June/July GetQuik Sweepstakes - Win an iPod Shuffle

GetQuik is launching a June/July Sweepstakes. We will be giving away 8 iPod Shuffles during this period. One a week. If you place a GetQuik order during a sweepstakes period, you are registered to win! It is as simple as that. GetQuik offers simple restaurant ordering for take-out and delivery orders in the San Francisco Bay area.

Contest Rules (Acrobat Format).

Good luck everyone.

Death to Traditional Ads

And Your Next American Idol Is...

Now that TiVo and DVR's are mainstream, recording and watching your favorite shows at your leasure has gone from novelty to the mainstream. The chasm has been crossed, and with that, the 30-second commercial will soon (hopefully) be on the endangered species list. America has voted with their remotes and now believe that its their god-given right to be able to fast-forward through any and all commercials that clutter their favorite-TV shows. The finale of American Idol ran over by 9 minutes, and millions did not get to witness the announcement of Jordin Sparks as the newest American Idol. Of course they knew she won, but their TiVo and DVR machines did not capture the moment. This has become quite the controvery and Fox is being criticized for not taking into account those recording the show. Brave New World indeed my friend.

I listen to Live 105, but I am moving over to Pandora or LastFM radio because of the annoying commercials. Would someone please invent a commercial zapper for terrestrial radio? I am totally fine with complete silence during the annoying Shane Jewelers or AT&T Blue Room commercials. It is really unbearable if you listen in the office to be invaded by these incessant ads day after day. We have been taught by TiVo and Sirius that we should not have to listen to ads that are not relevant. There will be some very bright and talented people working on improved methods to deliver ads for TV and radio. Google is an obvious candidate. In the meantime, the Internet streams offer a nice alternative to commercial-radio. I am hoping that Sirius/XM and the Pandora/LastFM radio formats gain popularity in order that we see a radio revolution that mirrors what TiVo had done to broadcast television.

FaceBook for Business

If you ask most business professionals which social network they use for thier business contacts, the most common answer will be LinkedIn. Now that FaceBook has opened its doors for all (no need for an .edu account anymore), that answer may change.

Once you begin using FaceBook, you will find it the best social networking tool to connect with your past. Just say "NO" to MySpace for professional purposes unless you are a musician or comedian. FaceBook is particularly effective for connecting with friends from high school and college. FaceBook will eventually be a great tool for connecting with old work colleagues once more business professionals realize that FaceBook is no longer just for college kids anymore. FaceBook's strength is in the way it connects you with groups. If you have an affiliation with a group where you met and knew a lot of people, FaceBook can often reconnect you with these folks.

LinkedIn is more directed towards your present work contacts. Who do I interact with in business on a regular basis, and who do they know.

To use a "Tipping Point" analogy, FaceBook is great at expanding your network through "weak ties", whereas LinkedIn is better for "strong ties."

In business, who you know is very important, so try out FaceBook and catch up with some friends from your past. The FaceBook network is going to continue to expand, and will be more and more useful over time.

Confidence Over Experience - Generation Y

Twenty-something Fortune writer Nadira Hira made the cover story for the May 28, 2007 edition with her profile on Generation Y. Write what you know as they say. Great insight into how Generation Y is changing the rules of business. Unlike the slacker Generation X, the Gen Y group is fully-wired, motivated and fearless.

Difference between Gen X and Gen Y.

Gen X:
Attitude: Cool to be aloof.
Living at Home: Not cool, but sometimes necessary.
Wiredness: Good with computers, but grew up before Internet and mobile phones were robust and useful.
Multitasking: Watch TV while talking with friends on landline.
Work Attitude: Work is necessary to pay the bill, but not the top priority.
Telecommuting: Ask for permission once my company expands this option.

Gen Y:
Attitude: Cool to take charge.
Living at Home: No one cooks like mom. My folks are my best friends.
Wiredness: Cannot function without the Internet or mobile technology.
Multitasking: Text message on phone, update FaceBook profile, listen to iPod, and IM chat with Meebo.
Work Attitude: Work needs to be interesting or challenging, or I'll sit on the sidelines and wait for something better.
Telecommuting: Why should I come to the office if I can get all my work done and more from home?

The entry of Gen Y into the work force is going a long way to humanizing corporate America. The reason? These kids are talented and motivated. They are filled with self-confidence. What they don't know, they figure out, mostly. Companies need to learn how to keep their Gen Y employees engaged, as there will be some great work and innovation coming from this group.

FaceBook has released their new widget-friendly platform today. With this new platform release, it looks as if Zuckerberg may bypass Yahoo! and other acquisition paths and go it alone. Mark is perhaps the ultimate Gen Y coverboy. He has the confidence and fully expects to take over MySpace's strong lead in social networks without needing a larger partner. As well, FaceBook appears to be driving towards competition against even bigger fish (Yahoo and Google).

It is not going to take some of the older workers some time to get used to the Gen Y rules. The one thing that Gen Y will have to deal with is focus. Work is called work because there are tasks that may not be fun, but need to get done. Will the Gen Y group accept these more mundane tasks or head out to the next engagement?

Nick Denton, another 20-something journalist, has an interesting blog entry titled asking "Is 30 too old to start a company?" Although age does matter, the more important lesson that Gen Y success stories teach us is that the combination of talent, confidence, and fearlessness are recipes for success at any age.

Why ValleyWag is Better than Spiderman 3

If you have not already wasted $10 and 140 minutes of your life trapped watching the latest installment of the Spiderman series, please listen to all the reviews and wait for it to hit NetFlix.

Tobey Maguire delivers a weak and unconvincing role as a dark version of Spiderman in the movie. As well, he ends up battling 3 different enemies, Sandman, Venom and the Green Goblin (or son of the Green Goblin). It is wrong for so many reasons. The first two Spiderman movies had one key villian and clearly defined characters. The lack of focus, lame one-liners, inconsistent character portrayals, which were so well done in the first two movies, make this movie particularly disappointing.

I have been reading Nick Denton's Valleywag for a few months now, and unlike most of the other blogs that I read, this one gets better the more you read it. Nick Denton has a wicked sense of humor and is fearless in going after the biggest companies and figures in technology. The public feud between Nick and Michael Arrington of TechCrunch fame is well documented, and will go down in blog history as a great public battle between two talented and influencial bloggers. Michael tends to try and ignore Valleywag's accusations and insults, but as anyone on Nick Denton's shit-list knows, he is relentless and always in attack mode.

It would be easy to dismiss Nick as a mean-spirited bully using his blog as a hammer. However, I think that is not giving him his due. Nick does his homework and knows a lot about the companies he covers, criticizes and applauds. Yes, he does give his props to those he believes are deserving. Also, he typically goes after hot companies and powerful figures, rather than easy targets down on their luck. In fact, if you are on top, that is when Valleywag looks to find out if you have a weakness. Take you down a peg. It is no wonder that Valleywag and TechCrunch do not mix well. TechCrunch is the king-making site, where Valleywag serves to declare that the emperor has no clothes. It is hard to keep up with all the Valleywag targets, but currently these companies and individuals are on the hit-list.

- Michael Arrington/Techcrunch: perpetual.
- Google/Sergey Brin: not hyper-critical, but definitely unafraid to point out when Google seems to be flexing their muscles a little too aggresively.
- Guy Kawasaki: His current favorite punching bag. Very brutal attacks on this charasmatic, Valley icon.
- Red Herring Magazine: Valleywag will be the first to dance on their grave.

Valleywag takes a little getting used to. I was originally a little turned-off by its mean-spirited attacks. If you make it past the abrasive style, you will find that Nick is a talented writer who gets the story right more often than not. Unlike Spiderman 3, Valleywag stays true to its character, has a consistent arch-nemesis (TechCrunch), continues to push the envelope, and is never boring.

Blogger, WordPress and Blog Hell (Part 3)

Let me try and wrap this epic blog with a WordPress review. Previously, I had been using Google's Blogger as mentioned earlier. The drag-and-drop feature is awesome. Setting up a new domain and working with WordPress took a little getting used to.

The Good News: If you use GoDaddy for your domain and web hosting (yes, you need to get both of these if you wish to host your blog on your own domain name), GoDaddy has a simple installation tool for WordPress. WordPress requires the Linux plan, not the Windows hosting plan. Once you have this going, you can go to GoDaddy's Metropolis Application center. You can easily add WordPress to your account from Metropolis.

The Mistake: The mistake I made when I loaded WordPress, I used the default URL they suggest which is www.YOURDOMAINNAME.com/wordpress. This is NOT what you probably want. You want WordPress to run straight from www.YOURDOMAINNAME.com. When doing the install, get rid of the /wordpress suffix and install directly to your domain root address (if that is what you intend).

Uninstall Problem: Uninstalling WordPress in theory should be easy from your GoDaddy console. I was unsuccessful in uninstalling WordPress with the Metropolis utility, so I had to drop the database and delete the files. Not ideal.

Finally Installed Correct: So after this hassle, I reinstalled and was able to begin my WordPress adventures.

Plug-In-O-Rama: For better or for worse, you need to download a TON of plug-ins for just about anything for WordPress. Some of the ones you probably want include:

- Feedburner/Feedsmith: Allows you to feedburn your blog.
- Google Analytics Plug-In: Need this to track your site traffic w/ Google Analytics.
- SideBar Widget: This is pretty much a must-have. Allows you to display and manipulate widgets in the sidebar.
- Chicklet Creator: To display a feedburner image.
- Text Control: Good luck in dropping Javascripts into WordPress without a plug-in like this one. I wasted a LOT of time before discovering this plug-in.

I installed the MyBlogLog plugin, but something is not working right with that one. Apparantly MyBlogLog and WordPress don't play well together.

Issues:
- Manipulating images with WordPress is not intuitive.
- You need a ton of plug-ins to get some basic functionality for your Blog.
- If you wish to change your blog's presentation, you will need to have some knowledge of CSS.

That being said, the dust is settling, and WordPress is now working acceptably. You can create a powerful blog with WordPress, although not with some annoying quirks and extra trouble. I am wondering if TypePad would have been a better choice, but I am sure that TypePad has its own issues.

I am still using Google Blogger for this blog, but I am debating migrating to either WordPress or TypePad. For the time being, I am taking a break from my Blog Hell and continuing with Blogger.

Blogger, WordPress and Blog Hell (Part 2)

So if you are moving your Blogger blog to your own domain, you can follow the following instructions to make the move.

In my case, I got my domain from godaddy.com and tried to migrate to the new domain. 24 hours later, still nothing. So then I started messing around with the ftp publishing instructions with the domain name (I was using a free ad-based MyDaddy hosting service to test). So finally it was semi-working. Some issues with archives not redirecting correctly, plus the annoying ads. The archive link issues is a common problem that other bloggers have pointed out. After trying the domain redirection again (See the instructions in the link above), my blog seemed to finally be redirecting to the getquikblog.com domain name. Perhaps as a new domain, it was still setting up and I didn't give it enough time to propagate.

So now that I am redirecting without having to mess with the ftp publishing, everything was cool right?

Not so fast. As I later found out, you loss the Drag-and-Drop template feature! The screenshot above is what the drap & drop tool looks like. It is really, really, really easy to use.

So that means, that my feedburner, MyBlogLog and Yelp map were vaporized in the process. Also, the navigation controls to the various blog listing were also blown away. So, if I switch back to my getquik.blogspot.com address, everything is back to normal, correct?

Nope! As far as I can see, all these plug-ins are gone forever. As well, my Google Analytics is no longer tracking, so I need to setup a new one for the getquikblog.com domain name.

So before you devote any significant time and energy into your .blogspot.com blog, understand that you are held hostage by the fact that your plug-ins and general navigation break. I guess that I should have anticipated that these plug-ins would needs to be recreated for the new domain name. At least the YouTube files are still linked correctly. Perhaps there is a way to restore back to the way my blog was setup before the migration fiasco, but I don't think so.

So the answer is to move to WordPress right? Not quite. Too be continued.

Blogger, WordPress and Blog Hell (Part 1)

Using a blog hosted by Google (i.e. www.blogname.blogspot.com) has some advantages/disadvantages. If you want a simple, quick and powerful way to launch a blog, Blogger should definitely be considered.

The problem with Blogger:

- Having a .blogspot.com suffix on your blog immediately raises the sblog (Spam Blog) flags. The very thing that makes Blogger attractive (easy to setup and use), makes it prone to Spam bloggers.
- Blogger lacks the power and control that more complex blog software tools like WordPress and TypePad offer.

I did a little research on-line to see if there was an easy way to migrate my www.getquik.blogspot.com site to a new domain name I registered (www.getquikblog.com). Quite a few blogs discussing making this migration. My experience was less than perfect. I spent a lot of time and heartache with the process. To be continued.

Waiter Describing too much! - From Comedy Inc.

Short and funny.

My Fortune Magazine is on a Diet

The latest cover page of Fortune Magazine claims that "Business is Back"! So why does it seem that each new edition is getting thinner and thinner? Back in the dot com boom, Fortune, Business 2.0, Fast Company, Red Herring, and any other business magazine were packed with articles and advertisements. Now the ads you see in Fortune are the "Special Advertising Section" specials they fill to look more informercialish in nature. Question: Does anyone really read these secdtions? The "Business is Back" edition has a huge "Special Advertising Section" dedicated to law firms. Not exactly riveting content. It appears that magazines are running out of ideas for turning readers into consumers for their advertisers.

Fortune is a great magazine. It used to take me a few days to read through the edition, but now I can finish the entire magazine in one sitting. There is a renewal letter somewhere on my desk, but with all the newsfeeds and other trade magazines filling my mailbox, I am not sure if the price is worth it anymore.

The trends of advertizers moving their budgets to on-line campaigns (see Google) and the fragmentation of magazines are negatively impacting these previously world-class publications. There are no shortage of industry vertical publications (in fact these publications seem to be growing like weeds), but the general magazines are losing their attractiveness to advertisers. The trend seems to be mirrored by the major TV networks, who are seeing their viewship and advertisers moving towards vertically-focused cable channels and YouTube. The once dominant general media properties are now finding themself in the middle of the road, and that is not the place you want to be when the mack truck called the Internet and the heavy, steady traffic of industry-vertical focused media properties are coming from both directions.

Do you think that magazines like Fortune or Forbes will be able to survive?

Simple Surveys with Survey Monkey

Getting feedback from your customers is critical to any business. It is even more important for a web-based company, as you cannot depend on face-to-face interactions to get a sense for your customer satisfaction.

Thanks to Evan from Liftopia for recommending Survey Monkey. Survey Monkey is an excellent tool to help with customer satisfaction and market research surveys. Although GetQuik has just begun using Survey Monkey, we have already received important customer feedback that will translate into a new, improved web-site. Stay tuned for details. We are currently receiving approximately 50% of our survey requests back completed.

I am sure that there are other excellent survey tools, but Survey Monkey is one of the better known ones, and it is extremely easy to setup. For our short 6 question survey, it took less than 10 minutes to set it up. The cost for Survey Monkey's basic plan is $20 per month. A small price to pay to get insight in order to get the skinny on what your customers really think about your product or service.

If you are just getting your surveys going, be prepared to make some changes, as you will get honest feedback from your customers.

If anyone has any tips on survey tools or using survey feedback successfully, please comment.

Web 2.0 and Mardi Gras Magic

There is much debate regarding the value of Web 2.0 networks and sites. When judging a site's impact, the measurements are based on unique visitors, page views, and average time spent on the site. Winners are emerging in this Web 2.0 category. These sites are able to leverage the desire for users to be heard and recognized. Users are spending hours on sites like Digg and MySpace to increase their Digg ratings or in the case of MySpace their # of friends. A prime example of creating virtual rewards to captivate an audience is Second Life.

An interesting case study in group behavior is Mardi Gras. The Mardi Gras festival is a surreal experience. You have a huge influx of tourists traveling to New Orleans to party, eat crawfish, and perhaps watch a parade or two. The main event is the scene in the French Quarter. The chant "Show your tits" is all around you as you see hundreds of girls and women complying with this request in order to earn a few plastic beads. So why would these women get naked in front of thousands of people? It is a combination of the party atmosphere, the fact that everyone else is doing it, and the competitive spirit to have the best and prettiest beads. People are competitive by nature, and the Mardi Gras rating system currency is plastic beads. Whoever ends up with the most and best plastic beads is the winner.

Web 2.0 sites able to create an ecosystem where users are motivated to spend time and generate content to earn recognition from the site's community are the winners in the Web 2.0 world. How long will the Web 2.0 party last? Will the users sober up to find that the reward for all their hard work and time is virtual plastic beads?

Time will tell. In the meantime, let the party rage on.

Thoughts on Web 2.0? Add a comment.

Legalize Online Poker

Jamie Gold earned $12 million dollars when he won the 2006 World Series of Poker. You can watch his road to victory of ESPN over and over and over again. The event was held at the Rio in Las Vegas, so you can be sure that Uncle Sam ended up winning big as well.

Despite a recent, well-publicized crack-down on on-line poker, which is illegal in the US, the popularity of poker and on-line poker continues to grow. So if on-line poker is illegal in the US, how are so many Americans getting hooked on Texas Hold-Em? On-line gambling sites operate out of tax-haven friendly Carribean countries and interestingly enough the UK. According to Wikipedia, the revenues from online poker were estimated at $200 million a month! The amount of money that the US government gets from these winning? Let's just say that most folks winning on-line are probably not going out of their way to report these earnings on their 1040 tax form. You can imagine why the government is trying and to some extent succeeding in forcing these sites to refuse business from U.S. citizens. All these riches are being sent to these foreign-incorporated gambling site companies, and the government's piece of the action is close to nill. The reality is that those who want to gamble, and those servicing these gamblers will find a way to get together. When there is a demand that lends itself to be serviced on-line, someone will find a way to supply. The biggest money maker on the Internet is still sex and porn. According to John Battelle's book "The Search", up to 30% of the content on the Internet is adult material.

So what is the solution? As our good friend Peter Tosh suggests, "Legalize It". Casino operators in Las Vegas and Atlantic City have lobbied to keep the U.S. ban on on-line gambling, as they fear it will hurt their tourism and gambling revenues. This is backwards thinking. Bricks and mortar casinos are also benefiting from the popularity of on-line poker, and would stand to gain even more if the US legalized on-line gambling. Once someone learns how to play hold-em on-line, the next step is to take their game to a live casino. The government also wins too. The US could put tax revenues collected from on-line gambling towards better educating the public on the dangers of addictive gambling. As well, taxes from on-line gambling could be put towards education and environmental initatives.

What are your thoughts on the pros/cons of legalizing on-line gambling?

Uncle Moe's Family Restaurant

Best line in this mini-episode: "I'd expect that type of language at Denny's but not here." Have you had an experience where a restaurant employee snapped at you like our pay Moesy? If so, please comment.

A Little Help from Your Talented Friends

As most people know, employees at startups have to wear a lot of hats. The challenge is that not all hats fit. No matter how much hard work you put in, there are domains that certain individuals are not very good at. You can have all the books, how-to guides, and dedication in the world, but if you are not artistically inclined, it is safe to assume that you will not be able to paint a Mona Lisa.

So think about your network and determine who has extreme talent or deep domain experience in areas you are not good at. You can not expect your friends to work for nothing and dedicate tons of hours and time to your work, but where you can get real value is in areas that are not time-intensive, but talent intensive.

One of my best friends has always has a gift for drawing cartoons. So when we needed a mascot & logo for GetQuik, I asked him to draw up some samples. A couple days and 20 drawings later, we have our logo/mascot. It didn't take him that long to do the work, and drawing is something he is good at and likes to do. Realize your limitations and see if you can use your friends to help you on your journey.

If anyone has examples where they have called on their friends successfully or unsuccessfully to help in their business, please comment.

Free Analytics Get Better

Wow! I just logged onto my Google Analytics page. The new BETA version of Google Analytics kicks ass. The dashboard not only looks better, but gives a more comprehensive view of your sites vital statistics.

The new beta version has a stronger tie in with Adwords, so you can break down your Google traffic to see which keywords are generating traffic.

You can also see a report showing the # of page views per source. Tons of easy to use reports. If you are using a paid service like WebTrends, you might want to check out Google Analytics (FREE!) to see if it meets your analytics needs.

MySpace for Blogs

I signed up and added the MyBlogLog widget to this site about a week ago. Once you get an account with MyBlogLog, the fun begins. You can link to other bloggers by joining their networks or inviting them into your community. Another cool feature of the MyBlogLog widget is you can see which members are checking out your blog.
The blog search engine provides an easy way to view all the blogs that match your search. If you are looking for a cool widget and way to link to other bloggers, check out MyBlogLog. Warning: This site can consume LOTS of your time.

Crunching TechCrunch

TechCrunch has emerged as the premiere blog for technology startups looking for exposure. Getting covered by TechCrunch has become the preferred method for tech companies to reach the "early adopters".

Dan Fost from the San Francisco Chronicle has written a nice profile on the rapid rise of TechCrunch in his December 6, 2006 article "Valley's 'Mr Web 2.0' seeks next big thing."

Some facts about TechCrunch:
- Launched by Michael Arrington June 11, 2005.
- Over 2 million page views and 1 million unique vistors a month (circa December 2006).
- Generated $180,000 in ad revenues for the month of November 2006 with a staff of 7.
- Arch nemesis: Nick Denton (ValleyWag). Arrington's quote, "Nick Denton is evil."
- SuperFriend: Om Malik (GigaOM).
- Greatest Hit: Broke the story of the $1.65 billion YouTube acquisition by Google.

So how did TechCrunch acheive its status as kingmaker for new technology companies?

1) Timing: Despite the general popularity of blog forums, the best known Silicon Valley/Technology blog at the time of TechCrunch's launch was ValleyWag. ValleyWag is the antithesis of TechCrunch. ValleyWag is fascinating because of its fearless nature is taking on tech industry giants and making them look foolish.
2) Connections: Arrington comes connected from his days at the #1 Valley law firm Wilson Sonsini. He moved from Wilson Sonsini to startup RealNames, which raised over $100 in VC funding. Arrington connects lawyers, VC's, and entrepreners together in order to get the latest scoops in the industry.
3) Dedication & Breaking News: If you are a regular TechCrunch reader, you will see new articles popping up through the day & night. It is not uncommon to see a new story posted at midnight. TechCrunch takes advantage of the blog format to beat the traditional media properties to breaking stories.
4) Positive Attitude Towards StartUps: Generally TechCrunch is enthusiastic and sees the the potential for a wide spectrum of tech trends and startups. If you are a tech startup fortunate enough to get TechCrunch coverage, you are likely to get a favorable review.

With 381,000 feed subscribers, TechCrunch is extending its dominance as the go-to blog for the latest trends, news and companies in technology. As they eventually pass the 1,000,000 feed mark, it will be interesting to see how TechCrunch manages its break-neck growth. Will they need to appeal to a broader audience, leaving an opportunity for a narrowly focused blog to take over as the domain for startups?

Arrington has deftly handled the growth, despite envy of bloggers, traditional news writers, and jilted startup companies to date. Good bet that he will be able to navigate TechCrunch successfully as they reach the next level.

When Woody Met the Falafel Drive-In

For anyone who listens to the Live 105 morning show, you know that Woody loves the Falafel Drive-In. Nary a day goes by without him given this well-known San Jose institution a plug.

Falafel Drive In is to falafels what In N' Out is to hamburgers. A place that generates huge praise, long lines and a dedicated and vocal following. Now their most vocal and famous fan is a highly-rated morning DJ in one of the biggest media markets in the nation. Dumb luck?

The reality is that in order to create a buzz around a product, business or service is that you have to provide a killer product. Billionaire Richard Branson was questioned on how his Virgin brands are able to succeed so well in marketing. His response? To paraphrase Mr. Branson: The key is not marketing, the key is to build a great product and continue to strive towards improving it every day. In turn, the marketing, publicity and buzz comes in time.

In a world where the American consumer is instantly on-guard and skeptical of paid ads and sponsorships, a word of month mention from a friend, or better yet a public figure is golden. So work on building a Falafel Drive-In product or service, and one day, you may get your Woody.

Are You Having A Good Day?

I was at KFC yesterday, and the register gal asked me a simple but powerful question (see title). The fact that I was about to enjoy fried chicken, mashed potatoes and corn on the cob made the answer obvious: "Yes! I am having a good day." Naturally, I inquired on her day as well. You'll be glad to know that she was having a good day too, although busy. She also mentioned that even though they are super busy most of the time, that they are slow during the winter.

So what's the point? There are many ways to greet a person. We get in a rut and ask the non-questions when we meet someone in passing. My standard non-greeting is "How's it going?" The answer is invariable one of the following answers "Good", "Not Bad", "Busy", or "OK". This is basically one step above grunting or nodding at someone.

In sales, they teach you ask open ended questions, but this simple question "Are You Having a Good Day?" is a close-ended question. A closed-ended question ends with one answer - "Yes" or "No". However, this question works as a conversation starter because the person asking the question is actually interested in the answer, plus it is not the same non-greeting that we are accustomed to.

How about this one? "I'm Feeling Lucky." You probably recognize this one from the magic search button that Google has been using for years. It makes you feel good to press that button. Much better than the standard "Go", "Search", or "Enter" buttons.

The power of the English language. You can phrase something thousands of different ways to deliver the same message. Those with a mastery of communications know how the words and phrases they select can produce produce wildly different impact on their audience.

The Rise of the Crowd

I was reading Tom Cole's blog entry and it got me to thinking about the trend towards sites that use the "Wisdom of Crowds" to power their sites.

The best example of this phenomenon is Wikipedia. 1.6 million entries that are amazingly up-to-date, accurate and detailed.

A famous research project surveys a large group of random individuals to guess how many marbles are in a jar. Time and again if you run this experiment with enough participants and average the results, the actual and average are strikingly close.

Some of the more interesting sites using the "wisdom of crowds" are:

digg: user-based ranking of news/publications to represent what is truely the most interesting stories of the day/moment.
StumbleUpon: user-based ranking to help you discover new web-sites that match your interests.
Yelp: real reviews, real people. Want to see what the general public thinks about the new Mediterranean restaurant around the block? Chances are someone has yelped it.
American Idol: not a web-site, but a cultural phenomenom that needs to be considered. How many tens of millions of albums has Kelly Clarkson sold?

So is there any negative impact of the influence and availablity of what the crowds are recommending? Will we all end up eating at the same restaurants, listening to the same music, reading the same newsfeeds, and buying the same camcorders? Not likely. Just as we are seeing social networks created for groups like left-handed Iowa farm workers, we will see digg babbies popping up everywhere too. Although there may be "wisdom in crowds", there will always be those needing to rage against the machine.

Fascinating Google Facts

From the pages of "The Search" by John Barrelle. Barrelle has compiled an amazing book about search, and also brought to light some legendary Google facts.

1) Larry Page's brother was a co-founder of eGroups.com, which later sold to Yahoo!for more than $500 million. Talk about sibling rivalry.
2) The project name that Page and Brin gave to the Google search project while at Stanford was BackRub. Based on the fact that one of the key search ranking of Google is based on back-links to a site.
3) At one point BackRub, which ran out of the Stanford Computer Science lab, consumed nearly half of Stanford's entire network bandwidth.
4) Vinod Khosla introduced Google to Excite, a company that Khosla backed. Page set a price for Google at $1.6 million. As you already guessed, Excite passed.
5) Google's VC Mike Moritz was quoted as saying, "the investment was done in part to help Yahoo." Moritz was on Yahoo's board as well, and realized that Yahoo! could benefit from using Google's search technology. He was right and then some.
6) Google's first investor, Andy Bechtolsheim, famously wrote Brin and Page a $100,000 check at the end of their first meeting. What is less know is that he told Brin and Page to double the valuation of Google to calculate his equity based on his investment. Talk about serious good karma. Brin and Page had not settled on a name at the time, and decided the check should be made out to Google. The check was not deposited for a couple weeks since Google needed to incorporate first.

The Truth about Japanese Restaurants

Watch, laugh and enjoy.