a place to put your name
Flavors.me is a place that aggregates all of your social stuff in one easy to find site. They're still in beta, but if they continue to add relevant social networks to their tool, this could be a good place to gather everything together.
So you meet someone at a conference, and you're too lazy (or your business cards are too small) to communicate your Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Tumblr, Vimeo, and all of the places that you exist in the social sphere. Give your new friends your Flavors.me address instead, and they'll have everything they need.
No coding skills required, and your page can be up in minutes. So far, we think it's pretty awesome - although they definitely need to add some additional social networks (which they're working on.) Sign up, and maybe you'll get an invite code. From @tinkugallery.
Labels: social media, web2.0
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:18 AM
2 comments
your custom paper published on the fly
You read a lot of stuff. You're a busy person. You don't have time to hold paper objects. Meet Instapaper. Your virtual, personal paper that you create on the fly throughout your day.
Throw things onto your custom instapaper by clicking the "read later" button, and it's all there for you, when you have the time. Enjoy your stuff on your own schedule on your iPhone, computer, Kindle, or paper (!)
Labels: publishing, web2.0
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:01 AM
0 comments
Monday, December 28, 2009
create your own social network in minutes
There's a new easy-as-snap social network tool in town. It's called GROU.PS, which promises to be a social networking site where you can build your own social networking site.
It's true. I created a Brand Flakes group in less than ten minutes. (Join if you want, although no promises to keep this up - it's only for experimentation for now.)
This looks to be an awesome tool for smaller groups, non-profits and others who need to do something outside of the typical big box social networks. From @caff
Labels: social media, web2.0
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:41 AM
4 comments
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
ready to give it all up?
Are you thinking that it's time to have yourself removed from existence in the social mediaverse? And maybe even go outdoors, and talk to real people?
Well, now there's a handy tool to make it easy. The Web 2.0 Suicide Machine removes you from Facebook, LinkedIn and MySpace (you'll have to do Twitter on your own.) Plug in your usernames and passwords, and the Suicide Machine gets to work, making it like you were never there in the first place.
(Careful when you head outside - the sunshine can be a little bright at first.) From @SwissMiss
Labels: social media, web2.0
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:17 AM
0 comments
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
your best friend at the next brainstorm
Tired of brainstorming and finding that the perfect new product/company/campaign name that you wanted doesn't have an available url? Don't have time to press "enter" on your keyboard and wait for the Network Solutions and GoDaddy results?
Check out Instant Domain Search. As you type your entry, you're instantly informed of its availability. This is pretty sweet. From @mouselink.
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:19 AM
0 comments
Friday, November 20, 2009
escalator to heaven
You've heard of elevator pitches: where you have the time of a short elevator ride to share your pitch with the investor that could change your world.
Launch Memphis has taken it literally - with a twist, and created the escalator pitch contest. Eight finalists and three walk on contestants will get a magic escalator ride tomorrow, and a chance to make a pitch to win a $10K marketing package and $1000 in cold, hard cash.
Great idea. You should totally try the same thing at the escalator in your local mall, just to see what happens. From @jameshutto
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:14 AM
0 comments
Thursday, November 12, 2009
kind of like twitter. and linked in. and facebook.
We suppose that you could call Sprouter a Twitter tool for pros. Sprouter is a new, twitteresque tool geared entirely to the workplace. They're seemingly to Twitter what Linked In is to Facebook.
They've included a couple of popular features from Linked In and Facebook, like organized topics and events. Since these don't really exist on Twitter, it might be cool to organize your tweets in this manner. They also allow you to claim hashtags, so that you can declare your authority on the matter.
Pretty cool concept, although they'll need to reach a critical mass to be a truly valuable business tool. This may be difficult, since everyone's already tweeting about their business life on Twitter. Do we need a professional tweet tool?
UPDATE:
Erin from Sprouter contacted us to say:
Sprouter isn't a tool for the workplace. It's a niche network specifically for entrepreneurs and startups to connect, collaborate, and engage in conversation. If you want more information about Sprouter you can check out our feature article in the National Post here, and I'd be happy to answer any questions.(email in comments)
Labels: social media, twitter, web2.0
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:54 AM
6 comments
Monday, November 02, 2009
ask people what they think without the stupid long surveys
Who's got time for a ten minute survey? Exactly. That's where Rypple comes in. Rypple is to feedback surveys what Twitter is to email.
This service lets you poll your employees, customers or anyone else in your circle to see how you're doing. Respondents get to answer your question(s) anonymously with short tweet-style answers. Sounds awesome. From JordanRules
Labels: analytics, social media, web2.0
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:11 AM
0 comments
Friday, October 16, 2009
make appointments as easy as 1, 2,3.
Setster has created an appointment/ecommerce widget that you can install onto your site in minutes. The widget lets visitors make contact with your firm, or schedule an appointment right from their desktop.
The Setser calendar system is available for your staff to view from any computer anywhere, so you can keep track of appointments as they're scheduled. It integrates with Freshbooks, with Quickbooks and with PayPal ecommerce.
See what it might look like embedded on BrandFlakes in the image above.
This looks to be a pretty awesome system for small businesses and service providers. Oh - and get this - in the spirit of magical web2.0, the basic service is FREE. Everyone wins.
Labels: customerservice, web2.0
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:46 AM
0 comments
Tuesday, September 08, 2009
it's brizzly.
What's cute and cuddly with blue feathers?
It's Brizzly. The new Twitter tool that looks killer as a grizzly and sweet as a tweet. But it's not ready for prime time yet. You'll need an invite to give it a try (don't ask me, I don't have any) so just sign up on their site.
In the meantime, you can watch the YouTube video about how the tool works. From Steve Rubel
Labels: social media, twitter, web2.0
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:41 AM
0 comments
Friday, September 04, 2009
tell your boss you need more money
A new report from McKinsey & Company reports that this internet stuff is really super effective. Send it to your boss and let her know that you'll expect a 100% increase in your interactive budget.
According to the report, 69 percent of respondents say that their companies have gained measurable business benefits, including more innovative products and services, more effective marketing, better access to knowledge, lower cost of doing business, and higher revenues. Bingo.
From David Armano.
Labels: social media, web2.0
posted by darryl ohrt @ 6:47 AM
0 comments
Wednesday, September 02, 2009
run my errand: like having interns on call
Run my Errand is a new service that gets someone else to do your chores for you.
From Mashable: You import your Facebook data via Facebook Connect. Once done, you just add the details of your errand, when you need it done, where it should be done, and who should run the errand. Once posted, a RunMyErrand runner will pick up the task and execute it.
Most errands are completed by a background-checked errand runner for less than $10. Sounds like a win. The startup company is funded by the Facebook Fund and currently only available in Boston - but plans on spreading to 14 other cities soon.
Labels: facebook, productivity, web2.0
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:49 AM
3 comments
Wednesday, August 05, 2009
the internet is doing ok this morning
Is Twitter down? Is Blogger publishing? Never ever wonder again, thanks to Down Right Now, a one-stop place that lets you in on the current status of Twitter, Facebook, GMail and more.
This may save you from re-starting your router at the home office a couple of times this week. Cool. (From our good friends at Unitz.)
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:26 AM
3 comments
Thursday, April 30, 2009
you're a genius, and deserve to be published
Here's how you go from coffee house poetry slam to being published. Or how you can tell everyone that you modeled for a spread in a new book. Or that you're a venture capitalist, and you just invested in an exciting publishing venture. All without lying.
Just agree to become a sponsor in the first ever (?) crowd-sourced book. Pay $30, and get a page. Just one of several projects on KickStarter, a site devoted to crowd-sourced funding of small entrepreneurial projects.
Hurry. Only a few days and a few pages are left.
Labels: art, creativeinspiration, publishing, web2.0
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:21 AM
4 comments
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
all the news that's fit to...stream
Whoah. Now you can view all of your news in a visual timeline. With the publications and sources of your choosing.
The dudes at Google have done it again, with the launch of yet another awesome product: Google News Timeline. Wow.
Labels: google, news, publishing, web2.0
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:49 AM
0 comments
Wednesday, April 08, 2009
shopping vicariously
Zappos has created a fun tool to watch shopping.
A real time animated map mashup that shows what people are buying at this very moment, and where they're from. Watch shoe trends break on the west coast or watch the east coast wake up in the morning and
This is a fantastic concept (inspired by Twittevision) and proof that it's possible to make your business as fun and exciting as your product. From MsHerr.
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:00 AM
2 comments
Monday, March 30, 2009
never make a decision alone again.
You'll need an invite code to give this a try now (don't ask us, we're locked out too), but Hunch looks like it might be a cool tool.
Hunch looks to be a site that helps you make decisions. Like a magic eight ball, but we assume (just a hunch) that there's a bunch more logic applied. Not that the Magic Eight Ball can't make good decisions. Outlook good.
From Steve Hall.
Labels: productivity, web2.0
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:16 AM
0 comments
Monday, February 23, 2009
mint: don't be jealous of us
Mint, the uber-awesome online budget and personal finance tool is growing fast. They announced recently that they're gaining 3,000 new users a day.
That's apparently a lot faster than the tool from Quicken. So the dudes at Quicken sent the people at Mint a letter, trying to get details. The whole thing blew up and made Quicken look like sore losers. Oh, the world of online finance.
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:16 AM
2 comments
Monday, February 16, 2009
cancel your registration to that web 2.0 seminar
Techcrunch notes a nice new trend that's taking shape: people are no longer using the words "web 2.0" in conversation. Seems that everything web 2.0 has become absorbed into the internet that we already love and accept.
Next up: social media.
Labels: adindustry, trends, web2.0
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:11 AM
2 comments
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
lost gets the most tweets for tv
NewTeeVee is using Trendrr to track the number of tweets on major television shows. Last week, Lost was the big winner, although the Grammy's had a nice night of Twitter glory. (You can bet that MIA's maternity dress generated a significant portion of those tweets.)
It's cool to see TV tracked by the power of internet conversation. Hopefully the network Brand Managers are paying attention. Regardless, you should add some sweet Trendrr graphs to your next PowerPoint presentation, and impress your coworkers.
Labels: social media, trends, tv, twitter, web2.0
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:11 AM
0 comments
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
americans like plain english
A recent survey concluded that people don't like reading things that are difficult to understand. DUH. Yet marketers and info designers continue to over-complicate, over-think and over-write collateral.
84% of consumers say they are more likely to trust a company that uses jargon-free, plain English in communications. How could you simplify your customer experience?
Labels: adindustry, copywriting, design, marketing, traditional media, trends, web2.0
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:21 AM
0 comments
Friday, January 23, 2009
a website for every bodega in nyc
Jeff Sisson has created a site devoted to documenting every single bodega in NYC. You can search by neighborhood, by name and even comment on individual Bodegas.
He's bringing the corner grocery industry into the digital age in his spare time, with the help of friends. That is social media.
(Ohhh, the things that I want to say about our corner bodega. We could use this in our hood.) From Gothamist.
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:11 AM
1 comments
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
cool new way to search people
CV Gadget is a cool new search engine aggregator that you can use to Google yourself. Times ten.
From Sopan's mom. (Really!)
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:27 AM
1 comments
Monday, January 12, 2009
oh no...another social network.
We're exploring another new social network site - SecondBrain, after getting turned onto it by Dirk from Cow and the Caffeine Goddess.
We have no idea how it's best used, what it's most awesome features are, or if it will become a part of our daily routine or not...as we're really just digging in ourselves. So far, we like the look, the functionality and what we're thinking may be possible.
Are you a user?
Labels: social media, web2.0
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:23 AM
3 comments
Monday, January 05, 2009
be ready to fail
Eric Karjaluoto from SmashLab, and creator of MakeFive, has some very realistic but depressing advice for you. If you're considering a startup this year, you should expect to fail.
Eric shares in Why your web startup will fail the things that you can expect to happen in a typical year of a startup. He details the stuff that the retired dude from the Small Business Administration might not be able to tell you over coffee at the community center. And he speaks from experience.
This is a great reality check for anyone planning a new startup this year. Do it because you love it. Because you believe in it. Not because you think you're going to get bought by Google and sit on the beach. Get ready to fail!
(Failed cake image from the yummiest fail blog in the land, Cake Wrecks.)
Labels: productivity, smallagency, web2.0, workplace
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:45 AM
1 comments
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
all the top information on fundraising
Alltop, the ultimate aggregator of just about every website on just about every topic (created by legendary entrepreneur Guy Kawasaki) has now launched a guide for fund raising.
BrandFlakes is featured in a few Alltop categories, so it must be awesome. Seriously - resources for non-profits aren't always easy to come by, so send this to your friend who has to raise a trillion dollars in the tightest year ever.
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:17 AM
0 comments
Monday, December 29, 2008
use a slow week to experiment
If you've promised yourself that you'll spend at least some of your holiday time digging into social media, here's a great place to get started: Mashable points to a kabillion and a half how-to's on everything from Facebook to Twitter to Google to everything else.
This is the perfect week to get your feet wet. Try something that you haven't had the time to do all year long, but have been meaning to. Or try something you've been hearing some buzz about.
Regardless of your social media expertise, there's definitely something that you haven't given as much attention (or experimentation) to, as you could have. Why work, when you can explore?
Labels: facebook, social media, twitter, web2.0
posted by darryl ohrt @ 6:58 AM
0 comments
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
when widgets rock.
Sure, women in bras and panties will always get attention - but Victoria Secret took that a step further. The Victoria Secret widget is a sexalicious example of how a widget can be used to promote an event.
As Adverblog points out, it's on-brand, well designed and has all of the goods required to promote the event, and widget sharing. (Nearly naked people doesn't hurt, either.)
Labels: fashion, social media, trends, web2.0
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:48 AM
0 comments
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
your holiday gifts can now communicate via twitter
Spent a load of cash celebrating cyber Monday yesterday? Have a load of goodies on the way to your house? Wouldn't it be great if they could 'tweet' you about their location?
They can!! Thanks to TrackThis, you'll get tweets when your package leaves the warehouse, arrives in the distribution center, gets on the delivery truck, and when it's delivered to your door.
This is one of the most awesome Twitter tools yet. Found on HeyStephanie.
Labels: productivity, social media, twitter, web2.0
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:08 AM
4 comments
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
put video in the surfaces within your video.
Ummm...this is just utterly amazing. Insert ads - or any kind of content that you want - into any surface in any existing video. The possibilities are beyond ridiculously exciting.
Watch the clip above to be blown away by the technology as well as the dude's cool accent where he says 'advertisments' in a totally awesome way.
Labels: adindustry, technology, video, web2.0
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:26 AM
2 comments
stop checking your email. right now.
You've read all of the productivity books, and subscribed to the work efficiency theories. So you know it's a bad idea to let your inbox control your every moment of every day. And yet it's got a hold of you, like heroin. Or a good chocolate chip cookie.
Thankfully, you can let go. Because Jared and his team of super geniuses have created a wonderful new tool. AwayFind. The video above explains exactly how it works better than I could ever write in a sentence here.
We met Jared at SXSW last year, and were immediately impressed. We just hope that he remembers us when Google buys his new product for 86 katrillion dollars.
Labels: productivity, web2.0, workplace
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:18 AM
1 comments
Friday, November 21, 2008
let's reinvent television, ok?
Super nice guy/boy genius - Brian Shaler has been working on a pretty awesome project.
BitGravity just released the killerest video application that allows up to six different synchronized high definition video streams at once. Viewers can switch between views, and the audio is synchronized.
Ohhhhh, the possibilities. We could produce magnificently creative wonder productions that will make you look at your tv and laugh out loud, saying "one screen?? Puhleeze."
Watch a demo here. We're chomping at the bit to produce for this, and can't wait to see it in action.
Labels: technology, television, trends, video, web2.0
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:47 AM
2 comments
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Let me google that for you
How many times have you been annoyed by your stupid friends who IM you with ridiculous questions that they could answer themselves if they just Googled it?
Well today's the day you can point out their ridiculousness. Thanks to the Let Me Google That For You tool. You do the search, and then send them a link where the search animates in front of their eyes. And they'll learn how to use Google, in the process!
This may be the best thing ever invented. So hot. So awesome. You could use it daily.
Labels: google, pop culture, search, viral, web2.0
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:41 AM
5 comments
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
major tom to tag control...
Here's a fun new tool to spend your valuable time with.
Tag Galaxy helps you locate all of the photographs tagged with any keyword of your choice, conveniently organized like a system of planets. Hey - why not? From Brideyrae, at Cow.
Labels: Flash, mashup, photography, web2.0
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:32 AM
0 comments
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
what your neighbors are doing on youtube
Thanks to YouTube's new geolocation feature, you can now search videos by the location from where they were uploaded. Curious about what the next door neighbor is doing on video?
There's a rough demo of the technology (you'll need to install Google Gears), and it works pretty well.
This creates some really fun promotional opportunities. Contests, treasure hunts, the possibilities are endless. (And snooping on your neighbors is always cool, too.) Thanks Giuli!!
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:14 AM
2 comments
Monday, November 17, 2008
mommy, what's a twadturd?
If you're participating in the Twitterverse, you understand that there's a language to accompany the experience. You post tweets on Twitter, for the benefit of the twitterverse. Maybe you even become a Twitdict.
How do you keep up with the language of Twitter? By following the TwitDictionary. On Twitter, of course.
Labels: pop culture, social media, trends, twitter, web2.0
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:19 AM
2 comments
Thursday, November 06, 2008
navigaya. once you start, you won't stop.
This is so incredible. The more you play with it, the more you'll be impressed. Spend 15 minutes exploring this search, video viewing, internet surfing tool/experience thingamajig that I can only explain as addicting. They call it Navigaya.
Maybe it's the hypnotic music mix. Maybe it's the beautimungus video background. Maybe it's the portal to everythingness. Navigaya is here to solve all of the world's problems. Perhaps Obama made it. Or perhaps Navigaya created Obama. Whatever - rest easy, because Navigaya is here. From Hip Young Thing.
Labels: creativeinspiration, Flash, search, web2.0
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:08 AM
2 comments
Friday, October 31, 2008
want cool business cards? forget your design firm.
This is the the second best business card in the business. (Brian Shaler keeps the number one spot for best card ever.)
Joe Rib created his new cards with Wordle. And in a glance, you know everything you need to know about Joe.
Here's the thing: Anyone can have fancy designerish business cards. Because even the boring people now hire designers to create their cards. And quite frankly, they all blend in. And a business card isn't about blending in.
What's really cool? Both Brian and Joe's cards didn't require a design firm or ad agency. Yet they say more about the individual than any uber designed card could ever do.
Labels: design, identity, social media, trends, web2.0
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:02 AM
4 comments
Monday, September 15, 2008
tech crunch 50. the yammering starts now.
Now that TechCrunch 50 is over, it's time to review the list and see what's hot, what's happening and what works.
The big winner in the bunch is Yammer - a Twitterish tool made just for the people within your company. This has got to be a wonderous tool for big companies, but we think it has value for small firms, too. We're using it to share quick ideas, thoughts and stuff that might not be worthy of a group email, but worthy of discussion or chat. Other firms seem to be doing the same.
We've done a quick review (meaning we looked at the descriptions and clicked through to the sites) of the other TechCrunch 50 companies, and here's the stuff we like:
Schryk
LiveHit
Devunity
OtherInBox
Me-trics
iCharts
Dropbox
Closet Couture
TrueCar
Want to learn more? Watch all of the videos. It's the next best thing to being there. Interesting side note: All the good urls are gone. If you're starting a brand, it's almost a necessity to invent a word, or have a url that's a string of words.
What are you loving from the fab 50?
Labels: adindustry, productivity, technology, trends, twitter, web2.0
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:46 AM
0 comments
Monday, September 08, 2008
what the cool geeks are doing this week
TechCrunch50 kicks off today, and for the next couple of days attendees will see presentations from 50 of the potentially hottest companies in the business.
This is where the up and comers go to get noticed. This is where a bunch of venture capitalists go and throw money. This is where deals are made and relationships are formed.
At least, that's what I'm lead to believe from all of the hype, the website, the blog and the friends/clients that we know on their way there. If you're too lame to score tickets (like me), no worries. uStream will cover everything that you need to see, live.
Labels: social media, technology, trends, web2.0
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:41 AM
0 comments
Thursday, September 04, 2008
the video revolution continues
There's a new fun video micro-blogging tool in town. 12 Seconds. You can record up to 12 seconds of video and share it with your friends. And everyone else. This is a cool idea for one-way video bloggers. People that want to post clips, but don't really care about interacting (so much) with the people that watch them.
I watch the clips and I immediately want to interact and respond (in video) like you can with Seesmic - but it's not like that. You can comment (blog style) which is certainly better than nothing.
This will be an interesting tool and community to watch. If nothing else, it's more proof that video is HOT. Anyone using it yet, and loving it?
Labels: blogging, social media, video, web2.0
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:43 AM
0 comments
Friday, August 29, 2008
another tool for twitter users to obsess over
One of the downsides of Twitter, blogs and other social media tools is that they bring a gross personality trait to the surface that used to be reserved for "the populars" in high school. People obsessing over the number of followers that they've amassed, the traffic they pulled, and other measures of how "popular" they are, versus the real connections, friendships and bonds that they're making.
These people will rejoice with a new tool that rates their Twitter performance. Twitter Grader lets you "measure your Twitter mojo." Yech. Another measurement to obsess over. To compare against others. Watch for the many tweets about the obsessor's scores, and theories on how to increase their scores.
My advice: Ignore it all. Share. Connect. Help others. Be a part of a community - paying no attention to scores, rankings or who's dating the cheerleading captain this weekend.
Labels: mashup, social media, twitter, web2.0
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:42 AM
4 comments
everything you ever wanted to know about any website
QuarkBase is a sweet new tool that compiles all of the available information about any website. From the whois registration info, Alexa traffic, popularity on linking sites, and even the latest tweets about the site, from across the twitterverse. Really, really handy.
From Startupmeme, via Twitter
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:23 AM
3 comments
Thursday, August 14, 2008
self destructing notes. the opposite of viral.
Bub.blicio.us has found a cool tool that will appeal to the secret agent inside you.
With Privnote, you can write a note, send it to your friend, and it will automatically self destruct after they've read it.
What a cool idea to incorporate this into a promotion. Create something special and unique for the user, while encouraging quick action because they'll never ever see the message again. So many possibilities.
Labels: technology, web2.0
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:44 AM
0 comments
Monday, August 11, 2008
go ahead. make a suggestion.
We ran into the folks at SuggestionBox (kinda sorta) while on tour this summer.
A cool idea. Anyone can make a suggestion about anything. If you're a brand, and you 'claim' your suggestion box, you get all sorts of features to integrate the box into your online properties. And you make it really easy for customers (or potential customers) to make suggestions about your brand, your store, your service or your haircut.
It's $495 for the year - which if one suggestion gains you a new customer, probably pays for itself. (Unless you're selling $4.95 hot dogs, then you'd have to gain 100 customers. Or 50 customers if they were hungry ones. You get the idea.)
The non-profit package is only $49.50/year, which especially seems like a no-brainer, as most non-profits are lacking the resources (or people) to collect this type of information.
posted by darryl ohrt @ 6:58 AM
2 comments
Friday, August 08, 2008
go forth. and animate.
GoAnimate looks to be a pretty cool and fun tool to create your own animations. Simple to use, easy to publish.
Right now, there's just a bunch of really crappy unfunny productions online - so it would be cool if you would produced something that's actually good. Or funny. Or clever. Or entertaining. What are you waiting for? Go. Animate. Found by Bill Baker.
Labels: illustration, web2.0
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:17 AM
0 comments
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
start tracking everything
Ryan Kuder has turned us onto zeaLog, a new social measuring tool. Use it to keep track of, measure, graph and track whatever you're doing. And then share and compare with friends from across the world.
It's a simple, fun tool to use, and I wonder what kind of mashups might be possible. Like would it be possible to make a social version of a running tool, similar to NikePlus?? Could graphs be embedded into other media? Lot of possibilities and ideas are churning...
It's in beta now, but sign up (or beg someone more popular than me) for an invite.
Labels: mashup, productivity, social media, web2.0
posted by darryl ohrt @ 6:59 AM
5 comments
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
steve woodruff is waiting for your genius
Steve Woodruff is a really smart dude. Like many of us, he's recognized the need for a new super tool to confaburate all of the many, many social media tools and devices that we need into one snazzy dashboard. One dashboard, where you can control everything. Only one problem: Steve isn't really a developer. But he knows that as a community, we're filled with designers, developers and girl geniuses. So he's doing something.
Steve Woodruff is crowd designing the ultimate dashboard, deemed MetaMee. Check out his posts (part 1), (part 2), (part 3) and the latest on his blog. Be enlightened or inspired by watching the thought and development process. Or pitch in with ideas and direction to make it better. This is the ultimate tool waiting for your input.
I want this product now. Right now. Can you hurry up and help Steve finish the design process and start coding? Or can some VC company just give him a kabillion dollars to develop this tool today? Productivity is waiting.
Labels: creativeinspiration, mashup, productdesign, productivity, social media, web2.0, webdev
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:27 AM
2 comments
Friday, June 27, 2008
what the internet looks like on paper
This is fascinating. Original sketches for ideas that have become staples of our web 2.0 lives. Like Twitter. Vimeo. Flickr.
It's inspiring to see things that are now viewed as grand, in their conceptual stages. The original sketch for Twitter's concept is pictured above.
Are you archiving your brand's history? From Waxy.
Labels: social media, twitter, web2.0, webdev
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:51 AM
0 comments
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
a week at plaid in plain text
Turn your ugly, disgusting words into beautious pieces of art. That's what I did.
The wonderous artwork above is a tag cloud made from last week's blog post of what happened at our agency. And you can do the same thing. I've saved it for you here, so that you can show your friends. Just don't print this on canvas, and sell it in a gallery as art. We'll find out.
Make your own tag cloud out of any extra words that you find laying around the office. It's fun. Go ahead. You know you have words to spare. Found on Lifehacker.
Labels: technology, web2.0
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:42 AM
0 comments
Monday, June 23, 2008
photo sharing made pretty
Mashable reports on a brand new photo sharing site - Bragosphere. Tools like Flickr and Photobucket are pretty entrenched, so it will be interesting to see if this gets traction.
If you look past the fact that it requires the Microsoft Silverlight plugin, this looks to be a cool feature rich application. Users can drag, drop and enlarge photos outside the grids you've become accustomed to on the other photo sites. That makes for a nice, friendly viewing experience. Worthy of exploration.
Labels: microsoft, photography, social media, web2.0
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:40 AM
1 comments
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
how to point to that item on that page
You know when you're on the phone, trying to point out a section of a website? "No, underneath that. No. Above that. A little to the right of that graphic."
Now, you can highlight the exact text you'd like the person to see, and send them a link. Or a graphic. Thanks to the wonderous people at Awesome Highlighter. Why isn't Staples sponsoring these guys? Or buying them huge houses on the ocean in Malibu?
From MakeTheLogoBigger.
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:57 AM
1 comments
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
oil for your commerce site
If you're running a commerce site, and have lots of products to choose from, Answer Oil can help your customers narrow down choice. And give you valuable market research data in the process.
Looks like a cool web 2.0 style tool that's been made available to existing sites and developers. I'm guessing that their solution is more efficient than developing this on your own. Neat idea. From Techcrunch.
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:45 AM
0 comments
Monday, May 05, 2008
meet tomorrow's tech superstars
Wow. Noticed first by JJProjects.
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:24 AM
0 comments
Thursday, April 24, 2008
spreading brand hate, via twitter
LessAccounting is taking advantage of the fact that there's a lot of disdain for for their chief competitor, Quickbooks. A quick scan of Twitter shows that the majority of chatter about QuickBooks is negative.
So LessAccounting is celebrating that fact with the creation of We All Hate Quickbooks, Do You?.
This is awesome, for LessAccounting. They've now illustrated to internet workers that:
+ You're not alone in your hatred for QuickBooks;
+ There's an alternative to the product you hate using.
As a small agency that uses Quickbooks - we're in the demo. And we've looked for alternatives to the nasty Mac version of Quickbooks, to no avail. We'll be checking out LessAccounting - because they've captured our attention.
This is a great lesson on both sides of the fence. LessAccounting is capitalizing on a situation that the larger competitor created with a less-than-spectacular product.
Quickbooks needs to do a better job of monitoring the chatter about their product, and become a part of the conversation. They can't hide behind their #1 status forever. They could be using this conversation to their advantage, and improving their product.
In the meantime, tweet away about how much you loathe using QuickBooks. LessAccounting is paying attention.
Labels: branding, marketing, social media, twitter, web2.0, workplace
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:14 AM
3 comments
