Social Media Overload??!

Social media sites have provided many benefits in the last few years, connecting millions of individuals and creating interactive online communities. Lately, the more sites I come across and join, the more I feel burnt out by all the hype for each new site. I feel as though I am losing the WOW factor with each new site i find. Does anyone feel the same?

jQuery Fun

I really enjoy working with jQuery, a javascript library for creating interactivity on the web. jQuery can be used to create simple web animations that would typically take Flash and some Actionscript to produce. While JavaScript libraries such as jQuery are not a replacement for rich media authoring tools like Flash, it will be interesting to see what happens in the next few years as these libraries are enhanced with more "rich media like" effects.

Interactive Cleveland Web Site

Just relaunched the Interactive Cleveland web site. I could have spent more time on the design, but wanted to get the new site rolling as quickly as possible. I'm planning to make the site more interactive with recent work, client list, etc.

Warp Speed with Spock

Having trouble keeping track of all your social networking profiles? Spock, a social networking profile search engine, aims to pull together all your profile information from sites such as yahoo, linkedin, myspace and many more. One of spock's main benefits is the authentication of your online identity. Spock also allows it's users to authenticate email, IM and other important information. "Now, that sounds logical..."

SEO Friendly Web Design on Squidoo

Posted a new lens today on Squidoo, a user generated content site. The focus of this page is to spread the knowledge of web standards and its effect on search engine optimization - SEO. Clean code in your web design is a major factor in how the search engines view your web site from both a relevance standpoint and user experience.

Social Network-Ning

Can't find a social network that meets your needs? Ning may have the network for you.




http://www.ning.com/

Rather than be a "one size fits all" social networking site, Ning allows people to create their own niche social networks. Ning is a hybrid of chat boards and MySpace with some nice additional features for video and chat. Getting a network set up is as simple as starting a blog.

Join Stuff I think is Cool, a new social network I created on Ning!

Tech Beta Thoughts

While eating an apple today, I noticed a small bruise. I thought nothing of it and continued to eat the apple, leaving the small imperfection behind. Perhaps this is why so many new web companies have adopted the idea of releasing technology as "Beta" to the public, before all the bugs have been worked out. Most people can tolerate a hand full of small defects and still enjoy all the benefits of an unpolished product.

gOS Rocket - Good Desktop Design on the Cheap

One downside of using desktop Linux has always been the so-so user experience. gOS, a free linux operating system similar to Windows Vista and Mac OS X, aims to bring better design and a better user experience to the linux desktop. gOS also comes installed on cheap $200 PCs at Walmart. Since the gOS demands little from your PCs hardware, it can be installed on older machines with a slower processor and a few gigs of hard drive space.



gOS integrates Web 2.0 applications into the core of the desktop. This is done elegantly, with a "Mac OS X like" user interface design. With this latest effort by gOS, linux is getting closer and closer to becoming a mainstream desktop. I plan on using the new OS at home and look forward to more great things from the gOS team!

5 Ways to Transform Your Business in 2008

1. Use Skype - a internet based phone service (Voice Over IP), to make calls on the cheap. Skpye is also easy to use and has many options for your business.

2. Use Google Analytics - to help measure your web site activity, track email newsletter sign ups and increase shopping cart conversions. It's fairly easy to set up and fun to use.

3. Make a Stand - take a position on something like the environment or chronic diseases showing the world and your customers that your company is about more than just profits.

4. Use IM and less Email internally - Checking email throughout the day can be a time consuming task. People tend to be shorter and to the point with IM (instant messaging), resolving business issues more quickly.

5. Collaborate on the Web - Take advantage of web collaboration tools such as Basecamp and Writeboard. Using web based collaboration tools allow you to access projects from any internet connection and keep things nicely organized. Nothing is worse than following long email chains or accidentally deleted attachments.

Long Tail of Technology on Ted Talks

I'm a big fan of the Ted talks. One in particular has caught my attention, Chris Anderson on Technology's Long Tail. One point I find interesting is the 20% adoption rate being critical mass for a new technology.

How to Promote your Blog with TwitThis and Twitter

TwitThis is a free utility for blog and web site promotion. TwitThis makes it easy for readers to share your blog post or article with their friends through Twitter, a social networking site. I find this tool very useful for anyone looking to take advantage of social media and word of mouth for the web. Enjoy!