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LunchMeet: VolunteerMatch Connects Nonprofits With Volunteers

Eddie Codel — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 23:46:00 +0000

Nonprofit organizations need volunteers and volunteers need opportunities tuned to their interests. VolunteerMatch is a platform that has been making these connections since 1998. With over 50,000 organizations participating, VolunteerMatch has something for everyone. I had lunch with Greg Baldwin, president of VolunteerMatch, who gives me a rundown of the organization’s history, describes the benefits for non-profit and corporate partners as well as taking me on a tour of the site from a potential volunteer’s perspective.

Tags: VolunteerMatch, Greg Baldwin

LunchMeet: Wikinvest is the Wiki for Investors

Eddie Codel — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 21:46:09 +0000

Wikinvest is a wiki destination for investors with a wealth of in-depth and practical information on companies, business trends and concepts. I sat down with Parker Conrad and Mike Sha, the co-founders of Wikinvest, who describe why and how Wikinvest is useful to investors followed by a tour of the site. Wikinvest has just announced the closing of $2.5 million in a Series A round of venture funding. Congrats guys and invest wisely!

Tags: Wikinvest, Parker Conrad, Mike Sha

LunchMeet: Create and Sell Cool Stuff With Ponoko

Eddie Codel — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 20:24:02 +0000

Ponoko is a platform for creative minds, allowing them to design and create physical objects that can then be sold in Ponoko’s marketplace. David ten Have, co-founder and ceo of Ponoko, tells me how his project came together, how it works and shows me some of the things that creative users have built with Ponoko.

Tags: Ponoko, David ten Have

LunchMeet: Eat Safely With CleanScores

Eddie Codel — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 00:04:15 +0000

Every food establishment in the United States is inspected by local government officials for their levels of hygiene. As a consumer, it is often hard to discover the results of these inspections although it is very much public information. CleanScores solves this problem by standardizing the scoring of food establishment hygiene inspections and making them available for free on the Web. I sat down with founders Guy Michlin and Phillip Leslie, who tell me how this project came together and take us on a tour of the site.

Tags: CleanScores, Guy Michlin, Phillip Leslie

LunchMeet: Easy Online Planning With PlanHQ

Eddie Codel — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 19:55:49 +0000

If you want to create a startup business, you’ve got to create (and follow through on) plans. From creating a business plan, tracking financials to following through on goals, PlanHQ makes this process possible and painless. I spoke with Tim Norton, CEO and founder of PlanHQ, who describes and then shows me several scenerios in which this rich, Web 2.0 application helps get things done.

Tags: PlanHQ, Tim Norton, Web 2.0

LunchMeet: The Podaddies Video Ad Network

Eddie Codel — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 16:28:04 +0000

It’s no surprise that online videos are growing in quantity, quality and audience reach. Podaddies helps video producers make money from their video creations through an advertising network in conjunction with the major video hosting sites. I had lunch with Podaddies founders Nate Pagel, CEO, and Robert Boyle, CTO, to get the scoop.

Tags: online videos, Podaddies, advertising network, Nate Pagel, Robert Boyle

LunchMeet: The Couple Behind Bebo

Eddie Codel — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 23:41:50 +0000

In the United States, Bebo may not be a household word, but in the UK, Ireland, New Zealand and Australia it is well known. In those countries, Bebo is the most popular social network, attracting some 34 million registered users globally. I sat down with husband-and-wife founders Michael and Xochi Birch in their new San Francisco offices to get some insight into Bebo’s fast rise to success.

Tags: Bebo

LunchMeet: Podcast Ad Insertion with Kiptronic

Eddie Codel — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 16:09:35 +0000

Kiptronic is a platform that gives podcasters, videobloggers and advertisers a way to dynamically insert ads into any downloadable media. Kiptronic works with most major media hosting platforms and a whole range of big brand advertisers. I sat down with Jonathan Cobb, Kiptronic’s founder and chief technology officer, at his downtown San Francisco office to get the scoop and a demo of the platform.

Tags: Kiptronic, podcasters, videobloggers, Jonathan Cobb

LunchMeet: Jimmy Wales on a Transparent Federal Budget

Eddie Codel — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 19:21:34 +0000

This is a question and answer session with Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia, that I conducted for a workshop on the Transparent Federal Budget project that took place in Austin, Texas last month. The Transparent Federal Budget project is a collaborative, open effort to bring greater transparency and accountability to the massive annual federal budget using wiki like tools, reputation systems and social networks.

Tags: Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia, Transparent Federal Budget, reputation systems, social networks

LunchMeet: ToneThis Gets Your Media on Your Cell Phone

Eddie Codel — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 16:00:28 +0000

There are many different mobile phones out there and almost all of them support some sort of interesting media capabilites. Rather than spending a couple bucks downloading a ringtone or wallpaper image from your cellular provider, you can use ToneThis to do it for free and with your own media. Raj Singh, a founder of ToneThis, tells and shows me what 400,000 users already know.

Tags: ToneThis, Raj Singh

LunchMeet: Open Source Telecom with Asterisk

Eddie Codel — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 17:29:13 +0000

I stopped by the VoiceCon conference in San Francisco recently and caught up with Mark Spencer, the man behind the popular open source telephony platform, Asterisk. Spencer, CTO of digium, also created the popular Linux-based instant messenger client, Gaim. Spencer talks about the history of Asterisk and highlights some of the more interesting use cases of the product.

Tags: VoiceCon, Mark Spencer, open source, Asterisk, digium, Gaim

LunchMeet: Joomla!, the Powerful Open Source CMS

Eddie Codel — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 19:11:58 +0000

Joomla! is a robust and highly customizable open source content management system. While at the recent Linuxworld in San Francisco, I spoke with Joomla! lead developers Johan Janssens and Louis Landry, who shed a bit of light on what Joomla! is all about and who uses it, as well as a brief demo of the platform.

Tags: Joomla!, open source, content management, Linuxworld, Johan Janssens, Louis Landry

LunchMeet: Could OpenMoko be the Open iPhone Killer?

Eddie Codel — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 14:17:24 +0000

OpenMoko is an interesting project that is an open linux-based mobile communications platform. Primarily an open source operating system and applicatiion environment, when combined with a hardware device by FIC, it quickly feels like an open threat to the Apple iPhone. While at Linuxworld, I spoke with Michael Shiloh, a developer and envagelist for OpenMoko, who gave me a rundown on this killer combination complete with a demo of the prototype device.

Tags: OpenMoko, linux, FIC, Apple, iPhone, Linuxworld, Michael Shiloh

LunchMeet: Ubuntu is Linux for Human Beings

Eddie Codel — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 05:08:38 +0000

Ubuntu is a GNU/Linux distribution that is quite useable and easy to install. Based on debian and GNOME, ubuntu offers extensive hardware recognition combined with a functional desktop environment complete with a suite of office applications. While at Linuxworld in San Francisco, I had a chat with ubuntu’s Kevin Shuk, who gives me a demo.

Tags: Ubuntu, GNU/Linux, debian, GNOME, Linuxworld, Kevin Shuk

LunchMeet: Memetic Engineering with Sticker Nation

Eddie Codel — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 07:29:04 +0000

While in Las Vegas recently for DEFCON, I had a chance to sit down with my pal Srini Kumar, the proprieter and meme crafter behind Unamerican.com and StickerNation. Srini, who recently published Sticker Nation: The Big Book of Subversive Stickers, Volume I, describes his intentions and goals for Unamerican and the story behind his custom sticker site StickerNation.

Tags: Las Vegas, DEFCON, Srini Kumar, Unamerican.com, StickerNation

LunchMeet: ClickUni Manages Social Groups

Eddie Codel — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 22:58:52 +0000

ClickUni is an interesting service that gives university clubs and social groups the tools to manage their membership lists, events, newsletters and organizational network details. It is the brainchild of two Oxford University students David Langer, managing director, and Andy Young, techincal director. They were recently in Silicon Valley visiting with friends and potential funding partners and took a few minutes to sit down with me at the Hat Factory.

Tags: ClickUni, Oxford, David Langer, Andy Young, Silicon Valley, Hat Factory

LunchMeet: Online Chess With Chesspark

Eddie Codel — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 01:47:21 +0000

Online games are big business and people love chess. it’s no wonder that web 2.0 goodness has come to a game that has been loved for centuries. Chesspark is a platform for playing chess online with other players or against Robopawn, a virtual cyborg competitor. Strategic advisor and serial entrepeneur Brian Zisk stops by the Hat Factory for a discussion and demo of Chesspark.

Tags: Chesspark, Brian Zisk

LunchMeet: Leverage Software Powers Your Social Network

Eddie Codel — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 18:56:02 +0000

Social networking is at the heart of many of the services and sites on the Internet these days. If your business has a community you will probably want a social network of your own. That is exactly what Leverage Software does, they create private-labelled social networks. I spoke with Mike Walsh, CEO and co-founder of Leverage Software, at his South Park, San Francisco office. He gives me the rundown on his company and how their product works. Sales executive Kate Swanson demos the platform.

Tags: Social networking, Leverage Software, Mike Walsh, Kate Swanson

LunchMeet: Gleamd Promotes Interesting People

Eddie Codel — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 22:41:51 +0000

Gleamd is a brand new service, still in invite-only beta, that is geared towards tracking and ranking people. Users create bios of famous and not-so-famous people and then others can vote on them, much like digging works on Digg. Gleamd’s creator Matt McInerney was in town last week, so we sat down at the Hat Factory for a lunchtime chat and demo of his service. Matt gave me five beta invitations to give away to the first five LunchMeet viewers who leave a comment with their email addresses below.

Tags: Gleamd, Digg, Matt McInerney

LunchMeet: Discovering Music with SeeqPod

Eddie Codel — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 01:25:41 +0000

SeeqPod is an interesting music discovery service that provides a way to find most any linked music files on the Internet. You can quickly build playlists from found music, discover similar music based on genetic similarities and share your playlists by embedding them in your blog. SeeqPod also has a custom iPhone that essentially turns your iPhone into an Internet-connected jukebox. Kasian Franks, the co-founder and CEO of SeeqPod, stopped by the Hat Factory in San Francisco to give me the scoop. Includes fun demo of the iPhone app in action.

Tags: SeeqPod, music, iPhone, Kasian Franks, Hat Factory

LunchMeet: You Stream, I Stream, We All Stream with Ustream.tv

Eddie Codel — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 01:17:27 +0000

Live webcasting has come a long way since the days of CU-SeeMe. Now, with the proliferation of broadband access, inexpensive data center hosting, and cheap or built-in webcams, live webcasting is making a comeback. Ustream.tv is a Palo Ato-based company that does this well by allowing anyone with a webcam and a broadband connection to reach large live audiences for free. I sat down with John Ham, co-founder of Ustream.tv, who explains and shows how all this works.

Tags: webcasting, CU-SeeMe, webcams, Ustream.tv, John Ham

LunchMeet: illumio Delivers Answers Intelligently

Eddie Codel — Sat, 14 Jul 2007 01:15:57 +0000

illumio is an interesting desktop application and Web service that helps you discover answers and find resources by intelligently asking other illumio users for the answer. David Gilmour, CEO and founder of Tacit Software, explains how illumio performs its magic and gives me a demo.

Tags: illumio, desktop application, David Gilmour, Tacit Software

LunchMeet: Blogger Reps Create Buzz

Eddie Codel — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 00:35:54 +0000

Movie and TV fan sites and entertainment blogs attract huge engaged audiences. Those are audiences that Hollywood and the entertainment industry are constantly trying to influence. The blogosphere wants access to their favorite entertainment creators and promotional materials. Blogger Reps is brand new company founded by Marjorie Kase, president & CEO, and Anthony Mauzy, creative director, with the know-how to connect the blogosphere with the entertainment industry and vice versa.

Tags: Marjorie Kase, Anthony Mauzy

LunchMeet: Tracking Memes with Tailrank

Eddie Codel — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 02:26:15 +0000

The blogosphere is a noisy place filled with many interconnected conversations on all sorts of disperate topics. Tailrank, which calls itself a memetracker, is a service that tracks the zeitgeist of conversations in the blogosphere. I sat down with Kevin Burton, Tailrank’s CEO and founder, and Jonathan Moore, brilliant engineer and hacker, at their home office to learn a bit about their services. Tailrank is built upon Spinn3r, another service that Burton and Moore built, that spiders and indexes the blogosphere.

Tags: blogosphere, Tailrank, memetracker, Kevin Burton, Jonathan Moore, Spinn3r

LunchMeet: Control Your Inbox with Boxbe

Eddie Codel — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 23:44:38 +0000

Email spam is a problem we have all grown to loathe. Boxbe is an interesting service that puts the user in conrol of their email inbox. Thede Loder, co-founder and president of Boxbe, tells me how his innovative service not only stops spam but allows you to charge email marketers a fee for reaching you. Thede describes how this system works and why marketers would be willing to pay you. He also gives us a demo of some of Boxbe’s features.

Tags: spam, Boxbe, email, Thede Loder