misc

Back in the day, way back in 2005, when I started blogging (April of 2005 if you’re interested), I was much better about keeping up with things on the web. I was also better about keeping my blog up to date. Inevitably priorities shift, the web shifts (I’m not the only one that stopped blogging), and though I’m probably a lot smarter about the web now, I may not be as plugged in when it comes to new startups. I still do try though, even if I don’t keep the blog up to date.

With that in mind, I thought I might share a few things have popped up on my radar that I felt were worth sharing. Some may change the web, some may not, but they all at least deserve a spot on a small blog post of somewhat interesting items, that may or may not be read by somewhere between 6 and 30 people:

Drumbeat: Drumbeat is an interesting idea in that it seeks to leverage the power of the social web to better the web. There are some good ideas for projects already, but I think what’s more interesting is the potential of future projects. With initiatives like the current Privacy Icons and Video Subtitles campaigns, this could be a way that web standards get put into place. It’s not quite a crowd sourced W3C, but it certainly has potential.

Activity Streams and Salmon Protocol: Like microformats both of these are about standardizing data for interoperability sake. Activity Streams is an effort to standardize the way that (primarily) social sites publish data so that data from different sites can be understood and utilized by tools - like FriendFeed or Cliqset - or even the social networks themselves. A lot of the work is around defining verbs - e.g. like or follow - that are common to most social apps. It’s interesting work, and hopefully does a lot for interoperability - I can see where microformats would also come into play on this end. The salmon protocol is similar, but actually does something that I used to really want: it allows you to comment on a post regardless of where you are viewing the post. I used to think that it would make so much sense to add a comment from my rss reader rather than go to a blog post to make a comment. I don’t pull out the old rss reader as much anymore, but I can see this being immensely useful, especially if you think about activity streams. If the two could be combined, then I could use an aggregator to view content from various sites, and the aggregator would understand what it was presenting to me, and from the aggregator would be able to comment on some content - or otherwise interact with it. That’s a major change in the way that the web works - and pretty exciting.

Open Share Icons: After the previous two, this isn’t as exciting for me, but nonetheless, I enjoy the idea of the open share icon, and see it as an emerging standard.

mite: This isn’t really anything new, but I’ve been playing with this time tracking site recently and find it to be pretty useful and inventive. They also seem to have an actual business model, which is nice to see… except that may mean that I stop using it after a week.

Dishizzle: Review sites are a dime a dozen, which is why this one will probably fail. But before that happens, I think you should take a look at this dish review site (as opposed to reviewing the full restaurant, you just review the food). It’s limited to mostly San Diego posts at this point, but it interests me as someone that used to run a local review site. I think this could have been a cool feature - and one that I definitely thought about - but I don’t know that it has real power as a full site.

Well that took a while… no wonder everyone sticks to tweeting.

As someone immensely interested (and involved) in the digital landscape, my foray into a very old medium comes at a very interesting time. It would seem to me that in the digital age, and more importantly in the social age, that my forthcoming novel should not need to have a publisher at all. I should be able to define the business model, publicize like crazy using social tools, and hope to gain enough traction without ever having to use a business model that is forced upon most authors. Saying that, I know the difficult of working independently and not having funding.

But it seems like I could certainly try. If I start with a finished novel (a very difficult first step), then promote it online using social tools, I could drive traffic to a site where I offer the first few chapters (or even 50% of it) for free, as well as some opportunities to get the whole thing for free and the capability to buy a complete digital edition. I would also distribute it through the emerging channels for devices such as the Kindle. Depending on the success (and or failure) of these paths, I would then have it published in an actual tangible format, perhaps using some on-demand printing to not have to pay for unsold books… seems feasible, right?

I wrote some code for the first time in a long time today… well other than the occasional code I write at work. It was fun. I truly enjoyed it, and though it was never employed on a live version of Lopico I really like working with jquery. Today I was prototyping an interface for building out navigation, which I intend to use for something work related, though I probably can’t say much more than that. As I was writing code though, I started to think (naturally) about the unfinished version of Lopico that I started last year. So, I looked at it a little bit, and even took care of a bug. I’d love to get back to Lopico… but it’s probably never going to happen. I’ve decided to limit myself to one outside-of-work project at a time and right now that’s the novel that I’m working on. When that’s done (which feels close, but also really far), I’ll likely work on a new site, but not Lopico. It’s really a matter of finding the right opportunities at the right time. While I think Lopico could still work, I don’t think that at this time, it’s where I would best utilize my time and talents.

Maybe… One of the ideas that I have for a post-novel website is local focused… but it would mean completely scrapping all of the lopico architecture if I decided that was what Lopico would be about. Still local, but with a drastic (less-business) focus. I’m seeing a lot of opportunity in local, but not in the review space. I don’t think that there’s anything on the web that really does a good job of organizing people into geographic groups in the same way that we associate those geographies in real life. If I tell someone that I’m from Chicago, and they ask me about it, I’m not going to start mentioning reviews of restaurants… but there are a lot of other things that I could say and share about the city and specifically about my neighborhood. Hyperlocal, it’s called, but I’m thinking it stretches beyond what we commonly see. I think it stretches into people having a real need to access local information in better ways than what’s currently available.

And there’s something that I want to do with bookmarking that I think needs to be done. Delicious revolutionized the concept of bookmarking (and maybe kicked off web 2.0 in the process), but it’s been more or less at a standstill sense. The way that people interact with their bookmarks is fine, but it could be better.

But before I get to all that… I’ve got a novel to finish (more on that soon).

If it turns out - which is somewhat likely - that I don’t become a successful author I can see a huge opportunity in publishing industry websites. As much time as I’ve been spending on various websites related to the publishing industry lately, I can think of maybe one that has been done particularly well. Some of the large publishing companies have great websites, from a design standpoint, but they are all lacking usability in some way. The sites that seem to hold the most information are typically 1) not forthcoming with such information and 2) the worst in terms of design. I would think that a list of literary agents would not be something that a company would charge for, especially when the same information is available elsewhere for free by searching Google. If you are asking someone to pay for content on your site that can be found elsewhere, then what you are asking them to pay for is really the way you’ve organized the content. If the organization is poor, then what are you asking people to pay for?

I finished my novel! Now, I just have to rewrite it. It’s not really finished, I just reached the end. The novel has some fundamental flaws in structure and an imbalance in content that needs to be reconciled. On top of that, I started writing in 2007, wrote for about six months infrequently, then wrote maybe two or three thousand words in 2008. The balance of the book was written in the past couple of months. To say that my writing from 07 doesn’t exactly jive with my writing in 09 would be an understatement. So, right now I’m focused on rewriting the book so that it actually makes sense and feels like a connected novel. The novel totals about 65,000 words, which is a little shorter than what I’d like, but I’m guessing that the rewriting will take it up considerably. The chapters towards the start come in at about 4-8 pages, whereas the chapters at the end are 25+. That could simply be a matter of combining chapters… but that’s not where the real problem lies. The detail level is just not the same throughout the book. So… I’ve still got some work to do.

But then… in true JD Amer fashion… I started another story. Not sure if this one will be a novel, or end up simply as a short story, but as soon as the first was over the second began. We’ll see what happens.

I was hoping that I’d be writing mostly about the business of trying to get a novel published, but before that, I’ve got a long way to go.

It’s been awhile… I feel like I start nearly every blog that way anymore. I’ve been pretty busy with life these days, which has kept me from Lopico and kept me from blogging. But, that’s all okay with me. I’m really very excited about a couple of other things happening with me - first and foremost, I got married to a wonderful woman! August 29th, here in Chicago, I married the love of my life - who I happened to meet in Chicago, right before moving here. Secondly, my project that I’ve been working on in my free time has no longer been web based - I’m instead much more focused on completing my novel that I started in July of 2007. What this means for the future of Lopico is really pretty uncertain, I’m just not making it a priority right now. I’ve said that before a number of times, but this is the first time where I really feel like I’m letting go of it. There are many reasons, specific to the market and specific to me, that I really don’t feel that this is the best place for me to spend my time right now.

Though the market somewhat keeps me out of trying to force Lopico back to the web, it isn’t stopping me from writing. Writing a novel is actually somewhat similar to starting a web start-up. Each has a huge pool of people trying to make it, and typically starting out in their homes. From these masses, those that have the best connections and can pitch the gatekeepers - VCs for the web, publishing companies or agents for books - in the best manner will enjoy the most success. They are both huge markets with a few huge players and millions of smaller ones. It’s definitely going to be a new type of challenge for me - when I get to the point of being able to look for a publisher - but one that I am looking forward to. I really enjoy writing and think that this first work is actually pretty good.

If nothing else, I am really enjoying learning a new industry. Unlike the web, I’m not getting in at a hot time - like I did when Lopico’s launch coincided with the birth of Web 2.0 - so, I really have to produce a great product and manage my way into the right distribution channels. Or maybe I don’t. Maybe, I’ll take the self-publishing route, and use web as my spring board. Whatever happens, I do plan to use this blog to detail what happens as I go through the process, much the same way I used my first blog to draw attention to the process of building Lopico and the lessons I learned along the way. Of course, at that time having a blog held a little more novelty - maybe I should have written the novel entirely in 140 character tweets.

I wrote recently about twitter and facebook as sort of minimalist social apps on the lopico blog. These two sites are a unique combination, because of the draw that they have ~ and not much else. But it is the draw of these two that I think could really give just about any company enough justification to drop their web presence anywhere else. Maybe LinkedIn too…

For most businesses, more people are on facebook, twitter, and linkedIn (FTL for the rest of this post) at this very moment than are likely to be on your site in the next year. Why not simply harness that power of that network and similar networks, and forget about trying to build up a site that will see low traffic?

Use Facebook as a storage for content, twitter as a thought provoking conversation tool, and LinkedIn to draw contacts and job applicants.

This is drastically different than what I said in the aforementioned Lopico post in which I said - build from scratch, don’t build off of existing networks. The difference is one of audience. If I am talking about building a web app - I think innovation is hurt by developing on top of platforms. However, if we are talking about traditional businesses looking to harness the power of the web (e.g. a bar, law firm, or even a band) then why not go where everyone else is, instead of asking them to come to you?

You don’t need a website, but you do need the web - and you need to know how to use it.

——-
I should at least partially credit this post to a quick conversation I had on twitter today with @kevinokeefe

When I last posted, it was the first mention of Lopico on this blog since March of last year. You may have thought Lopico was done, dead, and over… but it may be making a comeback. I’ve been working on Lopico a lot lately, and it’s going pretty well. In the process of bringing it back, I’ve started to make a few observations.

1. I am a much better developer than I used to be. This wouldn’t seem that odd, except I’ve barely written any code in the past year. From time to time I would do little things, and I did create a delicious clone, but for the most part I haven’t be writing anything.

2. The database structure of old Lopico was easy to use, but it was bloated. I was storing way too much information in the old database structure. Now, I’m trying to make it as lean as I can. I think this is in turn helping my development, because I’m thinking about everything in terms of “the best way” instead of the “easiest way.”

3. I love Aptana. I started using Aptana when I was looking at ROR, but ultimately decided it’s a great editor for PHP - which is what Lopico was primarily written in and will be again.

4. Some of what Lopico used to do was crap. I’m getting rid of the crap, focusing, and making things easier on myself. It all gets back to thinking about the best way to do things. I need to remove some crap to avoid having to work around things that weren’t well-thought-out. Luckily, it’s a completely re-write, so there’s plenty of room for thought. For the last major iteration of Lopico, I created the site and then kept adding to it… looking back at it now, the new things I created didn’t exactly fit perfectly.

5. Some of what Lopico used to do was pretty cool. More than anything, I’m excited to bring the site back. It was pretty cool and personally a great accomplishment. It’s going to be different, but at the same time I expect it to be just as much fun and just as rewarding.

6. The local review market is even more condensed and more difficult to compete in. I have to think differently. I’ll have more than a few surprises for old users and hopefully many new users.

7. I’ve got nothing to lose. Lopico was what it was and will be what it will be. At the end of the day, if I am the only one using it, and I like using it, I am completely happy with that.

I’ll have a lot more to say about this, but I plan to do my Lopico blogging on the Lopico blog (if I can find my password). Even a post like this belongs there. I want to be as open and involved through the Lopico blog as I used to be on this one.

I’m always pleasantly surprised when I see Motask written up somewhere. The most recent that I’ve seen is a post titled “14 Superb Mobile To-Do Apps to Increase Your Productivity” from Pulse2. Motask was built in about 10 hours, and really I think I could now do it in about 4. I’ve updated it maybe twice since it launched in September 2006. Motask isn’t the feature of this post, but the fact that it made the list I think speaks highly of the power of simplicity.

As I am re-writing Lopico (more to come on that) I am often asking myself if I am trying to do too much. I hope the answer is no, but I know that I am including a lot. I think the thinking with most sites (Lopico included) is “what can I do that my competitors aren’t doing?” When really there should be more thinking along the lines of “what are my competitors doing that I don’t need.”

Many people and companies blog to position themselves as experts in a field, which is fine - but there’s something even easier that you can do that will establish you as being in touch and potentially turn you into a greater resource than a blog. This is especially true if you don’t write well. Share things you find interesting with others.

Sure plenty of individuals do this, but it’s extremely extremely rare to see this done by a company. If I run a consulting company, I not only want to show off my own news, I also want to position myself as being knowledgeable on current trends. The easiest way for me to do this is to link to articles that I consider valuable. By doing this i’m showing that I am up on current trends and at the same time building a resource that visitors will likely want to revisit.

All it takes is a little integration with the delicious api (or any other bookmarking service), a widget (see my Google reader shares in the sidebar), or a quick custom job. I built the basics of a social bookmarking site in just about 4 hours. After that just browse the internet as you otherwise would and share stories you find interesting or useful.

When android hits, we are going to see one of the first battles of apple and google. For the most part these two don’t really compete. Now they are going head to head in the battle of the mobile os.

Everyone knew about the iphone before it came out, but no one that I talk to outside the tech world knows what android is - most within don’t either. That’s a fundamental difference in google and apple. Apple is known for big build ups to releases and for big ad and pr campaigns. Google isn’t. Instead google is known for launching quietly and then crushing the competition with superior products. But apple is known for crushing competition too. The difference is really one of style.

So now, the question has to be what happens when two heavyweights colide? My guess is that the world won’t blink at android. My guess is that it won’t be half as asthetically appealing as the iphone. However, my guess is that over time it will crush the iphone.

Why? Not simply because it’s google. I know as well as anyone that google can’t win on name alone. If that were true a mass conversion to google docs would be underway. Google will win because its strategy is better and its better fit for this medium. Mobile isn’t about phones. It’s about the web and messaging. Right now apple’s biggest advantage is its ability to combine two devices into one. But as the way we use our phones evolves the google brand will be the one users are most drawn to. It may be a few years off, but in the long run I believe the mobile world belongs to google

I was in a meeting about seo Friday, and I was left pondering a question I’ve pondered before: where do brands belong in title tags?

There are really just two choices, the front and the back. If you put the brand name in the back, there is a chance a searcher might miss it. They might go to your site and never remember the name because it didn’t make that first impression. They remember the content, but not the brand.

On the other hand, putting the brand in front means giving up valuable keyword real estate. You are potentially sacrificing the only few words a user will ever see to get your brand name out. If it’s an unknown brand, there’s even a chance that will induce someone to skip your link.

So what’s worse? Well, I think our narcissistic and English basis makes us think that the name should come first. We read left to right, and from a hierarchical standpoint it make sense to use: site - section - page. It’s just the way we think. And we certainly don’t want to risk an opportunity to throw our brand in everyone’s face. Consider that and the fact that every uber brand in the world uses this structure (plus some very popular content management systems like wordpress) and you have a fairly compelling argument for placing your brand name first in your title.

But wait… you’re not an uber brand… at least most likely you’re not. So there’s a good chance you’ll benefit more from keywords first. Well… maybe. You don’t need to be Facebook SEOmoz to warrant the brand first title tag, but you also shouldn’t just go for it because that’s what SEOmoz does.

Unless you are well known in your target market, you really shouldn’t be putting your name up front. The key isn’t size, it’s brand awareness in your target market. If your name already means something throw it up front. If it doesn’t (which can be hard to admit) it gets the back seat to content.

Updated: I changed my example from Facebook to SEOmoz. I think this post is more relevant with this example, because SEOmoz is really using its brand recognition in the field to drive clicks.

I think the lull is real, but I also think the lull exists in the realm of the trendy. Startups focused on current trends in the web aren’t going to stand out. What really stands out to me is a startup that is not focused on the trends… Right now that’s xobni, a startup that is focusing on the email client when everyone else is focusing on the browser. By bucking the trend xobni is completely avoiding the lull.

xobni didn’t take the same approach of trying to build a social network from the ground up - xobni built off a tool that was already social in nature, but that completely lacked social features. That’s the pitch anyway, but I could honestly care less about the social aspects of xobni - I love it because it makes outlook interesting and more useful. Improved search, conversational organization, easy file view and most importantly - intelligent presentation of information (which might just be where the ‘plug-in’ company turns into a business).

xobni’s not predictable, it has nothing to do with the semantic web or the mobile web, it’s not the next facebook or the next google, it’s not something anyone said would be the next big thing - it’s not trendy, it’s just brilliant (though the micorsoft move may have been stupid (even if I do like the company more for it)).

When I think about the future of web apps, I think of remoteness. I think of being in one location and being able to both read and write to others. I want to setup a page of my own that allows me to interact with other sites in both for both retrieval and contribution. Imagine, a site where you can see your friends interactions with other sites and interact with those sites without leaving your current location. It’s not that hard to imagine… right now this type of ecosystem exists within the confines of Facebook, where, for example, I can update my twitter status and see others twitter updates without ever venturing to twitter itself. This is fine, but Facebook is not the internet… I’m essentially talking about a decentralized platform. So, what is Friend Feed? Well, probably a lot of people reading this already know, but for those that don’t… it’s the read part of the read write decentralized platform. We’ve reached a halfway point where I can read from other sites without having to visit them, but I can’t write to most of them unless they are contained somewhere. I want to be able to have a module that I control that allows me to post to Flickr, Facebook, or Delicious (not the best example) without having to visit the sites or go through an API. We’re at the point where we can read most content from nearly anywhere… next we need to be able to write. I might just do this with motask… enable people to take the site with them to anywhere else they want, even completely rebrand it… but contain the information within my database. I’m still working the details out… but with the simple nature of motask, it at least seems possible. There are many more examples where this is beginning to happen… but they are coming along slowly and all too often are left to the tech savvy. Somewhere between opensource and silo data lies the future of web interactivity, figuring out the right mix will determine the future of the web.

So.. I just got back from Vegas, which has me thinking about the usefulness of travel booking sites. Traditional travel booking sites just don’t seem to get it. There was probably a time when these sites were very helpful. Way back in the B.G. (before Google) era, when people weren’t as savvy about going to an actual airlines site, or a hotel site, it was probably helpful. Now, people go to these sites, look for what’s cheapest and then go to the actual airline site where the flight will be slightly cheaper. Now these sites are banking on adding extra services and packages to try to compensate for their general lack of usefulness for the non-internet-intelligent (a shrinking population)

Then there are the referral sites, these seem to be headed in the right direction - but I think they are merely a piece of the puzzle. The process of showing prices to customers, then sending them to the airline’s site for a referral fee - is much closer to actual user behavior so it makes for a more useful and rewarding experience. My question is, why don’t the bundler’s add the referral function into their site? Use the bundler to look for prices, but give me the option of how I want to purchase the flight - either from the bundling site directly or through the airline or hotel. This way all of the customers that would leave anyway count for at least some revenue.

Then there’s the second piece - the add-ons. There’s a certain company that is trying to build a social network around travel conditions. This seems a little foolish - and this isn’t a replication of how people normally travel. Again the companies are trying to force customers out of their norms. Worst of all the information that is provided via this service really isn’t that helpful. Sure I can see how long the security line is right before I walk up to it… but what choice do I have at that point? And if I check it earlier, what are the chances the condition will be the same? These companies would be better off giving customers helpful information tailored to their needs throughout their trip. I don’t care about using the web on my phone to find out about a security line, but I would like to know about a lot of other things while I’m actually at my destination. Give me recommendations and partner with business in top destinations to give me access to discounts and offers that I can only get if I book through your service. This is the type of information that is always going to be useful and enticing.

Unless there is a change to start providing useful information and services that actually mirror or enhance real life behavior, travelers will continue to make alternate plans.

Search engine optimization seems to always be done from a backwards-looking perspective. A client comes to an SEM firm and says “what can we do NOW to improve our search rankings?” The problem would be a lot easier to fix if the site had been built with SEO in mind. Yes, SEO starts with design; and if you’re lacking in smart design then you’re coming into the SEO process with at least one strike against you (probably more). The good news for those that start with smart design is that you’re already a few steps ahead. When you get to the heart of it, there are only so many things one can do to separate one site from another in terms of SEO. Search-minded design is a thing that so few sites have, that it really makes a difference after the keyword stuffing and link baiting is finished.

If it’s important why don’t more websites do this?

The problem in my opinion, is that design, development, and services (things like SEO) are usually very separate. In fact, I can only recall ever seeing one or two search marketing firms that also offer design services. Design on the web is different than design in print or anywhere else - design on the web has to be smarter. You start with a logical layout, without tables, user Header tags intelligently, include alt tags, and ensure that your site looks good naked. Naked websites? That’s right, you need to make sure your site makes sense when you look at it without any design elements. For this I like to use the web developer toolbar in firefox. Use the toolbar to disable css and images and you’ll get a much better picture of how Google, Yahoo, and other search engines will see your site. If it makes sense naked, then you’re on your way to better optimization.

That’s easy right? So, why isn’t it done? Because, for the most part, this is not taught to web designers. Web designers are designers, not search optimizers - so they think in terms of design not SEO. They need to become both. From header tags, to microformats, this stuff has to be done at the design level. If you’re designers aren’t doing this, they are hurting your site in the long run.

SEO is easy, if you start with it in mind. It’s not a matter of difficulty it’s a matter of consistency and of site-wide or company-wide efforts.

More on SEO:
JD Amer’s SEO bookmarks on del.icio.us

… but nobody wants it. I tried to completely program, design and launch a site a couple of weekends ago, when I realized a couple of things:

1. What’s the hurry?
2. I’m not following my mantra of “assume it’s being built, go after what you’d want next”
3. Building to quickly is a sure fire way to fail

Sure, there are exceptions - I did motask in a little over a week, it had about 1500 uniques in its first 5 hours of launch and it continues to do fairly well in terms of growth and usage - but on average, you’re better off building for quality not speed. I wanted to get the new site up quickly mainly for the novelty of doing it in a weekend - but when the novelty wears off, you’re left with a half-assed site and a bunch of unresolved/undiscovered issues that you half to go back and spend time on anyway.

So, what happens to the new site (Frisht) now? Well, before I started building it, I had set a yearly goal of launching at least two new sites (not counting blogs which I can set up in about an hour) - I suppose it will become one of the two. The longer I take to build it, the more likely it is to not be junk. The more thought that gets put in, the less junky it gets - so, I’m holding off and hopefully before the end of April, I’ll be telling you what Frisht is all about.

A comment by someone (hi lisa) on my last post, posed the question: “what happens to Lopico now?” That’s a good question. I have a new job, live in a new city, and don’t have much time available for it. I’m working on getting into a better routine for blogging / writing code, but I’m not there yet. My simple answer for Lopico is: it’s not dead, but it’s not at its peak either. I’m more or less putting development of Lopico on hold. It’s set up in such a way that my involvement can be fairly minuscule and it will run just fine, and at least cover costs. I can’t be completely dedicated, but when I have time I’ll work on new features / design. I’m not going to throw it away (I still have too much that I want to do) but I’m not as dedicated as I would ideally be.

This may work out for the best. If I make it more of a long term project, and worry less about getting new features rolled out every so often, then I will dedicate more time to getting the right mix of features… at least that’s one potential path. And if it takes me a couple years until I can back into it that’s fine. Letting it grow slowly and adding some years to the Lopico domain will give me a better place to resume when I do get a chance to put more effort into it. I can’t really say what the ultimate future is, but I will say that the whole experience has made me want to start more things… and if that’s the best thing to come out of Lopico I’ll consider it a success.

Things have been pretty dead on this blog lately… mainly because I started a new job. I am now working for a web / software company in Chicago and it’s taken up most of my time. Once I get into more of a routine, I promise to write more (feels like I’ve said that before). In the meantime… since I am always looking to promote my readers, leave a comment or send me an email and I will gladly link to / write about whatever it is that you’ve been up to.

First up: my brother-in-law. My brother-in-law recently authored a novel for teens that I told him I would link to. Check it out if you like (and no I did not set up the site): Writing on the wall.

I feel like I’ve been putting a lot of content on the web lately, and I’ve barely even written on this blog. A conversation with a friend / former co-worker today made me decide to list approximately all of the places that you can find content produced by me on the web. I’m sure I’ll forget things, but here’s my list:

Sites I’m actively working on:
1. Lopico
2. The Daily JDA
3. JDA’s Food Log Blog
4. Chicago Mustard (just starting… don’t judge it too harshly yet, please)
5. World’s Greatest Resume
6. motask
7. Amehigher (just restarted and I’m killing it in the next week)
8-11. New projects in varying stages.

Web 2.0(ish) sites I use through general membership & visit at least once a month:
1. Lopico (daily)
2. Facebook (daily)
3. Twitter (daily-weekly)
4. del.icio.us (weekly)
5. MySpace (monthly)
6. Highrise (daily)
7. Box.net (monthly)
8. Basecamp (daily-weekly)
9. motask (weekly)
10. Pandora (monthly)
11. Last.fm (monthly)
12. Google Reader / gmail / calendar (hourly) (no sure if these count)
13. Digg (monthly - but passively)
14. claimid (varies)
15. pbwiki (monthly and declining)

And I also use Flock and Skype.

Not sure if that’s more or less than you were expecting… but I’m 100% certain I am leaving things off this list. I may update it. And in case you don’t get the title: click here.

Quick post today…

I used to always think “I wish x product/service was in existence” then I’d come up with an idea. Now I think “if x product/service was in existence, what would I want next.”

The “Quick Ideas” series that I’ve been doing is coming to an end… on this blog. I decided that I am going to move it to its own site. I really enjoy writing the Quick Ideas series, and it has been a favorite in terms of traffic - enough that I think the posts deserve their own space. I registered a new domain today, and while I would like to develop my own blogging platform, I am going to do a simple wordpress install and should have the new site up by the beginning of next week.

That’s my plan anyway. If anyone has any suggestions, or would like their ideas on the new site, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

I’m happy to say that the blogger - Jason Therrien - that posted the post that caused my reaction in my last post, has replied in the comments. I have responded there as well… but I think more needs to be said.

First - I do hope that Northeast Ohio succeeds. I hope things happen that make me say… I should move back. At the same time, I am extremely happy in Chicago and not really sure what can be done to make me say that.

Second - Jason’s response is welcome, as all responses are, but there was one response that really gave me pause. It was George Nemeth’s. He didn’t write anything about it on BFD, but in his del.icio.us bookmarks he wrote - “Not sure what to say about this.” I don’t think he should be. Two reasons: 1. I probably don’t know enough about recruiting to make the type of statements I did; 2. more importantly, he’s not part of the problem. The NEO community needs more people like George, more that point out great things, more that drive the conversation about change - and they need to be louder. Is he one of the saviors that I said NEO has too many of? I don’t know, but he’s probably doing more than those that want to be.

Third - the response I would have liked to hear was “Josh, you don’t know what you’re talking about. Maybe I can tell you some things that will change your mind.” If that happens, I will happily spread the word on my blog, and to those I know in NEO, about Indenti-fyi and why it is going to work.

I was working on a post that I realized might cost me every contact I have in Northeast Ohio. It was in response to this post: http://growcleveland.blogspot.com/2007/09/steering-herd.html - that says that those of us that leave NEO suffer from herd mentality and lack information.

I’ll skip the details and get to the meat of my argument: NEO has too many saviors, too many ideas of ways to reshape the region, and too many failed attempts. All this seems to be coupled with a fear to give up power at the top (think Arshinkoff) - which really doesn’t ever lead to change. There needs to be one concentrated effort and there needs to be large scale effort.

The post I pointed to earlier talks about a recruiting incident with 2 people - NEO needs to be talking about 1000s of individuals and about recruiting companies rather than college students. I don’t want to say anymore, because Cleveland doesn’t need anymore talking-head-would-be-saviors-without-real-actionable-plans… and I don’t even live in NEO anymore.

There’s a tremendous amount of talent in NEO - but that’s simply not enough.

I wasn’t using my regular IP address yesterday, so everything that I did yesterday went into my Google analytics data. That’s not a problem - that’s easy enough to fix and the data from one day from me is small enough to lack relevance. The problem was a search query that I did… and the number of times it showed up in my keywords from yesterday. I searched for something once, it showed up four times. All from the network I was on, all seemingly from me. It wasn’t something a standard searcher would query and I imagine it was one of the first times - if not the first - it has been searched for. So… one query, four queries, that’s not a big deal, right? No, not in isolation, but if it does in fact happen on a larger scale, then yes… it is a big deal. If I don’t have accurate data, then many of the decisions I make are based on incorrect beliefs.

So, what’s the moral of this story? Don’t just rely on Google Analytics - which I know many, many people do. Diversify your tracking methods and make sure you have solid data. I’m sure most of you already knew that.

And by the way…
Yesterday was the third birthday of Lopico - for more on the year that was, read this post.

I am no longer the most popular Josh Amer in Google’s SERPs. This may have something to do with the fact that I haven’t called myself Josh Amer on this blog very many times. This may also have something to do with the fact that Google now recognizes Amer as the abbreviation for America and throws America into the SERPs. Or maybe it’s just about YouTube.

That’s right there’s a new Josh Amer in town… and he’s on YouTube. So, he’s now beating me in SERPs for Josh Amer. Sad. But I was actually trying to increase my ranking for JDA – which I did (and I imagine the people at JDA software hate me some days) – not Josh Amer. I didn’t think I’d lose Josh Amer at the same time. So, with the pending rebrand of this site I intend to change my post by name to Josh Amer. Finally me. No more JD Amer, no more JDA… just the Josh Amer people in real life know so well.

Will that be enough? I imagine I can work my way up to the top, but the lesson is the same. Video is extremely valuable and is only going to become more so… even for SEO, which may not be the first thing people think when they think about video.

Speaking of video:
I’m not really a full time resident of NEO anymore, but that’s no reason why I can’t give a shout or two to some of the best video producers (in my opinion) on the web. Sage Lewis does great informational SEO videos (and one great video about some site you may have heard me mention); Matt Dickman does some of my favorite video on the web – he actually turned me on to Mahalo after Jason Calacanis did so much to turn me off from it; and then there’s Jim Kukral who is an affiliate rock-star, and also on top of all things web, including many great videos. Check them all out: Sage | Matt | Jim

Last week for my “Quick Idea” I did a post on sending a text message to find free wi-fi. Since then I’ve found a couple of ways that currently exist to attack the problem. These seem to be the best:

4Info
How it works: Register your cell phone number at www.4INFO.net, send a text message to 4INFO (44636) with the word “wifi”, a space, and then either a zip code or a city name. You will receive one or more text messages back with the locations listed with address.

Hotspotr.com or m.hotspotr.com on your phone
This is just a list of hotspots, both free and paid, that does have a mobile friendly version. No text messaging though.

ilovefreewifi
This one would be my favorite, if it delivered on what Lifehacker promised. It is a community driven site where people list places with free wifi. Lifehacker did a write up in which it depicts the service as almost exactly what I had hoped for in last weeks post. It claims that you can send it a text and get a list of places w/code back, that then you reply with for more info - the problem is, this doesn’t seem to be communicated anywhere on the site. Oh… and if you live in the Cleveland area (which I still kind of do for a few more days) then you only have 2 spots to choose from and the service is more or less pointless, unless you start adding wifi spots.

That’s a lot more than I knew last week, which is just one more reason for me to continue doing the “Quick Ideas” posts - but this weeks may be a little different in that I will likely take on the idea in the next week or so…

Recently, one of my best friends approached me with an idea for a scaled back laptop for Kids. Irrespective of the fact that it’s probably already been done, I think it has some merit. Where we differ is on what to include. He thinks it should have basic software for word processing, calculating, etc. I say all you need is a browser.

We are now to the point where everything the average user needs to do can be done online. The OS and the Hardware are nearly irrelevant. For the average user, they are (or could be) completely irrelevant. It no longer matters whether I run OSX on a Mac Book Pro, XP on an old Gateway, or Ubuntu on a Dell. If I have highspeed access on any of these, the differences are negligible - that is, if I know where to go when I’m online. The days of traditional hardware and software companies are coming to an end. If you’re a software company, and your focus is not on the web, you should probably look for a new job. If you’re a hardware company and you think you have any job other than getting me to the web in the fastest cheapest way possible, you too need to think about new employment. There will always be the high-end (machines for non-average users), and there will always be fashion (macs = trendy), but middle of the road hardware producers like Gateway, Toshiba, HP, and others that strictly appeal to the consumer set are gong to lose their place.

All you need is a connection and a browser, the rest is irrelevant.

Please, tell me why I’m wrong.

I’m sitting in a Starbucks in Chicago with “nothing” to do from 1-5; so I go with the T-Mobile day pass, pony up the $9.99 and suddenly I’m connected again. Yay productivity! But… I hate Starbucks, with a passion. The reason I ended up here is because I didn’t know where else to go and couldn’t really find a hot spot without… a hot spot. I could browse the web on my phone, but that’s sort of a pain… that’s right I don’t have an iPhone… or even a cool enough substitute. Checking my Gmail ad nauseum is about the only thing my web connection on my phone is good for (that and my Lopico mobile marks, of course). So here’s what I want: I want to send a text of my zip code to some web service that will come back with a listing of nearby spots with free wifi (doesn’t have to be exclusively free, but that’s what I’d prefer). Each spot on the list comes with a unique ID next to it in the list. I text the ID back to the service and it responds with contact info.

Biggest fall back of this idea: not everyone knows their zip code, especially travelers (like me today… though I think it’s 60604 or something close) who would benefit the most from the service.

Does it exist? Thoughts?

My problem with wikipedia is not that anyone can edit it, it’s that I don’t know who edited it (most of the time). My proposed solution - Accapedia. Same basic concept except: the editors are identified by more than an IP address, you must have a .edu email address or be invited to be a part of the site (invite is probably better), you have a profile that demonstrates why you are an authority in this area, and you include a reputation system. Sort of Wikipedia with a social aspect, and less anonymity.

Thoughts?

A little while ago I subscribed to a free email tip of the week related to marketing. It’s valuable when it comes, but it makes me a little upset when I don’t see it in my inbox every week. If it were monthly and only came once a month, that would be fine… but it says it’s weekly so it had better come weekly. As the publisher of the Daily JDA - a semi-weekly if your lucky blog - this makes me quite the hypocrite. So, it’s time to rename the blog. I have some ideas, and would consider moving to a new domain, but I’d like to hear a few others first. If you have any ideas please comment or email. Thanks.

Who doesn’t hate an acronym? Corporations for one, they seem to love them. While I’m sort of in career limbo I’m working with a company on possibly developing a blog or six - to help in this task I came up with the RICE acronym of best uses for corporate blogs.

Reputation: building up your image, making sure you are proactive in make yourself look good before the press makes you look bad. This one is more important in some industries than others - but everyone could use it.
Information: this is the type of blog the Lopico blog is. It’s all about what your doing and explaining things to your customers.
Communication: really the heart of every blog, but my emphasis with this point is on letting people communicate with you; not just shoveling your info on them (for shoveling, see: I).
Expertise (or expertification if you need the consistent ending): That’s the type of blog I wish I could say that this is. Using your blog to establish yourself as an expert is a great way for a corporation to use a blog and usually the easiest answer when someone says, “why the hell should we blog?”

It’s quick, easy to remember and most importantly helps explain some of the most common uses of a blog - use it or don’t, but it works for me.

A while back, I mentioned a notebook I have where I write one new idea for a website (or improvement to a website) everyday (that’s the book on the left). I’ve sort of fallen off the everyday wagon, but still do a pretty good job.

I also talked about sharing some or all of them at some point and I think I’m ready to do that. There are a few I want to keep to myself, but I’m going to try to do at least one a week in a new series called: “Quick Ideas.” Since today is the first day I’m even going to throw in an extra idea (though the two ideas are related).

Making TinyURL Better
TinyURL, for those of you that don’t know, is an easy way to condense long URLs. Instead of a huge URL with a large number of variables, like an Amazon URL, you are given a very short (might even say tiny) URL (something like: http://tinyurl.com/3dwovf) that points to the long URL. The service has recently increased in popularity as Twitter implements it for messages that contain URLs. But, I have a problem with it: I want to know how many times people click on my TinyURLs, even if they go to a site that I’m not tracking. This would be a very easy implementation, and would give me a personal interest in TinyURL. By that I mean there would be a reason for me not to switch to a competitor like URLtea. If I have an account with TinyURL already and all of my tracking is in the TinyURL system, I’m less likely to leave for a competitor. Just a thought.

Bonus: EdURL
This is one I thought about a lot while I was writing my final paper in law school. Create a uniform system for citations of web documents based on a tinyurl style site. I used a lot of web resources for my final law paper, which meant a lot of space dedicate to URLs in my footnotes. Good for hitting your page requirement, bad for… everything else. This idea would be more about building a community and support for your standard… but it needs to be done.

Thoughts?

Anyone as obsessed with all things internet as I am is going to use web services for nearly everything they do. Job search is of course no exception. Jobs searches comprise a huge chunk of all activity done online, so naturally there are tools to make job searching easier. I still find the whole online job search process a little “messy” to say the least - and that’s a big reason that online search and submit is not the biggest part of my job hunt, nor should it be yours. The general job search tools available aren’t really the best and those aren’t the tools that I’m finding most rewarding. Two online apps that I have been using a lot and having great results with are Box.net and 37signals’ Highrise.

Box.net
Box.net is simply an online storage space. Everyone can get 1 gig free space (with upgrades available) to store, with a few exceptions, whatever you’d like. Why is this helpful in my job search? Two reasons: 1) I use 3 different computers, always having the same files available without carrying them around is very helpful, and lets me know that I am looking at the most current version of my resume or any document. 2) Sharing. Box lets you share files with anyone and will even give you a link to your files to make them public if you’d like. This is great for the online version of my resume - rather than store my resume on my own server space I upload to box, link to it on my site and always have the newest version available. True, I could upload the newest version to my server every time I update, but why not use the convenience of Box.net? Further, I have my resume available to download in a few different versions including Microsoft Word - my resume site is on a linux server… rather than go through any trouble to try to get the linux and Microsoft components to work together, I use box and my downloads work perfectly.

Overall, Box.net is a very solid program - my only question is why larger companies - like Microsoft - aren’t doing this. **See update** With the majority of the world still using Microsoft as their office suite, offering storage just seems to make sense. If I’m uploading Word2003 documents because I don’t know that a newer version of Office is available, Microsoft can be right there to tell me. Of course, if you know enough to use a web storage service, you’re probably up to date on the newest version of office - but you get the point.

Highrise
I tend to like products from 37signals, which is why I was so disappointed when Highrise launched. When it launched all I could think of were the ways in which it could be better and how messed up the purchasing plans were. I still think both of those things, and actually have what I consider to be a great idea for a competitor, but for now Highrise does just enough right to keep me using it every day. Highrise is billed as a simple CRM service - which means you can track your conversation with your contacts and add tasks related to them. I’ve used it since the day it launched for both personal and business connections. Now I’m using it even more as I track who I’ve talked to at what companies, what was said, what I need to do next, and any notes on my overall feeling about a job. It works very well for this, the only problem for me is that with only 250 contacts available in the free version it’s only a matter of time before I need to start deleting people, upgrade, or build my own service. Not really looking forward to any of those options.

My favorite way to use Highrise is for personal use. These are the relationships that really matter most, so we should pay as much attention to them as we do business relationships - I don’t always do this, but Highrise has helped. At first it’s weird to take notes about conversations with your friends, but they never seem to mind when you ask them about something a few months later that they expected you to forget.

Summary: Box.net rocks, Highrise is as good as it gets for now - use them both, thank me later.

I’ve more or less given up blogging. I think you all knew that. It’s a matter of time and phase in my life. I’m actively pursuing a new job in Chicago, IL at this point and don’t really have time for blogging. Ironically, I always tell people blogging really isn’t a big time commitment and they can do it easily. If you read my last post, you know that I’m also writing a novel. At the time of that last post I was at 10K words, now I’m at about 20K - so that’s been a time consumer as well. Then there’s my full time job, my renewed dedication to working out at least 3x a week, the Lopico redesign, and of course my personal life. Job search has been the biggest time consumption and I’m pretty happy with the progress (I’ve had some great opportunities come up, but none really seemed perfect) - but if anyone knows anyone in Chicago that can help me even more, I’m always looking to make new contacts.

So, for now blogging is taking a back seat… but I wanted to check in and let any of my readers comment on this post with anything exciting they are up to and if you’d like I’ll post about it. Also, for those that are into my posts on Facebook, I think you’ll enjoy this article on Publishing 2.0, which I came across this morning as I was trying to catch up on my blog reading. I do miss blogging, but I’m not at a point where I can get back into it… or am I?

I started a new project this weekend. I’m writing a novel. I wrote the first 10,000 words this weekend which means I have between 50-90,000 left to write. I’ll do it. It was a lot easier to get where I am than I anticipated, but I know the hardest parts are ahead. The book is a work of fiction about life and relationships. When I tell people some of the details the typical reaction is to ask me if I’m dying. No, I’m not dying. The main character is in a situation very similar to mine, with the exception that he is dying. I don’t want to get into to much more detail than that (I know, that’s not much to go on) but I’m sure I’ll have more to say about it later. Am I at all qualified for this? No. But then again I wasn’t qualified to start my first website either. Everyone has to start somewhere, for me it’s just a matter of fitting this into my schedule. Somewhere between work, looking for a job, trying to get back in shape, web stuff, and life, I need to write another 65,000(ish) words. Ideally, I’ll have the first draft finished by September 1, realistically it will be much later.

Google’s appears headed down the, well, tubes. I think we could see that coming. Well maybe not, but think about it - how long could it last. Ignoring the ‘every giant must fall,’ logic there are a number of reasons I think a Google downturn is in the works.

Purely speculation but… With the success of Google, Web 2.0 was born. A couple of years ago when the whole web2.0 thing was just getting started (and a term I could stand) it lacked credibility. It was just a bunch of guys that were trying to chase the same success that only Google was having with the web. Now that people have realized that this isn’t just another bust and actually has some concepts that have real world application (and we can use them on always-on connections) the mainstream (to a disgusting point) has accepted them. What does this mean for Google? It means it’s not alone. With more success everywhere more advertisers are diversifying their web marketing opportunities. And that makes sense. I can advertise on Google and that’s cool - but people use Google (most people) in a very quick fashion. I go, I look for info, and I leave. Now think about Facebook - people are on their for ever - thus increasing the chance that your ad will actually be noticed. Their is, of course, a substantial difference in cost to advertise, but for larger companies it is worth it. Yes, Google has made its bread and butter on charging small amounts millions of times, but it still hurts to lose the large chunks that come in all at once.

Then, there is the nature of the ads. Quick one liners that are off to the right. Which you are only clicked when the “real” results aren’t good enough. Enter the SEM (search engine marketer). For years they been portrayed as the snake-oil salesmen (and there are some scammers) but they’re doing well. They’re making progress, which is actually making search results better. And not only are the SEMs themselves getting better, but the general knowledge base they contributed to has increased. It’s much easier to learn the basics of SEO and thus make your website more attractive to search engines than it was a few years ago. In general - results are just getting better, which decreases the value of PPC ads. And it’s not just the SEMs, the algorithms are getting better too - making “free” results more relevant and therefore the paid results less.

This just skims the surface of all the potential reasons that Google is down (though still doing very well) - but this is the core of Google’s business and I don’t think it is perpetually sustainable as many think.

It’s not my project. I had someone email me to say that it sure seems to be lacking in content, to which I replied “it’s not my project, it’s for everyone.” It’s a $9 investment (only because I bought the domain neo20.com and have it forwarded) - if it fails I’m not real upset. I want it to work, I want to be involved in it; but it’s not my project. Could it be one day - maybe. And then only if I really wanted to change the nature of it - which I’ve considered. If it becomes my project there would be a lot of changes, and then you can blame me if it sucks - until then it’s on the few 100 people that saw my post, or the many more that saw the BFD post, said “that’s a good idea” and then did nothing. I will help get it started, but it’s a community editable wiki - it’s not a one man show.

I’m as big of a fan of social media as anyone you’ll meet… but the Diggiots have gone too far. Business 2.0 has an online poll of “Who matters now?” With the tag:

Business 2.0 Magazine invites you to vote for the businesspeople who inspire, inform and infuriate you, from CEOs to entrepreneurs to media stars.

I keep Digg’s top headlines in RSS on my homepage and once in a while I click through - that’s how I found out about the story. Good that’s the Digg purpose - to deliver news that is interesting. What shouldn’t happen is what has happened to the results of this poll. When I saw it earlier Kevin Rose - founder of Digg (who has 3x the number of ratings of anyone else on the list) - was #2 on the list behind only Justin Kan - the kid who wears a video camera 24/7 - and dead last was Jason Calacanis - an entrepreneur that I may not always agree with, but one that is as important in the web arena as Kevin Rose if not more so. So - here we have a serious magazine attempting to intelligently use the democratic/social aspects of the web and ending up with a list that was built out of ignorance and immaturity.

What does this mean? I think it’s bad for social media. The more social media appears to be gamed the less likely it is to be adopted and respected by a larger audience. Sure, social media has gotten a lot more respect as of late… but how many contests does Kevin Rose have to win before people decide they can no longer use the web as a method of obtaining objective results.

Gaming is something I think about a lot. Mainly in terms of pattern recognition and how to slow things down or stop them. Others take a more lax approach - knowing that if they let people game their sites they’ll keep coming back. It’s a tough choice to make and one that may ultimately determine how social media is viewed.

Has anything happened? At the end of law school I stopped reading blogs. I did it for the last three weeks of school and it helped me focus somewhat…. though that was also when my twitter addiction was at its peak. After that I went to Hawaii, came back, got sick for about 2 weeks, and never really got back into reading blogs. I’m all caught up with my reading for now, but the number of unread posts I have usually balloons to about 400 if I miss a day. Of those I’ll skim the titles, skim 50-100 posts and read about 30 (maybe). But… I don’t feel like I’ve missed anything. Maybe it’s just the timing… or maybe things are slowing down. There was the big Google Universal Search news and the new version of analytics - both of which I’m not happy about and very much in the minority on both points - but other than that… meh… nothing has really grabbed me. Maybe that’s because I’m skimming so much… so tell me… what have I missed?

So…. I think I can start blogging again… at least for a while. It’s pretty exciting for me, because there have been a lot of things that have happened that I would have liked to blog about. Before I get back into it, here’s a quick rundown of what’s been going on with me:

1. I finished law school. I don’t know if I’ve ever been happier to end something.
2. I took a job, but it’s not permanent. I took it as a way to make some money while I look for a job.
3. I went to Hawaii with my girlfriend and had a great time.
4. I am 25 now.
5. I’m working on the next version of Lopico. Lots of new stuff coming if I can find the time.
6. I’ve done some other things with Lopico which you can read about here.
7. I now have what I call the “real daily JDA” - it’s a journal that I write one new website idea in everyday.
8. I have a bunch of new ideas for start-ups (see #7) that I plan to write about.
9. I’ve probably lost all of my readers.
10. I may have inadvertently discovered a business model for motask.
11. I’m a big twitter fan.
12. I don’t plan on writing daily. The less I blog the more work I get done on Lopico.
13. I’ve missed you. You can still tell me what to write about here.
14. I have a bunch of emails to write.
15. I have a new ipod (full size, no more mini) and have found a lot of great new bands, some of which I plan to write about.
16. My best friend from High School, who I used to meet with weekly to discuss web ideas, is in Afghanistan.
17. I’m sure there’s more I’m forgetting. Law school has really been all I’ve had time for lately.

18. I plan on having more photos/images in the blog - this one is from a luau in Maui.

That’s about it - look for the real blogging to start again soon.

No, I am not blogging again. But I recently took a job that may allow me to return to blogging - at least for a while. However, I am now on Twitter if you feel the need to see what I’m up to. It is strangely addicting… I’m also on a three week break from reading any blogs, the break just happens to be during my exams. When that’s over I’ll be a law school graduate - eh, I’m not too impressed. Then I’m off to Hawaii for a week, and then my new job starts.

What have you been up to?

i’m not blogging anymore. but i may return to it. i wanted to do one last post, but it wasn’t until a meeting i had today that i really decided how to do it. i had a great meeting this morning with a local entrepreneur; i wish i did more of these. i’m going to have to if i stay in northeast ohio. if i stay in NEO i want to have an impact. i want to get involved. i want there to be a higher profile tech community. this will take some effort, but i’m willing to help the effort. there’s a lot of great talent in the area… but it’s an area that isn’t connected well. the way we work in NEO is wrong. the community owes it to itself to do more. it wouldn’t be hard to make this a blossoming area - it would just take openness to ideas and the right people to implement the ideas. when i see things about NEO for the most part i think ’stone age.’ NEO is a community with good ideas that lack implementation and bad ideas with implementation. it’s a community with the wrong leaders listening to the wrong things. what do i mean by that? we have numerous efforts to revitalize or fund technologies - but the effort is put in the wrong places. it’s a community where people say things that they heard without any substance behind them. for example, i used to work for a company that recently decided they’d like to consider blogging. how did this come about? someone high in the company said, ‘ i heard blogs are good for marketing, we should do that if we’re not.’ what a perfect illustration of NEO - late action with little substance or reasoning. so how is this problem fixed? action. the problem with communities (and politics) is that it is only those that act that get to determine what happens. if you sit back and watch and complain about bad ideas you’re not doing anything to advance the good ideas that you have. if anything you’re perpetuating the implementation of bad ideas. it’s not about having prominent figures and ideas it’s about the right figures and ideas. i believe i’m one of the people that should be more prominent in the community. my problem has been inaction. this has largely come from the fact that i’ve been in law school for the past three years and haven’t had much opportunity for anything other than law school… but if i stay in the area i’m going to do my best to change that. what’s confusing to me about the state of affairs in NEO is all the talk about how bad it is that NEO is loosing all of its young talent… yet their is little done to promote the efforts of the young that remain. so… what will it take for me to stay in the area? first let’s think of why i’d want to leave. there are a number of reasons: 1. Attitude. the attitude of the region is wrong. it’s self loathing and only serves to perpetuate its negative image. 2. Opportunity. i don’t know if i will be able to stay in the area. i’d like to, but the field i want to be involved in isn’t prominent enough in the area. that’s not to say that there aren’t great companies in the area… it’s just that they don’t get the attention they deserve, which in turn makes them less successful than they could be. 3. Age. i’d like to leave the area now, because i’m 25. there really won’t be a better time for me to try to pick up and leave. i recently ended a 4 year relationship, which left family as more or less my only tie to the area (ok there is a new girlfriend now… but that will work itself out). 4. Age. not only am i 25, but the region is old. old in the sense that i don’t feel like i can get the respect i feel i deserve because the area, despite its claims, doesn’t respect its youth. 5. weather. ok nothing can be done to change this, but it’s april and there’s snow on the ground. so what will it take for me to stay? opportunity for impact. is this available to me? i don’t know, and i don’t know if i’ll be here long enough to find out.

this has been sort of a stream of consciousness post, and if it was someone that i was helping with their blog i’d tell them that it was too long… but hey this is the end… i’m not worried about trying to drive traffic, i’m not worried about click-throughs to Lopico, i just want to write. of course, the whole point of the first part was to say that there are a lot of things i’m considering right now… and i’d like to blog them.. but i’m not going to. not until i figure out what’s next for Josh Amer will i blog again.

it’s an interesting time in the web, obviously that’s where i’d like to continue my career, it’s just a matter of opportunity. the web is great right now. web2.0 is just about over. web3.0 will never be (if we’re lucky). there will just be the continual connectivity and the full integration (content anywhere, structure irrelevant) that web2.0 has been hinting at. we’re about to reach the point in which we are connected at every point in every way from whichever source we choose. is that scary? is that exiting? will it be a good thing? i’m not sure yet. but i’m glad that i was a small part of it at least for awhile, and i hope i can be a bigger part of it for years to come.

thanks for reading. - JDA.

A new standard in office apps? I don’t know about that, but there are a lot of things I like about Scrybe. Scrybe is an online calendar / task manager / web clipboard (called ThoughtPad) that also works when you’re offline. You can open the site offline, and next time you’re on the web it will sync your changes. That’s a pretty cool thing for a web app to do but… when am I offline and using my computer? Certainly not often, maybe when traveling and I’m sure many people do spend time with their computers offline…right?.. So yes, I’m sure this feature is something many will love, even if it is lost on me. But forget about that feature, the product as a whole has to be great for a feature to mean anything, and it is pretty nice… but it’s just another calendar, and right now I don’t really need a new calendar.

I use Google Calendar, which is great because I also use Google’s custom start page, and Gmail - all of which integrate with each other. My calendar shows up on my homepage, and when there are events in my emails I can quickly add them to my calendar. Google also attempts to integrate Google maps into my calendar which has on occasion been very helpful. This type of integration will only come from a company that offers more than just a calendar — Scrybe can’t do that right now. It’s better than 30boxes, it may even be better than Google Calendar when you take away the integration, but Google’s integration is likely too much for me to give up. However, I’m going to try to switch, just as I did with Megite and Techmeme (I use Megite more than Techmeme nowadays). I like to root for the underdog, I’d like to see Scrybe succeed, because as a pure Calendar I think it’s better.

Try it for yourself…Scrybe. It is currently closed beta, sign up and you’ll see what I’m talking about soon enough, or watch the video below.

First, if it were up to me she’d never be news, but the AP’s recent decision to block Paris Hilton from the news is a great illustration of why social news gathering and blogging is important. Old media is really making the best arguments for new media, by saying, “we have power, look how we can manipulate the news.” But people don’t want manipulated news, they want the truth, and they want to read about what interests them - and they want to decide what that is. So, while we have many newspapers trying to discredit blogs, the AP is doing a better job than any great blogger could do providing us with an argument for why maybe we need blogs…

This is the new age of media where the consumer decides what is important on services like Reddit, Bumpzee, and (in the case of 8 year olds) Digg. I hope someone at AP got fired forgetting that.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/TV/03/02/ignoring.parishilton.ap/

My plan for next week is to write 4-5 posts about different start-ups that you may or may not know of. My list is currently at 4, but if any reader would like their site reviewed, I will gladly make changes to the list. If you don’t have a site and just want to make a suggestion that’s fine too.

This question occupies much of my time. What Next? I graduate law school in May and I’m spending a lot of time lately on my job search. I think the job search process is way too formal and not as indicative of performance as it should be.

I do not want to be a lawyer. I am willing to move anywhere in the world. I’m sort of a minimalist. I don’t really want to work for a large corporation. What would you do if you were me?

I worked with Ray Bethea to set up his blog, Greenback Chronicles, the site and first post are now up. The blog is about personal finance, from the perspective of the middle class American. Ray is an excellent writer and if you’re interested in this field I think his blog will be one you’ll want to read. The first few posts are going to be a little longer, as they serve primarily as introductory material. After the first four are up, I’m going to package them as an e-book that you can download and pass along if you’d like.

The design isn’t the greatest yet - the logo comes courtesy of me - but we have a great designer working on a new template that should be ready to go soon. Hope you enjoy it and let me know what you think.

Build a community.
Don’t listen to them.
You are smarter than your community.
Your community doesn’t know what they want.
It’s all about the community; give them what they want.
Use SEO.
Don’t be an SEM.
Use Digg and others for viral marketing.
Digg is gamed and pointless.
Build links.
Don’t pay for links.
Don’t be conventional.
Stick to the rules.
Paying for press is bad.
Indirectly paying for press is good.
Form relationships.
Take advantage of relationships.
Evaluate products for what’s behind them not who is.
Promote your friends products, even if they’re lame.
Start a fight to gain notoriety.
Be extremely positive about all products and people will like what you have to say.
Build a product and a business will follow.
Don’t launch without a business model.
Be concise.
Explain everything.

Or… don’t listen to anyone. With all of the people blogging you’re going to find at least one person taking nearly every position. Don’t listen, find out what works on your own.

Random Thought: At some point I decided productivity was more important than sleep. I started sleeping less and shortly thereafter became less productive.

Or maybe I’m just taking on more than I should be. I’m going to be blogging lighter for a while. A new blogger / blog I worked on is starting soon, I’ll let you know when.

Yesterday TC ran a story about how diggers were upset about yahoo using digg like features to enhance customer feedback. Today on Digg I saw a link to a cNet article about Microsoft creating digg like sites in other countries.

Of course diggers (or as I call them Diggiots) are overreacting, because that’s what they do. But really, I hope Digg does get pushed out of the market, or at least out of the mainstream. Not because of the service it offers, but because of its user base. I guess if you’re looking for someone to correct your spelling because they don’t have a valid argument to make, you can always go with Digg. But if you’re looking for an actual meaningful online conversation / intelligent debate, stay the hell away from Digg.

Digg’s downfall this year won’t be completely from gamers, it will also be from the users. How do you prevent this? Cater to a different user base, I think that’s what MSFT and other companies that are supposedly creating Digg clones are doing… and in the end I think they’ll be better for it.

Over time I’ve seen a number of posts about what people use to get things done on the internet. They’re usually 90/10 posts - 90 percent useless 10 percent helpful, though I haven’t found any great tools in a while. Today I had some real problems with my laptop and had to resort to some old tools that I used to use… this reminded me of how Lopico used to be coded (it was ugly) and how it actually became more sophisticated as my tools became less sophisticated. In the latest version of Lopico I used notepad about 30% of the time. I have dreamweaver on my desktop, but not on my laptop. When I use my laptop (in Windows) I just use wordpad. I think it’s actually one of the best ways to code, it really forces you to 1) be perfect and 2) really understand the inner-workings of your site. I read a lot about people that use various cms systems for their sites (I’m using WordPress right now), and while I don’t have a problem with that, you can’t beat the feeling of making something from scratch.

Email Received moments ago:

“The University’s LEAP authentication, which is required to access the secure wireless network, does not work with the new Windows operating system Vista. If your personal computer is running Vista, you will not be able to access the wireless network. “

… now if only I could get it to work on ubuntu. And yes, I am bored today.

I have officially ditched K2. I know very few of my readers actually make it to the site on a daily basis, but it was slow. I tried displaying only the 4 most recent posts on the site to see if that would help, but it was still a little slow. I think I may have an answer with my newly implemented theme: Tarski. And… with my recent modifications, the site was probably at its ugliest since I started using WordPress… it was really time for a change.

I’ve also added my photo to the blog… what a narcissist.

Should is the second ugliest word in the English language. I’m tired of hearing about things that cities should do to revitalize. Or projects would-be-entrepreneurs should start. Conferences we should have. Posts you should have written. Features you should add. I’m tired of the attitude of you/we/I should be doing something. Stop Blogging about what you should do. Stop Talking about what you should do. Just do what you CAN do. The only thing holding you back is you.

[Maybe this is this why people suggest taking emotion out of blogging??]

My brother bought a PS3 about a week ago, and every game I’ve seen has been littered with ads… so why do the games cost more than ever? I don’t play as many video games as I used to (about 30 mins a day while I ride an excercise bike) so I’m not really an expert on the subject, but it seems to me that some of the cost should be coming out of the games.

I’m sure the answer is either: people pay so they charge OR OEMs are losing money on the systems and have to make it up on the games. But the ads are getting a little overboard for the lack of cost savings to the end user. Add to that, I’ve noticed some games have gotten rid of their celebrity announcers, which undoubtedly saves a good chunk of change - most notably the Madden Franchise no longer has Madden calling the games (sure he hasn’t said anything coherent in a few years, but the game is named after him). So tell me, why are the games still so expensive?

It has been a while, but you should look forward to tomorrow’s post if you’re interested in Lopico. I’ll be dual-blogging some highlights and low points both from the first six months of the new Lopico here and on the official Lopico blog (not sure if the official will go out tomorrow); and I think you’ll get a better less edited version here.

Random notes:

• I’ve been very busy with school lately. For example today I had my first class at 8:30am and my last class finished at 9:30pm. I only left the school once, for lunch.
• I hate the new look Google Homepage. All G did was add a plus button to all links, and now the page looks 100x more cluttered
• I’m working with a guy that wants to blog, but sent me a first draft of a post that is 14 pages long. This one’s going to be interesting. My initial thought is “Tasters Choice” {Tasters choice, used to air commercials that were always to be continued. I think blogging is a medium, like the commercial, where you only get a small window in which to convey your message, so I may try to replicate that with him.} I’ll let you know how it plays out.
• I think I know what I’m going to do with ohpj.com (four letter domain name I bought last year)
• I’m almost ready to launch amehigher.com (which will be my online business card + marketing blog); design is the main hold up right now
• and I’ve added a sidebar widget to my blog that you can only see if you come to the site.

a little band by the name of Cold War Kids has a free song available on iTunes this week. If you haven’t heard of them or checked them out I highly recommend downloading the song from iTunes.

Oh and I’m starting a new blog in the near future dedicated to books, music, and movies - any interested writers?

Greetings Mashable, Wired, and Digital Music readers. I’ve been getting some nice linkage from this post, but really I love Pandora, and I admire the way the situation has been handled. It’s strange that I get quoted most often for negative posts, because I love the web and I do a lot of posts about the great sites that are out there, like this one.

While you’re here I recommend these other posts by me:

Getting Started
It pays to suck.
Eliminating the FAQ
Corporate Blogging Part 1
User Generated Headaches - not by me, but a smart guest poster.
Publicize your blog in every email you write
Almost doesn’t count in web2.0 awards

And if you like what you see be sure to grab the RSS feed.

Best - JDA

Fresh off of naming Techmeme my favorite site of ‘06, I’m switching to a competing service. After a few emails with Megite’s Matthew Chen, I’ve decided to at least give Megite the rest of January. From the looks of things so far, it seems like there is more content, a better design, some interesting features in the way of personalization, and you can license the software. I like Matthew’s proactive style, it’s worth at least a month of my pageviews.

On the topic of switching, I’ve also switched to Google Reader from Bloglines. I’m not sure why, but ever since I upgraded to FF 2.0 I’ve been having a lot of problems with bloglines. Unfortunately this makes me even more of a Google slave, as I now use Google personalized, Gmail, Google Docs, Google Calendar, Google Reader, and I’ve even set up a Google Custom Search. I believe the term is Gbitch.

Hawaiian Shirt Day
What to write about today?
Haiku would be nice.

In case somehow you missed it, it’s national haiku day. Perhaps the best holiday in December, and one we can all celebrate.

Personally, this is my favorite haiku (via threadless):

Please only leave comments in haiku form.

I got a coupon for a discount from godaddy and used it to buy the domain ohpj.com. I bought it for the sole reason that it is a four letter dot com domain name. Now what should I use it for? It does have the letters OH so perhaps it could be something Ohio based. I don’t know, any ideas? I’m too engrossed in finals to think about anything other than the law.

I have a bad habit of buying domain names during finals; I don’t know why. I’ve only ever sold one domain, I bought it for $4 and sold it for $50. It had the word “Google” in it, so it could have been a copyright infringement issue. I was anxious to drop it, so I put it on the market for $25 and someone offered $50, not a bad profit.

I’m in the heart of exams now, I turned in a 24 hour take home this morning and my next exam is tomorrow night, then 3 more next week. After I turned in my final I took a small break to catch up with the world. I found this interview with Fred Wilson to be pretty interesting, mainly because he’s right. Fred is a VC and blogger, and as a blogger he offers some great tips in the interview. One of them is blogging everyday, this really works best for me as well. When I blog daily I increase my readers, when I take breaks readership falls. The trick is even when I blog everyday, I don’t. I usually rattle off two or three posts at a time, publish one and save the others for later. So… while I’m not blogging for a while, thanks for holding. I promise more good stuff to come.

Hopefully you enjoyed my last post and checked out at least one of the bands on the list. Which brings me to my next tip for bloggers: let your readers see a little of who you are. Most people that read my blog probably come here for the web stuff that I write, but if you’re a regular reader you know that I’m in law school, that I live in Akron and now you know what’s on my ipod - hopefully knowing those things will help you feel more of a connection to my blog.

Speaking of that last post, I wouldn’t call it the most popular post of all time, but I’m also not going to talk bad about it. I used to listen to the TWiT podcast weekly. I stopped listening when the people on the podcast started talking about how bad older shows were or even how the current episode wasn’t working well… eventually I bought into it. They convinced me it was bad and I stopped listening. Third tip: be confident in everything you do.

And if that’s not enough, I’m working on my choice for website of the year and blog of the year feel free to leave your suggestions in the comments.

You can download a free movie today from AOL. http://video.aol.com/

Has anyone seen Nacho Libre? I’m thinking it will be the one I download when I get home from the library.

Other titles include:
School of Rock
Patriot Games
Men in Black
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
Mission Impossible 3 (which I hear was quite awful)
The Perfect Storm
Jackass
The Natural
Analyze This
Zoolander
and many more…

These aren’t really movies I’d buy otherwise, but you can’t beat free.

I’m taking the next three weeks off from the daily blog and will instead post periodically as I did in the past. Sorry, Law School finals win out.

Lopico has taken sides. I went to OSU, I will be there this weekend, and all week Lopico is rooting for the Buckeyes.

Back from my week off of blogging and reading blogs - well okay I cheated a little, I looked at TechMeme a couple of times but didn’t read any posts just checked the titles. I know that Google bought JotSpot and Microsoft is doing something with Linux, but I’m not as informed as I would otherwise be. So that’s the bad end of it, I did miss out on some interesting events, but I saved a lot of time. I had around 900 unread posts from a mere 95 feeds - I cut back a while ago, but I think I can make some more cuts. Taking this week off from reading really helped me evaluate which blogs were really time wasters and which are really adding to my life. For example, I read Chicagoist because I’m thinking about moving to Chicago next year, but over 80 posts in a week is more time than I want to spend reading up on the wind city. My new goal is to cut the number of blogs I read to 30 of my choice, plus blogs of any readers that comment on my blog. Ultimately it’s about balance and time management, making this cut will really help me with that objective.

I’m taking the week off from blogging and reading blogs. I just need a break to think about things outside the web.

Things to think about while you await the return of the daily j.d.a.:

1. What’s the difference between HD-DVD and Blue Ray and which will fail?
2. When has a blog post ever changed your life?
3. How much time do you waste compared to the knowledge you gain by reading blogs?
4. Should I try to sell motask given this data and the fact that it cost me $0 to maintain?
5. Why is the US 1 of only 2 countries that has refused to sign the Convention on the Rights of the Child?
6. If you live in Ohio, why should we not ban smoking next Tuesday? Is your reason one you feel good about?
7. Who will win the NBA championship this year?
8. Why does everyone want a blog anyway?
9. Did I just waste too much time reading this?

I started working again today, so far so good. I will likely be leading the charge on putting content into RSS and or blogging so that should be interesting – can’t really say too much more.

The new format of the blog seems to be working well. Readership is increasing and it’s easier for me to blog everyday. I probably prefer a less structured approach, but there certainly are advantages to the structure – and I will tweak the structure if need be.

Not much to say from the Motask, Lopico, or BCO front. I’ve made some minor design changes to Lopico but haven’t added anything new in a few weeks (I also found an error that I’m fixing right now, but I don’t really want to brag about that). I’m thinking I might try to sell motask in the coming weeks – I don’t have to time to do with it what I’d like but I don’t just want to shut everyone out that uses it. BCO needs some momentum – interestingly more people have bookmarked the event in del.icio.us than have signed up. I haven’t done much with BCO yet, other than getting it blogged on Brewed Fresh Daily – one of Ohio’s most popular blogs. If you’re interested pleas sign the wiki.

Newbs and Exes - blogs/feeds I have started reading or have stopped reading this week
In:
Mike Davidson
Threadless Weekly

Out:
AU Blog
Riding Rails
Marketing Vox

All that with 33 minutes left before Tech News Tuesday.

Little Blogging time leads to lists of interesting topics, do with them what you will.

1. ZapTXT - Site allows you to track RSS via sms. I blogged a different way to do this, but my way (yahoo! sms alerts + Technorati Watchlists) requires a few steps. This is an all in one resource, and probably works better. Anytime you can eliminate steps in a process your users will be happier and more likely to use your product. I’m going to give ZapTXT a shot.

2. Seo Keyword Intro Videos (1)(2) - I’m always happy to plug an Akronite (and to be clear this Akronite has no idea that I’m going to blog this) - I came across a couple of great SEO intro videos from a local Akron SEM firm. If your interested in refining your search engine optimization process (or more likely you don’t have one) check out these two videos. This is an almost identical process to one that I used at an Akron Law Firm, and it works.

3. My new app - I’m building a new mobile app, anyone interested in testing email jda[at]jdamer[dot]com. The initial feedback from my current tester (singular) is very positive, as is the feedback from those that I’ve shown it to. I’m using it all of the time and it’s really helping my productivity - planning to publicly launch the first extremely simple version sometime next week - I really only need about 3 more hours of coding and then it should be ready, just a matter of finding those hours.

- J.D. Amer

I created a new app this morning in about an hour. I really wanted it when I was about to go to bed last night. My computer was turned off but there was something I wanted to do online…I wanted to get some sleep and new that if I turned my PC back on I would be up at least another hour. If there was a mobile solution to my problem I wasn’t aware of it… so I created one this morning. For now it’s only accessible to me, and I’m not going into any details, but if you want to try it out just email me [jda at jdamer dot com]. As I said I created it in one hour, it’s very simple, but very helpful to a certain niche.

.. one more thing, law School resumes today. You can expect either a lot more posts or a lot less depending on how the semester goes.

J.D. Amer - just another akronite.

Solicit me. I’m looking for something to blog. No I haven’t run out of topics, and I have about 10 draft posts, but who cares? Tell me what’s important to you. This can be as self-interested as you’d like. Anything. (Yes, this is an experiment for a bigger idea, and if it works I’ll go into it more)

Bored? Try these:
Downfall of Digg
The top five mistakes entrepreneurs make when they market

Some may hate this style, but I like writing in random unconnected thoughts…

1. I watched a great presentation today by Walter Sabo of Sabo Media. I should really watch more c-span. A lot of what he said in his talk about radio was very applicable to blogging. I hope that he monitors RSS feeds for Sabo because I’d love to get a hold of his power point slides from that presentation. The presentation was mainly about how radio creates engaging content, much of it is applicable to the blogosphere. I found it interesting that the conference discussing radio was called the “New Media Conference.” This post probably breaks all of the rules of engaging content, sorry. If I can’t get the slides I’ll try to do a rehash in a future post.

2. Facebook Notes is nearly unacceptable. Its very confusing that it is called notes for the sake of avoiding being called a blog, yet allows you to import blogs from other places on the web. However, since there are no RSS feeds for your notes I would have to agree that it’s not a blog. MySpace does lose any of its edge from callings its blogs blogs, or from having RSS. Either go all the way on blogs or don’t waste your users time.

3. The other day I visited Edgeio for the first time in a while. I’m still pretty unimpressed. However, I have been impressed with Mike Arrington’s lack of posts on Edgeio and any new features that it may have, he’s become very good with conflicts (he is a lawyer after all). What I’d like to see with Edgeio is an expansion into other areas. Use the same technology to do a Yahoo Answers type service — I want to tag something question and have someone give me an answer. I often see people blogging looking for an answer from their readers - the market exist, the technology exists, it’s time they met.

4. Very cool moment the other day when I heard that the Grotto on Merriman had its Lopico ranking posted in the restaurant. Gave me an interesting idea… more on that someday.

5. No one reads comments, but if you were wondering if I was an idiot after my last post on Sold Signs, I think that the comments are worth a read.

Maybe 5 short posts would have been better… I’ll catch up soon.

Unless you are on the Technorati top 100, you need an introduction. A major reason blogs don’t get the credit that they deserve is because they lack credentials. Traditional media is regarded as credible because there are barriers to entering the market. New media does not have that barrier, at least not to the same extent. New media needs a different source of credentials, if it is going to get the credit that it deserves. So why not do what new media does and let people rate the blogs? I’m sure that there are services like this, but I can’t really recall ever seeing a reputation icon on a blog with a link to a profile of the blog, with reviews of the blog and user ratings. The closest I can think of would have to be Amazon reviews that are on Alexa - but that applies to any site. I’m considering creating a site for this purpose, but I’m currently working on 3 sites, two for other people and of course Lopico. If I don’t find out about such a service I may just try to find time to create one.