Meet Bluhalo's Twitterers

Ok, so Twitter's popularity continues to grow, with user numbers still growing at an impressive rate, and unlike much of the digital social landscape, not fuelled by the youth of the world.

A great source of information, news, research and a great way to network and keep in touch in your professional as well as personal life, Twitter certainly seems to have it all.

So would you like to meet a few of Bluhalo's Twitterers?

@Bluhalo

Had to have a mention really! Includes useful retweets and updates of the latest news, views and information from Bluhalo.

@spg4

Bluhalo's Founder and MD. Spencer tweets about everything digital, with great insight into the future of digital.

@vimal78

Bluhalo's Business Development Director. Vim tweets include a combination of the latest tech info, digital trends and the comings and goings of the agency.

@jocelynkirby

Bluhalo's Marketing Manager, Jocelyn's tweets cover the latest digital marketing news, views and research as well as the latest happenings from the Bluhalo team.

@kunji

One of Bluhalo's longest serving employees, Kunji tweets on the latest of the web. If you want to find out about the hottest new sites online, Kunji is the one to follow.

@pete_white

A member of Bluhalo's digital creative team, if something creative is worth seeing, Pete will be tweeting about it.

So there you have it, an intro to Bluhalo's dedicated twitterers. We are of course (almost) all on Twitter here at Bluhalo, but those mentioned above are the key contributors to Bluhalo's Twittering. Enjoy the show!

Site Spotting: Top 5 sites this month

Welcome to my second installment of site spotting. I hope you enjoyed the first, if you missed it you can view it here. I normally post my finds on twitter but this month I’m sharing my top 5 sites i found in April with you.

1. Namechk
   
   
   
   
   namechk
   check to see if your desired username or vanity url is still available at dozens of popular social networking and social bookmarking websites.
   http://www.namechk.com/
   


2. Doodlewall
   
   
   
   
   a virtual wall
   where everybody can draw.
   http://www.doodlewall.com/
   


3. Quick.tv
   
   
   
   
   make video interactive
   with advanced interactive tools, professional web video publishers can inject interactivity into videos with a quick click, drag, and drop.
   http://www.quick.tv/
   


4. Tipjoy
   
   
   
   
   simple social payments for great people
   makes it easy for people to earn money from and give money to people, causes and content.
   http://tipjoy.com/
   


5. Deep Zoom Pix
   
   
   
   
   explore photos like never before
   enables you to explore and share photos in a new and interactive way.
   http://www.deepzoompix.com/

I hope you enjoy my top 5, lookout for next months top 5. If you want to keep track of sites I find follow me on twitter @kunji.

Kunji

Site Spotting: Top 5 sites for March

I trawl the web everyday and sometimes if I’m lucky I spot a site that catches my eye, has something interesting that I can’t resist sharing. I normally post my finds on twitter but this month I’m going to share my top 5 sites i found in March with you.

1. TwInfluence
   
   
   
   twitter influence analyzer
   This analyzer measures twitterers and followers as well as social network analysis to find out who has the most influence on twitter.
   http://twinfluence.com/
   


2. Twerbosepost
   
   
   
   longer tweets on twitter when 140 characters just is not enough.
   Twitter has a limit of 140 characters that can be posted to it but if you want to say more you can use Twerbose.
   http://twerbose.com/
   
   
3. Veri
   
   
   
   personalised news for you
   Vote for news you like and news you don’t and veri’s personalization technology learns to deliver the topics and news you prefer.
   http://www.veri.com/
   


4. Hollr
   
   
   
   shout about favorite new products
   Hollr allows users to show off products that they think are great and will be a success, like a product? Hollr about it.
   http://www.hollrr.com/
   


5. Onlive
   
   
   
   the future of gaming
   Games on demand via your TV, PC or Mac through you broadband connection. Currently in private beta testing in the US, can’t wait to see it in action!
   http://www.onlive.com/

I hope you enjoy my top 5, lookout for next months top 5. If you want to keep track of sites I find follow me on twitter @kunji.

Kunji

Surf's Up: The olympics are over so where can you get your sports fix now?

Like many people I watched parts of the Olympics, but not all. I mainly heard news of medal wins via news sites and the BBC had great coverage of the opening ceremony. For the sports fan, no matter what sport you enjoy, I am sure the Olympics were a great sports fix, but now it's all over what do they do?

Well if you love sport you probably already know that there are some great sites out there for fans. They cover a variety of sports. Some are news sites while others try and get you into shape.

Well I’ve searched and here are some interesting websites I’ve come across and some I have used. Enjoy your sports fix:



http://www.sportingo.com/
"Sportingo, the home for fan-generated articles, opinions and news from the world of sport. Whether you are after the latest online banter from the Premiership or you are looking for in-depth analysis of the latest test match, you have come to the right place."



http://www.ballhype.com/
"Too many sports blogs, too little time ...BallHype makes it easy for all of the sports fans out there who want to keep up but don't have all day to goof off online."



http://www.sportsnipe.com/
"Sports Snipe now finding your favorite sports news from 3976 sources and climbing. Enjoy."



http://www.sportsfanlive.com/
"Sports Fan Live is a social network for sports fan centered around what a fan wants to see."



http://www.youcastr.com/
"YouCastr is creating an interactive sports network where fans interact with each other before, during and after a game, making the experience of following their favorite sports more fun and social."



http://www.teamsnap.com/
"TeamSnap is a unique way to manage your sports team. TeamSnap takes the headache out of team sports by making it simple to manage your sports team online."



http://www.runnerplus.com/
"RunnerPlus® provides a thriving forums area, groups, challenges, run mapping, member tips & advice, videos, and more. If you use running systems such as the Nike+ iPod Sport Kit or Garmin Forerunner*, then you will benefit even more."



http://istats.com.au/
"iStats - FREE online fitness, exercise and weights journal, helps keep you motivated by viewing your progress & sharing with others."



http://www.traineo.com/
"traineo is a free and simple website that gives you the motivation and support to reach your weight loss and fitness goals."

I hope you've enjoyed looking through these great sites. Look out for future Surf's Up features where I'll be looking at other areas of the internet and what it has to offer. If you want to keep track of sites I find follow me on twitter @kunji.

Kunji

Feedmyinbox.com - site of the month

It's that time again already for our latest 'site of the month'! This month we've singled out FeedMyInbox...

"FeedMyInbox is a very simple service that attempts to bridge the gap between feeds (RSS, XML, Atom) and email." FeedMyInbox.com allows user to enter an address (URL) and to then finds the feed(s) available. Updates of the feed will then be sent to the user via an email. If you would like to know more about feeds then check out wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_feed

But why would you need a service like this?

FeedMyInbox tells us that "only 3% of computer users are familiar with how feeds work, and are using feed readers to get up-to-date information from their favorite sites. We don't think the other 97% should be left out in the cold, so now you can subscribe to a feed with your email address."

This is a great way to get users to subscribe to your blog, news site or twitter feed, helping the user get the latest news from you directly to their inbox. This will not only increase the number of users receiving your outgoing messages; it will also enhance your reputation as a forward thinking, flexibile business that really thinks about how its users / target markets need to be treated.

Are there any bad points?

The service itself is a great way for users to subscribe to feeds on websites but there are some issues:

- It would be nice to have a way you could manage your feeds. Currently they have a simple unsubscribe on each email but it would be nice to have a way of merging feeds together into one email and labelling the email with a unique subject. For example, I may find several feeds regarding technology and would like to group them together in one email called "Technology Feeds".

- It does not say how often you will get an email from a particular feed. Is it every time a new article is added? Or once a week? Again, it would be great to have control over the frequency of emails received.

- It's a shame they don't have a simple way of adding the feature to allow users to subscribe directly from a website much like the 'Share' or 'Add This' links you can find on many sites.

All in all I think this is a great service and I am sure features will grow over time, we'll just have to watch and see how the service evolves.

If you want to keep track of sites I find follow me on twitter @kunji.

Kunji

Surf's Up: Shopping and networking? Social shopping here I come!

'Social shopping' - what is it? Well it tries to combine two of our favourite online activities: shopping and social networking. Social shopping sites are gathering consumers in one place to swap shopping ideas, prices, deals and product information. Some sites also allow you to create custom shopping lists that you can share with friends.

I'm a fan of shopping and networking, and sites that combine both of these elements have great potential. I really like the variety of products and ideas you can find by looking at what other people have found, not to mention the value that large volumes of customer reviews can provide when researching a specific item.

Well I’ve searched and here are some interesting websites I’ve come across and some I have used, enjoy a bit of retail therapy:



http://www.kaboodle.com/
"Shopping is more fun with friends. Share recommendations and discover new things from our community."



http://www.thisnext.com/
"ThisNext is a social shopping network where members discover products based on recommendations."



http://www.wists.com/
"Using Wists is not like going to Walmart or searching a price comparison shopping site - we try to encourage the discovery and promotion of products from small retailers and manufacturers and young designers."



http://www.wishpot.com/
"Wishpot makes it easy for you to shop anywhere, keep all your finds in one place, connect with friends, and discover the hottest deals."



http://www.stylehive.com/
"Stylehive.com is an online style club for people who live for fashion, design and shopping. It's where you meet your style muses and follow them as they discover and share their latest finds."



http://www.nomorenotebooks.com/
"No More Notebooks is a social shopping experience that allows members all over the world to create an unlimited number of lists containing an unlimited number of items from any webpage."



http://www.boxedup.com/
"It's all about people listing the things that they want, and using their lists as wish lists, gift lists and shopping lists."



http://www.blippr.com/
"It's all about the blips. Blips are 160 character reviews with smiley icons that represent your rating. Simple really."



http://www.viewscore.com/
"ViewScore provides online shoppers with a comprehensive shopping decision-making tool. ViewScore's product search-engine provides shoppers with aggregated product reviews and simple and easy-to-follow product recommendations, aiming at helping potential shoppers answer the essential question of "what to buy".


I hope you've enjoyed looking through these great sites. Look out for future Surf's Up features where I'll be looking at other areas of the internet and what it has to offer. If you want to keep track of sites I find follow me on twitter @kunji.

Kunji

Surf's Up: Finding the greener web

We are all aware of the impact we have on our planet. We all live here and we have a duty to protect where we live. I recycle, as most people do now in the UK. We even have ways to recycle at our office - paper, cans, bottles - you know how it goes.

However, my question has always been - how can I help more?

I thought that the natural thing for me to do was to use the web and find websites that might just hold the answer.

Well I’ve searched and here are some interesting websites I’ve come across, who knows they might make you greener too:



http://www.change.org/
"Change.org aims to transform social activism by serving as the central platform that connects likeminded people, whatever their interests, and enables them to exchange information, share ideas, and collectively act to address the issues they care about."



http://www.ecocho.co.uk/
"Ecocho is a new search engine trying to make a difference for climate change.
For every 1000 searches users make on Ecocho we'll counter balance or "offset" a ton of greenhouse gases. We do this by sponsoring two trees via advertising on the site."



http://www.ecovian.com/
"Ecovian is a community website for finding eco-friendly local businesses and sharing other information to help you live a green lifestyle."



http://www.greenopolis.com/
"As an environmentally-focused social networking site, Greenopolis was created to engage users on green issues so that they might learn, explore and participate in an open dialogue about the present and future of our environment."



http://www.hugg.com/
"It's digg for green. User generated green news"



http://www.planetfesto.com/
"A single, audacious goal - to create a ribbon on the internet large enough to stretch around the planet."



http://www.planetgreen.com/
"Sustainable living, energy conservation, earth day. Information resource on green products and how to be greener."



http://www.treehugger.com/
"Get informed. Interact. Take Action. TreeHugger is the leading media outlet dedicated to driving sustainability mainstream. Partial to a modern aesthetic, we strive to be a one-stop shop for green news, solutions, and product information."



http://browser.flock.com/eco/
"Get the Eco-Minded Browser! It's 100% free. Better yet, the Flock Eco-Edition browser comes pre-loaded with fresh content from the best sources from across the web."


I hope you've enjoyed looking through these great sites. Look out for future Surf's Up features where I'll be looking at other areas of the internet and what it has to offer. If you want to keep track of sites I find follow me on twitter @kunji.

Kunji

Surf's Up: I might just be watching you!

It's interesting to see trends emerging and one I've started to notice lately is sites using GPS.

The first sites that used GPS were for geocaching - "an outdoor treasure-hunting game in which the participants use a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver or other navigational techniques to hide and seek containers (called "geocaches" or "caches") anywhere in the world". These sites have been around since May 2000. These sites require the user to have a GPS device.

Now with more smartphones and PDA's with GPS available to the user I've been finding new sites that let people know your location, a location of a picture you've taken and even the location of things around you in real time.

Here are some interesting sites I’ve come across and some I have used and rememeber - I might just be watching you!:


http://www.brightkite.com/
"Location-based social networking - Discover who visits your favorite places. Join the community in real time."
About:N/A currently in private beta
Account Type:N/A currently in private beta



http://www.ipoki.com/
"Ipoki lets you get the most of your GPS by connecting you with others to share geolocation information. Anyone can join Ipoki and everyone can share their location with their friends."
About:Ipoki has a mobile client available for certain phones - please check the site for a full list of supported haddsets.
Account Type:Free



http://www.bliin.com/
"bliin YourLIVE! is dedicated to creating a fluid social network for sharing personal experiences - photos, videos, sound & text - in real-time, located on a world map."
About:Blinn has a mobile client available for certain phones - please check the site for a full list of supported haddsets. It also has software for PC and Mac users.
Account Type:Free



http://www.livecontacts.com/
"livecontacts let's you know where your friends are. Stay in touch via your PDA or smartphone with GPS positioning"
About:Livecontacts has a mobile client available for certain phones - please check the site for a full list of supported haddsets.
Account Type:Free



http://fireeagle.yahoo.net/
"We're here to make the whole web respond to your location and help you to discover more about the world around you."
About:N/A currently in private beta
Account Type:N/A currently in private beta



http://www.gypsii.com/
"GyPSii allows users to share their real life experiences in the virtual world using mobile devices and the web."
About:GyPSii has a mobile client available for certain phones - please check the site for a full list of supported haddsets.
Account Type: Free



http://www.panoramio.com/
"Photos of the world. Locate your photos where they were taken"
About: Panoramio allows users to upload photo and map them to a location. Some new camera's have built-in GPS receivers which store the location of the picture automatically using EXIF - so users can just upload the photo and the site does the rest.
Account Type: Free


Please note: although sites are free to use if you use the mobile client you will be charged for data by your phone provider.

I hope you've enjoyed looking through these great sites. Look out for future Surf's Up features where I'll be looking at the internet and what it has to offer. If you want to keep track of sites I find follow me on twitter @kunji.

Kunji

Surf's Up: From desktop to browser

I’ve noticed a change creeping in more and more, a change I said would come about quite a while ago and a change that’s been in the minds of many for quite some time now.

The idea of going from a desktop application to an online application has grown and applications are popping up around the web (literally going from desktop to browser).

But why use an online application rather than a desktop application?

• Access from anywhere
  Websites can be accessed from anywhere as long as you have an internet connection so why not an online application? The ability to view files and edit them directly online without the worry of installing an application on the desktop saves time and hassle.



• Sharing and collaborating
  This is one of the many features that is so exciting about online applications. Currently versions of documents are sent around via email for one person to read and amend, whereas online (in some applications) you can get everyone to join in from different locations to share and collaborate in real time.



• Publish and use your work
  The online versions of your work can be saved as files that are available to download and use. Some online applications allow you to easily embed your document into other online resources such as wikis, blogs and websites.



• Platform independent
  Most of the online applications are platform independent, meaning that PC and Mac users can work together. Development within the browser means that the application is platform independent and will work as long as a browser is available.



• Simple to use
  We can all use Word (Microsoft Office) and online applications are just as simple too. No expertise really needed, if you can use any desktop application then the online application is no different.



• Value for money
  Most of the online applications are available free as long as you setup an account. Upgrades are available for more advanced features in most so you can try before you buy.

Here are some interesting applications I’ve come across and used, all have their merits and all are online:


http://www.mindmeister.com/
“Brings the concept of mind mapping to the web, using its facilities for real-time collaboration to allow truly global brainstorming sessions.”
About: Mindmeister focuses on the concept of collaboration allowing users to real-time brainstorm at different locations. It also integrates with Skype calls allowing discussions and mapping at the same time. It has offline functionality as well.
Built Using: Ajax, Javascript, DHTML
Account Type: Basic (free limited account), Premium ($4+ monthly paid account)



http://www.mindomo.com/
“Create, edit mind maps, and share them with your colleagues or your friends.”
About: Mindomo has an office inspired look that makes it easy to pickup and start using. It also offers loads of customisation allowing users to change colours, fonts, icons, etc.
Built Using: Flash
Account Type: Basic (free limited account), Premium ($6+ monthly paid account)



http://www.mind42.com/
“Keep track of all your ideas, whether alone, with colleagues and friends or working together with the whole world.”
About: Mind42 focus is based around the ability to collaborate. It also has a variety of useful features which includes the ability to zoom.
Built Using: Ajax, Javascript, HTML
Account Type: Free



http://www.bubbl.us/
“A simple and free web application that lets you brainstorm online.”
About: Bubbl.us is simply brainstorming online. It also has great keyboard shortcuts making it easy to use without the use of your mouse.
Built Using: Flash
Account Type: Free



http://www.writemaps.com/
“Free web-based tool that allows you to create, edit, and share sitemaps online”
About: WriteMaps is a tool that is primarily used for creating sitemaps. It also has great keyboard shortcuts making it easy to use without the use of your mouse.
Built Using: Ajax, Javascript, HTML
Account Type: Free



http://www.gliffy.com/
“Flow charts, diagrams and floor plans are easy with Gliffy”
About: Gliffy has been noted as possibly being the ‘Visio killer’. It has a variety of diagrams you can create from flow charts to floor plans.
Built Using: Flash
Account Type: Basic (free limited account), Premium ($30+ yearly paid account)



http://www.flowchart.com/
“Flowchart.com offers you a way to create your flowchart online.”
About: Flowchart.com is currently in private beta. The demo shows a nice looking interface but we’ll have to wait and see.
Built Using: N/A currently in private beta
Account Type: N/A currently in private beta



http://www.thinkfree.com/
“Free online alternative to Microsoft Office”
About: Think Free is an online alternative to Microsoft Office. It has some nice features and looks rather nice too.
Built Using: Java, Ajax, HTML
Account Type: Basic (free limited account), Premium (free during beta)



http://docs.google.com/
“Create and share your work online”
About: Google Docs is obviously created by Google (who else). It has features similar to some Microsoft Office applications.
Built Using: Javascript, Ajax, HTML
Account Type: Free



http://www.zoho.com/
“Office productivity suite”
About: Zoho has a vast variety of tools. Zoho has a nice interface making it easy to use and a variety of features available online. It has offline functionality as well.
Built Using: Javascript, Ajax, HTML
Account Type: Free, Paid (contact zoho for pricing)



http://www.picnik.com/
“Make your photos fabulous with easy to use yet powerful editing tools.”
About: Picnik is a great for image manipulation. It has a variety of options to help you edit your pictures.
Built Using: Flash
Account Type: Basic (free limited account), Premium ($24.95+ yearly paid account)



http://www.onlinephototool.com/
“You can edit and save your images, screenshots and photos online.”
About: Online photo tool does exactly what it says. It has a variety of options to help you edit your pictures.
Built Using: Java
Account Type: Free


I hope you've enjoyed looking through these great sites. Look out for future Surf's Up features where I'll be looking at the internet and what it has to offer. If you want to keep track of sites I find follow me on twitter @kunji.

Kunji