Category: web 2.0

rumours of attention scarcity have been greatly exaggerated

Leisa Reichelt

People have a boundless interest in those that they think worthy of their attention.

So says Stowe Boyd of /Message, and I agree entirely.

If you think something is important or interesting or worthy of your interest. You’ll make time for it. You’ll make it a priority.

Even when you have 300 blogs in your RSS aggregator, there are some that you will always have time to read.

When you scan for news online, there are some keywords that will always get your attention.

You’re not *supposed* to know everything or be interested in everything. If that were the case, we’d all be remarkably boring and alike. Stowe says:

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Platial – mashup with meaning

Leisa Reichelt
Platial

Have you had a chance to check out Platial yet?

It’s a big call, but I think this is possible my favourite Google Maps mashup to date.

Platial allows you to create your own maps using the Google Map interface, as well as add to other people’s maps. You can map *anything* you like. So, because it’s about people making meaning with maps/places, you end up with some really interesting content.

Some of the maps are very personal – trips that people have taken, places they frequent regularly, places they’ve had car accidents. Others are useful community tools – Stereo shops that don’t suck, restaurants, commuter public transportation, band tour maps. Here’s a little sample:

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hngry? Not *that* hungry.

Leisa Reichelt3 Comments

hngry logo

Here’s a product that’s just been released and has managed to generate a little noise in the blogosphere.

Here’s the low down:

… get all of the menus from your favorite restaurants, sit down in front of your pc, open hngry and put in all the important info for each restaurant.

… When you’re hungry and can’t decide where to eat, just log in to hngry and click on “Where to eat?” hngry will ask you for the amount you’d like to spend, and the type of food you’d like to eat. When you’ve picked, click “I’m hngry”, and hngry will tell you where to eat, based on that information. … If you’d like, you can just print off the whole page and take it with you when you go!

And that’s it.

Here’s another idea. When you get junk mail or get take away food, grab the menu and put it with a group of others in a place you’ll remember. I use a very high tech bulldog clip and the botton drawer in my kitchen. My friend Penny uses a more high tech solution involving twine and a hook on the back of her kitchen door.

Why on earth am I going to spend my time entering all that information into a web app? What do I get?

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bitchin’ blog (beta isn’t a marketing phase)

Leisa Reichelt5 Comments
Beta

Recently I’ve been bothered by the fact that, in general, bloggers are either too lazy or too nice.

You (person with startup/new service) email a bunch of bloggers and give them ‘special access’ to information about your project, or a beta invitation. Said blogger then either feels obliged to give you a plug (more often than not just your products name, your cute 2.0 logo and the briefest of brief descriptions with an instructions for you to either check it out or wait to find out more.

Having been the recipient of a few of these previews and invitations lately, and even just checking out new services I pick up from other people’s blogs … I find myself in a bit of a quandry.

Does Mum’s Principle apply here? (If you’ve got nothing to say, say nothing at all).

I wouldn’t have thought so, but then… that being the case, why are so many others being so damn nice?!

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