Month: October 2007

Joost Goes Live With Public Beta

Joost.com Logo

Joost has officially launched it’s public beta. This means that you no longer need a special invite in order to use the service. It must be stated however that Joost is still a BETA product, so be weary of whatever bugs or quirky UI stuff you may encounter. This version of Joost does contain a couple of user interface enhancements such as search and better navigation across videos in the site. But what may be the biggest offering is the Joost API, which is now open for developers to create third-party applications. So expect to see numerous Joost based widgets popping up on websites in the near future.

I wonder if LocateTV can tell me when programs will be aired on Joost. I’ll have to look into that. In the meantime, if you want to watch an interview that was conducted with the CEO of Joost, check it out on NewTeeVee

15 Free Pro Horizontal CSS Menus

CSSplay has put together a list of 15 professional looking horizontal based CSS menus. The menus use the sliding door technique so that each menu item will fit the associated text. The menus use professional grade graphics and since they use CSS, it wouldn’t be hard for you to customize these menus for your own needs. Here are a few samples.

Menu 1

Menu3

Menu 4

Check out the entire list of 15 which are free for download. When your finished, come back and let us know which one was your favorite.

FriendFeed Another LifeStreamer

FriendFeed Logo

As reported by TechCrunch today, four ex-googlers have started their own company called FriendFeed. FriendFeed aims to aggregate user data that is usually stored on a wide variety of social networking sites, into one easy to manage stream of data. The presentation of this data looks like it will be displayed in the same way that the Facebook News Feed is shown.

The question I have for all of you is, Hasn’t Jaiku been one of the first to accomplish this feat in the form of RSS feeds and aggregating them to one account? Jaiku even gives you the oppurtunity to pick which feeds of an individual that you want to subscribe to.

Because this company was started by four ex-googlers, do you think this company will take off like a rocket or will it sink like an anchor?

EdTags Targeted Education Information

Edtags.org Logo

EdTags looks like it could be a valuable resource for students and educators alike. Edtags is a social bookmarking site where users tag anything having to do with education whether it’s a podcast, essay, or web related news. Here is a video I found highlighting the various aspects of this new service. Their website is http://www.edtags.org but I have had trouble connecting to the site.

Migratr 0.9.3 Released

Migratr.com LogoMigratr 0.9.3 has been released which fixes numerous bugs which were discovered after importing a large photo collection. These fixes include, SmugMug importing, Crashing on the beginning of export, and some other wacky stuff. Alex has also posted a feature poll where users can tell him what features they would like to see added to the program. Download the latest release here.

JiWire Wins Skype Mashup Cup 07

Skype.com LogoJiWire HotSpot finder has won the U.S. Skype Mashup Cup for 2007. This Skype addon lets users locate WiFi hotspots from anywhere in the world.

JiWire In Action

Through Skype, JiWire searches over 140,000 hotspots spread out amongst 134 countries. Supposedly the largest database of hotspots in the world. JiWire searches for both paid and free hotspots and also gives users the ability to search by location such as a city name, zip code or by using a specific keyword. What will likely become the most used feature is the ‘Find Me‘ button. This will find WiFi hotspots in and around your current location.

To give this Skype addon a try, visit The Skype Extras Page

Homework Collaboration Via Shvoong Homework

http://www.shvoong.com

If your a student still in school, your going to like this service. Shvoong Homework provides students with the ability to organize and share homework resources.

Shvoong Homework allows students to type-up their schoolwork, keep it organized, and then share it with individuals, classmates, the entire class or no one at all, all within the confines of their online service. Shvoong claims that they have no intention on replacing the real thing whether it be text books, essays, magazines ect, but rather serve as a tool, to help students wade through the vast amount of information that is widely available at their finger tips.

ShvoongHomework In Action

Some of the noticeable features of Shvoong Homework include:

  • My TimeTable: Let’s students create a Timetable for their personal class schedules using an intuitive wizard. Students can indicate specific lessons, add exam schedules and attach a teacher’s name. Each Timetable is linked to Notebooks and allows Students to easily navigate between their Timetable and any particular Notebook they created. Students can even receive email alerts for upcoming assignments and exams.
  • My Notebook: Let’s students write-up their class notes, homework, summaries, and exam preparations. Of course the number of Notebooks students can create and the amount of content in each Notebook is unlimited.
  • Languages: Shvoong Homework supports an amazing 30 languages. These even include such languages as Hebrew, Hindi, Portuguese, Polish, Arabic, and Farsi.

When asked why Shvoong was created, CEO Eyal Rivlin responded with,

“We spoke to teachers who were frustrated with their students’ lack of dedication to homework. We then spoke to the kids and asked them what would make doing homework more fun. We then took all their feedbacks and created Shvoong Homework.”

“With so many distractions it’s no wonder kids don’t do as much homework as they should. We decided to revolutionize homework and make it fun. The result is Shvoong Homework.”

Shvoong Homework is Privately owned and fully funded by Avi Shaked, founder and main shareholder of 888.com. 

I’ve sent in an email to Shvoong Homework wanting to know how they plan on preventing students from copying each others work over the net. Whenever I see the words Homework and Sharing in the same sentence, I think COPY. This post will be updated later today once I find out the answer.