SOMEWHAT FRANK

TripIt Adds Location Based Traveler Alerts

TripIt, a travel planner, organizer and social networking site previously reviewed on Somewhat Frank when it launched at TechCrunch40, has added some more social stickiness to the product by exposing when your contacts might have similar travel plans. Since TripIt already offers an number of useful general travel organization and collaboration utilities the new location-based social “closeness” alerts are aimed at helping travels keep better connected with others by making it easier to keep track of when someone may be in your town or your paths cross while on the road by automatically sending out notifications.

Picnik Launches Development API

Picnik, the solid suite of photo editing tools, has just announced the release of "Picnik-in-a-Box," its  development API. Now any web site can integrate with Picnik free for charge. According to Picnik, the new Picnik-in-a-Box API should enable anyone with knowledge of HTML or server-side scripting to quickly integrate photo editing int0 their website with some custom design aspects.

Personally, I find myself leveraging Picnik more and more these days as its tools have been integrated into Flickr. Picnik has also integrated with Box.net and Webs (formerly Freewebs). If you are interested obtain a software key which gives them instant, free access to the Picnik API.

TECH cocktail Chicago 7 Announced

I am pleased to announce that TECH cocktail Chicago 7 details have just been posted on the TECH cocktail web site. This is the seventh TECH cocktail in Chicago and ninth event overall since Eric Olson and I founded the community building startup TECH cocktail in 2006. RSVP now for TECH cocktail Chicago 7!

If you are interested in supporting the TECH cocktail movement - become a TECH cocktail sponsor today! Contact us ASAP.

Shareaholic Saves You Browser Clutter

Shareaholic, the popular Firefox extension that aggregates bookmarklets that I previously covered on Somewhat Frank, has released an update which continues to strengthen its value proposition as the web browser extension that offers one stop sharing. Shareaholic has recently added Tumblr, Mixx, Simpy and FriendFeed to its sharing options which already include a number of sites. Shareaholic also offers popularity metrics like how many times the a page you are visiting has been Dugg or saved to del.icio.us.

My favorite thing about Shareaholic is that it helps remove some of the clutter that piles up from installing and a number of social bookmarking and sharing bookmarklets. Check out the latest Shareholic release and share to your hearts content.

Magnify.net Releases More Design Options

Magnify.net, a New York-based startup previously covered on Somewhat Frank, recently unveiled the ability for any member of the community to create, share, and use design elements that have been "open-sourced" by other members of the community. For example, more complex template sets that use custom color themes, graphic backgrounds, icons, and CSS can now be used as a starting point and re-mixed by other community members. These design related updates should make it easier to customize the look and feel of a Magnify.net video channel. Additionally, Magnify.net has released a new set of templates and graphics elements that include a series of themed graphics for niche sites.

ffwd Beta API Tools Available

ffwd, a video content discovery engine previously covered on Somewhat Frank, has announced the release of an early beta version of its API tools. The APIs  will provide developers with the ability to  connect to and access data from a ffwd profile. If you are a developer interested in giving the new tools a whirl and request a Developer API key or view the documentation visit: ffwd.com/developer

Happy coding! :)

MacBook Air Unveiled, Yahoo Goes OpenID, Sun Buys MySQL, VC Funding At High, Facebook Plaxo Rumors & the 2007 Crunchies Awarded

Photo of the Week: Gabe Rivera of techmeme shows off his award for best bootstrapped startup at the 2007 Crunchies (more Crunchies coverage below). Photo taken by Zivity.

Somewhat Frank Weekly Tidbits: 01.20.2008

Video: Kevin Lawver on Web Standards

This week I got a chance to sit down with AOL's Kevin Lawver who is very well respected at AOL and in the web development community. He has worked at AOL for 13 years and worked on everything from AOL search to conceptualizing and developing Ficlets, previously covered here.

We sat down and discussed a new book Adapting to Web Standards : CSS and Ajax for Big Sites which he helped Christopher Schmitt, Robert Cherny, Meryl K. Evans, Mark Trammell and Kimberly Blessing author. The book is devoted to helping experienced developers to better understand the changing web standards landscape and somewhat frankly, adapt. Kevin wrote chapter 7 which focuses on AOL's move into the online space with the relaunch the new AOL.com in 2005. The chapter discusses managing "corporate swirl" and "combating the waterfall" methodology. It even refers to web development as a craft (not witchcraft though).

Make Your Commitments StickK

Every year we attempt to make new year resolutions in an effort to ensure the next year is better than the last. Some of us try to exercise more, some try to quit smoking, while others just try and have more time to relax. Do you stay true to your resolution? I cannot say I always do. There is just something about having a little skin in the game that makes commitments stick. For example, I found that I would go to the gym more frequently when I was paying for the gym every month as opposed to when I had a free gym membership. That is exactly what StickK is all about. StickK is a site developed by Yale University economists who tested the effectiveness of commitment contracts through research. StickK uses currency to motivate you to reach your goals by making you literally pay for it you don't.

Hasbro Should Just Buy Scrabulous Already

Are you a Scrabble fan?  Scrabble, the popular word game trademarked by Hasbro, Inc. has been the topic of debate recently as an online alternative was created to operate as a Facebook application called Scrabulous. Scrabulous was created by Rajat Agarwalla and Jayant Agarwalla within the last six months already has over 600,000 active daily users. Amazing! According to an ABC News report, Hasbro is outraged about the creation of the copycat game and as AllFacebook reports they are trying to force Facebook to remove it. Am I missing something?

Video: Live From Twiistup 3

Are you twiisting up in southern California tonight?  Unfortunately, I was not able to get out to southern California like I was for Twiistup 1. But thanks to advancements in modern technology (i.e. Web 2.0) I just got a chance to video chat over BlogTV with Mike Macadaan who is hosting his third Twiistup event in Venice, California tonight at the Air Conditioned Supper Club. The event will feature 9 showoff companies and an appearance by celebrity gossip blogger Perez Hilton.

Welcome to Flickr Library of Congress

The Library of Congress just informed me of a new project they have undertaken with, Web 2.0 photo community, Flickr. In addition to posting photos on its own the Library of Congress website they have decided to also start putting historic photo sets on Flickr for all the world to see. The Library of Congress is looking to show off its photos to a larger photo centric community. With some 14 million prints, photographs and other visual materials at the Library of Congress, more than 3,000 photos from two of our most popular collections are being made available on Flickr. Wow!

AboutUs A Wiki For Organizations

AboutUs, a Portland, Oregon based startup, which launched in 2006 is focused on creating "about pages" for every domain name and organization. AboutUs offers a community approach to finding out information about an organization or website as it is built on MediaWiki which is the same collaborative wiki platform as Wikipedia which celebrated its seventh birthday this week. AboutUs was critized for building a business around companies about information without their knowledge as they partnered with domain registers to pre-populate website information. For example, check out the Somewhat Frank AboutUs page. AboutUs has come a long way since their initial launch and recently announced some updates which point to a more clear business model.

TicketsNow Sold To IAC’s Ticketmaster

If you have ever looked for concert, theater or sporting event tickets then you probably have heard of TicketsNow and Ticketmaster. TicketsNow an online tickets site founded in the Chicago northwest suburb now based in Rolling Meadows and Crystal Lake, Illinois has just announced it was acquired by InterActiveCorp’s Ticketmaster for $265 million as just reported on TECH cocktail.

AskMeNow: Text Message Answers On The Go

Are you ever on the go and in need of answer? I often find myself in need of an answer the minute I step away from the computer and therefore cannot look it up. While having an iPhone has often remedied the problem, AskMeNow may be another possible solution. AskMeNow, an Irvine, California-based startup, is a mobile service for anyone with questions and looking for answers while on the go.