Zebr’s Ten Minutes July 23, 2008
Posted by Jeremy Wagstaff in AIR, facebook, social networking.2 comments
What it is: Zebr is a simple Adobe AIR tool that lets you see your Facebook friends’ status and other messages, as well as being able to update your own.
Installation is straightforward (though you’ll need Adobe AIR if you haven’t already.)
Once the tool is installed, you’ll need to log on to your Facebook account via Zebr first:
Once that’s done you’ll get a message in your browser:
Soon after that your buddy list will appear, a bit like this:
At the bottom is a small box for you showing your current status:
Update it by typing in the box:
This time Zebr will need authorization from Facebook to update remotely:
Once that’s done you’re in. Zebr allows you to select which of your friends’ messages you receive via the gadget. Updates will also appear in a little black box that pops up in the corner of your screen.
Verdict: Smooth and simple. Not for everyone, and lacks the instant messaging feature which would make it a killer app, but in the absence of any other light desktop Facebook tools that work, I’m going to keep it.
Glary Utilities’ Ten Minutes July 23, 2008
Posted by Jeremy Wagstaff in utilities, wiindows.add a comment
(Windows only)
What it does: Glary Utilities is a system utilities suite for Windows, that provides tools for speeding up, fixing and cleaning your computer.
Installation is quick and painless. File size less than 6 MB. 1-Click maintenance lets you clean the registry, fix shortcuts, remove dangerous startup entries, clean temporary files, and remove spyware. (An optional extra is erasing activity and Internet traces.)
The thing takes about three minutes to run. I had recently run other software, but the software still found a bunch of problems:
I was particularly pleased it found the sneaky RealPlayer’s tkbell.exe file in my startup menu. I always hated that ridiculous program, with its silly and misleading name. Ugh. The whole cleanup took less than 4 minutes.
Glary includes a number of other utilities, all thrown in for free. (A $40 version gets you free support, enhanced fixing etc.)
Verdict: Impressive stuff. If you’re a Windows user, use it.
(Hat tip to LifeHacker.)
Scrapboy’s Ten Minutes July 23, 2008
Posted by Jeremy Wagstaff in messaging, presence, social networking.2 comments
What is it: Scrapboy is a desktop application for Windows that allows users to access and interact with their Facebook, MySpace and orkut profiles.
Download is straightforward, with good instructions. The file is about 7.5 MB.
The sign-on screen is clear, albeit a little, er, kid-centric:
(You’re now providing your Facebook, orkut and/or MySpace sign-on information to a third party. If that’s an issue for you—and it should be—then you might want to think twice before using an app like this. That said, it’s quite common, nowadays, for third party services and apps to do this, so Scrapboy aren’t doing anything too unusual.)
I then started getting errors, including this one, indicating there was something wrong with the script Scrapboy uses to access Facebook’s logon page:
I then got another:
Going back to the Scrapboy app was no good: the buttons were grayed out.
I tried the same thing a couple of times, with the same results. I eventually got this message:
Given that I was pitched this product this morning by a PR firm, I would have thought the product would be more, well, ready.
Verdict: Not ready for matinees, let alone prime time.
Update: 24 hours on, I had another go at running this in response to developer comments. This time I was able to sign in, after an initial error page, indicating that it was probably the changes in the Facebook interface. (Such changes have been in place for several days, however, and I tested the software shortly after receiving the PR pitch, so this should have been tested more thoroughly.)
The point of this website is that the value of a product should reveal itself within 10 minutes, and Scrapbook failed on that score. But even relaxing that rule, initial impressions of the application itself are disappointing: the UI is clunky, too large (and not resizable below a certain dimension, clearly to support ads), does not make good use of the space it does take up, and is hard to navigate:
All in all, a disappointment.
