SOMEWHAT FRANK

NYC Breakfast: Social Web Tech Discussions

I was in the Big Apple today so I decided to do a little breakfast meetup/tweetup event this morning. The event was open to anyone and we had a handful of folks brave the blizzard-like snow storm this morning to meetup. Aside from Comfort Diner in Chelsea having some very sturdy coffee mugs and solid waffles, bacon and eggs the breakfast discussions were very thoughtful and interesting.

The breakfast was made up of the following @innonate, @ceonyc, @noreaster, @msg, Ian Costello and myself (@somewhatfrank) and we did a couple of live streamed videos (via Flixwagon) about lifestreaming, backup, chat and other products and services. Oh we also explained how awesome Mom's are! If you were unable to attend please check out the two videos (below).

NYC Breakfast Intros & Shoutouts

NYC Breakfast Lifestreaming, Backup & Chat Discussion

Thank you to everyone that came out to have some breakfast and give their somewhat frank opinions about social media and technology while I was in NYC!

Video: JamLegend Offers An Online Guitar Hero

It seems like just yesterday that I talked to Andrew Lee at the Lijit breakfast that followed the last TECH cocktail DC event. Andrew explained how he was looking to create a free online alternative to the popular music video games Rock Band and Guitar Hero as part of the 2008 LaunchBox Digital incubator program. I have to admit I was a little skeptical of that becoming reality in just a summer. But Andrew and his team made me eat my words a few weeks ago when they demonstrated JamLegend at LaunchBox Digital.

I was able to capture a few video clips with JamLegend and have compiled them into an episode 39 of SOMEWHAT FRANK TV. Check out the video (below) which shows off JamLegend and stars myself, Andrew Lee and the JamLegend team of Ryan Wilson and Arjun Lall, as well as well as cameos from Jimmy Gardner and Nick O'Neill.

JamLegend LaunchBox Digital Preview from Frank Gruber on Vimeo.

Y Combinator 2008 Startups I Like

There are a number of incubator programs out there and I have been lucky enough to get invited to attend some of them in person. I attended LaunchBox Digital a few weeks ago and I plan on attending TechStars and DreamIt Ventures soon too. Unfortunately, I did not get a chance to attand the Y Combinator demo day last week but I did get a chance to look at a few of the startups that launched. TechCrunch covered the 14 startups that launched and I was surprised to see I already knew the names of some of them.

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.