Post Toast Toolbar

There was an "iconistan" meme going around a couple weeks back that I've actually been thinking about for a while. Iconistan is the name coined for those annoying little "digg this" or "add to del.icio.us" buttons showing up in blog templates just after every post.

I am envisioning a new service (working name "PostToast") which generates a toolbar after each blog post that is personalized by the reader. If I as a reader have an account with PostToast, every blog I read that has the PostToast toolbar will just show the buttons *I* have selected. Implementation wise, this would be very similar to MyBlogLog.

The goal is to:

1. Give your readers useful buttons. As a reader, buttons associated with each post are very slightly more useful than bookmarklets or browser tool bar buttons. A button next to a post will already have the permalink URL. They are also in the context of page - right as you reach the end of the post. I'm stretching a bit to justify them here, but we could add all kinds of stuff to the toolbar to make it useful - like email to a friend, or scrape images into flickr. The reader would choose once which ones they wanted to see.

2. Give your posts greater exposure without compromizing the design of your blog. The default PT toolbar would be customizable with CSS, and less obtrusive than the usual pile of icons (I'm imagining a drop down or slide out menu).

Now, I have noticed most top bloggers do not have these buttons on their sites. However, the buttons are fairly prevalent amongst less established bloggers (perhaps out of desperation and cluelessness). This is a tiny but highly valuable bit of realestate to stake out.

Update:

I finally found this implementation of the idea: AddThis. I'm not sure they've grasped the reader-personalization aspect, but they'll get there. Also, in searching for this, I discovered how much activity is going on at widgetbox, wich is cool to see.

Podcast Remix

Here is an idea that I would love to build, but never makes it to #1 on my list.

The problem with podcasts is that they often lack playlists. There are usually only a few highlights (good songs or insights) in any given podcast. Listeners waste their time hunting through the podcast for the good part. Additionally there is tons of free content approved for podcast that as a consumer I'd like to "cut out" and save as separate files. Also, when I'm listening to a podcast, I'd like to pick out my favorite parts and send them to a friend.

PodcastRemix is WebJay for Podcast clips. The site would allow you to annotate podcasts (create clips by attaching text notes and ratings to sections of any given podcast) and create new podcasts out of your favorite clips. It would also allow you to address any clip by URL so you could send it to a friend. As a bonus, you could record a response or introduce different clips. Of course, you could also have digg-style best clip podcast - playing the best podcast excerpts.

This sounds great to me. The only reason I keep shooting it down is because the whole point of podcasts is to allow you to listen while you are offline. 95% of podcast listening probably occurs offline after the content is downloaded via iTunes.

The counter argument to this is bolstered by the fact that Yahoo acquired WebJay. Even though it is damn hard to find (good = illegal) content to create a popular WebJay playlist, only 5% of the users need to find the content and create the playlist. The other 95% are just listening, and will swarm the editorial function perfomed by the 5%.

Amazon Unspun

This is very fun. Vote on your favorite everything:

• Hippest Neighborhoods in Seattle
  
• Funniest Movies
• Coolest tech startup in Seattle
  

Picks for 2006

Few of these songs were actually released this year, but I discovered all of them this year, and they will forever remind me of 2006.

Dogs - London Bridge
Death From above 1979 - Black History Month
Interpol - C'mere
The Libertines - Can't Stand me now
Doves - Black and White Town
The Decemberists - Everything I Try to do, Nothing Seems to Turn out Right
The Sounds - Song with a mission
Ladytron - Destroy Everything You Touch
Stars - One More Night
Rilo Kiley - The Execution of All Things
The Kills - No Wow
Audio Bullys - 100 Million
Mylo - Drop The Pressure
Embrace - Ashes
Seu Jorge - Life on Mars?
AK4711 - Rock
Röyksopp - Follow My Ruin
Sufjan Stevens - Chicago

Ignite Seattle

Ignite Seattle in December was a fantastic event. There have been good writeups elsewhere, and you can watch and download the presentations. The idea that sticks in my head is RealityAllStarz. This is a Web site and concept that is destined to be a huge success - because the Web site serves an existing real-world community.

Me and the 'troubled waters' team
Originally uploaded by Wonderosity.

Friday Clips

Amazingly, this week I met the General Manager of this Beijing based startup one day after discovering the site:

Mojiti lets you annotate any moment in any online video. Dive into the experience and tell everyone what you really think.

Mojiti

Another Berkunism:

Hypothesis: if ever a VP of something is created, say a VP of quality or a VP of sarcasm, it means one thing: 1. The company is failing at that activity. 2. The company will continue to fail at that activity until that VP is no longer needed.

Google Reader (100+)

Lookmarks was cited as a "Plain site with no zest" (ouch!):

That's what Web 2.0 really means, it means that applications, design, and companies are disposable, flash-in-the-pan creations with no individual redeeming values. A dozen social networks, a hundred bookmarking sites, a thousand Office-replacement web apps, all with designs that look like this, this, this, or this. Plain sites with no zest, no visual direction, no classic layouts or typography, nothing to separate them from all their competitors.

Web 2.0 Design Is Disposable Design — Business Logs

Santa, do you read my blog?

InFocus BigPlay IN76 projector $599 Here’s the thing about high-definition—it’s so sharp that a 42-inch plasma just can’t do it justice. I got my hands on the InFocus IN76 BigPlay projectors early this year and, let me tell you, it has blown away every other home theater solution I’ve tried. Even though it’s just 720p, HBO HD blown up 12 feet across on my white wall with no screen or Screen Goo looked better than any plasma, projector, or basically anything I’ve ever watched Entourage on. Plus, the saturation is great—I used it instead of a regular TV even at high noon. With a decent price and very decent design, it may be the most consumer-friendly projector out there. -SP

CrunchGear » Blog Archive » CrunchGear’s Best of 2006

technorati tags:christmas, berkun, mojiti, lookmarks, clips

Limited supply of new TrafficGauge gadget

A friend of mine is co-founder of a Seattle Startup that sells a cool gadget called the "TrafficGauge."

I got a TrafficGauge a couple years back for my dad for father's day. we love the fact that it is a device dedicated to traffic stats. You don't have to mess with your phone, check the news, or fire up your computer - just turn on the TrafficGauge and get a quick read-out on current traffic
conditions.

They are coming out with a new version for Seattle December 21st (they also service LA and San Francisco). The base price is $79.95, with a monthly subscription thereafter. I think this is a little expensive, and the price has gone up since I bought one. However, if you've got a family member who suffers a long commute every day - this could make a good gift.

More Friday Clips

More on the Google Answers closure:

This wasn’t a war, it was a massacre, and a case study in why all this “Web 2.0 stuff” actually has legs when applied properly. Google went for a direct revenue stream, a business model that made sense in 2002. Yahoo, launching much later, launched a free product and used the ideals of community participation to remove friction from the process and get out of the way of users. This incentivized use and has created a massive number of page views that Yahoo is now monetizing. The network effect kicked in big time.

Techcrunch » Blog Archive » Yahoo’s Big Win

And one more curious insight:

When someone's telling you that you're making a big mistake, while he tries to charge alot of money from you, it usually means you are making the right decision.

Life experience

technorati tags:quotes, philosophy

Friday Clips

BBC feed integrated into Last.fm:

But this is something I had not seen: UK hacking god Matt Biddulph apparently stuck a Radio 6 feed into the Last.fm, so if you want to see what the station has played, then go here.

James Governor's MonkChips: How cool is that. Last.FM tracks automated radio playlist

Nice Quote:

Innovation is the process of creative destruction. Improved products destroy the failed products. Innovation is a churning cauldron of life and death.

Google Reader (100+)

Hmm:

The Web, they say, is leaving the era of search and entering one of discovery. What's the difference? Search is what you do when you're looking for something. Discovery is when something wonderful that you didn't know existed, or didn't know how to ask for, finds you.

Google Reader (100+)

The above in the context of shopping:

 In fact, that's where Levchin thinks the first real opportunity lies - hooking up users with like-minded people. "I started out with this idea of finding shoes for my girlfriend and hotties on HotorNot for me," Levchin says with a wry smile. "It's easy to shift from recommending shoes to humans."

Personal recommendation software predicts consumer choice - November 27, 2006