Ajax Girl

MyMiniLife is a Flash based virtual world/social network. Users create and customize a character and then build out a virtual space, adding walls, floors, doors, windows, etc. Users can then add customized goods ranging from lamps to cannons to the space, and embed video or photo elements into items, or link to web pages (click on my moped in the embed for an example).

Some users create fantasy worlds; others create near-exactly duplicates of their actual homes or apartments. Other users can visit your home, walk around, view pictures and videos and then leave notes or chat real time with the owner. All items cost “money” to add to the world (and can later be sold to recoup cash) - and some of the premium items are very expensive relative to how much cash you are given to start the game. The site, however, is free to use and is ad supported. More money is accumulated via daily logins and other actions.

The graphics are fairly simple, but it was easy to customize my avatar and build out a simple space. Unlike more established competitors like Habbo Hotel and Cyworld, though MyMiniLife lets users embed their world via a Flash widget on any other website, such as their MySpace page.

I’ve embedded a quick test below. For more elaborate worlds, see here and here.

This is a hot space right now, and virtual world sites are gaining users at a quick pace. One competitor, Club Penguin, is rumored to be in acquisition discussions with Sony for $500 million or so.

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Source: TechCrunch
Original Article: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/118084675/

We got a tip today on a new search engine called Wikiwix. The site is new to me and there is very little information about it on the web (one post from about three hours ago is here). It is linked from the main Wikipedia search page, although I’m not sure when it was added.

Like Wikiseek, a search engine unaffiliated wtih Wikipedia, Wikiwix searches only Wikipedia. The “contact us” link points to this page on Wikipedia, which is in French. A translated version of that page is here.

The domain name is owned by Martin Pascal, a resident of France. The contact link above has information added as early as March 20, 2007. One of the questions on that page is “Who is behind Wikiwix, with which technology, which is the content of the bond with Wikipédia?”, which adds further confusion. Also, the fact that Wikiwix has been added to Wikipedia Search, something not offered to Wikiseek, suggests some sort of connection between the entities.

I’ll update this post with more information as it comes it. I’ve emailed Jimmy Wales and await his response.

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Source: TechCrunch
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RailsConf is underway in Portland, Oregon, and day one (Friday) is in the bad. The keynote by DHH covered what to expect from Rails 2.0. Front and center was an emphasis on RESTful development, which should come as no surprise to anyone who has followed Rails lately. The big takeaway for ajax developers is that Rails will let you return javascript seamlessly for any request, right along side the same code you use for a standard HTTP requests, or XML requests, or whatever. This ultimately means more cohesive, cleaner code in your controllers, and that adding ajax is as easy as adding a format.js to serve XHR requests:

Rails 2.0 also has some great optimizations coming for HTTP performance. If you’ve ever looked at the size of prototype+scriptaculous (or dojo, or yui, or…), plus your own custom scripts, PLUS the overhead of the HTTP connections for each seperate javascript file, you know that page load time can get horrendous really quick. The upcoming version will allow easy batching of your js and css, and automatic gzipp’ing when in production, using the standard javascript/stylesheet include tags:

One other quick win Rails 2.0 will give you is multiple hosts for assets. Browsers will only have two concurrent connections open for any single host, but an easy way around that is to use multiple subdomains that resolve to the same domain. So if you set:

Your rails app will randomly choose static01, static02, etc…to get more parallel connections for static assets. This assumes you use the built in img, js, and css helpers, of course.

For more full coverage of the keynote in core-Rails areas, see Nick’s notes.

The other ajax-centered session for the day was on full web stack testing with Selenium Remote Control, by Alex Chaffee and Brian Takita (PDF here). The ajax testing story is still a mixed bag, with a lot of different tools and approaches and not one clear best path. Selenium RC lets you test at the function level of your JS, all the way to a functional level of forms and events, all in the language your app is written in (hence the “remote control” part). For more details see the Selenium link above or the detailed pdf for all the code.

Source: Ajaxian
Original Article: http://ajaxian.com/archives/railsconf-2007-day-1

Perth, Western Australia based Buzka is a social bookmarking site with a business function.

I caught up with Buzka team earlier this week and the first thing they said to me was Buzka was like De.licio.us. Whilst I felt like groaning, I soon discovered that whilst sharing features typical of the social bookmarking crowd, Buzka offers something different.

Buzka comes with the usual trimmings. Sites can be bookmarked using a Firefox or Internet Explorer plugin, and bookmarks can be made public or private.

The way bookmarks are presented though is a notable point of difference. Users are able to create “spots” which look like a directory tree. Folder style groupings can be created and labeled to suite. Bookmarks can be dragged and dropped under each labeled folder.

Where as most social bookmarking pages display external sites in a new window or in place of the original bookmark list, sites bookmarked in Buzka are displayed in a right hand frame, with the original bookmark list staying open in a left panel.

Buzka has a business function. The company already has a number of co-branding deals that allow businesses to easily bookmark and share sites that may be of interest to their readers. West and Radiestates use the frame based “spots” complete with corporate branding. A non-branded version is available at no cost.

It’s difficult to promote any product from the geographic isolation of Western Australia, let alone a service looking to compete in social bookmarking. And yet isolation can promote creative thinking. Innovative Web 2.0 startups Scouta, Perthnorg and Minti all hail from the State and now Buzka can be added to that list.

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Source: TechCrunch
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YouLicense aims to gain traction in the growing market for direct music licensing deals.

An online music licensing marketplace, YouLicense enables artists and those seeking musical content to conduct business directly without the need to deal with music companies.

Content is indexed and easily searchable. YouLicense provides standardized contracts so that both buyer and seller immediately know the legalities of a deal, allowing for a quick and easy transaction.

The obvious competitors to this site are the variety of Podcast focused free and paid music marketplaces. Whilst music licensed by YouLicense can be used for podcasts and other forms of web created content, the site aims at the full spectrum of music uses: Film & Television, Advertising Campaigns, Music on Hold, Mobile Phone Content and Audio Projects. Items offered are also not limited by format. Ringtones, sheet music and beats can be listed along with the traditional pre-recorded music.

The goal of YouLicense is to make music licensing and copyright trade a simpler and more direct process. Whilst the service is still in private beta testing, I gained access to the marketplace and it certainly looks like it’s going to deliver on its goals.

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Source: TechCrunch
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LateNightShots is an invite-only social networking site dedicated to Washington DC nightlife.

Since launching a beta version in August 2006, the site now has over 10,000 members. LateNightShots adheres to a strict invite-only policy - members may only join the site after being recommended by an existing member.

LateNightShots requires members to choose at least five of their favorite bars or clubs and 5 of their favorite restaurants upon registering. After registration, members may then view the most popular bars in Washington DC, profile pages for the members who go to those bars, and pictures, videos and articles from bars or parties.

Other features include a comprehensive list of happy hours in the city, neighborhood maps, event planning functionality, a dating component, the ability to send drinks to friends that can be redeemed at local bars, “spotting” friends at bars, and message boards.

With general social networking style sites now at saturation point, narrowly focused niche sites are really the last untapped market. We recently covered OurFaves, a user generated geospecific review site and Angling Master, a social network for recreational fisherman. LateNightShots sits somewhere between the two.

There has been some coverage of the site elsewhere that suggested it was nothing more than an exclusive Republican white boy hangout space (or words to that affect). I couldn’t see it. Whilst there may be members with a strong political bent it’s not immediately evident in the member areas. There is a richness of member submitted content, reviews and discussion that would suggest an appeal to a much broader church, the only limitation being that you live in Washington DC, enjoy going out at night and are impartial to the occasional alcoholic beverage.

LateNightShots’ owner Sugar Media Group plans to expand the site in to New York, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Charlotte, Dallas and Charlottesville later this year.

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Source: TechCrunch
Original Article: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/117970999/

Most product review sites fall into one of two categories: professional or community driven. Sites like CNET Reviews and blogs like CrunchGear pay their staff to review the latest gadgets and give you an authoritative, and hopefully unbiased, opinion on what tech toys make the grade. Community driven sites like Epinions and Amazon rely on the kindness of strangers to post reviews, which are presumably honest and useful when taken in aggregate. There is a whole other class of startup that is trying to aggregate user reviews from a number of sites. See our roundup here.

The latest spin on product reviews has been to combine the two systems. In a talent search less glamorous than American Idol, review sites are turning the their community members to find the best reviewers in exchange for a little more cash.

SharedReviews is soon to launch review site in this category. The site will be a community of reviewers each with their own profile consisting of their reviews (video, written), their experience related to the products they review, and a rating of their skill as a reviewer. Reviewers will be able to post reviews to the site directly and through widgets using their API. There’s a sneak peek of the site to the right.

From there it’s just a matter of separating the wheat from the chaff and rewarding reviewers. By taking a look at the flow chart below, you can see what SharedReviews has in mind. They want to create reviews, sell advertising, and then share the wealth with the community and reviewers. Shared reviews will take 50% of the ad revenue, and then split the remainder with the reviewers ranked by proficiency along with the community that voted them there.

They’re looking for private beta testers with plans to launch this fall. If you’re interested, you can sign up here.

Readers interested in earning cash for reviews should also check out expoTV and Shopwiki.

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Source: TechCrunch
Original Article: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/117912938/