Entries from October 2008 ↓

While I was checking out News YCombinator website (a good source of fresh news, by the way), I came across a rather plain page (full specifications as PDF file)

Drawing talent for free

When I was a kid I liked to draw (mostly comics), but I was never very talented. But if I had had software like ILoveSketch then, who knows? Maybe that little passion would have grown and ultimately led to a full time job.

Seok-Hyung Bae, Ravin Balakrishnan and Karan Singh, three students of University of Toronto-Canada (Department of Computer Science), bring a new way to draw 3D curves models.

This concept, named ILoveSketch, will be presented on ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology 2008 (Monterey, CA, USA, October 19-22, 2008). In their words:

The system coherently integrates existing techniques of sketch-based interaction with a number of novel and enhanced features. Novel contributions of the system include automatic view rotation to improve curve sketchability, an axis widget for sketch surface selection, and implicitly inferred changes between sketching techniques. We also improve on a number of existing ideas such as a virtual sketchbook, simplified 2D and 3D view navigation, multi-stroke NURBS curve creation, and a cohesive gesture vocabulary.

After watching their video presentation I was sold (even if I am just a lousy amateur). The software is quite intuitive and it seems it does things that haven’t been done before. For hardware they use a Wacom tablet system.

Every product needs a design

Professional product designers will love this new way of working (a professional designer evaluated the system and shows the potential of their system for deployment within a real design process). I think this could be another startup idea ready to go in the wild. Because almost every new product needs to be designed first, the market for such system is already there. Enjoy the video!

ILoveSketch from Seok-Hyung Bae on Vimeo.

An interesting top 12 list has been published, on using Javascript to fix 12 common browser headaches:

1. Setting Equal Heights (jQuery example: $("#col1, #col2").equalizeCols();)
2. IE6 PNG Alpha Transperancy support
3. Changing CSS Classes in JavaScript
4. Browser selectors in CSS ($('html').addClass($.browser);)
5. min-/max- height & width support
6. Center Elements Vertically / Horizontally
7. Display Q tags in Internet Explorer
8. Increase the size of click targets and get more call-to-action conversions
9. Lazy loader
10. bgiframe: Helps ease the pain when having to deal with IE z-index issues.
11. ieFixButtons: fixes the buggy behavior of the element in Internet Explorer 6 and 7
12. Fix Overflow

As you will see, most of the solutions are jQuery plugins, but you could roll your own.

Steve Souders posted on Runtime Page Optimizer a tool that you can think of as a performance proxy. It sits on the server side, and cleans up content before it is sent back to the browser.

What can it do? Steve let us know:

RPO automatically implements many of the best practices from my book and YSlow, so the guys from Aptimize contacted me and showed me an early version. Here are the performance improvements RPO delivers:

• minifies, combines and compresses JavaScript files
• minifies, combines and compresses stylesheets
• combines images into CSS sprites
• inlines images inside the stylesheet
• turns on gzip compression
• sets far future Expires headers
• loads scripts asynchronously

RPO reduces the number of HTTP requests as well as reducing the amount of data that is transmitted, resulting in a page that loads faster. In doing this the big question is, how much overhead does this add at runtime? RPO caches the resources it generates (combined scripts, combined stylesheets, sprites). The primary realtime cost is changing the HTML markup. Static pages, after they are massaged, are also cached. Dynamic HTML can be optimized without a significant slowdown, much less than what’s gained by adding these performance benefits.

Steve had another couple of interesting posts recently:

• Say no to IE6 discusses how we need to do something to help upgrade IE6 users (to IE7 is fine!)
• Raising the bar talks about results from Steve’s UA Profiler tests and how new browsers are pushing forward

Last month developers at Yahoo!’s Open Hack Day got a sneak preview of the new Yahoo! Application Platform (YAP). YAP is in preview mode and not yet available for public use, although documentation for the new service is available.

According to Yahoo!:

The Yahoo! Applications Platform (YAP) is the software and services that enable developers to build web applications that are available throughout Yahoo!– the largest audience in the world. The Yahoo! Applications Platform has the following components:

• Development environment – A browser-based tool that enables software developers to quickly create, preview, and publish web
  applications.
• APIs and web services – Programmatic access to OpenSocial functionality and popular Yahoo! web services.
• Distribution and discovery infrastructure – The built-in features
  for publishing applications on galleries on web pages such as Yahoo! Profiles.
  End users can discover applications by searching or browsing within application galleries.
• Runtime and rendering environment – The backend servers and software that run applications and convert the code into HTML.

As a platform, YAP can be used by developers to develop Open Applications, which Yahoo! describes as:

An Open Application is a web application that has been registered on the Yahoo! Development Network (YDN) and runs on the Yahoo! Application Platform (YAP). As seen by the end user, an Open Application has multiple views, integration points, and components.

Open Application components include a Small View, Canvas View, and Chrome. Note that YAP provides support for social applications via OpenSocial.

Here’s a video from the Yahoo! Open Hack Day that gives an overview of YAP:

We’ve included Christian Heilmann’s presentation on Opening Yahoo! to User and Developers from the Future of Web Apps Conference (held in London, England last week).

Currently there is a PHP SDK available and developers should note that Yahoo! has followed Facebook’s lead (along with numerous other platforms) by providing its own flavor of XML: Yahoo! Markup Language (YML). You can check out the reference documentation for YML, including YML Lite (a subset of YML).

Webmonkey.com has additional coverage (including screen shots) of YAP from the Open Hack Day event, and Ash Patel has compiled a list of blog posts about Yahoo!’s Hack Day and Open Strategy.

Certainly Yahoo has their share of APIs, with 32 Yahoo APIs in our directory, so there’s a lot of potential for YAP and what this new platform could mean for Yahoo.

Share This

I recently set up a Mac mini in my living room to act as a media server. Instead of trying to update separate music libraries every time I added songs to my collection, I was just adding the music to the Mac mini’s iTunes library and streaming it my laptop. That worked fine until I tried to sync my iPhone. For obvious (copyright) reasons you cannot sync an iPhone to a shared library.

I wanted access to my music on both machines, but I did not want to share my Macbook Air’s library because the laptop would have to be on with iTunes running for the Mac mini to have the music. At this point, I had to choose between running separate libraries and updating them independently or figure out a way to run one library that updated whenever I added music from either machine. I chose the latter of the two options.
(more…)

Social networking platform Ning announced support for the OpenSocial standard today. Thanks to this, developers can now easily create applications for the Ning platform. At this time, Ning already features 30 applications that users can embed into their profile pages, including support for file sharing with Box.net and poll creation from Polldaddy. One of the highlights of Ning’s implementation of OpenSocial is that the widgets automatically adapt themselves to the branding and design of the individual networks.

Sponsor

Ning is a social networking platform that allows its users to create their own, custom social networks. Some of its high-profile customers include celebrities like 50 Cent and Ellen DeGeneres.

For now, users can only add OpenSocial applications to their profiles, but not to their networks. This will change, however, once future versions of OpenSocial are developed, as Caroline McCarthy reports.

By adding support for OpenSocial, Ning is joining a growing number of social networks that support this standard, including MySpace, hi5, Orkut, and Bebo. For developers, supporting OpenSocial makes good sense, as they can reach a far larger audience with an OpenSocial application than if they just programmed for a given network’s own APIs. The only hold-out with regards to supporting OpenSocial is Facebook, though Facebook is also considering the option of opening up its development platform to other social networks in the future.

Ning itself is growing nicely and just celebrated the creation of its 500,000th network. By supporting OpenSocial, Ning now gains the ability to offer its customers an even larger array of options, though it would have been nice if Ning already supported OpenSocial apps on network pages and not just on profiles.

Discuss

Ron Henry is a man who has clearly spent too much time in front of the mirror, muttering to himself “You talkin’ to me?”. Check out his kick-ass, quick-draw camera technique:

What’s Ron so excited about? The R-Strap, a fast-access camera support. Instead of wearing your camera like a big nerd-necklace, the R-Strap lets you sling it across your shoulder. Because the strap hooks onto the tripod mount on the bottom, the camera is right-side-up when you get it to your eye.

There’s more. Ron’s company, Black Rapid, also sells a screw-in clip for the tripod bush on your camera or lens — if you have a quick-release mounting plate for your tripod which has a D-ring, you won’t need this. The basic models is adjustable and has the plastic stopper which ensures the camera stays on your hip when you’re done, and there are two more: The RS-2 – with extra pockets – and the RS-3 Camo, which is patterned to contrast with regular, everyday clothes.

The straps start at around $50. But we came to this post by way of Lifehacker, which points to a DIY version made from an old laptop-bag shoulder strap, a luggage tag and a screw. I liked the idea, but I already have a strap from an old camera bag, and my camera is already sporting the requisite D-ring from my tripod. Why not make my own?

The hardest part was rummaging through the junk drawer. I dug out the strap which has two plastic clips, one on each end. The real R-Strap has two, but it makes no difference other than that the R-Strap hook is on a swivel mount. As you can see below, the D-ring on the tripod mount is easily big enough to cope.

That’s it. The strap holds the camera on my hip, ready to go. I like how it seems to stick out less than slinging the camera over a shoulder with a regular two-point strap. Another advantage is that, if you get the length right, you can use the strap to steady the camera — pull the camera against the strap and it will tighten as you look at the LCD screen, stopping the wobbles. If you’re using a non live-view DSLR, hooking your right elbow into the strap will push it down and shorten it enough to tighten it as you bring the camera up to your eye.

I’ll certainly be making a v 2.0 version — my camera bag needs its strap back and I’d prefer a thinner one anyway. See how well it works in this quick video, complete with cheesy camera-shutter sound effects found as found in the original, and authentic De Niro-style gunplay.

Product page [Black Rapid via Lifehacker]
DIY R-Strap [Instructables]

So i’ve had the luxury of getting to know most of the top serial entrepreneurs in NYC and have asked most of them how they are raising money for their last venture. Here’s what I’ve learned … this is in no particular order but its 13 things i’ve seen being used lately…

1) Never put your own money in past a prototype (and generally get the prototyped paid for by someone else) 

2) Use convertible debt that converts at a discount to the Series A round (discount, between 5-30%, depending on how long between when that debt was issued to when Series A closes) 

3) Sometimes allow for additional warrants or for the investor to double investment at original valuation at time of Series A 

4) Never assign a valuation until a Series A (not worth the mess) 

5) if you’re investing your own cash, have your wife or uncle do it through another entity in the form of debt (no reason to put your money in as common stock when you can get preferred) 

6) When you raise a series A, say you are raising a $5MM Series A at a $15MM valuation and allow for any investors for under $1MM to come in as convertible debt (this avoids the issue of raising angel money at one valuation and trying to raise a Series A at another simultaneously) . likely this valuation is too high but give some room for investors to negotiate it down. 

7) Never state your valuation in raising money in your presentations. First get interest from investors before talking valuation. Get the investor hooked on the company before any negotiations and you’ll have a much friendlier negotiation. 

Incorporate as a Delaware C-Corp (unless you are an insurance company, then use Bermuda- otherwise no exceptions) 

9) Create vesting in your initial shareholder agreement so your investor doesn’t try to change it later. However, give yourself a good vesting schedule based on a mixture of time and milestones and instead of 3-5 year vesting, use 18-24 months. It’s a lot easier to demand vesting when there is none then demand changing vesting terms. 

10) Always have an option pool. Between 10-20% (size of option pool is open to debate) 

11) Always create full business plans. It shows you can do it though no one will really read it and it’ll be good to have for yourself. Make sure includes: Exec Summary, Profile (elevator pitch + team), 1 pager, PPT Deck (5-20 slides), Milestones, Use of Funds. Preferably have: Full Bplan & Full marketing Plan & Product Rollout plan and financial model. Use this in stages. First send the profile then 1 pager, then use the Deck in person then the Exec Summary  then Milestones & Use of Funds. Then send financial model and other plans at once if you get that far. Also, be practical on your projections, never use the word conservative and when you discuss your financials, state the risks and assumptions and potential issues, don’t let the investor do it, do their due diligence for them. 

12) Have a meeting with a potential acquirer and get some level of interest, and if possible an offer to acquire you as is (even if its 50 cents a double cheese burger). This shows that there is serious interest and that you have thought towards the exit (the only thing your investor cares about). It gets people excited when they hear you already have an offer for the company (don’t reveal the offer or who it is from until much later). 

13) More management team, less advisors. Too many advisors makes you look like you’re window dressing. Unless your advisors are investing cash (then list them as investors not advisers) then don’t list many. 1-2 Spot on advisers is perfect. 

JanRain, creator of some of the most popular OpenID software libraries and a forum-like communications tool called Pibb, has released a new SaaS offering for websites that want to become relying parties for OpenID.

We’re told that the service, simply called RPX, makes it possible to start accepting users with OpenID accounts within one day. This is actually the second SaaS solution provided by JanRain, the first being the similarly named OPX, which lets websites do the opposite: provide OpenID accounts to users, who can then sign into any other websites that accept them. JanRain also provides OpenID accounts to users directly through its myOpenID service.

Helping websites become relying partners is more important (at least at this point in the game) than helping them become providing partners. That’s because few popular sites accept OpenID and, consequently, consumers see little reason to set up OpenID accounts for themselves. This is an even bigger problem than the user experience issues that have plagued the movement over the last few years.

RPX is being marketed toward medium sites that want to increase their registration conversation rates, import user information from elsewhere, and build out connections to other social services via oAuth. It’s not meant as much for big internet sites like Blogger, Plaxo and AOL, who have become relying parties using their in-house technical resources.

The question stands as to whether OpenID will gain momentum through the long tail or adoption by a critical mass of the big players. It will probably take a few very popular services, such as MySpace and Facebook (through their respective Data Availability and Connect services), to popularize the protocol. But once they do, services like RPX should help the long tail take advantage of it.

RPX comes in two flavors: “plus” for smaller sites and “pro” for bigger ones. Pricing starts at a flat fee and then increases based on how many people sign into your site using OpenID during the span of one year.

Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0

is a jQuery plugin that raises unobtrusive messages within the browser, similar to the way that OS X’s Growl Framework works