SxSW Live : 5Degrees and Forecast app reviews
Mon, Apr 16th 2012 10:37a Chris Miller Paul Steel and Chris Miller at SxSW 2012 in Austin, TX sit live in the Samsung Blogger Lounge to cover the apps 5Degrees and Forecast.
We were happy with 5Degrees and impressed with the team that we met while there. They put a lot of effort into the product and have been releasing updates regularly. As for Forecast, we have mixed feelings still as they continue to grow. I think we see more for the app that hasn’t been delivered yet and we hope shows up to have us use it more often.
Do n [read] Keywords: blogger
mobile
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Social Identity in Three Layers interview with Pelpina Trip
Wed, Mar 21st 2012 4:12p Chris Miller I had the opportunity to be interviewed while at SxSW 2012 in Austin, TX by my friend Pelpina Trip. She is the host of WebWatching and published through FrankWatching, a large Netherlands based website portal.
I define the three layers for a social identity in this brief introduction to what will soon be a published book on social identity layers and steps to start creating your own layers now. Including fake personas for security verifications on sites.
The video has taken off. Much th [read] Keywords: archive
javascript
security
64
SxSW Live: Waddle and Gopago app reviews
Thu, Mar 15th 2012 2:55p Chris Miller Paul Steel and myself sat at the Flurry VIP party and ran into the founders of Waddle and then attempted to use the payment system Gopago while in the Bing lot.
We were very happy with the interface and functionality of Waddle. The team has made a great product. The following quote from Gigaom was awesome:
It doesn’t force you to log in with your Facebook account. It doesn’t pull in the photos you’ve shared on Instagram. It doesn’t encourage you to share your photos publicly at all. In [read] Keywords: facebook
interface
security
109
SxSW Live: Borglar and Arball app reviews
Tue, Mar 13th 2012 11:12a Chris Miller Paul Steel and I race over to Screenburn at SxSW 2012 in the Palmer Center. We got sucked in. Here is the apps we are pushing back out to you.
We not only find amazing video games but some great apps. We find a virtual reality game called Borglar and another called Arball. See the video for our review and make sure to watch the Screenburn 2012 walkthrough in four minutes. [read] Keywords: planetlotus
planetlotus.org
293
SxSW Live: Screenburn 2012 walkthrough in 4 minutes
Mon, Mar 12th 2012 7:53p Chris Miller We took a tour of the whole show at Screenburn 2012 while at SxSW in Parker Center. You can catch app reviews from the Screenburn show in the YouTube channel.
After we toured the floor finding the best of the best, we made the video and give you a quick stop at each highlight. The whole show floor in 4 minutes. [read] Keywords:
241
SxSW Live: Isis and Banjo app reviews
Sun, Mar 11th 2012 11:39a Chris Miller Welcome to SxSW 2012 everyone. We are already deep into countless apps being launched and pitched. Paul and I are kicking off the mobile app reviews with Isis and Banjo.
Isis really isn’t launching, yet again this year we find out. Isis is a Near field communication technology providing your mobile device the ability to become a digital wallet. By being in close proximity to the payment terminal and entering your pin, you can quickly check out.
Other capabilities later would inclu [read] Keywords: mobile
74
Get your startup name in lights with IBM at SxSW
Sat, Mar 10th 2012 11:12a Chris Miller IBM suddenly appeared in force at SxSW 2012 with eight or so sessions and a social media assessment area and Future of Social Lounge While they were not a sponsor, we were told they were funding some items.
This session as titled above coupled some university and education panelists with venture capital and then IBM employees. They were here to find some candidates for the Smarter Planet campaign that are startups. Interestingly, attendees around us stated they would rather see some smaller star [read] Keywords: ibm
development
87
Do you GetGlue? Spiked Studio shows are there to check in!
Mon, Mar 5th 2012 12:08p Chris Miller If you have not used GetGlue, it is a service to “check in” but has nothing to do with location. It is only about letting others know what you are watching, reading or listening to. It is a discovery service for things your friends like to watch, participate in and listen to since you get most recommendations from them anyway.
They also take a different approach in the gamification reward system. You are able to unlock badges and stickers based on how often you check into a s [read] Keywords: blackberry
67
Nokia finally merges location service Plazes into Maps service with Nokia Pulse
Wed, Feb 29th 2012 1:20p Chris Miller I was a long time user of an early pioneer location-based site Plazes dating back to July 2005. Then in 2008 the announcement was made that the acquisition of Plazes was made by Nokia. After absorbing their 13 or so employees it still functioned but became very dormant. I would have thought Nokia would jump on the opportunity to integrate an existing location-based service into their phones directly. Instead I watched it languish.
It seems that recent announcements points to Nokia M [read] Keywords: interface
mobile
99
Book review: Social Game Design by Tim Fields and Brandon Cotton
Mon, Feb 27th 2012 12:27p Chris Miller With the recent push of social business and gamification I wanted a viewpoint from the originators of the idea. Social Game Design: Monetization Methods and Mechanics by Tim Fields and Brandon Cotton comes from true successful experience. Game designers lead the way in gamification and monetization with many of the tips applicable to social business design.
I am glad I was able to get this book for review after getting into the second chapter. The first chapter was just introductory and ga [read] Keywords: enterprise
mobile
101
Announcement: Social Stalking is now part of TheSocialNetworker
Mon, Feb 20th 2012 9:10p Chris Miller I am happy and relieved to announce that Social Stalking has now been merged and will be part of TheSocialNetworker. Welcome to all the readers and subscribers from Social Stalking to a much larger pool of content. Readers will now get the best of both sites in one location.
A while ago, there was a definite need to separate the content for all the social media site reviews, issues and concerns with privacy that I covered in live seminars, screencasts and blog postings. Those lines have be [read] Keywords: security
179
Does 66% of social business really happen on mobile devices?
Wed, Jan 11th 2012 12:12p Chris Miller The statistic showing 66% of social happens on mobile devices is one of many you read in the countless reports on social media, monitoring and analytics. As I have started to see it again and again like a meme, I began to think does it really? Certainly more of us are connected with mobile devices allowing us to read tweets, view (when formatted) webpages and interact with some social networks.
But does the information we need most appear with us on our mobile devices? I find that things I creat [read] Keywords: email
mobile
256
TheSocialNetworker Episode 29 – Twitter application security
Wed, Jan 4th 2012 8:12a Chris Miller I was recently bitten by an application I previously authorized against my Twitter account sending out some tweets I did not agree with. This prompted me to review my application security setting inside of Twitter. It opened my eyes into just how trusting we are, and shouldn’t be.
Thanks to Mozy Pro Online, our new sponsor at Spiked Studio. Sponsor: MozyPro Online Backup: Simple, Automatic & Secure Backup
In the video I walk you through where to check what applications have acce [read] Keywords: application
applications
security
twitter
157
Dear Foursquare, get rid of points, add partnerships and suggestions
Tue, Jan 3rd 2012 10:12a Chris Miller As an avid user, fan and subscriber to Foursquare and the future of location services I am both a promoter of the site while being a constant reviewer of functionality.
When Foursquare launched the leaderboard was the place to see how you ranked against other early adopters. You often did not have a long or strong friend list to compete against and badges were very new. Swarms were hard to come by.
Now badges are gaining traction with some even competing for the number of accumulated badges. [read] Keywords:
219
TheSocialNetworker Episode 28 – So.cl from Microsoft over capacity but collecting your Facebook email address
Wed, Dec 28th 2011 1:36p Chris Miller A fast buzz is building around the Microsoft opening of So.cl beyond the student population is originally started with. However, it seems they have reached capacity but do not tell you until after you provide Facebook authentication information that they collect your email address.
You can also watch the video in HD by clicking through to the Spiked Studio channel on YouTube.
There is an opt-out ability at the very end but quite sneaky. Mainly when they chose not to use their own Windows Li [read] Keywords: application
email
facebook
microsoft
network
211
Want traffic in BlackBerry Appworld – expose this hack
Wed, Dec 21st 2011 9:07p Chris Miller I was busy reading about the launch of Spotify for BlackBerry (yes for mainly older non OS7 devices as of now) today and came across an interesting exploit.
While searching AppWorld for Spotify I entered the term Spotify into the search bar. Instead of it listing no apps found for Spotify, since it isn’t there yet, I was taken into an application called Voydat for international calls. I did the search again and again with the same result. It went straight into this application listin [read] Keywords: application
applications
blackberry
google
95
Small bubbles are popping. Niche social networks closing
Mon, Dec 12th 2011 7:15a Chris Miller I have had a rash of emails the past few weeks about smaller, niche social networks that are ceasing operations by the end of the year. I mentioned this trend on TheSocialGeeks Episode 41 last week.
The first sign was an email asking if anyone was interested in purchasing or acquiring the assets or technology behind Refynr. This service helps build filters for your social media streams in Twitter and Facebook to remove the clutter.
I have begun talks with a few companies already, but am wonder [read] Keywords: email
enterprise
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linkedin
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78
Path, Whim, your face and early adopters
Thu, Dec 8th 2011 8:18p Chris Miller I know many of you want to keep up with all the social news and don’t want to wade through the tons of articles out there. That is why TheSocialGeeks run a roundtable every two weeks with some of the biggest names and analysts in social media.
Here is what you missed the last two episodes by not subscribing to the podcast.
Episode 41 – On the Path
Why did Facebook buy Gowalla?
What we think of Path and the update to 2.0
Whim launches in beta
I ask the question “Are we too ea [read] Keywords: apple
facebook
google
podcast
69
Twitter adds Activity tab for a bigger stream
Thu, Nov 10th 2011 12:11p Chris Miller Twitter launched a new tab in your web experience called Activity, which I imagine will make it’s way to the mobile and desktop clients, that allows you to :
“View favorites, follows, retweets and more by people you follow”
I see this as a direct comparison to the Ticker that Facebook launched and has driven many people crazy. Here is a screenshot of the location if it has not appeared for you yet by some chance:
I can see value in the idea, but this makes keeping up even more overw [read] Keywords: desktop
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TheSocialNetworker Episode 27 – Creating your Google Plus pages
Tue, Nov 8th 2011 9:11a Chris Miller With the launch yesterday of Google Plus pages for business, organizations and just about everyone else on the early adoptor bandwagon, I found even I wanted to make sure I took the right steps in the creation of pages. Keeping in mind they are only allowing one manager per page, I had a few questions/ I created a screencast walkthrough of the setup with explanations of settings. Check out the Spiked Studio page and add it to your circles!
Click through for the full HD version via the Spi [read] Keywords: application
google
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TheSocialNetworker Episode 25 – Ming.ly
Tue, Nov 1st 2011 6:12a Chris Miller I gave the site Mig.ly a few months to run through early beta before digging in with this screencast. Ming.ly is a social sidebar for Google mail that allows you to get social data on those you are interacting with. It pulls Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn at the time of the screencast into a sidebar in the Gmail interface. (It does only work as a free extension to Google Chrome and Firefox as extensions.)
I found a few UI issues along the way, but nothing to call a show stopper. Plus this is [read] Keywords: application
blackberry
facebook
firefox
google
interface
linkedin
research in motion
rim
skype
twitter
Social Business is just “know, like, trust”
Thu, Oct 20th 2011 6:10a Chris Miller We are all on the receiving end of what is a non-stop tirade about how your business is not social enough and where you are lacking at becoming one. It might revolve around software, time investment or even how you are not transparent or nimble in the marketplace.
I am beginning to feel much of this is not true no matter how transparent you make yourself. It was summarized well by Jason Falls at a recent speaking event and then the dinner after when a lot of this sunk in.
Much of social busi [read] Keywords: facebook
twitter
62
So RIM buys Gist and Gist deletes my account?
Thu, Sep 29th 2011 4:34p Chris Miller After years of using the cloud contact management dashboard service Gist, I found my account and all data gone. After using the service of Gist since early beta, updating accounts, contacts and building an actual contact dashboard, today I find not even an active account. Poof. Here is the scenario:
Aug 24, 2009 I get invited to a new service and screencast it. One of the highest viewed screencasts I have.
Oct 14, 2009 I write about possible competitors in my blog archives
Somewhere in [read] Keywords: blackberry
email
google
rim
40
Book Review: Securing the Cloud by Vic Winkler
Tue, Sep 20th 2011 7:10a Chris Miller As someone that works for a cloud provider, I anticipated finding this book, Securing the Cloud: Cloud Security Techniques and Tactics by Vic (J.R.) Winkler, boring or not to contain any insight I would carry forward. I found out I was wrong just in the first two chapters. The goal of the book is not to tell you what cloud provider or form of solution to pick, but how to get to that choice.
The author works hard to simplify and break down each general area so the seasoned IT professional or th [read] Keywords: notes
security
145
IBM touts social lead passing – want their leads?
Thu, Aug 18th 2011 2:25p Chris Miller A recent blog posting titled “Use of Social in Lead Passing ! Part 2 of Social Selling” from an IBMer who talks about how they are using social media tactics to grow business. The end of the article highlights their internal communication tools so they do not share customer data. I found a flaw in how their flow goes.
All IBMers had access to this micro-blogging status and unlike Twitter, he/she was able to post the customers name. IBM guidelines prevent employes from specifically [read] Keywords: ibm
lotus
blogging
linkedin
security
twitter
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Case Study in branding: Lil Wayne aka Tunechi aka Weezy
Wed, Aug 17th 2011 9:09a Chris Miller There have been numerous posts about how Lil Wayne was able to capture a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records for the most Facebook likes. But overlooked is his ability to re-brand himself under multiple names and exist in all of them simultaneously. I wanted to make a quick rundown of how he blends them online and in music as a way brands could take advantage.
Lil Wayne
The starting point of it all as we knew publicly. Synonymous across multiple music genres now, the rapper stands [read] Keywords: desktop
facebook
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61
TheSocialGeeks on Google Hangout
Fri, Jul 15th 2011 10:26a Chris Miller TheSocialGeeks went live this week with their first video recording in Episode 37 and not only talked about Google Hangout, but used it for the recording as well. Jump over to the site and watch the HD version on YouTube or subscribe via iTunes to one of the hottest social media podcasts around.
We will be adding many guests, so get on board, find us on Twitter, Google Plus or wherever to join in a future show. [read] Keywords: apple
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TheSocialNetworker Episode 24 – Google+ Setup
Tue, Jul 12th 2011 8:14a Chris Miller I have been following along all of the blogs as they talk about how Google+ functions. Perspectives on what it offers over Facebook and comparisons to past networks like FriendFeed are deeply commented on. But no one really showed the new, average, non-social media early adopter how to set up and begin using Google+.
This screencast walks through:
The very first Welcome screen
Verifying or editing your public Google profile
Creating circles
Understanding security around the circles
Hangouts
St [read] Keywords: application
facebook
google
podcast
profile
security
twitter
46
Netflix – how to pick the best plan for you
Mon, Jul 11th 2011 7:46a Chris Miller Netflix is testing new ways to maximize revenue by creating different package choices for DVDs, streaming and a combination of the two. They just launched yet another choice to the mix this week. Here is how to gauge what plan is best for you.
Unlimited Streaming
This plan at $7.99 a month allows you to connect streaming ready devices and apps like the Xbox, Wii and across iOS and Android. You can also pop open the webpage at any time and stream away from any computer.
The downside is that it wo [read] Keywords: mobile
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Book Review: Social Media Business Equation by Eve Mayer Orsburn
Sat, Jun 18th 2011 5:13p Chris Miller The book Social Media Business Equation by Eve Mayer Orsburn had great potential. However, it did not make it for me. (Kindle edition)
As I get deeper into social media work, I often look for these types of books to review. I received the 188 page book only to learn the last 45 pages were simply a list of 35,000 of the author’s Twitter followers. The content was a bit light in actual defining the equation in my opinion. There are six chapters to the book itself,
Throughout the book a [read] Keywords: twitter
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Sharing a Netflix or Rhapsody login? Now a crime in Tennessee
Fri, Jun 3rd 2011 9:13a Chris Miller The government in the State of Tennessee has signed a new bill via Gov. Bill Haslam adding “entertainment subscription service” to the same law for walking out without paying for meals and stealing cable.
What this attempted to do was to stop bulk sales of usernames and passwords to sites like Netfix, so prosecutors could go after those making the sales. The downside is it could affect anyone using someone else’s login, even with their permission.
Imagine a dad buys Netflix f [read] Keywords:
48
Gist decides to cease Google Apps support on Jun 1
Mon, May 30th 2011 9:11a Chris Miller Gist, now a product of Research In Motion, has announced that beginning June 1 it will pull domain wide Google Apps Marketplace support for their Google Gadget. They will still support single user installations with Gmail it seems according to the first part of this notice:
We’re writing to let you know that we will discontinue Gist for Google Apps on June 1, 2011. We’re sorry to inconvenience you in this way, but want you to know that you can still use Gist via our web app or thro [read] Keywords: blackberry
email
gadget
google
research in motion
rim
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Book Review: Smart Policies for Workplace Technologies
Sat, May 21st 2011 4:59p Chris Miller I anticipated getting my hands on the book Smart Policies for Workplace Technologies as every company now faces having inadequate guidelines and policies surrounding new technologies being brought into the workplace.
Throughout the book, examples of case studies (with links) are given and then a sample portion of a policy that could have addressed the issue.
Then all of the policies are included on a CD inside the back cover in .rtf format to be used with any word processing format.
While I [read] Keywords: policies
email
instant messaging
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Fring launches 4-way video calls and we test it
Thu, Apr 28th 2011 9:07a Chris Miller Last night while recording TheSocialGeeks (head over and subscribe) we talked about the launch of Fring video calling for up to 4 users across device platforms. Well when all was said and done we went ahead and tested. Note Wayne Sutton, Jeff (isageek) Smith and Corvida as we hold our first Fring test.
We had two people on HTC EVO devices and two on iPhone. There was no distinct difference once we were all connected. From talking about it, there was slight UI differences in adding connect [read] Keywords: connections
application
iphone
wifi
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AT&T establishing new DSL & U-verse bandwidth caps
Tue, Apr 19th 2011 1:16p Chris Miller I received a tiny note from AT&T about changes to the terms in service. Normally I never pay attention. However, this notice specifically called out DSL service, not just phone. That caught my attention.
I had to click through about three pages, enter my area code and prefix and then some other click to finally find the page. I am linking the new AT&T Broadband Usage FAQ article here for easy reference.
They are establishing monthly caps for maximum downloads. Not speeds, that [read] Keywords: linking
network
61
Disco from Google is “Battle Los Angeles” in group chat
Sun, Mar 27th 2011 9:14p Chris Miller I am relating the launch of the group messaging app Disco from Google with Battle Los Angeles for two reasons. Disco launched the same weekend I saw the movie and Google made a maneuver much like I saw in the movie.
While this comes directly from a company that Google purchased, Slide, they only made the first release available on iOS devices. Most would not even notice the lack of Android due to the way it is being marketed. A brilliant move by Google in my opinion.
In the movie Battle Lo [read] Keywords: apple
applications
google
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TheSocialNetworker Episode 23 – Podio launch
Thu, Mar 24th 2011 1:21p Chris Miller Podio is a start-ups dream collaboration platform for having a digital workspace. Free for up to 10 users, you can built everything from project workspaces, timelines, milestones and even bug tracking. Do not think this is only for software developers. The application packs I highlight in the screencast showe you how extensible the platform in. Choose for individual or pre-made packs. Build your own applications and more.
I have been part of, and was impressed with, the Podio beta for [read] Keywords: collaboration
application
applications
bug
workspace
Book Review: “21 Recipes for Mining Twitter” by Matthew Russell
Wed, Mar 23rd 2011 6:11a Chris Miller The book 21 Recipes for Mining Twitter is an add-on to another book I am reviewing by Matthew Russell, Mining the Social Web.
This small, yet incredibly useful, book covers 21 tips and accompanying code for mining Twitter data. There is no fluff in this 60 page book with page 1 diving right into OAuth access.
Each of the tips (recipes) start with the problem , a brief solution and then the lengthy solution and code samples to bring the two together. Everything in the book is written in Py [read] Keywords: python
twitter
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TheSocialNetworker Episode 21 – Social is UNsocial at #SXSW
Mon, Mar 21st 2011 10:11a Chris Miller With the persmission of Louis Gray and Drew Olanoff, here is the recording of their core conversation session at SXSw 2011. The audio is a bit low at points due to the lack of microphones in this session.
Great commentary was made from all over the room and it was a highlight of my time there. I took a bunch away from interaction outside of the social circles and how you may treat communication and layers of friends you make just from the online sites.
Listen close as you get excellent insig [read] Keywords: podcast
Launching new #SXSW annual launch – the “Great Uninstall”
Wed, Mar 16th 2011 12:42p Chris Miller While flying back from SXSW I was drafting numerous blog posts to get my ideas down right away. I then drifted into seeing which applications needed to still have reviews written or performed and it took me down a dark road.
While at SXSW you are inundated with fancy QR codes, people handing out flyers and all say they are the hot new app. I am not one to not try each and every application at least once. I like to see what they do exactly the same, different and if they will have stickin [read] Keywords: application
applications
blackberry
55
SWSX – TheSocialGeeks live in episode 33
Mon, Mar 14th 2011 10:26a Chris Miller If you want some great commentary on the trend, what will succeed and what apps we are already throwing away, then listen to TheSocialGeeks Episode 33.
TheSocialGeeks Episode 33 was recorded live in the Austin Convention Center [read] Keywords:
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TheSocialNetworker Episode 20 – Live Angry Birds #SXSW
Sun, Mar 13th 2011 11:21a Chris Miller While at SXSW we came across the Alcatel labs. Inbetween sessions, free drinks and just meeting, they play live Angry Birds.
Yes you shoot a stuffed bird with a huge slingshot at stuffed pigs and cubes.
You can also watch this in HD and all Spiked Studio shows on YouTube [read] Keywords:
45
Yobongo put to the test by us at #SXSW
Sat, Mar 12th 2011 7:17a Chris Miller Yobongo is officially big time, with their own launch party, soon after Caleb Elston was in the New York Times and on a panel with Beluga, Carnvore and more on group texting/apps.
After joining the Yobongo team (and some of TheSocialGeeks) to help celebrate, we (myself and LivingLiveBB) went back to put it through some paces. Here is what we found.
We fired up Yobongo on both an iPad and iPod Touch. Neither had photos sync’d to them from anywhere, so sign-up is halted as Yobongo requ [read] Keywords: blackberry
email
ipod
network
profile
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Beluga – Android review of the group messaging chat app
Wed, Mar 9th 2011 6:22p Chris Miller I loaded up Beluga today on the HTC EVO to add yet another application to the SXSW arsenal. Right away I was welcomed with not only the default Pod, but one for TheSocialGeeks. Beluga is currently available on Android and the i-family of products (Blackberry is the future and there is a mobile browser interface). Based on the core focus they developed Beluga for, it is a strong contender to take the lead. That is the point of this review. Plus being bought by Facebook never hurts.
Belu [read] Keywords: application
blackberry
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interface
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TheSocialNetworker Episode 19 – Greplin social search
Mon, Mar 7th 2011 8:21a Chris Miller Greplin is a new search engine that only looks against your own private social data. Developed by a small and young founder, it looks against all of the data that Google never sees. In this screencast I walkthrough setup, adding accounts and my opinion of data security.
You can also watch this in HD and all the network videos on the Spiked Studio Productions channel on YouTube
Greplin was brought to me as a review site with the added question of data security. Using oAuth, the service pulls [read] Keywords: policies
email
google
linkedin
network
password
security
twitter
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Get social quickly with Yobongo and HeyTell
Wed, Mar 2nd 2011 6:49p Chris Miller The race for hyperlocal, instant communications has begun. Entering the ring first is two different two-person teams, Yobongo and HeyTell, that bring a different function, features and experience to the user. Yobongo brings hyperlocal text chat rooms and HeyTell brings hyperlocal voice chats.
Yobongo **
Chat with people nearby is actually their slogan from this San Francisco based company. Caleb Elston and David Kasper, both formerly of Justin.TV, took a big leap in leaving their day job [read] Keywords: connections
application
email
facebook
mobile
podcast
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Foodspotting out of beta on Android – go love food
Tue, Mar 1st 2011 11:28a Chris Miller I have been a happy beta user of Foodspotting on my Android (HTC EVO) for some time now. I even tried to introduce it to people down at a recent conference to have fun with the food served there.
So many still ask, what’s the point? I simplified it like they do on the About pages. Instead of reading through reviews looking for the best entire restaurants in your city, this serves up the best dishes. The best of everything in any category. If you want to eat only the best pasta, salad and [read] Keywords: facebook
google
iphone
ipod
planetlotus
planetlotus.org
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TheSocialNetworker Episode 18 – SocialEyes review
Tue, Mar 1st 2011 8:13a Chris Miller I got an inquiry if I wanted to check out SocialEyes, a new site from developers in San Francisco offering multi-way video chat capabilities with your Facebook friends. I was intrigued so I created a screencast as I went along. I pass my thoughts to you as I walked through hooking into the service and some things I noticed after recording.
You can also watch this in HD and all the network videos on the Spiked Studio Productions channel on YouTube
Upon first looks, it was a simple browser interf [read] Keywords: facebook
interface
network
planetlotus
planetlotus.org
profile
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IBM Social Business Jam concludes. What was the benefit to you?
Fri, Feb 11th 2011 12:14p Chris Miller IBM hosted a Social Business Jam the past 72 hours. You can still log in to view the contents, but posting has now been disabled. I logged in to see the
overall impact, content and to get a feel for the benefit to me. Here are some quick stats I pulled:
Total number of posts = 2666
Total number of logins = 5893 (duplicates included)
5 main theme areas (Building the Social Business of the Future, Using Social to Understand and Engage with Customers, Identifying Risks and Establishing Gover [read] Keywords: ibm
notes
38
Foursquare Ambassador program – does your company have one?
Tue, Feb 8th 2011 10:21a Chris Miller Foursquare has launched/expanded a new program for some of the more active and influential users on the network called Foursquare Ambassadors. The result is they send you a stack of pre-printed business cards (shown below) with your custom URL and information about businesses and joining Foursquare.
The goal is to make using the service more valuable through a grassroots effort to target businesses. When the business signs up they can claim their location to begin seeing statistical inform [read] Keywords: network
35
Foursquare at Lotusphere, a success in my book #ls11
Mon, Feb 7th 2011 1:52p Chris Miller Working together with Foursquare, Ben L of Genii Software and Tim Davis of Turtle Partnership, I changed the IdoCheckin service over to Foursquare after years of Brightkite. Well even if one person checked in at any point I would be overly happy. The influx from the mobile applications developed by Tim and the database utself by Ben helped a ton. The rest was word of mouth and your help in something we started years ago as a community.
After crunching the numbers of all the new location [read] Keywords: lotusphere
applications
community
database
integration
mobile
43
Book Review: Reflections on Management by Watts Humphrey
Mon, Jan 24th 2011 8:20a Chris Miller Even with this being a book written mainly about principals of software development management through Team and Personal Software Process (TSP and PSP),
Reflections on Management, is an excellent read for anytime managing time. The book is only around 200 pages filled with insight, stories and techniques from the years of being a manager and executive at IBM.
Many of the stories that Watts Humphrey tells are situations we have all been in regarding time management on projects. As the manager [read] Keywords: ibm
notes
development
31
When running a conference tweet aggregator, protect your stream
Thu, Jan 20th 2011 4:08p Chris Miller You see numerous conferences running Twitter aggregators to capture all of the traffic and chatter. I strongly agree with this idea of having it shown and utilized. However, it is important to also protect your Twitter stream from being hijacked.
This was a nice one I captured
I went ahead and grabbed one of the nicer ones. Filtering is a key component. You could set it to only approved people and remove the worries. Making it easy to hold someone accountable and remove them. This mi [read] Keywords: twitter
36
Book Review: Google Analytics by Justin Cutroni
Mon, Jan 10th 2011 9:14a Chris Miller If you have any need to use Google Analytics this is the source book for you.
The depth Google Analytics: Understanding Visitor Behavior is able to go in under 200 pages is amazing. I soon realized I had no clue of the capabilities of the free tool since the update to version 2.0 in 2007.
The author, Justin Cutroni, is one of a few Google Analytics Certified Partners and it showed. When I begin bookmarking pages in books, I know I found valuable content. This book opened my eyes into ways [read] Keywords: enterprise
google
integration
57
TheSocialNetworker Episode 17 – Nextbook e-reader hands-on
Wed, Jan 5th 2011 11:46a Chris Miller This Christmas brought many surprises including a chance to get hands-on time with the Nextbook e-reader device, powered by Android. It hooks to the Borders bookstore, but supports epub, pdf and more.
You may also watch the review in HD right here on YouTube
The Nextbook device is a 7″ tablet, with the look and feel of an Android phone. The internal hardware leaves limited room to add applications or do many things. It does support an external SD card slot.
It has it’s own ve [read] Keywords: applications
wifi
51
TheSocialNetworker Episode 16 – Skype iPhone video bug
Thu, Dec 30th 2010 1:09p Chris Miller While testing the new Skype client released for the iPhone/iPod/iPad today, Carl Tyler of Epilio found a big with the video switching. We did a test so we could record the conversation and get screenshots to share.
Following is how we should appear in the windows on the iPhone or iPod with Skype using the front facing cameras.
(Carl could warn me next time I am blinking before he snapshots) So that is his front facing camera on the iPhone 4 while we video conference test. All is well, as [read] Keywords: bug
iphone
ipod
skype
37
TheSocialNetworker UI update stage #1 complete
Tue, Dec 28th 2010 1:29p Chris Miller I sat over the holiday weekend upgrading WordPress and Headway for TheSocialNetworker. It is my theme of choice for any WordPress site I run now. While I am an admin at heart, this makes it drop dead easy to change a UI into anything I want.
Everything on the screen in design mode is drag and drop. Resizing, adding features, functions and more. I so wish my Lotus Domino based blog had this function as well. If you have not seen Headway theme and run WordPress, take a look and let me kn [read] Keywords: admin
domino
lotus
archive
integration
27
Book review: Best iPad Apps by Peter Meyers
Tue, Dec 21st 2010 10:14a Chris Miller When I first got this book, Best iPad Apps: The Guide for Discriminating Downloaders by Peter Meyers (O’Reilly published), I was sure that so many things had changed and applications created, there was not much I would get from this book with over 200 pages. I was wrong, plain and simple. Amazon has this book on sale right now for $13.29 or in the iBooks store for $9.99.
The book itself is broken into sections, with colored page edges for quick sorting of each main category:
At Wo [read] Keywords: notes
application
applications
twitter
Cisco enters social mining with SocialMiner 8.5
Wed, Dec 15th 2010 10:15a Chris Miller Major vendors of sfotware and services are now trying to tap into what smaller software developers have been doing for a couple years. They are bargaining they can earn some revenue from enterprises trying to filter, respond to and grasp this giant social media web. Cisco recently launch version 8.5 of SocialMiner.
Cisco® SocialMiner is a social media customer care solution that enables your company to proactively respond to customers and prospects communicating through public social media [read] Keywords: ibm
blogging
enterprise
facebook
network
twitter
19
Since when is Facebook acceptable as a corporate homepage?
Tue, Dec 14th 2010 11:14a Chris Miller Advertisement after advertisement in print, radio, web and television is now ending with a link to a Facebook page. I know I am not alone in not wanting everyone in my defined circle of friends (network) on Facebook to know every product page I visit. I do not have to go to Facebook to like your product. I also associate products with your name. Kleenex is a brand, yet we associate it with all tissue we use and buy. So did Facebook buy them? Should I be headed here on Facebook for prod [read] Keywords: facebook
network
44
Why I think Brightkite chose to close location services
Mon, Dec 13th 2010 11:13a Chris Miller I was an avid user of Brightkite until the last week when they suggested I back up my location data from them. I was shocked to hear they gave up on the location services race and are instead focusing on group texting services (competing with GroupMe and FastSociety right away).
Brightkite was a leader in the check-in space. Competition came along just as any industry evolves. Soon the media was measuring, weighing and comparing capabilities. Brightkite consistently won early charts. B [read] Keywords: blackberry
facebook
54
TheSocialNetworker Episode 15 – Rockmelt the social browser
Mon, Dec 6th 2010 10:14a Chris Miller I waited until Rockmelt had a few updates before joining the beta to produce this screencast showing the setup, basic functions and my opinions on the interface. I focus on ease of setup and usability once installed.
Overall I was happy with the speed of configuration and ease of use. I was concerned with the mass appeal of this tool. I think hardcore Facebook users would get immediate benefit. Early adopters will have a hard time staying in the UI with the other tools we have already e [read] Keywords: facebook
interface
twitter
72
TheSocialNetworker Episode 14 – Facebook Messages setup and privacy
Thu, Dec 2nd 2010 10:15a Chris Miller In this short screencast I walk you through the coming setup for Facebook Messages and what privacy concerns you should have. Pay special attention to the links below for the direct links to the help files on the new Facebook Messages you will all soon have rolled out.
Overall Q&A on Facebook Messages
Privacy controls for Facebook Messages
Everyone should make sure you have selected a custom name on Facebook. If not, this setup will force you to do so. The sooner you grab one, the be [read] Keywords: facebook
network
30
Thirty-nine percent of companies block Facebook at work? Yeah right
Mon, Nov 29th 2010 2:24p Chris Miller A new study from Webroot (via NetworkWorld) dumped a lot of stats in my lap. Most of which are companies portraying some feigned sense of security by attempting to block outside social networks. Here are some of the stats first:
39% block access to Facebook
30% block access to Twitter
27% block video sharing sites
Image courtesy: Geek.com
Amazingly 21% give employees the right to view such sites before work and during their lunch hour. Let’s be honest. With the amount of third pa [read] Keywords: policies
blackberry
email
facebook
iphone
mobile
network
security
twitter
35
Game Review: Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood
Tue, Nov 23rd 2010 11:26p Chris Miller Rarely do I review video/PC games, but Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood is an excellent sequel. The addition of muti-player mode, while light in my opinion, makes it worth the wait.
It states over 15 hours of single player mode, which I imagine will be true after playing the second edition of Assassin’s Creed when it came out. The additional weapons and features were needed to expand the game area and difficulty. Some of the steps remain the same. I feared boredom when we first [read] Keywords: interface
profile
24
Tungle goes Pro and adds Personalization
Mon, Nov 15th 2010 3:17p Chris Miller Tungle, my go to web based scheduling client, has added new features under the Pro banner for a monthly/yearly fee. For $4.99 a month or $49.99 year you get the following options to what is already an amazing free product:
Set your favorite locations for meetings (phone line, coffee shop, whatever and ten maximum)
Logo and color branding for site
Logo branding for invitations, confirmations and updates
I have been using Tungle and even had the chance to sit with Marc, the founder, in an Id [read] Keywords: calendaring
lotus
apple
google
microsoft
mobile
planetlotus
planetlotus.org
podcast
31
Will third party Twitter clients remove Sponsored Tweets?
Fri, Nov 5th 2010 5:49a Chris Miller With Twitter launching sponsored tweets into the stream, will the developers of
Courtesy of: Business Insider
clients such as Tweetdeck, Seesmic, Mixero and more write code to remove these from paid versions of the apps to make themselves money? All while satisfying users of Twitter at the same time?
Third party client developers are already under fire (see previous posting on the ecosystem) with Twitter now running their own clients across mobile platforms, with the web as the preferred deskt [read] Keywords: blackberry
desktop
interface
mobile
twitter
19
Book Review: Facebook Marketing (Second Edition) by Justin R Levy
Mon, Nov 1st 2010 10:27a Chris Miller The maze that corporations, and even individuals, maneuver through in Facebook is daunting when it comes to marketing strategy and implementation. Justin R. Levy makes it seem so simple in his second edition of Facebook Marketing: Designing Your Next Marketing Campaign. This is through the published Que, and is available on Amazon as well.
I worked through the pages quickly, even folding corners on pages I really found value in. I was shocked to see the number of them I flagged when I had [read] Keywords: facebook
network
39
VIOlight UV Cell Phone Sanitizer hands-on review and unboxing
Wed, Oct 27th 2010 3:52p Chris Miller The UV Cell Phone Sanitizer is a new device from VIOlight to clean up to 99.9% of the germs found on your electronic gadgets.
Basically anything you can fit into the cleaner will be blasted with UV light for a few minutes of UV light cleaning power. Here is the video walk through of the un-boxing and usage.
One distinct thing to note is that this is killing the unseen germs, not making your device shiny. I suggest using some form of cleaner to get off all the normal stuff, smudges and sme [read] Keywords: application
blackberry
office
21
UnSocial – get to know who you don’t know
Mon, Oct 18th 2010 4:14p Chris Miller UnSocial launched in beta to a select city, San Francisco. I would tend to say overly selective since the complaints have begun in the Android Marketplace when I looked to install the application. Many users stated they had no notice of the limited support until after the application installed.
UnSocial, available on iPhone and Android take the alternate approach in trying to connect you with who you should know in your current proximity. The very alternate approach to other social network [read] Keywords: application
applications
blackberry
development
iphone
linkedin
mobile
profile
39
Skype and Facebook – there goes separating business and personal (and LinkedIn?)
Fri, Oct 1st 2010 11:27a Chris Miller Facebook choosing Skype as the VOIP provider just caused a forced blend of your personal and business contacts. I primarily use Skype for business needs and keep Facebook for personal. In order to use the blended service effectively, I would need to add personal users to Skype and business users to Facebook. I imagine this will happen through Facebook Connect for authentication.
I imagine Skype has seen a bump in registration (Buzz Study article) and business when the announcement unfolded [read] Keywords: connections
facebook
google
linkedin
network
skype
26
Can the BlackPad move BlackBerry (RIM) to the forefront?
Thu, Sep 23rd 2010 11:26a Chris Miller Anticipation awaits for an announcement of the BlackPad from the Research In Motion (RIM) developer conference taking place next week. The question looms if it can be a smashing success?
BlackPad image from BlackBerryRocks
My first honest answer to this is a solid NO. I personally have not had hands-on time yet, so this is all from thought and analysis of the market trends I see daily. While some business executives may dabble with this, and the promise of tight enterprise integration alre [read] Keywords: application
blackberry
enterprise
google
integration
interface
network
research in motion
rim
69
TheSocialNetworker Episode 13 – Seesmic Desktop 2 screencast
Fri, Sep 10th 2010 7:51p Chris Miller Seesmic launched version 2 of their desktop software, with a plug-in architecture included. I walk through these are in the screencast:
setup
account management
options
the interface
and more in this less than 8 minutes. Learn what I think and if it is worth you switching your existing client to.
Remember, you can find me as IdoNotes across all the networks [read] Keywords: desktop
interface
55
How In Two Moves Twitter Kills an Ecosystem
Wed, Sep 8th 2010 12:28p Chris Miller Courtesy of Sean Rasmussen
Twitter has made some major changes that have taken a huge bite out of the third party developer ecosystem for tools, add-ons and clients.
Twitter started (rightfully) buying/building their own official Twitter clients for multiple platforms. This was needed as no one knew quite where to turn outside of the web interface (that had clients built to make that better) and SMS via a cellphone. Any other application written to interact was from third parties hoping to [read] Keywords: application
interface
iphone
mobile
network
twitter
25
Ping me here, there and … wait, Apple branded Ping?
Wed, Sep 1st 2010 3:41p Chris Miller We use the term ping almost daily with friends. Ping me on Twitter, Skype, instant messaging services and more. Apple today threw a nice uppercut by starting their social music network embedded in iTunes and calling it Ping. Sure there was Ping.FM that allowed you to broadcast your status to multiple social services, just not many people knew about them.
Thanks to ReadWriteWeb for the image source and announcement review
But, everyone is learning Apple and by taking ownership of the word [read] Keywords: apple
applications
instant messaging
network
networking
skype
twitter
35
Book review : Head First WordPress
Tue, Aug 31st 2010 11:29p Chris Miller Recently, I seem to be receiving quite a few WordPress books for review. For anyone investigating building your blog initiative, Head First WordPress is the best I have read yet. The Head First books always present the information numerous ways to catch your attention, highlight key areas and make you contemplate new topics before moving along.
Head First Wordpress starts the reader with a basic understanding of the platform, quick install, dashboard and a quick walk through making your fi [read] Keywords: css
google
security
widgets
xml
37
Gmail new Priority Inbox – I just ignored you
Tue, Aug 31st 2010 12:24a Chris Miller Gmail has taken a new step forward with the new Priority Inbox in helping to automatically
prioritize your inbox and daily routine. This is something sorely needed for the bulging inbox. How it works is the key thing to know.
Priority Inbox sits below compose but above your regular Inbox you are used to now in Gmail. Mashable explains the sorting it takes on:
At its core, it’s an algorithm; Priority Inbox uses information such as keywords, the people you e-mail the most and your e-mail [read] Keywords: email
enterprise
google
43
GroupMe – group SMS and conference calling free
Thu, Aug 26th 2010 11:31p Chris Miller When I first saw GroupMe I was curious what they offered that most every recent mobile phone does already. GroupMe allows a user to create groups of contacts to send a SMS to plus another surprise I found below. Looking at my existing phone, it says Add to group in each person record and then I can SMS the group. Then I read more to see why this was a big deal…
GroupMe creates a hone number for you and then allows conference calling. SMS commands are built in to see users in the li [read] Keywords: google
mobile
37
Book review: Build Your Own Wicked Wordpress Themes
Mon, Aug 23rd 2010 11:26p Chris Miller I am now officially pleased I was able to read and review Build Your Own Wicked Wordpress Themes by a grouping of authors: Allan Cole, Raena Jackson Armitage, Brandon R Jones and Jeffrey Way.
This book definitely took my thoughts on Wordpress theme design to new levels while simplifying the entire process. The book is made to teach you how to design, build and sell your own themes. But, it is just as informative for someone wanting to extend themes into your own creations for your Wordpress [read] Keywords: widget
29
Facebook Places – your default privacy exposed
Thu, Aug 19th 2010 3:28p Chris Miller In Episode 28 of TheSocialGeeks last night we dug into the announcement yesterday on Facebook Places. If you are one of the 500 million members of Facebook and have not heard about this yet, your default privacy settings allow others to “check you in” to places you are visiting. While this can be undone, if you hardly use Facebook but have a profile on the network, you could have people mapping your locations for you. Recall my article on how I like to Check in when I check out [read] Keywords: applications
archive
facebook
network
profile
17
Stop Being Lazy and Filter Your Inbound Content
Tue, Aug 17th 2010 6:27p Chris Miller I am lucky enough to have a panel up for voting at SXSW in 2011 for the above title. Here is the excerpt:
We are constantly adding new RSS feeds, streams and sources for our own consumption. Soon we file virtual bankruptcy and start over, leaving behind the sources we trusted. What we do not learn is the value that drew those sources to us in the first place. Learn how to use smarter filtering, tools and resources to streamline, remove duplication and find the most important information.
There [read] Keywords: community
44
Declare war on your favorite location and mayor – Mayor War
Wed, Aug 11th 2010 9:27a Chris Miller Someone just couldn’t be happy that someone took their mayorship (is that a word) of their favorite location through Foursquare. Apparently war is the best solution. Rather than check in again to try and gain mayor rights back, just go straight to war without passing go. Mayor War steps in to help this situation and become your virtual battle ground. They currently only offer an iPhone/iPad/iPod application for you to declare war, but I sense that Android and web based might be c [read] Keywords: application
iphone
ipod
twitter
