Technology — Page 11

Fuzemeeting Does Android

June 10, 2010 by Joe Hackman 1 Comment

Fuzemeeting delivered a Droid client for there service and I had to install it. Of course then I had to sign up for a trial so don’t be surprised if you get a webinar invite from me in the near future! Check out the cool use of the QR code:

Real time Matching YouhaveIwant

June 2, 2010 by Joe Hackman 4 Comments

While browsing my Google Reader feed today I saw a post on Vator.tv about YouhaveIwant. This is a real time matching based startup out of New York. Co-founder Vik Panda recently presented at a Vator Splash event in San Francisco.

The product has some interesting highlights including:

Persistent Search
Short Messages
Enhanced Privacy
Location-based
Real-Time Intelligent Matching

It was quite easy to access the site, I used my already logged in Facebook account to connect to the system. In the age of instant gratification I was not disapointed as I was able to post an item to test the interface within seconds of account creation. The site seems as though it will be very useful for people who have unwanted items to allow them to easily find people who need those items. While browsing the recent items I found a need/want that matched ironically right on top of one another in the feed:

Need a Microwave? Here is one. How convenient!

Once these two find each other as a match they can connect using the instant messenger in real time or click links to send an SMS message or call the other user. The privacy settings are well done, they allow you to specify when your phone link is available and mask your Email address by providing a nick name. Another interesting aspect of the “Browse” function is the tag based navigation that we’ve all grown to recognize, know and love:

Familiar Tag Cloud Navigation

Once you’re ready to post an item, you can take the simple approach where there is very intuitive suggestion text:

Simple Posting Interface

Or if you prefer, there are more advanced options including a link to an external URL, min/max price, Location and additional description:

Advanced Posting Interface

I find the concept of this site to be fairly brilliant, but how do they intend to make money? They intend to connect businesses that provide matching products with the people who want them for a fee. This is a very consumer friendly model and shows some promise. Overall I can think of a lot of reasons why the idea could succeed but it may largely weigh on my ideology rather than my business sense. I see this as a great opportunity to prevent waste by matching people who have “junk” with people who want that “junk”. It takes E-Bay, Craigs List and Free Cycle to new heights. I’ve got a practically brand new Seally Box Spring that I cannot find a home for. I am hoping that someone will take it off my hands, Free. If I succeed using YHIW I will update this post.

Access YouhaveIwant.com

Monthly community chat Eric Goldstein CEO of Amplify

April 26, 2010 by Joe Hackman 2 Comments

I’ll be moderating a monthly community chat with Amplify.com CEO Eric Goldstein. Our next session is scheduled for May 20th, 2010 at 5PM Pacific/8PM Eastern. Subsequent episodes will be scheduled for the third Thursday of every month at the same time/place. This will be a great opportunity for the Amplify.com community to actively participate in the development of the fast growing social network. Save this link and set your calendar:

Google Site Speed Ranking Game Changer

April 21, 2010 by Joe Hackman 1 Comment

I noticed some major changes to my search results from Google today. I double checked them right after reading this article on REELSEO. This will be a game changer and it is likely to have some positive implications for internet performance. I think website owners got a little complacent in the age of uber fast broadband. Many of us stopped paying attention to load times, and if you look back to the days of dial-up Internet access – load time was king. So what have we created? In many ways a bloated version of the internet.

I recommend you check some of your key search terms today and see if they’ve benefited or been hurt by these changes. REELSEO had a great list of tools to check your website speed performance several I have used and one I have not:

Page Speed, which is a Firefox add-on that evaluates the performance of web pages and even offers tips for enhancement.
YSlow, a free tool from Yahoo! that suggests ways to improve website speed.
WebPagetest, which offers data on site load performance.
Webmaster Tools, which shows your site’s speed performance data.

Website operators – Any time the game changes there is opportunity to disrupt. The question is which side will you be on?

This article has been optimized for speed – certified graphic free!

Nurph vs Chatroulette battle for top web handshake

April 9, 2010 by Joe Hackman 2 Comments

Ok there is quite a bit of buzz over the infamous Chatroulette, a site where random people are placed in a video chat session together. I personally don’t have the stomach to even try it since I’ve heard “found mostly depressed looking guys and naked men (about 1 in 5 shuffles was a guy’s bits)” source: Chris Brogan. Not my idea of a fun or practical application. Nurph on the other hand is exceptionally cool for several reasons:

It’s easy to setup
It works with most websites
Easy authentication
Realtime text chat, no video or audio

Easy Setup
The setup is very simple, you go to Nurph’s website and type in the url you wish to add a chat to. You can then use that URL in the future to access chat at that site or you can even create a link on the website to that url. For example if you click this link, you should be connected to the chat on this blog. If you see me online be sure to say hello.

Compatibility
I tested Nurph with Chrome, Mozilla and Internet Explorer. The only issue I had was a flash component (my cumulus tag cloud) overlaid the chat window. I was able to resolve that by enlarging the browser window. There may even be a setting to change the “always on top” aspect of Flash components. Please comment on this post if you are familiar with a way to do that. Websites that require authentication such as Facebook do not currently work with Nurph. No doubt that will improve with time as the product matures.

Authentication
In the battle for authentication dominance, I always find Twitter to be the most comfortable. Fortunately while Nurph is in beta you can only use Twitter to access it unless you are part of the beta program. Just use the connect with Twitter button, but make sure you are logged in to Twitter first.

Text Chat
My comments about Chatroulette were largely in jest, but plain old text chat is a good handshake medium. Rather than investing in voice or video chat via the anonymous web you have a simple medium by which to say hello and assess your new contacts before taking that step. For that reason Nurph is a great way to “shake hands” without committing too much. Since it is multiple user you can also see how the participants behave with groups.

Video
I am a screen-cast addict, if I need to explain how to do something a lot of times I just record a quick screen-cast and send that. Here is a Youtube video I created where I talk about Nurph and demonstrate how simple it is to use.