Rivermile

Foursquare makes things easier yet for businesses

H Burke — Wed, 02 May 2012 11:00:19 +0000

Via TechCrunch, location check-in service FourSquare will now be offering store managers a quick and streamlined method for claiming and verifying businesses. At a cost of $10 one-time, seems like a decent bargain to get activated and take advantage of the mobile check-in crowd. I’m on of that crowd, and I always think a bit more highly of places I check into that have a presence on the service.

If you’re a retail shop, restaurant, or public venue of any kind, more than likely people are already checking into your place, so why not make sure you’ve got a decent welcome mat?

Google indexing: the 8 minute tutorial

H Burke — Wed, 02 May 2012 03:56:56 +0000

Take a few minutes for a quick primer on how Google crawls, indexes, and ranks your website. The always-informative Matt Cutts runs through the basics, including the changes in frequency and method that Google has made over the last decade or so.

Analytics in the hands of bad people

H Burke — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 11:00:39 +0000

Do you like watching internet video? Do you find yourself wishing that all those great online vids would be interrupted with commercials halfway through, just like on the old-timey broadcast TV stations?

Of course not. But these idiots are running out a report that says: “hey, when we stick commercials in the middle of videos, more people stick around through the end of the ad.” Therefore, consumers LIKE midroll ads! Yes, and while you’re at it, this video on demand stuff is too confusing. Any chance we could “schedule” all this internet video to only run in a given time slot each week?

I’ve been using Adobe products for decades now. But man, there are times when I wish they’d just step off the ledge and end it.

Nonprofits utilizing Storify

H Burke — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 02:38:36 +0000

Given the fleeting nature of Twitter posts and other social media, it only makes sense that nonprofit orgs would archive/present the highlights with a tool like Storify.

Quick and easy image work

H Burke — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 01:29:13 +0000

B.I.R.M.E.

Need to crop or resize a bunch of images? Don’t have Photoshop? No problem. This cool tool called B.I.R.M.E. (Batch image resizing made easy) has a beta page that’ll set you up. Perfect for WordPress users who use a lot of images but don’t always have access to good image manipulation tools.

Unique sales model for ebooks

H Burke — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 01:23:02 +0000

Ebook publisher OnlyIndie opens a new window for authors and book buyers. The first 15 copies of a title sold are free, after that, each additional purchase costs one penny more than the last. Price hits maximum at $7.98, so clearly aimed at independent or new writers. If a day goes by without a sale, the price begins to fall again. Very clever method of encouraging viral sales that, in theory, should benefit everyone involved. Via @sivers

Bendy internets coming your way

H Burke — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 23:48:56 +0000

After more than a decade of tease about forthcoming flexible e-ink displays, LG is moving something into mass production. This would have seemed huge about 3 years ago, but now that tablets — or at least iPads — have overrun the market, the whole idea of e-ink news that you can roll up like a magazine seems more of a novelty, less like the future.

Still, useful applications could emerge. Hikers/paddlers might use a flexible internet device that is fully waterproof and durable (I’m thinking maps here, not vanity Facebook updates). Many other uses where durability is a big factor, image quality not so much, could obviously emerge too.

Balcony access, no cover charge

H Burke — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 12:32:12 +0000

With many newspapers now jumping into the paywall game, it’s a good time to regroup and think about what really serves your customer. At Gigaom, that means don’t build a paywall, create a velvet rope instead. I believe the velvet rope concept - creating an atmosphere where people want to gain entry and participate – applies to non-media sites as well. No matter your web presence, the goal ought to be getting customers engaged and invested in you with their time and opinions, not merely their credit card.