SOMEWHAT FRANK

SplashCast Now Playing Podcasts & RSS

SplashCast, a Portland-based media player startup, has launched MyPodcastNetwork to enable users to play podcasts directly from the feature rich Flash-based media player. Previously, the SplashCast player was limited to only pulling in RSS feeds from YouTube and Flickr but with the MyPodcastNetwork feature you can pull in any podcast feed you like. Users can now play any podcast on your web site, blog or personalized startpage. When a podcast updates, the SplashCast player will automatically pull in the latest. This will make it easier to collect and play your favorite video and audio podcasts which could disrupt some podcast subscribers dependence on iTunes.

SplashCast is also assembling a Podcast directory to help users find the podcasts they are looking for. Users can submit any RSS feed with enclosures to the SplashCast catalog and it will be available for viewing in a SplashCast player.

What's next for SplashCast? It sounds like the focus will be on improving its search functionality and adding some basic editing tools to help users remix media content.

Find out more about MyPodcastNetwork from SplashCast Director of Content, Marshall Kirkpatrick in the video below.

Google Talks Personalization, Tech Is On Fire, Newsvine Relaunches, Ajax Offline, Filter Automates Playlists & Digg API Fun

Photo of the Week: Keyboard infestation could happen to anyone of us. Thanks to bhollar for capturing the moment on film.

Somewhat Frank Weekly Tidbits: 04.29.07

Newsvine Relaunches... Announcing Evergreen
Mike Davidson proudly announced the first major overhaul of Newsvine since launching a little more than a year ago. It is now a personalized news page that you can customize to your liking.

The Tech Industry Is On Fire
Nick O'Neill explains how tech companies are banking these days, as one company after another have come out with record breaking profits.

Q&A With Google Personalization Gurus Sep Kamvar & Marissa Mayer
Search Engine Land offers up some interesting Q&A about personalization at Google.

Podcast: Taking Ajax offline
Offline web applications are a hot topic, but often misunderstood. Dojo offers an offline toolkit among others...this podcast talks through these developments.

Warm Up To a Protected Advertising Climate
FeedBurner announced AdClimate, a new feature of the formidable FeedBurner ad server for blogs and RSS feeds. AdClimate gives marketers and advertisers the power to suppress their ads from being served into content they might deem questionable.

Firefox Extension: Smart Digg Button
The Smart Digg Button extension for Firefox places a button in your status bar. It uses the newly released Digg API to determine if the web page you are currently viewing has been submitted to Digg.

(Text) Size is Everything When It Comes To Startpages
Kent Newsome give some interesting perspective on the problems he sees with text size controls on personalized startpage products. He believes these applications need to give users a way to permanently set the text size, preferably at the module level. He understands that you can change text size at the browser level, but that makes every other page look too big.

GreenDimes Reduces Snail Mail Spam
Everyone hates junk mail. Even though you tend to get more male enhancement solicitings in your spam email, real junk mail is actually harmful to the environment and keeps your counter-tops wonderfully messy. To keep it out of your mailbox, GreenDimes ($36 per year) will help reduce the amount if snail mail spam that comes your way.

DoMyStuff.com - Find People to Complete Your Chores
DoMyStuff.com is the solution to all of the chores you need to get done, but can never seem to find the time to do them. You post what you need to get done, and others post bids on how much they’re willing to do the job for.

Adobe Takes Flex Open Source
Adobe Systems announced this week that they will be open sourcing their Adobe Flex framework so developers can access their source code to enhance its ability to create Rich Internet applications.

The Filter Automates Playlists
606Tech examines The Filter, a service that automatically creates playlists for you to put on your computer, iPod or Nokia mobile phone. This recommendation system works similar to Pandora, FineTune and MyStrands.

RSS That Anyone Can Understand

Though many leverage syndication everyday, feed reading is not an activity done by everyone. Many people don't even know what the initials RSS stand for. Common Craft recognized this disconnect and decided to try and start educating the masses with a video titled, RSS in Plain English (shown below).

                                                            

Click To Play

                                       

There are two types of Internet users, those that use RSS and those that don't. This video is for the people who could save time using RSS, but don't know where to start.

(via donloeb.com)

BusinessPOV Video Blog Covers Innovation, Entrepreneurship & Creative Culture (and TECH cocktail)

Founded in September of 2006, BusinessPOV is a Chicago-based weekday video blog focused on profiling companies, people and products that display elements of innovation, entrepreneurship and creative culture. Following a short video format the site is organized to offer top stories and local knowledge. Both video types provide valuable insight for anyone looking to or currently running a business. BusinessPOV is produced by Mark Scheffler, a former staff reporter at Crain's Chicago Business and award-winning contributor to the Chicago Tribune Magazine and his brother,  Peter, is the co-founder of XFA, one of the largest independent brokerages at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

BusinessPOV recently attended TECH cocktail 4, an event I co-founded with Eric Olson, to highlight the event. Currently, the following videos are posted:

The Forces Behind Tech Cocktail
TechCocktail 4 Product Demos, Part 1: TimeXchange.net
TechCocktail 4 Product Demos, Part 2: Menuism
TechCocktail 4 Product Demos, Part 3: Text2Store
TechCocktail 4 Product Demos, Part 4: Zaplee.com
More to come…or subscribe to BusinessPOV updates.

If you want to attend a TECH cocktail in real life, be sure to RSVP for TECH cocktail DC 1 - coming soon to Washington, DC.

AOL Launches India, US & Canada Portals

As hinted at last week, AOL has launched AOL India. The portal, a localized version of the United States version, is housed at aol.in. The portal looks very clean and light and could be considered an expression of AOL's now open and free business model. The portal offers audio and video content, email, messenger and e-commerce - oh and it has a direct link  to "cricket" on the homepage.

In addition to the India portal launch, AOL has also upgraded both the US and Canada portals with a fresh and clean look. AOL Canada can be found at: aol.ca while the US version, AOL 3.0, was launched in limited beta and can be found here and is also shown below.  You can learn more about the new AOL US portal by taking this tour. David Liu, Senior Vice President of Portals & Personal Media at AOL, had this to say of the simultaneous portal launches:

"For any doubters, this should be a wake-up call that AOL is committed to launching global products with the US as just one of the many markets we will serve."

I agree, the launch of the AOL India portal is solid indication of AOL's commitment to expanding its global reach. The success of the simultaneous portal launch plan displays how AOL can execute on a global level.

Disclosure: I am a product manager at AOL in the portal group but do not work on the AOL.com portal.

Viddler: Embed Comments & Tag Video

Viddler, a video startup created by a distributed team of developers, launched last September to enable users to upload, enhance, and share online video. Unlike its competitors Viddler has a different business model as it aims to offer both free and premium services on a subscription basis. The most interesting Viddler feature is its ability to embed tags and comments into a particular point of a video which is implemented better than a similar feature offered by Motionbox. The tags are indexed for search while it does not appear that comments are indexed. Check out this Viddler video from the Web 2.0 Expo and you will see the inline comments feature in action. You can also find out more details via this Viddler product tour.

Viddler also allows users the ability to upload video directly from a web cam which could be compared to Upstream.TV as the You.TV movement marches on. I would love to see Viddler offer additional video editing components to put it direct competition with the video editing pack which I showcased in the online video editing showdown.

Bottom-line: Viddler site that offers users the ability to  to upload, share, embed comments and tag video.

UStream.tv To Broadcast Yourself Live

While online video upload sites have become extremely popular in the web 2.0 movement, it appears that live streaming video seems to be catching on fast. UStream.tv offers users the ability to create their own live web channel with live chat functionality.  Streaming video is by no means a new concept but the UStream.tv platform does make it easy for anyone with a web camera to become a real-life Truman Show like Justin.tv.

When I asked UStream.tv CEO Chris Yeh about their product he had this to offer:

“Our story is simple. We're bringing live internet video to everyone.  By removing the barriers to broadcasting, we allow the creativity of our users to flourish.  While many experiments will fail, UStream.tv is the test tube that will help build the future of media.”

Over the past week I have experienced the trend first hand as several people I encountered were using UStream.tv to bring streaming reality broadcasts to the web. At the Web 2.0 Expo I was interviewed by Jeremiah Oywang live via UStream, I also ran into Justin.tv at a couple of different events and Sarah Meyers, Lindsay Docherty and Brian Solis even got into the Justin.tv act. Blog veterans Robert Scoble and Chris Pirrillo are also getting into the act and leveraging UStream.tv to produce live broadcasts.

In attempting to watch UStream.tv I have experienced some poor video quality issues but I figure they will subside with time. I think that we are only at the beginning of what streaming web tv has to offer and UStream.tv is a vaulable part of the evolution process. Check out the end of my chat with Jeremiah Oywang in the hallway of the Web 2.0 Expo below to see the video quality I was referring to - it is a little choppy but still could be effective. 

TECH cocktail Is Coming To DC

I am happy to announce that TECH cocktail is coming to DC in May! Coming off a great event in Chicago a couple of weeks ago we are excited to be co-hosting TECH cocktail DC 1 (TcDC1) on May 17, 2007 from 6 to 9:30pm at MCCXXII, a sweet venue in DC. Demo and sponsor details will be coming soon...as we still have a few demo & sponsor slots open, so if you are interested please contact me ASAP. 

The event is open and FREE to bloggers, technology enthusiasts, entrepreneurs and other business professionals interested in the technology arena in under served technology communities. Our goal is to help to amplify the technology and entrepreneurial signal in under served markets and have fun doing it.

Co-founders Eric Olson and I will be co-hosting TcDC1 with Nick O'Neill, a DC blogger, web developer and area native. Also special thanks to colleagues Jim Simmons & Omar Miskinyar for helping to coordinate securing the venue - that was huge!

If you are interested in attending please sign up now since you have to be on the guest list to be admitted to the event: http://techcocktaildc1.eventbrite.com
I hope to see you there! 

StumbleUpon & Hitwise Acquired, Netvibes Universe Launches, Web 2.0 Expo Wrap-up, AOL India & Education 2.0

Photo of the Week: I snapped this photo of the West Wing while celebrating Earth Day 2007 on the White House grounds.

eBay Acquires StumbleUpon
StumbleUpon was acquired by eBay for between $40 to $75 million but it seems Google Google tried to rain on their parade with a toolbar update.

Hitwise Acquired by Experian for $240 Million
All of those great charts that Hitwise so freely provide us, have paid off big time for the web intelligence company. Information services provider Experian has announced their cash purchase of Hitwise for $240 million.

Netvibes Launches Universe: Customized Public Pages
Netvibes launched Universe, allowing users to create highly customized versions of Netvibes and publish them for public access. Netvibes has created 100 or so branded versions for the launch - users will be able to create these soon. Netvibes hosted a huge launch party this past Monday in San Francisco.

What Every Video Aggregator Site Needs
Here are a few things that every Video Aggregator website needs in order to stay afloat in this ever-crowding market.

AOL Launching Next Week In India
AOL President and COO Ron Grant is going to be in India next week for the launch of AOL’s India portal.

Google Feed API
Google Reader finally has its first official API. Any developer in the world can request the entire history of a web feed from Google's geo-distributed server cloud in a normalized response for inclusion in their websites or products.

Web 2.0 Expo: All Things Widgets
The Web 2.0 Expo included two sessions on widgets. Also, offline web apps could be the next big thing after seeing an Apollo demo, by Kevin Lynch of Adobe.

Web 2.0 takes On Colleges And Universities: Education 2.0
In the shift from an intellectual economy of push, to one of pull, the evolving participatory media are making their impact felt . It is no longer enough to pump out information like gasoline and expect authentic learning to take place - the new generation.

Popular Web 2.0 Video Explained

A few months ago, I highlighted an inventive web 2.0 video titled, "Web 2.0 ... The Machine is Us/ing Us"  by Kansas State University anthropology professor Michael Welsh. The brief article I wrote ended up on the Digg homepage which ultimately lead to its mainstream discovery - at last count over two million people have viewed the video.

Professor Welsh was in attendance at the Web 2.0 Expo this past week and spoke at the Web 2.Open, a platform for open discussion on a topic of their choice. The professor decided to explain his video and YouTube user brickysponge recorded the discussion.

After A Long Web 2.0 Week: How Much Time Did It Take Off Your Life?

After a long week of traveling from Chicago for TECH cocktail to San Francisco for a week of Web 2.0 Expo events as explained by Mike Arrington, I feel like I may have shaved a few days off my life. Is there a way on the web to find out the impact of this week of sleepless nights and long days at the expo? If you’ve ever wondered just how long you’ll be taking up space on project earth, several sites are available to project how long you will could live. Based on how you complete a series of lifestyle questions, the sites calculate a projected age you will live to celebrate, or put another less popular way, your death age.

Internist Dr. Michael Roizen is a pioneer with health related questions to determine how one’s daily habits contribute to their good health with suggestions on how to live longer. At Dr. Roizen’s Realage.com you can calculate your “real age” based on your lifestyle, eating and drinking habits, and even how often you floss your teeth.

If you want more information, including how long you will live, (and why would you really want to know that?) you can log on to LivingTo100.com for those under 50 years of age, and to Eons.com for those older then 50. Each site walks you through a series of questions on health, diet, exercise, family, attitude, etc. and then calculates how long you will live.

So keep eating the broccoli, taking the vitamins, blogging daily and having fun you should live a long and happy life on the web.

Photo Attribution: stephcarter via Flickr

Print 2.0 Goes Moo

While standard businesses are not going away anytime soon Moo has been a web 2.0 cultural innovator. If you have been around the web 2.0 scene at all you know exactly what I am talking about. Moo, a London-based printing company, has created a new trend in business cards that measure 28mm by 70mm called Moo cards.

So what is the big deal? Moo cards allow users to create mini cards with a personalized card back that can display an uploaded or imported photo - this makes each card even more personalized and unique thus making exchanging business cards a more memorial experience for all parties involved. Moo has created a place for anyone looking for some business cards to easily create reasonably priced yet memorable business cards.

Aside from business cards, Moo launched NoteCards today at the Web 2.0 Expo. In talking with Moo CEO Richard Moross yesterday I got a little demo of the new NoteCard product that doubles as a standing photo. Moo makes it easy to add your photos to personalize your Moo NoteCards which measure 100mm by 100mm.

Though Moo may not be considered a web 2.0 company, they have recreated business cards and now personalized card thus influencing web 2.0 culture. Print 2.0 goes Moo like a purple cow.

Annotate Your Photos With Graphita

Graphita, a San Rafael, California-based startup, offers an online photo annotation product that will be launching in mid-May. Graphita is a Flash-based application that makes it easy for anyone to take a photo and add some bling to it via a WYSIWYG application with a toolbar that resembles a customized and simplified version of the Adobe Photoshop toolbar.

Overall, the product was easy to use and offered some creative enjoyment to an otherwise hectic day. I recently got a live demo of the service at Web 2.0 Expo and decided to write up a quick post for TechCrunch.

TechCrunch20 Conference Details

Looking for a fall conference to attend? Mike Arrington, editor of TechCrunch, has just announced the details of the TechCrunch20 conference at the VC 2.0 session he moderated at the Web 2.0 Expo. The conference is being co-organized by Jason Calacanis and Mike Arrington and sponsored by Sequoia Capital with the idea of highlighting 20 of the hottest startups at the event. GigaOm offers more details.The event will be held at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco September 17 thru€“ 18, 2007 with tickets ranging between $1,995 and $2,495 depending upon ticket purchase date. You can register now.

GigaOm offers some additional perspective on TechCrunch20.

If you are looking for other conferences to attend you might want to check out this roundup of 2007 conferences.

Are you ready to Twiistup?

If you are going to be in the Los Angeles, California area on May 9, 2007 then I would recommend you make your way to Zanzibar in Santa Monica to Twiistup. What is Twiistup? Twiistup, founded by Mike Macadaan, a friend and AOL colleague, is an event that aims to bring together the brightest minds in SoCal for an evening of conversations, demos and enjoyment.

There will be demonstrations from:

Buildv1
Verse Studios
goodreads
yourminis
Urbaniacs
mint
ooVoo

I am planning on being in attendance (unless my work schedule interferes) and it’s my birthday so I am going to take 50 Cent’s advice:

It's your birthday
We gon' party like it's your birthday
We gon' sip Bacardi like it's your birthday
And you know we don't give a f*ck
cause it's not your birthday!

I hope to see you there. I wrote about Twiistup on the TECH cocktail site and Mike offered up the promo code: techcocktail to save guests $10 per ticket - snag your tickets today.