Hi all,

You can listen to this post here, or you can read on…

Yesterday was a HUGE TRAFFIC DAY!  We broke our previous record traffic day by over 400%, with nearly 800 visits.  If you have posts on GabbiCat, check out your play counts.  Many of them have been played several hundred times!  We’ve now been visited by all 50 of the United States and over 70 countries around the world!  For those of you that have been tweeting about and promoting GabbiCat, thank you SO MUCH!  I appreciate anything you can do to spread the word about GabbiCat as I have very little money for advertising.

I deployed some minor enhancements to the site last night.  They are as follows:

1. Played count notifications - You will now receive notifications when any of your posts are played 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500, 1000, etc. times.  This helps keep you aware of posts that are trending or possibly going viral…handy.  If you have email notifications enabled, you will also receive an email each time these events occur.
2. Extended and clickable captions - You can now enter up to 500 characters in the caption field of your posts rather than 140.  Also, any hyperlinks that you include in your caption will now appear as clickable links that will open a new browser window.
3. Changed anonymous home page back to “Everything” feed - After reviewing the traffic numbers from yesterday, it became clear that making the “Trending” feed the home page caused many of the latest posts to be ignored.  It might make sense to use the “Trending” feed as the home page at some point in the future when there’s a constant flow of new posts coming in, but for now I think it makes more sense to use the “Everything” feed.  We’ll see.
4. Contest coming soon - I’m still working on the specifics of the contest.  Expect an announcement soon!

I think that’s about it for now.  Thanks again to everyone for your help.  Please continue to help promote GabbiCat on Facebook and Twitter.  All help is VERY appreciated!

Oh yeah, have you joined GabbiCat and started posting yet?  No?  Then join now and make my day!

GabbiCat

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Hey Peeps,

You can listen to this post here, or you can read on…

Well, things have been a bit quiet here at GabbiCat as I was on vacation last week, but now I’m back and ready to roll.  Here’s the latest updates:

1. New Trending Audio Feed - This replaces the “Most-Liked” audio feed and is also the default audio feed presented to anonymous and signed-out users.  It displays those posts which are currently the most popular by analyzing a combination of play counts, likes, shares, etc.  Check it out and see if any of your posts are trending!
2. Upcoming Contest - I’m still sorting out the specifics, but I will be announcing a weekly contest soon.  The general idea is that the user with the most popular post each week will win a cash prize.  We’re eager to have more posting activity on GabbiCat from all of you and thought that dangling a few bucks out there will get you all talking! :)  More details to follow.
3. Phone Client - If you haven’t registered your phone number with your account yet, please do.  The phone client allows you to post to GabbiCat directly from your phone without the need to use a web browser.  I used it extensively last week while on vacation and it worked like a champ.

I think that’s about it for now.  Stay tuned for more info!

Oh yeah, have you signed up for GabbiCat yet?  No?  Then join now and start gabbing!

GabbiCat

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Hey everyone,

You can listen to this post here, or, if you’d rather be kinda lame, you can read on… :)

POSTING FROM YOUR PHONE IS NOW AVAILABLE!!!

I’ve been promising this for the last week or so, and now it’s available.  You can now use the GabbiCat phone client to record and post to without needing to use a web browser.  To do this, you must first register the phone number from which you’ll be calling GabbiCat and assign a four digit pin.  This can be done in the new phone tab on the settings page.  Once your phone number is registered, you can record and post to GabbiCat from your phone anytime.  Woo ha!  Try it out and let me know what you think!

In other topics, last Thursday was our second highest traffic day since the website launch four weeks ago.  Traffic yesterday/today has been reduced, but this is consistent with the pattern we’ve seen emerging over the last few weeks: weekends tend to be lower traffic days.  Nevertheless, the lows are still higher than in previous weeks, which is still indicative of overall upward growth.  Boo ya!

I think that’s it for now.  I’m heading on vacation with my family tomorrow for the week, but that won’t stop me from posting now that I can post straight from my phone!  Waka waka!

Oh yeah…have you signed up for GabbiCat yet?  No?  Then be a lamb and sign up now!

GabbiCat

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Ola Amigos,

As always, you can listen to this post here, or you can be boring and read on… :)

1. Yesterday tied our second biggest traffic day since the GabbiCat launch almost 4 weeks ago!  We now have had visitors from 51 countries and 44 of the United States.  We’ve also had nearly 2,000 plays on our members’ audio posts.  Most excellent!
2. I’ve made further progress on the GabbiCat phone client, which will allow you to record and post directly from a phone call and without the need to sign-in to the site using your web browser.  I’m hoping to have it deployed in the next few days before I leave for vacation with the fam.

That’s about it for today…short and sweet.  Stay tuned for more updates.

Oh yeah…have you signed up for GabbiCat yet?  No?  Then take action and join now, Hotshot!

GabbiCat

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Howdy partners,

You can listen to this post here, or you can be boring and read on <not-so-subtle-nudging>…

Updates for today:

1. Site traffic continued it’s upward trend again yesterday after the dip over the holiday weekend.  I believe it was our 3rd busiest day since launch.  I’ll have some specific numbers to share later this week.
2. I’ve been working on a new feature called the “phone client”, which will allow users to interact with GabbiCat completely from their phones…no computer needed.  This will be especially handy for recording audio posts while out and about.  I’m hoping to have this feature available later this week.
3. Some GabbiCat users have expressed that while they enjoy listening to posts, they don’t feel like they have anything worth posting.  This is same thing that many used to say about Twitter and Facebook only a few short years ago, and now look at them! :)  Everyone knows something, whether it’s a life experience, knowledge you’ve acquired, or simply the way you feel about your day!  Chances are also good that someone out there could benefit from the things that you share through your voice.  It’s my sincere hope that GabbiCat becomes a community of supportive users that encourage everyone to try posting their voice or other audio.  So, give it some thought, shake off some of that shyness, and share something with the world!  We want to hear you!

I think that’s about all for today.  Stay tuned for more information and have a great day!

Oh yeah…have you signed up for GabbiCat yet?  No?  Then join now and say what you need to say!

GabbiCat

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Hey everyone,

You can listen to this post here, or if you want to be boring and read, then continue…

I hope you all had a great extended weekend (those of you in the US) and had a chance to spend some quality time with friends and family.

I have a few updates to share with you today:

1. Web site traffic dropped off over the weekend, though that was expected given the holiday (and weekends generally have less traffic).  However, even with the reduced traffic as compared to late last week, it was still busier than most of the days since the GabbiCat launch over three weeks ago, and traffic looks to be cranking up again now that we’re back from the weekend!
2. I was busily coding over the weekend and managed to finish the phone recording feature.  This new feature was deployed last night and is now available for general use.  On the “new post” screen, you’ll now see a third option (a phone icon) that will allow you to record your audio from any telephone in the US (international support will be considered based on demand from users).  It’s currently a long distance call unless you’re in Indianapolis (the home of GabbiCat).  If there’s enough demand, I’ll acquire a toll free number, but those cost me 3X as much money to host, so I don’t want to go there unless I really need to.  So, if you haven’t been able to post because you don’t have a mic on your computer, you’re now in business (unless you don’t have a phone either…doh)!
3. I also deployed a small enhancement last night that displays the number of times a post has been played.  At the bottom of each post where we show how much time has passed since the post was created, you’ll now see “(X plays)”, where “X” is the number of times the audio has been played.  Now you can see exactly how many times you’re being heard!
4. I’ve seen a few new accounts from musicians that are using GabbiCat to promote their music.  I think that’s great!  It proves once again that GabbiCat is a great utility that has many possible uses.  For you musicians that have been posting your music…great tunes!!!

That’s about all for today.  Stay tuned for more updates!

Oh yeah…have you signed up yet?  No?  Then step up and join now!

GabbiCat

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Hi Peeps,

Yep, as always you can listen to this post here on GabbiCat.com (comon, do it) or you can keep on reading…

Yesterday was another record-breaking traffic day for GabbiCat.com!  We had 158 visitors, compared to the previous day, which was 102 (which was the previous record).  This represents 55% growth in traffic.  At this point, we have now received visitors from 49 countries and 39 of the 50 US states!  So, a huge thanks to all of you for your contributions to this growth!

For those of you looking for ways to improve the quality of the audio that you post, you might want to try out a few tools and techniques that I’ve been using for recording these GabbiCat Today posts.  First of all, the record from browser feature uses a lower fidelity technology for recording your voice.  So, while it’s definitely convenient, it isn’t the best option if audio quality is really important.  Secondly, the built-in mics on most laptops also produce lower quality audio, resulting in a speakerphone-ish quality that can sometimes be difficult to understand during playback.

What I recommend (and do) is to use a headset mic along with a free audio recording tool called Audacity and the LAME MP3 encoder which enables you to export your recording to MP3 format (the format used by GabbiCat.com).  Audacity also has some nice features for amplifying the audio, reducing noise, and even adding background audio tracks (like background music, etc.) to give you a really high quality recording.  Once you’ve exported your recording to MP3, you can use the upload button on GabbiCat’s Create Post page to upload, caption, and post your recording.  Audacity is completely free and available on all PC platforms (Windows, Mac, Linux).  Of course, there are other tools out there that do the same thing, but this is the one with which I’m most familiar.

Anyway, today is Friday and most of us are heading into a three day weekend  (at least here in the US), so I expect we’ll see reduced activity on GabbiCat over the next few days, which is how it should be so that we can enjoy quality time with our friends/families/pets, etc.  Nevertheless, GabbiCat will still be here waiting for you in case you need to share something exciting during your weekend!

Oh yeah…have you signed up for GabbiCat yet?  No?  Then join now, Superstar!

GabbiCat

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Hey everyone,

As always, you can listen to this post here, but if you’re really set on making your eyes work hard by reading text, then read on.  :)

Yesterday was a HUGE day for GabbiCat.  Site traffic increased 80% over the previous day and set a new traffic record of 102 visits.  Ever seen those growth curves that rise steeper and steeper?  That’s the kind of growth curve that we’re seeing with GabbiCat thanks to all of you!

We now have had visitations from 35/50 states and over 30 countries!  Just 2 days earlier, only 30 states and 5 countries were represented.  Waka waka!

We’re also seeing a few trends starting to develop in how people can/are using GabbiCat.  For example, some people are using GabbiCat as their personal daily blog (much like I’m doing here).  Others are using GabbiCat and audio as a marketing/advertising tool.  Finally, we’re seeing some people investigating using GabbiCat as an Internet radio broadcasting platform.  This one is particularly interesting and might also mean that we should give people more recording time than the current 5 minutes.

In the end, the main thing we’re learning is that GabbiCat is a tool, and like many tools, it can used in different ways to address different situations.  Makes sense.

Thanks again to everyone for your support so far!  Keep on keeping on!

Oh yeah…have you joined and posted your voice yet?  No?  Then join now and become the voice of the online party!

GabbiCat

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Yo yo (not yoyo),

I’ve started using GabbiCat for voice blogging the same information that I’m capturing on this boring text blog (seems like an obvious thing to do).  So, if you’d like to use GabbiCat to stay up-to-date on GabbiCat, go here.

If you’re still reading this boring written form of communication, here’s what you’re missing on the GabbiCat audio feed:

1. I’ve deployed a few updates to the site over the last few days, primarily related to Facebook integration.  For those of you listening to posts from within Facebook, you’ll notice that we now have a “pre-roll” audio clip that plays at the start of each post from the voice of our very own Gabbi Cat…shameless self-promotion.
2. There are new “embed” and “share” buttons on audio posts played from within Facebook.  You can use these to embed posts on your own webpage or to share posts on other social networks.  Have at it!
3. There was a bug that caused some of the posts to not play in Facebook.  Doh!  It’s been fixed and the developer (me) has been properly punished.
4. I started work on the dial-in feature that will allow you to record your posts from your phone.  It’s not available yet, but I’m working on it.
5. A few people have asked if it’s possible to get a link for a post.  The answer is yes.  Aside from the new features in #2 above, which allow you to share a post, you can also click the “View” link on any post while on the GabbiCat site, which will take you to a page for that specific post.  On that page, copy the URL from your browser’s address bar and you’re golden.  Boo ya!

That’s it for now.  Oh yeah, have you signed up for GabbiCat and posted your voice yet?  No?  Then join now and stop being such a punk!  :)

GabbiCat

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1. Indiana - 442 (visits)
2. Illinois - 63
3. Alaska - 33
4. New York - 23
5. Ohio - 8
6. California - 7
7. Arizona - 4
8. Michigan - 4
9. (not set) - 3
10. Florida - 3
11. Georgia - 3
12. South Carolina - 3
13. Texas  - 3
14. Kentucky - 2
15. Massachusetts - 2
16. Missouri - 2
17. New Jersey - 2
18. Pennsylvania - 2
19. Wisconsin - 2
20. Colorado - 1
21. District of Columbia - 1
22. Idaho - 1
23. Maryland - 1
24. Minnesota - 1
25. Montana - 1
26. North Carolina - 1
27. Oregon - 1
28. Tennessee - 1
29. Virginia - 1
30. Washington - 1

Total - 622

Don’t see your state here?  Then join GabbiCat and represent!

GabbiCat

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