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Has it really been this long?

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Wow. Been a while! Guess that's what happens when you join one of the fastest growing companies in the hottest spaces. :-) Ok, time for a few updates and minor rants:

  • The company I started with two great folks, Loyalty Lab, has been acquired by Tibco. I'm delighted for them, as it's a great partnership to ensure the ongoing growth of Retail CRM. It was seven years of long hard work, but I could not be more pleased for everyone there. Well done, guys!
  • My company, TownHog, has taken off. We are now reaching 6 million people daily, and are at just under 50 people, while being present in about 20 cities. It's been an absolute rocket ride, and it keeps going up. So much fun, and two new partner launches upcoming!
  • My travels have slowed down a bit, but I expect to be back in NYC quite often now, with so many partners there. United continues to lavish affection on me...
  • I've learned the incredible value of StreamTransport, some software that allows you to pull down Hulu programs and save them locally. Why do you want to do this? Well, convert the files to iPhone-compatible ones with Videora, and those plane rides aren't so long nor require connectivity. Oh, and yes...they are both free.
  • The Cal Park Tunnel opened this week, allowing my bike commute to get that much easier and safer. Looking forward to trying it out tomorrow!
  • New iPhone apps that are on my phone, and bear mentioning:
    • Shopkick: Want to get paid for "checking in?" Now you can. Simply fire up the app in a Best Buy or Macy's and earn points and coupons; the points convert to gift certificates. Very cool. And free.
    • LinkedIn: I resisted putting this on for ages, as it seemed a lame version of the site. But it has a surprise feature: if both you and another iPhone user have the app, you can exchange LinkedIn profile contact info via Bluetooth. Pretty cool.
    • Taxi Magic: want a cab? Fire this app, and you can order one in any major city with a touch. Get status updates on how far the cab is, what the driver's name is, and more. Has helped me so many times in a city, can't recommend it enough.
    • iHome + Sleep: In many ways, the perfect iPhone alarm clock. Tracks your sleep and naps, allows you to fall asleep or wake up to any song in your library, and, yes, it can Twitter and Face book when you go to sleep or wake up. Truly, a 21st century clock.
    • Comcast brings us the XFINITY TV app. Why do you care? If you have a Comcast DVR, it brings remote scheduling to the iPhone.  'Nuff said.
    • While I usually thrive on free apps, there is one I have happily paid for recently: CamCard. Take any business card, fire up the app, and it scans it, transforming the text into a digital contact in your address book. Yep, OCR on the go. Amazingly accurate, and very cool. Try the Lite version for free to see what you think.
    • If you've updated to the latest iOS, you can take advantage of Find My iPhone for free. If you have an iPhone 4, you are all set. 3GS users like me have to set up an account with a borrowed iPhone 4, but then the app will work just fine on the 3GS.
    • Still don't have a turn by turn GPS for your iPhone? Waze has you covered: free, which is huge,  but also a lot of fun. See other Waze users, get realtime speed updates from them, and even turn the world into a giant game of Pac Man (a clever way those Waze folks get you to give their system info by making you drive streets they haven't fully mapped). 
I have some other stories, but I'll save them for hopefully more frequent updates. For now, nice to be back with you!


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