Filed under: World wide web, E-mail, Web services

Gmail has unleashed a new shortcut for you to really keyjockey your way through your e-mail: the “e” shortcut. What does the magnificent “e” do, you ask? Well it… archives.

“But there already was an archive shortcut, “y” - why do we need another archiving shortcut?!” If this is the sentiment that you currently hold in your heart, let us explain. What “y” actually means is “remove from current view.” In the inbox it means “archive,” but in other views such as labels it means “remove label,” and in the trash it means “move to Inbox.”

So, let’s state you’re browsing through your e-mail that was filtered by a label. As you go through and try to archive your messages with the “y” button, all you’re doing is stripping the poor thing of its label. This is where the “e” key comes in. Regardless from what view you’re in, the conversation will be archived. Even if you’re in “Starred” you can archive the message with “e” instead of taking away the star from a conversation you really just wanted to archive.

If they keyboard shortcuts don’t seem to work, remember to enable them in “settings.”

[via Lifehacker]

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Filed under: Business, Developer, World wide web, Web services, Social Software

Facebook made an announcement earlier and promised a clean up tool that would make profiles visible again under the clutter of applications. Well, the tool is here now, most likely to the dismay of developers trying to monetize Facebook, but it does make profiles a lot “tidier.”

Now, you’ve option to move your application boxes to your extended profile - allowing you to essentially keep both a sane and insane version of your profile. Nicely enough, you can select which applications you want to move to the extended profile, so you can keep your basic profile as stuffed or as trim as you like. And, you can always change your mind by scrolling to down and clicking “Edit Extended Profile” on your profile page.

After you’ve made your choices, people that come to your profile will first be greeted by the sane version with an option to see the insane version which you’ve got stuffed with all those extra goodies.

If only cleaning the house was this simple.

[via Mashable]

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Filed under: Business, Developer, Games, World wide web, Web services, Social Software, web 2.0

Both Hasbro and Mattel are asking Facebook to remove the Scrabulous application, a third party add-on, saying that it’s too similar to Scrabble, and therefore infringing their copyright.

Apparently, Hasbro has the rights to the game in the U.S. and Canada, while Mattel has the rights everywhere else. As such, Scrabulous is in a troubled spot - the AP reports that Hasbro has threatened to “close down the site [Scrabulous] and its associated distribution points” in the event that an agreement can’t be made. In a letter Hasbro is sending to those who protest their actions, the company says that Scrabulous is an “illegally copied online version of the world’s most popular word game,” and encourages people to switch to legal on the web venues to play Scrabble instead.

Even if, legally talking, Hasbro and Mattel are in the right and their copyright is indeed being infringed upon by an application that is easier, faster, and more accessible than all other legal Scrabble incarnations, let’s hope that a good agreement is reached and everyone gets to go home happy.

[via Reuters]

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Filed under: Audio, Web services

On the web file storage/sharing site Drop.io has added a new feature that makes it even easier to share messages with a group of friends or colleagues. Last month we told you how you could use Drop.io to set up a temporary web site for sharing office documents and multimedia files with other users. Now the service has launched Drop.io voice, which lets you record and share voice messages.

Here’s how it works. Each new Drop.io page is assigned a phone number (or rather, a number and an extension). When you call that number from your phone you can record a message. The file is saved as an MP3. If your site is password protected only people you invite will have access, so you could just use this as a voice memo service for grocery lists. Or you could call in to make a crappy recording of a concert if that’s what you wand to do.

Drop.io free accounts are limited to 100MB, which means you can theoretically record about 400 minutes of low quality audio, although why you’d want to do that is beyond us.

[via Techcrunch]

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Filed under: Internet, Web services, web 2.0

On the internet storage service Ewedrive is shutting down and the developers are focusing their time on Desktop on Demand, an on the web desktop application instead. And that got us thinking. Are on the web desktops, or so-called “web operating systems” the new online storage?

Sure, we’ve been a bit down on WebOSes in the past. They sort of jumped the shark for us when companies started creating web browsers that you could access from… your web browser. But if you’re creating a service that lets people store their files online, the user interface is key. The best on the internet storage solutions already let users drag and drop files from their personal, do batch uploads, and share files with other users. Why not add a few extra applications like media players and Office documents?

After all, Desktop on Demand does everything Ewedrive did, and more. You still get 1GB of free storage space, and you can pay if you need more. If you don’t want to use a web-based instant messaging application while you’re there, that’s fine. You don’t have to. But it’s nice to have the option.

[via Frantic Industries]

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Filed under: World wide web, Security, Utilities, Features, Web services, DLS Interviews

We are long-time fans of the free DNS-lookup service OpenDNS, which serves as a replacement for your ISP’s DNS. We recently got a chance to ask the founder and CEO of OpenDNS, David Ulevitch, for a swift history of OpenDNS and for an update on the service.

DLS: What got you involved in DNS?

David: When I was a freshman at Wash U. in St. Louis, I started becoming more active on the web. I went to purchase a domain name and in the process, learned of the need for a solid, reliable DNS service. I was already running my own server, so I took the obvious next step and wrote my own DNS management software. The need became even more obvious when word about my software got around and several people wanted to use it. The software eventually became a service, EveryDNS.net, that’s still operating today.

Continue reading DLS Interview: OpenDNS Founder and CEO David Ulevitch

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Filed under: Business, World wide web, Web services, web 2.0

As Facebook and Google join DataPortability.org for streamlining the technologies and standards used with social applications, online real estate listings are quick not to be left behind.

In an open letter to Yahoo, Google, Trulia and Zillow, the RETS community (Real Estate Transaction Standard) encouraged a data standard for real estate listings so that home sellers and others who list real estate online can easily take one listing and make it work for all the participating websites. So instead of having to rewrite the listings for each site’s particular style of listings, it only has to be written once. How very, oh, web 2.0.

With the speed that data standards are sprinting along, it’s only going to be a matter of time until everything (that is useful anyway) has been reduced to standards that grant for maximum compatibility across services. Data standards for other areas such as classifieds, documents, and on the web personals may be closer than we think. Or maybe that’s just a usability lover’s pipe dream.

[via Mashable]

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Filed under: Video, Web services, Podcasts

Web video is hot and getting easier and easier to use. Grant and Christina speak to Vimeo’s dalas verdugo about techniques to make web video look its best and garner attention.

The Squadcast’s “The Five” takes a look at Download Squad’s five favorite applications/web services for editing, exporting and uploading web video.

Download this episode (mp4)
(iPod, iPhone, Nano, AppleTV, Quicktime, VLC)

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Take the jump for show notes and links to items discussed in this episode.

Continue reading The Squadcast 09 - Making Video for the Web

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Filed under: Internet, Productivity, Web services

In the past we’ve covered how to put Google Notebook and Google Personalized Home in your sidebar. And even though you were able to see your calendar through iGoogle in the sidebar, there’s a superior alternative that is cleaner, superior, and most importantly, all about the calendar.

Mitch from Firefox Facts came up with this solution by tearing some code out of the iGoogle gadget. Nicely enough, it comes without the extras of iGoogle and is superior than Google’s mobile calendar site. You can select to view any of the upcoming appointments from any of your calendars, all below the month overview. And best of all, obviously, it loads in your sidebar.

Clean, sharp, easy. Here’s how to make it happen:

1. Bookmark this link: Google Calendar Sidebar
2. Go to your bookmarks, find the bookmark you just made, right-click and choose “Properties.”
3. In the “Properties” pop-up, choose “Load this bookmark in sidebar” and hit “OK.”
4. Click the link and your calendar should load up in the sidebar (as long as you’re logged into your Google account).
5. Rinse and enjoy.

[via CyberNet]

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Filed under: World wide web, Web services, Social Software, web 2.0

Facebook has recently announced that they’ll be rolling out a “profile clean-up” tool to its users allowing them to move Facebook applications to an “extended portion” of their profile. We think this is wonderful news since Facebook has slowly turned into Myspace where user profiles are full of garbage and the key information is buried beneath “What type of popsicle are you?” quizzes and “My favorite numbers are…” applications. This clean-up tool will naturally upset developers who are trying to monetize the Facebook API’s, but how do they anticipate their applications to be seen on a 10-page profile anyway?

Facebook says that in addition to displaying the standard things like personal information, mini-feed, and the wall, a profile will have up to 12 extra applications on the main profile page. Users will then be able to click a link on the profile to view the remaining applications. Leaner profiles should lead to faster load times and potentially a decrease in the number of users adding applications (since many users add applications when they see that their friends have something on their profile).

Maybe now we will stop getting ninja and vampire requests…

[Via ReadWriteWeb]

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