frafdez

Nice site! May I suggest adding us ;) https://coolaiid.com

We're just starting out (in beta) but we'd be happy to help. Our site focuses on providing simple game mechanics for any site. Visit our site http://www.uplaude.com and feel free to send me an email frank at uplaude.com if you have any questions.

Thanks for the links.

I try to stay away from the term "gamification" because of the stigma associated with it and you're right, it's the new buzz word. But as an avid gamer, I think the achievement/rewards portion of a game can be used across other mediums, like websites, to incentivize visitors and foster discovery of content. I agree that just slapping a badge on a site is a massive FAIL, but providing achievements that drive others to discover interesting content on your site or acknowledge their participation may have some merit.

Like point systems, achievements, leader boards, etc.

Although you'll need to spend 100% of your time on your startup, at some point, you don't have to start that way. Just make sure that you do whatever you can to fully switch context when working at your job or on your startup. Trying to do both, switching back and forth during the day, will drive you crazy. So in short, yes it can be done.

BTW: if you haven't read it already, read "REWORK" by the guys from 37signals. They talk about this misconception.

Also, starting your startup this way is incredibly hard. But, if you are really serious, you'll find a way and all of the sudden you'll find yourself spending more time on your startup that at your job. Good luck.

Most job descriptions are over shooting their needs. You don't need to be a "world class" programmer to land those jobs. You just need to be motivated and show that you are competent. People take for granted that the ability to get things done is paramount for companies that higher developers. Many developers get so stuck on the minutia that they never progress. With that said, try to get any position at a company that exposes you to more development, even if it is a QA position. Then, show that you can get the job done. That will speak volumes about you and your potential abilities. It will also open doors into more senior roles. Work hard and hustle and you will be rewarded. Just don't give up. Good luck.

There's always room for competition. You just need to find the right audience and pricing structure. BTW there is an iPad based app for mockups that does iPad/iPhone mockups - iMockups.

I like the idea but when I first read your description and went to the site, I expected the equivalent of a cork board in an office lunchroom, which it does do with "gatherings", but the rest feels like Foursquare tips or Yelp's reviews. Basically, I thought it was something your going to read while you wait for the coffee to brew that has targeted information about the office "community" or "neighborhood". "I'm selling my car" or "Employee meeting on Friday the 13th". I'm using the office as an analogy like you used the flyer on the tree. But the true question here is why would I go to your site to find this information? When I walk down the street I have no choice but to run into the tree with the flyer. Then I might tell my neighbor that Cindy lost her kitten and that she should look out for it. Maybe it's easier to start spreading the local info on your site via word of mouth (existing social networks) so that people hear about your tree (your site) and at some point they'll get used to looking for the flyer on the tree.

Ok, sorry for the analogies and generalities.

I think it's going to be a challenge to get people to use it since most people feel saturated by status updates / check-ins / review apps. I'd suggest trying to leverage other social network api's in order to automatically group people by location and also facilitate posting to your site. Maybe create a light weight Facebook app that looks like a tree with flyers on it?

Hope this helps and good luck.

I'd also add that just a good monitor isn't enough, make sure you calibrate the brightness, contrast, and colors. It makes a big difference to your eyes. You'll have less eye strain and see more details at the same time.

+1

I think you misunderstood the point of the post, it's not that G+ will change everything today. It won't. It can't. It just started and most of my friends aren't on it either, but the technology and the UI they have come up with is quite enviable and we may be seeing the future of electronic communication. G+ is very well positioned to change email given the popularity of Gmail. Forgive my seemingly impetuous post, but I think we may be seeing the future.

Understood, but remember that the mass market doesn't care about open standards. They care about a tool that works for them. Open Office isn't used much by the mass market, but Google Apps is. The more someone uses the service, the greater the probability that someone will come around and standardize the protocol. But, I agree it may take a while.

I agree, but systems are disrupted everyday. Look at banking and how paypal, square and others have changed the way we bank. Email will change. Not everyone will stop using it, but things will change. Maybe not so soon with G+

You know, I forgot :)

You might be right, but there are alot of small and mid size companies that solely use google apps for everything. This isn't that big of a stretch. If people adopt it, then MS will surely come up with their own solution. Look at what they had to do to compete with Google apps.

A little different this time around. API's weren't as popular as they are now.

You've got good points, but I think Google plus ties alot of functionality into one service, or at least it seems like that is the direction they are taking. Imagine when you can do more than email can today. Share google docs while "huddling" then turn around and post something interesting you found to everyone. I'm not saying it's the be all end all, but it's a step in the right direction.

I think it could. Now with Oauth becoming more and more of a standard for signing up/in to sites and the wide adoption of RESTful API used for messaging, it could work.

Glad you liked the post.

Canned goat might actually taste pretty good. :) You might have something there. Kidding aside, why not ask Google to add temp accounts associated to a main account? I would love to have temp emails/identities that I can create and reply to from only one account. Like Visa or MasterCard have temp credit card numbers. Then when I'm done, just toss them out. Maybe you could associate an email/identity to a circle. I think it's early but I don't see many roadblocks.

The original idea was to have a place where people could give other people awards for their achievements, but the first set of people that used the site didn't want to engage in that way. That's really what I wanted to build. After a bit I realized that most people weren't congratulating other people but actually tweeting or updating their own wall with their own achievements. That's why the site switched its focus to more of a "bragging" site. It's weird that talking about real world achievements has a negative connotation, yet online gaming achievements are not. Thanks for the reply.

Thanks for the feedback. The Facebook app idea is something we had thought about as something to add in the future, but you have a good point.

Thanks, I appreciate the feedback. Some people have asked to track future achievements, which are exactly what you suggested, goals.

Clickable links:

http://www.uplaude.com http://www.uplaude.com/dashboard/getting_started

Right. How does one pick the right PR professional? Is their a way to measure their success rate? Just because you say you are a professional doesn't garauntee performance. And PR is not the same as design. You don't have an image to choose from.

Sounds very cool but it all depends on your site's audience. If you have a really technical or startup centric site, then that will probably be the best marketing vehicle you could ask for. If the site is geared more for the masses, then taking them behind the scenes could work but you may not want to go into too much details. You might lose them. But, hey, I'd love to read it and I'm sure many would on this site. Good luck!

The idea sounds great. Will your site break down PR needs into bite size pieces similar to 99? If so, how would I know which one to pick and will there be some way of measuring track record?