credit attributed to http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaderossdale/

The following post is sponsored by Throwboy.com

A while back, Roberto Hoyos, the Founder of Throwboy and I worked out a little deal.  No this doesn’t involve anything illegal…get your minds out of the gutter!  Roberto agreed to send me an RSS Throwboy Pillow which I really liked and in exchange I would come up with a creative video promoting his company.  I really like what I came up with here and I feel it does a great job showing why Throwboy is the ultimate place for a tech geek.  If you don’t know what I mean, you’ll want to check out the site.

You might be wondering, is Frank simply writing a promotional post and not actually give us his opinion?  What are you new?  Of course I’m going to give you my opinion of the company.  Granted I am here to help promote Throwboy, however, the company really does make the highest quality tech related pillows.  He’s made pillows for high profile individuals in the industry such as iJustine, Gary Vaynerchuk, Chris Pirillo, and Leo Laporte to name a few.  They’ve featured Roberto’s pillows to the public as well, so you know you’re getting a high quality product.  I wouldn’t just do a sponsored post for just anyone either.  Remember, I contacted Roberto and asked him if he would be interested in working on this project with me.  Still to this day…the RSS pillow is my favorite.

I actually want to find out if Roberto may be interested in making a pillow for Social Tech Zone.  Would any of you be interested in that?  I’d really like to hear your feedback.  Anyway, I think the reason I like what they’re doing over at Throwboy is because what they’re doing hasn’t been done before.  Its original and a lot of time and effort goes into the product.  As many of you know, tech enthusiasts can be very critical of tech related products if it doesn’t meet their specifications.  In this case, Roberto gets a lot of praise on what he has created and I commend him for his work.  I’m very straight forward when it comes to reviewing a product and just because this was a sponsored post doesn’t mean I don’t stand behind the positive words I have given Throwboy.  If you don’t believe me, check them out and you won’t be disappointed in their product

Further reading:

Cali Lewis Interview – Tech, Social Media, & GeekBeat.TV

My Guest Appearance On The Great Tech Debate

Roberto Hoyos Interview – Social Networks And Technology Are Powerful For Sales

Interview With Steve Heywood – Will Google TV Be Successful?

credit attributed to http://www.flickr.com/photos/ninjanoodles/

It goes without saying that I’ve never really been a fan of Digg.  In fact, I’ve hated the platform for quite some time.  However, I felt the lack of innovation was due to the fact that Kevin Rose wasn’t involved to the degree he should have been.  After all, Digg was his creation.  A social network of stories that blossomed into a huge business became almost too much to handle.  Luckily, Kevin realized that a drastic change with Digg needed to be made in order to stay relevant in the social media scene.  He regained control of his company and in my opinion revolutionized the platform.  Does that mean Digg is relevant?  Well, that’s for the community to decide and honestly you can’t judge the change in a months time.  This needs to be given at the very least a year.  The following screencast contains my thoughts on the new Digg and the different features incorporated into the social network.

Now that you have heard my thoughts and ramblings…its your turn?  Do you agree with what I had to say or do you have a different angle?  One there’s certain, Digg 4 is a drastic improvement from its old self.  With the official release of Digg 4 right around the corner, I know I am very glad to be rid of the old layout and functionality of Digg.  It was way too dull and really lacked the social aspect of a “social network.”  What I am most interested in is seeing how the Digg community respond to the new features and whether or not this increases their already massive amounts of traffic.   All in all, my biggest question is – does Digg still only help to promote well known and established sites or will it help to promote the smaller sites as well?  I think that’s something that should be looked into so that everyone gets a fair shot.

Further reading:

Juump: Using Social Networking To Stay Active

MySpace: A Thing Of The Past?

How To End The Negativity From Social Media Users

Interview With Robert Scoble – Future Of FriendFeed & Other Networks

credit attributed to http://www.flickr.com/photos/laffy4k/

This is a guest post by Mike Vilimek.

Many use social networking to stay in touch with friends, share photos, videos, music, and make business contacts. How about to stay active?  A big challenge with playing sports is not being able to find partners to play with.  With tennis growing faster than any other traditional sport, Juump (http://www.juump.com) solves a key problem for a huge population: players cannot find compatible people to play with in their area. Juump is an online tennis community enabling users to find players and groups who play at their favorite courts, meet players with similar skill levels, interests and schedules, and play more tennis.

The site is free and allows users to create their own tennis profile including when and where they like to play and their skill level. The best part about Juump, and what sets it apart from other sites, is the entire site is location aware. Users can type in their postal code and easily find players with similar skill levels that like to play not just in their city, but at specific courts right in their neighborhood.

The site also allows its ever-growing user base to create and edit content for court locations, which now total over 20,000 in North America. Users can view and edit details such as the number of courts, surface types and even upload photos.  Juump is a great example of technology and social networking enabling people to live a more active and healthy lifestyle through sport.

Mike Vilimek is a former professional athlete who played in the Canadian Football League (CFL) for 7 seasons. He has worked in numerous technology companies, however the convergence of sports and technology have long been his passion. He currently is helping to support and spread the message about a new social network called Juump.

Further reading:

Interview With Robert Scoble – Future Of FriendFeed & Other Networks

MySpace: A Thing Of The Past

LeapFish.com – The All-In-One Useful Service

Louis Gray Interview – Early Adopters In Social Media

credit attributed to http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fichier:Logo_de_MySpace.jpg

This is a guest post by Joseph Gustav.

Go back to 2006. MySpace was crowned the most popular social networking website in the world, capturing nearly 80% of all social networking traffic online and celebrating the creation of its 100 millionth account in August. Then the site was bought by News Corp for $580 million, considered a bargain at the time. Everybody had a MySpace account and was using it actively, even obsessively.

Flash forward to today, and the site is an afterthought, a relic from the early days of social networking like Friendster, overcome by slicker, newer, cooler sites like Facebook and Twitter. However, a lot of people are still using MySpace – over 66 million worldwide in fact. MySpace may no longer be the golden child of the Internet that it was just four years ago, but it still can be useful to the right people. Here are some of those people and why it helps them in their endeavors.

Musicians

MySpace is still the destination for music fans to check out new music, and so it is still a must for any serious musician or group to create and maintain a slick MySpace page. Why MySpace over other sites?

• Musician profiles are different than regular profiles. Musicians can create more fluid, easy-to-read pages getting out the information they want such as upcoming tour dates than on other sites.
• Artists can sell MP3s directly off their MySpace page using SNOCAP’s MyStore widgets.
• MySpace is a free host – artists can essentially create their own mini-websites with no money or, often more importantly, knowledge of how to do so.
• Users can upload a ton of songs onto the page for streaming, entire discographies if so desired, and have the ability to add and remove songs at will.
• Artists have become famous off MySpace – something that can’t be said yet for Facebook or Twitter. Lily Allen, Sean Kingston, Tila Tequila, and others grew their fan bases off MySpace – shoot, Panic! At the Disco was signed based on the four songs they had on their MySpace page without even having a single live show under their belt! MySpace has worked in the past, and fans still go to artists’ pages to learn more about both newly-discovered and established acts. It’s necessary to have a MySpace page, and it just simply is not yet to have something on Facebook.

Bars and Clubs

Clubs and promoters still love using MySpace to get the word out about their events, even more so than other sites.

• Because MySpace is much more customizable than a Facebook page, venues can create pages that better utilize their promotional creativity and capture the vibe they want party-goers to experience.
• Clubs and promoters can get in touch with artists directly via MySpace, and there are a lot more musicians and performers on MySpace than on Facebook.
• A lot of people still view Facebook as more exclusive or stuffy because of its previous requirement that users be in college. Many avowed MySpace users view themselves as more freewheeling and fun-loving, the kind of people who are bar-flies and club-hoppers, and so nightlife venues can better connect with their constituents over MySpace.

Non-Profits and Political Organizations

Going in a bit of a different direction, a lot of non-profits and political organizations still use MySpace to gain support for their missions, seek donations, and also find people to help.

• Political groups need to reach out to as many people as possible to find support for their causes, and so cannot overlook any opportunity to do so. MySpace has way too many people still using it for it to be ignored.
• MySpace as a site makes sure to highlight worthy causes/organizations on its front page.
• As stated earlier, what social networking site someone uses does seem to have class connotations, and a lot of lower or working class users prefer MySpace to the purportedly pretentious Facebook or other sites. Social change and outreach organizations have been successful in offering help to those in need and getting them to take advantage of their services via MySpace.

Yes, MySpace is seeing a bit of a decline from its hey-day, with even the ubiquitous Tom, who used to be every user’s first friend, no longer actively using his account. However, Tom’s absence is more a matter of business politics than personal preference, and even with a diminished user-base, the site still has millions upon millions of users. If you need to get the word out about something, particularly as a musician, club owner or promoter, and non-profit or political organization, MySpace cannot go unused and ignored.

Joseph Gustav is a guest blogger for My Dog Ate My Blog and a writer on online schools and universities for Guide to Online Schools.

Further reading:

1. The New Boss of MySpace (13.5)
2. Social Networks: Who’s The Top Dog? (10.4)
3. The Difference Between Business And Online Social Networks (9.8)
4. Facebook Applications – Necessary Or Useless? (8.4)

According to Google,

“App Inventor is a new tool in Google Labs that makes it easy for anyone—programmers and non-programmers, professionals and students—to create mobile applications for Android-powered devices.  And today, we’re extending invitations to the general public.”

Right now you have to apply and wait weeks for an approval and I have been lucky enough to make that approval list.

My initial review…App inventor is pretty neat!  It’s amazing how when you change anything on the app it is changed immediately when you connect your Android phone.  The design customization could have offered a little more freedom to developers.  It doesn’t really allow to place items “exactly” where you want them, but it still gets the job done. Once you figure out the framework, in regards to the back-end of the apps, you can really crank out some useful applications.

One main limitation with it right now is you can only use one page (“screen”) which is a major downfall in my opinion. I don’t think App Inventor will be a portal for a bunch of junk to come out.  I see it as a way to create some useful applications for consumers and not just more “FULL-FEATURED” polished apps. That’s just my brief synopsis of it. They need to update this some more to provide more tools for many of the more experienced developers to use.  If this is done, App Inventor will become a gateway that a lot of App developer will use in the future.

Further reading:

Adobe Air Pre-Release For Android

Soluto Part 2 – Overall Review And Thoughts

Did You Hear That Jailbreaking Your iPhone Is Legal?

Are Android Tablets In The Works?

credit attributed to http://www.flickr.com/photos/kenneth_hynek/

For all of you who don’t know what I may be talking about; Jail-breaking is a process to “unlock” a mobile phone, giving it the ability to install and run 3rd party software. The most popular of these devices being the Apple iPhone. People use to worry about problems with this and if they were breaking the law. Well, now things have changed a little.

On Monday, the U.S Copyright Office ruled that jail-breaking a mobile device will no longer violate federal copyright laws.  So, now you are free to unlock your phones if you so choose and install 3rd party software, without worrying that you are breaking the law. This will make people happy who want to try and use the iPhone on a carrier like T-Mobile. However, you are still not completely “free.”  Jail-breaking your iPhone still violates the Apple iPhone Software License Agreement and can cause problems with your device.  Also, if you choose to unlock your iPhone, you will have to do so every time a new updates comes out for iOS.

My own option on this is; I like the ability to do what I want with my device and using 3rd party software.  Although, I also want my device to work.  I have seen many people go and jail-break their phone and then have something happen to it. I believe this ruling shows how things are changing and how users love to have their freedom with their mobile devices, but just be careful what you do with that freedom.

Further reading:

Apple iPhone  OS 4

Why Are People Afraid To Use Macs Over PC’s?

Is Apple Really At Fault?

Which Cell Phone Is The Best Tech Gadget?

• 800×480 color TFT touch panel screen
• CPU: 800 Mhz
• Ram: DDR2 256mb
• Internal Memory: 2GB
• Expansion Slots: SD/MMC card slot up to 16GB
• Wi-Fi Connectivity with Full Web Browsing Capability
• Supports Ebook Formats: Text, PDF, E-PUB, HTML
• Supports Media Formats: MP3, WMA, FLAC, AAC
• Supports most popular E-Book formats
• Picture Viewer in JPEG, BMP
• Video Player
• Rechargeable Lithium Battery
• Carrying case included
• Accessories Included
• Leather Carrying Case
• USB Cable (for data transfers only)
• UL Certified AC Adapter

My predictions in regards to the “tablet space” is that we will see some of the same trends that we see from the Android vs. iPhone battle. We will see many Android tablets and only 1 iPad.  However, I believe that Android will rise higher in market share because of the limitations Apple placed on the iPad to provide the experience as a consumption device.  Android will be open and other companies will make many tablets that give features like front facing camera, SD, HDMI, and fully customized systems to provide the ability to create content as well as consume it.

Further reading:

Adobe Air Pre-Release For Android

And The Winner Is…Soluto!!

Soluto Part 2 – Overall Review And Thoughts

Google Maps Navigation On Android

credit attributed to http://www.flickr.com/photos/mutednarayan/

This is a guest post by Mick Wanchek.

A while back I wrote an article about Soluto and how it was the winner at “TechCruch Disrupt” award for best new technology. In my article I talked about Soluto and gave a brief background and overview of it; will now I am here to talked about my experiences with it and give my own option on this new “anti-frustration software.”

Once I signed up for the beta, I received an email from them within a few days. The download and install of the software was easy and it took my HP laptop (Win 7 and 6GB of RAM) about 25 mins to install. After it was done, I restarted my laptop and Soluto did its thing. It followed and analyzed my start-up and after it was done; told me how long it took and broke down each of the programs that were running. The first time it ran my laptop took about 2:10 to start-up, after I used the software and changed some programs around my laptop only took 1:28 to start-up. After I used it for about a week, I tired it out on my old Dell laptop. The install took a little longer, but still worked. (I have Wins XP and 1GB of RAM on that machine).

One of the big things Soluto is doing is the “PC Genome”. This project is a way to see why our computers are running slow. It helps all of Soluto’s users by informing them what apps, programs, updates, etc, are causing their computers to run slow. The data collected from everyone using Soluto is stored in one big database. You can’t really see the database it self, but you can tell when you click the “My PC Just Frustrates Me” tab.

Soulto is currently in its beta stage. Anyone interested in trying out this new software for themselves should go to there the main page Soluto.com and sign-up for the beta and newsletter. After trying it out on two different laptops and a desktop, I would have to say Soluto definitely does a great job. I liked how it broke down the start up programs for each of the individual PC’s. If you have Soluto running in the background, it will gain more data and help your PC’s preform better then if you close it after start up.

Mick Wancheck, a Penn State Alum, has a blog on Tumblr – miicko9.tumblr.com – where he jots down his random thoughts.  He also has a Twitter account @Micko9 where he talks sports, technology, and whatever is on his mind.

Further reading:

Software Chat Live On Frugal Brothers

And The Winner Is…Soluto

My Guest Appearance On The Great Tech Debate

Talking Tech On The Tech Buzz Show

credit attributed to http://www.flickr.com/photos/briansolis/

This episode is brought to you by DIY Themes.

In this interview I talk with Louis Gray of LouisGray.com.  Louis is an early adopter and influencer in the online space.  I’m sure you have heard of those individuals who were making things happen before the Internet was called the Internet.  Well, Louis was one of them, but as you will learn in this audio podcast, it took him some time to build that reputation for himself.

Just because you have a website today, doesn’t mean readers are going to come swarming to your site.  This was true for Louis in the early stages, but that wasn’t the reason he was blogging.  He did it because he enjoyed what he was doing and that’s what many people today forget.  Through consistency and writing posts that engaged the reader, Louis saw a growth in the traffic to his website.  He enjoys the interaction with others the most and understands that to build anything, trust and relationships need to be made with that other individual.

Louis also has a great handle on social media and understands how to leverage it.  He doesn’t believe there’s a right or wrong way to use it because there’s an audience for everything. Although, major corporations are still not using social media to their full advantage as Louis notes, but its due to the fact that they are use to traditional forms of media.  He mentions that becoming an early adopter within the social media space is due to the fact of recognizing things before others do.  Its not something that’s easy to do because you really have to pay attention to what is going on around you.

Louis Gray provides a lot of great insight in this interview as to what it means to be an early adopter and his role in social media.  The audio podcast is definitely worth the listen because everyone can really learn something valuable here.  Louis has never labeled himself as a “social media expert” because like many, he doesn’t believe in that title, but he does do social media consulting for large brands to help them gain more recognition for their company.

Further reading:

Cali Lewis Interview – Tech, Social Media, & GeekBeat.TV

Interview With Robert Scoble – Future Of FriendFeed & Other Networks

Andrew Warner Interview On Using Social Networks To Get Interviews

Chris Pirillo Shares His Thoughts On Companies Using Social Networks

credit attributed to http://www.flickr.com/photos/markhillary/

To sum up my personal issues with Twitter and their API problem, I thought I would do this wrap up of sorts as the “video of the week.”  Ron Knights and myself have put together this collaboration video in our response to TweetDeck’s poor handling of the API problem and why we have both chose to move on from the application.

Moving on from TweetDeck was a little out of sorts for the both of us considering we were very loyal to the application.  I personally thought it was the Twitter app to beat.  However, with a CEO who doesn’t communicate with his users often and a staff that insists that all issues should be place on Twitter, is a cause for concern.  What really set me off was a response I received from an employee of TweetDeck.  They mentioned that there was an issue with the app because of Twitter’s API problems.  Fine, I understand that.  However, this API problem seems to be internal through TweetDeck because this has been an ongoing problem before the API issue became a serious problem.  For the longest time I would ignore, but when my feeds weren’t updating at all, I knew I needed to make a switch.

For TweetDeck to take the easy way out and not put any blame on themselves was bull crap in my book.  I’m now using Tweetie For Mac and its funny, I’m having no issues using this Twitter client at all, so what does the people over at TweetDeck have to say about that?  Which Twitter client are you currently using?  Does this API issue frustrate you as much as it does myself and Ron?  Have you had any issues with TweetDeck and are you considering something else?

Further reading:

Twitter Client Wars Leave The User Without Recourse

What’s Your Preferred Twitter App To Use?

What’s Your Favorite Twitter Client?

T.S. Elliott Interview – How Are People Using Twitter?