So, a brand-new Iowa-based web startup has launched today called “Townpoints” (@townpoints). The concept behind the new startup appears similar to popular daily deal sites like LivingSocial and Groupon. Basically, the site promotes a local merchant with some great deals. There are, however, a few basic differences behind Townpoint’s effort that are worth pointing out. […]
Iowa State Fair 2009: some observations
So, yesterday AND today we hauled the entire family — myself, my wife, our two boys, and our brand new (1 month old) daughter — to the Iowa State Fair. It’s a trek we take every year, though not always twice. This year was slightly more problematic than in previous years, though not necessarily for […]
This isn’t the Des Moines logo you’re looking for
Down below, on the left is the new City of Des Moines logo. Right next to that is the old logo. The old logo definitely looks dated, and was desperately overdue for a makeover, having been designed by cavemen in the late paleolithic era (oftentimes referred to colloquially as “the 70’s”). The new logo looks […]
One last TrustyPig post
Last one, I PROMISE! I just realized that in my last post, I was far too kind to TrustyPig. I gave the TrustyPig admin too much credit, thinking that he was simply the victim of some freelance web developer from China that stole the site design from SmartyPig. Why did I allow myself to swallow […]
More on TrustyPig
I know, I know – I’m already sick of talking about TrustyPig myself. But today, we received word that the TrustyPig admin (“Costy”?) has responded to our claims that the SmartyPig website design was stolen. Rather than post the response on their own blog (which any transparent company would do), TrustyPig opts instead to work […]
TrustyPig changed their site (but I still don’t trust them)
You would have thought that after yesterday’s efforts by the Des Moines online community to destroy TrustyPig’s reputation that something would have changed by now. And will you look at that. Someone has a new site design today! Beautiful. A search on Google for trustypig reveals why that site design has been posted so quickly. […]
TrustyPig steals SmartyPig website
We don’t have many web 2.0 products coming out of Des Moines these days (you can read my commentary about that here). So when something hideous and wrong happens to one of our few entrepreneurial successes, we take notice, and we do something about it. Des Moines-based SmartyPig is a site where you can start […]
It’s Iowa State Fair time!
It’s that magical, sensational time of year. That’s right, it’s FAIR TIME! Tomorrow morning, at the absolute crack of dawn, the Iowa state fairgrounds will awaken and begin a sensory overload the likes of which haven’t been seen since…well, last year, I suppose. I’ve taken the day off so that we can arrive by 8:00 […]
Could Des Moines be a web 2.0 hotbed?
A while back, Jesse Stay (FriendFeed | blog) asked a question on Twitter (which I, of course, responded to on FriendFeed, as did many others). It was a simple question: Just curious, if you had one city in the U.S to live, based on affordability and web 2.0 networking potential, where would you live? I […]
IowaFlood and Nerdflood: two great floods that flood great together
Apparently there’s some confusion on the internets* about this new website that’s popped up called IowaFlood, and its purported relation to Nerdflood. So, time to clear the air. Here is a detailed side by side comparison of the two sites to give everyone a very clear understanding of what each site provides you, the valued […]