Apple is notorious for its seemingly arbitrary review policies for iPhone applications, and stories of apps being rejected for unexpected reasons abound. Developers have trouble navigating the ambiguous minefield of App Store policies -- what's allowed or not allowed in a "lite" version, for example -- and there's nowhere to turn to for advice on successfully complying with the rules and getting your app ready for sale.

That's why developers are starting to help each other. There's now a Tumblr-hosted blog that posts app rejection letters from Apple, so the dev community can get a better sense of how these rules are being enforced.

The published feedback on the Application Submission Feedback blog is supposed to act as a necessary replacement for the rules that Apple has either left unclear or failed to state altogether. So far, it deals with tricky problems like 17+ ratings, lite apps and images of iPhones. As the site collects more data from people who have been rejected, it could become essential reading, and a kind of missing manual for the stuff Apple won't say outright.

As expected, eBay has banned sellers from leaving negative or neutral feedback. Earlier this ear the auction site announced plans to change its feedback policy in order to discourage sellers from leaving negative feedback in retribution for negative comments from buyers.

On the one hand, this seems like a reasonable measure to prevent sellers from abusing the feedback system. On the other hand, there really are bad buyers out there. Some people bid on auctions and then back out either because they misread the item descriptions or never had any intention of paying in the first place. And while sellers can request a refund for transaction fees from eBay, they then have to either offer the item to another bidder for a lower price or re-list the item.

It would probably make a lot more sense for eBay to allow sellers to leave negative feedback -- but only before buyers leave feedback. That way there's no way to leave a nasty comment in response to negative feedback. Or perhaps eBay could allow negative feedback only after a reasonable period of time has passed, like 14 days or a month. That way buyers and sellers should have plenty of time to resolve their differences before leaving feedback.

[via Wired]

Have you ever bought something on eBay only to have a problem with the transaction? Maybe the seller never shipped the item, or didn't respond to your questions. Maybe it was damaged and the seller wouldn't let you return it. Or maybe the item arrived late or wasn't as described.

The first thing many of us would do is leave negative feedback for the seller. But sometimes we stop to think twice before doing that. Because if we leave negative feedback, the seller might retaliate by leaving negative feedback for us. And then when we go to sell something we might find it hard to get a fair price because we have a mark or two against us.

eBay is aware of this problem, and is proposing a pretty extreme solution: prevent sellers from leaving negative feedback for buyers. The BBC reports that starting in May, sellers will no longer have the ability to leave negative feedback. Of course, sellers aren't particularly happy with the proposed change, saying it removes a tool for dealing with problem customers who refuse to pay or make trouble in other ways.

But honestly, the feedback system is really much more useful for buyers trying to find trustworthy sellers than vice versa. For the most part, if someone wins an auction, the system is set up so that you have to sell the item to them. So there's never been much reason for eBay to allow sellers to rate buyers anyway.

ConceptShare is still getting ready for the big launch. What it is, exactly, is a place where designs by designers, marketers, and creative firms can be shared across multiple channels. These designs will also be able to capture feedback so that innovative improvements can be made. Customer insight is a must when designing, and through ConceptShare, customers get a say in designs with a web based application that helps the whole creative process by saving time and money. Submitted designs in the system can be anything from user interfaces, logo designs, web designs, and new product mockups. ConceptShare's process sounds pretty smooth as well. Simply sign up and create a workplace where projects will be outlined. Uploaded concepts will be stored in the system with tags relating to the project. Participants are then invited through email, or with system experts. Then interaction will take place with users to gather feedback. No news yet on the launch of this reviewing tool, but it's going to make a lot of people happy with the possibilities of speeding up and streamlining new design processes.

Firefox 2 isn't even officially out the door yet, but if y'all aren't partying too hard, why not toss in your two cents on how Firefox 3 is going to turn out? Mozilla has decided to offer up a a public brainstorming wiki to solicit ideas and feature requests for the next major release of Firefox. The page is already impressively organized, offering fine-grained categories for things like software update, tabs, profiles, printing and even mobile and enterprise support. There's already quite a bit on the menu, and Mozilla will obviously have to draw at least a few lines to keep Firefox 3 on track, but swing on by if you think you can lend a hand to shape the future of one of the best darn browsers on the Internets.

In addition, they've also unleashed alpha builds of Firefox 3 (aka - Minefield), though from a quick run-through on Mac OS X, I can't see anything mind-blowingly new just yet. Of course, YMMV.

[via Ars Technica]

Videojug is a service that lets users share information. However, it's sharing information in an extremely intuitive way: Sharing through the use of videos. It's a really neat concept that I'm sure will take off pretty nicely given its sometimes funny approaches.

Take for an example, a video recently posted on how to make naan bread. The user has put together a nice little directional video on how to actually make it. It's a visual help guide, helping get points across easier, and with a little more explaining and nice visuals. Videos can be uploaded, tagged and searched which makes it extremely easy to find what you need help on. Each video also has a feedback form, text version, and iPod and PSP formats. Current sections on Videojug include Food, Drinks, DIY, Home, Beauty, Health, and Leisure. Each with a nice drop down list of sub topics.

There are some really interesting videos here too. Besides making nann, you can watch videos on applying bronzer, How to remove a foreign object from the ear, and How to unblock a toilet.

[Via Solution Watch]

Usually by the time a product is in beta, its makers have pretty much nailed down most of the features, with just a few tweaks here and there before shipping. As we have come to learn, however, Microsoft is no ordinary company, and over at the official Windows Vista Team Blog, a developer callled "nwhite" (note to Microsoft: if you have people blogging about your products in a quasi-official capacity, it would be nice to know their actual names) has written up all the changes that have been made to Vista since Beta 2 based on user feedback. The list is long, and though most of the changes are fairly minor, but it's nice to see that Microsoft is listening to users.

The term certainly doesn't roll off the tongue as well as 'feedback', but in this case, that's an advantage. 'Freedbacking', a melding of 'free' and 'feedback', is a new tag proposed by Lockergnome's Chris Pirillo that bloggers can use to let developers know their apps are being talked about. The idea is that by using a 100% made-up term that search engines have never heard of, users who have something (ideally constructive) to say can get their message to developers much more easily. While most companies and developers already have feedback systems established such as forums and email, a public discourse through blogging and the use of a specialized tag brings the discussion to a whole new level.

At least that's the idea. The new tag, while already being put to use, is still in its infancy, so time will tell as to how widely accepted it becomes and how much value the system offers. I, for one, am excited at the possibility of opening the door between developers and their users just a little bit wider.

[via Wired]