Author Archives: Dennis Bournique

Oakland Local – Award Winning Grassroots Hyper-local News

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Oakland Local

With local newspapers seemingly unable to make the switch to an online world and dying off like flies, the concept of the “hyper-local” news site has taken off. The genre has a attracted the attention of big media with AOL pouring millions of dollars into building a network of thousands of Patch.com hyper-local sites and MSNBC acquiring everyblock.com, a smaller (16 sites) hyper-local network. Founded in 2010, Oakland Local (OL) is different. Published  by a community based, non-profit organization, it’s … Continue reading →

Update – Partially Fixed: Thematic (In)Consistency Hall of Shame #4 – Microsoft Skydrive

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Skydrive Image Link in Opera Mini

Thematic (In)Consistency Hall of Shame is an irregular feature of WapReview where I call out sites and services for violating the principle of thematic consistency. That principle says  that a web link should deliver the same essential information to all browsers. Adapting content to better fit the target platform is good but redirecting requests for a specific image or news item to your site’s homepage breaks hyperlinking, which is what makes the Web a web. This time the culprit is Microsoft … Continue reading →

UC Browser Goes Gold, But Is It Still A Proxy Browser – First Look at UC 8.0.5 for Android

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UC Browser 8.0.5 Facebook

  The first production (non-Beta or Gold) release of UC Browser 8 is now available in the Android Market. At the moment it’s only for Andoid 2.1 and later. The Symbian (3rd edition and latter) and Java versions are still at Beta V 8.0.4.  UC has ended development for Symbian 1st and 2nd edition, Windows Mobile and BlackBerry although older 7.8 or 7.9 versions are still available for these platforms from ucweb.com (PC) and wap.ucweb.com (mobile). This release sports a brand new UI that’s … Continue reading →

Music Publishing and Sharing Service SoundCloud’s New Mobile Webapp.

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Sound Cloud

SoundCloud is a Berlin based startup that lets musicians and bands collaborate and promote and distribute music. There are no upload file size limits and uploaded music can be shared anywhere, including on Twitter and other social media sites. SoundCloud also offers a media player widget that can be embedded in any webpag. According to Wired, SoundCloud’s freedom and flexibility have made it the preferred place for musicians to distribute sample tracks and interact with their fans, displacing MySpace. SoundCloud … Continue reading →

post404, New Online Magazine Covering Open Mobile Development

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post404

post404 is a new tech blog by designer, developer, ex-Nokian and Nokia Developer Champion Randall @Texrat Arnold. Texrat is a well known member of the Maemo, MeeGo and Qt communities. His old site Tablula Crypticum was one of the more entertaining and insightful tech focused blogs out there. With post404, Randal plans to focus on open source developer communities, with an emphasis on the current doings of former and present Maemo and MeeGo contributors. He aims to build a team … Continue reading →

An identi.ca Bookmarklet for Mobile Browsers

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Dent It bookmarrklet in action

As I posted a while ago I’m a big fan of identi.ca, an open source micro-blogging site.  It’s a little like Twitter but non-commercial, ad-free and free (as in free beer AND free speech). Recently identi.ca launched a major redesign of their desktop and mobile web apps.  There was quite a bit of downtime during and immediately after the update but stability seems to have returned to normal.  But some things still aren’t working. For one, in Opera Mini, the login … Continue reading →

Why SOPA is a Bad For Freedom and the Internet and What You Can Do To Help Stop It

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Stop SOPA

  SOPA, the Stop Online Privacy Act  (HR3261) is a bill that is currently being considered by the US House of Representatives. SOPA and its companion Protect IP Senate bill (S.968 ) are well intended but badly drafted. If passed they have the potential to censor the Web, bankrupt web startups, stiffle innovation and severely disrupt social media and the Internet itself. Drafted and pushed by a group of large “old” media providers, SOPA and Protect IP have the laudable goal of stopping “online … Continue reading →

Net Magazine’s “20 HTML5 Sites that changed the game” – Many Work Well In Mobile Browsers

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Net Magazine.com

Thanks to Opera’s Bruce Lawson (@brucel) sharing the link on Twitter I discovered Oli (@boblet) Studholme’s “2011 in review: 20 HTML5 sites that changed the game“ piece on netmagazine.com. It’s a great showcase of pages that exploit new web technology to good effect.  I first saw the link while browsing with the Android 2.3 browser on a Motorola Photon and was surprised and pleased that both .net magazine and many of the showcased sites (HTML5 for Web Developers, Move the Web Forward, The Boston Globe, SoundCloud, Anatomy … Continue reading →