Kris Smith. I do things like this.

References

LinkedIn Profile - http://www.linkedin.com/in/ksmith

Contact Info:
Phone: 630.445.1719
Email: kris@palegroove.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/croncast
Skype: tanslacks
Web: www.croncast.com

Castlock

Castlock is a new media CMS and engine with real-time internal metrics and analysis built in. I developed and wrote the first version in early 2006 and began licensing it to my employer at the time, The Joint Commission, for professional development via personalized RSS feeds for over 500 mobile field staff.

Castlock is written in PHP and is driven by a MySQL database. It relies on Apache mod_rewrite to allow for better filtering of site usage statistics. All media downloads are handled through a tracking script to verify that the end-user is accessing the correct media.

Castlock's administration UI was designed for simplicity. The only data that really matters when creating content are the title, body and tags. With that in mind I built a simplified UI for adding content, creating RSS feeds and viewing statistics.

The front end UI was built to be themed by the licensee. However, the basics for page display were developed as plug-and-play modules. The front end also has a very strong SEO focus to get the maximum exposure for any item in the client's database.

Another unique aspect of the front end is the way in which I designed comment spam blocking. The usual solutions to stop comment spam are Askimet, CAPTCHAS or mass moderation. The Castlock blocking mechanism works by blocking comment spam by relying on the method in which they are sent. A unique key for every page visit is generated and must be used to leave a comment. If the key doesn't match the comment is blocked. The keys expire every 10 minutes and are regenerated for site visitors during a single session. The way comment spam works is with automated scripts that post data directly to the submission script.

In 2007 I managed the next version build of Castlock into an enterprise level application. I was responsible for three full-time developers, all UI design, database architecture and display of reporting statistics.

Link: http://castlock.com






Filome (alpha - 85% complete and on hold)

Filome is a social search and shared feed aggregator supplied by a community to grow the data pool. 

The site is uniquely designed to take advantage of the low threshold ability within Google reader to share a read item.  Such a low threshold, I believe, allows for a closer to tacit level sharing of knowledge than having to use a toolbar or bookmarklet.  The main reason for building Filome, as a publisher, is to see articles/posts that normally would have met the end of their life cycle with the original reader being syndicated again and creating renewed value for the original publisher.

From this, I developed a concept called "syndication+ " where every shared item is tracked for when it is displayed on the site, in an RSS feed or through a search within the site.  The concept of syndication plus has value in the future as content is resyndicated around the internet so that publishers have an idea of when and where their content is being displayed.  This project is producing the groundwork for other developers who might use a Filome API to display content on their site and be able to share ad revenues with the original publisher. 

I envision this system where every post or content item online has an id like a UPC.  The good news for us is that if the content has been indexed by Google, it has already been given a unique id.  This collection of data will allow for not another digg clone, but a rich source for developers outside of the service.  It is my goal to structure an API for developers interested in picking top sharers, top posts, top shared items. 

I believe that Filome serves a unique space in highlighting what it's sharers found as valuable content and quieting the online din by providing value in content by filtering through the eyes of those participating in the media..

The UI has been designed to be quick loading for mobile devices as well as regular web viewing.  A non-mobile version works with Ajax to check user names and passwords in real time to guarantee proper validation. 

Within Filome, I am in the process of finalizing group creation so a user may select numerous sharers, publishers and keywords to extract data/posts from the site in RSS and normal page views.

Link: http://www.filome.com/internetcases





Affiliate program development



I have developed, implemented and managed two affiliate programs. 

1. An affiliate program for ID3 Podcast Magazine in 2006 to drive subscription sales. ID3 Podcast magazine was a     startup that I launched. The affiliate program relied on members of the podcast community signing up to     become affiliates and place specially generated text links and graphics on their websites to promote the     magazine launch. I designed all affiliate graphics and wrote all code to manage affiliates and maintain financial     records.

2. A unique affiliate program/promotion for Croncast. This affiliate program/promotion was designed to acquire     300 new listeners by the 300th episode. I developed the concept as a contest to give away 2 video iPods. There     was an affiliate that would refer a new listener and be given credit for the new listener. Each new listener that     they referred was considered another entry into the contest. The more referrals, the greater their chances of     winning the iPod. It ran as a modified affiliate program where

How it worked :

• Current listeners could sign up for a "handle", which was a unique ID of their choosing
• After signup email verification was performed
• Once verified text links, graphics and examples for a word of mouth campaign were supplied.
  • Word of mouth relied on the the idea of a "handle" was to give the individual a chance to take the campaign offline. Ex. Phil works in a cube and can tell the person next to him, "Go to croncast.com and sign up as a new listener. When it asks for "Your friends handle" put in "Phil".
• These affiliates refered a new listener
• When a new listener signed up they also needed email verification
• Once verified they were given a unique RSS feed that required them to subscribe and download a minimum of 1 podcast for entry into the contest
  • I tracked the RSS feed usage and all downloads are handled by an intermediate PHP script for tracking
• When the promotion ended I ran a randomization script on the collected affiliates and gave away the iPods to the affiliate and the new listener they recommended. For multiple new listener entries from a single affiliate a system ID was created to associate the affiliate with the listener to gurantee that a random new listener would be chosen and not simple the most recent referal.

Demo:  Available upon request for second program.




Twitter to Blog

 


I can use any mobile device to blog using Twitter as the engine. I am able to distinguish a tweet that is intended to be a blog post by filtering my tweets.

Tweet format: title*body copy*tag1-tag2

I have a PHP script on a cron that runs every two minutes reading my tweets from the API looking for two instances of the asterisk(*). If found then the tweet is entered into a MySQL database as a blog post. Words or phrases separated by (-) are inserted as keywords.

Link: http://www.croncast.com/search/1147/




Flafoo to Twitter

Flafoo, the find it quick on eBay site that I developed sends a tweet every four hours. I have set up a cron that sends a tweet via the API of selected products from a MySQL database.

Once an item is sent as a tweet it is marked in the table not to be re-used. Once the database table empties I have it send me an email telling me to reload it with new hot items on eBay.





Link: http://twitter.com/flafoo




Flickr to Twitter/Blog (live photo blogging)

   

Typically, developers build this function strictly to send tweets of Flickr photos via the Flickr API and Twitter API. I also combined it with the ability to insert Flickr photo with description and comments as a blog post.

I make use of Flickr as a CMS from a mobile phone via email, iPhone via web or Flickr uploader application.

Here's how it works:
1. I upload photo from phone to Flickr with subject line used as image title
2. In the body under the photo begin with an asterisk (*) if I want the photo, title and description to be a blog post     also
3. In the body under the photo begin with a carat (^) if I want the title and a link to be a tweet
4. Add both asterisk and carat (*^) for blog and twitter
5. A PHP script grabs the Flickr RSS feed and reads it for asterisks and carats every two minutes and sends the     photo, title and description to the appropriate site
6. If it goes to the blog the title and description will be run through a keyword generations script
7. If it goes to Twitter only the title is sent and a shortened url is created to link to the photo.
8. Any comments left at Flickr for a blogged photo are scraped from the Flickr comments feed and inserted with     the appropriate photo post

Flickr to Twitter demonstrates a unique capacity of Twitter to extend conversations outside the platform. There is an immediacy in the manner that conversations take place within twitter that lends itself very well to friends clicking photo links to view the photo.

My favorite example of this has been the ability to live photo blog events from a mobile device and share my experiences visually. By tweeting a photo, either for live blogging or at random I know that photo will receive 5-6 times more viewership than a non-tweeted photo.

Link: http://flickr.com/photos/croncast/2224052037/





Text Links Ads from Ebay API

Developed a contextual text link ad engine for displaying Ebay auctions in real time. The ads can be used in sites as well as in RSS because they are not javascript based.

Each generated link has a unique URL for internal click-through tracking. 

These text link ads have been highly effective in RSS.  The code has also been used for widgets and for custom Ebay search within a niche.







Flafoo

Designed as an application for iPhones and general internet usage through simplified search to find items quickly on Ebay.

The site is built around an Ebay API engine and loads much faster than comparable sites on a mobile device even in it's standard web form.

The UI for iPhone was designed to be the exact same as the regular site. As part of the iPhone development I built a widget that can be used in any web application by affiliates.


Link: http://flafoo.com/apple+tv





Resale Queen

A blog on the Castlock platform designed for generating revenue from RSS ads and contextual Ebay text link ads supplied by a custom generation engine. 

The RSS ads are run two different ways.  One, through a third party application, open ads platform with customized PHP and database tables to serve ads and feeds dynamically.  The second is hand-scripted, rotating affiliate ads from partners.  Through this development I gained valuable insight about the way different aggregators handle updated content, even if that update is only an ad and not a time stamp.

The modification of this Castlock install was to work with the Ebay API in a new way, to insert the blog authors live Ebay auctions as blog posts.  The unique feature that needed to be added was how to mark those blog posts after the auction had ended or the item had been sold.  To do this a cron runs every minute to check auction status and as soon as the auction has ended, the blog is then updated with a link to the completed auction.

Link: http://resalequeen.com





Palegroove

Pioneered the start-up and development of the world's first podcast production company. Advised Fortune 500 clients on utilizing this medium to extend their brands.

Developed podcasts from conception to deliverables which includes consulting with client on: new media strategies, RSS, syndication metrics, podcast content, format, script writing and prouduction of royalty free musical intros,outros and sweepers.

Developed and licensed Castlock, a robust new media management and RSS metrics platform. I have produced over 700 podcasts since 2005.

Podcasts Produced:
MasterCard, The Home Depot,  EAS (Abbot Laboratories) (2007)
Nascar Alltel Racing Podcast (2006 & 2007) produced podcasts in conjunction with XM Satellite Radio
NFL Alltel My Circle Podcast (2006 season) produced with 4 NFL Pro Bowl Players and nationally recognized radio talent from official team media outlets
Nascar Coors Light Racing Podcast for Coors Light (2006)
Fab 5 Summer '05 Podcasts produced for MTV Networks Affiliate Marketing (2005)

Link: - http://palegroove.com





Croncast

I have been independently producing and co-hosting this podcast three times a week (M-W-F) since November of 2004 with my hilarious and talented best friend, Betsy Smith.

- 450+ episodes
- Average podcast length 32 minutes

We have been recognized by a number of media outlets including: The New York Times, Detroit Free Press, FOX News, and NBC (Chicago)


Link: - http://croncast.com

Demos

If you would like a demo or code review of any of these projects contact me with the information below.

Contact Info:
Phone: 630.445.1719
Email: kris@palegroove.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/croncast
Skype: tanslacks