Entries Tagged 'Web' ↓

Why would you want to use any other search engine besides Google?

That’s the first issue that popped up in my mind too.  Google is the King of search, no doubt about it — and it’s used on a daily basis.  We’ve grown familiar with it.  We’ve even…befriended it.  We use Gmail, Google Reader, and Google Documents on a daily basis.  And I get that, because I’m in the same boat as you are — in essence, a Google lover.

However, there are certain aspects in which a search engine dedicated towards searching through forums would surpass Google.  For example, if you were looking for more variety when it came to opinion, who would you look towards?  Sure, Google — right?  And usually, Google would lead you to a review site — perhaps like CNet or Ars Technica, and that would be fine.  But what if you wanted more opinions?  Real people that have encountered real technical issues?

I’m not saying that reviewers aren’t real people, but we only get a certain amount of time to test our products before judging them, and to be honest, in such a short timeframe, there’s hardly any chance the product will have any issues.  Nor will we be able to thoroughly test it out as well as a real consumer who uses it.  And besides, variety would give you more of an idea of what to expect.  One reviewer telling you something is one thing, but a majority of members on a forum screaming the same thing is a whole new level.

I give you Twing

Twing is a search engine that is directed strictly towards forums.  Twing was actually brought to my attention just a week ago, and I’ve really gotten to enjoy using it.

The feature that I really loved was the option to search by post, topic, or even the entire forum.

The results satisfied my thirst for knowledge and I am pleased to say that I will be using Twing in the future to have a look at other people’s opinions on certain subjects or products.

Visit:

http://twing.com

Yep, I hopped onto the Twitter bandwagon. There were many reasons I didn’t do this earlier - I didn’t know what the heck it was, I didn’t feel up to trying something new, I’m already a part of a ton of other social networks, etc. But, I felt as though Twitter was something definitely unavoidable, so I joined Saturday morning.

Image by: dpade1337

What is Twitter?

The idea’s simple - you get 140 characters to update your status on what you’re doing. We’re not talking about your job or your biography, but just your task at hand (i.e. boiling an egg, hunting deer, etc). You can choose to follow other people to have their 140 characters show up on your feed every time they update it. You will also end up having fellow Twitterers following you.

…but why?

1. It’s a great way to network.

I’ve started following my regulars - Darren Rowse of Problogger, Cali Lewis of Geekbrief.tv, et al. I’ve also started reciprocating followers following me. I realize that my 8-2 following-follower ratio isn’t that hot for now, but I’m still just getting warmed up to Twitter. Hopefully, I meet more people and find more people to flock to CutEdge and my other blog, Digital Media Break.

2. It’s a great way to share.

Sharing content, news, and thoughts/dialog, links, and ideas are just part of the norm at Twitter. When I feel idea-drained, I can figure I can simply log on to Twitter and get the juices flowing. The exchange of such sharing really helps.

3. It’s a great way to meet readers!

Believe it or not, this is the third reason I got Twitter. I love meeting people, and I’d definitely be interested in meeting my readers! And you can pretty much bet that I’ll be following you, just as you follow me (it’s common courtesy, but also because you are my beloved readers).

Find me at http://twitter.com/HerbertLui and follow already! If you’re not signed up with Twitter yet, what are you waiting for? Hop on board right now!

Image by: dpade1337

After acquiring some information from Dailytech, I’ve learned that Sony BMG is developing an all-you-can-download buffet style subscription program.   The files will be DRM-free, possibly even after the subscription has canceled.  That’s the absolutely galling part - could someone march right in there for a month and download all the songs from the Sony BMG catalog, and then cancel and never pay another dime.  …Right?

Source: http://images.dailytech.com/nimage/7696_large_Rolf%20Schmidt-Holtz.jpg

I think that it’s definitely a shame we’ve underestimated CEO Rolf Schmidt-Holtz and the entire Sony team to such an extent.  If they ever plan to use such a service, I highly doubt that the downloads per month (or day) would be unlimited - perhaps they will adopt a similar pricing scheme as eMusic’s.  Basically, you pay a certain price for 25 downloads per month, a higher price for a higher number.  Not a bad idea, to be honest.

The only question is if this is going to be implemented into the MusicPass program.  And to this, I really have no idea - on one hand, MusicPass looked as though it was an alternative to just CDs, but now I think it’ll be easy to spread the branding to an online store.  I hope that they have success with this DRM-free idea, as it’s going to be the way of the future.  No strings attached.

No, I know how to spell I. I just thought it’d be more interesting if I wrote it up like this, haha. Anyway, lately I’ve been getting back into the whole Internet TV thing and found a nice competitor to Joost, called Miro. Apparently, it’s been considered the Firefox of Internet TV. That’s a huge name to live up to.

I would thought that Miro’s installer came in quite a decent, acceptable size at 24.5mb. I’ve heard rumours of it being bloatware, but I figure that Miro 1.2 has stepped up the game a bit. Installation on my Vista machine was a breeze, and within five minutes of the whole process I was ready to go.

Why I tried Miro

Lately, I’ve been finding Joost very unresponsive and sluggish. To be honest, this is the case with many pieces of software out there - however, this is absolutely unacceptable when it comes to watching media, when I transform from the logical-minded blogger into the irrational, emotional, human being just enjoying a good video.

Miro works very differently in comparison to Joost - where Joost streams videos (and there might lie the problem), Miro downloads them - and even though I’ll admit it takes a while longer to download, it’s much more responsive overall and thus I can admire and appreciate that. Plus, an added goodie - some clips that are downloaded are already in .mp4 format and so can be put on my iPod Video (Glassy) for additional viewing.

Also, Miro acts as a medium for playing clips that can be found on huge video networks such as Youtube and Veoh. The quality isn’t that great, but there’s definitely a lot more material available. Ahh, so many clips to choose from.

Does it Work?

It sure does - pretty darn smoothly, in fact. I was able to download a few of their HD clips from their servers in less than half a minute, which is a great, fast time. Not as fast as real TV, but a hell of a lot faster than Joost was for me. Also, thanks to my widescreen format, the videos fit pretty nicely onto the screen - but shucks, not on the iPod’s.

There’s a huge variety of stuff available - from the tech-savvy channels to discovery. The content is interesting if the subject floats your boat, and they’re all pretty good quality.

The other movie clips you decide to download from Youtube and Veoh take an amazingly long time though - for their small sizes, they’re very sluggish (around 30.1kb/s). I’m definitely not impressed, but this can’t be helped by Miro because they have nothing to do with such a speed - they’re just the mediums, after all.

At the moment, I haven’t gone through Channels yet, but I’ll be adding that to the article soon enough.

Another interesting aspect of Miro - you can upload your own channel on there! Now I’m not sure if CutEdge is going to have its own RSS video feed on Miro anytime soon, but for all you aspiring directors and/or producers, this is a great opportunity for all of you.

Conclusion

Miro - if you’ve got more than 3Mbps connection, I’ll definitely recommend you get it. However, if you’re on the lower end of the spectrum, I suggest that you leave your computer on at night to download some of this stuff. If you haven’t got cable television (or digital cable) or just want high-quality videos to download to your computer or iPod for viewing, give Miro a try!

Visit:

http://www.getmiro.com/

http://www.getmiro.com/create/

The social networking landscape is growing bleak. With Facebook and Myspace dominating the market, developers hoping to break into this potential gold mine are forced to do it with a new approach. An example of a successful new concept being implemented into the internet would be Ning, a portal where users can create their own social networks. Recently, I came into contact with a new social network called ZLoop, and you’re just going to have to keep reading to see what sets it apart from the rest of those darned social networks. Trust me, it’s definitely interesting.

A week ago, ZLoop evangelist Mr. Brett Meyers contacted me and made me aware of a new up and coming social network, called ZLoop. ZLoop’s main feature that sets it apart from all the other social networks is called a Loop, which is essentially a group or community of people. Membership is purely invitational, which sort of limits the amount of undesirable spam users. Through the Loop, you can transfer files, hold discussions, and potentially meet new people within your Loop. Now that I’m done conveying the main idea of ZLoop to you, I want to move on to issues that you will perhaps have encountered.

Another Facebook?

After talking to a few friends about ZLoop, I was asked what the difference was between ZLoop and Facebook. I actually posed such a question to Meyers through our pre-ZLoop question/answer session. Let’s not beat around the bush - they’re both extremely similar:

• Facebook and ZLoop both use a single GUI in order to keep order and adaptability. Otherwise, a well-intentioned “theme is self-expression” mantra would end up leading to the cluttered, messy, and very disorienting space we call MySpace.
• Facebook and ZLoop are both used to replicate real life relationships - it is a Facebook faux-pas to add friends online that you don’t know in real life, and the same goes for ZLoop. In fact, I think it’s somewhat impossible to add friends that you have no connection with through ZLoop, because you won’t be able to find them.

However, this is where the differences lie:

• What kind of relationships do each focus upon?
  • Facebook suggests you join a network during the sign-up process. However, that can be completely negligible and you will probably still be able to find your friends. Thus, I’ve concluded that Facebook focuses on one-on-one relationships. Sure, there’s the network - but you don’t do anything with the people in it. Sure, there are groups - you join what you believe in, but you have no real connection with the other people in the group asides from the shared beliefs - which hasn’t kept members from becoming awfully hostile.
  • ZLoop on the other hand, rallies the network together. It is more of a community-based network instead of an individual-based one, as you are required to join a Loop in order to join ZLoop, and thus you already start off in a Loop. Even though there still could be people you don’t know, the discussions are moderated carefully by the administrators as well as members - as members are given the power to report a post. It’s much more like a forum, but it’s got a lot more functionality (ie. again with the file-sharing, event-planning, etc.).
• Privacy
  • Facebook allows you to see practically anybody’s profile in your network - as long as they don’t have privacy set up. I can’t tell you how the thought of some complete stranger reading about my hobbies and interests disturbs me - I don’t know why, it just doesn’t seem right.
  • ZLoop’s relationships are much different. There is no public wall. In fact, the relationship is very similar to a Loop with just two people in it - that way, nobody can see the conversations the two of you held, or the files you transferred, etcetera.

Hopefully, that clears up the confusion about ZLoop being another Facebook. They’re completely different, asides from having a few common, but minor traits that made Facebook famous.

Copy-Ning?

I’m embarassed to admit it, but I somehow got the impression that ZLoop and Ning were very similar. In terms of nature, they might be quite alike, as they draw communities together - but again, Ning is a networking site to meet new people with, whereas ZLoop replicates real-life relationships and takes it to an online dimension. ‘Nuff said.

Back That Loop Idea

If the Loop idea is still a bit fuzzy to you, I’m hoping this next segment will be able to clear things up a bit. To re-iterate, a Loop is a community where you replicate your online relationships. For example, you work for Company A, which has just created a Loop. Company A sells aPods, and you’re a junior designer. You join the new Company A Loop after hearing it announced at work, and then your buddy Joe tells you that he created a Loop just for Company A’s junior designers. You end up joining that Loop too. Your father tells you a few days after that he, too, has created a Loop - this time, for the family. So now, you’re in three Loops - and will probably end up in a bunch more.

Let’s stick with the Company A Loop:

• Thanks to Company A’s encouragement, everybody from Company A joins the Loop. The CEO sees that it’s time for the annual barbecue - he can:
  • Hold a conversation asking what everyone thinks of the proposed location and date.
  • Upload a .pdf file, which is an invitation showing the location and date.
  • Create an Event showing the same thing.
  • After the barbecue, display the photos on the Loop.

That’s just the tip of the iceberg - something similar could happen with the family, or with those junior designers. The Loop makes everything so much easier - it’s all in one universal location, not laid out through different forums and groups, and event-listings. And - dig this, you can join as many Loops as you want!

Privacy Protection

I’m really pleased with how far ZLoop went to protect user privacy. With all the buzz about Facebook profiles being scoped by potential employers, I figure they’d be darned if they didn’t do something about it - especially for such a social network that could end up so corporate-oriented. And so, ZLoop created their identity manager:

• Essentially, you start off with two identities: Professional and Social.
  • Your Professional identity allows you to choose what you want people that you maintain professional relationships with to see - not those embarassing photos, but your more serious side.
  • Your Social identity is the exact opposite, and lets people in on your real side.
• That’s not all - you can create more identities to serve different purposes - don’t want your company or your family to see that embarassing picture that you only want your graduating class Loop to see? Create a new Identity, and make the picture the avatar.

I’ve also already mentioned about how ZLoop doesn’t let any third-party view your profile or conversations with others, whether it be a curious friend or a scary stalker. Relationships in this case are a Loop between two people, basically. Simple enough to understand - you can hold conversations, transfer files, and do everything else you can in a Loop with that individual.

The Future

With the growing popularity of widgets, ZLoop has began development of their own widgets, called Portlets. Examples of Portlets would be the Conversation Portlet and Event Portlet that we have already spoken of. However, this is just the tip of the iceberg. With the growing popularity of ZLoop comes the development of more Portlets to suit the needs of its users.

Conclusion

I’ve started a CutEdge Loop which I’d love for you all to join by visiting this URL here. By doing this, you’re not only joining the CutEdge Loop and showing your support, but also gaining access to possibly the newest revolution out there. You can then also create your own Loops, and invite family members and friends and co-workers on board.

Although I’m not sure if this CutEdge Loop idea would work - as we don’t have any real-life relationships to maintain, I have a feeling that we’ll still turn out to be a strong community - something like a set of forums, but also as a way to get new people to meet and share their ideas and opinions through conversations. I hope to be a major participant through ZLoop, if enough people join (my expectations are low, so please sign-up).

Thus wraps up my somewhat comprehensive view into ZLoop. Hopefully, I didn’t bore you half to death - I looked through my previous draft, and ended up cutting half of the material out, but still found this to be a relatively long article. I hope you do give ZLoop a try, even if not through the CutEdge Loop, which is a great way to gain access to ZLoop. Also, pardon the lack of images - there aren’t any Loops I’m part of to show you - yet. And remember - ZLoop is unique, not just another pretty Facebook or Ning.

If you want more information on ZLoop, they’ve got a great Help/FAQ page to help the non-users get started and educated.

Visit:

http://zloop.com/

http://zloop.com/help_index/

https://www.zloop.com/portal/Login.html?loopkey=cutedge&keypassword=cutedge