In the past you have heard me mention every once in a while a great company known as AdaptiveBlue. They make me smile on many more than one occasion.
First it was the SmartLinks.
Guest Blog on SmartLink
Then it was just overall Glue.
Guest Blog on Glue
Glue Update Blog Post
And now, now my excitement are the widgets that are basically SmartLinks, and Glue and more all in one!
And examples in awesomeness... (see my sidebar for an active one too!)
Back in November, I told you about Glue. Then in January, I told you about SmartLinks. Well today is a special day. Glue has come out with a new updated version that is so much better than before if you can believe that! It is more interactive and keeps Glue as a valuable tool through out your book or other browsing from site to site.
Glue is a contextual network that uses semantic technology to automatically connect people around everyday things - books, music, movies, stars, artists, stocks, wine, restaurants and more.
Glue appears on popular sites like Amazon, Last.fm, Netflix, Yahoo! Finance, Wine.com, Citysearch and many more, revealing friends and other Glue users who visited the same thing around the web.
1. What things/sites does Glue work on?
This release of Glue automatically recognizes books, movies, music, artists, stars, stocks, restaurants and wine on hundreds of popular sites around the web. Glue works on Amazon, Netflix, Last.fm, Rhapsody, IMDB, Google Finance, Citysearch, Wine.com just to name a few. Here is a full list of Glue supported sites.
2. How does Glue recognize things?
Glue uses top-down semantic recognition technology to identify everyday things in pages around the web. A mix of client-side and server-side algorithms are used to create a unique key that correlates, for example, a book on Amazon as the same book on Barnes and Noble and other book sites. Using this approach Glue rewires the web of pages into the web of things and facilitates a new way for people to connect.
3. How does Glue handle privacy and data security?
AdaptiveBlue is committed to privacy and puts the users in control of their data. Glue only focuses on things like books, music and movies, it is not active on other pages. The user information is stored securely using Amazon S3 and SimpleDB - popular and trusted Amazon Web Services. The users own their information and are able, at any time, to delete it from the system. AdaptiveBlue does not sell personal or aggregate information about the system. For more on this topic, please visit our Privacy Policy page.
4. How does Glue leverage the existing Social Graph?
Glue enable users to automatically connect with their Twitter and Facebook friends. The user can choose to automatically sync her friends from other social networks. So when new friend joins Glue or new relationship is created on Facebook or Twitter there is a mirror relationship in Glue.
Today I bring you Laura, a recent college grad, and just started her career at AdaptiveBlue. The official role is the Community/Marketing Analyst, so any questions, suggestions or problems can be directed thus (laura.AdaptiveBlueATgmailDOTcom).
Glue and SmartLinks are both great products, and I am excited to be a part of the team to help bring them mainstream! I am an avid (fiction) reader, love movies (dramas and comedies), and my guilt pleasure is celebrity gossip! You can follow me on Glue :).
Last night, Margaret posted this Twitter message.
"everyone needs smartlinks on their book blogs, it makes my adding to goodreads easier. you should let them know."
So I am here to let you all know the ins and outs of SmartLinks. If you have a book blog, I have a feeling you will love SmartLinks as much as MJ!
SmartLinks are widgets that makes your blog richer....
Let me explain:
When you link to the book's page on a popular site, such as Amazon, a SmartLink is instantly inserted into your blog post. The SmartLink automatically brings together the best information from the web directly to your blog for that book.
These links provide a better experience for your blog's readers. All of the relevant information about the topic is brought together to one location, your blog. The SmartLink includes a description of the book, links to find out more information about the book and the author, and links to purchase the book from a number of different online book stores (you can enter a number of affiliate IDs, helping to generate additional revenue!)
Additionally, like Margaret mentioned, SmartLinks make it so simple to add a book to GoodReads, or other popular social networking sites that your readers may use.
Here is an example, It's All About Us. Now, go ahead and click that little blue box. See all that information! Individuals can pick which site they want to read more information about the book on... because we all have our favorites :) And the blogger can generate revenue from multiple sites.
The great thing about SmartLinks is that it makes it easier for people to read your blog, since all the relevant information is RIGHT THERE. To top it off, just by adding SmartLinks not only will all your future links become intelligent, but all of your past links will automatically include great info.
Does your blog go beyond books? SmartLinks aren't only great for books. They instantly connect your readers to great information about movies, music, recipes, and much more.
In addition to SmartLinks we also have Glue (MJ is a fan of that too :)) Glue is a way of connect with friends around the things you visit. So when you visit a book on Amazon you can see what your friends thought of the book - even if they interacted with the book on a different site, such as GoodReads, LibraryThings, or B&N. MJ let us do a guest spot on Glue a little while back.
http://www.adaptiveblue.com/install_smartlinks.html
For questions about SmartLinks or Glue please email us or Twitter: @adaptiveblue.
You can install SmartLinks on your blog from http://www.adaptiveblue.com/install_smartlinks.html
You can find me on Glue, by clicking here...
Back in November, I had not been on Glue long. Now, it is part of my daily blogging. It makes things so much easier when I can be on a blog, see a book I want to add to my shelf and then click click and boom! It's accomplished. I love it. I love Glue and I love using SmartLinks with Glue. It makes me very happy.
Anyone else heard of Glue yet? SmartLinks? Are you using them? Do you think you will? Leave a comment and tell us what you think... ideas and opinions welcome!
Not too long ago, I was visiting another book buddies blog and discovered AdaptiveBlue SmartLinks. Have you ever noticed on my posts a little blue box next to a book name or article? Those are SmartLinks, they are awesome. Click one, and you'll immediately see what they do. *grin* I'm in love with them. But do not worry about those for now, what I want to tell you about is Glue, while I'm starting to fall in love with as well. *smirk*
You can find me on Glue, by clicking here...
Well shortly after I started using SmartLinks, I was approached to sample Glue. Oooh boys and girls! Am I glad that I did, and as more and more people that I know start using Glue, the more fun it is for me! I was trying to think of the best way to tell you all about Glue and what it does, and so I decided to ask my new pal Fraser if he'd explain it to you... So with out further adieu, I would like to give the blog over to Fraser... the floor is yours.
Glue is a Firefox add-on that connects you to friends around things that you visit.
Huh?
This may sound odd but I assure you that once you understand Glue you'll love what it does. As Wired says, "using [Glue] is actually much simpler than describing what it does." (ps - Wired's reporter also said that Glue is "the single most useful social networking tool I've encountered").
What does it mean to connect with friends around things you visit?
Well, as you visit everyday things - such as books, music, and movies - on popular sites across the web, Glue appears automatically to show you friends who looked at the same things and what they thought.
There's a lot of magic to Glue.
First, it understands the specific thing that you are looking at. If you're reading about a book on Wikipedia, Glue knows that you aren't just visiting a website or reading a webpage -- it knows that you are interacting with a specific book.
Secondly, it knows that this same book exists on other popular sites around the web. The same book exists on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Google Books, Library Thing, and many other pages. These pages may have nothing else linking them together except for the common book.
Third, Glue pulls people together across these diverse websites and pages to connect them around the one common thing: an interest in the same book.
What does this mean?
It means if you visit a book on Amazon and your friends visit the same book on Barnes and Noble, Wikipedia, NY Times, or over 20 other popular sites... you are all connected automatically by Glue around that book.
Let's say you visit a specific book on Amazon - Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer. Glue appears automatically at the top of the page to show me other friends who have interacted with the same book around the web.
For questions about Glue please email us or Twitter: @adaptiveblue.
Fraser has spent his career bringing emerging technologies to market. Currently Fraser is the VP, Business Development at AdaptiveBlue, a company that is changing the way we browse the web. Previously to joining AdaptiveBlue, Fraser was a member of Trivaris, a seed stage investment firm specializing in the commercialization of new technology. Fraser has spoken at the Web 2.0 Expo, DowJones VentureOne Summit and other tech conferences across North America.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
