April 2008 Archives

We just released a very cool new service called "Blog It," which is powered by TypePad. It's a that makes it easy to write once and publish everywhere. As blogging expands, and becomes more social, many of us have multiple blogs and countless status services. Blogging is no longer just about posting, but also alerting people through various channels --such as Facebook and Twitter -- that you've posted. Blog It makes this easier than ever before and is a great step in bringing blogging and social networking together.

We've received phenomenal coverage on this already from the likes of ReadWriteWeb, TechCrunch, Mashable, Webomatica, Blog Herald, CNet, Wired, Macworld, eWeek, InformationWeek, PC World, Computerworld, , eFluxMedia, and NewCommReview.

RWW suggested that "BlogIt could be a small wedge into a series of game changing moves in social media," and CNet wrote "The Web might have just gotten one step closer to a universal 'social dashboard' capable of managing an array of blogging, messaging, networking, and media applications," and I especially liked what Scott Gilbertson from Wired wrote:

It's the easiest way I've seen to broadcast posts across platforms. It offers the ability to pick and choose which posts go where on a per-post basis so you're always in control of who sees what. Every time you add a new service to update, Blog It offers the option to automatically post to that service, though you can always uncheck any of the services when you actually post something.

Blog It is a pretty slick Facebook app, perhaps the best I've used.

eWeek took another angle on the story:

Blog It is also great news for data portability evangelists trying to break down the walled gardens created by seminal social networks that erected barriers between networks of friends.

Congratulations to David Recordon, Bryan Tighe, and all at Six Apart who made this happen! And of course, this was posted using Blog It!

Here's a video introduction to the service.

Try TypePad today with a Free Trial »

UPDATE: The YouTube Sketchies 2 contest is over. There were over 5,000 video submissions, and after Jenny and WhateverHollywood made the top 50, they then made the top 20, and then the top 10. And finally... they got third place! That's third out of 5,000!! And the first and second place finishers were YouTube Goliaths, so this was a fantastic showing. Thanks to everyone who voted! Congrats to Jenny, Ellyn, and Alyssa!!

I've written before about my sister's Hollywood career but I haven't posted yet about her fantastic new Internet career playing the part of Apple on WhateverHollywood.com. More on that in a bit, but first, she needs your help!

The Whatever Hollywood girls have entered the YouTube Sketchies content and have made it to the final 10! They now need your vote to put them over the top. At stake is $25,000 in cash and $15,000 in production gear which would help ensure that WhateverHollywood stays alive. Their task was to create a video about "living the dream" that used the word "indubitably" in it.

To vote for Jenny, please follow these easy steps:

1. Visit the Sketchies YouTube page
2. Search for "UNFAMOUS" in the "Search for a video" box at the lower right of the page
3. Click on the video that shows up
4. View and vote Thumbs Up for "UNFAMOUS"
5. Vote again! (You can vote once a day until the contest ends -- April 15th!)

Here is their submission and I think it's great. It tells the tale of three Hollywood outsiders, poor & unfamous, living the dream -- all in a catchy tune.



WhateverHollywood is a site about Apple, Suri, and Shiloh, the characters played by my sister and her two friends Ellyn and Alyssa (who are sisters). Jenny's easy to spot -- she's the blonde -- and her character, the aspiring actress, is based loosely (or not so loosely perhaps) on her life with her friends who aspire to be a TV host and a singer/songwriter respectively.

Their site, powered by Movable Type of course, is full of other great videos, skits, and "behind the scenes" rolls. One of my favorites, which I thought was hugely clever, was their "Internet Killed the Hollywood Star" video which I think sets the tone for their whole effort -- and cutely frames the Internet v. Hollywood confrontation.



I really do believe we are in a fantastic transition period where talent like my sister will find that the path to Internet fame is more fulfilling than that of Hollywood fame. It takes as much effort, but at least they have control over what they do, without being at the whim of an industry that can be fickle and brutal. Chronicling their trials and tribulations of trying to break into Hollywood is not only cathartic, in the end it may be more rewarding.

Lots of other great videos about spray tans, cell phones, and low-carb pizza at their site. Enjoy!