alekkus

65amp.com launched! Why everyone needs a mashup?

I left the corporate world back in late 2007 to pursue a business idea. It was an idea that I thought it was obvious to have been implemented, yet I don’t see it on the web at that time. To work on the idea, I knew I need to learn web development skills, an area which I have never touch on during my Computer Science course (shame on me). I joined a small company as a Flex developer, and learned as much as I could. Then in July 2008, I once again tender my resignation to officially kick off my startup. After a 10 months roller-coaster ride, I finally got it launched – http://65amp.com

It is a mashup publishing platform that allows users to integrate their existing contents from various sites into a single page so that friends can access all the users’ contents from a single place. Why is this a much needed product? Let’s travel back a few years from now. When blogging came out, it was a hit because people have yearn to publish themselves but the hassle of learning html and hosting a site was too much of a trouble. Blogging, on the other hand, allow everyone to own a place on the net, to express their thoughts and to communicate with others. But soon, people want something more than text content. So came the waves of sites offering photo management services like Flickr and Photobucket. Then came videos (yes YouTube). And now feeds (Twitter, Friendfeed). With all these services, each offering a segment of contents, a user online identity gets disperse since a person who like reading your blog wouldn’t know what other contents (images, videos) you have contributed online. Hence, it seems rational that a whole-new publishing platform that can integrate contents from various sources are needed at this moment.

Aggregating use contents is nothing new. Many sites do it, with the majority chose to present the aggregate contents in chronological order (FriendFeed, Storytlr). I thought my approach is better and so 65amp was born. It’s currently still in Alpha version, and I’m open up to feedbacks to improve the site.

Here’s a short demo of how to create a mashup in 65amp. Let me know what your thoughts.

Bored with your desktop?

Are you bored with your computer’s desktop. Try out BumpTop, which aims to reinvent the way you work with your files. The “waoh” factor is certainly there, but I’m concerned about the adoption rate; making a dog learn new tricks is not an easy task.

Cynergy Systems, one of the best RIA companies

From day one when I stepped into Flex, I have been following the cool stuffs that Cynergy Systems Inc. builds. While there are many companies who are experts in building Rich Internet Applications (RIA), Cynergy would come out top when it comes to seamless visual experience. I have seen so many applications which embed unnecessary animation, making user feel annoying at times. Cynergy really tackle that well. Check out their showcase to see what I mean.

(A video interview taken by Ryan Stewart)

Quickcomm Enterprise with Cynergy from Ryan Stewart on Vimeo.

An emerging trend – Augmented Reality (AR)

After checking out Cyber Figure Alice, I came across more products that use Augmented Reality. For instance, AR-powered baseball cards and GE’s Smart Grid. Let me know if you come across anymore.

For Flash enthusiasts, Saqoosha has released a library for enabling AR on the Flash platform dubbed the FLARToolkit. Ryan Stewart posted a FLARToolkit demo while attending Adobe Max in Japan earlier this year. Check it out : )

FLARToolKit Demo from Ryan Stewart on Vimeo.

World’s first interactive cyber figure on your screen

I agree the post title sounds confusing. That’s because I have no idea how to best describe this wonderful product released in Japan earlier this year. Named “Dennoh Figure ARis” (translated as Cyber Figure Alice), it is a virtual doll that you can interact with using some sensors and webcam. Priced at 9,800 yen (around USD100), I believe many geeks will get one.

Now, let the video do the talking.

Fiat’s Eco:Drive AIR Application at Adobe Max 2008/09

During the Adobe Max 2008/09 in Milan, team members from AKQA demonstrated a very interesting AIR application, the Fiat’s Eco:Drive.

The concept of Eco:Drive is explained here:

Serge Jespers and Andrew Shorten had an interview with the team after that. You can watch the interview here.