Wordpress.com just upped the bar for blog platforms. They did it once when SixApart dropped the ball with Movable Type years ago and I, for one, have never looked back. They rule as far as open source blogging platforms go and basically are a really solid CMS. But now that they have gone beyond the call of duty and given us a free 3gb hosted solution, its a very compelling argument to switch. It’s not just about the technology (a debate in which Wordpress is the clear winner for the majority of us), but about a real rich online experience. Post all sorts of media and host files for your community without paying up those hard-to-find benjamins. Unless Blogger and SixApart come back with enough ammo, they will be left behind, google’s support notwithstanding. Besides, their software simply rocks. Phenomenal support, great development and a dedicated community.

I wish I owned some equity shares in Automattic right about now.

Erick Schonfeld over at Techcrunch.com details the Venture Capital funding for 2007 based on a report by PriceWaterhouseCoopers and National Venture Capital Association. It’s been the craziest year since 2001. Ok, so it may not be a bubble as far as this report goes, but I find myself wondering about its existence in India. Lot of hype, lot of trades, not many revenue models - that’s a bubble right? Some interesting facts:

• $4.6 billion in internet deals -> + 12% y-o-y
• $5.27 billion in software - biggest sector
• $7.2 billion or 1267 deals - first time financings
• $6.3 billion or 1410 early stage deals -> + 11% y-o-y
• $12.2 billion or 1168 later stage deals -> + 41% vs. 37% in previous year
• Study represents 480 venture capital and private equity funds
• $2.2 billion in clean tech - fastest growing sector

I just read this blog post over at Weblog Tools Collection which quotes the Compete.com stats for 2006-2007 Winners and Losers in terms of traffic.

A few interesting trends are revealed:

• The web has yet to reach its “Social Peak”
• Online daters would much rather be subjected to ads than a checkout form
• New Social Networks still have a chance…as long as they find their niche
• People place a high value on peer opinion

[via Compete.com]

The overall trend is towards video and networking. Linked In is showing some significant growth, but is it too little too late? They are going the Facebook way as well with opening up their system, but will they be able to capture enough market share is to be seen. The blog sites have shown great positive growth as well - Wordpress.com and SixApart.com. Personally, I am glad to see my favorite blog Techcrunch.com in the greatest gainers’ list.

I guess we all have our own list of Mac Apps, here’s mine:

Adium - Multiple IM support. Wish it supported video

Alarm Clock - A simple mp3 alarm clock tied into iTunes

Aperture - Nothing beats this pro photography app

Azureus - Old habits die hard. No other torrent software allows this level of control.

ComicBookLover - Nice way to manage and view my huge comic collection

Deskshade - Lock your desktop and show off your wallpapers in a jiffy

Entourage - When I am not using gmail, this is one I turn to

Firefox - The only browser that matters. ‘Nuff said.

iCal - The funnest calendar app and its free from Apple

InsomniaX - The only way I know to disable the sleep mode on my Macbook

MarsEdit - When I need to just write something and publish it, this is my goto app

MenuCalendarClock - Quick and Easy way to get to my daily meetings

NetNewsWire - A desktop rss feed reader above the rest

Photoshop - The be-all-end-all of photo editing apps

Secret Folder - Simple and easy way to keep my private folders private

Skitch - Screenshots, graphical notes, design ideas, doodling and sharing all the fun stuff like you couldn’t even imagine before

TextMate - I don’t know why it’s addictive, but it is and versatile to boot

So we have

• Macbook Air - World’s thinnest laptop 1.6/1.8Ghz C2Duo and with 80GB HDD or 64GB SSD
• Apple TV 2 - New firmware with new menus, supporting Flickr (finally) and .mac, HD Downloads and Rentals
• iPhone 1.1.3 - All that we knew already
• iPod Touch Firmware - Mac Apps for $20
• Time Capsule - NAS with Time Machine sync
• Mac Office 2008 - Windows does Apple redux