Social network and groups

Me.dium: One part social networking gizmo, one part spy tool.

Last week, as I recounted yesterday, I went to the TechCrunch NYC meetup and was consequently barraged by all kinds of Web 2.0 esoterica. Some were not-so-innovative (do we really need more social bookmarking and link annotation sites?) and others were pretty darn cool. In the "pretty darn cool" category lies Me.dium, a Firefox extension that aims to let you visualize traffic on the Web as though you were "walking down Main Street," according to co-founder David Mandell. It takes the form of a sidebar on your browser (see screengrab at left) and shows … Read more

Homeslyce: Stanford's birthday club

I met a lot of entrepreneurs at the Stirr event tonight, in addition to the four that pitched their products on stage. Of the companies I had never heard of before, my favorite was Homeslyce, the brainchild of three Stanford undergrads. Homeslyce is part group buying tool (sort of like Chipin and Fundable) and part affiliate store. It's designed to help groups share the cost of birthday presents for their college friends.

To buy an item with Homeslyce, first you choose something from the site's selection, then enter in the recipient of the gift and the e-mail addresses … Read more

Warcraft Social: MySpace for World of Warcraft

One might argue that the whole point of massively multiplayer online role-playing games such as World of Warcraft is to avoid social interaction. Or at least, that's what the friends and relatives of most MMORPG gamers claim. But most WoW players know that one of the best features of the game is the in-game socializing with people from all over the world. From forming small 5-man parties to large 40-man raids, social interaction plays a key role in World of Warcraft. But the problem with interacting with a bunch of strangers is that you often run into annoying losers, … Read more

Map corporate power structures with Cogmap

Found on Rev2.Org: a new free site called Cogmap, which is a "Wikipedia of organization charts." Want to know the real power structure at Microsoft or eBay? Or at your own company? Check it out.

Many companies keep their org charts a secret to dissuade headhunters from poaching important employees and to hide details that could give competitors insight into product development. This has led to corporate intelligence companies that research and sell org charts for lots of money. So Cogmap is a big deal...in concept.

Unfortunately, you get what you pay for. Cogmap is wide … Read more

Avoid the office 2.0: Confabb launches conference directory

"An executive in motion tends to remain in motion." If I remember correctly, Stanley Bing wrote this in Lloyd: What Happened. His point: If you're working at a job and think you might soon be canned, stay on the road. They can't fire you at a conference. Actually, they can. But it's harder.

The canny executive needs, then, a trustworthy guide to the expensable junkets where he or she can hide out. Said exec might want to check out Confabb, a new service launching today. Its spokespeople claim it has the largest database of industry … Read more

Web 2.0 ways to pay for your eco-sins

There are many online calculators for assessing how your lifestyle pollutes the planet; environmental nonprofits sponsor most of them, such as the Earth Day Network's Ecological Footprint Quiz. But learning about the downstream effects of your driving, computing, and shopping can give you guilt to last. Once you feel like the sky is falling, what are you supposed to do about it?

Entrepreneurs bent on spreading sustainability have created Web sites to capitalize on either your guilt, survival instinct, or nobility--whatever the personal motivation may be--by letting you examine the ecological impact of your way of life. Then, you … Read more

Social shopping for the socially conscious

In the market for a laptop bag made of recycled soda bottles or a solar-powered iPod charger? You could spend hours searching online for boutiques that stock those green goods. Or you could go straight to Five Limes, a social-shopping site linking to stores that hawk ecofriendly products, such as Green Home for nontoxic bedding, BTC Elements for organic blue jeans, and Green Office for recycled-paper Post-Its. Five Limes is "something like an Angie's List for green products," as Sustainablog puts it. Five Limes saves a history of your activities to tailor search results accordingly and to … Read more

Alternatives to Web 2.0 Summit: Web 2.2 and Wine 2.0

While two reporters staked out news at the Web 2.0 Summit today, a few of us snuck off to other venues. There's no question that Stefanie Olsen got the juiciest assignment, hanging out at the Wine 2.0 gathering, checking out the in-home winemaking gizmo called the WinePod and tasting the fruits of Crushpad, a "virtual vineyard." This really is way cooler than any social network or Ajax-y what-have-you. I also covered Crushpad in 2005.

Meanwhile, I was down the street at the Web 2.2 "unconference," where this cartoon from Chris Pirillo pretty … Read more

Balance your bucks with Buxfer

Don't expect to get an online version of Microsoft Excel when you join Buxfer, a site to track shared bills and expenses. In fact, don't expect much beyond basic features when managing a shared bill, a personal expense, or an incoming or outgoing money transfer. Competing with other finance-sharing sites such as BillMonk and iOweyou, Buxfer is best suited for roommates and groups of friends who share expenses and want to sort out the bills later.

Buxfer's math genius automatically splits the cost of your rent and groceries among participants into either equal or weighted shares. A … Read more