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Tomorrow is the release of Firefox 3, help spread the word.

The UAE is determined to make a name for itself in the international film industry. Previously little more than an exotic backdrop for moving pictures, the country is taking steps to ensure that Emirati directors can make their own blockbusters. Rania Abo
ABU DHABI // Fadel al Muhairi is busy scouring his hometown for locations for his first feature film, a social drama about a young man’s quest to find his role in society. Armed with a Dh90,000 (US$24,500) grant from the Emirates Foundation, a joint private and public sector national endowment fund, the Emirati filmmaker believes that he is in the right place at the right time.
[source: The National]

I just upgraded this blog to Wordpress 2.5. Apparently the theme we were using is not compatible so I’ve got to either fix it or find a new one. Oh well, the new version seems very nice.

This press release says “Empost launches new state-of-the-art website”. Go to www.empostuae.com and check the source. It’s all in frames! Then go to the actual site at http://195.229.217.93/Empost and check the source - it’s all tables. I’m no web design purist but it seems to me that those two things alone will disqualify this particular site from being “state-of-the-art”. What do you think?

Ask 37signals: 10 ways to “get ink”: “

Neil Wilson asks:

’’Get Ink’ is the fundamental marketing mantra. You guys are natural self-promoters. What do you find is the best way of getting your name in the frame?

10 ideas that came to mind when I thought about ways to get people to notice you/your product:

1. Provide something of value.
The first step is recognizing that marketing is asking for someone else’s time and attention. You need to provide something worthy of those valuable commodities. So keep your message brief and interesting. When you educate or entertain other people, they’ll pay attention. If you bore them, they won’t.

2. Know your hook.
Imagine you are a reporter who wants to write an article about your company. What’s the hook? What’s the angle that will be interesting to someone who normally wouldn’t care about your software? We’ve got a lot of mileage in the press out of staying small and focusing on ‘less.’ What’s unique about your story?

3. Stand for something.
Know and expose your company’s philosophy and mantras. 37signals started with a manifesto back when we launched as a design firm. Even though it’s from 1999 and our company has evolved a ton since then, you can see the seeds of many of our current ideas there. That sort of belief foundation will help guide you (and others) to your story.

4. Get your face out there.
It’s tempting to think you can do it all from a keyboard. But emails are a poor substitute for real, face-to-face interactions. Go to conferences and meetups, take someone you admire out to lunch, etc. It’s ok to ‘network’ — just don’t be a douche about it. Which leads to…

5. Try to build real, sustained relationships.
Actually be a friend instead of a guy trying to get something. Keep your interactions human (a sincere, honest note will go a lot further than a buzzwordy press release). Seek out ways to help others. It’ll all come back to you.

6. It’s the message, not the amount you spend on it.
Companies that spend tons of ad/PR dollars to convince people their products are worthwhile are like guys who spend lots of money on gifts and dinners to woo a woman. What kind of relationship are they really building? Successful customer relationships are like any other long-term relationship: They start with a foundation of communication and showing you care about the other person.

7. Give stuff away for free.
(I don’t think this contradicts the previous point but maybe?) People love free. Offer a free version of your product, provide coupon codes, etc. Whenever we include a coupon code in a newsletter, there’s a big uptick in upgrades.

8. Ride the wave.
Seek momentum and ride it. Is everyone buzzing about the iPhone? Then make an iPhone app. Are people interested in rapid development processes? Then blog about building your app in, say, under a month. Find out what people are talking about already and then figure out a way to get in the picture.

9. Be in it for the long haul.
Recognize that promotion, like other aspects of building a company, takes time and effort. If you’re starting from scratch, you have to claw your way up. It’s uncanny how many ‘overnight success stories’ you hear about are actually people who busted their asses for years to get into the position where something might take off. Don’t expect instant recognition.

10. Be undeniably good.
Steve Martin was on Charlie Rose last week. At the very end, he gave his advice to someone who’s trying to make it in any field: ‘Be undeniably good.’

When people ask me how do you make it in show business or whatever, what I always tell them — And nobody ever takes note of it ‘cuz it’s not the answer they wanted to hear. What they want to hear is here’s how you get an agent, here’s how you write a script, here’s how you do this — But I always say, ‘Be so good they can’t ignore you.’ If somebody’s thinking, ‘How can I be really good?’, people are going to come to you. It’s much easier doing it that way than going to cocktail parties.

That’s some good advice. Go out and make something that kicks ass and people will notice.

Related: Check out the ‘Promotion’ chapter in Getting Real.

Got a question for us? Please send it along to svn [at] 37signals dot com and use the subject ‘Ask 37signals’.

“

(Via Signal vs. Noise.)

I did a simple little version of the latest posts at EmiratesMac.com today, especially meant for iPhone users. It’ll work on most mobile devices, but I made it for iPhone. It’s available at http://www.emiratesmac.com/mobile/.

How many of you have ever used Wikipedia??? I just love Wikipedia, because I can always find the information that I need no matter what it is. So if you have not checked out Wikipedia, you should. But that is not what this post is about, it seems that the founder of Wikipedia, has decided to give the software and all you need to build your own community. I just wonder what wonderful communities are going to be formed from this. Read more about this at US Today.

Free software is about to get freer. Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales said on Monday his for-profit company, Wikia Inc., is ready to give away — for free — all the software, computing, storage and network access that website builders need to create community collaboration sites.
Wikia, a commercial counterpart to the non-profit Wikipedia, will go even further to provide customers — bloggers or other operators who meet its criteria for popular websites — 100% of any advertising revenue from the sites they build.

Started two years ago, Wikia (http://www.wikia.com) aims to build on the anyone-can-edit success of the Wikipedia online encyclopedia. Using the same underlying software, called MediaWiki, Wikia hosts group publishing sites, known as wikis, on topics from Star Wars to psychology to travel to iPods.

“It is open-source software and open content,” Wales said in a phone interview. “We will be providing the computer hosting for free, and the publisher can keep the advertising revenue.”

That could prove disruptive to business models of websites that provide free services to customers but require a cut of any resulting revenue in return.

Wikia gives away the tools and the revenue to its users. It requires only that sites built with the company’s resources link to Wikia.com, which makes money through advertising.

Wikia calls the free-hosting service “OpenServing” (http://www.openserving.com). It runs on an easy-to-use version of MediaWiki software developed by ArmchairGM.com, a sports fan community site Wikia recently acquired and plans to extend.

Wales is betting the plunging cost of computers and networks can help Wikia support the free services offer. “It is becoming more and more practical and feasible to do,” he said.

Paul Thurrot (I’m usually not a big fan of his) has some things to say about the upcoming Internet Explorer 7:

My advice is simple: Boycott IE. It’s a cancer on the Web that must be stopped. IE isn’t secure and isn’t standards-compliant, which makes it unworkable both for end users and Web content creators. Because of their user bases, however, Web developers are hamstrung into developing for IE at the expense of established standards that work well in all other browsers. You can turn the tide by demanding more from Microsoft and by using a better alternative Web browser. I recommend and use Mozilla Firefox, but Apple Safari (Macintosh only) and Opera 8 are both worth considering as well.

Of course, not everybody agrees. I’m all for web standards and web browsers that support those standards. Personally, I think that makes life easier (and better) for users and developers. If IE 7 is going to blatantly ignore standards, that’s not good at all. But then IE 7 is just out in a beta so far, so we should probably hold back on some comments until it’s released in a final version.