CEO of Gizmoz, Eyal Gever, has done quite well with impressing the online community with this 3D avatar site.  In the current social networking craze, Gizmoz offers an interesting way to spice up your current Myspace or other SN site and it seems numerous online surfers are searching for more to make their page unique.  You can view Eyal Gever’s (Gizmo CEO) Myspace page here.  If you are one of these users, chances are you’ve delved into the glitter comments, funny pictures or YouTube videos but all of these can be accessed and used by others.   If something truly exclusive is what you search for, then Gizmoz is a good option for you.

Gizmoz offers a variety of options for your 2D headshot such as 3D stickers, videos, pre-recorded or personally recorded audio with many options to customize.   Contrary to many current beliefs, Gizmoz has competitors that offer the same type of service.  Fix8, noted by VentureBeat, is similar and has raised a few million by supporters.   This is slightly behind Gizmoz.  TechCrunch reported that Gizmoz has ‘risen $6.5M in Series B financing from a round led by DoCoMo Capital, a subsidiary of the largest cell phone operator in Japan.’  Gizmoz’s funding totals in upwards of 12.8 million dollars which is a significant chunk of change considering the premise of the site.

Mashable reported back in May 2007 that Gizmoz released a second, updated Beta offering a more sturdy application.  Now in 2008, Gizmoz is progressing steadily and is gaining momentum among critics.  Following the TechCrunch 2007 Conference, Gizmoz approval rating was an average of 4.3, rating best on “idea” and “execution”.  Only six people took the poll but I guess that’s better than zero.  Compete offers site analytics for Gizmoz.com and it seems the site was doing its best between June and July 2007.  Since July 2007, the site has been on a slow decline in visitors, yet still placing in the 40K range. 

Gizmoz has also partnered with AOL’s instant messaging service AIM called Gizmoz Expressions .  Other IM services are compatible as well.  As an AIM user myself, it is nice to see something other than little smiley faces.  The AIM WeeMee is a pretty cool service but does not compete with the current ability of using your own picture.   Except many people may be hesitant to use their own picture, especially if they use AIM at work as I do.   

Crunchbase points out that, “Gizmoz also has several celebrity avatars that can say recorded phrases.”  I think that once Gizmoz gets rolling out of Beta – there will be several creative individuals cranking out JibJab/SmashMash type videos using these excellent 3D celebrity avatars.   Gizmoz has a great idea and I think many people have found it to be a quality application.  I do hope they add more options to use the avatars for such as less flashy skins and more hair styles.  Also, I would like to see a bit more clarity in the facial movement.  Overall, I think Gizmoz has a chance to be very successful.

This YouTube video shows a Gizmoz head making demonstration.

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=-6iPP6T2xak[/youtube]

 Photoshop Plug-in FaceShop

I have the unfortune of being a hopeless pack rat. On top of that I am also a collector of many different things ranging from books to baseball cards. Basically I have way to much stuff. I have so much stuff in fact that I actually don’t have any more room for stuff but still I keep adding pieces to this collection or that collection. It drives my wife nuts, what’s worse is it looks like my oldest daughter may have the same problem. Well I do have some good news for not only my wife, but for all the pack rats out there. There is a place online where you can catalog your stuff, see what kind of stuff other people have, and even find out the value of your stuff. The bad news is that you can also shop at this site, so chances are you may wind up adding to this collection or that collection. This wonderful site is called mythings.com

The basic idea behind my things is a place to store information about stuff that is important to you. Then if for some reason it is lost or stolen, you still have the vital information about it for police reports and insurance claims. However it goes beyond a mere place to store information, it has a vibrant community, and a place to leave wish lists and the like. While I don’t know if this site is for everyone, I know I will be using it in the future and hope you do too.

Pop quiz time! True or False a Bank actually issued a credit card to a tree? Well according to www.snopes.com this is true. But what is not true is that over paying a parking ticket does not keep points from coming off your drivers license. The idea behind snopes.com is to act as a repository and fact base for all the urban myths that have developed in our country over time. So far they are really only just getting started but I think that if this site catches on it could be a funny version of wikipedia. I really like this site and am gald it is around. Now the next time I have a question about a rumor I hear I know where to go.

The one problem with this site is that for the life of me I could not find how they actually verified any of this information. However honestly I don’t know if I really care that much. The site is fun to read and there are some great rumors and facts to be found on it. This is a great site for those moments when you are looking for something to do on the wide universe of the internet.

When I was first pointed to Jott I thought to myself ‘great another task management program’ but me being me combined with the fact that I actually dig the whole Task Management movement I went and checked it out. Well I am more than pleasantly surprised. This little website kicks some serious butt! While it is indeed another in the long list of task management applications on the web, it truly sets itself apart by allowing you to combine other sites you may use ranging from twitter to remember the milk and even xpenser. This is why I really like this site. Now I can simply make a phone call, tell Jott what I want to remember and it will all go to the right place and remind me in the way I want to be reminded. This is pure genius.

Basically you sign up for the site (which is free) and then make a phone call, during the phone call you will follow some directions and then you are all ready to Jott. Now normally I wouldn’t be a big fan of this extra step. I am a big fan of the whole KISS theory, however given the fact I can link this task management system with others that I already use such as Remember the Milk and Xpenser, the phone call is actually something that makes everything work better. Now I can Jott it and get the reminder in my email from RMT and the money I spent from xpenser. All in all this program is almost a must use if you are using other task management services.

One of the best parts about writing for the brief is that I get the opportunity to try out all kinds of stuff. Another good part is then if I like it I can say so, and if I don’t like it I can say that too. However there are times when it is a little tough, specially when you look at a site that does almost the same exact thing as other sites out there do. But enough about my personal problems and on to the review.

Ubernote is yet another offering in the task management, note taking website area similar to Remember the Milk and other such sites. However I like these sites, so I like Ubernote as well. Plus it just has a real neat name and the starting of a community, which is actually where the biggest difference exists in Ubernote. It seems that today almost everyone wants to start a website, and more often than not those websites copy another website, but while Ubernote does provide a very similar service to other sites, it has a very active forum area that shows that there is more to Ubernote than its function. If there is a reason to use Ubernote over other similar offerings it is the fact it has a fledgling community. I hope they encourage this community and use it as a way to really make Ubernote a unique place to visit.