KillerApp Sightings

Suppose you want to hold a political debate via video...or have a funny-face contest with your friends...or create a video tribute for someone who's important to a lot of people.

Now there's an easy way to do it: Vlip.com.

A vlip is an open-ended string of user-generated videos. Someone starts a vlip, usually with a purpose or theme, and then others can append their own videos to it, one after the other.

To start or add to a vlip, plug in your webcam, click a button, type in your name, click another button, and Vlip.com starts recording right in the browser. Click again when you're done. It's really that simple.

This is a beta launch and there are kinks to be worked out, but vlipping should have the potential to enable new kinds of dialogue, debate, and user-generated craziness. Also worth noting: you don't need to record a vlip in order to watch vlips made by others.

Posted by Editor at 11:42 PM | Permalink

"Never post anything on YouTube you wouldn't want a prospective employer to see," says the conventional wisdom of the day -- but what about the video you want the employer to see? Try posting it on JobMatchPro.

A new site developed by Web2Corp, JobMatchPro is similar to popular sites like Monster and CareerBuilder where job seekers and employers seek and find one another, but with a twist -- along with their written resumes, job seekers can post short videos to introduce themselves to employers. Employers, in turn, can post videos showing why their companies are good places to work.

Video resumes can be general or tailored to a particular job posting. For those who haven't created one before, JobMatchPro has made a series of mildly amusing video clips illustrating what not to do on a video resume (eat, shuffle pieces of paper, etc.).

Will video resumes be used to discriminate against employees on the basis of race, sex, age, weight or other characteristics unrelated to their job qualifications? It's hard to imagine they won't be (and JobMatchPro, to its credit, goes into some detail explaining the equal opportunity laws). On the other hand, they could also have the opposite effect, by giving job candidates a chance to make their case to employers who might not otherwise see them. The net effect is still an unknown.

Posted by Editor at 12:35 PM | Permalink

Think peer-to-peer file sharing, and what comes to mind is massive, Net-wide distribution -- legal or illegal -- of songs and movies. GigaTribe puts the same technology to a different purpose: It lets you share selected files securely among your "tribe," whether that means friends and family or colleagues at work. The members of your tribe can search and download files of any size from the folders you've given them access to on your computer.

In Europe, where the service is called TribalWeb, people often use it to play music stored on their home computers while they're at work, or to transfer contents from an old PC to a new one. Other uses might include sharing pictures and videos of your kids with relatives, showing video walkthoughs of a house to potential buyers, and collaborating with your band to produce music recordings.

Posted by Editor at 7:22 AM | Permalink

We're pleased to add a new feature to KillerApp.Com: the communities page. Check the page to find out about applications being used by fiber-connected communities, and contact us to add your community to the list.

Posted by Editor at 12:01 PM | Permalink

"Floods, earthquakes and volcanoes do not need to become disasters," says the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR), a Geneva-based consortium dedicated to preventing disasters. Now the ISDR has released a new online game to teach children aged 9 through 16 -- "the future architects, mayors, doctors, and parents of the world" -- how to keep disasters from happening.

The game's object is to build safer villages and cities by locating and constructing houses so they can survive natural hazards, and preparing residents through early warning systems, evacuation plans and education. While the game is single-player (scores are saved and ranked against those of all the other players in the world), the ISDR encourages groups of children in a classroom to play collaboratively so they can discuss strategies. There's additional learning material for students and teachers on the ISDR Web site.

Posted by Editor at 5:01 PM | Permalink