Will Speaking

We are getting close to the end of year reviews, which means: update Goalign with your comments and self assessment, and submit!         Please take some time this week and next to complete.    Here's a video of what a sample review could look like.

I was told today that our new CEO Randy Falco, was eating in the CC1 cafeteria on Monday! Gasp! How about that then?    

I just read the " Top 11" list that Ted had posted on his blog. The Top 11 things AOL must do next year.     It's interesting reading, check it out.   And note how many of the areas you work on here, that are on the top 11 -- a ton of them!

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The Irvine team have pushed out the "Celebrity Face Match" feature for AIMPages. It's in beta right now (details below).    It's a fun feature - give it a picture, match it against Female, Male or Both Gender and hey presto!  Your photo is matched against the most famous people in the universe! Then when you publish the page, other people who visit can vote on who you look like most!    This integrates with AOL Polls, to provide the essential user interaction. Let your buddys decide if you look like George Clooney or Pee Wee.    Here's an example:     Fine Print: - This is a beta. We have about 200 photos in the database to compare against, and need to get more. - You need to go to "Advanced Edit Mode" to add the module to your aimpage.  The Module is in "Under Construction" and named "celebrity-look alike".  

This weeks I've been involved with discussions with Userplane on using the Chat systems for AOL.COM and other areas.  Exciting stuff!  It's really easy to integrate the free version of userplane web chat into your site.  Click this link to launch my own chat room! Launch the Shareyourphotos (aka Will) Userplane Webchat

I got a lot of pings tonight about the CEO news.  As you can expect, I do not have anything to add - it came out of the blue for me.  I do expect we will hear more tomorrow though. See other blogs.

The AIM team just celebrated (well an hour a go) the launch of AIM 6.0.  It is super fast and seems pretty light too...   It's got an updated UI, some great new features and just feels fast....     A great example of biz+product+tech working together. Give it a try.  

The new AIMPages beta is live on production.   It has many changes based on feedback from beta testing and the product teams, and now closer ties to the AIM clients. Firstly, to create a profile it has a new "Wizard" approach... everyone can create a profile with photos/ The new layout is 2 columns, not 3.   And if you want to then edit the profiles, you go to "Advanced Edit Mode". Secondly, buddy gallery (or "Friends") is now an invite model. So if you go to my page and want to be on my friends list, click "Add",    It's much more like Myspace and LinkedIn.    What is really good is the invite will be sent via AIM, so I can quickly approve / deny from my buddy list.  I like this feature a lot. Thirdly, the photo integration is very good.   Here's an example. It has a nice way to upload (simple browse button),  and displays the photos really well - no small thumb nails.    The photo uploa...

I think I must be getting older, or maybe the "Holiday" season starts sooner.  Is it me, or does anyone else have this reaction..... On the flight to Dulles yesterday, as I sat on the plane, holiday music blasted through the speakers.. Oh what fun it was to listen to Rudolph and other music.   Then it made me think about the time in September, when I was in Orchard, then Sears then Costco, and they all had massive Christmas tree's up.         When I was a kid, I loved to look forward to Christmas.   I still do actually.. it's just that I like it to start in December, maybe around Dec 15th, not September.    I love the holiday season,  getting together with family and friends.  I just don't like starting it so early. I sound like an old fuddy duddy.. But doesn't it seem like things are pushed too soon? Or was it always this way, and as a kid you never noticed?    I suspect the Vale...

                                     Walking away from the "Web 2.0 Summit",  I took a few things away with me.   The most important one is to borrow from the Nike catch phrase "Just Do It"....   I've talked to quite a few startups.. They have some good ideas, some great ones, and some you scratch your head and wonder... but the thing in common is they "just do it".    That is, they go for it. They build out the vision, the plan and go for it.      The point is, I know many great ideas within our product and engineering teams in Mountain View, Dulles - everywhere.    So instead of asking for permission, I say prototype and "just do it".          Heck, many of these startups are nothin...

As I mentioned at the All Hands on Thursday, a new version of AIM Express has gone to beta. This is built ontop of the Web Suite platform, and is now off some older infrastructure.   It is a great example of re-using the "widgets" within Websuite, in a stand alone application.       Please give it a test drive, the WebSuite IM team need feedback from you.    Shut down your normal IM client, and use this for a day.   http://beta.aimexpress.aol.com Thanks! Will

People is running a vote, and someone from our MV team is on it. Vote now! http://people.aol.com/people/package/sma2006/sexyman/0,27765,1550442,00.html