Archive for April, 2007
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Google Ads Now on StumbleUponApr 28 2007 | Google, Social Networks |
10 days ago there were lots of rumors flying around about toolbar based social network StumbleUpon getting acquired by eBay. On the same day Google released their own version of StumbleUpon with their Google Dice feature (Searching Without a Query). Many people looked at this as a way for Google to rain on the StumbleUpon parade and also possibly usurp them at their own game. So you can imagine my surprise today when it came to light that StumbleUpon was running Google ads on their user pages. Here is a screenshot that a user grabbed:
I’m not sure if this has been going on for awhile but its the first time I have ever seen it. The ads only appear if you aren’t logged into your StumbleUpon account. The other interesting note is that it simply says “Ads by” not the typical “Ads by Google”.
Comments - Posted in Google, Social Networks by Chris Winfield
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How To Get Your Work In MOMA or the Louvre…the easy way! |
OK- so you have some cool new images you have been working on or maybe the latest photos of the family, and you feel the world should be able to see them.
Instead of risking imprisonment and going into your local museum with a framed piece and a tube of glue like Banksy (more here) you could follow this tutorial and send the images off to your friends and family and say, “Hey-My works in the Louvre and MOMA!”. Then they will say, “Yeah-right…” and you can all share a laugh.
You will need a photograph of some people in front of paintings or framed work at an exhibit from a museum or gallery- the more famous the better (museum not the people)! But this can be tricky since most museums do not let you take photos inside. Some cool ones do, but for ridiculous reasons most don’t. You can always sneak one or two in before the security gets all up in your face.
Comments - Posted in Design, Tutorial by Patrick Winfield
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The Cluetrain Manifesto and What it Means for Your BusinessApr 26 2007 | Blogging, Social Networks |
On the Internet, information gets outdated pretty darn quickly. Months pass and old blog owners consider pruning old posts that seem outdated. However, there’s one piece of information that has remained true and current for over a span of nearly a decade. The message comes from the Cluetrain Manifesto, which was written in 1999. The Cluetrain Manifesto was written well before its time; it is a precursor to social media of today. The Cluetrain Manifesto’s message is simple yet extremely powerful: markets converse with each other and the Internet facilitates that communication.
Here’s the opening paragraph to their key 95 theses:
A powerful global conversation has begun. Through the Internet, people are discovering and inventing new ways to share relevant knowledge with blinding speed. As a direct result, markets are getting smarter—and getting smarter faster than most companies.
Comments - Posted in Blogging, Social Networks by Tamar Weinberg
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Class is Almost in Session – Will You Be There?Apr 25 2007 | Conferences |
When I got back from the latest Search Engine Strategies show in NY, I was talking to my colleagues about the fact that in order to truly learn at a conference you really need to be in a smaller, more individualized setting. SES, Pubcon, AdTech, etc are excellent conferences and well worth the money but for many reasons besides intense learning (networking, learning new ideas, seeing new products). That’s why the smaller conferences that are popping up are successful and well worth the money.
Comments - Posted in Conferences by Chris Winfield
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MySpace News: An In-Depth LookApr 23 2007 | Social Networks |
This morning I finally had a chance to look at the recently launched MySpace News service and my first impression was – is this it? Labeled by many as a potential Digg killer (just like Netscape was to be) MySpace News combines elements of Digg, which is based on stories submitted and ranked by readers, and Google News, which organizes news according to subject matter. The URL is even modeled off the more traditional subdomain news.myspace.com a la news.google.com rather then having it as a new service www.myspacenews.com.
The service, now in beta testing, aggregates news from around the web and provides MySpace users with the ability to vote on what they think is most interesting. Stories are then ranked according to MySpace member votes. So let’s take a look…
Comments - Posted in Social Networks by Chris Winfield
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Endless.com – Is This Shoe Heaven?Apr 20 2007 | E-commerce |
When the seasons change I like to get new shoes (actually I like to get shoes at anytime but the season’s changing is always a good excuse)…
Up until recently when it came to shoes I’ve been an avid brick and mortar shopper, having to go into the actual store to try shoes on, I order everything else online but for some reason I need to try the shoes on in person before buying. But lately I am frustrated with that whole shopping experience, going from shop to shop when I can easily open several tabs at a time just seems to be a waste. Walking around a whole store where nothing is organized or really categorized doesn’t work for me anymore. I order my food online, my clothes, my makeup, my insurance and just about everything else – so why not my shoes?
Comments - Posted in E-commerce by Danielle Winfield
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“Drop That Shadow!”: Creating Cast shadows in Perspective |
Photoshops Drop Shadow Layer Style is a great tool to add a quick and easy cast-shadow on something. However the tool assumes that you are adding the drop shadow to a flat surface, which is not always the case.
Sometimes you will need to add a different Perspective to the drop shadow layer.
In this tutorial I will show you how to create a realistic drop shadow that can be applied to any layer.
Step 1. Create the document and place the object you want to add the Cast Shadow to on its own layer.
Step 2. Apply the Drop Shadow to the layer by going to Layer/Layer Style and then select Drop Shadow. Just create a general shadow and be sure that the Distance is greater than a 1.
Comments - Posted in Design, Tutorial by Patrick Winfield
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You Shouldn’t Miss These – 4/19/07Apr 19 2007 | Roundup |
10e20 designer (my brother) Patrick Winfield’s amazing picture is featured on the cover of Polanoid. He got all the graphic talent in the family. Click the image to the right to check it out:
Todd (Stuntdubl) made a post that has become required reading for anyone that works with me. Check out his “advanced beginner’s guide” to SEO.
10e20 contributor and friend Maki is running an experiment to see if he can become the most favorited blog on Technorati and then to see if this will actually bring him traffic. Do me a favor and add him to your Technorati favorites…
Stephen Juhl’s stupid easy approach to competitive link buying.
When Google bought DoubleClick they also bought an SEO company. Discuss…
Comments - Posted in Roundup by Chris Winfield
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The Prevalence of Social MediaApr 19 2007 | Social Networks |
At SES NY, there was a surprising amount of people who I spoke to who were not embracing social media as much as they could, which I feel is a huge mistake. Rand Fishkin presented some very compelling reasons to pursue social media. From his examples, articles that had good content and subsequently were made popular on a variety of social sites got a burst of traffic, and as articles hit the front page on a regular basis, he saw an increase in rankings for particular search terms. Some numbers that were thrown out: Digg is a site with 2,000,000 million daily visitors. A Digg, once it hits the main page, can bring anywhere from 10,000 to 30,000+ visitors and over 1,000 links after three weeks.
Comments - Posted in Social Networks by Tamar Weinberg
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Google says Stumble This!Apr 18 2007 | Google |
Google wanted to buy toolbar based social network StumbleUpon according to TechCrunch & Gigaom but unfortunately they lost out to eBay (allegedly). So if you’re Google what do you do? Simply build your own “StumbleUpon” into your extremely popular toolbar – and it looks exactly like that’s what they did. In a blog post tonight called Searching Without a Query they explain:
The first is a recommendations button on the Google Toolbar that looks like a pair of dice. Click on the dice, and we’ll take you to a site that may be interesting to you based on your past searches. If you want another, just click the dice again and we’ll show you a new one. We’ll give you up to 50 new sites per day that might be of interest. Just add the button to your Toolbar. (In order to use this feature, you need the latest version of the Toolbar.)
