RickScheibner.net

I probably should be doing something else tonight–like working on homework for a class this Wednesday, but instead I’m prioritizing my time by checking out a relatively new browser called Flock.  Called a “social” browser, Flock is actually built on the Firefox engine and integrates several of the more popular social networks and makes them easily accessible within the sidebar and toolbar of the browser itself.  I’m still playing with it, but I like what I see so far.  Here are some random thoughts as I make my way through it’s features:

• I can post directly to my blog using the built-in editor and publisher.  It’s better than the Scribefire add-on for Firefox, but still doesn’t allow for inserting the html code to open a link in a new window.  Typing in target=”_blank” each time is a pain.  It quickly and efficiently found the settings necessary for my privately hosted WordPress blog, though. 
• I’m using the native Flock blog editor to post this right now.
• GMail notifications are quick and painless. 
• I’d like to import all of my feeds from Google Reader, but I will need to first figure out how to convert an .xml file to .opml. 
• Twitter and Facebook fit in here quite nicely. 
• I like the ability to view photos from Picasa Web and Flickr in the top of the window, then remove it quickly when I don’t need to see it.  Note to family:  Please start using Picasa Web!

Some things to check out in the future:

• Firefox extensions that also work with Flock. 
• Importing my favorites and other settings from Firefox.  It gives you the option to do this upon first installation, but of course I didn’t do that.  Now, I need to go back and see if I can do that manually.

That’s it for now.  I’ll post about this again when I get a little more familiar with it.  A few little quirks, but so far I really like it. 

Tags: flock, browser, tools, Web 2.0