RSS in Gmail

A while ago we talked about adding an RSS reader to Gmail by using Greasemonkey. Now a couple of days after Yahoo did this to their Yahoo Mail, Gmail has it. Google has also added invitation to use Google Talk and Google Desktop to Gmail. As we discussed, email is the entry point to many things. It's good to see the verification of that.

Flock, What It Means

I am writing this post from Flock, the social browser that has generated a lot of buzz. Today their first public preview is available. Out of curiosity, I installed it and starting using it. First thing that came to mind, when I tried to figure out what it really is, web of applications! Sure, Flock does this (RSS) and that (blogging). But the first thing that caught my eyes was its seamless integration with del.icio.us (the online bookmark site). Flock is an application. del.icio.us is an application. The important thing is del.icio.us has an API that Flock uses to serve its own purposes: server-based / group / sharable bookmarks that bubble up the abstraction chain to become favorites and current social trends.

Although I do believe most of the functionality of an application should come from the server side, Flock does demonstrate the power of tight browser integration. It is definitely something to watch.

If you are not using del.icio.us everyday, you should. If you haven't tried Flock, try it.

gvisit: Another Web 2.0 Application

Web 2.0 applications are popping left and right. Here is another example: gvisit (visitor map of my Hello, world! blog). Some more characteristics of Web 2.0 apps:

• What: to add value
• How: by integrating with others

10 Steps to a Hugely Successful Web 2.0 Company

Some good points from New York based VC. The most interesting thing is the recognition of the fundamental differences between a Web 1.0 and 2.0 company. The most important facts:

• Hardware is cheap. Bandwidth is cheap. The price of a good one-server datacenter with 1TB traffic starts at $69/month.
• Software platform is so high that you can build pretty much anything relatively easily with a handful of people. This comes from the fact that so many tools are either open-source (so that you can use and improve) or open API (so that you can just call instead of build (examples: Feedburner for feed management, Technorati for feed search and ranking, etc.)).
• Communities can form quickly.
  

Joe Krause has many other good points on the same subject. This is a very exciting time again.

Greasemonkey: Enabling AOP on the Client Side

Greasemonkey is one of the most fundamental innovations for the web. It appears deceptively simple and non-impactful. But what it enables is a billion possibilities. Here is Chief Monkey's presentation at OSCON 2005.

The Birth of Google (cross posted)

Original post on my personal blog.

Passion and Ideas, Let's Free Them!

The following is the quote of Christina Fake, founder of Flickr (recently acquired by Yahoo), when asked for Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs:

Things don't end up the way you think they are going to be. We didn't have a business plan written up for how Flickr was going to work. We didn't have a spec for the software. Passion and ideas, if you can free them, and follow the direction the product or service is going, you can find its path.

You know what, I like the idea of not having to have a business plan :). As Joel says, which I agree wholeheartedly:

best working Condition -> best programmers -> best software -> profit

I hope we get rolling soon.

A Place Where I Want to Work

The more I read Joel on Software (Hitting the High Notes) and Paul Graham (Hiring is Obsolete), the more I understand why my current company just doesn't satisfy me and know what kind of company I want to see us build: a place where I (and everyone) want to work.

Disruptive Innovation

As we are ready to build our product, I want to make sure we aim high. See my recent experience with AutoStitch. This is the kind of usability I want to see in our products: dead simple. This week's BusinessWeek top story is also on innovation.

Create, Innovate, Aim High!

Free Software Business Model

Just read Jonathan Schwartz's post on software pricing. One thing that dawned on me is this quote:

It's far easier to convince a customer to pay for a product they're already using, than one they haven't even tried.

To me this is a new angle to the free software business model. One can offer their software as unlimited trial (free). When customers are ready to pay (most likely large enterprise customers), they can charge. Yes, it's far easier to convince a customer to pay for a product they're already using, than one they haven't even tried. This is happening now at Cisco for Confluence and JIRA. This is far better than just doing support and service. Limited trials don't work well.

Email and Tagging

One more use case for email by Jon Udell.