Useful iPhone Apps [List]

MUSIC - RADIO:
- CBS Radio (iTunes)
- FlyCast (iTunes)
- imeem Mobile (iTunes)
- Last.fm (iTunes)
- Pandora (iTunes)
- Public Radio Player (iTunes)
- Rhapsody (iTunes)
- SHOUTcast Radio (iTunes)
- Slacker (iTunes)
- Spotify (iTunes)
- Tuner (iTunes)
- TuneWiki (iTunes)

MUSIC - STORAGE:
- Airband (iTunes)

MUSIC - RECOGNITION:
- Midomi - SoundHound (iTunes)
- Shazam (iTunes)
- TinEye Music (iTunes)

COMMERCE:
- Chase Mobile (iTunes)
- Citi Mobile (iTunes)
- MasterCard - ATM Hunter (iTunes)
- PayPal Mobile (iTunes)
- Quicken Online Mobile (iTunes)
- Transactions (iTunes)

STOCK-MARKET:
- Bloomberg (iTunes)
- DailyFinance (iTunes)
- E*TRADE Mobile Pro (iTunes)

VOIP:
- fring (iTunes)
- iCall (iTunes)
- Nimbuzz (iTunes)
- Skype (iTunes)
- truphone (iTunes)

COMMUNICATION:
- AIM (Free Edition) (iTunes)
- CallSpark (iTunes)
- Dial Zero (iTunes)
- Facebook (iTunes)
- GV Mobile Free (iTunes)
- LinkedIn (iTunes)
- Loopt (iTunes)
- MySpace Mobile (iTunes)
- SugrCard (iTunes)

TEST-MESSAGING:
- Quick SMS (iTunes)
- Textfree Lite (iTunes)
- textPlus (iTunes)

STATUS-UPDATES:
- Echofon (iTunes)
- GeoTweeter (iTunes)
- TweetDeck (iTunes)
- TwitterFon (iTunes)

PHOTOGRAPHY:
- Cooliris (iTunes)
- GazoPa (iTunes)
- iSynth (iTunes)
- Seadragon (iTunes)
- Snapture (iTunes)

PHOTO-UPLOADS:
- Flickit (iTunes)
- PixelPipe (iTunes)
- Radar (iTunes)

PASSWORD/ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT:
- AT&T - myWireless Mobile (iTunes)
- Pageonce - Cell Minute Tracker (iTunes)
- Pageonce - Personal Productivity Assistant (iTunes)
- Verisign - VIP Access (iTunes)

TASK-MANAGERS / NOTEPADS:
- Action Method (iTunes)
- Evernote (iTunes)
- Note Me (iTunes)
- reQall (iTunes)
- Tiki'Notes (iTunes)

SHOPPING AIDS:
- Amazon Mobile (iTunes)
- RedLaser (iTunes)
- SevenSnap (iTunes)
- ShopSavvy (iTunes)
- ShopShop - Shopping List (iTunes)
- Snaptell (iTunes)
- Wired - Product Reviews (iTunes)

ENTERTAINMENT:
- Babelgum (iTunes)
- Flixster Movies (iTunes)
- i.TV (iTunes)
- Jaman (iTunes)
- Joost (iTunes)
- Livestation - Al Jazeera (iTunes)
- TV.com (iTunes)

REMOTES:
- Boxee (iTunes)
- Remote (iTunes)

EBOOKS:
- Kindle (iTunes)
- Kobo (iTunes)
- Panelfly (iTunes)
- Stanza (iTunes)

NEWS:
- 1Cast (iTunes)
- All Things Digital (iTunes)
- AP Mobile News Network (iTunes)
- Bloomberg (iTunes)
- DailyFinance (iTunes)
- DVICE (iTunes)
- MSNBC (iTunes)
- my6sense (iTunes)
- NYTimes (iTunes)
- Phantom Fish - Byline (iTunes)
- Regator (iTunes)
- TED (iTunes)
- Thomson Reuters (iTunes)
- USA Today (iTunes)
- Wall Street Journal Mobile Reader (iTunes)

WIKI SEARCH:
- Wikiamo (iTunes)
- Wikipanion (iTunes)
- WikiTap (iTunes)
- Wapedia (iTunes)

SEARCH:
- bing (iTunes)
- Dragon (iTunes)
- Google Mobile (iTunes)
- Taptu (iTunes)
- Vlingo (iTunes)
- Yahoo! inquisitor (iTunes)
- Yahoo! Mobile (iTunes)

APARTMENT/HOUSING SEARCH:
- PadMapper (iTunes)
- PadMapper Lite (iTunes)
- Zillow (iTunes)

TRAVEL:
- Kayak (iTunes)
- WorldMate (iTunes)

DOCUMENT/DATA VIEWER:
- Discover (iTunes)
- Documents to Go (iTunes)
- JotNot (iTunes)
- MindMeister (iTunes)
- QuickOffice (iTunes)
- RoamBi - Visualizer (iTunes)
- Soonr (iTunes)

SPACE:
- Google Earth (iTunes)
- Planets (iTunes)

RESTAURANTS/NIGHTLIFE:
- AroundMe (iTunes)
- buzzd (iTunes)
- Center'd (iTunes)
- Going (iTunes)
- OpenTable (iTunes)
- UpNext (iTunes)
- UrbanSpoon (iTunes)
- Yelp (iTunes)
- YPmobile (iTunes)

STARBUCKS:
- myStarbucks (iTunes)
- Starbucks Card Mobile (iTunes)

AUGMENTED REALITY
- acrossair (iTunes)
- Bionic Eye (iTunes)
- Layar (iTunes)
- Robotvision (iTunes)
- Wikitude (iTunes)

TRANSIT:
- Aha Mobile (iTunes)
- car2go (iTunes)
- MapQuest (iTunes)
- MotionX-GPS (iTunes)
- MotionX-GPS Lite (iTunes)
- Navigon (iTunes)
- Taxi! (iTunes)
- TomTom (iTunes)
- Viper SmartStart (iTunes)
- Waze (iTunes)
- XROAD - G-Map for iPhone (iTunes)
- ZipCar (iTunes)

CLASSIFIEDS/JOBS:
- CareerBuilder (iTunes)
- JobCompass (iTunes)
- Next Mobile Web - High Paying Jobs (iTunes)

GAMES:
- Cube (iTunes)
- Doom: Resurrection (iTunes)
- Eliminate (iTunes)
- F.A.S.T. (iTunes)
- Genkii (iTunes)
- Myst (iTunes)
- Wolfenstein 3D Classic (iTunes)

WEATHER:
- AccuTerra (iTunes)
- The Weather Channel (iTunes)

MISCELLANEOUS:
- Dictionary.com (iTunes)
- FedEx Mobile for iPhone (iTunes)
- iPassConnect - iPass Global Wi-Fi (iTunes)
- iTrage (iTunes)
- RunKeeper (iTunes)
- SOPODS - Full Screen Web Browser (iTunes)
- Trend Micro - Smart Surfing (iTunes)

APPS FOR JAILBREAK:
- blackra1n
- CyDelete
- Five Icon Dock
- IntelliScreen / Lock Calendar
- iphone-backgrounder
- Marathon Touch
- MCleaner
- Orbit
- qTweeter
- Quake4iPhone
- ScummVM
- WeatherIcon

WEB APPS:
- AjaxLife (direct)
- Amtrak (direct)
- Meebo (direct)
- MyBudge (direct)
- MyTVShows (direct)
- zcapes (direct)

Stuff Apple iPhone/iTunes Should Fix

WHAT TO FIX:
- iTunes should provide an easier way to organize the iPhone's applications (example: App Management in iTunes)
- iTunes should allow the management of iPhone application settings (for easier inputting of complicated passwords)
- Give applications the option to run in the background

RELATED NEWS/LINKS:
- MobileCrunch - 8 Little Things We Still Can’t Stand About the iPhone
- The Industry Standard - Nine really frustrating things about the iPhone
- PleaseFixTheiPhone

Stuff Google Reader Should Fix

I'm pretty sure any and all information obsessed people are using Google Reader by now. The thing though is that despite how great it is there are still some pretty annoying issues with it. A lot of these options no doubt shouldn't be added to everybody's account, but instead should be handled like Gmail with the lab projects.

WHAT TO FIX:
- Add filter options (to block unwanted news and better organize news, example: Google Reader Filter, FeedHub)
- Add an option to customize the keyboard controls
- When searching, dig deeper into articles
- Qualitatively rank news (example: AideRSS, PostRank)
- Consolidate similar news items and only show the most informative source unless I want to dig deeper
- Stop accepting article updates as new news
- Stop screwing up the times of articles, just date the article as it is posted not as I change the tags or whatever else
- Stop erasing my tags when I star an article
- Integrate a preview option
- Provide a list for reviewing which articles you just looked at regardless of when they were received
- Enable the “Send mail as” feature from Gmail
- Support password protected feeds (example: FreeMyFeed)
- Enable expiration options (for high volume blogs)
- While in "List" view mode the scrollwheel should high-light one article at a time

WHAT HAS BEEN FIXED:
- While searching allow editing of tags in list/expanded view

Stuff Facebook Should Fix

If go to the applications page you'll see that you can add a bookmark to Causes and Groups but not Pages. There's also a number of other problems that just drive me nuts which I've listed below.

WHAT TO FIX:
- Add a "Recently Added" link to the actual friends page
- Add "Pages" to the "Authorized" applications page
- Add "Pages" to the "Wall Permissions" applications page
- Add "Pages" to the tab-bar (along-side Photos, Causes, Boxes)
- Make it possible to add a bookmark to "Pages" just like you can with Causes and Groups
- Split the "Authorized" applications page with a Facebook default apps section (not a new page just add a header for default apps with all the Facebook default stuff)
- The "Wall Permissions" section lists old apps you've removed from your Facebook (they might as well rename it the history page)

NOTE: When I say bookmark I'm talking about that little bar at the bottom of Facebook where you can stick quick-access links to your Facebook apps.

Does MySpace hate the Groups feature? (Profile 2.0)

Go check out the brand-new profile editor and you'll see what I'm talking about, no groups module and no links to your groups. Practically the only way to get to the groups part of the website is through the "More" menu. Once you get to the groups page you still have to click once again if you want to see only your groups.

WHAT TO FIX:
- Add a groups module to the new profile editor (preferably make the module look identical to the "Friend Space" module)
- Add a "My Groups" link in the Profile menu
- Add a groups link next to "View My:" on your profile
- Fix the "My Groups" page, it's miscounting the number of active-groups (dead groups seem to still get counted)

Google Android - Future Devices

Since I'm having a difficult time remembering what devices are in the pipe for Google's Android, I thought I should compile what I do know. So far HTC is the only company with a product on the market and Motorola is apparently not going to have anything until Christmas of 2009.

DEVICE MAKERS:
Archos
Asustek
Garmin
General Mobile
GiiNii
HTC (T-Mobile site)
Huawei Technologies
Kogan Technologies
Lenovo
Motorola
OpenMoko (official site)
Samsung

UNOFFICIAL DEVICE MAKERS:
Nokia

Consolidation of the Linux cellphone OSs

Considering how much consolidation has took place in the last year, I thought it'd be worthwhile to make a list of all the acquisitions. So far this is as many as I've come up with.

NEWS LINKS:
- Wind River buys Mizi Research
- Intel buys OpenedHand
- Nokia buys Symbian
- Nokia buys Trolltech
- Microsoft buys Danger
- Access buys PalmSource
- Google buys Android

Web Innovations [list]

Below are some of the most intriguing innovations when it comes to enhancing productivity. I've gathered as many of them as possible but other examples exist.

DATA-RETRIEVAL/EXTRACTION:
- CoScripter
- iOpus iMacros (Firefox add-on)
- Kirix Strata
- OutWit Technologies (Firefox add-on)

BLOG ADD-ONS:
- DashBlog
- Wordpress.com Sidebar
- Zemanta

FIREFOX SEARCH ADD-ONS:
- FastestFox
- Juice
- Qitera Assist
- SimilarWeb
- Veoh Video Compass

EMAIL ADD-ONS:
- Gist
- gwabbit
- Xobni

RICH INTERNET APPLICATIONS:
- Adobe AIR
- Appcelerator Titanium
- CloudStack
- JavaFX
- Microsoft - Silverlight

SITE-SPECIFIC BROWSERS:
- Bubbles
- Fluid
- Gabtastik
- Mozilla Prism

COMMAND-LINE TOOLS:
- ActiveWords
- CloudSH
- Devo (Firefox add-on)
- Humanized Enso
- Keyboardr
- Kwyno
- Mozilla Ubiquity (Firefox add-on)
- PodiPodi
- YubNub

BOOKMARK SLIDESHOWS:
- Agglom (Firefox add-on)
- Bookmark Previews (Firefox add-on)
- Favthumbs
- Flem (Firefox add-on)
- Flowgram
- MyJugaad.in
- Player.icio.us
- Qitera
- Viewista
- WebMynd (Firefox add-on)

OVERLAYS:
- AdaptiveBlue - SmartLinks
- Apture
- bit.ly Preview (Firefox add-on)
- CoolPreviews (Firefox add-on)
- Deckkr Rollscreen
- DocStoc - DocShots
- headup (Firefox add-on)
- HHOTT (Internet Explorer add-on)
- iGlue (Firefox add-on)
- Interclue (Firefox add-on)
- Issuu - Smart Look
- Kallout
- KwiClick (Firefox add-on)
- LiveWorld
- Lizzer
- MashLogic (Firefox add-on)
- Microsoft - Gaze
- panels
- ProfileSnaps
- Popego (??)
- PopIn (Firefox add-on)
- Snap
- Sphere
- SpinSpotter
- stix.to
- Veoh Video Compass (Firefox add-on)
- Viewdle
- Vysr

INTERNET TV:
- Adobe - Open Screen Project
- Chumby
- Microsoft - Mediaroom
- SONY - BRAVIA Internet Video Link
- TVBLOB
- Yahoo! Connected TV
- YourScreen
- ZillionTV

Why DOS was better for gamers than Windows...

I have to admit my first experience with Windows started with Windows 3.1 on an emulation program called SoftWindows, yes it was slow as hell and the first game I played was Day of the Tentacle. I grew up using Mac OS for games and when I first used Windows I thought it was pretty ridiculous that you had to go back and forth between DOS and Windows. In fact when I first used Windows 95 I thought their plans were to keep DOS around for gaming purposes. However, now that it's a decade later and I'm using Windows Vista, I know that was never what they intended. No instead I now play games for as long as Windows will let me before it shuts my game down without even so much as an error prompt to tell me why.

My reasons for a return to a DOS-like environment for gaming is simple:
- it reduces the number of system resources used to just those needed
- doesn't allow other Windows programs to prompt you while playing games (especially those pesky anti-spyware programs)
- it's brain-dead simple

Sideloading, the future of downloading

I have to give credit to Amazon and Michael Robertson for this idea. I say Michael Robertson because he created the SideLoad website which is where I draw inspiration from for this concept. I also mention Amazon because I've read articles in the past about how they are or were wanting to allow customers to keep a digital copy of all their purchases online. This will gain more relevance to Amazon as they move more and more of their inventory to digital content.

Overall the concept is simple, you go around the internet and save your purchases to a storage space in the cloud (as everyone likes to say). The difference is that this more easily enables you to share things with others to see. In some ways this conflicts with my idea that everything should be available via an unlimited subscription model. However, I'm gonna stay on the safe side and anticipate that they'll still be a strong demand for people to feel like they have some sort of personal ownership.

Does Sony's PS3 movie service really need the other movie picture companies?

There has been some talk that Sony's plan to add movies to the PS3 is in trouble without the other movie companies on board. For instance, this was mentioned on the The Game Reviews blog where they state "it is obvious that Sony will need their support in order to give the service any real weight." I have to laugh at this type of concern. The reason is simple, look at all the other online movie services (ex. MovieLink, CinemaNow). If Sony can guarantee that their whole archive of movies will be available in HD (720p at least) over the internet, they won't need anybody else's archive of movies. Then the other movie companies will be desperate to get their content onto the system just like with iTunes.

However if this is going to be another half-baked service, then yes they need other companies to offer their own half-baked archive of movies too.

Access vs Ownership

In grade school kids often make a big deal about the things they own or think they own. The same goes for some adults as well. However, the future should largely rule this argument irrelevant. I'm betting the future will consist of content distributed based on access rights instead of ownership.

Movies (example: Netflix)
Renting and buying movies will likely no longer exist in the future. Netflix currently has the best example of the future model. If you subscribe to Netflix you can get unlimited access to movies online. Yes that's unlimited just the way it should be. This also means that streaming is the best solution, it also helps cut down on the illegal distribution problems. The only problem is that there aren't enough movies available at the moment, which I blame on the ignorant MPAA and the old-fashioned movie rental businesses like Blockbuster.

Games (example: OnLive, Gakai)
These services are still somewhat unproven but both present the best examples of the future and of what to expect years down the road.

Music (example: Rhapsody, Napster, Kazaa)
Most music retailers are moving to a DRM-free model, which is great and I totally appreciate the change, but in the end I still feel an unlimited-access subscription-based model will be the best bet. Even TechCrunch wisely states, "Streaming music may be the way of the future - especially when reliable and fast wireless technology becomes ubiquitous" which is totally in line with what I've been preaching.

Magazines / Newspapers
This is probably the only thing that doesn't really need streaming but the unlimited-access subscription model certainly still applies. In the case of magazines/newspapers, digital copies of all back issues should be available to subscribers and should also be easily searched. To this day Zinio is one of the most complete digital magazine services I've used.

Advantages of Streaming
- No worries about having enough storage space
- No worries about people stealing (sure I can record my computer screen but for games that's never gonna pass)
- Fewer worries about customers having the appropriate hardware
- More environmentally friendly
- If unlimited, no worries about usage issues

Companies back from the dead

Not to sound like a jerk but I really am surprised that these businesses are coming back to life. I tend to wonder what brings some businesses back to life, after all they failed don't most people like to throw insults and dance on the graves of failures? So anyway I know there are a couple other businesses that have risen from the dead recently which I can't remember (I'll add more as I come across them). So here are the two that I can remember. The only reason I know Bolt is back again is only because they emailed me, otherwise I haven't heard any of the usual blogs (TechCrunch, Mashable) say a thing.

Nau
This company makes a lot of well designed apparel using environmentally friendly methods/materials. While their designs were great I always questioned their pricing. Perhaps now it'll be a bit different this time around. One other problem from before was the over-use of Flash for their website design, and unfortunately they are still over-using it on the new site. Seriously people stop with the Flash. I have always felt that Flash was great for promotional purposes and I still do. However, using it for your whole website is just crazy unless your website is some sort of elaborate Flash-based application (example: Pandora).

Bolt
Overall Bolt never really offered anything that amazed me much. Nothing really distinguishes it over other networking sites. Why does that matter? I'd say because there are already several good general-interest networking sites like MySpace and Facebook. I only get excited these days when I find a well done networking site that is focused on a niche that I care about.

Sharper Image
The brick-and-mortar stores annoyed me, but their website has actually been a regular resource for me to find things I'm searching for. If they stick with just the website this time around they should do fine but the stores were tacky. Now if only Brookstone would drop their retail act. (Oops nevermind Engadget is already reporting that they will live on as just a brand. Which is practically the worst possible thing they could do.)

Moviebeam - ADDED July 14, 2008
I was kind of happy when this company went under, mainly because it required purchasing another practically useless set-top-box. These things still use wires, ya know. I'd say the only set-top-box worth buying is either an Xbox or PS3, which are game consoles that double as many other things. What gets me though is that people are still trying to make money off boxes you plug into your TV. Talk about re-inventing the wheel, there's a box that already does everything it's called a computer. If more companies would integrate software like Splashtop, then I'd hear even more people agreeing with me.

Webcam Gesture Control & Security Software

These days almost everybody has a webcam integrated into their mobile computer, so why not find more uses for it right? Below are some great tools for using your webcam as a sort of mouse-like tool. Most of the programs will track your head movement, some track eye movement, and others (like CamSpace) track any object you tell it to.

So far I haven't tried any of these but as soon as I do I'll be sure to elaborate more on their functionality. So far I've signed up for the CamSpace beta, but haven't been invited yet.

GESTURE:
- CamSpace (in beta stage)
- EyeTwig
- Handsfree 3D
- Kubree - Virtual Viewpoint
- Mgestyk
- uMouse
- VR-Wear

SECURITY:
- Crime Catcher
- Dorgem (how-to)

Application Shortcuts (Windows Start menu, Mac OS X dock)

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that all operating systems have inefficient ideas about accessing applications.

Windows Start menu:
Take a look through the Program Files folder on your C: drive. Now take a look through your Windows Start menu Programs folder. Is one really any cleaner or more functional than the other? How could this be fixed? My belief is that the Start menu should access the Program Files folder directly. This means no more ridiculous shortcuts. Another possible solution is a kind of option that just searches your computer for any and all .exe files. I've had multiple occurrences where the Start menu shortcuts created more problems than they solved. I know some people will be all like "I never had problems" then call me dumb. Sure is great to be ignorant, but that doesn't fix anything.

Mac OS dock:
Sure it's convenient, but only if it has just a few apps on it. Once you start adding shortcuts to everything you start making it's purpose redundant. Why not organize your apps folder into categories, which happens to be more easily done in Mac OS than it is in any other OS. Then put those folder/app categories in your dock and just like that no more shuffling stupid dock shortcuts. If you install a new application, guess what? You don't have to add another shortcut, hooray!

Overall my argument is about redundancies. Why recreate data or content constantly when you can just pull that data from somewhere else? After all it can't be any worse than out-right copying other's content.

Current Trends in Play

Below are just some of the technologies getting a lot of attention recently. Some things like GPUs are in a tight spot because of how the market is changing. Intel wants in on everybody else's turf (SSDs, WiFi/WiMax, GPUs) by bundling their own technologies with their processors. Meanwhile, companies like NVIDIA are getting pretty angry and firing back by partnering with competing CPU companies like Centaur Technology (owned by Via Technologies). NVIDIA may very well buyout Centaur Technology, so don't be surprised if some day your computer has "NVIDIA Inside" instead of Intel.

TRENDS:
- Alternative energy solutions
    - Algae fuel
    - Cellulosic ethanol
    - Solar concentrating PV
    - Solar thermal
    - Waves
- All-in-one (audio+GPU+CPU+physics) chipsets
- External GPUs
    - ATI - XGP
    - ASUS - ROG XG Station
    - MSI - Luxium
- High-Performance-Computing
    - NVIDIA - Tesla
    - ATI - Stream Computing
    - FASTRA
    - ClearSpeed
    - Tilera
    - SpursEngine
- Mobile GPU chipsets
    - ARM - Mali
    - ATI - Imageon
    - NVIDIA - Tegra
- Mobile gaming
    - StreamMyGame
    - Vollee
- Multi-Communication Processors
    - ASOCS
    - NXP - Nexperia PNX6910
- WiFi PAN
    - Ozmo Devices
    - TransferJet
- Instant-on / Web OS
    - Google - Chrome OS
    - Jolicloud
    - Moblin
    - Phoenix - HyperSpace
    - Splashtop
- Opensource smartphone OS
    - Android
    - OpenMoko

SecondLife on smartphones (Vollee, Second Life, StreamMyGame)

As of now, if you're lucky enough to own the right cellphone (darn no iPhone, oh like I care), you can play SecondLife on your cellphone simply by installing Vollee's client. If your skeptical, don't be this is using technology that has been tried before and really isn't that difficult to understand. Basically Vollee handles the rendering and processing while your cellphone or random mobile device acts as a client. No big deal, hell if you're really excited and don't own one of the phones required you can still try screwing around with another similar technology called StreamMyGame. The difference though is that with StreamMyGame you own the required equipment to offload the processing and you have to have already purchased/installed the games you want to play.

DOWNLOADS:
- Vollee - SecondLife Client
- StreamMyGame

What Microsoft should add to Windows 7

As usual, I'm just gonna list these things.

FEATURES:
- Applications should be managed in layers (example: Sandboxie)
- Windows Lite install option without: Windows Mail, Windows Calendar, etc. (example: vLite)
- Virtualized browser security (example: ZoneAlarm - ForceField, TrustWare - BufferZone)
- More complete Add/Remove software utility (example: Microsoft - Windows Installer CleanUp Utility)
- Advanced multi-core support and management options (example: SMP Seesaw)
- Disable the wake via mouse feature on mobile computers (by default)
- Improve the User Account Control system (example: Norton - User Account Control tool)
- More dynamic/intelligent screensaver options (example: Electric Sheep, Twingly, Beautiful Earth Wallpaper and Screen Saver)
- PrtSc key should create screencaptures (example: Purrint)
- Stop forcing restarts (example: ShutdownGuard)

(REGISTRATION KEY / SERIAL CODE) RETRIEVAL:
- Easy Microsoft serial code / product key retrieval (example: Magical Jelly Bean Keyfinder)
- Easy game key retrieval (example: Game Key Revealer)
- Easy software key retrieval (example: SoftKey Revealer)

DESKTOP / WALLPAPER:
- Panoramic wallpaper options (example: 360desktop)
- Earth wallpaper options with weather (example: Beautiful Earth Wallpaper and Screen Saver, Desktop Earth)
- Animated wallpaper options (example: Stardock - DeskScapes)
- Simplified user-friendly ejecting of USB drives (example: USB Disk Ejector)
- Auto-mounting of external-drives on the desktop (Mac OS already has this, example: Desk Drive)
- Wallpaper rotation, RSS subscription options (example Desktoptopia, NuonSoft - Wallpaper Cycler)
- Integrate a smart desktop option, not another "Active Desktop" please (example: uvLayer, BumpTop)
- Add the option to display desktop icons in small list mode (example: IconLayOut)

SHELL:
- Advanced scroll-bar options (like how Mac OS has jump-to, so wherever you click is where the scrollbar repositions, example: Popup Scrollbar Concept, WizMouse)
- Enhanced look & functionality (example: Cairo)
- PDF print save option (example: CutePDF Writer)
- Unified system font (example: Chris Pirillo's (Segoe Font) Registry Patch)
- Volume adjustable via mouse scrollwheel (example: NirSoft - Volumouse / VolumeTouch)
- Automatic window resizing (example: PowerResizer, AeroSnap)

WINDOWS START MENU / TASKBAR:
- "Start" menu should access the real "Program Files" folder
- "Start" menu should have an organizer tool (example: Winstep Start Menu Organizer)
- Minimizing windows should reduce them to the tasktray, unless minimized by clicking the application on the taskbar (example: XNeat Windows Manager, ShellEnhancer)
- Similar taskbar & tasktray items should be auto-grouped (example: XNeat Windows Manager, Taskbar Shuffle)
- Taskbar & tasktray items should movable (example: Taskbar Shuffle)
- Tasktray items should have the option to be hidden without creating any noticeable difference (example: SysTrayX)

UPDATES:
- Automatic system-wide software updates (Linux already has this)
- Automatic system-wide driver updates (example: Driver Detective)

WINDOWS EXPLORER:
- Quick-and-easy disabling of the Windows Media Player integration
- Stay-on-top window option (example: XNeat Windows Manager)
- Tabbed Windows Explorer interface
- Open-with suggestion guide for unknown file formats (example: Openwith.org)

RELATED NEWS:
- OSNews - Rethinking the Taskbar
- CNET - E-mail, photo programs stripped from Windows 7
- GadgetZone - 20 things Windows 7 MUST include

Web 3.0 - Interconnected Services

Some may argue with my view on Web3.0 but I firmly believe there to be dramatic differences between Web2.0 and Web3.0. In my perspective DataPortability.org is a great example of Web3.0 because it offers a lot that Web2.0 lacks. It also could be described as something that came about as a result of the Web2.0 experiences on both the programmer side and user side. For people like me who have an almost addictive tendency to sign up to brand new web2.0 companies, it would be great to keep all these services connected in some way.

So what should Web3.0 be able to do, I already kind of explained that in an earlier post. However, I didn't mention in that earlier post what level of interconnectedness should exist. It's my belief that competing web services should basically act as different front-ends to the same data. Amazon's S3 service is in some ways a great example of this, because multiple web services are hosted by them and the individual web companies don't have to worry about maintaining a complex server structure.

One thing that may sound hard to relate is Web3.0 to Virtual Worlds. Since companies have already been talking about allowing avatars to transfer from one virtual world to another, this goes right in line with what I'm saying.

WEB 3.0:
- Transferable user information (instead of signing up you just allow a new website to access your data)
- Data-synced among multiple web services (instead of re-adding images, friends, videos, and profile information it'll all be synced-up)
- User-names should be consolidated so as to lessen confusion (currently going from site-to-site means re-learning who is who)

Examples in the News:
- CNET News - Zoho to integrate with Google sign-on
- CenterNetworks - StandoutJobs Partners With Scribd

Beta Virtual Worlds (Twinity, Vivaty)

I recently got invited to two new virtual worlds. I should be more clear about that though one is called Vivaty which is less of a virtual world and more of a virtual location. The other one is Twinity, which I confused with Twine when I got the invitation email.

Twinity (download, Facebook)
When you start Twinity up it'll go through a number of updates and you'll see a map of the earth in the background. Once you get logged in it takes a little getting use to. The boxes you see everywhere labeled with the Twinity logo are more than just boxes. If you stand around long enough or if your internet is fast enough they'll load into objects like furniture. The controls are a tad problematic and navigating your avatar around objects is challenging since I ended up getting stuck between a coffee table and a chair. Another problem is that the camera is a bit awkward and doesn't automatically re-align itself behind the avatar. As for the outdoor environments, Twinity explains that they'll work more on that later hence the reason looking outside seems pretty bland.

Graphics (anti-aliasing capapable):
The graphics in Twinity are pretty decent (I saw steam coming off the water in the bathtub) and, just like with the new Release Candidate of SecondLife, you can enable anti-aliasing so the graphics aren't jagged. As for the character animation, um well watch your avatar's eyes. They don't blink properly but I'm sure it's just a temporary bug in the system, if you're wondering the eyes bulge out like bug eyes then go back to normal.

Vivaty (download, Facebook, Facebook App)
Right now the only place I've used this is on my Facebook profile. However you can also use it as a desktop application. I'm definitely interested in the in-browser aspect. Once you get signed up you get to choose from a variety of different scenes which are mainly different apartment/housing styles. You also get to choose from a couple avatar styles. If you're expecting to personalize your avatar you can forget about it, it may be possible I just haven't seen the option anywhere. The controls are a tad better than those in Twinity. For instance, if you click and drag the mouse the avatar starts moving and the farther you drag the mouse away from the avatar the faster you move. There's a problem with the camera though just like with Twinity, it doesn't re-align itself so if you start panning around your avatar to get a different look and then start walking it'll stay in that position.

Graphics (anti-aliasing capable):
The avatar walking animation is slightly out of step with the actual movement of the avatar which can be a tad irritating. Not only that but when you switch to the first-person view you can tell it's not really first-person, it only appears to only be. Screw around enough with the camera and you'll know what I'm talking about. Otherwise the environment is well done and you have fairly large selection of decent stuff to populate your scene with.