Freebase is an open database of the world’s information. It is built by the community and for the community—free for anyone to query, contribute to, build applications on top of, or integrate into their websites.

What makes Freebase unique is that it spans domains—but requires that a particular topic exist only once in Freebase, even if it might normally be found in multiple databases. For example, Arnold Schwarzenegger would appear in a movie database as an actor, a political database as a governor and a bodybuilder database as a Mr. Universe. In Freebase, there is only one topic for Arnold Schwarzenegger, with all three facets of his public persona brought together. The unified topic acts as an information hub, making it easy to find and contribute information about him.

Here are three good reasons to contribute to Freebase:

1. You’ve got a bunch of data that you’d like to share with the world. Freebase gives you a place to do it. A related benefit: once your data is in Freebase, you or anyone else can run MQL (Metaweb Query Language) queries against it.
2. You’ve got a bunch of data that you’d like to share, and said data would benefit from the knowledge and refinement efforts of other people. Freebase gives you a place to share it and others a place to improve it.
3. You don’t have data, but you’re an authority on something, and you like sharing your expertise. Freebase lets you dive into the details and improve or add to existing data.

Tags: Content, File Sharing

Cutcaster is a marketplace where members can buy, sell and request royalty free images, stock photos, stock footage and stock photography for advertising, publishing or web design. Cutcaster is a dynamic digital content marketplace and not just another static storefront.

How does Cutcaster work?
It’s easy and free. Cutcaster help digital photo and video buyers find what they are looking for and allow them to easily license content on demand from our community of high quality photographers and videographers. In addition, buyers can bid on content which a seller can accept, reject or re-submit a new offer back. Lastly, a buyer can submit a request to the entire Cutcaster community for specific content, which they can’t find or is not in the marketplace.

Sellers can easily upload content, store it, choose from a menu of pricing and licensing options, while always remaining in control and the owner of the content they create. Cutcaster only collect a moderate percentage of the selling price for promoting, hosting, technology costs and order fulfillment.

Tags: Commerce

Skimbit is a fun web tool that makes it easy to make complicated and social decisions. Skimbit helps you:

• Gather research on a project (e.g. picking a holiday house, deciding on a wedding dress)
• Collaborate and get feedback from friends
• Make and act upon a decision.

How are people using Skimbit?

1. Organise a group holiday and get your friends to help pick the best accomodations.
2. Buy a new house - So many different priorities. How will you make a decision?
3. Find a wedding venue and share with your fiancee, bridesmaids and parents.

Tags: Opinions, Reviews

A.nnotate is an online web service for sharing notes on documents and web pages using a web browser. No software or plugins need to be installed - it works within the web browser and currently supports Firefox, Internet Explorer 7, IE6 and Safari.

Supported document formats include: PDF, Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Excel, Rich Text Format, OpenOffice documents and spreadsheets, HTML web pages

Key FAQs you should know

Do I need to download or install anything?
No - it runs entirely within the web browser so there is nothing extra to install. The current version requires Firefox (Windows / Mac OSX, Linux), Internet Explorer 7 or IE6 (Windows) or Safari (Mac OSX / Windows). People can review documents online without needing to start Word or any plugins like Adobe Reader or Flash.

What can I annotate?
You can annotate documents and snapshots of webpages. Documents can be uploaded or emailed as attachments. Accepted document formats include PDF, Microsoft Word (.doc), Excel (.xls), Powerpoint (.ppt) and OpenOffice text and presentation formats.

Can I add a.nnotate capability to my blog / web site?
Yes - it is easy to add an ‘annotate this page’ button like the one below to your own web page or blog. You can add this button to your web pages completely free of charge. See detailed instructions and sample HTML.

Tags: Content, Webware

A really snazzy site that allows you to showcase the events that make up your life, and follow the events of the people that matter to you, in deliciously digestible short messages called plurks.

What’s a plurk?
A plurk is a small message or link, less than 140 characters, that you can broadcast to the whole world, your buddies or just yourself over the web, through instant messaging, and through text messaging on your mobile phone.

How does Plurk work?
It’s easy. First, sign up. It takes 10 seconds. Then, just post new plurks which tell us what you’re doing, or how you feel, or what you’re thinking or anything else for that matter and it’ll appear on your timeline. You can tell us on the site, through instant messaging (stuff like MSN or AIM) or by text messaging us an update. Be sure to invite all your friends and see what they are up to throughout the day, it will make Plurk that much more fun for you.

Tags: Blog, Microblogging, Community, Microblogging