Migratr 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
JiWire 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.
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
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.
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.
Web 2.0 Photography Contest Winner
Today is the last day of the month and so it’s time I announce the winner of the Real World Web 2.0 Photography Contest. The winning submission was sent in by vipworld The winning entry features an artistic shot of someone holding an Ipod. The Ipod features a pastel red color as well as rounded corners, two facets which make up most web 2.0 websites.
There were only two entries over a two month period leading me to believe one of two things. Either web 2.0 doesn’t PHYSICALLY exist outside of the internet or, I didn’t promote this contest well enough. Considering how many views this post has as well as the amount of folks finding this page via Google searches, I think it’s safe to say that the majority of concepts and things attributed to Web 2.0 are within the confines of the internet.
Thanks to all who joined the group and spreading the word. Congratulations to Vipworld. Your 1 Year Flickr Pro Membership has already been purchased. Enjoy!
Jeffro2pt0.com Undergoes More Updates
Sorry for the lack of posts lately, but I have had an inkling to change some things around here. Some of those things include the commenting system. Not only did it look like an eyesore, but it lacked a few features that I have been wanting to implement for some time now. I have implemented SezWho, a plugin and service which highlights user reputation. Users can rate your comment up or down which after a period of time, can be known as your reputation. Readers of this site can now minimize or maximize individual comments, sort comments based on ratings and rate each other, including me. I’ve also completed some design work which is not entirely finished. I still have a couple more design tweaks I would like to do before I can consider this area of the blog done.
Over the weekend, I decided to try out the idea of having a shoutbox. I realize the word SHOUTBOX is so 1990′s but it’s still one of the easiest ways of leaving feedback without having to go through a series of steps. Check out the chat area on the sidebar on the right hand side of this site and leave a message. This is just one more way of allowing me to have two way communication with the readers of this site.
I finally added a little bit of information to the CONTACT ME page. I’ve added some text before the contact form and I’ve also put up a list of other services/networks that I have an account on in which you can get in contact with me. So far, there are over 20 ways of getting in touch with me. Please don’t use them all at the same time :)
That’s the realm of updates for now. I’ll be finishing up the rest of the changes tomorrow with a follow up post letting you know what’s up.
Live Video Feed From New Media Expo
For those that are interested, TalkShoe has begun their live coverage of the Podcast and New Media Expo being held in Ontario California. The stream will be ongoing all day long. iJustine is sort of co-hosting the event and is streaming live video from the expo. The video and audio stream is intermittently going out but they appear to be doing the best they can with their setup.
To tune in to the show, click here. After the page loads, look for the LISTEN symbol and click on it. This will open a new window with the live stream.
Microsoft Updates Live Search Engine
Microsoft has updated is LIVE search engine today. The updates were focused around the core search technology as well as the vertical search areas of entertainment, shopping, local and health. Collectively, these improvements mark a quality milestone based on the company’s focus on delivering a better search experience for consumers and advertisers.
Here are some of the updates which were covered.
- Over fourfold increase in index size.
- Substantial improvements in understanding queryintent.
- Significant enhancements to core algorithms.
- Increased focus on query refinement.
- New Web data extraction model.
- Expansion of Rich Answers.
Additional improvements to the service include a new, cleaner user interface that makes the results pages easier to read and use; a more robust Answers platform that provides instant access to information from trusted sources while increasing relevancy; and organization of results pages based on the high-interest search verticals of entertainment, shopping, local and health on one page.
Is Ticketapp The Twitter Yappd Killer
TicketApp compares themselves to Twitter but I’d say they are a lot more than Twitter. TicketApps is a Tumblelog, todo list, note taker, image publisher, bug tracker and so much more. While Twitter may lay claim to the word “Tweets“, Ticketapp messages or postings are simply called “Tickets” Because this new service is like so many others, there are a lot of similarities.
Like Twitter, Ticketapp offers a public timeline where users can see recent tickets. These recent tickets can contain any number of different forms of content such as images, text and links but one thing missing from the equation is the ability to publish videos.
Users can customize their profile by adding their own avatar and adding a background image to their ticket page but that’s about it in terms of customization. When are sites going to enable users to come up with their own color schemes? It can’t be that hard. One last note about customization. Ticketapp provides an option to make your tickets public or private.
How Does This Thing Work?
Unlike Yappd or Twitter but similar to Tumblr, The TicketApp text editor gives users the ability to post quotes, images, links, and snippets of code by allowing these specific html tags to be used. I must admit, typing in HTML code is annoying and these tags should be substituted with buttons that perform these functions automatically for highlighted text. These tags are generally allowed on numerous blogs within their respected commenting areas so it’s interesting to see a service pick up on the notion of Twitter and provide this additional functionality. One other thing that is worth mentioning is that there is no character limit. You can go way beyond 140 characters if you choose to do so.
Will this service take off?
It’s hard to say. It’s nice to see a time line which isn’t merely all text but, Twitter is well established and so are the likes of Tumblr and Jaiku. The notion of having a service which is a clone of another is quickly wearing off and it’s really starting to drive many people up the wall. Perhaps with a few more UI changes, a publicly released API for third party support, and more options for user customization, this service may stand a chance to gain an acceptable userbase.
If you end up creating an account and giving it a try, please report back to us with your feedback and give us your opinion.
The Disposable Webpage
Have you ever wanted a temporary webpage? If so, now it’s possible thanks to DisposableWebpage which gives users the opportunity to create a temporary web page that will automatically expire in no more than 90 days. Once the countdown reaches 0, the page is automatically set for disposal. The page stays on the site for 2 more weeks and then is incinerated.
Before you are given the ability to create a page, you first need to obtain a master key. This master key enables you to edit the disposable webpage, create an editor key for friends or colleagues, and set the disposable date of the page.
Each disposable webpage contains the following feature set:
- disposed within 90 days or less after creation
- count down clock to show the time to disposal
- history of revisions from the first edit to the current edition
- bookmarking facility for readers follow the page
- rich text editor for editing purposes
The first thing I was required to do when creating my own page was to give the page a title. That was followed up with entering a CAPTCHA security code. Unlike most of the other CAPTCHA security images I’ve seen, this one was pretty tough for me to figure out.
After figuring out the security code, Disposable Webpage presented me with my own Login Master Key which is made up of 5 characters. I’m also given a link with a unique identifier which points to my disposable page. If you don’t like the master key that is generated for you, DW provides an option to set your own master key. Near the bottom of the page is a link where I can begin to edit my own disposable page.
The page editor is your standard text editor with all sorts of bells and whistles such as the ability to add video files, flash file, color coding, undo ect. One annoying thing I found was the lack of tooltip popups, which usually give a short description of what a button in the text editor does. This is very unfriendly in terms of interface design. It’s also worth noting that you are only alloted 15 minutes of editing time per editing session. However, each time you press the save button, the time is reset back to 15 minutes.
Final Thoughts:
The Disposable Webpage has quite a number of good uses. Some of those include short term collaboration, sharing of ideas in one place, can be used as a platform for any number of brainstorming sessions you may have ect. I think the best use of this site would be for those who are holding a conference or expo and need a temporary page to provide information related to the event. You can set a page up with all of the necessary information within 90 days of the event and once you have forgotten about the page, it will automatically be deleted.
Click here to visit my DisposableWebpage.
If you have used DisposableWebpage, why not let us know what your experience was like by leaving a comment below.
Live Coverage Of New Media Expo
TalkShoe will be exhibiting and attending the Podcast & New Media Expo, Sept 28-30 in Ontario, CA (near Los Angeles). They will be holding a continuous live podcast (Click here for information) from the show floor with special guest iJustine Live. If you happen to attend the event, make sure to visit Booth #415 as that is where TalkShoe will be located.
The 3rd Annual New Media Expo is an annual convention that educates individuals and companies about how to produce high-quality audio and video digital content, grow a loyal audience, and market or monetize that content in creative ways.
The Expo is a “prosumer” and corporate event that brings together influential digital media creators, podcasters and content developers to cover the complete range of creation techniques, business objectives and future trends.
The Expo is also a major networking event where content creators can share ideas and build partnerships.
If you are attending the event or if you will somehow be covering the expo via Twitter or some other means, please let us know by leaving us a comment.
Thoughts and Insanity From Jeff 