Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Turn your iPhone into a credit card reader



WOW. A new app is on the block and this one got some innovation behind it.

Still being Alpha tested in NYC, Square is a new iPhone payment processing system that allows pretty much anyone to start accepting credit cards through their iPhone. The apparently simple to use interface and easy to plug in adapter transforms a standard iPhone or iTouch into a credit card reader. It's all paperless so receipts are emails out including a map of purchasing location (geomaps...cool), a penny is donated to your charity of choice per transaction, picture verification is available for security and frequent purchase rewards are also available without punch cards (you know much you love keeping 10th one free cards in your wallet)!

So my first instinct was where can I try it and I want one for my business!

Then I started wondering if everyone is walking around with credit card machines how this would impact credit card theft and misuse. I think I need to investigate this more with some primary research and o'darn, guess I have to go all the way to NYC to test it out!

More information: http://squareup.com/

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

UGC vs. Restricted Publishing



So we've all hear about the scandals of hotels improving their ratings on tripadvisor.com but now another internet leader, wikipedia.com is looking at their content and moving towards a more restricted content model. Why? I've seen it and I'm sure others agree that while wikipedia has a vast amount of content, the quality and credibility for several sections and articles fluctuates.

Does this imply that more and more sites are going to start creating complicated approval work-flows? No, but my expectation is that we will start to see more wide open sites implement more than the captcha human check box. Vs. the alternative of potentially undergoing a lot of scrutiny from poorly published content.

Additional article on Wikipedia changes
Wikipedia: Time for a reality check
http://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/08/25/wikipedias-big-news-its-fundamentally-unreliable/

Sunday, August 16, 2009

iPhone Apps...gotta love it!

I'm always on the lookout for more apps for my iPhone. I like this list of apps because many of them sounded cool and I hadn't already downloaded them. Enjoy!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/16/AR2009081600099_5.html

Monday, June 22, 2009

What's the deal with Ideablob.com?



I absolutely love when I find another long standing company (100+ years) who is innovating and encouraging other to innovate. When I first heard about this site, it was through a linkedin group women 2.0 where an entrepreneur was asking for people to vote for her. So in my coffee-enhanced A.D.D. clicking managed to find myself on www.ideablob.com and 15 minutes later (ie...a decade in web time) was still thumbing through the site.

Not only is the UI fun and interesting and the ideas unique and modern, but I was pleased by the sites overall mission and vision. Congrats to ADVANTA for being forward thinking and giving away 10K a month to encourage the American Dream.

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Awesome shirt - really, just beautiful.



I think the shirt says it all. Wonder if they teach this in Psychology class. =)
http://site.despair.com/socialmediatee/

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Everyone's doing it...you should too.



Neilson Online report finds that social networking is up 83% in the U.S. since last year. WOW. Fad? I don't think so. Moms and Dads don't worry if you kid drops his/her bag on the floor runs to the computer and starts chatting, texting, talking, gaming and webcaming all at the same time. It's normal. Teachers maybe try even posting something on Facebook during class to get your students to pay attention. And please post all assignments online - throw us a bone! And corporate american, please stop with the hour long face-to-face pointless meetings - use skype or soon google wave to communicate and connect. I need technology in my life.

The younger generation and even some of them 'older' ones are addicted to social networking statistically speaking, so stop being stubborn and start reworking your curriculums, office expectations/collaboration, and after school activities for us social networkers. Yes, we have ARRIVED and are here to STAY!

Good article summarizing the Neilson Online report: http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10255626-93.html

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Updates around the web

With so much news around video gaming with E3 starting and Project Natal (controller-less gaming Microsoft's newest hype) being spread across the networks, it's amazing that I can actually get any work done.

Bing the new Microsoft search tool hasn't impressed me and I really didn't even get a chance to look into Google's wave demo.

Facebook continues to climb especially internationally, but I haven't stopped watching Myspace. Myspace still leads them in video. I also think Myspace still rocks on music and so while most my friends have dropped off, I still find myself jammin out to my page every once in a while.

And one the biggest surprises from Twitter is research from NeilsonMobile that has claimed the 49 percent of users in the 35+ age group. WOW, now that's very interesting.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

What's the deal with Yapta?

In all my travel research of visiting hundreds of travel related sites, I found a fresh face in the flight planning category that I wanted to share. Unlike a one night stand site that cuts you off as soon as you book the flight - Yapta continues to build up your relationship by continuing to monitor the flight price of your purchased flight. Not only does it monitor the price, but they even work to help you receive refunds from the airlines if you have greatly overpaid for a flight.

Now I haven't experienced the refund concept first hand, but it's an awesome idea. Forget those one night stands and move on to something a little more substantial. With Yapta.com you never have to wonder if you got the best deal, they'll make sure you did!

Monday, May 18, 2009

What's the deal with marriage?

Miami Beach Gay Pride - Couple that has been together for 65 years

So normally every Monday, I talk about a new web app or gadget but this Monday is special. I feel like talking about a social trend rather than a social web trend. Now for all my tech followers, definitely checkout a new seo tool in beta called Linkscape http://www.seomoz.org/linkscape. You can view basic stats for free and I think it's one of the nicer tools out there.

But enough about technology, lets talk about marriage. Ever since I graduated college, I feel like my facebook feed is full of weddings, cakes, bridesmaids, engagement photos, bachlorette parties (or at least the clean photos), and more talk about getting engaged, married and of course babies.

I don't get it. I never have and I keep wondering as I get older if I ever will. Now I'm all about finding true love and that special someone to spend the rest of your life with but are we really programmed for marriage? In a society that can't even sit through commercials without flippin channels or tvio'ing their favorite shows. Do people really want to get married till death do them part.

It just seems like a really big commitment not to mention a really long time. Back in the 1920s - till death do us part was like till you were 55* or even earlier. Now with people living into their 80s that's 30 more years with the same person. And yes, I do realize people got married in their teenage years but that's only about 10 years different that most of my friends getting married in their early twenties.

Now, don't get me wrong - weddings can be fun, bachlorette parties even more fun and getting together with your closest friends and family to dance, drink and celebrate an American tradition makes for a great weekend, but I still find myself questioning how so many people are caught up in 1) wanting to be married 2) wanting to be part of all their friends weddings and/or 3) setting restrictions such as I have to be married by 30.

Since this is probably my one and only blog about marriage, I am going to have to weigh in on gay marriage as well. My view is simple. GLBT members should have the same rights granted by marriage (common law or legal) and it should be their choice to get married or not. Now again I don't think rainbow cakes and the best linen table cloths in the world (you know how we do), can change the same fate that straight people are locking into BUT I will say that GLBT should have the same rights - no question about it.

Now, I know there are many couples that have stayed happily married for many, many years. In fact, there are many gay couples who stay together as long as hetro couples ie my picture of a couple Peter and George who have been together for 65 years - now that's impressive. I thank Facebook and all the social networking status, picture-loading, alert tools out there for the constant reminder about how everyone's getting married and I'd better jump on the bandwagon and start trying to figure out my something old, new and blue.

In closing, I want to say I am happy for all current and future brides and grooms. I do wish you the best and 50+ years of passion and love.



* http://www.uoregon.edu/~maphist/english/US/US32-01.html

Monday, May 4, 2009

What's the deal with Skype?

So my newest obsession that again I'm trying to push through my weekly "What's the deal with ...." is Skype.

Currently there are over 10 million people logged into skype. So I would say that quite a few people are USING it. But I still feel there are several outstanding questions out there for the non-user.

You see -- until a few weeks ago -- I too was a non-user. Now, this doesn't seem to make sense. I mean I have an iphone, blog frequently, live on the web, 5 chat programs and so why didn't I skype? Well, I just didn't. Yeah, a very lame excuse but a honorable one.

I would assume the majority of people have at least heard the name, but I'm going to try to cliff note the tool because once you start using it -- you won't stop. No, it might not replace your landline, cell phone or favorite chat tool -- facebook, aim, yahoo, msn or whatever -- but it's definitely a tool to TRY.


What can I do with Skype? You can chat, make a phone call, make a video call, send a file..ok it probably does more but those are the important ones in my opinion

How does it work? So download the program, create a profile, search for friends and then you can start to interact with them ie chat, call, send files.

Does it cost money? The cool thing is that with Skype you can call another Skype person for free - anywhere in the world! You can also call in-country and out-of-the-country landlines for very very very cheap. Visit www.skype.com for more details.

Can I call landlines with Skype? Yes, there is a cost involved but you can.

Do I have to be in front of my computer for Skype? There is an app for the iPhone which I haven't fully explored yet, but generally the answer is yes.

What's so great about it? The integration of video, voice, chat and file transfer. THE PRICE - free to very cheap - can't beat that.

There are also additional packages to receive a skype phone number, call forwarding and other features. I've met people who have actually replaced their landline with Skype and love it. Also, people traveling in foreign countries are able to call home for fractions of the cost of phone cards.

Friday, May 1, 2009

Do you have the 411 on how to make your 404 error cool?



Broken links, bad spelling, whatever the reason may be....404 errors have been around forever. I wanted to link to some pretty creative ways designers are making 404 errors interesting.

Best 404s out there
Big library of 404 pages

Monday, April 27, 2009

My stream, your stream, now it's everybody's stream

What better news than Subway's foot long for $5? How about Facebook opening up it's activity stream for external developers. Now that's quite a mouth full!


The stream is all the updates that take up the middle of your facebook page. It shows you all the posts from your friends in real-time. This keeps you up to date on everything that's happening. And now other apps and websites can utilize it too.

What's going to be interesting to see how the stream is utilized. The Facebook Open Stream API allows websites to "access the stream on behalf of a user and then filter, remix, and display the stream back to that user however you choose, wherever you choose, in the manner most relevant for the user experience. Other new API methods will allow users to both publish into the stream and to add comments and "likes" to posts in the stream." It's got some other pretty interesting features so make sure to check out the full article at:

http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/163898/facebook_opens_up_activity_stream_to_external_developers.html

or

http://developers.facebook.com/news.php

What's the deal with WAYN?




So every Monday, I blog about a social networking site that all the innovators and early adapters yawn at, the mainstream feels some varying degree of familiarity and the laggards skip over to more important things for them like changing the record because the needle is hitting the edge.


Today, I feel WAYN.com is one of those necessary sites. WAYN which stands for What are you now? is part of a large family of social networking sites related to the travel industry. It's connected to facebook and twitter - so you can login through your facebook account and your tweets are synonymous with your "what are you up for doing?". You can post pictures, blogs, reviews and videos. And you can also plan trips, search trips, and if you've added the "where have you been" app that's also integrated on the WAYN site.

While the design is very nice -- clean and simple -- I'm still struggling with what gives this site an edge. They receive 32,936 unique visitors daily according to http://checksitetraffic.com and receive an estimated 258.4K US people monthly according to quantcast.com. That's no Tripadvisor.com or expedia.com and for get about playing in the leagues of myspace.com and facebook.com, but you have to admit in the land of a dime a dozen of social networking sites, it's pretty good.

Let me know what you think about WAYN.com. Is it another site you'll use when traveling or just another social networking site in the pack that's getting left behind?

Friday, April 24, 2009

If I had a dollar for every iPhone app downloaded...

...I'd have over a billion dollars

Apple has to be pretty proud of their current position. Over a billion apps downloaded and in their countdown to the billionth app, 5.5 million apps where downloaded daily. For any iPhone owner, apps are just a part of daily life. It's almost a social status to know the 'cool' apps out there and of course a great filler while waiting for a movie to start, filling space before your food arrives, on the train, plane or just sitting on your couch.

In many ways, it's almost expected as an iPhone user that your favorite websites have iPhone apps - myspace, facebook, craigslist just to name a few. And there are so many practical uses. If you want to learn Spanish download 24/7 tutor, or maybe find a move you add Fixster, or before the movie looking for a close by restaurant UrbanSpoon has it all. Regardless if you want to find cheap gas, calculate a tip, need a flashlight, check stocks, take pictures at night, skype or play games - there is an app for that.

So the question that most marketers and companies ask themselves is how do we stay on top and who are the close competitiors. How can we continue to evolve avoiding the fate of the cassette tape or even Geocities that was officially shut down by Yahoo! this month.

I think the big questions that Apple will need to answer is global scalability and flexibility. Right now they beat out Google's Android in terms of users and apps; however, Android is just getting out to market and it's ability to be used globalily on a larger number of devices and providers may change the playing field.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Is Facebook the new excuse for not doing your homework?

Nothing like waking up to a new study that show facebook is the reason why I didn't get summa cum laude. Damn it, I knew it wasn't all the drinking and partying. A study by Aryn Karpinski of Ohio State University and Adam Duberstein of Ohio Dominican University shows that college students on Facebook have significantly lower GPAs than those who are not on Facebook - typically a full grade lower (3.0-3.5 users vs. 3.5-4.0 non-users).

Of course, we all know (even the Facebook users) that these studies suggest correlation not causation and even Karpinski admits that "maybe [facebook users] are just prone to distraction. Maybe they are just procrastinators." People also speculate that Facebook or social networking is no bigger distraction than TV, video games or going out.

The fact is that studies support both the pros and cons of using the internet/social networking. Some studies like Oxford University neuroscientist Susan Greenfield's cautioned that social networks like Facebook and Bebo were "infantilizing the brain into the state of small children," basically shortening attention span jeopardizing capacity for learning while another study by the University of Melbourne shows Internet use at work can improve employees concentration and increase productivity.

Maybe if we all take ginseng tablets, they wont take our Facebook away.

To read the full article: http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1891111,00.html

Monday, April 13, 2009

What is the deal with Twitter?

I've been social networking for about 4-5 years.  And yes, I believe it when Facebook claims that people spend 3 billion second a day on their site.  What's the first thing I do in the morning, check my email, respond to any linkedin requests, check out facebook - maybe comment on a picture/message a friend happy birthday, and then of course eat breakfast.  It's only the natural order that I love and have grown accustom to.  But recently, I find myself asking what's the deal with twitter.  So last week I hopped on the bandwagon for a bit of research mixed with pure curiosity.  Jumping in with both feet, the sign-in process was extremely simple.  In fact, you could probably count the features of twitter on one hand.  To set up your profile, you can add a picture, short bio and website link.  Once that's complete, you can search for friends, colleagues, companies, etc.. to follow them and in turn you can be followed.  Then the core part of twitter is tweeting.  Each tweet can be 140 characters long and tweets are meant to answer the question...what are you doing?  Oh and you can tweet as often as you want.

So to establish myself in this tweeting-twitter loving world, I tweet every few days, follow several people and as a result several people are following me.  I added a picture, filled out my bio and of course linked my website.  OK. Success.  But now what?  I find myself asking the question "What's so great about twitter?"  Then my marketing brain starts kicking in segmenting their target market, reviewing close competitors, and conceptualizing the major strategic initiatives for twitter.  My conclusion is that twitter has a very different profile than facebook/myspace.  Twitter which has no connotations for attracting a huge body of high school/ college 'kids' is more comparable to linkedin (or wants to be).  The major tweeters are individuals for professional development and businesses.  If I want to tell my friends I partied till 4am or just ate a big sandwich for lunch -- facebook or myspace it is, but if I want to know what's going on with all the various IT networks out there - SEO Jobs, website design companies, wordpress, and share blog stories or freelance jobs - tweeter it may be.

In the meantime, I'm going to keep tweeting (www.twitter.com/webalicious) and take maybe 20 seconds away from facebook time and give it to twitter.