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Last year we featured over 100 web applications to organize every aspect of your life, from your belongings to your social calendar, and more. Since then, many have been significantly improved and lots of new apps have been released.

From basic to do lists to event planning, fitness, educational organizers, and more, here are 100 new applications to get you even more organized.

Have a favorite? Tell us more about it in the comments.

Organize Your Stuff

LivingSocial - Organize your interests (restaurants, video games, books, TV shows, etc.) and share them with others.

eMove.com - Online tools to help you move.

BookBump - Complete book organization, including in-depth management tools, instant bibliographies, and organized book lists.

GuruLib - Home library organization application.

allmythings - Secure home inventory software that offers both free and paid plans.

WhatYah! - Organize and create complete lists of your movies, games and TV shows and share them with your friends.

TuneUp - Automatically cleans up and fixes your music collection, relabeling files, finding missing cover art, and even notifying you of upcoming concerts based on your collection.

PutPlace - Organize, store and backup all your digital stuff in one place.

Closet Assistant - A complete wardrobe management application that even includes an events calendar, so you know what events you need to dress for on a given day, and can plan accordingly.

Booktagger - Keep track of all your books, discover new books to read based on recommendations, keep lists of books, and even start an online book club.

Organize Your Shopping

No More Notebooks - Manage your shopping wish lists, research and compare prices, and recommend items to friends.

Rearden Personal Assistant - Online application that helps you book and organize services from trusted suppliers.

Wishlistr - Create customized wish lists that you can organize based on event or other criteria.

iStorez - Create your own personal mall to simplify your shopping.

Organize With Lists

blist - Create shareable online lists for managing every part of your life, from projects to finances to gifts.

vitalist - Getting Things Done list organization and management application.

do it, do it, done! - A simple to do list creator and manager.

Listphile - Community-powered list and database site.

Whimber - Online creator of printable to-do lists.

Wipee List - Free, easy-to-use online task management.

SimplyChecklists.com - Pre-made checklists in a variety of categories to get you organized.

iDo - To-do list for Getting Things Done (GTD).

checkser - A wiki of existing checklists that also allows you to create your own.

Doomi - Super simple to do list manager.

NowDoThis - Incredibly simple to-do list manager that only shows you one task at a time.

Listaculous - GTD list application.

Listas - Shareable list creation from Microsoft.

Organize Your Information

Hordit - Online file and information storage and organization that offers free unlimited storage for your PDFs, spreadsheets, documents, YouTube links, scanned images and more.

NutshellMail - This app organizes and consolidates all your email accounts, plus all your social networking accounts.

Shoeboxed - Receipt organization app that also organizes your business cards.

Joodo.com - Organization app for your photos, videos, friends and more that also offers media sharing and tools to find new content.

LaterThis - Save and organize websites you’d like to revisit later when you have more time.

Luminotes - A personal wiki for gathering and organizing your notes and information.

Zenbe - Integrated email and calendar that also manages your attachments and allows you to share items with others.

Pageonce - Organize all of your online accounts in one place and get alerts for payment due dates, financial transactions, cell phone minutes, and more.

Clipperz - Password organization app that also helps you organize and track any of your sensitive data (PINs, IDs, SSNs, etc.).

Feedoor - Feed management app that lets you merge, manage, and do more with your RSS feeds.

chi.mp - An online life management application.

Scrobbld - eBay and PayPal order and payment management.

Evernote - Capture and organize information from your mobile device, laptop, or any other device or platform that’s convenient.

fluxiom - Enterprise digital content management.

springpad - Online notebooks to organize everything in your life.

Zootool - Online organizer for your images, documents, videos and links.

Second Brain - Complete organization of your social media, files and bookmarks.

Picporta - An automatic photo management app.

Zettels - An online personal organizer.

Voyage - RSS feed organizer.

The Alphabetizer - Free app to put any list in alphabetical order.

Pocket - Organization for all of your bookmarks that includes sharing.

Users-Edge - Organize your data and information using a variety of pre-made templates.

Ziggs - Organize your online brand and image all in one place.

Agglom - Organize your links in sets and lists to create multimedia pages, rss feeds, slideshows and more.

Eluma - Keep all your online stuff - web sites, podcasts, blogs, RSS feeds, etc. - organized in one place.

Organize Your School Life

Notely.net - A complete student organization suite that includes schedule, calendar, note-taking, and more.

zotero - A Firefox extension that helps you keep your research sources organized.

NoteStar - Organize your research paper notes.

Utilium - Organize learning materials for your students and lower their course material costs.

iProcrastinate Mobile for iPhone - A free homework and task management application.

Schoolhouse 2 - A Mac homework manager that includes tasks, notes and file attachments.

Organize Events, Teams & Trips

Wigadoo - Plan outings with friends (whether a night out on the town or a ski trip in Aspen) and organize everyone’s finances to make your trip happen.

WedSnap - An entire suite of wedding planning tools.

MeetingPuzzle - Helps arrange meetings based on convenient times for everyone involved.

Socializr - A free and complete online invitation, party planning and event sharing app.

Bistrola - Coordinate your get-togethers while keeping everyone happy and without alienating or bullying your attendees.

Crusher - Create and send invitations to events or parties and keep track of RSVPs and other information.

Event Wax - Event planning that includes an event website, payment processing (through PayPal), searchable and sortable attendee list, and more.

Goovite - Event invitation creator that doesn’t require registration.

SimpleSeating - Online seating chart creator that offers free and paid plans.

Eventbrite - Online commercial event planning for ticketed events.

Mobaganda - Easy to use party and event planning app that doesn’t require a registration or login.

MyPunchbowl - Online party planning and invitation organizer.

Pingg - Create your own invitations to email or print, and then track RSVPs, reminders, and more.

Presdo - Fast and easy planning for events, parties, and other gatherings.

GoodInvitation.com - Create free event invitations and manage your event plans.

anyvite - Create free invitations that can be viewed on a computer or through mobile, IM, or SMS tools. Also includes an after-event site where photos, videos and comments can be posted.

fluidTables - Create seating charts for weddings or other events and then create a PDF to share with friends and family.

prohmote - Promote your event without having to register or login.

PurpleTrail - Ad-free invitations and complete event planning with mobile access.

Zoji - Event planning that includes invitations, instant messaging, photo sharing, blogs, and more.

GoPlanit - Research and plan trips with your friends and get recommendations for things to do and see.

anywr - Contact management with built-in event organization.

center’d - Event planning that includes special planning tools, including ready-made plans.

MyInvites - Free online invitations and event planning.

Triporama - Free group trip planning.

TripCart - Online road trip planning.

Amiando - Event websites that include online registration, billing and ticketing, and more.

funpiper - Personalized event planning that includes SMS invitations and messaging.

Congregar - Event planning that includes tools to help find the best date.

I’m In - Free group trip planning.

DOPPLR - Organization tools for frequent travelers.

TournEase - Free golf tournament planning app.

Moreganize - Free event organization tools, including polls, surveys and to-do lists.

RosterBot - Free team event management app.

evite - Free online invitations and party ideas.

bestpartyever - Complete online party planning and tips.

Organize Everything Else

Chandler - Complete organizer for notes, to-dos, events, and more.

TabUp - Collaborative organization for your daily activities and more.

VIP 4.0 - Book and magazine layout organization and planning tool.

Ucareer.net - A career management app to assist in your job searches.

ProfileFly - Organize and promote all of your online identities.

RustyBudget - Online blog organization and management tool.

Gyminee - Track your workouts and what you eat, be held accountable, and get motivated, all for free.

Calorie King - Diet and weight loss tools to keep you on track and organized.

Zefty - Online allowance management for your kids.

Google Health - Complete health records management from Google that also includes information on potential medication interactions, different conditions and even lets you search for hospitals and doctors.

Interested in more lists to help you get organized?

- Wish lists and Checklists: “40 Great Resources for Making lists.”

- Weight loss & Fitness: “Lose the Blogger 15: 25+ Web Apps for Dieting & Getting in Shape,” “Fitness Toolbox: 60+ Health & Fitness Sites”

- Money & Finance: “40+ Resources for Managing Your Money Online,” 25+ Tools for Accounting and Budgeting”

- Getting Things Done (GTD): “GTD Ninja: 50+ Websites for the Kickass Control Freak“

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, twohumans

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作者:Cameron Chapman

更新日:2008年12月2日 20時23分

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Although Google already enjoys a lead in search on mobile devices comparable to its dominance on the Web, the unique characteristics of mobile – small screens/keyboards, GPS, and cameras, just to name a few – leave open an opportunity for startups to come to the space with new ideas. One such company is Proximic, who is launching an iPhone app today that is just a sampling of some of the interesting things they have in-store for mobile search.

The company utilizes a technology it calls “Pattern Proxmity,” which lets users highlight whole paragraphs of text to perform a search for more information. The idea is somewhat like contextual advertising – looking at content and then serving up relevant ads – except it’s being applied to search, and rendering links to Web pages. From a usability standpoint, this makes a lot of sense on mobile, because typing and refining queries can be clunky and time consuming.

No Google Killer Yet

While that sounds pretty interesting, what Proximic is launching today isn’t exactly a finished product. The company’s first mobile app – which is for iPhone only – is simply a news reading application that lets you browse stories from more than 1.4 million feeds, and utilize the search technology to dig deeper within them. You can also subscribe to what Proximic calls “Agent Alerts” – essentially, notifications of pre-defined queries when new items are available.

Making Use of GPS and Camera

One reason the iPhone is where Proximic is starting is because of its built-in GPS features. Proximic sees these as being extremely valuable in expanding to areas like classifieds and real estate search – analyzing entire listings to return relevant related links. Additionally, Proximic wants users to be able to take pictures of a product, extract its name and description, and then perform the same type of search that you can currently do for news.

The Bigger Opportunity

As I see it, building a standalone app to challenge the existing huge players in search and mobile search is an extremely uphill battle. Where it seems Proximic could eventually become disruptive is in licensing its technology to other software developers, who can then incorporate it into the mobile browsing experience.

For example, rather than having to load a separate application to utilize Proximic’s technology, being able to simply highlight a block of text from inside your phone’s browser to perform a search using pattern proximity. Since Proximic can serve ads based both on location and context, getting the type of distribution that would come with such deals could create a serious cash cow.

Final Thoughts

For a variety of reasons – the devices themselves, slow mobile Internet, and bad interfaces – mobile search is still far from perfect. Proximic’s approach makes a lot of sense, assuming the secret sauce is actually good, and that the company can scale beyond a simple news reading app for iPhone. Those are big assumptions, but at the very least, Proximic is demonstrating an interesting approach to solving a big problem.

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作者:Adam Ostrow

更新日:2008年12月2日 19時0分

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Pet food company Purina has launched “Critter Carols,” a site allowing you to create an animated holiday greeting card using images of your own cats or dogs.

The animals will then meow or bark to the tune of holiday classics like “Deck the Halls” or “Jingle Bells.” You can also dress your pet up with various items of clothing. When done, you can email it, post it to Facebook, or embed it on a webpage, as I’ve done below.

The campaign is very reminiscent of last year’s “Elf Yourself” from Office Depot, where you could upload images of yourself or family members and impose them on the bodies of dancing elves.

Although it’s a bit of a copycat (pun intended), Critter Carols is definitely cuter than Elf Yourself, so it could be this year’s runaway viral holiday hit. The site was developed in partnership with Oddcast.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, liliboas

作者:Adam Ostrow

更新日:2008年12月2日 17時52分

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Ravit Lichtenberg is the founder and chief strategist at Ustrategy.com—a boutique consultancy with a mission to help startups succeed. She authors a blog at ravitlichtenberg.com.

With the economic downturn grinding the startup wheels to a near-halt here and abroad, companies are competing for a smaller pie. Capital, acquisition odds, advertising dollars, and consumer wallets are all becoming much smaller.

If you are a European startup in the consumer Web services or product space, you have even more obstacles to overcome than your US counterparts. For one, funding in Europe is still very limited and narrowly focused compared to the US. Second, your consumer base is much smaller—especially if your product is localized for language and service. Third, the more innovative you get, the more likely it is you’ll bump against a much greater skepticism and a much smaller pool of early adopters.

So you decide to come here—Silicon Valley, the Mecca of anything startup– to raise funds and tap into the massive and enthusiastic US customer base. But right now, even though you may have enjoyed great interest as investors expand their reach internationally, you’re up against fierce competition from just about everyone.

And this is where European startups face the biggest challenge: presenting your company in a way that makes sense—the US way.

Fundamental differences

In the past 2 months I’ve listened to over 40 pitches from French, Belgian, British, and Eastern European companies. About 1 in 15 presented their company in a way that would stick. This is because Europeans tend to build their case in a highly academic way–stating the conditions under which their offering makes sense and building their argument from there.

American audiences, on the other hand, are used to seeing “the bottom line first” and they do things very fast by European standards. “They’re like cowboys,” a Belgian CEO told me. “First they shoot then they look.” This is a fundamental difference in how people present and perceive information. And it can mean the difference that gets you to that second meeting, someone writing about your startup, and even getting funding.

Key points to remember

Let’s go over a few key points that can help you present your company in a way that makes more sense here:

1. First impression is (almost) everything.

Americans know this very well. That’s why they work on their “elevator pitch.” You have 30-60 seconds to create an impression. Want to spruce it up even more? Have a 1-2 minute demo ready on your iPhone that plays while you speak. Think: Why are you different? What makes you stand out? How do you stick in someone’s mind? Why should an investor want to see you again? These are questions that should always be on your mind and guide what you say— all in 60 seconds or less.

2. Speak in benefits. Customer benefits, that is.

Europeans tend to be highly accomplished on the technology side. In the US, you also need to think about, and communicate, what your prospective customers will be able to do thanks to your technology. How will it address a true customer need? Why will a customer use it? Better yet—why will they pay for it? Every time you speak about a feature or capability of your technology, immediately follow with “and that means that customers will be able to…” (fill in the blank).

3. Start with the end first.

It may sound counter intuitive but business communication in the US is often non-linear and starts with the conclusion first. The people with whom you meet will want to know what your product does and how much money you expect to make from it. If that sticks, then you can go back and talk about how you got to the idea, how you developed it, all those other things it can be, etc.

4. Know your numbers.

In Silicon Valley numbers speak louder than anything else. They’re also important as a reality-check for you as technologies and competitors evolve. Don’t let anyone fool you–no one really knows what’s going to happen so it’s okay to make assessments—just make sure they’re intelligent ones. Be ready to talk about your 3-year profit-and-loss (P&L) model and about your Total Addressable Market (TAM) in clear terms.

5. Focus.

The American idiom is “put a stake in the ground.” It’s when of all the many things your technology can be, you choose one (or two) things for now and go with them. This is a tough one, I know, because you want to show all the great things your idea can become. But where you see options, VCs see lack of direction. So let’s keep things in order: Decide on a focus for now, and put the framing, benefits, and numbers around that choice. You will later have plenty of time to develop your roadmap.

6. Investors are not your friends.

They are meeting with you because you might represent a good investing opportunity. As such, come prepared with all your materials and if possible, with a beautifully executed demo and present your case. If you need advice, ask your friends, other CEOs, or advisors if you have them. In fact, ask anyone–just not investors you’d like to work with. Once the term sheet has been completed and the deal signed, they’ll provide you with plenty of advice whether you want it or not. It’s their job.

7. Networking is key.

Many European CEOs think networking and mingling is “cocktail hour saved for those who don’t do real work.” But in the US—and especially in the Silicon Valley—this is an important catalyst to getting business done. You need to get out of your three-cubicle office which you’re sharing with four other companies and go to events. You need to tell other CEOs, bloggers, and investors about your product. You’ll get invaluable advice that will undoubtedly help you move forward, new connection points, and a perspective on the startup world within which you operate. This is just as important as making phone calls and taking meetings.

8. Keep it short.

Repeatedly I hear that CEOs talk about their companies for too long. Yes- you want to make sure people understand the breadth of your offering, but more talk doesn’t necessarily get you results. Lucas Grassi Gurfein, former International Product Manager for Yahoo!Inc. suggests bullet points often work best: Use them as talking points and keep your presentation short. More important than demonstrating the history of your idea is creating a stellar impression and a genuine curiosity in your listeners’ minds; you want them to come back and say “can we talk more?” Less, you see, is truly more.

9. Don’t be argumentative.

In most European countries, debating a topic is just part of daily conversations. To most Americans—unless they were on their college debate team—the practice of debate can be unnerving. You already know that Europeans can be perceived as uncomfortably direct here—add debating and you come across as argumentative and maybe even hostile, which is hardly what you meant.

Try to balance between presenting your rationale and listening to feedback. If you have a thought about the point being brought up, you can always start by acknowledging the feedback’s validity and then add how you’re thinking of addressing it.

10. Tap into the existing infrastructure.

There are a number of organizations and initiatives designed directly to help advance European companies in the US:

• Each country typically has a Chamber of Commerce in the Bay Area which puts together business-related events and can help you get connected much faster than you could do on your own.

• There are non-profit organizations like SVOD and VC backed events like the Dow Jones’ Venture Wire EuroTech Showcase that help promote European startups through connections to venture capital firms and journalists.

• A number of organizations sponsor conferences, competitions, and “boot-camps” for startups. GuideWire’s Innovate!Europe is one example—it focuses on identifying new and promising talent in Europe and helping them grow globally. Make sure you’re aware of these and attend at least a few each year.

As the CEO of a European startup you will need to overcome a number of obstacles. At the same time, the European tendency to take more calculated risks, base products on proprietary technology, and have demonstrated success abroad, can translate into leverage especially in these difficult times.

As venture capital firms increasingly diversify their portfolio with a greater reach abroad, you may in fact enjoy more opportunity than ever before. If your product is truly offering customers a way to do something new, something they want—if you help them make existing interactions less painful—you’re just as likely (if not more) to get a piece of that funding pie and more of those cavorted consumer eyes. The key is to communicate what you do and what’s unique about your startup’s offering in a way that matches how people perceive and respond to information in the US.

Have tips of your own? Share them below in the comments.

Imagery courtesy of iStockphoto, TommL, Sodafish, Caracterdesign

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作者:Ravit Lichtenberg

更新日:2008年12月2日 16時15分

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iCal, Apple’s calendar application, is probably one of the few Mac-only apps known to non-Mac users, as nearly all calendar/to-do applications can sync with it. If you wanted to sync your Google Calendar with iCal, you kinda sorta could, but now the support for the CalDAV standard - the one used by iCal - is official.

The easiest way to do this is to download the Calaboration tool from Google’s site, which automatically finds all of your calendars and allows you to choose which ones you’d like to add to iCal. Voila!

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作者:Stan Schroeder

更新日:2008年12月2日 13時28分

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MySpace, Flock and Vidoop have developed OpenID for Flock. I’ll skip the talk about standards which you don’t care about, cut to the chase and tell you what it does.

Now, when you browse with Flock and open a web site that has OpenID support, Flock will collect and manage OpenID credentials, and automatically alert you if you can use a stored OpenID to log into it. You can choose which OpenID you can use to log into a particular site and later view the login history for each OpenID-to-site relationship you’ve created.

Or, if you’d like an even shorter version: Flock now has a password manager for OpenID.

If you’re wondering what MySpace and Vidoop’s role is in this, it’s simple: they’ve helped develop this because they want to ride the open/social/data portability buzzword train. One such buzzword is IDIB (Identity for the Browser), an open source project that is “focused on determining how OpenID in the browser will help OpenID gain overall adoption;” you can find out more about it on the official Google page.

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作者:Stan Schroeder

更新日:2008年12月2日 13時0分

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Twitter competitor Pownce is no more. We followed the story yesterday: it was acquired by Six Apart, but not to develop the service further: simply to acquire the talented people that worked on Pownce.

I’d like to quickly revisit the story because I’ve been following Pownce from day one, I’ve actually used it more than Twitter, and I’ve been bullish on the service because I thought it offered a compelling feature set when compared to other services in the space. I was wrong.

First of all, less is sometimes more. We all know that, but it was really obvious in this case: Pownce was the Twitter fan’s dream come true, adding groups, file sharing and several other highly requested features without cluttering the service with too many options. However, sometimes simplicity and lack of options are what differentiates a service and makes it worth your while. Twitter devs may be slow when it comes to adding new features, but they’re slow on purpose, because they understand that Twitter is good, for the most part, as it is.

Secondly, sometimes even being much more reliable than your competitors isn’t enough for success. When you think of it, Pownce was positioned very well: it had the features, it had solid backing (it is, after all, Kevin Rose’s baby), and - although it wasn’t without technical issues itself - it came to the scene at a time when Twitter struggled with frequent downtime. And despite the fact that Twitter’s problems with downtime lasted for months, users did not move over to other services, except perhaps FriendFeed (to a certain extent).

The main lesson is probably this: if you’re not first to the game, but perhaps second or third, you need to do your research very thoroughly; sometimes being bigger, better and faster than the competitors simply won’t do.

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作者:Stan Schroeder

更新日:2008年12月2日 11時11分

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…if you trust Robert Scoble, that is. He (damn him, we’re jealous) had a chance to try the device out before even the gadget blogs, and he claims (gasp!) that the Facebook experience on it is much better than on the iPhone.

His main points? N97 has got 16:9 video support, better camera than the iPhone (5 megapixels), a keyboard (duh), replaceable batteries (so you can “Facebook for days”), and copy and paste support. So, he pretty much takes the obvious advantages of N97 over the iPhone and wraps it into a Facebook-related rant. However, he did actually try out the device, and we’re so hooked on Facebook that we’ll believe anything at this point. Mobile Facebooking on the new N97, here we come!

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作者:Stan Schroeder

更新日:2008年12月2日 8時46分

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Are you getting the most out of your Adobe AIR installation?  Are you one of those people that installed it for one specific application and never explored what else was out there?  Well, it’s time to get more out of AIR, and here are 10 apps that will make you anxious to get AIR up and running.

What are the Adobe AIR apps that you couldn’t live without?  Tell us in the comments!

DeskTube - DeskTube lets you get complete control over YouTube on your desktop. Search, watch, comment, get embed codes, upload your own videos and even download the videos you are currently watching as MOV files.

Dorame - Dorame doesn’t add much to the Pandora listening experience, but it does give you the freedom of being outside of your browser and changing up the appearance of the service.

EarthBrowser - EarthBrowser gives you live updates of clouds, earthquakes, the weather, satellite overlays, volcanoes, fires and a whole lot more.

Feedalizr - Many people have downloaded service specific apps like TweetDeck, Twhirl and so on, but Feedalizr rolls several social tools into one app.  You can work with Facebook, Flickr, FriendFeed, Jaiku, Twitter and VideoVideo all from this one handy interface.

Google Analytics - While most people love looking at statistics about their websites, Google Analytics can be a bit slow at times for those webmasters that use their tools.  This Adobe AIR app gives you the ability to open reports in multiple tabs for easier switching and allows you to change date ranges faster.

MiniTask - A desktop tool for creating detailed to-do lists that you can separate out by categories, copy the items out to other programs, set reminders, print out task sheets and more.

Posty - Get all of your FriendFeed. Identi.ca, Jaiku, Pownce, Tumblr and Twitter updates in one handy application with built-in URL shortening, spell checking, message search and more.

TweetDeck - While it seems that apps that only work with one social site are becoming passe, TweetDeck gives you so much control over how you see your Tweets, it is well worth it.  Your incoming messages are already split into columns for timeline, replies and direct messages, and then you can build custom columns for things such as work, friends and more.

Twhirl - The odds are fairly high that this is the application you installed Adobe Air for in the first place, but that doesn’t exclude it from the list in case it wasn’t.  Probably the most popular of the Twitter clients, Twhirl also supports interactions with multiple accounts for FriendFeed, laconi.ca, seesmic and Twitter.

Yammer - Yammer, the private corporate microblogging service, gets a desktop client that runs on the Adobe AIR platform, allowing you to use all the features of the service freed from your browser.

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作者:Sean P. Aune

更新日:2008年12月2日 3時33分

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This post is part of Mashable’s Startup Review series, which highlights great unsung startups. The series is made possible by Sun Startup Essentials.

Company Name

Dailymile

20-Word Description

Dailymile is a social training site for runners, triathletes, and cyclists.

CEO’s Pitch

That race was great, but how do I stay in-touch with the people I just met? And how can I find people to train with in a new city? Providing an answer for these questions drove us to begin dailymile. We wanted to find a better way for athletes to sign-up for races, share workouts, and meet participants. Participating in a race doesn’t end after you submit payment. It’s the daily journey of training, learning, and sharing. As athletes, each day for us is an adventure filled with lessons learned and friends made. We share these experiences with one another through dailymile.

Mashable’s Take

Currently in private beta, Dailymile is a site for keeping track of your workouts, finding athletic events you can participate in, and sending motivation to others. The design is very slick and the features are well-organized, and while the event section dedicated to 10Ks and triathlons can be intimidating, there are tools that can be useful to just about any level of athlete – even if you’re just the type trying to stay in shape by going to the gym.

Once logged in, the homepage of Dailymile is very Twitter-esque, allowing you post a short update about your most recent workout (which can range from running, to swimming, to weightlifting, etc.), as well as multimedia content like photos and videos. There is also a “You and Your Friends” timeline, an “Everyone” timeline, and a “My Training” log – essentially the same views offered on Twitter. Speaking of Twitter, your updates can be auto-posted to the service if you sync your accounts.

Dailymile takes it a step further than other would-be Twitter clones though with some features very specific to the fitness niche. For one, there is the “Motivation” feature, which allows you to message other people on the site with a pre-set message like “Great Performance” or “You’re an Inspiration.”

There are also discussion groups you can join like “40+ and proud of it” and “My first marathon,” so you can find people pursuing a similar fitness goal as yourself. The aforementioned event section is already seeded with lots of running, trialthon, and cycling events you can participate in, though most seem to be on the West coast (not surprising given the time of year).

Ultimately, Dailymile has adopted a lot of popular features of other sites for the fitness niche and done a nice job with them. I think it’s more likely to be successful with serious workout nuts than weekend warriors, but there is certainly something for anyone that wants to put the time in - both in the gym and on the site. As mentioned, Dailymile is currently in private beta, but you can try it out using the invite code ‘mashable’.

Editor’s Note: This post is part of an ongoing series at Mashable - The Startup Review, Sponsored by Sun Microsystems Startup Essentials. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here.

Sponsored By: Sun Startup Essentials

作者:Adam Ostrow

更新日:2008年12月1日 23時25分

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MySpace is not known for good design. Its garish profiles make designers nauseous. And yet, there are signs of hope: we’ve tracked down 50 MySpace music layouts that are quite remarkable. Stylish. Stunningly well-conceived. Beautiful, even.

Could it be that MySpace profiles aren’t all bad? You be the judge.

A Fine Frenzy - This artist has been high in the charts for quite some time, and her page, courtesy of BandSpaces.com, happened to make it as the first in our musical roundup. As you can see, it’s no wonder why.

Joss Stone - It’s all about placement and graphics. One glance down the artist’s page and it’s clear that the standard layout can be warped with some nice colorful touches. This page is a winner.

Shine - You can keep your page looking segmented if you like, but it doesn’t have to be boring. Sweep the page with images and buttons in the right places and you’ve got yourself a rockin’ MySpace destination.

MyNameIsAugust - Delivered by OutLoudMarketing, the page for August looks fairly ordinary in comparison with the items above, but it still manages to please.

Valerie Nicole - Tidy and neat, this isn’t as in-your-face as some of the others, but it’s still a sight for sore eyes - of which there are plenty across the wide world of MySpace.

Underhills - Though the silver-colored music player does feel a little clunky amid the wallpaper, the complete ensemble is nothing short of fantastic. It’s one of those pages bound to elicit an “I wish that had been mine” kind of critique from visitors.

Airlines - Let’s face it. Good promotional media from bands can mean great publicity. (Books are judged by their covers, in other words.) Which is why the MySpace page for The Airlines, another invention of BandSpaces, lands on this list. It gives the visitor a clear impression that they can make equally kick-ass without breaking the bank.

Lady Sovereign - I’ve been somewhat familiar with Lady Sovereign’s songbook for several seasons now, and the sharp color contrast of her MySpace page is befitting of the musical experience she delivers. Very billboard-esque, this one is.

Stereo Transmitted Disease - If you want to take things a little musica obscura in terms of your band name and bio and things, the page assembled for STD sets a good example. It’s a kind of hodgepodge, wrapped into an easily digestible square.

Man Like Machine - Lots of white space but still fun and playful, Man Like Machine is a music page, but gets marked in the Just Plain Pretty category just the same.

We Are Tokyo - This design is white and red in a way reminiscent of staple colors commanded by The White Stripes. Which is fine by us, because We Are Tokyo pull it off quite well.

Mia Sable - This is a winner in so many ways. Done up with just the right amount of glitz and glamour to make it stand out from the crowd, Mia Sable’s MySpace page is nothing short of fantastic. If this doesn’t make you envious, few others will.

The Academy Is - Having your band name plastered across nearly the full top fold of your MySpace page may not such a bad thing, so long as everything else looks proper. And it does!

Censura - Put your name and music front and center and leave the rest for window dressing. This one is not only beautiful. The geography of it makes it worthwhile to emulate.

The Midway State - Another boxy beaut, the page for The Midway State is impressive for its elegant design and its translucent features.

Race the Sun - This one’s simply a gem to look at. Loading the page takes some time, and some things make seem out of place, but heck if this isn’t one of the most image-enhanced pages on the network.

Cambria Detken - An extraordinary piece of work, the profile for Cambria Detken is one of the best. It makes good use of white space like and wraps it up in butterflies and flowers with plenty of green to go around.

Mr North - Oh what some motion graphics can do. The idea here is to splash the page. The paint job is entertaining. The features are all there. Altogether, it’s an engaging place to be. Which is the point.

Rented Mule - One of the more plainly drawn pages, Rented Mule Jazz is something that lots of folks could take cues from without a degree in design. Easy does it.

Helena Jesse - The lesson here: put heavy emphasis on your header and you’ll grab some attention. The rest of the page is fairly ordinary, but perhaps we’re in store for further enhancements.

Goodnight Caulfield - Akin to the Mia Sable page, albeit made for a four-piece group, Goodnight Caulfield’s profile is so polished that you start to question whether anything is wrong with it. Very little, it turns out!

Gonna Get Got - What a treat. Name emblazoned in white across the top, great graphical touches the entire length of the page, music placed front and center. What else can you ask for? Add another URL to the winner’s circle.

Zone Music - It would be quite basic without that collage to the right of the music player, but if that’s what makes this gem, then so be it. The page is superb with all facets included.

Paul Cullen - So well done, yet not excessively so. It befits the artist, for sure. Which is how it should be, wouldn’t you agree? Out Loud is responsible for making this page happen.

Scott Philipp - That’s Scott Philipp and the StoneBaby Band, to be precise. The contrast of colors make seem a little unusual to some. Black and soft gold are quite a juxtaposition to make. But stick around for a moment and you’ll why we picked it as one of the best.

Ricky Martin - Alright, you may like the guy’s music, or you may not. But one thing is certain. His MySpace page is a great one. It’s refined and easy to navigate without being imposing in any way.

The Stooges - The page rocks. Enough said.

Lenny Kravitz - If you haven’t seen the place before, you will be surprised. The choice of  photo slideshow and background and menu layout and profile componentry, there’s something for most any MySpace page designer to be fond of.

The Almost - Bold and soft all in one page, it’s an interesting thing to look at. It’s colorful but not too much so. It’s very clearly and basically designed, which makes it seem borderline amateurish. So it get a nod.

JMR Productions - We’ll toss this in simply for spice. It’s brash and at the same time fairly plainspoken. It’s great.

Brianna Sage - One of the better sites to make smart use of white space, the profile constructed by Out Loud for Brianna Sage is really well done. The design firm has certainly shown a consistency across many of its creations that it’s hard to imagine anything dreadful coming from its assembly line. A complementary applause is deserved.

Teddy Geiger - It’s not immediately apparent that this is a great design, but give it a moment, we say. It’s the right mix of photography and fringe edits that give it a place on this map.

Ken Hyland - One of the more clean and collected profiles of this broad bunch, the profile for Ken Hyland has professionalism written all over it.

Coldplay - Are broad brush strokes enough to make a MySpace page attractive? We think so. Oh, and there are plenty of little quirks and uniquities to satisfy most folks. (Just as long as they’re noticed.)

Led Zeppelin - The page is top notch. There’s nothing else to say, really. Top notch, indeed. Befitting of the band, wouldn’t you say?

Blue Island Tribe - It’s all waterworks here. And we have to admit, it looks pretty darn good. It may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but if you’re looking for surfer inspiration, you’ll be hard-pressed to find something much better.

Anouk - From top to bottom (or at least the middle), Anouk’s MySpace page is nicely finished. Everything is clearly delineated, which definitely works in its favor.

Kate Nash - It’s amazing what a checkerboard background can do to a MySpace page, isn’t it?

Citizen Cope - A grand banner topping the page, Citizen Cope’s profile has its rough spots, but there’s nothing that will displease. Chalk that assessment up to the backdrop.

Death Cab for Cutie - Have we gotten loose with our praise with this one? Perhaps, perhaps not. It’s certainly a subjective thing. Some will love the page for its squarish sensibility. It’s got a few abstract bones in its body, for sure.

Dido - Mostly black with plenty of beveled edges, Dido’s profile is well made. There’s ample empty space, which can detract from the sense of fine design, but that may suit some folks. Does it suit you?

Eisley - At least one member of the Mashable crew is partial to Eisley (hint: check the byline), so take this plug as you wish. The extra-large borders around every piece of the puzzle are what really bring things home.

Elbow - This band’s profile is black and white done right. It’s as simple as that.

Eminem - Everything’s so packed together that we can’t help but like it. It’s pretty much the antithesis of sprawl. Kudos on the set design, Eminem.

Ingrid Michaelson - There’s hardly anything unusual about this page, but its colorway and layout are what we think every band should strive for at the very least. The better to please listeners.

M.I.A. - Beware of the flash. Alternatively, if you like the flash, you’ll love it. Seriously.

Nine Inch Nails - Another fairly docile setup, the Nine Inch Nails profile is totally square and totally worth a plug. It’s NIN, through and through.

Radiohead - Its theme coincides with the In Rainbows release, so of course it looks great. Love the darkness, people. Love the darkness!

Smashing Pumpkins - How to summarize…. It has an elaborate headdress with plenty of band stamps to go around. Thumbs up for intelligent design.

U2 - Compared with the first half of this series, the U2 page is, in terms of the band’s global impression, woefully inadequate. But that’s this Irish quartet, for you. MySpace just isn’t cool enough for Bono and his Chanel shades. The thing is, the profile still amounts to an appreciable contribution to the network. How’s that for a finale?

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作者:Paul Glazowski

更新日:2008年12月1日 21時57分

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Pownce, the microblogging service often compared to Twitter, has been acquired by Six Apart. According to the company blog, the service will be shutdown on December 15th, while the main Pownce team – Leah Culver and Mike Malone – will join Six Apart. Users will have the option to “import [their] posts to other blogging services such as Vox, TypePad, or WordPress.”

The brainchild of Culver and Digg founder Kevin Rose, Pownce launched with much fanfare in 2007. But despite the early buzz and in many ways a superior feature-set, the service hasn’t been able to gain nearly the type of traction as the darling of short-form messaging – that of course being Twitter.

It doesn’t sound like Six Apart has aspirations to revamp Pownce and take on Twitter either. They echo the sentiment that this deal is more about acquiring talent from Pownce, writing, “we are very sorry the site will be closing … We’re planning on doing great things with the help and expertise of the Pownce team, and can’t wait to see all the results of their hard work.”

Kevin Rose and Daniel Burka will also be joining Six Apart as advisers as part of the deal.

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作者:Adam Ostrow

更新日:2008年12月1日 21時6分

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During a breaking news event, we typically sit glued to a Twitter search. And yet that method of tracking news in real time is fairly embryonic: it’s the first step towards all the world’s data becoming real time, and available via constantly updated news feeds.

That’s the basis of StanzIQ, a real time search and information app being developed to track everything from emerging terrorist situations to seeing the feedback on a live concert - on your phone, while you’re in the crowd.

True Ventures Funding

On paper at least, it’s a good bet, with backing from a top VC firm and an experienced team. StanzIQ will soon announce a $1.5 million funding round from True Ventures, and the group consists of Jack Moffitt, Patrick Mahoney and Brian Zisk, who, along with Jon Callaghan of True Ventures, were partners in Green Witch Internet Radio (an early open source streaming service acquired by CMGI in January 2000). Moffitt was one of the lead developers of XMPP (Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol), a set of open XML technologies for real-time communication. And it’s XMPP that forms the basis of StanzIQ.

The Chesspark Connection

The other consumer app you might remember this team for: Chesspark. As the company explained to Mashable:

The StanzIQ team originally built a phenomenal XMPP-based infrastructure for acquiring, sorting, and distributing data in real time in order to build the Internet chess community Chesspark. The aim was to build a real time game and community on top of the XMPP suite of protocols which is perfect for managing real time data. We have spun off the chess site and turned our attention and our toolset to a much bigger challenge.

The StanzIQ team has lead the drive on building numerous Open Source Applications and Protocols which are now used by companies ranging from giants like Microsoft to indie developers like Rogue Amoeba, not to mention their work on XMPP which is used by companies including Google, Cisco, Neuros and Yamner. StanzIQ has a number of Open Source tools which it has built, some of which are also licensed commercially including Speeqe, Strophe (in 3 languages), Punjab, and Palaver.

All of which sounds great in theory, but the proof will be in the real time results. We’ve yet to see any. And until we get our hands on this thing, we’re reserving judgment.

作者:Pete Cashmore

更新日:2008年12月1日 20時47分

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Chris Snyder is an online journalist specializing in new media. He writes about the tech biz for Wired.com’s Epicenter blog.

It’s a long road to a victory in the browser wars. Just ask Firefox. The open source browser which launched in 2004 just cracked the 20 percent threshold of the market share for November, according to Net Applications, pushing it a step closer but still miles away from IE.

Recently a few new players have also thrown their hats in the ring, including Google with its much-hyped Chrome and the lesser known, Mozilla-based social web browser Flock, which released its 2.0 version this past October. But do these newcomers even stand a chance?

The Basics

Firefox is gaining ground for good reason: it’s simple, reliable and secure. Its tabbed browsing led to a similar remodel in IE and it has a slew of add-ons that give it a leg up over the competition. It’s slowly becoming the new standard with a steady audience, and that will be hard to beat anytime soon. And its open source platform leaves room for alternatives and experimental niche browsers like Flock.

Flock 2.0 is basically a Firefox with a lot of perks and pre-installed add-ons for those heavy into social networking.  Think of it as a FriendFeed of the browser world, which brings all of your friends from 23 various networks together in a sidebar. It is also one of the first browsers to incorporate media feeds for photos and videos.  Flock is all about sharing what you find on the web as you surf, and it allows you to accomplish this pretty easily by dragging and dropping them either into an email or onto a friend.

Chrome is the polar opposite of Flock, and its big advantage is that it’s even simpler than Firefox, or any other browser out there right now.  The search bar is also integrated into the address bar, which seems to be the wave of the future, at least for those who swear by Google search and don’t need any bells and whistles. Unfortunately, Chrome’s only available for PCs at the moment.

Usability

Chrome wins hands down on getting the job done.  It’s quick and painless with a clear focus of searching for information using Google’s engine.  Dynamic tabbed browsing is a staple now, and if anything crashes, only that tab will go down, not your entire session, which is nice. But if you want a richer web browsing experience stick with Firefox or Flock.  There’s also no easy way to subscribe to RSS feeds from the search bar as there is with Firefox.

Flock can feel a bit overwhelming at times with all of the sidebars of information, but once you get everything set up and get the hang of it, it’s pretty convenient and preferable to keeping a million tabs open for sites like Twitter and Facebook. The drag and drop interface is great.  When you just want to email a YouTube video or picture it’s much easier than copying any URLs, although it does also seem a bit too easy to share something that you might not want shared.

The only other problem with the social networks is that you can’t really fit all of that functionality into a sidebar.  It’s a good way of consolidating friends, but it’s more like a giant address book than anything else. Simple things like posting tweets are a bit confusing, with no clear box for entering in text. When a friend adds content, however, it will open up the profile in the main browser in full view, so you still need to go back to the source.

Speed

Despite the extra features, Flock is surprisingly just as fast as Chrome or Firefox, at least on a medium grade PC.  Looks like they’ve improved upon this concern in the latest release. And Chrome seems to have Firefox beat in this category but the difference isn’t anything drastic.

Privacy

Incognito — aka “porn mode” –  is the new way to surf, as every browser is picking up on this private surfing option that Safari first initiated.

Chrome has faced some privacy concerns at launch with its Omnibox monitoring and recording too much information, but this can all be prevented by changing the default settings and going Incognito.

Expandability

Chrome doesn’t support any extensions or add-ons yet, so Firefox still dominates in this area.  But if you are looking for simple, you probably don’t want much more than Chrome already offers.

Final Thoughts

Firefox is here to stay, but there will always be a long tail of niche alternatives like Chrome and Flock.  When Chrome moves into Mac realm it could pick up some market share from Safari.  Flock will be there for social network junkies who want to try something new, but the first step to making Flock mainstream will be for more of the social networks themselves to go mainstream. Twitter is on track, but still has a long way to go before it’s a household name. If you’re only on Facebook or MySpace, you probably don’t need to worry about the extra sidebars and features.

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