“I am not a number! I am a free man!” Or, at least that’s what The Prisoner wanted you to believe. We Are Numbers is a worldwide community experiment / tracking system / T-shirt pitch that wants you to be an individual — in a completely hive-mentality sort of way. The mysterious Number One (aka Dutch designer Twan Verdonck) was tired of the disposable nature of couture fashion — what with its “one minute you’re in, the next you’re out” Heidi Klumisms — so, he decided to make just one style; a handmade T-shirt with your own unique number. Dozens of new members have already posted their YouTube videos, and the first 1000 customers will appear in a book. We just hope the guy who gets 69 isn’t a complete a-hole.

Tea is serious business here in England. Even young hip kids that you would think would be over the whole stereotype of a culture, still swear by a good cup of tea. So it should come as no surprise that tea parties have gone Web 2.0 in England. The Website makethetea.com is out to help organize teatime by ending the fuss over whose turn it is to brew the tea. The site takes into account your different tea drinking groups as well as each person's taste, then selects the brewer at random. Thus giving a system to this age old tradition. What will the Internet do next?

Good ideas are contagious. At least that’s the idea behind Ecopop.com. Chad Rea — who coined the term “eco pop” in 2006 to describe new companies that have an edgy image — collects real-life examples of innovative ideas. From design to home and garden, he uses these examples as a starting point for the public to discuss, show and even come up with some of their own. It’s a social experiment in a virtual world with the end result hopefully being new ways to better our lives. Ecopop.com adds water to the flowing fountain of inspiration, and this is where they go to play and conceive. Thankfully, it’s a quick population growth that doesn’t need too much fostering.

Fashion and technology can get along. After all, it was a savvy mind that came up with the sewing machine, Nike’s Pump sneaker, and Project Runway. FadMashion has its own ideas on how textiles and technology co-mingle. The goal of their site is the bring the nebulous world of hot, young (but woefully undermarketed) talent into a single online network of fabulousness. Search options allow you to find new threads and accessories by designer, but the key to FadMashion is maintaining an under-the-radar, but well edited collection — and then putting it in front of your face.

Everybody’s a critic, and there are plenty of websites dedicated to consumer opinions or musicians selling out … but often times the act of taking things to task grows a little tired. Sometimes you just want to share some love, whether it’s a glass of wine or the way your favorite actor pronounces a certain word — you might feel compelled to shout out to the world how great specific things are and have a discussion about them. That’s where p0pulist comes in. The fun new forum from the San Francisco-based interactive product group Particle, is the everyday conversation you have with your friends (and people just like your friends). It aims to get users to open up a dialog about the things they like, so that they can share and find friends with similar tastes. Over time, the site will also serve as an online record of the user’s evolution since becoming member. Go ahead share your feelings with the group … maybe you’ll find a lifelong friend.

Psychologist Carl Jung once talked about the “collective unconscious”, what he described as “a reservoir of the experiences of our species.” It’s kind of like how all children of the ’80s intuitively know an Autobot from a Decepticon. What Amy Hoy and Thomas Fuchs are trying to do with Twistori — their online social experiment — is find a sort of collective unconscious on Twitter. Inspired by our friend Jonathan Harris and his We Feel Fine project, Twistori uses Summize to tag conversations with key words like love, hate, think, believe, feel and wish. These convos are then grouped together on a scrolling Web page of innermost feelings. Now you can never say, “I never knew you felt that way.”

When they’re not busy attempting a coup d’etat on Denmark’s Constitutional Monarchy, the ArtRebels spend their time banding together for the causes of creativity. Originally, founded by Carla Cammilla Hjort as a record label boasting 100% artistic freedom, combined with an on-line music, art, and film shop whose sales would go towards supporting causes working to make the world a better place, ArtRebels has become much more.

As Hjort’s ambition to make “the coolest site online” grew, she began to amass a talented team to turn her dream a reality. The current ArtRebels Crew consists dj’s, musicians, film makers, graphical designers, promoters and selfmade rebels alike. All the members operate in the interest of attaining their own measure of success while assisting others in their artistic endeavors forming a global artist support system. The ArtRebels website features the work of all of its constituents ranging across the wide spectrum of artistry…from music, to fashion to the realm of visual arts, It is truly an amalgamation of talent and ideas for the benefit of creative folks everywhere. If you fancy yourself a rebellious artist perhaps you should join the revolution.

You know you’re in trouble when you find yourself needing tools to manage tools. Fuser (currently in beta), is a newly launched site that works by aggregating all your social networking accounts into one. Rather than logging in to MySpace, Facebook, and your various email accounts, you can simply visit one site. Similar to how web portals (MSN, Google Homepage, Yahoo!) work, Fuser allows you check email, and messages from your friends on both major social networking sites; all the messages trickle into one inbox so you get a constant feed of data rather than separation. There are other fun features too such as a “leaderboard” displaying which of your friends communicate with you the most — sort of like the Top 8 on MySpace but more relevant, in my opinion. The site is free and we’ll have to see if it ends up being a tool we can’t live without or “yet another Web 2.0″ product that is thrown to the wayside. Let us know what you think!

I’m a little nervous about bringing iminlikewithyou up again — mainly because you crazies have gone completely batshit every single time we’ve mentioned the networking/gaming/dating site — but hey, I love you, want the best for you, etc., so here goes.

IILWY, if you aren’t already familiar, takes a comfortingly raucous approach to internet networking by enticing users to participate in games created by other users. Players bid points (that they rack up by winning other games, logging in, and getting involved in a few other ways) on games to get them in the running for a top five spot, which in turn lands them (if chosen as winner by the game’s creator) with a little chat sesh. Why we’re reviewing all of this basically amounts to the fact that after a ton of hard work (involving the sweat and tears of our own Editorial Director, Heather, who is now double-troubling in the same capacity over there), a freshly perkinated iminlikewithyou has been revealed. Aside from being even prettier than the original IILWY, the new site features a snarky news section, an easier way to chat among users, and what some have been referring to an “overall aesthetic fiesta.” We’re so dang happy with the new site that we have once again (oh dear, here’s where the madmen come out…) decided to throw our readers an open invite. Just click here to get to our JS reader-friendly sign-up spot, then get crack-a-lackin’ on setting up your profile/first game. Maybe Heather and I will find you…

More screencaps after the jump. (Read More…)

I don’t know about you, but I’m kind of sick of not being able to locate my friends in every capacity and at all times. Especially when I’m wasting the workday away online without the faintest as to what my friends are surfing simultaneous-like. So, pretty much, thank God for the miracle that is Me.dium, a veritable virtual GPS of sorts, that keeps you connected with the real world... behind your browser. It’s people-watching for PCs (and Macs, too, of course); a totally free Web browser add-on, Me.dium essentially removes the blinders from the browsing experience, enabling you to answer the question, “What’s Bob Internet-up-to?” So you can follow the rest of the Me.dium community, find out what’s relevant to you (and your surfing), and drop Bob a real time line if he’s surfing, too.

Check out the tutorial, read the FAQs, and then check out RockMe, a five-day online music festival beginning September 18th. Hosted by the band Rose Hill Drive and presented by Me.dium, RockMe is more or less the first of its kind where online concerts are concerned. Not only do you get to listen with the rest of the Me.dium brood, you get to surf with the five participating bands’ post performance, too. All from the comfort of your bedroom/office/place or from wherever it is you steal your wifi these days. Now that’s my kind of mosh pit.

–Thea Beemer

In case you plan on skimming this article, and unless you blow the boys at Behance away and they decide to give you one, the only way into this heavenly creative network is by asking us for an invite or leaving your portfolio link in the comments here. Yes, we are the gatekeepers.

These days, it takes a lot to floor me, but sitting with Scott Belsky of Behance last week as he walked me through the Behance Network — launching today — I found myself mouth agape, shaking my head at the utter flawlessness of what is destined to be one of the most useful and powerful sites on the web for both creatives types and the companies that hire them. While none of the features (gig lists; portfolio management; circles; messaging) could really be classed as unique, the application, ease of use and pure aesthetic value go above and beyond any other site I’ve ever seen in this realm…and it’s glaringly obvious this is a platform built for creative professionals, by creative professionals, who have promised to keep it, always free.

I could get into every last nook and cranny of the site’s features, which include crazy-awesome live search, sortable galleries, the use of projects within portfolios, dead-basic profile management tools (fully customizable with a movable toolbar) and a simple structure for “circles” (groups created by any user and classed as private, limited or public), but I’ll be here for years if I start right now. The good news for you is that even though Behance is making a miniscule amount of invitations available on their site, the only sure-fire way to get in over the next seven days is to leave a link to your work here in the comments, or to email us at feedback[at]joshspear[dot]com. You could stay tuned for an in-depth walk through of the site on Friday, or you could just trust me on this, share your best work, and try it out for yourself. You can also bet it’ll be at the top of our go-to list for fresh content from here on out. We’re so excited to watch this develop into what is sure to be a vital resource for anyone in the creative industry — and for those people to embrace it with open arms. Check out the screencaps after the jump, and leave your info in the comments.

(Read More…)

Last year, I told you about Zyb, a free online phone data backup service that allows you to store, manage, share, and access mobile data online. About a year later, it looks as though the folks at Zyb have been continuing to innovate their service. The new version — which has been under silent launch mode for a while now, for feedback purposes — has an improved interface, and continues to morph all of your essential data services into one bundle. Fresh Zyb features include:

• Users can connect to the people in their mobile phone's address book to keep in touch and share mobile content
• Connected friends can keep their contact information updated in each other's phones
• Users can micro-blog from their phone and broadcast the blog to people in their phone's address book
• Users can upload pictures from their mobile phone and tag the pictures using the phone's address book
• Users can expand their social network by searching for people with whom they have mutual friends

The bottom line is that the new version has transformed Zyb from a static, bi-directional data service into a multi-dimensional, dynamic one. I like to think of it as Facebook…for my phone.

Let’s get one thing out of the way before we begin: I don’t like Twitter. Yes, you heard me. I simply don’t “get” it and this is not for lack of trying. Just check out what people post on there, things like “Drinking orange juice and waiting tillclass [sic] is over 12:22.” Are you kidding me?

On the other end of the social networking mashups, we have Pownce. Started by Digg founder Kevin Rose and his newly formed Megatechtronium posse consisting of Daniel Burka, Leah Culver, and Shawn Allen, Pownce is described as a combination of IM, Twitter, and I bet I’m the first to suggest this, Hello. While no single part of Pownce is original, bringing them all together is and I think it’s a combination that may prove useful. Currently invite-only (what self-respecting startup isn’t?), the site is very much a Web 2.0 product, complete with loads and loads of Javascript; there’s also a desktop companion which we’ll discuss later on. (Read More…)

Every so often, I review my browsing history and start to feel a bit jaded. I mean, surely there’s more to life than secret retail sales, snarky blogs, and open bars… right? (I don’t know where you’re getting these crackpot ideas from, Luce. -ed.) Fortunately, the folks at Literago have come along to buoy my spirits and spread the word about literary happenings in the Windy City area. I think it’s a genius idea - a bit like Myopenbar, but for bookish types, and/or those of us who would like to meet and perhaps even date bookish types. Chicago gets a bad rap at times for its elusive cultural scene — it’s all there, across music, art, fashion, and yes, literature, but connecting to events and people can get a bit frustrating. One pervasive problem has been divisions between neighborhoods and cliques throughout the city - for example, folks in Andersonville may have a tough time hearing about a reading or a workshop in Pilsen. Literago fills the gaps by providing a home on the interweb for literary events, including an editorially reviewed calendar and corresponding weekly newsletter. The site is not just a clearing-house of activities, however, as you can also find essays (”Bulletins”, on topics such as Punk Planet and McSweeney’s) on the state of literature in Chicago and beyond. Finally, if you really want to dig in, there’s a comprehensive list of local resources such as publications, publishers, venues, and other websites. The Chicago literary community owes co-founders Gretchen and Eugenia a big high-five. Awesome stuff.

I apologize for introducing our readers to yet another networking site, but VIRB, a newer and far more aesthetically pleasing social community, is seducing me straight out of the creatined arms of Myspace. Much like the other sites of its genre, VIRB allows users to create profiles, share content, listen to music, and watch videos. However, VIRB boasts a long list of added features (like Flickr integration and widescreen video) that make for an alluring alternative to the networking sites we’ve grown accustomed to. Being a design junkie, the biggest perk that VIRB offers me is its beautifully simplistic design– there’s absolutely no clutter on the site, not even users’ profiles (thanks to a sweet option that allows you to turn off customizations). That said, it’s also super easy to make a profile that people wont want to “turn off” with VIRB’s awesome customization options; this picture is a snapshot of a featured profile (uhh, hope that’s cool with you, I Heart Birdie) and, well, WOW. I’m sold.