Google Changes its Name

In an effort to win over Google and get their coveted new broadband internet technology the city of Topeka, Kansas changed its name to Google for a month. On April 1st internet users were probably a little confused when they visited their favorite search engine and saw “Topeka” in the middle of their screen. The April Fools prank was a response to Topeka’s name change, but according to Google is not an indication of what city will get their new high speed internet.

Ferret Powered Broadband

The guys at Telegraph Media Group reported that a new and unlikely delivery method was now being used to bring high speed internet to people living in rural areas. According to the article on their website “The animals have been used by Virgin Media for over a year to help lay cables for its broadband service”. Finally, a better way to close the digital divide!

Prescription Windshield

Finally the seeing impaired people of the world can drive without the hassle of wearing eyeglasses! A video popped up on April Fools Day touting the new and innovative prescription windshield that brings everything right into focus.

You Scream, I Scream, Lick Your Screen for Ice Cream

Ben & Jerry’s had one of the most original April Fools pranks this year with the world’s first virtual ice cream. Simply activate the ice cream on their web site and lick!

This QR code links to our Facebook page

According to the guys over at TechCrunch Facebook has started to roll out the implementation of QR codes, or Quick Response codes, on personal pages and fan pages. QR codes are like bar codes, only they can store a lot more information and can be read by most modern camera phones. They can be used to link to your facebook page, a photo or video, text, product price, or something else. They’re meant to be a way to link people to information through mobile devices. Want to be able to instantly share your Facebook link with people on your business card? Print a QR code on it so people can snap a photo with their phone and open up the link!

Anybody can make QR codes for free with online QR code generators. The future might be filled with buses, billboards, print ads, and other things having QR codes printed on them. People will be able to get more information about those things just by reading the QR code. This is called ‘mobile tagging’.

On Facebook the links to create QR codes have been appearing on your page under your profile picture. We’re not sure how long it will take for everybody to get this link, or if it’s just them testing out the concept, but it’s pretty cool nonetheless.

According to B2B Social Media Benchmarking, a report from BtoBonline.com, the five most popular resources people turn to at work to get the information they need for their day-to-day jobs are:

• Webinars and podcasts
• Online ratings and reviews of business products or services
• Company pages on social networking sites such as Facebook or LinkedIn
• Company blogs
• Searches of business-related information on social media sites

Company size, job role, and industry all play roles in how much each of these resources is used. Larger companies are more likely to see success from social media marketing when reaching out to other businesses, but smaller companies can benefit as well, especially from online ratings sites. While Twitter is used less than podcasts and webinars it is still used for B2B by 41% of those businesses that use social media. Companies in industries such as marketing and advertising, computers and software, and the internet all are more likely to use and see results from social media than other industries such as legal or accounting.

A good rule to get the best results out of a B2B social media marketing campaign is to continually test different channels and keep an eye on what other competing companies are doing with social media and with what effect. Also, don’t spread yourself too thin. Focus on the most important channels for your company and maximize your results in that channel. This will be the year that more companies use social media for B2B but it will take some time and research before a solid formula can be developed for any company.

So why the change? Our former parent company, Growth Technologies International, Inc. has become That’s Us Technologies, Inc.  So they took over the main url, ThatsUs.com.

Sorry for any confusion and stay tuned to  see our new and improved parent site!

If you don’t have an internet connection in your home or office, chances are you have it on your mobile phone. If all else fails you can probably walk a few steps to your nearest coffee shop or restaurant and access it for free there. So with all these avenues to  connect to the web and conduct a quick search to get the information you want at your fingertips – why bother paying the extra money to have just a fraction of that news printed on paper and delivered to you? Of course, some people enjoy  the smell of a freshly printed newspaper, the daily ritual of senjoying a cup o’ joe while enjoying the feeling of having the news physically there in their hands and not having to stare at a flickering computer screen.

Google CEO Eric Schmidt said, Google Inc (GOOG.O) is not to blame for the news industry’s problems but is committed to playing a role in helping struggling publishers survive the transition to the online age (source). “With dwindling revenue and diminished resources, frustrated newspaper executives are looking for someone to blame…Much of their anger is currently directed at Google, whom many executives view as getting all the benefit from the business relationship without giving much in return…The facts, I believe, suggest otherwise.” he said.

Droid is expected to be the iPhone “killer”. It does everything an iPhone can – and more with access to thousands of Android apps, Google Maps integration with turn by turn voice directions – now that’s handy! The Droid is carried by Verizon Wireless and it can be in your hands today for a cool $199.00 (with a 2 year contract, of course).

I must say I’m intrigued by this phone, but the “real” keyboard that is widely advertised could be a change from the sleek touch screen of the iPhone. I think I’ll stick to the iPhone until I hear more from users. Until then – I’m following Droid’s updates on twitter & facebook!

Just a few days ago we were talking about a new feature on Bing, Microsoft’s search engine and Google’s biggest competitor, which integrates Facebook status updates into its search results. You didn’t expect the giant powerhouse AKA Google to just sit back and take a punch to the chin, did you?

In one swift motion Google pounced into the social search market by adding Google Social Search. The company announced that Google Labs’ new feature would be available starting Monday and would integrate things like Twitter updates and photos from Flickr into the bottom of search result pages. The results are pulled from social networks connected to users’ Google Profiles. The more connected you are, the more you can have your stuff shared in search results.

While more exact details of the what and how havn’t quite been answered yet, there is no question that search engines, and SEO, are changing drastically.

craigslist can be used to feed your RSS reader

The Novermber issue of Wired magazine has a handy  little article (”Pwn Craigslist”, page 34) that explains how simply searching Craigslist could leave you less than satisfied. “Every craigslist query is XML-enabled, which means it can power an RSS feed…if you enter search parameters for, say, a beige 1982 Camaro…the resulting web address will be the same every time”. With this new information, you can add the URL to your Google Reader or any other RSS reader and all new posts that match your query will appear. Ta-da!

So, what do you think? Is this helpful information? I’ll give it a shot.

Too small/large text

typography in web design

Typography is very important on the web and with the advancements in Cascading Style Sheets  there is no reason for not getting creative with font styles. However, too small of text can be hard to read while too large of text can be a nuisance to the design rather than an attribute.

Not enough content

What is your site saying if there isn’t any content? Many sites may look pretty, but if they lack text describing who you are, what you do, and what your purpose on the web is then why should visitors be compelled to come back? Furthermore, I’ll bet those search engines won’t pick up on that site very well.

Too much content

A website with too much content can be compared to a bad date with too much too say about themself and no regard for the other person at the table. Sure, content is great and very necessary but it’s also important to have a balance between imagery, content, and functionality. Don’t bore your audience by talking too much. A good web designer looks for any chance possible to communicate and interact with their visitors whether it be by adding flash animation, polls, or an image gallery with comments enabled.

Someone else’s design

Sure, all designers take hints from other people’s work and use them as inspiration for their own designs, but completely copying someone else’s design is the worst thing you can do. Be creative – use your own unique style to come up with a look all your own.