BIT320 Guests

Editable Themes

Wed, 18 Jan 2006 18:50:05 -0500

Editable Themes are starting to become a reality at edublogs.org :) w00t!

A One Stop Shop for Tags

Wed, 18 Jan 2006 17:03:51 -0500

Three easy steps for generating blog tag codes...

Step 1: Visit the Improving Customer Experience site

Step 2: Simply input the keywords you wish to be tagged. Separate keywords or phrases with commas. There is no need to add the + symbol to your phrases.

Step 3: Choose from Technorati, Flickr, Del.icio.us and/or Furl Tags

(via John Cass)

Technorati Tags: lifehacks

Trying a new approach to presentations

Wed, 18 Jan 2006 16:43:32 -0500

Several years ago, I saw a presentation at a conference in which the presenter used web pages in a browser instead of Powerpoint (or any of its kin). It was a nice idea but didn’t do many of the things I need a presentation to do—mainly, work with a wireless remote, but also do builds and other effects we take for granted when using traditional presentation software.

That’s why I was so intrigued when I read about S5, a set of templates in a directory structure that lets you use HTML and your browser to create presentations

S5 stands for Simple, Standards-based Slide Show System. It’s from Eric Meyer, the CSS guru (I have a couple of his books). I took a look at the brief presentation Meyer created and after seeing how well it worked—coupled with a positive notice from MasterViews—I was impressed enough to download it and give it a try.

There are a few drawbacks I can think of that have nothing to do with the S5’s capabilities. Some of the companies where I deliver presentations ask for the file so they can put a print-out into binders. It’s easy to send them the PowerPoint (or a PDF of the PowerPoint). I’m not sure yet how I’d do that with S5. But this is an application in its infancy, and that’s a problem that could be addressed down the road.

In the meantime, I’m pleased with how it’s going so far. Right now, I’m working out how to switch themes from among the four that are available so far. I have a couple presentations coming up, and I’ll probably try one of them using S5.

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test with new api

Wed, 18 Jan 2006 16:14:26 -0500

test with new api

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text for message

Wed, 18 Jan 2006 16:13:05 -0500

test for error message

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One Click Web Sites

Wed, 18 Jan 2006 15:25:46 -0500

I just got an email about a service called Posima. The Web application software is for small businesses and non-profits to create and manage their own sites. It's similar to blogging tools. What's nice is that you can build in e-commerce functionality. They're also wisely going the 37 Signals route and are charging $35 a month right up front. This fills a nice void in the marketplace for small businesses that might want to set up a site but are not interested blogging - even though blogging is far more discoverable.

Why isn't there more talk about PR uses of SMS?

Wed, 18 Jan 2006 14:13:32 -0500

I’ve been pondering the lack of discussion about the potential PR applications for SMS (short message service for wireless/cell phones). This thinking has been prompted by several news items I’ve read, such as word from a German company called Smartmachine that it has developed a system that lets cell phone users buy and receive tickets to events using SMS. According to an InfoWorld report...

Smartmachine and its technology partner Skidata have developed a mobile ticketing system that allows customers to have a ticket sent to their mobile phone via SMS (Short Message Service) in the form of a 2D (two-dimensional) bar code. At the gate, they slide their mobile phone display showing the bar code by a bar code reader.

I’m already printing tickets from Ticketmaster on my computer; the printout includes a bar code that is read as I walk into a theater or concert hall. It’s genius to shift this concept to a cell phone, and even greater genius to use SMS to deliver the goods.This week’s BusinessWeek reports that the government of South Korea is delivering updates on legal proceedings and notices of traffic and environmental violations at a potential saves of $1.2 million in postage (subscription required). The brief item in BusinessWeek also notes that…

align="left">Banks confirm financial transactions via test, doctors and dentists use it to confirm appointments, and in 2004 credit card issuer KEB Credit Service even delivered layoff notices to 161 employees.

I’m not recommending that companies use SMS — or any tool other than face-to-face — to deliver layoff notices. But these expanding uses of SMS are intriguing, both as an example of what SMS can do and to heighten my wonder that the communication profession hasn’t embraced it. (Nor have marketing and advertising, for that matter.)

tr" align="left">I remember hearing about a session at a conference during which the speaker supported the integration of digital media players into cell phones. The audience scoffed, so the speaker asked how many of those in the room had MP3 players. Most raised their hands. “How many of you have your MP3 players with you?” Only a couple responded. Then the speaker asked, “How many of you have cell phones?” Everybody raised their hands. “And how many of you have your cell phone with you?” Again, everybody raised their hands.

Cell phones are ubiquitous. When you leave the house without yours, don’t you feel like you’ve forgotten to put on pants? And most cell phones has SMS capabilities. We’re missing an opportunity here. My preliminary, off-the-top-of-my-head thinking produced a couple of no-brainer applications:

Let reporters subscribe to SMS messages alerting them to news updates on specific issues and subjects they cover
Residents who live near a manufacturing facility could subscribe to get updates about anticipated traffic jams and other facility-specific news
A crisis team could set up an SMS subscription service to provide news as it happens to interested individuals

resent themselves when we’re engaged in projects — as long as we keep SMS in mind as a potential tool in the toolkit. What other thoughts do you have about how we might incorporate into SMS into communication planning — or what implementations have been been involved with?

< ?php include("http://blog.holtz.com/index.php/weblog/rss_comments/1092/"); ?>

Why isn't there more talk about PR uses of SMS?

Wed, 18 Jan 2006 14:13:30 -0500

Smartmachine and its technology partner Skidata have developed a mobile ticketing system that allows customers to have a ticket sent to their mobile phone via SMS (Short Message Service) in the form of a 2D (two-dimensional) bar code. At the gate, they slide their mobile phone display showing the bar code by a bar code reader.

This week’s BusinessWeek reports that the government of South Korea is delivering updates on legal proceedings and notices of traffic and environmental violations at a potential saves of $1.2 million in postage (subscription required). The brief item in BusinessWeek also notes that…

Banks confirm financial transactions via test, doctors and dentists use it to confirm appointments, and in 2004 credit card issuer KEB Credit Service even delivered layoff notices to 161 employees.

gn="left">I’m not recommending that companies use SMS — or any tool other than face-to-face — to deliver layoff notices. But these expanding uses of SMS are intriguing, both as an example of what SMS can do and to heighten my wonder that the communication profession hasn’t embraced it. (Nor have marketing and advertising, for that matter.)

I remember hearing about a session at a conference during which the speaker supported the integration of digital media players into cell phones. The audience scoffed, so the speaker asked how many of those in the room had MP3 players. Most raised their hands. “How many of you have your MP3 players with you?” Only a couple responded. Then the speaker asked, “How many of you have cell phones?” Everybody raised their hands. “And how many of you have your cell phone with you?” Again, everybody raised their hands.

Cell phones are ubiquitous. When you leave the house without yours, don’t you feel like you’ve forgotten to put on pants? And most cell phones has SMS capabilities. We’re missing an opportunity here. My preliminary, off-the-top-of-my-head thinking produced a couple of no-brainer applications:

Let reporters subscribe to SMS messages alerting them to news updates on specific issues and subjects they cover
Residents who live near a manufacturing facility could subscribe to get updates about anticipated traffic jams and other facility-specific news
A crisis team could set up an SMS subscription service to provide news as it happens to interested individuals

Other uses should present themselves when we’re engaged in projects — as long as we keep SMS in mind as a potential tool in the toolkit. What other thoughts do you have about how we might incorporate into SMS into communication planning — or what implementations have been been involved with? < ?php include("http://blog.holtz.com/index.php/weblog/rss_comments/1092/"); ?>

Why isn't there more talk about PR uses of SMS?

Wed, 18 Jan 2006 14:13:06 -0500

Smartmachine and its technology partner Skidata have developed a mobile ticketing system that allows customers to have a ticket sent to their mobile phone via SMS (Short Message Service) in the form of a 2D (two-dimensional) bar code. At the gate, they slide their mobile phone display showing the bar code by a bar code reader.

align="left">Banks confirm financial transactions via test, doctors and dentists use it to confirm appointments, and in 2004 credit card issuer KEB Credit Service even delivered layoff notices to 161 employees.

r hearing about a session at a conference during which the speaker supported the integration of digital media players into cell phones. The audience scoffed, so the speaker asked how many of those in the room had MP3 players. Most raised their hands. “How many of you have your MP3 players with you?” Only a couple responded. Then the speaker asked, “How many of you have cell phones?” Everybody raised their hands. “And how many of you have your cell phone with you?” Again, everybody raised their hands.

Let reporters subscribe to SMS messages alerting them to news updates on specific issues and subjects they cover
Residents who live near a manufacturing facility could subscribe to get updates about anticipated traffic jams and other facility-specific news
A crisis team could set up an SMS subscription service to provide news as it happens to interested individuals

< ?php include("http://blog.holtz.com/index.php/weblog/rss_comments/1092/"); ?>

That old copyright song

Wed, 18 Jan 2006 10:07:33 -0500

Linked in this story:

Halley Suitt
rather amazing sleigh of hand trick
rather amazing sleight of hand trick

rences:

Om Malik
Mike Rundle
Adam Green
Jim Moore

VC Cliche of the Week

Wed, 18 Jan 2006 07:56:44 -0500

Several years ago, we were offered the opportunity to sell our interest in Inteliseek, which was merged yesterday into the new Nielsen Buzzmetrics. We declined the opportunity because although the offer for our stock was fair value given where the Company was at the time, we felt that our stock had option value.

Option value is a cliche I hear a lot in the venture capital business and it is fundamental to what we do, particularly the early stage venture business.

I believe that regardless of the "valuation" placed on the Company in most first round investments, what you are really paying for is option value.

Option value means the potential for a gain. If you own 20% of a company, you own 20% of the current value plus 20% of the potential upside. It's the latter that I am calling option value.

I heard recently about a book or an article that made the case that options are bad. That people actually prefer less choice not more choice. That may be true in real life, but it is certainly not true in money and finance.

Options, particularly long life options, which is what early stage stock really is, are very valuable. It's hard to value these instruments with traditional option pricing mechanisms but we know that if you hold onto them and good things happen with the portfolio company, you are going to get rewarded.

So the next time you buy or sell early stage stock, think less about the current value of what you are buying, because there honestly isn't much value in an early stage company, and think more about the potential value creation, the odds of success, and the time frame it would take to get there, and value what you are buying or selling as an option. You may be surprised at the results of that analysis.

Ice Cream Industry Overview

Wed, 18 Jan 2006 06:52:00 -0500

Here's an overview of the ice cream industry that I thought you all might enjoy.

Blog Lite Day

Wed, 18 Jan 2006 05:22:34 -0500

I am on the road today, but I will be online sporadically and may blog then.

subverted links

Wed, 18 Jan 2006 05:02:14 -0500

Building a school website one blog at a time at StigmergicWeb
If you;re building websites for schools (or any other organisation as well!) and you’re thinking of using a blog tool then you should be reading this. Pronto likes!
Blog Book Almost Cooked–Preorders Open
Well we’ll be ordering about 5 for the library, guaranteed. You should get yours too… bound to be an absolute corker.

Hard-Fi at The Bowery Ballroom

Wed, 18 Jan 2006 00:26:03 -0500

I sat down to breakfast with my friend Mark and he said "are you going to see Hard-Fi tonight?"

My immediate reaction was that somehow the Ticketweb concert notification emails were ending up in my junk mail folder, but instead I said, "where are they playing?" He replied "The Bowery Ballroom."

So I asked Mark if he could work some magic with his friends in the music biz and get me tickets. He said he'd see what he could do.

Mark and I talked toward the end of the day and no tickets were to be had. It was a "hot show".

Meanwhile I had picked a convenient location for my dinner with my friend Ronny and his son Evan (we went to Little Giant which was good but did not live up to The Gotham Gal's rave review).

After dinner I walked by The Bowery Ballroom and inquired if there were any tickets for the show. "Sold out" the guy at the door told me. I was heading home when the bouncer asked me if I was looking for tickets. I said yes and he introduced me to a young woman and her friend. She had two tickets. I asked how much and she said, "they are yours, I got them for free". Being by myself, I took one and headed in.

Inside I met a young woman who produces a Maxim radio show on Sirius and her friend and her friend's boyfriend. And then I met a guy who used to work for Return Path who reads this blog and found out about Hard-Fi by reading it. Cool.

Then the band came on. They played pretty much the entire record plus the cover of The White Stripes "Seven Nation Army" from the Cash Machine EP. Highlights were Cash Machine, Tied Up Too Tight, Feltham, and the closing song - Living For The Weekend. Here is my Flickr photostream of the show.

The lead singer was super high energy and I couldn't help but think he was the punk rock version of Joshua Schachter. He played this cool instrument that was like a recorder with a keyboard on it. No idea what it is called, but it makes that great sound at the begining of many of their songs.

I am really glad I went. They were great.

Go see them if you have the chance. And I hope you get a windfall like I did.