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Created by NewFeatures on Nov 11, 2010
Last updated: 11/11/10 at 02:05 PM
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Some exciting news on the Twitter wire last week as Yahoo released a prototype of an interesting news search engine that “generates timelines that stretch into the future as well as the past.” Developed by Yahoo’s Barcelona Research Lab, the new search service, Time Explorer, visually displays the frequency and volume of news events on a Simile timeline.
Perhaps the most striking feature of Time Explorer is the ability to search in the past AND the future. Yahoo’s goal is a lofty one: essentially to build a news search engine that predicts future outcomes of today’s issues using predictions found in the text of past articles. For example, I searched for World Cup in the past and the site came back with 456,000 plus results with the word “World Cup.” Search the same term in the future and you are directed to articles that make predictions of where the upcoming World Cups will be held, or who the US Soccer coach will be in 2014, very cool stuff.
Since Yahoo has decided to dip their toe into the business of interactive data visualization I wanted to take a closer look at how Dipity and Time Explorer stack up. Since Time Explorer is relatively new and still under development, I decided to even the playing field a bit. It would be fruitless and perhaps unfair to compare the two based on the scope of applications, user-friendliness, visual aesthetic or integration capabilities. As the original and most widely used visual timeline site, Dipity has a clear and expected advantage on those fronts. However, let’s take a closer look on some fronts where Time Explorer can compete, specifically search capabilities, news aggregation an the “serendipity factor.”
Search Capabilities
Time Explorer is built from the data of 1.8 million New York Times articles published over a twenty year period. Within this limited data set, Time Explorer’s search capabilities seem to be extremely effective. Search results are sorted based on the popularity of each article and offer keywords that you can adjust to further refine your search. For example, if searching for “Global Warming” produces an article with the keyword “Arnold Schwarzenegger,” users can click the name to search this keyword, see more or less articles with the keyword, or even exclude the term from their search. Time Explorer also offers users information on each article’s popularity, source and author. In addition, users can select from searching the past or searching for the future. The future search function looks for articles that discuss future predictions for specific topics.
In the visual portion of the search, users can scan specific dates for articles by scrolling through the area at the bottom of the screen. This helps to quickly shift through time periods in order to look for articles from a specific time period. I find this to me the most useful feature of the visual aspect of Time Explorer.
Dipity, unfortunately, does not have a search engine powered by Yahoo!. However, Dipity users can search through a much larger amount and type of information. Instead of offering users access to a preexisting database, Dipity allows users to use existing search APIs from other sites (Google News, Newsline, YouTube, Twitter, Flickr, etc.) in order to gather information and media and create their own topic. For example, in order to create a timeline about Tiger Woods, I might try integrating a Google News search using the terms “Tiger Woods Golf Career,” and then add “Tiger Woods Affair.” Using these two separate search terms will yield a more complete topic based around the subject, Tiger Woods. We can also use a YouTube search to add in some videos of that sweet swing, or a news report or two about the upcoming divorce.
In addition, Dipity itself offers over 800,000 preexisting user-created topics to search through. Each one of these topics feature multiple events, full of text, photos, videos, music and links and more. In fact, there are so many events on Dipity, that it is tough to even offer an estimate of just how extensive the database of information is.
My favorite feature of Time Explorer is the ability to visually scroll through time periods on the lower section of the timeline. It makes finding articles in relevant time periods easy and fun. In addition, Time Explorer clearly features a stronger traditional search engine than Dipity. However, it remains to be seen how well this search engine will function as they expand their database. As they expand to include other publications besides the New York Times they may have to find a way to standardize how each publication ranks the popularity of their articles. In addition, since Time Explorer seems to be focused primarily on allowing users to search their database instead of actually contributing to it, someone is going to have to enter all that data. I would hate to be their intern.
Searching for topics on Dipity can be frustrating. Users cannot search for manually created topics. Only publicly created topics made through web search are part of Dipity’s search database. However, Dipity has a distinct advantage in the fact it provides a new type of search service, one that can pull in multiple types of information from multiple places. Essentially, the potential for creating content using search on Dipity is endless.
Victor: Push. Time Explorer search is as powerful as Dipity search is innovative.
News Aggregation
As we said above, Time Explorer offers a limited database of articles to choose from. At this point, users can only search New York Times articles. I am sure they plan to add other publications, in which case, the ability for users to predict future trends should only increase. I really enjoy the simplicity of the search and the ability to emphasize, add or take away keywords to narrow down exactly what they are looking for. That said, the main element of aggregation in Time Explorer is on the future search end. Users can find predictions for the future about their search topics based on past articles and trends. As the database grows, this information can only become more relevant and detailed. Very cool.
Dipity, on the other hand, focuses on aggregating news in the present tense. Most aggregated sources are based around the 20-100 most recent posts and then regularly updated. That means, the longer the topic exists, the more information will be pushed to the timeline and the more detailed a topic will become. Also, the variety of information such as videos, photos, RSS, tweets and more create a rich multimedia experience.
Time Explorer really can help predict the future, and that is not something Dipity aims to or is capable of doing. However, Dipity can create a much more rich data visualization that integrates and updates present information on current events. The two essentially explore important news topics on two different levels, Time Explorer focuses on the past and the future, while Dipity focuses on the present.
I can confidently say that people who read their news on the internet are much more concerned with current events, and not the past or future. Therefore, while Time Explorer is an effective research and prediction tool, Dipity is more pragmatic for those simply trying to get the latest update on a trending topic.
Victor: Dipity. Not saying the past or future are any less important, but these days people tend to live in the present.
Serendipity Factor
The potential for serendipity with both Time Explorer and Dipity is enormous and exciting. The two timeline tools offer an innovative and dynamic new way to search for and visualize information. While Time Explorer allows users to explore the past and how it might affect future events, they can only do so via existing content. Dipity, on the other hand, allows users to generate their own content in order to explore a topic. Dipity might not allow users to automatically reach as far back in time, but it is extremely effective at aggregating and exploring information as it happens.
Victor: Push. Both sites can lead to some amazing discoveries.
In the end, the two timeline sites offer significantly different sets of tools for data visualization. Although the overall aim diverges, many elements of what Dipity and Time Explorer intend to accomplish overlap. Better said, while Time Explorer plans to mine the future, Dipity is currently set up to mine the present. We look forward to seeing how Time Explorer develops and are excited about the possibilities.
So, our question is: what do the readers think? Do you prefer the data visualization capabilities of Dipity or Time Explorer? Would you use one or the other or both? Give both Time Explorer and Dipity a try and let us know which you prefer. If you want to share your results, feel free to do so in the comments section.
http://blog.dipity.com/2010/09/01/yahoo-releases-timeline-prototype-how-does-it-stack-up/
For those of us who use technology on a day-to-day basis, we don’t often stop to think about the story behind the buttons we are pressing. When is the last time you took a moment to ponder who invented the command key on your keyboard before you closed a window or saved a document? Did you know that standard power button you use on everything from your laptop to your air conditioner to your X-Box 360 actually has it’s origin in World War II?
Since we already take for granted the vast array of new devices and technologies that permeate our daily lives, it becomes even harder to remember the small details that were once inconceivable. That is why I found Gizmodo writer Bryan Gardiner’s piece on the history of symbols and icons so refreshing and informative. Bryan attempts to trace the history of some of the most widely recognized and utilized symbols in the digital world, such as the At, Ethternet, BlueTooth and USB icons.
What surprised me most, besides the fact that Apple employees or engineers came up with almost all of them, was how many images could be traced back centuries to iconography from Greek Mythology, Danish Kings or accounting machines from the 1800’s. There is a rich and meaningful history behind most of these symbols, and where there is history, there should be a Dipity timeline.
I decided to take Bryan’s article and whip up a topic on Dipity using his images and descriptions. It was easy to copy and paste image URLs, descriptions and dates. All in all, it took me about 25 minutes to create the perfect visual supplement to Bryan’s written content. Here is the result:
The Secret History of Those &$%#ing Symbols on Dipity.
Dipity timelines are the perfect tool to use alongside any article or blog that addresses the history of any particular topic. In the past we have looked at Rick Rollin’, Chere Mamo, Kia Hamsters and even The World Cup. Whether ancient or modern, ongoing or done and gone, the topics we have addressed on our blog have been greatly enhanced by the use of an embedded timeline. Embeds are available to anyone who has a connection to the internet.
Our belief at Dipity is that the applications for timeline technology are limitless. The visualization of data in a chronological format is relevant to anyone who uses the internet, and that is a huge market. Our vision is that, much like the symbols and icons that make up part of our daily interaction with computers, our timelines will soon be one of the many technologies that web users utilize without thinking twice. One day, when users take timeline technology for granted, a blogger somewhere will attempt to find out where it all started, and they will end up right back here, at Dipity.
http://blog.dipity.com/2010/08/17/the-secret-timeline-of-those-ing-symbols/
Can you imagine being cooped up with your family on a 43-foot sailboat for a month? How about a year? How about seven? In 2003, the Crafton family liquidated their properties and possessions and departed from Florida on an 83-month, 30,000 mile journey circumventing the entire globe, stopping in 23 countries and catching the eye of the Washington Post staff writer Steve Hendrix. The Washington Post, a long time client of Dipity, published this amazing article on August 1, 2010 and supplemented their coverage with a Dipity timeline.
The timeline tracks the Crafton family journey starting with their departure from Florida in 2003 and ending with their return to Maryland on June 5, 2010. Dipity allowed Steve Hendrix to add photos, descriptions of events and places, dates and locations from the seven year saga. The result of aggregating this information in a single Dipity timeline is a dynamic way of visualizing and telling a story, in this case an epic family journey.
Click here to view the timeline
Newspapers like The Washington Post (see The Seattle Times) use our site as a powerful, cost-effective and dynamic tool to supplement traditional coverage and combat falling newsroom budgets.
However, the beauty of Dipity lies in the simplicity of the platform. Both large, powerful companies and everyday web users can find a way to utilize the tools we offer. Whether you want to promote a new product line, or simply track and share your family history with relatives, Dipity provides an innovative and fun approach for your clients and followers.
The Crafton family's 7-year sailing journey on Dipity.
We are pleased to be part of the Washington Post’s coverage of this amazing journey and hope to see many more Dipity timelines on their website in the near future. In the meantime, if you or anyone you know has made an interesting Dipity timeline you want to share with us, feel free to post it in the comments section below. Thank you and happy Dipity-ing!
http://blog.dipity.com/2010/08/02/around-the-world-in-2555-days-relive-the-journey-with-dipity-and-the-washington-post/
On January 24, 1848, James W. Marshall discovered precious gold at Sutter’s Mill in Coloma, California. The discovery sparked a massive gold rush, bringing over 300,000 people to the San Francisco area in search of riches. Nowadays, it’s silicon, pageviews and RTs that have software engineers, community managers and programmers flocking to the Bay Area in search of wealth and fortune. However, without sales and marketing, all the amazing ideas and technology appearing everyday would be stuck underground and out of the public eye, just like all that pretty, shiny gold.
Dipity needed it’s own prospector and just as the search began for a viable candidate, Evan arrived from the far off regions of the Pacific Northwest. After only two weeks in the city, Evan applied for and became Dipity’s new Sales and Customer Development Representative.
Of strong Nordic stock, Evan was born and raised in Seattle, Washington. He attended the George Washington University in Washington, DC where he majored in International Business. He has spent the past several years gaining sales and development experience in the laboratory equipment industry and is excited to make the switch to online media. Evan is an Aries, an avid mountain biker, skilled cook, dog owner and 100% single for all you ladies out there.
Evan brings a wide variety of tools to our team. He is an incredibly likable guy with great people skills. He could sell you your own shirt, which he did to me on his first day here. Even with his fortunate gift for gab, what impressed us most during the interview was his passion and enthusiasm for the product. Evan took the time to learn Dipity inside and out, and has already come up with some great ideas on how to improve the site.
Evan's First Day in San Francisco.
In his own words Evan says that, “Dipity is simple, robust, adaptable and intuitive - I am thrilled to join the team, and look forward to helping shape what is obviously going to be bigger than anything that has ever happened before… anything.”
We are excited and happy to have Evan join our growing team . Evan was brought on to help turn our hidden value into massive profits, and we are confident in his abilities. Welcome to Dipity!
http://blog.dipity.com/2010/07/23/dipity-strikes-gold-taps-sales-development-rep-to-sell-it/
In a long line of internet memes only one has clogged up our HootSuite Dipity keyword search for over a month. Do Da Dipity: the 2009 KIA Soul Hamster Commercial. For the last few weeks every time I log in to update Dipity followers (become one!) about the latest dipitiness, I see a long string of tweets from people all over the world who can’t seem to get enough of this video. The video features a couple of ghetto, rapping hamsters cruising around in their KIA Soul. Other, less hip hamsters drive toasters, cardboard boxes and washing machines. The message is a clear one: compared to common household appliances, cars offer a much more stylish and practical mode of transportation. I trust the hamsters, don’t you?
This excellent bit of marketing from KIA suddenly has the hip-hopping hamsters as the hottest rodents since Alvin and the Chipmunks. At Dipity, our twitter feed has been flooded with the refrain from the end of the commercial, “Do Da Dipity.” We thought we’d capitalize on the vicarious publicity by exploring this internet meme with our own KIA Hamster timeline:
Do Da Dipity on Dipity.
My favorite part of the ad is the music. The commercial features the song “The Choice is Yours” by hip-hop group Black Sheep. Black Sheep were an integral part of the Native Tongue hip-hop movement in the early 90’s. They were famous for being the first to openly parody gangster rap and also gained recognition for their unique beats and intelligent lyrics. In 1991 the group released their first album A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing. The album debuted at #30 on the Billboard charts with the single “Flavor of the Month.” However, another song from the same disc, “The Choice is Yours” would land them in a KIA commercial.
Check out the Black Sheep timeline on Dipity:
The Black Sheep on Dipity.
In an interesting turn of events, the artists, Dres and Mista Lawnge were not aware that KIA was using their song in a commercial. “I wasn’t even contacted. I have yet to receive payment on it but don’t get it twisted, I will,” said Dres during an interview with Vibe Magazine. “I’ve been talking to KIA for the past week or two so certain things might be done moving forward in maximizing what we’re trying to do. But Universal, the record label, was basically the ones that signed off on it and gave them permission to use my likeness so that’s a different story that might wind up having a life of itself as well.”
Lawsuits, and sometimes internet trends, tend to take on a life of their own, much like these rapping hamsters. So much of creating a buzz online revolves around creative, funny and/or original content. Dipity is an innovative way to explore such trends, but is also a new and cutting-edge trend in itself. We are getting nearly 500k page views a day, and that number just keeps on growing. Catch on! Sign up for Dipity today. After you do, be sure to tell your friends they don’t know Dipity. The choice is yours… Do Da Dipity!
http://blog.dipity.com/2010/07/13/doo-dah-dipity-whats-with-the-kia-hamsters/
With the propagation of digital news, wildly popular blogs, and citizen journalism, the rate at which major topics and issues find their way to the headlines and fade into obscurity can be alarming. For example, nearly ten years after the start of the war in Afghanistan, news and pictures from the continuing conflict have practically disappeared from the front pages of websites and newspapers alike. However, some historical and cultural events seem to encourage endless exploration, revision and research. Such is the case with “The Greatest Generation,” or the men and women who served our country in World War II.
Chere Mamo: Letters from a Charmed Life is a project which takes 700 pages of photographs, letters, postcards and documents collected by Walter Wolff, a European Jewish refugee turned American Intelligence Officer. These documents give life to the voice of a young immigrant on the brink of adulthood, suddenly swept up by the tide of war and carried “home” to Europe. His experiences and journey are unique and personal, with accounts ranging from sorting through Mussolini’s documents to overseeing Nazi prisoners of war.
These enlightening and riveting documents were painstakingly translated from French and German to English by Walter’s daughter, Nina Wolff Feld. Nina first contacted us a week ago about her wonderful project. She had stumbled on and created a detailed Dipity timeline to supplement and leverage existing content on her website. You can find the timeline embed on her homepage: Chere Mamo.
CHERE MAMO TIMELINE on Dipity.
In Nina’s words, her timeline “allows for the unique possibility of meshing the chronology of events that occurred in the Wolff family leading to their final escape from the clutches of Nazi occupied Europe to America. By using this tool, it is possible for the first time to follow their journey through the eyes of history as it unfolded.”
We couldn’t have said it better ourselves. Dipity is a great tool to add that extra level to whatever project you are working on. For a project like Nina’s that revolves heavily around the historical context and chronological order of important events, open source digital timelines serve as a valuable source of information.
We are glad that Nina found, used and ultimately loved our timelines. We wish her the best of luck on her project and hope she will continue to create awesome topics.
***Nina is currently looking for a publisher for her work. If you are interested, or know someone who might be interested in publishing this important book please contact Nina’s literary agent:
ROSALIE SIEGEL,
INTERNATIONAL LITERARY AGENT, INC.
609.737.1007
rsiegel@ix.netcom.com
http://rosaliesiegel.com
http://blog.dipity.com/2010/06/18/chere-mamo-utilizing-dipity-to-engage-history/
Monikers like “Web 2.0″ or “New Media” serve only as general placeholders in the evolving world of the internet. Technologies and popular sites come and go, but one trend that is here to stay are internet memes. An internet meme is simply the propagation of a digital file or hyperlink from one person to another via the internet that often consists of a saying, joke, rumor, image, website, video clip, animation or off beat news story.
In April of 2008, Dipity created an Internet Memes timeline. Since then, the timeline has received over 3.4 Million hits. The timeline features internet sensations like Epic Beard man, David After Dentist, Leeroy Jenkins, and NinaCat, just to name a few.
Internet Memes on Dipity.
One of the most popular and prominent Internet Meme’s has been RickRolling. RickRolling began as an internet prank where one person is provided a link to something allegedly awesome. However, when they click the link they are directed to Rick Astley’s video: “Never Gonna Give You Up”… something decidedly not awesome.
I am sure almost anyone who uses popular social media tools like Facebook or Twitter, email, YouTube or chat has at one time been “RickRoll’d.” However, if you have been in a cave since 2007, you should definitely watch this video about how awesome it is to be RickRoll’d. (after the break)
You’ve now been officially RickRoll’d, along with everyone on my Adium chat client buddy list.
Anyways, today’s obsession with RickRolling comes from an email shared with us by Allen Leng, who came up with the concept and built this awesome infographic along with his team in Washington State. See the graphic at the bottom of this blog post
The infographic was featured on the Online Schools Blog so I decided to break it down and put each event in the history of the RickRolling fad in context. What we see now is a brief outline of the evolution and growth of this amazing Internet Meme.
After creating each event I added a custom-made background from the graphic. Custom backgrounds are a great way to create attractive timelines and are available to our Partner clients.
But I digress, here is the history of RickRolling. Enjoy!
The History of RickRolling on Dipity.
Via: Online Schools
http://blog.dipity.com/2010/06/03/internet-memes-get-rickrolld-by-dipity/
Dipity has not even celebrated it’s 2nd birthday, but we sure are growing up fast. In the last few months, we have seen record growth in accounts, page views and unique visitors on an almost daily basis. This only strengthens our belief that digital timelines that can filter and broadcast information containing timestamps, geolocation and realtime updates are an increasingly applicable and vital tool.
As a consequence of our rapid growth, users may experience problems with slower load times or event edits not showing up as fast as they should. We are working hard to add servers and keep Dipity up to speed, and in the meantime, developing an amazing, innovative new widget (more on that soon) that will absolutely blow your socks off. Another exciting development at Dipity is the growth of our team.
Until recently, Ben has been our only engineer, left to fend for himself in a vast jungle of requests for bug fixes and new features from overzealous project managers and copywriters. However, help has arrived in the form of our new full-time engineer Derek Brooks.
Look at that Pudum
Derek, A.K.A. Broox, hails from Port Byron, IL and holds a degree in Computer Science from Cornell. He currently resides in Des Moines, Iowa with his wife Kari (sorry, ladies). He has done some very impressive work for Adium, SiteMan, Pioneer Hi-Bred Intl., and Red 5 Interactive. He has been interviewed by YM magazine, The BBC and various local radio stations and publications. Needless to say, his reputation in web work precedes him.
We are excited to bring Broox on board and he has proven to be a great asset from the very start. But don’t take it from me, read Derek’s “Dipity Doo Dah!” blog post and he can tell you all about his new job venture himself.
Welcome to the team Broox, we are excited to be working with you!
http://blog.dipity.com/2010/05/27/dipity-adds-application-engineer-staff-grows-143/
It is surprising how much compelling content already exists on the web. All this media is just lying around and waiting to be synchronized into an easy-to-navigate page. Take, for example, the amazing professors you can learn from on YouTube. The list of the most popular online professors comes courtesy of Lauri Buckley over at the Online Classes Blog. On May 10th Lauri posted a list of the ten most popular Professors on YouTube. Check it out here.
After reading her blog I decided to create a Dipity timeline for each professor. Once I created the individual timelines, I was able to aggregate them into one single page: “10 Most Popular Professors on YouTube.” I did so using the Dipity Add Sources tool, the sources in this case being other Dipity Timelines.
Now I had the customized content I wanted in one place, all in a nice chronological order. Too bad I took out all of those student loans…
10 Most Popular Professors on YouTube on Dipity.
To learn more about how to added sources to your Dipity Timeline, check out this video.
http://blog.dipity.com/2010/05/20/why-spend-money-on-college-study-with-top-professors-on-youtube/
On June 11, the most important sporting event in the world kicks off in South Africa. South Africa is the first African nation to ever host a World Cup. The tournament represents a major step forward for the country and continent as a whole. As Nelson Mandela said, “Sport has the power to change the world … the power to inspire, the power to unite people in a way that little else can.”
At the World Cup, 32 sides from all over the world come together transcending politics, violence, cultural and religious differences, etc. simply to play soccer. Dipity would like to take this opportunity to express our excitement for the upcoming matches, as well as give viewers a chance to experience how Dipity can take the coverage of such an event to a whole new, exciting level.
For the past few months leading up to the World Cup, I have been manually creating timelines tracking the qualifying campaigns of all 32 teams playing in the 19th FIFA World Cup. Each timeline contains every official FIFA World Cup qualifier result, geolocation, timestamp, a short description, link to a relevant article and accompanying video highlights of the game.
USA in Timeline view:
USA Soccer on Dipity.
The result is an easy-to-follow, chronological way to track a team’s progress. A new fan recently boarding the bandwagon might use these timelines to find out more about their newly adopted squad. A casual fan may miss the majority of their team’s games, and use Dipity to catch up on the highlights. An avid fan might simply want to relish in the glory of their team’s success by watching video clips yet again.
Essentially, manually created timelines can serve as effective visual tools to promote sports franchises, players, and events, in addition to other applications of Dipity. Manually created timelines allow the user to select the appropriate video, article or picture from a vast universe of content in order to tell a story exactly how they want.
France in Flipbook view:
France Football on Dipity.
No sporting event in the world rivals the popularity of the World Cup. In 2006, an estimated 5.9 Billion viewers tuned in for the length or the tournament, an average of 93 Million per game. 284 million people tuned in for the final match alone. To place that in perspective, the 2010 NFL Superbowl posted an all-time high in viewers: a paltry 108 million. March Madness attracted approximately 128.5 Million viewers over the entire tournament.
If we can use Dipity to tell the story of the world’s largest sporting event, there is no reason we cannot apply the same concepts to the individual athlete, the corporate law firm, government agency, high school or college classroom, or museum. Dipity is exciting not only for the tools it offers, but also because of the diverse set of people who can utilize said tools.
England in Map View:
England Football on Dipity.
Dipity is a novel way to automatically aggregate and broadcast news and visual and social media. It is also an innovative way to manually select your content and tell a story. So, what’s yours?
—————————————————–
To see all 32 World Cup Teams’ Qualifying Campaign History, click here.
To see how Sports Franchises and Websites are using Dipity check out Deportivo Independiente Medellín’s Website, or The Seattle Offside.
http://blog.dipity.com/2010/05/11/dipity-salutes-south-africas-2010-world-cup/
Social Media is a valuable tool. It offers us the democratization of knowledge and the ability to publish content with ease. Not only is it changing how we share information with our social and digital communities, but also what information we tend to value enough to follow and broadcast.
Geolocation, timestamps, realtime updates… these are all technologies that impact web users on a daily basis. Ten years ago, they were simply concepts that existed, without a defining purpose or direction. But along came Web 2.0, offering internet users an amazingly simple way to connect with others and share details about the who, what, when, where, why and how.
Facebook, Twitter, Digg, Blogger all do their part to try and funnel the fire hose of information that comes through the internet. Everyday more sites pop up to try and claim their corner of the 2.0 market.
Some new sites, such as (recently Google’s) Aardvark represent a step forward in social media. Others are simply a step sideways or even backwards. I believe that Dipity represents a major leap forward, and here is why:
Dipity offers Web 2.0 users a platform to integrate previously disparate and chaotic information in a single location and browse it visually and chronologically. Existing web content already contains timestamps and geolocations. Dipity seamlessly integrates that information and lets us publish or view it in a way that makes sense to the human brain.
A very early adopter of some key web 2.0 concepts was the Dollar Bill tracking project Where’s George?
Where’s George? is a project that tracks paper money as it travels from person to person across the United States. Individuals find dollar bills with the “Where’s George” stamp and log on to enter the serial number and location of the bill.
I came across such a bill recently when purchasing Mexican food, and decided to use both Where’s George and Dipity to track the dollar’s progress. Where’s George gave me information about the geolocation, timestamp and user comments, which I published on a Dipity timeline.
Here is the result; Previously disparate information, suddenly accessible in a chronological and visual format:
Where's George? on Dipity.
Here is what that looks like in Dipity Map view:
Where's George? on Dipity.
This is just one example Dipity timelines can help users get more out of Web 2.0. We can use Dipity to track a dollar bill, but also an important news story, an ancient culture or a superstar athlete. The applications are limitless.
Dipity is a filter for the vast amount of information offered by Web 2.0. Users and companies can take existing information and sort through it to find the most important elements. This is part of the power of Dipity, and we hope you will take a chance to explore how Dipity can optimize your Web 2.0 experience.
http://blog.dipity.com/2010/05/05/dipity-making-cents-of-web-20/
On April 12, the Seattle Times was awarded the 2010 Pulitzer for Breaking News Reporting for their coverage of the Lakewood, Washington police shootings and the 40-hour manhunt that followed. The paper supplemented traditional news coverage by experimenting with some of the most popular digital tools online, including Facebook, Twitter, Google Wave and Dipity.
The Seattle Times utilized Dipity’s customizable embed feature to offer a visual map view and timeline view of events leading up to and following the shooting. By doing so, visitors could explore the full range of coverage in real time, including articles, photos and videos, in their chronological and geographical context.
It was the eighth Pulitzer Prize in the publication’s 114-year history and the first since 2007. Since their last Pulitzer, the Seattle Times has faced a falling budget, debt restructuring and a 40 percent decrease in newsroom size.
Despite the setbacks, the newspaper’s staff reaffirmed the quality of the publication with quick research, compelling content and comprehensive journalism. The Seattle Times also put on display their willingness to adapt and evolve to the changing profile of their readers.
Online, interactive media tools such as Dipity timelines can help print publications offset falling budgets and understaffed newsrooms. In 2009, newspaper revenues fell to the lowest levels since 1986, down 27% in a year to $27.6 Billion.[1]
As newspapers look to evolve instead of shutting down the presses, many turn to the Internet to bolster both revenue and readership. By offering supplemental tools and coverage such as timelines, newspapers can drive viewers to their websites and keep them engaged longer. Media outlets can monetize this traffic: more users, more time spent and more clicks mean more revenue.
As Dipity is just one of the many supplemental tools publishers can use to attract internet-savvy readers, we feel privileged to be part of Seattle Times award winning coverage. Heartfelt congratulations on your Pulitzer Prize and thank you for mentioning Dipity in your article!
To read more about Seattle Times coverage of the shootings, click here.
To see how Seattle Times used Dipity to supplement their coverage, click here.
Learn how Dipity can increase user engagement on your site, click here.
[1] Zack’s Equity Research: Publishing Industry Stock Review
http://blog.dipity.com/2010/04/21/seattle-times-traditional-real-time-coverage-win-pulitzer/
Pavlov lovers rejoice. Now, YOU can scratch your Pavlovian induced itch any time you want by simply pressing a button and getting Dipity to update all of your feeds, right now, as you watch in amazement.
Basically, we’ve heard from all of you over the past couple weeks that having you feeds updated when YOU wanted them updated was super important. So here’s what we did. For every topic on Dipity you’ll now see a button in the ‘Show Sources’ slide out that says ‘Update Sources Now’. Just press this button and Dipity kicks in to action, looking at all of the sources attached to that topic and updating the information as it finds it. This update works for all sources: Flickr, YouTube, Google News, RSS Feeds and any other service you’ve added with ‘Add Sources’ (See the image below)
Dipity will still be updating topics as we always have, at least once per day so don’t worry, you don’t have to change the way you currently use Dipity.
http://blog.dipity.com/2009/10/19/update_now/
We’ve always been fans of our the good folks over at Mashable. In a sea of tech blogs, Mashable chooses to ‘Go Deep’ in social media. That’s why when they named Dipity’s TimeTube as part of their mashup ‘Awesome 8‘ we had only one response: Awesome.
We’re in good company so check out the rest of the folks on the list and if you’ve some how missed out on TimeTube ch-ch-ch-check it out!
http://blog.dipity.com/2009/10/14/dipity-timetube-is-awesome/
Dipity Tutorial #1 (A Basic Overview) from Derek Dukes
You asked for it! We’re rolling out a series of video tutorials! We hope these tutorials will begin to address some of the questions about Dipity and set you up to be a power Dipity user. We’ve built these based on feedback e-mails and from our Get Satisfaction presence. The videos provide step-by-step visual demonstrations and narrations of different Dipity features! You can find them on Vimeo and YouTube. We’ll also be rolling out a page on the site that has all of the videos, look for that shortly. We’ve got 6 more in production which will zooming in on certain features so you’re getting the most out of your Dipity experience.
Cheers
http://blog.dipity.com/2009/07/08/hot-off-the-press-dipity-video-tutorials/
Visa's Go Visualization
Advertising Age just published an article on how the next frontier doesn’t seem to be better search, but better synthesis. Given that there are so many people publishing images, video and text (tweets, blogs etc.) the velocity of that information is increasing and there are so many point of views on each event that we’ll need better tools then just search to make sense of all of the information.
Garrick Schmitt says ”the art of “data visualization” has exploded recently and it is fundamentally changing the way we create and consume narratives about events, products and services”, here at Dipity we couldn’t agree more. We’re constantly thinking about how best to aggregate new types of information, sort and display those in the most interesting ways to improve the context of the information we have access to.
It’s a great read check it out here: Data Visualization Is Reinventing Online Storytelling
http://blog.dipity.com/2009/03/20/advertising-age-on-data-visualization/
I took a field trip today to talk with our newest customer, San Jose Museum of Art . The museum is using Dipity on their web site, and they had let us know they were using it on a kiosk in the museum.
I was not prepared for this…
WOW! I got a little teary-eyed when I saw that for the first time. Kind of like what it must feel like for a parent who sees their kid off to college.
They told me that this was a very popular feature, with some folks spending lots of time exploring the timeline, and other visitors watching. Imagine that — timelines as a spectator sport!
We’re very impressed with how SJMA is using Dipity, and we discussed many more possible uses for them — not the least of which is a museum timeline that can use Dipity’s content update features to notify interested visitors when a new exhibit is added to the schedule.
This was truly an inspiring meeting…
http://blog.dipity.com/2009/03/11/dipity-kiosk-at-sjma/
Today we released new sharing features focused on events, with an emphasis on Facebook integration.
Now when you are looking at an event you can share it with anyone. Be it on Digg, Delicious, StumbleUpon, or Facebook. The link that is sent out will bring a person back to the timeline page with that event popped up (and optionally to the original asset URL for our paying customers).
Click the Facebook icon, authorize Dipity to post to your Facebook wall, then preview what it will look like. One of the coolest parts of the Facebook integration is that if you share an event with a video on Facebook, your Facebook friends can watch the video right there in your Facebook mini-feed.
This gives you a new channel for sharing, whether it’s your favorite video found on one of our MTV Video timelines, an event from one of the celebrities who use Dipity, or if you represent a brand or personality and are looking for a platform to simplify managing your content on the myriad of social sites online.
Give it a shot, and give us a shout if we can help out.
http://blog.dipity.com/2009/03/03/new-share-events-on-facebook/
If video killed the radio star, what did the internet to do video? While you ponder that check out the latest and greatest from the Dipity Labs: Dipity.TV
What is Dipity.TV? Think of it like a video jukebox. All your favorite bands, all of their videos organized as only Dipity can do it. You can surf your favorite band’s videos on an interactive timeline. Not only do you never have to give up Rick Asley but you can see how Michael Jackson went from the ‘King of Pop’ to the ‘King of Flop’.
Beyond just individual artists Dipity.TV is a video time machine. Rocking out to your favorite hair bands of the 80’s is just a click a way with ‘Best Of‘ timelines by decade. It’s not just about oldies but goodies, Dipity.TV also has a pulse on who’s hot now such as Rihanna, U2 and the hard to resist Jonas Brothers.
We wanted to show the great things that can be done when information moves freely. Each search also helps Dipity.TV build its huge collection of MTV embed codes, which MTV is providing only until mid-March.
Enjoy!
http://blog.dipity.com/2009/02/27/i-want-my-dipitytv/
This week we rolled out a new datafeed importer. If you’re currently using a Simile Timeline in your site, giving Dipity a whirl is only a couple of clicks away!
Simply create a new blank timeline. Then add a “Simile Timeline XML” datasource to it, and point us to the URL where your Simile XML file is located. You can continue to update your Simile XML with whatever mechanism you use, and Dipity will pick up the changes at least once per day.
After you get the timeline in Dipity, explore the cool features we make it easy to use. Add a video, a photo, or a map all with our interactive interface. Switch to look at the different views, and then with only two clicks, get embed code that you can use back on your site! Our goal is to make this as easy as possible, so please send us feedback if you run into any trouble.
Simile excels at packing a lot of text into a small space. It has some really cool features like variable time scale and the ability to mark eras. Dipity is geared more toward showing off your media and giving you and your viewers a rich experience. Simile requires any changes be made to a source code file, while Dipity gives you a web interface to build your timeline, a REST API to push and pull content from, and a feed infrastructure to gather data automatically from other sources.
Monet Timeline on Simile (click image to interact):
The same timeline XML data, but visualized on Dipity (click the image to go to the Dipity timeline page):
David Huynh, the creator of Simile, has moved on from MIT and is now doing amazing things for Metaweb, just up the street from us in San Francisco. We look forward to spending some time with him to talk shop.
http://blog.dipity.com/2009/02/19/simile-timeline-xml-importer/
With the help of a hotshot designer and information architect from New Zealand, Dipity got a makeover today.
Petra Quilitz of Quilitz&Quilitz Ltd really got into what Dipity stands for and submitted a very comprehensive set of ideas for us. We were absolutely floored with her understanding of our problem space and her ability to execute on that understanding. We haven’t implemented everything that she suggested (yet) but made some important strides today. Awesome work, Petra!
With this redesign, Dipity takes a step forward in the timeliness of its look and feel, gets bolder and sharper, and first and foremost showcases your content. We’ve decided to forego the “sunny day in the park” thing we had going on, and instead let your content do the talking over a neutral background. Giving you the ability to choose a theme for your timeline is on our shortlist of to-dos, so if you really liked that fair weather theme you will be able to get back there soon.
There are some under-the-covers things that went out today that should make things feel zippy, and be easier on your computer’s processor and memory. We also started using Amazon’s CloudFront content delivery network last week, and that’s proving to bring a measurable improvement to page load times.
Most of this is in preparation for some more very exciting stuff we’re going to be rolling out in the next week or two. I can’t say much yet, but our focus is going to be on offering our incredible platform to whomever wants to use it, however they want to use it.
Please let us know how you like the new look and feel by sending Feedback from the site.
These are awesome times to be a Dipster!
http://blog.dipity.com/2009/02/04/dipity-makeover/
In the spirit of change that seems to be every where these days. We here at Dipity HQ have decided to get caught up in it as well. As of last week we started testing out different versions of things. Some fancy people would call this ‘A/B’ testing; As in some get to try A and try B then we get to see which one works better. Anyhow, it’s sort of like small little lab experiments. We have some we test them, some of you will see them for a short them then they will go away. The bigger goal is that over time we roll in our learning into the product and Bam! New Awesomeness!
So what do you have to do for all of this? NOTHING! Just use the site as usual, if you notice something different and you like it, maybe let us know, if you see something you don’t like, PLEASE let us know by sending us feedback.
http://blog.dipity.com/2009/01/23/testing-testing-1-2/
Our friends at circaVie are closing down for good in a couple of days. In Dipity’s “good ole’ days” they were a company that made our knees shake a bit when we would analyze our competition. After all, they were backed by megalith AOL and it seemed that they knew what they were doing, especially in terms of visual design.
They hit their niche well and built a strong following. Unfortunately, they’re shutting down their site on the 15th.
We have been hearing from their users for the last few weeks asking for ways to get their data off the AOL ship and into the cuddly and everlasting arms of Dipity. To respond to their pleas, we’ve built and released a life preserver today.
Visit the circaVie Timeline Import Page, log in or sign up if necessary, paste the URL to a circaVie Timeline, and click “Import Timeline”. It’s that easy. We’ll pull in as much as we can from your timeline.
So welcome circaVie users! Please let us know how the import goes by clicking the “Feedback” link at the top of every Dipity page or by asking a question in our help site powered by Get Satisfaction.
Circavie Timeline Import Page
http://blog.dipity.com/2009/01/12/circavie-importer/
Looks like the NRDC’s work is getting even more recognition, this time from the HuffingtonPost. Thanks to the folks there as well.
Arianna: make sure to mention us on ABC’s ThisWeek this week!
http://blog.dipity.com/2009/01/08/thanks-to-the-huffington-post-too/
The most satisfying things about working at Dipity by far is getting to see our users’ hard work recognized.
The folks at the NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) put together a complete record of the Bush Administrations record on the Environment yesterday, complete with pictures, video, and article links.
Naturally, we were thrilled to find it on the front page of TreeHugger.
Bush Administration’s Abysmal Environmental Record in Cool Interactive Graphic Form
Thanks to the NRDC for all the hard work, and to TreeHugger for the post. We’ll keep on trying to keep Dipity green.
http://blog.dipity.com/2009/01/08/dipity-on-treehuggercom/
Dipity called in sick for a few of you guys today, but we’ve shaken that bug and we’re back up and kicking.
Looks like the problem started with a little traffic spike over the weekend and it got the best of one of our servers. Some of the other machines were a little distracted by all the commotion, but we gave them a pep talk and they have their eyes on the ball again.
I’ll keep this one short (aka I’m out of metaphors for database slave replication issues), but things should be working for you again, and thanks for hanging in there.
Good luck to all you DipStars, and we hope you’ll keep letting us know how things are going for you.
http://blog.dipity.com/2009/01/05/dipitys-all-healed-up/
This weekend Dipity caught a cold. It started feeling achy late Friday / early Saturday morning. We started looking at the symptoms and trying to figure out the best remedy. We’ve been working hard on the problem since Saturday morning and things look to be on the up and up.
We estimate that we’ll be fully recovered by the end of the day. Please let us know if you find something that’s not working quite right and give us as many details as possible, urls, pages etc. You can simply click the ‘feedback’ link at the top of the page and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can.
We’ll keep updating this post as things develop, you can also follow us on twitter for updates about the service: twitter.com/dipity
http://blog.dipity.com/2009/01/05/dipitys-caught-a-cold/
Last week we moved the DHQ (that’s Dipity Headquarters to the uninitiated) to a swanky new three-sided location in South Park. We had spent the last year and change in a quadrilateral live-work space in a slightly less savory location. While we’re going to miss our friends at Luna Taqueria and SOMA Cafe, we’re looking forward to making some new Amis and Amigos on our new street. It’s a shorter and less, shall we say, “dangerous”, walk from the Caltrain Station so those of use who are not yet cool enough to live in SF are happy.
Our triangular office is quite spacious, yet has only 75% of the walls of the previous location. Architectural genius! It even has a little stairway that leads to the basement — which is where we’re going to put Derek’s army desk if he gets too loud.
Our neighbors and landlords are Get Satisfaction — a great solution for small to mid size businesses to provide customer support. We also share logo typefaces, so it’s clearly a match made in heaven. The building was once inhabited by the great and powerful Twitter, so we’re hoping some of that mojo is still left. Maybe in the basement…
We are really looking forward to what 2009 will bring to Dipity, and what we’ll be able to build for you in our “acute” new space. When you visit dipity.com, send us Feedback. We really love to hear what folks have to say, and jump at the chance to help out when there are problems.
http://blog.dipity.com/2009/01/02/welcome-to-the-dipity-triangle/
We just launched our “Election Center” today, and new community features for the 2.0 release. Check it out at http://www.dipity.com/election.
The new site lets users to follow their candidates, and show off their allegiances. Users can get official updates from the campaign via YouTube, blog posts, twitter messages, Flickr photos, etc. through Barack Obama’s and John McCain’s Dipity channels. Votes are counted and compared to see how interest in the candidates stack up.
On the heals of our 2.0 launch last Thursday, we’re hoping “Election Center” will be a good way to shows off the capabilities of the new Dipity. Users can get the best updates about anything they care about, and one thing we know a lot of people care about right now is the election.
We also have some cool new features. Users can now carry out conversations around any update. Updates with comments show a special icon on the timeline view and users can carry on a conversation about any update from the candidates, or on any channel.
Follow your favorite candidate, and be sure to leave a comment too!
http://blog.dipity.com/2008/10/09/election-center-launched-follow-your-candidate/
Now you can post to twitter from within Dipity! Just hit "Write a Twitter message!" on your own personal page.
We unlocked “Dipity 2.0″ today with one simple goal: letting you follow updates from the people and topics you care about, and have fun doing it.
The new Dipity organizes updates from sites like YouTube, WordPress, Twitter, and 7500 news sites into “channels” on our interactive timeline.
Dipity is the best place to go to catch up on your online world.
You can create your personal channel to broadcast updates to your friends, and can start a channel about anything from Darfur to Dave Mathews in just a few seconds. Start a channel is super-simple fast new options:
* Web Search: Enter a keyword and we’ll scour the web for the most popular content
* Feeds: Drop in an RSS feed and we’ll take it from there.
* Fresh: Start fresh and update with links, video, images and more.
We hope to make the web a lot easier to follow, and a little more fun too. Let us know what you think!
http://blog.dipity.com/2008/10/03/welcome-to-the-new-dipity/
We’re taking all the great energy you’ve put into Dipity and re-inventing the site around the features you liked and requested most. We can’t say too much yet, but the New Dipity will include a ton of new social features and a full-on redesign.
For a sneak preview in a couple weeks, and to be first on the Private Beta lists enter your email in the “get alerted” box on the homepage.
Stay tuned for another update at the beginning of September. We think you’ll love it!
http://blog.dipity.com/2008/08/22/hey-dipsters-we-have-some-exciting-news/
We’re taking all the great energy you’ve put into Dipity and re-inventing the site around the features you liked and requested most. We can’t say too much yet, but the New Dipity will include a ton of new social features and a full-on redesign.For a sneak preview in a couple weeks, and to be first on the Private Beta lists enter your email in the “get alerted” box on the homepage.Stay tuned for another update at the beginning of September. We think you’ll love it!
http://blog.dipity.com/2008/08/22/hey-dipsters-we-have-some-exciting-news/
Yahoo! announced their new Fire Eagle service today with a few launch partners including… you guessed it: Dipity! The behind Fire Eagle is simple, users should have one place to update their location, and many places to use it. This struck a chord pretty quickly with Ryan Romanchuk, our resident geo-location nut expert and award-winning engineer.
Since then he’s been hard at work to let Fire Eagle users track their location over time and share it with their friends on Dipity. Users can also post their location back to Fire Eagle from Dipity from their own events or events they find through their Dipity friends.
Signing up on Fire Eagle is a snap, and adding it to your timeline (and map view!) is just two clicks from there. We hope you’ll give it a go and give us your thoughts.
From 920 Harrison St., San Francisco, Ca., this is Dipity saying congrats to Yahoo! and happy travels.
http://blog.dipity.com/2008/08/13/dipity-fire-eagle-a-time-and-a-place-for-everything/
One of the things we get to do from time to time is take the technology we’ve built and focus it in a new way. First we did this for videos with TimeTube for YouTube, next we focused on images from Flickr with Tickr and now we give you Digg Days for Digg.
The greatest thing about Digg is that you can see what’s hot right now across a wide range of categories. The problem is, if you’re new to the site, or if you can’t remember that story someone sent you a couple weeks ago it can be hard to find. Enter Digg Days.
Basically, we took the Digg API, Dipity API and built a mashup that gives you a few great ways to Digg deeper. You get the top story for each day, in each category, since the day Digg launched. All this data is naturally organized on the Dipity timeline, list, map and flipbook views. You can also do a keyword search to find all the matching stories and they get ranked by the total number of Diggs.
So far, Digg Days has been Dugg over 1000 times and from the comments, people love it. While there’s been no formal endorsement from Digg as an ‘official tool’ it’s great that a service like Digg allows creative people to build interesting things on top of their service in areas they’d likely never have the time explore.
http://blog.dipity.com/2008/07/30/digg-deeper-with-digg-days/
OK, so maybe that’s a little over-the-top, but we did put out a lot of cool stuff! We’ve been really happy about getting used by some great sites like The Guardian, Fox, Santa Cruz Sentinel, Salt Lake Tribune, and Wired’s CultofMac (and a slew of blogs). They’ve also been nice enough to give us some great feedback which we’ve wrapped up in our release this week.
Publishers can now control the size, color, background, default view, and time settings of their embeds, all from an interactive preview. With the new “Embed Builder” it should be easy to make Dipity fit in perfectly with your website or blog.
It’s a little foggy in San Francisco, so we decided to make our embed “San Francisco Nights” themed for today. Let us know what you think!
http://blog.dipity.com/2008/07/25/publishers-rejoice/
Thanks Derek for lending Dipity your limited edition Y! coffeemaker!
What’s Jiggle? It’s that little bit of gravy that makes your app go from functional to fun (think Treo v. iPhone). As part of our “hack day” competition/celebration, Ben got jiggly with it, and won himself the gold.
Our timelines now bounce, fade, fly in, slow with friction, speed up with a harder throw… it’s almost like they’re real.
It’s a subtle change for some, but totally fun and a great new usabilty standard for all of us. Start using your favorite timeline and you’ll notice, or if you don’t have one, check out mine.
http://blog.dipity.com/2008/06/16/getting-jiggly-with-it/
After TimeTube’s resounding success, we decided to show that it’s not just videos that can be organized and displayed in a more interesting way. Next up were photos, so naturally: Time + Flickr = Tickr!
The images themselves are really stunning (thanks Flickr users!), but it’s also a really neat way to explore a topic (or your own Flickr account).
Seeing is believing, so try some searches and have some fun.
Some that caught our eye were:
Burning Man: Artists really know how to make things look amazing :). Get a recap of the best from each of the last few years.
September 11th: This one is sad and heart-warming at once. You can see the the old New York skyline, the day-of from around the city, and then the memorials shine into the sky.
Northern Lights: Experience the phenomenon as seen from around the world, and as it changes year to year.
Hope you’ll try it out, and remember to write in with your thoughts and favorite searches!
http://blog.dipity.com/2008/06/04/tick-tick-tick-its-tickr/
New features:
- personal timeline URLs have better privacy
- Flipbook view improvements (larger images, plays videos)
- TimeTube tweaks
- Fixed zoom setting in embeds
- New badge embed type
http://www.dipity.com/
Database server starts crashing too often, launches marathon build/restore session.
Notables: Full screen mode, Internationalization fixes, Date ranges, Unspecific date display
TimeTube topped the Digg homepage for a while today. Servers slightly charred, everyone happy!
http://www.digg.com/
As the first of many mashups to come, we launched TimeTube today… and couldnt be happier about how it turned out. It really seems like we fired on all cylinders for this one… it’s clean, simple, shiny, and best of all totally useful.
TimeTube adds a dimension to YouTube that I’ve never seen before… it lets it tell you a story. A few examples:
Barack Obama: The success and scandals of the campaign
Chocolate Rain: How an internet phenomenon is born
Britney Spears: How the paparazzi drives someone insane (imho :))
I could go on forever, but nothing I say will be as cool as seeing it for yourself!
http://blog.dipity.com/2008/05/08/dipity-youtube-timetube-and-it-rocks/
We released a new version of Dipity today. Many UI enhancements alongside the ability to edit or delete events from Feeds.
http://www.dipity.com/
Update Sources