Frequently Asked Questions
Please note that this is only our general FAQ. Please detailed
help please visit the support area.
What is Particls?
Particls learns what you care about and alerts you when there's new information
on those subjects. Check out the screenshots for an example.
So it's a news reader?
Particls is a news reader in the same way the Internet is for websites.
You can read your news in it, but it is not just a news reader - it is an alerts
platform. This means that information is displayed 'while you work on other things'
in a heads-up-display presentation style. In this way you can keep working while
staying informed.
Also you might want to track other types of alerts like Calendar reminders, Twitter
updates etc.
So it's a widget platform?
Particls is not a widget or gadget platform. Widgets each typically represent a
window into a single source of information (e.g. "The Stock Quotes Widget" displays
stock quotes).
Particls output adapters are designed to consume varying levels of user attention.
Particls evaluates each incoming piece of information and gives it a rank of 'Personal
Relevance' to the user.
Particls then uses the right Output Adapter so that it consumes only the amount
of attention appropriate for the relevancy of the alert. We call this Escalating
Alerts. You can read more about this philosophy in our
Manifesto.
What operating system does it run on?
Currently Particls is a Windows only application (XP or Vista). Yes, yes we know
- A Mac version would be very nice. We hear you.
If you only have a Mac, please note that we have tested Particls on Parallels and
it works great. Also check out the Demos.
How does it learn what I care about?
In a few ways.
You can tell it by typing in and ranking keywords and sources. Also you can optionally
allow Particls to scan your hard drive periodically to auto-detect topics you care
about (from the documents, conversations, emails and sites you visit). Don't worry,
your privacy is assured.
Particls also takes other factors into consideration - for example, how popular
a particular item is on the internet at large, how current the item is and other
factors that are part of our secret recipe.
Particls uses all this information to determine the 'Personal Relevancy' of incoming
items/alerts.
Where does the information come from?
Particls can get information from virtually any place. The first and most obvious
place is using a technology called RSS. RSS is the best way for sites to tell visitors
when there is new content to view.
Particls supports this format as well as similar formats such as Atom.
There might be sites and applications (including those that run on your personal
computer) that provide different ways of retrieving information and Particls can
support those with Input Adapters.
What sort of alerts are used?
By default Particls comes with a news ticker, a sidebar, a system tray alert (like
the one you might get with Windows Messenger or Skype), and a cursor trail alert
for the most important information (a popup that follows your mouse for a few seconds
before fading away).
Additional alerts are developed by others in the community and are listed on the
extensions page. These might include SMS, Email etc.
Typically these alerts would not steal focus from your current application so you
could keep working even as they fade in and fade out on your screen.
Particls allows you to set rules for which alert method to use depending on the
'Personal Relevancy' of an update. The more important the update, the more attention
grabbing an alert you may wish to use.
How much is Particls?
Particls will come in two flavours. Free with ads or an ad-free Pro Version (price
to be announced).
I don't want annoying ads bugging me!
Well that's not a question - but the Particls ad system will be very special.
First, ad items will go through the same item processing system as all your other
updates. This means that ads will be given a Personal Relevancy value and only be
presented in proportion to their importance to you.
Second, the ads should be of a quality that actually improves the Particls experience
by giving you relevant information based on your interests.
Third, you can turn the ads off by upgrading to the pro version.
I'm sold - how do I get it?
You can download Particls here (for windows only at the moment).
How can I stay informed about updates?
We are everywhere...