From Tin Foil Phonographs to iPods…
Earlier, Greg told me he had some sort of old-fashioned phonograph contraption, which got me thinking about how we listen to and have listened to music. I’ve grown so accustomed to my iPod and iPhone playing music at my command, on-the-go, in high quality and with great choice, that it’s now hard to imagine a world where that wasn’t possible.
I remember having a CD walkman and a CD player, which at the time seemed so cool because you could choose songs without waiting, even if the machines skipped sometimes. And before that, I think I recall a cassette walkman, on which I would play mixtapes I had recorded off the radio, pausing, rewinding and fast-forwarding the songs I loved when I was 10. Before that, I have vague memories of an old radio my dad kept in his workshop in the basement, where he would play classic rock while he built adirondack chairs and American Girl doll furniture. I had seen a few record albums in the basement, tucked away here and there–Billy Joel, maybe Earth, Wind and Fire–but I don’t know that I’d ever heard music play from a record player. (Greg showed me one once while we were walking around in NYC, but it was in the window of a store that was closed–so, no music.) Long before I was born, jukeboxes were installed at the Wonderbar Restaurant, owned by my godmother’s family in Worcester, Mass. When I worked there all through high school, the music was always playing–Sinatra crooning away as hungry families ate Italian.
I never really thought about music players dating before that. But this timeline from Steven E. Schoenherr (that unfortunately only takes us through 2005) gives a detailed history of how people jammed out to their tunes all the way back to the first recording of a human voice on a tin foil phonograph in 1877. Now we can share music online, start our own Internet radio stations, discuss the meaning of lyrics with people all over the world with the click of a button–hard to believe it all started with a clunky phonograph in the 19th century.
What’s interesting too, is that I associate certain songs and artists with certain music players. When you think about it, technology can drive our music memories. Do you have songs or albums that you think of in the context of the technology you use or used to listen to them? And how far back do you remember? Growing up, did you ever imagine that we’d carry music around in our pockets, listen to it from our mobile phones, never hear a skip or have to fast forward to the song we really wanted? I didn’t. Thomas Edison probably didn’t. Did you?
Vator.tv is Startup Heaven
I recently stumbled across Vator.tv, which is essentially a social network for startups. The tag line here is “What’s your pitch?” The twists are that Vator really does focus on the network aspect, it’s a place to legitimately announce and share news, and you’re encouraged to upload homestyle video. There are layers of participation, and it’s hopping with great ideas and talent.
A lot of up-and-comers are on here like Zivity, EveryZing, Vivaty, Xoopit and thousands of others. You can browse startups by categories ranging from Green Technologies to Lifestyle & Travel, Internet Video to SaaS. It’s interesting to see what’s going on out there in terms of entrepreneurial endeavors and to then see CEO videos with a boiled-down attitude, sharing enthusiasm, news and wisdom.
I recently spoke with Vator.tv CEO Bambi Francisco, who took me around the different parts of the site and got me excited about how this could be a really innovative tool for startups. From my talk with 
Bambi, I saw that Vator is super passionate about connecting entrepreneurs, VCs, publicists, etc. with the right people to get businesses exposure in front of audiences who are seeking what they’re saying, sharing, and selling.
If you’re working at a startup, I recommend that you check this site out. Fill out a profile, convince your CEO that uploading some sincere, off-the-cuff videos about your brand and vision are worthwhile, and invite people to your network. Chances are you’ll connect with other folks (who says ‘folks’?) who may become influential in your success. You may even learn lessons from others who are in the same boat, navigating your same choppy seas. At SHIFT I work with several emerging businesses, and I feel that sharing the energy you find at a startup (like what happens at Web Inno and similar events) in one place is so cool.
Is your startup on this site? Invite me to your network!
TotSpot and InternshipRatings.com at Web Inno 18
I was gabbing a lot at Web Inno last night, so I didn’t have too much time to take video. Luckily, I did manage to capture Michael from TotSpot and the Lauren/Stephanie dynamic duo of InternshipRatings.com with the Flip.
TotSpot is a scrapbook-like social site that allows parents to safely share all things “my cute kids” with friends and family. I obviously only got a really brief overview, but the site seems cute and certainly of interest to new and eternally excited parents. Thinking back to some of the choice photos from my early teen years, I’m thinking my parents would totally use this site to blackmail me… But oh, how I would get them back. Check the footage:
InternshipRatings.com wasn’t presenting at the event, but I’ve really enjoyed seeing Lauren Grunstein and Stephanie Gurtman, two Boston University students, take an idea and run with it over the past year. I met these two at last year’s PodCamp Boston 2 and since then they’ve launched their site and are seeing a fantastic level of participation from students across the country. The premise is that students go on this site and rate/tell all about their internship experiences at various companies across various industries. The site also serves as an advice hub for students curious about internships and career paths. Take a look:
This post can also be found on SHIFT’s blog http://snackablepr.com. (And yes, it’s important to know what people’s favorite snacks are.)
How I Felt About Web Inno 18
This is so video diary-esque, but I wanted to say loud and proud that I had a fantastic time at Web Inno 18 and definitely plan to attend more of these events. As I say in the video (which is long-winded and in which I think I say “psyched” about 17.4 times), I just love the energy around emerging businesses and startups in this space and I had a blast seeing it all in action tonight. Special thanks to my rockin’ client 211(me) for letting me loiter at their table and help explain their personalized mobile mashup service to interested passersby.
Web Innovators Group, you are teh cool.
[UPDATE: Allen Stern has alerted me that beyond saying “psyched” too much, I also say “you know” roughly 10,934 times in this video. Thanks for the heads up, Allen. This is why I don’t make many videos…]
Ridiculosity: The Philips Smart Handbag
My bud Brian Polensky pointed this techie handbag out to me, and I obviously had to share it here. If this thing ever becomes reality, someday I may be plugging my handbag into my laptop… Sexy.
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Lez Get It Poppin’ at POPSignal
I’ll be at the POPSignal Party tonight at Tequila Rain in Boston with a few hundred tech rock stars. Let it be noted that I may or may not have a Flip and I may or may not get you on video. Looks like there’ll be a huge turn out, so here’s to a great night. See you there, Boston!
If You Can Make It There… PodCamp NYC 2.0
Sup friends? I’ll be at PodCamp NYC 2.0 on Saturday at Polytechnic University in Brooklyn. I will probably want to capture you in some way. No, not in a trap, silly! But I’m gonna get you in a photo, video or Utter while we’re having fun at camp. Deal?
I’m looking forward to seeing a bunch of good friends and to turning some pre-lationships into REALationships this weekend. If you see me around, please say hello. See you there!
Social Aggregators: FriendFeed vs. Socialthing!
When I explain FriendFeed and Socialthing! to my non-social media friends, they think the general idea is pretty cool. A place where you can aggregate the updates from your favorite social communities? Very nice. Borat style.
I recently got a Socialthing! invite from modern journalist and friend Brad King and signed up for FriendFeed at the same time. I’ve been using these two services side by side to see what I think and get a flavor for what the buzz is about. Although the case can be made that each service is bringing users a unique solution, so far I’ve been using them the same way.
Initial feelings: I like the Socialthing! UI much better than the look and feel of FriendFeed. The Lifestream thing is working for me. However, I have a lot more social networks aggregating in FriendFeed, making it much fuller as a one-stop shop for checking in on what my friends are up to. I don’t think I’d choose one over the other at this point. The thing is, I’m not sure that I even like mixing up all my networks in one place, even though social aggregators are so hot right now.
There’s something familiar and comfortable about going to each distinct site to find that separate content. I know what to expect from each different network and they’ve all become like favorite hangout spots for me. These social communities are not just about contributing and absorbing the content my friends are creating, but about the experience of going to a comfy, cozy place I’ve come to enjoy.
Do you find tools like FriendFeed and Socialthing! to be useful for you? How do you use these services?
PicLens is Enhancing My Photo Viewing Experience
Social media evangelist and friend Bryan Person (formerly known as Bryper) recently turned me on to the Web browser add-on PicLens. I’m generally a fan of toolbars, buttons and widgets that make things flashier and/or easier to use, so I checked it out. As someone who takes a lot of pictures and finds herself turning up in a lot of pictures on the Web, I was curious to see what this app could do. And I agree with earlier reviews–it’s pretty special.
PicLens puts a little “play” button on images you find within certain Web sites, like Google Images, Facebook, Flickr, MySpace, etc. When you click the little button, it transports your browser to this alternate universe where photos are much more amazing than they are with the average, everyday browser. Note: if a photo is small (think thumbnail size), the button will take up most of the picture. If you don’t want to PicLens it, make sure you click on the corner or edge of the photo so it doesn’t enable the PicLens app.
So, say you clicked on a friend’s profile photo within Facebook. PicLens now takes you to what they call a “3D Wall” of photos related to the one you clicked–in this case, your friend’s other photos in the album. From there, you can zip around, look at things up close, play a slideshow, search for keywords and generally have a very rich photo viewing experience.
Now excuse me while I go PicLens it up with the 1,336 photos currently filling the BS08 Flickr group.
Boston Tweetups + Security Conferences = Fun
Last night I had the pleasure of attending another Tweetup here in Beantown. Ah, I love me a good Tweetup. The night, which started at Fajitas & Ritas and led us to FELT and Good Life’s Vodka Bar, was full of great conversation, new friends and footage captured on Alexa Scordato’s MacBook Pro (coming soon).
There’s something about the people who use Twitter that inspires a fun, electric energy at meetup events. It seems there’s never a dull moment, and I always end up learning new things. At this particular Tweetup, I met Jennifer Leggio (@mediaphyter), Raffael Marty (@zrlram), Dmitri Gunn (@dmitrigunn), Adam and Sophy O’Donnell, Kee Hinckley and a bunch of other movers and shakers in the security industry who were in town for the SOURCE Boston conference.
Topics of conversation ranged from security compliance standards (how cool is it that I got to bring up SOX and PCI outside of work?!), to what, if anything, can or should be done to correct malicious online behavior among teens and college students, to glitter MySpace layouts, to Danny, the door guy at Good Life, being a seriously cool dude.
Thank you to Bryan Person and Joe C for being cool cats and making the night awesome.
