Google has it’s new “Page Creator” up. Or, they did at one point – then it went down – now it’s back up again. Are they getting a ton of hits and can’t handle it? We saw this happen with Google Analytics too, when their servers got smashed by people signing up and they had to close it down and it was taking a full week to update.

If I’m a small 2-person “web 2.0” company operating off of a small budget, I think I can be forgiven for being overwhelmed when people are intersted in my app. We see this happen often when something gets dugg or slashdotted.

BUT, when you’re Google, or some other larger company there just is no excuse. Understand when you release a new tool that it’s going to get massive amounts of attention. Maybe I’m spoiled, especially since this is all free stuff, but I guess I just expect more out of them.

Michael Arrington runs the best Web 2.0 review blog on the net: TechCrunch. I was a little surprised to hear that he was coming out with his own application, but I guess I shouldn’t have been because if you’re so “in the know” and have great insights into how this new wave of software is developing, then you’re probably one of the most qualified to put something together.

Edgio is all about classified ads/listings from the fringe. In other words, it’s not some walled garden that you have to pay or register to be a part of (watch out eBay). Just by publishing and tagging a “listing” on your blog you will get indexed and have your listing seen brought into a much larger forum than just your normal blog readership.

Very few blogs publish classified listings today. Most blogs have a relatively small group of readers, including friends and family, and are not able to effectively reach the larger audience needed to effectively market their listings.

Take a look at it, give it a try if you have something to sell or need to hire someone. Once your post has pinged Edgio (remember to use the tag “listing”), they’ll notify you that it’s on edgeio using a trackback or comment. In the trackback you will see a link back to edgeio where you can view your listing, claim your blog, and customize your content by including things like geography, price, etc.

(side note, not sure if this is allowed or if I’ll be banned forever from Edgio, but the password for my readers is LAGUNA)

Leo was kind enough to send me an invite to the invitation-only Newsvine beta. Over the last week I’ve been digging around in this new web-based news application trying to decide if it’s good, worthwhile, valuable, etc… So far, I’m truly impressed.

A basic overview:

The site is split into two, Associated Press articles and what they call The Vine. AP articles are automatically inserted into the website, while The Vine is a combination of user’s articles and seeded links. User’s articles are written directly on the site about a recent event, a hot topic, or just an opinion. Seeded links are in a way similar to Digg, because users scour the internet for interesting stories and then submit them to Newsvine. (read more)

In my right navigation bar, right under my RSS feed for White African, you can see my feeds from my Newsvine column. If you’re interested in Newsvine and want to give it a try, shoot me an email. I’ve only got a couple invites though, so please be serious about making it a better application if you want one. [hash] [at] [whiteafrican.com]

More insights on Newsvine from a traditional journalist.

I’m trying out a service called Squeet that let’s readers sign-up to be emailed when a new article is written on White African. It’s designed for use by those who don’t use an RSS reader to be notified when a new article has been listed.

You can get started by clicking on the graphic in this article, or the one in the sidebar to the right. So, give it a whirl and let me know what you think in the comment area below.

I signed up a little while back to get into the 30Boxes Beta program, and am glad that I got in. It looks like they got slammed as of yesterday night when they launched and had to close the door to new sign-ups today.

So far, I’m very impressed. 30Boxes is an online calendar system that is very simple and easy to use. It syncs with your iCalendar if you’re on a Mac, and will soon be offering custom feeds for syndication. It’s being built on a very open framework, which will allow smarter people than I to create uses that I haven’t thought of yet. For example, they already have a Flickr, LiveJournal, MySpace, Upcoming and RSS feed plugin area.

I customized mine by putting in my zip code. Now when I look at the calendar, it tells me what the weather is, and is going to be, over the next couple days in Orlando. Very simple, very cool.

As ever: it’s open it’s simple, it wins.

Want to see what it looks like? Click here

I’ve had a running battle going between two web-based software applications that I really like for project management. SideJobTrack and Basecamp are both quality products that I’ve really come to enjoy using. However, for my freelance style of work, SideJobTrack takes the prize.

Influencing my decision are two very important elements. First, I’m a web marketing strategist that (now) works for a large corporation, which means I need a piece of software that I can use to track my side jobs. I don’t need to track many projects, or even very complicated ones, just a simple tool to help me keep organized. Second, SideJobTrack is free while you have to pay a minimum of $12/month for Basecamp.

SideJobTrack makes it very simple to add new tasks and billing associated with them. Their use of AJAX within the project management area is intuitive and really makes the whole process a breeze. Invoices are created in a format that allows you to email it out immediately, or apply your own styles to it so you can add your own custom field. Overall, a very well designed product that has all I need to do my side jobs.