Today I discovered another hidden feature that I was not aware of – suggestion of the right spelling for a query that contains a misspelling. For example, start typing the the query “waist of t” and Google will suggest terms such as “waste of time” or “waste of space”. Pretty cool as it saves you the extra “Did you mean?” search.

By the way, when comparing this feature of Google Suggest to the other search engines, I would rank them in the following order:

1. Google – variety of offers and misspelling correction
2. Ask – misspelling correction but small variety of suggestions
3. Yahoo – strong bias towards suggesting misspelling
4. Bing – No variety, no misspelling correction. Still needs to do major improvements in that area.

But as a long time user of TweetDeck’s desktop client, when I read that an iPhone version was just released, I thought to give it a try.

Well, I must say that TweetDeck for iPhone still has a long way to go before it becomes my preferred twitter client on the iPhone. Here are a few reasons why based on a 5 minutes usages:

• The app is not stable at all. In 5 minutes it crashed 5 times on me. In one of the cases, after a crash I had to try 3 times before the apps actually worked
• Strange error message indicating that I am not connected to the internet appeared while I was on Wifi kept appearing (see gallery below)
• The app does not seem to have a local cache of draft messages. If the app crash while you type a tweet, after restart you will have to start all over again!
• If you type in a tweet and then attach to it a photo, your tweet message will disappear and gets replaced by the link to the photo. Ugh!
• Search is not easily accessible. A few steps are required before you can do that which makes search a feature for power users only. First you need to add a new column called “Twitter Search” and set its initial search tern. Then whenever you want to actually edit the search term you have to: (a) navigate to the search column (b) click on the column settings wheel (c) change the search term. However, on TwitterFon search is a main function that is always visible at the bottom bar which makes it very easy to modify a search term
• Too many times and extra click is required:
  • TweetDeck opens by default in the column preview mode and it forces you to hit another time a column in order to make it use all screen area. IMHO, this should not be the default logic as for most user the Friends column is what they want to read most of the times when the app loads. Better usage of the 80%-20% rule would help here
  • When viewing a streem of tweets, you can not just click on a link that was tweeted to open it. You first need to open a specific tweet in a large preview mode and only then the link becomes live
• Last personal preference is the UI color. I prefer a light and bright app

On the positive site, TweetDeck has some features that I wish could be added to TwitterFon like:

• Growl integration – those little notification icons that float at the upper left corner whenever there is a new update
• QuickFollow button which lets you quickly type in a user name and follow

It is interesting to see how the battle to be the most popular twitter client is accelerating. But for now, I stick with TwitterFon Pro as my preferred Twitter client for the iPhone.

For a detailed comparison check out this great post.

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I wonder if that is a response to the fact Microsoft AdCenter came out of beta recently or to the Bing launch, a search engine that I highly recommend using.

BTW, does anyone know if (and how much) Google pays publishers when visitors clicks on these house ads and take action (download picasa or chrome, sign up for analytics or as advertisers)?

google-house-ad-adwords

The last time we used VistaPrint was two or three years ago. My wife created business cards using their service and I remembered a fair experience. Since then, for a couple of years, VistaPrint has been sending me all sorts of promotional emails several times a week. Most people think that these folks are pretty good at spamming their customers, but I think differently. Probably because at my previous role as VP of Products at Spark Networks one of my team’s responsibilities was email marketing, and I know how complex email marketing campaigns and systems could become. And so, when I look at these types of things it is not from a regular users prespective.

In a nutshell, VistaPrints email marketing efforts are great for:

• They have dozens of campaigns running simultaneously. There is an offer for everyone.
• There is a clear connection between the offer received via email and the website experience. Emails are always tied to promotion codes.
• Emails are being sent several times every week. VistaPrint never drops the ball and ensures they are always on your mind. Or at least in your inbox.
• VistaPrint also offers personalized emails with dynamic content based on customers status. For example, if you start a project and then leave in the middle without completing it, within less than 24 hours you will get an email, that contains a preview of your current work and an additional discount. Just come back and complete the project. This is not that trivial when done at large scale.

I think that what VistaPrint is doing is pretty impressive for an eMarketer, and anyone who has an email marketing component in his marketing activities should look into them and learn.

The only negetive thing I could say is that as a customer you have to pay for everything on their site (very good for their business though), including for a PDF version of the file designed. So, I just waited for the shipping to arrive and last night I scanned the brochure and uploaded it.

My wife likes the result and so do I. And so, if you live in the greater Los Angeles area, San Fernando valley or Ventura county and looking for a birth doula or a private prenatal yoga instructor, you should check her brochure (below) and website – BirthSpeak

The comment below was left by Vivek Golikeri who lives in Trinidad on my post about my personal memory related to the Israeli Fallen Soldiers and Victims of Terrorism Remembrance Day.

You mentioned Amnon Kadmon. I was his family’s neighbor in Victoria Gardens, Diego Martin, in 1972 and 1973 when his father Gideon Kadmon was working as an agricultural advisor to the government of Trinidad and Tobago. Amnon was a baby at that time, and I in my final year of high school. I used to run around and play in the streets with Adi, his oldest brother. I remember his mother Miriam, and his siblings Adi, Noam and Tamar.

Amnon’s nanny, a black Trinidadian lady named Beulah, used to bring him out for walks in the evening. He was so cute, chubby and cuddly that I began calling him “duckling.” His mother, loved that pet name. Amnon would rest his head of curly golden hair on my shoulder and say “Uncle Veek!….I LOFF you!”

A few years ago I googled his name, wondering whatever became of the Kadmon family. Tears welled up in my eyes when I learned that my pet “baby duck” had been killed in a war. I used to say “If I ever have a son, I want him to be just like Amnon.”

If the Kadmon family ever see this post of mine, I ask them if they remember the Hindu family down the street on Jacaranda Avenue whose son, Vik, loved their baby so much. Later on, they moved to Orchid Avenue, a little away. I always walked there to play with my “baby duck.”

SHALOM, my little puppy. I hope you are at peace on the other side.

This was my 3rd Kinnernet (first two were the “original” ones in Israel). It was very enjoyable & also different than the Israeli version. Kinnernet USA had less of the wild outdoors activities Kinnernet is known for like drag racing, robotics, fireworks, water activities and others and there was more focus on workshops & discussions. Similarities included tons of food, very little sleep, very funny Eggstravaganza, extremely creative Gadgethon (winners were a  computer powered sand table and Zoozbeat created by the very talented Gil Weinberg), Midnight Cooking Madness (I think it was the best ever) and fun jam sessions.

The biggest evidence to how different this Kinnernet was compared to its Israeli version could be found in the gaming section. The game room, typically the most crowded place 24×7, was well equipped with plenty of gaming consoles, large screens and massive sound systems. However, it remained empty most of the time. At the same time, plenty of folks played all night long, sessions of Werewolf games thanks to Jimmy Wales who initiated this. Not only that, Werewolf has made it to future Kinnernet’s official playlist and got Yossi’s blessing.

Overall, it was a very fun weekend as you can see in some of the photos I shot and in the videos uploaded to qik here.

And here’s the presentation I gave at the opening ceremony. Named “Kinnernet For Dummies”, it is a quick start guide for newbies done using photos from past Kinnernets.

Couple of observations:

• The header height was shaved by a few pixels, the Yahoo logo was moved right next to the search box instead of above it, and almost all of the essential information is viewable above the fold! pretty impressive that Yahoo was able to achieve that without getting eliminating links and content that is on the current homepage

• The expandable tabs that are used in the left side bar (called Favorites) make the home page extremely extensible with all sorts of information and applications, from Yahoo properties (Finance, Messenger, Flickr, movies) and partners (eBay, NPR, BBC, and more). It is also great for advertising since there is a medium rectangle ad (most desirable ad size on the market) on every tab. This should increase the number of home page ad impressions sagnificantly. Anyone wanys to model what it will do to the stock price?

• Yahoo clearly wants you to do more searches and that’s why they moved the “popular searches” box to the top and made it so prominent

• Yahoo also wants to regain their position as a portal to the Yahoo network. That’s why they:

(a) placed the link “View Yahoo! Sites” which expands to a directory of all the Yahoo sites at the top of the Favorites left bar

(b) moved the articles section to the top and increased its size from 5 to 10 links

• One very interesting application that was pre-installed for me on the favorites bar was MySpace. I wonder if that is a first sign for a deal that might happen between MySpace/FIM and Yahoo (the Google deal is supposed to end in mid 2010) or is that just a traffic aquisition campaign mySpace is running on Yahoo

Overall, I like the new design. It is lighter, cleaner and the information is organized in a more logical and accessible way compared to the existing homepage. Who knows, if this version will eventually become the live one, I might switch my homepage back to Yahoo like in the good old days.

Update: According to Sillicon Alley Insider, this new homepage is not a test but a phased rollout.

Here are some photos of the new design

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Beyond being a very talented writer and someone with great taste in music, Guy is also running a small label called Hiss Records that signs artists he and his partner, Morphlexis, love to hear.

This is how I was introduced to Nadav Azulay and his debut album that was produced by Hiss. From my first listening to Nadav I was blown away by his personal lyrics, music and signing. This young guy is an evidence that there are some great young Israeli rockers out there. It is just a little harder to discover them.

You can listening to the full album & read the lyrics on this bandcamp page.

If you want to learn more about Nadav and his music listen to this radio interview. Beyond the chit chat, Nadav and his partner, Gil Nemet, performed live many of the album songs and a few others unplugged. And if you fast forward 12:30 minutes into the mp3, you will hear a live performance where Gil plays drums and piano at the same time!

And here’s a taste of Nadav and his band in action, something I hope to see in person on my next trip to Israel.

Happy Freedom Holiday.

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i send the locusts on a wind (365-169) – happy passover from the ten plagues!, originally uploaded by michele cat.