Best of 2006 in Web 2.0

http://www.rojo.com/story/MmclY6SagQ2N0kSN

This article mentions quite a few sites in addition to the usual favorites of MySpace, Digg, StumbleUpon, Netvibes, zoho.com.

I love whats happening with Web 2.0, and there is still a lot of scope for innovation and new ideas. But personally I feel the space is getting crowded with too many similar services. It's like "Oh ... one more social networking thingie". I know competition is good and will get the best out of everyone. All the websites mentioned above are constantly improving their service, but ultimately there needs to be profitability for all the players in the market. Otherwise they cannot sustain their business. I feel in the next couple of years "something's gotta give" and we can separate the "men from the boys". My only fear is another dot-com bust like environment.

Extreme High Resolution Images

http://www.xrez.com/

Check out the gigapixel resolution images of Half Dome (Yosemite). The urban image of Boston is also amazing.

They'vs used 'photo stitching' and other such tricks to generate this high resolution images. I think, we may have cameras with gigapixel resolution in the near future.

Also, check out the time-lapse photography of sunrise/sunset. Its amazing.

PingPong ball in a glass.

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vitual bubblewrap

For people who love 'popping' the bubblewrap, herez some thing to keep you occupied.
http://www.sunbelt-software.com/stu/bubblewrap.swf

Unique buildings of the world

Take a look at these pics
http://americatopten.blogspot.com/2006/12/amazing-unique-buildings-around-world.html

Cute Hyundai ad

Domino effect....... Ad for Honda Accord.

One of the best ads I've seen...

High FPS videos...

Watch the bow and arrow scene.... I can no longer use the phrase "straight as an arrow". The disintegration of balloons and also the machine gun action is quite fascinating to watch.

we have to do everything manually......

Virtual reality maps

Check out http://preview.local.live.com/. I'm pretty impressed with the applications possible. Pretty soon we may have maps with driving directions and a photo of the landscape at each turn. There may be many different possbile applications : VR tours of cities, etc.

Queen of Hearts shot into two.

This image is capture from a highspeed camera. More such pictures can be found at http://www.rit.edu/~andpph/exhibit-3.html

H2O: Dangerous Chemical

This was found on the newsgroup: rec.humor.funny

H2O: Dangerous Chemical!

A student at Eagle Rock Junior High won first prize at the Greater Idaho Falls Science Fair, April 26. He was attempting to show how conditioned we have become to alarmists practicing junk science and spreading fear of everything in our environment. In his project he urged people to sign a petition demanding strict control or total elimination of the chemical "dihydrogen monoxide."

And for plenty of good reasons, since:

1. it can cause excessive sweating and vomiting
2. it is a major component in acid rain
3. it can cause severe burns in its gaseous state
4. accidental inhalation can kill you
5. it contributes to erosion
6. it decreases effectiveness of automobile brakes
7. it has been found in tumors of terminal cancer patients

He asked 50 people if they supported a ban of the chemical.

• Forty-three (43) said yes,
• six (6) were undecided,
• and only one (1) knew that the chemical was water.
  

The title of his prize winning project was, "How Gullible Are We?"

He feels the conclusion is obvious.

Federer: The God of Tennis!

These shots are just unbelievable! I wonder if he practises them.

Akeelah and the Bee

A very cute movie. Excellent acting by Keke Palmer who plays the role of Akeelah, a 11 year old schoolgirl. An interesting trivia is that the whole movie was filmed in 31 days and with a budget of 6 million dollars.

PS: I just cannot help but see shades of "Morpheus" whenever I see Lawrence Fishburne.

The aging process captured!

The guy in this video photographed himself everyday for 6 years (and he's still doing it. See his webpage at http://everyday.noahkalina.com/index.php).

Awesome pic

http://takaisin.fi/Camels.jpg

Geek kid!

\

What a mess!!

Funny bike!

Creative ads

A print of a cup of Folgers coffee was placed on top of manhole covers in New York City, USA. Holes on the print allows the steam to come out. Wordings around the cup reads 'Hey, City That Never Sleeps. Wake up." from Folgers.

An innovative idea on a large billboard in Amsterdam, Netherlands. It really makes you want that 'Heineken'.

This is a great advertisment campaign at Unicenter Shopping Mall in Buenos Aires, Argentina for Valentine's Day. It magnifies the romantic ambience with a simple idea.

Life-size stickers of people were stuck on automatic sliding doors at a mall in Mumbai, India. When someone approaches the doors move apart and it feels like the people on the door are moving away. The person enters to find the message 'People Move Away When You Have Body Odour'.

A sticker has been placed on the high voltage box depicting that Duracell's batteries were used. Cool advertisement found in Malaysia.

An ambient exercise to promote Eatalica burgers. A 'Caution Wet Floor' board was placed near an Eatalica burger signboard. The copy on the board reads 'Oogling at the burger may involuntarily cause drooling which may in turn lead to a wet floor. Issued for your safety by the management of Eatalica restaurant'. Eatalica is an American-Italian Food Joint in Chennai, India.

A giant mirror was built that allowed passersby to stop and look at themselves wearing Indivi clothes at a shopping mall in Tokyo, Japan

An advertisement for a job recruiting company in Berlin, Germany. Depicting people working in the vending machines, ATMs, it delivers the message that 'Life is too short for the wrong job'.

Stickers were placed in selected car park locations and car workshops where the product is sold in Malaysia. It delivers the message that M-Tech Plasma HID Lights are 300% brighter than regular headlights. The burn effect sticker from the headlights really leaves an impression.

This is an advertisement found in Vancouver during the National Non-Smoking Week. The car was placed at the Vancouver Art Gallery and the message reads 'Death from car accidents: 370, Death from smoking-related causes: 6,027, Quit now before it kills you.'

Life size images were stuck on glass doors at shops, airports in South Africa for the advertisement of glass and window cleaner I.C.U. The expression on the face is priceless.

Another creative idea by The Fitness Company. Heavy Weights were placed at various subways in New York City which creates an illusion that the person holding the safety bar is doing weights.

A very cost-effective advertisement in Hong Kong for a yoga school. It showcases the prowess of a yoga practitioner on the flexible stems of drink straws. A surge of enquiries and enrollment went after up this promotional stunt.

This is a creative ad by Mini Cooper placed at the Zurich, Switzerland train station. It gives the perception that the Mini Cooper has a large space.