Tracking marketing, social media and web business

Google to Launch Their Own Browser: Chrome

September 1, 2008 in Technology | No Comments →

UPDATE: Google Chrome is now available to download.

Had I not done my due diligence in checking up on my various microblogging accounts, I might have missed out on one of the most exciting announcements from Google since we heard they were building a data center in Council Bluffs (in my home state of Iowa).

A note from Derick Jackson on Pownce mentioned, “Google ‘Chrome’ - New browser launching tomorrow. Awesome?” I followed the link to the official Google blog, where Sundar Pichai, VP Product Management, and Linus Upson, Engineering Director, outlined the ideas and thought process around Google’s latest venture, their own web browser.

The Modern View of the Browser

If you’ve been reading my blog at all in the past couple of months, you’ve probably noticed that I’m a Firefox fanatic. Mozilla created a browser that broke all the boundaries set by Microsoft’s luddite, yet monsterous,  Internet Explorer. Users could see different sites through tabbed windows within the browser, customize the way it looked with various themes and add any number of extensions and plugins to bend Firefox to their will, allowing it to accomplish tasks and perform feats that hadn’t been possible before.

Now, with Google Chrome, Google is looking to do the same, talking about ‘a fresh take on the browser’. Some of their main thoughts included:

  • the web has evolved from simple text pages to rich, interactive applications
  • we need a modern platform for web pages and applications
  • what kind of browser could exist if we started from scratch and built on the best elements
  • we want something that gets out of your way and gets you where you want to go

The team also describes the structure of Google Chrome as fitting in with the rest of the Google family:

Like the classic Google homepage, Google Chrome is clean and fast. We designed a browser window that is streamlined and simple.

Will Google Chrome Have a Place in my Web?

Because I have a Google account and use many of their different applications and web services, I’ll be intrigued to test out their browser and see what they’ve come up with. It was mentioned that components from both Apple’s WebKit and Mozilla’s Firefox were included in the development, which means we just may see something that takes the best parts from everywhere and combines them all into one, not to mention it will probably interface well with your Google account and all of the services they offer.

Recently I’ve been testing several different browsers, trying to find something I could use in place of Firefox for all of the extra projects that I have going, like Microblink, which has a host of different user accounts on different websites, all being used to market that website. Rather than logging out of personal accounts and then into the Microblink accounts, it’s much easier just to perform all tasks related to Microblink in a different browser, keeping cookies, cache and passwords separate. Flock seems to be performing very well as the answer to that solution, and it’s built on the Firefox framework (which I love), but maybe Google has a player that could fit that bill as well. Only time will tell.

Google Chrome is Coming, but its not Done Yet

The beta version of Google Chrome launches tomorrow in over 100 countries (think about all of the translation work that had to happen on that project). For now, you can check out the comic book on Google Books that outlines the browser and its functions. Good luck getting in though, as it appears to be getting hit with a ton of traffic at the moment, everyone trying to get an early glimpse of Google’s latest gamechanger.

City of Des Moines Launches New Logo

August 18, 2008 in Local, Marketing, Opinion | 6 Comments →

And I like it. KCCI has the story and the resulting graphic, apparently worked on by a team of various City of Des Moines departments

The new logo uses the same colors as the previous version, blue and deep red, but the new imagery is much more powerful, in my opinion. The most significant feature is the solid blue bridge, as seen on 235 and south of downtown on MLK. Included within the arch is a simplistic silhoette of the downtown skyline, all tucked neatly above the bold red ‘Des Moines’ text.

The older logo plays into the bridges downtown spanning the Des Moines River and mimics their shape for the large DM initials, chalking up one point for people organizing events and groups with DM (like #dmtweetup) instead of DSM (as the official designation used by the Des Moines International Airport).

Some on Twitter are up in arms over the logo while others suggest the logo has questionable taste, but I see nothing to complain about. As a marketer, it’s often part of my place to pick things apart and always be looking for improvements, but I’m actually very satisfied with the way things turned out.

I agree with Mark Bockenstedt’s comment that “the old one was kinda lame“, and for me it didn’t truly represent the greatness and potential this city has. The old version had more likeness to a website built in 1995 with Microsoft Word, while the new logo speaks to an enriched and vibrant community through its bold use of color and illustration.

Hopefully some of the locals will chime in here with their thoughts, as I feel like this logo release has a bigger impact on marketers and techies like myself than it will on the general public. It would be great to hear some other arguments and viewpoints.

Free to a Good Home

August 11, 2008 in Daily Musings | No Comments →

I spotted this classified ad in my employer’s weekly newsletter and had a good chuckle. Take a look.

Maybe the folks at Twitter would like an office pet? The bird is already appropriately colored and named…

On a serious note, if you or someone you know is interested in the bird, send me a direct message.

[Photo courtesy of The Lens Flare. Not actual bird.]

Sarah Lacy Stops in Des Moines on User Generated Book Tour

August 5, 2008 in Events, Social Media, Technology | No Comments →

This weekend I attended a book reading event at East Village Books showcasing Silicon Valley reporter Sarah Lacy’s first book, Once You’re Lucky, Twice You’re Good.

Des Moines was just one of Sarah’s stops on what she has dubbed the User Generated Book Tour (UGBT). Sarah’s inspiration for this tour shines through in her post:

“I’m looking for places that have a thriving entrepreneur scene and a cool indie book store or bar that would sponsor the event. I think this book is an important window into entrepreneurship and I want to discuss it with people who are reading and enjoying it. Isn’t that why I spent a year writing it?”

At the event, Sarah introduced herself and gave a bit of background on herself and her 10 grueling years in the startup trenches of Silicon Valley. Sarah also highlighted her unique relationship with Mark Zuckerburg and other star entrepreneurs she had befriended over the years.

The section of the book that Sarah shared was a snippet from the end of the book that talked about Evan Williams’ travels from Blogger to Odeo to Twitter and the morality of business he dealt with.

Sarah answered several questions from the crowd, including a few from me regarding the impact of transparency in social media, social media as a liability for companies and leaked information and the possibilities that exist in today’s market based on the tools and platforms already available.

After signing through several copies of her book (which I happily purchased and will soon be reading), the #dmtweetup crew took Sarah and her husband Geoff out for one more night on the town at the Royal Mile.

Discussions carried over from EVB to the Royal Mile and everybody had a great time. For me, the best part about Sarah (and Geoff too!) was that they were both so down to Earth and welcoming. For someone who co-hosts shows for Yahoo! and spends her days rubbing shoulders with the tech elite of the country, I felt like she was very approachble and genuinely enjoyed spending time in our town.

Nathan Wright of Lava Row managed to capture some great footage and scored an interview with Sarah, talking about Digg’s rumored takeover and her impressions of Des Moines.

Sarah also recapped her midwest tour on her own blog, giving Omaha and Des Moines props:

“Both cities taught me so much about how the Web is changing entrepreneurship and really people’s lives in unique ways.”

Now that the weekend is gone and the work week is back, I’ve got a fine new book to keep me company. ;)

Another New Project on the Way

July 30, 2008 in Projects | No Comments →

Over the past few weeks I’ve been talking with a friend of mine (who I met on Twitter) about a new site concept. When we first starting meeting for lunch a month or two back, we were using it as a chance to socialize in person and as a way to share/give advice on each other’s projects. What sparked out of those brainstorming sessions was a brand new idea for a project we both felt passionate about.

We’re not ready to share the details on the project just yet, but you should be hearing something in the coming weeks. We’ve set an aggressive schedule for ourselves and are actually meeting for lunch tomorrow to follow up on our latest action items.

If all goes well tomorrow we should be off to a great start on getting things moving.

Wordpress App for iPhone Released

July 22, 2008 in Social Media, Technology | No Comments →

Enough talk about the Wordpress app! It’s finally here! Head over to the iTunes App Store and download it now.

This is my first post using the app and everything seems to be going smoothly.

Let me know what you think if you test it out.

Defining Your Personal Brand

July 18, 2008 in Marketing | No Comments →

This article was written for GenerationIowa, your one-stop shop for everything young Iowa.

As consumers and jobseekers spend more time online, it’s only natural for employers to start doing the same. This can be a curse – or a blessing – depending on how well you have defined your personal brand.

First things first, if you do not own the domain for your name (www.firstnamelastname.com), purchase it now. Google and the other search engines love keyword rich domain names, and if you own your name as a domain, that should rank very well when an employer is doing a search on you.

See the rest of the article at GenerationIowa.

Wordpress for iPhone

July 15, 2008 in Technology | No Comments →

Even with an iPhone, blogging has been somewhat limited for me, as I feel I must be at a computer to do it. Sure, I could navigate to my blog’s admin panel through Safari, but the dashboard and menus are not well-suited to being resized.

I was excited when I first heard about TypePad’s new BlogIt service that allowed users to blog and/or update their status on a variety of websites all from the comfort of their iPhone. However, upon testing the system, I could never get it to post to my self-hosted Wordpress blog.

This morning I caught wind of a Wordpress app for the iPhone via a post on Andy Brudtkuhl’s blog, Get a New Browser.

With the imminent release of a Wordpress app for the iPhone, I should no longer be bound by the ethernet cat-5 cables of the world and will be free to blog from wherever I want. This means you’ll be getting many more of my thoughts on a regular basis.

Now I just have to wait for the app to be released.

The original post is at the “official home of the WordPress iPhone Application“.

Times are Slow, But Things are Still Happening

July 14, 2008 in Daily Musings | No Comments →

Updates to this blog have been a bit sparse as of late, but its not because I’ve fallen off the edge of the Earth.

Here are some of the things that have been taking up my time lately:

  • Tweetup Badges - My company just launched this site for a client. Tweetup Badges help you put names to faces in the real world (at Twitter meetups).
  • Plurkular - This is a site I started to serve as a news and information site on all things Plurk. Plurk is a microblogging service with a unique horizontal timeline and threaded replies. See my review from last month.
  • Generation Iowa - I am an author for this site which takes aim at keeping college students and young professionals in the state of Iowa. I write for the My Connections section.
  • Life

As a result of so many projects, I’ve been doing some research into online to-do list services. I’ve talked about project management tools before (which I use for client work), but I also feel like I need something to keep my regular life in line.

I hope to have a post up soon with some reviews of the various services out there.

Until next time.

Twitter is Taking Too Long To Respond

June 27, 2008 in Social Media, Technology | 1 Comment →

It sounds like more and more people are getting frustrated these days. I’ve been spending more time on Plurk as a result.

I’ve given up on using twhirl right now because the limit on requests is so low it just takes too long to stay up to date. twhirl announced this morning that Twitter is messing with something that threw off their auto-leveling requests to the Twitter API.

In the meantime, if Twitter does load, I’ve been using Twit Refresh, a simple script put together by @charris1980 with a 60-second refresh call so you don’t have to wear out your F5 key.

Give Twit Refresh a look and digg it if you like it.

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