SOMEWHAT FRANK

The DC Nationals' Social Media Opportunity

With baseball in it's final series of 2009 I wanted to share some of my thoughts on baseball, branding and social media, thoughts that have been brewing for a while. I currently live in Washington, D.C., a plane ride away from my favorite baseball team, the Chicago Cubs, and within driving distance of the two teams with the worst records in baseball this past season, the Baltimore Orioles and the Washington Nationals respectively. They both lost a lot of games this year (98 and 103) which only makes me miss my hometown Cubbies even more but let's not forget they have been nothing less than disappointing for over a century. Even in 2003, where I was five outs away from doing Wrigley Field victory dance by heading to the World Series they found a way to break my heart. But every season, I still come back with even more resilience that it could be the Cubs year.

That said, due to my social technology and media background (my baseball skills probably didn't hurt either), I was invited to meet with the Washington Nationals executives last month at Nationals Park. I was honored to do so and in meeting with Stan Kasten, Bob Wolfe and others I realized that they are just a three year old start-up that spun out of what was the Montreal Expos organization. Call me an optimist but I think they have an almost clean slate, branding-wise, that offers them a huge opportunity to create a strong following both online and off. 

MLB Baseball Manager Sues Twitter Over Fake Account & Fuels Online Identity Debate

The issue of online identity has been an age old issue online as some users leverage the Web to manage multiple personas and online identities. Though there are initiatives like OpenID and OAuth that look to help remedy the situation, it still is somewhat difficult to verify true online identity. This opens the door to online identity impersonation. In many cases, someone creates a fake account to playfully mock another person which could be taken as the ultimate form of flattery. But in other cases the mocking can turn downright insulting. This seems to be the case with the fake Twitter account of St. Louis Cardinals Manager Tony La Russa. He has also experienced a fake account of his own and he is not taking it lightly as he is suing Twitter over it. According to TechCrunch the suit was filed in the Superior Court of California in San Francisco seeking “unspecified damages.”

According to ESPN the following Tweet was made from a fake Tony La Russa account on April 19, 2009:

"Lost 2 out of 3, but we made it out of Chicago without one drunk driving incident or dead pitcher."

This is a pretty distasteful tweet as it references two St. Louis pitchers that tragically passed away (Darryl Kile in 2002 & Josh Hancock in 2007). Twitter reacted by taken down the fake account.

This is the second Twitter lawsuit (the first I recall was the Courtney Love Defamation Suit), but it could cause an avalanche of attention and potential copycat lawsuits. Online user generated content businesses should be ready to address such an issue as I am sure we have not seen the last of it.

Since fake accounts can be so destructive, I am wondering what Twitter or other sites should do to address things like this. I feel it is time for people to be real and even switched my twitter name to my real name as social Web has transformed into place of true identity. Should sites allow users to have multiple accounts unlinked to a true identity? By doing so this could cut down the number of fake accounts as they would need to be connected to a real identity thus adding a level of transparency. Is Twitter at fault here or should they put the blame on the user? 

Photo above by toadstool ring on Flickr

The Mitchell (Steroids) Report Posted Online

I am an avid baseball fan and former collegiate baseball player. During my time growing up playing the game the professional baseball player pay scale increased dramatically, raising the stakes for anyone playing the game from tee-ball to the pros.  Watching Major League Baseball through the years, many players transformed in front of my eyes from lanky ballplayer of the 1980's to bulky players of the 1990's and beyond. With all the controversy swirling around steroids in baseball, Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig appointed former a former Senate majority leader and federal prosecutor, George J. Mitchell to conduct an investigation on the use of performance-enhancing drugs in the sport.

With the investigation now completed the results creatively title, The Mitchell Report were released. The report calls out a number of respected and previously thought to be 'clean' baseball players as steroid users. It is now available online for you to read and cherish for yourself.

iPhone Secret Features, Flickr Video & Tools, Google Mashup Editor, Facebook on Netvibes, Best Conferences & Twiistup

Photo of the Week: Barry Bonds hit home run 755 last night in a game vs. San Diego tying Hank Aaron for most career home runs in Major League history. John Feeley was in attendance and captured history with his zoom lens in this shot (shown above).  

Somewhat Frank Weekly Tidbits: 08.05.07

Twiistup 2: 08.08.07 - Sign Up Today!
Time to for Twiistup 2, you may recall I attended Twiistup 1 on my birthday in Santa Monica, California and had a blast. If you are going to be in Venice, California this coming Wednesday (August 8, 2007) you should stop by Air Conditioned Supper Club and Twiistup too! SIGN UP HERE.

How To Become A Blogger
Stowe Boyd dishes 5 simple steps to becoming a blogger. It is a common question, I am glad he addressed it.

Facebook Meet Netvibes: Netvibes Introduces the Facebook Widget
The new Netvibes Facebook Widget launched to allow users to view their Facebook notifications and friends. You can now access your Facebook info on Netvibes, and keep up to date on what your friends are doing.

Secret New iPhone Features
Walt Mossberg points out how Apple issued its first iPhone update this week. And, while the company billed it as merely a bug-fix and security-improvement patch, in fact it has several small feature improvements that Apple hasn’t announced or documented.

FLICKR TOOLBOX: 100+ Tools For Flickr Addicts
Check out some Flickr tools that Mashable pulled together for Flickr addicts like me.

Google Mashup Editor
Read/Write Web got beta access to the new Google Mashup Editor which provides a simple interface that enables developers to make basic web applications and mashups quickly. And again, like Yahoo! Pipes, it is very definitely aimed at developers.

Reconfirmation: Flickr To Add Video
Flickr has been rumored to be adding video since August but it appears that they could do it sooner than later.

Personalize Your Site’s Content With MineKey
MineKey is a startup that makes adding personalization to any website simple through their embeddable widget.

Perform Powerful Searches Visually with SearchCrystal
searchCrystal enables you to perform powerful searches visually. Their wonderful platform makes it possible to explore and filter 50 - 500 web pages, images, videos, blogs in a single display that guides people toward relevant info in a structured way.

What Web Conferences to Attend
I wrote up a pretty extensive list of conferences worth looking into back in January. Of course a few other conferences have popped up over the last few months. Read/Write Web weighs in on the conferences to check out.

YouTube Feature Updates, Embed Joost?, Flickr Goes Global, Me.dium $15 Million, Stalker 2.0, Fat Long Tail, RSS Toolbox, Discover via Megite & Blog Or Die

Photo of the Week: Jen Consalvo recently snapped this photo titled backlight. A little sunshine is a beautiful thing and is good for the soul - this little yellow guy appears to agree.

Somewhat Frank Weekly Tidbits: 06.17.07

YouTube Remixer: Edit Videos Online At YouTube
YouTube has officially launched YouTube Remixer, a new service that allows users to edit their videos from within YouTube itself. Also, YouTube Mobile launched this week.

Discover From Megite
Megite recently launched a discover area which offers users a place to find new things via a tag cloud and other discover links.

Embedded Joost Will Change The Market
Reports that Joost is now talking to hardware vendors about embedding Joost into set-top boxes and televisions will change the market as we know it.

Me.dium Pulls $15 Million in Funding
Boulder, Colorado based Me.dium, the sidebar social network, has received $15 million in second round funding. The round of funding was led by Commonwealth Capital Ventures.

11 web technologies political campaigns should consider
Technology Evangelist points to 11 different technologies political campaign leads should know.

Google Reader losing feeds?
A few people complained this week that Google Reader lost their feeds. I didn't see it, did it happen to you?

CommunityNext July 14th: VIRAL... Catch the Fever!
The Next CommunityNext conference is coming up July 14th - are you signed up?

Stalking 2.0: The Websites that Track Your Every Move (Voluntarily!)
Are you letting people track you online? If so you probably have encountered one of these stalker 2.0 applications.

The Long Tail Is Getting Fatter
It wasn’t that long ago that 100,000 users was considered huge for a Web 2.0 related business. Today a small startup such as SpaceTime can gain those numbers in two weeks. 6 million users three years ago would have seemed an impossible dream, and yet it is very attainable now. This article takes a closer look.

Can You Make A Living Blogging?
Great question and I will have to answer with a resounding 'YES!!!' I have seen bloggers go from nothing to something as little as a six months to a year. It is pretty amazing. However, I have to agree with Nick, we don't all blog for the money...the real benefits of blogging are all the great friendships that come from it.

Schilling's Laws for Perfect Start(up)s
Seth Goldstein talks baseball and startups on Found+READ.

The Ultimate RSS Toolbox - 120+ RSS Resources
Check out this comprehensive post on a number of RSS tools available on the web. You may already know but I think RSS is sexy. ;)

Flickr Goes Global
Flickr opens up its doors to a number of new languages and also there is word this week that Yahoo Photos is going to be closing its doors. I'd say this is a big week for Flickr. I have a feeling Flickr video uploads are coming very soon.

Microsoft Buying Yahoo?, Goodbye Yahoo Photos, YouTube RevShare, Small the New Big, Conference Success & Twittering

Photo of the Week: This was the view from Sweet View on Derby Day at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois.

Somewhat Frank Weekly Tidbits: 05.06.07

Microsoft to Buy Yahoo? Nope.
Stung by the loss of Internet advertising firm DoubleClick to Google last month, Microsoft has intensified its pursuit of a deal with Yahoo!, asking the company to re-enter formal negotiations, The Post has learned. Opps, false alarm.

Breaking: Yahoo To Shut Down Yahoo Photos In Favor Of Flickr
The Yahoo Photos service will be shut down in favor of the newer and more social Flickr, which they acquired in March of 2005. Peanut butter clean-up?

YouTube Makes Some Members Content Partners
Participating user-partners will be treated as other content partners and will have the ability to control the monetization of the videos they create. Once they’ve selected a video to be monetized, we’ll place advertising adjacent to their content and share the revenue with the content producer.

Small is The New Big
Now that Web 2.0 is growing up, scale no longer matters. GigaOm explains how even tiny businesses—like transcription services—can go global.

eBay widgets
What a fantastic and easy way to promote your auctions or Ebay fund raisers on your blog! The set-up for this widget is very simple to figure out. There are no technical hurdles for newbies to worry about.

The (Re)Birth of Mobile Banking
While the upcoming iPhone launch is capturing the lion’s share of attention in the Wireless industry, the re-introduction of Mobile Banking has been at the core of a movement to make a cell phone your next wallet.

Calacanis’ latest, Project X, Kokua?
Jason Calacanis, co-founder of Weblogs Inc., and now an entrepreneur-in-action at Sequoia Capital is working on a new company called, Project X. Valleywag published some details about the company earlier this week, that has the apparent backing of Mark Cuban. I am hoping Mark also buys the Chicago Cubs at seasons end.

Most Profitable Web 2.0 Business: Conferences
The tech conference business continues to amaze me. They are true champion revenue generators of the web 2.0 area.

Rebrand & New Features: Google IG To Relaunch as iGoogle
Google’s personalized home page, Google IG, has been rebranded as iGoogle and launched at igoogle.com.

Twittering more than blogging
I sent 1,327 text messages last month, many of which were related to twitter so I have to say that I did not write anywhere near 1,327 blog posts in the same time. Marshall Kirkpatrick explains how he is has been twittering a lot more than blogging as well.

Sportsvite: Find Local Sports and Players

Looking to play a team sport like baseball or football but unable to field a full team? You are not alone. With Sportsvite you may be able to scream - GAME ON! Sportsvite, a New York and Northern Virginia based startup, offers a place on the web to organize active sports and connect with other players for league teams, pick-up games and activity groups.

Sportsvite offers a unique opportunity to connect with local athletically inclined people. With Sportvite, users post sporting interests, photos and other information to enable community members to connect to play a sport. Sportsvite offers users the ability to create games, teams and find players and post listings. Sportsvite users can also manage their sports schedule on the site. Sportsvite is a free service looking generate revenue from advertising and listings.

Sportsvite offers a unique opportunity to connect with local athletically inclined people. I did a few searches for Sportsvite users that were interested in baseball in my local area and was pleasantly surprised by the number of results. I also liked the added touch that the rotating sports quotes that appear along the top left edge of the site. Check out this humorous video about how Sportsvite might be able to help you - stop playing with yourself.

Bottom-line: Sportsvite offers a social network to help connect users with sports lovers looking to play team sports.

TechCrunch Gets F*ckedCompany, iTunes Subscription Service, Baseball 007 and Spinn3r & BlogRovr Launch

Photo of the Week: Opening Day 2007 for Major League Baseball is today so enjoy the photo above by Betsy titled New hat, in honor of the start of the 2007 baseball season.

Somewhat Frank Weekly Tidbits: 04.01.07

TechCrunch Has Acquired F*ckedCompany.com
Playing a little April Fools joke? Will Mike Arrington come back with a follow-up post that says something similar to the lyrics of a Marshall Mathers song? Something like:

"Hahaha, I'm just playin' ladies. You know I love you."

In all honesty, it actually would make sense for TechCrunch to take on some other brands to expand its reach.

Apple Announces Unlimited iTunes Subscription Service
iTunes will launch an all-you-can-eat subscription service in June, according to sources at Apple Inc. The service, which will cost around $100 a month, will offer unlimited downloads of videos and music tracks from iTunes’ extensive catalog.

Dave Winer’s Scripting News Celebrates 10th Anniversary
One of the oldest blogs in existence, Scripting News, run by software and web pioneer Dave Winer, is celebrating its 10th anniversary on April 1, 2007. Congrats to Dave Winer for keeping it real for so long.

The 9 Essential Posts that Every Blogger Should Know
Do you ever get blogger fog (similar to writers block)? It could happen and this article addresses 9 post ideas you could fall-back options.

10 Most Popular Brands on Digg
Pronet Advertising looks at the most popular brands surfacing on Digg these days.

Love Doesn’t Equal Loyalty: Online Dating in February 2007
I recently became single again after a couple of year relationship so I figure it best I find out what is going on with the online dating scene since I just don't have the time to go out and find people to date these days - I hardly have time to get ample sleep.

Best New Mashups: Diversions
ProgrammableWeb has posted some interesting mashups that are worth checking out if you have some free time.

BlogRovr Fetches Content From Your Favorite Blogs
BlogRovr is an interesting new way of getting blog information, on the go while you're surfing the Web. It is a download plugin for Firefox 2.0, which works cross-platform on Windows, Mac and Linux. There is currently no IE plugin, but plans to support for IE6 and IE 7 soon.

TailRank Opens Service As A Platform
TailRank, a popular blog news organizer that competes with TechMeme and Megite, has opened up its back end and will provide the service as a platform called Spinn3r for application developers who would like to add a blog index and ranking service. Spinn3r is said to have a 1 million blog index.

Should Technology Change Sports?

The wonders of technology...  At work, it can make us more efficient and it can even make us seem smarter.  At home, it helps us navigate trips, stay in touch with friends, and opens up an unending mall right on the screen.  On the field, it makes us faster, more precise, or stronger.  Simply stated, technology helps us perform better.

But what happens when the line between man and machine gets blurry?  When does “supplement” become “synthetic”?  We hear often about steroids – and what are they but biotechnology?  And when does it all become obsolete?  A few years ago there were controversial second skin-like swimsuits at the Olympics.  But the Games came and went with the typical tight races and record breakers inherent in any athletic cycle.

An interesting article recently discussed the latest round of controversial sports equipment, training strategies and apparel, and how the incorporation of these new technologies may influence athletics for better or for worse.  There is also a slide-show showcasing what lies ahead or sports technology.

Should technology be allowed to change sports the way it changes business?

What is Green Monster Games?

Green Monster Games is a startup founded by an interesting combination of people which includes Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling, the creator the the comic book Spawn, Todd McFarlane and sci-fi writer, R.A. Salvatore. With this all-star cast of founders it appears they are hiring programmers to actually develop the product.

GMG is looking to change the landscape of online gaming. It is not totally clear what type of games they are looking to create but I think it would be safe to assume that it is going to be some sort of epic journey looking to engage players for hours and hours (i.e. Second Life or World of Warcraft).

MSN FanClub: Baseball the Web 2.0 Way

The Schaumburg Flyers of the Independent League have decided to take a web 2.0 approach to managing the ballclub as they have introduced a new production initiative called FanClub. FanClub is part of the MSN Originals project and is an online show from the makers of Project Greenlight, LivePlanet, that lets viewers watch and influence the managerial decision of the professional minor league team based in a suburb of Chicago. According to PaidContent.org:

“Fans will be in charge of key managerial decisions, and votes will be reflected in what the Flyers do on the diamond and in the clubhouse. The online content also includes videos detailing the first half of the Flyers’ season, player profiles, game highlights and behind-the-scenes vignettes. Team players, family members and friends will blog on MSN Spaces.”

Wow, FanClub takes fantasy baseball gaming to a new level as it is empowers the people via the web to manage a baseball team. It will be interesting to see how the fan managed Flyers do. If they do well, I wonder if the Chicago Cubs could look into something similar for the remainder of the season?

Video iPod Finds a Spot in the MLB Dugout

Major League Baseball has a new addition to its bench - the Apple Video iPod. The Colorado Rockies and few other ball clubs have adopted the use of the Video iPod to watch prepare for baseball games by dissecting player swings and pitcher mechanics.

According to a report by CNN.com, Brian Jones the Rockies assistant video coordinator came up with the idea and had this to say:

"It wasn't like we invented the wheel. We're using Apple's technology as best we can. We figured if you can watch music videos by rock 'n' roll and by country, why can't you watch at-bats by San Francisco and pitches by Jason Schmidt?"

As a former baseball player who used to have my at bats video taped to become more mechanically sound, I think this is an excellent usage of new technology. It could help a player be better prepared and sometimes thats all you need to have an edge. As Brian Jones stated, watching game tape is really not a new concept but it is a new handheld usage that makes it unique.

ArmChairGM For Sports Your Way

With the MLB baseball season in full swing, World Cup soccer kicking into gear and the NBA Finals heating up I think it is appropriate to shed some light on ArmChairGM, a sport resource site that any sports fan can edit.

ArmChairGM a wiki solution aimed at the sports lover and appears to be built on customized and AJAX enhanced version of MediaWiki, the same wiki software, which powers the popular Wikipedia and it's sister site Wikia. However, ArmChairGM takes interactivity a step further by also incorporated voting similar to Digg and comments which mirror blog comments to each piece of content.

According to co-founder Aaron Wright:

"ArmchairGM is a decentralized bliki - a blog and wiki combined with non-hierarchical editorial control (think Digg).  We give passionate sports fans the ability to write blog entries or news articles, which are given depth by linking to our growing sports wiki, and have the results sorted democratically by other users."

If you are a sports enthusiast or if you just want to find out more about how it works be sure to check out this step-by-step ArmChairGM tutorial - and let the games begin!

Ballbug Tracks Baseball's Happenings Real-time

I am a pretty heavy blogger therefore I have been using a news aggregator called memeorandum for quite sometime, to stay connected with the top stories of the day. Memeorandum recently has grown to offer Ballbug, which tracks the latest baseball happenings. Check out this post on Somewhat Frank to find out more.

(via Ballpark Frank which I have shut down)

Ballbug: Just In Time For Opening Day

With opening day of the 2006 Major League Baseball season today for most teams, Gabe Rivera launched Ballbug which tracks the latest baseball stories, blog posts and happenings. Being a huge baseball fan, Ballbug just made my life easier.

The launch adds yet another memeorandum vertical to Gabe's line of aggregators and Mike Arrington of TechCrunch wonders which vertical will Gabe tackle next. What will it be tracking ...  Health? Fashion? Travel? College sports?