SOMEWHAT FRANK

Mint Redesigns, Adds More Tools & Services

Mint, the online personal finance dashboard, which I covered previously when it made a big splash by launching at TechCrunch40 last fall has launched a redesign. The past design won a Webby Award for its design but the new site adds some additional features. The new features include educational “how to” guides on managing critical money management issues, enhanced budgeting tools and the addition of investment and brokerage accounts, mortgage, student and auto loans.

Check out the new Mint if you are looking to try an online personal finance site. Other solid options also include Geezeo and Quicken Online.

Make Money Selling Your Photos With Photrade

When design firms are looking for images for projects, they typically go to Getty or other more traditional stock photo sites. When bloggers need an image, they use their own  or likely go straight to Google or Flickr.  If all goes well, they find an image they can use legally.  In other cases.... well, let's just say there are a lot of pictures being used today that violate the owner's copyright. Photrade, a new site still in private beta, is set on protecting photographer's rights while changing the way bloggers and online publishers find images in hopes of creating a win-win environment for the publishers and photographers alike.

SmartyPig Offers A Social Savings Solution

Have you been saving up for a new computer, a vacation or home? Your piggy bank might be the way to go but it can be difficult to determine just how long and how much you need to save to meet your goal. SmartyPig, a Des Moines, Iowa based startup is looking to help with its recent release of a "smart" and social savings plan application.

Mint Online Money Manager Launches

Do you know where your money goes? How do you keep track of it? Mint just launched at TechCrunch40 to offer a free personalized online money management application. It is all about helping to save and make you money (and save you time too).

Geezeo: Social Personal Finance Startup

Geezeo, a Framingham, Massachusetts based startup, offers a free online social personal finance application that makes it easy to keep track of your money from anywhere. With Geezeo you can simply aggregate all your accounts into one place and check account balances online or with your mobile phone.

GoodSearch The Web And Help Find A Cure For Cystic Fibrosis

What if the charity of your choice could earned a penny every time you searched the Internet?

Well, that is exactly what is happening today (November 28, 2006) as Somewhat Frank has selected to support the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation as the charity of the day on GoodSearch. The GoodSearch charity of the day is displayed on the left side of the site and all of search revenue for the day is donated to the displayed charity. GoodSearch was highlighted recently on Somewhat Frank in an article titled Philanthropy Through Technology. 

Thanks to J.J. Ramberg of GoodSearch we were given the opportunity to select the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation as the charity of the day.  Please help to support the search for a cure for cystic fibrosis, the inherited chronic disease that affects the lungs and digestive systems of about 30,000 children and adults in the United States, by searching the web with GoodSearch today.

GlobalRichList.com: How Rich Are You?

You want a raise, right? You think:

“Just [fill in the blank] dollars more and I could finally get that [fill in the blank]."

Yeah, me too…  But sometimes we all just need a little perspective – a reality check to reminds us of how fortunate we are in comparison to others.

GlobalRichList.com ranks your wealth on the global scale. By simply entering your annual income you can learn where you stand in comparison to the rest of humanity.  It’s pretty humbling.  For example, if you make $75,000 a year, GlobalRichList.com categorizes you as the 49,322,169th richest person in the world, representing the top .82 percent in income.

Skeptical? Check out the How do we calculate it? section of the site, where these guys cover their bases.  But although accuracy in this endeavor is important, the goal of the site (as stated in the “Why we do it” section) amounts to more than just FYI: you’re rich. They also want people to:

“give some of their extra money to a worthwhile charity.”

And they show you ways to do just that.  The remainder of the site is dedicated to statistics and ideas showing just how far some extra cash can go.  Just to clarify, this is not a web 2.0 application. 

Many thanks to Poke, the London-based company behind the site, for reminding us all to be grateful for and generous with what we have. Hey Mike Arrington, run your numbers in GlobalRichList.com and let us know where you rank!

Wallstrip Videoblog Profiles Hot Stocks

Wallstrip.com, a videoblog that integrates stock culture with pop culture, launched earlier this week (October 16, 2006). Using a similar format and feel as the popular videoblog RocketBoom, Wallstrip looks to harness a few minutes of your attention to profile one popular stock per day by taking to the streets to determine why it is doing so well. Wallstrip is produced by Howard Lindzon and hosted by Lindsay Campbell. Just three episodes in, Wallstrip has showcased, Apple (AAPL), Research in Motion (RIMM), and Chipotle (CMG) - all of which produce very popular mainstream products. 

In watching the first couple of episodes I thought Wallstrip was well written as it successfully presents details about each company in easy to remember bits of information. After each episode Wallstrip carries the conversation onto the web with both inline comments and Wallstrip Conversation which is a seperate area of the site that has enlisted a number of professional investors like Fred Wilson to write a blog post about the showcased company of the day. Wallstrip also has created a pretty slick video widget that can be embedded into your blog or personalized homepage.

Bottom-line: If Wallstrip can continue to produce quality daily videos profiling popular stocks in creative "mainstream" terms then there is no doubt in my mind that Wallstrip will also become extremely popular. Furthermore, Wallstrip could become an excellent educational resource for anyone trying to learn more about the stock market.

Google Pays $1.65B For YouTube Audience

Google, finally confirmed the purchase of YouTube for $1.65 billion in stock options after TechCrunch first surfaced the rumor as, "40% likely to be at least partially true." It was a covered by just about everyone and their brother so I am going to keep this article fairly brief.  Some might think YouTube is a ridiculous gamble on video working out online. Others might criticize YouTube for its wealth of copyrighted and pirated content. However, it is very likely Google will address both of these concerns.

As the number of people that realize that they are paying for cable television and only watching one or two channels the trend to cancel their cable should increase.  Since YouTube is currently a popular place for the masses to watch "on demand" and video content online so they are positioned well to absorb these cable cancelers. A number of television networks like CBS are dabbling online by locking up channels online. This will most likely continue and further push the online video movement to a tipping point. To help clean-up the wealth of copyrighted and pirated content Google recently signed content deals to position itself to surface licensed content. However, Google is going to have to be cautious as to how they clean up YouTube, which compares to Napster which was a pirated mess of content before it was shut down and eventually cleaned up.

Bottom-line: The important thing to remember is that YouTube currently has brand recognition and the attention of with mainstream audiences. This has value, $1.65 billion of value in this case - paid for the attention of the YouTube audience.

Yahoo CEO Joins The $1 Salary Club

Yahoo CEO Terry Semel's salary just got cut by $559,999. Yes, you read that last sentence correctly. Yahoo's board decided to cut the CEO's salary and instead compensate the officer by offering addtional stock options and grants. This move is not entirely unheard of since Google's co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin and CEO Eric Schmidt all are in the same boat. Though, the sizable salary cut has shock factor but it might be a blessing from an income tax standpoint.

Is the $1 salary a new status symbol among top executives?