Zeb's shared items
Mozilla Labs, Mozilla’s innovation group, has developed a new open-source, experimental email and communication platform called Raindrop. Mozilla says that Raindrop was built to be focused on highlighting and breaking out personal conversations, making it easier for you to see all of your conversations in one client. It is designed to “bubble up” the important conversations from your messages
According to the site, Raindrop “is an effort that starts by trying to understand today’s web of conversations, and aims to design an interface that helps people get a handle on their digital world.” Still in prototype form, the platform is very young but it aims categorize messages and then separate the personal messages from bulk messages, so you know what to respond to vs. just noting a communication. So Raindrop will import all of your email, but break out your personalized email from your mailing list emails and will portray the personal emails higher on the page. Raindrop will also separate direct messages and @replies from your stream, acting like a Twitter client And you’ll be able to Tweet from the platform and pull in RSS feeds.
I briefly spoke with one of Raindrop’s lead engineer’s and the CEO of Mozilla Messaging, David Ascher, who told me that in the future iterations the platform should include all types of messaging, including IM, Facebook, FriendFeed, YouTube and basically, any communication with an open API. And according to the site, content with in communications, such as links from YouTube or Flickr should be shown near or as part of the message, rather than in a separate tab. Ascher said that Raindrop doesn’t really aim to replace your Gmail account but add to it with an intelligent way to understand your communications. The application works on Firefox, Safari and Chrome.
Mozilla also wants to developers to build applications off of Raindrop and is releasing its API to help users customize their communications experiences. The back-end of the platform is a non-relational database (CouchDB) which was optimized for massive web interactions. The front-end, says Ascher, uses high-powered JavaScript libraries, modern CSS to give your best browser with the platform. Ascher told me that Raindrop is still very, very early stage but the platform will continue to evolve with time.
It takes page from social media messaging aggregation services like FriendFeed but with a strong focus in filtering. It will be interesting to see what two-way interactions the platform will feature and what content it eventually will bring in. Because its a modern communication system, it could compete with open communications platform Google Wave.
If you’re confused, take a look at the video. It explains the purpose of Raindrop pretty well.
Raindrop UX Design and Demo from Mozilla Messaging on Vimeo.
Full disclosure: My husband works for the Mozilla Corp.
Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.
Submitted By: Vincent B
Favorite Comment: Fixer wideaperture says, “It’s not a sound system, it’s a court-ordered sobriety test—like a breathalyzer ignition lockout, only for geeks. “Please enter your 13-digit Starcraft CD key to start the car.”
Note: Below, I offer a suggestion that would actually help President Obama against his critics. And yet, his critics should support it because it is the right thing to do.
Virtually everybody - Right, Left and Media - agrees that awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to President Obama is somewhere between premature and ridiculous. The Nobel Peace Prize Committee has beclowned itself again. Given that context, it will be very difficult for Obama to accept the prize without appearing...well, ridiculous. He might turn down the prize or even hand it over to one of the people who genuinely accomplished things. Both would be noble gestures by President Obama to correct an error he did not create.
However, the exceptionally smart James Pethokoukis offered a better idea...
Obama should accept [Nobel Peace Prize] on behalf of Reagan (defeating USSR), Bush I (freeing Kuwait), Clinton (free trade) and Bush II (liberating 50m)
This would be a masterful move by President Obama. Imagine this speech being given directly to the Nobel Peace Prize committee and the entire world:
I thank you and accept the honor you have bestowed. However, I do not accept the Nobel Peace Prize on my own behalf. I accept it on behalf of The United States of America, the greatest force for good the world has ever known.
I accept it on behalf of President Ronald Reagan, who led the final victory over the evil empire of Soviet communism. America was right and the world is a better, more peaceful place because Ronald Reagan had the courage to win that fight.
I accept it on behalf of President George H.W. Bush, who led the liberation of Kuwait. America was right and the world is a better, more peaceful place because George H.W. Bush had the courage to win that fight.
I accept it on behalf of President Bill Clinton, who fought for, and won, more free trade around the world. America was right and the world is a better, more peaceful place because Bill Clinton had the courage to win that fight.
And yes, even though I opposed the war in Iraq, I accept this Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of President George W. Bush, who fought for the liberation of Iraq and Afghanistan. Whether or not the Iraq war was the appropriate policy, America is right to support freedom and democracy, and the world is a better, more peaceful place because George W. Bush had the courage to remove the tyrants in Iraq and Afghanistan.
I do not accept this Nobel Peace Prize on my own behalf. I accept it on behalf of America, that Shining City upon a Hill that has made this world a better place for us all.
Nothing would disarm his critics and rally the American public to President Obama faster than him giving this speech to the Nobel Peace Prize Committee.
UPDATE: President Obama's remarks this morning are a step in the right direction. I hope he will go further and tell the world exactly what that leadership has been over recent decades.
"Let me be clear," Obama said. "I do not view it as a recognition of my own accomplishments, but rather as an affirmation of American leadership on behalf of aspirations held by people in all nations."
