IM, that is. Huzzah for another bad pun! Monday the Alpha version of Kool IM launched, but how “kool” is it? As far as aggregating other chat clients, it does a decent job, even including Google Talk. If you register, Kool will remember your various accounts, but you still have to log them in each individually, which is disappointing. The main complaint is that it only takes the barebones chat part. No file sharing, no pix, no voice or video. Why would I want to leave these features behind? Is that really worth not having a couple chat programs running?
The current version also has some more minor bugs that need to be addressed such as chat windows that won’t scroll with longer messages and missing the first message someone sends you if using Firefox. Luckily, after browsing through the forum, it seems like the developers are very interested in taking user suggestions to heart and fixing the troublesome bits.
It’s definitely not quite time to leave your other chat programs behind. Trillian does a better job of bringing together more of the features and the programs (but not Google Talk as of yet); however, this requires a download, while Kool IM is just in your browser. The Alpha version is only the first step, so hopefully, with a lot of hard work, Kool IM will end up evolving into something a little more polished.
Category Archives: Web/Internet
Gabbin'
Here is something interesting I discovered quite on accident this afternoon while browsing. It caught my attention because I have a friend who has been trying to come up with a way that people can chat together while surfing his web page. The service is Gabbly, and it’s amazingly simple. All one has to do is stick “gabbly.com/” before any URL (in a compatible browser) and it will open not only the URL you typed, but a window to chat in. I’ve tried several of my favorite places (including this blog right here) and, sadly, have been the only “Gabber” around.
One quite interesting detail is that when you leave a website, your conversation doesn’t; it stays for whoever shows up next. In fact, I have seen many previous conversations on exactly that topic, past gabbers chatting about past gabbers. There seems to be lots of potential here. You could leave notes to people about what content is good, or post links to relevant items. Of course, there are also those who just spam the heck out of any chat they can get their handle into.
Another chat I came across seemed to be one fellow initiating his friend into the Gabbly-ness. They started out at Kotaku and then, following the first’s suggestion (in the chat window,) headed over to Engadget. Friends can surf together! Of course, there is nothing preventing people from going to Engadget together in any instant messenger program they choose, but they aren’t going to meet up with anyone else when they get there. Is this just goofy, or will it really catch on? I have no idea, but it’s definitely worth taking for a spin.
Getting my blob on
Saw an interesting Web tool recently called blobber (yup, www.blobber.com), which (like all Web 2.0 “technologies” is of course just in beta right now) allows people who visit the same site to interact with each other, chat, and see “information and alerts … in real-time”. Which I think is important for all our readers.
The only real negative comment I have at present is I find their interface for setting up what should be an extremely simple tool is overly complex. I had to cut and paste just a single line of HTML into my Web site to activate it, but 10 minutes of reading instructions later and I still have no idea how to do any useful customization.
I honestly have no idea if this is a good idea or just wasting a little time, but it took me all of 14 seconds to incorporate it into the site. And now I have the key to Internet success, you know, chat.
Updated: Blobber is now gone from the site. It wasn’t working well when it did work, and ‘crashed’ too many times for me.
Rappin my Rep
Ok, that’s about the worst title for a post, but I’m jetlagged in Amsterdam and it made me chuckle. Anyhow, Rapleaf is a new Web 2.0 startup (a topic I’m trying to avoid these days, but couldn’t help it here) from the SF Bay Area focused on, and this part I like very much, trying to make the world a better place. Amen!
Think I’m just kidding around? I’m not! From their about page:
Rapleaf’s Goal: To make it much more profitable to be ethical
Whether they succeed or fail, I’ll give them props for trying. Effectively, Rapleaf is offering a Web-based service that lets anyone rate anyone else by email address or phone number. Think of an eBay rating, but now take it to encompass ALL online buying and selling. Auren Hoffman, the company’s founder (and a swell guy) is using it already in conjunction with a posting he made on craigslist.
I like when people actually use the technology they build. It always gives me a personal warm fuzzy when I use the Slingbox to watch my home DVR (like I did this morning starting at 4:12am, when Ambien failed me for the first time). If you are at some company and never, ever use your own products, I’d suggest looking for something different to do with your time. But, again, that’s just my opinion (but since you come to my blog, you must endure my opinion until such time as you continue on your merry Internet-surfing ways).
Now I do think most Web 2.0 stuff is a bunch of junk, Web toys and tools being built by bloggers, for bloggers, and will never, ever go anywhere (and yes, back in 1996 I thought an online bookstore was a goofy idea, I admit it, but I was right that it didn’t take 400 people to run an online pet supply store and people in Baltimore weren’t likely to order DVDs and ice cream at 11pm over the Internet for instant delivery). I think the concept behind Rapleaf is sound, and I’m actually surprised the folks at MSN Passport (or Live) never incorporated something similar. Honestly, I’d like to see the company take it a notch further: what if they could expand the concept to stick with an individual external to the notion of buying and selling?
What's with the pornchat???
As I mentioned a little while ago, I’ve been trying out Zoomclouds here on the LD. I would call the results so far ‘mixed’, and based on looking at the usage statistics, it doesn’t seem like everyone out there is clamoring to use it very often. Now, this could be due to its location on the page, or the contents, or even the color scheme.
Or it could be because clouds, tags, diggs, wikis, and lots of other Web 2.0 inventions are really only designed for the ultra-Internet crowd (great thoughts on this over at Slate.com). I’m not interested in trackbacks (the Web 2.0 of high school yearbooks), and every link I have is to a site I actually visit on a recurring basis. But I digress.
Back to the Zoomcloud. If you look on the right, it’s a snapshot of my current cloud. Nestled right under netflix and above schneider is pornchat. Clicking on the pornchat tag takes you here, which links back to a post I made about going to 3GSM. In that post I mentioned the word pornchat once.
But now, according to some content analyzing system, it’s a tag.
And it’s apparently my most popular tag, according to the stats on Zoomcloud…
All I really want to know is what were those of you who clicked on it hoping to find (and were you then satisfied with the results)?
On cloud 9… ZoomCloud, that is…
I guess this week is all about thin air. First I tried Ether, now (thanks to Michael Arrington at TechCrunch), I’m trying out a ZoomCloud.
Basically, ZoomClouds gives you (as a blogger or other type of Web site administrator) an extremely easy way to create a cloud of tags. If you look over on the left below my little Flickr badge you can see the real-time ZoomCloud.
But here are a few more fun ones:
As always with this Web 2.0 stuff, I seem to be a bit late to the game. Check out some other popular sites and their clouds:
Cool stuff! Also, they’ve made sharing cloud designs quite easy. Here’s the LD design for anyone who likes our little color scheme. Also, they have a few useful tips and tricks for people who like to tinker.
The ZoomCloud team seems to move fairly fast, as its been a week since Emily Change at eHub made her cloud, and it’s already updated on the shared designs page.
So now we have Ether and Clouds. Too bad http://www.atmosphere.com/ isn’t exactly a Web 2.0 proposition…
Ether: A penny (or more) for your thoughts
This past week Ether officially started their beta program, and already got folks like Robert Scoble and Michael Arrington (Techcrunch) giving a bunch of love. I’ve had the privelege to beta test the system myself, and I have to say, the world is a-changing!
While they’ve been in stealth mode for quite some time, I have a feeling this is one of those things that could take off quite fast. It’s one of those concepts that makes so much sense you wonder why it hasn’t happened already.
Here it is in a nutshell: Ether turns your time into money. How? Pretty simple: you sign up, you set your rate (per minute, per hour, or even for ‘blocks’ of time), you get a phone number. Give someone the number (or, say, put it on your business card, Web site, blog or whatever), and any call you take is money in your pocket.
Want to try it out? I’ve set up two numbers, one’s a freebie, one will cost you. I’ll open up the freebie one for an hour or two a day (yes, you can set ANY call-in hours you want – which is nice), and leave the other one up too.
Freebie:
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Paid ($200/hr):
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So why Ether? If you are a…
- lawyer
- accountant
- therapist
- “lifecoach”
- geek
- programmer
you could use Ether.
Picture this: it’s April 14th at 8:30pm, you’re doing TurboTax, you need to know if you can deduct the 3 extra sheep from your farm expenses. You google “tax advice” and rather than have to set an appointment, or find open hours, you see a number offering last-minute all-night tax help for $15 per 10 minute call. Some poor schlub who works at H&R Block during the day has set up an Ether account and is going to make himself an extra $500 that night alone!
How about this: my wife runs a chocolate business (subtle plug) and knows a lot about gourmet food, chocolate, and pastries, but I’m her Webmaster and she’s still learning QuickBooks. She does her monthly accounting only to find her statement is way out of balance, and googles “Quickbooks help”. She finds someone’s blog who sells an hour of his time for $50 flat. Ether.
Here’s a techie example: you and your buddy Sergey are putting together your first Search web site, and between the two of you you have no idea how to make an HTML table, or change a link color. A web consultant can help, and Ether can be his vehicle for the transaction (although in this case, he should opt for stock).
Last one: you’re a Best Buy employee and you sell HDTVs all day and all night. You sign up for an Ether account, then go sell some Google Adwords, and without a Web site, business card, or even your boss knowing, you are making an extra $45/hour for guiding people to buy the right Panasonic, Sony, or Pioneer plasma for their home. For another $250 you can even arrange to come install it!
There’s a lot of musings about the “Web 2.0“, and there’s a lot of new silliness to ensue. In the midst of it all are some great ideas. Ether is one of them. Plus don’t those guys look like they could change the world (at least a little bit)?
I’ll do a full review of the Ether sign-up process in the next few weeks.