Host - Good Morning
Derek - Morning
Host - We're here with Derek Franklin, and we're at the Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana.
Derek - Yes
Host - Tell us, well, I don't know where we're at, I'm from Minneapolis, MN. Tell us where we're at, Derek.
Derek - Actually, we're at the Indiana University Memorial Union, Student Memorial Union, and this is the largest Student Union in the world, at least as far as I remember... And we're on the IU campus which is a great campus in the beautiful city of Bloomington.

Host - Tell us something fun about yourself. What's something just crazy that nobody would ask you in an interview, I mean, do you have any crazy hobbies?
Derek - Well I play music, that's not so much a crazy hobby. But I guess if the question somebody would never ask me in an interview or that they would ever realize about me, and people always seem to get a kick out of this, is that I grew up as a kid, I was a nudist.
Host - Oh, well that is crazy. That's not something I would just... So uh sir, thanks for coming to this interview, but have you ever been a nudist?
Derek - (Laughing) Actually I have.
Host - Oh well there we go... Now we're on a new segment.
Derek - We're on a new segment and...
Host - Tell us about that. I mean, you're current clothed...
Derek - Yeah, I'm currently clothed, when I go out of the house, you know... But uh, yeah... I as a kid..
Host - Is that why you work at home?
Derek - (Laughing) No, actually I gave up the whole lifestyle outside of taking a...
Host - So Flash... That was your first experience...
Derek - (Laughing) Yes... I never really thought of it that way, but you're absolutely right.

Host - So take us back to 1995, what was the first technology that you basically tried to master or were interested in?
Derek - Uh you know, back then I was just learning so it actually if you move forward a couple of years is when I actually started getting into doing something with what I was learning... And at the time it was Flash, and Macromedia Flash was coming into the scene, and people were just starting to get familiar with it.   I mean it wasn't near as popular as it is now.  But, I downloaded Flash because it was a web tool and I wanted to experiment with it, I was always experimenting with new tools, and when I downloaded it my first impressions of Flash were that it was some kind of rinky-dink graphics tool.  I mean because I'd been using…
Host -  Okay, that it was going to go nowhere.
Derek - Yeah exactly.  Yeah, believe it or not that's what I thought initially.  And, because I had been using  Corel Draw and several other graphics programs, and you know they have tons of icons and abilities and everything else like that, but…  Back then in Flash 2 you open up the interface and there were like five buttons and it was just like you know, kind of unappealing to me.
Host - So, Flash 2, was there a Flash one or did they just skip 1 and go right to 2?
Derek - Well, actually it was bought by Macromedia.  It was initially called FutureSplash.  And so when Macromedia bought it they re-branded it as Flash and came out with Flash 2 and that's when I kind of took a liking to it. Like I said, I really didn't think that much of it when I first saw it, but there was a website that this guy put together with his name was, well I can't remember his name, but he put together this site called Gabocorp and early Flash junkies would  remember this…  It was kind of like the site that started the whole Flash craze, because what this guy did…
Host - Gavelcorp?
Derek -Gabo
Host - Oh, Gabo
Derek - Gabocorp: G A B O C O R P dot com
Host - Is he still out there?
Derek - I believe so, was the last time I checked, I mean I kind of reminisce on occasion.  I checked I think about a year ago.  And he was still, you know he still had a website… It wasn't the same one, obviously, his skills have improved dramatically as well.  But, he created something that was very innovative, and as a result I saw that, I stumbled across it and thought “Man this is just, this is just amazing.”  I knew that, I didn't know you could do that with just five buttons/ little tools or whatever.  And so, I reinstalled Flash again and went about learning it some more and as I got into it, I became more fascinated with it.  My first project, to answer your question: My first project was a dumb family website that I put together, you know I drew some cartoon heads of me and my wife and my cat and my daughter Ashley and you know they were like bobble heads and I used Flash to create this bobble head effect and it was uh…  I look back on it now, I've got it archived on cd, and I looked back on it a couple of years ago and I thought Man, this is you know, I don't know what I was doing back then.  Obviously it was kind of really lame, actually. But it was fun to look at and at the time I thought I was a genius; a Flash genius.  But none the less that was my first real project in anything technology related.  I mean as far as a website or anything to do with Flash.  It was kind of, I mean it was interesting… Everybody has to start somewhere.
Host - Right, it's a race ahead.  Now you've sold books that you've written on this topic of Flash, right?
Derek - Yeah.  Absolutely.
Host - How many books have you written?  I mean, one or two or more?
Derek - I've written five total.  Five books total for Macromedia Press.  And we've sold nearly a quarter of a million copies…
Host - Wow!  You're almost up there in the Jon Mellencamp  uh…
Derek - No quite! Not quite…  I mean, that's… You know I've got a little, I've got a few more sales to achieve something like that.  But none the less, they've been translated in probably 20 different languages.  It's kind of interesting the publisher will send me a copy of a translated version of the book whenever it comes out in Chinese, or Russian or… And it's interesting to get these, to get these books and you know that you wrote the content and you put the graphics in there and to see it translated in a different language like Chinese and to see your name on the front and know that people are going to book stores all around the world and are buying your product, I mean that was just kind of fascinating to me. You know, so, I went from a stupid website to creating/ writing a lot of books.

Host - Tell me about Search Automator.
Derek - Okay. 
Host - Search Automator.com, is that right?
Derek - Yes, Search Automator.com.
Host - What is that product and when did you start building that one?
Derek - That project is uh, I put that together or started that in 19, er 19, 2004.  It actually stemmed from the fact that, you know I have a passion for search, I have a passion for finding things online and the whole process of how people go about that, and unfortunately people don't do that very well. And because I had written a lot of technology content over the years, I had become familiar with finding the information content online.  I had my, I developed a skill set for doing that.  Not only that but I was, I was, it was something that I found interesting.   How you know you could find something that was out in the middle of this sea of information and you could use a search engine or a search tool to find exactly what you want.  To give you an example:  My brother in law Jack Staley, he's in a fantasy football…
Host - Hold it, hold it… Will Jack also watch this?
Derek - Jack will also watch this.
Host - Okay we're up to five.  That's great.  Hi Jack!   We appreciate you watching too.
Derek -  We have five audience members.
Host - There we go!
Derek - And so, he actually you know, contacted me one time, he was telling me about his…
Host - Flash started with none, remember.
Derek - Yes.
Host - Then there were five.
Derek - Yeah, yup, absolutely.
Host - Now there's a few.
Derek - Yeah, like a couple million actually.
Host - 98% of all computers.
Derek - Yeah, as far as users 98% of the computers and developers… there are millions.
Host - Right.  So, go back and tell us about the…
Derek - So, it's just an interesting story that, I know it's kind of a kind of a stupid story, but none the less it's something that kind of brings to light the reason why I like doing search stuff.  And that is he contacted me one time, he was telling me about this fantasy football league that he joined and his team name was the Hammerheads. 
Host - The Hammerheads?
Derek - Yeah.  I mean that's what he had chosen and I thought, you know that's a great team name, and he was saying he was trying to throw some ideas off me what he should use as a mascot.  And you know, he had a shark, a picture of a shark, a hammerhead shark, and I thought knowing my brother, I call him Jackie, knowing my bother in law Jackie, his personality and who he really is, I thought No, he needs something better than that.  And I told him on the phone, I said, Jackie, wouldn't it be cool if, remember in the Three Stooges how they used to take a hammer and just, you know, Moe would hit Curley in the head with the hammer, and I thought that's what you need!  I said gimmie just a second and I'm gonna see if I can find you something that would a great logo for that.  I went online and just knowing how to search online I was able to find him, in just fifteen seconds, an animated gif of Moe hitting Curley on the head with a hammer.  And I sent it to him and he went crazy.  Like I said it's a stupid story, but at the same time amazes me that when you have an idea in your mind  or when you want to know something or you want to have something or experience something the internet is kind of the ultimate gateway for doing that.  There's so much great stuff out there if you know how to find it.  I love going into book stores and just browsing because I'm just an information junkie, and so I had acquired all these skills for finding information and content and I thought , you know I'm constantly getting questions from friends and family and clients saying how do you find this or can you answer this question for me or…
Host - Well Derek, isn't that the essence of Google ?  I mean, doesn't Google take care of that all for us?  Why in the world would you need Search Automator?  You know, you're this ah… How old are you? 
Derek - I'm 39
Host - You're 39.  You have this 39 year old self taught programmer, architect, innovator from Bloomington Indiana and you know Google has about $130 billion dollar company today…  How in the world do you compare to that, is this problem…
Derek - You know, it's interesting in the fact that people have this great tool but, the problem is with search basically, is that people don't know how to use Google, I mean they really don't, there's a lot of capabilities to using Google that are behind the scenes that they are just not aware of: special little words and symbols that you can add to your search that can kind of help narrow it down from millions of results to practically hundreds or even thousands which really help you find the content that you're looking for.  So, people don't really know how to use Google and the little search box that they provide, I'm always amazed and I tell people that it's amazing to me that that is the gateway to finding billions of files online I mean, that's as good as it gets, is that little box.  And when you think about it, to me I liken that to wanting to create the New York Times using Notepad, you know, there are so many capabilities in word processing and publishing for adjusting fonts and laying things out in a word publishing program that you have these massively powerful tools for doing that.  But, when it comes to finding content online you have this little box with a button.  And that just blows me away that that's the extent of the technology that is out there for finding content online.
Host - But ease of use?
Derek - There is the ease of use, but you know what?  That's why people were contacting me.  Because it's kind of like, the little box didn't do it.  You know when somebody types in the word “jaguar” how does that box know that you're talking about the operating system from Apple, the animal, the car… it doesn't.  I think users have to take a little bit more of an active part in deciding how to use the… how to search.  And, it's gonna require a bit more out of the box and that's one of the reasons why I created Search Automator, but you know, the fact that people weren't actually, they didn't understand how to use these tools, like Google or Yahoo!, not only that, but, there are a lot of wonderful search tools out there besides the main players, like Google and Yahoo!, that help you find audio and video and pdf documents and just a lot of tools that people aren't aware of. 
Host - So start again, I'm a fairly bright guy in relation to search, and I use search myself and I am somewhat of an information junkie myself, I go to Borders books on the weekend and when I'm traveling, just for fun, I use the internet all the time and I've got a license plates that say “Net Nut” so I kinda get it but, you know I've never heard of Search Automator.  I've never you and that together, so, give me the elevator pitch for that.  Why would I want it, and what's it going to cost me?  I mean sell it to me.
Derek - Okay.  Well, the thing is that if you are an information junkie and you go online, I've found that a lot of people just don't do it right.  And they aren't aware of the tools out there.  So, what Search Automator does is, I've tried to take everything that I know about finding any information online and create this unique search tool that brings that all together and automates the whole process.  The way that it does that is that it provides you access, one click access, to a number of great search tools besides Google and Yahoo! , which are great in and of themselves, but the thing to know is there are search engines out there for images and audio and video and things like that, that people aren't aware of, so Search Automator incorporates the ability to access these different search tools depending on what you're looking for.  So, if you're looking for information about a jaguar, for example and you want images related to that, it's one click away.  If you want video, it's one click away.  If you want audio, it's one click away.  You know, you don't have to run around and worry about bookmarking it or anything else like that.  It's all done right there.  And you have access to literally a couple hundred different search tools.  And so, these search tools are available for people to use, but most people aren't aware of them.  And so, I've tried to capture as many of those as I can.   Not only like, but like I mentioned earlier, there are certain things that people can do to find information online on Google and Yahoo! And all these search tools, but most of them aren't aware of them.  You know, it's kind of like, you know, I'm not going to give any examples because it's kind of hard to explain without having a computer here, but…
Host - Well, the people that are watching this video, the great thing there is that they are on a computer! 
Derek - Yeah, they understand technology.
Host - Yeah, they just open another tab in Firefox or open another window in IE 6 or maybe they are testing IE7 and they can open up another tab and …
Derek - Well, let me give you another example.  Okay you talked me into it.  So, what you can do is, let's say people will go online and search for digital photography information.  Well, most people will go to Google, go to the search box, type in digital photography hit search and hope for the best.  And I mean, they will get you know, probably several hun- several million results relating to digital photography.  But, what happens when they add a word like “tips” or “tricks” or “tutorials”?  And most people, amazingly, don't think to do that, you know they don't think to, when they're wanting to learn something, there are these words that kind of tell Google hey I'm looking for information that's going to teach me this subject, and those words, I've found are words like “tips”, “tricks”, “tutorials”.  If you type, if you add those words to you main query like digital photography tips, or digital photography tutorials, you're going to find, as opposed to websites that are just trying to promote their product which is great, you are going to actually find useful information that will help you to learn about digital photography.  And it's free content that you can have access to if you know how to find it.  Now that's just one way, and certainly Search Automator, actually it's called Search Automator Pro now, because it's the second version, but it incorporates the ability to add these set of these terms, and there's a couple dozen of them, that I've found that can kind of help you to find information like that, it incorporates that, they are one click away, so you don't have to think about that.  Another thing that people can do along those same lines, is there's a piece of syntax that people can add to their Google search, that I find extremely valuable in narrowing down results and that is, if you add just the syntax “all in title” colon and then your query, your actual query, which could be digital photography tips, you'll find that the quality of your results that you'll get back from Google are immensely better.  Because it's only returning the results that where “digital photography tips” is the title of the webpage.  And typically titles of webpages define what the whole page is about.

Host - So, it seems to me that if I were your psycho analyst for the day, which is kind of… You know we could put you on the couch, we've got you in the chair but, it seems to me that in 1995 you got this addiction, this new addiction, and it was Flash.
Derek - Yup. Yes.
Host - And that addiction lasted for a while and then you got a new addiction which was search.
Derek - Yes.
Host - And so the nice thing is you can leverage your Flash skills at/to/with your new addiction which is search and you created Search Automator which is your passion for a while.  But now, you've got a new “child”…
Derek - Yeah, I have a new baby.
Host - Your new baby is:
Derek - Whonu
Host Whonu.com  So, tell me the story about how that came after Search Automator, right?
Derek -Yes, exactly.
Host - So, how did, what was the frustrating part of your life that made you want to build whonu?
Derek - Well, you know actually, whonu stemmed from the fact that I realized that there were a lot of people who really enjoyed Search Automator, and what it does, but I figured, you know not everybody wants to have or install software.  A lot of applications now-a-days are online, you know they are online tools, there are even online word processors, online spread sheets, about anything you can imagine, that you used to be able to do with just installable software, you can now do online through your web browser.  And so, I thought why not appeal to the market of people who want to access a lot the search functionality of that Search Automator Pro provides, but they want to do it through a web browser, so that they have access to it no matter what web browser they're using, not matter what computer they're using, no matter where they're traveling, or whatever.  And so, whonu is essentially kind of like, a an online version of Search Automator Pro.  And it incorporates a lot of the functionality that Search Automator Pro has in it and, once again, I've had phenomenal response to it.  And, uh…
Host - Now, it's new right?
Derek - Yes.
Host - Not only is the name whonu new and it's W H O N U
Derek - W H O N U dot com, yes.
Host - Okay.  But it's recently been launched?
Derek - Yes.  Within the last month it's been, I've officially launched the beta.  And the reason why it's the beta still, somebody asked me the other day says Derek, you know that's awesome but, why is it a beta?  And if you go to the site, it has a number of buttons that are accessible by clicking a green plus sign…
Host -There's people on the site right now.  That's the fun part is that we talk to them, and they go to the site.
Derek - Well, while they're on it they are going to see a green plus sign, unless the interface changes,  a series of buttons will appear that will allow them to search for interrelated content.  Such things as health information, or automobile information, or people or places or things, and I have a whole set of a couple dozen different options there, but I haven't built them out completely.  So, not all those options are available, you'll see grayed out icons, where they should be, but not all of them are active yet.  Once that gets done I'll move out of beta, and once I get all the feedback back and do some changes according to what people have asked for, I'll move it out of beta and just hopefully it will just , you know, it's already beginning to take a life of it's own, and people…
Host - So, you're getting traction?
Derek - Oh yeah.  Absolutely.  It's incredible.

Host - So, what's the road after whonu, what are you working on now?  Can you see it in five years?
Derek - Well actually, I uh, I hope to uh, um, you know, I, I plan on building it out.  I plan on making it a really unique search tool.  And I don't plan making it complex and bulky but, I want it to be user friendly and something that just maximizes the, the, the functionality of the tools that are out there and so it, it over time I hope that it continues to build traction, that people see it as a unique search destination that they can go to online and, um, I also have additional ideas, um, not ready to talk about right now, but, um, I think that I will say this, I think when it comes to, uh, directories there are some amazing things that could be done in the form of, uh, directories for different, um, topics, and I've got some unique ideas there.  And I think a lot of my ideas really boil down to, uh, helping people find what they want online and really when you provide them the right tool, it can get, they can get  to the information, the content, the audio, video, images, whatever they want, if you give them the right tool they can almost access it in just a few seconds.  And I think that there's a lot more than can be done.  I've got, you know I've got an idea book that's this thick and I, you know, one of the challenges is picking which ones to pursue, but…
Host - Especially when it's just you.
Derek - Yeah, exactly.
Host - You know you've got to figure it out and do it.
Derek -Absolutely.
Host - That's a lot.  There's not very much leverage in that equation.
Derek - No.
Host - There's some efficiency, but not much leverage.
Derek - When there's eating and bathing involved, you know you really have to, uh, schedule your time, uh, very efficiently.  So, uh, but like I said, there's a lot more that can be done, uh, I think , that can turn the whole thing upside down.  And I think I've got, in my own mind, I haven't started developing anything yet, but, uh, in my own mind I have some really unique concepts that I'm eager to going to get online that are going to help people find information related to what they're interested in, even more, you know, even better.  So, um, that's kind of like the road map…  whonu is going to be built out and I'm going to continue to listen to feedback, user feedback, and try to make that better and more along the lines of what the users like.  Um, but in addition to that I have, uh, like I said, ideas that will compliment it.  And, uh, you need ways of accessing information and fun.  And you know, people don't want boring, they want…
Host - Right.
Derek - But they don't want, they don't want a cartoon experience when they go online looking for a serious way to find information online, but they want it interesting, they want it useful and I think I have some really unique ideas and I'm eager to get out there and develop.  And those are just around the corner.

Host -Well, I feel sincerely, that I've developed a new friend.
Derek - Absolutely.
Host - And I think we have a long relationship ahead of us.  I share many of your passions, not the nudist thing, uh, but…  I'm not saying forever no, but, uh, it's something that I haven't participated in…
Derek - it's a pretty serious thought, yeah.
Host - Other than that I think that your passion for Flash and your writing books about that has been helpful to society and it's made the world a better place, and that's what Technology Evangelist is all about.  Digital Technologies, but making the world a better place through them, and if we can do that in some small way, I think that ‘s good, I think that's good for the planet.  And your work with Search Automator, your work with whonu, and I think blog DerekFranklin.com is an expression of your passions.  I want to thank you from all of us at Technology Evangelist for spending your time, ‘cause it's volunteered time.  I wanted you with all the emails, we don't even have a budget for what we're currently doing… But it's been fun.
Derek -It has been fun.  And it's been enjoyable and I appreciate it.
Host – Thank you so much Derek.
Derek - Thank you.