Do you ever remember a site you went to by it’s content or design but can’t remember the name of it?
Unless you’re very organized your bookmarks or favorites list are probably all but useless to help you find that site again.

Enter WebMynd.
It’s a Firefox extension which allows you to keep a virtual gallery of pages you’ve visited. Kind of like a cross between Tivo and the Waybackmachine.
The result is a gallery of screenshots of sites that you visited. The images show up in a slideshow that you can zoom through, or a grid you can quickly scan to find just the site you’re thinking of.

The gallery is not stored on your machine, it’s stored on the WebMynd servers, so it’s easily retrievable wherever you are.

Will it keep every site you’ve ever been to?
Nope, you can turn it on or off or specify sites that it doesn’t need to record, so your journeys to the job banks need never be recorded.

What’s the catch? Obviously they aren’t going to store your surfing history forever. WebMynd archives sites you’ve visited for a week, then you start over. If you want to record them for longer, you can et a paid account and keep your sites visited for 6 months ($10) or 1 year ($20).

All in all it’s a deal if you’re doing research for a project and don’t want to keep bookmarking everything, but don’t need the links long term.

If you’ve ever been to Sausalito you may have noticed that there really isn’t a place to go that gets you out over the water with a good view of the bay. A small grassroots organization has formed called the Sausalito Harbor Improvement Project (SHIP) that wants to put a public quay out from the shore so that locals and visitors can stroll out for a view or dock their small boats on a trip into town.

We’ve built them a website so they can better communicate their vision and get the discussion going locally. Take a look and if you’re interested in joining the cause or discussing options, come to one of several public meetings.
http://www.sausalitoharbor.org/

We stay on top of the latest browsers to make sure all our sites look consistent in them and Flock is no exception. It’s based on the Mozilla platform , and we pretty much got what we expected.
But Flock has a different viewpoint on the Web. It’s more than a browser, it’s a social network browser!

With Flock you can keep track of all your social networks in one place.
Once you’ve logged in to your various networks like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flicker you can click the option at the top of the page to remember your account there. From that point on Flock will track what’s going on in that network. It can show you what your friends are up to and give a nice summary of all of them in one place. You can also add your favorite RSS feeds and easily scan the headings all on one page.

Pluses

• You have one browser for all your social media links, your rss feeds etc.
• Bookmarking can sync with your del.ico.us account.
• Everything is automatically updated, and it’s in an well designed interface.
• You can upload files to flicker or YouTube easily and all in one interface.
• The built in blog editor allows you to post to your blog from wherever you are, rather than having to login.
• Your favorite Firefox extensions will mostly work with Flock. After all it’s the same base platform, but there are some nifty new ones to explore that are specific to social networks.
• The inline feed viewer allows you to

Not so Pluses

• Flock weighs in at over 56 Mb so you’d best have some room on your drive.
• You can’t run Flock and Firefox at the same time. You must quit Firefox to import your favorites from Firefox.
• There’s a bit of work to do to add all your social media networks and configure the browser.
• while it’s true you can post to your blog, Flock won’t let you pick the category it’s posted in and it saves drafts locally and not online, so if you save a draft you have to post it finally from Flock or re-write it.
• There’s also a learning curve to use the browser itself, though thee are tutorials available.

Privacy issues
Somewhat like Facebook’s much maligned Beacon, Flock keeps track of what your friends are up to all day. And what you’re up to all day. Extensions like Me.dium shows you and your friends what each other are up to, what sites you’re surfing and even discuss the sites while you’re there.
There are lots of other nifty features like this, so if you are privacy conscious then choose your add-ons wisely.

Gonna to use it?

Yes and no.
I’ll use it for testing until I’m sure that Firefox and Flock render our designs the same way, or we see how to adjust.
I won’t use it while I’m working or researching. Partly because it doesn’t play nice with Firefox open at the same time. (Because I’m constantly testing I often have 2-3 browsers open at the same time.)

I’ll use it for browsing my rss feeds, social networks and surfing for fun.

Basically it will be where I keep my links for fun, talk to my friends and play, but not where I live.

Ponti Seafood Grill is located on Seattle’s ship canal, the views of the canal and it’s bridges are spectacular and the restaurant was designed to maximise on the beauty of the canals. Unfortunately their first website was built years ago, and it looked dated. It also didn’t show off the details of this lovely restaurant. It’s a grand space with lots of private dining options, great food and ambiance.

Needless to say our goal was to bring the ambiance of Ponti to life, show it off in all it’s glory and bring a new clientele in the door. We’re happy to say we think we’ve accomplished our goal in this new website.

Hey, but don’t let us toot our own horns here, tell us what YOU think!

Are you on a Mac 5-14 hrs a day? Need to find some tools that will help you be more productive? Check out the deal at Macheist

Some of my favorite apps for web development like CSS Edit, Snapz Pro and Pixelmator are in the bundle, as is 1 Password and Speed Download and a bunch of other nifty treats. You’ll get a huge deal ($49) on buying the bundle, and 25% of the sale goes to a charity of your choice.
What are you waiting for? Quit reading this blog and get thee to MacHeist!
Oh, but do it soon, the offer expires in 12 days.

Here we go folks, another year behind us and 2008 is waiting for instructions. How will you be promoting your business online this year? Believe me the days of “put up a website an they will come” are long gone, and so are the days of “If I throw a bunch of $$ at SEO they will come.”

If you really want people to find you and want your services or products you have to get them to want to know more about it. And about YOU. Whether we like it or not our names, faces and personalities are soon to be plastered all over the web, and if you want to get ahead you’ll need to find ways to increase your visibility through social networks.

Maybe you’re not really the MySpace type. You’ve got a profile on Linkedin, maybe Facebook and you’re using Plaxo for your contact database. That’s a start, but if you want to be seen you have to DO SOMETHING with these accounts. You have to create a presence, with a consistent message that establishes you as an authority, then move that message through as many channels as possible to broaden your reach.

So, enough lectures, what are the options?
Well, let’s say you have a blog. Good, that’s a start. How often do you post? Are the post’s relevant, the message consistent? (I’m probably not the best role model here) If yes, bully for you. Now spread the word.

Twitter
Yes it seems silly and egocentric at first, but if you let people know what you’re thinking about, rather than “brushing my teeth”, and use it to start discussion, it can circle back to your blog, your website, or your other social networks and before you know it a viable discussion is blooming.

Google Reader
The new sharing feature can be very useful. Promote your latest blog post, your new Stumble or del.icio.us bookmarks, or links to pertinent material on other sites. It’s not all about you after all. It’s about your knowledge of the industry.

Facebook
Yes Facebook. Use your profile here the same way you do at other business related sites, but with a personal twist. Not so personal that you can’t go to client meetings anymore, but show your leisure side. Join the local groups related to your business, your neighborhood, you personal interests or causes. Use the Facebook RSS feeds to promote your twitter and blog feeds.

Linkedin
Of course you have a business profile here and you’ve carefully cultivated a list of contacts. So, now what? Answer questions. Ask questions. Feeding the community adds to your knowledge base as well as building your reputation as a knowledgeable person in your field.

Blogs
Not your blog. Other people’s blogs. Post comments, offer opinions and links to resources. Share, share share. Add to your blogroll and request a link to yours.

de.licio.us, Technorati, Stumble and Digg
People want to find organized links that quickly get them to the information they want to find. Find a way to be that resource. Keep your own personal version if necessary, and keep a business oriented one with links to relevant data as soon as you find it. Comment or review your finds so that others gain insight into the industry.

What am I missing? Do you know of other resources to add to the list? Well, now’s your chance to start posting those useful comments…
Happy New Year!