I remember teaching myself how to use HTML for the first time in high school because I wanted to “soup” up my AsianAvenue page (you heard me right, feel free to chuckle and judge as needed).  When I went off to college, I used Microsoft Frontpage to build my first website.  Grad school introduced me to WordPress and tweaking CSS to change my font color, but nothing more elaborate than that.

I wish I knew how to code.  I can read HTML and make token changes, but I’m no developer.  And these are the extent of my coding abilities.

You might find yourself in my shoes, and I have an amazing resource to share.  Need a website?  No coding needed.

Everyone, meet Flavors.me

I stumbled upon Flavors.me through an article on Mashable.  It is a dynamic platform that allows you to customize a website within minutes, while syndicating content from your social networks such as LinkedIn, flickr, and WordPress.

Better yet, it’s completely free, or you can also customize your own domain URL for $20 a year.  It’s useful for both personal and business use, and provides basic analytics to measure your traffic so you’re not walking in the dark.

After learning about Flavors.me, I created a portfolio website to package my blog (WordPress), photography (flickr), tweets (Twitter), and resume (LinkedIn).  I guess they really liked it, because it is now featured in their directory!  Woot.

It has a few kinks, but it’s a work in progress.  I’ve provided feedback directly and they have been pretty responsive on Twitter (@flavorsme).  It’s simple.  It’s sexy.  It’s free.  What more can you ask for?

So, what’s your flavor?  I’d love to see your creations.

I purchased my first airline ticket, a round trip ticket to Seattle to attend college, and used my return flight for the holidays.  I remember going to a travel agency where an actual agent used her database to search for the best deals she could find across various airlines.  It was a big hassle—because I had to physically go to the travel agent, and repeat my trip if deals or desired fares were unavailable.

You can say goodbye to the days of relying on travel agents.  In recent days, the power of searching and purchasing a plane ticket has been turned to consumers.  The travel industry has taken popularity online, through OTAs (aka Online Travel Agencies) where consumers can search and coordinate their own flights and vacation packages.  Kayak.com and Expedia.com are both popular OTAs in the Internet world.  While Expedia has been around longer, Kayak.com is a new face that is making ground and paving a new path.  The matrix at the bottom shows the pros and cons of the two websites.

Expedia.com has been around longer, and seems to focus on vacation packages.  With abundant ads throughout the website, as well as promotion of activities and places, the website’s trend leans toward users who prefer travel shopping as an experience.  While an end user may initially go to Expedia with a travel itinerary in mind, he may find himself window shopping outside of his original agenda.

Kayak.com provides a newer platform, and places their focus on providing data rich information that caters to web savvy travel searchers.  They contain more search advertising than display advertising, and provide many ways to manipulate data to the end user.  An end user will most likely find his desired travel information within his first search due to the amount of data Kayak.com provides and its vast ability to filter results.

I can’t say that one OTA is better than the other, because everyone absorbs and retains information differently.  Personally, I prefer Kayak.com because 1) website loads faster, since there are very few images to load, 2) I enjoy having all data presented initially, and then allowing me to control, and 3) I feel that Kayak.com provides cheaper results.

Either way, be sure to do your research.  OTAs are relying heavily on social media to capture deal seeking holiday shoppers in all of us, so we might as well make use of it.

Happy Holidays

I don’t know about you, but I’ve been trying to save some cash during this economic crisis, downturn, whatever you call it.  In fact, my friend and I were recently talking about how we need to take on window shopping as a new hobby.  Well, here’s a cheap (free) way to cure our shopping blues since being broke is the new black.

Meet Kashless.  If Craigslist and Twitter had a love child, this site would be it.  It is the first online marketplace to solely offer postings of free items in the Seattle area.  You can either post directly with Kashless or via third party listings from sites such as  Craigslist or Freecycle.  Using their microblogging design, you can search by categories, by neighborhood, or by distance.  They make the process seamless from bookmarking options to e-mail notifications, but the unique aspect of Kashless is their ability to narrow down your product and save your search preferences.  That’s target advertising (without really being advertising) at its best!

Why would you want to use Kashless?

1. You are probably part of the latest “I’m broke” club.
2. It’s better than throwing your junk in the dumps.  Embrace the second letter in Jack Johnson’s Three ‘Rs‘.  Reuse.
3. It’s highly entertaining.  Just read a couple of the postings.

You find some crazy stuff for sale on eBay, but you can find even more interesting things on Kashless.  And, it’s free.  Who would have ever thought of posting free concrete chunks?  Or a free hot tub?  The entertainment value of this site is probably worth more than all the products combined.  I have a friend who frequently visits the free section on Craiglist for fun, and she’s going to get a kick out of this blog post.

Kudos to you Martin, founder of Kashless.  Thanks for creating another place where I will be dumping my attempting-to-be-productive nights.

And why are you still reading this blog?  Join everyone in the downturn economy and free yourself.  Go Kashless!

If you have heard about #AmazonFail, #Oprah, #HudsonRiverCrash in the past few months, you probably fall into one of these categories:

• Taking the leap onto the Twitter bandwagon
• On the cusp of joining Twitter but don’t want to manage another social networking site
• Maybe considering it, but still too much effort to tell if I’ll be onboard
• Twitter still sucks

Haters, don’t say I didn’t warn you. But thanks for keep me motivated.

I’ve gotten a lot of responses, comments, and feedback from my January entry “To Twitter, or not to Twitter”. Since then, Twitter has vomited all over the world. Even the latest Miss USA pageant (yes, I watched this and you can judge me) had incorporated Twitter animations like “Look at me, I’m Twittering” edited above people in the audience typing away on their cell phones. I am also seeing postings like:

“Follow me on Twitter!”

“I’m finally on Twitter but I don’t get it.”

Twitter had already reached critical mass, but it has really taken off within the past few months. Since 2007, there are 700% more Twitterites worldwide and 1000% in the US (comScore, March 2009). Given the related events in the past few weeks, such as Ashton’s million followers challenge and the Oprah Effect, I am twiddling my thumbs for the next comScore release of Twitter data.

I had a hunch that this so called “spike” was coming, though I didn’t know when it would happen or what would cause it to spike. One thing I do know is that Twitter is not a steroid version of a Facebook update. No one cares if you are brushing your teeth or if you are feeding your dog.

So why should you care? Let me count the ways.

Niche Content

It’s the relatable content that is going to drive Twitter to the next level, whether that the content is national breaking news or content that is niche focused. I think Twitter is diverse enough to be utilized by different industries, but it will take some time to create a “niche critical mass”.

Some niche focused Twitter examples that I know exist today are:

• Amber Alerts (@Amber_Alert)
• Job Listings (@journalism_jobs, @jobsmedical, @freelance_jobs)
• PR announcements (@TaxDayTeaParty, @coachella)

Some other niche focused Twitter examples that I think could benefit from micro-blogging (they may already exist):

• Car sales
• Real Estate listings
• Stock quotes

Imagine if I were to follow my stock quote, Seattle Times, Craigslist posting for cars, local marketing events, etc. – I could log into my Twitter each morning to get my latest feed of (desired) information. But, the pseudo RSS capability isn’t the only added value of Twitter.

Virtual Think Tank

If you really want to use Twitter to tell the world that you are having a Big Mac or going for a walk, go right ahead. But in my opinion, that’s what Facebook is for.  Most people (not businesses) use Facebook as a true social network. It is a modern way of keeping in touch with your family and friends. You update your pictures and status to let a closed group of social networks know what you’re up to.

I think Twitter is a bit different. They provide the audience for you to share niche content with. It is a way to let the world know your brain provoking thoughts and to share links to interesting sites or breaking news—and Twitter serves as your dumping station. This is why most people who end up linking Twitter with Facebook updates decide to disconnect the two platforms later on. Content on Twitter is meant to be public, otherwise, what’s the point of using it? You have Facebook if you want to keep things private to people you know. If you’re not comfortable with communicating and brainstorming with the public, then maybe you should just stick with Facebook updates.

Interacting with your Fans

On that “going public” note, you should also consider interacting with your audience. Twitter is not only a platform where you can share information, but also to network with your followers. Check out Twitter’s help section, and discover the different techniques such as hashtags, re-tweets, and direct replies.

I do want to share a pretty cool use of Twitter I had never come across before.  During a lecture on social media by Adam Metz, there was a live Twitter feed on a big screen of all the tweets being posted in the room. The audience would tweet during the presentation and use an event-unique hashtag to show up on the aggregated feed, which ignited real time discussion even before he started taking questions. Talk about prematurely engaging your audience and creating a transparent environment for knowledge sharing. I can totally see this practice being implemented in conferences and the classroom (maybe it already is).

So, there. Thanks to your feedback, I managed to deliver a resource focused Twitter kool-aid post for your consumption. Perhaps the next comScore data will lead to part trois.

[posted on Flip the Media]

Image from Calabarock.com

Want to record a podcast?  There’s an (iPhone) app for that.

Even before iPhones entered the marketplace, video recording capability was integrated into cell phones.  But who would have thought users would need to take a step back into the world of audio recording?  Here’s a new tool (with a brand name that seems endorsed by Obama) that you can utilize while you’re on the go.

Introducing Calabarock (beta), a free iPhone application that allows you to record audio and share your content with others.

Orginally, it was developed to help musicians record songs and share with other musicians online, but it can also be used for those creating podcasts.  Not only can you record audio using your iPhone, but you can interact with others to work on a simultaneous project.  This is a great resource for multi-tasking podcasters who work with multiple partners (think student projects) to develop a cohesive podcast.

You can download this application for free: Calabarock.  Let me know how you like it!

This week, I started using Twitter after almost a year long hiatus with a few attempts in between.  And now, I’m absolutely hooked.

During my first class in the MCDM program, my professor encouraged us to play around with Twitter.  As a long time social networking site user and a web 2.0 advocate, I’d self proclaimed myself as an early adopter to new tools and gadgets.

Boy, was I wrong.

It was difficult for me to understand why I would feel the need to update my exact whereabouts practically every minute of the day, especially when I already had a tool that worked just perfectly fine.  I had been tailoring my Facebook updates to express my two cents to a closed group of social networks.  Besides, status updates become more fun when you have an audience reading your daily rants and thoughts and commenting back with stamps of approval or comic relief.

Then, I discovered that Twitter is quite different than a just fancy version of Facebook status updates.

After two years since my Twitter introduction, I am finally jumping on the Twitter phenomenon.  I don’t know how long it will last, but for now, I’m seeing the bigger picture that is social media.  Social media is an online tool to help build relationships.  Whether you are representing a business or yourself, you are walking on a two way street.

Many people rely on social networking sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn to connect with other people.  They utilize features on these sites such as status updates and news feeds to build personal and professional relationships.  But these sites are limited to people connections.  They provide a two way street for people like us who choose to be connected.

Alternatively, Twitter also provides a two way street, but it includes a connection between businesses and people.  You choose to be connected, but it is not necessarily a connection validated by both parties.  Anyone or any business with a Twitter account can instantly follow a user.

Witnessing the powerful effect of social media tools, businesses are often scratching their heads to come up with the latest and greatest way to “communicate” with their customers.  They have experimented with blogs and uploads, but they can be timely and take up a lot of resources.  Twitter is starting to break ground as a social media tool that connects businesses to consumers in a different way.  It is different than blogs, articles, and Facebook fan pages, because Twitter is the real time transparency that consumers demand in their sub conscience.  Marketers need to embrace the truth in that social media is not directly tied to ROI.  It’s about building brand equity through critical mass.  It is a long term strategy and not a shortcut to immediate monetary return.  In my opinion, social media is best used as a complementary marketing tool, just as many brand oriented marketing campaigns support direct response advertising.  Just my two cents.

Personally, Twitter is like using a 2.0 version of RSS feeds, because you’re not only receiving updates (“tweets”) but you are also contributing at the same time.  It’s a conversation.  It’s a two way street.

I started to follow news sites such as MSNBC, CNN, and New York Times on Twitter.  That lead to following companies that I take interest with.  Which eventually lead to following social groups like our MCDM program and the upcoming Super Bowl.  Then, slowly (but surely) I broke out of my Twitter cocoon.  I realized that, for me, Twitter is an optimal social network to update the world about my daily rants on digital media.  It’s the first social networking site that I am not afraid of partaking in public (with no privacy features), because it is an environment where I want the world to hear what I have to say.  Facebook wasn’t a great atmosphere for this for me.  Twice, I tried linking my Twitter to FB status updates, and it hasn’t been a hit.  But who knows, this could change as the way we interact with our online audience continues to evolve.

This so-called revelation of mine isn’t to say Twitter is the new grand solution for everything.  Nor am I definite that Twitter has a promising future.  But when a website is not monetizing and receives non-solicited bids up to $250M, you have to tilt your head and wonder what the hype is all about.

I still consider myself an early adopter for the most part, but I think it takes a couple of tries to make any new tool stick.  Every effort can be a hit or miss when it comes to social media tools, such as networking sites, user generated content, and applications.

So haters, beware.  I learned my lesson the hard way.  Fad or no fad, you just may be missing out on the next big thing, because with social media, everything is inevitable.  Give Twitter the benefit of doubt.

Another great article on embracing Twitter
Check out your Twitterholic Ranking!
TweetDeck: A very useful Twitter application
Follow me on Twitter

When Microsoft first entered the tech marketplace with their first version of Windows, who would have thought that one day they would segue into the gaming arena?  No one would have guessed that the night before the launch of a Microsoft gaming device would create a trend of waiting overnight in front of gadget stores.

Let’s just say Microsoft has come a long way.  Despite the infamous Mac vs. PC ad campaign led by Apple

, there are still fans of Microsoft out there—rooting and waiting for the next innovation.  And lately, Xbox 360 seems to draw much of the hype.

If you think about the success of Xbox 360 and the making of a gaming product, there are a couple of key aspects that come to mind:

1.       Improved Online/Cyberspace Interaction – With the original Xbox, LIVE was introduced to allow gamers to interact with other Xbox players through the Internet.  With Xbox 360, users can also interact with the Xbox marketplace to download games, sample trial games, etc.

2.       Personalization – Xbox 360 owners can personalize their hardware with different “skins”, which come in various colors and patterns.  While this attribute is fairly simple, the capability of expression goes far in design because it connects the user to their product.

Similarly, the Microsoft Zune is another interactive entertainment product that is based on the same aspects.

1.       Online Interaction – Zune owners can share their music with friends who also own a Zune.  This creates an easy viral movement for new music and artists.  This is the first portable music device that has created an opportunity for users to interact with their music online.

2.       Personalization – Consumers can either purchase their Zune from various colors, or they can purchase a Zune online with a personalized design.  In the same way as Xbox, this is an easy feature that provides significant value to users.

What’s next in store for the entertainment world?  Whatever the next big thing may be, companies should focus on the importance of interactive and personalizable features.

Let’s just get the cat out of the bag:  Windows Media Player (WMP) is old school.  It’s a grandfathered media player that needs to be phased out or revamped.  And, it’s definitely not sexy.

Sexy aside, everything has a purpose–and WMP gets the job done.  It doesn’t use as much bandwidth as Quicktime, because most websites that need to stream at high quality do not rely on WMP.  Forbes.com doesn’t seem to mind Windows Media Player’s simplistic nature, because it gets the job done.  News, compared to websites that use plenty of rich media graphics, does not need much bandwidth to stream their content.  In the news industry, speed trumps quality to help break the news–but not to say quality is completely neglected.

News sites like Forbes.com opt to use Windows Media Player because their main focus is not to deliver a rich media experience.  Most of their content is ‘live’ coverage, or ‘on site’ coverage–both of which do not provide a seamless experience anyway.  Their purpose is the get the news out faster than the competition.  With news stream at high speed and low quality, it is cost effective solution for streaming media on news websites.

Personally, I’m not a huge fan of WMP, because I like to watch videos online for the rich media experience.  When I visit news sites, I read the articles 99% of the time, because I can skim and only read the sections I want.  I feel that watching videos on news sites are time suckers, because you waste a lot of your time suffering through bad advertisements and news reporters anyway.

[After taking a streaming media class], I will stand up for WMP because quality doesn’t always have to have sex appeal.  If you’re in the video industry, it doesn’t hurt to know both technologies.

Who doesn’t love Johnny Cash?
More importantly, who doesn’t love QuickTime?

The movie, ‘Walk the Line’ has an official website to promote their DVDs.  As you enter the site, QuickTime is immediately integrated into the homepage using various clips from the  movie.  I enjoy this particular feature because it is visually appealing–and websites that promote media such as movies, televison shows, and concerts are best delivered with smooth, uninterrupted, and flashy streaming media rather than extremely detailed text.  If I could change one feature, I would not use an unlimited loop for the background video– it’s efficient to catch the user’s initial attention, but it becomes distracting after one or two loops.

Quicktime was probably the most attractive video format for ’Walk the Line’ because it allows seemless execution of streaming media on their website while integrating flash.  Most websites with a sole purpose to promote film (movie premiere, television shows, major networks) use QuickTime because it takes little time to buffer and the streaming time is seemless to the end user.  It allows websites to deliver their message in creative form–while incorporating a simple and inclusive message to the audience.

I’m a fan of QuickTime.  It’s no wonder why many in the digital media, music, and film industry prefer it too.

Who remembers the days of ICQ, AIM, and MSN messenger? As a user, I chose these chat products because they each had unique features. As the years went by, and saturation became an issue, I decided to devote my time to only one IM: MSN Messenger.

Now, before you go ahead and start pointing the Microsoft fingers, let me tell you why I preferred MSN Messenger above the others. I had more contacts on MSN Messenger than on ICQ or AIM, and most users had a Hotmail e-mail account than an AOL e-mail account. More contacts = easier to keep in touch with people. Besides, most of my friends on AIM already had a presence on MSN Messenger.

This is where Facebook put their thinking caps on.

After spending time growing their number of users (not sure how far the gap is between FB & MySpace, but FB has grown exponentially since opening its doors to the public), Facebook not only began creating monetizing steps but also focusing on ways to make their interface “sticky”. Monetization is fine, I mean, all businesses need to make their money somehow, right? Both MySpace and Facebook blast ads because someone needs to bring home the bacon. But how about making their site sticky enough that users cannot live without their preferred social networking site? How about maintaining or building loyalty among users they already have?

MySpace was a good start, but I’m not sure they were thinking long term. The one unique feature that I can commend is the Music section, where musicians can upload and digitalize their PR efforts. However, all new features have been practically jipped from Facebook.

I’ll finally get to the heart of the matter. Facebook IM…

What better way to engage users and keep them entertained than creating a new and easy way to communicate with no effort whatsoever? The main reason I ditched past IM products was because I had more friends on one platform than the other. With Facebook’s network on the rise, the launch of IM is an innovate way to provide something fresh without making it complicated. When I first logged onto Facebook IM, I was relieved I didn’t have to go through the process of “adding friends” – which previously had been a complete waste of time.

Shirky mentions: “Revolution doesn’t happen when society adopts new technologies–it happens when society adopts new behaviors.” I have a feeling that Facebook IM will become a new behavior in the social media world. The technology has already been released, it’s just a matter of time before it becomes a norm.