Knewsroom Passes Away

Just a quick update. After 38 days on the beta trail, Kluster has pulled the plug on Knewsroom. Their namethis site is still going strong, and they have hinted at some new projects being launched soon.

Namethis, Also From Team Kluster

Namethis took a couple of weeks to pick up steam, and is still in beta testing, but the idea is awesome.

The Process:

1. A person or company lists an item/website/thingamagig that needs a name. They also provide a little info about what they are looking for.
2. The namethis users then submit names for the doohickey.
3. User's then invest (vote) for the names they like.
4. In 48 hours the top 3 names are chosen
5. Those who come up with winning ideas, or invest in (vote for) the winners get paid.

That's it. Crowd sourcing for brand naming.

To sign up free and check it out, click here - namethis registration

It's Here, Set A World Record

FireFox 3 download day is here! Help strike a blow for opensources everywhere, and set a world record in the process. Officially the downloading will begin at 10:00am Today San Francisco time. That's 1:00pm East Coast time.

I know it's not beta, but come on. Setting a world record is pretty sweet, so download Firefox... Or else!

Knewsroom For News That Pays.

There are a lot of news sites out there. A LOT of 'em. There's only one I know of that lets you not only contribute, and decide what makes the front page, but also pays you to do it and is 100% free. That site is Knewsroom.

The Breakdown:
Knewsroom is run by the boys and girls at Kluster. It's in open beta testing, and the Kluster team is making improvements almost daily.

Basically you start by signing up for free. (click here to sign up)

Then you can submit links to stories, submit original content, and invest (with 'watts') into the stories you like. The best (decided by the community) get published in the next days knewspaper.

Simple crowd sourcing to decide the best content.


Making Money?!?!:
Yes you can make money by using knewsroom. There are a few ways to earn real cash.

1. Submit links to news stories, if they make the next days paper, you get a chunk of the ad revenue.
2. Invest in the stories you like. Even if someone else suggested the content, you still get a cut of the revenue by investing your 'watts'.
3. Submit original content. If your story is up to par (min. 500 words of original good content) then you get a revenue cut and an original content license fee.

The Downside:
There are still some bugs in the system, but hey that's what the beta phase is all about. The Knewsroom will not see it's full potential until it has a decent sized following due to the site's content coming directly from the public, but based on the commitment of team Kluster, this is one to watch as it grows.

Ground Zero

Welcome to the thunderdome! Here we are, smack in the middle of the dot-com boom 2.0, New sites are popping up like a Mogwi in a tsunami.

The mission: Sort out the sweet new concepts from the dross.

My pledge to you: Never shall I sell out! No paid entries in this blog, no pay-per-post ads, if it makes the list then I have checked it out and at some point thought to myself 'hey, this is not the usual crap!'

What I'm looking for. It's got to be new, open beta stage preferred, and it's got to be cool. That's about it. The best 2.0 sites really engage the visitor, and need to stand out from the crowd. I hope you like my suggestions, but if not, just drop your entrecard and be on your way. It's all about my opinion here, so if I offend you, tough.

Have a nice day :)