by Michelle Lentz on June 26, 2008
by Michelle Lentz
I used to teach a college course on Web design to incoming freshman. Part of their class project was to create a paper prototype of their web site. The prototype included everything from page names to what pages linked to others. I still start any web design project in this manner. In fact, when I write food & wine articles for magazines, my first draft is usually on a legal pad and not in a word processing program. I don’t know why I always begin with paper, but it’s a habit I haven’t been able to break. Of course, some of the best ideas have been scrawled on cocktail napkins in bars. I remember a scene in AMC’s Mad Men where our male lead is scribbling ideas on a napkin next to a martini.
It turns out some of your favorite web sites also got their start on paper. Sean Flannagan at Deeplinking has compiled a small gallery of Web 2.0 paper prototypes, including Twitter and Flickr. It’s fascinating to look at the evolution from the initial idea to what we know today. Twitter was originally thought of as Stat.us for example.
twttr sketch
Originally uploaded by jack dorsey
I followed an intriguing trail of links today to explore paper prototyping. I started with a post at WebWare that led me to Sean’s post at Deeplinking. Sean’s post, after fascinating me with his paper prototype gallery, led me to a 2007 article by Shawn Medero at A List Apart. Shawn’s article on Paper Prototyping focuses on why it’s a good idea to use paper to initially design your UI. Not only does paper allow easy iterations, but by being non-technical, it invites the average user into the design process.
When I teach a class now on Web 2.0, I often refer to the Common Craft videos. They’re the ones that describe new technology in simple terms – using paper. Some things never go out of style.
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Events, news, apps, and more – let me know at michelle[at]writetech[dot]net, via Twitter, or via Pownce.
by Brian Solis on June 15, 2008
words and pictures by Brian Solis
While I was in Los Angeles for my keynote presentation discussing The Future of Social Media, Jackie Peters and I thought it was a good excuse to organize a Tweetup. L.A. is one of the hottest and genuine emerging tech hubs in the U.S. and personally, one of my favorite places to recharge my passion for the new Web and the social economy alongside it.
The original Los Angeles Techset hosted at the Hollywood Roosevelt was a much larger and more formal event, the recent Tweetup was a refreshing, informal gathering of those making a difference and contributing to an active, more valuable, and influential tech community.
Hosted poolside at the very scenic and lavish” The Standard Hotel” in Hollywood, we were treated to incredible conversations, networking, pictures, and beautiful views of Los Angeles’ West Side.
Over the course of the early evening, what started as a small gathering, quickly expanded to encompass the majority of the trendy outside lounge – with entrepreneurs and other cool folks in town for OnHollywood joining the party.
Eventually the crowd migrated into the Purple Lounge inside the hotel, where drinks and conversations continued well after I left. Hey, I had to finalize my presentation which started at 8 a.m. the next morning.
Thanks to everyone for making it out on Wednesday night. As always, it was an absolute privilege to spend time with you.
Stay tuned for the next official Techset, which will be announced shortly.
Brooks Bayne
Nicole Jordan
Tim Shigel of ShareThis
Melodi Cowan
Hooman Khalili of the 97.3 Morning Show
Tim Street of FrenchMaidTV
Damon Alexander Young
Mike Prasad of GirlGamer
Andy Sternberg
Michael Broukhim of TotSpot
Sean Percival of Mahalo
Alexandra Mokh
Jackie Peters
Yes, that’s a woman in a glass box – The Standard Lobby
More LA Tweetup pictures are on flickr.
For previous Techset events, please see below:
New York Internetweek
LA Techset at the Roosevelt, Hollywood
Love 2.0 SF
Silicon Valley SXSW Reunion
Connect with me on Twitter, Jaiku, LinkedIn, Pownce, Plaxo, FriendFeed, Tumblr, or Facebook.
by Michelle Lentz on June 13, 2008
by Michelle Lentz
The next StartupSF is June 18, 6-8 pm, in San Francisco. StartupSF helps startup tech companies “kick-start” their business and includes everyone from entrepreneurs to developers to the curious. It’s a chance to learn more about what’s out there and share ideas. Money raised from the event benefits charity – this month, the charity is Inveneo.
Brian Solis (bub.blicio.us and PR 2.0) will be speaking on Conversational PR for Startups. Since you’re already reading bub.blicio.us, I probably don’t have to tell you about Brian. But if you’re in the San Francisco area, this would be a great opportunity to hear him speak.
It’s also a great opportunity to learn about some area startups. Startups showcased at this meetup include the Mosio Project, Inveneo, and Nirvino.
You’ll leave the event hopefully having made new connections and learned new things, as well as with some tangibles:
$100 GoGrid Service Credit
Orrick’s Startup Kit CD
The first 30 people to register using code SUSFbub618 will get in free!
$10 in advance/ $20 at the door
Orrick, Herrington, & Sutcliffe / 405 Howard Street / 8th Floor Cafe
6 pm – networking and demo companies
7 pm – guest speaker (Brian)
8 pm – more networking and demo companies
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Events, news, apps, and more – let me know at michelle[at]writetech[dot]net, via Twitter, or via Pownce.
by Michelle Lentz on June 12, 2008
by Michelle Lentz
Back in May I posted on Firefox’s planned World Download Day, when they hope to set a new Guinness World Record for most downloads in a 24-hour period.
Well, it was announced today that Firefox 3 will be released for Windows/Mac/Linux on Tuesday, June 17. So get ready to download!
As a note, I’ve been using both the Mac and PC versions of v3 Release Candidate 2 and I’m incredibly impressed not only by the features, but by the speed. The new version of Firefox really takes off.
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Events, news, apps, and more – let me know at michelle[at]writetech[dot]net, via Twitter, or via Pownce.
by Michelle Lentz on June 9, 2008
by Michelle Lentz
Quite frankly, I used to hate live blogging. I would, for the fun of it, live blog the Oscars or another awards show. It was always a pain, having to constantly save and refresh, plugging in the time stamp and everything else. For readers, liveblogging is interesting but you must consistently refresh the page.
Today I wanted to try out CoveritLive, a free (yes, free) live blogging tool out of Toronto. I was planning on listening to the audio stream for the Stevenote, er, keynote at Apple’s WWDC anyway. So not only did I listen, I live blogged it.
Earlier in the day, I registered at CoveritLive.com and set up the announcement and post for the blogging. When 1 pm EST rolled around, I jumped right into the live blogging fray, putting CoveritLive through the paces. I believe that I was only one of many bloggers using CoveritLive for the keynote. I mention that because the response time was initially slow and a lot of my posts were “eaten” and not displayed. Others displayed about 3 or 4 times. About an hour into the keynote, things somehow managed to even out, and the application functioned wonderfully. I mention this because you aren’t always going to be liveblogging at the exact same time as so many other people and I think it might have put some strain on their system.
CoveritLive is initially an embedded tool on your web site. You blog “in the clouds,” using a special window on the CoveritLive web site. This window gives you access to your media library, reader stats, standby mode and other tools. Had anyone been paying attention to my little experiment, I could have interacted with my readers via comments and polls. I was happily able to edit my liveblogging event after I finished, taking care of some of the repeated posts and crazy spelling errors.
From the readers perspective, there is no need to constantly refresh. You see each new line item as it happens, in real time. You can also interact with the host, via chat like comments. After the event has ended, you can view the liveblog just by hitting the replay button.
Recently, CoveritLive has upgraded their feature set. You can now download your code after the blogging session and drop it directly into your site. This gives you the SEO benefit of the liveblogging. I’ll probably do that to my own liveblogging session in a few days. You can also customize the liveblogging window. The default template is for CoveritLive, of course, but you can follow their explicit instructions (exact sizes of images, etc) to create your own template in the right colors and with your own logo. You can add Panelists & Producers, which is an option for more than one contributor to the blogging event. You can even contribute or view from an iPhone Viewer.
If you think about it, such a simple way to liveblog an event should have an interesting effect on citizen (and professional) journalism. All you need is a computer and an internet connection and you’re done. You can liveblog from a concert, from a meeting, or anywhere else, live and in the moment.
CoveritLive is still searching for the right way to make some money off of its tool. Regardless, they intend to always have a free version. While they are searching for ways to improve the tool even more and to monetize their idea, jump right in there and have a go. Liveblogging can be fun again, and no longer a dreaded event.
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Events, news, apps, and more – let me know at michelle[at]writetech[dot]net, via Twitter, or via Pownce.
