Thursday, March 23, 2006

Top 20 Database Tools & Resources

It’s never too late to start learning about databases, because they’re pretty much ubiquitous and you’re bound to bump into them sooner or later. We’ve gathered 20+ tools to help you get started working with them.

Cacti.net – Works with RRDtool to provide more graphing options, advanced templating, and more.

Database Administration and SQL Scripts – A large collection of database scripts and articles.

dbForums.com – A very active forum for database developers of all types.

Dev Shed – A large collection of tutorials on working with MySQL.

FirebirdSQL.org – An open source relational database with SQL standard features and cross-platform compatible.

FlameRobin.org – A database management tool for use with FlamebirdSQL.

Ganglia – A scalable distributed monitoring system that works with RRDtools.

How To Forge – A collection of articles on how to do some “out of the norm” tasks with MySQL.

ibWebAdmin.net – An administration front end for Firebird and InterBase databases.

MySQLQuickAdmin.com – A free graphical user interface for use with MySQL.

Oracle FAQs – A collection of FAQs about Oracle database administration.

pgAdmin.org – An open source project for administrating and developing PostgreSQL projects.

phpMyAdmin.net – Probably the best known database manager out there today for SQL.

phpPgAdmin – A we-based admin tool for PostgreSQL.

PostgreSQL.org – An open source, object orientated SQL database system.

RRDTool – A “round robin” database that keeps the data footprint a constant size.

SQLite Aministrator – A tool to help create, design, and administer databases.

SS64.com – A collection of commands for Oracle and SQL.

ToadSoft.com – A database development tool for Oracle, SQL Server, DB2 and more.

TurboDbAdmin – An AJAX powered Database management solution.

Zmanda – An open source backup solution for your MySQL projects. (via)

Monday, March 13, 2006

Top 40 Media Players That Are Not iTunes

iTunes is arguably the most popular media player for Mac & Windows, with a recent update for the iPhone…but is it the best? Check out the competition: 40 other popular media players.

Cross-Platform

Amarok – Amarok is a cross-platform intuitive music player for Linux, UNIX and the Mac operating system. Its features include lyrics support, Wikipedia integration, music statistics and a contextual browser.

BHplayer – BHplayer doubles as a media player & DVD player with its support for many audio and video formats.

BMP – A compact, open source multimedia player for Ubuntu using skinnable interface based on Winamp skins.

GLM FLV Player – GLM is a feature rich standalone application to view FLV files without any codec.

JW Media Player – JW Media player supports media playback of files which are compatible with Adobe Flash player. Examples of files are MP3, FLV and SWF etc.

Kaffeine – Kaffeine is a power packed multimedia player for systems runnning the KDE (K Desktop Environment).

Kplayer – Kplayer is an open-source multi media player for the KDE desktop environment.

MediaFrame – An open-source Java based streaming media platform offering support for playing Mpeg formats.

Mplayer – Mplayer is an open source cross-platform media player and is compatible with Windows, Linux and Mac etc.
Ogle – Ogle is an open source DVD player for Linux, UNIX and similar operating systems.

RealPlayer – A cross-platform media player with support for playing MP3, MPEG, Windows Media, QuickTime & Real media file formats.

Rhythmbox – An iTunes inspired music management application, designed to work with GNOME desktop.

Songbird – Songbird is a Firefox-based new age cross platform media player and web-browser jukebox built by the ex-team of Winamp and the Yahoo music engine.

Totem – An open source media player for GNOME desktop environment with added functionality like webcam utility, video thumbnailer and Firefox plugin.

VLC media player – VLC is an extremely portable multimedia player capable of supporting many audio, video codecs and DVDs, CDs and streaming protocols.

Xine – Xine is an open source cross-platform multimedia engine having API for video processing and playback. Xine offers support for Linux, Mac and Solaris.

XMMS – XMMS called as X Multimedia system is a multimedia player for UNIX systems. Its features include support for files like MP3, WAV and MOD etc.

Zoom Player – Zoom player is a customizable DVD media player that offers support for the latest media formats.

Windows

Ace Media Player – A single player to watch QuickTime, Real, DivX and Windows Media files.

ALShow Media Player – ALShow provides inbuilt codes which offer support for playing FLV and MP4 files.

BS.Player – BS.Player is one of the most popular video players and has very low CPU and RAM requirements. BS.Player has over 60 million users worldwide and is available in more than 90 languages.

Core Media Player – A DVD media player for Microsoft Windows.

Crystal Reality – CrystalPlayer features video playback for all types of sources for various versions of Windows operating systems.

FLV Player – FLV player is a media player for playback of Flash video from your computer and websites such as YouTube, Google Video etc.

GOM Player – GOM, expanded as Gretech Media player offers support for playing .flv and other files without obtaining a codec.

jetAudio – A software multimedia player with advanced features like the ability to rip CDs, encode audio & video files and recording capabilities.

Kantaris – Kantaris is based on Videolan client (VLC) source code and can play almost all types of files, audio & video CDs and DVDs. Kantaris is compatible with all versions of Windows and is open-source.

LAVA FLV Player – Lava FLV player is used to play flash video files used in Google video, Youtube, Metacafe etc.

Media Center – Media Center is a Jukebox style media player. It has an interface similar to iTunes and enables users to organize and play various types of media files.

MPC – Media Player Classic (MPC) is a handy media player for Microsoft Windows and uses the look and feel of the earliest Windows Media Player.
PowerDVD – PowerDVD doubles as a video and music player for the Windows operating system. Users can play DVD movies or movies stored on their computer. It also offers support for Blu-Ray and HD DVD.

Quintessential Player – A media player for Windows featuring support for popular audio formats. It comes with advanced features like streaming internet radio and CD ripping.

RadLight – RadLight is billed as the first type of an all-in-one multimedia solution which allows users to experience DivX, DVD and MP4 audio. Apart from the free version it also has a pro version with special features like subtitles, double resolution etc.

The KMPlayer – A dynamic media player capable of playing all audio & video formats. Its special features include subtitle handling & media capturing and screenshots.

TrayPlayer – TrayPlayer is a customisable media player and embeds easily into the Windows taskbar.

Winamp – An immensely popular media player written by Nullsoft. Users can enjoy free music, play around with its cool skins and synchronize it with the iPod.

WinDVD – WinDVD is a video and music player enabling users to watch their favorite DVD movies without any interruption.

VidLizard – A DVD, video and audio player for Windows with easy-to-use interface and optional control panel for screen play.

Others

CorePlayer – CorePlayer is an advanced multimedia platform allowing users to manipulate multimedia content on their mobile phone, PDA, GPS or convergence devices.

NicePlayer – A Mac OS media player using Quicktime library and providing support for any codes available with Quicktime. Its special feature is the open-ended plugin system which allows anyone to write a plugin.

Xbox Media Center (XBMC) – XMBC is a media player for the Xbox gaming console. Its features include music, image and video playback. (via)

Sunday, March 12, 2006

Top 10 Free E-books For Bloggers

E-books aren’t as great to read as old school hard-bound books that you can cuddle up with in your bed. But, with some topics, like blogging, you’ll find more useful e-books than regular books. That’s why we checked out all the e-books for bloggers and handpicked ten contemporary ones that we think are the best of the lot.

Authority Black Book

Authority Black Book – What is an authority presence on the web? Why is it important to have an authority and how can you attain authority? What are the web 2.0 tools that you can use? Authority Black Book is a 64-page ebook by Jake Humphrey explaining how to get the best out of web 2.0 technology including blogging, RSS marketing, social bookmarking sites, social media marketing sites, and video marketing in order to attract more traffic to your site. There is also a list of web 2.0 resource sites.

You would already be aware of what is written about in the ebook if you have been blogging for quite some time. But the ebook is a good resource with plenty of links of the top sites and services in different categories related to blogging, and you can take it as a starting point if you are newly starting out in the blogosphere.

Beginner’s Guide to Search Engine Optimization

Beginner’s Guide to Search Engine Optimization – For many a blogger, search engine optimization is the next thing they want to understand once they set up their blog and are couple of weeks into blogging. If that’s the case, this is the ebook that they should get their hands on. Beginner’s Guide to Search Engine Optimization is a good newbie’s guide to SEO practices from SEOmoz explaining how search engines operate, how to conduct keyword research, building a traffic-worthy site, and growing a site’s popularity.

The ebook can be downloaded in MS Word or Open Office Text Document format. There are single page and 9-page versions of the ebook as well that you can read online.

BlogBash: Deep Secrets of Successful Blogging – learn from 30 experts

BlogBash: Deep Secrets of Successful Blogging – learn from 30 experts – What can you say when you get 30 of the top bloggers from across the globe writing down their secrets in one free ebook? This ebook is a must-read for every blogger.

Some of the articles include – Synergy between SEO and traditional marketing by Aaron Wall of SEOBook, Driving traffic using Delicious by Neil Patel of ProNetAdvertising, 7 ways to make your content search engine friendly by Daniel Scocco of Daily Blog Tips, Staying Connected-the secret to keeping those loyal readers by Liz Strauss of Successful-Blog, Help me – my mom is my blog’s only reader by Darren Rowse of Problogger, Advertising in the blogosphere by Chris Batty of Gizmodo, among others. This ebook is a product of BlogBash – the 30 day event featuring expert bloggers from across the blogosphere.

Blog Profits Blueprint

Blog Profits Blueprint – Starting off with how he discovered blogging, Yaro Starak of Entrepreneur’s Journey explains in this 54 page ebook the strategies and tactics you require to start blogging successfully. Some of the subjects he talks about include key ingredients of attracting attraction to your blog, how to choose your blog traffic – passions vs profits, creating pillar posts, marketing your blog, etc.

Yaro also details blog monetization methods including Google AdSense and other alternatives. There is a section on RSS and blog advertising too. The writing is easy to comprehend and Yaro has included some genuine experiences that you can learn from.

Dive Into Web 2.0

Dive Into Web 2.0 – This is a comprehensive guide to Web 2.0 sites and technologies including search engines, SEO, wikis, blogging, social networking, social bookmarking, social media, tagging, web monetization, APIs, mashups, widgets, gadgets, RSS, web 2.0 business models, and rich media applications like AJAX, Silverlight, Google Gears, and many more.

Maybe you can say Wikipedia is there for all these terminologies. But what this ebook brings you is the entire set of web 2.0 technologies in one go, exposing many tools that you might not have heard about before.

Handbook for Bloggers and Cyber Dissidents

Handbook for Bloggers and Cyber Dissidents – Reporters Without Borders is an international organization that works for press freedom. In this ebook, the organization provides tips to blog anonymously and get round censorship for free expression in countries where the mainstream media is censored or under pressure. In their own words, bloggers are often the only real journalists in countries where the mainstream media is censored or under pressure. Sometimes, only bloggers provide independent news, at the risk of displeasing the government and sometimes courting arrest. Plenty of bloggers have been thrown in prison for their writing.
One unique tidbit that you won’t find anywhere else is the chapter on Blogging ethics that talks about thoroughness, accuracy, fairness, transparency, and independence. There are also personal accounts of bloggers who have been writing from Internet-censored countries.

The ebook also dedicates the final chapter to the countries that censor the Internet including China, Vietnam, Tunisia, Iran, Cuba, and Saudi Arabia. This is truly one read that reminds us that blogging is not all about keeping a personal diary or being just a business tool. It can play serious socio-political roles in different parts of the world.

Make Money Online with John Chow dot Com

Make Money Online with John Chow dot Com is a comprehensive ebook on everything you need to start a blog and maintain it successfully. Written by John Chow, one of the most outspoken bloggers on blogging, the ebook explains blogging tips for beginners and then goes into blog monetization tips with examples of various affiliate links, blog promotion tips, and Google Optimization. There is a chapter on WordPress as well.

The ebook has 9 chapters spread across 59 pages. A must read for beginners and something that even a veteran blogger might find useful.

Unleashing the Idea Virus

Unleashing the Idea Virus – This is a mega 197-page viral marketing ebook by marketing guru Seth Godin. He explains why ideas matter, and reveals the secrets on how to unleash an ideavirus. He also presented many case studies to prove his point.

The book answers tricky questions like why is it foolish to launch a new business with millions of dollars in TV ads, why the market leaders in every industry are more vulnerable to sudden successes by the competition than ever before, what’s the single most important asset a company can create—and what is the simple thing that can kill it, does the Net create a dynamic that fundamentally changes the way everything is marketed, and how can any big or small business use ideavirus marketing to succeed, among others.

Although the book is aimed at marketing professionals, it is also a must-read for professional bloggers, webmasters, and those who are out in the blogospshere to create a successful brand/product for themselves.

Web Style Guide

Web Style Guide – This is a newbie webmaster’s guide to page design, typography, editorial style, graphics, and multimedia. There are sections on web site accessibility, CSS, and flexible page design, information architecture, and site maintenance, coupled with illustrations and examples.

Who’s There

Who’s there – Seth Godin again in his unconventional style reveals a few truths about blogging, and defines three types of blogs – cat blogs, boss blogs, and viral blogs. He also lists down the four laws of blogs and the five components of a great blog.

This is one of those books that’ll make you stop and think. A must-read. (via)

Thursday, March 2, 2006

Top 50 Great Widgets For Your Blog

Widgets are a handy, easy and simple way to add some flare to your blog. Whether you’d like to display the number of currently online visitors to your site or simply the weather report for Los Angeles, you can do it with widgets. We’ve assembled a list of 50 useful or simply cool widgets for your pleasure. And remember, the first rule of widgetizing your blog is – don’t overdo it!

MyBlogLog’s Recent Readers – this widget can easily be called a hit amongst blog owners; its popularity even managed to convince Yahoo into buying MyBlogLog. The widget lets you see the avatars of recent visitors to your blog, provided they’re also members of MyBlogLog.

Mashable – get the latest social networking news from this very site.

Flickr Flash Photo Stream Badge – display images from your Flickr profile with a handy Flash photo stream.

Preview Anywhere – see a live preview of outgoing links in a small popup which activates on mouseover. Some find this annoying, while others might find it useful.

Twitter Badge – if your life is so interesting that everyone must know what you’re up to all the time, then a Twitter badge is the ideal counterpart to your blog. It’ll proudly displays your recent tweets.

Digg News – display the latest Digg links on your blog. Themeable and fully customizable.

FEEDJIT – real time traffic data directly in your blog’s sidebar.

LineBuzz – inline comments for your blog. Very handy for blogs with frequent lively discussions.

Flixn – display a stream directly from your webcam, so your blog visitors can always see what you’re up to.

3Jam – lets your visitors send messages to your mobile phone, without them knowing your phone number.

Jaxtr – with Jaxtr, your visitors can actually call you to your mobile phone; again, your number stays private.

LinkedInABox – show off your LinkedIn profile. Perfect for personal blogs.

Box Widget – enable visitors to use box.net’s online storage directly on your web site.

Price of gas – displaying gas prices on your blog might seem unnecessary to some, but it’s cool if you have a traffic/travel related blog.

iBegin Weather Widget – Display weather information in your sidebar. Just like with Price of Gas, works great with travel-related blogs.

ClockLink – display time in various time zones with these nifty Flash clocks.

Film Loops – display the latest loops from your FilmLoops account.

Daily Painters – display paintings from famous painters on your blog.

WhoLinked – show your visitors which sites have recently linked to your web site. Works with all major blog platforms.

Criteo AutoRoll – displays links to blogs similar to your blog.

Bitty Browser – embed a cute, fully functional mini web browser to your blog.

Leafletter – create a mini website and embed it into your blog.

WikiSeek – search Wikipedia with this simple widget.

FeedCount – show off the number of visitors to your blog with this handy little button.

Technorati Link Count – display the number of links your website has from one of the biggest blog authorities – Technorati.

MyPageRank – another good way to show how “big” your blog is is to show off your Google PageRank.

CheckPageRank – in addition to showing your PageRank, this widget also shows your Alexa ranking.

BlinkxIt – embed a link to related videos directly into your website.

Skype button – display your Skype online/offline status on your blog.

RockYou Horoscope – not something I would personally use, but some people are into horoscope. Hell, most people are into horoscope. Anyway, this widget shows horoscope (doh!) and does it in a nicely designed colorful box.

del.icio.us Tagometer – display how many times have del.icio.us users saved your page.

del.icio.us Linkrolls – this badge shows your latest bookmarks from del.icio.us.

Timelines – need to create a timeline? Seek no further. This widget makes it really easy.

PollDaddy – PollDaddy lets you create beautiful polls in no time, and display them at your blog.

Vizu – another poll-making widget, compatible with all major blog platforms.

AnswerTips – display definitions from Answers.com for various terms on your blog. The definitions are shown in bubbles which are activated on doubleclick.

AnswerBoxes – give your visitors a chance to enter a term themselves, and get a definition from Answers.com

Now Playing – if you got to share your current playlist contents with the world, Sigamp will do the trick. Works with most popular music players, including Foobar, Winamp, iTunes and others.

BuzzBoost – display headlines from your RSS feed on any website.

LibraryThing – show off the latest books you’ve been reading.

Plaxo Address Book – let your most faithful visitors access their address books direclty from your site.

AuctionAds – a widget that displays auctioned items on eBay, and gives you a percentage of the price paid when sometimes buys an item.

aStore – similar to AuctionAds, only for Amazon. Create a mini-store on your site and receive profit when someone buys an item through your store.

Plazes – show your current location on a Plazes map.

Stockalicious – track your portfolio with this widget, and share it with others. Let everyone know how much money you’ve lost.

Yahoo! For Good – create a charity badge and ask for donations for a worthy cause.

Giftspace – your friends never know what to buy you for birthday? Let them know what you really want with this nifty widget.

MixMap – see where are the visitors to your MySpace profile from on a map.

Google Map Widget – display a searchable Google Map on your website.

Google Video Search – add a video search form and selected videos to your web site.

Odeo player – display an Odeo player for and podcast right there in your sidebar. (via)

Saturday, February 25, 2006

Top 30 Firefox Add-ons For Downloading Images, Videos & Files

Every day we all run across content we would like to save a copy of. Sometimes, it’s even legal to do so. This toolbox gives you Firefox add-ons to save just about anything from a webpage you could ever want. Obviously you shouldn’t install these all at once.

File & Page Saving

Backgroundimage Saver – Helps you save the background image of a page even when hidden behind a transparent GIF.

BatchDownload – Assists you in downloading multiple image links at once.

Bazzacuda Image Saver – Will cycle through your open tabs, if any tab has an image and nothing else, the image will be saved and you can have the tab close automatically.

Downloads in Tab – Moves the download manager to a tab.

Download Manager Tweaker – Open the standard download manager as a separate window, a new tab, or the sidebar.

Download Statusbar – Rid yourself of the pop-up download window and manage everything from your status bar.

Download Sort – Automatically save downloads to different directories when using “Save Link As” or “Save Image As”.

DownThemAll! – Download one link or multiples, has a built-in accelerator.

Facebook Photo Album Downloader – Download complete Facebook photo albums.

FlashGot – Download one link, selected link, or all the links on a page.

Image Download – Download all the pictures and filter by width, height, type, create sub folders and more.

Image Toolbar – Provides one click to image actions such as downloading.

Launchy – Enables you to open links and mailtos with the external applications of your choice.

OpenDownload – Adds functions similar to IE’s ‘Open’ and ‘Run’.

PDF Download – Checks every link to see if it is a PDF, if it is, it gives you the option to open it inside or out Firefox, download it to a folder or view it as HTML.

Pterodactl – Saves the largest image on the page, in all tabs, and renames files to keep from having conflicts.

Save As Image – Saves the currently displayed tab as an image creating an instant screenshot.

SafeDownload – Automatically scan downloaded files for viruses.

Save Complete – Aids you in saving complete webpages.

Save Image In Folder – Save images to special folders on your hard drive.

Save Images – Saves images from the current tab’s cache to a specified location.

Save Link In Folder – Save links to special folders on your hard drive.

Screengrab! – Saves the entire web page as an image.

Sourceforge Direct Download – If you frequently download from Sourceforge, this will help you skip the mirror selection step.

ScrapBook – Helps you save portions or entire webpages and then organize them.

TiX Now! – Improves downloading speed from Rapidshare and MegaUpload amongst others.

Video Downloading

Amazing Media Browser – Scans a page for embedded media and helps you download the source files.

Download Embedded – Provides the ability to download several forms of media.

Download Helper – Will extract content from many different sites.

Fast Video Downloader – Can save videos from around 60 video sites.

GetVideo – Provides access to the direct path to get the video.

Google Video Downloader – Adds a button to the status bar to save videos from Google Video.

Media Pirate – The Video Downloader – Gives you the ability to save videos from approximately a dozen sites.

PimpFish Basic Toolbar – Capture video files from numerous sites.

UnPlug – Scans a web page for media players and tells you where the media files are stored so you can download them.

Video Download – Adds a simple right click command to download videos from numerous sites. (via)

Saturday, February 18, 2006

Top 50 Google Reader Extensions and Scripts For Firefox

Don’t get us wrong, Google Reader is our favorite feedreader. But sometimes, we just wish it was a little…better. Here are 50 Firefox extensions and scripts to make Google Reader your own.

Note: some of these require the Greasemonkey or Stylish extensions.

Notification

  • Google Reader Notifier Firefox Extension – Multilingual extension that tells you how many items are unread.
  • Google Reader Toolkit – Handy add-on that alerts you to unread items.
  • Google Reader Watcher – Firefox extension that displays all unread feeds.

    Interface

  • Colorful List View – Colors the headers in the list view.
  • Google Reader Air Skin – Light skin for Google Reader.
  • Google Reader Bottom Link – Adds a small link to the original page at the bottom of the feed.
  • Google Reader for wider screens – Changes the length of stories in Google Reader.
  • Google Reader Optimized – User style that gets rid of all unnecessary elements.
  • Google Reader Plain and Green – Green skin based on Sage’s Plain and Green style.
  • Google Reader Prettifier – OS X theme for Google Reader. Fork with a few bugfixes here.
  • Google Reader Preview – Shows the original page instead of the article summary (fork with widescreen support here).
  • Google Reader Preview Enhanced – Better version of Google Reader Preview.
  • Google Reader “Slate series” – Clean theme in slate colors. You may also be interested in the modified version.
  • Google Reader title unread count – Moves the unread count to the front in the page title.

    Reading

  • CodeReader – Increases the font size of code snippets in the currently viewed item.
  • Google Reader Functional Links – Quick Links fork with updated hotkeys.
  • Google Reader Quick Links – Shortcut keys for links in the story you’re currently reading.
  • Google Reader show original in new tab – The must-have script for Google Reader. Just hit ‘t’ to open the current article in a new tab. Note: this script conflicts with a Google Reader native shortcut. You may want to use Masayuki Ataka’s script that changes the hotkey to ‘y’.
  • Google Reader Slideshow – Automatically scroll through your items at a user-set speed.
  • Grease Reader – Adds a ton of powerful hotkeys.
  • Iris – A Google Reader sidebar influenced by Sage.
  • Read By Mouse – Toggles a mouse-only mode where you read using only your mouse.

    Search

  • Google Reader Custom Search – Adds search to Google Reader via Google Co-op.
  • Google Reader Custom Search (2) – Updated version of the Google Operating System script that displays results inside Google Reader like normal posts.
  • Google Reader Gears Search – Uses Google Gears to search your posts.
  • Google Reader Search – Search powered by Google’s Blogsearch that searches the current feeds or the entire Blogosphere.

    Integration

  • Facebook Sharer + Google Reader – Sends the current story to Facebook.
  • Gmail Box for Google Reader – Integrates Google Reader’s subscriptions to Gmail (based on Google Reader Redux).
  • Google Reader + BlueDot – Based on Google Reader + del.icio.us, but for BlueDot.us.
  • Google Reader + Bookmarks – Sends Reader posts to Google’s bookmarking site.
  • Google Reader + del.icio.us – Based on Google Reader + Bookmarks, but for del.icio.us. Forks here and here.
  • Google Reader + ma.gnolia – Based on Google Reader + del.icio.us, but for ma.gnolia.
  • Google Reader + Simpy – Sends Reader posts to Simpy.com.
  • Google Reader + Twitter – Sends Reader posts to Twitter.
  • Google Reader 30Boxes – Add 30Boxes events from the search field.
  • Google Reader digg news – Adds a “Digg It” button to every item. Works well with Digg Button Animator Enabler.
  • Google Reader Redux – Integrate Google Reader into your Gmail account.

    Misc.

  • Auto add to Google Reader – Automatically bypasses the “Add to Google homepage”/”Add to Google Reader” choice Firefox usually gives you when subscribing to a feed.
  • Better GReader – Combines an optimized skin, Smart Google Reader Subscribe, and Quick Links into a Firefox extension.
  • Google Gears – Take Reader (and tons of other apps) offline with this great Google product.
  • Google Reader Subscribe – Adds a button to add the current page’s feed to Google Reader.
  • Jasper’s Google Reader Subscribe – Based on Google Reader Subscribe, but concentrating on taking up as little room as possible.
  • Smart Google Reader Subscribe – Based on Jasper’s script, but tells you if the feed is already in Google Reader (saving you clicks).
  • Tag Cloud – Generates a tag cloud of all your tags. (via)
  • Friday, February 17, 2006

    Top 40 Web Operating Systems

    Facebook wants to be the operating system for the web, it says, and this week’s changes to its email system are a tiny part of that puzzle. But there are many more web operating systems hoping to bring all your usual desktop applications online in one place. Some replicate the entire desktop, while others are startpages with info from around the web – here are more than 45 of our favorites.

    Remotely Hosted WebOS

    • AstraNOS – Picture Windows 98. Then picture an OS X dock. Then picture a night sky. Then throw them all together. You now have a pretty good picture of AstraNOS.
    • BeDesk – Basic wrapper for other online tools.
    • cmyOS – Free hosted webtop powered by eyeOS.
    • Desktoptwo – Not only do you get 1GB of space, you get a fully-featured OpenOffice.org suite. No, not a basic online editor that has simple formatting options. The full OpenOffice.org 2.0 suite from Sun, converted into a Java applet.
    • DoxBoard – Slick WebOS with some basic features.
    • GCOE X – Nice WebOS with a powerful terminal and support for the iPhone.
    • eyeOS – Beautiful webtop powered by the eyeOS software.
    • Glide – Online operating system with support for BlackBerry, Palm, Windows Mobile, Symbian and iPhone users.
    • G.ho.st – With 3GB of space, FTP access, and Zoho Office support, what’s not to like?
    • goowy – Great webtop with your own email account (@goowy.com), IM, 1GB of space (via Box.net), and much more.
    • jooce – Slick invite-only online OS.
    • mybooo – Invite-only webtop with a ton of features.
    • myGoya – Nice WebOS with PIM features, a media player, and much more.
    • OOS – Basic online operating system that offers a personal webpage.
    • Parakey – Not much is known about Blake Ross’s newest invention, but we do know that Facebook liked it enough to purchase it for an undisclosed sum.
    • Psych Desktop – GPLed webtop with a powerful UNIX-like console.
    • Purefect Desktop – Web desktop with a powerful IDE.
    • SSOE – Flash-based webtop a lot of features.
    • StartForce – Powerful WebOS with tons of apps and features makes the descendant of Orca Desktop a hit.
    • Xindesk – File sync, a powerful API, and much more are included in this great WebOS.
    • Webdesk – This Indian webtop includes 1GB of space, POP3 client, PIM, and a nice modules API.
    • Webdows – We don’t know how long it will take Microsoft to sue these guys, but it’s a real enjoyment in the meantime. It has XP and Vista styles (including a few Vista effects), FTP, file sharing, IM, and much more.
    • Widgets Gadgets – AJAX desktop with tons of apps and a working API.
    • YouOS – File sharing, powerful shell, and 700+ applications are all available with this wildly popular operating system.
    • ZimDesk – Slick WebOS with tons of apps.

    Self-Hosted WebOS

    • eyeOS – One of the most popular webtops on the planet, eyeOS boasts tons of apps, a booming community, and a lot more features.
    • Fenestela – There’s still quite a few bugs to be ironed out in this French WebOS, but you get a cool XP interface and basic PHP apps.
    • Psych Desktop – GPLed desktop with a powerful UNIX-like console.
    • Purefect Desktop – Web desktop with a powerful IDE.
    • Virtual-OS – Includes powerful API, web server sync, forum integration, and offline AJAX support.
    • ZKDesktop – Powerful open source Java-based WebOS.

    Remote Desktops

    • DesktopOnDemand – A fully featured Linux-based desktop with Gnome, Gaim, AbiWord, Evolution, GIMP, WebDAV, VNC, web login, and much more.
    • Free Live OS Zoo – Java applet
    • Nivio – Subscription-based ($12.99/month) service that offers Windows XP, Adobe Reader, iTunes, Google Talk/aMSN/Windows Live Messenger, OpenOffice.org, Thunderbird, Nvu, and much more. All through a Java-based web interface.

    Startpages

    See also: 14 Personalized Homepages Compared, Feature by Feature

    • Favoor – Basic startpage with a nice folder option.
    • iGoogle (formerly Google IG) – Great startpage with the most amount of apps I’ve seen for a portal.
    • iStyled – Simple startpage with basic customization.
    • ItsAStart.com – Customizable page with basic features.
    • Live.com (formerly Start.com) – Basic news page backed by Microsoft.
    • My Yahoo! – Yahoo!’s entry into the startpage market isn’t bad: it offers news, Yahoo! Mail notification, podcasts, videos, and photo galleries to your startpage.
    • Netvibes – There’s a reason everyone uses Netvibes. It has tons of apps, tabs, skins, and a great interface.
    • Pageflakes – Popular, easy-to-use page with a simple interface.
    • Schmedley – Powerful startpage with tons of features.
    • Webwag – The main appeal here isn’t the widget on demand feature (a quick way to build a widget for the site of your choice), the toolbar, the apps, or the content directory. It’s the External widget feature, which allows you to convert and add Netvibes and iGoogle widgets to your Webwag page.
    • Widgetop – Nice looking AJAX start page.
    • yourminis – Great start page with tons of apps and a bunch of skins by the creator of goowy. (via)