[tag]Lists[/tag] are all the rage these days so I figured that I would throw my hat in the ring and create some of my own. For the first entry, a list of [tag]Web 2.0[/tag] applications that I’ve been using and actually finding useful. Useful being the keyword here.

There are a million different Web 2.0 sites littering the web and many mirror each other making it difficult to see the forest for the trees. How many [tag]social[/tag] bookmarking sites or personal homepages does the internet really need? With that being said, onto the list.

News: At Newsvine, you can read stories from established media organizations like the Associated Press as well as individual contributors from all around the world. Placement of stories is determined by a multitude of factors including freshness, popularity, and reputation. Contribution is open to all, and editorial judgement is in the hands of the community. They were in a closed [tag]beta[/tag] for the longest time and since they opened I haven’t used it as much as I thought. Good general news site.

Buzz: Popurls is a very recent addition but I like it a lot. Covering digg.com, del.icio.us, newsvine.com, flickr.com, reddit.com, tailrank.com, slashdot.org, youtube.com, news.google.com, topix.net and comagz.com, it’s more of an aggregator but still well worth a look. The best part of it is that you can check all these sites at a glance. ‘Your Pop’ is coming soon, so that could be interesting.

Calendar: 30Boxes is an online calendar that seems to be the best of the pack, at least until Google’s [tag]CL2[/tag] comes along. They recently added an import feature though I mainly use it for tracking work related items.

Homepage: Netvibes and Pageflakes are two personal homepages, allowing you to customize what appears on the page to your hearts content. I give the nod to Pageflakes as it includes tabs allowing me to have a work and a personal tab.

There is a lot of hype surrounding all these new Web 2.0 technologies, most of it unwarrented. Didn’t Microshaft come out with Active Desktop 10 or more years ago? AOL has had keywords since day one and everyone made fun of them (myself included). Call a keyword a [tag]tag[/tag] though and it’s cutting edge Web 2.0…

I think the biggest downside is that there is no technology to consolidate all these pages into one page. When I launch Firefox, I have 5 tabs which open and that sucks. Why can’t I put all this content onto one page? So, if you have some wild desire to hop on the Web 2.0/AJAX bandwagon please don’t design another homepage. I don’t need another del.icio.us or ma.gnolia.com just put a page together allowing me to have all my info in one place. Great. Thanks.

A pretty complete list Web 2.0 applications can be found here if you’d like to explore a greater variety.