A handy and powerful software application able to encode your video files to iPhone format. Read More
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Opell Video to iPod PSP 3GP MP4 Zune AppleTV iPhone Converter 2.1.10 (Demo)
A powerful and easy to use application that can convert between video formats. Read More
Kinara widget for Kwanzaa is here!
Kinara widget for Kwanzaa is here!
We're finished the Kinara widget for Kwanzaa!!!!
A new candle is lit for each day of Kwanzaa. Click on "Get this widget" to put it on your page!
We're finished the Kinara widget for Kwanzaa!!!!
A new candle is lit for each day of Kwanzaa. Click on "Get this widget" to put it on your page!
Switch 1.41 (Freeware)
Switch 1.41 (Freeware)
An audio file format converter software for mp3, wav and 20 other file formats
An audio file format converter software for mp3, wav and 20 other file formats
Real Liquid Display Makes Mac OS X Aqua Look Like Crayolas [Water Display]
Giz reader Nicholas Buechi created this real liquid display that really doesn't display anything but bubbles. And that's enough, because it is mesmerizing enough as it is. The liquid display is... Read More
10 Things We Want to See in the iPhone 2.1 Update [Wishlists]
10 Things We Want to See in the iPhone 2.1 Update [Wishlists]
The iPhone 2.0 software is pretty good. We like the App Store a lot; it adds a boatload of new functionality to the iPhone. But it's certainly not perfect. Having used it for a few weeks, we've...
The iPhone 2.0 software is pretty good. We like the App Store a lot; it adds a boatload of new functionality to the iPhone. But it's certainly not perfect. Having used it for a few weeks, we've...
Opell FLV to WMV MPEG MOV AVI iPod PSP 3GP MP4 Zune Converter 2.1.10 (Demo)
A handy and powerful software able to convert FLV files to most popular video formats. Read More
Why Apple Is Sticking With Intel Chipsets (Probably) [Rumor]
Why Apple Is Sticking With Intel Chipsets (Probably) [Rumor]
One of the more eyebrow-raising rumors in the scramble of them about Apple's upcoming MacBooks is that they will switch from Intel chipsets to someone else's. It seemed odd on its face, since Intel...
One of the more eyebrow-raising rumors in the scramble of them about Apple's upcoming MacBooks is that they will switch from Intel chipsets to someone else's. It seemed odd on its face, since Intel...
Liz Strauss is Going to Break the Web
Liz Strauss is Going to Break the Web
Liz Strauss of Successful and Outstanding Bloggers just called me and said that as of noon CST from Chicago (GMT -6), she is going to break the web as part of her Showcase Your Blog series. Stay tuned for more information on how she is going to use her WordPress blog in a way few [...]
Liz Strauss of Successful and Outstanding Bloggers just called me and said that as of noon CST from Chicago (GMT -6), she is going to break the web as part of her Showcase Your Blog series. Stay tuned for more information on how she is going to use her WordPress blog in a way few [...]
Liz Strauss of Successful and Outstanding Bloggers just called me and said that as of noon CST from Chicago (GMT -6), she is going to break the web as part of her Showcase Your Blog series. Stay tuned for more information on how she is going to use her WordPress blog in a way few have done before.
Switch 1.41 (Freeware)
Switch 1.41 (Freeware)
An audio file format converter software for mp3, wav and 20 other file formats
An audio file format converter software for mp3, wav and 20 other file formats
Install Plugin Manager
Download the Plugin Manager installation script. Save the file locally as pm-install.cgi. Upload the pm-install.cgi file you just saved via FTP or some other file transfer application into Movable Type?s root/home directory. This is the same directory in which... Read More
Adding an Item to Your Queue
Adding an Item to Your Queue
From anywhere within Media Manager you can add another item to your queue. Click on the "Add Item" link in the left hand menu, or the "Add Item to your Queue" found on the main Media Manager screen. From...
From anywhere within Media Manager you can add another item to your queue. Click on the "Add Item" link in the left hand menu, or the "Add Item to your Queue" found on the main Media Manager screen. From...
Smart UML Designer Beta 1 (Freeware)
A simple to use tool that allows you to create your own ULM schemas. Read More
Social Trends for September
Here are the trends for September. The first graph shows the evolution of the ranking for the top 10 social bookmarking services. We can clearly see the sudden rise of Facebook to the 4th position in September. Another interesting path is the one traced by Live, who was initially in the 6th position, was pushed [...]
Here are the trends for September. The first graph shows the evolution of the ranking for the top 10 social bookmarking services. We can clearly see the sudden rise of Facebook to the 4th position in September. Another interesting path is the one traced by Live, who was initially in the 6th position, was pushed down to the 8th position by Reddit and StumbleUpon in April, and then went back up all the way to the 4th position in July pushing down Digg and MyWeb.
As expect, September’s mover is Facebook, going from 5% in August to 7.1% in September. Delicious however lost a little bit of traction. Favorites (browser bookmarking) have also increased, but this is mostly due to the fact that Favorites are now also included in the drop-down widget.
Google Reader continues to grow and lead the feed reader market (up 1.4%) while MyYahoo and Bloglines are standing still. The mover for September is Live, which moved up 2%.
To see more trends, click here.
Top Social Bookmarking/Sharing - Ranking Over Time
Top Social Bookmarking/Sharing - September 2007
Top Feed Readers - September 2007
Checking your own RSS feeds
Checking your own RSS feeds
Are you checking your own RSS feeds, are you subscribed to your own feeds. If not then how do you know your feed is working properly. This is something I have come across, I have noticed on both my own and other bloggers feeds that sometimes your feed breaks.
The simplest thing you can do is subscribe to your feed in your feed reader. Create a separate folder to accommodate just your own feeds so you know exactly where they are. Now every time you make a post your new post will appear in your feed reader.
When you do your usual daily RSS trawl you will be reminded to check your feed. If there is anything amiss you will know about it sooner rather than later. I have emailed many a webmaster to tell them that their feed is broken. I mean who reads their own feeds, right.
This post is from the Newsniche website and should not be reproduced elsewhere. Why not subscribe to the RSS feed and get this information delivered straight to your News reader.
Shimano's All-Electric Gear System is Like F1 Paddle Shifters For Your Bike [Bikes]
Gear and derailleur mechanisms in high-end bikes are among the more impressive feats of engineering around, which makes bike madman Eric Hagerman's report in Wired on Shimano's new ultra high-end... Read More
iPhone Apps We Love: NetShare - Share Your 3G/EDGE Connection With Your Computer [IPhone Apps]
iPhone Apps We Love: NetShare - Share Your 3G/EDGE Connection With Your Computer [IPhone Apps]
NetShare is one app we never thought would make it onto the official iPhone App Store. All it does is set up a SOCKS5 proxy for you to get your laptop/computer online through use of the 3G/EDGE...
NetShare is one app we never thought would make it onto the official iPhone App Store. All it does is set up a SOCKS5 proxy for you to get your laptop/computer online through use of the 3G/EDGE...
Redefining the Widget
Last year at Widgets Live, the announcement of the SpringWidgets platform redefined what a widget could be. At the time of our launch there were three categories of widgets: desktop widgets, web widgets and a special subsection of web widgets that would work on social networking profiles.
We changed all that by inventing a widget platform that allowed for the first time, the ability to use a single, updatable and configurable widget file to reach all of these destinations. We took it further by incorporating in the ability to “pop” any SpringWidget you find on the web onto your desktop with just one click.
Since our release, there have been a few companies that have announced a similar product offering - YourMinis and Netvibes are examples we feel are well done.
I'm going to give you a little sneak peak behind the curtain where we are quietly working on redefining the widget once again, and perhaps in the process spur another round of inspiration.
For the most part, online widgets have been exactly what the limited definition has made them out to be …
Thanks Wikipedia
Reading this, I’m thinking about the widget landscape and in my head I’m starting to challenge the entire box that we have collectively put widgets into, trying to look past the simple definition and look at the transformative nature of what a portable chunk of code can do.
Is the widget just a visitor on the web page or can it be much more and control and interact with the web page it’s on? If widgets are like parasites, can a parasite define the host?
Can a widget be a portable “experience?”
Envision if you will a Widget that no longer sends the user off to another site to personalize itself. Imagine a widget that is not content to stay within the confines of it’s own little box, but rather can interact with the page it lives on. The “Transformative Widget” would take over the page it’s on; integrating it's content within that page and transforming it based on a click.
If the Widget is not just a chunk of code, but rather a portable experience, imagine the infinite ways we can expand the brand experience within the social network itself. Moving code and embedding Widgets can create a better way to immerse the user in an extreme brand experience. The widget then becomes an ad that is user embedded, user selected and more powerfully engaging and interactive than any traditional advertisement that is available - and just as performance oriented.
If a user allows the widget to brand the entire page, is that a "Widgetview", an "Ad Impression", or a "Pageview"?
![]()
So if SpringWidgets is ready to challenge the Widget Landscape it’s safe to say that the launch of THE FANTASTIC FOUR Widget is the next step in redefining the Widget. The transformative nature of TFF Widget is completely apparent once you start using it on your MySpace profile and the brand experience is more immersive than anything possible with a widget prior to the Fantastic Four widget launch.
This is only one of the many transformative widgets that we are engaged in and only represents a small amount of our R&D efforts. Over the weeks and months to come, we'll be rolling out some truly fantastic products that will not only transform the widget, but transform SpringWidgets as well.
We would love to have you on board as we make these transformations, so please feel free to download our API and put your own thoughts to work in redefining what a widget can be. Read More
We changed all that by inventing a widget platform that allowed for the first time, the ability to use a single, updatable and configurable widget file to reach all of these destinations. We took it further by incorporating in the ability to “pop” any SpringWidget you find on the web onto your desktop with just one click.
Since our release, there have been a few companies that have announced a similar product offering - YourMinis and Netvibes are examples we feel are well done.
I'm going to give you a little sneak peak behind the curtain where we are quietly working on redefining the widget once again, and perhaps in the process spur another round of inspiration.
For the most part, online widgets have been exactly what the limited definition has made them out to be …
A web widget is a portable chunk of code that can be installed and executed within any separate HTML-based web page by an end user without requiring additional compilation.
Thanks Wikipedia
Reading this, I’m thinking about the widget landscape and in my head I’m starting to challenge the entire box that we have collectively put widgets into, trying to look past the simple definition and look at the transformative nature of what a portable chunk of code can do.
Is the widget just a visitor on the web page or can it be much more and control and interact with the web page it’s on? If widgets are like parasites, can a parasite define the host?
Can a widget be a portable “experience?”
Envision if you will a Widget that no longer sends the user off to another site to personalize itself. Imagine a widget that is not content to stay within the confines of it’s own little box, but rather can interact with the page it lives on. The “Transformative Widget” would take over the page it’s on; integrating it's content within that page and transforming it based on a click.
If the Widget is not just a chunk of code, but rather a portable experience, imagine the infinite ways we can expand the brand experience within the social network itself. Moving code and embedding Widgets can create a better way to immerse the user in an extreme brand experience. The widget then becomes an ad that is user embedded, user selected and more powerfully engaging and interactive than any traditional advertisement that is available - and just as performance oriented.
If a user allows the widget to brand the entire page, is that a "Widgetview", an "Ad Impression", or a "Pageview"?
This is only one of the many transformative widgets that we are engaged in and only represents a small amount of our R&D efforts. Over the weeks and months to come, we'll be rolling out some truly fantastic products that will not only transform the widget, but transform SpringWidgets as well.
We would love to have you on board as we make these transformations, so please feel free to download our API and put your own thoughts to work in redefining what a widget can be. Read More
Lightning Review: Gama-Go's High Design Laptop Messenger Bags [Review]
Lightning Review: Gama-Go's High Design Laptop Messenger Bags [Review]
The Gadget: Gama-Go's messenger bags, which are conveniently wide enough for a 15-inch laptop, its charger plus lots and lots of other gadget accessories. It's also got a nice water resistant outer...
The Gadget: Gama-Go's messenger bags, which are conveniently wide enough for a 15-inch laptop, its charger plus lots and lots of other gadget accessories. It's also got a nice water resistant outer...
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
We hit a million . . . and counting . . .
We hit a million . . . and counting . . .
We just had to share . . . SpringWidgets has had over One Million widgets viewed on webpages in less than a month - YEAH!!!! - and we're trending upward daily.
While that may not seem like a lot to some and is certainly a relative number depending upon your comparison group - we're are definitely pleased. It means you're enjoying the widgets, pasting them to your pages and others are enjoying your modifications by doing the same.
Don't forget to check out the widget gallery from time to time . . . we have a new Christmas Tree widget loaded and will be launching a Simply Hired widget very soon!
(Maybe we can make Two Million before Christmas!!!! That would be cool! Keep embedding and spreading!)
We just had to share . . . SpringWidgets has had over One Million widgets viewed on webpages in less than a month - YEAH!!!! - and we're trending upward daily.
While that may not seem like a lot to some and is certainly a relative number depending upon your comparison group - we're are definitely pleased. It means you're enjoying the widgets, pasting them to your pages and others are enjoying your modifications by doing the same.
Don't forget to check out the widget gallery from time to time . . . we have a new Christmas Tree widget loaded and will be launching a Simply Hired widget very soon!
(Maybe we can make Two Million before Christmas!!!! That would be cool! Keep embedding and spreading!)
3 things you really want to know about RSS
I have been doing some digging into the statistics for Newsniche to try and discover what you are really interested in when it comes to RSS. So I have come up with the imaginatively titled 3 things you really want to know about RSS. So here are the most wanted to know things about RSS in reverse order.
RSS publishing tools
The third most popular topic is on RSS publishing tools. Rather than an article this is a section of the site dedicated to letting you know how you can publish RSS on your site. Being able to publish RSS on your site means that you have a constant stream of updating content for your readers.
Which is the best RSS feed reader
The second most popular item on the site is an article on Which is the best RSS feed reader. You certainly want to know which is the best way to read your feeds. This is not surprising as RSS is all about being able to have information from your favourite sites available to you without having to visit every you like frequently. Why not subscribe to their feed and have the content come to you.
Using Javascript to display RSS
I guess deep down everyone wants to display RSS using Javascript as the number one most read article is Using Javascript to display RSS. This is an article I wrote ages ago showing you how you could easily place content from an RSS feed on your site using a snippet of Javascript. That is so 2006.
This post is from the Newsniche website and should not be reproduced elsewhere. Why not subscribe to the RSS feed and get this information delivered straight to your News reader.
Windows Defender Latest Definition Updates 1.39.88.0 (Freeware)
Windows Defender Latest Definition Updates 1.39.88.0 (Freeware)
Install the latest Windows Defender definition updates
Install the latest Windows Defender definition updates
Reviewing an Item in Your Queue
Reviewing an Item in Your Queue
Media Manager provides the ability to review any item on your queue. Creating a review automatically creates a post and associates it with an item. When create a review post in your weblog, Media Manager inserts a simple "Media...
Media Manager provides the ability to review any item on your queue. Creating a review automatically creates a post and associates it with an item. When create a review post in your weblog, Media Manager inserts a simple "Media...
A Guide to the Eye: Learning How Humans See Can Make You a Better Photographer [Photography]
If you are serious about photography, at one time or another you may have considered how the human eye reacts to an image. After all, it is logical to assume that possessing information about what... Read More
RSS advertising with Bidvertiser
There are already several options for RSS advertising but Bidvertiser has decided to enter the market and offer publishers the opportunity to sell advertising in their RSS feeds. Of course this also means advertisers will also be able to buy ads in RSS feeds.
Advertising with RSS
With the much larger subscriber numbers for RSS feeds it has become more viable for advertising to appear within an RSS feed. An ad in an RSS feed means that the ad will only appear in the feed rather than on the site.
As RSS subscribers tend to be more interested in the content the ads could be more effective if targeted correctly. Bidvertisers feed advertising program is in public beta and offers RSS advertising and allows RSS publishers to sell RSS ads. It will be interesting to see how it progresses compared the Feedvertiser program.
This post is from the Newsniche website and should not be reproduced elsewhere. Why not subscribe to the RSS feed and get this information delivered straight to your News reader.
NPR Addict
For you NPR addicts out there, you can use this Widget to select an NPR program by date to stream via Windows Media or RealPlayer on Windows or Mac. There are several other public radio streams and archives that are added over time (e.g., CarTalk, A Prairie Home Companion, and others). Note: this Widget does not play the streams, in simply invokes your audio player to do so. See comments section for late breaking announcements. To see details on past and future developments with this Widget, go to http://www.evolutedesign.com/website/widgets.html. Read More
Spiderman gets on the Express train.
Sony Pictures decided to put out an express widget for the upcoming Spiderman 3 movie.
Being a long time comic book collector, I can completely understand the excitement surrounding this film and am looking forward to seeing this one on the big screen at the local Imax probably more than any of you are.
While you are waiting through the last few days prior to the release, be sure to grab this widget and follow the news leading up to the opening weekend.
Remember, "With great power comes great responsibility!"
Of course, this Spiderman widget is so cool, I had to mash one up myself! as did EJRavin, another of our ExpressWidgets users. Good job EJ! Read More
SimplyHired "job search" widget launched Monday
SimplyHired "job search" widget launched Monday
SimplyHired released a widget on SpringWidgets this Monday (2/5/07) - a SimplyHired "job search" widget!!!!! More will be announced "officially", but wanted everyone that might drop by the blog to know they should go grab the widget and put it on their page or pop it into the desktop launchpad.
http://springwidgets.com/simplyhired
SimplyHired released a widget on SpringWidgets this Monday (2/5/07) - a SimplyHired "job search" widget!!!!! More will be announced "officially", but wanted everyone that might drop by the blog to know they should go grab the widget and put it on their page or pop it into the desktop launchpad.
http://springwidgets.com/simplyhired
Selling RSS subscribers a sad day
There is a new site that is selling RSS subscribers. The idea behind this is that the more subscribers you have the more valuable your site will be. This is based on RSS being the new metric for measuring a site based on Mark's theory that an RSS subscriber is worth 30 dollars.
RSS for sale
I think this is boarding on criminal, it basically promotes the faking of RSS subscribers to fool readers into thinking a blog is popular. It is lying to advertisers by artificially inflating the RSS subscriber count but worst of all the site seems to be selling RSS subscribers so the site or blog owner can sell their site at a premium. This is fraud.
Remember these are fake RSS readers they are selling. All that happens is that your FeedBurner counter reports more subscribers. As FeedBurner is owned by Google I am sure RSSxplosion will not last long.
This post is from the Newsniche website and should not be reproduced elsewhere. Why not subscribe to the RSS feed and get this information delivered straight to your News reader.
Say Cheese 2.8
A new way to view your most favorite comics.
Read More
 | About Say Cheese Say Cheese is a new way to view your most favorite comics. Supported comics: Adam@Home, B.C., Calvin And Hobbes, Close To Home, Ctrl-Alt-Del, Dilbert, Drabble, FoxTrot, Garfield, Get Fuzzy, Kevin And Kell, Liberty Meadows, Little Gamers, Luann, Monty, Mother Goose & Grimm, Nuklear Power, Over The Hedge, Peanuts, Pearls ‘fore Swine, Penny Arcade, Rose Is Rose, Shoe, Sinfest, Sluggy Freelance, UserFriendly. |
TheSpringBox 1.1.3
Hey Guys. Today we've got an update of our desktop platform for you. Most of the updates are purely cosmetic, but we hope they will improve you SpringWidgets experience:
Happy Holidays Everyone,
- The SpringWidgets Team Read More
- Visual Updates
- Lock your widgets on your screen
- Performance updates
- Widgets are now stored under My Documents
Happy Holidays Everyone,
- The SpringWidgets Team Read More
Calvin And Hobbes Fetcher
A simple and clean, no-nonsense Widget to fetch daily comic strips of none other than the extremely loved and adored cartoon characters Calvin and Hobbes. A small insignificant tribute to the imaginative world of a boy and his real-only-to-him tiger. Read More
Reviewing an Item in Your Queue
Media Manager provides the ability to review any item on your queue. Creating a review automatically creates a post and associates it with an item. When create a review post in your weblog, Media Manager inserts a simple "Media... Read More
We've Got Widgets!
We've Got Widgets!
As anyone following the site can see, we've put a few new widgets in the gallery since last week.
We've added widgets from the NBC Show Heroes, Harper Collins Booksellers, American Idol, Rotten Tomatoes, Ask Men, Fox Sports, Career One, 20th Century Fox, FX, Speed Channel, News.com.au, and about a couple hundred of your own customized ExpressWidgets!
Heroes
How cool is it that SpringWidgets is driving the viral widget on the official Heroes MySpace page! I don't know if you are a fan, but here at SpringWidgets, we are all fans of Heroes and this is one of the only shows that we refuse to miss!
Look through our gallery and you might also discover a Heroes feed in an ExpressWidget or two!
Harper Collins
Take a look at the upcoming books section of Harper Collins Booksellers. Every upcoming book they offer will sport a widget that you can take with you to count down to the release of your favorite upcoming book.
ExpressWidgets in the house!
Even though it's only been a week since we had our soft launch of the ExpressWidgets beta, we're being bombarded with new widgets. My guess is that even with the tens of thousands of SpringWidgets RSS Readers that were created before we introduced the new process, we'll see this gallery grow rapidly.
For those of you who were brave enough to jump on board right away and found a thing or two that you would like changed about the express widgets process, we've been listening! We've upgraded the profiles so that they now show the widgets that you have "expressed" and we've also built in an "edit" and a "delete" feature for your widget in case you have a change of heart after you've published.
Simply log in using the button on the upper right of this page to view and edit the widgets that you have in our system - you can change the default size, header image, gallery tile and color of the widget using your edit page.
American Idol chose to have our technology drive a few bobbling heads made especially for their contestants. Now you too can put a Sanjaya Bobbler on your blog. Check out their site for more information
If you have a few minutes, take a stroll through our gallery and take a look at the variety of creative and colorful solutions that have been added. Chances are that you'll find quite a few that you can add to your page or blog.
This has been a busy couple of weeks here, and we have pushed out quite a few new widgets and features. We're hard at work on some other stuff too that quite honestly blows the doors off any other widget platform out there, bar none. But more on that later . . .
As anyone following the site can see, we've put a few new widgets in the gallery since last week.
We've added widgets from the NBC Show Heroes, Harper Collins Booksellers, American Idol, Rotten Tomatoes, Ask Men, Fox Sports, Career One, 20th Century Fox, FX, Speed Channel, News.com.au, and about a couple hundred of your own customized ExpressWidgets!
Heroes
How cool is it that SpringWidgets is driving the viral widget on the official Heroes MySpace page! I don't know if you are a fan, but here at SpringWidgets, we are all fans of Heroes and this is one of the only shows that we refuse to miss!
Look through our gallery and you might also discover a Heroes feed in an ExpressWidget or two!
Harper Collins
Take a look at the upcoming books section of Harper Collins Booksellers. Every upcoming book they offer will sport a widget that you can take with you to count down to the release of your favorite upcoming book.
ExpressWidgets in the house!
Even though it's only been a week since we had our soft launch of the ExpressWidgets beta, we're being bombarded with new widgets. My guess is that even with the tens of thousands of SpringWidgets RSS Readers that were created before we introduced the new process, we'll see this gallery grow rapidly.
For those of you who were brave enough to jump on board right away and found a thing or two that you would like changed about the express widgets process, we've been listening! We've upgraded the profiles so that they now show the widgets that you have "expressed" and we've also built in an "edit" and a "delete" feature for your widget in case you have a change of heart after you've published.
Simply log in using the button on the upper right of this page to view and edit the widgets that you have in our system - you can change the default size, header image, gallery tile and color of the widget using your edit page.
American Idol chose to have our technology drive a few bobbling heads made especially for their contestants. Now you too can put a Sanjaya Bobbler on your blog. Check out their site for more information
If you have a few minutes, take a stroll through our gallery and take a look at the variety of creative and colorful solutions that have been added. Chances are that you'll find quite a few that you can add to your page or blog.
This has been a busy couple of weeks here, and we have pushed out quite a few new widgets and features. We're hard at work on some other stuff too that quite honestly blows the doors off any other widget platform out there, bar none. But more on that later . . .
Kinara widget for Kwanzaa is here!
Kinara widget for Kwanzaa is here!
We're finished the Kinara widget for Kwanzaa!!!!
A new candle is lit for each day of Kwanzaa. Click on "Get this widget" to put it on your page!
We're finished the Kinara widget for Kwanzaa!!!!
A new candle is lit for each day of Kwanzaa. Click on "Get this widget" to put it on your page!
Install Feed Manager
Install Feed Manager
There are two options when installing Feed Manager: Download and install the Feed Manager archive manually Install via the Plugin Manager plugin for Movable Type...
There are two options when installing Feed Manager: Download and install the Feed Manager archive manually Install via the Plugin Manager plugin for Movable Type...
ExpressWidgets from SpringWidgets!
It’s a day to “Express” change . . .
Today we’ve launched our ExpressWidgets service…
http://springwidgets.com/express/getFeed/
Up until now you could use our RSS Reader Widget to brand and add a blog to your site or desktop, but you could not add that finished blog widget to our gallery so that other people could find it and share it.
Today we changed all that!!!
As of right now you can use our ExpressWidgets process to create your own uniquely-branded Widget(s) and have those widgets instantly added to our gallery just like any other widget. Build as many as you want and add them to our growing gallery of blogs and desktop Widgets so other users can embed, pass along and bring them to the desktop.
It’s pretty cool. We “expressed” the RSS Reader first. We think it’s the easiest build process for you to quickly syndicate and distribute your blog or audio and video podcast content. Best of all, you can uniquely brand your ExpressWidget to match your website or blog, making it a truly one-of-a-kind Widget out in the WidgetSphere.
To make sure that the end product is as good as it can be, we've added a new way to customize an Express RSS Reader - you can now skin the "chrome" around the content so that it better matches your blog or site. (This is a feature that has been requested for a while and we are happy to be able to push this feature live today).
And for our many Feedburner users, your burned feeds will continue to give you the industry leading analytics and metrics for which Feedburner is known. If you have your Feedburner feed handy, drop on in to the ExpressWidgets process now and add your blog to our gallery to get some free exposure.
Talking about exposure… We’ve also added in a few familiar buttons on the display pages for your widget. Anyone can now Digg, Reddit, Del.icio.us and otherwise bookmark your widget directly from the widget view in the gallery – guaranteed to lead to at least a couple of hundred eyeballs on your content ;-)
Go get’em tiger! Read More
Today we’ve launched our ExpressWidgets service…
http://springwidgets.com/express/getFeed/
Up until now you could use our RSS Reader Widget to brand and add a blog to your site or desktop, but you could not add that finished blog widget to our gallery so that other people could find it and share it.
Today we changed all that!!!
As of right now you can use our ExpressWidgets process to create your own uniquely-branded Widget(s) and have those widgets instantly added to our gallery just like any other widget. Build as many as you want and add them to our growing gallery of blogs and desktop Widgets so other users can embed, pass along and bring them to the desktop.
It’s pretty cool. We “expressed” the RSS Reader first. We think it’s the easiest build process for you to quickly syndicate and distribute your blog or audio and video podcast content. Best of all, you can uniquely brand your ExpressWidget to match your website or blog, making it a truly one-of-a-kind Widget out in the WidgetSphere.
To make sure that the end product is as good as it can be, we've added a new way to customize an Express RSS Reader - you can now skin the "chrome" around the content so that it better matches your blog or site. (This is a feature that has been requested for a while and we are happy to be able to push this feature live today).
And for our many Feedburner users, your burned feeds will continue to give you the industry leading analytics and metrics for which Feedburner is known. If you have your Feedburner feed handy, drop on in to the ExpressWidgets process now and add your blog to our gallery to get some free exposure.
Talking about exposure… We’ve also added in a few familiar buttons on the display pages for your widget. Anyone can now Digg, Reddit, Del.icio.us and otherwise bookmark your widget directly from the widget view in the gallery – guaranteed to lead to at least a couple of hundred eyeballs on your content ;-)
Go get’em tiger! Read More
Countdown to DEAD SILENCE - the movie!
Countdown to DEAD SILENCE - the movie!
How creepy is this widget?!!!!
--His eyes move when your cursor is idle,
--his eyes follow your cursor when your cursor is close to his face, and
--CLICK ON HIS HEAD!!!!! IT BOBBLES!!!!!
CREEPY!!!!
See the widget on the Dead Silence movie page inside MySpace at:
www.myspace.com/deadsilencemovie
How creepy is this widget?!!!!
--His eyes move when your cursor is idle,
--his eyes follow your cursor when your cursor is close to his face, and
--CLICK ON HIS HEAD!!!!! IT BOBBLES!!!!!
CREEPY!!!!
See the widget on the Dead Silence movie page inside MySpace at:
www.myspace.com/deadsilencemovie
Glass Multi-touch Trackpads Only Make Sense With Displays Under 'Em [Apple]
Glass Multi-touch Trackpads Only Make Sense With Displays Under 'Em [Apple]
New Apple notebooks are most certainly coming in the next six to eight weeks, and they will probably have the most extensive design overhauls in years. And the long-fabled MacBook touch might finally...
New Apple notebooks are most certainly coming in the next six to eight weeks, and they will probably have the most extensive design overhauls in years. And the long-fabled MacBook touch might finally...
How to display your RSS subscriber count
You've all seen the little FeedBurner subscriber counters on sites that display a site or more often a blogs number of RSS subscribers. Whilst this is a nice widget to display on your site there isn't much in the way of customizing to display something different.
Plaint text subscriber count
There is a way to display the number of readers you have for your feed by using FeedBurners API. This means you can display your subscriber count within some text, for example as part of a blog post. You could also have a separate message somewhere on you site saying X number of readers subscribe to this site.
You can use the PHP code below. You need to have PHP5 otherwise the SimpleXMLElement command will not work.
//get cool feedburner count
$whaturl="http://api.feedburner.com/awareness/1.0/GetFeedData?uri=YourFeedburnerFeedLinkHere";
//Initialize the Curl session
$ch = curl_init();
//Set curl to return the data instead of printing it to the browser.
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, 1);
//Set the URL
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_URL, $whaturl);
//Execute the fetch
$data = curl_exec($ch);
//Close the connection
curl_close($ch);
$xml = new SimpleXMLElement($data);
$fb = $xml->feed->entry['circulation'];
//end get cool feedburner count
?>
The next line of PHP needs to be located where you want the subscriber count number to appear. This code needs to occur after the code above for it to work.
I borrowed this code from Mark over at 45n5 so thanks Mark.
This post is from the Newsniche website and should not be reproduced elsewhere. Why not subscribe to the RSS feed and get this information delivered straight to your News reader.
SpringWidgets Blog is Here!!!!!
We're using the tools available to speed up our communication process. We'll be using this as our What's Up?, New and Cool, Future "stuff" blog so you don't have to crawl through the Forums if you don't want to (of course, feel free, if you like . . . either's cool).
The "wizards" (as I like to call them), aka our development team will add info here as well . . . so keep checking back. Read More
The "wizards" (as I like to call them), aka our development team will add info here as well . . . so keep checking back. Read More
Social Trends for September
Here are the trends for September. The first graph shows the evolution of the ranking for the top 10 social bookmarking services. We can clearly see the sudden rise of Facebook to the 4th position in September. Another interesting path is the one traced by Live, who was initially in the 6th position, was pushed [...]
Here are the trends for September. The first graph shows the evolution of the ranking for the top 10 social bookmarking services. We can clearly see the sudden rise of Facebook to the 4th position in September. Another interesting path is the one traced by Live, who was initially in the 6th position, was pushed down to the 8th position by Reddit and StumbleUpon in April, and then went back up all the way to the 4th position in July pushing down Digg and MyWeb.
As expect, September’s mover is Facebook, going from 5% in August to 7.1% in September. Delicious however lost a little bit of traction. Favorites (browser bookmarking) have also increased, but this is mostly due to the fact that Favorites are now also included in the drop-down widget.
Google Reader continues to grow and lead the feed reader market (up 1.4%) while MyYahoo and Bloglines are standing still. The mover for September is Live, which moved up 2%.
To see more trends, click here.
Top Social Bookmarking/Sharing - Ranking Over Time
Top Social Bookmarking/Sharing - September 2007
Top Feed Readers - September 2007
The value of an RSS subscriber at 30 dollars
The value of an RSS subscriber at 30 dollars
Have you ever wondered how much each subscriber to your RSS feed is worth. Well according to Mark over at 45n5 that magic number is currently $30. Mark arrived at this figure by dividing the price blogs have recently sold for by the number of subscribers to the blog.
I have previously made predictions about RSS playing a more important role back in October 2006. It looks like RSS is now an important metric to measure the success of a site and it is also starting to play a larger role in deciding the monetary value of a blog.
RSS subscribers and their value
Although Mark's use of RSS as a measurement of value was just a bit of fun it does show that RSS is a valued metric. A year ago most webmasters and readers would not have placed much if any value in the number of subscribers you have.
As RSS becomes a more valued metric the value of the RSS feed itself will grow. There are going to be more advertisers willing to buy advertising in an RSS feed and the value of RSS will grow. This is because many RSS subscribers do not click through to the website itself but use the feed to consume the content.
This post is from the Newsniche website and should not be reproduced elsewhere. Why not subscribe to the RSS feed and get this information delivered straight to your News reader.
"Plugin Manager Enabled" Badges
Are you a Movable Type plugin developer? Have you built in support for Plugin Manager yet? If so, consider adding one of the following badges to your plugin's web page to signify the your plugin is "Plugin Manager Enabled." This... Read More
Blog Challenge: Describe Your Software - Then and Now
Blog Challenge: Describe Your Software - Then and Now
Last week’s blog challenge was Describe Your Computer Setup - Then and Now. This week, I am challenging you to blog about your blog software, then and now. I’ve used just about all types of computer technology, from the early days of data storage on gigantic floppy disks to magnetic cards to “640K is enough for [...]
Last week’s blog challenge was Describe Your Computer Setup - Then and Now. This week, I am challenging you to blog about your blog software, then and now. I’ve used just about all types of computer technology, from the early days of data storage on gigantic floppy disks to magnetic cards to “640K is enough for [...]
Last week’s blog challenge was Describe Your Computer Setup - Then and Now. This week, I am challenging you to blog about your blog software, then and now.
I’ve used just about all types of computer technology, from the early days of data storage on gigantic floppy disks to magnetic cards to “640K is enough for anyone” to my favorite current love, my 750 gig portable drive. Along the way, I had harsh words for most software, from the earliest Cobal and Fortran to Visual Basic to DOS to Windows, and a lot of other stuff in between.
From day one, I hated the lack of functionality, clear thinking, and usability in most software programs. “Clunky” was my favorite descriptive word. With little ability to style graphics in the early days, we were stuck with nothing but words on a green, amber, or white monochrome screen, putting more work into the manipulation of data than data presentation. Luckily, I was in the right place at the right time to help change much of that in the early days as an early beta tester and part of the program development teams with Microsoft, Apple, WordPerfect (Novell), and other early software companies, but it was a battle to get the concept goal desired to work with the limitations of programming and computer abilities at the time.
Slowly, software changed as hardware technology shrank, speed up, and became more flexible and versatile, and the ability to handle graphics improved. Programs became more colorful, faster, and usability became more important than just “pretty.” Competition, and trips to the courtrooms of intellectual property and product design, helped to actually create standardization, so we could install any program on any machine in a similar fashion, and all the buttons and menus were in basically the same place, speeding up the learning curve as you moved from program to program. WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) became a slogan as programs now showed you what the final version would look like before you hit print or publish. Things seemed to become faster, but not always easier.
My web life was totally changed when I switched my huge static HTML website to WordPress when WordPress had just released version 1.2. No longer was I burdened with long and frustrating search and replace sessions to change just one little bit of code across a thousand static HTML pages, then sitting through hours of FTP uploads to get the new versions on my site. My site loaded faster than ever with dynamic PHP/database driven template files and tags, and managing the content and the site itself went from being a week long job to a few minutes. No longer did it take hours to publish a single article.
In order to customize any aspect or add a feature on my old site, I’d have to write up Javascript or hand code HTML and CSS. With WordPress, I could use WordPress Plugins - a couple clicks and a new feature is added to my site! One much more powerful than I could create.
What did I use to make this static-to-import conversion? Software I used to depend upon that I haven’t touched in years. I used WordPerfect and InfoRapid freeware to search and replace across multiple text files. After Corel took over WordPerfect, it’s gone downhill for me. The last two upgrades of WordPerfect crashed randomly and without warning, and sometimes not even loading to start without errors. I do all my writing for my blog and other editorial work in NoteTab Pro and rarely do I need to search and replace across multiple files. On the rare occasions I have to write a letter or major document, I use Word, though I curse and scream every few minutes for the “improved” lack of usability and difficulties in completing the easiest of tasks. I’ve tried Open Office and it’s usability is also problematic, taking me three times as long to do what I could do in a few clicks or keystrokes in WordPerfect.
Where I used to use dozens of programs on my computer to do simple tasks, I find that I am using only a few programs and doing more focused work on them. A couple months ago I bought a new laptop and it took only a couple hours to get it up and running so I could work without stress and struggle. It would have taken days before to find the disks and upload all that software. I feel like a minimalist when it comes to my software dependency.
I could talk for ages about the powerful software I have used over the years that lost funding and support as the monopolies and slow thinking bureaucracy stifled software development within the corporate offices of the United States, which spread to the rest of the world quickly, leaving people using decent but uninspired programs - but this is your blogging challenge.
I want you to write about the software you use, whether it is software you used in your day-to-day work and life, or online software that brought the web into your life, as it was then and how it works for you today.
As usual, send a pingback or trackback to this post, or put the link to your blog challenge post in the comments, so we can all see how you’ve done with your blog challenge.
Did you know that you don’t have to write these blog challenges? You can also use audio with podcasts or make a video in response to the blog challenge and publish it on your blog. There are a lot of ways you can have fun with these weekly blog challenges. Use your imagination and see how far you can take the challenge into territories you haven’t explored before.
These blogging challenges are published weekly and are an attempt to kick your blogging ass. They serve to challenge your thinking and efforts in blogging and blog writing. To participate, start challenging yourself now. Today. Go for it.
Past Blogging Challenges
- Blog Challenge: Blog About Those Who Dare to Speak Out
- Blog Challenge: Who Would You Like To See Blog From History?
- Blog Challenge: What’s Your Blog’s Story?
- Blog Challenge: Blog Your Dash
- Blog Challenge: What is the Most Unusual Blogger You’ve Found?
- Blog Challenge: Write A Biographical Post
- Blog Challenge: Teach a Blogging Technique
- Blog Challenge: Write a Memoir of a Moment
- Blog Challenge: Shopping Experiences
- Blog Challenge: Write a Political Post
Site Search Tags: blog challenge, blogging challenge, writing, blog writing, computer software, software history, computer history, software development, how software influences your work and life
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Copyright Lorelle VanFossen, the author of Blogging Tips, What Bloggers Won't Tell You About Blogging.
TheSpringBox 1.1.3
Hey Guys. Today we've got an update of our desktop platform for you. Most of the updates are purely cosmetic, but we hope they will improve you SpringWidgets experience:
Happy Holidays Everyone,
- The SpringWidgets Team Read More
- Visual Updates
- Lock your widgets on your screen
- Performance updates
- Widgets are now stored under My Documents
Happy Holidays Everyone,
- The SpringWidgets Team Read More
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
V1.1.2 of the SpringWidgets SDK is available!
V1.1.2 of the SpringWidgets SDK is available!
We published a new version (V1.1.2) of our SDK today - adding the following features/functionality:
We published a new version (V1.1.2) of our SDK today - adding the following features/functionality:
- "Right Click" menu support
- New Fixed Size widget template
- Option to remove Default Close Button
- Event for content pasting - (CTL-V)
- Title attribute in OPML
- Larger text node wrapping in OPML
We made these modifications based on the feedback we've received since our launch from developers and users in the community - so please keep the feedback coming.
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
Calorie Tracker 3.1 3.1
Calorie Tracker 3.1 3.1
This widget simply shows you the “Nutrition Facts” panel on the sides of each food item.
This widget simply shows you the “Nutrition Facts” panel on the sides of each food item.
 | About Calorie Tracker 3.1 This is the best way to track how many calories that you gain by eating food. This displays the amount of calories, fat, proteins… from the nutrition facts label on the sides of all food. Our new and improved interface makes it easier to navigate the lists of food and also gives many more intuitive options that will be very useful when counting calories taken in from food. Export: Export your calculations now as text and csv files to keep track on your own. Also download food information as text files so you can easily share health information with others. Cut & Look modes allow easier entries into your calorie calculator now located in its own side window for easier use. Graph: Graph your intake. Now all the data put into your calculator will be graphed so you can see what should or should not be consumed. You can also see a graph view of each individual food item. Graphs help track anything you want! Quick Look: With the new Quick Look and Cut modes you can now easily enter any food entry, click the look button and now you can cut any information into your calculator or any program. This takes the step of writing down your information out of the equation and makes life simpler. |
Countdown to DEAD SILENCE - the movie!
Countdown to DEAD SILENCE - the movie!
How creepy is this widget?!!!!
--His eyes move when your cursor is idle,
--his eyes follow your cursor when your cursor is close to his face, and
--CLICK ON HIS HEAD!!!!! IT BOBBLES!!!!!
CREEPY!!!!
See the widget on the Dead Silence movie page inside MySpace at:
www.myspace.com/deadsilencemovie
How creepy is this widget?!!!!
--His eyes move when your cursor is idle,
--his eyes follow your cursor when your cursor is close to his face, and
--CLICK ON HIS HEAD!!!!! IT BOBBLES!!!!!
CREEPY!!!!
See the widget on the Dead Silence movie page inside MySpace at:
www.myspace.com/deadsilencemovie
"Plugin Manager Enabled" Badges
Are you a Movable Type plugin developer? Have you built in support for Plugin Manager yet? If so, consider adding one of the following badges to your plugin's web page to signify the your plugin is "Plugin Manager Enabled." This... Read More
Comcast's Free Wii Offer Gets Official [Comcast]
Comcast's Free Wii Offer Gets Official [Comcast]
The free Wii offer from Comcast just got official, but is only for Preferred Plus or Premier Triple Play customers, not Double Play as we first thought. If you don't need to get phone service from...
The free Wii offer from Comcast just got official, but is only for Preferred Plus or Premier Triple Play customers, not Double Play as we first thought. If you don't need to get phone service from...
Pending iPhone App MagicPad Demos Cut and Paste Implementation [IPhone]
This video walkthrough of MagicPad, a rich text editor app that is still pending acceptance into the App Store, is notable for showing the first working copy and paste framework on the iPhone (at the... Read More
Install Plugin Manager
Install Plugin Manager
Download the Plugin Manager installation script. Save the file locally as pm-install.cgi. Upload the pm-install.cgi file you just saved via FTP or some other file transfer application into Movable Type?s root/home directory. This is the same directory in which...
Download the Plugin Manager installation script. Save the file locally as pm-install.cgi. Upload the pm-install.cgi file you just saved via FTP or some other file transfer application into Movable Type?s root/home directory. This is the same directory in which...
Google Calendar Now Supports CalDAV, Syncs Natively With iCal (But Not iPhone) [Sync]
Google Calendar Now Supports CalDAV, Syncs Natively With iCal (But Not iPhone) [Sync]
One of my personal sticking points for keeping my online life totally synced is now one step closer to being easier—Google Calendar now supports CalDAV and can sync natively with OS X's iCal without...
One of my personal sticking points for keeping my online life totally synced is now one step closer to being easier—Google Calendar now supports CalDAV and can sync natively with OS X's iCal without...
A Blogger?s Life: Why Blog and When Do You Stop Blogging?
Dr. Johnson’s Cat asks “So: Why Blog?”, a question that plagues many bloggers, wanna be bloggers, and wish-they-weren’t bloggers. Why do we keep on blogging when the fun drains away. And what keeps bringing us back. Googling the phrase “stop blogging” gets 171,000 hits: Ten Reasons Why I Should Stop Blogging; Should I Stop Blogging? 20 [...]
Read More
Dr. Johnson’s Cat asks “So: Why Blog?”, a question that plagues many bloggers, wanna be bloggers, and wish-they-weren’t bloggers. Why do we keep on blogging when the fun drains away. And what keeps bringing us back.
Googling the phrase “stop blogging” gets 171,000 hits: Ten Reasons Why I Should Stop Blogging; Should I Stop Blogging? 20 Questions to Ask Yourself; 29 reasons you need to stop blogging right now; Why Bloggers Stop Blogging; How to Know When to Stop Blogging; Stop Blogging and Get to Work; etc. The tract “What Everyone Should Know About Blog Depression” (Loss of pleasure in the Internet; feelings of sadness, disappointment, anger, self loathing, hopelessness, dementia; passive aggressive moaning and a steady lengthening of the interval between posts) is now three years old.
And why shouldn’t people be depressed? According to a recent study (via Jakob Nielsen via grow-a-brain) visitors to websites on the average read only 20% of the text; 28% tops. People starting blogs only to abandon them within months, or even weeks, is such a commonplace that you’re surprised this hasn’t become a a ubiquitous trope on sitcoms. Where indeed are the reality shows where the participants, instead of holding out to the last “What have we learned?” episode, instead wander off seriatim, not so much called back to real life as completely unsprung by despair.
Which of course begs the question: why blog at all?
The first comment asks if blogs have a “good until” date stamp on them - and if they should.
The author, Chris Hodge, tells a lively and beautifully written story about his own path through the blogosphere, blogging, stopping, blogging, stopping, finding a sense of renewal, and then depression again. It’s a great tale of a typical blog experience and challenges you to think about why you blog, but most of all, why you keep blogging.
Related Articles
- Have Your Favorite Bloggers and Blogs Run Out of Steam?
- How to Know When to Stop Blogging
- Blog Struggles: The Blog Focus
- Blog Struggles: Blogger’s Depression
- Blog Struggles: Recovering From a Traffic Spike
- Blog Struggles: Surviving the When Blogging Goes Bad Blues
- Thou Shall Not Blog
- What You Don’t Know About Blogging Can Hurt You
- What Are You Not Doing With Your Blog
Site Search Tags: blogging tips, how to know when to stop blogging, stop blogging, why blog, what keeps you blogging, how to blog, blog writing, blog struggles
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Copyright Lorelle VanFossen, the author of Blogging Tips, What Bloggers Won't Tell You About Blogging.
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