There are so many bookmarking tools out there from your browser bookmarker to Google Bookmarks to del.icio.us or reddit.  But, why not use Twitter?

Here’s how…

All you have to do is Twitter a post with some descriptive information about the URL,  along with the link that you want to hold onto.   Then, when you want to find that url – use Google and the following command in Google, for example:

site:twitter.com/philayres [insert term that describes the link you are looking for]

That’s it.  That’s all there is to it.  So, what have you done?  You have given your followers a great link that they might be interested in.  And, you have a link filed in a way that you can access at a later date.

Like many Google engineers, I’ve been running Google Chrome for several months. When I sat down with a blank piece of paper to write down why you should try Google Chrome, I ended up with several reasons, including speed, security, stability, and openness. I’ll run through them for you.

Speed. Google Chrome is wicked fast, especially if you use AJAX/JavaScript-heavy web applications such as Gmail. And it’s not just “benchmark fast,” it’s end-to-end fast. Google Chrome puts special emphasis on never making the user wait. Opening a tab is essentially instantaneous, and all the little pauses that would normally interrupt your workflow just don’t happen. Of course, sometimes a remote web server is slow to return data–there’s nothing that a web browser can do about that–but for everything else, the browser speeds along like lightning.

When Gmail came out, it took me months to switch over. Before Gmail, I used mutt and I had all kinds of crazy customizations and wild procmail rules, so it took quite a while for Gmail to convince me to switch. In contrast, it took less than a week for me to switch to Google Chrome. It’s so scary fast that I felt like I was taking smart pills because of all the extra work and email I could blast through.

Read more here from Matt Cutts.

BETUS ODDS ON BRISTOL PALIN PREGNANCY DRAWS RECORD ACTION FROM BETTORS

BetUS.com Posts Odds on All Things Bristol Palin Pregnancy

September 16TH, 2008 New York: As if Sarah
Palin garnering the Republican nomination for VP of the United States
wasn’t enough of a shocker – the news that her seventeen year old
daughter was pregnant just days after set off even more media frenzy.

The American public ate it up, and as usual the media didn’t disappoint
with their non-stop and often over the top coverage of Bristol Palin
and her pregnancy. With speculation at an all time high, and media
scrutiny growing ever more intense, the largest most successful
sportsbook on the web, BetUS.com once again beat everyone to the punch
and posted odd son all things Bristol Palin pregnancy.

Analysts at BetUS.com posted the following odds on the Bristol Palin Pregnancy:

Odds on sex of baby m/f?
1/1 boy
1/1 girl
250/1 twins

Odds on whether she’ll get married before or after the birth of the child
Before 1/1
After 1/1
Not marry the father 20/1

Odds on color eyes the baby will have
Brown 4/6
Green 6/4
Blue 2/1

Weight of Bristol’s baby at birth
Over/Under 7lbs 5 ounces
5/6 Over 5/6 Under

For over ten years I’ve been in the unique position of being both a CEO and a journalist in the technology space. My first company produced Silicon Alley Reporter magazine, where I held the dual titles of CEO and Editor. At my second company, Weblogs Inc., I was a blogger and CEO. Today I’m the CEO of Mahalo, and the editor of an email newsletter (Jason’s List–which you’re reading right now!).

Additionally, for over 10 years I’ve been the subject of many stories, including features in the New Yorker and WIRED (twice!), as well as on television programs including Charlie Rose, 60 Minutes, Nightline, CNN, Fox News, Bloomberg and countless others. I’ve gotten more press than any entrepreneur could dream of–certainly more than I deserve–and I’ve never had a public relations firm working for me.

As both subject and writer it feels like I’ve learned a lot about how the PR and the press works–especially in the technology business.

My philosophy of PR is summed up in six words: be amazing, be everywhere, be real.

You don’t need a PR firm, you don’t need an in-house PR person and you don’t need to spend ANY money to get amazing PR. You don’t need to be connected, and you don’t need to be a “name brand.” Today, many bloggers lament how much press folks like Kevin Rose and Robert Scoble get. They say that they get too much attention and that they got this attention too quickly and without earning it.

What’s funny about this is that “A-list” ceWebrities like Scoble and Kevin Rose are overnight successes 10 years in the making. Scoble and Rose have been everywhere for a decade. Me? I’ve been everywhere in this business since 1994 when I was 23 years old in New York City trying to get any meeting I could (for those of you who wouldn’t meet with me back then I totally understand–chances are I wouldn’t have met with me back then).

Things that look like an “overnight success” typically are not.

Now, I could tell you to “be amazing, be everywhere, be real,” drop some buzz words and call it a day. However, that’s not why you’ve invited me into your e-mail box. Nope, based on the feedback you guys have given me since we started this e-mail experiment, I’ve learned that what you really want is honest talk and clear tactics so you can fight the good fight.

Here are my first ten tips on how to do PR for your startup.

1. Be the brand
As the founder of your company you must be in love with your brand and inspired by your brand’s mission if you have any hope of getting press for your product. If you don’t *really* believe in your product on a deep, intrinsic level, it’s going to come across *immediately* to the bloggers and press you’re pitching.

When I started Silicon Alley Reporter in New York City, I had stacks of the magazine with me at ALL TIMES. If you saw me at a party I had 25 copies in my backpack, or 200 on a broken-down luggage cart, and you had one shoved in your face within a minute of meeting me.

Tags: PublicRelations, PR, Jason Calcanis

Tags: GoogleKnol

Google has just launched Knol to the public, dubbed by many as the search giant’s Wikipedia killer. My first reaction: not so fast. While Knol offers a way for anyone to create content about any subject, there are a few big differences.

First and foremost, each “Knol” is created by a single author, who can then choose to either accept or reject edits made by others in what Google is calling “moderated collaboration.” Beyond that, Knol authors can insert AdSense on their Knols and earn revenue based on clicks. In reality, this sound less a lot less like the community collaborating on authoritative articles (Wikipedia) and a lot more like a potential land grab to create content for lucrative keywords.

However, Google does offer some options that should keep would-be opportunists at bay. Each Knol offers the ability for anyone to review or comment on it, which in turn raises or lowers the authority of the article. Google says that they “expect that there will be multiple knolls on the same subject, and we think that is good.”

In giving a single author control over each Knol and its edits, it’s hard to imagine the service will be as authoritative as Wikipedia (which, many would argue has its own biases). It seems more like Squidoo, where knowledgeable people can create good content and be rewarded for it, with the community at-large determining how valuable it is and recognizing that there may be some bias in the article.

Meanwhile, Knol could still be a huge traffic generator for Google and steal visitors from Wikipedia if it’s integrated in search results – something Google has not been shy about doing with other properties like YouTube.

If Google is developing this, likely, it will be a great opportunity for rankings.  Naturally, they will favor this content.

Tags: Google

Tags: Google, Digg

June 24, 2008 New York: With NFL training camps getting underway and pre-season games on the horizon some intriguing story lines have already emerged.  Fan and expert speculation is at an all-time high regarding Brett Favre, veteran injuries in pre-season, hold outs, even which coach is on the hottest hot-seat.
This being the case, the largest most successful sportsbook on the web, BetUS.com posted odds and predictions on an array of pre-season subjects.
“BetUS strives to give fans predictions early and often,” stated BetUS spokesman Reed Richards.  “And with so many intriguing angles to look at this pre-season, we had to jump out in front of the pack and give the people what they’re looking for.”
Analysts at BetUS.com posted the following odds on pre-season scenarios:

MOST LIKELY COACH TO BE FIRED – THE HOTTEST HOT-SEAT:
Coach On The Hottest Hot Seat
Herm Edwards (Chiefs) 3/1
Scott Linehan (RAMS)  5/1
Mike Nolan  (49ERS)   5/1
Marvin Lewis  (BENGALS) 10/1
Eric Mangini (JETS)     12/1
Brian Belichick (PATS)  100/1

MOST LIKELY PRE-SEASON VETERAN INJURY:
Ronnie Brown ( mia )   3/1
Dwight Freeney ( IND ) 5/1
Jeremy Shockey  ( NO ) 10/1
Ray Lewis  ( BAL )     15/1
Brian Urlacher  ( CHI ) 5/1
Carson Palmer  ( CIN )  15/1
Adam (pacman) Jones ( DAL) 10/1
Carnell Williams  ( TB )    7/1

MOST LIKELY TO HOLD OUT:
Titans DT Albert Haynesworth 3/1
Ravens OLB Terrell Suggs  2/1
Lions WR Roy Williams      10/1
Cardinals WR Anquan Boldin   5/1
Dolphins DE Jason Taylor     2/1
Eagles CB Lito Sheppard       10/1
Rams RB Steven Jackson        15/1
Bears LB Brian Urlacher        15/1
Bucs QB Jeff Garcia            7/1

BRETT FAVRE:
Which team is Favre most likely to play for if he returns:
Arizona Cards                     1/100
Atlanta Falcons                   1/50
Baltimore Ravens                  1/40
Buffalo Bills                     1/250
Carolina Panthers                 1/250
Cincinnati Bengals                1/400
Chicago Bears                     1/2
Cleveland Browns                  1/250
Dallas Cowboys                    1/500
Denver Broncos                    1/250
Detroit Lions                     1/40
Houston Texans                    1/150
Indianapolis Colts                1/750
Green Bay Packers                 1/1
Jacksonville Jaguars              1/300
Kansas City Chiefs                1/50
Miami Dolphins                    1/7
Minnesota Vikings                 1/2
New Orleans Saints                1/200
New England Patriots              1/750
New York Giants                   1/250
New York Jets                     1/150
Oakland Raiders                   1/50
Philadelphia Eagles               1/400
Pittsburgh Steelers               1/300
San Francisco 49ers               1/50
San Diego Chargers                1/250
Seattle Seahawks                  1/300
Saint Louis Rams                  1/250
Tampa Bay Buccs                   1/20
Tennessee Titans                  1/200
Washington Redskins               1/100

Join Broadcasting team:
NBC – 5/1
ABC/ESPN – 1/2
FOX – 3/1

Coach:
Coach Pop Warner Football – 5/1
Coach NFL Football – 100/1
Coach NCAA Football – 100/1

Run for office
In Wisconsin?  100/1
In Green Bay?  65/1

Odds that he un-retires and plays next season:
5/1

Odds on which team Favre would return to:
1/10  Green Bay
5/1 Any Other
Shift in Green Bay Packers’ Super Bowl Chances after Favre’s retirement:
GB drifted from 14/1 to 20/1 to win SB
GB drifted from 4/1 to 7/1 to win NFC due to the fact that Rogers is untested.
Odds on Green Bay wins Superbowl next season:  18/1