New Discoveries

Here are some pretty cool sites I learned about this weekend at SXSW Interactive and thought I might share:

http://www.socialthing.com - Aggregate your Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, and other social networking accounts into one... social... thing! It let's you keep up on what's going on with your friends in all creative spaces on the web at once. Currently in beta.

http://www.pmog.com - A game you can play, just by surfing the web in your FF browser. just install, register, and you're playing. Users set mines, leave gifts, messages, and more on pages across the web, which you (as a player) run into while randomly browsing. In retaliation or reciprocation you can set up your own surprises for other players. You gain "data points" for the length of time you spend on the web, and can even choose to play certain missions you run into and earn "badges". For example, to earn the "Indie badge," you must REFRAIN FROM USING Google FOR 24 HOURS while surfing on the web. Can you do it? In beta.

http://www.ihasahotdog.com/ - Just as charming and addictive as Icanhascheezburger.com. I think you can guess what this is about.

http://safaribooks.com/ - A great resource for tech-heads and web creatives. This is a growing modern archive of tech and development related books published by O'Reilly press that you can access from your computer, online. Check out 10 books at a time for $23 a month, or have your pick from 1000s of titles at any time for $43/month (cheaper than the YMCA!). This site has apparently been around a while.

http://www.Utterz.com - I think the concept is the same as SocialThing but from your cell phone, for people who prefer to text their updates. Or something.

http://www.bitstrips.com - Make a comic! It's fun! It's in beta though so it's kinda buggy. look:

Green Sites

In the spirit of environmentalism, check out these two sites that help save world resources while providing useful functionality:

Blackle: Google's Blackle is a way to use the famous and all-useful Google search box - and save energy at the same time. The traditional white Google background that emits light and energy on monitors across the world is now black, hence the name "Blackle." This dramatically cuts the amount of energy used when doing Google searches. Also nifty: a counter at the bottom of the page lets you know how many Watt hours of energy has been saved by Blackle users.

The Freecycle Network: This grassroots organization networks local communities across the US in an effort to reduce waste. Members join their local Freecycle community to give and get pretty much any tangible item they need - for free. Think craigslist, but nothing costs a dime. Freecycle is volunteer-run and completely free to use.