New post over at startuparabia.com alerted me to a new service called Minixr being launched out of Algeria. They called the service “a mix of Pownce and FriendFeed” and after playing with the site for a while, I totally agree.
After creating your account you can have it import and aggregate your data from 10 sites which include Digg, Reddit, Flickr, YouTube, Seesmic, Delicious, Diigo, Smugmug, Vimeo and Last.fm but no ability to add your own RSS feed.
If you are a user of Pownce you will notice a very distinct familiarity with the UI. The top is highlighted with a posting bar that includes the same items such as message, link, event but omits file in lieu of photo (local upload), video (provide YouTube link), and audio (local upload).
Click on image to visit my profile on Minixr
Below the posting section is a reverse chronologically ordered list of items that are either aggregated from your imported services or created locally on the site. The items also bear an uncanny resemblance to Pownce even down to the link listings. You can also comment, favorite, and a link to send status updates through mobile phones or IM services such as Google Talk, Jabber, AIM but I didn’t try out those features.
The site is currently in beta but you can sign up now and is expected to launch in January of 2009. It’s currently in French, but they plan on adding English soon. Overall it’s a nice looking service and if you’re a Pownce user you will feel right at home and wonder why the importing and aggregation features haven’t been added on the Pownce service yet after they work so well on Minixr.
If you signup and need some help translating French from the site you may want to use Babelfish.
little over a month ago Yahoo announced that they were turning user profile pages into a social control panel. I spent a little time when they launched and was less than impressed. It was apparent that they had given a small half-hearted effort trying to create a Lifestream. Hutch Carpenter wrote a clear plan on how Yahoo could easily become a leading Lifestreaming service if they focused properly on resources to achieve it. The first step they need to take is simply by adding many of their owned properties which aren’t even currently offered as services to import such as Flickr and Delicious. This cake needs to bake for a while longer before we open the oven door again.
Click image to view my Profile on Yahoo
I recently read over on Steve Rubel’s blog stating that Google was inching closer to Lifestreaming having added a few more features to their user profile pages. Well, just adding a photo stream to what was previously just more of an outpost to other social media profiles doesn’t quite make for a compelling Lifestream, nevertheless it’s a better effort than Yahoo and a more deliberate action that clearly shows they are slowly dropping the pieces of the puzzle in place.
I decided to go edit my profile and see if I noticed anything new since a previous visit. I added my FriendFeed account to my profile and was happily surprised to see that by doing so, Google auto-discovered all of my social media profiles already listed on there. I was then able to pick and choose which of them were to be added to my Google profile as well as determine in which order each of them would appear. Google has added a very nice touch adding the underlying functionality to achieve this and make it easy for people to make their profiles rich very quickly.
Common Craft always does such a good high level explanation, that this video can easily be used as a guide for explaining Lifestreaming to people and helping them understand its benefits regardless of the service used since the explanation is fairly generic. You can see the video below.
Microsoft’s initiative isn’t ready quite yet but you can get started with their beta program at windowslive.com now. I decided to give it a shot but after realizing that it required downloading new local client software for various tools I decided not to go any further. This is not what I would consider a viable contender in the Lifestreaming service game. What is Microsoft thinking? Perhaps they can get a lesson on where the web is going and what not to do from Joost with regards to client software. I’ll keep an eye out for reviews once available and probably give it another shot then, but for now I’ll wait.
The one similarity in all of these is that they are just isolated profiles that provide a disconnected view of our lives to others in the sense that they are not part of a socially interactive eco-system which is what most Lifestreaming services are currently aiming to be. They’re all obviously also tyring to find non-obtrusive ways of getting you to use and stay within their properties as best they can.
I think that’s a shortsighted view and the new web is not about parking ourselves at any one destination. Perhaps this is just an initial plan to dip their toes into this new Lifestreaming phenomenon at a slow pace. They are probably still coming to grips with how to incorporate how we are all evolving in the new socially interactive web. It will be interesting to see how each of these initiatives continue to be executed and ultimately play out.
Here’s his original post discussing all three themes. It’s great to see designers starting to build Lifestreaming themes from the ground up. If you weren’t aware, there a few others available that I currently have listed here. I’m really looking forward to playing with these 3 new themes.
Charles’ Tumblelog now Launches – Info on several services similar to Tumblr as well as a self hosted open source app that can be used called Gelato CMS
Stowe Boyd on Lifestreaming on the Edge – “This leads to a model called “lifestreaming.” People are continually broadcasting their life to groups of friends and even strangers. People know where you are and ask you questions about things in your life because of life streaming.”
Ever since FriendFeed added their Lists feature I have meticulously compartmentalized many users on the service into descriptive buckets to help me filter through all the data. One of my favorite lists that I have created is called Eye Candy. In there I have added the users below who have for the most part filled their streams with some great imagery. As an added bonus there is a room at the end of the list which offers up the most amazing images you will find as well.
This is the first of perhaps other user lists that I may share with you guys. Let me know what you think. Also, if you know of any other FriendFeed users that belong on my Eye Candy list, please add them in the comments.
If you are looking for other great folks on FriendFeed, Mike Fructher is someone you should follow as he has a knack for finding interesting users and puts together an excellent recommendation list every month on his site.
Lifestream blog provides the latest news, reviews and resources for the tools and services to create a Lifestream. It also provides information on the social services used to fuel them. You can follow author Mark Krynsky on:
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