If you’ve been to a tech event since SXSW in 2006, you’ve probably seen some kind of large monitor displaying info from the conference-goers. Often, this means Twitter tweets by attendees. Brightkite has just taken this a step further, with their own “Wall” feature. Because Brightkite is a location-based service to begin with, the wall has a built-in way to gather data. This means the usefulness of the wall isn’t limited to events: you can just display it in any place (like a coffee shop, for example) and show all the people who are posting messages nearby.

I love the Brightkite Wall. It could turn out to be a brilliant way to show new users what the service is all about, as well as making an interesting public installation. It also opens up Brightkite to people who don’t even have Brightkite accounts: you can put the appropriate location at the top of the wall, next to the Brightkite shortcode, and anyone can text a message onto the wall via SMS.

Brightkite’s new killer feature is … a wall? originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 21 Nov 2008 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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According to Snyder:

One of the most overlooked concepts in the construction of a website is how the information for that website will be structured. Too often the organization of this information is constructed without any usability or Search Engine Optimization in mind.

In other words, keywords and link exchanges only go so far in promoting a poorly designed website. And a website's design can in and of itself prevent it from getting more than a mediocre page rank.

People just don't use websites that aren't, well, usable. IN Snyder's words, poor information environment design will lead to user abandonment, due to poor or counter intuitive navigation. Think about how often you get fed up with a website's design and just click the red X…

You can read Snyder's piece here.

Photo courtesy of iStockphoto, Image# 7618994

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Xobni is a plugin for Outlook that adds advanced search and social functions to the email client. When we last looked at Xobni, the service indexed your email messages and created personal profiles for each of your contacts by automatically extracing phone numbers and loking users up on LinkedIn. Now Xobni has rolled out an update that adds integration with Skype, Facebook, Hoovers, and Yahoo! Mail.

Here’s how it works. You can search for email using the Xobni sidebar. When you click on a message, Xobni will pull up information about the sender, including information from Facebook, LinkedIn, and Hoovers. If your contact’s Skype profile or phone number are available, you can also initiate a call with the click of a button.

In addition to searching your Outlook mail, you can also have Xobni index your Yahoo! Mail, although in order to reply to messages you’ll need to login to the Yahoo! Mail web interface.

Xobni brings Skype, Facebook, Yahoo! integration to Outlook originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 19 Nov 2008 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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On Sunday, Business Week published an article stating “It’s the end of instant messaging as we know it.” In columnist Douglas MacMillan’s mind, integrated chat features on sites like Facebook and GMail have signed the death warrant.

Oh really? That’s kind of interesting, because there’s a lot of evidence that IM is alive and kicking.

Taking a quick look at some stats on Download.com, I notice that these apps still seem to be pretty damn popular. Pidgin has more than half a million downloads to date. Since Trillian was added to the site, it’s been downloaded almost 37 million times.

The latest release of Live Messenger 14 is well over 400,000 in just two months - and these numbers don’t take into account the numerous other mirrors for these (and numerous other IM) apps.

Continue reading Ask DLS: Business Week declares IM dead - what do you think?

Ask DLS: Business Week declares IM dead - what do you think? originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 18 Nov 2008 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Kara at All Things Digital has a copy of the memo from Jerry tendering his resignation.

We ran a piece earlier this month on the problems Yahoo has been facing. Jerry was on the spot at the Web 2.0 conference at the time. Deals to solve Yahoo's financial problems have fallen through with both Google and Microsoft in the recent past.

It will be interesting to see the direction Yahoo takes under new leadership…

© Nautical9

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We all know that traffic breeds traffic and the key to starting the process is coming up with some good external Links - people linking to your content from outside your site. Google has made it clear that simply buying those external Links is unacceptable. It makes the nice people at Google feel used and manipulated (and we all know how unreasonable they can be when they feel hurt).

So how do you get those first few Links? Randfish has some suggestions…

Photo courtesy of iStockphoto, Image# 5433732

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For years, the president of the United States has delivered a weekly radio address to the nation. President-elect Barack Obama plans to be the first to videotape that weekly address and post it on YouTube.

The move shouldn’t come as a huge surprise. The Obama campaign used new media tools like Twitter, YouTube, and text messaging as a key part of its effort over the past two years. But it’s a bit silly to point out that Obama silly to pi out that Obama will be the first president to use YouTube in this way, as Obama’s transition team is trying to do. The video sharing site didn’t exist when President George W. Bush was running for office. So all it really means is that President Bush didn’t use YouTube.

While Obama won’t be sworn in as president until January, he has started to deliver the weekly Democratic Party radio address, which will also be videotaped and uploaded to YouTube and to Change.gov.

[via Mashable]

Barack Obama plans to post weekly YouTube address originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 14 Nov 2008 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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OpenID is a great concept. Consolidating your online identity across multiple sites and services is convenient, and arguably offers security benefits. So why do some sites make it such a pain in the butt to use? If you support OpenID on your site, and make it as easy as possible for your users to log in, check out ID Selector.

ID Selector helps you set up a customizable OpenID picker, so your users can quickly get an OpenID or choose one they’ve already set up. It doesn’t require any fiddling with your existing login form, it “just works.” The best part is that your users only have to pick an OpenID provider once. When they return afterward, they can just log in with one click. Neat!

ID Selector: making OpenID easier originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 13 Nov 2008 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EventBox is an OS X desktop app that lets you watch activity on the various social networking apps you use, from one convenient window. Right now, it supports Flickr, Facebook, Twitter, Digg, Pownce, Reddit and rss feeds. You can view everything in your stream, including photos, from within EventBox.

If you’re completely addicted to your information stream, and you want to see it all in one place, EventBox might be worth the $20 pricetag. The UI looks fantastic, and the app features the all-important Growl support. Apparently a HUD mode is coming soon (think Twitterrific), which will make the app’s footprint on your screen smaller. You might not be interested in what EventBox has to offer if you’re not very active on social networks, but if you’re looking for this kind of app, EventBox gets it right.

EventBox: all your social networks in one box (on your Mac) originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 11 Nov 2008 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Twuffer is a site that lets you keep a buffer of Twitter posts that will go up at times you schedule. Twitter plus buffer equals Twuffer, get it? In theory, this is a pretty good idea if you’re someone who needs to make periodic announcements or post reminders at intervals. The thing is, I don’t think the majority of Twitter users could do that without being annoying.

Twitter is starting to become more mainstream now, but the biggest complaint people have about companies and celebrities starting to use the service is that they come of as inhuman. Pre-writing your tweets only makes you seem more mechanical. Twuffer could be excellent if you use it on an account that only you follow, to post reminders to yourself. There are already services that do this, but Twuffer might be faster to set up.

I could be completely underestimating this service, though. The site suggests a few ways to use Twuffer, but if you have an idea about how it could be effective on someone’s main account, let me know in the comments.

Twuffer: schedule your Twitter posts originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 10 Nov 2008 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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When it comes to potential new features for Twitter, the Japanese version has always been a testing ground. For example, Twitter in Japan is supported by ads, which haven’t hit the US yet (and nobody seems sure if they ever will!). While I’m just fine using Twitter without ads, we’d love to see an English version of Twicco, which basically adds group support to Twitter. You can test it out for yourself already, if you know Japanese or use something like Google Translate.

On Twicco, you can create a group account, and members can post messages that will then be distributed to the account’s followers. The idea of a community account seems to add a lot to Twitter, especially for people whose normal accounts mix business and personal posts. Businesses could also benefit from using a community to open up a dialogue with their customers. That way, the rest of us don’t have to read the ‘ tech support discussions and feature requests our friends are sending to companies as @replies: they can post them to the company community instead.

Twicco.jp: is Japan already seeing the future of Twitter? originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 10 Nov 2008 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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First, from CNET: “Bowing to federal regulators' antitrust concerns, Google pulled the plug on a search-ad partnership with Yahoo that would have given the latter major new revenue.” According to CNET, that 10-year deal would have placed Google ads on some Yahoo search results, and the companies would have shared resulting revenue. Google made the announcement Wednesday.

Then Yang got tohad to speak to the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco. In the words of one commentator, Yahoo has now been left at the alter twice this year - first by Microsoft back in February and now by Google. Getting up in front of the cameras the day after being dumped can't be fun. It's a lonely world…

Yahoo's biggest problem now is a lack of vision. Okay, its first biggest problem is a lack of money and the falling price of its stock. But its second biggest problem is a lack of vision. TechCrunch writer Michael Arrington said last week that six months ago when Yang “took the stage at the D Conference to talk about the state of his business… he painted a picture of a Yahoo that was spinning in circles with no clear future.” Today, nothing has changed. And in the 42 minute interview at the Web 2.0 Summit, Yang goes back and forth between describing Yahoo as a platform company and a destination site.

The question now for Yahoo is how much longer Yang will be CEO…

© Yodel Anecdotal

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VoxOx is one of those applications that does so many things that the easiest way to describe it is by listing some of the tools it can replace: AOL Instant Messenger, ICQ, Jabber, Google Talk, MSN Messenger, whatever email and social networking notifiers you use. In other words, it’s like Digsby. But with support for video chat and VoIP calls to telephones. Oh yeah, and VoxOx automatically assigns all new users a phone number which people can dial to reach you on your computer.

VoxOx is currently in beta, with clients available for Windows and OS X. Linux and mobile clients are coming soon. And right now some of the services listed in VoxOx are unavailable. For examle, you can link the client to your Yahoo! Mail account to receive a pop up message every time you get a new email. But when you click the button to do the same thing with Gmail, nothing happens.

One of the most interesting things about VoxOx is the company’s business model. You can do text chats with anyone for free. You can make free voice or video calls to anyone using VoxOx. And when you sign up you get 120 minutes of free calls to telephones. You can purchase credit for additional calls, or pay a monthly fee fro unlimited access. But every time you refer a friend to the service you get another 2 hours. And VoxOx will also soon add the ability for users to gain points by watching video ads.

If you’re one of the first 500 Download Squad to register using our signup page, you’ll get 1200 VoxOx Points which are good for 1200 domestic phone calls minutes of domestic US phone calls. Keep reading to find out how to get your bonus minutes.

Continue reading VoxOx brings chat, social networking, phone calls together

VoxOx brings chat, social networking, phone calls together originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 03 Nov 2008 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you’ve ever been in the situation of trying to make plans with a group of people who are all communicating via different methods (SMS, IM, email), then you know how much of a pain it is to keep track of what everyone is doing. Notifu tries to make it easier, with a web app that can send messages to your friends via email, IM or text message, and let you know when they’ve received them.

On Notifu, you can set up a contact list, complete with groups. You can also set up polls, so your friends can text back a single number to indicate what they prefer to do, and Notifu will count them up for you. Notifu’s developers are also very savvy about web platforms, with an iPhone web app available and an OpenSocial app in the works.

Notifu: group messaging to help you make plans originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 03 Nov 2008 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Even if you hire your SEO out to experts, knowing what is good and bad SEO is necessary to be sure you are receiving proper handling.

Original content, natural Links, good keywords - and the next thing you know you've got an acceptable page rank.

But it's not quite as simple as it sounds. And you have to work at it constantly.

Read the Submitedge piece: Why You Should Learn SEO.

Photo courtesy of iStockphoto, Steve Wignall

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I absolutely love the popular Mac multi-chat app Adium. Not only does it support a large number of messaging protocols — including Facebook Chat in the latest version — it’s insanely customizable. In Adium, you can change the look of everything from your contact list to your message style to your dock icon. There’s an extensive library of user-created styles at AdiumXtras.com, but they’re not all good.

Recently, I went on a bit of a downloading tear, rummaging through the Adium Xtra trash to discover the Adium Xtra treasure. Here, I present my findings: 8 of the slickest, most beautiful add-ons ever to grace a chat client. To check out the full range of Adium Xtras for yourself, go to adiumxtras.com.

Message Style: Cinematic

Cinematic is a smooth, dark style that fits in really well with OS X. It sports Apple’s signature “reflection” effect, and uses buddy icons to show who’s talking — no text necessary. I like an uncluttered feeling when I’m chatting, and Cinematic delivers. Match it up with a darker buddy list style and wallpaper for a really put-together desktop.

Continue reading 8 can’t-miss Adium Xtras

8 can’t-miss Adium Xtras originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 29 Oct 2008 13:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google will pay $125 million into a fund for authors. The Money “will be used to set up a Book Rights Registry that will let U.S. copyright holders register their works so that they can get a cut of any resulting online retail and ad sales.” Google scans books and makes them available through its book search, http://books.google.com/.

Many observers expect that Google and the book industry will now start to work cooperatively to place copyrighted works online and charge for them.

“We're trying to create a new structure where there will be more access to out-of-print books, with benefits both to readers and researchers and to the rights holders of those books - authors and publishers,” Richard Sarnoff, chairman of the publishers association, said Tuesday in an interview with the Associated Press.

According to the Associated Press, Google will now to contribute $125 million to the fund, including about $34.5 million for “a nonprofit Book Rights Registry that will store copyright information and coordinate payments.” Google will also pay $60 per completed work for the millions of copyrighted books already scanned. It will also pay legal fees for the Authors Guild and publishing association. Finally, income from the scanned books will be divided up, with 63 percent going to the copyright holders and 37 percent going to Google.

Photo courtesy of iStockphoto, Roel Smart

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