The new version of Google toolbar has a bookmark feature integrated. I can bookmark frequently visited pages and access them from any computer that has the new toolbar installed. I like its Flock-Star button like feature which gets highlighted each time I visit a page that I have bookmarked before. It helps me to decide if I should bookmark a page or not. My bookmarks will be integrated into Google Search History service – where I can label each of them using delicious-like tagging system. Each label assigned is automatically displayed as a folder in the toolbar (Thus, you can have multiple categorization of sites). Rather than immediately label my bookmark, Google requires me to consciously access its “Manage bookmark” feature which might result in a better classification system.
Unfortunately Google has no “social” feature, where I could share and access other people bookmarks. Such feature allows anyone to contribute to a “common pool” of interesting websites where everybody could benefit. This is where social and private web diverge – social web allows users to leverage on each other efforts creating a bigger network value, while private web serves only the need of their user and service provider. Sadly, if Google bookmark service gets popular, the wonderful idea of sharing diminishes, which is why I won’t replace my delicious bookmark with it (I might use both though).
Life is like a Luge ride … Filled with twists and turns; pace up or slow down – it’s how you can make the most of it
To my dear one – a beautiful birthday and year to you
Digital painting has never been so fun with ArtRage. ArtRage is a tool that allows you to create realistic oil painting, pencil and pen drawings. You can paint, smudge, smear, and mix color that blends naturally.
ArtRage works by turning your screen in to a full screen canvas along with a couple of widgets uniquely designed according to pick and use concept to make it painting simple and easy. You no longer have to worry about managing windows, menu or shortcuts, because all features are immediately accessible. The widget will automatically gets hidden when you’re painting somewhere near. The interface is more intuitive and friendlier than its competing product – Alias Sketchbook. For more detailed comparison between these two, refer to Chad Elley’s review.
ArtRage is available in two version: full version (priced in about USD 20) and free version (good enough if you can cope without using layer). Refer to its complete features here. With such features and pricing, I think ArtRage is a winner.
Problem managing debt, bills, rents among friends or collagues? BillMonk comes to the rescue – it’s a free web-based service that allows people to easily keep track of financial debts among friends. It helps managing money between friends without awkwardness or unfairness.
BillMonk has three basic functionalities: IOU (who owes who), Shared bill (who pays, who have to pay, and how much to pay), and payment (to settle any outstanding debt). All you need to know is the email address of your friends (and the amount of money involved). BillMonk will breakdown how much money you owe or are owed by your friends. It is also smart enough to handle unequal bill-splitting where someone has paid more than the others. BillMonk will automatically send an invitation to your friends, and add them into your friends’ list. Regular friends can be grouped together to simplify data entry.
I was expecting Google to come out with more innovative interface for their video store. The search-based interface hardly gives a hint of what sort of video available in their collection. The only meaningful information displayed on the default grid view of the search result is the video title (I don’t find author, duration and date info useful). Because of this lack of information, I could not refine my search keyword. YouTube is way better than Google in term of user experience – I could spend a lot of time there browsing and watching videos. It has channels, tags, and related videos that allow me to form a pretty good mental model of what they have in-store. It has integrated number of views and comments that ‘enrich’ the video. I don’t know what sort of usability evaluation that Google did (I hope they have at least done that) – but for the time being, Google Video is a plain vanilla (and I don’t like vanilla).
This year, video is becoming one of the hot topics. Last December, Red Herring noted that the digital video market is set to take off as more people gain access to broadband, the tools for taking full advantage of bandwidth are moving from renegade to mainstream. Decentralized file-sharing a la BitTorrent is increasingly being accepted and acknowledged as a well-established technology that allows easy transfer of high-quality files.
Unlike Apple’s single-pricing model, Google uses flexible pricing and licensing model. The content suppliers can set their pricing with a small portion of their revenue is paid to Google as a middleman. The video providers have also the option of offering content on a download-to-own or download-to-rent basis using Google proprietary copy protection technology. This technology can prevent content owners from moving their video downloads to a mobile playing device. In instances where the content provider adopts Google’s copy protection scheme, watching a video sold through Google will require users to be online so they can log on and view it via the company’s video player.
I think this what will happen: Google’s DRM is preferred because of their media neutrality and “don’t be evil” motto (or simply because Google DRM is the lesser of two evils); Google Wallet will appear and Google will eventually have our credit card number in their database. I wonder if there’ll be anything private by the end of this decade…
Singapore Tourism Board launches several TV commercials to promote Singapore tourism. Each commercial features different facets of Singapore experiences that tourists could “bring home” from their visit.
This ‘Uniquely Poured’ advertisement campaign, for example, shows the art of pouring in Singapore:
Serendipity and user participation are becoming the mantra for an addictive web experience. After succesful social bookmarking site such as del.icio.us and social news site such as digg, we now have social media site for video, YouTube.
Founded in February 2005, YouTube is a consumer media company for people to watch and share original videos worldwide through a Web experience. Founded by early commerce pioneers of PayPal, YouTube allows people to easily upload, tag, and share personal video clips through www.YouTube.com and across the Internet on other sites, blogs and through e-mail, as well as to create their own personal video network.
I was surprised to see the quality of some of the video submitted there – They are funny, interesting, ‘touching’ and entertaining (Don’t forget to see its most viewed list). With YouTube – entertainment is just a click away
