I don't understand this concept. Can you tell me more?

Short version: Hanji is a "simple" software. As it is accessed through web browsers, it transforms the device it is installed on to a web site: personal, portable, embedded.

I can do everything already with other web sites, why would i need something else?

Sure there are many, many great web services for putting content online. Hanji takes a complete different approach, making many things more natural. It brings a new approach for user generated content, mobile applications, professional applications, for example.

What is wrong with existing web sites?

Some sites are great. But in general:

1. The web browsers have no direct access to the device they are installed on (that's a security feature). Hence, a lot of stuff cannot be accessed by the site you're connected to. There exists workarounds: plugins, program helpers, or worse: sites ask you the passwords to access your different accounts.
2. Privacy and security questions: it is not so clear that the content still belongs to you when you publish some content. Also, you don't control what the web site owners will do with it.
3. When you are not connected, many sites do not provide an offline mode, so you don't even have access to your own stuff.
4. Most sites give you limited free space. Hosting huge amount of data on dedicated servers has always a price.

But i still don't understand what i could do with Hanji that i couldn't with my various online accounts...

There are always many solutions to a problem: Hanji can be a good solutions for many uses, as it often makes things more simple.

Like what?

Just 2 examples:

1. You manage your photos locally (with iPhoto on Mac, or just putting them in different folders). Create an album or a folder with the photos to share, and tell Hanji where they are stored. It will update the site without any action from you. On the other hand with a regular web site: what to do when you want to modify a picture? You open your web browser, go to the web site, open your account, delete the picture, then click "add a new picture", find it in the file system, click OK. Don't forget also to put again the caption, tags, location that you deleted, reorder the album, etc. That is not as simple.

2. You want to share some contacts with your colleagues. Hanji makes this kind of thing far, far easier: it can read transparently your address book, colleagues can access your web site and have always updated informations when required. There is no other solution as simple as that.

Does it mean that i will have to stay connected online 24/7?

Currently your web site will be accessible only if Hanji is connected to the portal. This means that your device should be turned on and connected on the Internet to be accessible. We might also provide offline service in the future, if we find some kind of sponsorship for hosting data.

Does it use a lot of network?

The bandwidth use is critical for any mobile application for cost and speed. That's why we deploy a lot of techniques for optimizing the network utilization: typically only few kilobytes are needed. However if you want to share big files, music, a lot of pictures, or plan to get a lot of visitors, then you'd better subscribe to an unlimited Internet access plan.

I don't have an Internet address, should I get/buy one?

No, Hanji takes care of that. It connects to the public portal which gives a name for your site. Of course you can deactivate that function or restrict access.

The portal does not record any data?

No, the portal is just a relay: it keeps the minimum information to maintain the connections alive.

What is the security features? Is there a risk of using it? Can it propagate viruses? Does it bite?

1. You can deactivate any applet you don't use. You can make applets public or not. Hanji is Open Source, which mean anyone can get the code and check the security mechanisms, and participate to the project
2. Hanji is free software, we cannot take any responsibility regarding the use or misuse of it. No computer program is 100% safe, especially on network. Hanji is not more unsafe than any other software
3. Not by itself. But you can share files for example: in that case the files might contain harmful content
4. No.

I don't like the layout/theme/presentation/colors. Is it possible to change them?

Yes. Hanji is customizable. Currently there are 3 layouts and 3 themes. More to come later.

Can I install it on my PC/phone?

Experimented users are invited to try it now for free and give us feedback. Regular users will be able to install it seamlessly on a variety of devices a bit later.

It will require some high-end phone: Nokia Symbian (E-Series, N-Series), iPhone (jailbroken, due to Apple restrictions), Android, eventually Blackberry, etc (actually any device that can run a Python interpreter).

The only packages currently available are for Mac OSX Leopard and Ubuntu/Debian (http://hanji.info/download/). For other platforms you'll have to install it manually with all the dependencies (an archive is provided, follow the download link).