I think it’s about time I explained myself.

A few people have pointed out that I seem to have fallen off the face of the world (my words, not theirs). While that not really an unusual thing (I tend to disappear at times), this time there was a reason.

Shortly before Thanksgiving 2007, lightning struck my brain. For as long as I can remember, my family has always put together gift wishlists before Christmas to share with one another. It helps take most of the guess work out of Christmas shopping. We don’t always buy things off the list, but the lists give us a guide to help figure out exactly what one of our family members would want.

As the internet became more and more popular and online retail became more and more accepted, some of us started turning our lists of items into lists of links. That way the gift-giver could find out exactly what make, model, color, size, texture, and flavor of item we wanted. I don’t know if anyone used those links, but I felt like I was doing a great thing.

So I decided to take the idea to the masses.

I got a proof-of-concept going over Thanksgiving break and then started designing the web site – something called “interface design”. That’s no easy task.

I don’t remember if it was me, or whether is was Mike (my partner in this project), but we started to realize the merits of a Facebook App. Facebook allows developers to build mini web applications that interact directly with user information on Facebook. Users can add them, remove them, and share them with their friends. A Facebook App, we thought, would allow us to build the basic web service and get people using it without us having to spend quite as much time with interface design.

We got to work. The Facebook code structure is easy, but the instructions are very poor. None-the-less, the Facebook App started to develop. As it neared completion I began spending more and more time in my room, more and more time on my laptop during classes, less and less time with friends, and less and less time on school work.

So I’m here today to announce that your online gift wishlist service is now ready for Facebook. We call it WishCraze.

- Build a list
- Share it with your friends
- Browse and shop your friends’ lists

So, if you have a Facebook account, go add my App and check it out.
If you don’t, there’s also a blog up and running so you can read up on the progress we’re making toward the next stage.

Next up is our full-featured web site which will allow anyone, anywhere to build lists. Then come RSS feeds, personalized links, a MySpace App, a Google App, and snippets of code which will allow yo to show off your list on any web site or blog you want.

This isn’t going to be easy, but hopefully it will be worth the wait.

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