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/

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/

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

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.

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/

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

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.