1/1/07

I resolve to blog more. No, really!

All a’Twitter

I’ve been using dodgeball for a while now, and as the reports of other one-to-many SMS services came in I thought, “Why would I need that when I can just send shoutouts?” I would probably have happily ignored them all if my curiosity hadn’t been piqued by Twitter. Specifically, the fact that it was founded by Ev (who is invariably interesting and frequently surprising) and that a number of dodgeball users turned out to be also using it. Now that I’ve taken Twitter out for a test drive, I’ve noticed several things that make it really different.

The most obvious thing is that it isn’t location-specific. Limiting messages to friends in a specific city is perfect for what dodgeball is designed to do, which is coordinating your social life. After all, knowing where my friends are in New York doesn’t help me plan my Friday night in San Francisco. But what if I just want to share a quick anecdote or something funny or a random thought? That’s got nothing to do with where we are physically, so sending my message only to friends in the same city is pointlessly limiting.

That said, the most significant difference has nothing to do with the technology. It’s the way that Twitter is actually used, which has more to do with who is using it and what they believe it’s for than with what it can do. I tried to describe this to friends at dinner the other night, and after a few minutes of my stuttering and throwing out random examples somebody said, “So it’s like LiveJournal for text.” That’s really the best explanation I’ve heard, although Twitter isn’t limited to SMS. It’s moblogging LJ-style for people (myself included) who probably would not otherwise blog things that inconsequential or personal or random. Check out the public timeline and you’ll see what I mean. It’s also compulsively addictive, in the same way so many social software services create a kind of positive feedback loop.

Based on my limited experience I’d guess that other services could easily fill different niches, again not because the technology is so different but because the way the community uses it is. If Twitter is the LJ of moblogging, then surely there’s room for the LinkedIn and the Facebook too. As each service matures and finds its community of users I’m sure we’ll see the technology differentiate more and more to meet the demands of that community, but what is fascinating to me is to watch how driven by the initial adopters these future changes really are.

WishRadar launches

This week was the long-awaiting launch of WishRadar, a new service started by some very good friends of mine. At least it was long-awaited by me, because I hate keeping my mouth shut. If I were beta-testing your software you’d never know this because I will literally pick through every single thing on your entire site and send long bullet-pointed lists of improvements, which is how I know that their Privacy Policy says in part:

Think of us like a 100-foot huge, frickin’ sweet robot with flame throwers that is totally way cool, and only does things you ask it to, because you have the remote control. The robot can’t go off and destroy cities, or fight Voltron, or provide any information to Amazon.com or anyone else without your permission, because you are the only person the robot obeys.

It’s nice to see Jason using that law degree.

As you might be able to tell from the name, WishRadar is a tool designed to work with your wishlists. It’s not social software, the social components are there but designed to play a supporting role. It’s not a site for sharing recommendations or personal opinions either; you can see what other people have on their public list but since it’s all stuff they don’t have yet their opinions may be suspect. It’s not about designing a new shopping process or what movies your ex-girlfriend liked or who’s got a new CD coming out this week or what the kids are wearing these days. It’s all about the acquisition, baby. It’s getting what you want for less.

There are plenty of things that Amazon does really well already, that fall under the the “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” rule. For web developers, that rule might be reworded as “if it isn’t necessary to build a separate walled garden, don’t.”

• User reviews. Amazon has a huge database of reviews supplemented daily, and their “Real Name” program basically certifies it as legit.
• Recommendations and lists. The recommendations are created using a combination of your past purchases/wishlists/views and what other people with similar purhases, etc. liked, spiced with a dash of marketing eeeeevil. It works. The lists have that unique human touch (read: freakiness) that makes them such a great way to find, say…stories about figs, if that’s what you want.
• Purchasing and shipping. With one click check out, supersaver shipping, etc. you don’t have to think about it, even when you’re buying from some tiny marketplace seller and not actually from Amazon.

I don’t know about you, but if I want something and I like the price I tend to buy it immediately. If I can’t afford it or don’t think it’s worth the price I add it to my wishlist, where it disappears forever. My wishlist has been the graveyard where products go to die, I have no idea if the price drops or it’s discontinued and I only think of it when I add yet another thing I’m not buying.

WishRadar leaves Amazon to do all the stuff it’s already good at, and takes over where it does less well. See something you want, but not willing to pay the price? It turns Amazon into Priceline: set whatever price sounds good to you and it’ll let you know when your target is reached. For those who just can’t wait, it also turns Amazon into a mobile price comparison service you can use from your phone (without a data plan!) and updates your wishlist while it’s at it. It also lets you import more than one wishlist, watch other people’s, and get it all delivered to your inbox, feedreader or phone.

I’m guessing you can see why this would appeal to me. I think it’s super-cool and handy as hell, though I’m not exactly impartial. See for yourself, or just subscribe to Jonathan’s massive ode to coveteousness to keep your indie rock/web dork/modern design references current.

Holy crap, Beck!

Damn, Yahoo really pulled out all the stops for Hackday. Check this out: 40 wifi access points with 1G uplink, according to what Jeremy Zawodny told me. Wifi is smoooooth. Attendance capped at 400 (ish) techies so plenty of elbow room, oodles of de-luxe new API goodness to play with, and the entertainment for the evening? Oh, that was Beck.

Picture 500 geeks watching Beck play with a full band…in Puppetron. Live puppeteers are mimicing the band as they play, and a mosh pit breaks out on the lawn and the geeks are screaming and losing their shit and then the puppets start hacking and rapping and masturbating to puppet porn and and and…I don’t even know how to describe what I just saw. Wow, just…wow. It’s been a fantastic night, and the hackfest hasn’t even started in earnest yet.

I can’t wait to see what happens tomorrow.

hackday warning

A word to the wise for those attending today’s hackday at Yahoo: that nifty thermos with the 1337 custom logo is a fine piece of schwag, but it’s designed for pouring, not sipping. The piping hot liquid comes out an invisible slot on the side, not the hole at the top. On the plus side, it will give your bottom lip an attractive bee-stung fullness. On the downside, they are out of all but men’s XL t-shirts.

Vladmaster returns!

Just over a year ago I had a wonderfully surreal experience. I’d spent the day over at the SF Zine Fest learning how to silk screen (t-shirts are much harder than posters, if you’re wondering) with my friend Wendy. It was pretty inspiring, we spent the rest of the afternoon making various papercrafts at my house and towards evening she suggested heading over to ATA for a show she’d heard about. She didn’t know too many details except that there would be a band and something to do with Viewmasters. Sold!

It was awesome. There was a live band in the front, and an announcer with an antique typewriter. Viewmasters were distributed at the front of the room, along with slides for each performance, and the audience crowded onto folding chairs or leaned on walls in one big brightly lit room. A few instructions were given, and then we all in unison lifted the viewmasters to our eyes as the band began to play and the typewriter gave us our cues. First up was Lucifugia Thigmotaxis, then came The Public Life of Jeremiah Barnes, and after a short break for beer and leg-stretching the Actaeon at Home finale. I completely fell in love with Actaeon, even though I was broke at the time I bought the disks and a Viewmaster and justified it by saying it was for a friend’s birthday. Sorry Martana, I just couldn’t let it go.

Go look at the links above, and think about how much work goes into a Vladmaster. First Vladimir writes the story, then she builds the sets, takes all the photographs (in stereo!) and edits them. The music and narration is recorded, mastered and edited. Then the reels, cd and packaging are designed, printed and diecut, after which she hand glues each photo into the reels. Did I mention that they also happen to be strange and wonderful stories? Are you jealous yet of my fantastic good fortune to have seen this show? You should be, and better yet you should join me for the Return of the Vladmaster on Wednesday night. Vladimir will be premiering her new Fear and Trembling series, which I would expect to be at least as great as her Franz Kafka and Italo Calvino series.

I just linked to pretty much every page on her site, which should tell you how excited I am. Come join me, you’ll be glad you were there.

An inch of love…

Schwag fiends! They’re everywhere, scooping up all the good stuff before you can say “one inch round“. Hell, they even have their own hired guns to do their dirty work for them.

Here’s your chance to beat ‘em to the punch. el boton is offering extremely limited edition sets of kick-ass schwag from web designers you already really like (including my personal favorite, the “Helfuckingvetica” pin). All brought to you by the dashingly handsome minds behind Gapers Block.

Don’t say I never gave you any good tips.

I win!

Tickets for Snakes On A Plane are now available on Fandango!

Hey, this blogging thing is kinda fun

While I’m at it, take a look at this clever prank. I’m not above jumping on a neighbor’s connection when necessary, but you get what you pay for. Or sometimes maybe a little more.

Ball and chain

I wanted to comment on Tara’s post about the future of connectivity, but the big B says I need a plug in to do it there. Luckily I have my own forum for my opinion here. How great is that?

The original reasons for web based apps were portability and platform independence, which are still huge issues for me. I use a Mac at home, a PC at work, and I take my beloved Linux-based 770 with me everywhere I go. I use web-based apps because they work on all of those machines equally well, and I don’t have to worry about syncing up my various devices or losing data if one of them fails.

Yes, there are obvious compromises to be made when you move everything online. Bandwidth problems, security issues, the chance that the service you use will go up in a puff of smoke one day. Those are not small issues, but they can be solved. Ideally I’d like to be able to store my personal data on my own server in a standard format and be able to point to/pull from it as necessary as I navigate the web on desktop, laptop, phone or whatever. Seem like a far away goal? Try replacing “my own server” with “home media center” and think about it for a minute.