Favrd , a site which aggregated the most popular starred tweets, has closed down. The site was a favorite of Twitter humorists, people who use Twitter mainly to express their wit. Favrd was the first of its kind to repurpose Twitter favorites (stars) into an aggregation site, where users could see who had "faved" their tweets, view tweets with 3 or more faves as a real-time feed, and check the most faved tweets in a 24-hour period on the Leaderboard. It was kind of like the Techmeme of funny tweets. Sponsor A similar site called Favstar launched in mid-09 ( our review ) and it appears to have taken the momentum from Favrd. Favrd was the original though, so it's disappointing to see it throw in the towel. Most people think of stars as a way to keep a personal library of favorites. But according to a regular Favrd user we spoke to, "Favrds" (people who used Favrd frequently) throw them like confetti and rarely look back at their own stream of favorites. Favrd was also different from Favstar because it only counted faves of people who were registered - although you could fave anyone. For a good overview of why many Twitter humorists liked Favrd, read this post by popular witterer Joe Schmitt ( @joeschmitt ). The site's creator, Dean Cameron Allen a.k.a. @textism , left the following suicide note for Favrd. You can tweet your condolences using this hashtag: #thankyoutextism . "Alas, stars on Twitter have become mere take-out menus hung on the doors of other restaurants. There are still lots of clever and funny things to read every day, but finding these is no longer a challenge - you already follow your sources. Sites like this one now serve mainly as fuel for emotional up-fuckedness in the guise of a game. Just an idea: next time you see something you like, write the person who made it a note telling them so. Even better, explain why. Take care! - dca" Discuss

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Favrd Shuts Down - Not Twitter's Last Laugh (Thank you, Textism)

There's a new iPhone application from Favstar.fm which launched late last night in the iTunes App Store. Like the Favstar website, the new Favit app (iTunes link) aggregates the "best" Twitter posts based on the number of stars they receive from other Twitter users. Although in theory starred tweets should point to interesting and useful content that people want to save for later viewing, the Favstar service tends to favor humorous tweets instead. The new iPhone app does the same which makes it the perfect addition to your collection of time-wasting apps for curing boredom. Sponsor Nearly all iPhone users have at least one if not more applications whose sole purpose is to help kill time. Whether you're sitting in a a waiting room or standing in a long line, these apps are lifesavers for those of us who are so digitally connected that a few minutes of boredom feels like a death sentence. For many people, these apps include casual games. But outside of that genre, there are plenty of other apps for quick-fire entertainment meant to be consumed in small doses. For example, FML (iTunes link) is a personal favorite. This app lets you read through people's posts of their unfortunate, embarrassing, and downright hilarious personal stories. Trivia-based Cool Facts (iTunes link) is another. (And yes, both were discovered thanks to a high-school aged family member. Don't judge!) The new Favit application fits right into this category of casual, entertainment apps. Using Favit With a very simple interface, Favit displays one Twitter post at a time on the screen. After reading the tweet, you can flip to see the next one using a finger swipe. If you see a tweet you want to star yourself, just tap the giant star button beneath the tweet. You can also swipe down on the tweet for more interactions. Doing so reveals the author and then lets you re-tweet their post or email it to someone. In addition, clicking on the "+" (plus) sign lets you add the author to a special Favstar.fm list which is synchronized with your saved lists on Twitter. This allows you to build your own personalized list of favorite twitterers, accessible from Twitter.com or any other Twitter client supporting lists. What's Missing Although the iTunes app description notes that Favit has a celeb and tech filter built in, we couldn't find these settings in the application itself. However, you can follow these pre-filtered lists via the Favstar website's Leaderboard section. We hope this feature is coming to the application in an update because it would be great to be able to switch from the funny and entertaining tweets over to the tweets from tech and social media set and then over to celebs, depending on whatever interests you at the time. Another missing feature from the application is one of our favorite features from the Favstar website - the ability to see who has been favoriting your tweets. The Favit app could offer a quick and easy way to track those people and then add them to a list or follow them, but sadly it does not. Still, that's hardly a deal-breaker since Favstar offers RSS feeds for this purpose via their website . Besides, it's clear the app is meant to be more of a fun toy for casual users rather than a handy utility meant for data-obsessed folks like us. If you want to check out the new Favit application (iTunes link), you'll have to fork out a little cash. Favit, unlike similar time-wasters including the above-mentioned FML and Cool Facts, doesn't come in free and pro versions. Instead, it's one price only: $2.99. That may seem like a lot for an app just meant to amuse you, but the next time you're terribly bored, you'll be glad you downloaded it. Discuss

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Star That Tweet! Favit Launches in iTunes App Store

Zoho is now offering full integration with Google Apps, allowing users to access Google Docs seamlessly from within the Zoho environment. It's another move by Zoho to compete in the big leagues with the giants of the business through integrations that allow for seamless interplay.

If you ever wanted to quickly share or collaborate on a simple sketch online, here is a fun new tool to try. With FlockDraw , you can draw simple sketches collaboratively in your browser in real-time. Up to 50 people can draw simultaneously on a single whiteboard. FlockDraw doesn't limit the number of people who can watch. FlockDraw feels a bit like a pre-Windows7 version of MS Paint and isn't anywhere close to being a replacement for a full-blown design app like Balsamiq or a browser-based image editing suite like Aviary . The service, however, makes it very easy and fun to create simple drawings and sketches in real-time. Sponsor Not a lot of Features - But That's the Point FlockDraw offers a simple set of basic tools: freehand drawing, lines, eraser and text. You can also change the color and size of your font or pencil. There are no fancy tools here, but what is there is more than enough to draw a quick sketch. It's important to note that these FlockDraw rooms are meant to be disposable - once the last person leaves the room, the image disappears. Two features - embedding the whiteboard and saving files - are currently disabled, though Blake tells us that they will soon return. Users will be able to save files as JPEGs and embed the whiteboard on their social networking sites or blogs. Overall, the service, which was founded by Dan Blake (of TinyChat fame) and Ryan Hileman , is extremely easy to use. Just head to the front page and click "Start Drawing." You can also start a new FlockDraw room by simply appending more than 3 characters to the FlockDraw URL ( http://flockdraw.com/rwwwhiteboard , for example). Discuss

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FlockDraw: Collaborative Drawing Made Easy

The latest edition of mobile navigation app Waze has just launched in the iTunes App Store and on the Android Market Place with the Symbian and Windows Mobile versions available on the Waze website. In this updated version, the company has added even more features to their already popular "munching" game which sends a Pac-Man like character loose on the roads to help build the company's mapping database and validate the roads already in place. Unlike other mobile navigation apps, Waze "crowdsources" its map-making process, reliant on its users to switch the app on when driving around town. Then, using the phone's built-in GPS capabilities, Waze uses the information sent back to create base maps and determine traffic patterns in order to warn other users of traffic jams ahead. Sponsor Although Waze is an application dependent on critical mass to become successful, they've already had good results since their original launch in Israel. In less than a year's time, Waze was able to map 91% of the country thanks to user involvement. The company believes they will have similar results here in the U.S. with highly populated urban areas being mapped first with the rest of the country following over the coming months. Making Maps is Just a Game To encourage users to contribute to the map-building process, the company came up with an idea to make it more of a game. Originally, the Waze character would appear and munch dots on the screen when you ventured onto a road that didn't previously exist in the company's database. Now, with Waze 2.0, the gaming elements have been enhanced even further. Users will now munch on other goodies like cherries, hammers, and small gift packages which generate bonus points. The extra goodies will be placed on locations where the map has issues with the higher-point items on maps with the most issues. To kick off this new release, the company is also hosting a contest dubbed the "Holiday High Points Challenge" which runs from November 25th through December 9th. During this time, which includes the busy traveling period of the Thanksgiving holidays, Waze hopes to tap into the high number of drivers who will be trekking around town and across the country to visit relatives. The top three users who earn the most points during this period will win Amazon gift cards in the amounts of $500, $300 and $200, for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places respectively. Crowdsourcing: Better Maps, Faster The Waze application was one of the more innovative companies to appear at the most recent DEMO conference where they launched their turn-by-turn directions feature . Because they're not using map data from Tele Atlas or Navteq - the two big names that license map data to other companies for use in applications - Waze saves money while also being able to sell their own data to other companies at reduced rates. The company also claims that their crowdsourced method has dramatically shortened the months-long update cycle for maps. While Waze may not be ready to replace your in-dash GPS just yet, it gets closer every day as more roads are mapped and more users join the service. Early adopters who want to contribute to the project can download the mobile application from the company's homepage here . Discuss

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Navigation App Waze Makes Crowdsourced Map-Building a Game

One of the first social networking aggregators to take advantage of LinkedIn's brand-new API is Sobees , whose two client applications both now offer LinkedIn integration in addition to the other supported networks. A challenger to similar services like TweetDeck, Seesmic, and PeopleBrowser, Sobees is a social networking aggregation tool originally launched as a desktop app back in 2008 with a web app version added earlier this year. Like its competitors, Sobees' clients use a columnar interface to display real-time updates from sites like Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace. Sponsor Sobees essentially functions as a social networking client for the sites it supports, each site with its own column and separate set of functions and tabs. For example, in the Twitter column, you can switch through tabs to see replies and direct messages and you can use buttons on the side to create groups or view your favorites. Meanwhile, the Facebook column offers Facebook-specific features like the ability to view photo albums and status updates or check out profiles, friend lists, and your inbox. Sobees Adds LinkedIn Similarly, the newly-launched LinkedIn functionality will include features specific to LinkedIn. At launch time, those are as follows: Update your status View connections View profiles Get updates (connections updates, status updates, application updates, jobs posted, groups joined, recommendations and profile changes) Search or search with advanced functionality While the desktop version of the program is Windows-only, the web-based application is built using Microsoft's Silverlight technology which works on any operating system, even Linux . When you go to set up the web version for the first time, you'll be presented with the four supported services and a button reading "connect." At first, clicking the connect button seemed to have no effect but that was because the browser's pop-up blocker was turned on and Sobees launches the authorization screens in a separate window. After navigating past this small obstacle, the rest of the set up process was completed in a matter of minutes. At this point, you're now presented with multiple columns containing the services you authorized during setup. You can also choose to add a real-time search column if desired and you can re-arrange the columns into a number of different layouts using the "change layout" button at the top. FactFinder API Integration Lets You Know if a Link is Worth Clicking Besides simply displaying the most recent updates from the various services, Sobees also offers a unique feature other social networking applications don't have - Factery's FactFinder API integration. ( Read more about Factery's API here ). In short, this API allows the Sobees client to instantly and automatically parse the URLs posted in Twitter links to help you determine whether or not the link is worth clicking. Using the FactFinder toggle button to the left of the column, your Twitter stream is filtered to show only links with Factery data. Once switched on, tweets with links are appended with the source URL and various "facts" snipped from the article being shared. Depending on the amount of info the API pulls, a "more..." link may appear at the bottom of the facts displayed. Click this link to see more facts - aka snippets - from the article in question and then click "less" to once again collapse the window. Anyone who has switched to Twitter as their primary source of news will love this sort of feature as you can get the gist of an article without ever leaving Twitter. If you're interested in trying the updated Sobees clients, you can download the desktop version here or load the web version at sobees.com/web . Discuss

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Social Aggregator Sobees Adds LinkedIn Support

Feedly , the magazine style feed reader we first covered back in August of last year , is now available for the Google Chrome web browser. As with the Firefox implementation of the service, the Chrome version also uses a browser plugin to offer an alternative user interface to Google Reader. This early version of the Feedly for Chrome release offers most of the features found in the original Firefox version of the service, but requires the installation of a dev build of Chrome in order to work. Sponsor Feedly: A Better RSS Reader and More Feedly is much more than just another way to read feeds. Although it originally got its start as an alternative UI to Google Reader, today the service is part RSS reader, part social network aggregator, and part search utility. Since its launch in 2008, Feedly's developer Edwin Khodabakchian has constantly added new features including Twitter and FriendFeed integrations, a river of news view , search tools , Mozilla Ubiquity integration , a Feedly "mini" toolbar , and