Showing posts with label review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label review. Show all posts

Monday, November 2, 2009

Google Wave



Finally after a month of waiting, I got the invite to Google's new, hyped product "Wave". By now everyone has heard or come across the term Google Wave somewhere, if not, Google Wave is an online tool for real-time communication and collaboration.

Google Wave is a next generation email like tool, where everything is in real-time, so you can discuss and collaborate. But unlike email, all the participants must be in Google Wave. Also, they should be added to one of the waves you've created.

To begin with you need to be in Google Wave. You cannot join directly as of now as it is in a limited preview, so you need to be invited. You can get invited by either visiting this page OR by getting a invite from a friend. Both of which might take time with the current rate at which invites are being sent. You can also get a invite from me, Read on. After getting the invite, all you need is a Google/Gmail account. You will be asked to create a new one or to log into an existing one.


Once in, you will get a ID which will look like YourGmailID@googlewave.com . Your contacts from Google are added to your Wave contacts, if they are already in, that is. Creating a wave is as easy clicking 'New Wave'. Waves are how you will be communicating and collaborating with people. A wave can be both a conversation and a document where people can discuss and work together using richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more. Then you can add contacts to that wave. And you are good to go. The chat can be real-time considering your friends are online at that time. You can add photos, vids and other contents to your wave and download them too. Adding photos is as simple as drag and drop. The real-time is as real as possible with all the keystrokes and corrections.

For me Wave is a upgrade from IRC. Unlike IRC, Wave is real-time, has threaded reply so you can reply to a particular thread/comment when in Group discussion. Also its clutter-free and more professional looking.

There are a few extensions for getting something extra in Wave. Extensions include games which you can play with your friends in real-time. Few of the extensions are featured here .

Similarly lot of bots seem to be coming out for Wave. Bots like Tweety help to Tweet from Wave. All these bots are email like IDs which you have to add to your contacts and you're good to go. Will post more on Bots in next post.

If you need a invite to Google Wave contact me on Twitter or by leaving your mail ID here in the comments. I'll send you the invites. If you are already in Wave, add me to your contacts meet.naik.1988[at]googlewave[dot]com .

Until next time.
Regards,
Sumeet

Note: Due to overwhelming requests for invite and shortage of the same with me, I'll be needing your blog and profiles links to make sure you're not a bot or a troll looking for let-in. I need two links preferrably one to your blog and an open profile anywhere on any known social network(facebook, twitter). Make sure your profile is open to visitors, thats all. Hope you understand. And thanks.

Updates:
Winners have been contacted and the invites are all sent.

A similar Google Wave invite give-away is run by @Indyan and @Mrintech at here and here respectively. Enter at both the places for a better chance at getting the invite.

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Yahoo Meme


Meme by Yahoo was considered by many as a Twitter-clone but it turned out to be notch above Twitter with ability to share Photos, Videos and Music in addition to Text. Also people can comment on your posts. But having said that similarities with Twitter include a Retweet like feature of Twitter called 'Repost'. And of-course you can follow and get followed by people.

For me it was a more simpler Tumblr, but more glorified and hyped by Yahoo. There are a few default themes given for namesake. The overall look and feel is great and its way simpler and easier to use. It could very well be a competition for Tumblr, Posterous and likes of it, if not for Twitter.


My Meme

It is in Alpha stage(version) and invite based and you get the invite within a day or so if you request for one at Yahoo Meme Homepage.
But if you cant wait for Yahoo Meme invites, leave your ID's below in the comments, I'll send them asap. I've got a dozen of invite. A follow back is not necessary, if you dont want to.


Until next time.
Regards,
Sumeet

PS: Please never leave you ID in proper format anywhere on the web as it leads to spam in your inbox. Please leave Your ID in the following format your-id[at]your-provider[dot]com
For example if your ID is bigboytoby12@yahoo.com, type it as bigboytoby12[at]yahoo[dot]com

Friday, February 20, 2009

Songbird

About Songbird:

Songbird is an open-source customizable music player that's under active development. It has a built-in meta-editor. Want more, it has a fully functional browser with download manager too.

Get Started:
Download Songbird from here Its an 12MB installer. Installing is fairly simple.

On the first run you're suggested a set of add-ons which you can install later too.

Then you are presented with the interface which is quite easy to get adjusted to and you have your music added to the songbird library.
You can get add-ons for Songbird here.Few of my favourites are listed below.

Add-ons:
LyricMaster - LyricMaster retrieves lyrics, lets you save them back to the file, edit them via the metdata editor.
MediaFlow - Lets you flip through your album art.
LiveTweeter - Post your listening status and tracks played to Twitter, MSN/Windows Live Messenger, Pidgin, & Mercury.
YABS(Yet Another Black Songbird) - Is a feather/skin which gives the Songbird a beatiful black look.
iBird - Another feather which gives SongBird a iTunes look.
Album Art Manager - Album Art Manager for Songbird.
Wikipedia Extension - Displays the Wikipedia page for the current artist.
You can find more here

New Beta Builds:
Songbird 1.1 Beta 1 is Available for Testing at here.

New features in the beta release include -
*On demand Fetching of Album Artwork
*MTP Device Support

For updates and news:
http://blog.songbirdnest.com/

Until next time.
Regards,
Sumeet