Reviews of Web Sites that are the "Next Big Thing"! Social Media, Mashups, filters, Web-Apps, POD Casting, Blogs, and more.
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Web 2.0 List
Thursday, March 23, 2006
43 THings
Social Goal setting. What better way to make complete your goals than by sharing them with the world. 43Things
Write down your goals
People have known for years that making a list of goals is the best way to achieve them. Why is that? First, getting your goals in writing can help you clarify what you really want to do. You might find you have some important and some frivolous goals. That is OK. You’ve got space for 43 Things on your list. Not every one of them has to change the world (but save room for the ones that might).
Get Inspired
What do you want to do with your life? It is not an easy question to answer – and you shouldn’t have to answer alone. Browse 43 Things to find out what others want to do. You might find some goals you share. Click the “I want to do this” button to add a goal to your list. Got an idea for a new goal? Just type it in the text box on the homepage or at the bottom of any page on the site. Bam. Now, it’s your thing.
Share your progress
We all have stories about what we care about. Writing down your progress on a goal can help someone else learn about something you both want to do. When you see a goal you’ve achieved, click on the “I’ve done this” button and share a story about how you did it.
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Yahoo Voice Just released
Download the new Yahoo messenger just out today (March 22, 2006) and make VOIP calls like skype. Phone In and Phone Out. Make calls for 2 cents or less anywhere. Get your own phone number and receive calls on your computer for just under $30 a year. Coming late to the game will take some hard work to get people to switch but if you use Yahoo messenger it may make sense for you. Go here to get Yahoo Voice
9cays beta - Group Email
9cays a group email application developed by the folks at alien camel. 9cays makes it simple to start a conversation between a group of people - the conversation can be viewed and managed via their web application. You can start a conversation before you even signup to try it out with three other people. The interface seems very simple to use and a good way to keep track of convesations. I have tried this with gmail and sometimes I am so lost in a conversation sthat I have to explode the whole thread to figure out who responded to who and if they don't hit reply all it starts a new thread and you get completely off the subject.
Give it a try and see what you think.
Friday, March 17, 2006
BubbleShare (beta) Photo sharing with voice annotations
Bubble share is another photo sharing site with the addition of voice tagging. Create galleries and annotate with voice describing your pictures. Quick registration will get you up and sharing in no time. Once you have created your gallery you can share it and send an email with the url to freinds and family. If you add it to the public community everyone will have accesss to view your photos. The tools to change sequence, add text captions, record voice annotations is really done well. The one drwawback is the Google Ads down the side of the viewing pages. But you got to make money somehow. BubBleshare
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
AirSet - Group calenadrs, contacts and lists for your Groups
:: Share calendars, contacts, lists and more :: Manage all your groups from one place :: Sync with Outlook and Palm desktop :: Relax. Your data is secure and private
I have been waiting for this since the mid 90's. I tired different apps that were available from Yahoo and others but nothing came close to the functionality. Having several different things in life to schedule things against it is really a challenge to keep them all together and readily available where ever I am. I am just getting my groups setup but I am already able to track work, kids, and other interests in separate groups and give
Box.net - Get a free box and put stuff in it.
Get a free 1GB account to store data, photos, or whatever you want. You can also upgrade your box to 5GB for $4.99 a month or 15GB for $9.99 a month. There is also an API for developers to integrate Box.net storage into thier web applications. box.net
Here are some of the useful things you can do with Box
Save backup copies of important filesAlways have a backup plan to prevent data loss in case of computer failure.
Move documents between your computersUse your Box to transfer files so that you can work on them in any location.
Setup sub-accounts for multiple user accessA perfect solution for small businesses and workgroups requiring collaboration.
Store photos and other important memoriesRelax! Your priceless files and photos are always safe.
Share files or create online photo galleriesHassle-free sharing; show off your vacation photos or send a file to a friend!
The interface is very clean with no ads. Box only supports Windows 2000 or better and MAC OSX.
Monday, March 13, 2006
GOOWY - Email, Calendar, Widgets and More
A way to manage your digital lifestyle. First you'll need to get a free account with Goowy. Once you have that which only takes a minute to setup your ready to check out all the cool information Goowy has to offer. The first thing I did was download and install the Goowy desktop application.
With the Goowy desktop I could immediately check email (which you can use Goowy or import your Gmail or whatever) get to my contacts, calendar, Read news and Blogs (Although I did get a system error once) and manage your Desktop minis. What's a mini you ask? Well minis are little boxes and balloons you can cover your desktop with. Here's a screen shot of minis.

Currently you get 2GB of space you use for email, but there are some other features coming soon. Integrated messaging to use all your different messenger accounts and file storage. The program looks nice and so far unobtrusive but quick to access.
Friday, March 10, 2006
Skobee - Making plans simple
This one couldn't have come up at a better time. With Spring approaching fast I like to have tons a cookouts and get togethers. I signed up for an account and started inviting the inner circle of my closest freinds to join up. Already I have 2 cookouts planned, and a couple NCAA basketball tournement parties.
The site interface is very nicely done. Simple and straightforward. They do a nice job of using the Google Maps API to incorprate a map of the event location.
Get on and start making plans. Skobee
Microsoft Windows Live
Windows Live is a new set of Internet software and services designed to put you in control of the information, relationships and interests you care about. Windows Live will make it easier for you to connect with people, and to quickly find the information you need, more safely and securely, whether you're on your PC or on the go. Very easy to add content but you have to look around to find good stuff. I really like the portable favorites. There is also an idea page that touts a bunch of cool stuff but that is yet to be seen. I'm sure there will be a monthly charge. And to charge isn't very Web 2.o-ish at all. You can play with the beta here Windows Live One more point to make is that they do have a great url for this. How much easier could it get http://www.live.com/ Makes ya wonder what kind of coin they spent to get that one.
Thursday, March 09, 2006
diggdot.us All your favorite Blogs and Social bookmarks in one place
Now that I have covered some very popular Web 2.0 spaces its time to introduce a very cool mashup. diggdot.us combines the articles and bookmarks from 3, make that 4 sites and continuously updates tham here in one Place. The basic premiss of a mashup is taking data from 2 or more sources and presenting it in a new way. diggdot.us takes data from Slashdot, Digg, Reddit and Del.icio.us/popular and creates an all in one place to read your favorite blog and social boomarks. Once you signup you have the ability to add or remove which sites feeds show up. This is pretty nice since I pretty much just want my Digg and Slashdot stuff. If you are addicted to these sites like I am you will very quickly incorporate diggdot.us into your daily "to surf" list.
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
Flickr Photo Sharing site for the masses
Flickr is the photo sharing site of the net savvy. You can share your photos amougst freind, family and even complete starngers. You can tag your photos so you can easy find them later of allow others to find them when they search.
Once you sign up for a Flickr account with an email address and password you can start uploading photos right away. Then you can share tehm, tag them and allow others to comment on them. You are able to upload 6 photos at a time through your web browser of download the client photo uploader.
One of the best thing I ran across is the services page which are links to sites that use Flickr API to mash things up and give it to you a different way. You can check them out here http://www.flickr.com/services/
So let me here what you think of Flickr. Send in your comments. Get out there and share!
http://www.flickr.com
Monday, March 06, 2006
Through My Way's "My Choice" settings page, you get Direct, One-Click Access to any Email Account, Chat Room, Portfolio, Calendar or Group on the Web! On My Way we give you choices. The choice to use our own features, or to establish direct, one-click access to features and services that you use on other sites. Check it out here http://www.myway.com
The choice is yours:
My Search
My Way offers not one, but FOUR of the Internet's leading search providers. Choose from Google, Yahoo!, Ask.com and LookSmart as your My Way primary Search Provider.
My Email
Don't need another Web-based Email address but want to access your Hotmail account through My Way? Simply establish a primary Email account and all My Way Email links will take you directly to the sign in page for that account.
My Chat
Connect with the chatters of your choice directly from My Way. Designate a primary Chat page, and we'll take you there straight from My Way Chat links.
My Portfolio
Like the Portfolio you've set up on Yahoo!? Don't want to create a new one on My Way? Just create a primary Portfolio and all My Way Portfolio links will click through to the Web-based Portfolio that you have selected.
My Calendar
Always stay just a click away from your online calendar while using My Way. Choose your primary Calendar (Yahoo! or MSN) and we'll provide your with direct access from My Way Calendar links.
My Groups
Want to keep tabs on your favorite online Groups? Establish a primary Groups provider and all My Way Groups links will take you directly to your Groups sign in page.
Changing your setting:
You may change your primary Email Account, Chat Room, Portfolio, Calendar or Group at any time by clicking within the "My Settings" box at the bottom of every My Way page.
Saturday, March 04, 2006
Nuvvo - Learning something new
Nuvvo is your way to teach on the web. Everyone knows a little bit about something, and this free, AJAX-enhanced eLearning web service is designed to bring out the teacher in all of us. Sign up and build a course in minutes; advertise your course on our eLearning Market to get the word out. Get teaching with Nuvvo, Web 2.0's answer to eLearning.
I caught wind of this site when I was listening to a POD cast from The Web 2.0 Show. The POD cast is an interview with John Green of Savvico, creator of Nuvvo. After hereing about the concept and ease of use I had to give it a try. I must say it is very slick. In fact I am working on another project and this will be used as our educational offerings portal.
Next step is to take a course to see how it goes. If your into teaching this is the easiest way to bring your materials to market hands down.
Friday, March 03, 2006
MySpace - Social Media Super Giant
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
DIGG - Where social bookmarking, blogging and RSS come together
Digg is a technology news website that combines social bookmarking, blogging, RSS, and non-hierarchical editorial control. With digg, users submit stories for review, but rather than allow an editor to decide which stories go on the homepage, the users do.
Check it out! http://www.digg.com So simple yet so incredibly good! I really Digg Digg.
del.icio.us - Keep Share Discover
del.icio.us. Keep all your bookmarks in one place so you can find them. Share your favorite bookmarks with others. Discover new places you haven't been. http://del.icio.us
Yahoo bought del.icio.us and has now created anotehr Silicon Valley web millionaire. I think the site has a very nice concept and one that I searched for, for a long time. One thing that could use a little work, ok a lot of work, is the look. Functionally it works great but its just not very apealing to look at.
Of course the best and most important feature is the browser button so you can quickly add sites on the fly. I look for nice advancements at del.icio.us in the furutre.