Internet Marketing / Usability — No comments
08
Dec 11

12 Reasons Google Plus Sucks (Google+)

This post is much better is you read it in his voice.

Google+ is Google’s third attempt (Buzz, Wave, Plus…) to launch a social media platform and they still haven’t gotten it right.

  1. I can put my friends in circle. Who cares? Its a pain in the butt. I have 370 Facebook friends. I would be putting people in circles all day.
  2. We can create a hangout.  Did someone tell Meetup.com because I’m sure they will be terrified.
  3. No ones on Google+ but digital marketers, social media gurus, tech people, and Brittany Spears (at least her PR agency).
  4. There is no added value to brands.  Can brands create compelling app/space/content that would convince non-users to check out Google+?  No.
  5. Verification sucks.  I wouldn’t create a link to some random social network if I was worried about it succeeding (see Buzz, Wave). Why would I create a link to Google Plus?  Additionally, most companies have to pay a developer to do this.  Google Places is more business friendly with that awful postcard verification system.  PS. Most companies don’t allow development on sites during the Holidays.
  6. The help section sucks.  Hire someone to make it user friendly and complete.  Ask Matt Cutts to help with your searchability.
  7. I know you are in a war with Facebook but release your API so we can use it from Hootsuite.
  8. Why won’t you allow contests & sweepstakes on Google Plus?
  9. Javascript is this language developers can use to tell people their website will not work in a user’s browser. It would be nice to tell users that certain functions do not work.  I just spent several minutes trying to find out a why a coworker’s couldn’t get the “add to circle” button to work in an older version of IE.
  10. How about putting the added functionality like hangouts, invites, and create pages in the navigation at the top where people will look for it?
  11. Why is it such a pain in the butt to navigate between pages? (Facebook sucks at this too)
  12. Like 7, release the API so we can get cool Chrome and Firefox Plug-ins.

Charity / Kiva — No comments
29
Sep 11

Quick Kiva Update

We love Kiva.  The thought of helping families grow a business and build a better life for themselves is inspirational.  The Pape household is now up to 57 loans.

Here are our three most recent loans (translated from partner website).

Lilia Joy from Kiva.org

Lilia Joy is 51 years old and lives in the Philippines. She is married with 3 children. Lilia Joy has a shop that sells canned goods, snacks & beverages. She has had this business for 10 years. She requested a loan of PHP 10,000 to buy stock for her shop.

Magdalena from Kiva.org

Magdalena is 42 years old and lives in the Philippines. She is married with 5 children. Magdalena has a shop that sells canned goods, snacks & beverages. She has had this business for 4 years. She requested a loan of PHP 8,000 to buy canned goods, snacks & beverages.

Violeta from Kiva.org

Violeta is 45 years old and lives in the Philippines. She is married with 6 children. Violeta has a shop that sells green & yellow bananas. She has had this business for 6 years. She requested a loan for PHP 11,000 to buy bananas for sale.

Fun — No comments
18
Jun 11

1 World 2 Wheels – Go By Bike Challenge

Charity / Kiva — No comments
19
Apr 11

Kiva update – 4/18/2011

Updated loan amounts to Kiva.org. Funded two more loans yesterday. Just two loans away from my goal of 50 loans.

Chea Nen

Dongkor, Cambodia Personal Use | Vehicle

Chea Nen, 62, is a farmer and her husband is a construction worker, and they can earn a daily income $1.66 per day. Chea Nen has six children, five of whom are married while the remaining one is single. There of her children were employed as sewing workers and have a formal salary every month.

She intends to buy a new motorcycle and repair her old house. This loan can make life easier for them as they can go anywhere faster than before. As for her future expectations, she hopes to sells all kinds of meals and vegetables in front of her house.

http://www.kiva.org/lend/287951

Chak’s Group

Location Undisclosed, Cambodia Agriculture | Farm Supplies

For privacy reasons, the Field Partner has requested that last names and location be undisclosed

This village bank loan consists of twenty-four members who hope that they can use their portions to improve their families’ standard of living. Mrs. Chak, born in 1964, was selected to be the village bank president by the other members.

Mrs. Chak is a farmer who owns a 1.20-hectare plot of land which she uses to grow rice for a living. She would like to ask for a loan to buy a water machine to support her crop growing. Her husband is a vice village chief who is able to earn a small salary to support their family, and he also helps his wife with farming. The couple has four children: one works for a mobile company and the other three are students who also assist with farming.

http://www.kiva.org/lend/281488

Charity — No comments
18
Apr 11

Kickstarter Projects I Funded

I <3 the Kickstarter organization. I think its great that we can help artists and small business people get their ideas turned into reality. It's crowdsourcing the American dream and making life better one $5 contribution at a time.

Here are some of my projects and why.

Name: A City in Portraits : The Ypsi Project Exhibit
Why: Wanted to help a local Michigan photographer capture the beautiful and special people in her neighborhood. Big picture, special people are often overlooked. This project that takes time to celebrate the small differences and a communities beautiful diversity.

Name: Decentralize the web with Diaspora
Why: Four NYU students want to create an alternative to Facebook. It’s a noble goal which will spawn ambitious projects and new ways of thinking on privacy and sharing information. Too many companies are trying to imitate Facebook. I think it will take individuals to dream up something different.

Name:Libyan Youth in the Revolution: video reports from Libya
Why: first the background, reporter is in Libya embedded with youth groups. Revolution breaks out and funds dry up. Reporter asks for funds to cover events since it is being overlooked by mainstream media at the time.I didn’t think this story would be told. I didn’t think anyone would come to defend the people of Libya. I wanted to make sure this story was told unlike the story of Bahrain.

Name: No Time To Explain indie game
Why: More dreamers that want to use technology to make something cool and entertaining. Plus, I get a free copy of the game when done.




Charity — No comments
17
Apr 11

Bicycle City

The Bicycle City. Trailer from Greg Sucharew on Vimeo.

Sponsored the Bicycle City movie project today. Pretty excited and I can’t wait to see it.

Click the box below for more info.

Become a Gold Sponsor for only $500. What a deal.

Charity / Kiva — No comments
24
Mar 11

Kiva Update – 3/24/2011

Updated loan amounts to Kiva.org. Very close to my goal of 50 kiva loans.

Sara Patricia Herrera Alemán

San Rafael, Nicaragua Housing | Personal Housing Expenses

Sara Patricia Herrera Alemán currently works for a government organization in San Rafael as the assistant treasurer, and has worked for this organization for twenty three years. She is married. She has had seven loans with CEPRODEL and each one has been used to purchase building materials such as sand, cement, stone, gravel, blocks, etc., to improve and enlarge the house where she lives. These loans with CEPRODEL have been of great help to her since through them she has improved her living conditions and those of her family.

http://www.kiva.org/lend/278406?_te=ty

Edik Grigoryan

Ijevan, Armenia Services | Auto Repair

Edik Grigoryan was born in 1966. He lives in Ijevan city. Edik is married and has three children. His elder daughter is married and lives separately. His younger daughter and his son go to school. Edik’s wife is at home.

Since 1990, Edik has engaged in auto servicing. Now he is renting a workshop where he repairs cars, but he also has his own dilapidated workshop. He is asking for a 600.000 AMD loan to reconstruct this workshop. This will allow him to run his business at his own workshop and thus cut down his business expenses.

This is Edik’s third loan from Nor Horizon.

http://www.kiva.org/lend/280453?_te=ty

Maria Del Transito Rodriguez Pozo

Leon, Nicaragua Retail | Cosmetics Sales

Maria Del Trancito is 42 years old and married. She lives with her partner and their four children. For the last 3 years she has worked selling cosmetics. All of Maria’s customers are located in areas near the city and she gets around easily on foot while taking advantage to show her products to passers-by. Her dream is to have a larger inventory to offer variety to her customers. He greatest challenge is her competition, which with her experience she has managed to control and which is why she is always in search of new markets and good prices. She is requesting this loan for the purchase of lipstick, creams, perfumes, bags, underwear and general cosmetics.

http://www.kiva.org/lend/283418?_te=ty

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