From TechCrunch today. This type of service could prove useful to Front Porch Forum users to share documents among neighbors.
Docstoc is designed to be a shared repository of commonly used forms and documents… Docstoc competes with Scribd… Today, Docstoc is coming out of its private beta into a public beta. Anyone can now upload and share documents. Already, there are 12,000 documents on the site. There is no limit to how many you can upload, and Docstoc accepts the following file formats: .doc, .xls, .ppt, .rft, and .pdf.
YourStreet.com is launching. From TechCrunch…
What do you get when you combine Google Maps with hyper-local news and comments? You get a map-based news site called YourStreet… [it] detects where you are located and serves up news stories about events that recently occurred in your city or neighborhood, as well comments from YourStreet members who live nearby.
The startup has developed an algorithm that extracts geographical information from stories, such as street names, neighborhoods, and cities. It then geo-codes the articles against a longitude and latitude database so that it can place them on a map… If he can attract enough local visitors to YourStreet, the local dry cleaner may also want to show up to advertise there. The localized ads will be simple text ads at first, but they could also eventually be push pins of a different color.
YourStreet has been self-financed so far by Nicholson to the tune of about $400,000. His last company, Netventures, was sold to CNET in 1999 for about $12 million.
TechCrunch reports today…
We’ve been informed that Meetro – provider of a location-based instant messaging service – is working on a stealth project that aims to make forum setup, customization, and moderation as easy as blogging with Blogger.
The project, codenamed “Makaha”, has been in development since the beginning of this year. While many forums require users to find their own hosting and install software, Makaha will enable users to create and personalize forums through a point-and-click interface. Forums will have their own subdomains at the Makaha website just as blogs have their own subdomains at Blogger… Forum moderators will have full control over CSS styling (in addition to premade templates) and will benefit from an extensive community moderation system.
Even with the attractiveness of that traffic, few companies have been innovating in this space. We recently reviewed Tangler, which provides forums that function much like chat rooms by immediately displaying posts via Ajax when they are added to a discussion thread.
I’m pleased to share this special offer for residents of Burlington, VT…
Sign up for Burlington Telecom service (phone, internet, cable tv) now and receive a $25 CREDIT when you mention Front Porch Forum at the time you place your order. Referral also supports your neighborhood forum. Order at 540-0007 or http://www.burlingtontelecom.net (check the Front Porch Forum box under “How did you hear about us?”). Limited time offer: For new orders placed between 10/25/07 and 12/31/07.
Interesting traffic numbers for social networking sites on TechCrunch today. Lots of interesting comments. My first take-away… loads of options for online social networking and more flooding onto the web every day.
It’s not about features, it’s about who’s already there and tone. The internet is overflowing with social networks for (1) snarky techno-types, (2) pop-culture-obsessed kids (i.e., college age on down), and (3) career-focused climbers in a few industries. For the rest?
I just learned from TechCrunch that Judy’s Book is dead…
We just got word from Judy’s Book founder and CEO Andy Sacks that the Seattle startup will be shutting down operations, and most of the staff of twelve was let go today. The company had raised a total of $10.5 million over two rounds of financing. Judy’s Book started off as a community driven review site for local businesses, but changed it’s focus in 2006 when the original model looked to be failing. The company de-focused on local reviews, and went more towards the shopping angle and local deals.
Other players in the local review space have fallen in the last year, too. Intuit shut down Zipingo last summer, and Insider Pages sold for little more than the capital it originally raised to CitySearch. Yelp is still standing and reportedly doing well, although fierce competition from Yahoo and Google as well as younger startups is looming.
Front Porch Forum does a booming business in our pilot community with local reviews… but with a very different take.
Ghost of Midnight is an online journal about fostering community within neighborhoods, with a special focus on Front Porch Forum (FPF). My wife, Valerie, and I founded FPF in 2006... read more