which follows the same concept and displays live twitters as they happen.

You can thank (and curse!) David Troy for both of these time wasters. Now if only he'd combine the two concepts and toss in some del.icio.us links and YouTube videos. Then we'd really have the ultimate web 2.0 mashup.

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Watch live photo uploads with flickrvision originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 15 May 2007 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> flickrgoogle mapsGoogleMapsmashuptimewasterstwitter Ian Smith Tue, 15 May 2007 19:30:00 EST Download Squad <![CDATA[Create Visual Stories with StoryTop]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/05/14/create-visual-stories-with-storytop/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/05/14/create-visual-stories-with-storytop/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/05/14/create-visual-stories-with-storytop/#comments StoryTop lets you drag and drop to create storyboardsThere are few more entertaining ways to pass the time on a flight than to pull out your copy of Skymall and begin inscribing funny quotations and thought balloons above the heads of the models hawking their wears. StoryTop takes that concept and makes it web based.

StoryTop is a little JavaScript tool that lets you include elements from their library of people, animal, and background clipart and then assign text and comments to the action taking place. The site is very easy to use and very kid and teacher friendly. Drag elements onto the canvas to start manipulating them, drag them back into the library to delete them. You can even create stories that develop over multiple pages. Editing and changing the size of the elements is very easy and has virtually no learning curve.

The example of the left took just thirty seconds to build.

No signup is required but you can create an account to save your stories and share them with friends or groups.



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Create Visual Stories with StoryTop originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 14 May 2007 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> schoolStory Boardstory creationStoryBoardStoryCreationteacherswriting Ian Smith Mon, 14 May 2007 16:00:00 EST Download Squad <![CDATA[9 ways ColdFusion 8 will rule web development]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/04/24/9-ways-coldfusion-8-will-rule-web-development/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/04/24/9-ways-coldfusion-8-will-rule-web-development/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/04/24/9-ways-coldfusion-8-will-rule-web-development/#comments ColdFusion 8 ScorpioBen Forta and Adobe are getting into full swing with ColdFusion 8 Scorpio Pre-Release tour. Last night Ben gave us in Seattle a taste of things to come. Here is why it will kick the tar balls out of everything else on the market.
  1. Built in AJAX widgets. Create AJAX windows, auto complete forms, calendar popups, grids, WYSIWYG editors, and much more. All using simple ColdFusion based tags and generating industry standard solutions such as Prototype and Yahoo User Interface Javascript.
  2. Native JSON support. ColdFusion components now know if they are called by a web browser and will return JSON formated data automatically. You can also create JSON packets directly or consume them and turn them into native ColdFusion objects.
  3. .NET (and Java!) integration. Pull in .NET objects and use them like native ColdFusion objects. Combine .NET and Java on the same page if you like. Easily the best web based middleware solution.
  4. Microsoft Exchange integration. Love it or hate it, most organizations use Exchange religiously. Now you can read and update email, calendars, tasks and much more. No change to the Exchange server is required.
  5. Flash based presentation builder. Combine HTML, Audio, Flash Movies, Images, and CFCharts to create spiffy flash based presentations on the fly. Just wrap your existing pages in CFPRESENTATION and you are on your way.
  6. Full PDF integration. Create, combine, update, and interact with PDF files using CFPDF and CFPDFFORM tags.
  7. Native image manipulation functions. Blur, sharpen, draw, rotate, stream to browser, and much much more. This finally brings ColdFusion's image support in line with PHP and other frameworks while keeping it so simple that even I could use it.
  8. Across the board enhancements. Improvements in security, speed, Flash Forms, Report Builder, and more.
  9. Administration API. Now you can access, audit, and snapshot all the information the server knows about itself. No longer is ColdFusion a black box. Audit long running processes, most frequently run queries, and bottle necks. SnapShot the server before making your change or doing a reset so that you can analyze potential problems later.
Admittedly I am a ColdFusion fan boy, but I know that it isn't for everyone. Still, ColdFusion is easily the BMW (both in price and in raw engineered quality) of the web application languages out there. With ColdFusion 8 it now becomes possible to build and integrate a vast amount of functionality with only a few lines of code. Imagine letting users quickly create their own presentation by uploading photos and editing slides using a WYSIWYG editor. Then, when they are all done, they can view and share it on the web via Flash or push it to a PDF file. ColdFusion 8 lets you wrap up all this up into a tight package using heavily documented yet extremely simple tags. No scripting required!

ColdFusion 8 Scorpio should land sometime in mid-2007. You know I'll be there.

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9 ways ColdFusion 8 will rule web development originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 24 Apr 2007 13:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> .netajaxColdFusionexchangejson Ian Smith Tue, 24 Apr 2007 13:05:00 EST Download Squad <![CDATA[Scientist lives 13 days underwater on algae-generated oxygen]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/04/18/scientist-lives-13-days-underwater-on-algae-generated-oxygen/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/04/18/scientist-lives-13-days-underwater-on-algae-generated-oxygen/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/04/18/scientist-lives-13-days-underwater-on-algae-generated-oxygen/#comments The BioSub ProjectAustralian scientist Lloyd Godson emerged today from 13 days of isolation in a steel box at the bottom of a lake. During the time he spent in the yellow colored BioSUB he generated his own electricity by riding a stationary bike and cultivated an algae garden to maintain his air supply. His free time was spent using his laptop - watching videos and answering fan e-mails via a wireless internet connection.

The nine square meter capsule used an Israeli-developed "Biocoil" system to create oxygen by soaking algae in Mr. Godson's urine. Solar panels assisted the electricity generation and food was delivered regularly by divers. The whole project was intended to provide data on the various practical and mental pressures that come with living in an alien environment such as a submarine, spacecraft, or cubicle farm.

Although he wouldn't comment on how he intended to spend his massive amounts of geek-cred, Mr. Godson did comment on his mental state: "It starts to play on your mind a bit after 12 days. You start to get a bit of cabin fever, but you know I handled it surprisingly well. I thought it was going to drive me a bit more nuts than it did."

[via TechNudge]

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Scientist lives 13 days underwater on algae-generated oxygen originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 18 Apr 2007 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> alien enviromentsAlienEnviromentsbiocoilbiosubunderwater livingUnderwaterLiving Ian Smith Wed, 18 Apr 2007 20:00:00 EST Download Squad <![CDATA[Yahoo! Mail opens up API for 249 Million Users]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/03/29/yahoo-mail-opens-up-api-for-249-million-users/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/03/29/yahoo-mail-opens-up-api-for-249-million-users/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/03/29/yahoo-mail-opens-up-api-for-249-million-users/#comments What a week it's been for Yahoo! Mail. Tuesday they leap fogged Google by announcing virtually unlimited storage for all of their Yahoo! Mail users. Today they've introduced an API which exposes the world's most popular web mail platform and opens it up for enhancement to legends of web developers, mashup hackers, and API vultures.

The Yahoo! Mail Web Service, as they are calling it, is a complete set of SOAP services that developers can use to access Yahoo! Mail accounts. The services are divided into two tiers. The first is for all Yahoo! Mail users and provides methods for listing folders, listing messages, moving messages, and the like. The second tier is limited to premium (Yahoo! Mail Plus) accounts and gives full access to message text, attachments, the message search feature, and more.

A new frontier for mail.

"This is a very exciting release for us. Our goal is to open up Yahoo! Mail and its expansive user base to a whole new frontier of possible tools, hacks, and community driven mashups. Most of which we can't even envision yet. " - John Kremer , VP Yahoo! Mail.

Video, Hack Ideas, and more after the jump.

Continue reading Yahoo! Mail opens up API for 249 Million Users

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Yahoo! Mail opens up API for 249 Million Users originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 29 Mar 2007 00:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> Ian Smith Thu, 29 Mar 2007 00:15:00 EST Download Squad <![CDATA[Top 11 Yahoo Mail Tips and Tricks]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/03/16/top-11-yahoo-mail-tips-and-tricks/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/03/16/top-11-yahoo-mail-tips-and-tricks/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/03/16/top-11-yahoo-mail-tips-and-tricks/#comments Yahoo Mail Beta Yahoo's new version of web mail is, without a doubt, one of the coolest and most fluid Ajax applications we've seen to date. For the average user it offers every major feature that you can find in Outlook or Thunderbird, and it does it with style. But that isn't all, the Yahoo team also took the time to layer the app with embedded tricks, hacks, and shortcuts that makes the whole experience that much sweeter.

With that in mind, here are the top 11 tricks that I use everyday with the new Yahoo Mail Beta:

Drag Message onto Contacts to do an Instant Address Book Add1. Trick: Instant Address Book Add - Drag a message onto the Contacts link and you'll see the icon change to a plus sign which means you can add that contact to your address book in one easy step.

2. Trick: Navigate your inbox the quick way - Ctrl + Shift + Up Arrow or Down Arrow let you jump to messages in the same folder that have the same subject line. You can hit Ctrl + Shift + Alt + Up Arrow lets you choose another factor to filter on (such as flag) when using Ctrl + Shift to navigate.

Continue reading Top 11 Yahoo Mail Tips and Tricks

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Top 11 Yahoo Mail Tips and Tricks originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 16 Mar 2007 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> Ajaxdrag and drophowtostipstricksYahoo MailYahooMail Ian Smith Fri, 16 Mar 2007 13:30:00 EST Download Squad <![CDATA[Facebook Groups get events, summaries]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/03/09/facebook-groups-get-events-summaries/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/03/09/facebook-groups-get-events-summaries/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/03/09/facebook-groups-get-events-summaries/#comments
Yesterday Facebook announced several small enhancements to Facebook Groups. These changes add a lot of value to the groups while at the same time keeping the simple and easy to use.
  1. Group Summaries - This is a blurb of information that now appears next to a group's listing showing how many new wall posts, board topics, profile updates, events, and changes have taken place within the group or group membership.
  2. Group Hosted Events - Group admins can now create events from the group profile page. All group members are then automatically invited and events will be listed on the group summary allowing members to easily scan through their groups in search of new events.
These changes are intended to add power and tools for real world groups using Facebook to communicate with their members and organize activities.

[via Facebook Blog]

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Facebook Groups get events, summaries originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 09 Mar 2007 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> facebookfacebook eventsFacebookEventsgroups Ian Smith Fri, 09 Mar 2007 18:00:00 EST Download Squad <![CDATA[MiniAjax.com: Showroom for DHTML and AJAX scripts]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/03/01/miniajax-com-showroom-for-dhtml-and-ajax-scripts/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/03/01/miniajax-com-showroom-for-dhtml-and-ajax-scripts/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/03/01/miniajax-com-showroom-for-dhtml-and-ajax-scripts/#comments miniajax.com: dhtml and javascript showroomEach day sees more and more Ajax tools, tricks, demos, and libraries come online. MiniAjax.com is a place that collects, on a very fluid and easy to browse page, all of the latest and greatest Ajax scripts that you can download and implement on your website.

There is a lot of good stuff to explore here such as:
  • GreyBox - a simple window you can use to launch another webpage within your website
  • Reflection.js - create cool image reflection effects
  • Heatmap - a hot (pun intended) utility to let you see where users click on your website
  • AjaxIM - a browser based IM client.
  • and many many more.
The author says he'll add links to 60 more scripts in March. Better add this baby to your bookmarks!

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MiniAjax.com: Showroom for DHTML and AJAX scripts originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 01 Mar 2007 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> ajaxdhtmljavascriptprototypeweb 2.0web developmentWeb2.0WebDevelopment Ian Smith Thu, 01 Mar 2007 08:00:00 EST Download Squad <![CDATA[Yahoo User Interface gets a big update]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/02/22/yahoo-user-interface-gets-a-big-update/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/02/22/yahoo-user-interface-gets-a-big-update/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/02/22/yahoo-user-interface-gets-a-big-update/#comments Tuesday the good folks from the Yahoo User Interface team released version 2.2.0 of their much loved JavaScript framework. The exciting changes this time around include a browser history manager, a data table control, and advanced button control. These additions are all still considered beta and extend the huge number of components currently available in the YUI library.

The Yahoo User Interface, if you haven't played with it, is a massive open source JavaScript framework along the lines of Prototype or Dojo. The library is heavily documented and supported (featuring examples, forums, cheatsheets, and videos) and lets you easily bundle Ajax, calendar, tab, drag and drop, auto complete, and all manner of other cool functionality into your web applications.

More on the new version (including examples) after the jump.

Continue reading Yahoo User Interface gets a big update

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Yahoo User Interface gets a big update originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 22 Feb 2007 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> ajaxdhtmldojoopensourceprototypeyui Ian Smith Thu, 22 Feb 2007 18:00:00 EST Download Squad