Discover yourself with Location Finder
December 13, 2005
Following my post about Windows Live the other day, I have now been testing the latest version of Microsoft Location Finder.
In their own words:
Microsoft Location Finder uses WiFi access points - or reverse IP lookup when WiFi is not available - to center and display the person’s location on an Windows Live Local, enabling the user to quickly and easily search in their present location.
Now most people - particularly those bright enough to use a laptop - probably know where they are, at least most of the time.
But the point is, once your position is accurately plotted, all sorts of sight-seeing possibilities pop up nearby. Shops, landmarks. You might even find the nearest tourist information office is just round the corner.
However, make sure you disable any proxy connections first. At the moment, Location Finder thinks I am in the middle of Poland. Brrr. It only feels like that.
Gmail clips - short, sweet and simple
December 9, 2005
This is oddly addictive.
I really don’t need another RSS reader in my life. I already have half a dozen set up to receive feeds on different kinds of content or for different aspects of my life and work. But Google has just added news clips to all their Gmail accounts and they’ve done it very well.
As Jared Jacobs, Gmail engineer, explains, with a vast dollop of parental pride:
I had a lot of fun working on this feature, and biased as I may be, I have to say I really love Clips. No new mail? Great, then I have time to read why pasta is made in different shapes. And even if I do have mail I should be getting to, maybe I’m in the mood to digress for a moment and investigate The Divine Secrets of the Cycle Commuter.
I spent far too long reading about pasta ergonomics and all the other little offerings Google chose to serve this morning. Happily if you want your own divine secrets revealed you can add any feed you like (though sadly as far as I can see, there is no way of uploading an OPML file so you will have to manually add feeds one by one).
But it’s the user experience which really rocks: just one line with a single link at the top of your mail box with arrows to scroll through your feeds.
I can imagine a situation where I might be travelling and having nipped into an internet cafe to check my mail I might just stay on Gmail to run through my feeds.
However, this layout does emphasise the importance of clear and useful headlines. There is no additional text to encourage you to click through.
Windows Live Local and bloggable
December 8, 2005
The MSN Search team just announced the beta of Windows Live Local, folding Virtual Earth into the new Windows Live family of web services.
Give it a spin. They’d like us to pick up on the new bird’s eye imagery; spectacular, but as you’d expect, it is currently confined to major US landmarks.
However this is useful: if you right click and add a pushpin to any location, it is added to the scratch pad. Click “blog it!” and you are sent straight to your MSN Spaces blog (provided you have one and - this is the pits - they insist on Internet Explorer) where you will find a post already filled out with a link to your map and scratchpad.
This can then be sent, along with directions and photos, to anyone subscribed to your feed.
Newspaper or news pay-per?
December 7, 2005
Ever tried to put a genie back in the bottle?
Earlier this week, Sir Martin Sorrell, CEO of WPP, chided newspaper proprietors for leaving so much cash on the table.
From a Reuters report:
One area where traditional media, especially newspapers, have fallen down is in giving too much content away on the Internet, he said.He said it was “very strange” and “bizarre” that so much content is available for free. “I think people would pay for content they value and trust,” he said.“I’m prepared to pay for breaking news,” he said.
Don’t do that. You will just encourage them.
The truth is people have become accustomed to free content online and that particular current is irresistible. As for breaking news, nobody buys newspapers for breaking news. They go online or they switch on their televisions - where increasingly, people find their news stories sourced from citizen journalists.
Take the London bombings. If it all happened again tomorrow, would you pay a news site for updates, switch on the BBC or turn to Wikipedia?
Podcast news and the blogcast comedy hour
December 6, 2005
Podcast: it’s not just the word of the year 2005. It also made the ITN lunchtime news yesterday, predictably enough in the form of Ricky Gervais whose side-splitting (I’ve got the scars to prove it) new Guardian show launched on Monday morning.
There’s been plenty of talk about the UK blogosphere dragging its collective feet but any sociologist will tell you the best chance of mass adoption of social media around here is likely to come by way of our better known comedians. It’s just a question of cultural influences.
The very definition of “tipping point” in the UK, for example, should include that Monday morning every boy walked into school parroting lines from Python.
And here’s another possible example of humour introducing social media to the masses. Richard Herring warms up his comic muscles every morning with a humorous blog entry. Some hit the spot; others die in the road.
Today’s post caught my eye:
This morning I got a call from my manager saying that there has been some interest in the TV version of “Warming Up” or “Blog” as the project is currently called and we’ve been asked to make a taster tape (a 10 minute segment to show how it would work) in the new year. If they like that then apparently we would go to series pretty quickly.
There are a few people whose blogs might make a prime time television series: Dooce? Could be. Adam Curry? God yes, plenty of comedy and drama right now. Robert Scoble? Well, possibly not. Not unless he reveals he’s secretly been working for Google all along.
But Richard Herring is a funny guy and ergo, might just make it.
Travel agents could benefit from blogs
December 5, 2005
Here’s a gloomy prediction for travel agents from the recent ABTA convention in Marrakech. Via yesterday’s Observer:
Internet bookings will force a third of all travel agents to close within a decade, according to the man who used to run Lunn Poly, Britain’s largest chain of agents.
Chris Mottershead, now chief executive of Travelzest, suggested salvation would come from specialising in a specific area or running trips themselves.
Agreed, but I think there is also a case for a new breed of independent travel agents who build their personal brand online and use blogging and other social media tools to demonstrate authority in many different aspects of the travel business. As part of their online strategy they could use blogs and RSS feeds to build relationships with regular clients who value their expert advice and who have a wide variety of travel requirements.
If you are planning a honeymoon or (reluctantly) organising a holiday for your 16 year old daughter and her friends, would you not go to a trusted source first?
There is nothing wrong with Motterhead’s quoted assertion:
‘If you’re not on the internet now you really have to ask yourself what century you’re in,’ he said.
But I am not convinced ABTA itself has moved beyond Web 1.0
How about a blog module on the website with evolving commentary from the organisations leaders? How about RSS feeds for members and the press?
And how about a social media session for next year’s convention?
Podcasts by phone
December 3, 2005
The Odeo Blog announced a new version of the Odeo personal podcasting service last night. Among the improvements, they tell us:
everyone can now record audio with the browser-based Odeo Studio - or via the phone. Either way, your voice gets posted as an MP3 on an Odeo page, and from there you can easily share it
Wait a minute? Via the phone?
whenever you fancy using your phone to create a recording, just dial +1 415-856-0205 and follow the voice prompts.
Let’s marry this to the Yahoo! announcement I mentioned on Thursday and we can see that it will soon be possible for a group leader or tour operator, for example, to record a short podcast from anywhere in the world and have it distributed to a group of subscribers almost immediately by RSS feed, email or direct to their mobile phones.
And the great thing is you do not need an advanced degree in computer sciences to achieve this extraordinary feat of communication. Just pick up the phone.
The Odeo number is in America but if you use a VOIP service such as Skype, this will hardly break the bank.
Travel podcasts for adventurous baby boomers
December 2, 2005
A bit of sound advice for ambitious travel companies: consider podcasting.
According to a recent Nielson/Netratings survey quoted in Netimperative last month, more than four in five of all British internet users aged over 50 have visited a travel site in the last year, with 1.5 million of them booking online during September.
Alex Burmaster, European Internet analyst at Nielsen/NetRatings said: “The figures for the online travel sector continue to impress but what screams out is the staggering percentage of over 50’s who go online for travel. This not only has far-reaching implications for the Internet as a whole but confirms beyond doubt that the web is not just a young person’s tool.”
And that has what to do with podcasting?
Well, at least one survey this year suggested podcasts are being embraced more enthusiastically by the over 45’s than by any other age group. It didn’t say what they were listening to, but the chances are it wasn’t Lil Kim (well at least, not all of them).
Virgin Atlantic led the way with its podcast tours of New York (and have since added six other cities) but with a little imagination, travel companies can come up with any number of ways to deliver value to their clients wrapped up in an MP3 file.
How about atmospheric restaurant recommendations describing the best places to eat at your destination or a brief introduction to local music? or night sounds from a jungle safari (a lot of white noise from crickets probably)? Or how about the jolly captain of your cruise ship describing his ports of call?
They all could work but I really like the idea of a series of short podcasts featuring travel recommendations from your most enthusiastic and loyal customers.
Guardian launches its branded RSS reader
December 1, 2005
Another breach in the barrier to popular RSS adoption. The Guardian has just launched its branded Newspoint RSS reader in partnership with Consenda.
It comes pre-populated with Guardian feeds, unsurprisingly, and you get more ads than the Superbowl - they are very intrusive - but travel PR’s will notice they can add content easily so client’s RSS feeds can cosy up next to the regular Guardian travel section (provided they publish sufficiently compelling content for anyone to want it).
Click the close arrow and the reader becomes a desktop ticker which could stream late fares and deals. There is also a handy clipping service to save items online or to your hard drive.
Beware, in its default setting, the reader junks feeds after just four days.
via Dan Leonard