Posted 11/12/09 at 03:15:00 PM by David Murphy

If war movies, zombies hordes, or stormtroopers have taught us anything, it's that there's power to be had in numbers--well, maybe not the stormtroopers. Regardless, a number of Web apps take advantage of this philosophy to offer increased functionality, awesome services, or cheap deals for those who are part of a herd. Kickstarter, for example, allows groups of people to team up and pledge funding for a number of independent projects. If a project meets its funding goal, then everyone who pledge an amount has to pay. If not, nobody pays a dime.

But you don't want to pay money. No, you want to save money. Have no fear--there's a Web app that takes this altruistic function and spins it on its head. Instead of pledging to donate, you're pledging to buy at group-discount prices!

 Read on to find out how it works!

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Posted 09/23/09 at 12:37:53 PM by David Murphy

The phrase "open-source" is such a sexy term.

It's so hip and fresh. Open-source singlehandedly represents the latest and greatest thinking in the modern-day technological movement. Drop it into a conversation and you're suddenly talking like a futurist. Throw it into a company's strategic roadmap and suddenly we've created innovation and depth. Suggest that virus-makers are embracing open-source, and you've got the attention (and clicks) of Web geeks worldwide.

Wait a minute. Open-source viruses?  How does that work?

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Posted 10/07/08 at 08:29:29 PM by Pulkit Chandna

Most established web companies have an eye on the social web market. eBay has staked a claim for a share of this burgeoning web segment with its social community website called Tokoni. The public beta of the social community, which allows users to share stories, is over.

Founded by Mary Lou Song and Alex Kazim, erstwhile eBay employees, Tokoni has financial backing from eBay. The press release announcing the official launch seems to suggest that sharing stories through Tokoni would be far easier for the mainstream users compared to other platforms on the social web.

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Posted 07/17/08 at 11:21:38 AM by Paul Lilly

Social networking sites are about to get a lot more chatty. Meebo, the Web-based instant messaging company, said it is taking its IM technology to partner sites this fall. When members sign on to compatible social-media sites, they'll be able to load up their buddy list, while also being able to detach the buddy list window. And when surfing away from one social site to another, users can still chat with their site-specific friends by migrating buddy lists into the Meebo client. It's all part of an effort Meebo is calling Community IM, and so far, sites said to be on board include:

• AddictingGames
• DanceJam
• Flixster
• MyYearbook
• SparkArt
• Sugar
• Tagged

According to ComScore, the above list gives Meebo access to 55 million users worldwide, and co-founder and CEO Seth Sternberg hopes to have even more partners jump on board by the time the service launches. Ad revenue will be shared, and Meebo claims its small, targeted ads receive much stronger "click through" rates than those found on other social networking sites like Facebook.

With a development team of just 40 strong, is Meebo being overly ambitious, or are they another success story in the making?

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Posted 06/02/08 at 07:08:31 PM by Norman Chan

Tech’s mightiest heroes (that’d be us) are looking for a few good writers to join our online ranks. Do you have what it takes to become a Maximum PC writer? Heed the call and read on for more details.

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