Although many of the posts here on The Web Outside showcase LocaModa’s finished products, I thought it would be a nice change of pace to pass the baton over to one of our developers and let him shed a bit of light on what goes on behind the scenes here.

Ben, a Platform Architect here at LocaModa, has written a two-part blog post in which he details the asynchronous sending and receiving of messages, as well as synchronous request/response using ActiveMQ and Spring.

Ben will be representing Loca at SXSW, so feel free to pick his brain in person if you’re headed to Austin. (He looks basically like the profile pic above, except in color.) If not, you can always hit him up on Twitter or leave a comment here.

MediaPost’s Online Media Daily featured a piece this morning highlighting the fact that regular mobile phones (those “which do not have operating systems of offer the same range of functionality as smartphones”) are working to keep up with the likes of  the iPhone and BlackBerry. The article notes that while “feature phones” are slowly losing ground to smartphones, they still hold a strong lead in market share – 72%.

So we’d like to use this opportunity as a reminder to those looking to add interactivity to their digital out of home campaign: no smartphones, no custom apps, no true OS? No problem. All you need to interact with the LocaModa platform is a text messaging plan (US only…for now).

I’ll admit that the majority of LocaModa employees have iPhones (with a BlackBerry or two in the mix). But that doesn’t mean we don’t build our platform with universal compatibility in mind. We even have a few feature phones sitting around the office for testing.

Sure, writing a custom app (like Jumbli for the iPhone) to integrate into your DOOH campaign will enhance some interactive experience, perhaps providing revenue opportunities and – of course – plenty of buzz. But when it comes down to it, the good ol’ text or photo message is all you need to extend your interactive media to audiences beyond the web.

Above, LocaModa’s test cell phones. Shown with original iMac puck mouse to illustrate age of technology.

Ever wonder what an engineering meeting looks like at LocaModa?
Well, a little like this (and, no, I’m not being hazed… well, not really)…

And when we’re not doing as many push-ups as we can before our face turns red and we collapse on the carpet…

We’re encouraging you to read this great blog post over at Advertise Here. Rob Gorrie discusses the transition from old media to the New Media Triad, a shift we’ve been championing for years.

To quote Rob:

“Network TV isn’t going away any time soon (ever) but it’s not that hard to understand why certain brands/products are getting antsy about continuing to use a medium that doesn’t come with the measurability of other, newer mediums, is the most expensive product on the market and is losing audience at an astounding rate without the reflection showing up in pricing at the same pace.”

In sum… as we say ’round these parts, “Undivided attention is so last year.”

Rob has a great discussion going, so I urge you to toss in your two cents. Tell him the girl with the lame push-up form sent you…

While all of you were out sipping Veuve and slamming oysters on the half shell (hey, you know that’s how you roll…), here at LocaModa we were glued to our TVs watching the Dick Clark/Carson Daly/Ryan Seacrest pop culture fest.

Why? No, not because we’re lame… but because we were watching JUMBLI(!!!) continually popping up in the background!

(Forgive the quality… it’s snarked from a tivo via iphone cam.)

What’s more… because our CEO is always prepared for an impromptu moment of Jumbli magic, look what word was played exactly as the clock struck midnight:

The new mantra for ’09: Glory Be to Jumbli!

The snow is all kinds of serious here in Cambridge, but what better time to cozy up with a latte and some Nielson numbers? Hey, It’s New Year’s Eve, let’s get crazy…

Upon reading The Television-Internet Connection yesterday (a Time article from ’07 that is still particularly relevant), I was struck by the stat that 37% of the U.S. population over the age of 12 use their computers while watching television at home (Solutions Research Group). Because LocaModa focuses on building products that are cross-channel (i.e. work on out-of-home signage, web, mobile), it’s not surprising that such a significant chunk of the population is already habitually multitasking their “screen viewership,” yet it is a bit surprising that it’s happening so quickly.

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