The Scoop....what have i found this time...hmm....

After scavenging the web for interesting apps, i decided it was time to take a look at the desktop applications for Facebook. Seeing as i already had a couple, namely Flock and AlertThingy, i thought it might be a good idea to see what else they have.

Being overly impressed with the Flock Browser, i had a feeling there might be other great apps hidden in the list somewhere. But first, let me talk about the almighty Flock.

Just over a week into using it now and i can say that Firefox3 has been replaced as my default. I know it doesnt really make sense if you are a computer geek, because you would realize that Flock is just a suped up FF3.....and had i felt like it, i could have done all the modifications myself. BUT ANYWAY, i wanted to try something new. Did i mention its backward compatible with FF3 add-ons? I found out by accident. I checked the Flock Add-Ons page and found almost nothing, so in my last desperate attempt to customize what i could, i resorted to experimentation. With good reason however, because this is after all FF3.

The OpenID integration is superb. No longer do i have to spend hours logging into social networks, navigating through pages and pages of links, and then sitting here for an eternity trying to upload photos, only to find the connection failed and i have to select all 60 photos again. No longer do i have to log into my blogger page just to write a quick post. No longer do i have to check my RSS feeds every five minutes to see whats new and newsy. No longer do i have to make notes about links i want to come back and visit or show to friends. NO LONGER!

I seriously seriously SERIOUSLY recommend EVERYONE to go and get this browser. Now if we could get this with a Chrome sort of concept.....hmmmm.

I should actually get around to writing about some really useful add-ons i found for the FF3 users. IE users, sorry. I don't swing that way anymore. Its all about Mozilla now. And now the Facebook apps.

I downloaded two this morning. Facebook Desktop (who would have guessed?), and Scrapboy. And so far (because i'm spoiled with Flock), i can say that Facebook Desktop is a disappointment. In my opinion. I was really hoping it would have an IM function in it, but its basically the same as my People Sidebar in flock. Displays messages, friend requests, pokes, your status and wall posts. In fact, its pretty much just an app that displays your notifications. Everything you click opens a browser window....nothing is actually happening in the app. Lame. And everytime i start it, i find myself being directed to the facebook site to log in.....what IS the point of this really if im going to open my browser to facebook everytime? The little window isnt even big enough to show my full name, and you can't resize it. Ha...

FACEBOOK DESKTOP CLIENT


Scrapboy looks promising though. I downloaded it half an hour ago and im slightly excited (how sad, right?) to try it out. So far it logs in well, has a PROPER, and i can IM and write wall posts and messages from within the app. More info on this as soon as i've taken it for a test run. Theres bound to be some Gems in there, and with me being the type of person i am, i will find them somehow. Intersting GUI though.

SCRAPBOY

(just noticed GIMP kinda stroked out in this screenshot :S)

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Flock and Me :)

A couple nights ago i was just browsing the web. I came across some old favorite links in my Firefox and decided to just go through them...just for the fun of it to see what i had been bookmarking. I must have come across some forum (probably Ubuntu, cos it was something to do with Linux....i don't remember my damn self.) and i saw something about a social networking browser. Then i saw that it was based on Firefox3....which was all i needed to see really. A few clicks later i had downloaded it and was on my way to setting it up, which didnt even take long.

Flock is the name of the browser. Its not my favorite, to be completely honest, but i'm using it as much as possible to get used to it. Thus far i can actually say i recommend it to anyone who is a member on a number of social networking sites. Why? I'll try and explain it.

The browser has a feature called OpenID which allows you to simultaneously connect to a number of social networking sites. This allows you quick and easy access to updates, notifications, etc without having to even open the site. So, while your on whatever site you're viewing, just pop open the side bar, change your Facebook status, maybe check your requests (friend, group, application, etc) and you messages, and even check your friends current status messages. Then check what your friends on YouTube have done recently, then onto MySpace, and so on and so forth. All in a sidebar.

The so called Flockbar is currently my favorite feature on the browser. With buttons to pop open:-

• the people sidebar,
• media bar (pops up at the top of the window to show videos on your YouTube account. either what you added, favorite or anything recently added or favorite. and more),
  
• RSS feeds (in the sidebar),
  
• mail (opens a new tab),
  
• favorites (sidebar),
  
• photo uploader (new window),
  
• blog editor (new window),
  
• accounts and services sidebar,
• and a very useful feature... the web clipboard sidebar.

More info on Flock available at the homepage.

Another thing. Its a cross platform browser. So if you're on XP, Vista, OS X or any Linux distro, you can use it.

Blogged with the Flock Browser