Technology Nomad

Digital Catalogs - TheFind, Amazon's WindowShop and Google's Catalog

noreply@blogger.com (Ahmad al-As'ad) — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 20:32:00 +0000

The Wall Street Journal reported that in 2010, there were more than 20 billion catalogs mailed in the U.S. alone. That averages out to approximately 200 catalogs annually per household. People generally love flipping through these catalogs, but until today, consumers seeking a way to virtually browse their favorite catalogs were forced to download countless applications from individual retailers. Enter digital catalogs. Generally speaking, these digital catalogs are either individual (and independent) apps available for mobile platforms (specifically tablets), or they are web-based applications available directly on the browser a domain click away.

Back in 2002, Google launched a Catalog Search. It was later shut down in April, 2009. The short-lived product allowed users to browse popular mail-order catalogs, and search across those catalogs for specific products.

Since then, other players have come into the picture and have created an updated but similar product, which predominantly (and naturally) focuses on the tablets. Among such new comers is TheFind Catalogue. The app, available for both iPads and Android tablets, allows users to browse specific catalogs and search across all available inventory for particular products. It also allows users to customize a “my catalogue” area as well as save any single item or store catalog to the personal dashboard.

In a similar browse/search manner, Amazon's WindowShop also offers a rivaling experience. WindowShop, however, has a smaller selection of products from branded retailers. Both, and others discussed in this article, are taking advantage of the magazine-like format of tablets, are reaching to partner with retailers to save on printing costs (and offer dynamic content), and be green while doing it. On TheFind site, I found this: "5.6 million tons of catalogs and other direct mail advertisements end up in U.S. landfills annually. We are doing our bit to help reduce the number of unwanted catalog subscriptions, and save natural resources."

This year Google [re-]launched its digital catalog-shopping offering Google Catalogs. Besides browsing, and like other digital catalog offers mentioned in this article, users can search for a particular item across multiple catalogs, zoom in on individual items, but can also watch the occasional video, save items to a “favorites” file among other things one would expect from a digitized catalog. Other features include the ability to find and check inventory at nearby stores and a collage function that allows for shoppers to create a collage of favorite products that can be shared with fellow shoppers within the app. The app makers say that Google+ integration is coming soon.

Clearly, there is (and will be) emphasis on partnerships --especially with merchants. Google Catalogs currently has 50 partners and over 100 catalogs. Google envisions users kicking back on the couch with the app. “I hope that users can use this as a relaxing shopping experience,” said Abigail Holtz, business product manager for Google Catalogs. Further, a recent Forrester study found that shopping has become a killer app for the tablet platform. In a survey of online shoppers and vendors conducted less a year after the launch of the Apple’s iPad, tablet users were already driving anywhere from 21% to 50% of the mobile traffic on retailer sites.

All that said, late last year Google launched Boutiques.com, and later launched its app; which so far I can only find for the iPad. The surprising part is that I have not seen a link between Boutiques and Catalogs, despite their similarities. Granted, I see the former more akin to Net-A-Porter, which seems to cater to a niche market. Still, they all seem to be dabbling with the Digital Catalog space. Building on that, call me crazy but I think that Google's Product Search, which I still call Froogle (yes, you can reach Google Product Search using that), can also be bundled up with Catalogs. Visiting Froogle.com today, it's no surprise that I saw Google Offers, and Catalogs, both as clear call-outs on the front page. Google Offers, which I know little about, seems to be a contender for Groupon.

Another company that has made its debut earlier this year in the Digital Catalogs space is called Padopolis, which launched the app Catalog Spree back in April this year; but its CEO said that early on retailers weren’t sure what to make of tablets: “When we started to approach vendors in July and August of last year, people thought that the tablet was going to be a fad,” said Joaquin Ruiz, CEO of Padopolis.

One might argue that Flipdoo fits into this categroy. I, on the other hand, view them more of a platform And they seem to emphasize Flash by Adobe as their backbone. Of course, to a retailer/merchant, they may not care as long as the result is the same; where I might be more picky taking into consideration accessibility, scalability and search-engine friendliness.

I suspect that the number of players in the Digital Catalog space will continue. It will be interesting to find out who makes it and who doesn't, what the differentiating features are, etc. I would like to see a matrix of their offerings; but even more interested in why merchants/vendors/partners select one over the other (regardless of features/offerings). If you or someone you know uses any Digital Catalog offering, please let us know in the comments. I'm sure there are others out there, or perhaps you have an opinion or two on some of the ones mentioned. Chime in and be heard.

Google Tablet

noreply@blogger.com (Ahmad al-As'ad) — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 13:11:00 +0000

Most of us have seen the prototype Motorola tablet with the Honeycomb version of Android (3.0?) that Google's Andy Rubin showed earlier this month (available without ads via Youtube after the jump/below) --Now Motorola has put out there a teaser video (also after the jump/below) of the tablet at CES next month. The Youtube teaser video documents the evolution of tablets since the B.C. era. It takes some cheap shots at both the ultimate competition and the friendly competition.

Personally, I'm surprised that HTC wasn't the one to come out to market with the 1st Google tablet. Nothing against Motorola, but HTC Android phones are a lot sleeker in hardware and software. Consequently, I expect the same in a tablet. Which may mean that I wait it out a tad longer than next month's CES announcement --For the price drop, the kinks to be worked out and for HTC's version.

Still, the hardware specs seem in par with what I would expect a Google tablet (GPad?) to be. One can only hope the rest is inline with such performance. Unfortunately, I was not able to glean a USB port or a camera in the device. Did anyone else?

Here's the original showing of it:

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koIzhLaRJJo

Here's the CES teaser:

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quI2I8wLPdc

UPDATE (via Engadget): Acer's Android tablet (and its gyroscope) previewed on video here.

Beware of Electronic Pickpocketing

noreply@blogger.com (Ahmad al-As'ad) — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 13:11:00 +0000

Normally we praise technology and all it can do. In this case, however, we show how technology can be used against us. Or so I thought when I learned about this.

The focal point of this very disturbing news report video (after the jump) is RFID. But like Bluetooth and other technologies that have proceeded it, it comes down to how the technology was implemented. In this case, the manner in which it was implemented was a little too personal.

The below video is eye-opening. Knowing about such technologies and how to guard one's self is key. Personally, I don't want RFID credit cards. And if it was up to me, I'd reject a passport with such a feature as well. Let us know what you think in the comments.

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJbtMclbatU

Outlook Anywhere Without VPN

noreply@blogger.com (Ahmad al-As'ad) — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 12:11:00 +0000

Many of us rely on MS Outlook® for our day in and day out email needs. It's not just our email medium, but our communication, calendar/scheduling, contact and even a document management tool of choice. But in order to do any of that, most organizations require VPN first. It's either that or Outlook Web Access (OWA). The latter, even when using IE, still lacks the features one is accustomed to seeing and/or using from the full fledged application.

What if you can access the full fledged application, with your personal folders intact (assuming the PST file is local) along with all of its features? Well, that is possible now with Outlook Anywhere©. I urge you to enable the Outlook Anywhere settings ... and render your fob/VPN the exception, and not the rule.

As for how it works, and not work, I highly recommend you read this. Enjoy.

The HTC Incredible - A Late Review

noreply@blogger.com (Ahmad al-As'ad) — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 22:46:00 +0000

I've owned the HTC [Droid] Incredible since it launched on April 29th, 2010. Several things kept me from writing a review although I intended it from day one. At times it was the need to have a complete picture of all that's out there on the phone --All of its quirks, issues, etc. Other times, it was just about me wanting to get to know the phone myself. But more than anything else, it was about me getting to know Android as a platform for the first time. A review on Android apps, tips, tricks, etc. is sure to follow soon.

In a time when new phones worthy of mentioning are released as fast as every three months, waiting this long to evaluate the HTC Incredible probably offers very little. However, I'm hoping the collection of resources is worth it.

A Time Snapshot

At the time of writing this article, several contenders to the HTC Incredible have emerged: On the Sprint network, we now have the HTC EVO 4G Android phone. Within the last few weeks, the iPhone 4G has also launched (AT&T). And, of course, the latest Android addition is the Droid X by Motorola, which launched by Verizon recently.

The Good. The Bad. The Bottom Line

The Good
Looking beyond what I've come to expect as standard features on every smartphone (like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, 3G speed, speakerphone, etc.), the HTC Incredible offers: The Sense UI --A huge plus to the phone's Android 2.1 OS; a feature that I could spend a considerable time on alone. That, and the expandable memory (takes a MicroSD card) and I was sold. Of course, a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon™ processor, 8 MP Camera with flash, Razor-sharp 3.7 inch WVGA (480×800) AMOLED capacitive touch display and a few other features (like the FM Radio) should not go unmentioned. Also worth mentioning are the phone's pinch-to-zoom capabilities, Flash Lite 4 (likely upgradeable to Flash 10.1 soon) and enhanced Copy & paste features. Being on Verizon, you automatically get Skype Mobile and NFL Mobile. Both are worth looking into, in my opinion.

The Bad
This is not a "bad" for the HTC Incredible; rather, it's Verizon's. You can't use voice and data at the same time! The next "bad" feature is an issue, like the iPhone 4G, I hope is fixed with a software update soon --Signal/Call quality. To learn more about this, read these:

As for features, I wished the HTC Incredible had HD recording. It does wide-screen pictures/video, but not in HD. Although, I did hear that it's a software update that may be coming around the corner. I have a couple of other pet-peeves but I'm not sure they're worth mentioning. For example, since the phone is on Verizon's network, it was made as a CDMA phone, and not a GSM one. A GSM one would be more of a World-wide phone (swap a SIM card and keep on truckin').

The Bottom Line
The phone lives up to its name --It's incredible. There's no such thing as a perfect phone; especially with new features coming out all the time. I could spend time telling you about this phone, but given my delay in getting this review out others have done a good job. Here are a few that I encourage you to read:

The official specs of the HTC Incredible.
The official HTC Incredible user guide/manual.
And finally this one worthy of mentioning comprehensive coverage of the HTC Incredible.

HTC Droid Incredible Expert Reviews

phandroid reviews the HTC Droid INCREDIBLE and writes;

“My absolute FAVORITE new feature of the HTC Incredible is the FM Radio which can only be enabled when you have headphones plugged into the 3.5mm headset jack. Simple to use, and just like Google Navigation, adds a completely new dimension to your phone..Web browsing with the HTC Incredible is fast and enjoyable on the 3.7-inch screen and pages load quickly. ”

Mobileburn reviews the HTC Droid INCREDIBLE and writes;

“Call quality on the HTC DROID Incredible in New York City was stellar. The only issue I noticed from time to time was a slight delay between hitting the on-screen send button and hearing the phone on the other end ring. I didn’t experience a dropped call, and callers noted the clarity of which they were able to hear me. Reception was also very good, and the device mostly reported a full four bars of signal in New York City….”

Rating:

MobileTechReview reviews the HTC Droid INCREDIBLE and writes;

“The camcorder can shoot video up to 800 x 480 resolution at an average of 26fps with lesser options for VGA and MMS sizes. It uses autofocus for video (impressive) and has a variety of exposure and sharpness controls. Video quality is quite good…”

Rating:

Infosyncworld reviews the HTC Droid INCREDIBLE and writes;

“For the scrutinizing mobile user, the Incredible is a whopping 0.01-inch thinner than the iPhone 3GS, which will give you tons of free pocket space. It also rocks a 3.7-inch WVGA AMOLED capacitive touchscreen LCD, which is the same technology as the iPhone, except the Incredible’s AMOLED technology will produce brighter colors. Not only did it produce brighter colors, but the display was crisper and easier to read.”

Video of HTC Incredible by VerizonWireless

Mobileburn first look reviews the HTC Droid INCREDIBLE and writes;

“…I also enjoyed the phone’s 8 megapixel camera. It took good shots both indoors in low-light situations, thanks to its dual-LED flash, as well as outdoors in the sunlight. For texting, HTC’s landscape and vertical QWERTY keyboards were very easy to use, but I also loved being able to use speak-to-text, a feature available in Android 2.1 smartphones…”

DigitalTrends previews the HTC Droid INCREDIBLE and writes;

“Verizon Wireless has since locked down the staging site—it was originally sniffed out by the blog Phandroid—but information on the site seemed to indicate Verizon planned to go with a $350 early termination fee. The site did not carry any pricing information, but it looks like it will offer a way for interested customers to give their email address for updates on the product’s availability.”

Video LEAK preview of HTC INCREDIBLE by tehkseven

Video preview of HTC INCREDIBLE for VERIZON by somanyphones

Video preview of HTC INCREDIBLE for VERIZON by cellfanatics

Please don't text and drive.

Google Magazines

noreply@blogger.com (Ahmad) — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 01:41:00 +0000

Google Books, a digitized library of print materials, has quite a few magazines available in addition to all their other high quality offerings. I remember reading that publishers can choose whether they provide free access to back issues via Google Book Search, or use it to draw traffic to pay-to-view archives, so we assume the same goes for magazines. That said, all of the searches we tried led to free-access page images.

Although there hasn’t been a whole lot of publicity on this, Google books began adding full text magazines. They have digitized at least 100 magazines from cover to cover, showing us the ads, pictures and articles. In addition to the historic aspect, they are really interesting and fun to look through. By digitizing every page, it is almost like going to the Periodicals stacks on the second floor of a library and flipping through them right there on the shelves.

Amongst their digitized work are back issues of many (mostly popular) magazines. Specifically, in September, 2009 Google announced the availability of over 1,860 issues of the iconic LIFE Magazine on Google Books. Every issue of Life Magazine from its debut in November, 1936 to the end of 1972 is available via Google Books. You can browse the cover of each issue and search the text of articles.

As of recent, the entire archives (137 years) of Popular Science is also now accessible, searchable, and free via the PopSci web site.

A few days ago, I learned that Google's magazine archive has expanded with 40 years of digitized content available from IDG Publishing (Free).

With the project, readers can now access issues of CIO, CSO, InfoWorld and Network World dating back to the 1970s. The pages of the publications—including advertisements—have been scanned and digitized, and are available in a searchable archive on Google Books. Additionally, some microfilm issues of Computerworld have been posted and are available on the Google News Archive. “The real value of this project to IDG is in having the content of our enterprise IT publications—going back decades—preserved for all time and accessible to researchers and historians around the world,” Matt Smith, senior VP-COO of IDG Enterprise, said in a statement.

Here's the media release from IDG.

Another popular magazine out on Google Books is SPIN Magazine. "Flippin'" through it is sure to get a giggle or two at what was once considered cool from the 1980s. The contemporary cultural and political articles – as well as exciting fashions featured in the ads of decades gone are now available for perusal from any web browser. You can also browse through archives of New York Magazine, Popular Mechanics, Weekly World News, Jet, and even Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Years available will vary, but this is a wonderful resource for those looking for 20th century popular culture, and well worth a quick search or an extended browse. Don't forget to check out the LIFE Photo Archive while you're at it!

Ancestry announced in January, 2010 that the magazine would be discontinued, so how great it is now to have access to all the issues they’ve done! This is a great model for any other publishers/organizations that may be discontinuing.

Use the "Magazine" link on the Google Books home page to get to this material. Here's a page on Google Books that lets you browse the available magazine titles. You can also use the Advanced Interface and limit to only magazines and/or publisher.

As Google's official blog adequately puts it "In many cases, these magazines aren't just history as history, but history as perspective — a way of understanding today." If print ever dies, at least there should be a digital copy of all of this history on Google.

Must-Have Firefox Extensions & Add-Ons

noreply@blogger.com (Ahmad al-As'ad) — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 18:20:00 +0000

If you're a Firefox user, then you already know that one of the things that make this open-source browser so popular is its extensibility --the big galaxy of useful extensions you can use with it. I for one, have a couple of add-ons/extensions/plug-ins that I simply cannot continue online without. I'll even go out on a limb and say that Firefox's extensibility is the reason the browser has become my very desktop. But what are those browser extensions that turn Firefox from a regular browser to a down-right necessity?

Let's think of this in a different manner. When you buy a new computer, or you land a new job or whatever it is that presents you with the opportunity to start fresh, what are the first things you do?

You see for me, the first thing I do is jump on the native browser that came with the machine and go download Firefox. And I won't go into what other applications I download and/or seek; but for Firefox itself, I immediately start looking for the following core extensions:

It's worth noting that I'm using "extensions" to include add-ons, plug-ins and extensions (of course).

Like all extensions & add-ons, if you don't like one you can always uninstall it; which's much cleaner & simpler than uninstalling a full-blown application.

Greasemonkey

God, I can spend all day on this alone.

The Greasemonkey add-on allows users to install scripts that make on-the-fly changes to most HTML-based web pages. Basically, as Greasemonkey scripts are persistent, the changes made to the web pages are executed every time the page is opened, making them effectively permanent for the user running the script.

These scripts do not actually change the web site itself, but it changes the way Firefox interacts with the HTML on a web page to make it act in a way that is more user-friendly and/or befitting of one's needs. This change only occurs in your Firefox browser and only for the current session. It does not change any coding on the server side or to the web site itself. It simply changes how Firefox reads the code on the page and redisplays it to you with the aesthetic and functionality based on the directions/code of the script(s) you have installed. Every time you visit the web site, the script changes the page for you without you noticing it. There is no delay in the changes visible to the naked eye, usually. Some scripts allow you to auto-fill forms. You can even automatically retrieve data from other sites to make two sites act as one ... very mashups-like.

Greasemonkey allows you to stipulate what pages (and sub pages/directories) to run the script of your choice on. And the reverse is also true. Greasemonkey allows you to exclude certain sites/pages as well.

By itself, Greasemonkey does none of these things. In fact, after you install it, you won't notice any change(s) at all, until you start installing what are called "user scripts."

The "Swiss Army Knife" of Firefox extensions may seem like it requires a bit of ramp-up to get going, but it does not. You simply install those "user scripts" without as much as restarting your browser. There are literally thousands already written for you. To install these "user scripts," first you must install the Greasemonkey Firefox extension. Then head out to Userscripts.org and search for a web site or page you'd like to see optimized and in what manner and you're sure to find something.

Like I said, I could write about Greasemonkey alone. The fact is, there are definitely some "user scripts" that I seek out and install under Greasemonkey; but this is not the time or the place for that. I will tell you that you can find some for most popular sites. There are some that modify how Google presents search results, others that modify YouTube, some that add functionality to StumbleUpon, enhance Flickr, etc. What Greasemonkey scripts are amongst the must-haves is truly a personal thing.

Xmarks

Formerly known as Foxmarks, Xmarks syncs all your bookmarks (and bookmarklets of course) across all computers. As a fan and advocate of cloud computing (with some personally-put restrictions), Xmarks simply puts all your bookmarks & bookmarklets into the cloud so you can access them from any other computer connected to the internet. In addition to online backup, Xmarks is available for Firefox, Internet Explorer (IE) and Safari; so if you add a bookmark in one browser, it will automatically become available in your other browsers as well.

Xmarks has many other features that go beyond the scope of this specific post. One worth mentioning, however, is that Xmarks offers profiles allowing you to display certain bookmarks at certain locations (you may not want certain bookmarks, for example, to automatically be shown and/or available at work). For me, this is an absolute must, since bookmarklets I have created cannot become property of the company I work for; or disputed at any point to be so. Should you leave a workplace for which you had a profile location, you simply disable that location in your profile and they're gone once you sync up.

DownThemAll

Ever wanted to download all the articles, images (only GIFs, only JPGs, or both) on a web site but wish that you could grab them all at one time? DownThemAll does just that. DownThemAll is a selective, powerful download manager. It makes short work of snatching all the images on a page (including those links to the "bigger" or "zoom" versions), all the MP3s off a music or podcast blog, or any other kind of filter you can set up.

The only way to elaborate any more on this wonderful add-on is to build a small walk-through of it; which again steers away from the intention here. So ... I encourage you to try it out yourself and go from there. I'm confident you'll like it.

Better Gmail 2

It's no surprise that Gmail has become the web-mail of choice for many of us. However, there are some nuances that many have expressed; including the inability to use folders (as oppose to Gmail's labels). Better Gmail 2 addresses that and many others.

Better Gmail 2 is sure to impress you with what it offers. Amongst its lesser known features is the gem of hiding labels on the message rows. Only on mouse-over do you see the label that the message was tagged with.

Download Statusbar

Once you start downloading any thing, you're sure going to seek a much better tool than the one native to Firefox. When you are dealing with multiple downloads, it’s easy to get confused and lose track of your files. Sure, there are lots of download managers out there, but sometimes you want something that’s so discreet you barely even notice it. Is there a tool that will do the job?

Download Statusbar is a Firefox add-on that is very low-key. In fact, when you are not downloading, it is invisible, and when active, it is very, very discreet. Download Statusbar completely integrates Firefox's standard release, so there is nothing to configure before you start to use it. When you download a file, a very small download indicator (the statusbar) will appear at the bottom of your screen. From here you can control the download, pausing and re-starting in one click, running the file once it downloads, copying the URL and visiting the source website.

The Download Statusbar display makes it very easy to see what files you are downloading and how close to completion they are. If you open the add-on’s configuration options, you’ll find that the display and download are completely customizable. There are also a series of hints available on the Download Statusbar website that make your downloading even quicker. Simply put, it is effective, low-maintenance and very simple, and if you are a frequent downloader, it’s a must-have extension.

This, of course, serves a different purpose than DownThemAll (mentioned above), which allows you to download (automatically) several files at once. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I use & highly recommend both, and for different reasons.

Others

Most other extensions, plug-ins and add-ons are usually added later as you come across them. What I mean is that when you visit YouTube you'll quickly learn that you need to install the Flash plug-in; and if you visit an audio site that serves RealAudio files, you'll need to install that plug-in. And so on and so forth.

Without a doubt, there are other Firefox add-ons that I have installed; but they are specific to my needs. For example, I like having a tab-centric application (like Tab Mix Plus), an easier copy (as in copy & paste) solution like AutoCopy, and a few others. There are extensions that cater specifically to Developers, ones that cater to bloggers, and ones that cater specifically to laptop users ... to which I highly recommend FireFound and Meebo. The web-based instant messaging (IM) site offers an extension that especially goes well with portable (run off of a USB drive or something similar) versions of Firefox. Again, I'm sure there are many other extensions out there, but these are the ones I rush to add when I have a fresh copy of Firefox.

As a Firefox user what extensions/add-ons are the ones you rush to add when you have a fresh copy of Firefox? Share those with us in the comments.

Your Online World After Your Death

noreply@blogger.com (Ahmad) — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 03:33:00 +0000

In today's online World thinking about what happens to one's online accounts, which to many is a big chunk of their World, after their death might be morbid. Perhaps even a tad superstitious and pessimistic. Unfortunately, it's a necessary evil.

Now I wanted to write about the topic, but after doing a bit of research (as I always do for an article) revealed that blog site MakeUseOf covered it, and covered it quite well. According to the article, email services like Hotmail and Gmail allow next of kin to access accounts of deceased individuals as long as the family can provide proof of death. My guess is that anonymous accounts, where incomplete or incorrect information is provided, mean that the accounts get locked over time due to lack of usage. Whereas other services, like MySpace, will simply delete the account upon request. The infamous Facebook will also delete an account if asked, but they also go out of their way and turn the user's page into a memorial one, if the family so wishes. I highly recommend reading the MakeUseOf article as it covers quite a bit.

Another source revealed by a quick search on the topic is TIME. The article covers a perspective that might be of interest to many. Specifically, not wanting your relatives & loved ones in on your digital content. One paragraph from the TIME article (on the 2nd page) puts the whole thing in perspective:

In 2005, relatives of a Marine killed in Iraq requested access to his e‑mail account so they could make a scrapbook. When a judge sided with the family, Yahoo! copied the messages to a CD instead of turning over the account's password. Hotmail now allows family members to order a CD as long as they provide proof that they have power of attorney and a death certificate. Gmail requires the same paperwork, plus a copy of an e‑mail the deceased sent to the petitioner.

If you have nothing to hide, don't mind the contents of your online/digital world being shared or simply don't think that the info. you house in your online accounts will tarnish your legacy, then don't fret. Otherwise, I strongly recommend you make other plans or take up one of the "death management firms" linked in the TIME article. Better yet, if it's that big of a concern, talk to your lawyer about squeezing it in your will.

Personally, I don't have anything to hide (any more). But I'm sure many would rather default on their accounts (due to lack of usage) and have their accounts simply deleted instead of handing over the keys like that. For those, I suggest something like Death Switch.

OK, now I'm curious. How do YOU plan to take care of your online accounts in case of your death? I'm sure there are creative ways and other tools out there. I'm especially interested in FREE ones. Share what you got in the comments. ▣

The GPad: Based on Open Source Chrome OS

noreply@blogger.com (Ahmad al-As'ad) — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 04:10:00 +0000

Google's innovations may have bud heads with the likes of Microsoft and Yahoo! with such flagship products like Gmail and Google Docs (GDocs). But it should come as no surprise that Google is challenging many others just the same. For example, with the Google's Android mobile platform & OS and their phone, Nexus One, the company may well be changing the face of mobile communications as we know it. Who and how many companies it's challenging is yet to be sized up. With Google Voice, the company is taking on companies like Skype, Vonage, could easily be taking on Verizon with its FiOS/IP phone, and may even be taking on some Executive Assistants. Google's Chrome browser is challenging ... well ... browsers. Browsers like Internet Explorer (IE), although that's not much of a challenge; Opera, Firefox and many others. As you can imagine, the list goes on to cover several industries and markets.

Google's CEO, Eric Schmidt, up until July, 2009, was on Apple's Board of Directors. With Google's advancement into the OS and mobile-phone spaces, both parties, I'm sure, saw the writing on the wall.

This last week, Apple unveiled its much anticipated iPad. Jokes aside, and in my opinion, the iPad was a flop. There are at least 10 things missing in the iPad, which made the device more for the non-computer-savvy, and possibly for the older generation (for mothers, aunts, grandparents, etc.) and not "all that" for the geeks amongst us. Within hours of its launch, Twitter was filled with mixed emotions about it. Not exactly a good sign. And within a couple of days, I saw such tweets as "iPad, no thank you. I'll wait for Google Android tablet" (paraphrasing).

Wouldn't you know it? The open source project behind Google's Chrome browser and the Chrome OS, Chromium, today delivered pictures of what the Chrome OS table might look like. According to TechCrunch "and while Chromium is not actually part of Google, it appears that these mockups were put together by Glen Murphy, Google Chrome’s designer. In other words, they’re the real deal."

There's even a concept video (see below). Albeit, it seems much larger than the Apple iPad, but I wouldn't be surprised if that was for illustration purposes only. Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if one was indeed created to be that big. After all, Apple may make a larger iPad.

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=debO2FroXA0

Here are a few thoughts ...

Since the Nexus One is available, in conjunction with Google Voice, on data-only plans, I would imagine their Google tablet (the GPad?) might also do the same. In which case, the line would seriously (more than ever) blur between computers and phones.

Combine that with GPS, Wifi, a USB port (or two), a camera and the ability to be on a mobile network (EDGE, 3G or 4G) and you no longer need a phone in the traditional sense. Although I don't see that as the dominant option, I do see it as an option nonetheless. A small form factor would be something like the Nexus One, and something more robust but still light-weight would be something like the GPad. Those in construction, out in the field, etc. would benefit a great deal from the latter if equipped with the right features.

This convergence could render such things as e-readers, navigation devices (I already use my phone's Google Maps with GPS) and netbooks a thing of the past. Do it right, with a lot of care and thought, and this could even go farther. For example, I could see me laying in bed, docking my GPad (we need another possible name. This one sounds wrong for some reason) and watching my shows on it. That will likely mean that I'll expect the thing to be my alarm, my radio (perhaps via Wifi), etc. And instead of waking up to music, while in its cradle & docked, it could start with traffic, news, weather, etc.

My imagination is unleashing just imagining this thing around in the house. I see it as a replacement for the failed screens on fridges, as a recipe book (a digital one, of course), as a device that could control the TV, shades, home security, etc. But it must be done right. To be frank, I'm not sure that Apple could pull it off when they're limited by proprietary hardware and software. ▣

Shrinking Long URLs with bit.ly and j.mp

noreply@blogger.com (Ahmad) — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 06:14:00 +0000

The URL shortener space is getting increasingly crowded, with a ton of new and existing companies bringing their offerings to the table. A few come to mind like: is.gd, tr.im, cli.gs and TinyURL. Although not yet for public consumption, Google has even launched its own service called Goo.gl. Google's launch comes on the heels of Facebook having quietly launched its own URL-shortening service called FB.me. Heading there in your browser simply takes you to Facebook's home page, whereas sharing links through Facebook's mobile site will shorten them for you using a shortened FB.me URL. Surprisingly, I've not seen much from Facebook about their new service.

As usual, I digree.

The one service I've failed to mention, and the one that I use the most ... the focus of today's article is bit.ly. Actually, I use the bit.ly powered j.mp, which's two characters shorter. J.mp ("jump") is in fact bit.ly but with a shorter domain name. You can learn more about it here. And in a World where every character counts (especially on the likes of Twitter), j.mp with the power of bit.ly is the best all around URL-shortener (IMHO, of course).

Although I use bit.ly's j.mp domain, I will be referring to the parent company, bit.ly, from here on.

Besides the basic functionality of shortening URLs, it also provide feature for URL analysis. You can track number of clicks, locations, referrers, time of clicks for any bit.ly URL without having to register, login or install any software. Bit.ly also offers customizable URLs, tracking, 301 redirection and a mobile version among many other features.

Bit.ly is trying to stay ahead of the competition with products like bitly.tv (more on that in a few) and bit.ly Pro, which currently allows a limited set of beta users to create their own branded short URLs. In essence, white-labeling the URL shortening service.

Bitly.tv displays a collage of the most-linked videos (through bit.ly) of the moment. Users can also sort by the top videos from the last day or the last two days. The site looks really slick and is well presented. When you click on a video, a light-box pops out, which plays the video as well as displays a variety of sharing options (Facebook, Twitter, e-mail) and shows a live stream of tweets about that piece of content. The live stream is especially compelling since you can see what other people are saying about the video as you formulate your own opinion.

In addition to powering Twitter (replacing TinyURL), bit.ly is baking into its Web service the Yfrog picture-sharing service made by Imageshack. Yfrog competes with other Twitter-friendly image-sharing services such as Twitpic. Imageshack is what power all of technologynomad.com's image hosting needs for free. For users who want to create easy short links to images they upload from their computers, the integration with Yfrong will be a bit of a time-saver. Also, users will get the real-time click through data from their images on the bit.ly site.

Bit.ly also announced on its blog that Google Reader and Typepad now generate bit.ly links natively.

I'm sure I've only revealed a few of bit.ly's offerings. For example, I know that bit.ly provides a very neat API. If you’re as API driven and like to automate the tasks around you, you’ll be happy to know that there is a new open data table that can shorten URL’s using YQL.

But let's go back to the stats feature for a minute. Did you know that if you put a + (plus) sign at the end of any bit.ly URL, it immediately goes to the info page for that link, displaying all those juicy stats, as opposed to the link itself? For example, for url "http://bit.ly/8ifP7w", open url "http://bit.ly/8ifP7w+", this will redirect to "http://bit.ly/info/8ifP7w" and show all the statistics for this shortened url.

With all this talk about shrinking long URLs, and being a cynic & a skeptic, made me want to see where some of these shortened URLs go before I click on them. Enter a bookmarklet. If you know me, you shouldn't be surprised at the introduction of a bookmarklet.

Get Long URLs

Simply drag the "Get Long URLs" link above to your browser toolbar. Alternatively to dragging and dropping, you could right-click the link and click "Bookmark This Link" in Firefox (my browser of choice), or "Add to Favorites..." in IE. Of course, IE will present you with some blocks to running them, which's why most serious-net-browsers do not use IE.

Short URLs generated by URL shortening services say little about the landing site but this bookmarklet can rewrite all short links on a web page so you know exactly where those links are pointing to. Once bookmarked (in your bookmarks), and you're on a page that that has a shortened URL (like a Twitter page, an email, etc.), click on the bookmarklet and it will convert all those shortened URLs back to their source giving you visibility to the destination.

Do you use a URL shortener? Which one? Tell us in the comments.
technologynomad.com is not affiliated in any way with bit.ly or any other URL shortener. This article was written solely out of experience with the various tools. ▣

Tips for Browsing & Working Faster

noreply@blogger.com (Ahmad) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:11:00 +0000

As someone who does most of his work online, the browser has become the cornerstone application I run at all times. And being in technology for almost 15 years, I can't help but notice some of the browsing habits that my family, friends and colleagues have. In most cases, I'm their tech support and their first line of defense for most of their PC needs (purchase, how-to, strategy, approach, web site, email, etc.). So, I wanted to write a few browsing (and some non-browser) tips to help speed things up and help all to not only be speedier, but more productive.

It is worth mentioning (up front) that these tips are derived from my own personal style, and may not all work for you. However, I'm hoping that at least a few of them will come in handy and perhaps help you develop your own style. Since the objective of these tips is to be speedy and more productive, it should come as no surprise that this means I rely on the keyboard for most of them (instead of the mouse) minimizing "lift." That is, the act of lifting my hand and going to the mouse to only click on something once and allow me to resume typing. A perfect example of this is the URL bar/field. Many take the mouse to click on that field so that they could type away the URL in mind. I'm getting ahead of myself, but I figured an example is in order.

The Browser Itself

I wouldn't be surprised if the main application most of us use in today's age is the browser. Heck, I'm willing to go as far as suggesting that the browser is the new operating system (OS) of today. And your choice of browser says a lot about you, your browsing habits, and a whole lot more. Let me be short, sweet and to the point and say that if you're using Internet Explorer (IE) and you don't really have to (because of your work's IT, etc.) then do us all, and do yourself, a favor and switch. And if you're on IE6, then know ahead of time that you'll have to choose a side. Yes, it's that serious. Personally, I use Firefox. And if I wasn't, I would use Google Chrome. Why? Well, the number one reason I use Firefox beside the its compliance with the standards out there is its add-ons and extensions. There are some I simply would rather not work (or live) without.

Keyboard Shortcuts

As I previously mentioned, avoiding that reach to the mouse is sure to save you time and help accomplish things more efficiently. Addressing my earlier point, seeing a professional reach for the mouse and clicking on the URL bar only to type "www.google.com" kills me. Within most browsers (yes IE too), you can alt+d to put the cursor within the URL bar highlighting the entire current URL ready for you to type over it with what ever your heart desires. Besides copy (ctrl+c) and paste (ctrl+v), going to the URL is the next most common thing ... heck, I think it may even beat copy & paste.

While we're at it, you don't really need to type "www." and the ".com" at the end. Just type (in the example I used of going to www.google.com) "google" and hit ctrl+enter. That combo adds "http://www." before the string and ".com" after the string. The string being the "google" part.

Here's a list of keyboard shortcuts that apply to most browsers, but are listed here with Firefox in mind (yes, I'm bias):

Go back one page in history: Backspace [or Alt + Left Arrow]
Go forward one page in history: Shift + Backspace [or Alt + Right Arrow]
Home Page of browser: Alt + Home
Reload current page: F5 [or Ctrl + R]
Stop loading current page: Esc
Page down (i.e., scroll down) in current web page: Spacebar
Page up (i.e., scroll up) in current web page: Shift + Spacebar
Go to bottom of current page: End
Go to top of current page: Home
Zoom in (i.e., increase text size of page): Ctrl + =
Zoom out (i.e., decrease text size of page): Ctrl + -

Find a word in current page: Ctrl + F
Find again: F3 [or Ctrl + G]
Find Previous: Shift + F3

Print current page: Ctrl + P
Bookmark current page: Ctrl + D
View Page Source: Ctrl + U

New Tab: Ctrl + T
New Window: Ctrl + N
Close Tab: Ctrl + F4 [or Ctrl + W]
Close Window: Alt + F4 [or Shift + Ctrl + W]
Select Tab (1 to 8): Ctrl + (1 to 8) [for example, to select 2nd Tab: Ctrl + 2]
Select Last Tab: Ctrl + 9

Toggle Private Browsing: Ctrl + Shift + P
Select location bar: Ctrl + L
Select search bar: Ctrl + K

This keyboard shortcut list does not do it justice. My favorite list can be found here.

Don't expect to memorize half of them. Simply refer to the shortcuts and use them; and you'll learn them in due time. Despite my technology tenure, I learned one keyboard shortcut today, for example (shift+spacebar).

Use Tabs

I remember once reading something similar to the following line (I'm adapting it a bit): If the browser is the new operating system, then the tab is the new system process, and the tab bar is the new taskbar. There are always reasons to launch a new browser window, but for the most part try and use tabs whenever possible.

There are many add-ons (for Firefox) that help optimize tabs and their use. Most should know how to open a link in a new tab (just right-click the link ... when in doubt, right-click). As evident by the keyboard shortcuts, there's always more than one way to do the same thing. So look it up and see if using it works for you ... but be fair, give it some practice first. When I don't have a link but know my URL, I simply ctrl+t (open a new tab), type the main domain name & hit ctrl+enter to make it a .com url with the www part and I'm off to go. It's longer to read (and type) than to do, I assure you.

Get Organized

Organize your bookmarks in folders. I know that many use outside social bookmarking sites, and even local bookmarking is usually heavily tagged (meta-data); but I still think folders in this case (for bookmarks) rule. And I recommend creating as many of them as you can. Later, if you're serious about organizing, you'll find yourself consolidating some of the folders or even nesting some within others. The end result, in all cases, should be a more organized browser, a more accessible list of links and more efficient cataloging.

For example, I have a bookmark folder sitting on my Bookmarks Toolbar called E-Mail. In it are all the email sites I visit (gmail.com, mail.yahoo.com, hotmail.com, etc.). Another easily accessible folder (although this need not be this accessible) is a folder I created called Bookmarklets. More on those in a little bit. Another folder, again on the Bookmarks Toolbar, is (replaced with the company for whom I'm working). In it are links to the intranet, and several other internal links. In this same folder, I also keep the external and internal links (when they're different) to access my mail over the web. The next point should tie nicely with the reason behind this madness.

Use Keywords on Your Bookmarks

I don't use this as heavy, or even in the same way as most people do. Let's first talk about what they are: Once a bookmark is created, you can go back to it, go to its properties and see a field called "Keyword." It is in this field where you can set a small word or phrase (I'd keep it concatenated) to use instead of the actual bookmarked URL itself. Let me elaborate ... Let's say you bookmarked "http://mail.yahoo.com." Then you go give put "ym" as the string in the Keyword field. Now, all you have to do is type ym in the URL bar and hit enter. Circling back to the keyboard shortcuts, you would do alt+d then ym and enter; and voilà, you're at Yahoo! Mail. Of course, you can make your keywords as long or as short as you need them to be.

But where this is the most handy is with longer URLs that you want to bookmark. For me, the longest URLs I seek the most are bookmarklets. Excellent segue into the next section ...

Use Bookmarklets

I don't like to use toolbars outside of what came native with the browser. Heck, even that I butcher to maximize my browser real-estate on my old laptop (a used Dell Latitude D505). I don't install the Google Toolbar, the Yahoo! one, or any other. Toolbars will slow your browser down and are a security risk I'm simply not willing to take. Don't get me wrong, there are a few especially for developers that are absolutely amazing. Nope, I don't use those either. If I had a browser that had them, I'd have them disabled most of the time.

So what do I use instead? Most of what I need, and most of what the toolbars do, can be done with bookmarklets. Bookmarklets are basically JavaScript that calls that have been bookmarked. For example, javascript:alert("hello world"); is technically a link that can be bookmarked. Many sites offer bookmarklets that you can drag to your toolbar for later use.

JavaScript is used on most web pages. Those JavaScript bookmarklets allow you to run your own "manipulations" against the page that you're currently on/viewing. For example, you can force most pages to have a black or white background using a bookmarklet. Amongst such bookmarklets are the ones from such social bookmarking tools I previously mentioned, like Delicious, Tumblr, and others. Amongst my most used bookmarklets are URL shorteners. They not only provide a shorter URL for whatever I want to send out, but tracking (if you're logged in ... free account) all those URLs as well. I digress. You can read more about it here.

Now that I have my bookmarklets, I organize them in a folder called just that (see above), and then I assign my most used ones a keyword of their own to make accessing them a breeze. Like the Yahoo! Mail bookmark, now I can invoke a bookmarklet with alt+d, , enter.

Bookmarklets is what I use the most. And if you've been following my articles, you'll know I'm a bookmarklet-collecting freak. And I use a lot of them. I love the ones that help me read or watch YouTube by dimming everything else (two different bookmarklets). I use bookmarklets to help me write my blog (masking images and aligning them), to QA, to test accessibility, etc. There are many server services, with URLs, out there there that you could pass a URL to (like the current URL of a page) to do something with the page for you. Among such services is PrintWhatYouLike. I know this is not a bookmarklet article, but assigning such a bookmarklet a keyword and using it can have green implications (saving ink and printing paper).

A Couple of Words on Bookmarking ...

Where many use Delicious, Tumblr, or even others like Google Bookmarks and Instapaper, I've not been able to make that jump yet. Perhaps it's because I use Xmarks (formerly known as Foxmarks). Xmarks syncs my bookmarks and allows me to choose which ones are visible/accessible on different profiles. So my "work" profile only shows these folders, and not these others. I could also always go to xmarks.com and access my bookmarks from any computer with internet access.

I do, however, use photo/image bookmarking through a 3rd-party. Where most use such services as vi.sualize.us, I've found myself in love with weheartit (pun intended). I've added their bookmarklet to my collection, made sure it's in my Bookmarklets folder (organized) and have assigned the keyword "loveit" to it. Now, when I'm on a page/site that contains an image or a photo I like, I simply alt+d to go to the URL field, type loveit and hit enter. I then pick the image on that page that I want to "bookmark."

Other Browser Tricks

There are other tricks you can use to boost the likes of Firefox, which you can find here (speeding Firefox itself), extensions and add-ons that are highly recommended, and finally hacks to Firefox's configuration.

These are all things you can do to enhance Firefox. The bulk of the browser tips (and most are generic to apply to other browsers as well) came before the last paragraph, and they are discipline-based with a few technical ones here & there to help you along the way.

Outside of the Browser World

I'll try and be brief here. I find myself often needing to take a note. Nothing elaborate. I'm usually jotting a phone number down (although I do a lot more ... like this entire article), and I usually need it quick ... like NOW! My application of choice is Notepad. But in the spirit of keyboard shortcuts, I do not click on the start menu, find all programs, accessories, yada yada. Instead, I type ctrl+alt+n. That's the shortcut key I've assigned Notepad. I've also assigned one to the calculator (ctrl+alt+c). Now I'm only 3 -key presses away from getting what I need done.

There are many other things/quirks I do to help me work faster and being more productive. One overlooked item that I use almost always is alt+tab to switch/cycle amongst running applications within Windows. I cycle through tabs, since the browser is the bulk of what I use, with ctrl+tab. Sometimes, it's easier for me to do ctrl+1 for the 1st tab. On many occasions, I find myself guessing the number of the tab (hmm, it's about the 6th open tab so ... ) ctrl+6. All it does is bring focus to that tab. No harm with being wrong. I just adjust the number based on how close I got.

Using services that consolidate multiple touch points for you will inevitably, and perhaps by definition, help you work faster & better. Many of us use instant messengers like Yahoo! IM, AOL IM (AIM), Facebook chat, MSN, GTalk, Jabber, etc. But we also use Twitter, check our email, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. I use one application for them all: Digsby. It's a standalone application that's not browser based (must install it on Windows), but it's free and worth it if it was not.

Another highly recommended tools to help you work faster, better and be more productive include password managers like 1password and KeePass. Combining their use with your browser life and perhaps some cloud computing services (umm, like Dropbox ), and you'll quickly be armed with security on the go. Read more about that here.

As you can see, what you use outside of the browser (like to listen to your music, to watch video, etc.) can also help you be more efficient. Naturally, not all things that consolidate are worth a lick. Some things are best left separate.

That's the tip of the iceberg for my style and what I do. What's yours? I would love to learn new tricks (wuf wuf). Share them with us in the comments. ▣

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noreply@blogger.com (Ahmad) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 16:11:00 +0000

Technology Nomad is a new blog about technology. Technology tips, technology tricks, mobile technology, software, open-source, hardware, social media, etc. Technology Nomad can be about the latest & greatest technology news; but that's not its focus. Instead, it's more about good write ups on the technology trends & topics themselves.

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noreply@blogger.com (Ahmad) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 16:11:00 +0000

There are many ways to contact Technology Nomad. We would love to hear from you, and welcome & encourage your comments on every post. We invite you to submit suggestions of topics and/or categories to cover. And although I welcome post/article contributions from others, I reserve the right to be selective. Having said all of that, the best way to contact Technology Nomad is via email.

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About Technology Nomad

noreply@blogger.com (Ahmad) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 16:11:00 +0000

My love for all things technology found its way to a career in late 1996. And like most generation X'ers, I love gadgets. Realizing that I couldn't maintain the cost of keeping hardware current, I began to lean towards the software side of technology.

I remember reading about one of the first browsers, Erwise, but my first hands-on experience was with Mosaic. Consequently, that got me reading about SGML, and HTML followed shortly after that. Given that some of the "servers" of the company I was working for at the time were Unix, I quickly became interested in the platform (and later many of its flavors). From there, I started to convert hundreds of call center documents (copied over & over again to give to agents answering the phones) into HTML files, making them accessible on the computers that every one already had in front of them.

Subsequently, my interest in software was no longer just about applications, but about the Internet and the web itself. From then on, reading & learning to keep up with evolving technologies and solutions became my career, my pass-time hobby and even my passion. Unlike expensive gadgets, which I still follow, the world of software only required my time (reading, coding, installing, etc.).

Naturally, as computers became household items and the Internet became mainstream, I was the family "technical guy" for any hardware and software needs. As a career and a hobby, technology became an around-the-clock constant. And while that may have a negative connotation to it, it wasn't at all. I enjoy it to this day. This enjoyment, this passion, is how Technology Nomad was born.

Technology Nomad is about what I learn. It's about what I come to know. It's about the shortcuts and techniques that help you do things better, faster and smarter. And not in a Kanye kind of way. Technology Nomad is a blog about the nomadic nature by which I approach technology --Specifically, web technologies. Technologies like cloud computing, web 2.0, social media, web applications, etc. But also covers things like music online, free alternatives to commercial software, open source, and many others. My goal is to, once a week, cover at least one topic.

My name is Ahmad al-As'ad and I am a technology nomad. And I invite you to become a technology nomad too by contributing an article, submitting a topic you'd like to see covered, and/or become one of our loyal readers & commentators. We would all benefit from hearing your solutions, your ideas or whatever technology (especially web technology) you come across out there in the good ol' World Wide Web.

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