The Answers are In......

Last week I experimented with LinkedIn Answers (which is probably more accurate if it were called Questions - but who am I to quibble). And the experiment is over - I got 21 answers (with a little bit of back and forth emailing with those that answered). I got a wide range of answers and that's what I was curious about.

Here's a mini breakdown for my question "best way to get a web site up and running"....

Total number of answers - 21
33% (7) said to find a technical person and pay them (or some variation there of)
24% (5) suggested some tool (Google Docs, WordPress, Wiki, Joomla)
24% (5) suggested not getting caught up in the tools, just do it, get moving, etc.
14% (3) suggested getting your act together before doing anything - i.e. create your plan, plan your content, etc.
5% (1) suggested getting "some chops" and programming it myself with Ruby on Rails

Personally, I liked the interaction and the answers. I did go ahead and rate them (based upon my own personal criteria) and picked one as best. I picked Greg's because it was the most elegant based upon the situation presented. So, if you're curious, here are the answers [link].

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WEB 2.0 - an instruction video.....

For those that don't know (for those that don't care, I can't help you) about Web 2.0 and would like to know more, then here you go. This is a 5-minute instructional video to get you up to speed. [source: YouTube - Michael Wesch]

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Office Productivity done in Web 2.0 Style

In an attempt to appear more HIP than I am, I recently signed up for a ThinkFree account - really under the auspice of signing up, playing around, then forgetting about it (much like I did with my Google Spreadsheets stuff). Mostly because I'm an old school person, believing that if it's not on my hard drive, how can it be any good.

Well, I have to admit, ThinkFree is pretty good (still some hiccups, but that's beta for you), but the interface is very clean, everything is fairly intuitive, and it works. Now, with all things, only time will tell. But I would assume this company will get bought and the the original creators of the company will be a lot richer (if not happier).

I don't know if these types of web apps are the way of the future - if so, then all I need is a smart phone (maybe with the ability to hook up a big monitor and full size keyboard) and we're off to the races. Who needs the "fat" client, when you can do the same thing with these "thin" apps, then my files are available anywhere in the world (with the appropriate internet access of course).

The other thing, it hooks up directly with Blogger - allowing me blog and publish at will. We'll see if these apps have staying power.

NOTE: For all I know, ThinkFree believes it published this post - but in reality, I doing it the old fashioned way, a little thing I call CUT-N-PASTE (you've probably heard of it).

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And the crowd shouted "NO MORE INSTALLS"

The "new" desktop - brought to you from the web (or how we believe you should live your life, based upon our knowledge of technology and programming skills)....

First there were mainframes and terminals, then there were mainframes, servers, terminals and PCs; then there were mainframes, servers, terminals, LANs, WANS, PCs Windows; Then there were lots of other stuff; now there are all those things, but why not go back to mainframes (now mostly called servers) and terminals (basically anything that a user uses to do anything).

Well, I've finally confused myself, but here are some companies looking to get move off those outdated Microsoft Office applications (you know, those one you "install" on your computer - how 90's) and get you virtualized.

• Goowy provides email (2GB), messenger, calendar, address book, News/RSS manager, file sharing & storage (1GB), games, and widgets (which they call mini). Developed mostly in Flash, Goowy also offers hosted version with added functionalities, for businesses.
• DesktopTwo (also available in Spanish) provides email, address book, file storage and sharing (1GB), IM, blog, music player and a website editor in a nicely organized user-interface. It requires Flash, Acrobat Reader, and popup windows to function correctly.
• Glide Effortless is a web-suite that handles media files - documents, photos, audio, and video - and also provides a handy word processor and calendar.
• XIN is still in beta, but is evolving into a full-featured WebOS.
• YouOS has perhaps the most recognition of all the WebOS products - and high ideals too.
• EyeOS (Open-Source) was developed in Spain and currently boasts 53,500 users in the main public server. In addition there are around 400 active servers installed by users.

And don't forget all those tools Google, Yahoo and even Microsoft are developing.

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Happy Birthday!! Best Web Site for Mashup Info

Whenever anyone asks me "what is a mashup?" I send them to the Programmable Web website (say that 3 times). I noticed they had a blog entry today stating they are One Year Old this week. Well, congrats folks!! There were probably times during the past year that seemed overwhelming, other times overstimulating.

If you want some good info on the world of Mashups, you've got to visit this site.

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I have no reason why I think this is cool stuff....

I'm attempting to get to back in the blog groove and started looking at various blog aggregator sites (del.icio.us, reddit, digg, technorati, etc.) and found these two little widgets within the Digg site (under Digg Labs) and just think they are cool...

Digg Stack shows diggs occuring in real time on up to 100 stories
at once. Diggers fall from above and stack up on
popular stories. Brightly colored stories have more diggs.

Digg Stack draws a circle for stories as they're
dugg. Diggers swarm around stories, and make them grow.
Brightly colored stories have more diggs.

Check it out for yourself - it takes a while for the page to build up, but I got mesmerized by all the pretty colors.

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7 New Manifestos from ChangeThis

Personally, I like strong opinions - even when I disagree with them. At least the other person is passionate about their stance - nothing worse than someone being wishy-washy. Well, you need to check out these new Manifestos from ChangeThis...

Note: The following is from the alert email I get from Change this, I did not write it (make sure I give attribution properly, I would like someone to do for me)

1. POLKAS, PYROTECHNICS and POINT Ds: Pieces and parts of Seth Godin's new book, small is the new big.
by Seth Godin
Here's just a sip from Seth Godin's latest book, small is the new big, a plentiful well of inspiration for your business and you.
http://changethis.com/25.01.PolkasPyro.PolkasPyro
http://changethis.com/pdf/25.01.PolkasPyro.pdf.01.PolkasPyro.pdf

2. THE ABCs of a KALEIDOSCOPE CAREER
by Lisa A Maineiro, PhD and Sherry E. Sullivan, PhD
The twentieth-century linear career model, of rising to the top of a corporation and being a big, fat, ethically unscrupulous power-monger is dead. Mainiero and Sullivan show you how to create a stunning new Kaleidoscope Career.
http://www.changethis.com/25.02.ABCKal.02.ABCKal
http://www.changethis.com/pdf/25.02.ABCKal.pdf/25.02.ABCKal.pdf

3. BEYOND SUSTAINABILITY: Why an All-Consuming Campaign to Reduce Unsustainability Fails
by John Ehrenfeld
John Ehrenfeld proposes a radically different conversation about sustainability, one that moves away from mere problem solving, demands a new definition and envisions infinite possibility.
http://www.changethis.com/25.03.BeyondSustain.03.BeyondSustain
http://www.changethis.com/pdf/25.03.BeyondSustain.pdf /25.03.BeyondSustain.pdf

4. GETTING OUT OF EMBED: The Role of Social Context in Decision Making
by Michael J. Mauboussin
Decision making is an inherently social exercise. Here, Michael Mauboussin details three shocking psychological experiments that reveal just how another's action or opinion can profoundly change your own.
http://www.changethis.com/25.04.GettingOut.04.GettingOut
http://www.changethis.com/pdf/25.04.GettingOut.pdf/25.04.GettingOut.pdf

5. WEB 2.0: Strategies and Lessons for Business Leaders
by Troy Angrignon with Nick Kellet, Gary Ralston, Ean Jackson, Matthew Fessenden
This inclusive manifesto will introduce you to the principles and concepts of Web 2.0, so you can prepare your organization for this technological sea change.
http://www.changethis.com/25.05.Web2.0.05.Web2.0
http://www.changethis.com/pdf/25.05.Web2.0.pdf/25.05.Web2.0.pdf

6. NEVER THE SAME: How to Create Transformational Experiences
By Charles Halton
What does it take to change the world? To change people? To make a difference, every day? Charles Halton presents 18 characteristics to help you create transformational experiences.
http://www.changethis.com/25.06.NevertheSame.06.NevertheSame
http://www.changethis.com/pdf/25.06.NevertheSame.pdf /25.06.NevertheSame.pdf

7. BEGINNER'S GUIDE to BUSINESS BLOGGING: Re-release
by Debbie Weil
The what, why, and how of business blogging, by business blog expert, Debbie Weil. Originally a limited release, this critical resource guide is available to you once again.
http://www.changethis.com/25.07.BusinessBlogging.07.BusinessBlogging
http://www.changethis.com/pdf/25.07.BusinessBlogging/25.07.BusinessBlogging

Additional comments on ChangeThis - I really like the website and what it stands for and the forum it provides for authors. There are several "known" authors (such as Seth Godin mentioned in this entry) that provide excerpts from their books via ChangeThis. It's a cool site with many really good manifestos - you need to check it out.

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Cool Website Alert!! Relaunch of JotSpot

I'm not really into Wikis -- when I had more time on my hands, I dabbled with both Open Source versions and online versions - just never got into it. Had a lot more fun with content management systems (like Mambo -- or if you're a purist Joomla). But, that may have changed with the evolution of JotSpot. One of the things that is impressive about the re-launch is that Joe Kraus (JotSpot CEO) is looking to remake the wiki - taking it out of the realm of the geek into mainstream. That's a good thing (even if you anger a few techo geeks along the way) - because normal people don't want to think too hard about doing something.

Take any task on the internet, the appeal is simplicity (not complexity). I don't want to think too hard about how to make something work -- even in my closet geek world, it helps to make some things easy. Now there are a few things that JotSpot is doing in this new rev that I think are cool.....

1. They are looking to expand beyond their hosted service to provide a "inside the walls" install. Allowing those companies that have a security policy to enjoy JotSpot.
2. They are opening their API to allow people to extend the functionality of JotSpot - and allowing these enterprising individuals to monetize that functionality. Very open minded of the company.

Lots of new stories and blog entries -- here are a few links.....

http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=3365
http://news.com.com/2100-1032_3-6097320.html
http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=us&q=jotspot&ie=UTF-8&scoring=d
http://blogsearch.google.com/blogsearch?hl=en&q=jotspot&ie=UTF-8&scoring=d

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Cool Company Alert!! JotSpot -- Relaunched...

I'm not really into Wikis -- when I had more time on my hands, I dabbled with both Open Source versions and online versions - just never got into it. Had a lot more fun with content management systems (like Mambo -- or if you're a purist Joomla). But, that may have changed with the evolution of JotSpot. One of the things that is impressive about the re-launch is that Joe Kraus (JotSpot CEO) is looking to remake the wiki - taking it out of the realm of the geek into mainstream. That's a good thing (even if you anger a few techo geeks along the way) - because normal people don't want to think too hard about doing something.

Take any task on the internet, the appeal is simplicity (not complexity). I don't want to think too hard about how to make something work -- even in my closet geek world, it helps to make some things easy. Now there are a few things that JotSpot is doing in this new rev that I think are cool.....

1. They are looking to expand beyond their hosted service to provide a "inside the walls" install. Allowing those companies that have a security policy to enjoy JotSpot.
2. They are opening their API to allow people to extend the functionality of JotSpot - and allowing these enterprising individuals to monetize that functionality. Very open minded of the company.

Lots of new stories and blog entries -- here are a few links.....

http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=3365
http://news.com.com/2100-1032_3-6097320.html
http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=us&q=jotspot&ie=UTF-8&scoring=d
http://blogsearch.google.com/blogsearch?hl=en&q=jotspot&ie=UTF-8&scoring=d

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Cool Blog and Idea Alert!! spread your smile!

There are never enough smiles in the world - but one blogger is trying to change all that with their blog. Here's what they say....

trying to create a global epidemic of smiling faces. send a picture of your
smiling face to spreadyoursmile@yahoo.com or click on the email button
below, and i will post it for the world to see. smiles are contagious...it's
time to infect the world!

I'm going to email her my picture, why don't you email yours -- who know what will happen with all these smiles -- peace may randomly breakout, we may actually decide to be nice to someone in the check out line, or possibly even say HI! to someone (OH NO, What will we ever do?)

Now here's a thought, what if all us bloggers, in an attempt to change the world, actually did!! What if by doing something as small as asking for a picture of you smiling, made a difference? What if John Stewart, Oprah, or David Lettermen mentioned this thing. How cool would that be?

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Mashup on the information super highway....

...headlines are tough, I was trying to be cleaver with this one - mashup (smashup) - and sometimes it just doesn't work. Oh Well!

First of all, let's go ahead and define a Mashup (this is from Wikipedia...)

A mashup is a website or web application that seamlessly combines content
frommore than one source into an integrated experience. Content used inmashups
are typically sourced from a third party via a public interface orAPI.

Many people are experimenting with mashups using eBay, Amazon,Google, and Yahoos APIs.OK, so a mashup is someone taking other people's content/applications and bringing them into their own website. In come cases, the mashup is better than the original content, because it provides additional context, or an interesting way to use the content/application.

There are lots of interesting Map mashsup (google, yahoo, mapquest, etc.) - some have taken a map and mashed it with a blog - allowing someone to do a "writeup" of my commute to work. Mashups are interesting - and it's cool that companies have figured out that someone else just might have a cool "alternative" use for their stuff -- something they would never have thought about. But, just like everything else, not all mashups are worth it - but you have to judge for yourself.

Mashups provide a great business opportunity, so get your juices flowing and check out some of these sites....

The Programmable Web - good directory, with description.
Mashup Camp web blogIvan Pope's API
Blog Mix'06 -- a gathering

And here are a few examples...
http://www.collaboradate.com/
http://www.celebrity-maps.com/
http://www.homepricemaps.com/index.htm
http://www.skibonk.com/ski/index.jsp
http://dailymashup.com/

And you'll find more - google mashup, then do a blog search, technorati, tag it, whatever.

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Cool company alert!! HitTail & Inkling

OK - I found two to write about and provide links...

One is called HitTail -- here is how they describe the company...

Most Web tools today isolate you from the data you need to improve your website
from a natural-search point-of-view. By utilizing a radically improved method
for managing long lists on the Web, HitTail zeros right in on that data, showing
you every search hit that has led to your site and then pulls out the keywords.
HitTail then uses sophisticated algorithms to pull out underperforming terms as
suggestions, which you may or may not choose to move into your to do list and
act on. The more you take action by writing about these promising topics, the
more your site snowballs.

Basically, it's about getting "free" keywords and utilizing the Long Tail concept. I like the idea and have signed up for their free beta service.

The other company is called Inkling, and here is what they say about themselves....

Inkling is an online service to create and manage your own prediction
markets. (note: they have personal and company prediction markets. It's all based upon the idea that groups are smarter than individuals - as long as you take out the whole riot/mob mentality thing)

There lots of interesting company's doing interesting stuff - if you know of others, please comment and leave their URL so I can go check it out!!

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Cool Company Alert!!! Alacra

I found this on Fred Wilson's A VC blog (click on title to go the original post). But I just thought this was a cool company, primarily because there is so much information out there, finding a way to consolidate it is very important. But if these guys start to get the traffic, look for them to be purchased by someone with deep pockets...

---

Following A Company With Feeds

Feeds are becoming an important source of business intelligence. Many of the buzztracking and news aggregation services use feeds as their data input. So more and more content providers are making their content available via feeds. But much of the most valuable premium content has not been available via feed.

Well last week, the Flatiron portfolio company Alacra launched a feed service that aggregates premium content sources by company and lets you subscribe to it.

Here is the feed for Oracle, for example.

If you want to set up a feed for any public company, just type in the ticker on this page and you'll be offered the opportunity to subscribe to the feed. You can also subscribe to feeds for private companies. Alacra currently aggregates premium content from close to 40 sources including the latest credit and investment research.

I think there are going to be many great applications for these company specific feeds and it will be interesting to see what people do with them.

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Cool company alert!! Swaptree.com

Cool Site Alert...Swaptree.com

Here's what they say about themselves...

Swaptree is a new and innovative way for people to easily trade the books, cds, dvds and video games they are finished with, for the ones they want, all for free. With swaptree, your collections stop gathering dust and can be used to acquire other items you want. By offering to trade a single item, you can choose from thousands of books, dvds, cds, and video games that you can receive in exchange. Best part: everything is free, you only pay shipping.

What can I say about them? Nothing, they are still in private beta, but the idea is cool. If I get to be included (and am allowed) I'll blog something about it. But I really like the idea -- I found them from an article Business 2.0/May Edition.

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Cool company alert!! Prosper.com

The internet is the place to dis-intermediate established norms and create new ways to get things done. Think eBay, think Priceline, think eTrade. Well, this is not new idea (see below for a history lesson), but the internet has made it a much more powerful idea -- with the possibility of millions of people from around the world being involved.

The site is called Prosper.com and here is what they are all about (from their about page)...

Prosper, America's first people-to-people lending marketplace, was created to make consumer lending more financially and socially rewarding for everyone. The way Prosper works is intuitive to people who have used eBay. Instead of listing and bidding on items, people list and bid on loans using Prosper's online auction platform. People who want to lend set the minimum interest rate they are willing to earn and bid in increments of $50 to $25,000 on loan listings they select. People who lend can easily diversify using "standing orders", which automatically make many small loans to different borrowers. [more]

But here's a small history lesson, for those of you that believe this is a NEW idea...

Can you guess when people-to-people lending was invented? Would you believe 300 A.D. in China? But not just in China, in fact, for centuries small groups of people all over the world have been coming together to lend each other money. The names may be different, but the idea is the same. In China it's called Lun-hui, in Egypt it's called Gameya, and in Mexico the Spanish word is Tanda. [more]

Go to their website to learn more about it - who knows, maybe I'll be asking you for money!!

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Trend: Car Sharing....

From SpringWise - here's a trend for city driver...I bet there is going to be another "billing" method soon that takes into consideration multiple factors: Time (how long you had the car), Distance (how far you drove the car), Context (where you drove the car) -- all these can be tracked through GPS then billed to an "account" (I was going to say credit card, but that is so '90s thinking).

Car sharing initiatives are taking off across the world. In the United Kingdom, Streetcar offers pay-as-you-go hire to consumers who like the convenience and flexibility of owning a car without the costs and hassles.

The twist? Unlike most other car sharing ventures, Streetcar doesn't charge users a fixed monthly or annual fee. Instead, their new Volkswagen Golf cars can be rented for GBP 4.95 per hour or GBP 35 for a 24-hour period. Cars can be booked online or over the phone either months in advance or just minutes before departure, and can be picked up and returned 24/7. ...Continue reading »

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A Database for the Masses??

First of all, this thing is still not out of Alpha stage - let alone a public Beta available, but I have walked through some of their stuff (via screenshot demos) and it looks really cool. This thing may be one of the best things to happen to web stuff in a long time.

Dabble DB - info from their web site at http://dabbledb.com ...

What could I build with Dabble?

These are a few examples of applications that we've built in Dabble. We hope they inspire you to come up with your own uses. (Click on a thumbnail for a full-size screenshot.)

• Track your company's billable hours; group them by project or employee and total them up.

  
  

• Manage your staff schedule; give each employee a custom view of their upcoming shifts.

  

• Organize a conference; search for events by room, by presenter, by topic, by type…

  
  

• Record your expenses; add different fields for each type of payment.

  

Go get your email on their list - then all we have to do is wait until it's available.

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Do you have a question?

www.3questions.com

First of all, I want to mention, I found this web site because I was thinking about registering the name. Needless to say, it was gone. But the web site is interesting. The following comes from their About page...

What is 3Questions.com all about?

3Questions.com was founded in September of 2004. The goal of 3Q is to create an ever-increasing database of knowledge, uniquely formed into a 3 question format. 3Questions.com recieves submissions via the web from viewers like you, who have a question on their mind regarding anything (Investments, healthcare, etc) 3Q editors then take that question and turn it into our 3Q format and publish it to the web. The average request takes less than 24 hours. In the future 3Q hopes to grow from tens of resources to thousands, and even far beyond that, adding editors and researchers along the way. While 3Q was not created to be an in-depth encylopedia format type website, it was created to offer brief and simple guidance and information regarding the questions that you have. You can always count on us to continue our efforts to expand and improve this site in the months and years to come. Thanks for stopping by, Andy Holloway Founder

Now what I find interesting is concept. It's very Web 2.0, user generated content. But, I'm going to assume the site gets very little traffic, because there are only a few questions listed. Regardless, the concept is sound and if I can drive a little traffic to him, then great. Enjoy!

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