Friday 14 August 2009

But my listing is out of date...

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The traditional business directory industry's 'little secret' is that even in the biggest directories, up to 15% of records are out of date, incorrect or wrongly classified. The main aim of the founders of Brownbook was to make it dead simple for people to correct things when they spot problems (something very hard to do in most traditional directories) - hence the introduction of wiki-like principles in Brownbook.

The beauty of it is that, if you find that your own business (or anyone else's) is inaccurate in any way, you can simply correct it yourself - or report it for deletion if it's, say, a duplicate or if the business no longer exists. This is a fine example of crowdsourcing in action!

In this way, Brownbook- the free global business directory anyone can edit - is made more accurate every day.
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Tuesday 4 August 2009

Awesome sites digest

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Using Twitter as I do, and just generally being exposed to all sorts of sites in all sorts of places, I come across some really good ones from time to time, so here are a few I that come to mind:

This site allows you to quickly share a file with others by simply uploading it to the 2shared site. The browse box is right on their home page. Once the upload is complete, it returns a live link which you can send to others so they can download the file. Not sure how this compares to usendit, but best of all - 2shared requires no login!
This twitter service is ideal for those with multiple Twitter accounts. The latest v2.0 which was released just the other day is superb. It gives the advanced Twitter user exactly what they want, all in the right places. I wish the "Show more" link showed more than it did (past tweets) and Hootsuite don't seem to be too hot in the support department. Ostensibly, they provide support via getsatisfaction.com but I have 3 outstanding queries - the first being 3 days old - and am still awaiting a response.
So much has been said about these already - suffice it to say, they are both brilliant. I found the wedding video quite moving because of the vast amounts of happiness that excuded from my screen when I watched it, and the divorce version was very cleverly done and very funny. Here's a recreated added bonus.
This one I find difficult to grasp! A still 360 degree photo I can just about understand, but how do you take a 360 degree video and then allow the viewer to wander around anywhere (up, down, left, right) while the video is playing? Knot together several videos all taken simultaneously whilst pointing in different directions? Well I couldn't see the join, could you?
For small to medium sized companies, serious about getting more online exposure, adding themselves to Brownbook.net, the free global business directory anyone can edit, is a must. Fields supplied include: web, blog, Twitter, VoIP and IM. It's also possible to add your QR code as well as your Google Street View link plus widgets and it includes bidgets (for export to other sites). Brownbook.net has to be the coolest business directory ever!
Do you know your rights? This beautiful site is packed with data - pretty much everything there is to know about your rights, especially the Universal Declaration of Human Rights - and it includes a PSA for each right given in the UDHR, plus a documentary on the history of the subject. Join the campaign to prevent human rights violations in those countries where the UDHR is not being adhered to.