4 posts tagged “web2.0 startups”
Scratch is a new programming language designed by Michael Resnick and his associates at MIT’s Lifelong Kindergarten research group.
The service is designed for children 8 years old and up to learn the concepts that can be used from an early age for the foundation that allows for the continued learning of programming and other current skills. Helping to form the ability to think creatively, communicate and analyze, use technologies, collaborate, and design, Scratch has been likened to an improved version of Smalltalk, which supposedly offered programming learning tools that operated with the simplicity of building with LEGO pieces. A similar “snap and build” design is used with Scratch as well, and the site is full of other learning tools and resources, such as printable flash cards.
It’s available as a free download and runs on Windows and Mac OS X (Linux is on the way). The act of programming is broken down in a sensible manner for children, complete with visuals, large icons and images, and drag’n'drop technology. There is a bit of a community involved with Scratch as well; projects can be added to the home page, and users can download these projects, as well as leave comments. While Scratch was designed for children 8-16 years of age, the creators have noted its use with children younger than 8 years old, and even with college students as an introductory tool. GirlSense is another online community aimed to teach children concepts for today’s collaborative and online world.
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PayPerPost, the site that pays people to write about certain products and services on their blogs, has launched a Facebook application. For now, its functionality is limited: it lists Marketplace Opportunities, lists the subjects you’ve written about and (mainly) acts as an affiliate advertisement to put on your Facebook profile and make money when your referrals sign up.
Coupled with the Facebook news feed, however, PPP could potentially become an annoyance on Facebook. You can imagine a scenario in which people could be paid for writing on Facebook blogs, posting certain Facebook apps to their profiles or (worse) filling the News Feed with commercial information like ads. It’s a risk that also increases as more Facebook ad networks spring up: hopefully Facebookers will disown friends that use such services. If not, Facebook itself may need guidelines about what constitutes excessive “feed spam”.
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Unizr is a new social bookmarking tool that combines feeds with discussions in order to provide an ongoing forum for the web’s content.
Pulling up unizr’s service, you’ll get what looks like a start page–a mix between Pageflakes and Yahoo Mail Beta, really. You can join existing discussions or start your own. Add links or topics to your personal page, and let the discussion begin. Invite friends to chime in, or see what other Unizr members think about your new topic. The groups you’re a member to, along with the individual items you’ve added, will be displayed at the top of your page. You can click on any of these to see details and ongoing discussions.
Pretty much any type of media can be added to your unizr page, including images and videos. There are default options for adding YouTube, IMDB and Flickr content as well. While you can’t add widgets or feeds, Unizr will track all the items and topics you’ve included on your page. It will glow green on your “dashboard” to keep you constantly updated. You can also subscribe to groups within Unizr.
This service has taken a bit of the social aspects that Pageflakes Blizzard and Netvibes Universe is going after, in that added content is made available to the public. Creating a desktop widget or downloadable tool like Particls, or a bookmarking tool, or a “mobile” discussion window that can be shared with friends on any website could greatly expand Unizr’s initial service.
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Shelfari, the virtual bookshelf community, is holding a Harry Potter contest: The Seven Days of Harry Potter Seven.
The grand prize is a J.K. Rowling signed, first first-edition copy of “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone”, the book that started it all. In order to participate, simply add the latest Harry Potter book, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” to your Shelfari bookshelf within seven days of its release, and write a review. Shelfari is taking advantage of the popularity of this book to emphasize the social utility of its site. Groups can be formed around particular books, genres or motifs, and individuals can discover and share information, reviews and opinions about books, encouraging others to read and share themselves.
In other Shelfari news, the company has recently launched its Facebook application, letting users share their bookshelves on their Facebook profiles.
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