May 2012
2 posts
Personal Styling Online →
Good overview of online styling sites, making the parallel with Netflix.
No-one’s quite cracked the formula here yet. Personally I think data’s only part of it.
October 2011
1 post
iPhone 6: the next iPhone?
Might Apple’s next iPhone actually be the iPhone 6? It will, after all, be the sixth iPhone:
1. iPhone
2. iPhone 3G
3. iPhone 3GS
4. iPhone 4
5. iPhone 4S
6. ????????
The iPhone 4 name made sense, because it was the fourth iPhone. The iPhone 3G made sense because, well, it was 3G.
Perhaps it will be the iPhone 4G, if, as rumoured, it’s a 4G phone. But if Apple go with...
August 2011
1 post
1 tag
Gamification of Coding: Codecademy →
This might, finally, get me learning to code again.
Now can someone please gamify learning to play Bluegrass banjo?
July 2011
2 posts
7 tags
e(x)Bayers Doug Monro and Andrew Hunter launch...
Two former eBay colleagues today launched their next generation job ad platform Adzuna, offering ‘jobs in London, the UK and beyond’ and integrating some nice social features.
‘Adzuna Connect’ allows you to find out which of your connections work at the companies who are currently hiring: nice to see some social innovation in the recruitment space.
3 tags
I was one of the nine →
More specifically, one of the six to complain about the BMI Business Class flights ‘offer’
June 2011
2 posts
1 tag
The Internet of Gatwick Things
Whilst passing through Gatwick airport recently, I was curious to see the airport using Internet of Things startup StickyBits to keep travellers updated on progress with building works.
May 2011
1 post
4 tags
Mappiness - Mapping Happiness
I stumbled upon this in the app store today, recommended to me via Genius after I’d downloaded the ‘Do Some Good’ app.
The folk at the London School of Economics behind the Mappiness app are trying to get better data on what makes people happy, using iPhones as data-logging devices to randomly record levels of happiness and the associated circumstances.
George MacKerron...
April 2011
9 posts
2 tags
Single points of failure
It’s somewhat ironic that two recent incidents have served to highlight how the internet, constructed and architected to provide a robust, fault-tolerant computer network has become susceptible to single points of failure.
Then Amazon’s cloud computing and storage service, EC2 fell-over, bringing down services like Quora, Foursquare and London’s Vzaar video service.
First a...
5 tags
Egosurfing: Google's Secret Weapon in the Social...
In the Social war between Google and Facebook, might egosurfing prove Google’s secret weapon?
Google and Facebook are battling hard over the Social web. Google’s trying hard to catch-up to Facebook’s lead, tying 25% of all of their staff’s bonuses to the firm’s success in this space. With the launch of the +1 button, they’ve belatedly acknowledged the role that...
3 tags
Do Some Good - Crowdsourcing Tasks for Charity
Do Tasks for Good Causes on Your Mobile in Your Spare Time
The March issue of Wired ran a story on Angry Birds, which included the amazing revelation that every day 200 million minutes are spent playing the game.
Imagine if just some of that time were spent doing something useful instead.
Turns out Orange has been thinking the same and launched the ‘Do Some Good’ app to help make...
4 tags
Gamification of London Commuting: Chromaroma
Adding Game Mechanics to Oyster Cards on London Transport
It’s a tech-trend spotter’s wet-dream.
RFID? Tick.
Gamification? Tick.
Social? Tick.
Chromaroma brings game mechanics to travel on London Transport’s RFID travel card system, Oyster. Missions, mayorships, points, leaderboards: you’ve got them all here. And you thought commuting was a chore?
Schlepping round...
1 tag
Internet of Things Helps Asthma Sufferers →
The Economist runs a story about an application of the internet of things to help asthma sufferers. By connecting their inhalers and adding GPS, doctors can track usage and help to understand what drives asthma attacks.
Now that’s what I call a clever wheeze.
laplumeduguerrier asked: THANK YOU !
I've searched the web all day to find this for my FB Like buttons: {URLEncodedPermalink}.
I still have another Tumblr problem though, and maybe you could help me with it.
I'd like to force Permalink Pagination instead of simple pagination on the index page
OR, if it's impossible,
I'd like my Tumblr index page to redirect...
I've searched the web all day to find this for my FB Like buttons: {URLEncodedPermalink}.
I still have another Tumblr problem though, and maybe you could help me with it.
I'd like to force Permalink Pagination instead of simple pagination on the index page
OR, if it's impossible,
I'd like my Tumblr index page to redirect...
2 tags
So Kansas City won Google's Fiber Contest
Congratulations to Kansas City for winning the contest to get 1 Gigabit Fiber connections courtesy of Google.
(Although as of writing, Google are still to update their homepage for this project with the result, which I find amusingly ironic given this is all about speed).
Would love to know what it’s like to surf on a Gigabit connection. Whoosh. My 50Mb line is a good improvement over my...
1 tag
It's not just Argentina. Facebook's taking over...
After my holiday in Argentina, I wrote about how prevalent Facebook seemed to be: more prevalent even than the web.
Turns out that it’s not just Argentina. Whilst at home in Skipton this weekend it’s hard to avoid signs promoting Facebook pages.
I failed to snap the pub with the Facebook page QR code in the window, but here were a couple more I noticed in the next 5 minutes:
...
5 tags
+1 to Facebook
Or why I don’t Like Google’s new social recommendation button.
When Facebook launched their Like button, I wrote about how the weak signals provided by users Liking content across the web could prove a powerful weapon for Facebook in a looming battle with Google to help users discover content.
“Likes” could be used to infer significance in the way that Google had done for...
March 2011
1 post
1 tag
Virgin Atlantic bringing Gamification to... →
Hat tip to Sevitz for bringing this to my attention:
Virgin Atlantic’s VTravelled site is set to get a facelift including the use of game mechanics, using technology from Lithium. This will include the awarding of Virgin’s frequent traveller miles (Flying Club miles).
The site’s set to ‘go on holiday’ on the 15th March, but I’d expect to see the new gamified...
February 2011
1 post
1 tag
Yes, Facebook is now the Internet
I’ve just got back from a 3-week trip to Argentina, mostly getting away from the world of tech and enjoying the simple life.
One thing though that was hard to avoid was Facebook. Ryan Carson blogged last week to say exactly what I’d concluded based on my trip: Facebook is now the Internet.
I arrived in Buenos Aires and spent a few days walking around the city. The public parks in the...
January 2011
3 posts
1 tag
4 tags
Roomba Robotic Vacuum Cleaner by iRobot: Meet...
A fortnight ago I decided to buy a Roomba 530 robotic vacuum cleaner, made by iRobot, picking up a second-hand one quite cheaply on eBay.
In the week since it arrived, I’ve grown to love Ronnie, my Roomba. It’s an entirely different experience to owning a normal vacuum cleaner, with some pros and cons that I thought I’d share. First the cons:
I’m not sure, but suspect...
December 2010
1 post
5 tags
Gamification of Email - The Email Game from Baydin
Gamification of Email is here thanks to the clever chaps at Baydin.
The Email Game shows you one email at a time, and ‘rewards’ you with points for dealing with that email efficiently. You get more time to deal with the email if you need to reply, and can apply for a ‘time-extension’ if it needs a particularly long reply.
Baydin are also the developers behind Boomerang, a...
November 2010
7 posts
6 tags
Do rel=nofollow Links Actually Pass PageRank?
Twitter was all aflutter over the weekend about DecorMyEyes, the online seller of glasses and contact lenses that was the subject of a fascinating New York Times article. The piece explained that DecorMyEyes’ strategy includes deliberately offending selected customers in order to garner inbound links to the DecorMyEyes site from complaints posted online.
The article made particular...
5 tags
Comet on Top After Wave of Website Redesigns from... →
2 tags
5 tags
Gamification of Online Communities: Magicalia
Magicalia have added game mechanics to participation in their online community site, OutdoorsMagic.
Billed as the Mountain Marathon, and sponsored by Keen, they’re keeping a league table of leading community members, awarding points for posting in the forums, adding reviews and contributing new routes. They also hint at levels and special badges, but don’t reveal exactly how these...
1 tag
Google Product Listing Ads Roll-Out →
Short commentary on the launch of Google Product Listing Ads over on my Best Practice Ecommerce blog.
4 tags
Cotswold Outdoor Site Relaunch Review →
My review of the new Cotswold Outdoor website over on best-practice-ecommerce.com
3 tags
Why High Street Retailers Should Fire Their SEO... →
Many high street retailers still haven’t verified their Google Places entries, even though these are getting more prominence than ever and verification is the best way to increase ranking. Heads should roll.
October 2010
2 posts
Anonymous asked: Dear Nigel,
Thank you for your advice regarding Yorkshire puddings. I can see that as a Yorkshireman you are clearly a master in this field. Do you have letters after your name, (e.g. EBG)? I do have some concerns regarding the quality of these particular puddings and more than a little doubt that they would meet your exacting standards. I am also worried that anyone who did manage to eat...
Thank you for your advice regarding Yorkshire puddings. I can see that as a Yorkshireman you are clearly a master in this field. Do you have letters after your name, (e.g. EBG)? I do have some concerns regarding the quality of these particular puddings and more than a little doubt that they would meet your exacting standards. I am also worried that anyone who did manage to eat...
Anonymous asked: Dear Nigel,
I would like to see if your theory of gamification could be applied to solving the problem of what to do with leftover Yorkshire puddings? I have tried serving them as sweet but got few takers on the first day. On the second I added a squirt of foam cream and one or two people tried them. By the third day I added a flake, hundreds and thousands and a squirt of jam, unfortunately...
I would like to see if your theory of gamification could be applied to solving the problem of what to do with leftover Yorkshire puddings? I have tried serving them as sweet but got few takers on the first day. On the second I added a squirt of foam cream and one or two people tried them. By the third day I added a flake, hundreds and thousands and a squirt of jam, unfortunately...
September 2010
6 posts
2 tags
Gamification: 10 Steps to Add Game Mechanics to...
Gamification seems to be all the rage … but how do you go about adding Game Mechanics to your business?
Here, in 10 easy steps, is what I’d do to add game mechanics to a business, with examples given for a multi-channel retailer:
1. Write down a short list of the key tasks you’d like your users to do.
For our retailer this might include:
Visit the website
Visit a store
...
5 tags
Are Facebook Ad Display URLs being hacked?
Facebook ads underwent a subtle change today. If you haven’t noticed, ads that take the user off the site are now displaying the URL that you’ll be taken to, aping Google’s approach with paid search ads in an effort to increase transparency to the user.
At least that’s the theory.
I noticed these when I just visited Facebook, and was particularly drawn to an ad (see...
2 tags
Gamification | Stanford Business School weighs in →
Stanford Business School describe the rise of social gaming, and the broader application of the underlying game mechanics employed by these business - the Gamification of Life.
5 tags
Seedcamp 2010 - my picks
For the second year, I attended Seedcamp as a mentor on the Product and Marketing day. It was fun - both to catch up with a bunch of old friends and colleagues and also to hear from lots of start-ups about their ideas and think about how to take them to market.
Each mentor only sees a selection of the companies that are present, but my favourites of those I saw were two start-ups aimed at...
3 tags
2 tags
Forbes picks up on the Gamification trend →
August 2010
1 post
3 tags
July 2010
4 posts
5 tags
My Betable Bet on my Betable Bet
My Betable Bet on my Betable bet.
Betable was in the news today after they got a $3m investment from Atomico, the VC fund of Niklas and Januus of Skype fame. It’s a betting site that lets you create your own bets and invite friends to join in. I’m not really a gambler, but was intrigued, so thought I’d give it a whirl.
Inspired by my time working at Swoopo, I wondered if I...
3 tags
Search Anatomy
As part of a project I’m currently working on for a client, I’m digging into their search performance and SEO. Much of the online debate and discussion is about optimisation for natural or organic search results. But Google doesn’t actually allocate much above-the-fold inventory to these results on many results pages these days.
This really hit home when I started preparing a...
3 tags
4 tags
Add Game Mechanics to a Website
Image: Challenge Configuration screen from Nitro by BunchBall
If you want to join the gamification trend, and add game mechanics to a website but don’t want to code the game mechanics elements yourself, here’s a couple of services that offer this as a service.
Bunchball, based on San Jose’s Santana Row, has been around since 2005, although started life running their own...
June 2010
3 posts
8 tags
Facebook vs. Google: the Tanks are on the Lawns
Although my reposting of the RSA Animate video generated lots of visits, the post I’m asked about the most is the one about the Facebook vs. Google battle and the need to optimize for discovery within the Open Graph.
If you haven’t noticed, there have been a few recent developments:
Facebook has apparently said that all “Liked” pages will show up in search results...
5 tags
Adding Facebook Like Buttons to Tumblr
A friend asked me how to add Facebook Like buttons to their Tumblr blog. Thinking others might ask the same question, I thought I’d just write it up here.
[Updated: Since writing this post I’ve updated my Tumblr theme to an off-the-shelf design with integrated Facebook Like buttons … but did use the method below to add Facebook Like buttons (and Twitter buttons) to my other...
6 tags
Ad Retargeting: have you no Shame?
It’s perhaps the oldest trick in the prediction book: look at what you’ve just done and there’s a good chance that you’ll do the same again. It’s as true for purchase behaviour as it is for the weather. And it has the advantage of being incredibly simple. No fancy data crunching; no complex predictive algorithms.
Criteo have been successfully exploiting this fact....
May 2010
4 posts
What @Sevitz did (with help from @WillCritchlow...
A couple of days ago, I posted a brilliant and beautiful animation of the “Drive” talk David Pink gave at the RSA into my tumblr feed. David talks about how money doesn’t motivate for cognitive tasks, but Mastery, Autonomy and Purpose do. I came across the animation after David Wood, co-founder of Symbian and fellow of the RSA tweeted about it himself.
What happened next?...
2 tags
Badges or Badgering →
(Link above to article)
Not a bad round-up of the application of gaming mechanics to social media, with a few interesting firms to look at.
One positive consequence of this trend is that it really gets marketers thinking properly about marketing to customers based on their ‘lifestage’ with the business. Too often I see firms communicating to new users in the same way as ones...