Think of Vi.sualize.us as Del.iciou.us meets Flickr meets StumbleUpon.  Essentially, it lets you bookmark images as you search the web, in a similar manner (like the name!) to Del.iciou.us.

The idea of Vi.sualize.us is pretty cool.  Honestly, images are about the only thing we haven’t bookmarked yet.  Sure, there are sites like Flickr and Picasa, but as far as bookmarking outside images, there isn’t a whole lot available.  Vi.sualize.us does a great job of opening up this idea, though it falls short in some areas.

First, as you may imagine, bookmarking images is a lot different from bookmarking whole web pages.  Thanks to a Firefox extension, you can simply right-click an image and add it to your account.  However, by default, the extension puts a button beside your URL bar – but it acts as a simple bookmark!  A side menu allows a few extra options, though, in my opinion, none warrant a separate button.

Second, once you bookmark a picture, it takes a while for Vi.sualize.us to display the image, putting a blank placeholder, which detracts from a site full of colorful pictures, in the meantime.  On the whole, the main site needs work if it wishes to become a major social bookmarking center.

My last complaint is simply that the Vi.sualize.us site tries to hard to be Flickr and Del.icio.us.  Almost every aspect of the site is borrowed from one of these two popular social networking behemoths.

All in all, it’s a great idea, but it needs work.  I, however, don’t speak for everyone.  If you feel differently, comment!

vi.sualize.us

Last Friday was my birthday, and I asked for money from everyone in order to get a Blackberry Curve. For over a year now, I’ve wanted this phone. However, during my last phone purchase, they were more than triple the cost of my second choice, the BlackJack.

A recent problem with my BlackJack screen gave me an excuse to get the Curve, and the birthday gave me the means.  Here are my initial thoughts.

The Purchase

I decided to go with the 8320 series over the 8310 for one reason – wireless internet.  That’s right, the Curve can connect to Wi-Fi hotspots for quicker internet access, and my favorite, UMA calling.  Essentially, UMA makes calls through a wireless network to save minutes and eliminate the problem of poor phone reception at home and work locations.

I picked up my Curve for about $200 online.  It wasn’t brand new, but at a retail price of $499.99 at Best Buy (through T-Mobile, without a 2-year contract), I considered this a deal.  I went with the dark grey over the brighter silver color, since I figured it would hide scratches for blemishes.  However, both looked really good, and if I’m not mistaken, you can buy new faceplates if you don’t like your color.

Out of the Box

Due to the weekend, it was about 4 business days before I got my phone by mail.  Upon opening the box, I’ll be honest and say I wasn’t all that impressed.  Sure, the design is sexy, but it looked like the pictures I had seen, and there wasn’t any crazy special features that I could see.

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In response to a tweet of mine yesterday, @pubcrawlercom sent me a live twitter review while he installed and ran Ubuntu Portable. With his permission, I’ve reposted his thoughts here.

From what he has said, I think I’ll try it – as soon as I boot up Vista again, that is. It might be a while (or at least until I need to sync my iPod next. For some reason, Banshee doesn’t work with the Classic and Wine won’t configure with iTunes 8 correctly).

read one tweet that it crashed for someone under XP. Extracting to disk now. this machine only has 512MB RAM might be issue…

decompressed portable ubtun is around 2GB… moving it around and rebooting fresh XP loadup to test it.

my tweetreview of ubuntu portable starts now as I go

bunch of random errors on bootup in text shell window ran from.

updates last ran 200+ days ago – 177 updates downloadable… 118.3 MB

screen video refreshes slow at times – like when asks for root pwd for updates. dreadfully slow

ubuntu update downloads seem slow to download – often can be whos knows… not my bandwidth here.

network stuff works fine, but ping doesn’t for external IPs… unsure why…

firefox loads and runs much faster than in XP on same machine.

still downloading updates for ubuntu portable… computer paging memory to disk.. but that’s my fault.. tweetdeck pigging out on RAM

portable ubuntu finally finished downloading the updates. now the wait for them to install. always the 1st things I do in order

ubuntu portable crashed during excessive paging on XP. trying again – that was my fault. all well after restarting it

running near out of RAM but portable Ubuntu works on 512MB XP system.

Portable Ubuntu would be nicer say with Portable Crunchbang Ubuntu version less resource use

Loaded up Rythmbox and streaming music plays fine in Ubuntu Portable

Software sources in Ubuntu Portable set to Argentina. Change to your local country.

hey try Ubuntu Portable. worked well for me. Haven’t tested everything, but it looks good. certainly will need more polish

Every day for the next seven days I will be featuring one of favorite blogs or portfolios. The sites I pick will be based on design, content, usability, and what I like to refer to as “the fresh factor”. Each category is out of 5.

If you have any suggestions for sites I should feature, either now or in the future, let me know!

[tag]Microsoft[/tag] unveiled [tag]Internet Explorer 8[/tag] at the [tag]Mix09[/tag] conference March 18-20. The following day, an article was released on their site, explaining the new features and usability comforts, as well as using popular web companies, such as Facebook, ESPN, and eBay as testimonials. But seriously, wouldn’t you? I mean, with still over 70% of the browser market belonging to IE, wouldn’t your company do anything it could to support and encourage a browser that, despite its constant shortcomings, reaches millions more than [tag]Firefox[/tag], [tag]Safari[/tag], and [tag]Opera[/tag] put together?

But, down to the point. [tag]IE8[/tag] boasts developer tools, the ability to easily connect to the “news, stories and videos that people are buzzing about right now”. Great. Seriously, that’s wonderful that you’ve done that. But yet again, there is a lack of basic usability features and improvements.

For example, CNET reports that [tag]Google[/tag] Toolbar crashed IE8 on first run. According to user reviews, many sites would crash the tab, IE would sometimes randomly crash, there is no history button, and CSS and HTML rendering is still off from the standard (Firefox, Opera, and Safari). [tag]CNET[/tag] users rate IE8 2 out of 5.

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Just a quick post to let everyone know how important it is to own your own copy of the Star Wars Trilogy.  Mine just came in today.  Instead of paying $40 for a new set at Wal Mart, I went on Amazon and found a set in very good condition for $20.

Turns out, they are barely used, excellent condition.  Thanks, barbarasbooksforyou.  Check out the Widescreen version (that’s the one I got) below.

So far I have been impressed with the remastered version.  True, some scenes are a little unrealistic, like when Luke chops off the hand of the Wampa who captures him in the beginning of episode V.  However, overall, it’s excellent video quality, and maintains the original feel.  Every scene reminds me of why I am such a big Star Wars fan, and why the movies played such a big part in my childhood.

Well, time for me to go.  My cousin Brandon and I are in the middle of a heated battle scene, and getting excited to play Battlefront afterwards, one of the only video games I like.

http://www.amazon.com/Star-Wars-Trilogy-Widescreen-Bonus/dp/B00003CXCT/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1233427052&sr=8-14

Like all major TV networks, ABC has long had a media player to play back episodes of popular shows.  Recently, however, they have released a new player, which, for Firefox users at least, requires a plug-in called “Move Media Player”.

This new player is seemingly revolutionary in watching online video.  In fact, in my recent viewing of old Scrubs episodes, I felt incredibly refreshed not having to pause and let the video buffer every few minutes, as I often have to do with NBC’s player and with HULU.

I have not researched this “Move” player extensively, but it seems that the video is immediately loaded in sections, divided by commercials.  Not once have I had to pause the video to let it buffer, and I have watched several hours of video.

The only complaint I would have is that the video quality, at least for the old episodes I watched, was nothing spectacular.  “The Office” looks much better on the NBC player, though that may be the fact that they are new episodes, etc.

All in all, this new player is the reason why series television shows are beginning to, and will continue to become online-viewed.

Thought you might enjoy a little music that is not only really, really good, but that is geeky!

Artist: Jonathan Coulton
Title: The Future Soon

And of course, a Christmas song. . .

Artist: Jonathan Coulton
Title: Christmas Is Interesting

I have been looking for a decent pair of earbuds ever since my JVC Marshmallow tips started to harden due to months of use. They were good headphones, and they blocked outside noise for the most part, but after extended use they could become uncomfortable and rough, making it difficult to find a good fit for your ears. I decided that I wanted a pair that had rubber tips so they would not wear out as fast.

After searching Amazon and reading reviews, I was trying to decide between a few different pair of high-end headphones, namely the V-MODA Bass Freqs, V-MODA Vibe Duo, and the Bose Triport In-Ear. That night, however, I went out to the store and found a pair of Skullcandy INK’D earphones on clearance for $10.

Generally speaking, I think that price reflects the quality and ability of a product (save software), and so I didn’t think much about them initially. I had, however, read outstanding reviews about them and so I decided that, for ten bucks, they were worth a shot.

So far, I LOVE them. Skullcandy is still making a name for themselves in the audio market, but they are doing a great job so far. The headphones look really cool, they’re very affordable, and they are comfortable to wear for long periods of time.

In terms of sound quality, no other headphones I have listened to so far can match these. After putting them in, I immediately heard the clear, thumping bass to T.I.’s “No Matter What”. Listening to audio books is a pleasure, and I am often able to leave the volume almost completely down while hearing perfectly.

All in all, I’ve been very happy so far and I plan to stick with these for the time being. Good job, Skullcandy.