Monday, October 20, 2008

The Round-Up Volume 1, Issue 14: The Round-Up Is All About You!

This week we Round-Up some of our favorite new sites and services with the theme “it’s all about you”. What do you need, what do you want and how can the web help?

Surfing the web can be a chore, let’s admit it. With so many choices and so many options to choose from, it can be overwhelming to just sit down and let your “fingers do the walking”. Our goal this week is to give you somewhere to start that doesn’t involve finances or politics, both of which are taking up entirely too much time these days! It seems you can’t get anywhere without running head long into some user generated video skewering politics and the politicians involved. So with that opening we give you the Round-Up for this week…

Are you stressed at work? Are you looking for a presentation to rip off – err, use for inspiration? If you’re a fan of SLIDESHARE (http://www.slideshare.net) you can also check out DOCSTOC (http://www.docstoc.com/). Both sites are great resources to research presentations and insights from other academics and experts. I don’t know anyone who’s ever posted a presentation here, but it sure seems like a lot of other people love to share their powerpoint thoughts!

Now that you’ve ripped off someone else’s presentation, I mean gotten some inspiration, why not pretend to actually be someone else by watching the world through their eyes? That’s effectively what you do with QIK (http://qik.com/). Qikkers (as I affectionately refer to them) post videos live from their mobile phones. A friend of mine was live-posting while in a car recently and someone else started commenting in real time – it was a little strange but intriguing at the same time. Share your world with others and engage in a social network based on video, that’s what Qik offers.

Do you feel bad about ripping off someone else’s presentation or watching their videos? Maybe you need to do some self-exploration! Check out INPOWR (http://www.inpowr.com/). With InPowr you rate your well being, set your personal goals and share them with others who can support you in your personal growth. It’s the 2008 way of exploring personal therapy but without all those nagging “doctor-patient confidentially” issues! Personal growth for the world to see!

If you’ve gotten in touch with your inner-being and a rush of creativity has been let lose, why not explore XTRANORMAL (http://www.xtranormal.com/). They were reviewed last week on TechCrunch and I fell in love with it immediately. You can create, share and watch movies that you or your friends have created using their new, proprietary text-to-movie platform. Ever wanted to recreate your favorite scenes from The Godfather using Lego characters? Check this out! Some of the content is a little amateurish but give it time. It’s your-own-personally-directed Machinima platform. Fun for everyone!

As for our iPhone Apps feature this week…

Have you ever wished that the iPhone would let you type in sideways mode when creating your emails, check out the new TOUCHTYPE app feature. It works now and your chubby little fingers won’t get in the way (at least that’s my excuse for mis-spellings).

And if you really want to have hours and hours of fun, check out the CAMERABAG. It lets you play with your pictures and create new looks and feels! The choices are limited, but it’s a great place to get started.

That’s it this week – short and sweet!

See you in two!

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