Translationparty.com's Zazzle integration

Last week I posted about Translationparty, a fun site that translates an English phrase into Japanese, back to English, back to Japanese, etc. until hilarity ensues.

Well this week we find out that they added a Zazzle API integration all on their own! After you enter your phrase and the site does it's translations, you can buy a t-shirt, mug, or other products, with the final phrase on it! Cool!

Here's an example...when entering the phrase "What would this look like on a t-shirt?", the final translation becomes "In this case, tshirt?"

Let's have a Translation Party!

1. Enter a phrase in English
2. The phrase gets translated into Japanese, back to English, back to Japanese, etc...until the translations reach equilibrium and match.
3. Hilarity ensues.

http://translationparty.com

Want something for $10?

This is actually a pretty cool idea. You send them $10, they send you something...randomly...from their warehouse. Could be a nice leather wallet, or could be a USB Rocket Launcher. Who knows! It's the surprise that makes this fun!

Hey, now you can send yourself a gift on your birthday and not know what you're buying yourself!

Six degrees of...well just about everything!

WARNING: Time-waster Web site! So just how does Monty Python relate to Albert Einstein? Do bananas and network attached storage have anything in common? How can you link zits with airplanes?

Omnipelagos can tell you! Just enter two search terms, and the site finds how they can be linked. Even the most obscure terms usually comes up with a connection.

And yes, it can find links to Kevin Bacon, too.

Perpetual motion machine challenge...hoax?

A company by the name of Steorn claims it thinks it may have stumbled upon "free energy", a.k.a. perpetual motion. Of course, this has been claimed by many in the past, only to be proven hoaxes, scams, or just plain bad math.

The difference here is that Steorn is challenging all scientists to try to prove, one way or the other, whether their device works. And they say they won't take moeny until AFTER the scientific community has released their findings.

According to the company, they stumbled upon this accidentally, and now want the scientific community to verify what they believe to be a perpetual motion machine. And if scientists find that it is not the case, so be it.

At face value, this seems very legitimate...why would a hoaxer go through this kind of scrutiny? But since a perpetual motion machine is widely regarded as impossible according to the first law of thermodynamics, one must think what else could this be?

My thoughts? It could be one of three things:

1. Legitimate claim, bad math. Steorn thinks they did it, but miscalculated energy input/output.
   
2. A big social experiment. Let's see how many scientists are suckered into throwing away the basis of their beliefs on the remote chance this cold be real. Or what is the current public reaction to claims of this nature when money is removed from the equation.
   
3. Someone finally reverse engineered alien technology and got it to work. Everyone knows that flying saucers are powered by magnetic forces.
   

How Evil Are You?

Surprisingly, I found this link in one of the Internet Explorer team member blogs :-) Just ask yourself, how evil are you?

Be a star with SingShot!

SingShot is a new site for karaoke lovers. Sign up, choose a song, plug in your mic, and sing. Not only is that fun, but you can record your renditions for all to hear.

Now here is where the real fun begins. It's like a train wreck...you can't stop looking, no matter how bad the scene. I'm amazed at how truly bad some people's recordings are! As Simon Cowell would say, "Appalling". There are some truly talented people on there, however.

So in general, I like the site. It's fun. But to record songs and actually be a star, you have to pay (after your 2 week free trial ends). Subscription plans are $9.95/month (billed monthly), $7.95/month ($23.85 billed every three months), or $4.95/month ($59.40 billed once a year).

Free members can only play member recordings, create a profile page, and rate and comment on other member performances. If you don't want to be the American Idol, but rather play Randy, Paula, or Simon, then the free membership is perfect. But if you want to be the next Clay Aiken (and who doesn't?) be ready to pony up some cash.

Make your own South Park avatar with South Park Studio

This is just cool. If you like South Park, make your own South Park style avatar using this nifty little Flash program.


You can add all sorts of clothing, body parts, and accessories.
Check me out!

Web 2.0 Watch: Create your own Social Web Apps with Ning

For many, Web 2.0 is based on community and sharing online. Ning provides a platform to create your own social Web application in minutes. Ning promises that you can create:

• Your own photo or video sharing website (like Flickr, Shutterfly or YouTube)
  
• Your own group or social network (for your friends or school)
  
• Your own reviews site for anything (like Citysearch or IGN )
  
• Your own ratings or voting site (like Hot-or-Not™)
  
• Your own marketplace (like Craigslist for your own group)

All this can be achieved by cloning and modifying existing Ning apps, or, for the developers out there, delving deeper into writing some code.

I browsed around some apps on Ning, and although very compelling, they all looked virtually identical. Sure, the tools may be there to modify to your liking, but it doesn't seem to be the norm right now.

With maturity, Ning could become a great launching pad for some good social Web ideas, but they must first make it even more accessible for non-developers and provide easy to use customization tools to allow each app to stand on its own. This is one to keep an eye on.

My new design/usability web site

I figured it was about time to create a site dedicated to my work and professional life. Let's face it, if we don't promote ourselves, don't expect anyone else to!

With the launch of http://ed.caggiani.com/, I have managed to put together my philosophy of good design, which I call the R.A.I.D. Philosophy of Good Design. Visit the site to read what R.A.I.D. is all about.

The site is still very much under construction, so don't expect too much...yet.

Stream of photo-consciousness...

A friend at work just sent around this link, and I have to say this is one of the coolest things I've seen.

Imagine a picture...now imagine every pixel in that picture being another picture. Now imagine being able to zoom in and see those smaller pictures, and as they get closer you see that they are made up of more pictures...and now prepare to spend quite a while clicking and clicking and clicking.

Simply cool. Try it yourself (NOTE: Macromedia Shockwave plugin required)

Web 2.0 Watch: Logos galore

While browsing Zimbio portals (see my previous post), I came across this large image of Web 2.0 company logos, which was housed on Flickr.

The discussion around it pointed me to web2logo.com, a site that simply posts linked logos to hundreds of Web 2.0 companies.

In the current climate, like a smarter, more mature version of the '90's dot-com growth period, a living visual map of the growing landscape is a welcome addition.

Plus, the fact that I found this site via the Zimbio : Flickr : Web2logo.com trail, proves that information sharing and self-publishing can lead one down paths of discovery only available to humanity relatively recently.

The Wild West was fun, but it got better when they invented plumbing.

Web 2.0 Watch: Zimbio launches!

Zimbio launches!
What is Zimbio, you ask? They call themselves "...the network of public portals created by people like you."

What does this mean? To put it simply, it's a site where any user (or "guru") can create a Web 2.0 information and communications center for any topic under the sun...complete with a blog, member photos, links, feeds, forums, chat, and more. The best part is that each portal grows with the help of Zimbio's user base.

This is a sign of the times...when technology, communication and social networking are coming together to form exciting new ideas and services. Zimbio has set itself apart from other offerings by integrating many of today's hot Web 2.0 buzzwords into a usable, fun, and potentially informative service. Check it out!