This month we bid bon voyage to a new, Adelaide-based, Web2.0 startup, find a plan incubator, look at a new identity sniffer, and get some inspiration for a life-or-death fitness workout.
Trace My Trip
A new Web2.0 site was launched this week in Adelaide, and has dubbed itself the “Facebook for travellers”. It is still in its early days after launch and I have had some trouble accessing some of the features. However, this could be a site to watch because it couples specifically-designed tools for sharing holiday planning and publishing with tight security options for privacy.
Founder, Ryan Adams, said the difference between his site and Facebook is that TraceMyTrip is specifically designed in a way that travellers can plot their journey and then share it with the select few friends and family they want to choose.
There are other travel-sharing sites out there but one thing this site promises is that you can upload your photos and videos along the way, in high resolution. This means serious photographers won’t have to lug hard drives around with them: they can just upload when they need to and know their memories are safe.
It is only open for Australians at the moment with the rest of the world invited in come 2011.
My wishlist is for the map interface to be smoothed out (I kept getting undefined errors when trying to plot my trip) and production of a “how to” introduction video/tutorial to guide newbies through the process. It does show a lot of promise.
Take a look around Trace My Trip for yourself.
Plan Big
Have you ever had an idea that went nowhere? I’m sure you have because it seems to be part of the human condition, at least for most of us.
Bendigo Bank and Adelaide Bank have banded together to create this idea sharing site in the hope that likeminded souls will find each other and organisae themselves such that good ideas come to fruition.
The site explains, “Here’s the thing about an idea. Unless you do something positive to get it out so that others can know about it, it will only ever remain ‘an idea’. But when an idea is shared, it can take on a life of its own. That’s the beauty of turning your idea into a plan with PlanBig. With the help of others, your plan becomes a living thing that can take root and grow in ways you might not have imagined possible. Once you’ve set up your plan, you can quickly and simply post updates, tell your supporters about the sorts of things you need help with, and much more. There’s no time like now to get your big idea off the ground!” I couldn’t agree more.
I recall the author Chris Anderson saying that he blogs ideas for new books because he knows almost all of us are too lazy to steal the ideas and produce something, but at the same time, by putting his ideas public, he holds himself to account because people can ask how he is progressing and keep him honest.
Here are a couple of example plans:
- Anja Holstead says: The sounds of tumble weeds dragging their carcuses across the empty streets… WOOT SATURDAY NIGHT IN VICTOR HARBOR! I want to make a new place, nightclub? bar? milkbar? club? hole? anything… even a shed that is youth, music, art, alcohol and almost 24 hr friendly. My Big reasons are: A complete lack of facilities means a lack of motivation, no one does anything. There is a culture of bindge drinking and abuse in vh that is born from bordem. A central place would stop possibly over the limit drivers needing to head allover town, party hoping. The facilities there already are lack lustre.
- Melody says: The plan is to transform 10 individual rooms from drab to fab in just one month with a budget of just $500-$10,000 per room and the cost of just $100 callout/travel fee (to cover my expenses only) in exchange for “Before” and “After” shots for my folio. I’m looking to get some projects to really inspire me and push me. I’ve set the budget to be environmentally conscious also and to limit consumerism. I hope to breathe new life into old furniture and accessories and scour second hand stores and auctions for a great deal of pieces for rooms. I want to network and get my name out there and hopefully gain some future referals. I’m not so much motivated by money but kickstarting a career where I am doing what I love full time! This plan is all about creativity and networking!!
Take a look at Plan Big and help someone out or plant your own ideas.
Peek You
With all the Web2.0 tools about urging us to share personal information, holiday snaps and opinions, we should expect more sites like Peek You to emerge.
Peek You is designed to help give you more visibility online. After all, why produce your content if you can’t get found.
But the flip side is that it helps others seek you out through ways you probably have not thought of.
Firstly, I must stress that Peek You simply uses information already publicly available. However, that will not stop it coming as a surprise to people who have not thought through the ramifications of putting their lives online.
I ran a test on Steve Davis and sure enough, I turned up with both my radio and marketing profile but also fully connected to my coffee brand, Baristador. Most of the information was accurate, although my age was lowered by three years. Not complaining!
One of the most compelling uses I will find for this tool, however, is that when you actually click on a personal profile, it gave me the ability to search for other people in Adelaide or South Australia on a range of terms associated with my account, such as Steve, Davis, Doctors, CEOs, Lawyers, Reporters, Bloggers, etc. So, in the hope of getting some mentions for this blog, I will mention that Adelaide bloggers among the 498 suggested to me include Colin Campbell, Derek Munneke, Anthony Kimber and Travis Nash. Let’s see who has their Google Alerts working properly!
Finally, if this site does surprise you in an unhappy way, you can apply to have your listing removed from the Peek You database.
My Morning Run
Free runners are athletes who can scale landscapes – natural and manmade – with ease. The opening scenes of the James Bond movie, Casino Royale, featured a breathtaking scene in which James Bond chases a bad guy who performs free running through a construction site.
To know those stunts were done for real and to see these free runners in this video, you can’t help but be inspired to put an extra spring into your step on your morning walk.
Here is a light-hearted, fun, and tantalising introduction to free running.