Facebook App Dev Project

Facebook Connect Coming to iPhone

Facebook will be releasing a Cocoa framework for the iPhone that will integrate with Facebook Connect, according to a TechCrunch report.

The framework is expected to be released sometime in the fall, and will take the form of an SDK that can be used by developers of iPhone applications. Facebook Connect allows applications to integrate the facebook platform and the identity of users into their own applications.

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So as I mentioned before, there is now an announcement: Facebook's new simplified tabbed interface is coming next week. Try this preview link to see what it looks like in advance. I wish they had an ALL tab to show the whole profile like before and I wish there was a sort of table of contents of tabs at the top of all the boxes that let you filter to them all without scrolling.

There are a number of facebook apps that are relevant as examples or competition. We want to emulate the best facebook apps and carve out a definitive lead by defining new application categories. There are apps that do some things similar to what we will do, but none that approach our vision, and there are apps that show how facebook can be used well, but none that will compare to ours.

Skillpedia-like Apps

My Skills

This seems to be simplistic but similar to our skillpedia project:

Toolpedia-like Apps

CNET MyTech

Uses CNET's own CNET Shopping affiliate program which pays $0.30 per lead. A use case says CNET's program works:

Scott's had great success with the Be Free enabled CNET affiliate program. His comprehensive context-sensitive linking and innovative promotional techniques drive a steady stream of click-throughs to CNET Shopper, CNET's price comparison service.

My Gadgets

Track what gadgets you own and share with friends. No shopping integrated.

My Shopping

Based on shopping.com, which pools stores like Amazon (finding most of the same things we can through them directly). Shopping.com has a partner affiliate program of their own but it is based on much less than a dollar per click not on sales so it is probably inferior to actually providing people things. Still they have a robust API and are worth keeping in mind.

Update: Coming soon...
Earn Cash - Add a suggestion list to your profile simply by rating or marking items. Refer your friends to products and earn cash when they shop.

Collaborative Recommendations - Recommendations based on what you want and what your friends think of similiar products.

Bargains and Coupons - Discounts and deals from merchant stores.

StyleFeeder

Show off the stuff you're currently shopping for – from clothes to gadgets to furniture to music. Add items you own, like, need or want to create an expression of your personal style…not to mention a wishlist that ensures your Facebook friends know exactly what floats your boat.

StyleFeeder allows you to keep track of your current faves while shopping online, and suggests things you might like, based on the items you've added and rated. We're the only online shopping engine that actually learns about your style. Consider us your personal shopper…you'll never shop alone again!

Tools of the Sound Trade

Lets you send gifts themed as sound gear. I thought it might be real gear like Toolpedia will handle, but it is just frivolous icons. Glad to know nobody has thought of our approach yet.

 

Amazon Giver

http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=5570761692&ref=s

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http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=2356474481&ref=s

 

Missionpedia-like Apps

There are several "life goals" apps. 

Mymission2:

http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=10155117500&ref=s

In My Life

In My Life was created for you to list anything and everything that you would like to do in life. Anything from riding a polar bear to walking on water!

Find people trying to reach the same goals in life as you!

LifeLists

Almost identical to In My Life.

MyCareerScore

calculating your career salary expectations is cool and relavent to skillpedia and missionpedia. We should do something like this too.

KeepUp

Track to-do lists and have it email or text reminders.

Create tasks by clicking one of the hundreds of task ideas below, or create a custom task by clicking the "New Task button above"

Home & Garden Change furnace air filter Clean garage Aerate lawn Pest control check Water shut off Pay bills Heating/ac check-up

The funniest task suggestion was: Catholic Immaculate Conception! I thought this might involve trying to conceive a second messiah child with God. Just put it on your list and GTD! But upon clicking it was just a celebration: The Immaculate Conception Mass is the celebration of the conception of Mary, the mother of Jesus without any stain of original sin, in her mother's womb. 

I tested it and assigned a task to Pugsley to see how the invitation works.

 

 

Questions & Answers

Yedda Questions & Answers lets you share your personal knowledge with friends and friendly strangers, and to tap their personal knowledge through questions & answers.

Got a question? Just ask. Your friends will see your question and help if they can. But more than that – Yedda will automatically search for people with relevant knowledge & interest, and invite them to answer your question. Think of it as your own personal think tank :)

Got knowledge? Silly question. We all do. Professional knowledge, or our hobbies, stuff that we built, problems we solved, gadgets we bought, we know so much that can help others. Let us know how often you would like to be invited to questions and on which topics, and we will send you selected questions matching your preferences.

Or, explore around. Learn new things. Meet new people. It's easy and fun.

 

OpenSocket

When we add opensocial widgets to the mix, this will allow them to work in facebook too. Maybe useful.

Assignable Mission Details (Ignore for open missions)

Category: 

task

Priority: 

critical

So Facebook's partner Joyent is offering a year of free virtual private servers with unlimited bandwidth, 10GB storage and 1/32-95% of quad core xeon CPUs.

Here's their offer.

Let's find out how suitable this could be for us.

Will it run Drupal?

Assignable Mission Details (Ignore for open missions)

Category: 

feature request

Priority: 

normal

Assigned: 

lxpk

The Drupal Facebook Module has improved and there is a test app that demonstrates it.

More examples show off how it themes things for Facebook.

It is time to start testing implementation of the Empowerment facebook app based on this.

Screencasts of a 2007 simple blog posting system powered by Drupal that shows up in the profile

Now it is definitely time to get working on our Facebook application. 

Facebook Founder Announces 10 Million Dollar Grant Fund

Mark Zuckerberg has announced today, at the Tech Crunch 40, that the investors at Facebook have created a 10 million dollar fund to support companies that develop on the FaceBook platform.

The fund is open for application to existing developers as well as start ups. They are looking for ideas that are innovative and disruptive. No formal web site exists; however, you can pitch your idea directly at platform@facebook.com.

They do not require re-payment; however, they want first right of refusal upon obtainment of VC capital. The will fund between 25K and 250K.

 

Here are some notes on how to proceed with two high-priority Drupal development projects that are about to be implemented, Profiling and Facebooking.

There are some good discussions of how to best implement sophisticated profiles like this one discussed here http://drupal.org/node/136457: http://ifood.tv/monica

There are modules like this ( http://drupal.org/project/facebook_app ) now that allow a Facebook app to automatically log into Drupal created by Chip In:

There are other ideas like this: http://drupal.org/node/134838

Wordpress has a tool to pipe updates into Facebook and I think someone makes a good point that RSS is too geeky for most people but Facebook is approachable.

http://drupal.org/node/165715

We have a Facebook Causes group now: http://apps.facebook.com/causes/view_cause/16533

Check it out and feel free to join. Right now donations go to Africa Aid, a charity that some friends of mine from Barcamp San Diego run. I need to register Empowerment as a 501c3 for-progress organization before we can be listed as a beneficiary. Yet another reason I need to get that done. The cool thing is that once we become a beneficiary, anyone will be able to create their own Facebook causes to promote what they believe in while designating us as a beneficiary. That would be totally awesome.

Facebook API Developer Help Needed

Very soon we are going to develop an Empowerment Facebook Application to extend all the work we do here into the Facebook stream and to allow us to pull our Facebook friends network into Empowerment.

If you have any knowledge or interest in Facebook app development, contact us. There is an LA Facebook Developer Group that I will attend soon to learn more.