EP:006 – The Cotton Club Podcast
In this Episode…
My co-host Keith Crawford and I discussed a very popular topic this evening, and that’s the rollout of Google Buzz. In this episode we both give our first impressions of this new social network / aggregator based on our initial 3 or 4 days of testing. Keith has been an authority on FriendFeed for some time now so given the similarities between what Google is trying to accomplish with Buzz and what FriendFeed already does, he provided some excellent commentary.
Also, anytime Keith and I get together for a show we always like to close out w/ a few iPhone application recommendations. This week we discussed Siri™, Waze, SleepCycle, and My6Sense. Keith also discussed Appolicious, which is a resource that no iPhone app junkie is going to want to live without. I also mentioned a story I saw today on CNN where several companies like AT&T and Verizon are getting together to open a competing APP store, you can find that CNN story here…
Since Keith and I are both avid NASCAR fans we dedicated a few minutes at the end of our show to discussing Jamie McMurray’s victory at the Daytona 500. Stay tuned for another post on this blog dedicated to the race.
Win Dinner for 2 on Cotton & Keith’s ‘Name That Podcast Promotion’!
As some of you might already be aware, Keith and I are looking for a new name for our podcast that we host together. We are looking for something unique and innovative that best describes our show. If you are unfamiliar w/ our show, be sure to listen to this weeks episode by clicking on the play button below to get an idea. We typically discuss social media, web services, and iPhone applications. You can enter our ‘Name that Podcast’ promotion by leaving a comment below w/ your suggestions or by posting your suggestion on twitter to @tsudo and @cottonr using the #NameThatPodcast hash tag. Keith and I will go over each entry and select the one that we like the best. If we chose the name you suggested, you will win dinner for two at The Market Place grill here in Conway, Arkansas. You can enter as many times as you like.
Listen to This Episode / Subscribe to The Cotton Club…
Click on the play button below to play this episode on your computer, or you may subscribe to The Cotton Club in iTunes or using Microsoft Zune. For step-by-step instructions for subscribing to this podcast, click here…
EP:003 – The Cotton Club Podcast
Tonight I recorded the 3rd edition of The Cotton Club Podcast. The topic for tonight’s show was the Apple iPad device. My guest for the show was Calvin Hill of Reflections by the Hill Photography, an avid Mac user, professional photographer, and programmer all rolled up into one really cool guy. We discussed the iPad and gave some of our thoughts based on what was released at the product announcement.
We also discussed some cool apps for the iPhone such as Waze and My6sense. This was a really fun show and we covered a lot of ground. Click on the play button below to listen, or subscribe to The Cotton Club in iTunes.
Waze Brings Back Treasure Chests for Valentines
A few days ago Daniel from Waze sent me an email to let me know that Waze is bringing back their Treasure Chests in a Valentine’s Day themed promotion. This promotion is pretty cool, let’s say you are driving along and you open up a treasure chest, it might be filled with tickets to the movies for 2 or a heart shaped box of chocolates. How cool is that? The themed goodies are also going to look like cupids arrows and love balloons.
If you are unfamiliar with the Waze app for the iPhone, I strongly recommend you check them out. I have reviewed this app twice on my blog and talked about it extensively on my podcast, The Cotton Club. If you missed those posts you can find them here and here…
Here’s a press release from the company about this new promotion:
Palo Alto, Calif. — February 8, 2009 — Waze, the first free provider of driver-generated maps and real-time road information geared towards everyday driving, today announced a Valentine’s Day treasure hunt to help save the day for techies who might have forgotten to consider their sweethearts this February 14th.
Waze’s ‘Valentine’s Treasure Hunt’ will feature ‘road goodies’ as well as virtual treasure chests that, when driven over, have the potential to reward users with a real-world prizes – Valentine’s ‘movie night for two’ gift cards or heart-shaped boxes of chocolate. From February 8 to February 14, 2010, users in the US and Canada, should start looking for treasure chests along their daily commute for their chance to win. More details can be found on the waze blog.
Waze’s holiday-themed ‘road goodies’ – small icons worth bonus points – will be implemented on the map, internationally. The Valentine’s ‘road goodies’ include a cupid’s arrow, worth 15 points, as well as heart-shaped love balloons, worth 10 points, scattered all over the map. Users can use these road goodies to increase their point totals, in prep for waze’s next version which will include a scoreboard, allowing users to check out where they stand among their local driving communities.
I am hoping to have a representative on my podcast from Waze in the very near future so stay tuned for that. Also, Daniel sent along some screengrabs that I thought I would share:
Road Trip Using Waze (Updated)
Okay, so this past weekend my wife and I went on a road trip to see Bill Engvall in Texas with some friends. I blogged before we headed out that I was going to use Waze the entire trip, you can read that post here… For the most part I was extremely, extremely impressed w/ Waze during this trip. I did run into a few things that I wanted to mention though about the software.
Before I go into a lot of detail I want to reiterate again that for a free software app, Waze is probably the most impressive thing I have downloaded since owning my iPhone. This whole Geo-Social thing is just getting fired up with apps like Gowalla, Foursquare, and Loopt on the market, and each one getting stronger, I think we are all going to witness some amazing things in 2010 related to Geo-Social applications. Being that these apps are all new, it’s obvious that there are going to be some kinks, or bugs, here and there. In addition to bugs, there are some items of functionality that we might also want right now that are just going to take the developers a little bit of time to put in place, I am a software guy, I totally get it.
Initially I noticed that Waze allowed users to check in using Foursquare but not Gowalla. I would LOVE to see Gowalla added to the mix since it’s my primary Geo-Social app. I am sure that it’s just a matter of time before Gowalla support is added, it’s growing in popularity every day…
Trips Over 200 Miles…
When programming in our trip, we learned that presently Waze will only accommodate for trips under 200 miles. Since our trip was about 300 miles, we just picked a center location and programmed that in and hit the road. I am not for sure if I expected the audible turn by turn directions from a free application but it was certainly nice. I am not for certain but I think the voice on the app telling me which way to turn was a little bit easier to understand than the one on our Garmin. My wife and I debated the voices a few minutes, we had gotten used to our directions girl on the Garmin.
Outside 3G Coverage Areas…
I could hear the audible directions being cued or downloaded to my phone before they actually spoke. While we were in 3G areas it seemed that we got our turn by turn directions in a very timely manner, enough time to make our turns. Outside the 3G central Arkansas area, near the Texas line was a little bit different story however, we almost missed a turn for our off ramp because the audio came in at the last second and I had to cross two lanes of traffic.
Recalculating Routes after Detours…
Once I got into Texas I programmed in our final destination. As soon as our route was calculated I started driving. About halfway into the metro Tyler area we missed a turn and it took a little while for it to recalculate our route, and this was in 3G service area. I am not for sure if this was a fluke or not but I had to pull over and allow it a few minutes to get us back on track. The other times that I ventured off the pre-determined route I noticed that the recalculation time lagged here as well. I am sure that there is a lot involved with downloading, etc., but I bet that the folks at Waze improve this as time goes on. As far as outside the 3G area goes, I am not for sure if there is anything they can do on their end as programmers to adjust for that… and it’s understandable.
Reporting Traffic Jams and Speed Traps…
On more than one occasion we were able to locate speed traps before we happened upon them. We also in turn posted speed traps that we encountered a long the way, 6 of them to be exact. I really like this feature. We also reported some slower traffic areas on our way back.
Directions Near Louisiana…
We decided on our way back to detour through Shreveport, LA to visit some friends and watch the Saints game and enjoy a bowl of Duck Gumbo. As we got close to Shreveport we noticed that some of the turns the app was telling us to make simply weren’t there. This happened a few times, I am not for sure why this was the case, it could have been that the interstate system there is stacked one on top of the other, about 4 high, and maybe it saw us on one of the other roads, but it sure made for some confusion.
Once we got onto flat roads and made our exit everything started functioning normally again.
Reporting Wildlife on the Highway…
On our return trip, we traveled back roads into Hope, AR. On these back roads and even once we got on the Interstate we saw at least 100 deer grazing on the side of the road. Now, anyone that has traveled Arkansas for any length of time knows that this can be extremely hazardous. I think it would be cool if Waze added a section to their Report area that allowed you to report Wildlife hazards in the area so you could keep your eyes open.
In closing, I am still very impressed with this App and i hope to have Diann from Waze on The Cotton Club podcast one of these days very soon…
Current Projects: The Social Radar
My good friend Keith Crawford and I have been working on a sideline project / podcast for the past month or so called The Social Radar. The Social Radar is a weekly podcast that Keith and I record to discuss the ever changing world of social media. Some of the areas we cover include desktop and wireless applications used to manage social media (ie. Tweetdeck, Seesmic, Twhirl, etc.).
We also plan to cover new products that are released onto the market that are of a social nature. It is our goal to update our show on a weekly basis with new information. The Social Radar podcast will soon be available for download from iTunes, stay tuned for that announcement in the very near future…
The initial design for The Social Radar is extremely simple but expect it to evolve as we add new shows. Below is a screenshot for The Social Radar in it’s current state:
You can click the screenshot above to visit The Social Radar online and listen to our first podcast…
Checkout the O’Reilly Answers Social Network
I am typically not one to recommend a social network to my clients w/ the exception, of course, of the already established networks such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Tumblr, etc. My whole philosophy regarding social networking at this stage of the game is that if you want to build a community, build upon what’s already out there as much as possible (Facebook API, Twitter API) and don’t try to re-invent the wheel.
However, I have always felt that strong, reputable Niche networks could exist externally if they were packaged correctly. A good example of such a network that is currently in Beta right now is O’Reilly Answers. O’Reilly has a good vision with this network, and of course they have some really positive things in their favor already such as Awesome Reputation, an Established Following, and a Trusted Name, what more could you ask for?
You can also look at the Network and tell that there were some clear objectives put into place while developing this solution. They obviously wanted it to be user friendly, functional, and interactive. There are basically three ways you can interact inside O’Reilly Answers:
Share Your Knowledge
You can actually enter in blog posts and tag them according to your subject matter and other users can comment you on your posts. This is one area that I think they could have done a little differently. We all manage our own blogs externally, why would we want to post our content on their website as well and have 2 comment systems running at the same time to follow up w/ readers? My thoughts on this part are that they could have put into place some sort of RSS option where you could aggregate your content from your blog and have your friends inside the network click out to read your posts. Maybe I am not seeing the big picture on this, but as a workaround I posted about 3/4 of 2 blog posts into their network along w/ a link at the bottom to get to the remainder of my post on my blog.
Ask A Question
Since O’Reilly has been catering to the Technically Minded community for so long, you can rest assured that some pretty sharp folks are going to be hanging around in this community. Well, let’s say you have a question about a project you are working on, you can post that question to the community, tag it, and before you know it some of the sharpest minds in the world are answering your question. This is an area where I really see this network having value for a lot of us…
Answer a Question
Let’s say someone asks a question and you know the answer, you can provide them w/ your insight w/ ease. I think that this networking model is going to speed up the “obstacle to solution process” once the network get’s off the ground.
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Also, just a few notes regarding the Network as it is right now. There are obviously some bugs, I had a couple of errors pop up on me when I was setting up my profile, this is to be expected w/ a new release like this. Give them time, I am sure that O’Reilly will iron out all of the kinks very soon. Here’s some basic information that was forwarded to me today from our Account Rep at O’Reilly…
We’re launching the beta of O’Reilly Answers, and I’m inviting you to be part of it. In brief, O’Reilly Answers is a community site for sharing knowledge, asking questions, and providing answers that brings together our customers, authors, editors, conference speakers, and Foo (Friends of O’Reilly).
Why Answers, and why now?
O’Reilly is at the center of an amazing exchange of knowledge sharing and idea generation. We’ve created the usual means of facilitating communication between customers, O’Reilly folks, and the outside experts we call "alpha geeks" who contribute to O’Reilly books, conferences, and websites. We can connect through reader reviews, errata submissions, book forums, blog comments, Get Satisfaction, our customer service department, and more. But too much of this conversation is siloed, and not enough is public (e.g., discussions on our internal mailing list for editors, or personal responses to customer questions). O’Reilly Answers will be the place where much of that communication happens from this point forward.Why participate?
The lofty reason: Like O’Reilly, you want to "change the world by spreading the knowledge of innovators." That’s our mission, and we’ve been fortunate enough to build a community of passionate, committed people who love to learn and share their knowledge as they work towards a better world for us all.The "nice, but what’s in it for me" reasons: reputation, recognition, and rewards.
Get Recognized: "Find interesting people" is a core activity at O’Reilly, and an important component of our success. We see Answers as an important way to discover and connect with our next authors, online instructors, videographers, and speakers.
Build Your Reputation: You’ve learned a lot, why not get credit for all that knowledge? As your submissions to Answers are voted up, your personal reputation on the site increases. At launch, your reputation will be based solely on your participation in O’Reilly Answers. Soon, we’re expanding across oreilly.com, so the book errata and book reviews you’ve submitted, books you’ve registered, and conferences you’ve attended, will add reputation points. You’ll also earn badges to mark accomplishments and milestones.
Earn Rewards: Glory is great, but discounts and deals are nice, too. We want to reward your contributions to the O’Reilly community. Shortly we’ll have a point-based system in place that you can redeem for books, training, courses, and conferences. Details soon, but in the meantime, any actions you take now will count towards your total points.
This is just v.1: The best part of any project on the web is watching it take on a life of its own. With that in mind, we’re looking forward to *your* suggestions about where O’Reilly Answers should go, what features should be added, and what benefits and rewards we can offer all of you.
I’d like to acknowledge the projects that have proceeded Answers and inspired us, such as SitePoint Forums (we distribute their books), StackOverflow, Yahoo! Answers, Knol, and many others. They’re great resources, and we think the O’Reilly community can create a useful site that’s, well, a different kind of animal.
One last thing: O’Reilly Answers is in beta and you may encounter bugs. We’re still working on many improvements to the site, such as feeds for each tag, but would love to hear your suggestions for features and improvements. Please send any suggestions/questions/bug reports to answers@oreilly.com.
Until next time–
Marsee Henon
Also, if you should signup, be sure to add me as a friend, http://people.oreilly.com/cotton
Agile Messenger for the iPhone
My business partners and I frequently jump in between Google Talk and Microsoft Messenger to discuss projects during the day. When we are out of the office however we usually are forced to call one another if we need to ask a question about a project. In the past I have used a few mobile messenger applications that allowed me to connect to my partners at their computers using my MSN Messenger account or my Google account but I haven’t found one yet that does as good of a job as the Agile Messenger for the iPhone.
The Agile Messenger allows you to plug in your account information from MSN®, Yahoo!®, ICQ®, AIM®, GoogleTalk® and Jabber. It also does a good job importing your buddy lists from each of these services so you can easily see who’s online. The application also utilizes push technology so even if you are not in the application it will alert you if someone is trying to reach you for instant messaging.
With the Agile Messenger you can also do photo and video messaging. There is also a push to talk feature that allows you to use your phone as a walkie-talkie to send instant voice messages while on the road. It’s a little pricey but if you rely on messenger to connect to your co-workers, it’s pretty easy to justify. Here are some screenshots from the app that I have installed on my phone:
Click here to Learn More Agile Messenger in the App Store
AT&T Media Kit for iPhone 3GS
Until I got an iPhone I didn’t realize how big of a deal the whole MMS thing was going to be but now that I have one I know it’s going to be. Apparently the big day for the release of the MMS (multimedia messaging service) is going to fall on September 25th. I can only imagine the amount of bandwidth consumed that day…
We know many of our iPhone customers are eager for an update on our rollout schedule for Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS). We’ve been working for the past several months to prepare our systems and network to ensure the best possible experience with MMS when it launches – and that launch date is: September 25 for iPhone 3G and 3GS customers. MMS will be enabled through a software update on that day.
We know that iPhone users will embrace MMS. The unique capabilities and high usage of the iPhone’s multimedia capabilities required us to work on our network MMS architecture to carry the expected record volumes of MMS traffic and ensure an excellent experience from Day One. We appreciate your patience as we work toward that end.
We’re riding the leading edge of smartphone growth that’s resulted in an explosion of traffic over the AT&T network. Wireless use on our network has grown an average of 350 percent year-over-year for the past two years, and is projected to continue at a rapid pace in 2009 and beyond. The volume of smartphone data traffic the AT&T network is handling is unmatched in the wireless industry. We want you to know that we’re working relentlessly to innovate and invest in our network to anticipate this growth in usage and to stay ahead of the anticipated growth in data demand, new devices and applications for years to come.
We thank you for your business and look forward to keeping you updated on our initiatives.
ESPN’s Fantasy Draft Kit for the iPhone
Last night close to 20 of my buddies all came over and we had a live draft using one of those boards you can order online. Granted the process was a little more drawn out and less efficient than simply doing the draft online but we had a really good time doing it and I guess that’s all that matters.
Of course w/ everyone needing to research out their roster it seemed like we had 2 laptops setup for every one person in attendance. It looked like a genuine nerdfest. To make things even nerdier, we had constructed a podium from cardboard that our commissioner JT had decorated up just for this occassion. By the time the Dominoes pizza delivery guy got here the tension in the room could be cut w/ a knife…
We went on our way of setting up our teams and researching out available talent. I was extremely pleased to get my normal QB Peyton Manning early in round one, I usually build my team around him if possible. Instead of using my laptop to track the players, I downloaded the iPhone app from ESPN’s fantasy draft kit and used that instead. I was amazed at how easy it was to navigate between players and find just the right ones to make up my lineup. Here are some screenshots of the players I selected for my roster. I know it’s late in the game for drafts but if you still haven’t had yours yet, be sure to checkout this app for the iPhone.
So far this has to be my favorite iPhone application of the week…
My First Month w/ the iPhone
Okay, I have had my iPhone for a month now, I know I am a late adopter, but I was so hesitant to get an iPhone for a couple of reasons I have mentioned here before but left with little option I decided to give it a try. As I have mentioned in the past, I have always been pretty hung up on the Palm products (not the ones using Windows, but using the PalmOS) and always have had great luck w/ my Treo. AT&T informed me that it was going to likely be January or February before the Pre came out, which is the Treo’s predecessor and the biggest challenger to the iPhone in my opinion. It’s already available for Sprint but they have the deal locked in w/ Palm kind of like AT&T has with Apple.
Once I brought the phone home and realized that it would indeed synchronize my Outlook calendar and contacts I was very relieved. I had heard a lot of rumors that it wouldn’t talk to Outlook and that was a deal killer for me if that was true. Once I loaded iTunes and synchronized it asked me to point out Outlook for my calendar and contacts so I knew from that point on that things were going to be okay.
I went into the App store and quickly grabbed up some Apps that I knew I was going to be needing, for instance Basecamp. I will launch a post soon with a list of iPhone apps that I am using and how I like them, that will likely become a weekly feature here if I keep discovering new apps that can bring value or productivity. I am not much of a gamer so don’t expect a lot of cool game recommendations.
After having been with this iPhone for a month now I am ashamed that I didn’t make this jump sooner. Don’t get me wrong, the Palm Treo served my needs well for several years now (I have had 3 different models) but the versatility that the iPhone has for my business is incredible. Not only can I stay linked up to all of the important social locations on the web (Facebook, Twitter, FriendFeed, LinkedIn, etc.) but I can also connect to my Basecamp and utilize some handy PHP reference tools and cheatsheets as well.
I have to thank all of you that recommended the iPhone, it has definitely been a blessing just getting acquainted with it. More to follow on this topic I am sure…
