Profilactic Mashup - steflewandowski

twitter: Watching the sun rise on the balcony while coding on http://odadeo.com - I cannot recall feeling so confident about a new project...

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 03:21:22 GMT

aeioux: Watching the sun rise on the balcony while coding on http://odadeo.com - I cannot recall feeling so confident about a new project...

twitter: @marksteadman and @soullastylianou are Rails people in the wst Midlands! Any more ?

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 03:16:29 GMT

aeioux: @marksteadman and @soullastylianou are Rails people in the wst Midlands! Any more ?

twitter: Inbox failure at 10.26pm - I have 77 unreplied unactioned items again. @dubber has not failed. Tomorrow they will be dealt with. Now sleep.

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 21:37:18 GMT

aeioux: Inbox failure at 10.26pm - I have 77 unreplied unactioned items again. @dubber has not failed. Tomorrow they will be dealt with. Now sleep.

twitter: Who is using Rails in the West Midlands UK, anyone?

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 20:13:30 GMT

aeioux: Who is using Rails in the West Midlands UK, anyone?

twitter: @si I agree - it breaks Safari on the iphone every few minutes

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 19:26:58 GMT

aeioux: @si I agree - it breaks Safari on the iphone every few minutes

Google Reader: [Charities] Can you spare a couple of hours each week?

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 14:16:45 GMT

Youth empowerment charity Envision is looking for people living, working or studying in Kings Heath to volunteer on its schools programme from September.

twitter: A few people have said I've been off the radar for a while: here's an update: http://stef.io

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 08:07:39 GMT

aeioux: A few people have said I've been off the radar for a while: here's an update: http://stef.io

Google Reader: Are you the UK's most creative freelancer?

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 03:59:44 GMT

Search begins to find the creative industry’s top freelancers.

Stef Lewandowski: What’s Stef up to? Well, this month I have mostly…

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 21:29:39 GMT

A couple of people have said to me that I’ve been off the radar for a while. Basically - I’m head down on my new startup Odadeo. But other than that there’s still been loads going on. Here’s an update for anyone interested - a very very sketchy and quickly written list of a few things [...]

Google Reader: Google Launches Knol, The Monetizable Wikipedia

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 19:32:12 GMT

Today Google has launched Knol, its Wikipedia alternative that holds authors accountable for the articles they write. Each article is created by a team of authors who receive attribution, and are allowed to take part in a rev-share for AdSense ads on their page. Other users can submit changes, but they have to be approved by the article’s original authors before they go live on the site (it’s basically a moderated Wikipedia).

Google says that it will allow multiple people to create Knols on the same subject. Knol allows users to rate and review Knols, and will likely include ranking as part of search results so we don’t have to sift through countless articles on the same topics. You can see an example article (a Knol that tells you how to write Knols) here.

The big news here is that by assigning ownership and allowing authors to include AdSense ads on their articles, Google is effectively offering a monetary incentive to create good content. In theory, the best articles will get the most attention, and in turn the most revenue.

Unfortunately, this plan may backfire on Google. We’re going to start seeing a flurry of articles on the most popular content - expect to see dozens of biographies on Barack Obama and John McCain in the next few days. For these popular subjects the system should work well - a few lucky (and hopefully credible) articles will rise to the top, and the rest will fade away. But for less popular topics there won’t be any incentive for anyone to write anything.

Wikipedia works well because it’s almost like a charitable organization. Everyone contributes what they can in the hopes of furthering the world’s knowledge. Knol’s community will likely be far more concerned with earning money than the general welfare, which may hurt both its credibility and the amount of participation it sees from the community.

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

twitter: A genuine summer's evening like we used to have when I was young

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 19:13:53 GMT

aeioux: A genuine summer's evening like we used to have when I was young

twitter: Why baby rucksacks are better than buggies: smiles from passers-by, get fit, save money, kerbs are easy, baby loves it!

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 13:40:21 GMT

aeioux: Why baby rucksacks are better than buggies: smiles from passers-by, get fit, save money, kerbs are easy, baby loves it!

twitter: @peteashton are you following me?!

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 13:27:50 GMT

aeioux: @peteashton are you following me?!

twitter: Lunch break? Watch this: http://tinyurl.com/3l9h9y

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 11:38:40 GMT

aeioux: Lunch break? Watch this: http://tinyurl.com/3l9h9y

twitter: #odadeo Company Strategy Day = picking daisies in the park with my daughter.

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 10:44:58 GMT

aeioux: #odadeo Company Strategy Day = picking daisies in the park with my daughter.

Google Reader: Micro firms wait 100 days to get paid

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 09:23:57 GMT

Small businesses are increasingly being muscled out of their money.

Google Reader: Apple Launching App Store Beta Program

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 22:37:08 GMT

Apple’s App Store has seen an unprecedented amount of success and exposure since its launch, with millions of total downloads and 909 applications already available. Unfortunately, Apple has been unable to keep up with the influx of submissions from developers (each app must be approved before it appears on the store), leaving many companies frustrated and confused as their apps sit in limbo.

Adding to the frustration has been the difficulty associated with testing an application. As Craig Hockenberry, one of the people behind the popular app Twitterific explains:

The big problem here is that the only way to install software on an iPhone or iPod touch is with the App Store. There are also no provisions for beta testing… The only way to “test” a fix is to release the changes to tens of thousands of users. It’s the developer equivalent of playing Russian roulette.”

Now we’re hearing from an app developer that Apple ~~is finally going to start rolling out a new beta program in the next few days~~ has released an Ad-Hoc program. Details are slim, but it seems like Apple is capping the total number of beta participants at 100 per app. In order to download a beta app, users will need to submit their iPhone’s UDIDs number to the developer, ~~who will then need to flag its eligibility in the store itself. All betas will still be distributed through the App Store - you won’t be able to download one on an external site.~~ The apps will be directly distributed by the developer.

It sounds like developers that haven’t had their apps approved yet will still be able to participate in the beta program. This should alleviate some of the developers’ anxiety (at least they’ll know their app will work once it goes live), but it still doesn’t address the the delays and lack of communication that many developers are complaining about.

Update: Our source was misinformed. This program, as a number of commentors have said, is Apple’s Ad-Hoc program that is already operational. Erica Sadun of TUAW writes:

Developers and users need not use the App Store for testing. Ad Hoc distribution goes directly between the developer and the user. The user needs to supply their iPhone’s unique device identifier. The developer then sends a specially compiled version of their app along with a mobile provisioning file. Users drop these into iTunes and they’re good to sync.

Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.

Google Reader: !$title$!

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 19:24:31 GMT

!$text$!

Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.

twitter: @birminghampost Kersplat! Whammo! http://skitch.com/aeioux/txpa/picture-9

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 18:19:39 GMT

aeioux: @birminghampost Kersplat! Whammo! http://skitch.com/aeioux/txpa/picture-9

twitter: @birminghampost Blammo! Kazam! http://skitch.com/aeioux/txpm/picture-8

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 18:14:29 GMT

aeioux: @birminghampost Blammo! Kazam! http://skitch.com/aeioux/txpm/picture-8