Web 2.0 services to shout about

There's a reason i read Techcrunch, in addition to Kennysia and Andrew Ho and whatever other local blogger that you just can't stop imitating. Now i guess most of you've clicked the Techcruch link, read the posts there and are now scratching your respective heads, asking "What's so nice about company mergers? This boy is crazy ..."

Well, that innocent looking green blog has helped me in countless ways. It's founder, Michael Arrington, reviews up and coming beta (or not beta) web 2.0 services, and has reached such a level of influence Techcrunch has had conventions, is now a default option in most feed readers, and is begged by millions of startups to review their products. I found Last.fm (1 year back), Meebo (coupla months), Flickr (3 years back), and Pandora (1 year, too) through him, and his marvelous reviews. And now i've just made two beautiful discoveries (through him again) that i must share.

Omnidrive
I've been looking for a good online hard drive for years, screaming my head off at Yahoo Briefcase's 25 mb storage. My pleas are answered: Omnidrive has 1 gig, allows you to upload with a slick file system, and even has a program you can download to sync folders with their online service.

Okay, you ask. What's so great about uploading stuff on the net? Well, think about it. You can backup your important docs, songs, or pictures (or even programs - i've uploaded the DMC converter installer, a program you can no longer find on the web). And then you can download those files anywhere from all over the world, as long as you have a browser and an internet connection.

I can, for example, even create an account for UGSers and upload stuff that they can access all from anywhere, at any time. Cool, huh - the only problem would be one daft person might change the password and poof there goes the account.

Okay, so Omnidrive is not something to drivel over, it's useful but a little geekish in nature, so bear with me here - the next service is something you can get a hard on over will love.

Amie Street
Oh, you've gotta be kidding me. Amie Street is everything an indie music lover would ever want. Too bad Jylene isn't here to read this, and try it out - it's every feature screams I AM WEB 2.0 so much that i barely noticed the colour of the background (i'm doing this purposefully, by the way). It's tasteful, doesn't require credit card information at the beginning, and groups artistes by genre (so Alternative junkies like me can jump to the category that matters the most).


Amie Street is an online music store for Indie artistes, unlike any other. Check this out: songs are free in the beginning, but as it increases in popularity so does the price. If you download a free song you like and recommend it, you've a chance to get free music credits to buy other songs when the songs you've picked goes up in popularity and price.

Okay, so you may have to sift through piles of crappy songs, and low quality recordings, but when you finally find a gem it'll be worth it. After all, you made the discovery. And the hunt would be all that matters. More online time wasters, coming your way.

PS: I've downloaded three songs! So much for broadband. Of those three, two suck. But the last one is growing on me. And what are you waiting for? Sign up and tell me what discoveries you've made, how much time you've wasted, how good i am to tell you about these services. You gotta love BUGS now, don't you?