Entries from October 2007 ↓

Last night we outlined the details emerging about Google’s social networking initiative, OpenSocial. Below are some screenshots of OpenSocial in action that we didn’t have time to include in that post.

Most of these shots show the integration of iLike and Flixster applications with social networks on Ning. A few show the integration of applications with orkut and hi5. We’ve also included an overview document below.

Update: See Marc Andreessen’s screencast here.

Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0

The gadget: The Eye-Fi. It’s an SD memory card that adds Wi-Fi to any camera. Plus the free Eye-Fi service supports automatic uploads to 20 different web photo sites (like Flickr) as well as a computer on your home network.

The verdict: It works flawlessly.

The performance: Like we said, the Eye-Fi works flawlessly. Setup takes roughly five minutes (you program the card through your computer and bundled card reader.) From there, you simply snap pics in the range of your router, and chances are, by the time you go back to your computer, the pictures will be viewable. If your router dies, you turn off your camera, or even if you take out the card and put it back in, the photos will upload when you get things sorted out again. It’s actually a normal 2GB memory card underneath all of the other functionality and can work as such.

The catch: We figured iIt must drain more battery —but apparently in-camera SD power standards dictate that this extra consumed power needs to be minimal, to the level of not noticeable to the end user. Unfortunately, the product doesn't support hotspots.

The price: $100

The verdict Part II: Sure, the Eye-Fi is basically a cradle replacement. But snapping photos and automatically uploading them in real time to share is truly fantastic, especially when the images can be better than one’s camera phone. And the entire product experience is built with Apple-like simplicity. If you can get over the price and are sick of cords, we strongly recommend the purchase. Available now. [eye-fi]

Ask500People is a new service that takes a somewhat fun take on the whole concept of the map mashup. I’m not a huge fan of most map mashups, as most of them lack interactive capabilities and some prove utterly pointless. Ask500People, however, offers a dynamic map that I can watch for about 3 minutes before getting bored.

What it does is show in real-time the responses to polls that users have created within its community. Pick a poll, vote for it, and watch the results play out across the globe. There are four different types of answer options you can offer to the Ask500 community, ranging from image-enhanced multiple choice, to plain and simple “yes or no.” Add more answer options if you’d like. Preview the poll, and send it off for approval.

Unlike most polls sites, the process isn’t fully automated, and there’s no end time for the pole you’ve created. It just goes on forever. Additionally, the only way to include images in your poll is by selecting the image option for the type of answers you’d like to offer the Ask500 users. That being said, there’s no other types of media that can be shared for your poll. I suppose the dynamic map is entertainment enough.

To the right of the map, you’ll see the current results, recent voters, and other questions that you can check out. Each poll lets you access the members that are online, as well as leave comments. Once users begin to create more and more polls, it would make sense to offer a search and filtering option, and maybe even a recommendation tool for presenting related polls (i.e. those pertaining to sports or food).

And what I’d love to see is a widget for the dynamic map poll, which could be an interesting way for gathering data on your own blog or website. Toluna is another polls creation site, which has undergone a major revamp, including a name change, earlier this month.

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The bad news is, we have discovered a Leopard-related issue that may very well throw a monkey wrench into your Time Machine. Anyone trying to use Time Machine with a previously PC-formatted drive could be at risk. The good news is, there is an easy—albeit none-too-obvious—fix. Here's the dilly-o:

After I upgraded my MacBook Pro to OS X Leopard, the first thing I did was grab a brand-new Maxtor USB drive and format it to Mac OS Extended (Journaled) using Disk Utility, just like I had countless times before. As soon as I erased the disk, Time Machine popped up as promised, and asked if it could use the disk for backup. I said yes, and was on my merry way. Only I wasn’t.

Time Machine ran for a bit, and then crapped out after about 10GB. I went into Disk Utility and saw that although the partition was formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled), the volume itself still said FAT32. I clicked Erase to reformat the drive, and got the format failure error you see above.

I tried this with FAT-formatted drives from Seagate, Iomega and HP as well. Each time I saw the same thing. I could reformat the partition to Mac OS Extended (Journaled), and Time Machine would recognize it. Get Info would say that it was formatted correctly. But Disk Utility showed that the volume was formatted for PC. Inevitably, if the Time Machine backup was greater than 10GB, there were problems. Worst of all, if I dared try to format the volume for Mac, I would get the dreaded error, and the disk would be temporarily unmountable.

Not only did I vary drives, but I tested the problem on various systems too. I tried it booting from the Leopard DVD, with the same results. Ditto when I tried it using my wife’s Leopard-upgraded MacBook Pro. (Yes, his n’ hers MBPs. You can insert your “awwww” here.) The end result was that I couldn’t break the FAT grip on these damn drives.

I made some calls, I talked to some people, and eventually here was the solution: you wipe the hell out of the drive by creating new and different partitions. So, do not head to the Erase tab in Disk Utility to prep a PC-formatted drive for Time Machine. Instead:

• Go to the Partition tab. Create two partitions. Under Options, select GUID Partition Table (what you would use to make a Mac OS boot disk) and click OK then Apply.

• Once your partitions are in place, do it again, reverting back to just one partition, but still keeping the GUID Partition Table option. Click OK and Apply again, and at this point you should be cool.

• To be safe, you can then go to Erase and set formatting for Mac OS Extended (Journaled), then format it once and for all. But when you get there, you will probably see that your volume is already formatted in the right way.

UPDATE: Some people have gotten this to work without creating two partitions. If you like, try creating just a single partition, but using the GUID Partition Table option. This may be all it takes to break the chokehold.

Using this method, I have gotten all of the disks to work just fine with Time Machine, and I don’t anticipate any problems in the future.

OK, I know, quite a bit of nerdiness, but I wanted to get out there and tell you about the problem I encountered, in case you are having the same troubles, or plan on getting there sooner or later. Also, this solution is actually a workaround of sorts. My hope is that Apple can update Disk Utility with a stronger form of disk erasing that doesn’t require so many manual steps, but if I am missing something obvious, I’d love to hear it. Please share any troubles you’ve had, or any better solutions you’ve cooked up.

Special thanks to Dorian and Ken!

It seems like the semitransparent menu bar in Leopard is a love it or hate it thing. Well, we have some good news for those of you that hate it out there. Eternal Storms Software has released OpaqueMenuBar 1.0, a free little application that allows Mac users to turn off the transparent menu bar effect in Leopard.

Instant Jailbreak for iPhone and iPod touch  —  A crew of hackers (including hdm/metasploit, rezn, dinopio, drudge, kroo, pumpkin, davidc, dunham, and NerveGas) have introduced a one-touch instant jailbreak for both iPhone and iPod touch.  The jailbreak opens your iPhone for full disk access …

Source:   The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)

Author:   Erica Sadun

Link:   http://www.tuaw.com/2007/10/29/instant-jailbreak-for…

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Clearspring, which just launched mobile syndication for its widgets, has just added another very useful feature for the furthered spreading of not only widgets but for widgetizing content on your website. This new offering is called the Clearspring Launchpad.

With the launchpad’s new share menu, site visitors can easily send your widget or web content to their websites in the form of a widget. This widget can of course be placed on blogs and social networking profiles as well. Additionally, site visitors can email the content to friends or save them to a social bookmarking service like Digg or Technorati as well.

The menu itself has two options: you can embed it in its entirety, or add a button that expands one a site visitor clicks on it, to offer all of the sharing options. This works in a very similar manner to the “share” button that displays above every article here on Mashable. What’s unique, however, is the option for immediate widgetizing of the content that you’re offering up to be shared, which could be a blog post, a video, an image or pretty much any other type of web content.

As it can be widgetized in this manner, the syndication options have now been expanded for your site users and end users, without you needing to make widget options for all of your content, based on what type of content it is, or how its being syndicated on your own site. I like the mobility of this option, and I also expect a lot of development from other widget tools based on this recent development. I also know that Clearpring will be making more strides for additional widget options.

As social networks and web content become more open and shareable, its been quite amazing to see the world of widgets unfold. What we’re seeing now is solidification of certain widget companies as providing standards for general use, and an increasingly consolidated feature set for both startups and established widget services. So widget companies aren’t just for making widgets, but they’re also widget directories, vehicles for advertisement networks, a source for metrics, and a resource for developers.

And a lot of this is overlapping with other sites and devices tat use widgets, like MySpace’s upcoming widget directory, or the Pageflakes extensive search options for finding widget content for your start page. So as these tools become more available through existing networks, it becomes even more necessary for Clearspring, Widgetbox and the rest to offer more tools for web publishers, developers, brands, advertisers, content creators and end users.

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We can’t all be great writers, perfect webmasters and fantastic designers. Luckily, this last part can be covered up with automated tools that help you do nice looking graphics with little or no Photoshop knowledge. We’ve gathered 20+ sites to help you generate buttons and badges. Enjoy!
(more…)

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The nifty Keyport, which we first saw back in April, is actually becoming a reality. From next week, Keyport Inc will start contancting people who signed up all those months back and inviting them to send their six favorite keys off to be copied. Then, in return for $300, those lucky customers will receive the aluminum and steel device back by post.

Sign up quickly if you want in: the Keyport will be a limited edition of 5000. If you’re not picked, I have a great alternative. Send me your keys, your address and $300. Your vacation dates are optional but will help your application.

Product page [Keyport via BBGadgets]

Metrofunk is the latest to create a trend-setting site aimed for the networking of creatives, from fashion designers, to filmmakers and party promoters. The site has not yet launched, but is scheduled to go live in mid-November.

Artists and businesses alike can use metrofunk for self-promotion with the creation of their own, branded networks. The purpose is to offer up channels of distribution, for pushing their own products. The tools for this promotion is what you’d expect: blogs, music, photos, videos, events, etc.

Metrofunk’s part in all of this is to provide a central hub for content being created through its branded networks. It can categorize content according to its four verticals: nightlife, fashion, film and music. As with other sites where you can create your own network, individuals can join your network.

Content is pushed through these networks in a Digg-like voting system, taking advantage of the popularity contest mindset that many trend-setters are born with. Incentives for the creation of your network are monetization opportunities. Dripbook and Behance are other networks for creatives while Ning and MyLifeBrand offer branded social networks. 944life and similar sites aim to bring the forefront of culture to users for promotional purposes as well.

[via centernetworks]

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