SOMEWHAT FRANK

Video: TECH cocktail Song

I have been pretty busy the last month or so preparing to host the first TECH cocktail CONFERENCE on May 29, 2008 in Chicago. As part of the preparation I found myself whistling while I work and pulled together a TECH cocktail Song which is Episode 28 of SOMEWHAT FRANK TV. It is a bit of a TECH cocktail ballad and I hope you enjoy it!

Brightkite Impressive Mobile Social Network

Mobile social networks have come a long way since Google acquired Dodgeball back in 2005 as both mobile devices and online product offerings have improved. Twitter and other mobile enabled lifestreaming and communication products have taken off as users have grown more accustom to text messaging. That said, I finally got around to give, the Colorado-based startup Brightkite a try and was impressed by it.

NASA Lands On Mars, Google Health Launches, AOL/Bebo Deal Done, FriendFeed Adds Rooms, Twitter Database Crashes & Living Public Lives

Photo of the Week: Happy Memorial Day! Have a cupcake. Photo credit: Megan.

SOMEWHAT FRANK Weekly Tidbits: 5.25.2008

Video: Finally, I Bought a Mac

Aside from the iPod and its PC vs. Mac commercials, Apple must be doing something right as a number of influencer and early adopters appear to be going Apple. If you attend a technology and social media conferences these days you will see what I mean as you might find a sea of Apple logos in the crowd. I have held out on making the move to a Mac for quite sometime as I leveraged Windows and all it can offer to the maximum but when it came time for me to get a new machine I decided it was time to try out an Apple. I recently purchase my first Mac, a MacBook Pro to be exact. I decided to capture the moment as episode 27 of SOMEWHAT FRANK TV.

Vector Magic: An Online Vector Image Creator

Vector graphics are something you may encounter at some point if you ever do any logo design or print work. Vector images uses mathematical equations to render thus can be resized without the pixelation concerns of non-vector images. Unless you have Adobe Illustrator you might find it difficult to create a vector image. Of course you could check out Aviary when it launches all its products. In the meantime, I found Vector Magic.

DailyLit Delivers Books Daily Via Email & RSS

With my busy schedule and lots of commitments I find reading books these days a challenge. DailyLit realizes this and has launched a product looking to help make it easier. DailyLit delivers books in managable installments via e-mail or RSS feed. Book updates are sent everyday in chucks that only take a few minutes (2 to 5 minutes) to read and then move on with your day making it possible to actually make progress on reading a book. DailyLit offers over 750 classics and a number of other books. Books range anywhere from free to $9.95 and come in a range of installments depending on the length of the book.

StickerGiant.com Delivers Logo Stickers

Stickers are part of the Web 2.0 culture as just about every startup, blogger and social media expert knows. I recently got a package delivered to me from the StickerGiant.com, a Colorado-based sticker company, which was filled with stickers that sport the SOMEWHAT FRANK logo. They are awesome - thank you StickerGiant!

WE ADD UP T-Shirts Count Your Green Efforts

What are you doing to help combat global warming? WE ADD UP looks to help you answer this very question by making it easier to make it blatantly clear on a t-shirt. We Add Up is counting each and every person that takes a green pledge which includes twenty plus different options from buying a hybrid to showering together. WE ADD UP puts a hand printed number on each shirt that helps to count identify your number in the global count. WE ADD UP prints its shirts on organic t-shirts.

CNet and Ars Technica Acquired, Life Streaming Architecture, Crowdsourcing Workflow, Ad Design Tactics & A Flickr Case Study

Photo of the Week: This is a photo of the TECH cocktail RACING Pine Wood Derby car which took 6th place out of 41 at this years Threadless.com Threadle Manss this past weekend.

SOMEWHAT FRANK Weekly Tidbits: 05.18.2008

Social Media & Blogging Presentation

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.

I got some social media feedback from some of the attendees here and here.

Social Media & Blogging - Get more documents

Video: Threadlemanss & TECH cocktail RACING

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.

Science & Engineering Converge On Atlanta

If you are down in Atlanta, Georgia today and tomorrow you might want to swing into the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair which is taking place. The worlds best young scientists, including many Georgia students will all be on hand showing off their technology and engineering masterpieces. Check out the video below for a quick preview.

crowdSPRING Launches To Crowdsource Design

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.

May & June 2008 Web/Tech & Social Media Events

I will be speaking about social media and blogging in May and June at the following events:

Social Rockstar Workshop
May 16. 2008 - Washington, D.C.

I will be speaking about social media and blogging and making some references to its use in the corporate environment of AOL, Tribune and Classified Ventures where he has lead blogging & social media initiatives. There are a number of local D.C. area social media experts which will be offering perspective followed by workshops.

TECH cocktail CONFERENCE
May 29, 2008 - Chicago, IL

I am co-hosting our first TECH cocktail CONFERENCE bringing attendees access to a day full of amazing speakers, great perspectives and advice in an intimate environment where speakers are approachable. The goal of the conference is to assist attendees by bringing them essential business startup tips, advice and knowledge from a super-cast of successful founders, developers and entrepreneurs. It should be a super day followed by our popular TECH cocktail Chicago 8 mixer event. Use the discount code: somewhatfrank to save on your ticket!

BlogPotomac
June 13, 2008 - Falls Church, VA

I am giving the lunch keynote on social media Friday the 13th for the first BlogPotomac event. BlogPotomac  seeks to provide a local “un-conference” on best marketing practices for the social media community in the D.C. metro area.   

How Does Friend Connect Put Users In Control?

Google will be launching Friend Connect tonight to turn the open Web a place for open social apps to run wild as a motivator adoption mechanism for the new Google Gadget 2.0 format with OpenSocial across the Web. With Google powering email and search and collecting user data, I wonder about this new social component and about user controls. I did not get a chance to ask this question on the call due to what may have been technical issues but regardless I wanted to throw it out there to the blogosphere to give their SOMEWHAT FRANK perspectives on the following:

  How Does Google Friend Connect Put Users In Control?

Please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below if you have a SOMEWHAT FRANK opinion.