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Posts with tag invite-a-palooza

Filed under: Internet, Productivity, Web services, Social Software, Beta, web 2.0

Download Squad's Invite-a-Palooza: Day 9

Several readers have written in to request that we contact Streamy for our our Invite-a-Palooza series. Well, folks, today's your day. There seems to be a groundswell of attention forming around this new Web site that wants to give us a new way to tackle our overload of RSS feeds, social networks, instant messengers and bookmarks.

Since we last wrote about Streamy, the developers have thrown in some new features that make it look even cooler than the first time we looked. Now users can compile all their comments, notes, and saved stories into a single stream. They've also applied the same idea to the Friends page, which keeps track of your social networks.

Intrigued? Want to check it out? Just be one of the first 25 people to leave us a note in the comment section (be sure to activate it if you get an email confirmation). Winners will receive their invitations early next week after Streamy's new system upgrade is complete.


UPDATE: We've given away all 25 invitations for today's featured site but check back tomorrow to see who's up next!

Filed under: Internet, Web services, Beta, Search, web 2.0

Download Squad's Invite-a-palooza: Day 8

Eight days into our Invite-a-palooza, we want to give a shout out to all readers who have taken the time to check out all the neat sites we've featured. We're having a great time giving out invitations, and we're not done yet.

Freebase, a collective knowledge database, is a terrific twist on information Web sites like Wikipedia. The creators of Freebase describe it as an "almanac" that sorts and organizes information so it is easily searched by people and software. Once it's opened to the public, users will be able to structure, contribute, search, and organize data for themselves. Since all the data in Freebase is licensed Creative Commons Attribution, users can also copy data for their own use as long as it's linked back to Freebase.

Though the site it still closed to the public, we have some invitations that will let you get in the door early. If you're among first 100 people to leave us a note in the comment section, we'll send one your way (make sure to activate it if you get an email confirmation). If you don't get in under the wire today, be sure to check back to see who's featured next.

If you know of a site you'd like us to consider for the Invite-a-palooza, drop us a note.

UPDATE: We've given away all 100 invitations for today's featured site but check back tomorrrow to see who's up next!

Filed under: Internet, Web services, Social Software, Beta, Search, web 2.0

Download Squad's Invite-a-palooza: Day 5

Today's Invite-a-palooza featured site just might reunite you with your long-lost love or your best friend from third grade (and if it does, we want to know about it). Spock, a new search service that's still under development, looks like it's shaping up to be a terrific way to search for people. The creators of this site want to be a human phone book of sorts by organizing information on, well, everyone. They're well on their way, too, since they've already indexed over one hundred million people.

Are you listed on Spock's Website? Right now, the only way to find out is by private invitation but, luckily, we've got some. If you're among first 200 people to leave us a note in the comment section, we'll send one your way (make sure to activate it if you get an email confirmation). Whether you snag an invitation or not, if you're a computer science engineer, you'll also want to check out the Spock Challenge for a chance to win $50,000.

If you know of a site you'd like us to consider for the Invite-a-palooza, drop us a note.

Filed under: Internet, Utilities, Productivity, Web services, Beta, web 2.0

Download Squad's Invite-a-palooza: Day 4


For today's Invite-a-palooza, we're featuring Grand Central, an incredibly cool service that was recently acquired by Google. Grand Central lets you corral all your phone numbers -- home, cell, work, Batphone, whatever you've got -- under one master phone number that comes with features you can manage right at the Website. Screen, record, or block calls; assign rings based on who's calling; even switch between your mobile and home phone right in the middle of a call.

Today we're offering private invitations to the first 25 people who leave us a note in the comment section (be sure to activate it if you get an email confirmation). Thanks, and good luck!

UPDATE
: We've given away all 10 invitations for today's featured site but check back Monday to see who's up next!


Filed under: Internet, Productivity, Web services, Open Source, Social Software, Beta, web 2.0

Download Squad's Invite-a-palooza: Day 3


Put your thinking caps on, today's Invite-a-palooza featured site is all about brainstorming. Mindquarry GO is a new Web-based collaboration tool that's perfect for groups working on The Next Big Thing. Currently under development, Mindquarry GO is a pretty slick variation of Basecamp and similar services. It has a wiki, file sharing and storing options, and an assortment of tools to help you manage team, team members, and entire projects.

Today we're offering private invitations to the first 10 people who leave us a note in the comment section (be sure to activate it if you get an email confirmation). If you weren't quick enough to snag an invite, you can still head over to the Website and get access to the unhosted version of Mindquarry.

If you know of a site you'd like us to consider for the Invite-a-palooza, drop us a note.

UPDATE: We've given away all 10 invitations for today's featured site but check back tomorrow to see who's up next!

Filed under: Fun, Internet, Social Software, Beta

Download Squad's Invite-a-palooza: Day 2


If you missed out on yesterday's launch of Invite-a-palooza, don't worry. For the next several days, we'll be handing out private invitations to let you access some really exciting Websites and services that aren't available to the public yet. If you know of a site you'd like us to consider for the Invite-a-palooza, drop us a note.

Earlier this week we told you about the neat new social networking website 8apps. Not only does this site provide a way for people to meet and connect, it also offers users the tools they need to collaborate, brainstorm, and follow up on any ideas they come up with. We're thrilled to be able to offer private invitations to the first 88 people who leave us a note in the comment section (be sure to activate it if you get an email confirmation). Thanks, and good luck!

UPDATE: We've given away all 88 invitations for today's featured site but check back tomorrow to see who's up next!

Filed under: Fun, Internet, Social Software, Beta

Download Squad's Invite-a-palooza: Day 1

Invites are all the rage at the moment, here on the internet. They're such the rage that rarely a day goes by without DownloadSquad bloggers getting a pleading email for an invite to the latest service. Sure, you could use services like InviteShare, which has just been bought by TechCrunch for $25,000, but we understand that folks don't want to be waiting for folks to trade with. So we sat down and thought, "How can we feed our readers addiction to the latest invite-only services?" and after some discussion, the Invite-a-palooza was born. Each day from today until we run out of services to invite folks to, we're going to offer our readers the chance to join the Web 2.0 fun, with some exclusive invites. We're always open to suggestions too, so if there's an invite-only beta site you'd like us to look into, simply drop us a note!

Day 1: Gleamd

Gleamd is for people, just as Flickr is for photos. With so many people online, Matthew McInerney decided that there really ought to be a way to find interesting people out on the net - and so Gleamd was born. The idea is simple - you vote for people you think are interesting, and then Gleamd will show people depending on their popularity - a Digg for people would, perhaps, be the easiest way to explain it.

I dropped the creator a line, to find out what inspired him to create the site: "The reason I created the site comes from my own frustration in trying to find really interesting people on the net, and while resources exists to find interesting news stories, pictures, or videos, I still haven't stumbled across a place to highlight people. Browsing through Facebook or Myspace really isn't a reasonable option, so I decided to create a place to solve the problem."

Gleamd has been growing quickly since its launch a mere two weeks ago, and has already attracted investment. We've been using Gleamd for a little while, and the continual improvements have made it yet easier to find interesting people on the net.

So how do you get in on Gleamd? It's simple. Leave us a comment here and be sure to activate it! We've got 50 100(!) invites for folks to get their hands on, so get commenting! Each person who nabs an invite for themselves also gets 5 invites to share the Gleamd love.

We're out of invites! If you're willing to share your 5 invites with another reader or 5, that would rock!

Featured Time Waster

Forumwarz - a potentially offensive time waster

I pwn UAfter spending the better part of an hour on Forumwarz I still can't decide if it's just sick or if it's kind of fun. It's a bit like a car wreck on the highway. I know I shouldn't be looking but I can't quite turn away.

It's sick, it's twisted, it's the internet on it's worst level and darn it, it's kind of fun. At least for a little while.

Forumwarz is a parody role-playing game that takes place on the internet - or at least the Forumwarz version of it. Your goal is to complete missions that are given to you through a mock up of GoogleTalk called Sentrillion.

Your first "friend" is ShallowEsophagus who begins giving you missions to pwn various forums by being a troll. Depending on the character type you are assigned at start up, you have tools like drooling on the keyboard or bashing your head on the keyboard that you can use to destroy forum threads and eventually, pwn a forum.

Future missions involve buying illegal software from the Russians, pwning more difficult forums and other internet oddness.

Completing missions gives you cash, called Flezz in game, and items that you can pawn or use in other missions. The game is NOT for those easily offended. It's crass, coarse and there are frequent f-bombs in the fake chat sessions.

This is also a game for a more mature audience as it requires you to shop at the Drugs R Fun store to get various concoctions to improve your playing, engage in certain cyber activities to get more Flezz and just generally use a more adult perspective.

If you can get past that, here are the more enjoyable and time-wasting aspects.

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