Top service mashups
Submitted on November 30th, 2005 by admin
Filed under Resources and Services
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A few weeks ago, someone asked me what Web 2.0 meant, and the answer isn’t always easy to put into words. One thing we can say about it is that service mashups, like Google Maps for example, are definitely very much part of the phenomenon. Programmable Web has put together a cool list of what they deem to be the top mashups on the web. Some of the sites mentioned include Flash Earth, which is a Flash-based interface to various mapping services, Diggdot.us which combines posts from digg, Slashdot, and del.icio.us, and my favorite, Virtual Placeswhich shows blogs, Flickr users, weather and more on an map, but unfortunately doesn’t seem to work on Firefox. Check the list out, and you might find some pretty useful services in the process.
[Via Read/Write Web]
Manage multiple iTunes libraries w/ Libra
Submitted on November 30th, 2005 by admin
Filed under The Mac Side and Audio and Software and Windows
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I’m a big fan of iTunes, but there are a few things that bother me about it. For one, it only allows you to create one library, so if you have multiple people using the same computer, you may have music on your library which you may not necessarily want to hear (my wife and I have completely different music tastes, for example); not only that, but it’s possible that iTunes may become unresponsive when your library gets too large. If you want to use multiple libraries, there is a free application which lets you switching between them, called Libra.
Libra is available for both Windows and Mac OS X and makes library manage a breeze. Libra lets you create, rename, and delete libraries, and will automatically close and relaunch iTunes whenever you switch between libraries. It’s also available in various languages including English, French, and German.
Using Firefox without a mouse
Submitted on November 30th, 2005 by admin
Filed under Productivity and Browsers and Software
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Having used Linux for quite a few years taught me that you don’t always need to use the mouse to get things done. In fact, using the keyboard can sometimes be just as fast, if not faster, than using a mouse. We’ve written a few articles about keyboard shortcuts, and if you can memorize them, you really can make yourself a little more productive, mainly because you’ll be saving yourself a few seconds by not having to reach for your mouse all the time to get to the address bar, or click links. Lifehacker has put together a guide to using Firefox without a mouse. You won’t be able to do everything without a mouse, but you’ll be well on your way with the tips provided. The article has a list of useful Firefox keyboard shortcuts, as well as a couple of extensions which may help you become mouse free.
Cool Google Maps you may not know existed
Submitted on November 30th, 2005 by admin
Filed under Resources
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We haven’t really talked too much about Google Maps in a while, but I came upon a cool site via digg which hasn’t some of the more innovative Google Maps mashups I’ve seen on the web. The site is appropriately called Cool Google Maps.
Cool Google Maps features some of the coolest maps which you probably would never have thought existed. Sure, maps mashing eBay information, XBox360 retail locations, and weather are commonplace and popular, but what about a map of a gallery of 9/11 photographs, the AIM Profile Link Tracker, or the Ski/Snowboard Resort Map? The site has only been around for a couple of weeks, but promises to be a great resource of interesting maps along the lines of Google Maps Mania and others.
Filter out eBay fraudulent auctions w/ Gumshoo
Submitted on November 30th, 2005 by admin
Filed under Shopping and Services and Security
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I tend to do quite a bit of shopping on eBay, and while I’ve never had the misfortune of being scammed, I’ve heard quite a few horror stories. eBay doesn’t offer a way to filter out fraudulent auctions, but you can spot them with a service called Gumshoo. With Gumshoo, you can avoid yourself a lot of hassle, and even find some good deals since the service also searches for misspelled auctions which generally lead to lower priced items. The service is completely free, and probably a good research tool for eBay fans.
[Via Solution Watch]
Plugins and add-ons for Mail.app
Submitted on November 30th, 2005 by admin
Filed under Email and The Mac Side and Software
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I’m a big fan of creating clean and simple applications which can be easily expanded through the use of extensions, hence my love of Firefox. Yet, Firefox isn’t the only application which has extensions, and Apple’s Mail.app, an OS X e-mail client, also has tons of great extensions which expand the functionality of Mail.app and lets it do some pretty cool things. Hawk Wings has an extensive list of plugins and addons for Mail.app which is really cool. Some connect to existing e-mail services like GMail+Growl and the GMail Notifier, while others allow for mail forwarding, provide spoken notification of new e-mail, encrypt e-mail and help Mail.app integrate better into other applications. If you’re a fan of Mail.app and use it often, you will definitely find some cool and useful tools here.
The Ultimate Guide to Yahoo! Services
Submitted on November 30th, 2005 by admin
Filed under Email and Shopping and Storage and Podcasting and Productivity and Graphics and Services and Audio and Resources and Software
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About a week and a half or two ago, our newest contributor, Jay Koby, wrote a guide to Google services which proved to be more popular around the web than we ever thought possible. As a result, we decided to put together a similar guide for Yahoo! services, which proved to be a little tougher, because, believe it or not, Yahoo! has many more services than Google! Some of these are well known, particularly Flickr and the various search features, but some you may never have heard of, or even known that they were part of the Yahoo! family. Read on for the full guide.
10 tips for new Mac owners
Submitted on November 29th, 2005 by admin
Filed under Resources and The Mac Side
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Over the past year or so, more and more people have been switching from Windows-based PCs to alternative operating systems, particularly Apple’s Mac OS. While the basic principles of using an operating system are the same, the Mac OS interface is slightly different, and you may not readily know how to use it. Paul Stamatiou has a nice post on his blog that every beginner Mac user should read. The 10 tips range on everything from the amount of RAM you should have on your Mac, to how to use Expose, OS X’s application switcher. This is definitely some worthwhile reading if you’re new to the world of Mac.
[Via Lifehacker]
Another large collection of free file hosting services
Submitted on November 29th, 2005 by admin
Filed under Resources and Services and Software
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Not long ago, I mentioned that gHacks had put together a list of free file hosting services, but complained about how little information the article provided. This morning, I came upon a post on Copy-Log via del.icio.us with a list of 50+ free file hosting services. The detailed is well put together and much easier to browse through and includes relevant information such as file size limit, download bandwidth limits, how long the file resides on the service, and a direct link to each. All 50+ file hosting services on the list are free and require no registration to use. Enjoy!
Google Maps online holiday shopping tools
Submitted on November 29th, 2005 by admin
Filed under Shopping and Resources and Services
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It’s almost December and for most of that, that means the holiday season is almost here. As a result, you may already be shopping for gifts for your loved ones. Want some cool Google Maps mashups to help you find the right gift? Google Maps Mania has a list of some of the top mashups to help you get some shopping done online. The list includes Froogle ZipCode Search, MapBids and Precision eBay Search Tool which combine eBay auctions with a neat map interface, Google Local (with links to some internation Local sites, as well), and the Apple Retail Store Finder. Remember to get your shopping done early; statistics say that the week before Christmas (and particularly the last 2 or 3 days before it) are the busiest shopping days of the year. If you want to skip those lines, buy online.
