What a great website request I received the other day! I was asked to take a look at Spokeo and talk about my thoughts on the site. At first, I thought "Great, another feed reader", but after I registered and started fooling around with the site, I really got to like it. To me it is an RSS feed reader, but the interface is fun and easy to work with.

When you start off with a new account, Spokeo is nice enough to start you with a few website feeds that they like to be updated on. It was a great way to help understand how the site was setup, how to navigate around, and what the site will actually look like before you even put in any of your own data (usually you would be looking at a blank site until you start populating the site with other websites you want to track). It is simple to delete feeds, so you can remove any of these default sites from your buddy list. When you want to add buddies, it is as simple as adding the URL to their website...Spokeo will do the rest! A really nice feature in this area is that you can add a friend's page from a major social network like Last.fm, Myspace, Flickr, Twitter, etc.

Now for a couple things that I wish the site would let me do...First, some of the terminology did not seem to fit well. This is nit-picky, but it was confusing to me at first! The one that really stood out at me was "Buddies" on the list of sites you are following. When I think of buddies, I think of Eric or Heather, not the website name that they write on. You can easily change the name of the site to your buddy's name, but it would be really nice to have that option when adding the site initially! If this was done, it would make more sense to me to name this section "Buddies". Another thing that I wish I could do is to change the buddy icons for each site. It would be nice to be able to upload a picture or give a URL to a picture that would be used when I roll over a buddy's name. Right now, when I roll over a newly created buddy, a generic Spokeo image is shown (I am not sure if this will get populated with something more relevant in the future, but it would be really nice to have something related to my buddy). I would also love to be able to change the thumbnail image to the left of each buddy's name.

I really am enjoying the site all-together, so I expect that I will keep using its services. If you are still unsure of what the site does, I suggest reading "The Story" section on their About page. Also, I hope (when I finally get out to California for a vacation) to get the chance to attend one of the monthly open lunches they have and be able to meet the creators of Spokeo!

Today's website: Spokeo.com

My mother sent me an email this weekend with a link to a flash video in the shape of the United States. It was called "My Beautiful America". When the video starts, pictures start showing up from across the US. The background music is different songs that relate to the US. I really enjoyed looking through all of the pictures to see what I have/have not seen already, and really just to see the actual beauty of our country. One thing that I really wish the site had was video controls. I would love to be able to stop on a couple pictures to look at them in a little more detail. Find time in the next day or two to watch this...it is really worth it!

Today's website: My Beautiful America

Today's site has been around for awhile now, but I have not "really" gotten into it until a few days ago. Justin.tv started off as a website where you could view Justin 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. He attached a camera to his hat and wore it wherever he went. Now that the site has grown, and the popularity has jumped, the site is a collaboration of many people with live web cams that you can watch. With the live video feeds, you can also participate in chat rooms. The chat rooms are specific to the video feed you are watching, and most of the time has the person that is being filmed writing and reading in it!

Probably the 2 most viewed people on the site are iJustine (recently known for her 300 page iPhone bill video) and Naked Cowboy (the guy that sings on the streets of NYC). I am currently watching Sarah Meyers. It looks like she is at work, so she is not doing a lot of interaction with the chat room or the camera (just sitting at her desk). I am keeping it on because the music she has playing on the feed is really relaxing and enjoyable to work with! Enjoy the site, but don't get too addicted to it!

Today's website: Justin.tv