Bootstrap'd

So I’ve decided to move my monthly recaps of the NY Tech Meetup from the Netizen Newsfeed to here here on my new personal blog – hopefully I’ll write about these, as well as all the many other cool NYC events taking place here at Bootstrap’d from now on.  The NY Tech scene is abuzz right now, and I hope to capture the essence of it here at Bootstrap’d.   So, on with the post…

Both the mood and the weather were cold here in NY last night as we once again descended upon Cooper Union for the monthly NY Tech Meetup. It was a big week for the group, as we surpassed 3000 members – further proof of the strength of the New York tech community. To celebrate this momentous occasion, Scott offered to give away a spectacular jumbo remote from Bed Bath & Beyond to the best presentation. 

So with all the formalities aside, the evening began…

Dai.sy

Federico came by to show off Daisy, a new app designed to bring interactivity back to the ‘biggest social network of them all’, the web. Dai.sy is a sidebar plugin (only for firefox and flock at the moment) that allows you to collaborate with other users of the current website you’re viewing. Once there, you can chat with people, blog about the site or topic, or share files with this adhoc group. For example, if you were visiting U2.com, you could interact with other U2 fans, and use Daisy’s p2p functions to send music to them. I was a bit shocked to see him show how the app can help people share illegal music anonymously. That’s certainly NOT the way to sell a product (or not get sued), but it certainly will get users on board. My biggest concern about Daisy has to do with privacy. Federico talked about their business model, which includes selling data mined from the site about user’s activity. At the moment, there are no user accounts, so my identity still remains private – though, any time a site lauds its ability to sell off data about what its users are doing to ANY interested party, I get worried.

Buyifok.com

Our own “Kosmo Kramer”, Timothy stopped by to show off his latest project, buyifok.com. You might remember Timothy from last month’s meetup and works such as Evaal.com and well, that’s it.  His latest site, Buyifok, was equally confusing, unimpressive, and not so well thought out. The idea is to create an online registry of serial numbers so that people can ensure products they buy haven’t been stolen. I’m not going to get into the details, because its just beyond confusing, but there are just serious workflow issues here. Who is really going to register thousands of serial numbers, and further, how can someone check serial numbers of things they haven’t bought yet? It just doesn’t work. I give Tim an A for his effort in tackling a real issue, but the execution is way off.

Overheard in NY

Morgan Friedman of Overheard in NY was here to show off the newest feature of his site, voicemails. Now users can call in and leave a voicemail with things they overheard in NY. They’ll be selectively chosen and posted as audioclips on the web. Overheard in NY is one of those great things about NY. While many feel that some of the content is dubious, it still shows off what makes NYC unique. One person asked Morgan if he’s been sued yet…you gotta wonder if or when this voicemail system will be abused. But until then, it’ll be great for a good laugh.

Amiestreet.com

Amiestreet is a site that helps users discover and purchase independent music. The site offers DRM free downloads with dynamic pricing. Dynamic pricing? Yes, it’s a different concept in the digital music realm, but I like it a lot. Basically, song prices can range from just pennies to 99 cents. The price is determined by collective preference and popularity. By buying a song or rating a song, I help set the market demand for a band. It’s a great way to help the better bands bubble their way to the top…plus, Amiestreet gives them 70% of the cut.

Musicnation

Daniel and Neil of Musicnation came to present the 2^nd of the nights 3 music-related sites. Musicnation is also a place to find indy/unsigned bands. They called it a combination of YouTube and American Idol. They are running a contest with Epic records to find and sign great new indy acts. Groups can post their music videos and the judges (with the help of the community) help pick the best. They’ve been cross-promoting on ClearChannel as well, helping to create massive buzz about the contest. I browsed around the site today and was very impressed. The video quality is significantly better than what you see on YouTube. The music itself is good too – this is just a great way for great young bands to get their name out.

The Hype Machine

Anthony came and showed off his pet project, The Hype Machine. Scott personally invited him to talk about the site. The Hype Machine is an interesting site – it keeps track of music trends and hype across the blogosphere by scouring recent posts and aggregating the data. As a result, it can tell you who’s hot at the moment, when and where the band is playing, and even show you some of the bands videos on YouTube. The site does a really good job of bringing together an unbiased view of a band’s imprint on the blogosphere. While the obvious comparisons to Last.fm were made, I still think THM has a unique place in the market. Anthony was asked whether or not he would use this technology in other sectors. He quickly answered ‘no’, citing that it was about his love for music. It’s a shame, because I think he has some good stuff here that could apply to so many different areas.

Unype.com

Unype (pronounced YOU-NIPE) is a small desktop mashup that combines Google Earth with Skype to help make it more social, and ‘less lonely’. The app allows two people to connect and have one of them guide the other along on a guided tour though Google Earth, like a remote control. While it’s still in its early stages, I liked the concept behind it. I think the product could be very valuable for virtual tours, real estate, or just for groups to share their knowledge about the world together. While the developer admitted that “my app doesn’t do much,” he boasted about a few upcoming features, including avatars, groups, and more.

So that was it for the night. We wrapped things up with the basic announcements, the gifting of the universal remote to Amiestreet, and the usual chatting.

As usual, the ever-so-social nextNYers headed to Solas to continue the chatting (and drinking). The best part of the evening was the unexpected karaoke, to which fellow member Caroline McCarthy led us in a rousing rendition of “Stacey’s Mom” and Nate Westheimer sang “No Scrubs”. Check out the gallery on flickr.

See y’all next month for the next meetup!