In the category of, why didn’t I think of that, I wanted to give a shout out to Niall Kennedy’s newest site ‘StartupSearch’. The site, sponsored by True Ventures (Big in Japan client), tracks ‘the web technology ecosystem commonly references as Web 2.0.’ What is it? Niall explains the data-driven website tracks:
- web 2.0 Startups
- their products
- key employees
- investment firms
- investment partners
- success of products (i.e. using public metrics)
The site’s goal is to become ‘a research tool, a discovery engine, a fact-filled directory of our little Web startup world.’ They site is written using Python, Django and YUI. Very cool Niall!
Posted by admin | May 31, 2007 - 8:36am | No Comments
Category: Uncategorized
But what if your cool new Web 2.0 startup has too much cash? Instead of buying those aeron chairs, you can hire a killer CEO. You may have never heard of Joost (evidently the new way to watch TV – yawn), but they recently closed a huge $45MM round from Index Ventures and Sequoia. In a coup for the little company, according to Staci Kramer, they lured former Cisco exec Mike Volpi to join the team as CEO. Mike SVP-GM, at Cisco from 1994 to this year, was seen as the likely heir to CEO John Chambers. Om Malik suggest that Mike might have immediate impact in the organization. If the little company is going to show us ‘how TV will be watched from now on’ they need someone who can swim in the shark filled waters of Hollywood. Is Mike slick enough? I suspect so!
Posted by admin | May 31, 2007 - 7:45am | No Comments
Category: Uncategorized
Today Google is hosting a developer day to show off Google Gears. This new open source browser plugin allows developers like us to build offline web applications using JavaScript APIs. Why is this so cool? Well, it turns out that it is hard to build applications that work offline and online across multiple browsers ~ Google Gears should make it easier.
Nick Gonzalez has reported that the first demo of Gears will be for Google Reader, but assures us more Google applications are soon to come. He explains,
Reader will add a green download button to the user interface. When you click the button, Reader will download the last 2,000 messages to your computer, preparing your computer to work offline or under a spotty internet connection. Downloading will take place in the background, using the asynchronous JavaScript API. While offline you can read these articles and carry out your usual sharing and tagging. When you get back online, just click the button and Reader will sync your offline activity with their server. Right now the syncing is initiated manually, but it’s easy to see that it will become more seamless as the program develops. Gears could conceivably solve the large data overhead problems of Google’s AJAX applications, pushing updates to your desktop instead of slowing down your browser.
The real news is that the company is releasing the tools using an open source license. It got our attention, and I suspect the attention of thousands of other developers. Smart, very smart. Read more at the BBC.
Posted by amuse | May 31, 2007 - 7:32am | No Comments
Category: Uncategorized | Tags: biggublog, google, googlegears, googlereader, techcrunch
The Big in Japan team is now working on several Facebook brand integration projects. Now that Facebook has opened their platform to allow development companies, like Big in Japan, to develop applications within the network, a new opportunity for brands has emerged. How can we help?
- License your brand for use in Facebook (i.e. we own the application)
- Customize and modify your existing application for use in Facebook
- Provide community assistance for operating your brand within Facebook
Our latest project is to incorporate a popular strategy game into Facebook’s community. The challenge? It isn’t porting the existing application into Facebook, it is helping leverage the social advantages the site can offer the game. Just putting the game inside the community won’t really extend the brand, but incorporating the game into the community can potentially enhance the companies relationship with the brand.
Posted by admin | May 30, 2007 - 3:29pm | No Comments
Category: Uncategorized | Tags: api, biginjapan, facebook
You may recall my rant about character blogs done poorly. If you don’t the quick recap is that it’s hard to have an effective "character blog" (a blog created around a fictional character) when the blog has constant reminders that this character is completely fictional. TV show characters live in a world that’s not hosted on CBS.com, for instance.
Since that post I’ve been on the lookout for a great character blog and Web sites that I could share as an example of how to do it right. I found two great support efforts for this season’s hit show "Heroes", and both focus on lesser discussed aspects of show.
Of the two, my significant favorite is the VotePetrelli.com site. This site literally could have been created for any candidate running for office this year. (Which is a sad reflection on Web sites for political candidates, but I digress)
Let’s see how this site stacks up against my Rules for Character Blogs & Sites:
- Keep it right - this blog is certainly the exact right concept for a fictional political candidate.
- Use what you have - this project is fun because it fits into the universe, but doesn’t focus on the more obvious elements of the show. This helps to extend the show "world" much further.
- Make it real – although not as applicable on a non-blog site, it’s still interesting to see that the privacy policy says nothing about NBC and instead references only VotePetrelli.com. I actually emailed the webmaster with an in-character note to see what kind of response I’ll get back.
- Connect the dots – I’m not sure if this has been advertised elsewhere. Anyone else seen anything about it? (I read about it in Wired)
- Extend the illusion – the illusion on this one is pretty deep. Zero branding, zero reference to NBC, and absolute synchronization to the show’s on-screen character.
The second site focuses on the fictional Yamagato Fellowship but isn’t as tight. Sadly there’s far too many "coming soon" references in the content for this to be considered great, but it’s certainly a solid effort.
Great work, NBC!
Posted by admin | May 30, 2007 - 1:34pm | 1 Comment
Category: Uncategorized
Recent Comments