Alltop Indexes Blogs Better

Alltop is a popular attempt at Technorati 2.0 - i.e. how in W3's name do we sort through the bit piles that make up blog mountain. And boy is there a need. You see no one (who knows anything about the massively cluttered blogosphere) would disagree that one of the greatest challenges known to mankind is figuring out how to discover valuable and insightful blogs worth following. You know, not too many, not too few and enough to cover each of our range of interests.

Alltop's spin is to offer a virtual magazine rack and filing system so that we can quickly and easily scan blogs, choose the ones we like and set up a myAlltop dashboard of blogs and Websites we want to follow. Nice, if you have the time to wade through Alltop's thousands of magazines in the virtual rack. I think that they are onto something and yet missing something.

They are a good source for indexing, discovering and scanning blogs and content sites. What they seem to lack is a dashboard and filtering system. If they added reviews of top 10, top 50 sites per category by 'most visited' and 'most popular' that would be a start. Even most regularly updated would help. And imagine if they added to that a user review system for each blog. And how about an Alltop or Alltop-panel-of-experts list of the most interesting or valuable sites. Then they'd hook me. But maybe that's just me. Sometimes less can be more.

Innovatrs.com Launches Web Service for Entrepreneurs

A new Internet service for entrepreneurs, Innovatrs.com, has just gone live. Being a first or second time entrepreneur is one of the harder career choices available to mankind. Richard Branson once wrote that entrepreneurs are modern day discoverers, requiring just as much grit, determination, skill and risk taking as any Columbus or Cook equivalent.

The problem is that even though entrepreneurship is more vital than ever to our global economy, there are few schools, tools, methods or systems for entrepreneurs. So how do we know how to be a successful entrepreneur? Developing the right idea, taking it to market effectively and building a valuable business from it. Often we don't.

Innovatrs aims to remedy this by offering entrepreneurs and innovation officers a one stop innovation methodology and start-up system, plus Web based consultancy and mentoring as well as a series of tools, tips, tricks and more. The service costs $250 per month which sounds reasonable and potentially more attractive than the piece meal alternatives.

Apple's Latest Innovation - Price!

Yesterday Apple introduced its iPhone 3G S which will be available later this month and dropped the price on the current model of its smart phone to $99. They also unveiled two new lower-priced laptops and dropped the sales tag on its upcoming OS, Snow Leopard.

Is it only me or has Apple got Innovation block. They don't seem to have announced anything really big since the first iPhone release 2 years ago. Where's the iPhone Nano, the real Apple TV, the mass market Mac Netbook (Air), the 7 or 9 in iPhone/MiniMac etc.

Innovating on price alone is cool but not enough. Maybe Apple is suffering more from Steve Jobs absence than their results show.

Lijit Do Next Generation Blog Search

Lijit may have a tongue twisting name, but its got a neat Web 2.0 app. It takes blog search tools to a valuable new dimension. Searching on blogs today is simple and a bit too basic. Lijit moves the game on by providing a search tool that you link not only to your blog but also to your other Web 2.o assets - making your blog the centre of your content. This you may or may not like.

Lijit will not only search your blog but also your videos at YouTube, your Twitter account (no surprise), bookmarks, your network of friends and the blogs you read in your RSS feader. Nice. So, if you want your blog to be the portal for your life - then Lijit looks the way to go. If not, stay hemmed in at Facebook.

Why Old Media Will Die

Old media are staring like frozen rabbits before bright headlights screaming "where for art though - online subscription revenues". Each desperately seeking that holy grail of cash for content. Their knight in shining armor Sir Rupert of The Wall Street Journal. Leader of the Web content charging pack.

So old media huddles as we speak in back rooms across the Western world plotting subscription models and micro-payments to pay each of us back for years of abusive zero cash content. Fuming about their run down print presses and desperate to hang onto their old ways, chubby cost bases and private jets.

Hulu is one of the first to come forth as the next white knight, announcing that they are about to charge their users a subscription to watch their coveted online movies. And while this old media murmuring continues I can't help feeling that for every online news site, video streamer or music player that charges subscriptions for their content another 5 will spring up offering it for free, making money through ads, promo's, merchandise, products and ancillary offerings.

And so old media will one day die. Even Sir Rupert of The Wall Street Journal.

Zhiing - Mobile Location Made Easy

Zhiing, a Web 2.0 mobile software company, is leading a clutch of ventures going after the mobile location-services space. Most of the other players look a little gimmicky. Not Zhiing. They have a simple, clear and useful app. Use Zhiing to send a message to folk you're waiting for at a meetup, bar, restaurant or park and with your message to 'get a move on' Zhiing embeds your location. Neat.

And best of all your location is only revealed as a one off with the message - so none of this permanent switching on of location services which allow friends and others to Internet stalk you. Finally.