February 7th, 2008
Since the beta launch last June the Glubble team have worked non-stop to create the 1.0 version. And if you detect a little touch of pride in my tone it’s because I think the new version is nothing short of an internet revolution.
When Ian Hayward contacted me last April about doing some freelance stuff for Glaxstar he gave me an impassioned speech about how he had a vision about protecting young kids on the web. Well, not only has he done that - but Glubble also makes it easy for parents to give their kids some really cool content.
So? What’s new?
Well, pretty much everything’s changed but the concept - So I’ll give you the top five coolest features.
- Usertabs - These little suckers make it so easy to log into your Glubble user account. Simply click your tab and (if you’re a helper, kids don’t need passwords) enter your password to unlock Firefox. Oh, and the ability to auto-disable the browser lock has been added to.
- Family Homepage - This is cool. You get your own family center where you can check out what your family’s been up to online and send each other little messages on your family wall.
- The Glubble Library - The new Glubble Add-on comes with a whole load of “content bubbles” or Glubbles for your kids. These are basically groups of links that have been checked by our experts and are certified safe and fun for kids. The ability to create your own Glubbles and share them with family and friends is coming soon.
- My Secret Homepage - Each child gets their own secret homepage containing all their most used content. They can also write on the family wall from here and pretty soon they’ll be other cool, customizable stuff they can do!
- Visual Favorites - When a child adds a page to their Favorites (bookmarks) Glubble automagically creates a thumbnail of that page and puts it in their Bookmarks Bar for easy access. I want this Add-on for Firefox myself! It’s so much easier to remember what a site is from a screen shot rather than just a title.
Try Glubble
If you’ve got young kids and you’d like to give Glubble Add-on for Firefox a go. Then get yourself a copy now. It’s free! (maybe that should have been the top feature) 
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June 20th, 2007
As some of you know, I moved jobs recently to work for the Birmingham based Glaxstar as their in-house web / UI guy, and I have my first major bit of news… Glubble is born!
Glubble is a extension for Firefox aimed at children under 12, and aims to provide a fun, safe browsing environment for them. It comes with around 350 sites (in what we call the Glubble World) that have been pre-vetted as safe and just downright cool for kids. The parents and extended family and friends (’helpers’) can then add sites to the childs Glubble.
And vise-verse, If a child clicks on a link they’re not allowed to see, they can ask a ‘helper’ for permission. So Glubble is infinitely extensible, and very personal to a particular family, group, school, whatever!
There’s a new UI for kids too! It includes a thumbnail bar so kids can easily view and click on their bookmarks. It even screenshots new sites that are bookmarked for easy of finding later.
It’s a shared experience too, and it’s easy to add other kids or helpers into your Glubble. They then can request from the new helpers and the helpers can add sites for their new Glubble children!
And the Reaction?
The whole team, especially those currently in the USA have worked their proverbial socks off, and many a late night has been spent hunched over a laptop screen to get this launched on time. I for one am very proud and privileged to work with such a bunch of hardworking, driven people.
The reaction from users and tech-heads around the net has been somewhat mixed. I’m pleased to say that we managed over 1000 downloads in the first 24-hours. The product has had mentions and reviews galore, not least by such shining lights as The Washington Post, Wired, Lifehacker, CNET and Techcrunch… (to name but a few).
But don’t take their word for it, why not just bing-bash-bosh download yourself a copy from glubble.com and try it for yourself. Just remember, you need Firefox to run it, but that’s ok, Firefox is probably better than your average web-browser anyway.
- Jon.
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May 14th, 2007
The very last site I did while at Trinity was Ar-Ger for the company of the same name who specializes in selling spiffing properties somewhere in France.
I don’t know if it was the fact I had a week left to finish it, or just because I’ve got a hidden passion for French property websites (sometimes, I wake in the night, my head full of fine wines and blue cheese), but this is perhaps the best site I’ve done to date.
So, so long Trinity, I had a fine three-and-a-bit years with you, but onwards and upwards. There’s gonna be some exciting things coming out of Glaxstar in the next few months so keep an eye out for them.
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April 15th, 2007
Mozilla have just announced the alpha version of a new ebay plugin for Firefox that looks pretty awesome. You can sign up on the site for an alpha test when it’s launched later this month.
If you’re a fan of Firefox and an ebay user then this may be the very thing for you. A secure and quick way to keep an eye on your ebay stuff built right into your browser. Sweet.
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April 11th, 2007
I’m making a career move! After three happy years at Trinity Design I’m joining Glaxstar as thier web designer / interface person / possible tea maker, and I can’t flippin wait!
While this sees me not making my much anticipated move down south, it is the sort of opportunity I’ve been waiting for after Paul’s had his Ning Thing now it’s time for a bit of Glaxstar action.
There’s some pretty big things in the pipeline so keep your eye on the website for the next few months as Glaxstar unleash their new “big thing” on the world.
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