SOMEWHAT FRANK

Xoopit Social Mail Plugin Beta Funded

Though email is a bit of burden at times, it is also in many cases the first point of contact for people as they go about their everyday routine. A large number of email users spend a significant part of their day working inside the email environments. Xoopit, a San Francisco-based startup is looking to capitalize on that point by looking to create a series of products that transform the email inbox into the largest social network. Xoopit takes a similar approach to Xobni an Outlook plugin which I highlighted previously and is rumored to be acquired very soon. Xoopit, today announced they had raised $5 Million Series A round of funding led by Accel Partners and Foundation Capital as they also rolled out a private beta.

StyleFeeder Opens Social Shopping API

StyleFeeder, a Cambridge, Massachusetts based personal shopping engine startup, is announcing its open API that lets developers create third-party applications, widgets and even integrate all of StyleFeeder's key functionality into any e-commerce website.

According to a recent release, StyleFeeder founder and CTO Philip Jacob had this to say:

"Essentially, we're offering a potent set of personal and social online shopping tools to developers -- the possibilities are endless."

StyleFeeder offers a Web 2.0 social and personalized shopping recommendation engine. By learning about a user's likes and dislikes, StyleFeeder helps them shop and discover new products they might just want to buy or share with others. StyleFeeder also has leveraged social media to offer a pretty solid fashion and style blog.

Fantasti.cc Aggregates Free Web Porn Videos

Editor's Warning: This article contains adult content and it not suitable for children. If you are under age please navigate away from this article immediately. Thank you.

It is no secret that sex sells. I have previously highlighted the work of GOOD Magazine in creating this video explaining the porn industry and its financial success. That said, pornography generates interest and revenue both online and off and it was only a matter of time before Web 2.0 principles were applied to online porn. Zivity is one startup doing some interesting things in the space by enabling anyone to create and post their own videos, photos and other content and generate revenue for doing so. My friend Orli Yakuel has also previously pulled together an article showcasing a number of Porn 2.0 services. Fantasti.cc aggregates online video content from many of the video sites she listed.

OpenSocial Foundation Formed, Tips On Making Great Mobile Apps, Twitter Monetization Issue, Value of Widgets & Are Newspapers Dead?

Photo of the Week: With spring upon us, the cherry blossoms are in bloom around the Tidal Basin in Washington, D.C. this week.

SOMEWHAT FRANK Weekly Tidbits: 3.30.2008

Video: Thoughts On Twitter (vs. Facebook)

The adoption of Twitter, which I covered previously a number of times, appears to be acceleratingly since March 6th as I have seen my followers double in that three week period. My friend Gary Vaynerchuk recently started to do a daily "thoughts on life" video podcast and gave his thoughts on Twitter vs. Facebook...kinda. So in response to his video I wanted to make a quick SOMEWHAT FRANK TV episode 18 with my thoughts on Twitter (mainly) as well as a few comments about Facebook. I use them both and they are complementary products.

Aviary: Powerful Online Tools For Artists

There are a number of desktop tools for designers and artists but it seems an online version of those tools is something that is lacking. From a photo editing perspective picnik and Adobe Photoshop Express offer easy to use tools for editing images. But they are fairly simple tools and do not offer vector image creation or editing. Aviary is looking to change this by offering a number of tools for  the creative to do everything including image editing, typography, music and video. Aviary is a website for artists of all genres to create, edit and share their works directly in their favorite browser. This collaboration is something that similar desktop applications do not offer.

Voxant: Free Licensed Content For Publishers

If content is truly king then Voxant is in the right business. Voxant Newsroom looks to help distribute and promote content from licensed content sources for free. Voxant offers publishers a place to find and embed licensed video, text, and photos from over two hundred news sources from a variety of providers. Voxant places advertising in the its embeddable content to monetize the content making it possible to keep the content available for free to publishers.

BlogPotomac To Unite DC Area Bloggers

If you are in the Washington, D.C. area, mark your calendars and register now 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.

Video: Email is Broken & AwayFind Could Help

Is email broken? I have been struggling to manage email for a long time as I attempted to liberate my inbox back in 2005 only to once again stare email bankruptcy in the eyes. Email is such a double-edged sword since I need email to communicate but get so much of it becomes difficult to use effectively. I am not alone, I have heard the same things from a number of colleagues and recently TechCrunch editor and founder Mike Arrington even called the communication crisis produced by email a opportunity for an entrepreneur.  

I recently met Jared Goralnick who is a bit of a productivity guru. Jared joined me on quick SOMEWHAT FRANK TV episode number 17 (below). He recently founded AwayFind.com. AwayFind, a DC-based startup, is looking to help ease some of the email burden so you can focus on your day-to-day tasks without constant interruptions. With AwayFind, which is currently in private beta, users can setup a page (like this one I created) to include in auto-response messages to anyone that emails them. The auto-response offers a little explanation as to when you might get to the mail and a form which can contact the user directly via SMS text messaging and email if the item being sent needs to be handled immediately. You can sign-up for the AwayFind beta here and you can follow them on twitter here.

Loladex Local Search Based On Your Friends

Finding the best place to eat, get your teeth cleaned, get a haircut or buy groceries in your local neighborhood can sometimes be a daunting task using the Web. While there are some sites like Yelp that lend a helping hand they don't cover everything you might be looking for and they certainly do not have all of your friends recommendations.

Loladex, a Washington, DC based startup, which just officially launched today is looking to offer prioritized search based on recommendations of Facebook friends. Loladex, founded by Laurence Hooper and Dan Goodman both formerly of AOL, is looking to offer true word of mouth by creating a compelling local search engine experience for just about anything in your area.

Thank You SOMEWHAT FRANK Sponsors

Thank you for SOMEWHAT FRANK sponsors. To be totally Frank with you, I love to blog and I am humbled by the support. Thank you for helping to make it possible for me to do what I love to do everyday. The goal of SOMEWHAT FRANK is to provide candid and timely perspectives on how Web 2.0 and technology fuse into everyday life which offers a great opportunity for sponsors to appear along side some great related content. So thank you so very much to the following sponsors:

ACS - ACS is a top-tier consulting firm that specializes in strategy, marketing, and implementation for companies trying to grow business online and offline. ACS has worked with over 100 companies on anything from basic strategy to full-blow marketing and is always looking for companies that are trying to do things right and take their business to the next level.

Wine Library TV - Wine Library TV (WLTV) a daily video show powered by Gary Vaynerchuk is changing the wine world. Gary is a wine 2.0 expert who has reinvented the concept of wine tasting for a new generation. In addition to encouraging straightforward wine tasting, Gary educates viewers about the effects of regional factors (soil, sun, wind) on wine flavors, and how to buy wine. Debunking myths (red vs. white, big name brands vs. independent growers, the pitfalls of wine ratings, etc.) is another ongoing theme of the show. Wine Library TV airs 5 days a week, with new episodes appearing between 4:00 and 6:00 Eastern Standard Time.

myAOL - myAOL is an Ajax, personalized homepage which offers applications and content to be your dashboard for the Web. It offers AOL content and applications (i.e. Truveo Video Search, AOL Mail, AOL Video, AOL Music, TMZ.com, etc.) in addition to 3rd party applications (i.e. Twitter, eBay, YouTube, Gmail, Yahoo Mail and many more).  It also offers a full-fledged feed reader and bookmarking product to save all your favorites in one place for easy access from the Web. Finally, Mgnet offers content recommendations as a way to help find content that might interest you.

If you are not listed above and want to support SOMEWHAT FRANK and would like to sponsor please check out the SOMEWHAT FRANK sponsorship options.

If you're a startup, have a rad product or service or a web technology enthusiast and have a topic you want to explore on SOMEWHAT FRANK or our fairly new video podcast SOMEWHAT FRANK TV, please contact me at frank AT somewhatfrank DOT com .

emPivot: YouTube For Green Videos

With the melting of the polar ice caps a lot more focus has been placed on the environment lately. Going green has been a popular topic, one that I have written about before as I compiled a list of green Web 2.0 sites. Well, I just found another site worth taking a look at called emPivot. emPivot, a Washinton, DC based startup, is like YouTube for "Green" videos as it offers a video sharing site specifically for "Green" media.

ajaxWindows: Desktop Access From Anywhere

Getting to your personal while away has now gotten a lot easier thanks to the San Diego based startup ajax 13 creators of ajaxWindows. ajaxWindows enables users to access their computer desktop just as if they were on it via a web browser from anywhere and event on a mobile device. Simply create an account and ajaxWindows syncs with your desktop and creates a duplicate online version. You can then access it from anywhere while on the go.

Blog Dream Team Wanted, Blogosphere Conversations Gone?, Startup Weekend, Oprah Uses Web Tech & People Cannot Find Google

Photo of the Week: It is March Madness and, like this crowd, I was swept into the excitement this past weekend as one of my alma maters, Purdue University, took on Xavier in Washington, DC.

SOMEWHAT FRANK Weekly Tidbits: 3.23.08

Video: Sharing The JoyEngine Community Story

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.