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Wednesday, May 31, 2006

May Vote Now On

Another fine month has past by and it's that time again. Vote for your favourite site from the last month's batch of Next Big Web Things. Vist the May Vote to choose.

As a side note - due to holidays and other things - I'm going to combine the June and July votes into one, so the next vote will be on the 1st of August rather than the 1st of July. I'm also interested in finding more people to write for this blog. If you're interested and can pledge 2 posts a month - contact me (select Join The Team). Send me a paragraph about a website you like and what makes it special. If I like it, I'll invite you onto the team to be a regular contributor - only apply if you're able to commit - I've had lots of promises in the past... ;)

Monday, May 29, 2006

Swarm The

Given the quagmire of information and fun things to do that we call the web, a number of sites have staked their space by telling their users what other sites on the web are popular. Digg, Fark, BoingBoing and more - each has it's own methods of giving aimless web surfers a location to take them to more interesting locations.

Swarm The (.com) throws its hat into the ring with some unique new methods of sharing the popular webspots with it's users. Basically, you can install a Firefox extension that sends them information on what you're surfing. Where as this would be a privacy snooping, data mining, advertisers dream, the information gathered is used to populate a unique visual representation of what people are visiting on the web, sort of like a visual Digg. You can click through thumbnails and navigate your way around the swarm to discover what's ticking the boxes for users of Firefox. It's a nice way to browse new things to do, and also adds discussion features into the mix. Typically, the swarm is full of porn and sport, but hey - the heart is in the right place, and the idea has much potential and could be drilled down to categories, themes and all sorts of nice navigational methods.

Thursday, May 18, 2006

Ning

The social aspects of the web continue to be one of its biggest draws for many less technical types. I know something big's happening when my mum asks for my flickr details. Building on this new found lust for sharing and socialising, I've seen a few rumblings of new projects which try to demystify the various web APIs and provide a tool set for less technical types to make their own social web apps.

Ning is one great example, it allows you to choose tools to make a range of personalised sites that mimic the best (and worst) of the common web tools. Select apps you like, clone them and personalise them - before you know it you can have your own (lite version) of social bookmarking site, make a Googlemap mash-up, share photographs or run a Hot or Not style competition. There's more to explore and use, and more tools on the way. Like all good Web 2.0 things, it's free to sign up and play.

Monday, May 15, 2006

April Vote Closed - Congratulations To PopURLs

We have a winner. The April vote is now closed, we'd like to congratulate our run-away winner PopURLs on being April 2006's Next Big Web Thing. PopURLs is a site that aggregates the best of the best links in one handy place - a handy bookmark we'd heartily recommend.

In second place came the excellent Web 2.0 resource site NeoBinaries, and snapping at it's heals for a well earned third, movie suggestion engine Criticker.

Thursday, May 11, 2006

Inkling

One popular pastime in recent years has been fantasy leagues and share dealing. There have been a number of well known iterations of the games online such as Celebdaq and Fantasy Footbal League to name but two.

Usually, the markets are set for you and based in actuality. Inkling is different. It trades in ideas and concepts. You can buy shares in certain ideas, and see how they perform in time. As more people buy shares in your ideas so the prices raise. Currently there are a few markets to buy into, but they will soon be releasing the marker builder function to allow you to create your own markets. On one hand, it could be a useful way of tracking how people think your ideas will work. On the other, it could simply be a fun way of trading in some wild and wacky stocks.

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

Etsy

Before I started building websites, I was dreaming of living the life of creating art and things to sell via ebay and other online methods. If there's one thing the web has opened up for creative types like myself, is an audience willing to buy or subscribe to our creative output. There are a number of good an established methods of selling creative works online, the area is well serviced, so any new entries to that market need to standout to be noticed.

Etsy is one such new player. It's an online shopping engine which caters for works and crafts. It supplies tools for both buyers and sellers. What makes it standout and gives it a place here is the wonderful Web 2.0 inspired navigation methods and crisp design. It invites you to click and explore all manner of handmade goodies - via familiar favourites such as tags, geo-positioning and other nice features like colour swatches and the time machine. It looks like a service that will grow and grow, and hopeful not fill up with the artspam that's made Ebay an unviable place for selling such items.

Eyespot

We've featured the ongoing explosion in online video here a number of times. So far, all the video sites we've featured have been lacking one ingredient that would truly scale the mountain of interactivity and rightly stake it's claim to being the king. What is this mythical feature? Simply, the ability to edit video online. Whilst the likes of YouTube and Google Video make for great video repositories and organisational tools - that's where the fun ends. Once up, (unless you know a few choice tools) that's it, the videos are frozen in time for all to see(at least until the web 2.0 bubble bursts).

Step up to the plate Eyespot - a new beta service which combines both the video organisational qualities of YouTube, with the added shot of online video editing. Ok, so you're not going to end up editing Gone With The Wind on their simple tools - but let's not knock them for offering what will become a fun way of mashing and messing with video content online. I just wouldn't like to see their server overheads.

Tuesday, May 09, 2006

Stylehive

The digg model has spread like wildfire in recent months. Interesting and less so manifestations of the basic concept and form continue to spring up. The form is open to using in many more unique and well thought out ways that are yet to be tapped.

Stylehive is one such example of teaching an old dog new tricks. It takes the format of digg and applies it to the arena of online shopping. Focusing on stylish, cutting edge designer gear and stores - users vote for items and stores they like. As with digg, the most popular ones float to the top of the heap. The layout is stylish, the items being hived are stylish and I applaud them for seeing a gap in the style market and filling it. If they could just work out some sort affiliate methodolgy for the links, there could be money in the model as well. A great example of what will be a growing number of niche related diggalikes in coming times.

Thursday, May 04, 2006

PlaceSite

As a tribe of turned on web-savvy community types, we all have our own online networks of people and contacts that we trust and consort with on a daily basis. Chatrooms, IRC, MySpace, Del.icio.us, etc are all testament to our growing online love of people. However, despite this, we spend more time hunched over keyboards and a lot less time interacting with actual real people. I mean, how many of you MySpace contacts are you likely to ever (or want to) meet in real life?

PlaceSite is sowing the seeds of a new social network that brings real people back into the mix. It's a new network for mobile PC users. It connects you with people sat in the same area as you, so if you like their profiles on the site, you can say hello. It's a simple idea based on existing mobile phone services, but for mobile computer users who like socialising, it will no doubt be the tool for many random encounters. At present it's only in 4 cafes in San Francisco - but I can see it growing for the same reason ~~fools~~ people enjoyed flashmobbing. And let's not get in to the toothing/random encounters possibilities which it will no doubt become a favourite for.

Wednesday, May 03, 2006

A Swarm Of Angels

As a fan of cinema, I often find myself frustrated at the model that big bland corporations adhere to when it comes to both film-making and distribution of media. Big budgets, bland actors and even duller scripts are endemic problems of big budget cinema. The exciting stuff usually happens in the indie realm of film making, where many a classic has been created on the budget of a Hollywood blockbuster's lunch bill.

One of the problems indie cinema often has is in raising funds to make the films. This has led to a number of creative methods of funding the films, which is where our next site comes in. A Swarm Of Angels has adapted a new web-based approach to film making, as well as embracing a number of brave initiatives in the world of media distribution. Writer and filmmaker Matt Hanson has started A Swarm Of Angels as collaborative web project, creative commons licensed and to be freely shared. The goal is simple - earn a million quid to finance the film and all subscribers to the swarm are able to take part in the creative process and get special offers as part of their £25 subscription fee. If the model works, it could be a welcome way of thumbing a nose at the big boys.

Monday, May 01, 2006

April Vote Now Live

We need your help. Over the last month we've featured some of our favourite new sites and projects from the web and told you why we think they're special. Now we're asking you to decide your favourite, and give it a vote in our third monthly poll.

It's a tough decision, as once again there's a fine crop of great new sites fighting to win the coverted The Next Big Web Thing monthly vote. Hop on over to the vote page and share your lovin'. Go on, you know you want to.

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