Another week of a few big announcements but not a large volume of them unfortunately. It looks like I focused more of my time on design related reading from the first few stories on the list. Here is another selection of my favorite articles from the around the web for the previous week.
You can always follow my recommended stories in real-time through the Recommended Reading page or through my Lifestream.
Select Technologies Stories From the Week
- 30 Jaw Dropping 3D Character Creations | Tutorial9
Published: October 29, 2009
Source: www.tutorial9.net
From Toy Story to Bolt, animation has brought us an array of wonderful characters to cherish and enjoy. This roundup highlights a selection of simply awe inspiring 3D characters.
- 5 Fresh & Innovative Collaboration Platforms For The Creative Community
Published: October 28, 2009
Source: Inspired Magazine
OK, we had 10 Niche Social Networks to Get Your Design Creativity On but now we have more! Here are five of the newest and most effective social outlets that help designers, web artists and other creative ppl to find new collaborations. What’s your favorite creative network for collabs? Talenthouse Talenthouse is a global creative platform for artists, providing opportunities for recognition, collaboration, and compensation Haystack With Ha…
- Creating a Timeless User Experience
Published: October 27, 2009
Source: Six Revisions
If we could tear into the fabric of time and look a decade into the future, what kind of experience might we find? It’s easy to imagine the technology would be much more advanced. Something out of a film like Minority Report with holographic touchscreens, or so advanced of an A.I. (artificial intelligence) that the application anticipates solutions without the user having to do much else. In reality the kinds of products, websites, and…
- HOW TO: Measure Social Media ROI
Published: October 27, 2009
Source: mashable.com
Measuring ROI on social media is difficult, and recent surveys have found that most people don’t do it. Use our guide to learn how to measure ROI the right way.
- WOW: iPhone Reaches 100,000 Approved Apps
Published: October 27, 2009
Source: Mashable!
It hasn’t been publicly announced by Apple, who like pointing out milestones that make them look great, but if you look at the stats over at unofficial iPhone App directory App Shopper, there are currently 101,751 approved apps available for the iPhone. In August, we reported that there were 65,000 iPhone apps available. It took about 2 and a half months for that number to reach 100,000 – truly a remarkable feat. Have in mind that this is th…
- Do you have what it takes to be a founder?
Published: October 27, 2009
Source: VentureBeat
(Editor’s note: Serial entrepreneur Steve Blank is the author of Four Steps to the Epiphany. This column originally appeared on his blog.) When my students ask me about whether they should be a founder or cofounder of a startup I ask them to take a walk around the block and ask themselves the following series of questions: Are you comfortable with chaos? (Startups are disorganized) Are you comfortable with uncertainty? (Startups neve…
- The Next App Store: Google Wave
Published: October 27, 2009
Source: Mashable!
Google Wave may still be in its infancy, but it’s already looking towards the future – a future that includes monetization. And part of that monetization will apparently come from an iPhone (or Android)-like app store, where developers can market Wave apps and consumers can buy them, with Google presumably taking a cut. According to The Next Web, Google confirmed an app store is in the works at an event in London on Monday. The blog specula…
- Google Custom Search Rolls Out Themes, Improved Support For Structured Data, And More
Published: October 26, 2009
Source: TechCrunch
Google has just announced the release of a handful of major new features for its Google Custom Search products, including a new set of themes, improved use of rich snippets in custom search, and a new Wikipedia search. The announcements aren’t especially related, but they’ll be welcome news to the millions of sites that have deployed Custom Search. For those that don’t know it, Wikipedia’s search is powered by Google Custom Search behind…
- Modern CSS Layouts: The Essential Characteristics
Published: October 26, 2009
Source: Smashing Magazine
Now is an exciting time to be creating CSS layouts. After years of what felt like the same old techniques for the same old browsers, we’re finally seeing browsers implement CSS 3, HTML 5 and other technologies that give us cool new tools and tricks for our designs. But all of this change can be stressful, too. How do you keep up with all of the new techniques and make sure your Web pages look great on the increasi…
- Web Tools To Help Run Your Online Business
Published: October 26, 2009
Source: John Jonas Blog
There are a lot of online tools I use in running my business. Tools which at one point I didn’t know existed, and when I found out about them, I said “HOLY COW!!! THAT SAVES ME HOURS OF TIME AND THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS!!!” I attempted to create this list somewhat here, but it was just too much content creation for me (I just don’t like creating ongoing content…that’s why I only blog once a month!). So, here’s a big laundry list of too…
- Super-Clean and Minimal Web Designs: 70+ Stunning Examples and Resources
Published: October 26, 2009
Source: instantShift
The web industry nowadays is very productive. During these years there have been many trends followed and every day the designers experiment new techniques creating new tendencies in the art of making website. Recently is evident the necessity of a direct communication with customers and a website is the first place where a company can make know their cool stuff and services. A well-designed website is important for the growth of a business and o…
- 5 Plugins To Make Your WordPress Blog Blazing Fast
Published: October 22, 2009
Source: ProBlogger Blog Tips
This is a guest post by Sid Savara, whose main passion is personal development and personal productivity. Follow Sid on twitter @sidsavara for motivation, inspiration and just chatting If a tree falls in a forest, I don’t know if anyone hears it – but when your blog crashes or takes forever to load, I guarantee you nobody is reading. When you work hard on your content, but aren’t able to capitalize on the attention because your blog takes…
- GeoCities Closes Tomorrow: Goodbye, Old Friend
Published: October 25, 2009
Source: Mashable!
My Note: WOW…pour a 40z for this one!
So, we’ve come to the end of the road. The service that hosted the first website for a generation is set to close down tomorrow. If you’re a GeoCities user, you’ve been given plenty of warning, but you can still hop over there and get your data out today before current owner Yahoo turns out the lights. Meanwhile, the Archive Team’s Geocities Project is doing its best to archive as many GeoCities pages as possible, meaning that select…
- Highland Capital Partners: Great Firm, Real Value Beyond the Money
Published: October 25, 2009
Source: TheFunded.com
| Posted by Seth Priebatsch – CEO – SCVNGR | Fund Rated 2.7Background: Most reviews (on this site especially) have huge biases, so hopefully I’ll be able to give my review some credibility with a bit of background and lack of anonymity. My name is Seth Priebatsch and I’m the CEO (and Chief Ninja) of SCVNGR (www.scvngr.com). We are funded by Highland and have been working with them for over a year now and have had a fantastic experience. Highlan…
- Google Sketchup: 3D For The Rest Of Us
Published: October 20, 2009
Source: 3dvia – Twingly Blog Search
3D modeling applications are notoriously complex and can take years to learn. Complicated modeling tools, infinite material setting variables, lighting radiance adjustments, multiple cameras, UVs, etc…
- Anyone Still Using Friendfeed?
Published: October 13, 2009
Source: CenterNetworks
Remember Friendfeed? The ultimate sharing service that was going to beat Twitter and reach the mainstream in a big way? Web trending service Compete shows Friendfeed down nearly 30% in September with 750,000 U.S. unique visitors. This is down from just over 1 million unique visitors in August 2009. Former Forrester analyst Jeremiah Owyang noted this past weekend, “To be honest, Friendfeed doesn’t have the same appeal it used to post-FB acqu…
- Entrepreneur Corner Roundup: Must haves vs. nice to haves and a particularly harsh lesson learned
Published: October 17, 2009
Source: VentureBeat
Here’s the latest from VentureBeat’s Entrepreneur Corner: How to make friends and influence people (and convert them) – Social media can be a good marketing tool for your company, but if you’re able to become a trusted resource for people via Facebook or Twitter, then you’re really on to something special, notes YoungEntrepreneur.com co-founder Adam Toren. Is your product a “must have” or “nice to have”? – Many entrepreneurs…
- Google Enterprise Campaign Shifts Into High Gear on Eve of Sharepoint Conference
Published: October 19, 2009
Source: ReadWriteWeb
On the eve of Microsoft’s Sharepoint conference in Las Vegas, Google is launching the international phase of an advertising campaign that is the largest ever for its push into the enterprise and one of the most extensive in the company’s history. The "Gone Google" campaign is significant in a number of ways. Sharepoint is one of Microsoft’s crown jewels. It’s a huge business. The technology generates a cool $1 billion in revenues. The technolog…
- With 3 million fans, Fantage formally launches virtual world for kids
Published: October 18, 2009
Source: VentureBeat
While many kids virtual worlds have come and gone, Fantage has quietly built an audience of 3 million registered users. Today, it is formally launching its web site. The company has managed to do what lots of other kids sites have failed to do: get an audience by offering fun games and social activities in a safe, parent-friendly setting. And they did so just by observing kids, building what they like, and starting over when things didn’t work,…
- Feature: State of the Blogosphere 2009 – Technorati
Published: October 19, 2009
Source: technorati.com
Enjoy!
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