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Video Mockup of Hijack, Slick OS X Forum Browser in Full-screen Mode

mydreamapp.com — This is a video mockup of Kevin Capizzi's entry for My Dream App called Hijack. Hijack lets you browse and participate in your favorite discussion forums using a slick user interface. The video demonstrates full-screen mode, which operates like Apple's Front Row and enables you to control it via the Apple Remote.

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  • Ireland, on 10/12/2007, -4/+18This surely must have been put together using Core Animation?
    Oh, and it looks positively delicious!!
    • mingistech, on 10/12/2007, -1/+17He actually used After Effects 7. And a little love from Photoshop... Keep in mind this is a mockup. I'm sure a technology like Core Animation would be used to a working version.

      It does look quite beautiful.
    • Ireland, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10Oh, still cool though.
  • Masna, on 10/12/2007, -3/+18Wow. I've seen the future, and I like it. :-D
    • Trention, on 10/12/2007, -16/+7Hooray for non-standards based ways to ***** up the Internet! I've always wanted an application for viewing things on the Internet!
    • mingistech, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8"I've always wanted an application for viewing things on the Internet!"

      Like a web browser... or an RSS Reader.

  • SPNKrPunk, on 10/12/2007, -6/+30Too bad its only concept art right now. What a tease! I feel like my mom just showed me a chocolate chip cookie, and said "No, honey, this is only a CONCEPT cookie. It has to win the contest against other cookies before the actual bakers make the cookie!"

    Gah!
    • pyro116, on 10/12/2007, -3/+52Someone get this man a cookie before he makes another terrible analogy!
    • td2digg, on 10/12/2007, -14/+2Dude I ROFLMAO!!!!!
  • redrighthand, on 10/12/2007, -13/+8A great idea for DIGG version 3.0
    • mmm_linux, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9i thought this is digg v3
    • Royal0rleans, on 10/12/2007, -9/+1Ahh
      You thought this _was_ digg v3
      or
      You think this _is_ digg v3
      or
      I am very very bored
    • Ireland, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3You're right! It is digg 3.0

      Hopefully for digg 4.0 they'll move the bloody topics back over to the right hand side, it was waaay more intuitive that way, and more user friendly too :(
    • Alex.w, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2But then where would the Ads go? On the left?! It should maybe be an option.. I like the menus etc on the left just fine personaly.

      Since they're allready pulling a list of what you've dugg what comments your +/- -ed and which of your friends have dugg anything (man that sounds DB intensive), An option to move the menu doesn't sound imposiable, but options like that in the prefs page would look very clutered.
    • Pharaoh777, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Actually, most humans read webpages in an F shaped pattern so having the navigation on the right is a bad idea - unless you want them to see the ads first.
  • ecable, on 10/12/2007, -8/+3God. I want. Yum. I would kill (virtually) for that.
  • CosmicBlend, on 10/12/2007, -6/+1Wow that looks amazing, although would apple really see this as software they could market to their customers? It seems like a really slick program, and while I myself would love to use it, the functions of just forum browsing would keep me from buying it just for that purpose. Now if it was able to lets say do forums, blogs, etc.. That would be much more useful and easier to market.
  • colincornaby, on 10/12/2007, -4/+7Technically, I don't know how this would be pulled off. You can't directly connect to a forum's database to pull information, and with every forum built and styled differently, it's going to be extremely hard to build something that can glean data by going through a forum's html. What might work is subscribing to a forum's rss feed, but that doesn't exactly help for trying to create a new post.

    Not to mention I've seen forums with ULA's that ban use of these type of programs on their site.
    • cmyk, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7http://mydreamapp.com/contestants/view/kevincapizzi/judges/

      Listen to Jason Harris' comments (under Round 2) for debunking of unfeasibility.
    • hurfydurfur, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2If the forum supported modules, you could write an xmlrpc mod for it and then any xmlrpc client could do whatever it wanted (including posting). The ULA is another matter, but I wonder why? If it's ad-avoidance, websites run into this with RSS syndication.
    • colincornaby, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4I would tend to agree with what Brent Simons has to say in the judges section. Every forum has a different API. And as I said, a lot of forums have an agreement that bans use of these programs. Forums are ad based, and it's in their interests to block these sort of programs as much as possible. I'm sure you could get this application working on a forum by forum basis, but building one that works with all forums is something very difficult to do.

      It would probably be a better idea to implement some sort of standard forum protocol for use with this program, and hope it catches on as a standard.
  • H_o_p_s, on 10/12/2007, -9/+5It just reminds me of all the annoying flash websites... I don't want fancy things mucking around. I have my computer for viewing and editing information, and I want it done quickly and efficiently. All of that eye candy does me no good.
  • pman, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4Looks really good! Just voted for it over at the dream app site.
  • Wolfman~K, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5O.O damn that was sexy.
  • leomyhero, on 10/12/2007, -4/+9Apple, give this man a job!
  • grahamcase, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4I am so voting for this next round!
  • deadbaby, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Looks good but I'm not sure how often I'd actually use a separate app to visit forums. It would however be an ideal plugin for one of the HTPC apps out there (MediaCentral, iTheater, etc)
  • UnConeD, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1It would be cool if it was built in a generic way so you could use it not just with traditional bulletin-boards, but also blogs or CMS comments (e.g. digg or drupal). They could even spec out an XML-RPC service or similar. I'm sure with all the Mac heads in the Drupal community, someone would make a module for it in a snap.
  • dinkola, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Dont try to buy me with your fancy graphics. Sure it looks cool & Id possibly use it .. but I could easily do without it. I cant read the screen from across the room anyhow. Its hardly a 'dream app'. I could browse much better while at my monitor with a mouse.
  • tizz66, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1That is cool, but has one huge flaw. Front Row is designed for use on a TV, and from a distance (e.g. large text). It's fine making this work with the remote, but it just won't be usable on a (SD)TV or from a distance because of text size. If that's the aim, it needs a rethink. Something akin to the Wii's inline-text sizing/page formatting would help.
    • cmyk, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1This isn't Front Row, but Front Row-esque. It would still be for viewing on your computer, and thereby utilizing all your screen real estate. You can also make the default font as large as you need it, since it only shows one post at a time.

      Anyway, this is just the full screen mode... check out the UI mockup to get the feel for the full app.
    • tizz66, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2I really fail to see why it needs to be full screen if it isn't designed to be used in the way Front Row is. It's not like it's benefiting from the extra space - look at all the empty space. It's wasted, and a full-screen forum reader, in my opinion, is counter-productive. I mean maybe as an option it wouldn't hurt, but it seems this project is winning votes based on this, and I don't think many people realise that they probably won't use it like they think they will. Flashy stuff != useful, in many cases.
    • tizz66, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2...And if it isn't supposed to be used like Front Row, then why is the remote used for navigation? That's the worst input method possible if you're sitting at the computer, when you have a mouse, keyboard, voice etc.

      Are you the guy behind this? If so, don't think I'm putting the idea down... I'm an interface designer (for a forum product as it happens), I'm just giving my thoughts on the usefulness behind the mockup. For eyecandy it's very nice indeed, I just think there needs to be more thought behind the productivity of the idea.
    • cmyk, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I hear where you're coming from. The thing is, it can be used both ways, on the TV or the computer. I'm sure there are a lot of people who sit at their computers for a lunch break or even just to chill out for a second. Why not enter the Full Screen mode for some casual interaction? And if you do use this mode for the living room on your TV, then up the font size, and enjoy.

      Also, I hope this isn't what most people would base their votes on... check out the rest of the blog... there is a BUNCH of other features to like about this app.

      (and yes, I'm the guy behind the idea ;) )
    • tizz66, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Fair enough - I definitely don't claim to be a know it all, so I hope you manage to prove me wrong :)

      By the way, the mock of the actual application interface you posted further up is really nice. As I said, I have a vested interest in this because I work with one of the major forum products, and the overall idea is really good. I don't like the Mail buttons, but I'll blame Apple for those, not you ;)
  • mcorto, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3*nice*
  • smash, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4that.... is awesome...
  • td2digg, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0Man, just goes to show you that just because it looks real doesn't mean it is!! Let that be a lesson to you kiddies! LOL
  • Dog_Paddle, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1There is no way this will be free.
  • prezident, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Looks like a cool app. I wish front row could be mapped to my keyboard and then all apps that I would like to see in a frontrow specific environment would jump to that format. For example, if I used the apple+tab key to move through my open programs and stop on Mail, Mail would then move in to a frontrow type of view.
  • prezident, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7BTW, Ive always bee suspicious of people who say they don't like eye candy. "Eye Candy" is natures way of moving us to things we could use to function better. That is why fruit is vibrantly colored. And why men are attracted to the symmetrical curves of women. It just seems to go against our very nature not to like "eye candy"...so to speak
  • td2digg, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1Man I can't wait until they make this so I can download it from bit... I mean buy it!!
  • NapoleonGold, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1slick
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