Spark Armada by Nir Ofir

The New People

I want to share some of the content of my future presentation at the Israeli "Blog Day". The title of the presentation will be "The New People".

I believe that blogs redefine the way people can connect and know each other: It allows people to "get inside" other people minds and experiences and it enable us, the bloggers, define our personal and professional identities.

In the drawing I made I tried to illustrate the 3 dimensions of how the "New People" manage their Identities in the various layers of communication the engage almost every day.

Life 01: Personal relationships in the Real world. Face to face meetings. Fully exposed identity. Behave in the way the society expect. Family, Friends, Co workers etc

Life 02: Virtual identity in Web forums and Chat rooms. My identity is measured by my opinion in the conversations that I respond to, My language and syntax. Behave in the way the community expect.

Life 03: Me in my blog. Direct connection to my mind. it is a personal letter I write to the world. Behave in the way I feel right.

Tagging my desktop

I am searching for files in my computer every day. Mostly, I use (God save the) “Google desktop” that, somewhat changed the way I use my computer.

When I talk on the phone with my clients or partners I Google their names in “Google desktop” and find past email conversations and Documents.

Storing and finding information in your own computer is a complicated issue. Some prefer the “Database approach”: lets put it someplace and try to search for it in the future. Others prefer the “Hierarchic approach”: lets put everything in Hierarchical folders and find it using the “drilldown path” through the folders we made. I can say about my self that my desktop is a mess. I do not have any strategy or rules of storing stuff in my computer (Same thing for my closet at home…ask my wife).

I believe (and hope) that tagging my files will be the next phase in Desktop search/ organization software. Think about the problems with the above approaches and how tagging will help preventing them:

1. When I use folders, I can never know which is the best place for my files. I can put an article about RSS in “my articles” folder or in a folder I made for “RSS stuff”.
2. Most people do not save emails in windows folders; they just leave them in the email software folders.
3. Naming files with the same names is a problem

Tagging any kind of files, emails, bookmarks etc’ can create two bridges, one between the database approach and Hierarchic approach and another one Between saving files in folders or leaving the them on email software, IM software and P2P software.

CEO BLOG - First in Israel

The CEO of tapuz.co.il, Guy Eliav, started his own blog today. In his first post he writes:

"The relationships between companies and their clients is critical but I am afraid that our competitors will use my blog as a source for ideas that they can use "

I hope that other Israeli CEO's will follow his way and start a conversation with their customers. I hope that our customers will learn more about our vision by reading Guy's blog and my Blog.

Digital illness

I sat on a weekly meeting and wrote a note on the corner of the page. Surprisingly I found myself drawing a scrollbar next to the note....

I need a vacation.

True history of the net (Funny)

Find it here

Some examples:

1990:First ISP created. Business is slow due to the fact that the Internet has no purpose, nobody knows about it, and more people own Betamax machines than computers.

1997: Scam e-mails replace oil as the chief export of Nigeria.

2000:The internet is finally given purpose when Scientists Mathew Chapman and Michael Chapman complete their research and bring Homestarrunner technology to the internet.

The Blogsphere test

A week ago I heard about an Israeli blogger that decided to challenge the Israeli blogsphere. She wrote in her blog the name of a long lost friend and the fact that she wants to meet him. Now, she is waiting for him to Google himself and find her post about meeting him.

I decided to challenge the blogsphere too. The global blogsphere. I'm trying to make the blogsphere work for me as some kind of a travel agent.

I am planning a "30yo crisis trip" to New York in the end of July. I need to find a nice apartment that I can rent for a week in Manhattan for 2-4 people.

If anyone has any information about available apartments in the above dates please write a comment to this post. If some of you knows about web sites that may help me find an apartment please post a comment with a link.

If anyone is writing a blog with lots of New Yorkers reading it, please link to this post.

Help me test the Blogsphere power and go on with my 30yo Crisis.

I'll try to get a button code soon so you can place the above button in your blog and link to me.

Blog on a bookshelf

The “Keyboard” is a new project at Tapuz.co.il Blogs. Basically, we invite our bloggers to post their stories in their blogs and in the end of the project we will publish a book with the best stories. In the book, beside the stories we will put the URL to the writer’s blogs.

We have started this project 2 weeks ago and we got about 1000 stories. In this stage of the project, we are the ones that filter what stories will proceed to the next step. On the next step the web surfers will cast their votes and on the last stage our panel of writers will decide which 50-60 stories will get in the book. Meanwhile, our panel of writers responds to the stories in the blogs and gives their feedbacks about the content and the writing technique.

Dorit Zilberman, one of the writers that we chose for the panel said in a radio show “The democratic way of picking the stories enable new ways to discover new talents and giving the them a chance to be discovered . . . This is the natural place for a book to be born in our times”

We at Tapuz will donate the profits back to the community and the rights of the content will remain at the writers.

I do not think it is a revolutionary project. But be sure that it is a fun, creative and a great beginning of a new type of books. Collective books. Blog books. If this project will succeed we will do some more projects for: Recipe book, Science fiction book and more…

Blog Presntation on Info 2005

Blogs, Micro Content, Social Software
Wiki, Incremental Web, Dynamic Interface
RSS, Story Tellers, Aggregation, Grassroots
Syndication, Communities, Photo Blogs
Photo Sharing, Blogroll, Smart Mobs
Knowledge Collaboration, Media Moguls

How will I start? What will I present? What will be the conclusion?

Introducing: The RingDong

Ring Dong
Open your mind

Last week I showed you an image of the Gizmo I created (on a 3D software). The idea came to me when I was at my parents house and had to hear their terrible door bell (It sounds like and ancient, sick, angry bird). This is when I decided to create the first personalized door bell, Doorbell you can personalize by changing the ringing sound the way you want.

The ringing sound can be changed by Recording your favorite sound from files stored in your computer, your stereo system, Radio or by using your own voice. I also planned a cool web site that everyone can share the RingsDongs they made...and maybe some celebrity RingDongs (Bono, do you volunteer to be the first?)

This is the promotional flayer I made (with the help of Oren Fait):

BTW, the face plates can be changed and the installation is very easy.

Remember

Today is Holocaust memorial day in Israel.