new.facebook.com thoughts and review

Facebook have launched a design for the site and there is a mirror site showing off a re-designed facebook. you can access your own facebook page by logging on to http://new.facebook.com. Its easy and you can switch back if you don’t like it.

I think the initial goal of the re-design was to stop those annoying applications taking up so much space vertically on the page thus no ideal positions to place ads. We all have friends that install everything and decide to open up their friend lists and information to any tom, dick and harry that can develop something using the facebook api. So those people might benefit by allowing people navigate their profile a little better.

Here’s some changes I found

• Ads are clearer and more visable as ads. Before FB ads got mixed up witht he profiles, now it seems to be a bit more of a clearer design.
• There are a series of tabs along the top where you can create sections of your profile, quite a useful feature. However i HATE how some tabs make the profile picture and contact details columns different, some how this goes against most usabilty standards for websites … hope they fix it soon.
• The site is now optimised to a 1026×768 resolution, which is ok but personally I like 800×600 optimised websites (like the bbc) that have a narrow page width, i find it faster to read and easier to scan with my eyes for stuff I need to read. I like scroll wheels
• Font is now bigger and the padding around the different sections are wider. I don’t like this … its just too much white space for me. adds lot of glare.

So there are some plus and some minus points so check it out and see what you think

You need Skype!

I think anyone who hasn’t used Skype before should certainly give it a try. I would hope that this blog helps regular non-techy people find out about technologies that can make their lives better and more convenient, Skype is one of services that deserves a lot more publicity to push it in to the mainstream because of the ease of use and the potential money savings it can bring to anyone.

Skype is basically an application you install on your computer that allows you to use the internet and the computer microphone/speakers to tranform your computer into a telephone. It uses the technology behind a VOIP  telephone system however the end point is a computer and not a home telephone.

You can call any phone to most international numbers…

Travel alot? try iPass

Travel alot? need to connect to WiFi hotspots but don’t want to pay a $10 day rate? Well I might be able to help you … since you have to be careful with your data cost on those silly Canadian data plans .. tethering your laptop to your brand new iPhone may not be a viable option.

Tethering is a way of connecting your laptop to the internet over a GSM cell phone signal. Most phones that are 3G can act almost like a modem when connected to your laptop with a USB cable so theoretically you can connect ANYWHERE! … however most mobile providers don’t provide data plans that can support the heavy amount of data being transferred by a laptop so it could be a very expensive way to stay online.

However, I wanted to share iPass with you…

RedFlagDeals.com!

For nearly 3 years I have been a part of a community called RedFlagDeals.com, in Canada it is the best site for deals and coupon codes you’ll ever find. People on there are friendly, knowledgeable and, for me, the forums are the last web site I look at before committing to buy most things. There has been times where I’ll be ready to checkout something online, search RFD and find a coupon code that saves me 10-15% off the bat!

This is a list of some of the savings I have made in the past

Harmony 880 Remote for $119

Realtor.ca is here!

Finally Realtor.ca is here. Its leaps and bound better than MLS.ca which will soon retire.

Realtor.ca brings in the best of Web 2.0 like google mashups and web services to allow you to search the city or property to rent and buy easily.

Its really empowering and I’m sure the site has stirred mixed feelings amoung the realtor crowd. I can image some tech savvy realtors embracing this alot however some not so techy realtors might think this as a threat to their businesses, we’ll see.

I just remember searching mls hours upon end looking for comparable properties in my area I would need to query each street separately, now with this site there is so much more you can do.

Happy Property Hunting!

Facebook – Windows Mobile Integration

Wouldn’t it be cool if you could relate all your facebook friends to everyone in your outlook contacts and then download up-to-date information to your phone? Well we’re nearly there! There is a great app call Fonebook available to download for free.

The app is installed on your computer and it can automatically download Birthdays, Photos and Status updates directly into your contacts in your Outlook. As far as I can figure out it matches facebook friends to outlook contacts by email but the app allows you to filter all the unmatched friends and assocaite them to Contacts manually. I just found out that you can keep it running in the background and it will automatically run every 10 minutes if you so wish.

Once all your contacts are updated in your outlook you can then sync your phone with your computer to get all the photos and birthday reminders on your phone … pretty cool eh? I haven’t has any issues with the app yet.

Google Documents

One of my favourite Google applications is Google Docs. Its still in beta but it works just fine and haven’t had any  bad experiences with it.

I use it to share documents and collaborate information. Great for To Do lists, Planning Projects/Vacations, Organisations and general business use.

The best thing about it is you can create documents online and work on the document at the same time with any user with an internet connection. If both people update the same data it prompt you to resolve the conflict with no data loss. You can create Spreadsheets, Documents and Presentations. (I was deliberate not to mention any of the Microsoft office products as these work quite differently!!).