Tummyrumble

links for 2007-11-17

• Presentations: Stop Death by PowerPoint
  Presentation consultant Alexei Kapterev put together a must-see slideshow on creating great presentations. Hit the next button above to flip through it and see how to stop killing your audience with boring PowerPoint presentations (no audio, the slides sp
  (tags: business creative guide design presentation productivity lifehacks inspiration)
• Buy Automata from Cabaret Mechanical Theatre - Museum of Automata (mechanical sculpture) buy now from our online shop, UK based
  All manner of automatas, papercraft, and even a kit for DIYers. Looks like awful lot of fun to put together.
  (tags: diy inspiration toys fun art giftidea)

links for 2007-11-16

• Glöggdags med Marcus Samuelssons lyxiga citrusglögg | Hemfeber
  Gör det själv-glögg är ändå roligast... Årets glöggnyheter släpps i morgon på systemet, men det är ju väldigt trevligt att göra sin egen också. Cult Design bjuder på kocken Marcus Samuelssons lyxiga citrusglögg. Receptet ger 1½ L.
  (tags: recipes drink christmas)
• How to study less by learning things once
  Sounds really simple, doesn't it? "A lot of study time is wasted because of one problem: you fail to learn things the first time around."
  (tags: tips learning knowledge training essay)
• How to stop restaurant tip fraud - Boing Boing
  Cheating waiters be warned: "You use a checksum method. Adjust the pennies in your tip so the last digit to the right of the decimal point equals the sum of the digits to the left of the decimal point of the total bill."
  (tags: tips lifehacks restaurants paymentsolutions)
• How Turn Soda Can Into Popcorn Machine Video
  Learn how you can build a simplest popcorn machine made from a soda can. You can use this in camp fire ,or on top of a candle or simple on your oven.
  (tags: diy tips diet tools fun inspiration cooking video)
• Hack Open A Lock!! Video
  How to hack a lock with household items.
  (tags: lockpicking diy tips tools video)
• Fully booked thanks to the chef blog - IT24
  First two weeks fully booked at Restaurang Frantzén/Lindeberg in Stockholm, thanks to the blog the chefs started about a month ago. Racjed up 18,000 visitors the first month. In Swedish.
  (tags: restaurants livebookings marketing online blogging)
• Gliffy.com
  From floor plans and landscape designs to process flows and technical drawings, Gliffy Basic's shape libraries and intuitive interface will help you create diagrams instantly.
  (tags: browser design software diagram online web2.0)

Mobile pizza ordering

Genius. Papa John's in USA now takes pizza orders through text messaging. Seems really slick too, pizza lovers register on their site and set up favorite orders, to then text simply "FAV2" to get that meat lover's with extra cheese and thick crust that you really have a craving for (admit it) every now and then. You even get a reply back so you know your order has been received.

According to the news article, the order comes in to the restaurant exactly as if it had been ordered through the online web interface, so kitchen staff don't need to take into account yet another ordering process. I love it when somebody thinks before they build. 

Putting Facebook Pages to good use

Just found this good example of how Facebook Pages can be put to good use. Of course, it may be easy to jump to the conclusion that "if I already have a great and popular web site or blog, what would I need a Facebook Page for?" Check out Lifehacker's page though.

Lifehacker is a well focused, really popular and frequently updated blog on the topic of "getting things done". As such it has the usual fetaures of commenting, RSS feeds and even a function to register as a frequent and returning user.

Using Facebook Pages Lifehacker can extend their community features and tap into the application framework of Facebook to let their loyal readers interact in a better and more fun way.

Why reinvent the wheel again? Focus your core web site on what you do best; be it posting about GTD, publishing great recipes, showing off the fantastic aspects of your restaurant or whatnot; then hook up with Facebook to offer your visitors classic community features and more in an interface many of them already are familiar with and like. Of course you can also use the Facebook API framework to build and deploy your own applications integrating with your services and campaigns. See link below for good writeup on how a number of big companies plan to use Facebook Ads and Pages.

URL: Facebook | Lifehacker
URL: Facebook's open to advertisers

Know the score before you go

Never heard of this site before, but it is an intriguing idea. CleanScores keeps track of official hygiene inspections and publishes the data so you can check out a restaurant's track record. All in the name of public safety and reduction of food-related illnesses.

Mashable let's us know that they now integrate with Google Maps to provide the health inspection information on restaurants in San Fransisco and Los Angeles.

However, I find it a bit unnerving. Too much information interpreted by people like me with no experience in health inspections, without knowing the full details can give the completely wrong idea.  But I guess I would rather be in the know than not. With health inspection records this accessible restaurateurs better make sure to be on top of their game.

URL: CleanScores on Google Maps. Where Will You Eat Now?.