Vyew – Free WebEx Killer ?
Blogging, Business, Collaboration, Software, Startups April 30th, 2006
Reading TechCrunch’s profile on Wyaworks, a new startup that “aims to do for web development what blogging has done for publishing” reminded me of another product I placed in my Web 2.0 Bookmarks a while ago and forgot to check it out: Vyew. (no relation to wyaworks other than being remote namesakes).

It’s interesting how some brands become verbs: back in my last “corporate” job even after we switched from WebEx to GotoMeeting, we kept on saying “we’ll webex it”. But Vyew is a cute name, I wonder if the same will happen as users switch. Because they will switch. Nothing beats free.
Of course Vyew has more going for it than just being free. Nice features, easy-to-use UI (I’ve just tested it with Dennis) , and it’s even PC, being green.
A key value for people on-the-go is that it doesn’t require any download, you just start collaborating from any browser.
Vyew is a product of the team that created Simulat – I am not sure if it is the same company or another venture of the same individuals. They launched 2 weeks ago.
Related posts:
- vyew – a free web-based collaboration tool – Webex Killer?
- All The Good Names Had Gone…
- Tools I Use
- Vyew – free on-line meetings without any client software
- My Business Web2.0
Tags: vyew, simulat, collaboration, webex, gotomeeting, techcrunch
Directory of Web 2.0 Directories
Software April 30th, 2006
Steve Rubel points to Categoriz , “another big giant directory of Web 2.0 sites and services.”
I think to be considered valid Web 2.0 site, it should be called Categorizr. (As in Flickr, Flagr, Socializr ..etc)
A good resource otherwise. We soon will need a directory of all Web 2.0 directories.
Update (5/7): I told ya!
Here’s a list of Web 2.0 lists by Richard MacManus
Tags: catogoriz, web 2.0, web 2.0 directory
$250K Buys a lot of FahrvergnĂĽgen
Bay Area, Misc, Technology April 30th, 2006
Oh, boy, and I thought $85K was way too much for a Volkswagen .. was I wrong! Apparently you can spend $250K to get your very personal FahrvergnĂĽgen (not to be confused with this)
That’s how much Ron Patrick, owner of Sunnyvale, CA Engine Control and Monitoring spent to build his jet-propelled VW bug. “The purpose of this car is to have fun and be stupid,” he says with a laugh. “This is entertainment. It’s a toy, a toy for silly boys.”
The Flying (well, almost) Bug is street-legal, but he cannot fire up the jet… although “Patrick says that once in a while he puts on a crash helmet (mainly as a sound muffler), takes the car out on nearby Highway 237 in the wee hours of the morning and fires it up for a brief and hopefully cop-free run.”
His next project: digging up his garden to build a missile silo. Can you spell Nucular Proliferation? He has already purchased an SA-2 for a thousand bucks at an abandoned Polish air base and is now trying to get it cleared through Customs. Good luck with that.
(source: SF Chronicle)
Update (5/9): See Matt Marshall’s post on the X1.
Tags: FahrvergnĂĽgen, Fahrvergnugen, VW, Volkswagen, jet-propelled car, VW Bug, Car Enthusiast, Missile, Silo, Air-Defence, Humor, x1, zoliblog
No More Investigation Into Gas Prices, Please
Bay Area, Misc April 28th, 2006
Every time officials launch an investigation into gas prices, the damned thing defiantly climbs further up.
A few days after President Bush’s announcement we’re now up to $3.49.
Today I hear the Sate of California is launching an investigation, too – hm, summer just broke out, weekend coming… do I hear $3.79?
(photo originally published at Blinq)
Raising Boys
Humor April 27th, 2006
a) For those who have children past this age, this is hilarious.
b) For those who have children this age, this is not funny.
c) For those who have children nearing this age, this is a warning.
d) For those who have not yet had children, this is birth control.
The following came from an anonymous Mother in
1.) A king size waterbed holds enough water to fill a 2000 sq. Ft.house 4 inches deep.
2.) If you spray hair spray on dust bunnies and run over them with roller blades, they can ignite.
3.) A 3-year old Boy’s voice is louder than 200 adults in a crowded restaurant.
4.) If you hook a dog leash over a ceiling fan, the motor is not strong enough to rotate a 42 pound Boy wearing Batman underwear and a Superman cape. It is strong enough, however, if tied to a paint can, to spread paint on all four walls of a 20×20 ft. Room.
5.) You should not throw baseballs up when the ceiling fan is on. When using a ceiling fan as a bat, you have to throw the ball up a few times before you get a hit. A ceiling fan can hit a baseball a long way.
6.) The glass in windows (even double-pane) doesn’t stop a baseball hit by a ceiling fan.
7.) When you hear the toilet flush and the words “uh oh”, it’s already too late.
8.) Brake fluid mixed with Clorox makes smoke, and lots of it.
9.) A six-year old Boy can start a fire with a flint rock even though a 36-year old Man says they can only do it in the movies.
10.) Certain Lego’s will pass through the digestive tract of a 4-year old Boy.
11.) Play dough and microwave should not be used in the same sentence.
12.) Super glue is forever.
13.) No matter how much Jell-O you put in a swimming pool you still can’t walk on water.
14.) Pool filters do not like Jell-O.
15.) VCR’s do not eject “PB & J” sandwiches even though TV commercials show they do.
16.) Garbage bags do not make good parachutes.
17) Marbles in gas tanks make lots of noise when driving.
18.) You probably DO NOT want to know what that odor is.
19.) Always look in the oven before you turn it on; plastic toys do not like ovens.
20.) The fire department in
21.) The spin cycle on the washing machine does not make earthworms dizzy.
22.) It will, however, make cats dizzy.
23.) Cats throw up twice their body weight when dizzy.
24.) 80% of Women will pass this on to almost all of their friends, with or without kids.
25.) 80% of Men who read this will try mixing the Clorox and brake fluid.
Pandemic Flu Outbreak on College Campus
Misc April 27th, 2006
Fortunately not in real life, but a simulation at the Legal Preparedness for Pandemic Flu conference in San Francisco:
“A hypothetical focusing on a potential avian flu outbreak on a college campus located in a densely populated urban environment will be presented. The story will unfold over a simulated two-week period. Panelists will respond to the medical facts as they emerge and comment on the legal authority of public health agencies to take action, the legal obligations of the healthcare sector and private employers to work with government agencies, and ethical perspectives on how decisions will be made in the face of medical and legal uncertainties. “
I guess it all makes sense, yet a bit shocking that we don’t even know how (if) we will survive the epidemic, but the lawyers are already preparing, as usual…
On a lighter note, lawyers in London are losing billable hours big time:
“The chat in the legal community is that not one billable hour has been done today,” lawyer Mark Stephens said Thursday….”Life in London has ground to a halt because everyone — barristers, solicitors, partners, managing partners, legal secretaries — is working on deciphering it.”
He is talking about the secret code the judge who presided over the failed Da Vinci Code plagiarism case at London’s High Court hid in his written judgment.
Related posts:
- The Smithy code
- Latest Da Vinci mystery: judge’s own secret code
- Absolutely the Funniest Item of the Day CXCVII
- Bepuzzled
- The Da Vinci Code
Tags: pandemic flu, outbreak, bird flu, epidemic, legal preparedness, lawyers, secret code, Da Vinci Code
43 Best Blog Prank Still Goes On
Blogging, Collaboration, Humor April 26th, 2006
Alexander Muse reminds us that his 43 Best Blog Experience is still live – 2 months later people are entering themselves and deleting others. For all those interested may I suggest you also check out Ego-surf.
Freemium Memeorandum
Blogging, Humor April 26th, 2006
Tom Evslin at Fractals of Change discovered “clear evidence from technorati that tech.memeorandum predicts the future”.

He’s dreaming for tech.memeorandum to be able to predict product announcements, earnings releases. Tom, I have news for you: it’s all coming soon, along with a lot more… just think of the effect of some predictions on political Memeorandum. The predictive features will be wrapped into various subscription packages, as part of Gabe’s Freemium business strategy. ![]()
Tags: Memeorandum, Freemium, humor
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