Silicon Florist

This ain’t your father’s Twitter background: COLOURlovers themeleon takes custom theming to a whole new level

Rick Turoczy — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:58:19 +0000

Now, I know, I know. I’ve doted on Portland-based COLOURlovers time and time again. If I’m waxing philosophic about the amazing community they’ve built around sharing color palettes then I’m highlighting another award or recognition they’ve received. It really and truly is one of the most beautiful sites in Portland—if not on the entire Web.

But their latest little venture has me a wee bit slackjawed. Not only is it an excellent application of the wealth of color knowledge they’ve accumulated, it’s also a tool that makes even the hue managing challenged—like yours truly—look like a true artiste.

Introducing COLOURlovers themeleon, an Web-based service that will let you create stunning Twitter backgrounds in a matter of seconds—and soon likely themes for any number of customizable sites.

Custom Twitter background? Yeah yeah. I hear you. And I can see you shaking your head there, Mr. or Mrs. Sassypants. “I can work that magic in PhotoShop. What’s Rick got himself all worked up about this time?”

But trust me on this one. This thing is easy—and addictive.

Once you get the hang of the interface, you’ll be busting out new backgrounds in seconds. Step 1: Pick a pattern. Step 2: Pick a pallette. Step 3: Start mucking.

Not sure what colors to pick? No problem. Because themeleon is also social. Meaning you can use palettes created by people who know far more about palette making than you or me. Pick from the most popular palettes or take a gander and the latest ones.

Don’t like where a color is sitting? Drag it somewhere else and watch your layout change as you work. Want to change a hue? You can call up the color palette to tweak it to your heart’s desire.

And here’s the other thing. It’s not just changing the background image. It’s changing your whole Twitter color palette. So that your background image, sidebar, text, and links are all complementary. Read: you look like you know what you’re doing.

Muck around as much as you like. You’re going to get what you’re seeing on the screen.

And then once you’re done, log into Twitter and save it as your new background.

Did you screw up? Don’t worry. You’ve even got an undo.

Worried your background will look just like everyone else’s? Um. I doubt it. They’ve got 600,000 patterns and more than 1 million palettes with which you can work. That means you have almost… um. Uh. … combinations. You can combine them in… uh. Well. Suffice it to say it’s a lot. A lot. Like almost infinity or something.

Man. This has to be the nicest online design tool I’ve used in quite some time. And I’d be saying that even it wasn’t a Portland product. Maybe.

Last but not least, in the not too distant future, all of your theming could get this push-button easy. Thanks to the COLOURlovers API. That means you could be editing themes for Gmail, Blogger, tumblr, or any other service in much the say way. I mean, imagine if a WordPress theme designer took the opportunity to hook into the API. So you could tweak the colors intelligently without having to guess? Now we’re talking.

To try the service for yourself, visit COLOURlovers themeleon. For more tips on how to use this cool new tool, read this COLOURlovers blog post. For more on the community behind the magic or to start sharing color palettes with others, visit COLOURlovers.

We [Already] Make the Media. Now, we need to organize a nonprofit to help Portland journalism prosper.

Rick Turoczy — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 23:31:41 +0000

You’re hearing it more and more. There’s something special happening in Portland these days. There’s a groundswell, a number of things coming together, and just a general feeling of momentum around the reinvention of how we both produce and consume media.

To date, it’s been very much of a grassroots effort. Separate people doing their own thing. Or small groups of independent blogs, podcasts, and publications fighting the good fight.

Now, there may be an organization to help. Introducing We Make the Media.

We Make the Media proposes to “build a new community journalism enterprise for the Portland metropolitan region.” And this Saturday, they’re meeting to discuss how that might happen.

Who is pulling all of this together? A team of veteran journalists who have a vested interest in seeing journalism continue to persevere and survive—despite what may be happening in the world of media.

The team shares the perspective that historically, newspapers have been the breeding ground and backbone for journalism that protects our democracy. But the success of the Internet is challenging the traditional advertising-based scaffolding for reporting and journalism, while as yet there is no viable model for financially robust Internet journalism.

If you want to be part of helping organize this organization—or if you’d simply like to teach me to write, so that I don’t compose phrases like that in the future—the conference will be held Saturday, December 21 at the University of Oregon / White Stag building in downtown Portland. The cost to attend is $25.

For more information or to register, visit We Make the Media. Or you can follow @WeMakeTheMedia on Twitter. Or listen to Abraham Hyatt and Dr. Normal discuss We Make the Media on a recent Crazy Talk, below.

(Image courtesy ShironekoEuro. Used under Creative Commons.)

memePDX 013: Ignite Portland 7, Back Fence PDX, Supercomputing 2009, ccSync, Tim O’Reilly, Wikipedia, and Obama has never tweeted

Rick Turoczy — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:50:49 +0000

Well, well, well. It’s another Thursday. Kinda. And that means it’s time for another episode of memePDX. Lucky number 13, in fact.

So what did we cover? Well, a whole bunch of stuff. But we’ve got one favor to ask. Just pretend it’s Thursday, pre-Ignite Portland and pre-Back Fence PDX. Okay? Okay.

This week, Cami Kaos and I talk about Ignite Portland 7 and Backfence PDX on the same night, Supercomputing 2009, ccSync, Tim O’Reilly on the war for the Web, Wikipedia’s annual fund drive, and Obama has never tweeted. And of course, get well soon to MetaFilter’s Matt Haughey.

Let’s get into it.

Want to subject yourself to this torture on a regular basis subscribe to this podcast? Get the audio podcast feed or subscribe on iTunes. Or get the full meal deal with the video feed or the iTunes feed for the video of memePDX. We’re also on Vimeo, because of the whole Portland connection. And of course, if you’re interested in staying in touch, you can always follow memePDX on Twitter. Or you can become a fan of memePDX on Facebook.

Interested in audio? Here you go.

Stumptown Game Machine releases Touch Pets: Another Portland iPhone app, another runaway hit

Rick Turoczy — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:02:14 +0000

Now if you’re building an iPhone app in Portland, the bar is already pretty high. What with apps like the Obama app, Air Sharing, and Fieldrunners, Portland has had its own fair share of runaway hits.

And now, that bar just raised a little higher. Portland-based Stumptown Game Machine now boasts the number one free iPhone app in the App Store with its long awaited and much ballyhooed Touch Pets.

The verdict? It was worth the wait.

Touch Pets was developed by Stumptown Game Machine for ngmoco, a company that’s striving to deliver amazing games for the iPhone platform. And Touch Pets does a great job of furthering that pursuit.

So, you make calls, surf the Web, download a few apps, and use the GPS, but years of Tomagatchi and Pokemon addiction have you longing for something more. What you really really want on your iPhone is a virtual pet. Well you’re in luck. Because that’s exactly what Touch Pets delivers.

Adopt a dog—either your favorite breed or a robot dog—and start taking care of it. Touch Pets walks you through a tutorial on care and feeding of your new little critter. Including how to entertain them, pet them, and keep them happy.

Then, it’s all up to you. Check in on your dog. Give him or her a few pets. Throw the ball or Frisbee to give them a little exercise. Take them outside to run around. Feed them.

All the chores of a real pet, but on your iPhone. Yes, even that one. I mean, when you’ve got to go…

And some new ones. Like dressing them in wacky hats and clothes. And introducing them to other dogs owned by other players.

It may sound a little silly. But it’s entirely engrossing. What’s more, it was simple enough to keep my three-year old engaged for a long long time. And that, my friends, may be reason enough for many parents to download the game. But it’s also challenging enough to keep adults intrigued.

The concept is entertaining, but the reason it’s so engrossing is the gameplay. Smooth graphics, well integrated multitouch features, and great animation makes the game as fun to watch as it is to play.

It’s no surprise it’s #1.

To help Stumptown Game Machine keep that ranking, why not download Touch Pets from the App Store? I mean, it’s free.

For more information, visit Stumptown Game Machine or Touch Pets. Or you can always follow @StumptownGM on Twitter.

(Hat tip Raven Zachary)

Ignite Portland 7: How to win at Ignite or Tips and tricks for getting the most out of your Ignite experience

Rick Turoczy — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:40:21 +0000

Sometimes this content is so easy, it practically writes itself. Especially when I’m just repeating stuff I’ve written before. Again and again. But it bears repeating.

So you’ve reached that special time in your life. And you’re headed to Ignite Portland 7, tonight. Exciting isn’t it? You may be experiencing some funny feelings about Ignite.

That’s okay. That’s natural. We all go through it.

Rest assured, we want your Ignite experience to be as fun and rewarding as possible. So whether this is your 23rd Ignite event or your first, here are some tips and tricks for getting the most out of Ignite Portland 7.

First, the venue info:

Bagdad Theater, 3702 S.E. Hawthorne Blvd. Portland, OR 97214

7:00 – 10:00 PM (Doors open at 5:30 PM)

Admission is always FREE.

Something special: Giving back to the community

Whoa whoa whoa there tiger! Where do you think you’re going? Don’t go running out the door just yet. I’ve got something important to tell you.

Now, a number of us are in the midst of working a charity fundraiser called 30 hour day. It’s a livestreaming telethon the likes of which the world has never seen. But that’s not what we’re talking about at the moment.

What we’re talking about right now is the fact that part of that telethon will be focused on raising donations for the Oregon Food Bank and Toys for Tots.

Well, the folks at Small Society—an awesome iPhone agency here in Portland—thought “no better time than the present.” So guess what they’re doing? That’s right. They’re helping run a toy and food drive at Ignite Portland. How cool is that? That’s right. It’s very cool.

We know that even the most organic-home-grown-in-my-garden types must have an errant box of mac and cheese lying about, or perhaps you bought too many cans of refried beans in a regrettable Costo moment. Or perhaps you can swing by your local Fred Meyers and pick up some crayons and a coloring book? When you’ve got those non perishable foods and new unwrapped toys together, bring ‘em to the Bagdad, and we will take care of the rest. Whatever you can contribute, we will be grateful.

So head to the cupboard there, Mother Hubbard. Or swing by the store on your way to the event. And give a little something back. You’ll be so filled with warm fuzzies that you might not even need refreshments at Ignite. (Please note: Your level of warm fuzzies may vary.)

Okay. Got your food or your toy? Good. Let’s get going!

Tips and tricks

Here are some “Do”s and “Don’t”s that will help you get the most out of your first, second, third, fourth, or fifth Ignite Portland experience:

DO bring your camera, your phone, your sketchpad, or any other way of capturing the event.
DO tag anything and everything #ip7 and/or igniteportland. That way, everyone can find it.
DO get there early. Really early. I’m serious. Early. Did I say “Early”? Early.
DO be prepared to give everyone and anyone your Twitter name. (Don’t use Twitter? Get on it.)
Now that you’re on Twitter, DO try to tweet about the event and hashtag it #ip7. That way, we can see what you’re saying.
DO be nice to all the Legion of Tech folks and volunteers. (They’re all volunteers, actually. And they’re doing this in their free time.)
DO take the chance to introduce yourself to anyone and everyone.
DON’T forget how hard it is for some of these folks to get on stage.
Still DON’T be the assholes who were heckling presenters and sponsors that one time. The presenters are taking a nervewracking risk and the sponsors are paying for your ass to be in that seat for free.
DON’T be a wallflower. Talk to people in line while you’re waiting to get into the venue. Talk to people while you’re waiting in the food line. The Bagdad is a great venue for presenting, but talking to folks at breaks will take some doing.
DON’T claim to be tired and skip the after party. You’d be amazed at the cool discussions you’ll miss. And of course, the after party is always much better for socializing than standing in the aisles at the Bagdad. And as an added bonus, the folks from Back Fence PDX will be joining the Ignite after party.
DON’T have so much fun at the after party that you wander home and submit some crazy Ignite Portland 8 proposal. I mean, that’s why half of those people are up there, tonight.
DON’T think you’re going to make it? Well DON’T despair! I suggest you DO watch Ignite Portland from the comfort of your Web browser. All thanks to the wonderful folks at Strange Love Live. And if you’re from out of town, you’re more than welcome to tune into Ignite Portland, too.

Need more tips? Right this way, my friend. The Legion of Tech has posted a list as well.

Luck, luck, break a leg, and luck

Best of luck to tonight’s presenters:

NEW! (sort of) Tips for presenters

No no no. I’m not writing new content, silly. I’m recycling recycled content. It’s all thanks to Jeff Hardison, who presented during Ignite Portland 4.

Last but not least: Party Party Afterparty

What’s a huge event without an afterparty? Well, it’s Ignite Portland 1 and 2, I think. But now, the afterparty is part of the fun.

Everyone loves a good after party. And you’re all invited to Back Stage Bar, right next door to the Bagdad Theater to compare notes with your friends about your favorite IP6 IP7 talk, and start rustling up ideas for the killer talk idea you’re going to submit for IP7 IP8. Or, just come hang out and have a drink. Back Stage closes at 12AM. Also, odds are that a few folks will make their way for a fried pie nightcap down at @Whiffies on 12th and Hawthorne.

Looking forward to seeing you there!

That’s about it. Everything you need to know to make your time at Ignite Portland the best it can be.

Looking forward to seeing you there.

ccSync: Bringing the chatroom and IRC dynamic to SMS with group texting

Rick Turoczy — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:08:24 +0000

[Full disclosure: I have consulted with ccSync in the past before they reconfigured their product offering. I was pre-briefed on the launch of this product, but I have not been involved in the launch planning.]

For all the cool Web apps, iPhone apps, and mobile technologies, few things beat SMS for market penetration. That’s what makes it so great. Next to actually calling someone on the phone—but I mean, who does that?—texting is the easiest way to communicate with folks. Because practically anyone carrying a phone in their pocket can send and receive SMS messages—so long as their data plan I allows it.

So as far as having SMS? Great. But using SMS only works for very particular applications. Like one-to-one conversations. If you want to use that technology to communicate with three different people, you’re going to wind up sending that message three different times.

If only there were some way to talk to a group of people—in a controlled confidential way, not a public Twitter way—using this nearly ubiquitous technology. Well, now there is. Introducing ccSync.

With Portland-based ccSync, you can assemble and manage a group of people by adding their phone numbers. Those folks are pinged that they’ve been added to your group. And then suddenly, your text messages begin to resemble a chatroom or—for the more techie types—IRC. Every message goes to every person in the group. Voila. Group SMS.

Best of all? No short codes. No special tags or keywords. One phone number for one group. Add that group to your contacts and go. Get invited to another group? It’s a completely different number—and a new contact for you to track.

But what if you don’t want every message via SMS or “WTF? don’t want 2 type things on phone frm my desk”? Well, ccSync has thought of that too. You can turn off the SMS messages in favor of using email. And you can also respond to incoming messages via email or through the ccSync site. Giving you the option of using that full size keyboard you’re using at your computer.

Now, if you’ve got a bunch of chatty folks with nothing but time on their hands, this may not be the best service for you. But if you have a group of people whom you need to contact with short snippets of information—and allow them to respond quickly—it could be the perfect service for you.

Customer support? Project teams? Event management? Running Ignite Portland? Coordinating with writers on a tech blogs? Trying to get a product out the door? They all seem like pretty good applications of this groupthink version of SMS. And I’m sure there are dozens you can imagine. What’s more, for folks working in groups and trying to get stuff done, there are some instances where this type of connectivity—with its ability to be connected to everyone no matter where they are or what type of phone they’re carrying—beats more traditional forms of communication—conference calls, email, IM, even IRC—hands down.

Sounds cool doesn’t? Well, I’ve got some good news and some bad news.

The good news is that ccSync is currently available in beta. The bad news is that it’s a private beta. So you’re going to have to wait behind the velvet rope.

But I’d recommend that you wait until they call your name. And give it a shot. Just as important, I’d love to hear how you’re using it.

For more information or to sign up for your beta account, visit ccSync. Or you can always follow ccSync on Twitter.

Health care geeks flock to Portland for open source CONNECT Code-a-thon

Rick Turoczy — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:35:32 +0000

With OHSU, Portland has a great deal of prominence in the world of health care. And with open source, Portland has some street cred with the techie types. But events that get the health care and open source tech types intermingling? Not so much.

But all that changes on November 19 and 20, when Portland, OSU Open Source Labs, and PSU play host to the CONNECT Code-a-thon, a open source hacking session for health care tech types.

What’s CONNECT you ask? Well, it’s an effort by the US government to enable its health care technology systems to share data with one another over a national network. So if you start sneezing in Topeka, a doctor there can access your medical records here.

CONNECT is an open source software solution that lets health IT systems and health information exchanges securely communicate with each other using nationally-recognized standards and guidelines. By using CONNECT, information can be easily shared among IT systems at doctor’s offices, federal agencies, state agencies, disability organizations, pharmacies, payors and other health stakeholders, making it possible for information to follow patients. CONNECT enables health information exchange within an organization, regionally, and at the national level using the Nationwide Health Information Network (NHIN) conventions and standards.

A good gateway is one thing. But getting systems to hook into—and take advantage of—that gateway is entirely another. And that’s what the CONNECT Code-a-thon hopes to facilitate: helping folks figure out how to hook into CONNECT.

The event will be a hands-on working session where attendees will have the opportunity to work side-by-side with other organizations implementing CONNECT as well as the development team from the CONNECT program. We will be listing topics on the forum and encourage discussions prior to the Code-A-Thon so we can get straight to the business of coding during the event.

In addition to being a great opportunity to further technology in the health care sector, landing this event marks yet another step forward for Portland and its recognition as an open source community. Dare I say that Portland is the de facto hub of open source? I dare.

The sold-out event (see below) will be held Thursday and Friday. If you’re interested in more information, visit the CONNECT site or review the CONNECT Code-a-thon agenda.

OPB Think Out Loud: Abraham Hyatt and Michelle Rafter on the rebirth of local journalism

Rick Turoczy — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:43:34 +0000

I’ve said it once or twice, I’ll probably say it again a few more times: Portland is a pretty darn bloggy town. In fact, blogging is probably right up there with brewpubs and restaurants in the “per capita” standings.

But what happens when those blogs stop being personal pontifications and navel gazing and become something more? What happens when they move from the realm of online diary to online media outlet? When the writing becomes journalistic?

That’s what Abraham Hyatt and Michelle Rafter of the We Make The Media project will be discussing, this morning, on OPB Think Out Loud: Rebirth of local journalism.

Now the time has come to really explore that question. Next weekend there is a conference taking place in Portland called We Make the Media. The organizers, most of whom are very involved with the local journalism scene in one way or another, say: “The journalism we want and need is dying, dead—or yet to be born. The time has come for new approaches, tools, business models, and media organizations to be built and nurtured.”

Think Out Loud begins at 9 AM, this morning. You can listen on FM 91.5 in Portland or catch it livestreamed on the OPB site. It’s a call-in show, so if you’ve got a question or opinion, um, call in.

If you miss it, you can always find it in the OPB Think Out Loud archives.

For more on the conference, visit We Make the Media. Or follow @WeMakeTheMedia on Twitter.

HulaHub: Social networking gets more cultured and artsy

Rick Turoczy — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 23:46:56 +0000

Most of the social media types I know are a cultured bunch. They know more about movies and music and writing and whatnot than any ten people I know offline. But for all of that brainpower, there’s still a lack of experts with deep knowledge in some areas of the arts.

Long story short, the artists aren’t as involved—or as supported by—social networking as they should be. Until now.

Introducing Portland-based HulaHub, a new social networking service—that includes both a Web and iPhone presence—designed to get the art crowd more involved in the social Web.

What’s that? You’re even more cultured than I thought? Well then, start sharing all of that cultural knowledge with your friends with HulaHub.

Come watch a demo of the new HulaHub site and iPhone app. These exciting tools enable art lovers to find local cultural events and tell the world about their experiences.

Sound interesting? Well, you’re invited to the HulaHub launch party. But I hope you’re dressed. Because it’s happening in a few hours. So scoot scoot little bug.

I know. I hear you. How is HulaHub any different than a Ning site? Well, it has to do with the people behind the site, Box Office Tickets, a Portland-based ticketing system that has been supporting the arts since 1993.

Box Office Tickets Inc. has been empowering the event and entertainment industry through innovative “back of the house” services since 1993. Known for the quality of its customer service and technology, boxofficetickets.com® is a national brand with proven experience in handling all types of events — the arts, sports, business conferences and non-profit fund-raisers. Through its boxofficetickets.com® and RoBOT® technologies, Box Office Tickets provides a complete range of reliable and affordable solutions for order processing, admission control and data management services.

And I think it’s that knowledge of the industry that’s going to set them apart from competitors in this little venture.

Again, sorry for the short notice. But do swing by the launch event if you can. I’m looking forward to some highly cultured tweets and insights from you.

For more information, wait for HulaHub to launch. Or follow HulaHub on Twitter.

JainRain RPX gets more social with Rich Social Publishing

Rick Turoczy — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 01:09:12 +0000

It’s really interesting to watch the continued progression of Portland-based JanRain’s efforts with RPX, its drop-in, single sign-on solution designed to help sites and developers quickly and easily solve the “login credential” problem. And just to think, it all began with JanRain trying to simplify the OpenID workflow. How cool is that?

Today, JanRain announced the latest feature to RPX. Now in addition to getting login functionality, RPX users also gain a social sharing feature that allows visitors to distribute content to various social media sites.

What’s it do? Well, it allows you to use the credentials stored in RPX to update all of the social sites you want.

Our social widget makes it easy to publish user activities from your site to Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo! Updates, and MySpace. With just a few simple lines of javascript, you can give your users the power to share activities and interactions on your site with their friends across the social web.

Not into widgets? No worries. You can also take advantage of the REST API to publish updates to the social sites.

Sounds pretty exciting, doesn’t it? Well you’re not the only one who thinks that way.

“The recent launch of the Yahoo! Updates API and its integration within the RPX platform enables websites to easily connect to the social web and distribute relevant user-generated content throughout the Yahoo! network,” said Greg Cohn, Director of Strategy and Business Development for Yahoo! in a press release “We are enthusiastic about JanRain’s launch of social publishing features and the ease of deployment that RPX brings to website owners.”

For more information, visit JanRain’s RPX Now.

Silicon Florist

This ain’t your father’s Twitter background: COLOURlovers themeleon takes custom theming to a whole new level

Related posts

We [Already] Make the Media. Now, we need to organize a nonprofit to help Portland journalism prosper.

Related posts

memePDX 013: Ignite Portland 7, Back Fence PDX, Supercomputing 2009, ccSync, Tim O’Reilly, Wikipedia, and Obama has never tweeted

Related posts

Stumptown Game Machine releases Touch Pets: Another Portland iPhone app, another runaway hit

Related posts

Ignite Portland 7: How to win at Ignite or Tips and tricks for getting the most out of your Ignite experience

Something special: Giving back to the community

Tips and tricks

Luck, luck, break a leg, and luck

NEW! (sort of) Tips for presenters

Last but not least: Party Party Afterparty

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Related posts

ccSync: Bringing the chatroom and IRC dynamic to SMS with group texting

Related posts

Health care geeks flock to Portland for open source CONNECT Code-a-thon

Related posts

OPB Think Out Loud: Abraham Hyatt and Michelle Rafter on the rebirth of local journalism

Related posts

HulaHub: Social networking gets more cultured and artsy

Related posts

JainRain RPX gets more social with Rich Social Publishing

Related posts