Tom Pimental : Web Creative » aggregation http://www.tompimental.com An online media expert with over 10 years experiencing designing, developing and advocating the creation of cutting edge web products. Tue, 12 Apr 2011 00:32:37 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 Gearing up for the new TechDispenser launch http://www.tompimental.com/2009/11/gearing-up-for-the-new-techdispenser-launch/ http://www.tompimental.com/2009/11/gearing-up-for-the-new-techdispenser-launch/#comments Tue, 17 Nov 2009 04:00:49 +0000 admin http://www.tompimental.com/?p=457 The original TechDispenser (blog aggregator and ad network) eventually evolved into the IDG TechNetwork so when the idea came about to create a technology-focused custom newsletter tool, we thought we’d reuse the name. So for the last 2-3 months, I’ve been product managing the significant build to get this rather unique product to market.

It’s not ready yet, but I put together a screencast preview video to show the world what we’ve been working on. Check out the video and let us know what you think.

]]> http://www.tompimental.com/2009/11/gearing-up-for-the-new-techdispenser-launch/feed/ 0 Buzz Redux http://www.tompimental.com/2008/03/buzz-redux/ http://www.tompimental.com/2008/03/buzz-redux/#comments Mon, 17 Mar 2008 02:01:16 +0000 admin http://www.tompimental.com/?p=112 Apparently, I was wrong about Yahoo Buzz.

According to TechCrunch, Salon and TechCrunch both experienced their best traffic days ever when linked to by Yahoo Buzz. That’s an impressive feat for a site that’s only 2 weeks old, even if it’s Yahoo.

Sure, Yahoo has a massive pool of audience to draw on, but topping the records for the 2 sites above is no minor feat.

In case you missed the message of this post, go and get your site on Yahoo Buzz right now!

]]> http://www.tompimental.com/2008/03/buzz-redux/feed/ 0 What’s all the “Buzz” about? http://www.tompimental.com/2008/02/whats-all-the-buzz-about/ http://www.tompimental.com/2008/02/whats-all-the-buzz-about/#comments Wed, 27 Feb 2008 16:21:53 +0000 admin http://www.tompimental.com/?p=111 So I’ve been playing around with Yahoo’s Buzz a bit and so far I’m not impressed. According to the site, “Yahoo! Buzz features the most popular stories right now, determined by people around the Web. A story’s Buzz Score is based on your votes, searches, emails, and more.” But confusing UI, ambiguity around how stories appear and a few too many Yahoo News stories has Buzz feeling rather blah.

Here are a couple glaring problems with the service:

First off, it feels more like a Google News than a Digg. But that’s a good thing right? Not when your top sports story is a satirical blog post titled, “AWOL Garnett Captured in China.” I’m not a big NBA fan and immediately clicked on the headline believing it to be real. Buzz needs to figure out it’s identity and embrace it so future readers are not duped by these types of stories.

Secondly, and I’m picking a bit on the sports section here, 8 of the top 10 stories in sports right now comes from Yahoo News. I’m all for self-promotion, but are 80% of the “most popular stories” in sports only on Yahoo? I doubt it.

There also seems to be some oddness around how stories become buzz-worthy. The number 1 story in Lifestyle is “Beefy Tortilla Soup is great for busy nights” yet it has no votes. I’m confused.

So far Buzz doesn’t deserve the buzz it’s received from the web.

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