Filed under: Business, Developer, Internet, Blogging, E-mail, Web services, web 2.0, Web, Lists
Tell DLS: What are your Top 10 Web Apps?
web-apps posts
Filed under: OS Updates, Windows Mobile, Microsoft
Windows Mobile 6.5 to support web apps
The original iPhone could do it. The Palm Pre, with its WebOS will do it. And it looks like Windows Mobile 6.5 will be able to do it, too. "It" is the ability to run web applications, and it's coming to Microsoft's newest mobile operating system as widgets.
A .widget is basically compressed assemblage of HTML, javascript, and image files. Reports indicate that the current build of WM 6.5 includes the two examples shown above - MSN Money and MSN Weather - as well as a Live Search widget.
It's an intelligent move by Microsoft, though likely to draw some criticism for copycatting. Still, with millions of web developers out there .widgets give them a simple way to deploy applications on Windows Mobile devices with their existing coding knowledge.
A .widget is basically compressed assemblage of HTML, javascript, and image files. Reports indicate that the current build of WM 6.5 includes the two examples shown above - MSN Money and MSN Weather - as well as a Live Search widget.
It's an intelligent move by Microsoft, though likely to draw some criticism for copycatting. Still, with millions of web developers out there .widgets give them a simple way to deploy applications on Windows Mobile devices with their existing coding knowledge.
Filed under: Design, Developer, Utilities, Productivity
280North releases Atlas, an interface builder for web apps
What does that mean, exactly? Basically, Atlas enables you to build an entire user interface for your app without coding anything at all. That's great news, because designers who are perfectly capable of planning a good UI might not be competent enough in the coding department to make it a reality. Atlas bridges the gap. If we want to see web apps that are on par with our favorite desktop software, the right tools are important. Kudos to 280 North for developing one of them.
Filed under: Web services, web 2.0, Browsers, Web
Pixlr plugin for Firefox turns your browser into an image editor
Once the plugin is installed, you'll notice a little icon in the Firefox status bar that you can click to automatically import any web page you're on to Pixlr for editing. Just want to edit an image from the web? No problem. Just right click and select Edit in Pixlr. The image editor will open in a new tab and load the picture automatically.
[via Firefox Facts]
Filed under: Productivity, Web
Printable Checklist is exactly what it says it is
In terms of appearance, you don't really have options. A couple of ways to change the appearance of your checklist come to mind, though. If you're dead set on using a specific typeface, you can temporarily switch the browser's default font to the one you want, or you can use a plugin like GreaseMonkey to change the look before you print.
Filed under: Internet, Utilities, Beta, Web
Net2ftp is a solid web-based FTP client
Every now and then I need to FTP something from a computer that doesn't have an FTP client installed. Since it always seems to happen when I forget my flash drive, I like the option of using net2ftp's web-based client.
The basic interface is all PHP, so it should work just fine in any browser. It performed nicely in Chrome, Firefox, and IE on my desktop and even on my iPod touch. It's a very capable client and can do just about everything that a desktop client can: create and CHMOD files and directories, view and edit text files, copy, move, delete, zip, and unzip items.
Java and Flash uploaders are available if you'd like to queue multiple files. Clicking on the heart icon creates a bookmark that will open net2ftp and jump to a specific FTP folder after logging in to your server.
An install option is provided as well if you'd like to copy the net2ftp installer to your own server. Modules for Drupal, Xoops, and Mambo are included for quick and easy integration.
The interface also supports 3 different skins and more than a dozen languages. It's a handy tool for taking care of quick FTP transfers when you don't want to mess around with a full-blown desktop client.
The basic interface is all PHP, so it should work just fine in any browser. It performed nicely in Chrome, Firefox, and IE on my desktop and even on my iPod touch. It's a very capable client and can do just about everything that a desktop client can: create and CHMOD files and directories, view and edit text files, copy, move, delete, zip, and unzip items.
Java and Flash uploaders are available if you'd like to queue multiple files. Clicking on the heart icon creates a bookmark that will open net2ftp and jump to a specific FTP folder after logging in to your server.
An install option is provided as well if you'd like to copy the net2ftp installer to your own server. Modules for Drupal, Xoops, and Mambo are included for quick and easy integration.
The interface also supports 3 different skins and more than a dozen languages. It's a handy tool for taking care of quick FTP transfers when you don't want to mess around with a full-blown desktop client.
Filed under: Web services, Mozilla, web 2.0, Browsers
Firefox will eventually let users turn web apps into desktop apps
But sometimes if all you want to do is access your email account or an online image editor like Picnik, you don't really need to fire up a full fledged web browser. A while back Mozilla created a project called Prism that lets you create a desktop shortcut that will open just a single page at a time in a stripped down version of Firefox. Now it looks like Mozilla is planning on integrating that feature with a future version of Firefox.
Here's how it would work. When you visit a web-based application, you'd be able to click a button to turn it into a desktop app. This would create a desktop shortcut to the application and users would be able to open a window showing just that app. For certain applications, like the Flickr Uploader or Zoho Docs, Firefox might allow you to drag and drop files to upload or create file associations in your operating system so that every time you click on a Word document, for example, Zoho Docs would be opened instead of Microsoft Word.
Right now these features are still in the planning stages. But we could see them in future versions of Firefox. Of course, Google Chrome already has a similar feature which lets you create an application shortcut out of any web page with a click of a button using Google Gears.
Filed under: Utilities, web 2.0
ShrinkFile online file zipper: Some apps don't need to go web 2.0
ShrinkFile is an online file compression and hosting service. Have a large file you want to share with a friend or colleague and want to save them a bit of downloading time? Upload it to ShrinkFile, and ShrinkFile will zip it and host it for free for up to a week.
Sure, ShrinkFile could come in handy if you're on a computer that doesn't have WinZip, 7-zip, or another archiving application. But you know what? Practically every major operating system available today ships with the ability to zip files. What's more, you could save time both downloading and uploading your large file if you just zip it before sharing it using another service like FileDropper or YouSendit.
What do you think? Am I missing something, or is ShrinkFile basically useless?
[via MakeUseOf]
Filed under: Internet, Web services, Mozilla, Beta
Prism extension for Firefox: Treat any web app as a desktop app
Mozilla has released an updated version of Prism, an application that lets open web applications like Gmail, Google Docs, or Zoho Writer in a stripped down Firefox-like browser. The result is that you can quickly launch web applications and treat them as if they were desktop applications. The most noticeable change is that Firefox 3 beta users don't need to download and install Prism as a separate application. They can just install a new Prism extension for Firefox 3. Once installed, you can visit any web site in Firefox and convert it into an application and place a shortcut on your desktop or in your start menu.
If you're not using Firefox 3, you can download the standalone installer for Prism 0.9 for Windows, Mac, or Linux. The latest build also includes the ability to pick an icon for your shortcut, and create a separate profile for each web application.
Filed under: Internet, Windows, Web services, Freeware, web 2.0
Bubbles turns web apps into desktop apps
by Brad Linder Feb 15th 2008
When you first run Bubbles, you'll see a list of web sites which you can open with the application. You can also add any page you want just by entering the URL. You can start a web app by clicking the "Go" button and you should see icons for each application pop up in your Windows system tray. Click on one to bring up the web app of your choice. Clicking the X bar doesn't close the window, but minimizes it to the system tray. In order to really close a window you'll need to right-click on its icon and select close.
Bubbles appears to use less memory than Firefox when accessing some web pages like Gmail or Yahoo! Mail. But we noticed a window running Google Reader quickly grew to use 50MB. Overall Bubbles seems like a slick and easy to use alternative to Mozilla Prism. But there is room for improvement. For example, when you click on a link in a Bubble window, instead of opening a new Bubble, the program opens your default web browser, which sort of defeats the purpose if you want to do anything besides read web pages.
Bubbles has actually been around a lot longer than Prism, but it works pretty well with modern web applications and supports Greasemonkey. There's even a Gmail notifier that works even with the newer version of Gmail.
[Thanks Jim Mauro!]
Filed under: Internet, Web services, web 2.0
OpenBox: Box.net launches web app platform
Box.net is transforming from a service that lets you store your files to a service that lets you store, edit, manipulate, and share your files. That doesn't mean Box.net is getting into the online office/image editing/blogging business. Instead, the company is launching OpenBox, a platform that lets web app developers tie their services into Box.net.From a user perspective, what this means is you can upload images, text documents, spreadsheets, or other files to Box.net. Then you can click on those documents to share, download, or email them. But you can also open an image using Picnik's online image editor, or send a document as a fax using eFax.
Right now there are just a few services available, including Zoho, ThinkFree, Autodesk, Scribd, Snipshot, Zazzle, Twitter, Echosign, Picnik and eFax. But thanks to open platformy-goodness, we suspect Box.net will add a ton of services soon.
A free Box.net account nets you 1GB of online storage space. You can also get 5GB or 15GB for a monthly or annual subscription fee.
[via WebWare]
Filed under: Internet, Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Mozilla, Freeware, Open Source
Mozilla Prism now available for Mac and Linux
by Brad Linder Nov 11th 2007
The Linux build that we tested was a little wonky. Pressing F11 fails to make a window fullscreen. And Prism didn't seem to notice that Adobe Flash was installed, which made it pretty difficult to run certain web apps.
All in all, for a 0.8 release, we're not complaining. But there's still some work to be done.
[via Chip Cuccio]
Filed under: Internet, Office, Web services, Adobe, Beta, web 2.0
Adobe launches Buzzword public beta
Buzzword is a slick web application that looks unlike any other word processor we've sen. It supports tables, images and page breaks. You can create and store documents online, share them with other users, print or download them. The one thing you can't do is insert hyperlinks in a document.
[via Digital Inspiration]
Filed under: Internet, Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Web services, Mozilla, Beta
Mozilla WebRuner becomes Prism, brings web apps to the desktop
by Brad Linder Oct 26th 2007
Oh experimental applications, they grow up so quickly. It seems like just last week we were telling you about Mozilla WebRunner, a stripped down version of Firefox with no tabs or URL bar. And now WebRunner's all grown up and has a new name: Prism.OK, all grown up might be an overstatement. But Mozilla has outlined their goals for the simple web browser: to let you access web applications without firing up Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari, or whatever it is you're using to read this site.
Here's how it works. You download and install Prism. The first time you run it, a window will pop up asking you for a URL, name, and where you'd like to "install" the application. Installation basically means creating a shortcut on your desktop, Start Menu, or Quick Launch Bar. To "uninstall" a web app, just delete the shortcut.
While you could argue Prism is just a glorified way of making desktop shortcuts to web pages, something we've been able to do for years, it's a bit more than that. Because Prism doesn't feature all the bells, whistles, toolbars, and add-ons of Firefox, it's a very light weight browser. And if you just want to access Google Reader, Gmail, or Zoho, that might be enough.
Eventually, Mozilla may integrate Prism with Firefox. In other words, there would be a toolbar menu that says "make this a desktop app." Any time you visit a website that you want to open with Prism in the future, you could click a button to activate the Prism settings menu.
Filed under: Internet, Web services, Apple, iPhone
Apple unveils WebApps directory for iPhone users
While the rest of the world is still scratching their heads trying to figure out why Apple doesn't officially support third party applications on the iPhone, Steve Jobs and company wants to highlight just how many applications you can run -- by visiting web sites optimized for the iPhone.We're not saying a Web apps directory is a bad idea. In fact, it's nice to have a single place to go for a list of online services that look good on a small touch-sensitive screen. But we'd be more impressed if you could calculate tips, convert measurements, or play Soduku without firing up Safari.
And honestly, we'd have thought Apple would have put together this list as soon as the iPhone was launched and kept it up to date. As it is, dozens of 3rd party websites and blogs have started keeping track of all the applications out there.
With Halloween fast approaching, it's a great time to get in some practice defending your territory against zombies. In Graveyard Shift, you take aim at zombies and other creepy-crawlies, blasting them into splatters of cartoony green guts. It's a casual first-person shooter, and it's very easy to get the hang of - use the mouse to aim, click to fire. Graveyard Shift has at least 15 levels, and it might even have some secret stages I haven't unlocked yet.
They key to getting good at Graveyard Shift is learning to use ...
