Computonimbus - Life is Just a Series of Tubes

Namechk

2009-04-08T19:39:00.006-04:00

If you're like me, and you sign up for untold numbers of online services, you could definitely use a tool like Namechk.

In classic Web 2.0 fashion, it's dropped a couple of letters from its name, but it does exactly what you think it does.

Just type in your preferred username, and it checks 84 different online services, sites, and communities to see if that name is available.

It works well as far as I'm concerned, although I don't remember signing up for Squidoo. Is it possible there is another myklbee out there?

Credit to WebWare, which is apparently now a CNET property. Who knew?

Google Voice/GrandCentral

2009-04-08T18:52:00.006-04:00

So when Grand Central first hit, of course I signed up for an invite. I got it, and never logged in. As we all know, Google bought it, and who knew. Was it gonna go the way of Dodgeball (Rest in Peace, yo), or would it get the Writely treatment?

Well, let me tell you. Google has now reopened it as Google Voice. I immediately went into the ol' email archives and dusted off that invite. It still worked, so signed up I did. Now, for the last two or three weeks, I've been logging in each day to this:

I'm not patient person...

We'll Do it Live! [First Thoughts About Chrome]

2008-09-02T16:10:00.000-04:00

Just downloaded and installed Chrome... the whole process took under 2 minutes, including importing my bookmarks. So far it's crazy fast, super cool and brings a tear to my eye. It feels like the future. there are several obvious bugs (which I intend to happily report, if I can find where) but there are just as many little touches that make the whole experience really pop.

Take this for example:

It's little, but it grays out the nonsense of the URL and only gives you the core. I like that.

I don't really see a bookmark manager of any kind at first glance, and I don't like that double clicking in the tab bar doesn't pull a new tab. Other than that, I have faith that my problems, and what additions I'm looking for will be fixed or fulfilled to satisfaction in the future.

My first step is trying to use it for anything personal that I do during business hours (chat, email, Reader, etc...) as I can't use it for work sites (no IE only support)

More to come, count on it.

More Chrome Talk

2008-09-02T14:40:00.000-04:00

I imaging you'll be hearing a lot about Chrome from me as I'm getting super excited about it. Over at Download Squad, they have another discussion of Chrome and what it truly means. I encourage anyone to check it out.

Why Wasn't I Told About This?

2008-09-02T14:05:00.001-04:00

http://www.reddit.com/r/bacon/

Bippity Boppity... Bacon

Making the Switch: Trillian to Meebo (Part 2: The Aftermath)

2008-09-02T09:42:00.002-04:00

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about switching from Trillian to Meebo. It's taken a little longer than I expected to truly test drive the web based multi-chat client, largely due to the fact that I don't do a lot of "chatting" these days. I pushed through however. I forced myself load it up while I was working, or just catching up on Reader. So was Meebo everything I thought it would be? Was it everything it should be? The answers are yes... and no... I was expecting nothing more than an adequate web based chat client that could take the place of Trillian Pro and in that sense I was not disappointed. Meebo offers few features, but what it does, it does well. The individual chat windows are able to be moved around a virtual desktop to your liking which I most certainly appreciate. The color scheme is customizable which while not being exceptionally functional, is also a big selling point for me and would be for any other people that are distracted if a scheme doesn't flow well. In fact the only real downside to Meebo is something of a paradox. It's missing some features that would be extremely welcome but on the flipside, it's a totally free web app barely hindered by its minimal ad placement. Meebo's fine for me and I've completely uninstalled Trillian, but for IM junkies, it might seem a little gimped. All I'll say is that the way to get more features and functionality is to use it. Advertising revenue allows the development of everything that's currently missing and these are the types of sacrifices we have to make for the sake of the cloud.

Give it a shot. If it's not for you, use it anyway and quit complaining, when was the last time you developed anything? At the very least, check out the map and prepare for assimilation.

Google Sucks Me Into Chrome With Unthinkably Adorable Comic

2008-09-02T09:15:00.003-04:00

I must say I'm more than a little intrigued by Google Chrome. But to be honest, it seems less like a competitor for Firefox or IE and more like the opening shots of a full on war on Windows. Five years from now, a PC will need nothing more than file access and a browser, I think Google has foreseen this as well and are preparing for battle.

Google has put the Chrome guide into a (surprisingly readable) comic available here.

*As if the gods themselves were speaking to me, Firefox inexplicably crashed while I was writing this without so much as an error message. So, I had to rewrite this entire thing because I didn't save a draft which is a shame because the first post I wrote just so happened to be the greatest blog post in the world.... This unfortunately, isn't the greatest blog post in the world, this is just a tribute.

Somebody Please Make This Happen

2008-08-27T11:24:00.000-04:00

I've got a couple hundred websites of various online shops bookmarked in Firefox. I've got them divided up by category. (Clothes, gadgets, etc...) But I want to see an online visualization, it doesn't have to be TOO complicated, that allows me to browse each shop (even if it's just the name of the store and the category) when I want to peruse some commerce.

Make it happen internets, GO.

WhatTheFont Takes the Guesswork Out of Font Replication [Information That Could Have Been Brought to My Attention Yesterday]

2008-08-26T10:45:00.011-04:00

Among the useless pieces of paper hanging on my wall are a cinematic poster for the greatest movie of all time, something to keep me motivated, and a degree in graphic design. The latter taught me less than the other two put together, but during my tenure as a CGD student, I was frequently asked to emulate other companies ads and logos to placate different "instructors" who couldn't think of any other assignments to keep us busy while they browsed the internet. Most of the time, this meant a good portion of my time was spent identifying which font they were even using. One of our favorite sites, Download Squad just posted about a web based font indentification tool which could have saved me lots of time and money spent on ulcer medication.

WhatTheFont allows you to upload or link to an image with the font you want to identify and does the legwork for you. To try and give it a bit more of a challenge, I used an image that had been wordarted to see if it would still be able to ascertain the source. I was not disappointed.

Once you upload the image, you're brought to a character selection screen used to clarify that the letters it thinks it sees are the letters it's supposed to see. This seems to work fairly well, I had to manually enter or change a few of them before clicking the search button.

Assuming everything goes to plan the next screen shows a list of font possibilities (hopefully) sorted by accuracy. My font was clearly the first choice and, though the other possibilities weren't necessary, I definitely appreciate knowing that they're going to provide several options if the first one doesn't cut it.

It works so I'm happy. Now if i could just get a site to pay back the 30 thousand in school loans the degree cost me, I could move on. Oh well , "Hang in There Baby."

Source - Download Squad

Making the Switch: Trillian to Meebo (Part 1)

2008-08-14T11:33:00.005-04:00

Not so long ago, before apps started moving in the Cloud, consolidation was the name of the game. Dorks like me got excited about any single application which did the job of multiple other apps. This was never more pronounced than the coalescence of chat clients. I used to simultaneously run AIM, MSN Messenger, Yahoo Messenger and ICQ just to keep in touch with various friends across all the clients. Then came GAIM and Trillian, apps which allowed all the clients I used to be accessed through one (mostly) intuitive interface. I never cared much for GAIM or Pidgin (though I know people who swear by it), but in Trillian, I believed to have found the only multi-chat client I'd ever need. ~~Unfortunately~~ Fortunately for me, I write for a blog about cloud computing and that compels me to assume the role of guinea pig and try web alternatives to traditionally installed apps.

I first heard about Meebo quite some time ago, but never really though much more about it, I used it barely long enough to create a master account and have a few conversations when other chat options weren't available. Now though, I've decided to give it a real go. I'll use Meebo exclusively for a week and write about it again. If the benefits outweigh the problems, I'll stick with it, uninstall Trillian and move that much closer to life in the cloud.

Amazon's Wish List Goes Intergalactic

2008-08-13T10:37:00.004-04:00

I'm ~~ridiculously~~ a little obsessive about bookmarks. I save practically everything I come across that I think I might ever want to remember. Most of it gets meticulously filed away in a truly impressive folder tree never to be seen again. Sometimes though, I add something to my "To Buy" folder, another tick in the ever-growing list of crap I'll probably never get around to buying.
I've been reading the last couple of days about the "universalization" of the Amazon Wish List and decided this morning to give it a go.

Having never utilized the Wish List before, step one was creating the appropriate lists to file all my items into. I made 8 different lists labeled appropriately (Wardrobe, Gadgets, Etc..) and I was ready to go.

Adding the shortcut was as simple as dragging a link from the Amazon page to my Firefox toolbar. Then, just pull up a product page you want to add to the Wish List and click the button. You're met with a dialog box with a few options including which list, a description and picture of the product and the cost of the item.

Once you add the item, you're asked whether you want to view the list now or continue shopping. Pick one and you're done.

So far today, I've moved everything from my "To Buy" folders into my wish lists and I'm sifting through all the other products I've saved over the years to figure out which of those I'd like to keep. The biggest advantage I've seen so far has to be the thumbnail image associated with each entry. Hopefully, this will help me start buying some of this crap so I can get bored of it and give it away.