Epic. Win. Not that I have a problem with Adobe AIR, hell, I love it.  I started using Seesmic on Adobe AIR before and it quickly became my favorite Twitter Desktop application.  Other then looking a lot prettier, it seems to run a lot smoother then the AIR application.   The application it’s self just released as Beta, but looks like it could be released tomorrow.

The first thing I noticed was that the Facebook interface hasn’t been added yet, however I seldom used it so I’m not all that disappointed.  After that, adjusting to the minor tweaks in the navigation was a breeze.  If nothing else, I felt it was a strong improvement past the aesthetic changes.

On the left side, there are tabs for” User lists”, “Searches”, “Accounts” and “All.”  Instead of cluttering all your accounts and searches together, Seesmic for Windows allows you to separate each group from each other.  Ideally, this improvement will allow you to split everything and follow specific queries rather than have everything pulling at once draining your API usage.

I haven’t got far into the settings yet, however it seems the options are about the same.  I need to further set it up, but I’m extremely impressed for a Beta in such an early release.

I for one hit that API limit taking screenshots and playing around, so here are some pictures:

First, let me apologize to my few reader(s) out of country, but Google Voice is about to get a whole lot better.  From the Google Voice blog comes an announcement that they’ve acquired Gizmo5 (the same service I put off in anticipation of GV), as rumored earlier on Engadget.

Today we’re pleased to announce we’ve acquired Gizmo5, a company that provides Internet-based calling software for mobile phones and computers. While we don’t have any specific features to announce right now, Gizmo5′s engineers will be joining the Google Voice team to continue improving the Google Voice and Gizmo5 experience. Current Gizmo5 users will still be able to use the service, though we will be suspending new signups for the time being, and existing users will no longer be able to sign up for a call-in number.

Since it’s my blog and I allow myself to speculate at will, I’m predicting that Gizmo5/Google Voice will merge into a single platform, offering a desktop solution for VOIP calling from your Google Voice.  As Engadget predicted, I think it’s going to be a strong poke at Skype who may still be going through some legal issues.

Further speculation leads me to believe that Google is trying to rush into something big, *cough* Chrome OS *cough.* With Gizmo5, they should be able to pollish off a couple months (maybe a year) on development of a VOIP platform.  Add this to the slew of services with good some good integration, possibly using an AIR application platform and you’ll see great success. (I only mention AIR because it is cross-platform, however it is a completely random statement).

I am all over the web, part of it is fueling my vast interests and part of it is getting an idea of what the newest trends are and seeing how I can better adapt.  Over time I’ve really developed a sense of what works and what doesn’t work, not just for me, but for various audiences as well. Needless to say, I’ve also developed a series of pet peeves in the design/dev world and that’s what I plan on getting at in this article.

1. Disabling right click.

I completely understand wanting to keep the credit for your hard work, however at the same time it seems a bit pointless to me.  As a rule of thumb, if someone wants to steal it, they will.  Disabling “right-click” disables other features which I (among others) frequently use, i.e. “open link in new tab” keeping the YOUR website open to browse.  If someone wants your content, they can just view source code or use one of many plug-ins for Firefox.

2. Embedded music.

No. There is no reason, other than to be a nuisance. IF you are going to have music on your site, don’t make it auto start and make it is clear as to how to stop the music.  The only sites which should natively host audio are music related sites.  For most of us, the answer should be “no” and “don’t do it.”

3. Long footers.

This is a gamble.  I’m not going to say all long footers don’t work, however I’ve seen numerous that just don’t serve the site justice. Typically, and this is just me, I’d think the proper use of a footer would be for navigation and contact information.

If you’re using your footer to promote sites that don’t belong to you, let me suggest creating a single page with descriptions.  When I see a long list of links in a footer I ask myself “why didn’t the owner put them in a more visible place?”

4 Random advertisement.

Unless you’re getting a hefty amount, find a company you actually support to fill that banner position.  If you can’t find a company you support to advertise on your site, find one that’s related to your content. The benefit of keeping quality companies and related products on your site is that your customers are more likely to visit your advertisers sites, thus granting you more profit. But to those trying to squeeze every dime out of your site, it’s probably a good idea to just put the extra effort in and support quality.

5. Content linked advertisement.

By this I mean those little ads that pop up when you over above a word in an article. I have never (intentionally) clicked one of these ads, nor would I plan to because they are a hassle when they interrupt my reading.  Sure they probably pay nice, with all the accidental clicks and such, but I just don’t really see a point.

Now that I’m done whining, let me refocus and write something now that my mind is clear.

With $750m stock, Google plans to buy AdMob, a savvy young company that delivers ads to mobile phones.  Google just made the announcement, and it’s big news for the world of mobile communications.  It really appeals to me and my love for mobile phones, and it makes me chuckle as I think about the growing rivalry between Apple and Google.

Over the past few months, I had heard speculation about Google entering the mobile advertisement game with more strength.  So this purchase is not shocking.  But make no mistake, it is a huge development.   This could help push mobile development into the spotlight, specifically helping Android grab a stronger developer base.

According to the New York Times, the deal is likely to go through in the next couple of months, providing things go smoothly.  I think it’s safe to assume that it will be a couple of years until AdMob is completely integrated with Google’s own AdWords.  The combination will be formidable.

Google is also acquiring the data behind the AdMob service.  That’s a critical aspect of the deal, as Forbes points out.  In fact, the real strength of this deal is that it combines Google’s own resources with AdMob’s data and their powerful advertising platform.  The combination should push Google over the top in mobile advertisements.

While I’m not entirely excited about the idea of seeing more advertisements on my smart phone, I recognize that this is a huge step forward for Google.  Mobile communications is a rapidly growing space, and this acquisition shows how Google is maneuvering into a dominant position.  One sure consequence: mobile application developers (especially those working with Android) now have even more incentive to work in this space and to concentrate on cleaner interfaces for advertisements.

Having been with T-Mobile for 5 years now I had been on the customer loyalty plan from the summer until last weekend, however moved over to the “Even More Plus” to save a couple bucks. While I was aware of the new plans before they announced them, through various blogs, I was deliberating on which was the “best” plan for me.  As with everyone else, I wanted the best price on what I would actually use. As it stands, I’m using my phone less and less since we picked up a house line, so I had no need for the unlimited plan anymore. The new plans are in place, obviously, to attract new customers and appear as attractive as possible, but which really gives the best deal.

The two plans are “Even More” and “Even More Plus.”

The first plan “Even More,” is based on a 24 month contract like your last cell phone plan, with generous phone discounts.  This plan comes in 500, 1000 and unlimited minutes ranging from $59.99 to $79.99 with the option to add additional “unlimited” services like texting and web access.  The phone discounts, like your previous plan, are on par with the Early Termination Fee which binds you to the contract for 2 years (typically $200). Graciously, T-Mobile has extended the ability to finance the new phone over 4 consecutive payments..

The “Even More Plus” plan on the other hand is where T-Mobile breaks from the US standard and offers a cell phone plan sans contract.  Here, you’re paying the full price of the phone (which might sound intimidating at first) to have a cell plan without contract.  The plan its self is $10/mo less than the “Even More” plan and the packages look identical.  Now, here comes the fun part, T-Mobile offers the ability to finance the phone over the course of 20 months for the users on the “Even More Plus” plan.

While I could go on more about the plans, information is all over the web and I got the basics out.  So for one reason or another, you’re probably eying one or the other because it fits your needs, but I’ll tell you right now you’re first instincts are the right ones.

With some accounting and marketing flare, T-Mobile has been able to package two plans which offer long term costs so close we’d probably write the difference off.  If you’re looking to live without a contract the “Plus” plan is for you, however if you’re looking for a “cheaper” phone and don’t mind being bound to a carrier for 24 Months the “Even More” plan is for you.

How does this work? Remember that $10/mo extra for the non-“Plus” plans? Well, 24x$10 is $240 making up for the difference in the phones “retail” and “discounted” price.

I chose the Even More Plus plan, not because I ever plan on leaving T-Mobile, but because I’d rather pay off a phone over 20 months then fork up the money over 4 months.

I’ve been a loyal customer of T-Mobile for 5 years and endorse them entirely.  They don’t endorse my blog, or any of my sites, as they clearly illustrated in rejecting my application on CJ.com.  This article was an attempt to explain the similarities between the two plans, not to sell their service.

In a recent post, I took note of steps I took to make my blog more search engine friendly.  While I took the steps to inflate my ego, I’m going to try to step it up a bit as I plan to make more contributions to the blog.. and hopefully write articles that appeal to people who share the same interests.  Aside from my technical attempts at drawing a larger audience, I plan to write more about the Android mobile operating system and my continued misguided adventures in web development.

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I keep telling myself this, day after day, however there’s that part of me that wants everything running at once.  Whether it’s infinite features on a website I’m building or just more plug-ins for a wordpress blog, I get caught up on the small things and forget what REALLY matters.

For a website to be functional, in my opinion, it needs to load quickly and present the newest and more accurate content that it can.  This is where CMS scripts and blogs really shine, however even these can easily be bogged down with modifications and take time out of the little that you already have to catch the audience’s attention.

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