Foursquare Announces Swarm

I couldn’t be more confused this morning. Foursquare just announced a new check-in app called Swarm. Swarm allows you to see who is nearby, similar to Facebook’s Nearby Friends feature but limited to the people you add on Foursquare, which is kind of nice for the privacy conscious. I already use Foursquare to check-in to places and keep a map of all the locations I’ve been to, plus it syncs with my Facebook Map so I can easily go back and find all the places I’ve eaten during my recent trips to Europe when my friends ask for a recommendation in Paris. It’s great and works like a champ. About a year ago or so ago Foursquare even started recommending dishes and telling me about nearby places when it sensed I was in a neighborhood nearby. It was awesome functionality, and I’ve used it as a “recommender” on a lot of different occasions. Certainly a lot more than I use Yelp. Which is why I’m surprised that they are seemingly trying to kill it off.

 

Foursquare sees Yelp as the enemy, and is pivoting Foursquare to square off (see what I did there?) directly against it. They’re taking check-ins out, and putting more context and location-focused suggestions in. The check-ins are apparently migrating to the Swarm app, which will allow your friends to see your “general” location, and also allow you to check in to specific places if you so desire (the basic functionality of Foursquare). In the video above, David Crowley, Foursquare's CEO says,  “People always think, ‘Oh, Foursquare, that’s the check-in app. Oh, Foursquare, that’s the thing where you check in and get badges’, and I think if that’s your perception of what we’re doing, you’re missing like 90% of the vision, and 90% of what the company is here to do”. The problem is, that’s what Foursquare was great at doing.

Foursquare showed hints in the last year that it wanted to go head-to-head with Yelp, by sending push-notifications when you were near restaurants that it had menus and recommendations for. This worked pretty well and though often it sent me those notifications after I’d already ordered, it would cause me to look at the app and see if anyone had any recommendations on dessert. It was still a “functional win”, in that I was opening the app, looking at the restaurant, and using that information for my current or future visit.

What puzzles me about the split is that it sounds like Foursquare will no longer allow you to check in to places, only Swarm will allow you to do that. It seems a bit odd that a company that’s collected data from over 5 Billion check-ins would abandon them in hopes of becoming the world’s best menu app. Foursquare has recently had trouble with new adoption, possibly because security-conscious individuals didn’t want their friends seeing where they were, so it’s strange to know that they are launching a new app, which they hope will be adopted more swiftly and collect the check-ins from there. I'm hopeful that the two “apps” will share data so that Foursquare can continue building its giant databases, but what if Swarm fails to take off? Will Foursquare roll check-ins back in? And what does this mean for the apps that tie-in to Foursquare for check-ins? I use Aviate on my phone and it ties in to Foursquare beautifully, so does Moves. Do those now have to re-integrate with Swarm? And who came up with the name Swarm? Every retailed business probably wants to get swarmed by people, but think of the bees. They have swarms, and they’re out to get you.

If 90% of what Foursquare is trying to do like Crowley says, is give you advice and show you what’s around you, why spin-off the 10% that has given the app its popularity and users? Why not instead redesign the app to focus on the hints, menus, and notifications, but still allow you to check-in? Granted, Foursquare is planning a re-design to go along with the Swarm launch, but if that re-design gets rid of check-ins, the thing that made Foursquare “a thing”, might start falling by the wayside.

I hope Foursquare knows what they are doing by spinning this off. I’ll try Swarm when it comes out, but if it fails to speak to my current Foursquare app and share the maps of places that I’ve checked in at, I may have to go back to checking in on Facebook. And nobody wants to do that.

Pebble Steel - It's For Real

Way back when I did a bit of a review for the Pebble that I backed on Kickstarter. I've since had to part ways with that Kickstarter Edition version and got the mass-produced original Pebble as a replacement. I've enjoyed my time with it ever since and have loved getting notifications on my wrists. So after almost a year with the original Pebble, there's now a new one in town. The Pebble Steel.

The Steel was announced at CES this year and I immediately ordered a pair, one in Stainless Steel, and one in Matte Black. When I got them, I sent the stainless version to my dad and kept the black for myself. Here are some images and afterwards, my thoughts on the new, premium version of the Pebble.

The new packaging for the Pebble Steel screams premium. It comes in what looks like a jewelry box.

When you open up the box you're greeted with the Pebble and the instruction book on pairing it to your phone.

Opening the box unveils the additional strap, the charger, and the instruction booklet.

There are two bands that come with the Pebble Steel, leather, and steel. Both feel very premium, but are proprietary, so not any strap will work like on the original Pebble.

Old and new Pebbles side-by-side.  The Steel is sleeker, takes up less wrist space, and overall just looks like a much more quality device. I do somewhat miss the rounded edges though.

Fuzzy time on the Pebble Steel.

So there you have it, the new Pebble hotness. As for the new device itself. I am on Android so I do not have version 2.0 of the Pebble App, meaning my Pebble cannot use the tri-colored LED that is on it. That's OK, it's only there to remind me that I have notifications. As far as the notifications go, the new Pebble Steel works a lot like the old one, whenever I get an incoming text, call, or email the back-light turns on and the watch vibrates. One of the things I like about the Steel is that the vibration seems a bit less "harsh" than on the original Pebble. It feels a bit more subtle, and slightly less jarring, which is a welcome change.

Overall it's a great watch and continues in the fashion of the original Pebble. It's great for notifications and as an extension of your phone. A few other companies are working on their own smart-watches, Sony and Samsung have watches that are currently out, and HTC is currently working on their own designs. I've played with the Sony and Samsung watches and while they do work well, they end up doing a bit too much. I love the idea that my Pebble is an extension of my phone, it gives me useful information in real-time. I don't want to be able to make calls, or record video, or do anything else with my watch, that's what the phone is for. I like that Pebble doesn't try to do too much, and because of its reserved build, it allows for 5-7 days of battery life, and still remains open enough for developers to write interesting apps on to it.

In summation: if you're going to be buying a smart-watch, take a look at Pebble, and if you have an extra $100, do yourself a favor and buy the new Pebble Steel.

Dollar Shave Club - Care Package For My Butt

I wrote about Dollar Shave Club  a little while ago when I got my first order of razors and blades at the start of my "fancy shaving journey". As it turned out I wasn't good at shaving, and lots of cuts ensued. I stuck with it though and I'm not a bit more formidable with a razor blade. I've been a customer for about 8 months now, since last June.

At the end of that "review" I posted that I would try out their new product, the One Wipe Charlies. I never did write about it after I got my first batch, but suffice it to say that they were...soothing.

Out of the blue yesterday I received a package at work. It was from Dollar Shave Club, was the largest package I'd ever received from them. Immediately I thought, "crap, did I drunk order something from DSC? Am I about to get 20 bottles of shaving butter?". It turns out that wasn't the case. This was a PSA package. The letter in the package read:

"Last year we launched One Wipe Charlies, the amazing-and tingle-butt wipe for men...but Dollar Shave Club cares about your butt inside and out, so this month, for National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, we're sponsoring the Colon Cancer Alliance."

And what was inside this mystery butt package? A crossword book, a Sade Cd, a package of One Wipe Charlies, a scented candle, and some matches.  Dollar Shave Club wants me to poop in style.

The Dollar Shave Club Stylin' Poop Box

A CD, crosswords, butt wipes, candle and some matches.

 I thought about how weird this was for a while, but then I realized that it actually made perfect sense. Dollar Shave Club wants everyone to get their colons checked out and screened. They state,

"We're using our platform to raise awareness about the importance of getting a colonoscopy because Colon Cancer is 90% curable when found early."

As someone who has cancer running in the family, I think this is a pretty noble endeavor. Many folks think that getting a colonoscopy is pretty shitty, and they're right. I've had one, and I almost called this blog post: Colon Cancer: Give a Shit. It was quite a sobering experience, going to the pharmacy and picking up the pre-colonoscopy medicine, and having the pharmacists tell me, "Buy wet-wipes, you'll need them". Indeed I did, but after my colonoscopy it turned out that I was OK. Which is good, but a lot of men and women aren't.

Having this care-package during my colonoscopy times would have made the entire experience a lot more pleasant, or at least, as pleasant as it could have been. Butt health is important, so make sure that you get checked out, and if you do need to get a colonoscopy, buy wet-wipes. I recommend the One Wipe Charlies, they leave you minty fresh, and leave you feeling like you're in butt nirvana.

By your powers combined...butt nirvana!

Oy, Veykenstein - I, Frankenstein Review

I, Frankenstein was better than it had any right to be. That said, it was still a long way from "good". Maybe it was Stuart Beattie, who was a second-time director and maybe unfamiliar with the intricacies of making a movie flow. Or maybe it was just that the movie was too short. Though, as the writer of the screenplay Beattie might also be to blame there.

Too short? Yes. If you take away the story, the action sequences in I, Frankenstein were actually fairly good. As were the special effects. Even most of the acting was fine. If the story had a bit more time to develop, I think the overall film would have come out better. As it stands, you are barely introduced to the characters before epic-scale fight sequences begin and the story starts to unravel.

That story is as follows: Frankenstein, played by Aaron Eckhart is drawn in to a fight between the Gargoyle order (headed by Miranda Otto's Leanore) and evil demons (headed by Bill Nighy, as Naberius). That's basically the end of the plot, other than a few other things that would essentially give the movie away. Suffice it to say that the Naberius really wants to catch and study Frankenstein. Meanwhile, Leanore and Frankenstein are both trying to avoid it.

There's good fight sequences, good effects, and Billy Nighy is amazing as always. He is the best part of the Underworld films, and brings his evil charm to this movie as well. Aaron Eckhart tries his damndest to care, but it's apparent that his heart just isn't in it. He does try to impersonate Christian Bale's Batman voice, but it doesn't come off too well.

This one gets a 2/5. Buoyed by the effects and Bill Nighy-ness of the movie. Had it been a bit longer, and you had a chance to care about the characters, it could have been a fine mediocre-film. Now, it's just a decent film to watch on a slow Netflix day.

CES 2014 - Thoughts and Pictures

This year was my second ever CES, and it was awesome! After my first show last year, I had a better idea of what to expect. One of the things I was hoping for was that the official CES app would  be updated. Alas, it was not, but one of the developers did contact me and asked for input, so there might be hope for the future.

Like last time I was representing Backblaze, but this time I didn't come with cupcakes. Instead, I came with a bunch of business cards and my networking hat on. So lets take a photographic stroll down memory lane, shall we? 

Day 0 - Flying in to Vegas and Showstoppers

The Virgin in-flight video is the most fun you'll have on the tarmac.

One of the first things I noticed when I got my bag back. They somehow dented a brand new hard-shell case. I wasn't even mad, I was impressed.

Backblaze at the Showstoppers exhibit. Everything is so yellow, it looks golden.

The bathroom at the Wynn smelled like a lavender field. I don't know how they do it, but I love it.

The new Corvette. I love that they put little cling-wrap booties on it while driving on the Wynn carpet.

Day 1: CES Floor

One of the quickest ways to get around, instead of waiting 45 minutes or more in a taxi line is to take a limo filled with a bunch of people going to the same place. Usually this is about $10/person and less than taking a cab, plus it's much more speedy.

The Steam Machine from Alienware. Looked awesome, and it comes out in September!

There were many Steam Machines there, folks seemed most interested in the Gigabyte and Falcon ones.

One of the first things you notice at CES is dancing booth babes and people taking their picture awkwardly (yes I realize I am also taking their picture, but I asked first).

Robots were really big this year. mRobo would dance around to music.

The C|Net Lounge is one of my favorite places to sit down and do work. Along with charging stations, you can watch them film some shows.

The Jabbawockeez performed at the Hisense booth.

Hello Jabbawockee! 

One of the weirdest booths was for USPS. They were there promoting their flate-rate shipping containers. Which makes sense because some of the smaller companies are always looking for cheaper ways to ship things, but for a struggling company, they certainly did have a large booth...thanks taxpayers!

The Oculus Rift demo of EVE's Valkyrie game. 

Testing out the Oculus Rift. Works really well with Valkyrie. Can't wait to try other games on it.

Met up with my friend, Sarah Jane Woodall, better known as Wonderhussy (nsfw).

Tiny DJ at the Monster booth. I think he was 11.

Taking a load off. Seriously, walking around for 10 hours is a pain in the ass. Yes, that is Star Trek. Voyager in fact! I am enjoying it about 1,000 times more than Deep Space Nine, thanks for asking!

Day 2: CES Floor and Lenovo Lounge

The Delorean from Back to the Future. The Delorean. Not just "a" Delorean.

A lot of folks at the Gibson tent were dressed as Star Trek folks. Neat.

This is a fun thing! It's a vibrator that you can control with your phone. Perfect for meetings and playing  practical jokes on your co-worker/significant other!

Adam Corolla at the Ford booth chatting about the monstrous F-150.

A lot of the booths had the new Corvette that they were showing off. This is still my dream car, the Dodge Viper. This one happened to be an SRT. So beautiful.

My contacts at Vizio fell through, so I didn't get to see their suite this year, but of the TVs that I did see, this curved 4K OLED from LG was probably the most striking TV I saw at the show.

While not as pretty as the 4K OLED from LG, this set up from Panasonic was fantastic. They were showing off how a few 4K cameras pointed at a football field along with Panasonic's tech could show the entire length of a football field with perfect clarity. It was...quite fantastic. I would love to have this shot be a staple for broadcast games, it would be awesome for long runs and pass plays, though would only work with certain set-ups. Still very cool!

Not sure who these DJs were, but they were very friendly and had some good tunes they were kicking out at the 808 booth. 

Samsung had a few interesting things, including the "smart mirror". I actually really liked this functionality. You wake up, go to the bathroom, and see your notifications and weather while getting ready. Might prevent folks from taking their cell phone to the bathroom.

The Verge Lounge at the show. Again, finding a good place to work is important if you have to get stuff done at the show. The Verge Lounge will hopefully come back next year. Free coffee and  Wi-Fi. Thanks. 

Aviate. My favorite launcher for Android. It was recently purchased by Yahoo and I was dreading that it would go away and I would be left with nothing. Fortunately it was prominent at the Yahoo booth and it sounds like they aren't going anywhere. Happy dance. 

The Lenovo Lounge party for Social Media folks. I was lucky enough to get accepted in to this one, there is always a lot of interest and it's a pretty great event. Lenovo was showcasing their new hotness, of which I really enjoyed the Yoga Tablets. 

Lenovo won a lot of awards at the show (I think they said over 30) and were proudly displaying them.

Because it was such a fancy party, we drank Fat Tire and ate Crab. If I could use a hashtag here it would be "Posh".

John the Jackelope is Lenovo's unofficial party mascot. Unfortunately, he was stolen.

I mostly hung out in the Shapeways 3D scanning room helping my friend Savannah. There was always a line of folks waiting to be scanned. It was quite exciting! 

This guy was great! He was on a scooter and needed oxygen, but wanted to get 3D scanned so he chose an awesome pose and held it for 2 minutes. Unfortunately I couldn't catch the pose!

More fun being had with the 3D scanner. This is Peter Thomson. He's a big deal in Toronto. 

Day 3: CES Show Floor

Test driving the BMW i3 all electric. 

It was fun as hell to drive and the sound quality of the speakers was impeccable. Unfortunately, it uses recycled plastic in the interior. Is this bad? No! It's awesome, but unfortunately when you're buying a $40,000 BMW, you don't expect to feel plastic on the inside. Great car though, and does some really cool stuff with the navigation and how far you can travel. One of the neat things was a "spider" which showed you how far you can travel based on geography and topography (meaning it knows that hills will lessen your range). It was pretty technologically advanced, and a beast to drive. Very aggressive regenerative breaking as well, once you let off the gas the car tries to stop you as smoothly as possible!

(The audio was awesome)

3D printing was huge this year and a lot of companies were showing off their tech. I'm not sure what the viability of a remote-controlled 3D printer is, but it looked cool!

3D Systems even had a 3D sugar printer. Tasty!

Basically, you can 3D print anything, and the prints are getting more and more intricate.

Parrot loves their dancing drones. And it's always a fun demo.

This 4K monitor from Toshiba will retail for over $10,000. And it's gorgeous in every way.

You can't have a party without Party Bot.

Robots were huge this year. 

Whether it was the Sphero balls or dancing robots. They were everywhere.

Had dinner at Le Burger Brasserie.

My waitress for the evening at Le Burger Brasserie.

Her name was Holly. She first came up to me and said, "Welcome to Le Burger Brassiere". God bless her.

I had room service delivered to my room for the first time ever. It was delicious.

 Back to work

My co-workers put up my Social Media Zombie painting in front of my computer. I think they missed me and it was a good reminder of what I do most days.

Fun side-story. The Backblaze shirt I have on is almost the same exact shade as the Virgin America crew uniforms. When I was waiting to use the lavatory at the front of the plane during boarding, folks kept saying good afternoon to me, to which I replied, "Welcome aboard! Thank you for choosing Virgin!". The actual flight attendant thought it was hilarious.

There you have it! My exploits at CES 2014. I'll likely be back next year, come hang out with me!