There is a very cool film project going on at k2d7movie.com

Through the story of two best friends, the film's mission is to raise awareness for the campaign against cancer.  If you like independent film, you'll enjoy following along with the production of KNIGHT TO D7.

With their website, the filmmakers have done an amazing job using Lifeyo integrate social media, video, and even a way to help fund the film through Kickstarter. 

 

A big thank you to the educators that have written in lately about your experiences using Lifeyo in the classroom!  It's great to get the unsolicited feedback, and we're happy to hear that our tools are easy to use and easy to teach.

Lately, we've seen a number of Lifeyo-built websites that showcase student work or serve as an information resource for an entire school.

A great example that was created recently is the website for the School at St. George Place in Houston, TX. 

The creator has done an excellent job integrating rich content such as classroom videos and a calendar of events using Google calendar.  Sure looks like a great resource for parents and teachers!

http://schoolatstgeorgeplace.lifeyo.com

 

Sean Doran's collaborative music outlet based in Cleveland, Ohio.  Best way to describe the sound-- it knows no specific genre but elicits many unique and familiar thoughts.  Great stuff!

Check out his site for live recording samples and leave a comment!

http://greendawn.lifeyo.com

Wow, I had no idea that this story would become such an overnight sensation...

People love Fiddler!  As a result, our startup Lifeyo.com has gotten some cool coverage-- if only I can thank the little guy!  It feels good to know that he's doing OK at the Pacific Marine Mammal Center in Laguna Beach, where he's got a buffet of tasty fish in order to gain weight and get back into the wild. 

If you'd like to stay updated on Fiddler's progress, I've setup a Facebook Fan Page for him.  I'll be updating this page over the next 2-3 months and hopefully I can visit Fiddler to document his progress. 

Join here: Fiddler's Facebook Fan Page

Also Fiddler was on the news today:

Watch CBS 2 News Video

ABC 7 News Video below

-Mike

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UPDATE: Join Fiddler's Facebook Fan Page

The sound of someone shuffling around on the roofdeck of my apartment this morning woke me up at 6:30am.  Groggy, I threw on some clothes to see what was going on.

Just as I crest the top stair, to my surprise I see a baby seal hanging out!  At this point I can't tell if I'm still dreaming or not, so I go downstairs and grab my camera.  Take a photo- yes, check, baby seal on camera.

So I call Newport Beach animal control.  Our conversation went something like this:

Police: "Hello, Newport Beach police."
Me:  "Hi, um, there is a sea lion on my roof."
Police:  "Sir, there is a what on your roof?"
Me:  "A sea lion.  Can you come and help him out?"
Police:  "OK Sir." Pause....laughter "We'll send someone over right away." (incredulously)

Meanwhile, I snap some more photos of the little guy.  My roommate is up and our neighbor comes to check it out too.  I think, maybe this guy can be my friend?  Maybe he can live in my bathtub like the 1994 classic movie "Andre?"  We'd hang out all the time and people would respect us.  If they didn't we would escape on a wild adventure...

That didn't happen, rather, a guy in an animal control truck rolls up.  Before he goes up the stairs, Andre, I mean the seal, climbs up on the railing and looks like he's gonna jump! 

 

 

We try to talk him down but he looks like he's just showing off.  Moments later, Andre gets put in a box.  Andre looks bummed.  Andre gets taken to the Marine Mammal Center in Laguna Beach, to get checked out before being released.

Goodbye Andre.  Next time you visit I promise I won't call animal control on you again...

-Mike

Update 4PM PST April 23rd:

Wow, people are loving this story around the world!  I'm humbled by all this coverage:

KABC-TV Los Angeles


Huffington Post
WATCH: Sea Lion Found On Newport Beach Rooftop

Sky News (UK)
How Did Sea Lion Get On The Flipping Roof?

Herald Sun (Australia)
Sea lion pup found on rooftop deck in California

NBC Los Angeles
Flipper on the Roof

OC Register
Video shows baby sea lion on Newport roof

UPDATE: Join Fiddler's Facebook Fan Page

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Documentary filmmaker Amy Montalvo is on a mission to tell important stories. 

Amy's travelled around the world in order to profile humanitarian organizations-- groups that are large, small, and everything in between.

The goal of her work is simple:  give these groups the recognition they deserve and hopefully give them better access to funding sources so they can continue to provide much-needed help.

We're proud of the fact that she's using Lifeyo as a platform to share her work with the world.  Keep up the great work Amy!

www.onepassproductions.com

Ladies and gentlemen, the winner of the Lifeyo iPad Giveaway has been selected...

Henrique of Coimbra, Portugal you are the winner of the Apple iPad!

Henrique's site:  henriquepatricio.lifeyo.com

 

---

Here are the winners of the 1-year .com domain name packages:

Danielle - richertranch.lifeyo.com

Kathleen - onarainbow.lifeyo.com

Drew - theboss.lifeyo.com

Toni - hawaiihollywood.lifeyo.com

Jody - ecuapatch.lifeyo.com

Dani - delsgallery.lifeyo.com

Andrew - martha.lifeyo.com

Nap - naptash.lifeyo.com

Dave - guardians.lifeyo.com

Allison - akipta.lifeyo.com

Winners of the Lifeyo sunglasses and sticker packs have been contacted directly, but names are not posted here. 

Thank you again to everyone who participated!!!!

 

When you consider that working on the Internet requires hours and hours of staring at the computer, the whole process can be a little lonely at times.

It's words of encouragement from fans that keep us going here at Lifeyo.  Thanks for the love, Brian of Idaho!

"I just want to say that I think you guys are great. It's amazing that there are still some people out there who care about others. I've looked long and hard for site that would let me share my mind without emptying my wallet.  Just the little that you do is so amazing.  I hope you guys can keep it up.  Thank you so much."

-Brian Aegeson, Idaho USA

Thank you to everyone who participated!  We will post the results in just a couple days, so please check back soon to find out if you are a winner. 

 

Only three more days before we give away an Apple iPad!  Just create and share a free website in Lifeyo to enter the contest.

Details here:  www.lifeyo.com/win-ipad

Entries accepted until March 30th

 

 

I like food.  In fact, I'm the kind of person who enjoys going onto Yelp and blowing up perfectly unknown yet insanely tasty establishments.  Yes, I'm one of the many who contribute to the "four-star syndrome."

Lola Gaspar, a kitchen and bar situated in the artist's district of Santa Ana, CA is one of our favorite places to be.  It's great because Luis, the head chef, is one of the coolest guys you'll ever meet-- he and Jerry (the owner/manager) are known to travel at a moments notice to Spain in order to see a live Radiohead show.  With this kind of cultural research it's no doubt that a visit might yield some culinary rewards.

But you might just want to go there for a drink.  So please do so, say hi, and let them know you checked out their website (it's built with Lifeyo).

www.lolagaspar.com

There are some combinations in life that are inseparable:  salt and pepper, water and fire, sponge and bob...well you get the idea.

Our friends at Coffee and Cinema love two things in life and want to share them with you: great films and the buzz of a good, strong cup of joe.

Now let's not oversimplify this mission.  To express love for something requires thought and appreciation for detail, and these guys have plenty of both.  Coffee's not just coffee.   It's the feeling of disappointment that wells up in your chest when a French press-brewed cup of Ethiopian Yirgacheffe fails to live up to expectations because the beans weren't at their apex of freshness.  

But while these guys may take their beans seriously, they offer something for every taste in cinema, from the recent remake of Alice and Wonderland (2010) to Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds (1963).   Pokemon: The First Movie sneaks its way in, too, but if you're not already a fan, don't expect these dudes and a French press to convince you otherwise.


If you were clueless that coffee could be brewed in a syphon (like me), you'll find a video explaining why it's better.   The authors don't keep their prized cafes a secret, either.   Google Maps are handy in locating their favorite joints, with relevant descriptions like "Cute baristas," "Relaxed political atmosphere," and our favorite, "Coffee is like a harpoon to the face." 


I could go on, but I urge you to grind some beans, pour a cup, and head over to coffeeandcinema.lifeyo.com  You'll learn a lot more about everything described above and may be inspired to start a movement of your own. 

-Mike

Well, sure feels that way at least.

Buzz is in the air and people are talking about Lifeyo.  Allen Stern, writer for CenterNetworks.com was the first to kick it off by covering our SXSW launch.  Since then, the press mentions have been rolling in.  Thanks to everyone who has been spreading the word!

Here's some highlights:

CenterNetworks: "SXSW Video Demo: Lifeyo - Simple Website Builder"

DownloadSquad: "Lifeyo is an Incredible Content Management System for Newbies"

Free Technology for Teachers: "Lifeyo - Quick and Easy Website Creation"

Kim Komando: "Cool Site of the Day - Create a Great Website for Free"

News 8 Austin: "Sites Put Technology Back in the Hands of the Public"

News 8 Austin Broadcast Videos

 

 

-Mike

We're back at the beach and recovering from many sleep-deprived days and nights at SXSW 2010!

Now that we can reflect, it's clear that the whole experience surpassed all our expectations.  For a team that's spent two years in stealth mode and slaving at building Lifeyo, just being at SXSW was a experience to relish.  

It was more than the positive feedback we got from demoing our product to hundreds of people-- it was also the feeling we got being in the same room as people who are also neck-deep building the Internet.  Just the positivity alone was enough to make you realize that the Internet is an amazing thing, that there are real people building it, and that it's not all about snarky comments, spam and hype.

Thanks to everyone who we met, who gave us a high five, and even brought us free beers.

Some shoutouts:

Funmail team-- You guys are awesome.  It was great having a crew to go out at night with.  Keep up the good work, we love Funmail!  

Ev Williams Keynote-- I thought the keynote was great, but the core message was even better.  Here's to ya for keeping Twitter organic and for having a simple mission people can relate to: "Reaching out to the weakest signals in the World."

Dave McClure-- Probably the most engaging panel I went to, "Who Needs Venture Capital."  At Lifeyo, we haven't had the privilege or focus to pursue a serious round of capital yet, so I was looking forward to an honest discussion between going the bootstrap or VC direction.  Dave, you're as entertaining in person as in your blog and slide decks!

Pete Cashmore-- You may never see this, but thanks for being approachable and taking time to chat about Lifeyo at the Digg party.  For everyone who's a fan of Mashable like I am, be rest assured that Internet fame doesn't have to be ego exploding. :)

River Oaks Farm-- Thanks to Phillip and Linda for having us at their vacation rental property.  It was an affordable and completely relaxing place to come home to each day.  Stay tuned for a website showcasing the property, built in Lifeyo!

To everyone who talked to us about Lifeyo-- It means a lot to be able to share what we've been working on.  And it means even more to know that what we've built is helping solve real, everyday challenges in an easy and intuitive way.

-Mike

More demos and awesome people today!  Fortunately it was a little less hectic from the day before and we learned that it's smart to have one of us take a break every so often.   Individually we had the chance to check out some panel discussions and cruise the entire trade show floor.  Somehow along the way we'd run into free food and beer, and bring it back to the Lifeyo booth for some more demos. :)

As first-timers to Austin, we're quickly falling in love with the city.  The people we've met who live here all seem to share a great enthusiasm for why Austin is an amazing place to live and work.

I had the pleasure to meet local Austin filmmaker, Marian Bingaman of Triangle Productions.  Marian has tried to build a website using various online tools, but always finds it especially painful to get her videos to display the way she wants them to.  In our demo I showed her how easy Lifeyo makes it to drop in and resize a Youtube video-- it was one of those "aha" moments that I felt warranted a quick video interview.  Thanks Marian!

-Mike

 

What a day!  To be honest, we weren't sure what to expect when the trade show floor opened promptly at 12pm today.  Within moments, however, a flood of people swarmed in, and it was Lifeyo demo time from then on. 

Ryan, Betsy and I gave too many demos to count and helped create websites for people from all kinds of technological backgrounds.  Many people were drawn to the booth by the free giveaways, some by the name (lots of random "Lifeyo!" shoutouts), but I think the most rewarding demos were given to people who really wanted a website but had a hard time in the past making one they were happy with.

Our goal was to show Lifeyo's ease-of-use within a few minutes, and listen to people's reactions. 

Many people were impressed by how easy it was to get a website up and running quickly, and the confidence they had in being able customize and manage the site by themselves.  We also enjoyed chatting with people who had more technical backgrounds-- we nerded-out talking about Lifeyo's backend infrastructure and development challenges.

One person, a recording artist who goes by the name POISE, was so impressed by the Lifeyo experience that I couldn't help but get a video testimonial.  Enjoy!

 

For now, its time to wind down and party later tonight.  Day three is up next-- can't wait.

-Mike

At 3:30am this morning we departed a sleepy Newport Beach, bound for Los Angeles, Houston, and finally Austin.  Despite a strange "code red" alert while going through airport security, it's been smooth sailing so far-- our demo equipment seems to have made the journey safely, which is good.

Things are just getting started at SXSW but you can sure sense the excitement in the air.  Tonight we spent some time getting the basics of our tradeshow booth setup.  Tomorrow, we'll be there bright and early to complete the final touches. 

 

 

Stay tuned for more updates from SXSW!

 

-Mike

Being huge Apple fans, we're way too excited about the coming release of the Apple iPad.  In fact, we're so excited that we happened to build a mockup of the iPad box the other night.  The goal was two-fold-- enjoy the satisfaction of having the crisp packaging sitting there like an unopened Christmas gift, and to get pumped about our "Great Apple iPad Giveaway" (starting today).

 

With the new iPad box in tow, we went to the local arcade down the street to get revenge on a particular game called "Stacker."  If you've ever fed your hard-earned cash into this machine like us, you've probably come so close to winning a tantalizingly huge prize like an XBOX or Wii. 

Look at us now, Stacker!

If you'd like to win this empty box, plus an Apple gift certificate for $499, just enter our Great Apple iPad Giveaway! 

Just a few days before we head to Austin, Texas for the SXSW Interactive conference! 

We'll be there from March 12th-16th, soaking up the sun and meeting all kinds of cool people.  It's the first time anyone on our team has been to the event, and to be honest, we're excited and a little nervous.   Will it be Geek Paradise or Geek Overload?  :)

If you're going to be at the conference, stop by our tradeshow booth and say hi!  We'd love to meet you and we're sure you'll enjoy our free swag (buttons, stickers, sunglasses, and maybe even a free Apple iPad).

 

-Mike

We're excited to take the wraps off a great new feature that has been in the works...

Now, your Site Header and Navigation supports unique font choices.  To give it a try, just go to "Site Options" in the editor, or double click your Header or Navigation.

Here are just a few of the available fonts:

"Caviar Dreams"

"Marketing Script"

"Daniel"

 

-Mike

To travel around the world, experience incredible places and cultures, and get paid for your time? My friend Lindsay Mackenzie is fortunate enough to be in this position, as an International Tour Leader. She guides small groups of intrepid travelers-- Anthony Bourdain style -- and discovers experiences that are off beaten path.

Lucky for us, Lindsay's been using Lifeyo to chronicle her travels with blog updates and photography on her website, www.GoodOnTheGo.org

Writing from Buenos Aires yesterday, she had this to say, "Keep up the good work guys, I love how Lifeyo makes it so easy for me to keep in touch and to share what I'm doing while on the road."

Thanks Lindsay!


GoodOnTheGo.org

-Mike

Hello out there! So we've been working like crazy since we last updated the blog which explains the lack of posts. A day ago we released a number of new features which we hope you'll enjoy.

First, a big thanks to all our beta testers who have submitted such great feedback since our launch. We listen to every comment, question, and suggestion in order to come up with improvements for the product. It's always motivating to know that the things we're working on are going to improve everyone's experience using Lifeyo.

Now onto the updates:



Ability to Preview a Site


This has been a long time coming and we think its a great way to check out what your site will look like when you're making changes. The preview opens a new tab in your browser, so you can quickly get back to your work.



Improved Site Name


This one took a lot of work behind the scenes but we think the payoff is going to be great. You'll notice that now you can resize and re-position your Site Name from the Site Options panel. You can also upload a graphic logo directly. The big improvement here (beyond a nicer editor interface) is that your site now has a more fluid and consistent layout. If your title gets bigger, your site stretches automatically to give it more room.



Improved Publish Window and Share Features


We've added a number of choices after a user publishes their website. Now you can share your site in Facebook or Twitter, view your website, or return to the editor seamlessly.



Ability to Connect a Domain Name to your Website


Now, if you already own a domain name, you can connect it to your website. It's just $30 a year for the connection. This is a great way to finally make use of those domains that are sitting around!

We just pushed a new redesign of the Lifeyo.com landing pages and user sign-up! Our goal was to make the experience a lot crisper and more obvious to first time users. After many hours of tweaking we're online. :)

Sometimes a Lifeyo site comes along that is too good to resist. Check out Betsy Berger's RazorBlonde.com .

Betsy's a prolific fashion blogger and all around awesome person. She's even nice enough to give us a little style consulting from time to time. Who says you can't look good while you stare at a computer screen all day long?

A little organization goes a long way!







Lunchtime!

We received a package the other day, and to our surprise it was full of custom laptop covers from Angie Davis at Byrd & Belle!

OK, well we saw them on Etsy weeks before and they seemed like such great "Job Well Done" gifts for the team that we couldn't pass them up.

They came out beautifully. The pictures don't do the stitching and materials justice. They're made of wool felt and rich leather. And they fit perfectly! OK, OK enough bragging...

For more of Angies work check out her Etsy shop at: www.byrdandbelle.com

Some Lifeyo care packages went out today. Destinations include: San Francisco, New York City, Toronto, Arlington (VA), New Haven (CT), and Hyattsville (MD).

Hope you all get those stickers up!

It's been a little over a week and things have been running pretty smoothly! Thanks to everyone for sending in comments, bugs, cupcakes, etc. Please keep them coming. We really care about what you think of the product-- your feedback is the best way we can make Lifeyo awesome.

The first batch of sunglasses are finally going out to our friends and testers this week. They came out good and have super dark lenses for maximum radness.

If you'd like a pair, I'll make a deal with you. Just make a website with Lifeyo, then send me the link, your name, and mailing address to mike(at)lifeyo.com. I will personally send you a pair plus a sticker pack using our wonderful postal service.

In other news, stay tuned because this week we'll be adding some slick new themes.

Well, we pushed the button and Lifeyo.com is now available to the world. It's a nervous moment because we're finally able to show all the people who have supported us what we've been working on all this time. It's also exciting to be getting real feedback from our users so we can improve the way things work.

It'll be a little rocky start but we'll be working hard to make it perfect as things progress.

Here are some photos from launch!

Moments before...Ryan is stressed.

Now, less stressed.

Ryan sets her loose. Mama Kai in the background.

Post champagne shower.

Happy zero birthday, Lifeyo!

Yes, the cake tasted like computer code.

Russell looks the most pumped.

We're just moments away from letting Lifeyo out into the wild. There's a lot of emotion in the air right now. In many ways today feels like just another day among the hundreds we've had, coding, implementing, and testing. But its also a very proud moment for our entire team, family, and supporters. Thank you to everyone who has followed us and supported us along the way.