Archive for 2008
Apr
9
For all those waiting for a new version of the Quick Post Plugin, it’s coming. My plugin makes extensive use of the jQuery JavaScript library. With the release 2.5, Wordpress uses jQuery extensively. So I am rewriting my usage to use the packaged libraries, there by keeping the code cleaner and less redundant.
Plus, one of the most requested features is the ability to upload images. Since the new WP uses an instance of TinyMCE that supports media libraries, I’m hoping to use that code to simultaneously update TinyMCE and provide this much needed feature. Plus, I’d love to have the full screen mode in my plugin. So the new version of Quick Post will not be backwards compatible, sorry.
What all this means is a pretty extensive refactoring of code. I’m working on it, but it will take a little bit of time. Thanks for your patience.
Posted in Blog, Social, Web & SEO
Apr
8
There’s nothing we @ Twelve Horses love more than sun, snow and gadgets! So this was the perfect event for us. Earl and I got out and shot some video, played around with the Nokia n95, Zune, JBL headphones and got a chance to chat with Brian Lam, Editor at Gizmodo.
(click on the pop-ups in the video then select “more info” to see the product demos.)
Bob Starks from Alpine Meadows was stoked to get a hand’s on demo of the Nokia n95. He wants to be able to post up photos to Flickr right from the Summit 6 chair! I almost smashed mine attempting a 360 @ the Kangaroo Park.
Thanks for bringing out the goods Brian! Can’t wait to do it again!
-M
Posted in Geeky Stuff, Lake Tahoe, Mobile, Reno-Tahoe, Social, Travel & Tourism
Apr
4
A few weeks back (Video, Video, Video) we spoke about the growing importance of video content on the web. One of the downsides of video though has been the time lock it puts on us. Sometimes it is far easier to read that four minutes of text and follow the pertinent links provided than it is to watch a video and then go and search for more information on topics brought up in the video.
Fear not! For finally, after over a decade of failed attempts, the hyperlinking technology we now take for granted in text is taking off as well in video. Think of a video for a Convention and Visitor Authority with pop-up links at key points which can send the viewer directly to a website to purchase tickets, view schedules or find more info about a particular attraction. Perhaps one for a ski resort with links to other videos about the ski patrol, or to a trail map, Flickr photoset, ticketing info, the food menus, pro shops and any other important or even just interesting bit of information.
Websites like Asterpix, Overlay.tv, QGIA and VideoCLix.tv are providing, or beginning to provide, simple web based services where you can upload footage or link to existing footage online and then create the the hyperlinks to other websites, enter details about items found in the video or any number of options, depending on the site’s formatting.
Similar results can be created with a custom look using Adobe Flash (though it is not the most efficient option for the job) or Riva Producer and other products are in development or even redevelopment in the case of software which was abandoned before the broadband and YouTube explosions.
There is a bit of a downside as the currently favored online video distribution sites (YouTube, Yahoo Video, MySpace…) can not handle hypervideo. The files therefore must be hosted through other means which does make it harder to get the content visible outside of the website it is hosted on. Possibilities could lie in distributing just the basic video in the attempt to garner interest in the actual hyperlinked video on the original site. Regardless of the difficulties, this is currently in it’s infancy and has the potential to change the way we browse and shop the web.
Twelve Horses plans to be on the forefront of this burgeoning technology. Added to our expanding video content creation abilities to write, produce, shoot, edit and distribute video content we are perfectly placed to take advantage of hypervideo and other techniques. Give us a call, and we can help you with your video needs.
-Earl
Posted in Geeky Stuff, Marketing Tools, Technology, Video, Web & SEO
Apr
2
In my roles with Twelve Horses over the last 8 years, I’ve been involved in a lot of client strategy meetings. These meetings are usually about achieving some specific goal online and the tactics and technologies we can use to make this a reality.
When I first started as a bright eyed ambitious developer in 2000, most of the time I was pushing hard on automating this or integrating that. Since the commercial web arguably started as a marketing endeavor, most these conversations ended with the VP or Director of marketing looking at me cross eyed as the talk turned back to target audiences, focus groups and the 4 P’s of marketing (In case you’re wondering: Product, Pricing, Promotion, and Placement). This wasn’t all bad since my degree was in advertising and this conversation came as natural as the technical ones.
In 2003, talk turned to outbound marketing via email. In the previous 3 years, the coolest apps we could get marketers to agree to fund were those around customer acquisition (read: can I have your email address please?). Now after a few years, they had CSVs, databases, and sometimes Outlook Address books full of customers’ and prospects’ email addresses. Outbound marketing became very hot.
By 2005, more and more savvy marketers were coming to us saying things like, “yeah but my contacts are stored over here” or “can you connect to our CRM?” Obviously, internal IT projects had been launched and marketers were now endowed with the secrets that player tracking systems in casinos had known for years. Information technology could store more valuable consumer information than just email addresses.
2006 was the first year customers started to ask us about search engine optimization (SEO) – prior to that, it had always been us bringing it up. For marketers, search engines dictated how successful you could be online.
2007 was all about blogging and social networking. Discussions like, “I want to have a two way dialog with my customers and prospects” or “I want to go to where they hang out online.” Also, these techniques didn’t hurt SEO either.
My prediction (and what I’ve seen in the first quarter) for 2008, VIDEO! Broadband now proliferates the homes the way you used to have to go to work to get. Video online is becoming more compelling than that found on your TV. Anyone can create and publish it, and it’s surprisingly engaging. Video use cases have just started to scratch the surface of what we’ll see by the end of this year.
I would love to hear how your experiences with the web have changed from the prospective of a web developer, marketing person, or innocent bystander. Please comment below. I’m sure you can fill in many changes I didn’t describe above.
-Josh
Posted in Blog, Current Affairs, Email, Marketing, Reno-Tahoe, Web & SEO
