Allen Stern - Authors & Columnists - InformationWeek

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Author
Allen Stern

Profile of Allen Stern

News & Commentary Posts: 91
Articles by Allen Stern

A Simple Way To Protect Your Online Privacy

6/3/2010
The Facebook CEO took to the stage yesterday to discuss how the current health of the company and to answer questions about how Facebook handles privacy. Here's one way to easily handle privacy related to sharing content online.
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How To Use Social Lending

5/18/2010
If you are having trouble obtaining a loan from your local bank, social lending could provide an alternative way to obtain the funds you seek.
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Is Your Car The Next Platform?

4/5/2010
We are already familiar with a variety of developer platforms including the iPhone, Android and now the iPad. After the demo I received from Ford last week, I started to wonder if the car is the next developer platform.
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Are The CMS Wars About To Heat Up?

3/23/2010
I had the chance to meet with Drupal CMS creator Dries Buytaert at the SXSW conference last week. After the chat with Buytaert, I started to wonder if a CMS war is on the horizon.
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The Google Buzz New User Experience

2/25/2010
Last November I took a look at the user experience for a new user who attempts to access Twitter.com. Now I'd like to provide the same new user experience overview for a person attempting to use Google Buzz.
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Could Sharing Your Location Impact Your Employment?

2/18/2010
Lately we've read reports about people losing their job or not receiving a job offer because of what they write about on their blog or post on one of the social networks. But what about the new location tools like Foursquare and Gowalla? Could using one of these services be the quickest ticket to a pink slip or a non-offer?
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Why Do Companies Fail?

10/24/2009
Every week I read about another company that has closed its doors. Many news outlets are quick to report on the closures but rarely there is an analysis on why they failed.
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7 Ways To Save Money On Business Purchases

9/26/2009
I'd like to share seven of my simple business travel and expense tips for startups that I've picked up over the years. It's critical in the current economic climate that we maximize every dollar spent on goods and services.
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Fixing Login Inconsistencies In Google's Services

9/12/2009
Over the past few weeks I've been keeping track of the different ways each Google service handles login procedures. I would have thought that once I am "cookied" by a Google service that all services would authenticate my session in the same manner but this is not the case.
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Health Care Reform: Let's Fix The Technology First

8/29/2009
It seems these days you can't put on the TV without every channel discussing health care reform in the U.S. The more I think about it, I believe we are doing it wrong. We should begin by fixing the technology then layering the new plans otherwise we will be in the same situation we are in now in just a few years.
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I Don't Like Inline Text Ads

8/3/2009
The big news last week was regarding the partnership that Yahoo and Microsoft entered into. Paul McDougall noted, "Microsoft's search tools will appear on Yahoo's sites while Yahoo takes on sales role." I've seen some inline text ads that have me a bit worried about the new partnership.
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Real-Time Product Launch Recap

7/10/2009
A variety of companies launched (or updated) services today that are all attempting to become leaders in the "real-time" space. Here's a recap of some of the services.
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Two Apps To Get Your Food Fix On The iPhone

5/25/2009
I don't know about you but many times I walk into the supermarket and have no idea what I want to buy so I wind up eating way too many hamburgers. I've recently found two iPhone applications that can help with creating a wide range of tasty recipes.
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Gotta Go? These Three Bathroom Finders Can Help

4/25/2009
Sometimes you need to find a public restroom while out and about. In some cities, it's easy to find a bathroom, while in others -- including New York City -- it's pretty difficult. Here are three tools that can help you when you're in need.
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The Importance Of Word-Of-Mouth Social Sharing For Startup Success

3/28/2009
During my corporate days, one of my requirements on every promotion we ran was that there was a way to share the promotion with a friend. For nearly every promotion, sharing was the number one referral to the promotion. The key was to make the act of sharing as easy as possible. Why is word of mouth marketing so important today?
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Do You Backup Your Blog?

2/28/2009
Yesterday I reported on an apparent hacker attack on the iMedia Connection site. It appears the site must have been hit hard as it is down over 48 hours. What are you doing to make sure your blog is backed up in the case of a hacker attack or server outage?
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Hungry? Here Are Ten Ways To Order Food Online

2/21/2009
Today there are many ways to order food online. Sometimes you want food immediately and other times you are willing to wait a couple of days for the perfect meal to arrive. I'd like to share 10 of my favorite sites to order food online.
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The Importance Of Monitoring Real-Time Analytics

2/15/2009
When I first started working with Web analytics packages back in the mid-90's, we were lucky if the data was only a day old. As the years moved on, analytics packages have moved closer to real-time but most still lag behind the current moment. Why is real-time tracking so important?
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Will We See Live Streaming Conference PPV This Year?

1/31/2009
Over the past couple of years, more and more conferences have been providing free live streaming to viewers at home. There are always arguments both for and against live streaming. Some feel that it takes away from those who have paid thousands of dollars to attend a conference. Others believe it offers an opportunity for those at home to interact.
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Can Virtual Goods Work For Scrapblog?

1/24/2009
When I spoke with Scrapblog CEO Carlos GarcÍa last year, he described the service as "a way to create multimedia scrapbooks." I liked the service then because it knew that users alone wouldn't be enough to generate sustainable revenue. This weekend it is launching the next phase of its business model.
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There's Web Work Out There Now Go Get It!

1/23/2009
Over the years as I travel around the country, one of the most popular questions I am asked is whether I know of anyone looking for help with their website. Internet marketing consultants ask me, developers and designers ask me, and search engine optimization consultants ask me. There's plenty of work out there, you just have to know where to look.
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The Best Time To Pitch Your Product Or Service

1/7/2009
One of the most popular questions I am asked is when is the best time and/or day to pitch a tech product or service to bloggers and reporters. There are absolutely better times than others and I'd like to share my thoughts and ideas as you move closer to launch. In future columns, we will explore the right content to include in a pitch.
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Ten Excellent Language Translators And Resources

12/28/2008
I've spent the last few years attempting to learn German. Initially, I attended German language classes at the Goethe Institute. Last year, I moved to a new city with no Goethe Institute and my schedule made it nearly impossible to find a class that would fit my schedule. Naturally, I turned to the Internet to continue my education, and here are 10 tools to translate content and interact with others who speak German.
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Initial Thoughts On WordPress 2.7

12/24/2008
Back in October, I attended an event where WordPress founder Matt Mullenweg provided a demo of the upcoming WordPress 2.7 release. I captured the demo on video and it has become one of my most popular videos to date. Here are my thoughts on the 2.7 release and why WordPress always seems to think about publishers first.
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Two Predictions For 2009

12/21/2008
As 2008 comes to a close, I'd like to share predictions for the technology space in 2009. The predictions are: more utility-based Web applications will launch and mobile usage will grow but content won't be monetized.
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Is There Anything Twitter Can't Do?

12/18/2008
As Twitter has grown in popularity, the number of ways this communication tool can be used are endless. No more is it just about telling your friends what you had for lunch or that your makeup won't stay in place for your video blog. No sir! Twitter has so many uses that I'm wondering, is there anything that it can't be used for?
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Five Ways To Manage Your Finances Online

12/13/2008
As the U.S. economy continues to slow, I am often asked for advice on selecting an online financial management tool. Here are five tools that can help you completely manage your finances and find ways to save more and spend less. Some of the tools provide a social networking layer which can tap into help from your friends and family on financial management.
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Six Great Ways To Save On Holiday Shopping

12/7/2008
Most people that know me know that I am a deal hunter. I've been this way for years and refuse to shop online without some sort of discount code. Here are six methods I use to save money when shopping online. I hope you find them beneficial during this holiday season.
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Looking At Twitter As A News Source

11/29/2008
If you are into online technology, you've certainly heard of Twitter by now. It seems many tech blogs can't get enough of how great Twitter is. The scene reminds me a bit of Facebook about 18 months ago. Apparently there's nothing Twitter can't do. In addition to people sharing that they just rode a horse; watched a video; cleaned their apartment; ate a hamburger or took a shower, now Twitter is being utilized as a key news source.
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Why Hulu Will Eat YouTube's Lunch

11/23/2008
Saturday night, YouTube held its inaugural "YouTube Live" concert where a number of mainstream artists played and sang along with a few YouTube stars. Mogulus estimates that there were 700,000 concurrent viewers of the YouTube live stream. Sounds like a large number until you realize that most TV shows have millions of viewers.
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I'd Buy That Twitter For A Dollar

11/21/2008
The question going around the early adopter circle this week is whether Twitter users would pay for their accounts and if so, how much would they be willing to pay. Rob Jensen has analyzed a survey which shows that most people who replied would rather see the service go away than pay for it.
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Obama Says Yes We Can Use YouTube

11/14/2008
When I first heard that President-elect Barack Obama would be using online video to distribute his weekly addresses, I was excited. It's great to see that he wants to engage the nation across both video and audio. I assumed that the videos would be posted to the whitehouse.gov and change.gov websites.
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Web Services Alert You To Speed Traps And Red-Light Cameras

11/14/2008
When I was in college, a large whiteboard was placed in the campus center where students would post locations on the highways where cops would sit and wait for speeders. Everyone would copy the list for their route before they headed home. Today there are services online that can provide real-time updates of where the speed traps and red light cameras are located.
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Will The Economic Downturn Push Coworking Further Ahead Or Will People Head Out?

11/9/2008
When I speak with Web developers and designers who have lost their jobs over the past few months, many of them tell me that they are considering going out on their own and launching either a consultancy or a startup. As the discussion continues, about half of the group say they will look to begin the process at a coworking location versus working at home or at a coffee shop.
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Sexy Web Browsing On A Windows Mobile Device

11/6/2008
In late 2007, I purchased a Windows Mobile-based smartphone. The top issue I heard from friends before I made the purchase is that the browsing experience was nothing like the Safari browser on the iPhone. I knew that I wanted the ability to blog from the mobile if needed and so I wanted a device with a keyboard. The first month was exactly what my friends said it would be...miserable Web browsing.
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Always Think Before You Submit

11/2/2008
Over the past 10 years, I've written and spoken about the need to "think before you submit." What I mean is that when you say something online, it will be stored forever and can come back to bite you years later. With a blog it's relatively quick to post and once the post hits the RSS feed, it's pretty difficult to take the post back.
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Are Bots On Twitter Hurting Overall System Performance?

10/29/2008
If you use the "real-time short messaging service" Twitter, you know that over the last year there have been many performance issues. So many, in fact, that users have created a name for the outages, called the "fail whale." I started to poke around and began to wonder if bots running on the Twitter network could be causing some of the system performance issues on the service.
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The Startup Culture: Silicon Valley Versus New York

10/25/2008
One of the questions I'm asked most often on both coasts is "What's the difference between the startup culture on the East Coast and those on the West Coast?" I'd like to share some of my thoughts on the differences. I have noticed that both coasts have very active startup communities with events on nearly every weeknight.
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Baby On The Way? These Five Web Services Can Help

10/18/2008
As more people share their lives online, a natural extension is to share information with friends and family about a baby, both pre- and post-birth. We've seen many Twitter births over the past year. But what happens when you want to share more information and media? A handful of new companies aim to create the ultimate baby website.
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What's Next For WordPress?

10/8/2008
WordPress is a popular blogging platform that's available in a variety of versions, including: self-hosted (WordPress.org), hosted (WordPress.com), and WordPress MU for multiple blogs on a single installation. The current version of the blogging software is 2.6.2 and the hot talk around the blogosphere is what's coming next for WordPress?
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