So despite the hubbub over the google monster releasing another google product that will take over the google world, people are missing another important announcement: the Google Account system for web applications. What does this mean to you? Not much. What does it mean to me, the nimble web developer? Well for one it means the death of individual signups on sites. Now AOL has open signups using their screenname service (login w/AOL or AIM member names, not sure why it wasn’t applied to the new netscape though), and microsoft was pushing passport for years (now its Windows Live ID).  So from a web developer standpoint, there is no longer a reason to force users to create custom usernames and passwords they might ultimately forget on each new site when you can let them sign in with their existing usernames and passwords and be active on your site in seconds vs minutes.  That reduced friction and instant gratification is going to be huge for companies trying to target consumer oriented services, as they won’t lose those 20-30% of customers (might be more) who give up when told to register for yet another web service.

My theory: people will have 3 or 4 passwords tops within 2 years. These smaller portable username projects won’t take off though, but they will be worthy efforts. The established brands will lock this up immediately.

So despite the hubbub over the google monster releasing another google product that will take over the google world, people are missing another important announcement: the Google Account system for web applications. What does this mean to you? Not much. What does it mean to me, the nimble web developer? Well for one it means the death of individual signups on sites. Now AOL has open signups using their screenname service (login w/AOL or AIM mem ... Continue reading

So the million dollar challenge has changed a bit. Now the plan is to build a profitable startup with $500 and one week. So far we've done quite a bit. Now we just need to see if the programmer can build this right now.So Jason Baptiste of UGather and I are teaming up on WeblogWire, a new take on the pr machine of old. The site was even on Digg and Netscape.com last night! Unfortunately server issues (not sure if it was directly related) have kept us offline for part of the night.Keep following the ... Continue reading

So lately I've been pondering a challenge of sorts. I want to see if small teams of developers/designers/marketers can turn $500 into a million. Originally I thought $100 would be a challenge, but with everything getting more expensive, I think $500 is a better number.Here is the concept: You and your partner put up the $500 and cannot take any more money out of your pockets to fund the idea. All subsequent expenses past the $500 must be paid for by the INCOME your project is generating. There are several "exits" allowed in this plan: 1. have a million in gross receipts, 2. have a million in the ... Continue reading

The refresh movement is without a doubt one of the most unifying things going on now in the web. It might not be making the most waves in the public, but in the web design and development community it is definitely taking hold.The Refresh movement is providing a venue for small businesses, entrepreneurs, and other web related people to get together and do business. This is the same concept the barcamp movement is providing, but on a more individual basis. The underlying message here: old school networking and old ... Continue reading