mostly research stuff
okay, so i’m obviously not talking about ajax cleaning agents for your still-warm toilet seat…i’m talking about ajax, the web applications development approach - if you’ve used the internet lately, then you’ve probably used ajax…you can get a data dump at ajaxinfo because i do NOT want to be the umpteenth person who has to explain that it’s a technique to use a bunch of stuff that’s already been around for years…just understand this: it makes lightweight apps work quickly and allows for developers to whack out “situational software” - which is just another buzzword that allows for marketers to sell more ajax-related crap….unpopular this year is the big ajax issue: developers are having trouble getting great stuff to work in all browsers, and that’s just the start of the problems - kinda like how french and english both use the same alphabet but that means shit when you’re bleeding in the middle of the riots and you’re an american with zero foreign language skills trying to explain where it hurts…
oh, sorry, i’m totally off topic - the point here is to showcase a whole buncha cool ajax type applications that you can use, almost all are free (actually, i think only one below costs moola)…and they do pretty much everything a basic home or small business user is gonna do each day provided you’ve got your own phone, internet connection and a working brain…this is part one (the list is long), so check back later this week for part 2…
mypimp: a personal information management tool, hands down the best name for any ajax application….coolest part of it is getting the alerts sent to your cell phone (i need that, for birthdays and shit)
24sevenoffice: a whole office suite online (good luck taking on microsoft and elgoog! hah!), replete with real erp and crm functions…and sorta semantics here, it uses ajax - but is it all ajax technologies? not so sure…
writely: all ajax, word processing and doc sharing online…and don’t forget to check your spelling with another ajax-like tool - but firefox only for now (via ruby on rails, a different project that’s a server side scripting language, very cool, keep an eye it)…or you could use this spellchecker too, and download the code (you know, to learn, du-hoy)
objectgraph dictionary: when you need to actually look up the word…sweet app (did i mention that i love words?)
inetword: competes with writely, but really only works in IE, not firefox…
zohowriter: yet another word processing type app…
writeboard: another collaborative word processing type app, from 37signals, the company behind several other apps below (backpack, tada list, etc)
numsum: all ajax, like excel (for spreadsheets, tracking how much you waste at dunkin’ donust etc)
zimbra: fully ajax client - but technically runs server-side just like exchange, so don’t piss and moan ’cause i did say it, okay?.. it’s a full collab suite, and they have an ajax toolkit for developers who want to extend (e.g. to corporate databases, etc) - you can bet that this co will be around, the creator is former cto of bea (scott dietzen)….
trumba: all ajax, calendaring..you could fill it up with cool news about where bands are playing from bandnews, which would be sweet if you could customize to leave out the teen beat magazine bands…
kiko: all ajax, a calendaring application
calendarhub: yet another calendaring application
planzo: …and yet another calendaring app that looks an awful lot like something from elgoog…hmm…hosted by the guys behind hotornot.com…
formassembly’s time tracker: a cool time tracking tool, great if you use subcontractors for stuff…
foopad: a wiki tool…and if you’re like, “what’s a wiki? is that the little hairy dude in star wars?” then just go back to sleep…
tiddlywiki: another wiki tool…i like it more than foopad
feeddigest: an rss reader and utility (eg use it to put feeds on your site, like the one from passingnotes)
meebo: an ajax instant messenger client, very cool, supports multiple logins and could be great for when you’re on the road and gotta borrow access ’cause you’re without pda-phone :(
zannahan’s zuggest: this project lets you search amazon from a different site, but the book burro will let you actually install a sweet-ass browser plugin that runs price comparison searches while you’re actually at amazon (ouch, that hurts, huh?)
light flickr: a lightweight tool for looking at crap from flickr without all of the bullshit in the way…
okay, so that’s about it for now - check in later for the rest of the list. i’m gonna do a more detailed set of reviews and organize the whole thing over at researchzilla probably this coming weekend (gotta get on that…some time)…
this blog is mostly safe for work, though i sometimes throw around a 'fuck' or two. you'll find a bunch of my articles from CI Magazine, SCIP online, other research pieces and some other crap. enjoy. there's lost of content here related to getting information about, around, from and through people and organizations...
Espen Antonsen
November 15th, 2005 at 4:32 am
Hi Dave,
Nice overview of Ajax applications you have put together.
I just want to clarify a few things about 24SevenOffice. 24SevenOffice is a web based ERP/CRM system - not a Microsoft Office competitor if that is what you compare it to. The system includes modules for accounting, invoice, CRM, e-mail, project management and more.
I can tell you that we use Ajax extensively and has used it for a while - even before it was popular and known as Ajax. Speed is critical in an application like this and Ajax is a very important part of delivering a fast and user friendly application. You can check out all the Ajax stuff by trying our online demo.
Let me know if you have any further questions.
Cheers,
Espen
wetooo.twoday.net
November 17th, 2005 at 10:06 am
Ein Rundblick
…bietet Passing Notes. Mal wieder ein Haufen praktischer Tools f
Dave Carpe
November 17th, 2005 at 11:06 am
yes, i like 24seven’s suite - though as a business user, i’m still waiting for some seriously high speed coupled with “beyond reality” security standards…
…and of course, support for firefox ;) (and other browsers)…which raises the whole issue i touched above, the problems putting ajax apps on multiple browsers without generating new issues…any thoughts on that one?
Espen Antonsen
November 18th, 2005 at 4:01 am
complex cross-browser ajax applications is hard. JavaScript differences can be catered for quite easily but the CSS bugs in the various browsers (most notably the bugs in IE6) means that a developer must put many hours into making the application work in all browsers. We started developing 24SevenOffice when IE6 was the leading browsers - seen from a technical perspective - thus the CSS is adapted to IE6 quirksmode. We really want to support other browsers but currently the browser differences are just too many. I know it’s possible but it will create a shift of focus for us. We want to focus on developing a fast and user-friendly application that has the features users want. We rather improve that instead of spending a lot of time modifing CSS/HTML/JavaScript to make it work in other browsers. Not only takes it time but also a lot of frustration.
Regarding high speed applications I would say we have solved a lot of problems with this issue. It is very important for us (and our customers). Ajax certainly is critical here.
Cheers,
Espen Antonsen, 24SevenOffice
Francis Shanahan
November 18th, 2005 at 11:12 pm
Hey, what did you think of my other AJAX stuff? Zollage or Taglines? you likey ?
-Francis Shanahan