Meet me at Sharpenr

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

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

I hope you will find Sharpenr interesting and useful.

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

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

/Jaan

The new Sharpenr feed.

Goodbye. Hello.

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

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


/Jaan

"Why Facebook, why now?"

"Why Facebook, why now?"

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

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

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

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

iZimbra

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

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



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

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


Video and photos.

The Nine Biggest Myths of the Workplace

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

From Guy Kawasaki

Shifd.com

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

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

Foldera - Take your time

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

My previous post on Foldera: Foldera

Small is essential

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

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

Binder clip cable organizer

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


Simple Binder Clip Cable Organizer!

Preview feature in NNW 3

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