I love a cool tag cloud. Wordle allows you to create custom tag clouds based on any site, RSS feed, or block of text. You can then customize with font, color, and shape choices.
Here’s one I created from the RD2 blog:
Addictive.
This afternoon we are launching what we’ve been referring to as “Productivity Suite” - a software product (currently in beta) from our new company called RD2 Labs. Productivity Suite is a productivity application that is unlike anything that has been done before.
There is always a push to be more productive. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that in the nonfarm business sector:
Productivity is taking a front seat in business, in technology, and in our busy lives.
Right now the new product is code named “Productivity Suite,” but a new name is going to be assigned soon. The big idea is to ignite awareness in team environments around productivity and spur teams to hold each other to a new level of accountability that is fun and exciting, but also that has very serious consequences on productivity in the work place. This system has a rewards/points system where people can earn points for positive actions in the workplace related to various categories of work productivity. There is a blog at the core of the software that only focuses on content that fits the context of categories such as: meeting productivity, time management, tools for productivity, and so on… The blog sets the guidelines and feeds content dynamically to the application to help employees learn how to be more effective. The goal is to get more out of an 8 hour work day than they have been doing in a 12 hour day…. and to go home and have time to relax.
We all know that cultural change generally happens slowly, but as we have been testing this internally we have seen a significant turn around in the way people think about productivity. This change has happened fast because the change is happening from within the organization - we designed a system in which team members can file an offense or offer a kudo to fellow employees. At first this seems a bit shocking, in concept, but the interface and usability of the application makes it competitive and we have found that the general office culture is quickly shifting to a more productive place. More than ever, our team has been focusing on conducting meetings that start on time, have agendas, focus on objectives, and end when they are supposed to end.
This product may not be for everyone, but it has quickly made an affect on our team and their eagerness to learn how to be more effective. People get points for adding great content to the system that fits the context. They also get dinged if they file too many offenses…. File too many in a row and lose points yourself. This system encourages users to post a balance of positive reinforcement and constructive criticism.
Also, we are building a set of reports (our next beta release) that will help us to understand who’s strong at what category and who needs help in which categories. We will offer training to those who need the help. And, we are tying our reports to utilization and realization in the company so that we can offer real data on potential impacts of this on our bottom line.
We’re really excited about all the hard work the team has done on this project. Check out the RD2 Productivity Suite at http://productivity.rd2inc.com!
We’ve been posting screencasts on Nuts About Southwest, our latest project with Southwest Airlines. When building the site, it was important for us that users be able to access as much content as they wanted on the site, or view each piece separately in various forms. This way more users could interact with more content in more ways, fitting various life styles and preferences. The last few screencasts have been focused around how to interact with Southwest content off the actual site - so far, on Flickr and through RSS feeds. The latest screencast is on how to subscribe to Southwest’s podcast through iTunes.
Enjoy!
Nuts About Southwest part 5 - Subscribing to the SWA podcast in iTunes
Other screencasts in this series:
For some people, RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is a way of life. For others, it’s just another acronym that they kind of/mostly/pretty much understand. In part 4 of our screencast series on Nuts About Southwest 2.0, Eric discusses RSS basics using examples from the various feeds on the Nuts About Southwest site.
And don’t worry, I’ll be back around next time. Enjoy!
Nuts About Southwest part 4 - RSS Feeds
Other screencasts in this series:
We’ve added a lot of functionality to Nuts About Southwest (Airlines), and we’re filming this screencast series to be sure that none of the cool new features get lost in the excitement of a new site. The following screencast is “a behind the scenes look” at the flickr images you see on the Nuts About Southwest site. It presents a basic step by step look at how to post images on flickr and to the Southwest Airlines group.
Presenting, part 3: Nuts About Southwest part 3 - The Southwest flickr Feed
If this is basic knowledge to you, you are among the few flickr users who know how to join a group (many don’t). If this screencast shows you something you didn’t know before, you’re definitely not alone.
Other screencasts in this series:
More evidence that Google is taking over the world: In addition to announcing plans to build an interactive map of Earth’s oceans, the Internet giant also unveiled Google TV Ads on the tried and trusted AdWords platform.
Google TV Ads allows advertisers to buy air time through an easy-to-use interface, selecting the desired networks, dayparts and programming to reach their target audience. Advertisers then set their budget with a pre-defined CPM cap (you can bid as low as $1.00 per 1000 impressions) and the service provides an estimated media buy amount based on traffic estimates derived from “second-by-second data from millions of anonymized set-top-boxes” and the expected number of impressions during the selected schedule.
Google TV Ads then provides daily reports with data on where and when the ad was shown; number of impressions, measured as active televisions tuned to the commercial for two seconds or more; average seconds per impression, including the average seconds by initial audience (number of seconds by audience members tuned in at the beginning of the ad) and the percentage of that initial audience retained from start to finish.
Don’t have a television ad? No problem! They’ll even help you produce a new commercial through the Ad Creation Marketplace (Google AdWords account required).
The real power of this will be unlocked by those who are best able to merge their offline advertising with digital media - all in one place - with the ability to measure results and revenue from traditional media at a much finer level of detail. On television, offer codes and specialty URLs that drive consumers to a website help make that integration possible, but there is opportunity for human error in the transfer, and that’s before accounting for the impressions that go wasted on guys like me who fall asleep with the TV on almost every night. If only the :CueCat hadn’t been so far ahead of its time…
Click here and scroll down to the see the awesomeness that is the Color Wizard!
For a while I’ve been watching Adobe Labs and there’s some nifty stuff happening there. Thermo is a project that might just address some of the work flow needs for designers who want to more simply turn Photoshop art into prototypes for presentation or general concepting. Check out Thermo… I hope they are going where I think they are going…
Since we switched to Google Apps for business functions like email and calendar scheduling, I’ve spent more time than ever with Google on my computer screen.
Need I mention how often I also rely on Google offline?
Google 411 is Google’s (free) answer to finding whitepages information on the go. Sure calling is a cool option, but my favorite feature is the texting (surprise). Type in the name of the business and zip code (in my experience it only has to be a close-ish zip code) or city and text it to GOOGLE (466453). Within seconds, Google texts you right back with all the information you need. Did I mention the service is free (plus whatever you pay your cell phone provider for text messages)?
I’m obsessed.
Shortly after the holidays we walked in to the RD2 offices and saw that Santa Ronan had brought us a shiny new 42″ flat-panel HDTV. It’s got a gorgeous picture and has come in very handy for presentations in the office. As long as there’s a nice new TV there, what office couldn’t use a sweet gaming console to go along with it? Oh, right…
But wait! Thanks to a Carnegie Mellon Ph.D. candidate and his innovative solution to create a low-cost interactive whiteboard, there is now a business case for outfitting your office with a Nintendo Wii system. All you need is a “Wiimote”, an infrared LED light-pen (see the video on how to make one yourself) a Bluetooth connection and his software. And if you’re going to have a Wiimote or two laying around the office, you might as well go the full nine, right?
