SOMEWHAT FRANK

Sharing My Love For Shiny Objects In Orlando

I love startups. I love social media. And I love "shiny new objects" as I refer to the new products on the Web. I am in Orlando, Florida today and spoke at BlogOrlando this morning all these "shiny objects" of the Web. I have share some of the shiny new objects I mentioned today in my session - because sharing is caring. :) You can watch the session as it was recorded and streamed live. 

Video: Talking Blogs & Book Writing With "Blog Mother" Amanda Watlington

A "blog mother" is a person that inspired you to start a blog. For me, it is was a session which covered blogging led by Amanda Watlington and Jeremy Zawondny which inspired me to start Somewhat Frank, and the rest is history. I ran into Amanda while hosting TECH cocktail Boston 2 a few weeks ago who I had not seen since ad:tech Chicago back in the summer of 2006.

I was able to sit down with Amanda Watlington and chat with her for a bit about search,blogging and the book writing process for episode 38 of SOMEWHAT FRANK TV. Check out the video (below) as I chat with my "blog mother" Amanda Watlington.

Thanks to David Dalka for filming the episode.

Swurl Your Life Together Online

Swurl, a San Diego-based startup, offers a very smart aggregation of all your favorite services that makeup your social footprint online. Swurl is a place to bring all the things you do online together to share in a blog-like format.

Social Media & Love For Bright Shiny Objects

I spoke yesterday as the post-lunch keynote at BlogPotomac at the State Theater in Falls Church, Virginia. It was a lot of fun and was streamed live on the Web so I actually had family members watching along in Chicago - gotta love technology.

I spoke about my social media life and how it has helped get me where I am today. I also spoke about my love for products or "bright, shiny objects" as I refer to them. I did a brain dump of all the products and services I used routinely. I listed services I use at least once a week. I like to share because sharing is caring - so I wanted to share the list of products with you (below).

Photo thanks to Josh Hallet from hyhu.

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!

NIN Challenges Music Business Model, Biofuels Compared, Widget Format, Google Reader Sharing Notes, Twitter Tools & Avatars

Photo of the Week: This photo of tulips taken by Melissa Goodman would somewhat frankly make a nice gift for mom as I wish all the moms out there Happy Mother's Day.

SOMEWHAT FRANK Weekly Tidbits: 5.11.2008

AOL Buys Sphere For Content Recommendations

My first day working at AOL back in the fall of 2006 I had the pleasure of having lunch with Sphere CEO and founder Tony Conrad as he was visiting to start working with the AOL. Since then, Sphere which I covered previously when it launched in May 2006, worked with both AOL News and myAOL Mgnet Recommendations to offer related content recommendations. It is a pleasure to see that AOL has finally acquired Sphere for an undisclosed amount.

AOL Launches the Technology Network

AOL as they have just relaunched Switched as the hub for the newly created AOL Technology Network. The network will bring together content from Engadget, Switched, TUAW (The Unofficial Apple Weblog), Download Squad, Engadget Mobile and Engadget HD to form the second largest technology news publisher online.

The network helps to combine all the great technology blogs offered by AOL and Weblogs, Inc which was acquired by AOL in 2005 and should make for a compelling advertising offering for Platform-A, AOL's advertising conglomerate.

Outbrain Launches Content Ratings Widget

Taking a page out the Netflix and Amazon playbook, outbrain, a New York-based startup, officially launched yesterday to offer a ratings and recommendations widget for content. With outbrain bloggers, news, media, magazines, rss readers and other publishers/aggregators can add a rating and personalized content recommendation widget to their blogs and sites easily and free.

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: 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.

Has Your Blog Been Blogged?

Looking to explore and find a few new blogs on the Web? Blogged is blog directory launched earlier this week to aid discovery and exploration of the blogosphere. Blogged is self-funded by founders Kenneth Yeh and Gladys Kong and is powered by readers and also employs a full-time editorial staff to maintain the integrity of the directory.

FantasySportsMatrix Launches Into Beta

Are you gearing up for Super Bowl this weekend? Or better yet counting down the days till pitches and catchers report to another MLB Spring Training? I am. FantasySportsMatrix (FSM), a Sunnyvale, California startup, launched into beta today to offer the typical suite of social networking features to create a place for sports fans to interact.

With blogs, wiki's, forums, polls and a host of other types of content I could see sports addicts entering the social media conversation via a site like FSM since it offers a gentle way to introduce the "Average Joe" to wiki's, blogs and other user-generated content. As a sports fan, all I can think of is - Go Cubs!   

Chyrp An Open Source Microblogging Platform

Microblogging platforms have been springing up like crazy these days as bloggers look for easier and shorter form ways to quickly express themselves online. Lifestreaming to these platforms also become more prevalent as an aggregation of online activities. I am a big fan of microblogging platforms like Tumblr, Twitter, and Soup.io. They offer a light but powerful platform for self-expression. But there is not a one size fits all solution for every blogger. Chyrp (found deceptively at chyrp.net) offers an open source blogging platform that is more of a medium weight blogging solution.