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15 Amazing App Themes for WordPress

2012-04-20T14:53:36Z

While WordPress is commonly used as a backend for blogs, it can be used for a number of other purposes such as eCommerce and other types of webpages which serve a specific purpose. To build these sites within WordPress, you will need to download a specific theme which fits your needs, or you’ll need to mix specialized plugins with a theme to create a new app-style site.

There are tons of themes available for WordPress that can turn your site into a new app, but some aren’t the greatest, and others aren’t incredibly unique. That’s why I’ve put together this list of my favorite app themes for WordPress. These themes are well designed, stable, and can help you take your WordPress site far beyond a traditional blog. In fact, your finished site might look nothing like a blog, but it’ll still be just as easy to manage as simple WordPress blog.

WishList Member

If you’ve wanted to create a paid online club, subscription local news service, or other type of content network which charges for access, you should definitely check out WishList Member. This theme turns your site into a paid site, and allows members who haven’t paid for your service to “preview” some content before becoming a member. WishList Member also helps you with accepting payments and content distribution.

Price: $97 – $297
Developer: WishList

JobRoller

If your company is hiring, you need to check out this WordPress theme. JobRoller is a quick and easy way to set up a job listing board from your WordPress installation. JobRoller helps you manage CVs, create job applications and even create applicant logins. You can also use JobRoller to create your own job seeker site. If you do this, JobRoller will help you manage payments and create separate applicant and recruiter logins.

Price: $99 – $159
Developer: AppThemes

ClassiPress

ClassiPress is a classy way to create your own classifieds board with custom membership packs, Facebook login and coupons. This theme allows members to post their products for sale online and get in contact with buyers with ease. ClassiPress also helps you implement advertising on your site to maximize profits. This theme also looks great with a completely customizable color scheme.

Price: $99 – $159
Developer: AppThemes

BuddyPress

BuddyPress is a free and easy way to create your own social network. This WordPress application allows users to add friends and share information, just like any full featured social network. You can even create buddy groups within BuddyPress, making it easy for users to communicate via threaded comment stream and @mentions. BuddyPress is ideal for anyone creating a social network for a small group of people, such as for schools and work offices. However, it can also be used for large groups of people as well. For instance, Volkswagen recently used BuddyPress to power their TankWars promotion.

Price: Free
Developer: BuddyPress

P2

P2 is an absolutely awesome theme for WordPress. It allows you to create a multi-user microblogging service, like Twitter, which you could use privately or publicly. One of the best uses for P2 is at your work office, as you can collaborate with fellow coworkers quickly. For example, if you want to share the ongoing progress of a team project, you can do this quickly and easily by sending regular status updates to everyone on the team. The Automattic team, the people behind WordPress, even use it internally to manage their own team communications.

Price: Free
Developer: Automattic

WooCommerce

If you’ve always wanted to own your own store, now’s your chance. With WooCommerce, you can start your own online shop and manage it with ease. WooCommere even handles payments and calculates taxes for you. This theme can also handle your inventory and product selection, so all you have to worry about is making amazing products.

Price: Free
Developer: WooThemes

SupportPress

If you’ve ever sold a product, you probably know how annoying and unorganized email support can be. This is where SupportPress comes in. With SupportPress, your customers can easily create support tickets which you can reply to via email right from WordPress. After you’ve answered their questions, you can add these questions and your answers to your knowledge base, which can be automatically set up within SupportPress. Coming in at only $100 for a one-time purchase, SupportPress is a must have for anyone who runs a business or sells goods compared to the price of other support services.

Price: $100
Developer: WooThemes

Estate

Estate is a very beautiful home listing tool aimed at realtors. With Estate, you can easily list homes for sale and add vital information, like the number of bathrooms and bedrooms in a stylish manner. This theme customizes WordPress from the inside-out with a customized dashboard made specifically for Estate by adding easy-to-use functions and advanced SEO control. Estate also adds advanced search, making it easy for your customers to search for properties that match their needs.

Price: $200
Developer: WooThemes

FaultPress

If you want an easy way to interact with your customers about their problems and bugs they find in your application, FaultPress has you covered. FaultPress is a ticketing system in which your customers can ask questions, leave comments, and even make suggestions on your products and services. This makes for a very social and interactive experience, without having to rely on another company’s business social network service.

Price: $100
Developer: WooThemes

Listings

Listings is a great way to launch a niche directory based website. You can either sell your own products or allow your visitors to upload their products to sell. Listings offers an absolutely gorgeous layout with an optional featured slider which can showcase selected products. Another cool feature of Listings is that it offers built-in listing uploading from the front-end, allowing you to accept submissions without having to manage dozens of WordPress user accounts. With all of these awesome features and endless possibilities, you could easily create a Craigslist killer (and please do!).

Price: $200
Developer: WooThemes

Clipper

I’m going to start by saying that Clipper is simply amazing. Clipper is an advanced theme for coupon management. This full featured theme packs a ton of integrated features such as email templates, coupon submission forms and a plethora of customization options. All of this combined with amazing social and monetization intregration makes Clipper the perfect theme to start making money, and to help others save money as well.

Price: $99 – $159
Developer: AppThemes

WP Bids

Getting an idea either funded or approved can be hard and often takes time. WP Bids aims to make the proposal process a little easier by making a super-easy-to-use WordPress theme which acts as a project proposal sheet. After using WP Bid’s custom backend, you can send your clients their password protected proposal. You can specify proposals for each client, enabling you to keep all of your proposals on the same WordPress install.

Price: $59
Developer: ThemeJam

WordPress Wiki

While there are many ways to set up your own Wikis, none are as stylish as WordPress Wiki. WordPress Wiki harnesses the power of CSS3 and HTML5 to provide an asthetically pleasing appearance and an intuitive user interface. It’s easy to add editors to your Wiki because of WordPress’s easy sign up and sign in process. WordPress Wiki also offers loads of free themes which can really “spice up” your Wiki.

Price: Free
Developer: WordPress Wiki

JobPress

While there may be a bunch of different job board themes for WordPress, JobPress is by far my favorite. This is because of its elegant design, the ability to add featured listings, and the ease of using online job applications. JobPress also integrates perfectly with LinkedIn and Facebook so applicants can get a head start on their applications. In addition, JobPress also has a built-in payment gateway, making it easy for companies to list their open jobs while you make a little extra dough.

Price: $119
Developer: DailyWP

Reviews Engine

If you’ve always wanted to start your own product review site, now’s your chance. With reviews engine, you can easily format reviews and rate products all while having a completely customizable website. You can also give members of your website reviewer rolls so they can write and publish reviews to your site. Reviews Engine allows you to add specific specifications to each product you review such as storage, resolution and size, making it perfect for reviewing computers and smartphones.

Price: $119
Developer: DailyWP

Conclusion

So there you are: over a dozen ways to make a new web app out of WordPress and a unique theme. Whatever you want to do with WordPress, it seems like you could do that and more today. We’d love to know about any unique ways you’ve used WordPress on your sites in the comments below!

A Little Latin For Everyday Use

2012-04-09T17:41:52Z

This is a compilation of all those sites online of handy, useful, (and above all) contemporary Latin phrases. Enjoy!

Ad eundum quo nemo ante it.
To boldly go where no man has gone before.

Age. Fac ut gaudeam.
Go ahead. Make my day.

Alanis horribulus.
That singer has too damn many personal issues.

Aio, quantitas magna frumentorum est.
Yes, that is a very large amount of corn.

(At a barbeque)
Animadvertistine, ubicumque stes, fumum recta in faciem ferri?
Ever noticed how wherever you stand, the smoke goes right into your face?

Anulos qui animum ostendunt omnes gestemus!
Let’s all wear mood rings!

Aquaductus non diuresis!
Don’t pee in the pool!

Atque memento, nulli adsunt Romanorum qui locutionem tuam corrigant.
And remember, there aren’t any Romans around to correct your pronunciation.

Auda similarum ad seattles.
They all sound just like Pearl Jam.

Aut discere aut disce.
Either learn or leave.

Bibere humanum est, ergo bibamus.
To drink is human, let us therefore drink.

Bodicus mutilatimus, unemploymi forevercus.
Better take the nose ring out before the job interview.

Boobi falsetti starrius.
Sugar, if ya wanna be a star, you’re gonna have to do something about that bustline.

Braccae illae virides cum subucula rosea et tunica Caledonia-quam elenganter concinnatur!
Those green pants go so well with that pink shirt and the plaid jacket!

Caesar si viveret, ad remum dareris.
If Caesar were alive, you’d be chained to an oar.

Canis meus id comedit.
My dog ate it.

Carpe Ductum
Seize the Tape!

Carpe trojana!
Grab the condoms!

Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam.
I have a catapult. Give me all the money, or I will fling an enormous rock at your head.

Cave Canem!
Beware of Dog.

Cave ne ante ullas catapultas ambules.
If I were you, I wouldn’t walk in front of any catapults.

Clamo, clamatis, omnes clamamus pro glace lactis.
I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream.

Cogito, ergo doleo.
I think, therefore I am depressed.

Cogito, ergo sum.
I think, therefore I am.

Cogito sumere potum alterum.
I think I¹ll have another drink.

Coitus cyber-interruptus.
AOL problems while chatting with a hot babe on the Net.

Corruptisima republica plurimae leges.
The more corrupt a republic, the more laws.

Credo Elvem etiam vivere.
I believe Elvis lives.

Credo nos in fluctu eodem esse.
I think we’re on the same wavelength.

Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt.
When catapults are outlawed, only outlaws will have catapults.

De comedius non listus nomis uricani.
In matters of comedy, there can be no hurricane name lists.

De gustibus non est disputandum.
You mean you actually like chitlins?

De mortuis nil nisi boner.
Say nothing but good of the impotent.

Di! Ecce hora! Uxor mea me necabit!
God, look at the time! My wife will kill me!

Dictum ad tua mater.
Word to your mother!

Dictum, factum.
Said and done.

Die dulci fruere.
Have a nice day.

Diem perdidi!
I have lost a day! (Especially true on Friday!)

Domino vobiscum.
The pizza guy’s here.

Duc, sequere, aut de via decede.
Lead, follow, or get out of the way
.
Dumbassus! Hottie iste transvestitus!
Fool! That gorgeous woman is a crossdresser!

E Pluribus Tupac.
Rap is everywhere.

Erectionus finalum.
Anna Nicole Smith is here, Gramps.

Es debilem vinculum, vale!
You’re the weakest link, goodbye!

Estne volumen in toga, an solum tibi libet me videre?
Is that a scroll in your toga, or are you just happy to see me?

Et tu, Bubba?
Would you like fries with that, Mr. President?

Et tu, pluribus unum?
The government just stabbed me in the back!

Fac me cocleario vomere!
Gag me with a spoon!

Fac ut gaudeam.
Make my day.

Fac ut vivas.
Get a life.

Feles mala! Cur cista non uteris? Stramentum novum in ea posui.
Bad kitty! Why don’t you use the cat box? I put new litter in it.

Furnulum pani nolo.
I don’t want a toaster.

Gramen artificiosum odi.
I hate Astroturf.

Habetis bona deum.
Have a nice day.

Herpescum Dolores Es?
Have You Been Tested Recently?

Heu, modo itera omnia quae mihi nunc nuper narravisti, sed nunc Anglice?
Listen, would you repeat everything you just told me, only this time say it in English?

Hoc induto est fundus permagnusn?
Does my bum look big in this?

Hoc nomen meum verum non est.
This isn¹t my real name.

Hoc tempore non possum colloqui, sum in curru.
I can’t talk now, I’m on a train.

Hocine bibo aut in eum digitos insero?
Do I drink this or stick my fingers in it?

Hodie adsit, cras absit.
Here today, gone tomorrow.

Id est mihi, id non est tibi!
It is mine, not yours!

Id legi modo hic modo illic. Vero, Latine loqui non est difficilissimum.
I picked it up here and there. Really, Latin isn’t all that hard.

Id quot circumiret, circumveniat.
What goes around, comes around.

Ignoramus microsoftis multa pecunia dat.
Yeah, where *do* I want to go today??

Il guyus nissanem iste ickye.
That Nissan guy gives me the creeps.

Illiud Latine dici non potest.
You can’t say that in Latin.

Imus ad magum Ozi videndum, magum Ozi mirum mirissimum.
We’re off to see the wizard, the wonderful wizard of Oz.

In vino veni.
(You figure this one out yerself.)

In vino, veritas.
“Have another drink, senator.”

Insula Gilliganis
Gilligan’s Island

Ita erat quando hic adveni.
It was that way when I got here.

Labera lege…
Read my lips…

Lagunculae leydianae non accedunt.
Batteries not included.

Lege atque lacrima.
Read ‘em and weep.

Lex clavatoris designati rescindenda est.
The designated hitter rule has got to go.

Lingua speciem involutam praebet, sed sat cito eam comprehendes.
It looks like a tricky language, but you’ll get the hang of it pretty quickly.

Log floggit cum palma folliculus.
If you don’t stop it, you’ll go blind.

Magister Mundi sum!
I am the Master of the Universe!

Magnus frater spectat te…
Big Brother is watching you….

Mater tua criceta fuit, et pater tuo redoluit bacarum sambucus.
Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries.

Me transmitte sursum, Caledoni!
Beam me up, Scotty!

Mellita, domi adsum.
Honey, I’m home.

Mihi ignosce. Cum homine de cane debeo congredi.
Excuse me. I’ve got to see a man about a dog.

Minutus cantorum, minutus balorum, minutus carborata descendum pantorum.
A little song, a little dance, a little seltzer down your pants.

Modo fac.
Just do it.

Monstra mihi pecuniam!
Show me the money!

Motorolus interruptus.
Hold on, I’m going into a tunnel.

Muertes impendum pro saxophones.
Kenny G. must die.

Ne auderis delere orbem rigidum meum!
Don’t you dare erase my hard disk!

Neutiquam erro.
I am not lost.

Nihil curo de ista tua stulta superstitione.
I’m not interested in your dopey religious cult.

Nihil declaro.
I have nothing to declare.

Nihil est–in vita priore ego imperator Romanus fui.
That’s nothing–in a previous life I was a Roman Emperor.

No Quid Pro Quo.
I’m Sorry, We’re All Out of Quid.

Noli Intrare
Keep Out

Noli me vocare, ego te vocabo.
Don’t call me, I’ll call you.

Noli nothis permittere te terere.
Don¹t let the bastards get you down.

Noli Perturbare
Do Not Disturb

Nolo Contendere.
Hillary, you’re on your own.

Non calor sed umor est qui nobis incommodat.
It’s not the heat, it’s the humidity.

Non sum pisces.
I am not a fish.

Nucleo predicus dispella conducticus.
Remove foil before microwaving.

(At a poetry reading)
Nullo metro compositum est.
It doesn’t rhyme. ….

Non curo. Si metrum non habet, non est poema.
I don’t care. If it doesn’t rhyme, it isn’t a poem.

Numquam solus ambulabatis.
You’ll never walk alone.

Nunc est bibendum.
Now is the time for drinking.

Nunc Tutus Exitus Computarus.
It’s Now Safe To Turn Off Your Computer.

Nupperinme de Gallia huc volavi! Mehercule, bracchia mea defatiga sunt!
I just flew in from Gaul, and boy, are my arms tired!

O! Plus! Perge! Aio! Hui! Hem!
Oh! More! Go on! Yes! Ooh! Ummm!

Phy! Fabulae!
Bah! Humbug!

Postatem obscuri lateris nescitis.
You do not know the power of the dark side.

Prehende uxorem meam, sis!
Take my wife, please!

Purgamentum init, exit purgamentum.
Garbage in, garbage out.

Quantum materiae materietur marmota monax si marmota monax materiam possit materiari?
How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

Quaeso esto meus vicinus.
Please won’t you be my neighbor.

Qualem muleirculam!
What a bimbo!

Qualem blennum!
What a doofus!

Quando omni flunkus (?) moritati.
When all else fails, play dead.

Quanti canicule ille in finestere?
How much is that doggie in the window?

Quantum in ura hora imputas?
You charge how much an hour?

Quid? Me anxius sum?
What? Me worry?

Quis fuit ille personatus?
Who was that masked man?

Quo signo nata es?
What’s your sign?

Quomodo cogis comas tuas sic videri?
How do you get your hair to do that?

Radix lecti
Couch potato

Raptus regaliter
Royally screwed

Re vera, cara mea, mea nil refert.
Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.

Re vera, potas bene.
Say, you sure are drinking a lot.

Revelare Pecunia!
Show Me The Money!

Revera linguam latinam vix cognovi.
I don¹t really know all that much Latin.

Romani quidem artem amatoriam invenerunt.
You know, the Romans invented the art of love.

Sane, paululum linguae Latinae dico.
Sure, I speak a little Latin.

Semper ubi sub ubi.
Always wear underwear. (So incorrect it’s funny…)

Sentio aliquos togatos contra me conspirare.
I think some people in togas are plotting against me.

Sharpei diem.
Sieze the Wrinkle Dog.

Si Archibus Omnibus come, ego vometo.
If I eat an Arch Deluxe, I’ll puke.

Si fractum non sit, noli id reficere.
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

Si hoc legere scis, nimium eruditionis habes.
If you can read this, you have to much education.

Si hoc signum legere potes, operis boni in rebus Latinus alacribus et fructuosis potiri potes!
If you can read this sign, you can get a good job in the fast-paced, high-paying world of Latin!

Si non vittet, accuittere debetis.
If it doesn’t fit, you must acquit.

Si tu id aeficas, ei venient. Ager Somnia
If you build it, they will come. Field of Dreams

Sic faciunt omnes.
Everyone is doing it.

Sic friatur crustulum.
Thus, the cookie crumbles.

Sic semper tyrannus.
Your dinosaur is ill.

Sit vis nobiscum.
May the force be with you.

Sola lingua bona est lingua mortua.
The only good language is a dead language.

Solum potestis prohibere ignes silvarum.
Only you can prevent forest fires.

Sona si Latine loqueris.
Honk if you speak Latin.

Spero nos familiares mansuros.
I hope we’ll still be friends.

Stultus est sicut stultus facit.
Stupid is as stupid does.

Sum, ergo edo.
I am, therefore I eat.

Tam exanimis quam tunica nehru fio.
I am as dead as the nehru jacket.

Tauri in decurso
Bulls on parade

Te audire no possum. Musa sapientum fixa est in aure.
I can’t hear you. I have a banana in my ear.

Te precor dulcissime supplex!
Pretty please with a cherry on top!

Tempo fugit.
I drove my Ford off a bridge.

Tempus incognitum.
Time unknown.

Tempis Macarena Fugit.
Time flies when you’re doing the Macarena.

Tibi Gratiad Agimus Quod Nihil Fumas
Thank you for not smoking

Totum dependeat.
Let it all hang out.

Tua mater gartet excitos calcios.
Your mom wears army boots.

Ubi est mea anaticula cumminosa?
Where’s my rubber ducky?

Uno viso, omnia visa sunt.
Seen one, seen ‘em all.

Ut si!
As if!

Utinam barbari spatium proprium tuum invadant!
May barbarians invade your personal space!

Utinam coniurati te in foro interficiant!
May conspirators assassinate you in the mall!

Utinam logica falsa tuam philosophiam totam suffodiant!
May faulty logic undermine your entire philosophy!

Vacca foeda!
Stupid cow!

Vah! Denuone Latine loquebar? Me ineptum. Interdum modo elabitur.
Oh! Was I speaking Latin again? Silly me. Sometimes it just sort of slips out.

Veni, vidi, Pesci.
I came, I saw, I moidered da bum.

Veni, veni, veni!
I came, I came, I came!

Veni Vedi Velcro.
I came. I saw. I stuck around.

Veni, vedi, vichy.
I came, I saw, I capitulated to the Germans.

Veni, Vedi, Visa.
I came, I saw, I bought it!

Vescere bracis meis.
Eat my shorts.

Ventis secundis, tene cursum.
Go with the flow.

Vidistine nuper imagines moventes bonas?
Seen any good movies lately?

Viri sunt Viri.
Men are slime.

Visne saltare? Viam Latam Fungosam scio.
Do you want to dance? I know the Funky Broadway.

Volo comparare nonnulla tegumembra.
I’d like to buy some condoms.

Wal*mart. Semper.
Wal*mart. Always.

Willum fibium comum tupeum.
Clinton lies like a rug!

The Seven Dwarfs

Fatuus
Dopey

Medicullus
Doc

Severus
Grumpy

Beatus
Happy

Somniculosus
Sleepy

Verecundus
Bashful

Sternuens
Sneezy

Thanks DJ

Our favorite tweets of the week Apr 2 – Apr 8, 2012

2012-04-08T09:54:53Z

Every week we tweet a lot of interesting stuff highlighting great content that we find on the web that can be of interest to web designers.

The best way to keep track of our tweets is simply to follow us on Twitter, however, in case you missed some here’s a quick and useful compilation of the best tweets that we sent out this past week.

Note that this is only a very small selection of the links that we tweeted about, so don’t miss out.

To keep up to date with all the cool links, simply follow us @DesignerDepot

Parallax Scrolling: An Introduction http://su.pr/1ASut4

The Importance of White Space: Take a Breath Already! http://ow.ly/a1aNZ

Get rid of that mess: 10 Plugins to Help Spring Clean Your WordPress Blog http://ow.ly/a1aL4

Icon fonts are awesome, but.. http://ow.ly/a1czO

8-Bit Video Games Can Teach Us About Design And UX. Here’s what: http://ow.ly/a1cER

Mark Powell takes his drawing skill to vintage envelopes & the result is stunning http://ow.ly/a1bXO

Birth of a Book: a tour of Smith Settle’s handmade bookbinding process http://ow.ly/a3r23 *Its growth is then up to us

Foresight.js gives webpages a future-preview ability http://ow.ly/a3pDH

Seoul-based Studio fnt has an incredible body of work with clean, but powerful results http://ow.ly/a3tSj

The ethics of SEO – what’s your status? http://ow.ly/a4tDX

The Key To Keeping Designers Happy – Facebook Has It http://ow.ly/a4JJx

Typography Shop has some cool stuff for designers and typophiles. Check them out! http://might.ly/a4dHI

Drop Caps: Historical Use And Current Best Practices With CSS http://ow.ly/a4Ltn *Inspiring read

Up and Running With Custom Post Types http://su.pr/2JZDMR

Can You Guess The 8 Reasons Why Users Don’t Fill Out Sign Up Forms? http://ow.ly/a6kPq

Webkit CSS properties allows you to enhance the look of your web pages where possible. Check it out: http://ow.ly/a6lgl

Matt Needle shows you how to transform an iconic image into a visually striking, unique print http://ow.ly/a6nIk

Fool.js – awesomeness & fun http://ow.ly/a7ig9

Mhm, mhm, you’re goona like this http://ow.ly/a7poT Easy WordPress pagination without plugins

Astounding collection of Minimalist Movie Posters http://ow.ly/a7qXU

How Ford Engages Customers With Social Media http://ow.ly/a7sbj *great insights from a connoisseur

Want more? No problem! Keep track of all our tweets by following us @DesignerDepot

Ultimate WordPress Theme Builder (no coding needed!) – from $35!

Source

Finale 2011 Mac & PC French

2012-04-07T10:23:42Z

Category: Applications
Subcategory: Mac
Quality: No quality info
Language: French
Uploaded by: Baritono
Size: 1.76 GB

RSA Animate - The Divided Brain

2011-11-29T14:45:43Z

I liked a YouTube video: In this new RSAnimate, renowned psychiatrist and writer Iain McGilchrist explains how our 'divided brain' has profoundly altered human behaviour, culture and society. Taken from a lecture given by Iain McGilchrist as part of the RSA's free public ...

Adele- Rolling In The Deep (Cover)

2011-11-19T09:33:39Z

I liked a YouTube video: We are siblings doing what we love! enjoy! LIKE US: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Vazquez-Sounds/103035296478481 FOLLOW US:http://twitter.com/#!/VazquezSounds TUMBLR:http://abevazquez.tumblr.com/

Pocoyo - Hora de Acostarse A Dormir

2011-11-18T13:17:21Z

I liked a YouTube video: un capitulo mas sigueme en twitter @rutox

Ponencias del BlackBerry Innovation Forum 2011 Madrid 7

2011-11-14T16:44:18Z

I liked a YouTube video: Parte 2 de 3: Sesión plenaria presentada por Martin Varsavsky, Empresario y CEO de Fon Ponencias impartidas por Eduardo Fernandez, Martin Varsavsky, Enrique Sarasola durante el BlackBerry Innovation Forum del 3 de noviembre del 2011 en Madrid,...

New in Reader: a fresh design, and Google+ sharing

2011-10-31T20:55:00Z

Posted by Alan Green, Software Engineer

Today we're rolling out the new Reader design, and the Google+ features that we mentioned just over a week ago. Before the day's over, all Reader users will be able to enjoy the following improvements:

A new look and feel that's cleaner, faster, and nicer to look at.

The ability to +1 a feed item (replacing "Like"), with an option to then share it with your circles on Google+ (replacing "Share" and "Share with Note").

Integrating with Google+ also helps us streamline Reader overall. So starting today we'll be turning off friending, following, shared items and comments in favor of similar Google+ functionality.

We hope you'll like the new Reader (and Google+) as much as we do, but we understand that some of you may not. Retiring Reader's sharing features wasn't a decision that we made lightly, but in the end, it helps us focus on fewer areas, and build an even better experience across all of Google.

If you decide to stay, then please do send us your feedback on today's set of improvements. Google+ is still in its early days, after all, and we're constantly working on improvements. If, however, you decide that the product is no longer for you, then please do take advantage of Reader's subscription export feature. Regardless where you go, we want to make sure you can take your data with you.

Updates to Google Reader on the web are rolling out gradually and should reach all users by end of day. A new Android application will follow soon. If you have questions about today’s announcements, please check out our Help Center.

Cloud9 IDE – Code Anytime, Anywhere

2011-10-31T13:00:41Z

IDEs (Integrated Development Environments) are a special type of software that developers use to write software. IDEs are designed to maximize productivity, because because they typically present a single platform which all development is done. This means a developer will do less environment switching to get his job done.

Most IDEs were developed for writing desktop-based applications, or server side development, and place front-end web development as an after thought. Plus, no matter what language you’re using, with a native IDE it’s much more difficult to work from any computer or with distributed teams. The team behind Cloud9 IDE created a JavaScript-based IDE for creating web based applications, and they have open-sourced the code, free to adapt and use. Let’s take a look.

Version Control

Cloud9 is closely integrated with a couple of version control systems, Git and Mercurial. Git is a distributed revision control system designed and developed by Linus Torvalds, the creator of Linux. Every Git clone is a full fledged repository with complete history and full revision tracking capabilities, not depended on network access or a central server. Git’s branching, tagging, and merging are near flawless. It’s merging algorithm is close to omniscient, and it’s able to merge multiple code sources simultaneously.

Mercurial is also a revision control system, but it is centralized, unlike Git that is distributed. Both work with the same abstractions, a series of snapshots which make up the history. Mercurial is more low-keyed compare to Git; however, it has really good documentation. If you have used subversion, you’ll master Mercurial in no time. If you need to merge code often, perhaps you should consider using Git. Select the right project type for your need, and click the create button to start your project.

Version Control Systems in Cloud9

Create a new project once you are ready to write some code. Cloud9 supports a number of programming languages with full debugging, and they are adding more languages as we speak.

Create a new Project

Cloud9 keeps its interface simple, and uncluttered. There are 8 main menus on its toolbar that you will frequently use. Click the file menu and pick the right file menu for your project. Cloud9 is designed for web development. It supports most popular web scripting and programming languages.

Developing a Web Page with Cloud9

Cloud9 displays source code in different colours according to the category of the code. This feature eases writing codes or markup languages as both structures and syntax errors are visually distinct. Cloud also takes cares of code formatting for you. Any time you need to format your code, open the edit menu, and click ‘Beautify Selection’.

Beautify Selection

There is also an option to change the way Cloud9 formats your code. Just open the preference menu, and choose the settings that you want.

Formatting Code

Since you’re developing straight from your browser, you’ll no longer need a separate HTML debugger, like Firebug, to fix problems.

Debugging with Firebug

Most IDEs on the market support visual design, where developer or designers drag-and-drop user interface elements to build a working user interface. Cloud9 does not support this feature, at least not at the time of writing this article. After a while, we started to miss this feature. It does have a “preview” page, though, that shows how your web page looks.

Syntax Highlight

Coding in Cloud9

If you find yourself having to (or wanting to) write a program for running services, or managing database, Cloud9 has you covered. You can write your code in PHP, Ruby, or Python. You can compile, debug, and deploy your application to a popular cloud computing solution, Joyent, and can choose one out of 6 different memory options.

Joyent's Price Plan

API documentation is a must when you code with Cloud9, because it has not supported code completion yet, and it does not highlight syntax errors when you type your codes. You can still debug your code, though. Expand the debugging pane, and you can put break points in your code, or inspect variable during runtime from the IDE.

Debug Panel

Cloud or Desktop-Based IDE

Moving the IDE to the cloud brings a number of advantages. You can avoid the time and effort required to install and configure the IDE by yourself. The cloud application is rendered in the browser, taking advantage of browser capabilities such as CSS. In cloud applications, most of the heavy processing is handled by the service provider, which minimizes the requirements on your system configuration. Desktop applications require high memory and processing speed for complex applications like graphic design. If you don’t have much processing power in your desktop, cloud might be your best bet.

One of the key advantages of having the IDE on your desktop is its independence from internet connectivity and bandwidth considerations. Cloud applications rely upon the internet infrastructure for data transport and content rendering. If you are using a desktop-based IDE, your codes are stored on your own computer, whereas in cloud IDE data resides in the server space allocated to you. Since most of the processing is handled on the server side, data needs to be transported to and from the cloud application service provider. This can impose a requirement for high bandwidth to accommodate frequent and large data calls to the cloud server.

Closing Thoughts

Cloud9 is still at an early stage of development and there is clearly a lot of work to be done before it will be able to deliver the same practical value as existing desktop-based IDE. Despite the limitations, it shows an enormous amount of promise and has the potential to eventually deliver a user experience that rivals the existing IDEs on the market. Cloud9 is an extremely impressive project that stretches the limits of what can be achieved with the browsers of today using native standards-based Web technologies. In doing so, it provides profound insight into the untapped potential of the medium and the kinds of capabilities and applications that could become commonplace in the future as browsers and Web standards evolve.

Alternative Literature

2011-10-31T04:00:00Z

No Free Lunch

2011-10-30T22:03:41Z

Steve Jobs’s Final Words And More Revealed in His Sister’s Eulogy

2011-10-30T20:19:37Z

Mona Simpson, Steve Jobs’s sister, published her eulogy for her brother in The New York Times today. The piece is the most touching, intimate tribute to Steve we’ve seen since his passing.

An excerpt:

Tuesday morning, he called me to ask me to hurry up to Palo Alto. His tone was affectionate, dear, loving, but like someone whose luggage was already strapped onto the vehicle, who was already on the beginning of his journey, even as he was sorry, truly deeply sorry, to be leaving us.

He started his farewell and I stopped him. I said, “Wait. I’m coming. I’m in a taxi to the airport. I’ll be there.”

“I’m telling you now because I’m afraid you won’t make it on time, honey.”

When I arrived, he and his Laurene were joking together like partners who’d lived and worked together every day of their lives. He looked into his children’s eyes as if he couldn’t unlock his gaze.

Until about 2 in the afternoon, his wife could rouse him, to talk to his friends from Apple.

Then, after awhile, it was clear that he would no longer wake to us.

His breathing changed. It became severe, deliberate, purposeful. I could feel him counting his steps again, pushing farther than before.

This is what I learned: he was working at this, too. Death didn’t happen to Steve, he achieved it.

Read the whole piece on The New York Times. Incredible moments and aspects of Steve’s life are revealed from a very unique perspective. Mona Simpson also describes Steve’s last words.

In the bathroom of life

2011-10-30T14:52:30Z

via

In Defense of Steve Jobs

2011-10-29T20:18:47Z

In the immediate aftermath of Steve Jobs’ death on October 5, the praise was overwhelming.

He was the greatest CEO in history, a prescient visionary, prolific inventor, influential designer, brilliant artist. He could walk across San Francisco Bay without getting his New Balance 991 sneakers wet, bend light with his will and turn dog shit into gold.

Then the backlash hit.

About a week after Jobs’ death, the promotional tour for Steve Jobs, the Walter Isaacson biography, began in ernest. This week, the book itself hit. And so did the “dark side” revelations. Plus, former rivals and Apple employees with an axe to grind came pouring out of the woodwork to tell snarky stories about Jobs’ flawed morality, bizarre personality and petty misconduct.

As they are wont to do, the lame-stream media pounced on the negative angle.

The praise was too much. But so is the ongoing character assassination. It’s time to bring the pendulum back to the center, and provide context for some of the most egregious dissing.

In particular, there are four major falsehoods about Jobs being thrown around in the past three weeks that need to be addressed. Here they are:

1. Steve Jobs stole ideas from Xerox to create the Mac.

In 1979, Jobs and a group of Apple engineers visited Xerox PARC, a famous Silicon Valley research group, for three days. During those visits, the Apple team saw what was then the future of personal computing: Bitmapped screens, graphical interfaces, desktop metaphors like folders and trash cans, Ethernet, printers, mice — the works.

Four years later, Apple shipped the Lisa and a year after that, the Macintosh — both of which used concepts seen at PARC.

The conventional wisdom has become that Xerox PARC invented the networked graphical PC, and Jobs “stole” their ideas. But this is wrong on all counts.

Of course, there’s no question that Apple made major leaps of understanding and vision by visiting PARC. But what Apple created was not Xerox technology.

Malcolm Gladwell clarified this point brilliantly in a May New Yorker piece.

In fact, according to Gladwell, Jobs instructed Apple designers to avoid Xerox’s way of doing things. According to industrial designer, for example, Jobs instructed him to create a mouse for Apple, but specifically to make it completely unlike the Xerox mouse.

Jobs told him: That mouse “cost three hundred dollars to build and it breaks within two weeks. Here’s your design spec: Our mouse needs to be manufacturable for less than fifteen bucks. It needs to not fail for a couple of years, and I want to be able to use it on Formica and my bluejeans.” Oh, and one more thing. The Xerox mouse had three buttons, but Apple’s had to have one.

Everything about Apple’s mouse — the materials, the functionality and most importantly the methods by which the device registered and conveyed movement — was totally different from the Xerox mouse.

And, in any event, Xerox didn’t even invent the mouse. Douglas Engelbart and Bill English created the first mouse prototype in 1963. And a German company even shipped the first commercial mouse in 1970.

The idea that Apple stole Xerox’s mouse invention is totally wrong on all counts. This basic scenario is also true for many other Mac technologies seen at PARC.

Of course, some things the Apple engineers saw were in fact invented by Xerox, including bitmapping and Ethernet. But the biggest thing Apple got out of the visit was the big-picture vision of how a networked graphical personal computer and printers might function. The second thing was a whole lot of pointers and shortcuts to the solution to problems solved by PARC researchers.

But here’s the most important fact: Nothing was “stolen.”

Whatever Apple got from those three days was bought and paid for as part of a fair, legal, above-the-table business deal between Xerox and Apple.

At the time, Apple was still a year away from its IPO. Everybody wanted in. Apple was the hottest of hot companies. So Xerox and Apple made a deal: Apple would be granted 3 days of access to PARC in exchange for Xerox being allowed to buy 100,000 shares of Apple stock for $10 per share.

Apple went public a year later, and the value of that stock had grown to $17.6 million. Xerox paid a million for the shares, so essentially Apple paid Xerox $16.6 million for showing its research to Jobs and his team.

This monetization of PARC research was vastly higher than Xerox’s Star, which lost a lot of money.

(Also: My back-of-the-envelope calculation, factoring in a stock split, is that those shares would today be worth about $324 million.)

There’s no question that the deal Xerox made was unfair to PARC researchers, who were forced by the suits to reveal their hard-earned intellectual property. But Xerox was a stupid company. Those researchers voluntarily chose to work for that stupid company. That’s not Jobs’ fault.

The bottom line is that Jobs didn’t steal from Xerox. He paid for whatever he got, fair and square.

2. Steve Jobs was mean, petulant, brittle, abrasive and cantankerous.

One general theme in the piling on of Jobs attacks his people skills and personal ethics. Jobs screamed and yelled at, publicly humiliated and bruised the feelings of Apple employees and business partners. He was cold and unfeeling to his parents, lovers and children. In short, he was an asshole.

Of course, it’s better to be nice than to be harsh. Everyone should treat everyone else kindly. However, there are two points about Jobs’ coldness and petulance that need to be factored in.

Most of the “Steve Jobs is cold and unfeeling” stories come from his youth. He didn’t say good-bye to his parents when he went to college. He rejected his daughter. He humiliated an applicant by demanding to know if he was a virgin and whether he had taken LSD.

When these things happened, Jobs was practically a teenager. Remember, when Jobs started Apple, he was 20 — not even old enough to buy beer. Many of the worst stories about Jobs happened when he was in his early 20s.

In fact, all the tech titans with reputations as a-holes follow a similar pattern. Gates and Zuckerberg were jerks too. And they also founded companies in their early 20s.

Like the song says: “Nobody likes you when you’re 23.” And for good reason.

Male teens and men in their early 20s tend to struggle with the concept of empathy.

This is especially true of the kind of guys who launch successful companies too young. They’re likely to be nerdy, socially awkward, narcissistic loners. When these immature personality types are suddenly thrust into positions of wealth, fame, power and responsibility, it’s reasonable to expect callous disregard for the feelings of others.

Examples of men in their early 20s suddenly finding themselves running companies so hot they get their pictures on the cover of TIME, and who are not jerks, are non-existent. I can’t think of a single example.

It’s also worth nothing that both Gates and Jobs mellowed, once given the chance to grow up, start families and all the rest.

So were Jobs, Gates and Zuckerberg cold, unfeeling jerks? Or were they just human beings in extraordinary circumstances trying to find their way?

The stories of Jobs’ “petulance” and his scream-fests directed at employees and business partners are completely different from his youthful displays of coldness.

I believe Jobs learned two things from being a 20-something asshole. First, he learned to regret it. He reconciled with most of the people he abused, ultimately establishing warm and kind relations with his daughter, Lisa, his parents and others.

He learned that being an asshole to loved ones doesn’t work.

But the other thing he learned is that being an asshole to employees and business partners does work.

Jobs is famously persuasive — you know, Reality Distortion Field and all that. In fact his ability to use his persuasive powers became a well understood tactical asset at Apple. It was part of Apple’s secret sauce.

But Jobs’ persuasive abilities weren’t just about inspiration. They brought to bear the whole range of human emotions — not just inspiration, nostalgia, and awe, but also fear, anger, humiliation and more.

If you read the stories about Jobs’ famous tirades, you’ll see that in the end Jobs usually got what he wanted.

When chip supplier VLSI Technology was falling behind on deadlines, Jobs screamed at VLSI executives that they were “fucking dickless assholes.” He freaked everybody out, and made them feel really, really bad. But in the end, “Team FDA” got their act together and delivered on schedule.

Jobs fired people publicly, refused to give severance pay when fired. He called people “stupid” and worse.

But the source of Apple’s incredible success in the past ten years can be oversimplified as having three parts: 1) Jobs’ competence (including competence in hiring great people); 2) Jobs’ vision; and 3) Jobs’ ability to get his way and focus everyone on his vision.

Part 3 of this formula was achieved in part through Jobs’ mastery of the art of being a prick.

All the after-school bitching about Jobs’ “petulance” really adds up to a bunch of cry-babies getting their panties in a bunch over how mean Jobs was.

Thousands of people join the military every day, and endure boot camp where they’re screamed at in their faces every day. Other industries like Hollywood (ever seen Entourage?), ballet dance and many others involve harsh yelling and public dressing-down as a matter of course.

You don’t hear them whining about it.

Most importantly, all these relationships were voluntary. If you don’t want to work for a boss that yells at you, don’t work for Apple. If you don’t want to be screamed at by a lunatic perfectionist, don’t enter into a business partnership with Apple.

Jobs’ temper and volatility was no secret. Everyone volunteered.

Besides, the burden is on critics who think Mr. Jobs could have accomplished what he while acting like Mr. Rogers. Until proven otherwise, we can and should assume that Jobs’ “petulance” was part of his secret for success, and well worth it.

3. Steve Jobs intended to spend all of Apple’s money to destroy Android.

Jobs told Isaacson for the book that suing Google over Android was Apple’s way to say: “Google you f***ing ripped off the iPhone, wholesale ripped us off… I will spend my last dying breath if I need to, and I will spend every penny of Apple’s $40 billion in the bank, to right this wrong. I’m going to destroy Android, because it’s a stolen product.”

Apple now has $81 billion in the bank.

Of course, spending all of Apple’s cash reserves on lawsuits would be an unnecessary, irresponsible and reckless abuse of Apple executives’ responsibility to shareholders.

But Apple hasn’t done this. These were just words.

Jobs learned over the years that he can increase the value of Apple by millions or even billions of dollars by just talking.

Jobs’ “thermonuclear” comments about Android and Google actually make good business sense. If he can demonstrate over-the-top resolve to crush Android, maybe Google will make different design decisions about it in the future. Maybe they’ll be more sensitive about adding features and functionality that are similar to Apple’s.

More likely, maybe Google’s OEM partners will be affected by this now well-known resolve, and invest less in Android, or make decisions that reflect a shaken belief in Android’s future.

You don’t hear about Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt much anymore. But FUD is alive and well, and Jobs knew how to bring it.

4. Steve Jobs was evil.

Free Software Foundation founder Richard Stallman has been dancing on Jobs’ grave ever since his death was announced.

Stallman blamed jobs for making “unjust” closed systems cool, and putting millions of people in “digital handcuffs.”

The truth is that Jobs and Stallman represented opposing sides in the battle over whether software should be free or open, or whether products should be integrated for elegance and ease of use.

The battle rages, but Jobs proved an unbeatable opponent. Now Stallman senses that with Jobs no longer able to debate, he might finally win the argument.

Personally, I love choice. And I’ve heard all the arguments on both sides. In the end, I’ve increasingly chosen Apple products because they make me happy, they improve my life.

I’ve seen life on Stallman’s Nebuchadnezzar. But F that. I want to be plugged into the Matrix. And I don’t want to remember nothing. Nothing!

It’s not evil to disagree with Richard Stallman, and having a different vision of how computers and gadgets should be put together. It’s an absurd notion.

Consumers have their choice between the most open and the most closed (or, the most fragmented or integrated) of systems and software. And those of us who buy Apple products aren’t being duped, or tricked or seduced into making the wrong choice.

Steve jobs was a complex human being. And like all human beings, he was a mixed bag of good and bad, nice and not-so-nice — he was great and flawed at the same time.

We shouldn’t delude ourselves into thinking he was perfect. But we should also not allow ourselves to over-indulge the inclination to exaggerate his transgressions.

Steve Jobs could be a jerk. But he was also insanely great. Above all, Steve Jobs was human. And both his successes and his moral failings should be tempered by an understanding of the larger contexts in which he lived his extraordinary life.

Iron Man — the Bluegrass Version

2011-10-30T01:47:10Z

Thanks MCW

Apple - The Mickey Mouse watch on Apples’ iPod Nano site...

2011-10-29T14:30:00Z

Apple - The Mickey Mouse watch on Apples’ iPod Nano site shows the actual time.

/via velour

UX, It's Time to Define CXO

2011-10-28T09:20:20Z

What is a Chief Experience Officer (CXO)? We’ve been singing its praises when the title started cropping up in boardrooms. “Thank the gods, UX has finally made C-level!” There were riots in the streets, free sharpies were given out on every city block, and colored pencils rained from the sky... Okay, obviously none of that happened. However, we were all elated to know that experience was finally being represented at an executive level.

But now that the CXO title has been around for a few years, I ask you: what does the CXO really do and how have things changed for us? How have we, as a profession, taken ownership of this role? What are you doing differently now that you have a CXO in your organization, and does that CXO even have a UX background? Furthermore, how do we ensure the CXO seat is filled by UX, and what skills does someone need to fill it?

I think that this role needs some serious examination....read more
By Lis Hubert

Photo

2011-10-28T17:07:05Z

The King Has Fallen: Samsung Dethrones Apple As Smartphone Leader

2011-10-28T12:45:03Z

Before the Samsung Galaxy Nexus even goes on sale, Samsung has managed to take the lead against Apple to become the largest mobile phone maker by revenue in the third quarter of 2011. Nokia still holds the crown for mobile phone sales by volume, while Apple has dropped behind both to take the number three spot in terms of revenue.

While Samsung didn’t release its exact numbers, the Guardian spoke to Daiwa Securities technology analyst Jae Lee, who estimates that Samsung sold around 28 million phones in the third quarter. In the same period, Apple only sold 17 million phones, though it’s a tough comparison to make since Apple releases one phone a year while Samsung releases quite a few more than that.

With the help of the Samsung Galaxy S II no doubt, Samsung’s telecommunications business broke records this quarter with sales of 14.9 trillion won (US $13.5 billion), up 37 percent from last year. While declining to offer sales figures for handsets, a Samsung spokesperson said that smartphones sales had quadrupled from the previous quarter, with overall handset shipments increasing by more than 20 percent.

Pulling from Gartner research, the Guardian calculates that 20 percent increase to be shipments of about 86 million handsets between July and September. All the while, Samsung is still wrapped up in a massive legal spat with Apple and has still managed to grab the crown. Hat tip to you, Samsung.

Then again, Apple CEO Tim Cook has big plans for Apple’s upcoming quarter, predicting record iPhone and iPad sales. Only time will tell.

Crunchbase

Company: Apple

Website: apple.com

Launch Date: January 4, 1976

IPO: October 28, 1980, NASDAQ:AAPL

Started by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne, Apple has expanded from computers to consumer electronics over the last 30 years, officially changing their name from Apple Computer, Inc. to Apple, Inc. in January 2007. Among the key offerings from Apple’s product line are: Pro line laptops (MacBook Pro) and desktops (Mac Pro), consumer line laptops (MacBook) and desktops (iMac), servers (Xserve), Apple TV, the Mac OS X and Mac OS X Server operating systems, the iPod (offered with...

Learn more

Company: Samsung Electronics

Website: samsung.com

Launch Date: October 28, 1969

Samsung is one of the largest super-multinational companies in the world. It’s possibly best known for it’s subsidiary, Samsung Electronics, the largest electronics company in the world.

Learn more