What we like, what we do & bump into

Lately, we started associating the ‘change’ notion with Facebook due to the never ending modifications and a few days ago, at the F8 conference, Mark Zuckerberg presented one of the most revolutionary changes of all: Facebook Timeline.

Facebook Timeline turns the users profile in a virtual scrapbook and digs deep into his past.  Finding what you posted in your first day as a member of this web site or other important posts through time is really difficult to do. Facebook Timeline has the purpose of resurfacing the entire content you shared on Facebook over time, with no effort, because Facebook automatically ads images, status updates and events from the users history. More so, it gives the possibility o filling the blanks with photos where the user thinks he should.

Also, on the right side there will be a list of years starting with the registration date, and in order to see the important events of a certain year all you need to do is click on that year.

In order to better understand these changes, we invite you to watch the Facebook Timeline presentation video!

Obviously, progress is welcomed and useful as well, but, daily changes can confuse the user until he gets truly irritated, which has been happening to Facebook clients recently. We’re wondering how much time before they get sick of it.

Like we promised in the previous article we continue the series of web site launches with 50off.ro.

You can create a 50off account in the traditional manner, by filling out a form or, in two clicks, for those who have a Facebook account, with the help of Facebook login.

Despite the fact that it is a discount network, as you can guess from the name, it also offers the basic facilities of a social network. Thus, you can create a profile page, you can invite friends, you can see the places they frequent, you can send private messages, but more important, you can buy the vouchers 50off offers at 1:1 parity.

How do you buy? It’s very simple! For example, you pay 100 lei and in return you receive from 50off, vouchers of 200 lei in coupons of 1, 5 or 10 lei; the minimum amount of money with which you can buy vouchers is 50 lei. With these coupons you can enjoy all the services you like form the companies that have promotions in the interval you chose on the web site.

We put a lot of passion into the project and we worked with a lot of interest because it brings a new concept to the local market and, of course, it was a challenge for us too, but, once we finished it, we can say we reached a successful ending. At only two days after its launch, the web site already has more than 21.000 users and the number is still growing.

We hope we caught your interest and we invite you to discover the delight of discounts on 50off!

When was the last time you posted something in a forum? You almost can’t remember, can you? Nowadays, when blogs and social networks are the main means of communication and internet marketing, does anyone care anymore for forums?

The forums began to rise around mid nineties and shortly became very popular due to the fact that they created the impression of a virtual community that was developing through common users.

We won’t insist on how the forums work because you’ve certainly posted at least once in a forum and if not, this Wikipedia article is very explanatory. The forums played an important part in our daily internet presence some time ago, but recently, it seems their importance started to fade. It’s a well known fact that everything changes with time, and web development and the way we navigate the internet, this including forums, is a part of the process.

But, what is it that quenched the socialization thirst of the users and gave more complex elements so that forums lost ground? The social networks, of course! Facebook has changed the internet world whether we like it or not. Myspace works on the same principle but it’s more targeted. So, slowly, the forums upon which the social networks are based, began losing ground and, also, being outdated in comparison with the services offered by the social networks.

The blogs are also an alternative to forums. While they allow visitors to leave comments, your opinion on the subject is always on top and the discussion around it can be left in the hand of the visitors.

The phenomenon goes beyond the social life, the social networks and blogs penetrating the business world as well. Few clients ask for a forum in their web site but almost each client wants a Facebook page and a blog with the help of which they can interact with the visitors.

Thus, taking into account these aspects, should we make peace with the idea that forums time has passed or is there still hope for them? What could the forums advantages be in comparison with the new socializing means and are there still reasons to opt for forums? What do you think?

All the web development magazines, web sites and blogs have been raging, lately, about Google+ Project, a social network that Google has been preparing for some time and that, also, is supposed to be more interesting, more interactive and more complex that the actual number one social network, Facebook.

Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, being aware of the impact that Google+ will have and also wanting to avert the competition the right way, launched a new service, Facebook Skype Video Chat.

The service, as you probably figured out from the name, was developed in partnership with Skype and allows Facebook users to communicate online, video, without leaving the web site. All that the users need to do is download a small plug-in and there you go instant online video chat! You can communicate through the chat tab: you initiate a new conversation, press the Video Chat button and you’ll be face to face with your friend.

The Facebook chat had many bugs to begin with so we’re still aloof when it comes to the functionality of the service, but, we’ll test it and see for ourselves. We also invite you to share your opinions!

Below you’ll find a movie that presents Facebook Skype Video Chat:

Almost every day a new, interesting, fun and useful web app pops up, but in this sea of apps it is difficult to identify the best one. We’ve created a list of 5 apps we consider to be the most interesting and useful.

BufferApp is an app created for those who are active on Twitter but don’t want to drive  their followers crazy with a cascade of messages. It is very easy to use: you simply add your tweets to your buffer and they will be sent on a timetable which you set. You can sign up for free.

Launchlist is a very useful web app for web developers. It helps you keep track of all the steps you have to go through before launching a web site. You can sign up for free.

Flipsnack is another web app we liked a lot. Basically, it turns the PDFs you upload into books that you can embed into your own web site. You can then skim the book as if you were reading it on your iPad.

Meetin.gs brings a new approach in regards to online conferences. The apps allows you to create an agenda, to share notes and materials and, also, it has many web services integrated, as well. Thus, the conferences can take place as if they were held face to face.

Memolane is a truly beautyful app. It creates a timeline of your life, importing info from Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Flickr and other services. The result is yours to share with whomever you decide to.