Web 2.0 Solutions for all your needs
Posted by admin | Filed under Random
I’ve been using web applications a lot more recently, and I’d like to spread the word a bit about what is out there and what can be done online. I access my information from many different places so I prefer these websites that I can access from anywhere.
Flickr (Photos)
http://flickr.com
Any good photos I want to keep get put on flickr. I liked it so much, I’ve paid for a pro account. The only problem with something like flickr is many of us tend to store copies of images from websites that aren’t ours. For personal use, that’s fine – but flickr is designed to share photos we’ve taken. Basically, flickr is fantastic for shutterbugs, and not so much for web clippers. Flickr’s recently had an interface facelift too; the organizer is looking a lot better. And don’t forget to tweak the settings at http://flickr.com/account/ to fit the way you use the service – you might even discover things like posting by email or auto-rotate.
Del.icio.us (Bookmarks)
http://del.icio.us
The best-known social bookmarking website out there, and also now owned by Yahoo, I use delicious for all my bookmarks. Not only does it use tags to make it easier to find things, you can discover related sites and have your bookmarks with you all the time. While I was testing Flock, a firefox-web2.0 hybrid, delicious bookmarks were integrated into the browser, which I’m sure is the way of the future. Flock is still in beta so it was just for previewing the future, but I can’t picture anything else catching on as well. The second-place for online bookmarks goes to Windows Live Favorites (still in beta) which syncronizes your IE bookmarks with the website via the Windows Live Toolbar. I won’t open that can of worms now, but if you use IE, try the betas
Gmail (Email)
http://mail.google.com
Almost everyone knows about gmail, so this is more of a confession that I have gone with the flow and adopted it for my personal mail. Something you may not have known however is that you can keep your old email address with gmail. I have my personal @foogoo.com address setup to forward to gmail and gmail setup to show my @foogoo.com as the sender on outgoing messages. Part of the reason I use gmail is for the integration with Google Desktop (now in version 4!), which shows the latest messages on the side of my screen, all the time.
Google Calendar
http://calendar.google.com
If it wasn’t for Google Desktop, I wouldn’t be using any calendar outside of Outlook at work. Google Desktop version 4 now shows events from google calendar, which are backed up online. Plus I have an iCal address and rss feed for my calendar which I can use at other websites. The only problem so far is the lack of syncronization. There is import/export functionality, but nothing automatic – nothing that would syncronize with my pocket pc easily.
Box.net (File Storage)
http://box.net
I’ve been with box.net for a few years now and they have been reliable and lately really working hard to innovate and create. A few months ago they launched a redesigned website, and currently are the best they’ve ever been. Navigating folders and executing operations is almost instant, uploading has a variety of methods to get through, you can publicly share any file or folder, plus they are almost ready to release a desktop sync application. They’re even planning to allow posting files via email. I was lucky enough to have paid before the new version and slight price hike, but they are now offering free accounts. On top of everthing else they have been doing, they have an api now which has allowed box.net to integrate with other websites such as goowy and netvibes just for starters.
Netvibes (Homepage)
http://netvibes.com
Speaking of netvibes, they have become my new homepage. I’ve played with many customizable homepages but this one does it the best. I currently have my homepage showing my Google Calendar, new Gmail, the weather, my newest flickr photos, my box.net files, and my newest delicious bookmarks on the first tab. I have another tab for all the news. This may not be the best site to use as an rss reader, but it’s great to start the day off with.
43Things (Goals)
http://www.43things.com
Keeping with the social nature of web 2.0, 43 things aims to share goals among people and provide support for completing those goals. My goals aren’t updated as often as I’d like, but I think that’s because a list of 43 things gets to be overwhelming. Maybe I should start thinking smaller.
Tags: Freeware, Photography, Web, Web Apps 2.0
