Microsoft SLAM: The Movie

[Rocco Augusto]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xL4AZdn-fFU&eurl' target='_blank'>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xL4AZdn-fFU&eurl</a><br /><br /></div>A couple of months back we wrote about a Microsoft community centric application for your Smartphone called <a href="http://smartphonethoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=12400">SLAM</a>. I'll be the first to admit that my views on this application were a little harsh due to the outrageous 2MB size of the application which had to be downloaded directly to your device. My once harsh views of the project have recently changed however due to the amusing SLAM video that is making the rounds on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xL4AZdn-fFU&amp;eurl">YouTube.com</a>. As amusing as this video is, and it is <i>very</i> amusing, there is still one tiny little problem with the SLAM project. You see, a large majority of my friends are not Smartphone users which would make it very hard for me to make this program effective. <br /><br />While I applaud Microsoft for their effort in bringing individuals together, until we have a denser population of Smartphone users other services such as <a href="http://www.dodgeball.com">Dodgeball</a>, which can be used with a wide variety of handsets, might be a better fit for mobile communities on the go. For those users that are participating in the SLAM project though, I would love to hear your thoughts on it! :)

[Kris Kumar]

The video does make a compelling case to try out the SLAM. But wait, Rocco you are right, I don't have any Smartphone buddies.

[Mike Temporale]

The video does make a compelling case to try out the SLAM. But wait, Rocco you are right, I don't have any Smartphone buddies.

Yeah, I have a couple friends in the area with Smartphones, but not enough to make it worth forcing on them.

[Rocco Augusto]

yeah, it is sad actually. i really want to try this program out now that the size is fixed but i have no one to pawn it off on. microsoft is on the right track though, as Smartphone sales are continuing to steadily rise. in the meantime, if you still want the mobile community experience, try dodgeball.com (http://dodgeball.com) which is still free i believe

[Ryan Joseph]

Hold the phone (pun intended)...

I've never heard of Dodgeball...and it's owned by Google? What the heck?

I can't use Slam, being a BlackBerry user, but it looks interesting...

[Rocco Augusto]

Hold the phone (pun intended)...

I've never heard of Dodgeball...and it's owned by Google? What the heck?

I can't use Slam, being a BlackBerry user, but it looks interesting...

Dodgeballs has an odd following, most of which resides in NYC. The last time I was in New York visiting my friend I was introduced to the site and fell in love with the service. Here is how it works:

You sign up for a Dodgeball account and create a profile. Once your profile is created you send text messages or emails to the Dodgeball server to "checking in" to places. When you check in to places you just send them a little email/sms that uses the "@" symbol and the name of the place where you are such as @home, @insert_club_name_here, etc. The cool part is you can add new locations via their website if the place you are at is not on their map. When you add a new location to their database, it consist of the places name. address, city, st, zip.

Once you check in, Dodgeball will notify your friends of your location. If I am not mistaken, it will also notify your friends friends of your location if you're within a few blocks of them. Also, you can set up a number of crushes, and if you are within a few blocks of your crushes, they will receive a message so they can know to either run away and hide from you, or say hello ;)

It is a very neat concept that hasn't really caught on in my neck of the woods but works great in a huge city such as NYC which has a huge night scene. The only downside is that it uses SMS as a default to send messages but you can choose to only be notified via email.

[Ryan Joseph]

Yeah, I'm checking it out now. I signed up for a profile (even though I don't know anyone else who uses it :wink: ) just to see how it all worked.

In concept, this seems really cool. The fact that it uses text messages is kind of a bummer (I have unlimited, but still...) I'll have to play around with it. I also don't know whether it will work for me...I selected Philadelphia, but I really live about 30 minutes outside the city. We'll see.

But what really gets me is that I've never heard of it before. I am a true Google-ite and I usually hear about all things Google. How many other Google services are out there that I am unaware of? 8O

[Rocco Augusto]

well don't look at not hearing about it as a bad thing because now you have a new toy to play with all weekend long! so turn that frown upside down ;) (yes i know you weren't really frowning, i was just waiting for a chance to use that line :lol:)

while it does use SMS, there is an option there somewhere to only use email, for all of us Smartphone users :)

[Ryan Joseph]

Yeah, my email is forwarded to my BlackBerry anyway, so I'm good. :-)

Anyway, closer to the topic at hand...

I think this type of mobile, social interaction is on the verge of an explosion. Once faster networks and more data-ready phones get into the hands of more people (in America, anyway, I know the rest of the world is already there) then this will be all the rage. Once the nation's highschool and college population realizes the potential of sites like Dodgeball or SLAM, it will be huge.

How long until that happens? Heh...who knows. :roll:

[onlydarksets]

My once harsh views of the project have recently changed however due to the amusing SLAM video that is making the rounds on YouTube.com (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xL4AZdn-fFU&amp;eurl). As amusing as this video is, and it is very amusing

Brought to you by the Dharma Initiative...

That is pretty funny!