Eric Martindale

My list of entrepreneurial shortcomings includes Mirascape, which aspired to be a ubiquitous augmented reality (AR) operating system for the real world. The problems we were solving (and our packaged solution) would have been the backbone for all of the [imagined] technology you see in this Samsung promo video for a new tech they're excited about, transparent and flexible OLED displays. [1]

If you're not familiar with augmented reality; it is the visual overlay of otherwise hidden information on the real world, as you observe it.

While you can ogle over ostentatious technologies like the embedded-display contact lenses the University of Washington is so proud of [2], it's exciting to see companies like TDK [3] and Laster Technologies [4] bring these kinds of stepping stone technology to bear. We can all download and install the awkward and barely applicable consumer-level AR applications on our smartphones ([5], [6], and [7]), but they will all remain novelty applications until we see major innovation in the display space.

One of the more practical examples I've seen of augmented reality in the real world is WordLens [8] (sadly only available for iOS), which provides instantaneous video translation through your device. It's not hard to imagine a pair of Oakley glasses with this display technology built-in, providing you with always-on translation while in an unfamiliar foreign location. Or perhaps even displaying your friend's tweet as a speech bubble above their head for a few seconds -- imagine if it were built right, how amazing it could be.

I genuinely hope to see more of this transparent display technology built in to more consumer-level products, and eyewear in particular. We need a lot more developers playing with the practical applications of augmented reality, and not just displaying compass-aligned markers over a geotagged Wikipedia article or Flickr photo. The high-power hardware necessary to do real-time computer vision processing is coming, and the applied software world needs to be ready for it.

[1]: Amazing Screen Technology : Samsung Flexible AMOLED
[2]: http://spectrum.ieee.org/biomedical/bionics/augmented-reality-in-a-contact-lens/
[3]: http://www.oled-info.com/tdk-starts-mass-production-transparent-24-qvga-pmoleds
[4]: http://www.laster.fr/produits/promobiledisplay/
[5]: http://www.layar.com/
[6]: http://www.wikitude.com/
[7]: http://www.junaio.com/
[8]: http://questvisual.com/

My list of entrepreneurial shortcomings includes Mirascape, which aspired to be a ubiquitous augmented reality (AR) operating system for the real world. The problems we were solving (and our packaged solution) would have been the backbone for all of the [imagined] technology you see in this Samsung promo video for a new tech they're excited about, transparent and flexible OLED displays. [1]

If you're not familiar with augmented reality; it is the visual overlay of otherwise hidden information on the real world, as you observe it.

While you can ogle over ostentatious technologies like the embedded-display contact lenses the University of Washington is so proud of [2], it's exciting to see companies like TDK [3] and Laster Technologies [4] bring these kinds of stepping stone technology to bear. We can all download and install the awkward and barely applicable consumer-level AR applications on our smartphones ([5], [6], and [7]), but they will all remain novelty applications until we see major innovation in the display space.

One of the more practical examples I've seen of augmented reality in the real world is WordLens [8] (sadly only available for iOS), which provides instantaneous video translation through your device. It's not hard to imagine a pair of Oakley glasses with this display technology built-in, providing you with always-on translation while in an unfamiliar foreign location. Or perhaps even displaying your friend's tweet as a speech bubble above their head for a few seconds -- imagine if it were built right, how amazing it could be.

I genuinely hope to see more of this transparent display technology built in to more consumer-level products, and eyewear in particular. We need a lot more developers playing with the practical applications of augmented reality, and not just displaying compass-aligned markers over a geotagged Wikipedia article or Flickr photo. The high-power hardware necessary to do real-time computer vision processing is coming, and the applied software world needs to be ready for it.

[1]: Amazing Screen Technology : Samsung Flexible AMOLED
[2]: http://spectrum.ieee.org/biomedical/bionics/augmented-reality-in-a-contact-lens/
[3]: http://www.oled-info.com/tdk-starts-mass-production-transparent-24-qvga-pmoleds
[4]: http://www.laster.fr/produits/promobiledisplay/
[5]: http://www.layar.com/
[6]: http://www.wikitude.com/
[7]: http://www.junaio.com/
[8]: http://questvisual.com/

My list of entrepreneurial shortcomings includes Mirascape, which aspired to be a ubiquitous augmented reality (AR) operating system for the real world. The problems we were solving (and our packaged solution) would have been the backbone for all of the [imagined] technology you see in this Samsung promo video for a new tech they're excited about, transparent and flexible OLED displays. [1]

If you're not familiar with augmented reality; it is the visual overlay of otherwise hidden information on the real world, as you observe it.

While you can ogle over ostentatious technologies like the embedded-display contact lenses the University of Washington is so proud of [2], it's exciting to see companies like TDK [3] and Laster Technologies [4] bring these kinds of stepping stone technology to bear. We can all download and install the awkward and barely applicable consumer-level AR applications on our smartphones ([5], [6], and [7]), but they will all remain novelty applications until we see major innovation in the display space.

One of the more practical examples I've seen of augmented reality in the real world is WordLens [8] (sadly only available for iOS), which provides instantaneous video translation through your device. It's not hard to imagine a pair of Oakley glasses with this display technology built-in, providing you with always-on translation while in an unfamiliar foreign location. Or perhaps even displaying your friend's tweet as a speech bubble above their head for a few seconds -- imagine if it were built right, how amazing it could be.

I genuinely hope to see more of this transparent display technology built in to more consumer-level products, and eyewear in particular. We need a lot more developers playing with the practical applications of augmented reality, and not just displaying compass-aligned markers over a geotagged Wikipedia article or Flickr photo. The high-power hardware necessary to do real-time computer vision processing is coming, and the applied software world needs to be ready for it.

[1]: Amazing Screen Technology : Samsung Flexible AMOLED
[2]: http://spectrum.ieee.org/biomedical/bionics/augmented-reality-in-a-contact-lens/
[3]: http://www.oled-info.com/tdk-starts-mass-production-transparent-24-qvga-pmoleds
[4]: http://www.laster.fr/produits/promobiledisplay/
[5]: http://www.layar.com/
[6]: http://www.wikitude.com/
[7]: http://www.junaio.com/
[8]: http://questvisual.com/

My list of entrepreneurial shortcomings includes Mirascape, which aspired to be a ubiquitous augmented reality (AR) operating system for the real world. The problems we were solving (and our packaged solution) would have been the backbone for all of the [imagined] technology you see in this Samsung promo video for a new tech they're excited about, transparent and flexible OLED displays. [1]

If you're not familiar with augmented reality; it is the visual overlay of otherwise hidden information on the real world, as you observe it.

While you can ogle over ostentatious technologies like the embedded-display contact lenses the University of Washington is so proud of [2], it's exciting to see companies like TDK [3] and Laster Technologies [4] bring these kinds of stepping stone technology to bear. We can all download and install the awkward and barely applicable consumer-level AR applications on our smartphones ([5], [6], and [7]), but they will all remain novelty applications until we see major innovation in the display space.

One of the more practical examples I've seen of augmented reality in the real world is WordLens [8] (sadly only available for iOS), which provides instantaneous video translation through your device. It's not hard to imagine a pair of Oakley glasses with this display technology built-in, providing you with always-on translation while in an unfamiliar foreign location. Or perhaps even displaying your friend's tweet as a speech bubble above their head for a few seconds -- imagine if it were built right, how amazing it could be.

I genuinely hope to see more of this transparent display technology built in to more consumer-level products, and eyewear in particular. We need a lot more developers playing with the practical applications of augmented reality, and not just displaying compass-aligned markers over a geotagged Wikipedia article or Flickr photo. The high-power hardware necessary to do real-time computer vision processing is coming, and the applied software world needs to be ready for it.

[1]: Amazing Screen Technology : Samsung Flexible AMOLED
[2]: http://spectrum.ieee.org/biomedical/bionics/augmented-reality-in-a-contact-lens/
[3]: http://www.oled-info.com/tdk-starts-mass-production-transparent-24-qvga-pmoleds
[4]: http://www.laster.fr/produits/promobiledisplay/
[5]: http://www.layar.com/
[6]: http://www.wikitude.com/
[7]: http://www.junaio.com/
[8]: http://questvisual.com/

“Do not kill, do not rape, do not steal, these are principles which every man of every faith can embrace.” -- Murphy, The Boondock Saints

We should not be deluded into thinking that #OccupyWallStreet is a protest against capitalism. It is a protest against the blatant theft perpetrated by the financial and banking systems that has plagued our great nation and its government for at least the past 98 years.

On Capitalism versus Statism:
“[...] If we are to keep the term "capitalism" at all, then, we must distinguish between "free-market capitalism" on the one hand, and "state capitalism" on the other. The two are as different as day and night in their nature and consequences. Free-market capitalism is a network of free and voluntary exchanges in which producers work, produce, and exchange their products for the products of others through prices voluntarily arrived at. State capitalism consists of one or more groups making use of the coercive apparatus of the government — the State — to accumulate capital for themselves by expropriating the production of others by force and violence [...]” -- Murray N. Rothbard, 1972 [1]

While the protests continue to grow in cities around the country [2], Anonymous is warning the NYPD against continued police brutality [3] and even previously trusted news outlets begin to censor [4] if not blatantly ignore [5].

Look through the actual photos [6]. These faces are not those of hippies, bums, or of radicals. These are the faces of your friends and family, of your neighbors and coworkers [7]. It is the majority, the 99% of affected Americans, that are on the streets protesting. It is We the People.

Thanks to +Jeremy Dahl for providing the link and video, +Michael Mozart for livestreaming the protests earlier today, and +Breana Van Den Heuvel for providing a constant stream of photos and news as this evolves.

[1]: http://mises.org/daily/3735
[2]: http://www.occupytogether.org/
[3]: Anonymous WARNING to NYPD on Behalf of Occupy Wall Street.! will not be forgotten or Forgiven.
[4]: http://ampedstatus.org/twittercensorship-blocks-occupywallstreet-from-top-trending-topic-twice/
[5]: Keith Olbermann calls out Media Blackout on 'Occupy Wall Street' Protest
[6]: https://plus.google.com/photos/112353210404102902472/albums/5658628267519370497
[7]: http://wearethe99percent.tumblr.com/

“Do not kill, do not rape, do not steal, these are principles which every man of every faith can embrace.” -- Murphy, The Boondock Saints

We should not be deluded into thinking that #OccupyWallStreet is a protest against capitalism. It is a protest against the blatant theft perpetrated by the financial and banking systems that has plagued our great nation and its government for at least the past 98 years.

On Capitalism versus Statism:
“[...] If we are to keep the term "capitalism" at all, then, we must distinguish between "free-market capitalism" on the one hand, and "state capitalism" on the other. The two are as different as day and night in their nature and consequences. Free-market capitalism is a network of free and voluntary exchanges in which producers work, produce, and exchange their products for the products of others through prices voluntarily arrived at. State capitalism consists of one or more groups making use of the coercive apparatus of the government — the State — to accumulate capital for themselves by expropriating the production of others by force and violence [...]” -- Murray N. Rothbard, 1972 [1]

While the protests continue to grow in cities around the country [2], Anonymous is warning the NYPD against continued police brutality [3] and even previously trusted news outlets begin to censor [4] if not blatantly ignore [5].

Look through the actual photos [6]. These faces are not those of hippies, bums, or of radicals. These are the faces of your friends and family, of your neighbors and coworkers [7]. It is the majority, the 99% of affected Americans, that are on the streets protesting. It is We the People.

Thanks to +Jeremy Dahl for providing the link and video, +Michael Mozart for livestreaming the protests earlier today, and +Breana Van Den Heuvel for providing a constant stream of photos and news as this evolves.

[1]: http://mises.org/daily/3735
[2]: http://www.occupytogether.org/
[3]: Anonymous WARNING to NYPD on Behalf of Occupy Wall Street.! will not be forgotten or Forgiven.
[4]: http://ampedstatus.org/twittercensorship-blocks-occupywallstreet-from-top-trending-topic-twice/
[5]: Keith Olbermann calls out Media Blackout on 'Occupy Wall Street' Protest
[6]: https://plus.google.com/photos/112353210404102902472/albums/5658628267519370497
[7]: http://wearethe99percent.tumblr.com/

“Do not kill, do not rape, do not steal, these are principles which every man of every faith can embrace.” -- Murphy, The Boondock Saints

We should not be deluded into thinking that #OccupyWallStreet is a protest against capitalism. It is a protest against the blatant theft perpetrated by the financial and banking systems that has plagued our great nation and its government for at least the past 98 years.

On Capitalism versus Statism:
“[...] If we are to keep the term "capitalism" at all, then, we must distinguish between "free-market capitalism" on the one hand, and "state capitalism" on the other. The two are as different as day and night in their nature and consequences. Free-market capitalism is a network of free and voluntary exchanges in which producers work, produce, and exchange their products for the products of others through prices voluntarily arrived at. State capitalism consists of one or more groups making use of the coercive apparatus of the government — the State — to accumulate capital for themselves by expropriating the production of others by force and violence [...]” -- Murray N. Rothbard, 1972 [1]

While the protests continue to grow in cities around the country [2], Anonymous is warning the NYPD against continued police brutality [3] and even previously trusted news outlets begin to censor [4] if not blatantly ignore [5].

Look through the actual photos [6]. These faces are not those of hippies, bums, or of radicals. These are the faces of your friends and family, of your neighbors and coworkers [7]. It is the majority, the 99% of affected Americans, that are on the streets protesting. It is We the People.

Thanks to +Jeremy Dahl for providing the link and video, +Michael Mozart for livestreaming the protests earlier today, and +Breana Van Den Heuvel for providing a constant stream of photos and news as this evolves.

[1]: http://mises.org/daily/3735
[2]: http://www.occupytogether.org/
[3]: Anonymous WARNING to NYPD on Behalf of Occupy Wall Street.! will not be forgotten or Forgiven.
[4]: http://ampedstatus.org/twittercensorship-blocks-occupywallstreet-from-top-trending-topic-twice/
[5]: Keith Olbermann calls out Media Blackout on 'Occupy Wall Street' Protest
[6]: https://plus.google.com/photos/112353210404102902472/albums/5658628267519370497
[7]: http://wearethe99percent.tumblr.com/

“Do not kill, do not rape, do not steal, these are principles which every man of every faith can embrace.” -- Murphy, The Boondock Saints

We should not be deluded into thinking that #OccupyWallStreet is a protest against capitalism. It is a protest against the blatant theft perpetrated by the financial and banking systems that has plagued our great nation and its government for at least the past 98 years.

On Capitalism versus Statism:
“[...] If we are to keep the term "capitalism" at all, then, we must distinguish between "free-market capitalism" on the one hand, and "state capitalism" on the other. The two are as different as day and night in their nature and consequences. Free-market capitalism is a network of free and voluntary exchanges in which producers work, produce, and exchange their products for the products of others through prices voluntarily arrived at. State capitalism consists of one or more groups making use of the coercive apparatus of the government — the State — to accumulate capital for themselves by expropriating the production of others by force and violence [...]” -- Murray N. Rothbard, 1972 [1]

While the protests continue to grow in cities around the country [2], Anonymous is warning the NYPD against continued police brutality [3] and even previously trusted news outlets begin to censor [4] if not blatantly ignore [5].

Look through the actual photos [6]. These faces are not those of hippies, bums, or of radicals. These are the faces of your friends and family, of your neighbors and coworkers [7]. It is the majority, the 99% of affected Americans, that are on the streets protesting. It is We the People.

Thanks to +Jeremy Dahl for providing the link and video, +Michael Mozart for livestreaming the protests earlier today, and +Breana Van Den Heuvel for providing a constant stream of photos and news as this evolves.

[1]: http://mises.org/daily/3735
[2]: http://www.occupytogether.org/
[3]: Anonymous WARNING to NYPD on Behalf of Occupy Wall Street.! will not be forgotten or Forgiven.
[4]: http://ampedstatus.org/twittercensorship-blocks-occupywallstreet-from-top-trending-topic-twice/
[5]: Keith Olbermann calls out Media Blackout on 'Occupy Wall Street' Protest
[6]: https://plus.google.com/photos/112353210404102902472/albums/5658628267519370497
[7]: http://wearethe99percent.tumblr.com/

While his presentation style is great and all, I would place their success on the quality of their products and their user-focused approach. His presentation style would have gone unnoticed if the products themselves weren't on the mark.

+fan tai I'd imagine by building a cohesive service model, as opposed to a product-centric business

Beginning with open mic pitches on Friday, attendees bring their best ideas and inspire others to join their team. Over Saturday and Sunday teams focus on customer development, validating their ideas, practicing LEAN Startup Methodologies and building a minimal viable product. On Sunday evening teams demo their prototypes and receive valuable feedback from a panel of experts.

Beginning with open mic pitches on Friday, attendees bring their best ideas and inspire others to join their team. Over Saturday and Sunday teams focus on customer development, validating their ideas, practicing LEAN Startup Methodologies and building a minimal viable product. On Sunday evening teams demo their prototypes and receive valuable feedback from a panel of experts.

+Carmelyne Thompson is exactly right. Hackathons are a live view of the 'soft skills' of a dev - social interaction, time management, desire to be in the situation in the first place, leadership, teamwork - all the stuff a public code repo can't show. The end product's not always the point, and definitely not if you're looking for teammates, business partners, nerd friends, or employees.

In preparation for the Bay BitHack, Copay Product Lead +Matias Alejo Garcia and Developer Evangelist +Eric Martindale will be hosting an AMA via Hangouts on Air, where questions about Bitcoin, Bitcoin-related APIs, and Cryptofinance in general will be answered.

Still needing an idea on what to build?  Not sure where to start?  Make sure to join us!

In preparation for the Bay BitHack, Copay Product Lead +Matias Alejo Garcia and Developer Evangelist +Eric Martindale will be hosting an AMA via Hangouts on Air, where questions about Bitcoin, Bitcoin-related APIs, and Cryptofinance in general will be answered.

Still needing an idea on what to build?  Not sure where to start?  Make sure to join us!

In preparation for the Bay BitHack, Copay Product Lead +Matias Alejo Garcia and Developer Evangelist +Eric Martindale will be hosting an AMA via Hangouts on Air, where questions about Bitcoin, Bitcoin-related APIs, and Cryptofinance in general will be answered.

Still needing an idea on what to build?  Not sure where to start?  Make sure to join us!

In preparation for the Bay BitHack, Copay Product Lead +Matias Alejo Garcia and Developer Evangelist +Eric Martindale will be hosting an AMA via Hangouts on Air, where questions about Bitcoin, Bitcoin-related APIs, and Cryptofinance in general will be answered.

Still needing an idea on what to build?  Not sure where to start?  Make sure to join us!

The company I've co-founded, LocalSense, needs your vote. We're trying to win a contest for entrepreneurs, which will help us take a leap ahead in closing our first round of funding and getting to market ahead of schedule.

As you may already know, I've been hard at work building an incredible new product that empowers consumers by rewarding them for helping their friends save money. I've got big plans for helping out my friends here on Google+, but we've got to get there first.

Please vote for LocalSense in the 2012 Vator Splash competition, and help me spread the word if you're so inclined. The software we're building keeps track of how content is shared across networks, so we might just have a special reward for you. :)

The company I've co-founded, LocalSense, needs your vote. We're trying to win a contest for entrepreneurs, which will help us take a leap ahead in closing our first round of funding and getting to market ahead of schedule.

As you may already know, I've been hard at work building an incredible new product that empowers consumers by rewarding them for helping their friends save money. I've got big plans for helping out my friends here on Google+, but we've got to get there first.

Please vote for LocalSense in the 2012 Vator Splash competition, and help me spread the word if you're so inclined. The software we're building keeps track of how content is shared across networks, so we might just have a special reward for you. :)

The company I've co-founded, LocalSense, needs your vote. We're trying to win a contest for entrepreneurs, which will help us take a leap ahead in closing our first round of funding and getting to market ahead of schedule.

As you may already know, I've been hard at work building an incredible new product that empowers consumers by rewarding them for helping their friends save money. I've got big plans for helping out my friends here on Google+, but we've got to get there first.

Please vote for LocalSense in the 2012 Vator Splash competition, and help me spread the word if you're so inclined. The software we're building keeps track of how content is shared across networks, so we might just have a special reward for you. :)

The company I've co-founded, LocalSense, needs your vote. We're trying to win a contest for entrepreneurs, which will help us take a leap ahead in closing our first round of funding and getting to market ahead of schedule.

As you may already know, I've been hard at work building an incredible new product that empowers consumers by rewarding them for helping their friends save money. I've got big plans for helping out my friends here on Google+, but we've got to get there first.

Please vote for LocalSense in the 2012 Vator Splash competition, and help me spread the word if you're so inclined. The software we're building keeps track of how content is shared across networks, so we might just have a special reward for you. :)

Since you cannot reshare a share, I linked to the article by +Carmelyne Thompson instead. Nice read regarding how we operate in Hangout Academy!
http://hangoutacademy.com

Whoever is curious what we use:
- Gerrit for Code Review
- We use Debian for Staging Server / Production Server
- We have automated builds that it deploys the web app to Staging server
- We follow agile development, we do modified SCRUM every other day.
- We document enough so that if a new member joins, they wont get lost.
- We design, we architect, we develop and iterate!
- We use hangouts for our main communication tool.
- We use Google Apps with Sites / Mail / Calendar integration

The team is beyond awesome, read her post to know the full picture! We love to tinker, we love development, and we love design!

via +Carmelyne Thompson

Since you cannot reshare a share, I linked to the article by +Carmelyne Thompson instead. Nice read regarding how we operate in Hangout Academy!
http://hangoutacademy.com

Whoever is curious what we use:
- Gerrit for Code Review
- We use Debian for Staging Server / Production Server
- We have automated builds that it deploys the web app to Staging server
- We follow agile development, we do modified SCRUM every other day.
- We document enough so that if a new member joins, they wont get lost.
- We design, we architect, we develop and iterate!
- We use hangouts for our main communication tool.
- We use Google Apps with Sites / Mail / Calendar integration

The team is beyond awesome, read her post to know the full picture! We love to tinker, we love development, and we love design!

via +Carmelyne Thompson

I've been in the market for my dream phone for almost a year now. Products have been released left and right, but none of them seem to have the functionality that I am desiring. Okay, I admit - "phone" is a bit misleading. What I'm really looking for is a smartphone... no, not a smartphone, a digital companion.

Things I'm looking for:

• Phone


• Camera


• Media Player


• Freedom

Phone
I want a mobile phone with what has become industry standards, including the dual-mode functionality of GSM and WiFi connections. I should be able to take this phone to any service provider, and get service using this device, keeping both my number and my contacts.

Camera
I want a decent camera that gets decent lighting. While a 2 megapixel camera is about the range I'm looking for, most important is the quality of the resulting pictures. The functionality of a modern-day camera should be available, including light temperature and balance. I should be able to record video using this, as well.

Media Player
I should be able to play any format of media on this device as I can play using my home Linux box. OGG, MP3, MPEG, AVI...

Freedom
I wish to be able to install software freely, from wherever I may choose. If I choose to install emulators and play me some NES, SNES, and Sega Genesis games, I should be able to do this freely, and have the necessary hardware resources to do this. I want to be able to make changes to my device's software at any point in time. I should be able to sync my calendar, to do list, and contacts with my choice of repositories.


I'll grow and review this as necessary. Until then, the Apple iPhone looks bitterly disgusting, while the Motorola Q's use of Windows continues to push me away.

I've been using Twitter since pretty early on (and long before @oprah), and I've found it to be a superbly convenient communication tool and notification service. Even though it's still very young on the web (Twitter was founded in March of 2006) It's been the home to great ideas like the #twitterdata proposal and the publicdomain book-via-tweets project. It's also an awesome reputation management platform, and can be used to both to provide effective customer service and help distribute news and updates about your business or product, which is exactly how I use it for my online roleplaying project.

But as with the rest of the social media world, Twitter can become very complex very quickly (but I still contend that there is no social media overload) and as a result, can be difficult to manage. As a result, I use several third-party tools to help me manage and gather information that helps me do my Twitter job much more efficiently and effectively.

Splitweet [caption id="attachment_196" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Splitweet allows you to post and monitor multiple Twitter accounts and brands."][/caption]

For those of us with multiple Twitter accounts (like some people who create a Twitter account for each roleplaying character they use), Splitweet is an absolute savior. This service allows you to tweet to multiple accounts at the same time, as well as combining the "stream" from each account into one page. A lot of desktop Twitter clients offer this kind of functionality, but where Splitweet truly excels is in its ability to track what it calls "brands" (more reputation management terms here): you can specify keywords and phrases that will appear in a separate feed, even if you do not follow those users. This gets us around the disastrous changes Twitter made to the @replies, and helps us keep up to date on any mentions of our site's name and any tweets relating to what it is that we do.

Sherflock [caption id="attachment_195" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Sherflock provides detailed statistics and summaries of Twitter users you are associated with."][/caption]

Sherflock is an absolutely awesome stat tracking machine that helps weed out the waves of spam that have been coming in since Twitter has gone mainstream. Sherflock gives a large number of statistics about each every account the either follows you or that you are following, and lets you sort and filter users based on these statistics.

Twitterfall [caption id="attachment_194" align="alignnone" width="217" caption="Twitterfall offers a live stream of twitter updates on keywords that you specify."][/caption]

This tool allows you to specify any number of keywords that you wish to view on a live, moving stream of tweets. This is very useful if you are using a computer that allows you to "pin" a window on top (like Ubuntu Linux), or if you have a multiple-monitor rig, or even if you use multiple computers using the input-sharing app Synergy. You'll get a live feed of updates on any topic of your choice, which can even be updated and changed in real-time.

Using these three tools will help you maximize you Twitter performance and make the most of an already awesome service, preventing you from being inundated with the massive stream of messages that you're surely going to subscribe to.

What are your top three Twitter tools? Feel free to make a comment or write your own post, and I'll gladly append a link to this post to help everyone out!

Following suit with the likes of Tim Bray and Eric Meyer, I figured I'd throw together my browser's letter sweep tonight.

• [A]dmin Site. Yeah, I guess I would be visiting the admin panel for this. Quite frequently.
• Mirascape's [B]log. An infrequent haunt of mine, but fairly obvious.
• [C]MON. Cluster Monitor for MySQL Cluster, something I almost always have open.
• Google [D]ocs. This one is painfully obvious, I use Google Docs extensively.
• [E]ricMartindale.com. Okay, that's a gimme. Does this make me egocentric?
• [F]acebook. I'm actually fairly ashamed of this one. Why can't I have a cool F site? sadface
• [G]mail. Three accounts linked using Google's Multiple Sign-in. Open [almost] all day.
• [H]ighcharts JS. A pretty kick-ass Javascript library for generating charts on the clientside.
• [I]nternal Discussion. A site for communication with my team. :)
• [J]Query Mobile Demo, 1.0 alpha 3. I've been spending a lot of time toying with jQuery Mobile, seeing where it's going compared to Sencha Touch.
• [K]r.github.com. Keith Rarick's GitHub redirect. Total ass-kicker.
• [L]inkedIn. Pretty straightforward, between hiring for our team at @Mirascape and the travel to and from various conferences and Meetups lately.
• [M]irascape. The augmented reality platform I'm responsible for.
• [N]oxBot. A nice PHP-powered IRC bot with various plugins. A bit out of date, but very powerful. Been using it for a couple things lately.
• [O]K, QR Me!. A QR Code-generating link shortener I built.
• [P]ostmark. Best Email delivery service I've used. Nice RESTful API, flat rate for emails sent.
• [Q]uora. These guys nail Q&A, and they're doing it pretty well. Check out all their buzz, too. But for some reason, I just don't stick.
• Google [R]eader. “From your 1,040 subscriptions, over the last 30 days you read 21,549 items, clicked 274 items, starred 853 items, shared 37 items, and emailed 8 items.” -- </stats>
• [S]erver Stats for Mirascape. Powered by Munin, it's how I keep track of the status and metrics of all my servers.
• [T]witter. Not surprising. I love their webapp for my personal use, but own and manage at least five accounts using SplitTweet.
• [U]serVoice. Pretty sweet tool I use for giving the communities I manage a good way to build a consensus on what they desire most. Examples I run: for RolePlayGateway, and EVE UserVoice for EVE Online.
• Google [V]oice. Allows me to use SMS from my computer, read (as opposed to listen to) voicemail. Great tool. If only it supported MMS.
• [W]achovia. One of the places I do banking.
• [X]DA Developers. An indisposable resource for getting rid of carrier-installed crap and running my own choice of software on the hardware I purchased!
• [Y]ouTube. Another big namer. No surprise.
• [Z]ecco. Where I trade most of my public stocks. :)

Surprisingly populist, and there's a lot of Google-owned properties in there. I'm also using Chromium, so I think it prefers the roots of the sites I visit instead of searching through my history for individual pages.

There's been a lot of active discussion about the state of AOL's directory project, DMOZ. There have been many attempts to unseat the directory project from its position as the most authoritative listing resource, such as the Yahoo Directory. Many of these attempts have fallen by the wayside, as Rand Fiskin points out, but none have remained more controversial than DMOZ. More recently, Chris Crum's post on WebProNews about his lack of respect for DMOZ has stirred up a hornet's nest of DMOZ criticism, including a particular post claiming DMOZ is a waste of time.

I forwarded a lot of this on to Philip Nicolcev, known by username as "frug", who is the editor of several roleplay-oriented categories on DMOZ. He responded to me directly with a highly insightful email, and I was fortunate enough to receive his permission to share its contents.

I've been editing the pbp category at DMOZ for what... 4 years now? About that. This article is a big whiny complaint which misses the mark. They are both correct and sadly mistaken. Yes, dmoz is outdated and yes, it fails because of attitude problems, but not silly allegations of 'corruption' or people who are bitter because they didn't get listed. We don't list everything, I don't list even half of the submissions I get, and anyone who has been an administrator or an editor for a similar type of project knows better than to take these kinds of complaints seriously. One thing they say is definitely correct: Apply once carefully following their rules if you wish and then, as Will suggested, forget about them.

This is exactly the approach that should be modeled for any directory, regardless of its state or condition. When you are submitting a link to a directory, you are being offered the privilege to be listed as a resource by the owners and management of that directory. They are not obligated to list your link, let alone review it in a timely fashion--but this would be genuinely appreciated and would reflect on the directory's position as a "good" resource.

DMOZ is the primary source for Google's Directory, and you must respect the opinion of such a large and successful company. It's obvious that the idea behind an open directory like DMOZ is good, but where they fail is in execution. More on that later.

He continues:

That is what you should do. Apply once and forget about it, don't claim anybody is corrupt because whether you believe my opinion or not, there's no corruption. Nobody cares enough about dmoz anymore for it to be valuable for extortion. Don't be ridiculous. Furthermore if you were to speak to some of the senior editors you'd discover that they are pretty damn uptight, even obsessive. The problems with dmoz are, in my opinion, twofold. First off, you have the dated trashy look of the website which is a relic of the 1990's. It's not user friendly, it doesn't entice anyone to go browsing, and it hasn't adapted or added features that would help people understand the structure of the directory or find what they're looking for. The editor forums still use phpBB2, and you should see the editing panel. You wouldn't believe how dated this stuff is. Frankly it has needed an overhaul for years now.

I largely agree with him. The phpBB team deprecated the phpBB2 branch at the beginning of this year, ending support for the outdated platform. AOL would do well to do a complete overhaul of the site's design now that "Web 2.0" has come and gone (and I could reference posts all day on that) - and AOL has completely missed their opportunity to latch on and ride the wave.

Philip finishes his correspondance with the frightening truth that has been plaguing many post-Web2.0 sites and services:

The second problem, attitude, is partially the cause of the first problem. It's a stagnant atmosphere where nothing gets done and nobody gets listened to. They would rather leave a directory as a cluttered mess of garbage than risk breaking its structure by overhauling it. Fixing my category took me about two years before I had approval to restructure it, and I'm in a small niche category nobody pays much attention to. Since becoming an editor I have deleted about 60% of the outdated links listed. Had I not joined, they'd still be there cluttering things up with linkspam geocities pages from 10 years ago. So yeah, dmoz is failing, but not because of corruption or because some guy didn't get what he wanted. And, honestly, if the author of this article was applying to dmoz just to 'test how fair it was' then I'm glad they rejected him. Somehow they made the right decision because he's wasting their time.

And that's the exact problem - the DMOZ community has completely stagnated, which has resulted in the puddle of goop that the directory has become. In my personal opinion, I think that AOL could do a lot better job at community management (all reputation management aside) by setting up a more rigid structure of responsibility. The editors need to be held responsible for a timely review specified by their superiors, and there needs to be cross-checking of the editor's work by other qualified editors.

Is this another example of AOL's purchases being mismanaged and ultimately being forgotten, such as what many people claim is the case with ex-Nullsoft product WinAmp? Perhaps, but I think that remains to be seen. After all, even our favored Google took a questionable amount of time to convert phone-consolidation service GrandCentral to the new Google Voice after its 2007 acquisition. DMOZ was in fact originally a Netscape project, which then-strong AOL acquired in 1998. Since that acquisition, little has changed.

All said and done, DMOZ needs some love if it's going to survive as anything more than a relic of trust and authority in the Web 2.0 bubble. As Philip points out, it has both good and bad traits and deserves further attention, but it needs to be attention in (and from) the right direction. The questions remain; where has AOL been? What can be done about the editors (or lack thereof)? How can DMOZ be improved?