You can change the background color, add links, remove links, and re-arrange any links that are there too.  Want to sign up?  They use Google apps service, so you can sign in with your Google login information.  So if you are looking for a new way to keep a handful of links handy all the time – give SpeedyMarks a shot.

You have to get out there and proverbially pimp your goods.

Let people know at least a few places where they can follow you or be your friend, and they are given a few more “gateways” to get back to your blog and content.  Think of it this way, which am I more likely to be friends with:

• The guy who’s web site I never knew about because he doesn’t push it out in the real world
• The guy who is trying his best to make friends, and inform the public he’s out there and ready for his close up

I’m not afraid to mention anybody who wishes to can add me as a friend on:

Twitter | Facebook | Plurk | MySpace | Pownce | LinkedIn | Flickr

Don’t be afraid to promote your favorite social web site profiles.  By not doing so, you are missing a good chance not only to make a few friends but get some free press for your own web site.  Don’t be a wall flower, be that comfy chair everybody likes to sit on. 

The large database there is also handy if you want to search around and find an application for the job or tool you wish to make better.  I recently had a chance to chat with the guy behind the magic there Matteo Alessani about the FeedMyApp.com web site and what it is they do there.

What was the reason for starting the FeedMyApp.com web site and what keeps you going with it?

Matteo:  The main reason we started FeedMyApp was that there wasn’t anything similar on the web. There were lots of sites and directories listing web 2.0 apps, but we just wanted to create a simple, easy to use and up-to-date site with the latest and best web apps. Most web app directories, list entries with their respective logos. We thought that most users couldn’t gain much information from a single visual. So we focused on describing each web app with a title, a short tagline (sometimes written by us) and a screenshot. Moreover we are always surfing for new apps, so why not put gather and share them all with our readers?

Do you have a team of people behind the web site, or are you a one man team?

Matteo:  I normally work on FeedMyApp on my own, even though my other two colleagues help me find and add new. When you surf the web you always come across interesting new apps. So as soon we find a new one, we add it to FeedMyApp!

When finding new Web 2.0 apps out there do most of them come to you or do you do most of the finding?

Matteo:  We do most of the finding although a small portion (99% are pharm/spam apps) are authentic and not yet listed on other web sites. del.icio.us is another excellent source of new sites and web 2.0 apps.

In your opinion, what does it take to get a lot of people’s attention these days?

Matteo:  Simple, updated, new content. I could grab people’s attention by adding some useful features to the web site. But I prefer to follow the “keep it simple” mantra: do less and do it better than anyone. However, we are planning some cool new features for our web 2.0 directory.

I know you can’t make use of them all but, out of the hundreds that you have reviewed, which Web 2.0 apps are you using in your day to day life?

Matteo:  In my day to day life I mainly use Last.fm, Flickr, Gmail, del.icio.us, LinkedIn, Twitter, Basecamp, Feedburner, Digg and Facebook. At Extendi we always use Ruby-on-Rails, Prototype and script.aculo.us for our web 2.0 projects!

Remember to check out FeedMyApp.com and let him know I sent you there.

So when the chance came up to talk one on one with Adam Ostrow, the editor over there at the social web juggernaut I couldn’t let the chance to pick through a Mashabler’s brain.

Mashable got its start being more based around the social networks out there, and since then has spun off into covering anything that is tech-worthy or Web 2.0ish related. Why the change what I guess you could consider a bigger tent?

Adam: I can’t really speak to our editorial policy pre-early 2007 or so when I joined up with Mashable, but I have to imagine the shift was due to the fact that there is just simply so much more going on in the space than social networking now.

First you had the tools that plugged into social networks – widgets and things of that nature – from companies like Slide, RockYou, etc. This was one of the initial trends that Mashable picked up on. Then, there were applications that integrated on a deeper level with social networks – starting with Facebook and its application platform, and now, most of the other big social sites too. Finally, now we see social features being integrated into virtually every type of Web service – from search, to maps, to mobile. So, I do think there is still a little bit of “social” laced into most of our stories, though, perhaps not as singularly focused on social networking sites.

Additionally, I think because our site has grown so much in terms of traffic and revenue, we simply have the resources to employ more writers and cover a broader arrange of topics relating to the Web – which is ultimately how we grow our business.

You have to get a lot of “Hey, will you talk about me!” e-mail requests. How many companies a day do you get e-mails from and think, “Oh no, not another one of these guys again…”?

Adam: I don’t actually think “oh, no …” too often, but the “I’m building a social network for [insert topic here]” pitch is getting tiresome. Nonetheless, occasionally you will see a really cool social network aimed at a specific niche, so it would be reckless as an editor to just automatically dismiss anything that at least a subset of our readers might find interesting. We get hundreds of emails per day though, so to standout, you really need to be doing something relatively unique, or offering a cool new spin on an idea that is already out there.

Which has been more at the source of Mashable’s growth, being linked to (or talked about) by the right people or having quality content?

Adam: It’s a combination of both. The links help not only because of the direct traffic they send, but because in the long-term, they improve your search engine rankings, which means you get more traffic from Google (and Yahoo, Ask, etc.). Quality content is what drives these links, so it’s a fairly obvious and rewarding circle in the long-term. That said, it takes years to build that up – Mashable was just Pete Cashmore for about two years before it started grow exponentially in 2007.

For those people out there who say, “I want to be the Mashable of ‘insert area of expertise here’” what advice do you have for them?

Adam: I think the most important part is timing. I think when Mashable started, Pete was in part making a bet that social networking was really going to take off, which, was still not a foregone conclusion in 2005. It’s no different than a new startup – not only are you making a commitment to working hard and doing something cool – you are also depending on the market becoming interested in the area you’re focusing on.

So, if you’re looking to start a blog right now that’s going to become big, I think you need to make a bet on a future trend – something you think is in its infancy and going to get really hot over the next few years. You could be wrong – but it’s a lot easier than starting yet another blog focusing on social networks, Web 2.0, gadgets, etc. There is always room for new commentators about topics that are already well-covered, but I think the battle to become one of the leading brands in a saturated space is a very uphill one unless you’re coming in with tons of contacts and money (for example, Silicon Alley Insider).

Do you feel that the “social” aspect of the Web is just getting started, reached its peak or is about time for a wheel chair and a retirement home?

Adam: I’m heavily biased since I depend on the continued growth of the space for both my day job (Mashable) and my various business interests (MindSay, ReadBurner), but I think we’re just getting started. Traditional media has only really caught onto “social” in the past 18 months or so (via acquisitions of Web 2.0 companies and their own homegrown efforts). For example, look at iReport, CNN’s citizen journalism effort. The biggest name in cable news is clearly committed to “social,” and that says something.

That said, I think there will be a shake-out of many of the “me too” companies, and we’re already starting to see that with startups joining forces to combine technologies and employees. But it’s hardly like the late 90s bubble where companies are going public and retail investors are losing their shirts betting on dotcoms.

I want to thank yet again Adam Ostrow for his time, and you don’t need me to go tell you to go and visit Mashable.com for more because like myself, your probably already a subscriber. From head to toe, Pete has a great team working for him.

Attack of the Web 2.0 Clones!

• Del.icio.us Clone? Scuttle
• Digg Clone? Pligg
• MySpace Clone? PHPfox *
• Facebook Clone? Kootali Facebook *
• PopURLS Clone? ezUrls *
• TinyURLs Clone? lilURL
• YouTube Clone? PHPmotion
• Twitter Clone? Folkstr *
• Wikipedia Clone? MediaWiki **
• Reddit Clone? Drupaligg
• Rapidshare Clone? UploadScript
• HotScripts.com Clone? MS Directory Script *

* = need to pay for it
** = not really a clone, is the software used to run Wikipedia

See, even you can run your own Web 2.0 masterpiece! All you need is a little time, a solid hosting account and your own origional take, version or spin on the already popular idea.

The main problem we suffer is that a lot of folks only focus on following the big voices Online. If somebody like Robert Scoble, Kevin Rose or Leo Laporte don’t mention it, use it, or give it a thumbs up you are dead to a lot of the world. That is not their fault, they are just folks Online as well that just happened to get lucky and gain a real voice out there in the geeky world we live in.

Firefox Facts gain most of its popularity because Chris Pirillo really helped inspire and lead me into the entire project from day one. So I have gotten a perk out of this type of popular voices driving the popular vote.

I’ve recently been actually spending money in promoting the Web Hosting Show in new audiences and I have to say it has been paying off a little ‘bit. Most of my projects are done as a hobby though – so not sure if I can count myself.

I do feel sorry for folks out there trying to build a business from the ground up because if your not on the A-list or know somebody on the A-list it is almost impossible to “make it”.

It seems to deliver a ‘bit more than some of the other “twitter-like” services out there and if it picks up in popularity I could see myself maybe even becoming a paid member.

Come visit me and add me as a friend! Be my buddy!

http://pownce.com/mitchkeeler

Pownce has all of the neat features to become a winner, now all it needs is a user base to take advantage of it. Not really much else to say about it because I really need some friends added before I can give it a hearty review. Are you on there? If so feel free to add me as an amigo, buddy and/or friend.

Generate the Web 2.0 layout of your dreams! Want a generator that promises to make you look like some of the top dogs out there in the Web 2.0 fight? Well I can’t promise you any venture capital – but I can give you a link to get a Web site to make it look like every rich guy with a check book it handing you money.

It has a classy look, yet still has that new Web 2.0ish feeling to it. I like it.

+ Download The Dark Theme for WordPress!

With xFruits you can go from:

+ many RSS feeds to just one RSS feed
+ RSS feed to web page
+ RSS to a mobile device
+ E-mail to an RSS feed
+ RSS feed to PDF

I was playing around with the Aggregator RSS option and made one big RSS feed out of the RSS feeds I had for Mitchelaneous, the Web Hosting Show, Firefox Facts, and Mitch’s Midgets.

After I finished that, I made a mobile edition of Mitchelaneous.

If you are looking for a few new tricks for your RSS feed, definitely check them out!