What web apps/services have impressed you the most this year? What ones have you used the most? What new apps have been added to your regularly-used list?
What apps or services would you like to see do well in 2010? What would you like to see change in 2010? What apps have been disappointing or feel they deserve to do better next year? #oftheyear#2009
- Kol Tregaskes
In terms of iPhone apps -- MagicSleep.
- Miss Elle
Well I'm, of course, going to say FriendFeed has had a good year - though the FB buy-out make a huge dent. If I think back to last year and what I wasn't using that I am now then Twitter had improved a lot, particularly with the Twitter Lists, which were long overdue. Chrome has become my default browser - I hardly touch Firefox and IE could easily be uninstalled if I could.
- Kol Tregaskes
Google Wave was impressive but it needs some serious optimisation and made a lot easier to use. Hopefully next year we'll see some improvements introduced. Groups would be the biggest new feature for me. Facebook is getting used more but it needs a lot more FriendFeed-esque features.
- Kol Tregaskes
A tie: Wordpress and Friendfeed. Just hope Friendfeed can stay cutting edge.
- laosan
Friendfeed and reddit seem to be doing well, with a clean and clear text interface...
- TrafficBug
Web apps... Google Wave was a disappointment. Can't really say I have a use for it. Friendfeed had a great year and is my most used web app. Part of what has made friendfeed great for me has been AJ's clean widescreen theme and Micah's huge collection of Greasemonkey scripts. I don't think friendfeed would be quite as enjoyable without them. On the desktop...There is a small,...
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- April Russo (app103)
I still believe Google Wave is exactly what I need for project discussion, support or training that works live and over time and that can stay available through time as new people join in etc. Or a family network thing... Best elements of irc/chat with the best elements of forum/wiki - the potential is there but it was never meant to be a social network, but a work tool/platform. Alas getting the people I collaborate with on Wave will be another thing.
- Joelle Nebbe (iphigenie)
Reddit, news.yc, pinboard.in, and Grooveshark
- Itachi
I see Google Wave as a new form of email, and your Google Wave address should be protected as much as you'd protect your email address (there are some privacy concerns with making it public) Wave would be great if the kind of email you send and receive would be improved by the extra functionality it provides, but most of the email correspondence I receive is just newsletters and alerts,...
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- April Russo (app103)
Bespin hands down. Integral component in replacing desktop apps.
- Raphael, Raphael
I'm sure Google Wave will have better year next year.
- Kol Tregaskes
I can't live without KatMouse now that I am used to it.
- Matt G
Evernote is the biggest new app added to my stable in 2009. And I actually pay for the premium service. SHOCKING.
- LANjackal
In the sense that it has helped me access many services in one and like those hits that appear by December and go straight to the top of the charts, I have to say, Google Chrome but with extensions. Believe me I am really sorry to accept this fact. I would prefer some top 5 or top 10 kind of poll :)
- Carlos Lorenzo
Kol KatMouse isn't new but its new for me. Whatever your mouse is on you can scroll. ie you don't have to click on the box to scroll. Kicks arse.
- Matt G
Feedly, posterous, threadsy, and friendfeed, of course.
- Michael Fidler
twilio is very cool. I have not use it yet but I like it. I will use
- KeremTiryaki
threadsy, posterous, and seesmic (via web) most used. Wave is most impressive but have not been able to implement the way I want. I believe we haven't seen full potential yet. Next year fo-shur. Feedly is reader of choice and Lazyfeed is gaining to give me whats up.
- amarquart
Seesmic Desktop is good but he latest version is way to buggy to use so I'm currently using TweetDeck but I'm only using either one (well at least a lot more) because of Twitter Lists.
- Kol Tregaskes
Evernote Premium and Flickr Premium I still pay for so they must get a mention. But definitely Friendfeed and Twitter.
- Mathew A. Koeneker
I would say Evernote, Dropbox , Feedly and of course Friendfeed. IN the past 3 months I have used the first 2 and just amazed at how I did work before. I am looking for Lazyfeed and posterous to be huge for me next year as I learn how to use them the best. For the iphone I say biteSMS, Cycorder and Pixelpipe have been big for me along with Shazaam. Also, cinch will be huge for me next year.
- Amani
Bandcamp.com This site is a godsend to musicians and also very good for music fans (the latter because it offers a large choice of file formats to buy in and also makes it easy to embed music and share via social media).
- Spidra Webster
It's not really a web-app (at least not how I use it), but at least a cloud-app: Evernote. It has definitely changed my life for the better. I have also been very impressed with the Mozilla Bespin demo I saw.
- Meryn Stol
Well on the iPhone: Tweetie, Yelp, Ustream Live Broadcaster, Pandora, Snapture, ShopSavvy, Remember The Milk, Shazam, RedLaser, Read It Later, Kinndle App from Amazon, Barns and Noble E-Reader, Kayak.com app, BNO, Bible app, and one of the newest apps I just found last night is a guide for the game FallOut 3.
- Colide81 (James)
Online apps that I find I like are well ofcourse FriendFeed, Pandora.com, itunes, twitter, firefox, stumble upon the service and the toolbar, evernote, and much more. Also just to add one more thing to the list of my favorite iphone apps, I have started using eBay to check diferent auctions that I have been running to keep track of bidding prices, and questions bidders may ask me. I also love the Tumblr app.
- Colide81 (James)
As an iPod touch user the entire offline notebooks option may be the killer feature to make me go premium. Also rich text editing ... an early Christmas present :)
- Stephen Millard
from BuddyFeed
Lucky... You iPhone users are like first born children... and we Android users are the red-headed step-children.
- Lindsay is in 20-ten
I tried to take advantage of their free offer for the past several hours but their sign-up page times out. Anyone else having the same problem?
- Philippe
I finally signed up but the service is really slooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwww... Too much traffic due the free lifetime offer?
- Philippe
mVideoPlayer is an easy to use and powerful video player for android, it support subtitles (.srt) and have options to display some useful information like battery status and time while you watch your videos. This is a Demo, it will only let you watch two minuets of continues playing. Full Version: http://slideme.org/applica... Video formats supported: mp4, m4v and 3gp. Subtitles: .srt Features: Subtitle support, option to disable. Resume from last saved position for each video individually, option to disable. Onscreen widgets: time, battery, elapsed time. Possible to hide. Gestures, seek back/forward. Trackball, use trackball to seek back/forward.
'On average, couples that live in [zip code] spend between $34,575 and $57,624 for their wedding. This does not include cost for a honeymoon or engagement ring.' The first time I looked at this site I almost died.
- joey
Flat nothing where I live - I can't get legally married.
- Sparky
How do they get their data, though? I never told anyone what my wedding cost.
- Stephen Mack
My zip code says between $25,854 and $43,091. I'm not buying that at all.
- Rochelle
In my zip code is says $40,235 and $67,058 DAMN
- Shevonne
$19,735 and $32,892 in a little town outside of Austin. Wow...that is insanity.
- aden
Stephen, just a random guess, but I would assume that they would survey the vendors out there in a certain area and then add it up? The average cost of a caterer in my zip code plus the average cost of a florist plus the average cost of a venue, etc.
- Rochelle
ours was JOP and home-made food. i think we spent less than $600 on the honeymoon.
- Joe Silence is Dr. Teeth!
Louisville, KY 40220 spend between $13,922 and $23,203 for their wedding. - Never known anyone who spent that much.
- Tsali, The Native of FF
Whoa! I was married at my mom's house in Palo Alto. The range there is $66,090 and $110,149!!! We didn't spend that much, and I still thought our wedding was costly!!
- Georgia Diehl
I don't suppose they subtract the value of the cash and gifts given
- LogEx
we were broke when we moved to the US from NZ and weren't about to go into debt for our wedding. my parents paid for our honeymoon trip as a gift.
- Joe Silence is Dr. Teeth!
I definitely see destination wedding if I ever get married
- Shevonne
Our wedding is a little on the high end...about $20k to $21k for my area. Range is $13,769 and $22,948
- Alex Scoble
the wedding? about 6 grand. since the breakup? $1,550 a month. for 8 long years.
- Morgan Haley
Joey, it just seems like too much. When I was doing my planning and all that, I don't think it would have been that much even if we had paid full price for everything. I guess it really depends on what kind of wedding you have and where you have it. Cake/punch in your church hall is going to obviously be less than plated dinner at a hotel downtown.
- Rochelle
that sucks.. its does not take canadian zipcodes
- Peter Dawson
Morgan, how many children do you have?
- Georgia Diehl
Wow! I had no idea child support was that much! Although, I guess I'm just assuming that's what you were referring to!
- Georgia Diehl
Child support? Try 'spousal support' aka alimony. But divorce is expensive because it's worth it.
- Morgan Haley
The site's figures are based on survey results from people who've paid for weddings and not based on polling of vendors according to the site.
- Alex Scoble
the 3 'rings' of relationshits: engagement ring. wedding ring. suffering.
- Morgan Haley
$14,993 and $24,988. Thank you Rochester :)
- Benjamin Golub
We saved a lot, Roberto, that's how.
- Alex Scoble
Well, that's most certainly better than borrowing the bulk of it :)
- Roberto Bonini
from iPhone
My mom wanted us to have a larger wedding (200 guests), so i told her fine, as long as she was willing to pay for it. She did...
- Georgia Diehl
That's all crazy talk - we spent about $3k-5k on our wedding. $10k+ for a one-time event is ridiculous!
- Jesse Stay
That's more reasonable Jesse. But there is no accounting for taste. :) my parents got married and had the reception in the back yard.
- Roberto Bonini
from iPhone
Reasonable-shmeasonable...my catering bill alone, including alcohol is like $7500 and frankly, that's reasonable.
- Alex Scoble
Roberto, nothing wrong with that - it's where we had ours. It was still decorated beautifully, people still had fun, and we still got married. We made a lot of our food, and ordered Sams club for the rest - nicely decorated most people don't even notice the difference.
- Jesse Stay
It's like I've said before, once you get in to the traditional wedding industry, there is no cheap.
- Alex Scoble
Exactly what they did. I will probably do that as well. I'd rather spend that big money on the honeymoon.
- Roberto Bonini
from iPhone
...and don't get us started on the diamond cartel ;)
- LogEx
Roberto, oftentimes you (the groom) have no say in the matter, hehe. If you aren't already in a relationship, choose wisely. :)
- Alex Scoble
This is an interesting site (and again an uncannily timely post) 8^)
- Chieze Okoye
Duly Noted, Alex. Some of my friends are getting married next year and that's what's happened :) Poor guys.
- Roberto Bonini
from iPhone
ROFL...unfortunately, I fell in love with Cassie because she's intelligent, passionate, caring, cute, delicious, hard working and some other odds and ends as well...only later did I find out that she like Country Music, Christmas, Disneyland and big weddings...You have to take the good with the bad, hehe.
- Alex Scoble
There was someone here on FF (I don't remember who, but it was a guy?) who said his wedding budget was $100k and his honeymoon budget was $50k and thought that was totally reasonable and realistic. I was O_O
- Rochelle
People make lots of money off weddings and funerals. Sometimes it's really sad. In Las Vegas, I contributed $40 for a car wash, when I heard that the reason they were washing cars was to cover the funeral costs for a friend. Elopement maybe?
- Mitchell Tsai
It says $11-18K where I live. I think my wife and I spent around $8K.
- Jason Huebel
I think people *greatly* underestimate the cost of their wedding because they mostly look at recent bills after the event, but so many expenses, like deposits/stationery happen so far in advance. People also tend to not bundle-in related costs, like gifts for the wedding party, etc. If you think about it, if you host your reception at a hall w/ a catered dinner (which is what most people do), the food/beverage costs alone are like $100/person, so it's pretty easy to imagine how the average gets up to +$20k.
- Ana
@Mitchell Be wary of funeral car washes. Frequently those are scams.
- EricaJoy
My brother and his gf have ditched their idea to marry in the UK, instead of £10-13k they can spend £2-3k in Greece and get *everything* paid for. It's no contest, so we all off to Greece in a couple of years. :-)
- Kol Tregaskes
Wow, that's a good idea. Personally I'd like to be ultra smart and get it to take a picture of a room, and suggest coordinated ideas to tie the room together. That would be utterly awesome, and totally do-able app.
- Mark Aitken
Link your PC or Mac to your Android phone - HTC Hero, T-Mobile myTouch, T-Mobile G1 and many others coming from Motorola, Samsung, LG and HTC. The Missing Sync for Android is the best all-in-one sync solution that helps you get the most from the features of your phone.
- Tim Hoeck
I wonder if those of us running now clandestine builds of Cyanogen will be able to use it.
- Matthew DeVries
Matthew, it's third-party software, so you should be fine
- Trent Olson
Leaked Courier Video Shows How We'll Actually Use It - Microsoft courier tablet - Gizmodo ||| 微软 Courier 概念平板电脑操作界面的又一个视频 - http://gizmodo.com/5369493...
大家的反应过激了吧?第一张图底部四个图标是“原装”的,其他图标都基本正常,看看app store里的图标,很多就是这个水平。 大家不要因为某些图标后面内容的恶心,而迁怒于图标本身。后面三张图,的确俗,但这只是3G定制界面而已,不能说明全部。Ixr老师因为这几张图片说联通高层都是些低劣的生意人,就更有失偏颇了。生意人不一定低劣,设计师也有低劣的,这几张图和人品无关。这些界面不是联通高层们亲自设计的,一定是某位设计师(好吧,设计员)的作品,获得了高层的青睐而已,这不仅仅体现了决策者审美水平,也反映了设计者的能力。暂时忘掉我们每天在各个网站上看到的美轮美奂的图片,回到现实中一会儿,出去走走,看看,你不得不承认,这个界面设计符合中国市场上的平均审美水平。而一个市场的平均审美水平和主流设计水平是互相制约、互相促进的。设计师们在嘲笑别人的品味的时候,是不是也要反省一下自己的水平呢?大家都清楚中国设计水平落后,也都明白差距要一点一点缩小,而缩小的途径只有通过不断学习、不断地实践。今天我们在这里骂高层、过嘴瘾的时候,是不是也该庆幸还有人愿意给中国设计者机会去实践,而不是“去下载一些iPhone元素”?
- Yang
我也覺得說這樣的UI更符合中國人的審美是強姦了大部份中國人
- Baiyssy
from email
@Hi-iD “一机双店”是联通和苹果在谈判中各退一步的结果,比起国外运营商,联通、移动有政策保护,在面对苹果时更强势一些。国外运营商不是为了消费者而向苹果妥协的,是为了消费者口袋里的钱和自身品牌效应而屈服的。对于运营商来说,这只是一单生意而已。所以,沃商城是联通为自己争取到的利益,而且作为一个软件平台,肯定还要支持其他手机的,是公司战略的一部分,至于运营得如何,设计得好坏,是水平问题,和“自以为是”无关。
- Yang
@Baiyssy 我没有说“更符合中国人的审美”,我说的是“符合中国市场上的平均审美水平”。想想,创造那些“和谐美学”的人也活跃在中国市场上,他们可是联通iPhone的目标客户哦~ 这和出台法规政策不一样,把它弄得难看没有任何人受益,这个UI能够出现,至少是满足了联通高层的审美要求,如果你觉得联通高层在中国人中算是见过世面、懂得欣赏的人,那么这个UI还在平均审美水平之上的。不要觉得难以理解,庞龙火的时候我也想不明白。
- Yang
对,国外运营商也需是为了消费者口袋里的钱和自身品牌而怎样怎样,但是首先这是职责问题,重视分工,不能我为了钱可以什么都自己来做吧,另外apple已经有这么好的app生态了,在此情况下还去做自己的app store ,司马昭之心路人皆知,看看上面的人对这个"沃G3"的评价,看看人们对它的评论,这不是“自以为是”还是什么?为国家,为了不被外国人控制?
- Hi-iD
�了利益,�了把利益�回�。自己�有那�好的�子,想不出好�子就用�力去�。
- MePine
from email
我實在想不明白這兩種說法有什麽差別。而且,那些創造“和諧美學”的人不見得就喜歡“和諧美學”。弄得難看我也覺得是出於狂妄,也不掂量一下自己有幾斤幾兩,反正老子就是不跟你走。這和非主流是一樣的,可能一開始他們也不覺得那樣好看,只是爲了一定要表現自己的與眾不同,但又設計不出一種好看的與眾不同,就成了現在這副德性
- Baiyssy
from email
长得难看就是错啊,老子花钱了,结果买来的界面还不如自己在书店看到的配色宝典。另外,不知道里面的菜单是不是都是这个样子,但是这个大红大蓝的,还真是普通大众理解的“中国色”。
- DC
總體感覺聯通不是真心實意地要把這個商店做好。你要做軟件商店無可厚非,但是一定要真心去把它做好我們才會接受。但是現在有這麼多人在數落這個商店,顯然它沒有做好。沒做好的情況下還要推出來,就是態度問題。中國很多事情都是這種態度,就是“先推上去再說”。這種態度的背後藏著的必然就是利欲,在一種紅了眼的欲望驅使下使它急於賺錢。也就是說他想做一件事的最初目的和整個過程都貫穿著唯一一個想法,就是利益。再沒有其他了。這種急於求利的欲望使它無暇顧及其他道路。說白了吧,即使有比app store更賺錢的路它也不願意去做,想也不願意去想。
- MePine
from email
我觉得即使我说“利欲熏心”“态度”这些词并不是再说这个企业的道德,企业是没有道德概念的,而是战略思维、眼界和执行力。谁不想“做好”,那联通出现这样的问题,就是他们的固有思维,就是上面提到的垄断企业的固有思维,靠资源靠生产力对创造力无所求的企业的固有思维,就是圈地起楼买房。不仅这些大企业,中国很多中小企业也一样,也就是提到很多次的“老板是干大事的,才不去管产品层面的”。
- Hi-iD
from email
爲什麽企業沒有道德概念?即使沒有,也不妨礙別人用道德準則去評價它
- Baiyssy
from email
所以我覺得這是全國的問題。事實上是一種風氣。大多數人的思維都是如此。做一件事是為了它背後的名利,而並不是要做好這件事。唉,沒辦法。管不了別人管好自己就好了。
- MePine
from email
一觉醒来,都说到企业道德了。我同意Hi-iD说的企业没有道德概念。用道德来评价一个企业,最终受害的是消费者。那些每年捐钱慈善的公司集团,绝非道德高尚,可以减免税收、好名声而已;安全召回产品,绝非注重道德,因为诉讼成本太高、企业形象受损,不要天真的认为有些企业是“为人民服务的”。前不久刚刚参与了一宗召回案例,一大堆高层聚在一间会议室里,窗帘全拉上,谁都不许开手机,不许记笔记,拿出数据,比较多大可能出事、出事了需要赔多少,有没有赢的把握,召回又亏多少,这些产品是报废还是可以返工…… 要知道这家公司还是以慈善、高品质著称的世界100强企业。有道德的企业是不靠谱的,我们要的是严格的法律和监管机构,这样才能根本上杜绝三鹿奶粉案的再次发生。不然,对企业道德的期盼就会变成“清官情结”。
- Yang
或者應該這樣說,不一定有道德高尚的企業,但是肯定有無道德的企業。
- Baiyssy
from email
@ Baiyssy 握手同意,所以需要法律来保护自己的权益,不能靠企业的良知,用道德评价企业也只是我们一厢情愿。
- Yang
@ woodear 选择被谁强奸的权利非常的重要,不然我们现在还付一块多一分钟的话费。在美国一样,你不是被民主党强奸就是被共和党强奸,正因为这个选择权,使他要悠着点。被强奸了当然可以喊,但喊了有用吗?我们一遇到什么事,就扯到意识形态、体制、国情上去,自己吓唬自己,呻吟一下阿Q过去。能不能反省自己,行动一下,彪悍点,认为联通iPhone不好,就抵制不要买;再彪悍点,打通联通客户电话骂一通;更彪悍点,自己设计一套UI,在联通大楼门口堵联通高层去。
- Yang
@ Baiyssy 非洲人就不认为中国人比他们好看,甚至其他人种都不一定这么认为,所以审美是一个主观的概念,不可衡量。抱歉,我举不出例子来,因为我不知道“中国人的审美”是什么,就和我不能说中国人长得俊还是丑一样。相反的,我知道中国人的平均身高,也知道“中国人的平均审美水平”,充斥在市面上的让诸位嘲笑的产品就反映了这个水平。这些产品同时也阻碍这个水平的提高,造成这个结果, 我们当然可以把责任全部推给企业老板、政府领导,觉得他们又土又俗又自大狂妄,搞出来的东西恶心自己不算,还糊弄大众。但中国的设计师没有责任吗?投老板所好,违心做出自己都不喜欢的设计,不会想尽办法说服决策者接受自己的作品,一心盼望着遇上个明主,不捍卫自己的设计,要怎么改就怎么改。中国消费者就没有责任吗?正是大家的姑息、妥协惯坏这些企业。普通人可以嘲笑,而业内人需要行动。
- Yang
同学……淡定点。。。自己有看法,然后分享出来就好了,在这里你说服不了谁,也没谁能说服你。在这里的目的只是寻求对自己有用的信息啊。
- DC
@DC:只要大家文明討論,以理服人,說服和被說服都沒有什麽不好。如果在這裡只是尋求信息,實在是太浪費了。現在信息是過載了,而不是缺乏。觀點,尤其是與你相悖的觀點,只要是合理的,都比信息重要得多
- Baiyssy
from email
我們的角度可能有點不同。我是想說,講一個群體的審美觀,就是講這個群體的平均或者主流審美觀,至於審美觀能不能衡量、怎麼衡量是另一個問題。至於市面上產品的水平反應平均審美觀,我也不敢苟同。不能說我們接受了它就等於我們喜歡它,只是受制于市場和經濟承受能力,沒得選擇而已。如果中國人的收入瞬間提高一百倍,審美觀應該是不會馬上變化的,但是幾乎可以肯定,現在充斥市場的那些山寨貨、山寨設計馬上就沒有人要了。幾十年前,幾乎沒有人吃肉,不是因為人們不喜歡吃。
- Baiyssy
from email
我倒觉得可以理解联通和移动的行为,在本行业市场份额基本固定的情况下,寻找新的盈利增长点,在可能的未来市场上分一杯羹,是高管们顺理成章的想法。至于做又不踏踏实实做出好东西,应该是垄断企业的通病:既然不需要竞争,何必费那个劲呢。右边那三张图片应该只是联通沃的网页,可能是纯工程师弄出来的,可能高管们压根没有想过要请设计师。(那个红和那个蓝基本是纯色,我不认为学过几天设计的人会搞出这个东西。)
- Yan
Thesis Theme for WordPress - Thesis Gallery Showcase: One day I'd like to have a professional looking blog, but I don't understand Wordpress - http://diythemes.com/thesis...
I''m more of a beginner, use Blogger, but it doesn't look as professional as I'd like to eventually have. Plus my budget is very tight right now and I don't know how much setting up a Wordpress blog like this would cost. Anyone have any insight or tips?
- Jannifer @wordsforliving
from Bookmarklet
You could try setting something up at wordpress.com. I'm sure you can get a full WP setup running for free using yourname.wordpress.com. You can play with all the features and install new themes. If you find you like it, then migrate to a hosted solution using your own domain.
- Keith Bennett
I set up a few wordpress blogs but found Blogger more intuitive.... I may just be a wee bit slow, too... ; )
- Fossil Huntress
Thesis es lejos el mejor themes para WorPress!
- oscar cubillos