Wylio blog

Research and Development

2012-11-12T19:46:00.002-05:00

We're still working hard behind the scenes to make Wylio better and better. There's been a lot going on in all of our personal lives which put some of the updates for Wylio development on the back burner these past couple months. But have no fear, we're still here! The upside of bootstrapping Wylio with our own funds is that we can move at our own pace. The downside is that we can't put full-time energy into it (since we have to make money to live from other jobs) and sometimes that slows the pace of development. That said, thank you for all of your support! We are grateful to everyone who has found our service useful and want you to know we're working to make it even better.

Currently we're developing:

Updated search results page and navigation
New account login types without the need for a Google account
Better sign-up experience and flow
Additional credit types and updated embed code including text links

We don't have an ETA for the new developments, but they're in process. If you see ways we can improve Wylio, feel free to let us know. You can contact us at: support@wylio.com or leave a comment after this blog post.

Ads Showing for Premium Users

2012-02-26T13:57:00.001-05:00

We're currently tracking down a bug that's causing ads to show for Premium users. It got introduced during one of our recent updates to Wylio. I apologize for any inconvenience and thank you for your patience as we fix the problem.

UPDATE:
This problem should now be fixed

Up and Running

2012-02-23T22:19:00.001-05:00

It appears that Flickr is up, running, and accepting search queries from Wylio again. Thanks to everyone for their patience during the service interruption!

Flickr is Down

2012-02-23T17:08:00.001-05:00

If you're having trouble getting pictures from Wylio today, you're not alone. Flickr, the source for Wylio's images is currently down.

Flickr has posted a couple updates about the problems here:
http://blog.flickr.net/en/2012/02/23/time-for-a-massage/

And here's a nifty utility to let you know if Flickr is actually down for everyone, or if you are having connection issues closer to home:

http://www.downornot.com/flickr

(UPDATE: It appears that the "down or not" site is now... down)

Jan 30th Updates

2012-02-01T13:36:00.005-05:00

We've recently made a few updates to Wylio, here are a few:

The color picker in the dashboard (for choosing credit colors) works better now, the previous color picker was a bit buggy.
We've updated the icons for the positioning, downloading, and embedding buttons.
You can now search Wylio using a url in your browser's address bar. For example: http://www.wylio.com/Search/?search=wrench&page=1
The credits placed under the images should look a bit better now.

We hope these small improvements make our service work a little bit better for you. Thanks for using Wylio!

Plans for the Future

2012-01-03T10:56:00.000-05:00

In this, the first quarter of 2012, we're planning to continue refining our core functionality. We want it to be a pleasurable experience to use Wylio on a daily basis. There are a few known bugs (like odd text artifacts in IE9 during picture re-sizing and usability issues with the color picker in the dashboard) that we're working on. If you have specific suggestions for ways we can improve Wylio, feel free to post a comment here.

Move to Amazon Complete

2011-12-12T21:55:00.001-05:00

Wylio's move from Google App Engine to Amazon's cloud services is complete. We're excited to get back to developing and improving Wylio now that the move is finished! As always, feel free to let us know if you run into any trouble or have any suggestions for Wylio.

Scheduled Maintenance - Moving from App Engine to Amazon

2011-11-14T19:55:00.001-05:00

Due to recent pricing changes for Google App Engine we've seen our costs increase over 1500% from week to week. Anticipating this change, we've been working behind the scenes to re-build Wylio to work on Amazon's cloud services. This week we will be moving Wylio off of Google's App Engine and onto Amazon. During this change, you may notice an interruption in Wylio's services.

This move will not affect how you access or use Wylio. (You will still authenticate using your Google account) but there may be hiccups and bugs during this transition. For instance, after the move, you may need to re-link your Picasa account to Wylio. We apologize for any inconvenience and appreciate your patience as we work through this.

This transition will not affect any images on your site that use the newer Wylio embed code. However images embedded using Wylio's older embed code (before July 2011) may be temporarily affected during this transition.

3 Blogging Pitfalls to Avoid This Political Season

2011-08-16T13:12:00.001-04:00

1) The Unknown Audience

Whether you've been writing for years, or you're just starting out, you must consider your audience. Having an audience in mind gives you a target to shoot for. It brings clarity to your thought process. After all, it's the constraints and limitations, not freedoms, that gives structure for your creativity. Without an audience in mind, it's very hard to stay on track and write a coherent article. Even if "no one" reads your article, you'd still need to consider your intended audience, for your own sake. If you're experimenting with the direction you want to take your blog, why not write one post for one audience and another post for another audience? The important thing is that for each article, you have the audience in mind while you're writing.

2) Not Reading before Posting
After writing an article, read it. Every word. You won't be able to catch all your mistakes, but the vast majority of simple mistakes can be avoided by a good-old-fashioned read through. If you don't trust yourself to catch mistakes in your writing, ask a trusted friend to read the article through once. To avoid over burdening them (after all, they have their own life to live), ask specifically for help with "typos or glaring mistakes." Make sure you limit what you need from them, don't ask them to re-write the article for you. Also, don't give them a "rough draft." Give them what you would have posted, but just before you clicked "publish" decided you wanted a second pair of eyes to review.

3) Over Generalization
When writing an article about a controversial subject like sexuality, politics or religion that has a lot of passionate perspectives, it's important to focus on specifics. For instance, if you say something like "Republicans think..." or "Democrats think..." you'll instantly be plagued with accusations of "that's a straw man" or "I'm a Republican, and I don't think that." The next thing you know, everyone's talking about whether or not YOU are reliable instead of discussing the actual subject matter of the article. The way to avoid this is to simply be specific. Instead of writing "Republicans think..." be specific. How about "John Boehner said..." and then use an actual quote from Boehner. Instead of "Democrats believe..." be specific. Find an actual quote that represents the issue you want to communicate, like "Obama said...". Assuming you've chosen a quote that accurately represents the person's position, this will quickly give you a factual basis for your article, and a foundation to start a much more beneficial discussion about the issue you're bringing up.

Important Wylio Updates

2011-07-11T21:33:00.006-04:00

We’ve been busy working behind the scenes and are excited to announce some big updates coming to Wylio.

The biggest functional change is that you'll need to have Google's Picasa Web Albums active for your Google account in order to use Wylio. This is because we're shifting the control of the image storage from our service, to storage providers you control. This decision was made after considering user feedback we've received since we launched. Thanks to everyone who's been giving helpful suggestions! (Don't worry, images used before the updates next week will still work as expected after the updates.)

We also plan to add Dropbox as a storage option in the near future. If you have other online storage providers that you think would be a good fit, feel free to suggest them!

Here’s what you should expect to see starting the evening of July 18th:

User controlled image storage (Using Picasa Web Albums at first, more choices planned)
Streamlined embed code
More concise credits
Dedicated credits page for each image that includes information about the owner, license, image title, source
More meta information about the License and image included in the title and alt attributes for the HTML tags
The addition of a Pro account option
Free, Premium, and Pro accounts will now have the same functionality, but have different limitations regarding images per month that you can credit/re-size/use (and Free accounts will still have ads)

Free accounts - up to 5 pictures /month
$2.99 Premium accounts - up to 125 pictures /month
$9.99 Pro accounts - up to 1,250 pictures /month

As a big “Thank You” to all you early adopters, supporters, and everyone who is currently a Premium user, we’re automatically upgrading you to the Pro account at no extra charge for as long as you keep your paid subscription active. This free upgrade will apply to all Premium accounts created on or before July 31st, 2011.

Thanks for all your support!

3 photography basics - ISO, Shutter Speed, Aperature

2011-05-03T13:44:00.000-04:00

photo © 1943 Australian War Memorial collection | more info (via: Wylio)
Ever wonder what those "manual" settings on your camera really control? Here are a few great articles from Darren Rowse (of ProBlogger.net fame) that can help.

Besides physically adding or removing light from the scene, there are three controls you have over the light entering your camera: Aperature, ISO, and Shutter Speed. Once you understand how they relate to each-other, you'll be on your way to taking better pictures. You don't have to be a "pro" in order to benefit from this, you simply need a desire to switch your camera from "auto" to "manual" and experiment a little.

ISO Settings in Digital Photography (careful, your camera is sensitive)
Shutter Speed in Digital Photography (get motion blur... on purpose)
Aperture in Digital Photography (what that "f-stop" setting is for)

3 Blog Idea Generators

2011-04-25T21:29:00.000-04:00

Need an idea for your next blog post? Here are a few sites to help with that.

1) Big Huge Thesaurus: Blog Post Ideas

A plain interface, and a simple solution. Shows a list of ideas, and then you can just click the "Get Some More" link to show another list of ideas.

2) Generator Land: Blog Post Idea Generator

Bracketed by advertising, shows ideas one at a time. Click "Create" to generate the first idea, and keep clicking to generate more.

3) 101 Great Posting Ideas That Will Make Your Blog Sizzle

Not an automatic generator, but a list of generic suggestions that can help you pick a direction and generate blog ideas from the ultimate blog idea generator... your brain.

See What People Are Saying - A Better Way to Use Google Alerts

2011-04-20T12:06:00.002-04:00

photo © 2009 Thomas Carter | more info (via: Wylio)
You may already know that Google Alerts will notify you when content appears on the web containing search terms you've specified. It's a great way to keep tabs on what others are saying about you, your site, or your business online.

What you may not realize is the trick to getting the most useful alerts is to have a grasp of the simple, powerful, and often unused Google search operators.

For example:

Quotes around a "search phrase" will require all the terms in the phrase.
The site:example.com will return results only from the example.com site
Using * as a wildcard, can be especially useful in quoted phrases like "Google is * "

You can combine operators... So, for instance you could add these terms to a Google Alert:

"Google is * " site:techcrunch.com

If you did, you'd be notified when someone writes "Google is great", "Google is releasing", "Google is horrible" and all other possible "Google is" phrases on TechCrunch.

The Google Alerts page has a "preview" link, so experiment with different operators, searches, and alert options, until you get the results you're looking for. Then click the "create alert" button and you turn your selected options into an alert that will notify you either by email or by feed.

There are many search operators to play with, take a look at Google Search Basics and Advanced Operators and choose the ones that meet your needs.

In case you're wondering, you can get Google alerts without having a Google account, but having an account lets you easily change your alerts and gives you the option of receiving them as a feed instead of an email.

A New Perspective of Being Wrong (and a Kathryn Schulz TED talk)

2011-04-19T12:22:00.003-04:00

In the blogosphere, it can pay off to show how wrong someone else is. You can get your traffic to spike if you destroy illogical statements of others. If you nit pick someone else's metaphor to death, and seem a little more right you "win." Exactly what do you win? A sense of superiority? Readers who enjoy reading about how wrong people are?

Being right has become the metric to measure ourselves and others with. The thinking (subconscious or not) goes like this:

The more we are right, the better we are.
The more we are wrong the worse we are.
And as Kathryn Schulz notes: When someone else is wrong we tend to believe it is because they are ignorant, stupid or the embodiment of an evil conspiracy

But guess what? We might be wrong about that.

This phenomenon of wrongaphobia is just as true for everyday life as it is for online comments and blog articles. However, I would argue that it isn't hardwired into us. This fear of being wrong and the loathing of those who are is something that we've picked up somewhere along the way.

It must have been after our repeated walking failures as toddlers were the mechanism by which we learned to walk. It must have been after our experimental babbling of wrong words was the framework on which we built language.

In the TED Talk below, Kathryn Schulz communicates a powerful new perspective of being wrong. Enjoy!

Amazon's Android Virtual Machine

2011-04-18T11:14:00.002-04:00

photo © 2010 Gerwin Sturm | more info (via: Wylio)
Engadget recently published an article about Amazon's Android virtual machine which allows users to try out apps before buying them. As noted, this isn't simply a flash based mock-up that works "kinda" like an android device. It's a fully functional virtual machine.

Why this is cool:
Normally, you'd need a virtual machine installed on your local computer and/or the Android SDK installed to get this level of accurate interaction. Instead of requiring you to install something, Amazon is sending the input from your clicks to a virtual machine running on their infrastructure and then streaming audio and video from that VM back through your browser.

The downside:
Keyboard input isn't currently accepted. So...

Apps that require a keyboard to really test drive them sufficiently aren't very testable.
Even though you can exit the app you're test driving and open the web browser, you can't use it to check what your blog looks like on an android device (yet?).

Want to try it? Visit this link to test drive the IMDB Android App and click the big green "Test Drive Now" button.

NOTE: The Amazon Test Drive service is currently only available to U.S. customers.

Free Month of Wylio Premium

2011-04-15T08:00:00.005-04:00

We've temporarily increased the free trial period of Wylio Premium from a week to a month. We think you'll like the extra features so much that you'll stick around after your trial is over. Especially since $2.99 per month doesn't exactly break the bank.

Why You Can't Get "A Copyright"

2011-04-14T09:56:00.000-04:00

One pervasive misconception about copyright law here in the U.S. is that "a copyright" is something you need to "get." In actuality, copyright law protects your work as soon as it is created (in the case of writers, that means as soon as you write it down). Yep, it could even be an inspired piece of prose written on the back of your latest utility bill's empty envelope and still be "copyrighted."

To clarify, when a work is "copyrighted" a good way to understand that is:

Your work is protected under the existing copyright law.

Where the misconception that "You need to get a copyright" probably comes in is from the registering of a copyrighted work.

Wait... Why would you want to register your work if your it is already protected?

Registering your copyrighted work gives the added security of having an impartial third party (the U.S. government) in possession a document stating that you were indeed the creator of the work in question. That way if there is any doubt, you have a tangible record to backup your case, dated and signed.

So, now that you're armed with this little piece of info... you finally have a fool proof way to get out of playing Pictionary. Simply tell your friends all your works are protected under current U.S. copyright law and you require a royalty payment for their public display.

Wait... no don't do that... keep your friends instead.

NOTE: I'm not a lawyer and this is not legal advice. I know a bit about copyright because I've had a few years of experience in various forms of media and have read the U.S. copyright law for myself as well as interpretations and articles related to it.

Visualizing Online Publishing - Infographic

2011-04-12T11:10:00.000-04:00

If you've ever been curious about how some of the newer online publishing brands like Engadget, Mashable, TechCrunch, and TechMeme stack up against the more traditional publishing brands' online presence such as The Washington Post, The New York Times and BBC (and if you accept Alexa, Twitter, and Facebook as good indicators) this post is for you. While you've probably heard about all brands mentioned, it's hard to really get a feel for how the audience sizes of each compare without having a quality visual aid. Infographic to the rescue!

Online Publishing by Infographiclabs

Shutterstock Royalty Free Stock Image Results Coming Soon

2011-04-11T14:35:00.003-04:00

We're working with Shutterstock to bring you royalty free stock image results along with the typical free Creative Commons pictures you're used to seeing on Wylio. For most day-to-day blogging activities, free pictures with Creative Commons licensing work great. But there may be times that more traditional (a.k.a. purchased) stock pictures are better suited to your needs.

For example if you:

Don't want to display image credits along with the image your using
Need images of models to include in the promotion of your product or service

In general, Creative Commons licensed photos aren't well suited for those situations.

Model releases and using the likeness of a person is a separate issue from copyright and isn't dealt with in the Creative Commons licensing. For projects that require talent releases or other things not offered by CC licensing, it's important to have a trusted source for stock images. No matter what image source you decide to use, you'll always want to familiarize yourself with the actual licenses that govern the images they provides (for example, here's Shutterstock's licensing terms).

There are good reasons to use either free Creative Commons images, or non-free stock images. And your final decisions about what types of pictures to use will change depending on your project, budget, and required outcome.

NOTE: Wylio is a Shutterstock affiliate. This means we get paid of you use any of our links to Shutterstock and then purchase pictures from them.

Wylio Featured on Pro-Blogger

2011-04-10T12:36:00.002-04:00

We were recently featured on the popular blogging site ProBlogger. You can find Wylio at number 8 of the 15 resources listed.

A few other interesting sites listed include:

Timely (twitter scheduling)
Stella (site performance test)
Color Scheme Designer (as it sounds)

New Flickr Results Sorting Options for Premium Accounts

2011-04-09T10:46:00.001-04:00

We've recently added sorting options for the Flickr results. If you visit your Wylio dashboard, you will now see the "Flickr Results Sort By" and "Flickr Results Sort Direction" on the "Default Actions" settings slate. These options are available to Wylio Premium users. It's important to note that if "Relevance" is selected as the sort option, "Sort Direction" will have no effect.

New Version of Wylio

2011-03-25T00:07:00.001-04:00

Starting Thursday evening (March 24th) we begin the process of launching the new version of Wylio. If everything goes smoothly it should be up and running for just about everyone by morning (March 25th). There may be a delay for some users while DNS updates globally. This is a complete re-code from the ground up, and includes many new features, plus both free and premium accounts. Please visit the Wylio Google group for general support or to let us know if you experience any problems.

Free Pictures from Wylio - scratching our own itch

2011-03-22T15:08:00.000-04:00

photo © 2008 Anton Fomkin | more info (via: Wylio)
Hi. My name is Dan. I'm one of the guys responsible for Wylio. My wife Rachel is an author and my friends James and Matt have dared to embark on this crazy little adventure with me.

The idea for Wylio originally came out of Rachel's need for pictures for her blog. We found the Creative Commons search on Flickr quite useful for finding free pictures, but there wasn't an easy, intuitive way to size them and then place them in her articles. It was taking her 20 and 30 minutes just to find, size, attribute, and upload a picture.

I had a few ideas about how I could streamline the process rattling around in my head for a year or two. Then one day I started outlining the concept on paper (read: google docs) and putting together a partial business plan, which helped me decide how I wanted to proceed. I figured if I was going to put time into it, I might as well try to make it financially self-sustaining. I showed the plan to a few friends to get their feedback. Soon after that, I started piecing together a mock-up that worked well enough to help me explain how I wanted the interface to work and showed the idea to James and Matt.

They were excited about the project and after a few weeks of part-time, evening, and scattered work, we had a functioning proof of concept. Soon after I contacted TechCrunch (kind of as a shot in the dark). It seems that Alexia Tsotsis found our site useful and she was kind enough to write an article about us.

All of a sudden our proof of concept was handling TechCrunch size traffic, which was a little scary and really exciting at the same time. As of today, that proof of concept is still what people are using.

We've since been working hard behind the scenes on a brand new version of Wylio. This version will include both free and premium accounts. The free accounts will have similar functionality to what is currently available, and the premium accounts will have some new useful features for a small monthly fee.