The Blackberry API is powerful but also incompletely documented; I’ve had to uncover many parts of it by searching multiple sources and through trial and error.

The sample code in this post illustrates several features of the Blackberry API used in the Berry411 application. The BrowserContentProvider interface allows an application like Berry411 to register itself as a handler for a custom mime-type “text/xml-berry411″. Berry411 uses the SAX parser interface to parse and interpret scripting commands in the document returned from the server– in effect this allows Berry411 to define its own custom scripting language allowing web pages to interact with the address book and other features of the Blackberry.

The BrowserContentProvider also allows an application to define its own rendering for pages that take advantage of all of the Blackberry UI widgets, rather than relying upon the browser for rendering.

Finally, the sample code illustrates a “launchOrRaiseApp” method which will ensure that the application with the given module name (e.g. “berry411″) is running and in the foreground. If the application is already running, it will be foregrounded, otherwise it will be launched.

See the sample code

Joe describes the newly updated Jobster Community blog:

Part of our launch yesterday was a revamp of the Jobster Community Blog. It’s a shared blog for the product team to write about new features, highlight interesting community content, and (when I have time write a post) share a nerdy glimpse into our development process.

We’re lucky to have arielmeadow as our main author, she writes nonstop, and she puts up with me when I substitute a hypen for an mdash.

The blog includes excerpts from the community content the main Jobster site, like an inside look at the new startup Snapvine, which is hiring.

What’s unique about working at Snapvine?
We throw awesome parties!

What’s the best team you worked with at Snapvine?
There is only one team at Snapvine… We are in this together.

What are the three best things about working at Snapvine?
The team we have, the opportunity we are going after, the service we are building
[read more]

Berry411 v3.20 is now available from the Berry411 download page

The major new features are the ability to add a business to your address book or to set your current location directly from a search result page. The latter feature is especially handy if you’re at a business and want to find other nearby businesses.

(From a technical standpoint, there is some very interesting magic going on behind the scenes to enable these features– a new XML based scripting language registered by Berry411 that allows a web page to interact with the address book and other features of the phone. I describe how this works in more detail in a subsequent post.)

Below is a tour of some of the new features. These new features are seen are the details page you get when you click on a business search result.

1. The “Add Address” menu item on the search details page.

2. After adding an address, you can now go directly to the address book or back to the main search screen.

3. The newly added address.

4. Setting your current location

The key point of David Brin’s post on Guided Allocation vs. Faith in Blind Markets is that it is desirable to tune markets to achieve desired ends without going to the extreme of interfering with individual allocation decisions.

Markets are machines designed to harness the wisdom of crowds, not forces of nature. We can tune market machines to accomplish desired goals, as seen prominently on the web.

For example, markets can be designed to ensure that “reasonable costs are paid by the same generation that reaps the immediate benefits.” Done carefully, this can be accomplished without impairing the ability of the market to benefit from the collective wisdom of millions of individual participants.

There is nothing inherently more “blind” (much less desirable) about markets that (intentionally or unintenionally) have been set up to encourage extremely short term thinking and the transfer of costs to our grandchildren. In a world of finite resources these kinds of market will eventually lead us to grief.

There is much that can be learned in the area of creating and tuning markets from the web, which is notable for its pace and variety of innovation.

Out in the brick and mortar world, innovation in markets is slowed by inertia, vested interests, the mental blinders we apply to our existing institutions, and the difficulty of building to a critical mass of participants.

But consider the web’s countless experiments in learning from the wisdom of crowds. The web is in effect a marketplace of marketplaces, with rich rewards for the companies that succeed in creating the most valuable and successful markets.

To give only a few examples: Google figured out how to create a marketplace (or voting booth) based on links, where none of the participants initially even realized they were participating. Ebay discovered how to combine reputation with a market that had global scale. Digg and similar sites created a marketplace for news that replaces a single editorial voice with a voting system.

In every case, the creators of the markets are engaged in a continual process of invention and adaptation to tune the markets. There is a feedback loop between Google’s ranking system and the web publishers, for instance, and Google works constantly to tune their ranking algorithm so that the marketplace continues to accomplish the goal of yielding relevant results.

“Legacy” markets like the stock markets have authorities who work to prevent outright cheating, but insufficient thought has gone into the question of what goals those marketplaces might be set up to achieve or how to tune the markets to accomplish those goals without wrecking them. Much depends on learning how to do so.

Last night, we shipped some significant new features for professionals on the Jobster.com site, as well a more streamlined user experience. These new features allow a jobseeker to not only find jobs from anywhere on the web, but also to get an inside look at what it’s like to work at different companies.

The Jobster site update is covered in a Wall Street Journal article Getting the Inside Scoop on a Future Boss.

In the latest expansion of the Web phenomenon of social networking, more sites are launching features that make it easier for job seekers to connect with the employees of prospective hirers…

Jobster Inc. is scheduled to launch a revamped job-search Web site today that includes people’s posts on what it’s like to work for their employers. Job hunters can link to these employees and ask to contact them.

Robert Wilson reviews the new features favorably:

With the new Jobster, job search feels like sitting down with friends to find the best opportunity for my future … it’s about MY Life, and fitting in, and having fun! Sure I have to work, and I want to leverage my skills, and I want to get the highest return on my human capital; BUT that’s just the ‘work’ side of the equation. What I live for is to make a difference, embark on new challenges, support my coconspirators, and wake up happy each morning (even Mondays) at the prospect of another day.

Below are screenshots of some of the key features. In combination, these create a web of content that allows users to easily navigate between search results, user profiles, and authentic experiences at companies. (Exploring jobs and people ought to be at least as easy and interesting as finding books on Amazon!)

1. The home page allows you to search millions of jobs from across the web. It also features recent profiles, tags, companies, and trends in search behavior.

2. Search results include links to what employees and former employers are saying about the companies.

3. Company pages allow you to explore related jobs, experiences, images, and profiles:

4. Individual profiles include past and current experiences and relationships.

These features are just a start of course, and we have a long roadmap of improvements to the site we’re working on now. (We’ve built the new site using Ruby on Rails which allows us to iterate rapidly on top of a firm architectural foundation.)

[Speaking of an authentic look inside companies: the team that builds the Jobster.com site has its own collaborative blog; worth checking out. If you’re a developer, SDET, or program manager, and would to join a high quality, fast moving team that works on problems like these, please get in touch with me.]