The Orkut Smugmug Community Is On!!!

peestandingup

Hello everyone. I recently joined an online community (powered by Google) called Orkut. Its a new social network designed to meet old & new online friends. Its similar to the myspace site, but with a more professional look & feel.

They have thousands & thousands of "communities" that people form for all kinds of different topics & passions for other people to join. I stumpled upon a couple other online photo services that already had communities dedicated to their service, including 3 different Flickr communities. Sooo, out of curiosity I did a search for Smugmug communities & it turned up a big fat zero. So not to be outdone by the other guys, I started one myself. Here is what it looks like:



Orkut is VERY cool. Like I said, its powered by Google & just like Gmail, you can join by invitation only. So, if anyone wants me to send them an invite, I would be more than happy to. Lets see just how big we can make this community. Cheers...Kerry

P.S. Here is the link to the community. You can only see it if you are a member of Orkut. http://www.orkut.com/Community.aspx?cmm=5385770

Richard

I have heard of Orkut but never used it. Perhaps you could explain what it offers that Dgrin is lacking. Seems to me we have a pretty decent community thing going here...

peestandingup

rsinmadrid wrote:

I have heard of Orkut but never used it. Perhaps you could explain what it offers that Dgrin is lacking. Seems to me we have a pretty decent community thing going here...

Oh no. Dgrin is not lacking at all. This place is great! Orkut is just a different thing all together, not just posting.

Lets say that you are part of a few dozen communities on Orkut. Smugmug is one of them & also a community called Digital Photography is another one. All of your pals (or anyone really) can see what communities you belong to & some people (especially the ones from the Digital Photography community) may get curious to see what Smugmug is all about & they also join the Smugmug community. They start making relationships with all the Smugmug community people & they end up going to smugmug.com to sign up for an account. Then, they will discover Dgrin & all the fine people here, like most of us did after we signed up. So in the end, Smugmug.com will get a new member & you will make a friend :-)

Orkut is not really a forum for posting, its more of a network of sorts that connects people in many different ways. Whatever you are interested in, chances are there are tons of others who share the same passion & a whole community will be dedicated to it, & if there isnt you can just make one yourself & invite others to come join it.

Here is another sample. There is MUCH more to this than what you see here. Also, I dont have any friends yet because I just joined today :-(



And then when someone clicks on one of the communities, they see this:

JohnR

Oh wait....I thought you created this on Smugmug but in fact this is on orkut's site?

Does anyone from Smugmug know that you are using their image?



Sorry, but this to me is just spam. You are promoting something else using Smugmug's image.

peestandingup

JohnR wrote:

Oh wait....I thought you created this on Smugmug but in fact this is on orkut's site?

Does anyone from Smugmug know that you are using their image?



Sorry, but this to me is just spam. You are promoting something else using Smugmug's image.

Dude, this isnt spam & I am not promoting anything. How exactly do I benefit from this? The site is free & im not associated with Google in anyway, if I was I would be rich! You are completely missing the point here. This is VERY minor & its not like I went & created my own personal website using Smugmugs image. This isnt official stuff here, man. People just create these out of love for what they are passionate about.

And as far as me using the Smugmug smilie face, I can change that to something else if it bothers the Smugmug people. Although, I think it will hurt more than it helps or I can just erase the entire community all together if anyone has a problem with it & that will be the end of it. Geesh!

Lets see some examples of your so called "spamming", shall we:

peestandingup

Or better yet, I can erase the community that I created & someone official from Smugmug can create a new one. I can send Baldy or whoever an invite & they can have at it.

Im just trying to share here guys what can be done. No bad intentions at all.

Dee

I'll never understand

peestandingup wrote:

Or better yet, I can erase the community that I created & someone official from Smugmug can create a new one. I can send Baldy or whoever an invite & they can have at it.

Im just trying to share here guys what can be done. No bad intentions at all.

This "invite" thing... just naturally makes me suspicious!

BTW June 22 seems to be a popular birthday, my daughter, my ex-boss...a friend

DavidTO

peestandingup wrote:

Or better yet, I can erase the community that I created & someone official from Smugmug can create a new one. I can send Baldy or whoever an invite & they can have at it.

Im just trying to share here guys what can be done. No bad intentions at all.

I think what you did is cool.

Andy

peestandingup wrote:

No bad intentions at all.

understood

leave it for now, if it's an issue, baldy will say so..

wholenewlight

I think it's pretty neat from what you've posted but I have a couple questions:

1. seems to me a duplicate of dgrin?? this is not a challenge to your efforts. I just am wondering what new things it offers as a community posting site.
2. how does one get invited - I put my gmail login info in and noticed that you can link orkut to your gmail account. But still wonder how the invites work.

Interesting. . .

speaking of invites, if anyone needs a gmail invite, just pm mewit your email - not a solicitation of any kind, just being friendly

DavidTO

I don't think you guys understand, this is a place to share common interests and make friends. Photography being but a drop in the bucket. It's free promotion and a place to raise the profile of our community.

peestandingup

DavidTO wrote:

I don't think you guys understand, this is a place to share common interests and make friends. Photography being but a drop in the bucket. It's free promotion and a place to raise the profile of our community.

Exactly! Thank you, I couldnt have said it better myself.

Here is a quote from the people of Orkut explaining what it is in more detail:

"orkut.com is an online community website designed for friends. The main goal of our service is to make your social life, and that of your friends, more active and stimulating. orkut's social network can help you both maintain existing relationships and establish new ones by reaching out to people you've never met before. Who you interact with is entirely up to you. Before getting to know an orkut member, you can even see how they're connecting to you through the friends network.

orkut makes it easy to find people who share your hobbies and interests, look for romantic connections or establish new business contacts. You can also create and join a wide variety of online communities to discuss current events, reconnect with old college buddies or even exchange cookie recipes.

To join orkut, simply click on the link in the email you received and follow the instructions for creating a username and password. If orkut doesn't sound like it's for you, feel free to delete your invitation. If you change your mind in the future, don't worry! We'll still be here at www.orkut.com

orkut is unique, because it's an organically growing network of trusted friends. That way we won't grow too large, too quickly and everyone will have at least one person to vouch for them.

If you know someone who is a member of orkut, that person can invite you to join as well. If you don't know an orkut member, wait a bit and most likely you soon will.

We look forward to having you as part of the orkut community."

Dee wrote:

This "invite" thing... just naturally makes me suspicious!

BTW June 22 seems to be a popular birthday, my daughter, my ex-boss...a friend

The reason you must be invited to join is because they are trying to "weed out" certain people & make it a nice place that doesnt get all cluttered up like myspace.com or friendster.com. Its for the same reasons why Google requires you to be invited to Gmail before you can join.

Yeah, June 22 is popular for B-days. I know 3 other people who share the same day

wholenewlight wrote:

*how does one get invited - I put my gmail login info in and noticed that you can link orkut to your gmail account. But still wonder how the invites work.

You have to be invited by someone who is already a member, just like with Gmail. You use the same login ID & password that you use with Gmail. After you receive your invite (in your Gmail inbox), use your gmail login ID & password to set up your Orkut account. Thats it! Its really easy.

DavidTO

peestandingup wrote:

You have to be invited by someone who is already a member, just like with Gmail. You use the same login ID & password that you use with Gmail. After you receive you invite (in your Gmail inbox), use your gmail login ID & password to set up your Orkut account. Thats it! Its really easy.

I might want to try it, but I have a question: I don't have gmail, and could easily get that, too. But how much does Google abuse me? How much spam does this generate? Do they attach ads to the emails? etc, etc....

wholenewlight

DavidTO wrote:

I might want to try it, but I have a question: I don't have gmail, and could easily get that, too. But how much does Google abuse me? How much spam does this generate? Do they attach ads to the emails? etc, etc....

Not sure about orkut but absolutly NO abuse from google on gmail.

A couple of text-only ads on the far right hand side of you email window - non obtrusive. No ad screens to go through to get to your mail.

I love gmail and have been using it more and more. I've been using gmail for almost one year.

Richard

DavidTO wrote:

I might want to try it, but I have a question: I don't have gmail, and could easily get that, too. But how much does Google abuse me? How much spam does this generate? Do they attach ads to the emails? etc, etc....

I can't speak about Orkut, but I have been using gmail for almost a year. I have not received a single spam message in that time. There are no ads on the mail that you send. If you use the Web interface to read your mail, there are little text-based adds off to the side, much like the sponsored links on the Google search page. However, you can also read and send your mail using a POP client, like Thunderbird or Outlook. There are no ads at all if you do it this way.

Some people are beginning to make nervous jokes about Google's growing power. However, as far as I can see, Google has yet to do anything that I would consider offensive or dangerous.

If you like, PM me with your email address and I'll send you an invite. That goes for anyone else on dgrin as well. :

peestandingup

Yeah, I have also had Gmail for over a year & its the best! I dont think I have gotten one piece of spam the whole time.

Orkut seems to be just the same high quality as the other Google services. There are no ads whatsoever anywhere on the entire site & I cant see them spamming your inbox for any reason. Google is growing fast because people actually enjoy using their products & they trust them.

Its not a requirement that you have a Gmail account to use Orkut, but it does make it a better all around system because they are all connected with each other in a nice way. If you used another email service, that would just fine but it would be another user id & password that you would have to remember.

BTW, if anyone is still unsure what these types of sites are all about, just ask around. If you have kids, ask them about "myspace.com" & they will tell you all about it im sure. Orkut is more fo grownups.

peestandingup

Also, both MSN & Yahoo have similar pages called "MSN Spaces" & "Yahoo 360" but I trust Google much more than those.

Andy

orkut's ok except for the pr0n...

Mike Lane

Hey shoot me out an invite eh? I'm in dire need of finding a way to continue my transformation into a google bot.

No seriously, I'd like to check it out

flyingdutchie

Mike Lane wrote:

Hey shoot me out an invite eh? I'm in dire need of finding a way to continue my transformation into a google bot.

No seriously, I'd like to check it out

I'm have an account on Orkut as well, but i'm using it less and less.
Close to 80% of all posts are written in Portuguese. Brazil has taken over. I have nothing against brazilians, but i can't read most of the posts any more.:D

Orkut is something that will not take off (it has been in beta for yeeeeeeaaars now and still has major server crashes, etc).

Obrigado!

Khaos

It sounds like the amway of blogs.

DoctorIt

this is one of those things like friendster that I just don't get. you can't post, just show off who your friends are.

Mike Lane

Yeah, I agree. I don't quite get orkut or friendster.

Maybe it's because I don't have any friends...

DavidTO

Mike Lane wrote:

Yeah, I agree. I don't quite get orkut or friendster.

Maybe it's because I don't have any friends...

Or maybe it's because you DO have friends that you don't get it!

Mike Lane

DavidTO wrote:

Or maybe it's because you DO have friends that you don't get it!

Oooh, that's deep...

Off topic, and I'm sure I could post this in another more appropriate thread, but do you really make the trailers for movies? I've always wondered what the voiceover guy looks like. Somewhere in the back of my mind I'm always picturing him as a midget with a really deep voice. I can't help but laugh when I think about it. Some little guy on a stool reading into a microphone with a voice that comes from nowhere...

Anyhow I digress. That must be a helluva fun job.

DavidTO

Mike Lane wrote:

Oooh, that's deep...

Off topic, and I'm sure I could post this in another more appropriate thread, but do you really make the trailers for movies? I've always wondered what the voiceover guy looks like. Somewhere in the back of my mind I'm always picturing him as a midget with a really deep voice. I can't help but laugh when I think about it. Some little guy on a stool reading into a microphone with a voice that comes from nowhere...

Anyhow I digress. That must be a helluva fun job.

Depends. One is tall and rather thin. A couple of others are average height and heavy. They are very patient. You wouldn't believe the subtlety of delivery that they are asked to deliver on sub-syllables. BUT they make a boatload of money. A boatload. The highest paid VO guys charge $1,000 to 1,500 per session and might do 10 or more in a day. Usually a session that I'm involved in takes no more than 30 minutes. The usually can work from home (with a booth and ISDN line installed), and they TALK for a living. Amazing to have that gift. And did I mention they make a lot of money?

DavidTO

In fact one of the VO guys has to go in every morning to work for a network, but he can't be bothered with driving...he flies his own plane to the nearest airport, does his gig, then goes home and works from there the rest of the day.

Mike Lane

DavidTO wrote:

In fact one of the VO guys has to go in every morning to work for a network, but he can't be bothered with driving...he flies his own plane to the nearest airport, does his gig, then goes home and works from there the rest of the day.

Rad. Oh it must be fun to have that kind of life.

flyingdutchie

DavidTO wrote:

In fact one of the VO guys has to go in every morning to work for a network, but he can't be bothered with driving...he flies his own plane to the nearest airport, does his gig, then goes home and works from there the rest of the day.

And the voice that is used for most science fiction, horror (and lately also comedy) movie trailers. It is that low, somewhat raspy, voice. The end of each sentence sounds like a low pitched sigh (last syllable of the sentence is lower in pitch than the rest of the sentence). It is supposed to sound 'menacing'.

That voice has two effects on me: Sometimes i really get annoyed by it; other times i have to laugh about it, because it sounds so silly.

That voice, is that mostly one person?

flyingdutchie

DoctorIt wrote:

this is one of those things like friendster that I just don't get. you can't post, just show off who your friends are.

Actually, you CAN post in Orkut. There are tons of forums and you can build an online community through them, if you want. But, in my opinion, it failed to do so.

DoctorIt

flyingdutchie wrote:

Actually, you CAN post in Orkut. There are tons of forums and you can build an online community through them, if you want. But, in my opinion, it failed to do so.

I find just enough time to post here. but thanks for the clarification.