CyberNotes: Feeds 2.0 – Personalized Web 2.0 RSS Aggregator

This article was written on October 06, 2006 by CyberNet.

CyberNotes
Free For All Friday

With Google revamping and polishing up Google Reader recently with a new look, some AJAX, and new features, I thought I’d point out a reader that has been around for a little while and uses AJAX technology nicely.  Feeds 2.0 strives to give you a more personalized reader which is something that makes them stand out above many others as a truly personalized Web 2.0 RSS Aggregator. Getting an account is free, however they’re currently in private beta (plans to go public soon).  I sent a request for an account and got my invitation in less than 12 hours, so it appears the private beta isn’t all too difficult to get involved with.

Feeds 2.0

– A Personalized Experience –

Feeds 2.0 is all about personalization, and they do it well.  They use a learning “engine” that over time learns what you like and what you don’t like. By clicking on an article to read it, you’re telling the engine that it’s something you’re interested in.  A simplified way to do this if you’re in a hurry is to click the heart that accompanies each article. Using an algorithm, they analyze what you’ve read and liked, but also what you’ve read and marked as non-interesting or ignored to determine what articles should be recommended to you.

– Features –

One feature in particular that I like is the tag cloud which gives you an overview of the most dominant words in the post.  When a word is found multiple times throughout posts, it is considered more important and will appear larger in the tag cloud. If you were to click on a word in the tag cloud, it would pull up posts that have the related word from the tag cloud in the article.

When organizing your subscriptions, you’re able to create folders which can be collapsed or expanded.  There’s also the option to view all of the unread posts, and posts that have already been read. The AJAX that has been incorporated into Feeds 2.0 makes for quick and easy transitioning from tab to tab to manage your reader and all of the settings.

By far, the best feature of Feeds 2.0 is the personalization engine they’ve incorporated.  There are lots of feed readers out there which make you wonder why you’d  need to try yet another one, however this reader is different.

You can sign up for the private beta on the Feeds 2.0 home page.

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

Related Posts:


Lenovo aims new ThinkPad Edge laptops and ThinkVision monitor at business weaklings

Lenovo’s come to the aid of road-weary business users who want a second screen for their laptops but think a Spacebook is a little excessive. It’s just released the 14-inch ThinkVision Mobile Monitor to accompany its new ThinkPad Edge laptops, which gets both power and data via USB, has 16 brightness settings and packs an independent kickstand. It can either be used as a dual display for those mammoth spreadsheets or as a presentation screen where lugging around a projector just isn’t practical. The Edge laptops (a 14-inch E425 and a 15.6-inch E525) come with AMD A-Series APUs, an optional fingerprint reader and a choice of “midnight black” (seen above) or “heatwave red” (shot after the break). All three are promised to arrive this month, with the laptops starting at $549 and the monitor priced at $219.99. Of course, if you need a USB-powered display bigger than 14-inches, you might be better off trying one of these.

Continue reading Lenovo aims new ThinkPad Edge laptops and ThinkVision monitor at business weaklings

Lenovo aims new ThinkPad Edge laptops and ThinkVision monitor at business weaklings originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 12 Aug 2011 08:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Business Wire  |  sourceLenovo  | Email this | Comments

Video: Inside a Pencil-Making Factory

A big block of half-formed pencils, ready for chopping

Ever wondered how a pencil is made? Me too, so I will join you as we watch the following video. It’s from pencil-maker Staedtler. Just imagine that I am sitting at your side, perhaps sipping a coffee as we enjoy the movie together. Don’t worry. I won’t do anything creepy.

I’m a complete sucker for movies showing automatic production lines of anything, so I’d love this clip even if I hadn’t learned anything from it. As it is, I found out that the German Staedtler factory uses Californian cedar for its pencils, that the glue that keeps the lead inside is also a cushion to prevent those leads from snapping, and that the pencils are made in a big block before being cut into their individual hexagonal selves.

You’ll also find out how they’re painted, how the erasers and their accompanying ferrules are attached, and best of all, how they are sharpened. This last step is completely unexpected.

And that is all. Thanks for letting me sit with you for five minutes. I had a great time. That coffee you made me was horrible, though. You might want to do something about that.

How It’s Made PENCIL [YouTube via Core77]

See Also:


Ivy Patch

image

You might also like:

Samsung heads to court to end Galaxy Tab ban

The company, along with Apple, will be in a German court on August 25 to present arguments. A decision will follow in early September.

Originally posted at The Digital Home

Acer Iconia Tab A100 review

It’s been nine months — nine months! — since Acer first announced it was getting into the tablet game, with a promise of both 7- and 10-inch slates. Well, the 10-inch Iconia Tab A500 has been on the scene for months, but until now we’ve been tapping our feet impatiently waiting for the other tab to drop. Acer came out and said it wouldn’t be here until the second half of the year, and meanwhile we’d heard rumors it would arrive in September and that it was delayed due to “Honeycomb compatibility issues“.

Well, folks, dog years later it’s finally here. Say hello to the Acer Iconia Tab A100, the company’s first 7-inch tablet, and the first 7-inch tablet to run Android 3.2. Other than its OS, its specs are fairly run-of-the-mill: a Tegra 2 SoC, five- and two-megapixel cameras, and micro-USB and micro-HDMI ports. And rejoice, geeks, because that’s vanilla Honeycomb loaded on there — you won’t find any custom skins or proprietary widgets clogging your home screens. As much promise as these vitals might have for nerds, though, Acer is clear the tablet is for mainstream consumers (“moms,” among others, according to the press release). We’re not sure how your mother would feel about the precious pattern on the back, but chances are she’d appreciate the bargain factor: the 8GB version costs $329.99 while the 16GB number rings in at a reasonable $349.99, undercutting the 16GB HTC Flyer by $150. We’ve been lucky to get some quality time with the A100 the past few days, and let’s just say we’re coming away with some mixed feelings. But do we like it enough that we feel this little guy was worth the wait? That’s a toughie, guys.

Continue reading Acer Iconia Tab A100 review

Acer Iconia Tab A100 review originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 12 Aug 2011 08:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Jeff Bezos drops phone, has eureka moment, patents mini airbags

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos must have time on his hands and butter on his fingers. Why else would he have personally signed this patent application for a horrendously complicated “damage avoidance system?” It involves using a smartphone’s inbuilt motion sensors to detect a free-fall calamity, then sending an emergency signal to a separate protective sleeve, which finally “deploys an airbag prior to contact.” Heck, if we’re going down that road Jeff, why not just stick some mini thrusters on it and make it hover?

Jeff Bezos drops phone, has eureka moment, patents mini airbags originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 12 Aug 2011 07:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink The Register  |  sourceUSPTO  | Email this | Comments

Why Did Apple Obliterate a Galaxy From the Lion Wallpaper?

Now there are two reasons to change Apple’s generic OS X 10.7 wallpaper to a custom one: it’s a fake. A professor of physics spotted Apple’s source, which was astrophotographer Robert Gendler’s image of the Andromeda Galaxy. More »

SteelSeries Sensei mouse points at the moon, we concentrate on its finger

It’s been more than two years since SteelSeries unveiled its Xai and Kinzu gaming mice, but the peripheral maker has now returned with a brand new sword in hand — the sleek and presumably sage Sensei. The device, unveiled yesterday, is powered by a 32-bit ARM processor that can digest images at up to 12,000 frames per second and rocks up to 5,700 CPI, with a Double CPI option that extends to 11,400 DCPI, for users gaming across multiple screens. The ambidextrous controller also comes outfitted in a metal coating that won’t slip from your hands and connects to computers via a gold-plated USB. Best of all, PC gamers can use SteelSeries’ Engine software to customize their experience even further, with pre-set configurations and user profiles. The Sensei is slated for release next month, when it will retail for $90 (or €90). Click past the break for more details in the full press release.

Continue reading SteelSeries Sensei mouse points at the moon, we concentrate on its finger

SteelSeries Sensei mouse points at the moon, we concentrate on its finger originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 12 Aug 2011 07:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceSteelSeries  | Email this | Comments

Stubby iPad Stylus Lives In Dock-Connector Port

Javoedge stylus

This tiny stylus can be gripped between fingertips

Imagine a stylus barely longer than the first knuckle of your thumb. A stylus as tricky to grip and use as the worn-down stubby pencils you were too cheap (or too poor) to replace back in school. Now imagine that, instead of being comfortably cylindrical, these styluses instead are a sharp-edged lozenge shape, complete with a sharp plastic strip protruding from one side.

Congratulations. You just imagined the JAVOedge Mini Stylus for iPad 2. The tiny chalk-stick sized nubbin slots into the dock connector when not in use to stop you losing it (hence the plastic strip), and comes in both black and white to match either flavor of iPad.

The storage idea is a good one, but if you’re going to wrestle with such a short pen, why not just use your short an stubby finger? The stylus could have been made a little longer, too, and still be short enough not to stick out when plugged into an iPhone or iPod Touch.

The stub-tastic styluses cost $10, and are available now.

Apple iPad 2 Mini Stylus [JAVOedge via Oh Gizmo and the Gadgeteer]

See Also: