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Category: Pibb

Portland Start-up Index: Is your site there?

Given that I’m still happily digging out from an avalanche of new Twitter followers, I’m a little tardy on reporting the news.

So, a number of folks were kind enough to send me links to TechvibesPortland Start-up Index,” a list of Portland-based startups ranked by averaging their Alexa and Compete ratings.

According to the post, they chose the Rose City because:

Portland’s unique culture, combined with its proximity to Seattle and Silicon Valley make it fertile ground for start-ups.

The list features an apples and oranges combination of both companies and products (which, quite honestly, isn’t immediately obvious to people who don’t obsess over monitor this stuff as actively as I do). So, companies with multiple products—but only one Web site—like Earth Class Mail (#5) (which unfortunately moved to Seattle to attract funding) and Kryptiq (#20) are mixed in with site-specific products like Matt King‘s Knitmap (#8) and JanRain‘s Pibb (#10).

SplashCast tops the list, with I Want Sandy and MyOpenID rounding out the top three.

Values of n garnered two spots on the index with I Want Sandy and Stikkit (#6). As did JanRain, with MyOpenID and Pibb.

Some notable sites conspicuously absent from the list include Jive Software, Platial, Unthirsty, and AboutUs. But commenters are already noting some of these exclusions.

Techvibes plans to update the list on a regular basis. And, I’m looking forward to seeing a few more of you folks on it, the next time around. Please comment on the post (as a number of folks already have) to ensure that your product or site is listed.

(Hat tip to Mike Berkley, Adam DuVander, and Ben Parzybok)

JanRain releases Pibb for Facebook

You may know Portland-based JanRain as one of the leading local proponents of OpenID. But you may not know that they also have a few applications under their collective belt.

One of those applications—their IRC-like Pibb application—has recently been ported to Facebook.

This communications conduit has the potential to be incredibly useful for those folks looking to tie Facebook communications to the rest of their online communications. (Like say for instance, keeping your Facebook comments and your blog comments all in one place.)

By adding the Pibb Facebook application to your account you can easily tie together two end points of your social graph, Facebook and Pibb. Once you add the application to your Facebook account, you will easily be able check for new messages and connect with your Facebook friends on Pibb and vice versa.

Sounds like a useful Facebook addition. (For a useless Facebook addition, feel free to join the Silicon Florist group on Facebook.)

For more information, see the blog post announcing the launch of Pibb on Facebook.

(As an aside, with both JanRain and SplashCast supporting Facebook applications, I’ve got to assume there are others of you out there building Facebook apps. Yes? No? Well, if you’ve got a Portland-built Facebook app, link it up, below, or drop me a note. If enough folks respond, I’ll post a roundup.)

Pibb-powered backchannel for BarCamp Block

Headed down to BarCamp Block, this weekend? Yeah, me neither. I mean, it’s Multnomah Days. I can’t miss the parade.

But, even though you and I are miles away, Portland-based JanRain will make it feel like we’re there, making snarky comments on the backchannel like the rest of the folks, thanks to the Pibb BarCamp channel.

They’ve even built a bridge to IRC:

As an added bonus the Pibb developers have setup a Pibb <-> IRC bridge, so all the people on the #Barcamp IRC channel will be able to see whats going on in Pibb and vice versa. Cheers to bridges helping people break out of their communication silos!

For more information on Pibb’s at the BarCamp Block, see the JanRain blog.

JanRain announces DietPibb 0.3

If you use the Pibb messaging platform from Portland’s JanRain and happen to work on a Mac, you’ve got a new tool at your disposal.

DietPibb, developed by Citizen Agency’s Chris Messina, extends the functionality of the Pibb platform by allowing you to run Pibb as a desktop app.

Pibb combines the best features of instant messenger, chat, email, and bulletin boards. For more information on Pibb, please visit pibb.com.