BASEMENT.ORG
Posted by Richard Ziade on October 31, 2006, 11:17AMGoogle Acquires Jotspot
Not sure why this one isn't making the rounds yet. Google has acquired Jotspot. No more new accounts (for now). Jot is a virtual office suite with calendar, spreadsheets and the like. Not sure how (or if) this folds into the Google Office plans.
Google's clearly aiming their sights on small businesses/organizations that just want a simple turnkey solution for your typical operational tools - email, calendar, spreadsheets etc. They've already acquired Writely. There won't be many little players left in 12 months I'm guessing. They'll either get acquired or relegated to a small slice of the pie.
Posted by Richard Ziade on October 30, 2006, 01:30PMIt's The Vowels Stupid
Wondering why Web 2.0 startups keep dropping vowels from their names? Forbes says it's because all properly spelled URL's are sold out or really expensive. Interesting.
The Weird World Of Comment Spam
Maybe someone can help me out with this...
I've come to accept comment spam as a general part of life here on basement.org. A handful of Movable Type plug-ins has taken the daily number down to a much more manageable number.
There are really two categories of spam. The first is just outright offensive. Sex, drugs and...umm...ringtones. Then there's the manic depressive spammer. These guys just can't find the motivation and are really down on life. My guess is they're depressed because they make a living submitting comment spam, but that's just a theory. Here's an example of a depressed commenter:
I haven't gotten anything done recently. I've just been hanging out doing nothing. I haven't been up to anything these days, but it's not important. Today was a total loss.
Pretty uplifting eh? I've actually blogged about this phenomenon before. It's just plain weird.
Now just last night, I got a comment that really doesn't fall into either category. I'll just drop it here and see if anyone can make heads or tails of it:
It is a very good site and I want to know some more about it ..... that's why I want become a member of this basement mouse and this is the reason of my first visit to basement mouse I have been a member of mumbai hangout and from there I am know that this basement mouse is very good site and that 's why I finalised that I want to become the member of this basement mouse and from this first visit I think that this is a very good site and I am not even think that there is not any problem with this site and every person fears that a harmful virus would enter his or her computer and I am not sure about this that If any virus will enter my laptop enter my laptop then what will I do for this this but this not to worry ..... ok ......
I'm not sure if it's a language barrier. He keeps calling my blog "basement mouse" which sort of freaks me out. He did leave a link behind to the Indian Institute of Information Technology Design & Manufacturing (or IIITDM for short).
Hey, at least the comment isn't depressing.
Posted by Richard Ziade on October 26, 2006, 02:08PMI *BLEEPED* her on *BLEEP*
I envision a bizarre beeping sound. It comes in out of nowhere and momentarily overwhelms your conversation. You mis-spoke. Well, you mis-spoke in how you used the word "google." You mis-spoke because Google said so.
Yep. You heard it right. Google wants you to speak a certain way when you use the word (and yes, it's a word now, not just a brand) "google." People are already pretty annoyed about this.
Is this unprecedented? Asking the general public to speak a certain way? Probably. Before blogs existed, how would a company even try to get the word out without appearing like a bunch of jerks?
As far as I know, trademarks exist so other businesses don't piggyback the goodwill you've built atop your brand. We are not businesses. We are people talking. Is this blog entry a warning? What if we keep doing it? Do we get sued? I particulary enjoy the "Our Lawyers Say" bit in the entry. Why are lawyers involved at all?
Frankly, I'm surprised this not-so-subtle warning to speak a certain way got past Google's PR people. Google's brand is pristine these days. This bit of blogging can't do anyone any good. Especially Google.
So let's ask again. Is Google evil? Nah. Well, maybe.
Lichtenstein & Dissections
A nice bit of Photoshop love. A groovy series of Photoshop-manipulated images of dissections. Very realistic looking stuff. Also, a tutorial to make your photos look like Roy Lichtenstein's pop art with Photoshop. Both links are swiped off the mighty BoingBoing.net.
Posted by Richard Ziade on October 25, 2006, 11:15AMAdobe's Headquarters Is One Big Frickin' Puzzle
This is bizarre and kind of cool. Adobe's HQ in California has some sort of semaphore puzzle. It's a set of flathead screw-like symbols that rotate periodically. It was designed by Ben Rubin. I like it. It's intriguing, dynamic and nicely offsets that lifeless feeling we often associate with "corporate headquarters." I also like the notion of this physical entity communicating with its surrounding world. In a strange way, it's kind of endearing.
Then again, it just may be because I really enjoy Adobe's products. Either way, check it out. And if you can decipher the code, you get a prize (or something).
Icebrrg
We'll put aside that Icebrrg continues Web 2.0's all out assault on proper spelling and boycott of vowels and simply enjoy it for what it's worth: a form builder, simple data storage thingy (a la Wufoo).
Posted by Richard Ziade on October 23, 2006, 09:56AMPaint.Net
Paint.net is a free, semi-worthy Photoshop-like graphics editing tool for Windows. Looks pretty ok.
Posted by Richard Ziade on October 19, 2006, 12:34PMDigg For Developers : Dzone
I'm digging dzone. Fresh links for developers with Digg-style voting.
Posted by Richard Ziade on October 11, 2006, 09:21AMIndex : Design To Improve Life
Index : Design To Improve Life. Awesome.
Posted by Richard Ziade on October 10, 2006, 09:20AMSearch Results, Tag Clouds & Motives
Joel Nagy, architect here at Arc90, throws out an interesting approach on how to convey more effective information around individual search results. It's an idea over at the lab, and it raises a subtle, but important issue with search results today: how do I know the context of a particular result?
Joel here is focusing on the choice the user makes after search results return. In a tougher search, the user is forced to probe and skim through the blurb that often comes right after the search result title. It's usually a snippet from the actual page, and it's often not very helpful. Joel suggests "term clouds." From his lab entry:
A great way to present this sort of weighted information is in a cloud (as in tag clouds). A cloud of terms would show the frequency of related words on each page. With terms clouds, a searcher can peruse the hits on her query and quickly weed out the pages that emphasize topics she is not interested in, or hone in on ones that do.
It's an interesting approach, and one that could actually elevate search clouds from Web 2.0 gimmick that no one really uses in any sort of functional way to that of real utility.
Providing users with better context of search results is a very tricky thing. There are websites out there that "cluster" results (Clusty comes to mind). Yahoo has an interesting approach with Yahoo Mindset. With Mindset, users are given a slider where they can emphasize "shopping" or "research" as their motive.
And that's really what this is all about: it's not about giving users context around search results. It's ultimately about giving search engines context of the user's motives. Had Google known what Joel was looking for, it wouldn't have to bother with search clouds and such at all. Why do you think Google would like nothing more than watch every move you're making 24 hours a day? It wants your motivation...
...but that's for another blog entry. For now, let's see if we can convince Joel to whip together a script/experiment that actually creates these clouds. ;)
Posted by Richard Ziade on October 9, 2006, 05:14PMGoogle Gobbles Youtube
This apparently just happened. Google has acquired Youtube. As to what they're gonna do with Youtube - I'm sure plenty of bloggers and "experts" will speculate. Youtube cornered it and there was no unseating them. Google and others have learned that once a particular destination tips, its nearly impossible to unseat them. Google Video could hardly make a dent (along with others).
It'll be fun to see how Google morphs Youtube into something viable. It has become the ad hoc Internet TV platform. It is a delicate thing though. At some point, you've got to take control of what's happening. Like it or not, there are copyright issues to be worked out. The snag is figuring out if the changes you impose turn it into something else. That's the tricky part. Delicious and Flickr have remained practically untouched since Yahoo snatched them up. I still can't tell if those were viable acquisitions as well. I plead ignorance on such moves. I just can't find the rational thinking behind them.
Anhow, it's done. The 'Tube is now Google property. Congrats to both companies. This is a pretty big deal any way you spin it.
Color Palette Generator
I've thought about this and wanted to build this (no really) but couldn't find the frickin' time. Anway, somebody else did it nice. Upload a picture and it spits out a color palette. This is good. Real good.
Slick Inline Commenting Plugin For Wordpress
Jack Slocum (yes, his coding skills are as badass as his name) has put out a really impressive commenting system for Wordpress. Built atop the Yahoo UI library, it's a different take on comments. Rather than just dumping them all on the bottom of a blog post, he meshes them into the reading experience. Nice.
Posted by Richard Ziade on October 2, 2006, 09:13AMI Really Like The New York Times Reader (Really)
Being in NY and all and liking good journalism and all I really enjoy reading the NY Times. For the past week or so, I've been trying out the New York Times Reader. It's an application that runs on Windows XP that displays Times content in a readable, newspaper style right on your desktop. You click on a link and it takes you to a particular article.
You're probably asking now - why the hell would I need that? It sounds like a web browser. Well, it pretty much is a web browser. But goshdarnit, there's something about it. It's a very enjoyable way to read the news. I think the Reader has a few things going for it:
- The text and fonts have been carefully selected for readability. It's not straining at all to read. It's still not as good as paper, but a step up from what we're used to in my opinion.
- It's a single-purpose applicaiton. It's not a browser with web pages. It's built from the ground up for reading newspaper articles and that makes for a different experience. The way articles are laid out and connected helps simulate the "flipping through the paper" feel we enjoy today with offline content.
- I'm an avid user of RSS. FeedDemon is constantly running on my desktop. But I'll be damned, there is something about a unique layout that RSS readers deprive us of. Our brains don't only take in the words, but the structure, organization and aesthetic surroundings of content - and feed readers deprive us of that.
Long live paper.