Technology. Without Error

Launchy

I have used a lot of desktop enhancements, program launchers, docks and I can tell you that Launchy is one of the least intrusive and one of the most useful application launcher. Launchy is a keyboard friendly program(or whatever’s on your PC) launcher. Type in the first few letters of whatever you want to start and Launchy would provide you with a list of matches for those keys. The best thing is, you’ve got an integrated calculator (type and you get the result) as well as integrated search. Plus you can type in all those URLs directly to load them on your default browser (It would’ve been better if Launchy allowed you to set your browser preferences, but then that’s not too much of a problem) If you’ve got Chrome as your default browser then it works super fast. But if you’re like me and prefer to use Firefox, look for the solution below.

Firefox

Firefox. Now I guess I don’t need to even explain this. Most of my stuff is online, just like everyone’s and my browser is my window to the internet. Now if I don’t have the best browser around, then I’m probably missing something. Add extensions and you’ve got one customized superpowered supercharged superbrowser!

Chrome

Now that doesn’t mean I don’t like Chrome. I find Chrome to be perfect in many aspects, especially when it comes to loading time, minimalist interface and the way in which it really merges into the internet. It makes you feel as if there is no browser, its just the internet. Plus, the background updates (I’m going to update to the latest version anyway, so its better if the application does that for me) Chrome is also an awesome companion to Launchy especially when you create applications for web services. You can use launcy to load your Chrome gmail app by just typing in “gm”

Update: I’ve recently shifted to Chrome and I find that it’s more suited to my web browsing tasks than firefox.

Destroy twitter

I’m on twitter and you can follow me here. Everyone has their own favorite when it comes to twitter client and it just happens that I take a fancy to using Destroy twitter. I tend to use the twitterfox extension for Firefox as well, but then DT has to be my favourite AIR app.

Tray it

Tray it is a tiny piece of software which lets you minimize applications to the tray. They run in the background, as simple as that. I like doing that with many of my applications and you can find Firefox, DT and my mail client on my system tray. Having firefox on my tray lets me set up Firefox as my default browser and use Launchy to run searches/URLs real quick (since Firefox is always running in the background). Plus, if you’re a Firefox fan, there’s no way you would want to close the application anyway. Just minimize and send it to the tray.

Rocketdock

A dock is something which I have installed just because it looks good. The best part about a Mac is now available for a windows PC as well. Of the many dock applications, my favourite has been the Rocket dock suite. Easy to use and as light as it comes.

1. Twitter is bigger!
2. Follower/Subscriber count does not matter on friendfeed.
3. The general quality of content on friendfeed is better than that on twitter (ok..I made this up..I don’t have any scientific data to prove this)
4. To maximize their reach, spammers believe they need followers
5. Friendfeed is a content aggregator. Spam bots and ppl would have to be on more than one network to actually utilize friendfeed.
6. Many spammers do not even know of friendfeed, Most spammers just copy what other spammers do. (spammers are not as educated as you think they are!)
7. Friendfeed caters to an exclusive audience, while twitter serves almost everyone
8. Most people on friendfeed know how to combat spam!
9. There is spam on friendfeed. And you can report it (instead of just blocking them)
10. Some spam still gets through, like this blog post..and there’s nothing you can do about it.

Geek Chart shows you where you shares most of the content. You can find thunderror’s shared content on twitter, stumbleupon, delicious and loads of other web2.0 sites. Geek chart currently supports a select few of these popular sites and makes a pie chart showing where you share the most and the least. Not surprisingly, twitter comes tops my share list.

Try out your geek chart and let us know where you share…Just sign up and surrender your usernames with the most popular social share sites.

Thunderror’s Geek Chart

I actually stumbled upon this one…Updating.me. First thing that impresses me is the interest domain name. And the site does just that. It is for all those microblogging fanatics who have got an account with every microblogging site in the universe….

Now, Its similar to ping.fm. But, different in many ways…I personally prefer updating me over any other simultaneous posting service…Plus it supports all those services which I need…Right now, they support

Facebook

FriendFeed

Identi.ca

Koornk

Plurk

Pownce

Rejaw

TwitArmy and of course,

Twitter

I wanted to review Plurk when I started using it..but never got around to writing this post…Plurk basically took the idea of using status msgs/microblogging to the next level by a little bit of social networking features as well.

Plurk allows its users to update their current status using 140 characters (just like twitter does) But, their similarities end there..Plurk uses a concept of a visible timeline (all your posts are chronologically arranged on an animated timeline) This is in contrast with twitter’s way of presenting your (and your friends’) posts in a fashion similar to an RSS feed. A follower is someone who is informed of every update of yours and a friend is a follower whom you follow as well.

The most talked about feature of plurk is the karma feature which tracks the level of your interactivity and assigns a number to it. Higher karma allows you to unlock more smileys, more interface changes etc. Karma could very well encourage people to interact more, but would also make them very well spam to increase karma. Plurk is soon revamping its karma system..so that should be taken care of..

Another much appreciated feature is the ability to carry out entire conversations over an update. This allows users to interact more freely and responses are chronologically ordered and grouped with the original status message allowing users to follow a complete conversation from beginning to end. For the first few days I used plurk, I completely ignored twitter..but after the new shine washed away…I use it alongside twitter. Plurk unlike other web 2.0s does not share its API..However, there are many sites such as hellotxt, lifestream, ping.fm which already support integration with plurk.

Join me at Plurk!