We've released a beta of the next KlipFolio point release, 3.1. It's available for download on the forum.
This build has background image downloading (for faster, smoother tooltips), multiple preferences files (for faster I/O and better error resistance) and a handful of other improvements.
Then, to make it easier to track the performance of all of your Klips, we've also just launched the Klip Tracker for Klip Providers Klip. Even though it's quite the workhorse, this Klip is super fast. Also, there is an extra gift included in the Klip - a popularity chart which is not available anywhere else right now.
Enjoy
Allan
Just a quick note before the weekend officially starts. For starters, we've just posted a job opening for a project manager. Take a look here and let us know if you fit the bill or if you know someone who does.
We've also published an update to the multi-feed template Klip. This is a great Klip for publishers who have multiple rss feeds and want to build them all into one Klip. Jeremy (one of the new guys here) is posting an introduction to the Klip on the forum right now. And he's just posted it.
We're cranking on getting KlipFolio 3.1 out the door (a minor update with some nice stability / performance improvements), and we've officially started negotiating what will make it into KlipFolio 3.5 (or whatever we call it). We now have a wall full of 36 post-it notes full of cool features (no, not all of them will make the cut).
Likewise, we've been making great progress on fixing bugs and adding small features for KlipFolio.com.
All in a weeks work. Enjoy the weekend!
Allan
James Woodcock, who runs a popular blog and pod-casting site is hosting a pod-cast interview with me in two weeks time - July 20th. Take a look at his post here for his spin on it. As you can tell, James is a KlipFolio fan also.
What is great about James' interviews is that he opens it up to the community. So, if you have questions, thoughts or want to know a bit more about our vision and plans, it's easy to do. You can skype, call, or post questions anytime from now until July 20th!
Keep this info handy:
UK: 0207 193 3092
Worldwide: +44 207 193 3092
Skype: glidem
Hope to hear from a number of you.
This is for our German contingent ... I'm fluent in German, so I often come across posts from German users that I can enjoy, and this one I quite liked.
Der AS bastelt sich ein RSS-Radar
He goes through a great description of how he sets up KlipFolio, fights with his computer that is about to die, and finally reaches what he calls his "feed-monster" creation - lovingly referred to of course, his Frankenstein creation of Klips.
We're really happy with how many of you are helping us spread the word. To put it in perspective, just yesterday alone, there were over 120 people who are helping the KlipFolio cause! That's pretty cool.
We increased the visibility of the "Big Talkers" list yesterday, and it's now visible on the Blog, and also the Explor Sets page. Over time, we will try integrating it into other areas as well.
We also want to hear from you ... how can we get everyone talking about KlipFolio? Do you have some creative ideas that we can share with other KlipFolio users? Let us know here.
Because we also have a shipment of new T-Shirts, we will be cloathing the Top Big Talkers with the latest in KlipFolio fashions (see for a pic of the T-Shirt).
Thanks!
Allan
Although I'm not sure PC World got the description of KlipFolio quite right, they do consider us one of their 3 favourite "widget" apps. Here is what they said:
Widgets Break Out of the BrowserThe technologies that power the New Web are being applied outside your browser, too. Widgets are lightweight applications that sometimes run inside a browser and other times operate as separate programs. They can monitor the weather, measure battery life, reformat Web pages and search results, or do just about anything else that someone figures out how to accomplish in a scripting language. Here are three of our favorite widgets:
... Klipfolio: Looking much like an instant messaging client, Klipfolio is a free widget that aggregates RSS feeds and other complex information (such as the local weather). Unlike standard RSS readers, however, Klipfolio lets you search feeds and sends you alerts when your search terms appear.
Three unrelated articles caught my attention today - all somewhat related to KlipFolio though. Two I will share with you today, and the third one I will save for a later post.
The first is an interview with Jackob Nielsen, sharing his thoughts on RSS and Blogs. Have a read. It's a good article, a reality check to where we are today, however it does not acknowledge the trend towards this emerging technology. People who are blogging, using RSS, talking about social software are early adopters, and this crowd will influence the future of mainstream.
The second one is a blog by Dan Farber about the explosion and trends of social start-ups. It's interesting just to explore all of the new services / companies / ideas. Just like the social web, here is an interesting parallel pulled from the story:
The most promising sites based Web 2.0 and social networks are those where the structure emerges over time and the results of interaction are more persistent, according to Andrew P. McAfee, an associate professor with the Technology and Operations Management Unit at Harvard Business School. "Wikipedia needed structure over time, for arbitration, tracking changes and making decisions, but it didn't presume to know what the problems are or how to solve them in advance," McAfee told me.
More to come on the third article later ...
A while back we ordered T-shirts for all our staff. The shirts arrived today.
Here's a shot:
We have a few extras that we'll be giving to friends, family, forum members, and competitors (because there is not enough love in the world).
We suspect that for many users, Widgets have a short shelf life.
That's because there are different types of users. One group of users wants to decorate and personalize their desktop with appealing tools, such as analog clocks, battery levels, pictures, and web cams.
Another much larger group wants to save time and effort monitoring changes to remote content.
Check out this comparison between Yahoo Widgets and Google Gadgets.
http://forevergeek.com/geek_resources/yahoo_widgets_vs_google_gadgets.php
Both are good widget platforms. And some widgets can be very useful. What we thought was very interesting was the author's conclusions
So I usually run both, system resources permitting. I tend to use [Yahoo] Widgets more frequently, as they are more easily accessible. But really, after the novelty has worn out, these usually tend to serve only as eye candy, unless you have some compulsive need to have your information available on hand all the time.
We think the author's "after the novelty has worn out" comment is correct. Most people will try out widgets because they look cool (hey, don't we all want a cool desktop). However, after a while, they realize they have installed 11.1 MEG of software so they can see a clock on their desktop. Nice eye candy, but eventually they uninstall it to reclaim their system's resources.
What most people really want, as the author pointed out, is "to have your information available on hand all the time."
For Serence, that's our target user: someone who wants to save time and effort monitoring multiple sources from their desktop.
