Orvet Digital | Blog

Meet me at Sharpenr

2007-11-20T09:28:00.000-05:00

My new blog Sharpenr is now live over at www.sharpenr.net

Sharpenr is a chance for me to start writing with a new, clearer focus. The scope is narrower - making web based businesses work - yet it is broader in terms of what I can contribute to it. It is directly linked to what I do every day, to my professional passion.

I hope you will find Sharpenr interesting and useful.

This will be the final post on this blog. The archives will however remain.

Thank you for reading the Orvet Digital blog - I hope you will follow me over to Sharpenr.

/Jaan

The new Sharpenr feed.

Goodbye. Hello.

2007-09-23T20:39:00.000-04:00

It is time to close down this blog after 4,5 years and 407 posts.

And, start a new one... stay tuned for more info, and a new URL and feed!

/Jaan

"Why Facebook, why now?"

2007-07-13T15:19:00.000-04:00

"Why Facebook, why now?"

That is the question Robert Scoble is attempting to answer. I agree with many of his reasons.

Here are my own top 5 reasons (of the day) for getting on to Facebook again:

1) The API. Nuf' said.
2) Facebook is becoming an engaging version of LinkedIn, but without the "what can you do for me/what can I do for you" aspect. Don't get me wrong - I lurv the LinkedIn, but it's not very social, is it?
3) More of my friends and colleagues are getting on Facebook.
4) I need a central hub for those who want to know what I'm up to, what I'm writing etc (thank you btw, it's greatly appreciated).
5) It's fun.

One draw back I've had to accept is that inviting people, accepting invites, getting all the feeds, photos etc on to Facebook is going to take much longer than I anticipated.

iZimbra

2007-07-13T14:38:00.000-04:00

I have been a big fan of Zimbra ("the leader in open source messaging and collaboration") since day one.

Now there's more to be happy about. Zimbra has released a mobile version specifically for the iPhone - the iZimbra.

"iZimbra will allow all of our users to get their address books, e-mail, and calendars wherever they are, without the need for the iSync or Outlook connectors. The client works over the air, either by WiFi or EDGE. Just point the iPhone to your Zimbra Server via Safari, and go.

Our client uses many of the iPhone's built in features, and acts just like any other application. For example, when browsing the address book, you can look at a contact's information. If you press on their address, the Google Maps application will display the address. If you click on the Phone number, the iPhone will dial the contact's number."

Video and photos.

The Nine Biggest Myths of the Workplace

2007-07-12T22:10:00.000-04:00

Some good myth debunking by Penelope Trunk: The Nine Biggest Myths of the Workplace

From Guy Kawasaki

Shifd.com

2007-06-26T17:31:00.000-04:00

I'm intrigued by Shifd. Not so much by the RFID chip in the cell phone (even though that's what makes this baby tick), but by the incredibly clean, structurally and contextually relevant UI. Beautiful. I hope it stays beyind the demo phase.

Michael Young and Nick Bilton won Hack Day London 2007 with Shifd. What's it do? It shifts your info "between your computer and mobile seamlessly (and back again)".

Foldera - Take your time

2007-06-25T17:21:00.000-04:00

Back from some time off and what do I find in my inbox... an email titled "Get Ready to Experience Foldera�s Public Preview".

Ah yes... In February 2006 I signed up to take Foldera for a spin. Today June 25 2007 I received my beta account. It only took 16 months. "Get ready"? Oh I'm ready alright! LOL

I did how ever get a look at Foldera in August 2006 thanks to Michael Sampson, Foldera's Global VP of Research, and I was reasonably impressed. I could see one or two of my clients being interested in what the Foldera people had to offer.

But no beta account meant I could not test it, and thus not recommend it. Eventually interest wore off, other options became available, etc.

So, now I have an invite, but no interest in what Foldera has to offer. Bummer.

My advice to anyone signing up testers would be to not keep potential beta testers hanging for SIXTEEN MONTHS. That's like 4 or 5 years in internet time! :)

I'll keep my invite though. Maybe I'll take a look down the line. Get ready!

My previous post on Foldera: Foldera

Small is essential

2007-05-24T21:33:00.000-04:00

TIME magazine on 37Sigs. "Small is essential" is a good philosophy. Small can also be part of "big" - a big company w small stand-alone units can do wonders.

One small error in the story - the author claims that using Ruby on Rails is the reason why the 37Sigs' apps have a consistent look. Apart from that, it's a good read (4 minutes of your time).

Binder clip cable organizer

2007-05-16T13:45:00.000-04:00

I came across this video over at WWD. Brilliant, problem solved.

Simple Binder Clip Cable Organizer!

Preview feature in NNW 3

2007-05-16T06:59:00.000-04:00

In October I wrote a short post on how to improve the feed reader. Looks like one of the features on my wish list, and that I had heard off being in the works for another reader, is making it in to the next version of NetNewsWire - the preview thumbnail of the blog/site your subscribing too.

BlogSigs

2007-05-04T20:05:00.000-04:00

I like the idea of what BlogSigs can do, and how it was created.

So what is it? Well, the app lives up to its name by adding your latest blog post to your outgoing email's signature. Simple, smart.

But here's the part I really like. BlogSigs is yet another clever app created by outsourcing the development (and even the site design) by the people who came up with the idea. In this case VCs David Feinleib and Tom Cole.

'Course this is common in bigger ventures, but also increasingly so in small dev projects. I like this trend. It gives hope to people like myself - Entrepreneurs with pathetic coding skills.

More on the app here
.

Twitterrific 2.1 beta

2007-05-02T18:49:00.000-04:00

The 2.1 beta of everyone's favvo Twitter app is now available. Look for it on the Twitterific Twitter page.

In the words of Queen Christina...

2007-04-26T22:25:00.000-04:00

�There is a star above us which unites souls of the first order, though worlds and ages separate them�

Queen Christina of Sweden(1626-1689)

Beautiful. Found here

Flash from the past

2007-04-24T12:21:00.001-04:00

The old Blogger logo. What's the difference?

Then: Straight bg corners
Now: Rounded bg corners

Man, it's all in the corners...

Casey likes No Fluff Just Stuff

2007-04-24T11:30:00.000-04:00

If all conferences were this good (Casey on NFJS), the world would be a better place.

We update Nearbie

2007-04-17T03:00:00.000-04:00

We have released our first major update to Nearbie since the official launch in March.

Browse History
Lets you browse earlier and later history through all the interconnected history on Nearbie.

New History Making Tools
Faster, easier, and more useful. You can even make history in as little as one single click

Commenting
Just like on a blog post, you can add your comments to any history item on Nearbie. Be smart, be clever, say something good!

We've also added Canadian places, and more international ones are in the pipeline.

Take the updated Nearbie for a spin!

Update: Mashable says "keep up the good work".

A guide to Twitter

2007-04-11T15:35:00.000-04:00

The 12-Minute Definitive Guide to Twitter

Via a tweet (or a twitt... depends on who you ask) by Stowe

"What is so special about SF?"

2007-04-09T16:15:00.000-04:00

That's a question I get ever so often. My first reaction, summarily suppressed, is to ask "Are you crazy?".

I think better of it and instead try to explain how much I love it when the sun rises and the Bay turns golden, or the crispness of the air when I walk along Crissy Fields in March. I might even talk about the calm I feel when sipping a coffee and watching the theater of life on Fillmore Street. Or how much both Tiff and I love driving back in to the city over the Bay Bridge when the sun is setting on a clear summer's evening.

But, it's hard to get the true San Francisco feeling across in just words. And I never get around to putting pix together to support my case for SF as the #1 place on the planet.

Unknowing to himself, my good friend Per has come to my rescue. Enjoy his "My Walk 2 Work" set and you'll see why San Francisco is the best place in the world to live, love, work and everything in between.

Philosophically speaking

2007-04-09T15:56:00.000-04:00

A few lines to help explain web 2.0 and its potential impact to web 1.0 people:

"The 2.0 web world is more than just embedded technology � it is a philosophy. Companies who embrace this thinking are more flexible, agile, and innovative in their strategy and approach, but moving in this direction means rethinking structure, management style, workflow, and culture."

Found here.

Twitterverse

2007-04-09T10:27:00.000-04:00

Twitterverse

"Twitterverse is a mashup and visualization project which mines and archives the public timeline of Twitter and provides a visualization of the most commonly used words in a given time period. "

Small apps save my day

2007-04-05T17:57:00.000-04:00

I just realized that both my two current favorite apps are very small, functional pieces of code:
WriteRoom - Hog Bay Software's WR is the ultimate creative writing app. (I run it w black text, on a white sheet with a grey bg in case you wondered)
Twitterrific - Makes Twitter work for me

Small is more. (eh...)

How to work better

2007-03-29T18:28:00.000-04:00

From Tate Modern in London. True words.

"...a new paradigm..."

2007-03-02T23:35:00.000-05:00

It's very exciting to see that Nearbie is getting some attention. Pete Cashmore's review over at Mashable - Social Networking News is really insightful, he really gets what we're trying to do.

"[...] it creates a new paradigm for thinking about social networks."

(Disclaimer: I'm one of the co-founder's of Nearbie.)

QC3 - micro review

2007-03-02T10:55:00.000-05:00

This is one of the best purchases I've made in a long time.

The Bose QC3 does a brilliant job of canceling out white noise (the main reason I bought them), and delivers good if not flawless sound from my iPod. (It's crisp, but sometimes the base tends to be a bit over powering.)

The headphones also come with a case that's actually useful. It's small enough to slip in to my already jam packed Timbuk2 bag, yet it holds the charger, an airline plug converter and some other goodies.

The foam insert (where the charger sits) can be pulled out, leaving enough space for the iPod and the aforementioned airplane plug. With 20 hour's of juice the converter can safely stay at home.

The flimsy cord can be unplugged from the headset, but when it's plugged in it sits at an angle away from the back of the left phone. A small but brilliant design decision as this helps keep the cord away from what ever your hands are doing.

The QC3 is the on ear version of the bigger QC2 over ear model. The lesser bulk of the former more than makes up for the slight difference in noise reduction.

Proudly announcing Nearbie

2007-03-01T01:06:00.000-05:00

It's a very big day when a project launches, when it moves out of the preview phase and actually enters the real world.

This is the case with Nearbie, a project I am very proud to be involved with. My fellow partners in this venture are Dean Heckler and Casey Helbling - two brilliant, talented people.

(Ok, so we didn't go live today, fact is it's been crazy busy so this post is a little late...)

So what's Nearbie? Quoting myself...

"With Nearbie ("NearBEE") you can explore how you connect to people, places and events around you. Invite the people you share history with in real life, and see how they connect to everything else around you through place and time. With Nearbie, when you record history about yourself, you literally become part of the history of your friends, the places you visit, and the events you attend.

Unlike blogging or photo sharing everything you contribute will benefit future visitors regardless of when you added it. Everyone can learn from Nearbie History.

History connects you to it all!"

The real world means real users with real feedback, real questions and luckily real praise. Oh boy, it's such an excilerating feeling to hear what our users think of the project we have worked so hard on.

If you�re already using Nearbie - Thank you! If you're not, take a look when you have a moment. I'd love it if you become part of Nearbie.

PS. We got listed on Emily Chang's eHub a few hours ago.

PS2. Here's the Nearbie blog.