Politics In Canada Application

What is the Politics in Canada Application?

If you are Canadian (or at least wish you were) and are interested in current political affairs, then Politics in Canada is the application for you. This application allows you to demonstrate what political party you support. After installing the application, all you have to do is enter your postal code, then select the party that you support, and an icon (representing your political affiliation) will be placed on a map of your province.

I’ve been watching this application for the past week as more people join up. This allowed me to see what areas supported what party. A nice graph is also available to show support throughout the nation and by province. The goal of the application is to raise awareness and to get people involved politically. This is seems to be successfully accomplished by providing links to all the party’s websites.

Pros

• The maps are linked up with Google Maps, allowing you to easily see the whole country
• Everything is broken down conveniently nationally and provincially
• Links to the political party’s official websites

Cons

• Would be nice to see a description of each political party, but it seems that the developer is already on top of this and should be appearing soon.

Rate This Application

iCare Facebook Application

What is the iCare Facebook Application?

iCare lets you share with your Facebook friends what issues you are passionate about. The application is easy to use. You can select from a list of topics to add to your profile. Topics range from Ron Paul to animal rights. iCare lets you add a topic if your cause isn’t listed. You can click on each topic to see which other people share your beliefs. iCare also creates a tag cloud in the application page to show which topics are the most popular. Your topics show up on the left sidebar.

iCare Pros

• Easy way to see who shares your favorite causes
• Allows you to add your own causes
• Great way to raise awareness for a cause
• Leverages social network by seeing who shares the same causes

iCare Cons

• As of this writing, I had problems with my topics showing up on my profile. I added a few topics, but they don’t appear on my profile page or in the app. Perhaps there’s a delay.
• Doesn’t Facebook already do something like this? You can click on Facebook users’ interests and bring up people who share that same interest. Thus, if someone has save Darfur under interests, you can click on it and bring a list of others who have that interest. I guess the difference here is that makes more uniform topics.

Rate This Application

US Politics Facebook Application

What is the US Politics Facebook Application?

US Politics was created by Facebook. You can view profiles of presidential candidates, members of Congress, as well as state governors. You can then display on your profile page which candidates you support. Also, look to see who your friends are supporting.

US Politics Pros

• Built by Facebook, so you know there shouldn’t be too many problems
• See who your friends are voting for

• New features coming soon include voting registration tools and political forums

US Politics Cons

• Not all the candidates’ profiles are going to be on there because they have to create one themselves

Rate This Application

Daily Show News Facebook Application

What is the Daily Show News Facebook Application?

The Daily Show News Facebook Application allows you to display clips or entire shows of the Daily Show right in your Facebook Profile. The way it works is you watch a show on the app’s canvas page, and your latest viewed show will be displayed on your profile page.

Daily Show News Pros

• Get your fill of the Daily Show right from Facebook
• Share with your friends your favorite clips

Daily Show News Cons

• Doesn’t take advantage of Facebook’s social network.
• Can’t see which are the top rated or viewed shows

Rate This Application

Election ‘08 Facebook App

What is the Election ‘08 App?

The Election ‘08 app allows you to display to other Facebook users which presidential candidate you’re going to support during the ‘08 elections. While Facebook has provided a feature like this before, the Election ‘08 app takes it a bit further. First, the application is really slick looking. The design has lots of eye appeal. Second, after you vote which presidential candidate you’re going to support, the app displays the overall standings of the candidates among Facebook users. As of this writing, Barack Obama leads the pack. With the Election ‘08 app, you can also see who your friends are supporting. The app displays a badge on your profile of the person you’re supporting along with feeds of the latest headlines about that candidate.

Election ‘08 Pros

• The design is awesome. While functionality on a Facebook app is important, if you don’t have a nice design, you’ll turn people off.
• Takes advantage of Facebook’s social leveraging by allowing you to see how your friends have voted.

Election ‘08 Cons

• Where’s the love for independent candidates? When I tried to click on “I support independent candidates,” I got an error screen. Boo to the two party system!
• It would be nice if the app had a forum where Facebookers could debate the election.

.

Rate This Application

What is the Enviro Application?

The Enviro Application allows users to show their friends what actions they are taking to better the environment. It asks the question “What are you doing for the environment?” and gives a variety of answers you can check such as: I carpool, I bought a hybrid car, or I re-use my shopping bags. Besides showing your friends what you are doing to better Mother Earth, it also gives statistical feedback on “What we are good at” and “What needs some work”. The sole purpose behind the Enviro Application is to promote social responsibility through our actions and our friend’s actions as well.

Enviro Pros

• Promotes environment-friendly actions by letting your friends know what you are doing FOR the environment.
• Allows you to see, by percentage, what is and isn’t being done for the environment.
• Layout is simple and clean.

Enviro Cons

• Limited number of options to select from the “What are you doing for the Environment? list.”
• No friend invite capabilities.
• Other than showing your friends how green you are, there isn’t much you can do with this application.

I think this application has some great potential as far as promoting social responsibility. When you look at a friend’s profile and notice that they are air-drying their clothes instead of using a dryer appliance or even something as little as turning off the water when they brush their teeth, it sends the message: if they can do it, why don’t I?

People who download this application might be turned off by the limited capabilities and options, but I don’t think that is what the developers had in mind when they set out to make this application. There is only one reason for this application and that is to promote social responsibility to your friends through your actions. Let’s face it, we now live in a world where being seen as green or eco-friendly is not only progressive, but desirable.

Rate This Application

Demands Facebook Application

What is the Demands Facebook Application?

Have you wanted to see your favorite band live, but they never come near where you live? Now you can let them know that you and others want them to come to your city with the Demands Facebook Application. Demands was developed by Eventful.

Eventful is an events website that allows users to promote, share, and create events. Part of this service includes Demands. The Demands app just brings this unique service to Facebook. According to the Eventful’s website, thousands of musicians, comedians, and political candidates use Eventful to schedule their stops.

After installing the Demands application, you need to setup an account with Eventful, the app’s developer. This will allow you to create your own demands. You create your demands on the Eventful Website and they appear on your profile page. Friends who see it just simply need to click to add their demand to it as well. For my test run, I created a Demand for The Rentals. Moogs rock!

Demands Pros

• This app takes full advantage of Facebook’s social network. Like minded people can meet in one place to request acts they want to see.
• Installation is easy.

Demands Cons

• Not integrated well. You have to leave Facebook and go to Eventful to create your Demands. This could be a Facebook thing and not the app’s fault.
• Not many people using it…yet. In order for people to demand acts, they have to be signed up with Eventful. As of this writing there’s only 768 Facebook users with the Demands app installed. In order for it to have any real effect, you’ll need plenty of people using it in your network. Start spreading the word!

Overall, Demands is a really cool app. I can definitely see it becoming one of the more popular apps. Demands is a good example of a Facebook application leveraging Facebook’s network.

Rate This Application

I,Ripple Facebook Application

What is the I,Ripple Facebook Application?

Ripple is a Web 2.0 site dedicated to generating money for worthy causes through ad revenue. It allows you and your friends to donate to charities without spending your own money by viewing ads. I,Ripple brings the power of Ripple to Facebook. All you have to do is view on an ad that appears on you Facebook Profile. I,Ripple takes the money made off the view and donates 100% to charities. Currently, there are four charities that I,Ripple is donating to. You can chose if your click goes to fighting hunger, providing clean water, funding education, or funding a micro-loan.

I,Ripple Pros

• Contribute to a cause without spending money
• The ads aren’t intrusive. They only appear on your profile when someone clicks to donate money.

I,Ripple Cons

• Not a big selection of charities. I,Ripple is just starting out. As they grow, I can definitely see more charities signing on.

Overall, I,Ripple is a pretty cool app. As a student with no money, I like the idea that I can donate some money without having to spend what little money I have.

Rate This Application

Causes Facebook Application

Care about the environment? Do you want to help stop genocide in Darfur? Check out the Causes Facebook Application.

What is the Causes Facebook Application?

The Causes application allows you to start and join causes you care about. Not only can you show your support on Facebook, you can put your money where your Facebook Profile is at by donating. Donations are done securely through Project Agape. You don’t have to worry about your money going to some con artist who says he’s raising money on behalf of baby seals. When someone starts a cause, they must choose from a selection of registered non-profit organizations where they want their money to go.

Causes Pros

• Easy to start a cause
• The selection of non profit organizations is massive- 1.5 million
• It’s an application that can make a difference

Causes Cons

• There are several glitches. Right after I installed it, I got an error message.

As soon as the developers iron out the glitches, this should be a super application.

Rate This Application