DemoGirl

NPR Desktop Alerts keeps you updated on all your favorite NPR content as well as your own favorite RSS feeds.  You have to download it and then you can customize how you want to be alerted.  You have the option of receiving alerts through a pop-up, a ticker that runs across your computer screen, or both.  You can add your own RSS feeds by entering in the feed URL or by simply dragging a feed icon from any webpage onto the alerts application.  NPR Desktop Alerts includes a feed reader loaded with 19 popular NPR feeds and you can listen to an hourly summary newscast right from the ticker.  Here’s my screencast tour of NPR Desktop Alerts:

Flash Demo3m28s

oSkope allows you to search for items on eBay, Amazon, flickr, and YouTube and gives you a pretty sweet visual result.  The results can be viewed on a graph, as a list, in a pile in the center of your screen, or lined up in rows.  You can drag and drop the images anywhere on the screen – actually, it kind of reminds me of Microsoft Surface except for the fact that my monitor’s not a gigantic touch screen computer .  Here’s my screencast tour of oSkope:

Flash Demo3m13s

(source:  Digital Inspiration) 

Listphile, quite simply, is a place to make collaborative lists. These don’t have to be simple lists though. You can add maps, video, and images and completely customize the layout. Anyone can add to your lists and subscribe to them via RSS. There’s a great directory already with lists like “Yoda quotes with video” and “Wonderful things my Grandmother would say“. Here’s my screencast tour of Listphile:

Flash Demo3m49s

(source: TechCrunch)

MapSkip gives you a place to share stories and photos from places you’ve been.  You can also browse the map and read stories that other members have left and add your own if you’ve experienced something in the same location.  Members can comment on and rate stories and photos which is used to rank them and make the best ones easier to find.  MapSkip could be used to describe where you went on your honeymoon, got your first apartment, or where you took a really great photo.  Here’s my screencast tour of MapSkip:

Flash Demo2m33s

TripCart is a travel guide that can help you find things to do on your next vacation.  After selecting your desired destination, you’ll be brought to a guide for your location.  Here, you’ll find a map where you can quickly find hotels, beaches, hiking trails, etc.  You can add all of the activities and locations to your trip and even browse through other members trips and copy them.  Each of your trips has its own itinerary where you can add dates and notes.  Your itinerary can be easily printed and shared with friends and family via email.  Here’s my screencast tour of TripCart:

Flash Demo3m41s

Update: I now have a bunch of invites so let me know in the comments if you want one!

I’minlikewithyou is coming out with a new flash site and I’ve got a preview for you. If you’re not familiar with i’minlikewithyou, then I’ll give you a quick rundown. It’s pretty much a site where you can flirt, play games, and avoid doing actual work. Members ask random questions which starts a game in which other members can use points to bid and answer your question. The goal is to be one of the five highest bidders – and the prize? Well, you don’t win a date but you do get a chance to contact that person via email, IM, or phone. Credentials are kept private and that’s really the only way you’re gonna be able to send your crush a private note. I would recommend bidding on games of people whom you find interesting (or hot) otherwise you may win games that other members might actually want to win. Here’s my screencast tour of i’minlikewithyou:

Flash Demo3m56s

Crazymenu is aimed at office workers and people trying to coordinate meals with their friends. It’s also another great place to find reviews and menus for restaurants in your area.

If you’re in charge of taking the orders of your co-workers then you’d like the “Group Order” tool. It allows you to easily send a menu out to all of your co-workers via email or IM and then they can just pick the items they want and send it back to you. You get real time updates of who’s responded and when everyone has ordered, you can simply print it out. If choosing a restaurant and time to eat with your friends is a hassle, then “Pick-A-Place” is also a useful tool. It allows you to select numerous restaurants and a time frame for your friends to choose from. They get the email and can rate the various places and let you know what time works best for them.

I saw Crazymenu demo at the San Francisco New Tech Meetup on Wednesday night and I thought I’d share my own demo with you. If you want to read about the other start-ups that were there, check out Rafe’s review here. Here’s my screencast tour of Crazymenu:

Flash Demo5m22s

Ever since the start of the redesign of Bloglines Beta, there’s been a lot of talk comparing it to Google Reader. (They’re actually always being compared, but more so this week.) I created a brief screencast just the other day showing off Bloglines Beta and of course they’ve just added some new features. You can now pin items that you’d like to come back to and read later, email posts to friends, and they’ve got the first list of hotkeys up. Bloglines Beta isn’t the only kid in town with new shoes on though – Google Reader has finally added a search box! So, with all the talk about who’s better and why, I decided to just compare the two side by side and let you be the judge. Here’s my screencast battle of Bloglines vs. Google Reader:

Flash Demo3m50s

GlobalMotion is a location Wiki that wants to collect all of the most interesting places in the world.  All of the content is geotagged with geographical coordinates so adding photos and places nearby is easy.  Anyone can edit the content and you can add your own place in just minutes.  You can add markers, draw lines and shapes, and put a map on your website or blog.  It’s actually pretty interesting and really easy to use.  Here’s my screencast tour of GlobalMotion:

Flash Demo3m28s

Bloglines has been my feed reader of choice ever since the day I  learned what a feed reader was.  I was pressured into making the switch to Google Reader a while back but quickly went back to my Bloglines.  I’ve been out of the loop for about a week and was pleasantly surprised to read all about the new Bloglines Beta.  It’s not completely different, but they’ve added just enough features to help ease all the old timers into a new and improved reader.  You can now put all your favorite feeds onto a Start Page , view your articles in 3 different ways, and drag and drop your feeds into the order you like.   While it’s not hot off the press, I thought I’d show you what I think.  Here’s my screencast tour of Bloglines Beta:

Flash Demo2m41s

If you want more of a “review”, check out Allen’s screencast here.