We Feel Fine – This most unusually creative and heart-warming project is brought to us by Jonathan Harris and Sep Kamvar, two amazingly creative and intelligent guys who decided to create a project where random sentences, statements and aphorisms are aggregated into one colorful and playful site. The result is truly amazing and awe-inspiring, and as Jonathan and Sep describe it, We Feel Fine is “a database of several million human feelings, increasing by 15,000 – 20,000 new feelings per day.”
To see an example, look at the screen shot below, although the project is very easy to explore; once the page has finished loading, simply click on a random dot and see what happens.
Motherboard.tv – Keeping track of technological advances is rather easy; quick headline-skimming on TechCrunch, Wired or any major newspaper these days will do that. But one aspect of technology that is often difficult to track and explore is tech’s cultural dimension. Dell’s Motherboard offers just that, in the most professional, engaging and alluring way possible.
According to their About page, Motherboard is “an online video network and community focused on the exploration of the nature and culture of technology, as viewed through the lenses of curated editorial content, community, and dialogue.” Tap into original content videos covering a plethora of topics including film + video, music, art + design, gaming, environment + the body, and ‘wonderful.’
Among seemingly infinite informative delights, you will find all the hottest topics buzzing around the Web right now, such as the Gap logo conundrum, or check this video showing the solution to the mysterious bee shortage in the US. Each video is accompanied by superb textual content, which makes any session on Motherboard a most enjoyable didactic experience.
ooVoo – Video chat is all but new. Google does it, so does Skype; MSN offers it as part of their Messenger service, and online video conferencing is also provided by Rounds. And this is just a quick list. ooVoo tries to be different, and in fact, based on a recent study commissioned by ooVoo, 8 out of 10 Skype users apparently prefer ooVoo over the former.
Let’s see how it measures up to or, if it really exceeds Skype as ooVoo claims. In terms of features, ooVoo offers video chat, video conferencing, phone calls and desktop sharing (that’s right). Right off the bat, desktop sharing is a crucial business tool I can definitely see coming into high use. Secondly, the ooVoo video chat is possible with friends and colleagues who don’t have ooVoo installed. You simply provide them with a certain link you receive from ooVoo after you sign up, and your friends’ browser will use that link to get in visual touch.
So, final verdict? ooVoo is easy to use, the sound and visual quality is terrific (which reminds me of those countless times when Skype lacked sound and video quality), and the video chat feature is free. I’m going to switch from Skype and give ooVoo a real test drive. Seems worth it!
The complete list of all ooVoo’s features is right there on their homepage. You should also check out their business solutions overview. See the screen shot below of my ooVoo profile, offering the video chat link for friends ooVoo-less. That’s ingenious!
Makers Market – For those of you who already know Etsy and like the concept of directly buying art and accessories from the artist who made them, you should also add Makers Market to your list of artisan shopping. Makers Market is “a curated market place of wonderful science, tech and artistic creations created and sold directly by some of our favorite Makers from around the World. – From the creators of Make and Boing Boing.”
There are thousands of products here for sale, listed under categories such as tech, science, arts & crafts, home + life (my favorite), wearables, music, even services. Makers Market is a remarkable venue for all those geeky artists to show off their talent and sell their amazing creations. Great initiative, superb execution and gorgeous products make this site a personal favorite.
LucyPhone – This free service is a true godsend. Don’t you just hate it when you call your cable or phone company, and end up waiting forever for an actual person to take your call, while in the meantime you’re forced to listen to the worst elevator music ever? LucyPhone is here, ladies and gentlemen, and it’s a blessing.
Forget about long speaker-mode calls on hold, waiting for that utility company’s customer service representative to finally talk to you. Simply search for a company or type in the toll-free number into the site’s text box, provide Lucy with a phone number you can be reached at, and lovely Lucy will call you when an actual human on the other side can take your call. In one word – Hallelujah!
Techdirt – With over 700,000 subscribers, Techdirt is definitely a must read blog. What will you find here? Oh, just super smart content about technology, governmental policies and legal issues influencing innovation and growth of companies these days.
It’s not by chance that top Editors of major publications (such as Wired Magazine, Wall Street Journal, Forbes and Business Week) highly recommend tapping into Techdirt. See this intriguing article on legalizing file sharing in Brazil as an example of the top notch content Techdirt is all about. Other content categories on Techdirt include wireless technology, entrepreneurship, IT and others. I rarely repeat myself when writing posts for the All My Faves blog, but in this case I’ll make an exception: Techdirt is a must read.
Online ConVert – I just love it when a website offers a useful service for free, without any background noise. That’s the case with Online ConVert, a ridiculously simple conversion site for practically any type of media file you can think of.
Use Online ConVert to handle all your audio, video, image, document, eBook and hash files and transform them to the file type you’re looking for in your desired category. Oh, and the best part? No download is required. Period. That’s just wonderful.
CreativeApplications.Net – With the aim of bringing together “applications that challenge the ways how we share and engage with information,” CreativeApplications.Net identifies the best creative apps out there, suitable for PCs, Mac, iPhone, iPad and other devices, and presents them to us in the most appealing way possible.
The slick interface and the terrific posts make CreativeApplications.Net a must stop for both creative professionals and savvy technology/Web users. See the uber-cool Sound Yeah post for an example of CreativeApplications.Net’s sweetness (click on the post’s photo below to read it).
Gazelle – This site truly offers a refreshing and rewarding solution for the old gadgets lying around in your house. Gazelle offers “a practical, rewarding way for people to finally rid themselves of all those old cell phones, digital cameras, and gaming systems that they no longer use, but can’t seem to find a way to let go of.”
The Gazelle service surpasses those of other electronics recycling programs because its green approach not only means they ensure your old gadget is put to reuse, but they also reward donors with hard cash! Saving the environment and getting paid for it? Yes, please.
The Faster Times – Although the various long-established newspapers have done their best to adjust to today’s Twitter and Facebook’s lifestyles of users, it seems they’re not quite there yet. The Faster Times is a promising online news provider that leaves all the other big players in the dust.
Simply visiting the Faster Times homepage will show you just how innovative it is, and I certainly hope you will make this news site a favorite. See this interesting article I found on the Faster Times, and it’s just one of hundreds of other intriguing stories available on the site.
YouTube to MP3 Converter – Get any song you want on your PC, Mac or mobile device with the cool YouTube to MP3 Converter. This site has found a way to make it easy for you to get whatever song you like, using YouTube videos. All you have to do is go to YouTube, copy the URL of your favorite video, and paste it on the MP3 Converter site. Wait for some 20 seconds and the MP3 file will be ready for download. It’s as simple as that.
I gave it a try with a lesser known yet just as amazing Jonny Cash song Tennessee Stud. It worked wonderfully.
Startup Quotes – Aphoristic quotes go a long way. Startup Quotes is an ingenious, inspiring and fun site where each post is a short tip, insight or concept, quoted from founders and co-founders of today’s major companies (mostly of the tech and communication fields). Learn what Amazon Founder Jeff Bezos’ tip for startups is (“Build yourself a great story”), and take Dropbox Co-founder Drew Houston’s advice on learning (“Learn early, learn often”). Each post is a beautifully presented startup tip non-entrepreneurs will benefit from just as much. For the finish, in light of the Apple iPhone 4 hitch that’s been buzzing around in recent weeks, see Steve Jobs’ tip for startups below. If you feel like sharing your tip, submit it here.