ajb{log}: learn something new each day

I’m probably one of the first early users to get access to Woopra’s beta couple of months ago. Quite frankly, I didn’t use it. I felt Woopra wasn’t going to be as good as what we currently use (Google Analytics). I even said to myself, “it’s just gonna be another Google Analytics with the same sets of data. What can they probably offer? What else is new?”

But as soon as I read about Woopra on CenterNetworks this morning, I gave it a whirl. I logged in to my Woopra account, copy/pasted the JS snippet on Mployd. I thought it would take some time for the data to funnel to my dashboard.

And so I tried to download and install the Woopra desktop application. To my surprise, data from the site is already crunching in!

Here’s a screenshot of the Woopra desktop application on my machine after I installed it.

See that? After 10 mins I’m already getting what I need to know from our visitors. That’s really neat!

And one cool thing about it is that it sits on my desktop/system tray for quick access. Woopra integrated a lot of awesome features into the app aside from analytics. There’s just too much to list them down here.

The Woopra desktop application is currently available in beta to Windows, MacOS, and Linux (note that Java is required to run the app).

We know that Google Analytics dominates the free web analytics space. I’d say Woopra can quickly become #2 with the added innovations to the app.

I’ve tried almost every single free web analytics app out there and Woopra is a breath of fresh air. I simply love it.

–aj

More information here

Microsoft Aquisition Plans: 20 Companies Per Year

“Not to be outdone by Murdoch and his slew of MySpace announcements, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has made some pretty big announcements today at the Web 2.0 Conference, speaking on Microsoft’s plans to acquire 20 companies per year for the next five years, ranging from $50 million to $1 billion, reports Venturebeat.”

Are you one of those companies?

Source

Windows Live SkyDrive: Upgraded to 1GB

“These past couple of months since our last release, we asked ourselves, “What can we do to make SkyDrive even better?” The most obvious answer is something that our users have asked us to do: give out more storage. We’re excited to announce that we’re doubling everyone’s storage to 1 GB!”

MozyHome Free has 2 GB of free backup space.

Source

Microsoft Live Search 411

“Live Search 411 enables you to do this for free, from any phone in the US. Just call 1-800-CALL-411 (1-800-225-5411) and say where you are and what you’re looking for. You can also get text messages, maps, traffic maps, and text-based driving directions sent to your mobile phone (with a service plan that supports text messages or data access, of course!).”

Source

Don’t be a iPirate arrr else…

“In a bold move, the UMass Office of Information Technologies makes a stand against violating intellectual property rights by….violating intellectual property rights?”

Source

Rich? Got some US$ 100,000 lying around? Get a Media Wall for your room.

Source

GPhone is coming

“Although rumors of a possible Google Phone have been making the rounds really hard lately, any such phone will have to be amazing to grab enough end-user and media attention. Expectations are high, but since we’re dreaming, here’s Gizmodo’s wishlist.”

Marissa Mayer didn’t comment nor deny on the question “Have you seen the GPhone?” by Om Malik .

Source

High resolution image hints at ‘Mona Lisa’s’ eyebrows

“One day I say, if I can find only one hair, only one hair of the eyebrow, I will have definitively the proof that originally Leonardo da Vinci had painted eyelash and eyebrow,” said Cotte.

Source

Robot Cannon Kills, Software/Hardware to blame?

“We’re not used to thinking of them this way. But many advanced military weapons are essentially robotic — picking targets out automatically, slewing into position, and waiting only for a human to pull the trigger. Most of the time. Once in a while, though, these machines start firing mysteriously on their own.”

Remember iRobot?

Sources here and here

Other shorts

• Mac OSX Leopard set on October 26, 2007
• Microsoft Popfly Beta launches
• UBUNTU 7.10 Gutsy Gibbon is out
• Adobe eyes move to software-as-a-service
• Firefox 3 to go native in appearance
• New Flickr UI with GeoTagging is Very Impressive

–aj

I just got a beta invite to Grooveshark. It’s a cool music sharing and discovery site like last.fm. Grooveshark is also a P2P music service at its best that gives you rewards if you fix song tags and flag poor quality songs. Best of it all, it gives you a cut of the sales.

Grooveshark also has a feature to view other friends’ music libraries and play them.

Other features includes:
* Listen to full streams of any song ever created
* Access your library from any computer, anywhere, any time
* Build playlists around your favorite music for parties, studying, or …studying parties
* Earn free songs for sharing your music and contributing to the Grooveshark community
* Receive music recommendations based on your friends, your music, and many other variables

In order to download or preview music, you need to have the Grooveshark applicaton which is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux.

Sounds like a lot of fun!

Well, before you enjoy your weekend, check this one out.

–aj

Ubuntero, the social network for Ubuntu friends is now feeling the digg effect. They are still down as of this writing.

I haven’t seen even the front page yet.

–aj

GotoSSH.com is offering free accounts for a web based SSH access and it is currently limited to one server and 2 minute sessions. Subscription for the unlimited account is $12.00/year.

For the geeks out there!

–aj

Apple’s MacBook to have multi-touch functionalities soon? A patent here tells us so.

Nigerian scammer and spammer going to jail. Dude, ready your bum.

If you thought that the Windows 98 BSOD tatoo, the Zune dude and ubuntu fan were cool. You might also gonna like this nintendo guy.

If Microsoft were to build a home, how would it look like?

And my favorite picture of the day is… Bad Boy Ballmer. “I am going to make your home just like that if you switch to Mac!”

–aj

From the footnote of MSA:

Microsoft is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and or other countries. Microsoft Alumni Network is not affiliated with Microsoft Corporation. Copyright 2003-2007

–aj

This Firefox Extension is a tool to back up your profiles, extensions, themes, etc… Very useful if you use multiple browsers from multiple systems (work/office/home). You can even use FEBE to transfer your existing stuff from Netscape 9 to Firefox (vice-versa). Very helpful.

Remember this, you will only realize the importance of backup when it’s already too late. So, word from the wise (take it from me, i lost tons of stuff because of Windows’ crashes!) - backup your gazillion Firefox extensions now (before it’s too late).

Here’s a writeup from the Firefox site:

FEBE allows you to quickly and easily backup your Firefox extensions. In fact, it goes beyond just backing up — It will actually rebuild your extensions individually into installable .xpi files. Now you can easily synchronize your office and home browsers.

FEBE backs up your extensions, themes, and (optionally) your bookmarks, preferences, passwords, cookies and just about everything else Firefox offers (it can even backup/restore your entire profile).

Backups can be performed on demand or scheduled for daily, weekly, or monthly unattended runs.

A comprehensive debug mode allows for troubleshooting complex platforms.

Version 4.0 supports Windows XP and Linux/Unix.

Version 5.0 (in beta - available at http://customsoftwareconsult.com/extensions/febe/febe50.html) supports Mac OS X also. In addition, user-defined backups will allow for backing up most any data from most any application (including Thunderbird).

Ok, after you read this - download it here.

Have a crash-free weekend.

–aj

Most (if not all) of the eskwela.com team members uses either a Macbook/Powerbook/iBook or Ubuntu. They really don’t like using Windows unless it’s really necessary (like developing XackMail) and these guys weally (really) love OSX and Linux.

Yes, you are right. I use Windows XP (which was pre-loaded with the notebook I got, so what?). And don’t you try to belittle me, I love Macs too! Ha!

Actually, I’m saving for a MacBook Pro (I can also run Ubuntu and Windows here you know). But there are tons of other priorities than that so I leave it the way it is for now.

One of my job at eskwela.com is quality testing. I use different versions of IE (Internet Explorer) and a very good tool for this is MultipleIEs.

For those who doesn’t know, (yes) you can actually install all versions of IE3, IE4.01, IE5, IE5.5, and IE6 on one machine. It works fine (don’t crash now, please) on my machine together with the new (or old) IE7.

Why don’t you give it a try.

Disclaimer: Use at your own risk. hehehe… Good luck!

–aj