May 16, 2008
I just spoke at the Social Rockstar Workshop at Busboys & Poets in Washington, D.C. about Social Media & Blogging. It was a great conversation and thank you to everyone that attended. I have uploaded to docstoc the online document sharing site for anyone that would like to take a look at the presentation.
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May 16, 2008
Saturday... Saturday ... Saturday! Start your engines as Threadless.com, a Chicago-based skinnyCorp operated company, will be hosting a Pine Wood Derby race called the THREADLEMANSS. Unfortunately, I did not get a chance to get SOMEWHAT FRANK car ready for the race but I did get my friend Carlos Pero, whose son was undefeated this year in the Cub Scouts Pine Wood Derby, to lead the TECH cocktail RACING effort which is powered by coloring.com.
Carlos is featured this week on episode 25 of SOMEWHAT FRANK TV as he previews the TECH cocktail car and shares some Pine Wood Derby knowledge. Thank you Carlos for your help. You can cheer on the TECH cocktail car this Saturday, May 17, 2008 as Threadless will be streaming the derby live.
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May 14, 2008
If you are looking to have a new logo, business card, graphic or web site designed you know it is sometimes tough to decide where to get started. crowdSPRING, a Chicago-based crowd sourcing startup, might be a good option as it offers a marketplace for your design projects. Simply create a project and the design community will offer up suggested proposals. You can select the one you like the best and pay the designer a one time fee for the design you decide to choose.
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May 11, 2008
Breakfast is by far my favorite meal of the day as it acts as the foundation of your day. A few weeks ago Lijit Networks hosted a breakfast the morning after TECH cocktail DC 2. It at Busboys & Poets in Washington, D.C. and was a lot of fun. I got a chance to capture episode 24 of SOMEWHAT FRANK TV.
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May 2, 2008
I am terrible at pronunciations. Forvo is an online resource that might be able to help by leveraging the wisdom of the crowds to collect and offer audio pronunciations of words. Currently, they offer 14,653 words 13,131 pronunciations in 182 languages.
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April 28, 2008
TECH cocktail DC 2 the community builder event that took place last Thursday evening in Washington, D.C. showcased six startups from the local area. The event united over four hundred guests for an evening of conversations, showing off and fun.
This is the last event before the upcoming TECH cocktail CONFERENCE which will unite all the various TECH cocktail cities for a full day conference in Chicago on May 29th. The list of speakers is pretty amazing and the focus of the conference is to help anyone in business to take a more "no nonsense" approach by leveraging technology and the Web (i.e. running a "real" business rather than one setup to simply attract as many users as possible with no real monetization strategy in mind).
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April 21, 2008
Do you remember when online forums were the cutting edge in online community building tools? While forums still have a place on the Web there are so many richer community building experiences. Forums are still being used and Twing looks to bring them up to par by aggregating online forums. Twing offers a forum search and adds community features to surface the 'hot items' in the forums.
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April 19, 2008
You have probably seen the Lijit search widget on a number of sites around the Web. It has been the search option for SOMEWHAT FRANK and TECH cocktail for sometime as it offers some great site search analytics in a manageable and easy to digest format. I even get a weekly statistics email from Lijit keeping me updated as to how search is performing every week and what people are searching for.
Frank Gruber as a lijit search widget When I visited Boulder, Colorado back in March 2008 for our first TECH cocktail Boulder I got a chance to visit the Lijit Networks headquarters and I captured it on video. Thanks to Tara "Tarable" Anderson for the impromptu guided tour and for turning me into a Lijit search widget (shown to the right).
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April 16, 2008
With the popularity of text messaging and the rise of Twitter via mobile there is a growing trend for find me/follow me mobile applications. FindWhere, a Sterling, Virginia based company, has just launched an application called Livecontacts to help you find and keep track of your buddies. Users can now share their location and track their friends’ locations for free. Livecontacts is taking the same approach that craigslist took to democratize the online classified advertising space by offering users what is traditionally a paid geographic data service for free.
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April 15, 2008
Do you have a particular home video showing off a skill that you think you might be better than anyone at? Strutta, a Vancouver-based startup, has launched into beta to allow you to prove you are the best. Whether your skill is break dancing, playing the harmonica or doing fast food rapping - Strutta creates an avenue for competing on the Web via online video contests.
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April 14, 2008
Childhood obesity is a serious medical condition that affects children above the normal weight for his or her age and height. Most computer games, mobile devices and other online activities these days contribute to a sedentary lifestyle. How can kids keep on top of the obesity? GoTrybe, a Tennessee based startup, offers a interactive online approach aimed at attacking the problem. GoTrybe is an interactive community for kids based on health and wellness.
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April 12, 2008
I am a taggaholic. I love to tag items in Flickr and across the Web. I even find myself sometimes tagging other peoples photos and online content. This would not be possible without "folksonomy" and recently got to watch Thomas Vander Wal present at AOL as part of the AOL Developer Network Speaker Series. Thomas Vander Wal invented the word "folksonomy" and knows a thing or two about the social web. It's more than just today's social networks - it's layers of interactivity, circles of sociability, reputation and identity. He also shared his thoughts on the spheres of sociability, social objects, and the path to get users to fully embrace creating and sharing social objects.
I got a chance to talk with Thomas after his presentation and it is episode 20 of SOMEWHAT FRANK TV.
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April 8, 2008
Flickr, the photo community which we have all grown to love, after months of rumors and specutation has launched Flickr Video today. With almost six thousand photos on Flickr I was interested to see just how video was integrated. I was concerned adding videos might mess with the simplicity of the lovable photo sharing site that I have grown so accustom to. Flickr implemented short videos based on the idea of “long photos” setting the limit to 90 seconds maximum time limit on videos. This makes it clear Flickr is not the platform for video podcasts or other stuff but more for short photo-like blurbs of life.
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April 7, 2008
As a member of the frequent flyer club, I have used TripIt and previously reviewed when it first launched. Now TripIt has made traveling easier by adding some additional mobile support for users on the go with the TripIt Mobile release. With TripIt Mobile users can access what they need to know from their mobile phones including flight changes, and in my case cancellations, hotel addresses and phone numbers, and auto rental info. By adding additional integration components for your TripIt account, even restaurant reservations can be accessed.
Making TripIts applications available on mobile devices makes a lot sense since when you are traveling you are most likely cannot as easily get on your computer. TripIt offers applications to enable staying in touch with others in your social network, allowing you to schedule appointments if in the same area or at the same event. In checking out the mobile experience I snapped the photo shown here can be visited on your mobile device at: m.tripit.com.
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April 7, 2008
SOMEWHAT FRANK Question: Stanford University recently launched on on-campus venture fund called SSE Ventures. I think this is a great idea but I do not thing Stanford University is the only school that is doing this. So I thought I would ask SOMEWHAT FRANK readers to try and come up with other schools that might have similar programs. Here is a SOMEWHAT FRANK question for you:
What Schools Offer On-Campus Venture Funding?
Leave the school name, fund or program in the comments section below.
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April 3, 2008
I am pleased and somewhat humbled that TECH cocktail, a little events startup which I co-founded with Eric Olson back in May 2006, has been nominated as a finalist for the Illinois Technology Association CityLIGHTS Award. Over 700 great entrepreneurs, startups and established companies will be in attendance tonight as the awards are presented.
TECH cocktail is nominated for the CityLIGHTS Award which is given to an individual or individuals that have made a significant impact on the Illinois technology community. The list of finalists include:
* Ron and Jeff Galowich, co-Founders, Initiate Systems
* Bob Geras, president, LaSalle Investments
* Brian Knudson, CEO, NogginLabs, Inc.
* Eric Olson and Frank Gruber, founders, TECH cocktail
* Brad Spirrison, president, MidwestBusiness.com
TECH cocktail was started as a way to better connect and amplify the local technology community and being a finalist for this award validates that all our hard work has been paying off. Our first TECH cocktail CONFERENCE in May should further along this mission - don't forget to sign up now. Cheers!
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March 27, 2008
If you are in the Washington, D.C. area, mark your calendars for BlogPotomac, a one day event aimed at providing advanced marketing insights beyond the average social media 101. BlogPotomac will be held on Friday, June 13, 2008 at the State Theater in Falls Church, Virginia. BlogPotomac seeks to provide a local “un-conference” on best marketing practices for the social media community in the D.C. metro area.
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March 22, 2008
I was walking down the street in Boulder, Colorado earlier this month and was intrigued by a storefront symbol. I looked into the storefront windows and my eyes were met with colorful graffiti-like artwork, handmade toys and lots of tees. I had bumped into JoyEngine.
JoyEngine is a brand created by the boutique design firm cypher13 and offers a place for artists and designers to unite and share their work. The JoyEngine store doubles as an art gallery for local artists and toymakers. JoyEngine also has its own line of apparel. At JoyEngine, cypher13 promotes and sells artwork created by the cypher13 team, other local artists, and provides access to ultra-limited designer art toys, offers apparel by independent designers, and supplies the local street art scene with spraypaint, paint markers, and other art supplies. Online JoyEngine offers an blogging community for designers and artists where they can exchange ideas and showcase their work. They also offers some cool artist desktop backgrounds for download.
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March 21, 2008
You may recall Bode Miller, the USA Olympic silver medal skier and 2008 Alpine Skiing World Cup Champion, apparently he is doing more than just skiing these days as he has teamed with PathConnect to create SkiSpace, a social network for skiers and snowboarders. SkiSpace, not to be confused with MySpace, launched in December 2007 and offers basic social networking features.
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March 20, 2008
Diigo Diigo, a Reno-based startup I previously covered when it launched Web Slides, has just launched version 3.0 which is offers an integration of a number of social bookmarking and research services that create a powerful set of community tools.
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March 20, 2008
I have been to a number of industry events and I don't know how many times I either run out of cards are find myself cardless but technology has made it a lot easier to connect. LinkedIn recently joined Facebook and a number of other sites that have created iPhone experiences which makes it pretty easy to contact people and connect immediately thus online identity has replaced one of the features of offline identity - the business card.
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March 15, 2008
Brica Brica What? BricaBox, the social content platform which I covered previously here and here, that launched a few weeks ago offers users the ability to display structured content with social features. After many attempts I finally got a chance to sit down with BricaBox founder and CEO Nate Westheimer while attending FOWA Miami 2008 which is the latest SOMEWHAT FRANK TV episode.
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March 14, 2008
Looking for something new to read, watch or play? blippr, a startup created by Tag Team Interactive, offers a social utility which aims to facility social recommendations about books, games, movies, music, and (soon) TV from your friends. With blippr users can compile lists of things that they love and "blip" them which is similar to voting for an item (i.e. digg).
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March 8, 2008
On a clear, crisp evening in Boulder, Colorado over two hundred technology enthusiasts piled into The Foundry Billiards Club to better connect and amplify the technology signal of the region. The event, TECH cocktail Boulder in partnership with DEMO, showcased five startups from the local area. The event was sponsored by Boulder-based Lijit and Chicago and soon to be also Boulder-based skinnyCorp - thank you both!
Since TECH cocktail is one of my own creations with co-founder Eric Olson, we were really enjoyed the evening getting to hangout with some of the technology "movers and shakers" in the Denver/Boulder area. For more details check out the official TECH cocktail Boulder 1 photos and event wrap-up article. Read on for more on the startups that demoed at TECH cocktail Boulder.
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March 5, 2008
Do you have a scrapbook? Traditionally, creating a scrapbook was a very physical activity which helped to preserve your real life memories in a book format to look back at and share at a later date. Scrapbooking has turned into an billion dollar business and even merits its own conferences...
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March 1, 2008
MetroProper, a Chicago-based company, that recently demoed at TECH cocktail Chicago 7 just relaunched their site to offer a totally fresh design. Deemed as "Digg for local businesses" MetroProper offers an number of social sharing and bookmarking features.
I got a chance to chat with Philip Tadros founder of MetroProper and he talked to some of the design changes prior to their official launch.
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February 28, 2008
If you are a motorcycle or political enthusiast than listen up because you are going to like this. LOUD3R, a network for niche enthusiast offerings, has launched a couple of different aggregation sites. FAST3R the motorcycle site and VOT3R the political site are pulled together by leveraging a semantic publishing engine used in combination with natural language processing and human intelligence the engine selects and publishes the best and most interesting content to the network. Users can also contribute content and comments to the site.
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February 26, 2008
I returned to may hometown last week to co-host TECH cocktail Chicago 7. The event pulled in about five hundred technology enthusiasts, founders, startups, bloggers and VC's. As a facilitator of the event is it gratifying to see the community come out in such numbers.
The evening was kicked off with some TECH cocktail news which included the release of the newly revamped TECH cocktail website and the announcement of the first annual TECH cocktail CONFERENCE. Both of which were conversations points throughout the event but the real focus was on six fresh new Midwest startups that showed off their stuff at the event.
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February 24, 2008
Somewhat Frank Weekly Tidbits from around the Web gathered by Frank Gruber for the week ending February 24, 2008.
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February 23, 2008
If you are a hip t-shirt junkie you probably have found something on community driven t-shirt site threadless. skinnyCorp is a Chicago-based startup that offers some great community driven websites. Some of the sites that they are responsible for include:
threadless a popular t-shirt design community driven e-commerce site.
Naked & Angry a high quality clothing from fabric patterns submitted and chosen by the brand’s audience.
Extra Tasty a community driven drink recipe site.
Yay Hooray a forum that we made to help us learn how to make community-driven sites on the Web.
They have also have a few others as well. Read on to find out how they this creative shop works as I visit their Chicago-based headquarters.
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February 19, 2008
Why go to the ballgame, concert, lunch or dinner solo? Obviously, we all like our own privacy sometimes but other times we might want to find someone with like interests to hang out with. This is especially true for those that might have just moved into a new area. WhyGoSolo is a new social networking site aimed at helping you to create spontaneous new connections so, as its name implies, you won't go solo any longer.
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February 18, 2008
My friend Noah Kagan is hosting another CommunityNext conference called CommunityNext: Next Generation Media. I attended the first CommunityNext early last year at Stanford. This time CN will be in West Hollywood on March 29, 2008 and will be focusing on the new and social media that has been popping up across the Web. Speakers include Robert Scoble, Veronica Belmont, Brian Sugar and many others.
If you are interested in attending the event it pays to be a SOMEWHAT FRANK reader because I can offer you a discounted ticket. Just visit the CommunityNext website and when asked for a promo code tell them that "frankrules" and you should see a nice little ten percent discount in price.
If you have not already check out the 2008 web and technology conference calendar.
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February 14, 2008
MyBlogLog, the blog community creating site operated by Yahoo which I previously reviewed, has rolled out a slick new community widget. The widget offers a glossy finish and flyouts upon hovering to see the details on the recent visitors of the community. It seems MyBlogLog has simplified the widget by removing a number of features and customizations.
According to a recent post by Ian Kennedy on the MyBlogLog blog, the new widget was graphically inspired by Arlo Rose who created Yahoo Widgets (formerly Konfabulator). I like the new look and updated the one on Somewhat Frank.
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February 7, 2008
I am pleased to announce that TECH cocktail will be making its first appearance in Boulder, Colorado. TECH cocktail Boulder 1 is another big step forward for TECH cocktail for another reason besides the obvious one of expanding to a new area. TECH cocktail Boulder 1 will be the first event we are putting on in partnership with the DEMO conference. Yes, the DEMO that just attended last week near Palm Springs.
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February 7, 2008
If you are looking for something funny to watch online you now have another place to look, thanks to launch this week of Independent Comedy Network TV. ICN.TV, a Santa Monica, California based startup, looks to offer unique comedy programming with 5 original scripted series.
ICN.TV is comedy but different than the Will Ferrell project, Funny or Die, as ICN.TV offers actual comedy series rather than just random shorts, skits and improvisations.
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February 2, 2008
This past week at DEMO, I bumped into social media expert, blogger and co-author of the business blogging book Naked Conversation, Shel Israel. He had just announced his new video gig working with Robert Scoble to build up a video network called FastCompany TV. Shel was testing out some HD camera equipment and I was actually wearing a head cam so I sat down to chat with him on camera for five minutes about his new show GlobalNeighbourhoods TV (GNTV) which he recently explained on his blog.
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February 1, 2008
Mapping mashups have become almost a dime a dozen these days as the release of open APIs by just about every major online mapping site and and development tools has lowered the barriers of entry. That was not always the case though and as recently as 2005 trailblazing mashup like HousingMaps.com (a cross between Google Maps and Craigslist housing listings) and ChicagoCrime.org (a crossed Google Maps and Chicago Crime data to display crimes on a map) developers actually had to reverse engineer JavaScript code to create mashup. This all changed with the release of Google Maps API and most of the major mapping sites on the Web have since followed suit.
It was recently announced that due to some server issues and overlaps with another new mashup the 2005 Batten Award for Innovations in Journalism award winning early mashup ChicagoCrime.org will be redirect to - EveryBlock. EveryBlock, launched recently, is also mashup of sorts created by Chicago-based Adrian Holovaty the developer that produced ChicagoCrime.org. Everyblock is a news aggregator site for Chicago, New York and San Francisco that looks to help you answer the question:
“What’s happening in my neighborhood?”
The site compiles all the openly available public records and then slices and dices them so that they are easily accessible by zip code, address or neighborhood.
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January 28, 2008
I am a big fan of news aggregators like Digg, Reddit and Mixx as they bubble up interesting content from around the Web. Hubdub, a UK-based startup, launching at DEMO08 to put a new spin on the traditional news aggregator landscape by creating a predictive marketplace for news. Hubdub will look to leverage the value of user-generated news aggregation with the accuracy and stir of prediction markets.
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January 25, 2008
Israel is known to be a hotbed for Internet startups. Though I have never visited Israel thanks to the California Israel Chamber of Commerce 15 Israel companies will be visiting Silicon Valley starting February 4, 2008 as part of a week long road show called the IsraelWeb Tour.
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January 25, 2008
Seesmic, a startup founded by European entrepreneur and blogger Loic Le Meur, has been in closed alpha since October 2007 has hopes of creating a video conversation platform online. Seesmic creates an dashboard for anyone with a web cam to quickly create a video. Videos can then be published to a website or social network page as well as responded to within the Seesmic community.
My first impression of Seesmic was that is reminded me of slimmed down version of BlogTV which I use regularly for video interviews. But it appears that Seesmic is aimed at creating more a short form or Twitter-like video communitywhere people can interact around both user generated and professional content.
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January 23, 2008
Do you send post cards when you are on vacation? I used to, I haven’t in years but definitely still get online while on the road. Postalz has launched leveraging the Flickr API to offer a way to send an online post card. Postalz enables users to create postcards with text, art, photo and video and exchange them privately.
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January 23, 2008
Playyoo, a social networking platform for creating and sharing mobile casual games, officially opens its beta doors to the public today. Described by TechCrunch as the "YouTube For Mobile Games," Playyoo (www.playyoo.com or m.playyoo.com on mobile phones)