Having created 3 applications and a wrapper for the API, I am beginning to run out of ideas for things to create. So here is where you come in...
If you can come up with a good idea for an app (and I think it's a good idea), I'll see what I can do to create it.
It could be OS-specific, cross-platform, or target mobile devices. (How many people use webOS, by the way?)
Note: I don't have a Mac, so no Mac-exclusive ideas.
Have you noticed how often people have short conversations in the comments to particular question answer, especially on meta? Problem is that the way the comments are ordered on the website, it's impossible to follow such conversations, as you have to piece them yourself. So I was considering a 'messaging' app, which follow any conversations like that the user is involved, shows them properly threaded and notifies the user of new comments. It can also show a complete history of the user's interaction with another user across different questions, using the mentioned and comments/{toid} APIs.
[email protected]. I'm not on IRC a lot.
Commented
May 25, 2010 at 2:40
I'd like some way to preserve the external images linked in questions. Then when the original image is deleted (hopefully indicated by some HTTP error code, even if some error image is returned in the response as well), maybe somehow the (future non-read-only) API can fix that.
Preserving the images could be done using the data dump as well. But maybe the API is more suitable for that? And surely the data dump cannot be used to change image links into something new.
http://img.skitch.com/20100522-1kp2kp817tm46id8xa2r15xafe.png
I myself use Skitch for image grabbing and hosting, which has been in beta for years. However, it probably won't be free in the future, hence a lot of pictures might disappear from the web in general, and from the Trilogy sites. I always put a link to where I used my own pictures into the comments at Skitch, so I could upload them to some other service if needed (and if Skitch warns its user in time). At that time I would still need to manually edit all my posts to refer to the new service. And I doubt many others would do that too.
Update: now that new images are uploaded to Imgur: ready, start, go! ;-)
(But, there might be an issue with hotlinking that is no hotlinking anymore.)
Once the API allows for write access, maybe something can be created to expand and replace (if approved by the user) shortened URLs, when a post includes one? Like Jeff wrote:
if you see a shortened link that has no reason to be shortened, then un-shorten it
For tr.im URLs, for which the creators have announced they would like to shut down the API and redirection service by the end of 2010, it might even be nice to do some batch processing. It's only 39 links though.
My ambitious Idea: an awesome Stack Exchange Knowledge Base Dashboard.
Having a growing number of Stack Exchange sites, I usually feel lost when I need to search and retrieve some aswers I gave, questions I asked or simply marked as favorites.
It would be cool to have a Web Dashboard that allows me to search on all of this stuff.
Technically this would require:
1. Crawling data
2. Storing data
3. Indexing data
4. A cool Web frontend
As I said, it is ambitious :).
Since it appears SO will never support "friend" features (see here: https://meta.stackoverflow.com/questions/886/a-friends-list-on-stack-overflow-would-be-nice), I think a SE/SO friends site would be cool. Maybe integrate with FB and Twitter, so you can find all your existing friends who already have accounts. I'd love to see a leaderboard of just my FB friends on StackOverflow.
