September 2007
49 posts
All Videos Uploaded by a Google Video User
One of the reasons why YouTube became successful and Google Video didn’t is that YouTube built a community around videos. Each registered user has a profile, a list of uploaded videos and favorite videos. You can subscribe to the videos uploaded by a user and send him a private message. Google Video doesn’t have any of these options: the only thing you can see about someone who posted...
It (almost) always happens this way
I had breakfast today with a really smart person who works for a really big company (that’s just about all he’ll let me say). He’s frustrated because they’re fading, and fast. The ironic thing is that if they focused their energy and their guts on the new market that is gaining on them (fast), they’d demolish it. If they embraced the threat, the threat wouldn’t...
The fundraising good, the bad and the ugly
First, the ugly. Last week, I woke up one morning to find my face had swollen like a balloon due to a mysterious allergic reaction. It was horrible, uncomfortable and disfiguring, and it lasted six days. It’s gone now, but I’m still not over the experience - my children found me scary and when I looked in the mirror, I did not recognize myself.
Enough of the self pity. My point is, it...
New Version of Gmail Being Tested
Keith writes “Gmail was launched on April 1, 2004, and has revolutionized the way many of us use email. The interface has remained largely untouched since it launched, but get ready, it’s soon to undergo a change in what they describe as a ‘New Version’. Only a select few people have access to use the new interface — mainly employees and trusted people outside the company...
Do Not Call Listings to Expire in 2008
Ant writes “Yahoo! News report that the cherished dinner hour void of telemarketers could vanish next year for millions of people when phone numbers begin dropping off the national/United States (U.S.)’s Do Not Call list. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which oversees the list, says there is a simple fix. But some lawmakers think it is a hassle to expect people to re-register their...
Eccentric Tips for Becoming Productive
From the way it’s talked about on sites like this, you’d think productivity was a long-lost secret of the ages. Really, though, there’s quite literally nothing to productivity: for the most part, it’s just a matter of staying on task and working hard. The problems tend to arise more when self-motivation is required: when there are no deadlines, working consistently isn’t easy.
This guide won’t...
Take Money Or Accept Money?
Wil Shipley types extensively about Apple’s attitude trending towards greed. A great article without a great hook. Just force yourself to start reading, you’ll be glad you did.
Most of us independent developers spend a lot of time trying to be more Apple-like. The idea is pretty simple. There’s this company, and they produce almost all of the products that we love in this world. And if we want...
Google Shared Stuff is Delicious
It seems Google’s decided to dive into the arena of social bookmarking with their soft launch of Shared Stuff. Simply add a bookmark button to your browser: You can then use that to share your favorite web page. Or by clicking on any page that displays the share button: From there you decide on a label for the page you are sharing, email to a friend, or push to other social bookmarking sites....
Understanding Introverts
My name is Jonathan, and I am an introvert.
Oh, for years I denied it. After all, I have good social skills. I am not morose or misanthropic. Usually. I am far from shy. I love long conversations that explore intimate thoughts or passionate interests. But at last I have self-identified and come out to my friends and colleagues.
Understanding introverts can be a hard task for some, particularly...
Two kinds of 'don't know'
I don’t know French. I can’t play the piano. I have no clue how to catch a bony spinefish. This is the first kind of don’t know. Stuff you don’t know because you haven’t been taught it yet. Books are awfully good at solving this problem, so are good teachers. The second kind of ‘don’t know’ is often confused with the first type, but it’s really...
Report on the Use of Web 2.0 by Nonprofits
The Overbrook Foundation has just published a report on the adoption of web 2.0 technologies by organizations involved in social change. Based on the responses from U.S.-based human rights grantees of the Overbrook Foundation, the report found that:
Most of the organizations use the web more as a source of information than as a tool for connecting with others.
Roughly half of the organizations...
Marketing: Wal-Mart Ads Embracing People and...
Yesterday, Wal-Mart announced its new advertising slogan: “Save Money. Live Better.” This is the latest move to embrace sustainability and improve the company’s image. This line replaces the one that has been used for 19 years, “Always Low Prices.” This… (via Shawn’s Library’s shared items in Google Reader)
The Fuel of a Movement
Sunday Evening, the 16th we’ll continue our “Ethos” series, with Part 2: Faith, Hope, and Love. If you couldn’t make it last week, check out theClay Podcast and we’ll also catch you up in the first few minutes tomorrow night. Chris, and our ever growing house band will lead worship for us. You won’t want to miss it. Note…last Sunday Night was the largest...
Family Fun Run Photos
Click here to see photos from the Family Fun Run! Thanks to everyone that participated! (via Shawn’s Library’s shared items in Google Reader)
What is good: being relentlessly generous
What is good fundraising and what is bad fundraising? What is the difference between good outreach and bad outreach?
I think the difference between good and bad has a lot to do with generosity.
If you’re focused on fundraising, you’re probably focused on inspiring generosity in other people. But how generous are you? I’ve found in life, in fundraising and in blogging, the more generous I...
How to Avoid Lengthy Interruptions at Work
It’s amazing how so many people do so little work. I know that I personally can waste time with the best of them, losing hours to meaningless email, workplace chatter and random meetings that accomplish next to nothing. As I’m rarely wasting time by myself, perhaps you or others can relate?
One of the most frustrating things about trying to be productive at work is the occasional “pop-bye”...
You get to choose
That’s the cool thing about marketing. Unlike most other functions in the organization, you get to choose where and how you do what you do.
If you don’t have the money to do a full-scale TV campaign that’s going to work, you shouldn’t choose TV. If you don’t have the organizational support to engage in a long-term grassroots strategy, don’t do it.
I was...
10 Reasons To Write Things Down
A big part of GTD is writing everything down. The idea is that you don’t want to rely on your memory and clutter your mind with things you don’t necessarily need to keep in there.
What many people who begin doing this find is that there are other benefits. For instance, you will almost invariably become more self-reflective.
Written goals are important. One thing a lot of very successful self...
Russia Tests World's Largest Non-Nuclear Bomb
mahesh_gharat writes “Russia has tested the “Father of all bombs,” a conventional air-delivered explosive that experts say can only be compared with a nuclear weapon in terms of its destructive power.The device is a fuel-air explosive, commonly known as a vacuum bomb, that spreads a high incendiary vapour cloud over a wide area and then ignites it, creating an ultra-sonic shock...
Word 2007 Vs. Open Office 2.3 Writer
hairyfeet writes “Bruce Byfield of Linux.com has just posted his third Office shootout between Microsoft Office and Open Office. This is the first version comparing the new Microsoft Word 2007 with Writer from the latest version of Open Office. The verdict: while Microsoft Office beats Open Office in a few categories, overall Open Office wins — but by not as large a margin as in the...
Google Reader Numbers
Here are some interesting facts about Google Reader: * Google Reader has two kinds of feeds: - feeds that have one subscriber (two thirds from the number of feeds, they’re updated every 3 hours) - feeds that have more than one subscriber (these feeds are updated every hour) * Google Reader uses 10 TB for storing all the raw data * Google Reader crawls 8 million feeds * Google Reader is...
Music Industry Set To Introduce the...
mrneutron2003 writes “The RIAA has officially backed a move by the recording industry to reintroduce the CD single. Populated with three songs and a ringtone, this brilliantly clueless idea is to be marketed as a ‘ringle,’ complete with an even more clueless retail price of $6-7 per CD. Apart from the fact the industry hasn’t agreed on how the ringtone is to be redeemed...
Acorn: A simple and easy to use image editor,... →
7 Stupid Thinking Errors You Probably Make
The brain isn’t a flawless piece of machinery. Although it is powerful and comes in an easy to carry container, it has it’s weaknesses. A field in psychology which studies these errors, known as biases. Although you can’t upgrade your mental hardware, noticing these biases can clue you into possible mistakes.
How Bias Hurts You If you were in a canoe, you’d probably want to know about any...
Age verification software for social networking...
In response to the requests of many parents and government officials to develop age verification system for social networking, a new patent-pending technology called CYBERsitter V-Token allows parents to specify the ages or age ranges of their children and what types of content or activities that should not be allowed when their children visit a web site.
Parents simply need to download a small...
How To Clean Your House In Under 20 Minutes
These short, daily routines could put you on the right path to a regularly clean and tidy home for you and the rest of your family. Here’s an example: Bathroom, 2 minutes daily
Make cleaning the basin as routine as washing your hands. But don’t stop there. Get the most out of your pre-moistened wipe by using it to clean around the edges of the tub and then the toilet before tossing it.
• Wipe...
As expected, Apple sells one millionth iPhone
Apple today announced it sold its one millionth iPhone yesterday, just 74 days after its introduction on June 29. iPhone combines three devices into one-a mobile phone, a widescreen iPod(R), and the best mobile Internet device ever-all based on Apple’s revolutionary multi-touch interface and pioneering software that allows users to control iPhone with just a tap, flick or pinch of their fingers.
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Microsoft behave not at all unreasonably, banning...
You do not want to piss off Microsoft. They will get future on your ass. Oh yes. One guy that got a copy of the forthcoming Halo 3 found this out to his cost. Having obtained a copy aimed at developers, he jumped on XBox Live to play. (via Shawn’s Library’s shared items in Google Reader)
Your Computer. Leave Home Without It - ajaxWindows
Today I’m launching ajaxWindows - a complete virtual PC you can experience using only a browser from any web connected computer. If you would like to see it in action, check out the online demo or the video. Remember that everything you see is happening w (via Shawn’s Library’s shared items in Google Reader)
20 (Alternate) Ways to Focus on Users
by Jens Meiert.
Many web professionals know about certain ways to focus on users. The most popular methods surely include usability tests, card sorting, personas, surveys, and watching current research, and they mean valid approaches to enable products and services that actually work. The following list aims to show some alternative methods towards more useful products.
Note: This article is...
Apple Gives $100 Store Credit to iPhone Customers
MooRogue writes “In an open letter to all iPhone customers, Steve Jobs responds to hundreds of emails from upset iPhone customers. Apple will be giving early adopters who are not receiving rebates or any other consideration $100 store credit at the Apple store. Details will be posted on the Apple website next week” Read more of this story at Slashdot. (via Shawn’s shared items...