Evil Popups
I ran into the hackademix.net blog a few days ago, and the author is reporting of a new type of Java script pop-up that can cause many users headaches, he calls it, "Pure Java, Pure Evil Popups." These pure Java script pop-ups can cover up the whole screen and also can't be closed without terminating your browser. The author recommends totaling disabling your web browser's Java script and only enabling them on trusted sites.
Visit the article for additional information and also neat examples of the pop-ups in action.
Put Your Documants Online with Scribd
I was reading Full Circle Magazine today, an Ubuntu magazine, when I noticed a neat feature on their site. FCM publishes a preview of the full PDF within a embedded document reader, examples can be seen here or at the bottom of the page. Read the rest of this entry »
Have a Great Idea? Spigit!
Lets face it, we all have had a great idea that others thought stank or ideas that really did stink but everyone else thought was great. How do you weed out bad ideas from the good? How do you test your ideas before putting it into action? This is where Spigit comes to the rescue with its concept showcasing platform. Read the rest of this entry »
Google Maps - Mapplets
Google Maps has come a long way with it’s satellite photographs, Traffic report, My Maps, and Street View. Now let’s prepare our selves for Mapplets.
Mapplets provides the user’s My Maps menu with additional tools. Some of the tools, or Mapplets, are provided by Google and others are third party tools. Let’s take a look at these tools provided as of this writing.
Tangler
Tangler is fairly new and it is the first Ajax based and real-time messaging board service that I have touched upon. As mentioned, Tangler is built with Ajax and allows users to interact with each other like any other message board, except the interaction is done in real-time similar to an instant messenger.
Rumboard is back!
Hello everyone,
If you used to visit Rumboad.com often, you would have noticed that the blog has not been updated for a while. I was preoccupied with other things but now decided to once more write for Rumboard. To kick things off, I have added a new theme, hope it is liked. 
Like always, your feed back serves as motivation and helps improve Rumboard.
Learn to use Linux today with linuxreality.com
Microsoft’s Windows can be a head ache for most of us. With a constant barrage of viruses, exploits, bugs, and unexpected crashes, most people would love an alternative to this crippled operating system. The problem, of course, is that our communities have become dependent on Windows. In fact, most PC users have never used another OS other then Microsoft Windows. It is time that we change this fact and put our selves on the right path to community driven software. I am speaking of Free Software.
Linux is a great Free (both in cost and in freedoms), powerful, and reliable operating system that everyone is capable of using. Of course many may be timid to jump into a new OS, especially Linux. Many say that Linux is just too hard. The truth is that Linux is very simple to use, all you need is a source of information that can guide you the initial shock. As a drug addict needs to kick bad habits in order to live healthier, a new Linux user needs to kick many bad habits in order to work more productively with their PCs.
linuxreality.com is a podcast create and hosted by Chess Griffin. The purpouse of linuxreality is to educate the new Linux user on how to use the system and also to make users aware of different software that can be used to accomplish different goals in the Linux operating system. This week’s, September 20th, episodes includes a discussion regarding various web browsers for the Linux system. All episodes are published in both ogg and mp3 audio formats.
Read Blogs in your NativeText
Nativetext is a very interesting concept in the RSS field. What this service provides is simply, a translation of any RSS feed into your native tongue. The difference between this service and other translation services is the fact that the translations are created by humans, not machines.
Registration for Nativetext is currently closed and will open soon.
If you know of any other service similar to Nativetext, please post it in the comments.
eBible.com
eBible.com has finally left private beta testing and has opened its doors. Users can now use and register for an accounts at eBible.com
What is eBible.com?
eBible.com is a service that allows users to read different translation of the Holy Bible (similar to biblegateway). Apart from containing different translations of the Bible, eBible.com also contains Bible dictionaries, commentaries and encyclopedias free of charge. In additions, users with accounts can bookmark passages, tag passages, and take notes of passages. Users can also interact with each other by means of communities. I have yet to try out the community function within eBible.com but, as I understand it, users are given three invites with new invites given to you every so often. You in turn invite your friends to your community. Once you have members in your community, I suppose that all the members will be able to share tags, notes, and other information with each other.
Key features of eBible.com:
- Search the Bible
- Read the Bible
- View Bible outline
- Read multiple Bible translations in parallel
- Bible Bookmarks
- Tag bookmarks
- Save personal notes
- View commentaries
Dodgeball.com
Dodgeball.com is a social network targeting mobile phone users. Users of the service send a text message to Dodgeball (36343) stating their current location. Dodgeball, in turn, broadcasts the user’s location to all of his or her friends (that are also using the service). The benefit is, as one can see, that you can share your location with a group of people. The service also notifies you if you are near a friend. Apart from sharing your location, the user also has the option to look up the address of a location or broadcast a text message to everyone in their friends list.
Of course, everything is done via text messaging which means that you better have a good text messaging plan. In my opinion, the service doesn’t seem very practical. For one thing, you have to enter the location manually via a text message which can become tedious after a while. Second, the location has to be entered into Dodgeball’s database manually via a web browser, in other words, if users haven’t entered a particular location before, Dodgeball will not know that it exists.
Another set of problems is the fact that if you enter three or four friends, every time your friends change locations, you will be swamped with text messages declaring your friend’s new location. Of course you can have Dodgeball email you your friend’s location instead of sending you a text message.
Dodgeball might not be for everyone but I do think it is especially useful for parents who what to keep a tab on their children’s where-abouts. For example, a child can use Dodgeball to declare their location. The parent will then have a log of their child’s location plus address and phone number of the location and if the parent is near a computer, he or she can view the child’s location on Google maps. Of course the child’s information will be hidden from everyone else. Only the child’s parent will be able to access this information (a couple of option need to be changed).
