Conversationblog

I am currently testing out Scribefire, an add on for the Firefox browser which allows you to write a blogpost while surfing and without leaving your browser window.

This blogpost has been written from "within" the browser and while I have several tabs (webpages) open. Am curious how it will look but the features of Scribefire look great.

For instance, I can insert a Youtube clip right from the interface.



Euroblog 2008 - Day One (13.03.2008)

Or a Flickr Image:




Attentio Graphic.

I'll test it further but it sure looks good.... Helps to be able to blog a story while surfing the web.

What are you using to blog ?
Technorati Tags: scribefire, blogpost, tool, youtube, flickr, blogging, Firefox, add on

The Institute for the Future of the Book has developed a new WordPress theme with a very nice twist: you can comment on each paragraph instead of commenting per blogpost...

"Annotate, gloss, workshop, debate: with CommentPress you can do all of these things on a finer-grained level, turning a document into a conversation."

A good example is the white paper of the New Media Consortium entitled Evolution of Communication.

I have commented on several paragraphs and it works just great. Checking other comments & commenters - paragraph by paragraph - really allows for more "finer-grain level" discussions.

Technorati : blog, collaboration, commentpress, futureofthebook, wordpress

Powered by Zoundry

One of the questions that I get on a regular frequency has to do with information overload. During my workshops I explain the impact of blogs on business communications and I do cover RSS as well. I think this little piece of technology is really the basis for the changes in the media landscape.

Once people understand how much information there is on the web - and how many bloggers write about their brand and products/services I do get the question of "What about information overload ? - How can we not get overwhelmed with all those blogposts ?"

Well, apart from using single RSS feeds from single blogs there are several online services that allow you to really "micro define" the information you will receive through your RSS reader.

The 2 easiest ways to manage the information you will track are:

1. mix feeds: in short, you mix all the feeds you found on a specific overall subject into 1 uber feed.
2. you take this uber feed and create alerts based on your specific keywords.

By doing this you do not limit your information but you rather target and define when and on what specific word or concept you want to receive alerts or information.

With regards to mixing feeds and combine them into one - the best article to read is the one from James E.Lee's blog. There you will find all the information you need to start combining information streams.

Creating alerts.... Several tools exist out there; here are 2 I use and think are very relevant in this space:

Feedrinse: this online service allows you to "upload" your collection of feeds to track & then set up filters based on your keywords, author, tags etc... This exercise results in targeted feeds on the topics you specified.

ZapTXT goes a bit further; again it allows you to work with keywords and concepts but it will also alert you through email, instant messaging and text messages on your mobile. Close to what Rasasa does, an international online service created by a Dutch company.

For more on this subject read this excellent article on Splashcast, again another service that promises to take full advantage of RSS feeds.

Have fun with this. I am off to yet another conference, this time in the beautiful city of Prague.

Technorati : feedrinse, keywords, monitoring, rasasa, rss, syndication, zapTXT

I thought I would list my 5 top online tools I use on a regular basis, if not daily, in the context of online communications.

Hope you can find some inspiration and discover new tools with this list.

1. Squarespace: my preferred blogging platform. I tell you, I have used and tried TypePad, WordPress and many other blogging platforms on the "usual suspects list" and Squarespace still does it for me. Easy set up, editing on the page and all the features you can expect from a enterprise level platform. Perfect for non technical people like most of us business communicators are.
2. Furl.net: my preferred bookmarking system. Allows me to keep all my links and URLs on a single page, ordered by topic and always accessible. I can make the efforts of my research available to everyone or keep them to myself. The best about this is that when you change PC's (or your portable is stolen like I recently experienced) you still have all your "knowledge" available to you.
3. Zoundry: here also I have tried different remote blogging tools which allow you to write posts without having to log into your blogging platform and have found zoundry to be the best. All features that you would need are in there (categories, tagging, image management, pinging etc...) and it is very easy to use. You can also manage different blogs with this writer + it recognizes your lay out and font type from your blog.
4. Gizmo Project: I used Skype for VOIP calls before but when I discovered Gizmo Project I changed immediately. Why ? First it is open source. Secondly, it allows to record my conversations to an audio file straight from within the application and it provides me with a free conference call number. Great to do podcast interviews even when your interviewee didn't (or can not) download a VOIP tool.
5. 9cays: this is maybe a not so usual tool but it allows you to order all those email conversations you have with friends and colleagues on a nicely laid out web-page and easily follow the complete trail of the story. Great for when you e-mail several people with the same questions or to keep a record of let's say email interview with the press...

Hope these helped. This list was created as a result of an article written by Darren Rowse, over at Problogger.com. If you're also publishing a list of your top 5/top 10 etc... consider participating in his group writing project.

Technorati : 9cays, darren+rowse, furl.net, gizmo+project, list, new+media, new+pr, problogger.com, public relations, skype, tools, typepad, web2.0, wordpress, zoundry