Cameron Reilly has just written about a concept called “keiretsu”, which he loosely defines as “…a group of non-competing businesses with a strategic relationship”. In doing so he has put an official sounding name on a concept Theo and I have discussed in depth, are working towards and wholeheartedly support.
Continued – Supporting the Keiretsu Model or Synergy
Categories: Australia · Australian Startups · Australian Websites · dLook · startups · synergy
Australian startup StreetAdvisor launched this week and has received a huge amount of coverage. GigaOM, Mashable, SearchEngineLand and TechCrunch among those to review.
Essentially people in 26 countries can log in and rate their street (Google maps mashup) according to a 5 characteristics
There’s a wealth of valuable content to be generated here (Reviews, GuideBoard and StreetBoard) and it’s got the potential to be a hyperlocal (or as Search Engine Land calls it Micro-Local) wikipedia.
I wonder if this will escalate neighbourhood squabbles to a whole new level?
Categories: Australian Startups · community · neighbors · neighbours · startups · web 2.0
Last night I attended my first “tech” function – Sydney Stirr. What a great night! The evening was organised by Martin Wells and hosted by Tangler, Omnidrive, Technology Venture Partners and Atlassian. Many thanks guys for a the opportunity and fun evening.
It was great to actually meet (or at least put a face to a name) some of the people whose websites (or blogs) I visit.
dLook was fortunate to have a display on the night, and also our “60 seconds” (strictly enforced!) in the spotlight.
Other Australian startups presenting were;
Rave About it – the Australian online review site, currently in Beta.
I managed to have an interesting chat with Mark, about some of the day to day challenges we face and plans for the future.
3eep.com – a new online sporting community site, released earlier this year.
Booking Angel – which provides a booking service for restaurants integrated into other websites like Eatability. Restaurants receive an automated phone call with reservation details, which they can accept or reject by pushing a number on a keypad – a bonus for the busy restaurateurs who can’t always be at the computer. The details are then emailed to the restaurant, and the reservation confirmed or rejected to the customer.
Other reports on the evening – Mick (nice to meet you) and Sri.
Categories: Australia · Australian Startups · Australian Websites
Via a comment on this blog by Matt Vapor, I heard about a service that Matt is running called CLiCK Computer Recycling.
CLiCK operates out of Murdoch University in Western Australia. The idea is that they take obsolete computers (computers which are no longer required by individuals, schools or businesses), wipe the data, and repackage the computer to give to someone who can’t afford to buy their own.
When you think that computers are almost a disposable item when they pass their use by date, that these can then be cleaned up and distributed to people who mightn’t otherwise have the opportunity, well I think it’s a terrific initiative.
So if you have any unused computers lying around, or you can spare some time to help Matt and the team out, head over to CLiCK Computer Recycling and Computer Assistance and let him know. Matt also faces some unique challenges with Microsoft Licencing, so if anyone has any suggestions, I’m sure Matt would love to hear from you.
And to Matt, all the very best with the program.
Anyone with a finger on the pulse of the blogosphere would no doubt have heard about Kathy Sierra.
I have to say that I wasn’t familiar with Kathy or her blog, but from what I understand she’s well respected in her field and her blog seems filled with good quality information. Irrespective of her reputation or standing in the community, what she has experienced is just downright scary.
It’s a dilemma that faces a blogger, and perhaps more so women than men, about how much to reveal of oneself.
As a parent, I try to instil on my children about keeping safe online. They (the ones old enough to be using the internet) both have (private) Myspace profiles and have dabbled with other sites. I’m also conscious of what I write about my family.
Yet as a professional (as Kathy is), in order to receive credibility you need to “put yourself out there”, make your presence known and felt. To have to deal with what she has, in return for just doing what she does (best), is really sad – be it male or female. And unacceptable.
And I say good luck to Robert Scoble – if he and Maryam need a week to digest the situation, then who has the right to criticise that?
I hope that Kathy can find peace and happiness in what ever path she should choose.
Categories: blogging
Ok, so this isn’t a particularly popular blog, yet the spammers seem to find it! I think over 30 spam comments today alone – might not sound like a lot to many blogs, but it is for a little blog.
I can’t understand why they bother with WordPress blogs, given that they have Akismet built in (and thank goodness)? Have a look at this one, though if you have a blog, you’re probably quite familiar:-
Categories: random
Mark Robinson is reporting that Technorati has fixed the errors I previously mentioned.
I noticed one blogger who was claiming a ranking of 3,830 just 3 days ago is now around 50,000 and Mr Chow has dropped out of the top 100.
Back to status quo.
Categories: technorati
Many of you would be familiar with a popular website called PostSecret, whereby people (make and) send a postcard via snail mail with a confession, or innermost secret thought included. These are then added to the website, which is updated weekly and are subsequently compiled into books which can be purchased.
Via the Blog Herald, I found out about a newly released Australian site called Hidden Lives, which was founded by Justin McMurray (ex Crikey) of ideogeny.
The idea is that users can anonymously register to create a free account, and post short entries beginning with one of 37 random starting lines. Some examples are;
My biggest regret is….
One thing I would change about myself is….
If I wasn’t stuck behind this desk….
The most important thing to me is….
I have this idea….
The site also comes with a voting system (called “appreciations”), but you need to register to do that. You can also sort by starting line, country, age, screen name, number of votes or most recent. The site is in beta, and from what I gather the oldest of the 250 comments were posted just after Christmas, but I’m unsure of when the site officially launched.
Many bloggers are reluctant to give away too much of themselves, or prefer to stay on topic. However, it can be cathartic to record these comments and here’s a place to do that. It also challenges the reader to think about what their response would be. Probably not for everyone, but an interesting concept.
(p.s. don’t go looking for any entries from me because I have refrained!)
I just found a video about this site, also.
Categories: .com.au · Australian Startups · Australian Websites · social media · startups
Well after some speculation, and a failed auction, it seems Darren Rowse did buy Problogger.com after all.
The price? Somewhere between $4,050 and $7,000 USD.
Good luck to Darren, and I hope his investment pays off.
Categories: Problogger.com · Problogger.net
People often complain about the results when they search on an online directory. When I say online directory, I am referring of course to a business directory, such as Yellow Pages, or dLook (a site which I co-founded). Not to be confused with a search engine like Google. I make this distinction because, whilst we are becoming more specific with our search engine searches, and the results are rewarding, we are often being frustrated by the results returned to us in local searches.
Continued – Local Search Frustration
Categories: Australia · Local · dLook · directory · free advertising · search · yellow pages
