StickiWidgets

Pete Cashmore reports on a new site, Cooqy. However, the most interesting part about the post is the news that they have found a workaround for the MySpace Flash security update. Obviously, we had to investigate. Unfortunately, due to some conflicts of interest we can not disclose our findings. Sorry for the teaser…

The workaround has been verified on select systems and installations.

Let the arms race begin…

Update (7/31): It looks like someone let the cat out of the bag…

Update (8/1): MySpace has already updated their filter and squashed the workaround.

This is a Public Service Announcement for WordPress. Version 2.0.4 was released a couple of days ago and is highly recommended by WordPress. It addresses several security issues and over 50 bugs. We have already updated to the latest release and everything looks good. The 2.0.4 update was painless and only required an overwrite of existing files. Make sure you do not overwrite any customizations; this should not be a concern for most people. Visit the Upgrading WordPress page for more information if you are unsure or need more details.

It looks like Stickam will be joining the “Social Network Party”. They have announced that they will be rolling out new social networking features next week, starting with a new profile page. While little was said about the actual features and the screenshot doesn’t show much, it does look like a move in the right direction. Given the recent Flash security changes on MySpace, it’s a good move on Stickam’s part to build out their own social network. Mentioned in the post are friends list (a long awaited feature) and comments on the profile page. The screenshot also shows significant layout changes and additional content areas.

The additions are sorely needed. However, it seems that the profile page will be more difficult to customize. We have done some basic changes to the current profile page via styles in the “Message” section of the Stickam profile, but given the complexity of the new layout it may be a daunting task for the average user. Stickam doesn’t have the user base or following to spawn the profile customization sites such as the ones for MySpace. Let’s hope that changes soon, though we feel it would be a better move to create a system that is easer to customize. Even better would be a templating system and/or customization tools. Profile page personalization is a big draw for users. It’s even made news over at Mashable, MySpace Layouts Top Ten.

To be honest, these features should have been rolled out long ago. Much of what we do here is due to the lack of features on Stickam. But, don’t worry about us, we are targeting users who want to use Stickam and already have their own exiting blog or site. Our services and widgets bridge the gap between Stickam and individuals, such as our Stickam WordPress Sidebar Widget. Stickam’s expansion into a social networking site should have little impact on what we do here. Of course we would welcome a site that openly embraced third party widgets.

This is actually pretty good timing. MySpace has experienced several issues recently from site errors, hacking, restricting Flash widgets, to missing accounts. If Stickam can provide a stable system, customizable profiles, multimedia features, and their video chat system, it could be a compelling enough feature set to sway currently disgruntled MySpace users.