Category: Web, Tech & Design

Google Reader

Google have gone on and rolled out another cool web application by the name of Google Reader.

Google Reader is a web-based feed reader. It has a really nice interface that reminds a lot of the Gmail interface, but even better and cooler, thanks to all the Ajax work under the hood.
Like Gmail, it also has labels that can be used to group your different feeds.

I uploaded my opml export file and even though it took a long time to import my subscriptions, it did using the same group organization I have, automatically creating labels for each group and linking it to the feeds under it.
Adding new feeds directly is very easy and simple.

Upon opening of the reader, the recently updated items show up first, and you click on them to view them like you would an email. A number of actions are available for each item like Gmailing it, blogging it, starring it or unsubscribing from the whole feed.

They have a cool “Search for new content” button that enables you to search for sources writing about whatever topic you’re interested in.

I think this is a really cool offering from Google and a good step forward for xml feeds and their spread between mainstream internet users.

Yahoo Acquires Upcoming.org

Continuing it’s startup shopping spree, Yahoo has gone on and acquired Upcoming.org, the online event planning site that we’ve been using to organize the Tunisian blogger meetups lately.

Los Angeles-based Upcoming acts as a social calendar that depends on its users to post free listings about a wide range of upcoming events, from local rock concerts to picnics in the park.

The site, founded by Andy Baio, provides tools that enable users to share observations about the events and identify common areas of interests.

Yahoo says that it plans to keep Upcoming’s current Web site separate, but eventually will incorporate much of the content into its own site to bolster its local search capabilities.

Yahoo is undergoing a big makeover and trying to make itself a cool company again. I hope it succeeds and doesn’t end up screwing up all these good services it’s been acquiring.

[More: Yahoo News]

Le DVD Mobile

Today on our way back from a work meeting, a friend told me about this new service in Tunisia called “Le DVD Mobile” (The Mobile DVD).

“Le DVD Mobile” is a sort of Tunisian Netflix. It’s a service that delivers rented DVDs to your doorstep.

The process is as follows: You subscribe online to one of their plans, and then order DVDs, from their catalog, either online, by SMS or by phone.
The DVDs are then delivered to your doorstep the following day, and then collected again from your doorstep according to the date you specify when you ordered them.

Another option is that the DVDs get sent to you through the Tunisian post, and then you send them back by post too in the pre-stamped parcel that comes with them.

Their prices are very interesting and competitive, they have movies that were newly released on DVD, and the timing of delivery and flexibility is great.
What else could anyone want?
I’ll sure be checking them out.

I’m really happy to see such services pop up in Tunisia and I truly hope more people will try to use the internet to make their businesses more exciting, more accessible, more flexible and more competitive.

Wi-Fi Internet in Tunisia

Wi-Fi is barely starting in Tunisia, apart from three airports and a very few hotels here and there, it’s unlikely you’ll come across any wireless hotspots.

This post is more about some of my ideas and thoughts on how WiFi internet can get off the ground and become a reality in Tunisia.
Maybe it’s a bit too early, as even broadband connections are still not that wide-spread yet between home users, but we’re on the way there, and we can allow ourselves to look a bit to the future.

As with anything like this, government entities should be and are the first to encourage such ideas.

The airport authority have invested in providing Wi-Fi internet in three main airports; Tunis-Carthage, Monastir and Djerba-Zarzis.
I think that is great so that passengers on their way in or out of Tunisia can have access to the internet.

I also think it’s important for government entities that are involved with international trade and business, like the CEPEX and FIPA for example, to provide WiFi internet in their buildings so that foreign businessmen, investors and officials can easily access their emails, extranets and more.

And of course, I suppose the Kram fair building will be equipped with Wi-Fi internet for the WSIS in November.

Continue reading Wi-Fi Internet in Tunisia

Writeboard

The guys from 37signals have gone on and released another nice light web application called “Whiteboard”.

Writeboard is an online collaborative writing application, through which you can write alone or with a team of writers, keeping different versions of the document along the way, comparing versions, sharing it, emailing it and exporting it as text.
It’s simple, no bells and whistles, just a place to write your text unformatted and work on it until you’re happy with it.

This new app follows the same path as their previous ones Basecamp, Backpack and Ta-da List, in a sense that it makes your life easier and more organized, both solo and in a team.

Bravo to 37Signals for rolling out these small, very useful apps that are helping us all get more organized in our personal and professional lives.

100 Dollar Laptops

100 dollar laptop

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology says it will launch a $100 Linux-based laptop prototype this November to help schools in developing countries adopt electronic learning.

The machines will also be targeted at schools in advanced countries that want to greatly boost the number of children who own their own laptop.

MIT expects commercial versions of the machine to start appearing at the end of next year.
MIT plans to unveil its prototype at the World Summit on the Information Society on 17 November in Tunis, Tunisia.

The 500MHz laptop will run a stripped-down version of the Linux operating system.

To overcome the lack of power access in many towns and villages in poor nations, the laptop can be powered either by an AC adaptor or a wind-up mechanism.
The machine will also be ruggedised and Wi-Fi-enabled, and is expected to use an AMD processor.

Governments will be invited to buy the laptops on behalf of schoolchildren.

Now that is so cool…
I wish they do catch on and spread around the world, and that governments encourage them.
It would deal a big blow to Microsoft by producing generations of Linux users, but who cares as long as millions of children around the world have access to computers.

I wonder if I can get one too though, or if I’ll have to bribe one of my young cousins to get one.

Esquire wikis article on Wikipedia

Esquire magazine writer A.J. Jacobs used an interesting and innovative approach to write an article about the freely distributable and freely editable online encyclopedia Wikipedia: He posted a crummy, error-laden draft of the story to the site and let the community of members work on it and fix it.

Jacobs wrote on the page introducing the experiment. Esquire “would print the ‘before’ and ‘after’ versions of the articles. So here’s your chance to make this article a real one. All improvements welcome.”

According to the Wikipedia page for Jacobs’ story, the article was edited 224 times in the first 24 hours after Jacobs posted it, and another 149 times in the next 24 hours.

The final draft, which was locked on Sept. 23 to protect it from further edits, reflects the efforts of the many users who worked on it.

I think this is a truly interesting experiment.
I really like the idea behind Wikipedia, and the whole collective knowledge model, and I think it’s cool to see how it can be used for different purposes.

[Source: CNet]

Opera Browser Goes Free

Opera, one of the coolest browsers out there after Firefox, has finally gone free.

With version 8.5 of the Opera browser, which was released today, the company removed banner ads from its free edition.
Previously, Opera customers had to pay, or find a pirated serial number or crack, to eliminate the ads.

This move comes to try and position Opera as a better competitor to the other browsers in the market, although I think it’s just a bit late.
They should have done this some time ago before Firefox came out and became popular, that way they would have become the browser of choice for people instead of Firefox.

I used to use Opera as my main browser before Firefox was launched, and I really liked it. The best thing about it is it’s speed, it’s even faster than Firefox.
And we must not forget that Opera led the way in browser innovation, while other browsers played catch-up.
But then Firefox came out and it had more stuff going for it, so I converted.

Anyway, this is a good move, and I’ll be checking out this new version, which also has voice capabilities and other innovative features.

The mobile version of Opera will still be a paid product.

[Via: I’ll Blog Your Mind]
[Download: Opera]

Roman Ruins Found With Google Earth

Using satellite images from Google Maps and Google Earth, an Italian computer programmer has stumbled upon the remains of an ancient villa. Luca Mori was studying maps of the region around his town of Sorbolo, near Parma, when he noticed a prominent, oval, shaded form more than 500 metres long. It was the meander of an ancient river, visible because former watercourses absorb different amounts of moisture from the air than their surroundings do.

His eye was caught by unusual ‘rectangular shadows’ nearby. Curious, he analysed the image further, and concluded that the lines must represent a buried structure of human origin. Eventually, he traced out what looked like the inner courtyards of a villa.

Mori contacted archaeologists, including experts at the National Archaeological Museum of Parma. They confirmed the find. At first it was thought to be a Bronze Age village, but an inspection of the site turned up ceramic pieces that indicated it was a Roman villa.

[Source: Nature.com]