Each page refreshes every few seconds (practically in real time), so clashes are unlikely.
With that said, Writely's meant as a document collaboration service, not a calendar sharing service, so YMMV.
I block pop-ups (somewhat), but nothing else
on
Why Do You Block Ads?
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
On the other hand, if a site has a lot of obnoxious shoot-the-monkey type ads or audio ads, I'll likely never return to it.
Additionally, I am very happy to pay a couple of bucks a month to sites like Salon.com (http://www.salon.com/ to have a streamlined and ad-free experience (in the case of Salon, I also want to support strong independent journalism).
I'll tell you what worries me, though: people (or, worse yet, applications by default) blocking text ads. IMHO that's pretty self-defeating long-term; if text ads cease to be significantly more effective than graphical and/or annoying pop-up ads, then companies will either revert back to more flashy ads (yuck!) or they'll start putting content behind subscription walls (bad for searching, bad for wallets), or -- worse yet -- may just decide to stop sharing or creating content at all.
Hey, even as a "blogger" myself, I agree that the whole blog thing is obnoxiously overhyped. Okay, easy publishing, we get it. Neato.
But calling blogs 'diaries' is kinda lame, too. Though you can still see a zillion angsty "I hate myself, I love my cheese sandwich" blogs, there are a ton more that aggregate or commentate on interesting tech stories or political issues, and so on.
...and saving and/or playing them in the player of my choice. Despite owning a portable music player (a gift), I never did quite understand all the excitement of podcast time/placeshifting. When do people find the time to listen to all this stuff anyway? (commutes, I suppose, but beyond that...?)
Anyway, the idea of a podcast directory is nice, and I'm neither surprised nor unhappy that Y! has stepped up to the plate. However, some of the whizbang stuff they've tacked on isn't, well, very user-friendly.
For instance, clicking on "listen" under a listed podcast brings up a little window with a mini-player... which (at least on Firefox) doesn't even let you skip forward or back in a broadcast. Huh?!
The integration with Y!'s player -- Yahoo! Music Engine -- is, however, pretty useful and generally well-done.
You and other posters here have lamented the inconvenience of driving to the store to drop off your photo-data-cards and then waiting an hour or driving back a second time.
I think you're overlooking two key options:
1) Upload photos to a site, then pick up. For instance, you can upload your photos via Yahoo and then pick them up in as little as an hour from Target (http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/thatadamguy/print_s plash). I seem to recall that other stores also let you upload-'n'-pick-up, too. With the aforementioned Yahoo/Target option, it's 20 cents per print, first 20 free.
2) Or, if you don't mind waiting a week or so, order photos online via Fotki, Shutterfly, etc.
As for privacy... I suppose there could be some issues, but particularly with mega-printers like Ofoto and Snapfish and such, I just don't imagine that the photos are being seen by many human eyes (perhaps not even by one).
COPERNIC: - Supports more formats - Been around longer - An app, not a Web service - Uses more cycles
GDS: - 400K, ridiculously lightweight - Currently indexes few apps - Optionally integrated with Google search results - Blindingly fast - Uses familiar Google searching syntax
You'll notice that when you do a GDS search, you'll see a url like this:
http://127.0.0.1:4664/search&s=3740881052?q=foob ar &ie=UTF-8
Then do this: 1) Select OPTIONS on your deskbar. 2) Click on CUSTOMIZED SEARCHES, then ADD. 3) Put anything you want for the name ("Google Desktop Search," for instance), and any shortcut key you like. 4) For the URL, replace the query string ("foobar" in my example above) with "{1}" (minus the quotes)
I've been playing with orkut.com for the last day or so, and it's definitely a pleasurable step up from Friendster (though admittedly, Friendster sucks pretty hard).
One thing that I'm curious and/or concerned about, however, is whether orkut can really be -- as it seemingly intends -- all things to all networkers. In this early version, there seems to be enough goofy/mushy/flirty stuff in it to deter serious business networkers (who'll likely prefer spoke.com), but not enough of the romance/love/sex component to effectively compete with Yafro, Match.com, and Evite.
Currently orkut's (obviously) got the Google cache plus the processor speed that comes along with that. Additionally, the founding members of orkut.com are largely Googlers who -- from my cursory observation and knowledge -- happen to be largely intelligent and interesting people.
Slashdot Mirror
Perhaps using a Writely page? (http://www.writely.com/
Each page refreshes every few seconds (practically in real time), so clashes are unlikely.
With that said, Writely's meant as a document collaboration service, not a calendar sharing service, so YMMV.
On the other hand, if a site has a lot of obnoxious shoot-the-monkey type ads or audio ads, I'll likely never return to it.
Additionally, I am very happy to pay a couple of bucks a month to sites like Salon.com (http://www.salon.com/ to have a streamlined and ad-free experience (in the case of Salon, I also want to support strong independent journalism).
I'll tell you what worries me, though: people (or, worse yet, applications by default) blocking text ads. IMHO that's pretty self-defeating long-term; if text ads cease to be significantly more effective than graphical and/or annoying pop-up ads, then companies will either revert back to more flashy ads (yuck!) or they'll start putting content behind subscription walls (bad for searching, bad for wallets), or -- worse yet -- may just decide to stop sharing or creating content at all.
Hey, even as a "blogger" myself, I agree that the whole blog thing is obnoxiously overhyped. Okay, easy publishing, we get it. Neato.
But calling blogs 'diaries' is kinda lame, too. Though you can still see a zillion angsty "I hate myself, I love my cheese sandwich" blogs, there are a ton more that aggregate or commentate on interesting tech stories or political issues, and so on.
...and saving and/or playing them in the player of my choice. Despite owning a portable music player (a gift), I never did quite understand all the excitement of podcast time/placeshifting. When do people find the time to listen to all this stuff anyway? (commutes, I suppose, but beyond that...?)
Anyway, the idea of a podcast directory is nice, and I'm neither surprised nor unhappy that Y! has stepped up to the plate. However, some of the whizbang stuff they've tacked on isn't, well, very user-friendly.
For instance, clicking on "listen" under a listed podcast brings up a little window with a mini-player... which (at least on Firefox) doesn't even let you skip forward or back in a broadcast. Huh?!
The integration with Y!'s player -- Yahoo! Music Engine -- is, however, pretty useful and generally well-done.
You and other posters here have lamented the inconvenience of driving to the store to drop off your photo-data-cards and then waiting an hour or driving back a second time.
s plash). I seem to recall that other stores also let you upload-'n'-pick-up, too. With the aforementioned Yahoo/Target option, it's 20 cents per print, first 20 free.
I think you're overlooking two key options:
1) Upload photos to a site, then pick up. For instance, you can upload your photos via Yahoo and then pick them up in as little as an hour from Target (http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/thatadamguy/print_
2) Or, if you don't mind waiting a week or so, order photos online via Fotki, Shutterfly, etc.
As for privacy... I suppose there could be some issues, but particularly with mega-printers like Ofoto and Snapfish and such, I just don't imagine that the photos are being seen by many human eyes (perhaps not even by one).
In brief:
COPERNIC:
- Supports more formats
- Been around longer
- An app, not a Web service
- Uses more cycles
GDS:
- 400K, ridiculously lightweight
- Currently indexes few apps
- Optionally integrated with Google search results
- Blindingly fast
- Uses familiar Google searching syntax
You'll notice that when you do a GDS search, you'll see a url like this:
b ar &ie=UTF-8
& ie =UTF-8
:)
http://127.0.0.1:4664/search&s=3740881052?q=foo
Then do this:
1) Select OPTIONS on your deskbar.
2) Click on CUSTOMIZED SEARCHES, then ADD.
3) Put anything you want for the name ("Google Desktop Search," for instance), and any shortcut key you like.
4) For the URL, replace the query string ("foobar" in my example above) with "{1}" (minus the quotes)
So for my machine, I'd add in this for the URL:
http://127.0.0.1:4664/search&s=3740881052?q={1}
Voila... instant GDS searching from your deskbar
The difference is that many of us AREN'T into lovingly caressing our electronic components.
One thing that I'm curious and/or concerned about, however, is whether orkut can really be -- as it seemingly intends -- all things to all networkers. In this early version, there seems to be enough goofy/mushy/flirty stuff in it to deter serious business networkers (who'll likely prefer spoke.com), but not enough of the romance/love/sex component to effectively compete with Yafro, Match.com, and Evite.
Currently orkut's (obviously) got the Google cache plus the processor speed that comes along with that. Additionally, the founding members of orkut.com are largely Googlers who -- from my cursory observation and knowledge -- happen to be largely intelligent and interesting people.
I've actually written a more detailed review of my initial orkut experiences, and I'd certainly welcome feedback :)