Rev2.org

When Facebook announced that they were going to implement user names (vanity names) on the site, some buzz started amongst users. When Facebook started promoting the change by giving it a virtual “countdown” to the implementation, the buzz became a real roar.

Twitter was aflame with “OMG! Have you chosen your Facebook name yet?” and “Facebook announces vanity names. Y U need one for your social marketing.”

These were endlessly retweeted and nearly every Facebook profile started sporting status messages like “My new name’s gonna be CAPTAINX” or “I’d tell you my chosen Facebook name, but then I’d have to kill ya.”

The implementation was set to happen at 12:01am Facebook time and users were poised at Facebook.com, on their home page, waiting for the moment they could click the link at the top of the page and make the mad rush to ensure that they got their chosen profile name.

Even I was sucked into this. I sat on the page, hovering over the link and waiting. My friend even left the movie theater early to make sure she got home in time to claim her name, since I guess the other 2 people in the world who share it might rush to get it.  When the clock ticked, I clicked. Then I clicked a couple of more times because half the planet was apparently clicking too and it was SLOWWW.

When it finally came through, I quickly entered my choice: “pizza.”

Taken. Damn.

“pizzapizza”

Stupid Little Caesars got to it before me. Lamers. (Actually, it turns out some guy name Chris has this one)

“craiga”

Taken? Craig Anderson, you suck!

Panic! What to do! My list was only the first two, the third was just a panic response. When that was gone, I was sweating. Would I be “id=503310668” forever? AUGH! Must. Have. Facebook. Name.  Need. Facebook. Name.

In my wide-eyed panic, I typed “agranoff” and it was available. Eureka! I took it. At least it had something to do with who I am. Right?

Now that I had my killer new Facebook name that would make it easy for my friends to find me there, I was prepped. If anyone asked what my name on Facebook was, I’d be prepared. Ready for it. On the tip of my tongue, ready to go. Preparado=Agranoff.

So far, no one’s asked. Nobody. Not a soul.

Maybe this Facebook name thing was over hyped.

Make sure to follow us on Twitter @rev2 and @lapp and have fun!

We received a few requests to look over currency converters and pick our favorite. This sounds a lot easier than it is. There are literally hundreds of online currency converters out there, not including the plugins/widgets being used on various financial websites. So we narrowed the list by cutting out those that just don’t have the traffic to justify their website.

That left us with some pretty good picks. We tried each of these, wrote out pros and cons for each, and compiled the results. Here’s our top five, listed in descending order with the best being the last.
Expedia UK Site
This is one of the simpler currency converts on our list, but it’s also one of the most-used. I personally think that’s because of its location (it’s on Expedia, after all), but who knows? It’s extremely simple, converts just about every world currency into another, and is fast. It only does one at a time, however, so checking rates between, say, Euros, USD, and Yen isn’t possible.

Crrncy.com
You may recall Herb’s review of this not long ago on www.scommerce.com. The site is uber-simple, converts quickly, and updates extremely often to make it very accurate. It’s limited to only five currencies and can only do one to another, so comparisons aren’t easy. For simplicity and Google-like speed, this one is tops. It’s just not as useful as some of our other picks.

GoCurrency.com
This site, like the next two, is all about currency. It’s very well done with the first thing appearing on the page being a fast-loading exchange rates table with major currencies listed and defaulting to comparison with the USD. This allows for fast comparisons and the actual one-to-the-other converter appears directly to the left of that table, making it fast and easy to convert right away. For the ForEx trader, there’s a lot here, including historic rate charts to analyze trends.

OANDA
It was difficult to decide whether this or GoCurrency should be in this slot, but OANDA won out almost entirely for loading speed and looks. I know, superficial, but this site is much easier on the eyes and the layout is smoother. A quick converter for one-to-another appears right in the site’s header bar and a real time currency rate chart with the world’s four strongest currencies listed (USD, GBP, EUR, and JPY) in comparison. Both current and historical rates are available from easy buttons and this site definitely caters to the ForEx trader.

XE
The site with the million dollar address wins out as the best currency conversion site . Unlike OANDA, it’s not the prettiest site on our list, but it’s definitely the most-used. There’s a reason for that. The site loads extremely quickly and features a huge, prominent cross-rates chart that dynamically updates on its own. It compares eleven currencies and updates every minute. Below that is a quick currency converter (one to another) for fast checks. While this site also caters to ForEx traders, it’s also got some nice tools. The large table is customizable and historical tables can be made from the same tool, with a lot of sorting options. The site ain’t pretty, but it’s very useful and fast.

So there’s our choices for favorite currency conversion sites. For most people, any of these on the top 5 list will fit your needs. If you’re just looking to find out how much your dollars will be worth in Europe, then #4 is probably your fastest checkpoint. If you’re a ForEx trader, you’ll want to try any of our top 3.

On Saturday, June 6th from 9am to 2pm, job-seekers, freelancers, startup entrepreneurs and others in professional transition will have the unique opportunity to gain perspective, discover new interests, and reinvent their careers at LaidOffCamp Miami. The free one-day event will offer this and more in Miami at its new expanded location the Miami Beach Convention Center 1901 Convention Center Dr., Miami Beach, FL 33139. (Free Tickets are limited and available on a first come first served basis.) LaidOffCamp Miami is sponsored by founding sponsor VOIS.com (pronounced “Voice”) (OTCBB: VOIS) (OTCBB: VOISW), a social commerce Web company that combines social networking with an online marketplace for professional freelance and on-demand services as well as sponsors, The City of Miami Beach, FreelanceCamp, Miami Beach Christian Community Services, Chef George Catering, Ultimate Vision Productions and Papasoft. Additional sponsorship is still available.

What is LaidOffCamp Miami

Modeled after conferences like FreelanceCamp and BarCamp, LaidOffCamp Miami features an open, participatory discussion forum designed to educate, empower, and connect community members who are experiencing challenges in the current economic climate. LaidOffCamp Miami will include panels, workshops, and discussions focused on topics including building your personal brand, transitioning to a new industry, legal & accounting demands of launching a new business, finding affordable health insurance, alternative working spaces, alternative income sources, and how to become a freelancer.

Why you should attend LaidOffCamp Miami — if you are:

--  Looking for creative ways to supplement your income or change your
    career

--  Running or trying to start your own business as a freelancer, solo
    entrepreneur or startup company

--  Wanting to connect with creative, friendly and helpful people

--  Seeking employment or recently laid off

What hiring managers, recruiters will gain

--  Opportunity to meet eager, qualified candidates

--  How to work with freelancers

Media coverage so far

– CNN “… its like a free day camp for the unemployed… you never know whom you might meet.”

– Wired “What do I do next? — the most enterprising among them are revisiting the goals they once abandoned.”

– CNET Audio slide show from various LaidOffCamp SF sessions.

– Business Week “… an organization to connect other people who were out of work… informal sessions and networking for the unemployed and self-employed.”

– Huffington Post “… might also allow the unemployed to make their voices heard more clearly and help turn them into a more powerful political force.”

– CBS Video of LaidOffCamp SF as “a job fair aimed at the internet generation.”

– SF Chronicle “… brimming with entrepreneurs who wanted to help people hurt by the economy.”
– Venue: Miami Beach Convention Center

– Date: Saturday, June 6, 2009

– Time: 9am – 2pm

– Cost: FREE

– Register: http://laidoffcampmiami09.eventbrite.com

– More Information: http://laidoffcampmiami.org

As many of you know, I am involved with several websites including VOIS, which I am a co-founder of. Please hear me out this is not a shameless VOIS plug. I have never written about my involvement with VOIS on here before, but I feel that what happened to me last week is lesson we could all benefit from. As I said something pretty exciting happened to me recently and I wanted to share my experience in hopes of helping others achieve the same possible results.

Like other dreamers out there, I come up with new ideas for websites often.  While many of them I feel are good ideas, they don’t always make the cut or become reality.  There is no worse feeling then to see some other visionary bring that idea to life, and watch as this new site receives accolades. Recently I had one of those visions and decided to run with it rather than let it remain simply an idea. Being I put together VOIS, I knew how simple it would be to just post the project on our site and see if I could find someone to not only build the application, but also find someone to design it as well. Here is how my vision for a site called “Tweexchange.com” became a reality, soared to almost being one of the top 10,000 visited websites in the world all within one week, and for under $1000.

A couple of weeks ago there was a tremendous amount of hype regarding Ashton Kutcher and his race with CNNbrk (not owned by CNN at the time) to see who could get a million users to follow them on Twitter first.  About the same time I had been daydreaming how awesome it would be to have a website to obtain a Twitter name that had already been taken.  So I jotted down some notes on my iPhone and pretty much stopped there.  After seeing the exposure CNN got for assuming the CNNbrk Twitter name (even though they claim that they didn’t exactly buy it, CNN claimed they had hired James Cox as a consultant and through some convoluted statement admitted that they had acquired his Twitter account) I quickly realized that Twitter had opened the door for anyone now to buy, sell, or “exchange” Twitter names as a consultant, and it would not be long thereafter that a forum for acquiring Twitter usernames would soon arise.

Feeling that someone would conceive a similar idea, I realized time was not on my side and I would have to act quickly if I was to be the first to create this forum or Twitter name exchange.  Being I had access to hundreds of the world’s most talented designers and coders at my finger tips as a VOIS member and since posting the project was free, I knew what I had to do.

I immediately posted two projects. The first project was to make my Twitter app and a second project was for a designer to design the sites homepage and theme. Soon thereafter I received bids on both. I found a local coder in Florida whose bid was priced right and he seemed to know the Twitter api well. The site designer, a regular fixture on VOIS from England came up with the design.    I awarded both projects and a few days later my site was ready for testing.  That is right….within one week, and less than $1,000 I had completed a website now named Tweexchange.com with a little help from my Vois friends, that was ready for the masses.   VOIS had worked great.  After Tweexchange was launched, I was so thankful to fellow bloggers like Pete Cashmore at Mashable and Leena Rao at TechCrunch for picking up the story providing instant exposure to the site and making Tweexchange a household name, receiving tens of thousands of views around the world and several offers of interest, all with in a few within hours. Also I have to give a shout out to my friends at The Rackspace Cloud. The Mosso servers did not let me down despite the barrage of traffic.

Yesterday Tweexchange had a traffic ranking on alexa of 13,251 all since Friday or just three days!  So for anyone who is sitting on an idea or moping around after being laid off, go post a project and see what becomes of it.  You never know, for a few hundred dollars, you too can make your dream a reality!

p.s… more to come part 2 soon……

Have you recently received your walking papers? If so, LaidOffCamp Miami organizers and participating employers have marching orders for you: Don’t take it sitting down. LaidOffCamp Miami is sponsored by VOIS.com (pronounced “Voice”) a publicly traded, social commerce Web company that combines the power of social networking with an online marketplace for professional freelance and on-demand services.

Listening to the retread job search advice dished daily on “Good Morning America” and bolding your resume font simply isn’t enough to catch employers’ attention when you’re vying for a new gig against an army of unemployed peers. These days you need to make real live connections that count, which is why job seekers and freelancers are heading to LaidOffCamp Miami armed with assertive energy and a proactive plan. The free one-day Miami event will take place Saturday, June 6 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Brikolodge at Midtown 4 (See a map here: http://tr.im/iT9V).

With Florida’s jobless rate teetering toward 10 percent — the highest rate since 1975 — employer touch points are more valuable than ever in this high and dry economy. LaidOffCamp Miami’s savvy staff and employers will give you proven insights for successfully leveraging these opportunities. Whether you’re looking to network with those in your field, reinvent or recycle your career, LaidOffCamp is specifically catering to entry-to-midlevel career paths in the following industries: Digital media, advertising, publishing, technology and financial service professionals.

LaidOffCamp Miami is modeled after the successful BarCamp conferences — an international network of user-generated workshops on an eclectic range of topics — and will include all-access discussion forums, panels and workshops designed to educate, empower and connect community members who are experiencing challenges in the tough and gritty economy. LaidOffCamp Miami will reveal networking competitive advantages to participants, by exposing expert insights on building your personal brand, the ins and outs of starting your own biz, how to find alternative workspace, finding affordable insurance and alternative income sources, such as freelancing and consulting.

Also, if you’re an employer looking for skilled and ambitious workers, you’ll find a windfall of top candidates — and get real-world solutions for fitting freelancers and consultants into your business model.

After attracting worldwide media attention and hundreds of job seekers when the inaugural LaidOffCamp laid its stakes in San Francisco, the events are already attracting thousands of job seekers and employers, and are touring cities across the country and world this spring and summer. Additional sponsorships are still available. Media partners include: sCommerce.com, Rev2.org (Yay for us!)

Visit http://laidoffcampmiami09.eventbrite.com/ to register, learn more about the event at http://laidoffcampmiami.org/, and look for updates on Twitter at www.twitter.com/LaidOffCampMIA or contact http://laidoffcampmiami.org/contact/comment-page-1/#comment-2

Times, they are a changin’ for Mac users.  Fans of Mac systems have been relatively virus and trojan-free, since most malicious programmers usually aim their sights on PCs and Windows.  Symantec’s Kevin Haley, director of security response, says, “The bad guys generally go toward the biggest target, what will get them the biggest bang for their buck.”  CNN points out “Mac computers are known for their near-immunity to malicious computer programs that plague PCs.”

Apple enjoyed relative obscurity, with the number of personal computer systems being predominantly PCs.  That seems to have changed now, though, with small, but growing numbers of malware targeting Macs.

The big one in the news now is a trojan horse program called iBotnet, which has infected only a few thousand Mac machines so far.  It’s a relatively benign trojan, though, but represents a growing trend of Mac-specific viruses, trojans, and worms.

Symantec detailed iBotnet in Virus Bulletin’s January edition.  The company still promotes that Macs are generally not threatened by malicious software, so long as reasonable precautions are taken. iBotnet itself is a part of a pirated download of iWork.

Obviously, your Macintosh isn’t immune to malware and attack–nothing is.  But your Apple is a lot less likely to get a bite taken out of it by someone with evil intent than someone else’s Window will get broken by a virus.

Conversely, more limited, but direct attacks such as trojans and identity theft tools like keyloggers aimed at Mac users will occur more often than they have before, according to McAfee’s Cyberbrime and Online Threats assessment for 2009.  This is because users of Macs are generally more affluent, on average, than PC users.

So threats against Mac users are probably going to be on the rise.  If you aren’t using protection, most experts agree, you’re putting too much faith in the hope that your Mac won’t be a target.