I looked everywhere for validation on my idea. Of course I felt it was needed, as did a select few entrepreneurs. But I received rejection from everywhere. VCs I met with said it wasn’t really addressing a specific need. An entrepreneurial advisor who had himself tried out a similar idea, said I would probably not succeed. I knew rejection would be part of it, but I kept getting frustrated by the dearth of Eureka! moments as I explained the concept.

The other day I was unloading excess computer equipment from my car, a dozen obsolete CPUs and monitors from my parents house. A construction worker approached me, and started asking for advice about resolving a virus issue on his kids computer. I happy gave him some advice, and he walked away.

A few minutes later, he came back and asked “Hey, can I hire you for a couple hours to come help me out?”

Unfortunately I had to decline.

He then responded “Too bad. I know a ton of people who could use help with their home computers and TVs. The big services are way too expensive, but we need it.”

Validation comes from the most unexpected places.

While others are entrenched in how we will watch TV, and where it’s coming from. I’m more interested in what we do while watching TV, particularly integrating the social element that we have when watching a show with other people.

Looks like CBS is doing it. Here is a shot of their Social Room product. It looks like it’s made by a company called ClipSync.

First off, I love the idea.
The interface needs a ton of work. Chat seems to be an afterthought, instead it’s throwing up a whole lot of junk on one screen, with a lot of wasted space. And the primary interaction is really, really annoying.

Besides the under used chat and the quiz element on the right rail, you also can interact using one of the six icons (including the branded Intel logo). Whatever you do shows up on everyone’s screen, and there’s no way to turn it off! I spent a good 10 seconds pissing everyone off by blowing kisses all over the screen.

I urge you all to try it out. I feel this is the future, but it could definitely use some improvement.

“100,000 people in 100,000 garages” – great line.

One of the ideas I had come up with was a tool called YesterdayI. YesterdayI was based on a simple purpose: just write a short passage about what you did the day before. Meant as a lifestreaming tool, you would end up forming a series of small blog posts, a daily journal of sorts. Microblogging.

I built it, but, as is so common in the world of small web applications, I did a half-assed job at launching it (I’m a rockstar designer/developer, not a marketing guru), no-one used it, and by then I was already on to the next cool idea. So here it stands, frozen in time, lingering on some web-host I have set to auto-renew.

Then Twitter came, followed in suit by a dozen copycats, and made microblogging a household term. Now of course, Twitter serves an entirely different purpose, and has a whole host of features I never had thought of. But it’s always interesting to see how I was on a similar track.

I’m not complaining that someone stole my idea. I may have missed the boat on this one, but at the same time, I am well aware that ideas alone don’t matter. It’s about execution, marketing, positioning, and being in the right place at the right time.

It would be interesting to rebuild this, and see where it could go from there…

Also interesting to see how much my skills have changed since then. From the elementary javascript to table-heavy design (not to mention a generally ugly design), it’s always great to take a look back at past work and critique it, just like an author may look back at an old text or an artist look at one of their earlier works.

I believe a huge part of what people would like to refer to as “career planning” is being continuously alert to opportunities that present themselves to you spontaneously, when you happen to be in the right place at the right time.

And with that in mind, effective May 2nd, I will be Chief Technical Officer of JESS3.



I couldn’t be more excited. Jesse has already built an amazing team, a huge and exciting client roster, and has the passion and drive to realize our dreams.

Plus I get to play on the web all day. Who can beat that?

Jesse had posted about this the other day, but I wanted to give my current employer proper notice before I started talking about it.

People often trash working for large companies, especially anything government related. I loved it. But, in the end, I knew where I wanted to be, and a stepping stone formed around it.

Real World, Stage 2.

One of the great things about developing third-party applications on Facebook and other platforms is that everything related to user authentication is handled for you.

$user_id = $facebook->require_login();

All a developer has to do is toss in that one line of code, and all user authentication is handled for you.

When building web applications, I’ve spent way too much time dealing with user authentication, profile registration, logging in, logging out, etc. There are lots of tutorials for this, but in the end, you always have to figure it out yourself.

I want to start an open source project that will create a dead-simple user management system, so all a developer has to do is call one line of code, and everything else will be taken care of for them.  I’m calling it the Picket Fence Project.

I also want it to be easily configurable, and it to allow you to log in (optionally) with:

• OpenID - which is way too complicated to implement on your lonesome
• Facebook - If they can log in with their Facebook account, great
• Anything else – whatever other auth systems become available.

Of course, if this is already out there, great. Just tell me

And if you are a PHP rockstar with some extra cycles, let me know.

Watching TV is enjoyable, right?

It’s also fun to watch it with others. In college, we’d always get together to watch the latest episode, talk about it, etc. A shared experience is always better than sitting alone on your couch. But nowadays, I come home from work, and by the time I’m done with the gym, dinner, etc, the last thing I’m going to do is haul over to a friend’s place.

TV Chatrooms is my idea.

That sounds so AOL 1.0, but hear me out.

You’d go on, select your show (off of TV Listings), and be put in a chatroom (or you can set up private ones with your friends). So while the show is running, you can talk with others who are watching the same show.

Have to have some kind of on-demand watching capability for DVR, web video, etc.

Monetization: Advertising. Media networks can use it as a live focus group on their shows. Could be used as a way of interacting with your viewers (you could have writers + actors watching with them).

It looks like TV listings aren’t a free dataset (WTF?).

Whaddya think?

My idea? Create a system where you can sign up for a special e-mail address that connects to all your different social media accounts. Any e-mail to that address will get forwarded on to Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, GTalk, AIM, etc.

You could set rules for what e-mails get sent to what address when.

And it could handle replies.

Open it up so anyone can build their own connector via your API. yay platforms!

So who’s going to make it?

Instead, think about producing a Facebook application to complement your main application. In this post, I’ll show you what elements I’ve implemented in a Facebook application I’m about to release that was developed solely to draw traffic and attention to the primary application, Localnik (If you’d like to know more about the service, stick around for a future post).

1. Function
   The primary function of your application (what users “do” on it) should be the same, or similar, to your main site. You want visitors to use your Facebook application in the same way as they would use the primary version. This will ensure that, your user demographics match up. For example, if you have an image-editing site, your Facebook application should also be an image editor. But…
2. Provide a limited feature set
   What?! Did I just say limit what users can do? I think I did. And here is my justification: If your Facebook application is a mirror image of what your full application is, why should users convert? Finding the right cutoff point is tricky… provide too much functionality, and users won’t bother with your primary site. But provide too little functionality, and your application is worthless. But whatever you do…
3. Advertise your main site. On every page.
   
   At the bottom of every page, I have a advertisement for the full site. Not too intrusive, fits in with the Facebook style, but it is something users will notice. The spin of the ad is focused on telling users how the Facebook app is a demo, and what else the main site offers. This is where enumerate all the features you tearfully omitted out of the Facebook application, as per #2.
4. Entice the users to check out the main site.
   
   People are lazy. Why should they even clicking on a link, registering another account, and exploring something else? You must have something in addition to an advertisement to draw users. Since my main site is in private beta right now, I decided to give each Facebook user an invite code that will give them access to the application before it goes public. This adds the element of scarcity, and gives the user the sense that they are in some way special. Plus, as the founder, it gives me an initial user base . Other ideas: Allow them to register for an account within your Facebook application, or generate an account for them automatically, or have some sort of discount/bonus for joining the main site (points?).

These are what I have implemented for the Facebook-specific mini-version of my main site. You could also use Facebook to boost your business by:

• Testing an idea – Facebook apps are easy to make, with a built in viral user base. Keeping demographics in mind, see if your idea holds water before spending time making the full-blown version.
• Advertising – Since you can put whatever you want into your application, make unrelated, heavily viral, applications, and put an ad for your site at the bottom of each page.

Further Reading
If you’d like to know more about Facebook development, check out the platform home page. Once you get your feet wet, the associated wiki is an invaluable resource.

For ideas on how to grow your Facebook application, AllFacebook is a great resource. The Top 5 Viral Facebook Techniques is a must-read.

Also, I am more than happy to help you (zvi AT zviband DOT com, or post a comment below)

Get a bunch of smart hackers with open source experience together, with the sole goal of keeping Firefox’s memory consumption under control. I can guarantee you will get funded be richer than your wildest dreams within a matter of hours.

Personally, I almost never pay for software (I stick with open source, older versions I have, or software given out by school/work), but I would throw down $100 if I never had to restart Firefox, losing all my tabs/sessions every few hours due to Firefox suddenly taking 50% of my processor and 200+ megs of memory.

Technorati Tags: firefox

1. Send a text message to metro [AT] skeevisarts [DOT] com (replace AT and DOT with the appropriate symbols).
2. In the message, include the first few characters of the Metro station.
3. Type enough of the station’s name so that it can’t be confused with anyone else.
4. For example: If you wanted Dupont Circle, typing “d” could be one of three stations, “du” could be Dupont or Dunn Loring-Merrifield, but “dup” works.
5. It is NOT case sensitive. Feel free to type in dUpONt if you feel like it.
6. For the full list of stations, check here.
7. You’ll get a message back… eventually.

Supported Services

• Email (Send the station name in the BODY of the e-mail)
• Verizon Wireless

Please try this on your own wireless provider. If you can send and receive a message, please e-mail me at skeevis AT skeevis DOT com with your provider!

In case you need a reminder, Metro Times is an application I hacked together in a few hours that allows you to check DC metro times via SMS (standard cell phone text messaging). Previously, the only way to check it via mobile is using wireless internet, which is still in the infant stage in the USA.

It’s not perfect yet. Right now, it’s done via e-mail. This works at least with Verizon, as you can text message any e-mail address from a Verizon phone, and all replies can be send to <phone number>@vtext.com. The SMS/email gateway is maaaad slooooow, but it works. I chose email because A) it works for me, B) I haven’t found a good, low-cost, two way SMS solution. Those 5 digit shortcodes that are used for SMS in the US are a whopping $500-1000 a month, just to lease! I’m looking into a shared shortcode service now, or other options. I don’t use twitter, but might be able to figure out some hack through that. I have no problem spending **some** money, but I am one guy .

Fun stuff

Technorati Tags: dc, washingtondc, wmata, dcmetro

“…dating sites currently suck far worse than search did before Google. They all use the same simple-minded model. They seem to have approached the problem by thinking about how to do database matches instead of how dating works in the real world. An undergrad could build something better as a class project. And yet there’s a lot of money at stake. Online dating is a valuable business now, and it might be worth a hundred times as much if it worked.”

I’m not sure I entirely agree with his statement. I’m sure it works for some, otherwise online dating wouldn’t have so many paying subscribers, right? In my circles, everyone is on JDate, and it’s very much known to be a success. But still, as with everything on the internet, there is room for improvement. So it got me thinking (fine, I was doing an hour of cardio and had nothing else to do )… what about speed dating?

I’ve run speed dating events before in college. And while I have never participated in one, I have heard they are very successful. Why can’t you do it online? If you do a search for speed dating, you find that most of them are just web pages for meatspace speed dating, and others are lame implementations of the hot or not model. With everyone having high speed internet, and the low price/built-in webcams, a streaming video system would be pretty easy to implement.

You would sign on to the web site, where you would have a profile (standard profile). The system would do some **basic** compatibility checks, and organize speed-dating clusters with a whole bunch of people. You’d see two small youtube-sized video players, one with a live stream of you, and one with a live stream of the other person. Beneath it, there would be the other person’s profile, so you’d have some basic info and talking points. You’d talk/see each other for three minutes. After that, you’d have 30 seconds to write up some personal notes, and to rate the other person. And then you would go onto the next person, and so on and so on, until you say you’re done! Afterwards, it would match up the people who liked each other, notify both of them, and allow them, through the rest of the site, to message each other and have extended video chats.

Whaddya think??

I don’t really have time/interest to do this (I’m busy enough as it is ), but if you like it and want to flesh it out more, e-mail me at skeevis AT skeevis DOT com, or leave a comment!

Update: After making this post, and searching a little bit more, I found http://15minutedate.com. They utilize a desktop client, which I was not too impressed with. I then, however, got an e-mail from Mike, who is working on SpeedEdate, which seems awesome. Best of luck to him!

*OK, fine, it’s not totally done yet. It still is missing the SMS interface. But I am waiting for emails from vendors, and my second alternative (sending SMS through e-mail) can’t be done yet because Sun’s dev website is down for maintenance. The command line interface is awesome.

You can just type the first few letters of a metro station, and it’ll respond with the times. Hopefully I’ll have the other part done tomorrow, and then it’ll be ready to party!

Sample output (this is from the command line client). Text in bold is output.

dooo
Could not find a station beginning with dooo
d
Did you mean Dunn Loring-Merrifield or Dupont Circle
dupont
Dupont Circle
RD 6  Glenmont 7
RD 6  Shady Grove BRD
RD 6  Shady Grove 20

metro
Metro Center
RD 6  Glenmont BRD
RD 6  Glenmont 16
RD 6  Shady Grove 8
RD 6  Shady Grove 13
BL 6  Largo Town Center 2
OR 8  New Carrollton 7
BL 6  Largo Town Center 19
BL 6  Franconia 2
OR 8  Vienna 11
OR 6  Vienna 13

gal
Gallery Pl-Chinatown
RD 6  Glenmont 1
RD 6  Glenmont 17
RD 6  Shady Grove 7
RD 6  Shady Grove 12
GR 6  Greenbelt BRD
GR 6  Greenbelt 14
GR 6  Branch Avenue 7
YL 4  Huntington 11

To-dos:

• Optionally specify the line (red, green, etc…) you want.
• Get rid of # of cars (bc who cares!)
• Get rid of no-passenger/mystery cars
• Release it as a command line client, for other geeks (hey, you can order pizza via the command line now…)

I was at a bar for a close friend’s birthday last night. I am a morning person, so I tend to go to sleep pretty early at night (usually), and thus didn’t want to be out late. And for sure, I didn’t want to leave the bar early, walk to the Metro, and find out that the next train is 18 minutes away. So I was thinking… why can’t I find this out on my cell phone? I can find this out on my desktop, and can use it on a WAP enabled cell phone (but who has one?). Why can’t I use it on a normal cell phone? Via text? It’s not graphic or information intensive. All you need to provide is the station, and all I want in return is the times of the upcoming ones.

I could flesh out the idea more… but I’m busy writing it

Anyone know a good SMS gateway?

Thanks, Download Squad!

Late one night, a couple months ago, my girlfriend and her best friend called me up with an idea for a Facebook application (this was just after the Facebook platform, a way for people to make mini-sites that live within Facebook and are used/shared by people with Facebook accounts). I initially ignored it, as I was busy on my own projects. But then, undeterred, they told my best friend. He called me up, and all of a sudden, I found myself deep in the Facebook API, trying to figure out what the hell was going on.

We opened up our application last week, and invited a few of our friends to join it. Just now, less than a week later, we hit 100 users.  I’m not going to say what it is or what it does, you can go on Facebook and check it out yourself.

We anticipated some friction with this, especially among our friends, as this application addresses something that some consider very private. Some of our friends refused to add it because they are afraid that I am going to look into their private data. Hah. We’re going to submit it to the public application directory in the coming days, in the hope that doing that causes our membership to expand exponentially, as it does with other applications. After that, we may look towards some form of sponsorship. This has been a great learning experience, not to mention a good exercise of working with someone else, bug-testing, user-testing, privacy issues, etc. This is the first, and definitely won’t be the last, thing you’ll see out of me.

The only thing worse than a paranoid entrepreneur is a paranoid entrepreneur who talks to his dog.

I fully admit it. I am paranoid as hell. I am someone who (I guess?) is lucky enough to have a very active and creative mind, and is always coming up with new “things.” A lot of it is crap. A lot of it is whack. But I believe the best thing I can do for the community is share my ideas. I have been inspired by Steve Poland’s Techquila Shots and Idea Is Queen! and have seen that, besides ideas for “the next big thing” being a dime a dozen, but the best thing is to share it. By writing about it, you yourself are putting your idea into some semi-solid form. Furthermore, by blogging it you are allowing people to actively contribute and participate in your ideas. I think I will start doing the same.