I was instantly hooked and spent about 2 hours just listening to the people discuss about Google+, some proposed an arranged marriage, some just dropped by and was quiet most of the time, and it also came a point where people had a chance to introduce themselves. What made it interesting was that it was a mix of people from different backgrounds and cultures. There was really no moderator and the conversation was free flowing. It was indeed a worldwide public video chat room of 10 people (max capacity of Hangout at this point).

Watch a live stream of the Hangout from here and if there is a free slot open, go right ahead and join the Hangout session.

Picture this. Log in to one account then log out. Log in again to another then log out. Maybe open 2 browsers so I can have a couple of them open at the same time. If that doesn’t make you feel stressed, I don’t know what else will.

Things have changed recently and I’ve found several tools that I now use to start my day. I’ve found that using these tools, I spend less time going through the information chaos and I don’t miss an email (even the menial ones).

I’ve moved to Rockmelt and this has been my default browser since it launched. It gives me a pretty good snapshot of what is new from my feeds, tweets and Facebook notifications in one interface. I can also update my status and tweet from one window. No need to move to another tab and log in separately.

I love the “Share” button, which makes it easier for me to share any web page and post it on Facebook and tweet it (yes, in one interface).

The best one yet, is the “View Later” feature. I find an article but don’t have time to read it, then I just click that button. A great bookmarking tool!

They are constantly adding more applications and just found that they’ve added Tumblr. I think I’ve said it enough, “Yes, all that from one interface.”

Threadsy is next and it is a big time saver. It pulls all your emails into one interface. It also has the ability to show a stream from Facebook and Twitter.

What’s great about this tool is that I can respond to an email, tweet or Facebook thread from just one interface. I can search through all my emails with the use of the search bar.

Any changes I’ve made – like sending emails or moving messages to folders – will be reflected in the original account.

The only downside with Threadsy is you can’t search through old emails since it only pulls new and unread emails.

Lastly, Postling. This tool is great if you need to manage several brands and use social media and blog to several communities. Well, it is useful even if it’s just managing one brand, say your company or personal presence on the web.

Postling states, ” it’s the easiest way for small businesses to use social media,” and I agree! It rocks! I have several blogs that I need to maintain and each has its own unique community. Apart from that, managing my conversations with my business contacts have been a challenge until I opened an account in Postling.

I can add several communities to the account and check whether a comment has been made and I can easily reply to it. It tracks all comments made to my status updates. We’ve all experienced old posts getting buried by new Facebook posts and we forget old conversations. Now, I can go back to it and just click on the “Comments” tab so I can scroll down and add to the thread, if needed. This includes blog comments as well.

The stream or comments can also be shared as a blog post, which makes it easier to share and add your two cents in one interface. I also love the keyword tracking tool where you can have it check whether these have been posted or are being talked about. Great stuff for brands!

The only downside is the reviews tool. It uses Yelp, which is only for the U.S.

All these tools have one thing in common – managing social media. Do I get confused on what tool to use when engaging a conversation? Not really. If I’m checking my email, I can then see the stream from Threadsy and manage it from there. If I’m browsing, then Rockmelt is used. When I’m writing, I go for Postling.

I’m hoping one of these tools can include an email marketing tool. Can you imagine having all your contacts, start an email campaign and manage social media in one tool? If you’ve seen or using one, let me know ASAP!

As soon as the iPhone 4 was released by Apple, I couldn’t resist to visit their website and learn more about the new features.

Retina Display
The highest resolution on the iPhone is just amazing! Watch videos, display your pictures, browse through websites and reading emails is going to be one of the best experiences you’ll have when using the iPhone 4. Being a fan of crisp and crystal clear images, this made me drool.

FaceTime
Video calling at its finest! The phone has two cameras, one on the front and the other at the back. With a touch of a button, you can show and share what’s happening on the other side. Their advertisement just blew me away and admittedly brought tears to my eyes. My favorite was when a soldier, far from home, witnessed his wife’s visit to see an ultrasound of their unborn child. You can’t beat that. But, wait! Video calling through the mobile network? I was relieved to find out that you can use this feature over WiFi!

There are more features that isn’t new to an iPhone user, but to me, being someone who has watched at the sidelines and because of FaceTime, is ready to invest on this beautiful piece of hardware.

Hearing the news that it’s coming to the Philippines very soon (sometime late September or October), I visited the Globe website and asked around whether I can reserve a unit. Imagine the big smile on my face when I found out Globe is accepting pre-registrations! Take note that submitting your information doesn’t mean you’ve reserved a unit. It allows Globe to contact you when the units have arrived and send details on how you can order. Fair enough.

I’ve registered my interest and I can’t wait to get a hold of the new iPhone 4. To my pleasant surprise, my hubby wants one too! FaceTime here we come!

We don’t plan to continue developing Wave as a standalone product, but we will maintain the site at least through the end of the year and extend the technology for use in other Google projects.

I, for one, is disappointed with this update. Yes, it’s not a perfect product. There are times when your images don’t show up or documents being uploaded can’t be previewed or it’s too slow. Despite its limitations, I’ve learned to ignore them because it helped me organize my work. It was easier for me to click on “next 1″ (which brings you automatically to the latest post within a wave) and read the comment within a project cycle than browse through my inbox, trying to look for the email thread (especially if the subject has been changed several times).

I’ve read comments and posts from Wave critics, stating it was a hodgepodge of existing tools which is why it didn’t work. Maybe it was, but knowing how to use it properly and for its intended purpose (like project management or brainstorming), it’s a great productivity tool.

So, as I say goodbye to Google wave, I look forward to what the team has to offer when they merge this with other Google projects.

Time to research for the next new shiny toy…

Expect a showcase of the hottest technologies and latest innovations on mobile broadcasting, digital signage, 3D, audio technology, 4G, navigation based services, cloud computing, satellite communications, mobile TV, wireless technologies and much more!

Both conferences is filled with programs that encompasses the whole spectrum of the business.  From learning about the technology behind the solution down to marketing and ROI, it is indeed a cradle to grave model. Here is a sneak peek of what topics are to be discussed:

• WIMAX and the Demand for Broadband
• 4G Migration: The Value Proposition
• Next Generation Broadband Access: A Gateway to a Smart Economy
• Cloud Computing – Driving Agile IT
• How to Make Green Power for Telecom a Key to Business Success
• Content Discovery For The New Media – 5 Challenges Ahead
• The Challenges and Advantages of Hybrid Broadcast/Broadband Delivery
• Going live with 3D Television
• Social Networking consumption: An impact to the traditional broadcasters?
• Transition of Personalized Media to Social Media – How Can You Safely Give Up Control of Content to the New Generation of Content “Providers”?

For more details and updates on both events, their event sites are available for you to check out and register.

Here are some blogs to check out pictures and live blogging.

IGN Gear Live Blog

Engadget

I absolutely love this! Will I get one? Let’s see.

It’s been a tough month trying to make ends meet so I’ve been done a bit of research on different business tools.  Most are to make my life a little bit easier, make our business processes more efficient and start my journey to earn passive income through my blogs.

Card.ly

A simple online business card tool that lets you write a bio and include all your social media links and websites. As an entrepreneur and consultant, I work with different projects all the time.  I may represent myself as a call center consultant but at the same time have to let potential clients that I have a service to offer through my business.  I’ve thought of printing two different cards and give out what is appropriate but I end up giving both anyway.  This tool makes it easier.  I now only have to put my online card link along with the business’ website.  Just remembered, why not do this for ProFora altogether, since we have tons of links.

Kiwi

A new Twitter client for Mac users.  I downloaded the program and though it has great potential on the aesthetic side, the first version doesn’t compel me to switch.  I love the fact that you can choose from different themes and it has the ability to save hashtags and group them for later viewing.  I didn’t like the fact that I couldn’t search for a tweeter and easily follow them with one click like Tweetie.  A shortcut would’ve been helpful.

Entrecard

This is not new and have seen it for a long time being used by bloggers all over the world.  This is the only time I’ve tried and set up my account.  Hey, it’s free not unless I decide it’s worth spending money on.  I had difficulty putting the widget into my 2 blogs because of the theme and the size is not standard. As of this writing, only 1 has been approved.  I like it because it gives me the power to advertise my blog and find out more sites for me to read.

Fullseat

I’ve been looking for a web tool that will help us register webinar attendees with a separate form plus accept payments at the same time.  We’ve opened an account with Eventbrite but haven’t really used it to its full potential.  I discovered Fullseat, which seems very new, noticing there are functionalities that don’t quite work yet.  It’s easy and I like it because it’s FREE!  So far, they are not asking for a percentage of any sales from registrations.  I have to wait a little bit more for them to publish their complete version before I decide to use this for ProFora.

Clicky

Real time web analytics in its finest.  I haven’t tried this yet but it says you can monitor sites and see visitors as they enter your virtual real estate.  It’s acts like a spy.  The demo showed that there was 1 visitor (me) on that page, showed what operating system I was on, country of origin, and browser I was using. How cool is that!  A bit creepy but cool! The pricing plans are affordable but restricted by the number of features and sites you can have. I plan to start the free trial during the holiday break.

I have other tools but will write about it on the next issue.  Hope the list made you think of trying some of them. Let me know if you’ve tried them and comments are encouraged.

This triggered me to start a list of my own discoveries on the net or even outside the realms of cyberspace.  Some would be recommendations from colleagues and friends.  Others would be pure research or a result of ads and constant surfing. Here is my first list for your consumption.

Google Wave

This is still considered new and only a few lucky ones have access to the tool.  I am one of them.  I’ve been using it for a couple of weeks now and it has been a great experience.  Everyone in the ProFora team has it and we get things done more quickly.  What’s great is the documentation piece.  Though you can try to edit a blip, everything is recorded once a wave has started.

I received 8 invites to give and it’s all gone.  My colleague received 20! I’m waiting for the next “wave” of invites from my other Google Wave account.  I think they stopped sending them at this point until they are ready to take the load again.  For newbies, the complete guide is a great resource.

pleasenotify.me

A simple and free web application by Paste Interactive is pleasenotify.me.  It’s a reminder system for you or someone in your team to finish a task.  Delegate and put a deadline by placing your email and the recipient’s.  He will then receive a notice through email that a task needs to be done. A link is found within the body of the email for him to click on to trigger the process of it being completed.

Neat stuff but it looks impersonal.  All I see is an email address telling me to do something.  Not unless I know the person or have memorized their email, it looks odd.

Memo To Me

Similar to pleasenotify.me, it is a web based reminder system but focuses on events as well.  Sending a reminder that a birthday or anniversary is coming up is great to have.  I would recommend this to men in general since they seem to forget important dates.

Tweetboard

I’m still waiting for our alpha invite so I can’t give any feedback as of yet.  But, the tool is promising.  Both a viral engine and communications tool, it is a great application to add to your website or blog if you’d like to keep the conversation going within your organization or community.  One can follow any conversation at a certain time as it shows the thread of a certain topic.

More on the next issue of New & Shiny Toy Discoveries.  If you’ve found interesting applications that I should check out, let me know.

Image courtesy of Andrea See

My first blog carnival starts within my call center blogosphere.  The Call Center Blurbs Blog Carnival will showcase blog articles written by call center professionals.  I was thinking if I should focus on one location but like any magazine, an issue can have a theme or focus.  I could have a Philippine Call Centers edition or probably a Humor / Comics edition.  The possibilities are endless.

As of this writing, I’m seriously considering another blog carnival focused on my other blogs.  The only hesitation comes from the fact that I don’t know if I have the time to maintain several carnivals.  Oh, and well it depends on how receptive my readers are on submitting their articles.

Join me in this experiment! Create your own blog carnival or if you have one, do share.

Thinking that most bloggers would know this, apparently not a lot take the time to configure their blog settings to check for spam. Though this is mostly taken care of by top blogging providers, there are some that are still primitive  or it doesn’t do it for you automatically.

Here are some of the things that help me spot a genuine comment from a fake.

1. People who don’t know your real name (see example in picture) is obviously a spammer.  They don’t even bother to read your About page. If someone’s intentions are real then they would make sure they are addressing the author correctly.
2. (dot) ru.  I see a lot of email addresses ending with .ru, accompanied by weird characters.  They are Russian.  I would normally delete any email that has that extension because of experience.  But, from time to time, I still check with a translation tool in case it is legit.
3. Appreciation. If the praise isn’t appropriate and seem “fishy” then it’s spam.  It feels good for a second but you will realize it’s not intended  to please or give feedback.  It’s easy to delete it then.
4. Bookmarking.  You will get messages that say they will bookmark your blog.  If it’s a one liner, I delete it.  If you want to seriously pat the blogger’s back then I’m sure you would say something else to support the praise.

There are more tips out there to help you combat comment spam.  Do share and provide the links so bloggers can get back their time and focus on writing and building relationships with their readers.