Download Squadhttp://www.downloadsquad.comDownload Squadhttp://www.downloadsquad.com/media/feedlogo.gifDownload Squadhttp://www.downloadsquad.comen-usCopyright 2008 Blogsmith, LLC. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only.Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/Flickr finally launches embeddable slideshow widgethttp://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/21/flickr-finally-launches-embeddable-slideshow-widget/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/21/flickr-finally-launches-embeddable-slideshow-widget/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/21/flickr-finally-launches-embeddable-slideshow-widget/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

Image sharing site Flickr has allowed users to view attractive slideshows of search results or image sets for a while now. But for some reason, up until now you had to rely on a third party service if you wanted to embed that slideshow on your own web page. Or you could create an iFrame and figure out how to create the code yourself. But who wants to go through the trouble?

This week, Flickr finally added the ability to share a slideshow with other users. Just click the Share link when viewing any slideshow on Flickr. You get two options: a URL that links to the slideshow you're viewing or HTML code that will let you embed a smaller version on your web page.

The slideshow embedded at the top of this post shows search results for the word "compiz."

[via ReadWriteWeb]
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]]>embedflickrslideshowBrad Linder2008-08-21T16:00:00+00:00Zoho Share takes on Scribd, DocStoc document sharing serviceshttp://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/21/zoho-share-takes-on-scribd-docstoc-document-sharing-services/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/21/zoho-share-takes-on-scribd-docstoc-document-sharing-services/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/21/zoho-share-takes-on-scribd-docstoc-document-sharing-services/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Zoho Share
Zoho officially has more online office applications than most people could ever possibly need. But the latest addition makes a lot of sense. Zoho Share lets users upload documents (PDF, DOC, XLS, etc) and share them with other users either via the Zoho web site or by embedding docs on another page. In other words, Zoho Share doesn't do much of anythin gthat Scribd and DocStoc don't already do. But Zoho will also let you import documents from Zoho Sheet, Zoho Writer and other online office docs, which means you can easily create and share your files using the same service.

Zoho Share is available as a public preview, and is still pretty rough around the edges. For example, I was unable to upload any documents, and thanks to the lack of a FAQ, it took me a while to figure out how to import docuements from other Zoho services. Eventually I figured out that by marking a Zoho Writer/Sheet or other document as public, it would show up in a Zoho Share search.

If you're looking for PowerPoint style presentations with pictures of cute kitens, or sample resumes, you can find them at Zoho Share. But like any YouTube-for-documents style service, Zoho Share will only really be useful if the company can build a strong enough user base to ensure that you'll always find what you're looking for -- or if Zoho decides not to emphasize the search and find functionality of the site as much as the fact that you can use Zoho Share to embed documents you upload yourself on your own web site. You know, if the company ever fixes the upload feature.

[via CNET]
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]]>docstocdocument-sharingscribdzoho-shareBrad Linder2008-08-21T13:00:00+00:00eBay to de-emphasize auctions, lose all distinctivenesshttp://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/20/ebay-to-de-emphasize-auctions-lose-all-distinctiveness/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/20/ebay-to-de-emphasize-auctions-lose-all-distinctiveness/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/20/ebay-to-de-emphasize-auctions-lose-all-distinctiveness/#commentsFiled under: ,

eBay buy it nowOnline auction site eBay has two things that make it different from every other online store. First, it's a virtual bazaar where anyone can hawk their own goods rather than a traditional storefront where a company maintains and sells its own inventory. Second, as an auction site, there's a chance that buyers will get a real bargain, or that sellers will get more than an item is worth.

For a while now, eBay has been offering sellers the option of selling items for a fixed price. This way both the buyer and the seller know exactly how much money will change hands up front. If you search eBay for pretty much any item now, you'll find a ton of "buy it now" listings amidst the sea of auctions.

But now it looks like eBay wants to change the ratio a bit, by lowering seller fees for fixed priced items. This will do three things:
  1. Make it easier for customers to simply place an order for an item at a specified price instead of waiting a week to find out if they won an auction
  2. Help eBay compete with the thousands of other web stores offering items for fixed prices
  3. Kill off one of the things that really made eBay special
Now, eBay isn't really going to emphasize that last bit. But the truth is, the move sort of turns eBay into half.com (which is already owned by eBay). Sure, a few sellers might decide it's worth selling their items in auctions, hoping that some buyer will forget to comparison shop and pay way too much for an item. But if it's cheaper to just list the item for the price you hope to get, why wouldn't you? And that takes a way a bit of the excitement involved in the bidding process.

Then again, with so many people using eBay, when was the last time you really got a bargain as a buyer?
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]]>auctionsbuy-it-nowebayhalf.compaypalBrad Linder2008-08-20T14:00:00+00:00Survey: 29% Bought Spam Email Products, But Who Cares?http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/20/survey-people-buy-from-spam-email/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/20/survey-people-buy-from-spam-email/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/20/survey-people-buy-from-spam-email/#commentsFiled under: ,

Results from a new survey by Marshal are in, and apparently 29% percent of the respondents to a recent survey admitted they made purchases from spam messages. That number is up from a 2004 survey in which only 20% admitted doing so. I was all set to vent about people getting sucked in when I realized something: who cares?

Marshal's VP of Products, Bradley Anstis, said "Many of us often question ourselves, why is there so much spam? The answer is, enough people are purchasing products from spam to make it a worthwhile and profitable endeavour for spammers."

Well duh. Thanks for the press release!

Continue reading Survey: 29% Bought Spam Email Products, But Who Cares?

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]]>emailspamstatisticssurveysLee Mathews2008-08-20T10:00:00+00:00Mygazines - read magazines online for free until?http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/19/mygazines-read-magazines-online-for-free-until/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/19/mygazines-read-magazines-online-for-free-until/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/19/mygazines-read-magazines-online-for-free-until/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Mygazines
Mygazines.com is a Flash based site where you can read most of your favorite magazines online for free. The big question is for how long, since this is copyrighted material after all, and as Folio reports, the magazine trade association MPA has already threatened legal action against the site.

Content on the site is uploaded by users and then displayed in a neat Flipbook reader with lots of tools like zoom, search, keyboard shortcuts, article directory, etc. You can also create your own magazine with content you supposedly own, upload it and share with others.

Since the site was registered in the Caribbean island of Anguilla, and is hosted by PRQ of Sweden, the same web host of Pirate Bay infamy, does the piracy theme apply? Although there are arguments aplenty for why publishers should be happy about their content being shared online - increased readership, more ad views, ability to go viral, etc., there is still that pesky copyright infringement argument that just won't go away.

[via popacular]
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]]>copyright infringementcopyright violationCopyrightInfringementCopyrightViolationmagazine sharingMagazineSharingmymagazinesp2pDolores Parker2008-08-19T15:00:00+00:00AutoPager makes scrolling (and frustration) go on and onhttp://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/19/autopager-makes-scrolling-and-frustration-go-on-and-on/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/19/autopager-makes-scrolling-and-frustration-go-on-and-on/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/19/autopager-makes-scrolling-and-frustration-go-on-and-on/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,

Look, an unauthorized page break!

I've never been particularly put out by needing to click the "Next" button on a blog. Sure, there are always exceptions, like when I find sites that archive oddly or only have a few posts per page. And don't get me started on the "Next" buttons and surprise ads (do I want two free iPod Nanos? Only if I can beat the advertiser about the head and neck with them).

LifeHacker introduced me to the AutoPager add-on for Firefox. The idea behind AutoPager is a good one. It takes a web page with continuous content (such as a blog) and allows you to scroll through it all as if it were one page . So that you're not waiting for years for your page to appear, AutoPager allows you to choose the number of pages displayed at a time. It also has a few pre-configured web pages in its clutches, like Digg and Twitter.

The good news is that AutoPager can be set to scroll through just about any site with a next button. The bad news is, it's not really apparent how to do this. I was pointed to the Site Wizard, which worked just as well as many wizards I've encountered -- not at all. I couldn't select the "Next" link, and it kept aborting (and it's too early in the morning where I am to be doing that).

I know little about XPath (the underlying AutoPager mechanism) or how it works, but I did still get AutoPager to give me several pages of Download Squad at once. Truth be told, I'm still not sure what it was I did. I clicked the AutoPager icon on my toolbar, and got a sidebar that popped up in the browser and seemed to autodetect both the "Next" link and the content I wanted to see. I clicked the green checkmark on the sidebar (did I need to? no clue), and we were finally in business.

AutoPager is great for getting your eyes on a lot of information quickly. Once it's configured to the sites you want to see in this manner, it's really handy. But for the first few sites you configure, make sure to take frequent breaks for deep, cleansing breaths.
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]]>add-onAutoPagerextensionFirefoxpluginsscrollweb browsingWebBrowsingKristin Shoemaker2008-08-19T13:00:00+00:00Yahoo Buzz - now open to the rest of ushttp://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/19/yahoo-buzz-now-open-to-the-rest-of-us/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/19/yahoo-buzz-now-open-to-the-rest-of-us/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/19/yahoo-buzz-now-open-to-the-rest-of-us/#commentsFiled under: ,

Yahoo Buzz
Yahoo Buzz, a Digg-type site where users can rank stories from a pre-approved set of publishers, is open to all users now. In the past only the invited few could post buzz-worthy content but now it's open to the rest of us.

Basically, you sign in with your Yahoo ID and "buzz up" stories that you like causing them to move up in ranking. Stories are ranked on what people are searching for on Yahoo and voting for on Buzz. There's not much more to explain. Stories that make it to the top of the list will be featured on the Yahoo homepage potentially driving serious traffic to the site.

You can submit stories or join the mailing list to find out when Yahoo will add new publishers to the network it pulls Buzz content from.

When I looked, top stories were about weight fluctuation in Hollywood stars and USA Gymnastics. Not the most newsworthy in my opinion but if you're tired of Digg you might enjoy it. Maybe it will improve once they add more publishers to the list of pre-approved sites.

[Via TechCrunch]
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]]>diggyahooyahoo buzzYahooBuzzChristina Clark2008-08-19T09:00:00+00:00YouGetSignal lets you discover which web sites are sharing a serverhttp://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/18/yougetsignal-lets-you-discover-which-web-sites-are-sharing-a-ser/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/18/yougetsignal-lets-you-discover-which-web-sites-are-sharing-a-ser/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/18/yougetsignal-lets-you-discover-which-web-sites-are-sharing-a-ser/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Reverse IP Domain Check
YouGetSignal provides a bunch of tools for looking things up. You can find the location of a phone number on a Google Map, find open ports on your internet connection, or perform a visual trace route (which traces the route packets of data make on the internet when traveling from your computer to another destination).

We recently discovered a new YouGetSignal tool: a reverse IP domain check. Just type a URL in the box, and YouGetSignal will attempt to discover other web sites using the same server. This comes in handy if you want to find URLs registered to a certain company, or if you have a shared hosting plan for your own web site and you want to see what other sites are sharing your server space.

For example, I discovered that there are 856 domains hosted on the same server as www.google.com, and 841 hosted on the same server as www.downloadsquad.com.

[via MakeUseOf]
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]]>reverse-ip-domain-checkserveryougetsignalBrad Linder2008-08-18T18:00:00+00:00Opera Stumbler brings StumbleUpon to the Opera web browserhttp://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/18/opera-stumbler-brings-stumbleupon-to-the-opera-web-browser/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/18/opera-stumbler-brings-stumbleupon-to-the-opera-web-browser/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/18/opera-stumbler-brings-stumbleupon-to-the-opera-web-browser/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Opera Stumbler
Thinking about switching from Firefox or Internet Explorer to the Opera web browser, but can't imagine life without the StumbleUpon toolbar? StumbleUpon has yet to release an official toolbar or plugin for Opera. And while there is certainly a way to rank web pages and discover new pages without a toolbar, it's rather inelegant.

Opera Stumbler is a third party plugin that gives you all the same features you'd expect from the toolbar, sans the toolbar. There are several different ways to use Opera Stumbler. You can install the menu button, which adds a StumbleUpon menu to Opera.

If you'd rather have toolbar buttons, you can install a series of buttons for common tasks like giving a page a thumbs up or thumbs down. These buttons can be dragged and dropped onto any Opera toolbar. You can also add a Stumble option to your Opera Speed Dial bookmarks.

[via Life Rocks 2.0]
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]]>operaopera-stumblerstumbleupontoolbarBrad Linder2008-08-18T17:00:00+00:00PA governor is about as tech literate as John McCainhttp://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/18/pa-governor-is-about-as-tech-literate-as-john-mccain/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/18/pa-governor-is-about-as-tech-literate-as-john-mccain/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/18/pa-governor-is-about-as-tech-literate-as-john-mccain/#commentsFiled under: ,

Ed RendellJohn McCain has gotten a lot of flack recently for his lack of tech savvy. McCain doesn't use email, the web, or a computer. But it turns out he's not the only high ranking politician who prefers a fax machine to email. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell has a cellphone and recently learned to send text messages - but has never sent an email.

The article raises an interesting point - does the guy at the top really need to be CCed on every single email his underlings send around? Some of Rendell's staffers say the answer is not only no, but that this frees the governor up to think about other things. He can make the decisions when it's time to do so, but he doesn't have to get bogged down in all the back and forth emails sent while hammering out the details.

On the other hand, Rendell has probably been responsible for the destruction of a small forest during his time in office, since every single document he needs to read has to be printed out in advance.

What do you think? Is it OK for politicians to be technologically illiterate, or would you like your elected officials to at least know how to look themselves up on Wikipedia even if they still prefer to write out their speeches by hand?
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]]>ed-rendelljohn-mccainpennsylvaniapoliticsBrad Linder2008-08-18T13:00:00+00:00High royalty fees could cause Pandora to close its music boxhttp://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/17/high-royalty-fees-could-cause-pandora-to-close-its-music-box/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/17/high-royalty-fees-could-cause-pandora-to-close-its-music-box/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/17/high-royalty-fees-could-cause-pandora-to-close-its-music-box/#commentsFiled under: ,

Pandora blues
Music discovery service and online radio station Pandora may have to shut down, thanks to high royalty fees imposed last year by the US Copyright Royalty Board. Pandora founder Tim Westergren says his company is currently paying 70% of its revenue to SoundExchange, the organization that collects royalties for artists.

While nobody is arguing that artists shouldn't be paid for their work, this Copyright Royalty Board decision has always seemed a bit shortsighted. First of all, artists don't make a penny for music broadcast on traditional radio, even though radio station owners bring in plenty of dollars through advertising. Second, since Pandora doesn't just stream audio, but determines a listener's musical tastes and streams music from artists they might like, the service is an amazing promotional tool for musicians who might otherwise not be heard. Why would an organization that says it's concerned with paying artists try to shoot that service in the foot?

Webcasters have to pay a fee every time they stream a song -- and that fee is rising from 8/100 of a cent per song last year to 19/100 of a cent per song by 2010. The new royalty rates are hitting Pandora especially hard because the company streams hundreds of thousands of songs to hundreds of thousands of listeners simultaneously. I assume similar services like Last.fm are also feeling the pinch, but Last.fm was recently purchased by media giant CBS, while Pandora is an independent company with shallower pockets.
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]]>copyright-royalty-boardlast.fmmusicpandoraroyaltiesBrad Linder2008-08-17T10:00:00+00:00Googleholic for August 15, 2008http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/15/googleholic-for-august-15-2008/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/15/googleholic-for-august-15-2008/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/15/googleholic-for-august-15-2008/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,



Welcome to Googleholic, your weekly fix of everything Google.

In this edition:

  • Google apologizes for e-mail downtime
  • Docs spreadsheet gets new features
  • AdSense for Feeds is launching
  • Google Reader improves sharing
  • First Android phone to launch in Q4

Continue reading Googleholic for August 15, 2008

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]]>androidgmailgooglegoogle docsgoogle formsGoogleDocsGoogleFormsgoogleholicChristina Warren2008-08-15T18:00:00+00:00How to permanently hide elements of any web page from Firefoxhttp://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/15/how-to-permanently-hide-elements-of-any-web-page-from-firefox/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/15/how-to-permanently-hide-elements-of-any-web-page-from-firefox/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/15/how-to-permanently-hide-elements-of-any-web-page-from-firefox/#commentsFiled under: ,

RIP
Ever wish you could remove an annoying logo, ad, or other element from a web page. Not just hide it up for now, but never ever have to look at it again? Then you might want to check out the Remove it Permanently extension for Firefox. It lets you remove any element from any web page. Well, sort of.

First thing you need to do is install the extension. That's a bit trickier than you'd think, because the latest version isn't yet compatible with Firefox 3.01. Fortunately, you can force it to work by preventing your browser from checking for extension compatibility.

Once the plugin is up and running, you can right click on any portion of any web page and either remove that section permanently, or click the RIP advanced button for additional options. Keep in mind that if you remove an element, it will only be gone from a single URL. For example, if you remove the Download Squad logo from our main page, it will still show up on article pages, search pages, and so on.

It's also worth nothing that your browser still downloads the files. You just won't see them. So Remove it Permanently won't reduce your bandwidth use, it will just make obnoxious web sites like MySpace slightly more bearable to read.

[via gHacks]
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]]>addonfirefoxremove-it-permanentlyripBrad Linder2008-08-15T15:00:00+00:00You're never too old to have a Facebook pagehttp://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/15/youre-never-too-old-to-have-a-facebook-page/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/15/youre-never-too-old-to-have-a-facebook-page/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/15/youre-never-too-old-to-have-a-facebook-page/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Facebook

If you think you're too old to do something like go back to college, learn how to scuba dive, or be social on the interwebs, you can either think again or stay beholden to your self imposed rigid beliefs. One person who throws such nonsense to the wind, is Ivy Bean, a 102 year old former mill worker, who has the distinction of being the oldest person on Facebook.

With 1,217 friends on Facebook (and climbing), Ivy's story has definitely resonated with people. She started with just 9 friends when her story was first published today. It just shows, even if you're late to the party, it's getting there that matters.

To find out more about Ivy and be her friend, check out the Oldest person on Facebook - Ivy Bean group.

Do you want to be Ivy's friend? Why or why not?
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]]>Facebookoldest person on FacebookOldestPersonOnFacebookDolores Parker2008-08-15T13:00:00+00:00Dogs hide bones, Firefox hides useful trickshttp://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/15/dogs-hide-bones-firefox-hides-useful-tricks/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/15/dogs-hide-bones-firefox-hides-useful-tricks/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/15/dogs-hide-bones-firefox-hides-useful-tricks/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Google on FirefoxFirefox is like a box of chocolates--

No, let me try that again. Firefox is one of those applications that's so hard to write about, because there may be little tricks and shortcuts I've been using for some time, and someone will discover one and say, "Hey, that rocks! Why didn't anyone tell me?" Then light dawns over my marblehead that it is a useful trick, and I should have pointed it out.

So Sean Privitera kindly reminded me that searching Google on Firefox is easier than it appears. Ever been reading something on the web and you have no freakin' idea what the word or phrase means? Select the word in question (if you really want to try it out, select this word: geoduck. It's not a Pokemon), right click, and wonder of wonders, there is an option there to search Google for the selected word.

See a nifty bit of formatting on a website, and you're wondering how it was done? Select that formatting, images and all, and right click. Then click "View Selected Source" and a window will pop up in Firefox showing you (brace yourselves!) the HTML formatting of the parts in question.

I've learned to love my right mouse button. Seriously, developers hide all the interesting stuff there. Of course, the right mouse button in Firefox will allow you to open a link in a new tab or window. But it can also calm some fears about what you might be opening (and how it behaves). Right clicking while hovering over a link can tell you if it opens in a new tab, what the URL is, and allow you to send or copy link location.

It is the little tricks like these that make a browser really useful, and more than just a vehicle for surfing the web. But like geoducks, sometimes you need to do a little digging to find them.
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]]>browserFirefoxGooglemouseright clickRightClicksearchtipstricksKristin Shoemaker2008-08-15T10:00:00+00:00Grab Color Palettes From Your Current Page In Firefoxhttp://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/15/grab-color-palettes-from-your-current-page-in-firefox/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/15/grab-color-palettes-from-your-current-page-in-firefox/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/15/grab-color-palettes-from-your-current-page-in-firefox/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,



Design inspiration can come from a lot of different places. If you find yours from digital sources on the web, Palette Grabber for Firefox might be incredibly useful to you.

Install it, and Palette Grabber sits in the left corner of your status bar waiting to leap into action. A single click (right or left) exports a selective palette based on your current page in Firefox. Palette selection is very intelligent, producing accurate swatch sets for each of the websites I sampled.

Palette Grabber supports several file formats, including Photoshop, Flash, Fireworks, PaintShop Pro, the GIMP, and Mac OS X Color Picker. Minimalists and power users can elect to save a tabbed text listing of RGB values.

For a 25k download, Palette Grabber is definitely worth adding to your Firefox install if you do any digital design work.
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]]>color palettecolor swatchColorPalettecolorsColorSwatchdesignGIMPpalettephotoshopLee Mathews2008-08-15T09:00:00+00:00Remobo: VPN, Chat, Filesharing, Remote Control All-In-One!http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/14/remobo-vpn-chat-filesharing-remote-control-all-in-one/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/14/remobo-vpn-chat-filesharing-remote-control-all-in-one/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/14/remobo-vpn-chat-filesharing-remote-control-all-in-one/#commentsFiled under: , , ,



Hamachi is a great app. So is VNC. Torrents are great, too. You see where I'm going. These are all great on their own - so when Remobo rolled them all in to one, tasty package, I was pretty excited.

Set it up, add your buddies, and you've got an instant, private P2P network. Click the My Shared Files link and create torrents of your folders and files with two clicks. When your buddies view your shares, they'll see a simple web page with links to the torrent downloads. It's simple, and it works quite well.

Clicking windows file sharing on a buddy will display their Windows file and printer shares (like Hamachi does). File access speeds (even over my sluggish DSL) are good, and at least on par with Hamachi's free offering.

Continue reading Remobo: VPN, Chat, Filesharing, Remote Control All-In-One!

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]]>p2ppeer to peerPeerToPeertorrentvncvpnLee Mathews2008-08-14T20:00:00+00:00Chandler wants to set you free from Outlook, takes 6 years to do ithttp://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/14/chandler-wants-to-set-you-free-from-outlook-takes-6-years-to-do/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/14/chandler-wants-to-set-you-free-from-outlook-takes-6-years-to-do/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/14/chandler-wants-to-set-you-free-from-outlook-takes-6-years-to-do/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , ,

Chandler

About six years ago Mitch Kapor, the guy behind Lotus 1-2-3, started a new open source project called Chandler. The goal was simple enough: Create an personal information management tool that would allow users to store, share, and collaborate. It would have things like a calendar, address book, and to do list.

In other words, Chandler is a lot like Microsoft Outlook. But there are a few major differences:
  1. Chandler is open source
  2. Chandler works with Windows, Mac, and Linux and has a web interface
  3. You can sync your Chandler tasks with an online server and share them with others
Overall the interface of the desktop and web clients is pretty, but not necessarily intuitive. For example, there's a nice big text entry box at the top of the application that you would think would be for searching. But it's primary use is for entering new tasks. Type something into that box and a new task is created. If you want to use the text area as a search box, you need to type "/f" before entering your query.
Is Chandler kind of useful? Sure. Is it an Outlook killer? Maybe. Was it worth a six year wait? Maybe not. But now that it's here, Kapor says it's up to the open source community to continue developing the project. And I've learned never to understimate the open source community. If there's a will, there's a way, and this application could be the future of collaborative task management. On the other hand, it's not entirely clear if there's a will at the moment.

What do you think? Is Chandler the wave of the future, or should Kapor have given up on it years ago?
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]]>calendarchandleroutlookpimBrad Linder2008-08-14T13:30:00+00:00Wuala P2P online storage service goes livehttp://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/14/wuala-p2p-online-storage-service-goes-live/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/14/wuala-p2p-online-storage-service-goes-live/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/14/wuala-p2p-online-storage-service-goes-live/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , ,

Wuala
Wuala is a social file storage application that we first looked at back in February. At the time, Wuala was in private beta, but starting today anyone can sign up for an account.

Unlike other file storage/sharing services, Wuala doesn't provide you with web space. Rather, your files are encrypted and then stored on the computers of other Wuala users. While this might sound a bit scary, the upshot is that you can store large amounts of data. The more space you allocate for Wuala on your hard drive, the more online space you can access. And your files are duplicated on multiple computers so that you shouldn't have problems accessing your files even if some of the folks in your network have turned their machines off for the night.

Wuala has a desktop client for Windows, Mac, and Linux that you can use to upload and download files. Or you can access a web interface. The service is still in beta, so nobody's promising that all the kinks have been worked out. But as of today, Wuala is in public beta, not private.
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]]>backupfile-storageonline-storagestoragewua.lawualaBrad Linder2008-08-14T04:00:00+00:00Drop.io Firefox extension enables drag and drop uploadinghttp://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/13/drop-io-firefox-extension-enables-drag-and-drop-uploading/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/13/drop-io-firefox-extension-enables-drag-and-drop-uploading/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/13/drop-io-firefox-extension-enables-drag-and-drop-uploading/#commentsFiled under: , ,

drag and drop.io
Online file sharing service Drop.io already provides one of the easiest ways to share documents and media files. Now the company is making things even easier with a Firefox addon that lets you drag and drop files to your browser.

Here's how it works. You install the somewhat cleverly titled Drag & Drop.io extension and create a drop point by visiting Drop.io. Then you can just drag any files from your desktop to your web browser and watch while they're uploaded and in some cases converted for easy online access.

Too busy to actually create a drop point manually? Just drag your files over the little red check box in your status bar. The plugin will automatically create a drop point and open it up for you. So you can be browsing your favorite web site (like, say Download Squad?) and uploading files at the same time, without bothering to visit the Drop.io web page first.

The plugin is cross-platform and works with Firefox for Windows, OS X and Linux.
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]]>addondrag-and-dropdrop.iofirefoxfirefox-pluginBrad Linder2008-08-13T16:00:00+00:00