Webware

Mobile Vox blogging with your Nokia phone

Cell phone maker Nokia and blogging service Vox have come together to help people add content to their Vox blogs while away from their PCs. Using a new app for your Nokia phone, you're able to upload pictures and videos to your blog without using your phone's Web browser. You're also able to set the privacy levels on every piece of content you upload, keeping prying eyes off items you don't want public. The first Nokia phone to have Vox integration is the N93i, but if you have an N-series Nokia already you can download the … Read more

Music site Amie Street: You get what you pay for

I've never understood why online music is commodity priced. iTunes' buck-a-track model vastly overprices a lot of rotten music and arguably underprices the really good or popular tracks. Music alterna-store Amie Street, which alpha launched in 2006 and recently relaunched a more finished version, has a market-driven model, which also has the side effect of making it more likely that up-and-coming artists can find success in a very crowded market.

On Amie Street, all new music starts out as free: you can download new tracks at no cost, with no rights management encumbrances. But here's the thing: when … Read more

Relive childhood fun with Mr. Picasso Head

Fine art and kitsch have a long history of being intertwined ever since Duchamp's urinal made a splash in the art scene. In the same spirit is Mr. Picasso Head, a drag-and-drop abstract art creation tool that lets you make your own Picasso-like masterpieces.

You control all the pieces of the face and can choose from a variety of eyes, ears, noses and hairstyles. There are some simple scale and rotation tools which let you adjust the size of facial features and which way they should be pointing. You can also change the coloring of each piece using a … Read more

News Roundup

--MeeboMe Widgets Come to Traineo (Mashable) Meebo, the multiclient Web-based instant messaging app, has teamed up with Traineo to provide an easy way to add IM to your Traineo profile.

--Google Confirms Stake in Xunlei (GigaOM) Apparently Google is spending money on a P2P start-up in China. Google has had an interesting history with China, so this is somewhat surprising. However, given the country's track record on piracy, P2P should thrive.

--OpenOffice patches 'highly critical' flaw (CNET News.com) Users of the free and open-source office suite got a patch for a flaw that could let … Read more

Vote for Webware in the 2007 Bloggies!

It's been just a few short months since Webware launched, and we're pretty proud of where it's gone and where it's still going. If you're liking what you're reading, too, maybe you'd like to nominate us for the seventh annual Weblog Awards! You can vote through 10:00 PM Eastern time on Wednesday, January 10th.

Webware is eligible for the following categories:

Best American Weblog Best Computers or Technology Weblog Most Humorous Weblog Best Writing of a Weblog Best Group Weblog Best-Kept Secret Weblog Best New Weblog Weblog of the Year (if you … Read more

Fun in a Flash

Got a few minutes between meetings, or just need to blow off some steam?

Flash game site Kongregate opened up to the public last week. The site is full of great independent Flash games without pop-ups, annoying flash banners, or in-game advertising. It also has solid community features like in-game chat with users who are playing other games, and a rewards system that gives you points for playing and rating games. I also like how the site shares advertising revenue with game developers based on how often their games are played.

My pick for the easiest and most involving game … Read more

JoesGoals: A really nice goal tracker. Or is it a to-do list manager?

JoesGoals is a simple online application that's great for tracking your daily goals. You can assign positive or negative points for things you want (or don't want) to do, and just click on the goal to add or subtract from your tally. For example, I'd like to quit eating M&M's every afternoon. I set that up as a negative goal; when I give in to it, I click on it and get a point subtracted from my goals score for the day. On the positive side, I should walk the big hill home instead … Read more

Mog: Friendster for music lovers

The social-networking/music-recommendation site Mog.com offers a Friendster-like network for connecting "Moggers," an old-school collective blogging system that puts every contributing member in the spotlight, albeit briefly, and a downloadable component that automatically updates your Mog page with your current tunes. The fun and easy method of sharing musical favorites and recommending new gems has already developed a well-informed and well-behaved user base that even includes a few indie superstars.

Mog.com launched back in June 2006 and has attracted an interesting assortment of professional rockers. Among the semifamous musicians with their own Mog pages are Ben Gibbard … Read more

News roundup

--Self-promoting Google tips disappear (CNET News.com) After coming under the collective assail of tech bloggers for using "tips" to promote its own products, like Google Calendar and Google Maps, Google appears to have pulled the feature.

--LinkedIn launches LinkedIn Answers (Mashable!) Business-oriented social networking site LinkedIn has introduced a feature in which you can ask questions to members of your "network," somewhat like Yahoo Answers and the now-defunct Google Answers.

--Web 2.0 hits The Street (CNET News.com) Wall Street news site TheStreet.com, a very Web 1.0 operation, has … Read more