Out-Smarts Marketing Services

Having trouble at the office? Try these office pranks as posted by Odee. My favorite is the mouse in jelly - now that just might get me of the Interweb.

Spring is still threatening to visit us in Vancouver, the birds are chirping and new media moves along at a swift pace. This months reasons to be cheerful also include:

Plaxo Pulse - I’ve avoided Plaxo like the plague since using it a few years ago on a client project and having it constantly crash so I was skeptical when a friend invited me to join Pulse. I have to say though it seems that the Plaxo team have been working away to develop a real alternative to professional networks like LinkedIn and to integrate other social media sites.

Ever on the search for the right accounting package, I recently met with LedgersOnline a local firm specializing on online bookkeeping solutions. Could this be the one?

Goodboog is another local offering that provides an on-line catalogue designed to facilitate the promotion of products and services online in 25 different languages.

Send e-mail to the future with Time Machiner.

Okay the last one is rather whimsical - it is spring after all.

Lately I’ve been adding more images to my blog to brighten it up.  I’ve even been taking photographs when I am out and about.   This cartoon from Being Five explains why you haven’t seen any of them yet!

The reasons to be cheerful have been bountiful this month as we traveled the virtual world. Links include everything from on line CRM to complete and utter whimsy and we have more reasons than usual for February:

Myplick - never battle with uploading a Powerpoint again.

Buzzshout - want to find out about the latest web technologies? Buzzshout is the place to go.

Highrise - simple on-line CRM to allow you to easily manage your contacts. Great if you’re just starting out but not so easy if your contacts aren’t in Outlook and your forced to manually upload.

Got vmail - this service helps you manage your calls, provides toll free numbers and an answering service.

NCIX - this one is bricks and mortar and online and its great to have an alternative to the cowboys at FutureShop and Best Buy.

meez - while away your Friday afternoon creating an avator for your social networking profiles. Mine is “so meez”.

Strutta - Vancouver is a buzz with the yet to be launched Strutta. Is it a bird, is it a plane? Who knows (our launch invite got lost in the mail) but rumor has it its something to do with online video and gaming.

Seems like 10 is the number of the week here at Out-Smarts. We’re off to Northern Voice today and we’re so excited we’re practically rippling. Here are our ten (tongue in cheek) reasons to attend.

1. For the free lunch - didn’t you see that photo (drool).

2. To snag a T shirt - hopefully with a big Moose on the front. How Canadian eh?

3. We would do anything to get a day out of the office.

4. To get much needed and aforementioned podcasting advice.

5. Its much cheaper than the social media telesummit(although much shorter) that is also taking place this week. Granted that could be the Scottish in me coming out there.

6. To meet some rockstar bloggers. I met the Engadget guy earlier this year. I’m on a roll….

7. To find out if blogging really is dead or if its just that the early adopters have moved on to the next new thang.

8. To check out the beautiful UBC campus. Terror alert or no terror alert, we will be there.

9. To live blog on my XO. It is charging its little green and white battery as I type.

10. To make some new friends to add to my Facebook profile.

Here for your Friday enjoyment is a funny little clip found on YouTube all about the social networking tech bubble.  Blog in the womb indeed!

Some times its just easier to watch to garbage truck than to put your thoughts into writing.

Check out these ads from yesteryear compiled by Odee for a good laugh to end the week. Its funny to see just how much attitudes have changed. My favorite: for a better start in life start cola earlier!

We just got back from the Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas and what a blast that was with over 2,700 vendors showcasing everything from the latest, skinniest, largest TVs to desktop clocks of all things. I went to the show with great intentions of blogging from the floor but alas my laptop died en route. Not to worry I thought - I’ll be able to access the Internet at a booth and indeed that was the case but my intentions were thwarted once again as I was unable to find the site because I had a symbol in the wrong place of my long convoluted login URL. What a cheek I have to call myself a blogger when instead of real time posts I am reduced to this - 2 days later….

Still the whole experience was good as it gave me focus at an otherwise overwhelming event. My focus: to find the device of my dreams that would enable me to easily blog regardless of where I am. In my hunt I looked at smart phones, laptops and other PDA type devices and I want to share my 2 favorites - those that I drooled on at the booth and dream about using to make my blog life easier.

The first is Sony’s latest Micro PC the VGM-UX490N/C. At about the size of a book and opening to a small keyboard and screen I could easily carry this device to blog anywhere and even better, it has the full functionality of a laptop 3 times the size. Sony gets around the issue of the small screen being difficult to read by incorporating a neat zoom mode.

The other device of my dreams was the Samsung SPH-P9200 another micro PC this time with an extendable keyboard that would make blog input much easier. Unfortunately Samsung had a blanket ban on photography at their booth (why this is I have no idea given that its images are freely available to anyone who cares to Google it) so I can’t share any more of my own grainy images :o) but check it out anyway and you’ll see what I mean. Unfortunately the device doesn’t seem to be available in Canada yet so I’ll have to be patient on that one.

Next time I go to CES I’ll be taking one of these sweet tools with me and I will blog from the floor…. I wonder which one it will be?

Something on the light side for the weekend from a great cartoon strip about a 5 year old who uses voice recognition software to blog.