Klango Network

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Klango Facebook client. Finally.

Why have we developped the Klango Facebook client? Because we’ve got tons of requests for it. It’s very likely that our client software is much more comfortable in use than regular Facebook website. So… check it out.

The application is available in Klango for free. There is only one requirement: you must have a Facebook account.

The application is being developed and maintained by Kamil Kaproń, experienced Klango Apps Developer (klango id: kapron).

Free Klango Daisy Player is coming!

After some improvements to the internal Klango Audio Engine we think that we know how to read Daisy books with high precision, we know how to convert them into beautyful audio stream. All these goodies should be available to you soon. For some time, the player is being tested by the Klango Testers group.

The application is being maintained by Daniel Mira, the chief Klango Developer.

Subtitles and audio descritption.

We are not experts in the area of audio description, but our friend Tomasz Strzymiński, the father of audio description in Poland and founder of the Audiodeskrypcja Foundation, has told us that a support for subtitles in Klango would be a good move.

So recently we have developped and released it — two days ago we have released new Klango 3.2.2 with improved media player.

The idea is that subtitles, normally contained in a text file with the same name as media file, and normally used for translations, can be used for (audio) describing movies. There are plenty of free software tools for creating subtitles, so why not use them? Instead of translating a movie, one could describe it for us. What do you think?

By the way: changelog for the new Klango 3.2.2.

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Our answer is — if it comes to forums, now (with new Klango 3.2) you are able to find out what suits you better.

We are happy to announce that we have released new version of Klango yesterday. Please continue reading to find out what’s new and noteworthy. Keywords: Klango 3.2, voice forums, accessible software database, OpenID, good news from the Klango Shop.

We would like to share with you some very interesting numbers.

Yesterday, we passed a milestone of half a million private messages sent through the Klango Network. And, in two weeks Klango should pass yet another milestone: quater of a million forum posts.

Wow! It seems that Klango became a serious communication channel. In less than two years. But that’s not all. There are also media and entertainment. Look at these numbers:

Klango Groups: 625.

Forums: 932 (including private forums),

Forum threads: 12400.

Forum posts: 245200 (yes, almost quater of a million).

Private messages: 500100 (over half a million).

Blogs: 2160 and tens of thousands entries and comments (at klangoblog.net).

Users’ Polls: 710 and tens of thousands votes.

Open Media Catalogue: 64020 entries (of all type: radios, podcasts, etc).

Game hiscores: 176400 results (for all Klango Games).

Wow! Why on earth do you like Klango so much?

Just kidding, of course. *smile*. We are proud we are klanging together in the wicked world of Klango. *smile*.

People tell us that Klango is a very important mean of communication for them, so we decided to introduce yet another, more comprehensive way of communicating with other people …Voice Forums.

In new Klango 3.2, which has been released yesterday, you can discuss using your voice and listen to other people voices. Not a big deal you may say, but hey - those are forums - you can go back to archived descussions and listen to your friends over and over again. That’s really cool.

Moreover, with the new “Play all posts” function you can even playback and listen to the whole forum thread while lying in your bed. And that’s awesome! (Yes, we are only man, we are lazy, *smile*. Do you have a bluetooth keyboard yet?).

You can create as many voice forums as you wish in your own groups. Admins of general community groups should create general voice forums in few days - just ask them about it (and don’t give up, they are man too *smile*).

OK, that’s the first new thing in the new Klango and now let us go on to other two issues which are …more serious.

We redesigned internal Klango (3.2) user interface for the Accessible Software Database. From now on, it’s more comfortable and effective. The structure of the database is still not finished though. It will evolve to meet your needs. Please share with us your suggestions in this field and please leave your opinions about software in the database, of course.

There is one more thing, a new element in this puzzle which we made availabe today in its very introductory version — a web interface to the Accessible Software Database. Our idea is that we would like to amplify and spread your opinions about software, its accessibility and/or inaccessibility. Some time ago we reserved a capacious domain name for that purpose: softwarefortheblind.com.

For example, what do you think about potential Software InAccessibility Awards? There are thousands of us in Klango and thousands of our opinions definitely would be heard. Certainly, it is worth to try. Let the World hear our voice!

The second “more serious feature” we have introduced yesterday may be even …more serious than the above one. Decide yourself.

Did you hear about the OpenID? Yes? No? Never mind. In short, the idea behind OpenID is that you may use the same login name and password on all OpenID-enabled web sites and services. There are plenty of such websites, including some top brands. Your password is kept in one secure place and those services and web sites don’t have any access to it. Such secure place is called OpenID Provider and yes, Klango Network became an OpenID Provider recently. Cool, isn’t it? *smile*.

It means that your KlangoID can be used as OpenID on many other web sites for authorization, signing in, signing up, etc. We think that it could be really helpful, because:

• we belive that using OpenID can be a potential way of bypassing CAPTCHA problems. Why? Because signing up for OpenID-enabled services often requires only entering your OpenID, nothing more, no forms with …exactly, captcha. Although it requires some web research, it looks promising.
• if you change your Klango password, you will change your password in all services you are subscribing using OpenID (KlangoID).
• and finally - if you are a developer, now you are able to easily create KlangoID compatible website (using standard OpenID protocol). Please contact us if you are interested in it.

How can you use your KlangoID for authorization on other websites? Please read our short article on this subject: Could OpenID be a way for the blind community to bypass problems with visual CAPTCHAs?

Let us finish this Klango 3.2 related newsletter with a short list of recent changes in the Klango Shop and the Klango Points systems:

• new, lower prices for major products: Klango Storage is 20% cheaper from now on, and we set new symbolic prices for Voice Private Messages.
• new versions (quantities) of existing itmes - for better matching your needs and for easier testing.
• the first KlangoVIP-only priviledge: 20% off on all items (excluding the Klango VIP Status item itself). Those 20% are returned in form of gift after VIP order an item in the Shop.
• we also added new price tag for buying Klango Points (via PayPal), an equvalent of 10 Euro. It gives you the best price of KP available.

During last three months Klango Points proved to be stable virtual currency and gift system. We are ready to prepare promotional gift offers for hardware/software distributors, media and all persons interested in promoting Klango and/or their own bussiness and websites. Please contact us if you have an idea how to use Klango Points in your venture.

As you probably already know, we had to turn off support for mobile payments via PayMo.com/Boku.com and as a result Klango Network currently supports only PayPal payments. We know that PayPal is not so popular in our Community (especially outside the US), so if you have your own PayPal account and if you would like to order some points for your friends, please contact us.

all the best,

Klango Network Team

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We think that it is possible in some cases.

OpenID is an authorization protocol. If you have an OpenID (obtained from one of services called OpenID Providers) then you can use it to sign up to all OpenID-enabled web sites. The most interesting part of the story is that you have only one password which is kept in secret by your OpenID Provider. Your Provider doesn’t share it with those websites, and you don’t have to remember multiple passwords and login names. It’s quite comfortable solution, isn’t it?

How could OpenID be used to bypass CAPTCHAs? If web site allows people to sign up using their OpenIDs, then it often makes the process a lot easier. In such cases there is no need of filling lenghty registration forms …where our beloved CAPTCHAs are often present. You have to type only your OpenID.

And that’s the whole trick. How many web pages doesn’t include CAPTCHAs in their OpenID sign up forms? We don’t know, but we encourage you to make some research. Are websites of your interest constructed that way?

All you need is an OpenID.

For a few days, each member of the Klango Community has one. KlangoID became OpenID and Klango Network became an OpenID Provider. (read more about new Klango 3.2 here).

Let’s say your KlangoID is “donaldduck”. Then, your OpenID has the following shape: “http://donaldduck.klango.net/klangoid”.

Yes, OpenIDs are URL addresses, but what is more interesting here is that every time an OpenID enabled web site X asks you for your password, you are redirected to the klango.net page where you enter it and where its verification take place. If everything is OK, Klango.net tells the website X that you entered valid password and you continue as a logged-in user on page X. That’s roughly how the OpenID protocol works.

We have found two sites that contain directories of OpenID-enabled websites: www.myopenid.com and openiddirectory.com. Probably, there are more such web sites. Certainly it is worth to visit OpenID page in Wikipedia.

Any concrete OpenID enabled sites? No problem.

www.mixx.com - a news site. Click “signup” and instead of fighting with CAPTCHA select the OpenID registation method, enter your OpenID and voila! Your account is ready and you are asked for editing your mixx.com profile. Our trick does work in case of this particular website (however, we didn’t test that website for general accessibility — it’s a different story of course).

Who knows, maybe you will be able to bypass a “famous captcha” this way?

Good luck!

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New Klango 3.1 client software has been just released together with few very important structural services.

For us, Klango developers, this is one of the most important versions so far.

Each week we think about the future of Klango and today, features we’re introducing in this version allow us to belive that the future can be great. We hope that you feel the same. Please keep on reading and let us share with you our vision of Klango.

Few months ago we realized that Klango needed a solid, more concrete fundation for future developement. We have so many ideas for Klango that it’s even hard to keep them ordered in some way. We’d like Klango Network to offer educational apps, games, productivity software, new cool social functions and so on.

But Klango is people, not software.

Besides Klango team, there are many people contributing to Klango, and there are lots of people who would like to contribute to it either, in many ways. Klango as a social platform should be a place where creative people could contribute by producing and sharing quality audio and interactive content. We’d like to invite musicians, sound editors, programmers, teachers to create new applications and general (accessible) software solutions. There are lots of possibilities, ways and directions, but first we must offer a concrete fundations for work, because without such fundations work is very expensive and without that work Klango would stop developing and disappear.

We don’t want that!

There is one thing most mentioned people have in common. They are advanced hobbysts or professionals, and they rarely work for a “Your app is great!” or “Cool audio theme!” message posted on a forum. Because we really don’t want to beg them for support and involvement, we have to show them real opportunities. In the current shape of Klango it would be impossible. We have to change Klango a little bit …and it’s taking place today. Klango 3.1 is the first, most important step in this proccess.

We have to go through it.

Klango 3.1 opens new chapter in the history of Klango by introducing an internal virtual currency, Klango Points.
Like other currencies, Klango Points describe and measure universal value, the missing element in Klango.
Klango Points have real value, beacuse the source of them is our website where everybody can purchase them online (or using mobile phone) for real money. From the other side, contributing authors will be able to exchange collected Klango Points for real currency (we are still working on it). Their applications, services, media will be offered in the Klango Shop.

It is a real step forward.

Today, in the Klango Shop you can find a few new services created by the Klango Team.

Yes, it shouldn’t be a surprise. Our team needs better fundations for work too. It’s not true that Klango used to be totally free for all. It wasn’t free for us. At the beginning of 2010, Klango is a seriuos system used by thousands of people from around the world, and further developement requires significant amounts of resources of variuos kinds. Knowledge, time and hardware are the most important ones. We want to keep developing Klango and as a small company we have no choice. We are going to look for external funding opportunities but first we must try to remain financially independent service as long as it is possible.

Why? Because independent social service means independent community.

Let’s go back to the new services. Our decision about introducing Klango Points has the first serious effect: it allowed us to think bigger.

We have developed our own scalable server architecture for storing large amounts of data. The system is called Kluster (K as in Klango, not C) and at the moment it has two interfaces - for Klango and for the web. Kluster will be moved to one of the cloud computing platforms, but we decided to hold this move for now. We need some server side functionalities which are still quite expensive in cloud environments. By developing our own solution, we can deliver you better, cost optimized services.

Kluster is the second missing element of Klango. Kluster gives a lot of new possibilities for us and all authors interested in providing their own content and services in the Klango Network.

We have developed two new services which are based on Kluster and which are available today - in Klango 3.1.

The first is very useful Klango Storage service available at minimal prices, which allows all Klango users to store their files in Kluster and share them with friends.

Voice private messages are the second new function based on Kluster. It’s a cool and easy to use service integrated into existing Klango messaging architecture.

Besides all new systems and features described above, there are also few others as well as several minor additions and fixes. All of them are listed in the Klango changelog.

We have great hope that decisions and moves we made will be perceived rather as a “promising evolution” and not as a “bad revolution”. Klango Points closes the loop between developers, authors and users. Such loop gives us independence and hope for the great future for the Project.

And please remember to donate with some Klango Points authors of audio themes and translators.
Klango is what it is, because these people work on it together with us.

best regards,

Klango Network Team.

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November was a busy month for our team. We were analyzing your feedback, fixing small bugs in Klango and working on a new major version of Klango. We’re also turning off servers for older versions of Klango. Keep on reading to know more.

New Klango 3.0.2 — available today

Today, we released Klango 3.0.2 which contains some hot fixes in the translator code and in the guest account support. Translator stopped working because of changes Google made in it, but everything should be OK now. This release includes also speed improvements in a few places (in media catalog for example) and due to changes in startup code, Klango should start faster on some systems. There are also several other smaller fixes …so don’t wait — just update your Klango!

Klango 3.1 introducing a new service — available soon

For a few weeks we have been working on a new major version of Klango. Klango 3.1 will introduce a new service which will allow you to store your files online and share them with your friends. The Klango Storage service will be also a great feature for groups. The first version of Klango 3.1 is being tested by Klango Testers. Stable version should be released this month.

Older versions of Klango — end of support

We decided to end support for Klango 2.0.x and Klango 3 Beta. That’s because those old versions use old Klango server software and it became a little bit difficult and time consuming to maintain it. Klango 2.0.x is already not functional for a week and Klango 3 Beta server software will be deleted on 10th December. If your Klango is still 2.0.x then please download new installer from our website and install K3 it in a fresh folder. If you are on one of Klango 3 Betas, then please update it using Klango menu.

Symbian Nokia Klango Terminal news

For a few weeks, the Klango Terminal for Symbian Nokia phones includes a basic access to all Klango public community forums. If you haven’t tested this software yet, we encourage you to do it. The Terminal is available at our website and there is an open group of Klango Terminal Testers where you can ask all your questions.

Geo-locations — a request

Only 1000 users have set their geo-locations in Klango menu. It’s a small part of our community. The geo-locations are useful tool for finding people you can meet first in Klango and then in real-life. Why do not use them? However, please note that we use an external service for the geo-locations. If you can’t find your exact location, please set the closest one.

Tutorials — coming soon

We’re preparing two short tutorials: about installing Nokia Klango Terminal and about Klango Groups. The tutorials will be published on our web site soon.

That’s all today’s news. You can expect yet another newsletter in December. *smile*

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