Today, WebAssist launched their new tools for Dreamweaver which will allow easy integration of Google apps into websites. More specifically, they are offering wizards to create Google Checkout, Google Map, and Google Search functionality in web pages, without the need to understand the APIs.

For many seasoned developers, this is not a big deal, since there are a plethora of Google tutorials and API instructions online. But, for those novice web developers out there who use Dreamweaver, these wizards can be incredibly useful. I had the chance to get a demo from the CEO last week, and the tools are definitely easy to use. For example, to create a map, you simply input your locations, click on a few map style options, and the code for the map is placed on the page. There’s no need to figure out geocoding or API calls. Of course, you’ll still need to go and get your own API key from Google.

WebAssist is offering these Google tools for free, and they don’t ever plan on charging.

With these tools, WebAssist is cutting into blipstar’s service, which allows users to create and manage Google map locations online. There are two major differences: blipstar is web based and they are charging money. However, they do have more advanced features, like the ability to import locations from a database. We’ll have to wait and see if blipstar makes any price adjustments based on the new tools WebAssist is providing.

I spent the entire long weekend moving–what a way to spend my free time. During the process, I heavily used craigslist to do everything from selling furniture to looking for roommates. I was literally living on the site, checking various sections for new items every hour and subscribing to a dozen RSS feeds.

No matter what the new wave of design and style that web 2.0-ites love to tout–from the rounded corners to the smooth gradients–craigslist does it right with its simple-to-use-and-lightning-fast-to-download-party-like-it’s-1995 web design. In terms of a redesign, I think that anything busier than the one done by a panel at SXSW would be too much. And even then, I would still stick with the old style.

But, in terms of functionality, I have a few items for the craigslist feature wish list. And, here they are:

• Add the ability to delete items that you don’t find useful, thereby uncluttering the list of posts as you dwindle down the choices (you can always undelete them for yourself later).
• Picture thumbnails beside each listed item, if available.
• Ability to message the poster directly using craigslist (no more opening up your email program a million times).
• Ability to manage a set of responses to posts that you can easily message to posters (this would have helped during my apartment hunt).
• Remembering your location when you login and post a new classified.

A lot of these features can be pretty easy to code up. But, testing it within the craigslist infrastructure is probably what is stopping them from implementing too many new features at once. Hopefully though, they are working on at least some of these.

Do you have any suggestions for new craigslist features? Leave some suggestions in the comments.

Is the next emerging trend in web services going to be of the micropayment kind? If anything, Amazon’s Alexa Site Thumbnail service points to the idea of offering small value products at a very small cost.

For just $0.0002 per thumbnail, you can display website thumbnails on your site from Alexa’s database using SOAP or REST. If the site isn’t yet indexed, they’ll index it within 24 hours. This is mostly intended for sites that would benefit from having screenshots of other sites, like BuzzShout, for instance. This is unlike Browsershots, which is aimed at developers.

So, is 20 cents for 1000 thumbnails worth it? Perhaps, if you’re a large site that requires continuously updating thumbnails. But for most of us, it wouldn’t be too hard to cobble up a script to take automatic screenshots similar to what Browsershots is doing.

I say that Amazon should provide the screenshots free, just like with their Alexa graphs. I doubt that monetizing thumbnails will really be worth it for them, and, in the end, providing a service like this for free would gain the favor of web developers everywhere.

On another note, I’m sure Google has a vast thumbnail database that magnitudes bigger than Amazon’s. They just need to release the API.

A few weeks ago we wrote about TechCheatSheets as a great way for developers to have information at their finger tips to help ensure smooth coding sessions. Now we bring you Qunu, which uses XMPP based Jabber to help users get real-time answers to their most pressing tech questions. You can get an answer to a complex XHTML programming question or discover some cool hacks for Photoshop. Qunu is currently in alpha mode and has only been online for 40 days. Thanks to a little help from some Digg users they already have nearly 1,400 tech experts signed up to answer questions. To use Qunu you’ll have to register unless you’re already using Jabber, or, you can always sign up to offer your expertise. The best part for those with questions is that the service is free!

I don’t currently use Jabber so I registered for Qunu and found it to be painless since they only required me to make a username and password. However, as I attempted to find the answer to a Photoshop question, I was disappointed that the system moved very slowly and the links that were supposed to take me to an expert weren’t working. I tried a few hours later and had the same problems. Qunu cannot be blamed too much for the site problems since they’ve made it very clear that the site is still in alpha testing. I’m sure the technical issues will be fixed in time.

Qunu was started by South African Helmar Rudolph, Australian Murray Gray, and American developer Justin Kirby. Amazingly the team works virtually with each other across the three continents. They currently don’t have any way for the site to make money, and while they promise the main basic service will remain free, they state that they are actively looking for ways to monetize the business. One idea, similar to Google Answers, is to have people to post more complex specific questions and state a dollar amount that they are willing to pay for the answer. Once the usability of the site is improved, and the user base is established, then monetizing the site should be fairly easy. However, I would be concerned with some of the big online sites with their own proprietary IM systems simply copying the idea.

As a developer, I know how important it is to have the right information at my fingertips. It could mean the difference between a smooth coding session, and a frustrating one. A helpful tool is being able to refer to a cheat sheet, especially if you’ve just started using a new language. Steven Reid of TechCheatSheets aims to make finding technical cheat sheets a cinch.

The site is simplicity itself, allowing users to submit links to cheat sheets. Each entry is tagged, and can be rated by visitors. You can also keep up on the newly added cheat sheets using their RSS feed.

It’s nice to finally have a central repository for cheat sheets. I’ve found myself continuously searching for the same cheat sheets in Google, so TechCheatSheets could save me some time.

An interesting feature to add would be to allow users to collaborate on a cheat sheet. The sheets would be hosted by TechCheatSheets, and adding to the sheet would be done using a wiki type interface. Users could add elements that they think are important to the sheet, and visitors would be able to convert it to a pdf and download it.

Right now, they’re really focusing on the content, which is really the most important element of their site. If you know of a good cheat sheet, send it their way!