directory posts

Filed under: Internet, Social Software, Web

Try out new Facebook features before your friends with Prototypes

by John Burke Sep 16th 2009

On the heels of last week's release of @mentions and the new Facebook Lite, today Facebook announced "Prototypes".

Prototypes give users a chance to test out cool new applications and functionality "going on inside the walls of Facebook" and to provide feedback to the who built the prototypes, directly.

To begin testing and providing feedback, simply find any application available in the Application Directory that is marked as "Prototype". Some cool examples that have come out of Facebook prototype apps include Desktop Notifications for Mac, recent comments filters and enhanced event emails.

Think of Prototypes much like the recently released Mozilla Test Pilot; Giving users the chance to opt-in to new features not quite ready for primetime.

Tags: applications, developers, directory, engineers, Facebook, prototype

Filed under: Blogging, Microblogging

Tumblr launches hashtags, Facebook integration

by John Burke Aug 18th 2009

Tumblr announced some big new developments they're working on. The first is an improvement to an existing feature, Tags. Now, tagged posts automatically generate #hashtags (much like the Twitter system) that collect similar posts into a group. The hashtags are displayed below your post and link to a page containing other posts with the same tag.

Because there's 650,000+ posts being published daily, Tumblr allows you to sort these by relevancy including most liked and most reblogged with a cool slider. The feature is still in development so the Tumblr staff say you may find a bug or two. Additionally, the central hashtag directory is not yet complete.

Additionally, Tumblr is working on direct integration with Facebook. Tumblr is set to introduce a new feature that allows your Tumblr content to be posted directly to Facebook pages and profiles. The content will automatically be formatted properly based on the type of post.

Tags: directory, facebook, hashtags, integration, tumblr

Filed under: Internet, Features, Blogging, iPhone

Regator comes to iPhone

by John Burke Aug 18th 2009

Blogs are a dime-a-dozen these days. There's no shortage of sites dedicated to posting articles on just about anything you could possibly be interested in. Regator.com, a website dedicated to sifting through the countless blogs on the internet has finally released their own companion iPhone application.

If you're not familiar with Regator, it's a great web resource that highlights the web's best posts from the web's best blogs. It acts as a news aggregator breaking down blog sites into categories and offering a fun way to discover content on the internet. The new application, Regator for iPhone [iTunes Link] promises much of the same thing with a slick and easy to use interface and some great features.

So what makes Regator for iPhone so great? It's the only mobile application that allows users to browse, search, share and read thousands of the web's best blogs. It might sound a lot like an RSS reader, but it's so much more than that. By collecting, sorting and providing readers with thousands of articles, it's an easy source for news on almost any subject.

A few shots of Regator in action:

Gallery: Regator

Tags: directory, featured, news aggregator, popular blogs, regator, rss, rss reader, trends

Filed under: Productivity, Google, Search

Goog-411 now provides intersection info

by Jay Hathaway May 30th 2009

Goog-411 isn't the most glamorous of Google's services, but the ability to call and get Google's directory service for free is indispensable if you don't have a phone with a browser. The service seems to be getting better all the time, and the latest feature will tell you the cross streets of the business you're looking for. That's a useful service in areas where building numbers are scarce, or all the roads have names instead of numbers.

To use this new feature, do a Goog-411 search like normal, giving your city or ZIP and saying your search terms. When the list of business comes up, and you choose one, say "details." It's not exactly a revolution, but it's the kind of basic, useful feature you'd assume Goog-411 would have had since the beginning.

[via TechCrunch]

Tags: 411, directory, goog-411, map, phone

Filed under: Search, web 2.0

WeFollow: user-tagged Twitter directory

by Jay Hathaway Mar 16th 2009

A lot of Twitter directories have tried and failed to catch on, but WeFollow has two things that they don't. One, it promotes itself automatically, because users need to publicly tweet @wefollow to add themselves. And two, Kevin Rose. The Digg dude and one of the most-followed people on Twitter is behind WeFollow, which gives it an automatic boost in name recognition.

On the other hand, here's why I don't care about WeFollow. It's top-loaded, in a kind of leaderboard format. The front page displays the most popular people in the most popular categories. So, although the category list is deep, all the good stuff is hidden. Sure, you know Shaq's on Twitter, and you know who @ev is, but a front page that shows all the folks you're already most likely to follow doesn't seem the best way to make people's Twitter streams richer. It does seem to be a good way to get Kevin Rose more followers, though. In WeFollow's defense, though, I'll admit that the user-tagged system of adding yourself is cool and convenient.

Tags: directory, kevin-rose, tagging, twitter, wefollow

Filed under: Utilities, Windows, Productivity, Freeware

Folder Guide Speeds Windows Directory Browsing

by Lee Mathews Aug 23rd 2008

If you spend any amount of time moving files around using Windows Explorer, the repetitive clicking can get tiresome. Folder Guide is a context menu enhancement that speeds your navigation: add a folder to your Guide, and accessing it is a two-click operation from any explorer window or file dialog box.

Adding a folder to Folder Guide can be done two ways. Launch the main program, click the add button, set up an alias, and browse for your path. Oddly, the developers chose to use the explore view which means there's no access to the right-click shortcuts you've already created to make navigating easier.

The easier - and more logical way - is to simply browse for your folder and right-click it. Choose add to folder guide, and you're done. You won't be prompted for an alias, so to edit the default name you'll need to use the application itself.

Snce Folder Guide works with file dialogs it's available just about everywhere you want to make directory browsing faster: attaching files in GMail, selecting a save location for a screen capture, you name it.

Folder Guide is freeware, and Windows only, of course. No mention is made on the site of Vista or 64-bit compatibility.

Tags: directories, directory, explorer, file navigation, FileNavigation, shell enhancement, ShellEnhancement

Filed under: Utilities, Windows, Microsoft, Freeware, How-Tos

Automatically delete empty subdirectories with one-line batch file

by Jason Clarke May 5th 2008

rdempty.bat batch file Deleting empty subdirectories seems like something Windows ought to do automatically, but for some reason that function just isn't included as part of the OS. Luckily, you don't need to download a utility to do it; instead, you can create a single line batch file that will do exactly what you're looking for:

for /f "usebackq" %%d in ("dir /ad/b/s | sort /R") do rd "%%d"

Raymond Chen, the venerable Microsoft coder, explains how this works. Basically, it uses a trick to enumerate the directories in reverse order. Since you can't delete a directory that contains data (including other directories) the only way to automate deleting directories is to start at the very bottom of the tree and work your way up.

Tags: batch, batch-file, directory, empty-directories, raymond-chen, remove-directories, the-old-new-thing

Filed under: Internet, Search

Twing: search engine for forum posts

by Jay Hathaway Mar 4th 2008

Twing is a new search engine that indexes almost 5,000 online forums, on subjects ranging from the very general (arts and entertainment) to the extremely specific (Scottish Snooker). On top of its search features, it also has a 1990's-Yahoo!-style directory organized by topic, and a collection of trends and toplists called the Community Buzz Directory. Does Twing actually have a finger on the pulse of online trends? We noticed that the video most linked from forums is Rick Astley's infamous "Rickroll," which is good enough for us.

If you follow any forum regularly, Twing could be useful to you. You can narrow your search down to one message board, which might make a good substitute if the built-in search is faulty in your community of choice. Another promising feature is the ability to sign up for an account to keep tabs on the threads you're following.

Even if you're not active on a forum, Twing has some interesting tools for tracking the hottest links and conversations. Most popular links, threads, and forums are all ranked, and RSS feeds are available for each. Twing says that the most popular thread on the Internet right now is called "longest ever thread." While we don't doubt this is accurate, we'll leave it up to you to decide how practical you find it.

Tags: community, directory, forum, message board, MessageBoard, search, twing

Filed under: Audio, Internet, Podcasting, Yahoo!

Yahoo! kills podcast site

by Brad Linder Sep 27th 2007

Yahoo! is closing down Yahoo! Podcasts on October 31. And the 2-year old site never even got to shed its beta tag. So tragic.

The site is actually one of the better podcast directories on the web. Yahoo! has indexed a large number of podcasts, and the site is easy to navigate. There's even a handy player for streaming podcasts without downloading them.

But while podcasting was all the rage a few years ago, it seems like internet video gets all the attention these days. And we're guessing it's not just because people like to watch video more than they like to listen to people talk. Video is also easier to monetize with pre-roll or embedded advertising. It's incredibly easy to skip past an audio advertisement on your MP3 player, and while you could try to include video ads with every download, they won't be too effective if you keep your iPod in your pocket.

If you're looking for a new place to find your podcasts, you might want to check out PodcastAlley, Podcast Pickle or Odeo. NPR also maintains a great list of public radio shows available as podcasts.

[via Read/WriteWeb]

Tags: directory, odeo, podcasts, yahoo!-podcasts

Filed under: Design, Developer, Internet, Web services, Google

How to get your content removed from Google

by Chris Gilmer Apr 18th 2007

Have you ever wondered how you can get your content wiped out of the Google directory, as some newspapers have been vying to do recently? Google has a plan for webmasters.

The Google Webmaster Blog outlines a few methods that site owners can use in order to ensure their content is not indexed by the search engine. This can include a simple robots.txt file that either blocks Google completely or blocks certain directories on a server. The best way to go about removal however, is to verify the ownership of your site through Google's webmaster tools by inserting a small line of code in a webpage. There is a diagnostic tab there called URL Removals. From there you can submit a New Removal Request and choose to remove Individual URLs, a directory, your entire site, or cached copies.

Of course if you end up changing your mind, Google also has a way to reinclude content. Keep in mind, either way could take a few months or more to refresh on all of Google's servers.

Tags: central, directory, google, removal, robots, robots.xtx, search, webmaster

Filed under: Audio, Internet, Web services, Google

Google launches GOOG 411

by Chris Gilmer Apr 6th 2007

Google has announced a new labs project, a free 411 service. The Google Voice Local Search is an experiment, but it aims to get users fully automated access to local business information.

The GOOG 411 service holds the same information that would typically be found on Google.com, but for times when you just cant get to an internet connection and all you have access to is a cell phone or home phone, this is your next best bet.

The service is free to use, and Google does not charge businesses for connecting customers to them. It is still in an experimental form, and only available in English in the US, for US business listings. To try out the service, dial 1-800-GOOG-411 (1-800-466-4411) from any phone.

Update: Download Squad's Brad Linder put GOOG 411 to the test, and here's the result:

goog 411.mp3

Tags: 411, dial, directory, google, information, labs, phone, search

Filed under: Business, Internet, Web services

dfinitive tries to recreate the magic of DMOZ

by Chris Gilmer Apr 3rd 2007

Is it difficult to find the best websites with search engines or directories? Dfinitive thinks it can help.

As it currently stands, Dfinitive looks as if it is recreating the famous DMOZ open directory project by trying to take the best elements of a directory site, search engine and a bookmarking site and teaming it up with a mix of experts in the areas they feel are lacking.

Dfinitive plans to create a list of definitive sites for each category, in hopes that they will create a unique user experience that helps users find the optimal sites for the topic area they are searching for.
Only time will tell how it fares, but as it sits now their categories need a little growth as they only have SEO, Affiliate Marketing, and Blogging listed.

Tags: bookmarket, dfinitive, directory, dmoz, search, search engine, SearchEngine, seo, site

Filed under: Blogging, Social Software

WordPress launches plugin directory

by David Chartier Mar 17th 2007

One of the appeals of just about any blogging service, especially one you can install in your own hosting space, is the ability to really make it your own. Whether you have to hack and slash through PHP by hand or you can enjoy the luxury of a vast plugin community, it just feels a little more like a (digital) home when you can put your spin on your own blog. WordPress has just such a booming plugin community, but until now, they've never had their own true resource for posting and downloading plugins. Thanks to the new, official WordPress Plugin directory, the days of aimlessly googling for a plugin to do this or that are a thing of the past. Granted it has a ways to go before it can be called 'comprehensive,' but this is exactly what WordPress has needed for quite some time now. Three columns on the main directory site tell visitors which plugins are popular, fresh out of the oven or recently updated, with a Featured Plugin area front and center to host the flavor of the day. Plugin authors can easily add their plugins to the database via this form, and all the WordPress crew ask is that plugins be GPL Compatible. The only gripe we have so far is that there's no RSS feed for the plugin directory itself. Kind of ironic for a blogging engine, no?

[via digg]

Tags: directory, plugin, plugins, repository, wordpress

Filed under: Web services

Office 2.0 Database: Web-based office app directory

by Jordan Running Apr 24th 2006

Having trouble keeping track of all the companies that are building the current crop of web-based office apps? The Office 2.0 Database is a handy directory of all of 'em, broken down into categories. Need a web-based word processor? You've got eight to choose from. PowerPoint replacement? Five of 'em, and so on. There's even quite a few on the list that I hadn't heard of, like Calcoolate, a simple web-based calculator that stays out of your way but has some nice features like keeping track of all of your previous solutions and letting you give them names for easy access later on. The Office 2.0 Database has lots of columns of metadata and even links to TechCrunch's reviews of almost every single one.

Tags: ajax, directory, roundup, web20, weboffice

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directory posts

Try out new Facebook features before your friends with Prototypes

Tumblr launches hashtags, Facebook integration