SketchUp & Google Earth

Came over this today - SketchUp - Home. It somehow reminds me of Second Life, and how you can create virtual stuff in it. For those who are not familiar with this company, they've been getting a lot of press lately because of new VC investment. Talking points are how people are creating digital clothes, houses, vehicles and selling them for Linden dollars. Of course, Linden dollars can be bought by using US dollars (what can't?). Check out this Business Week article on them.

Anyways, maybe this guy is thinking of creating a virtual world in Google Earth. With its large user base, he can get a small minority and have something going. Of course, there are problems - working with Google being the most obvious. Its a long-shot/far from happening but its an interesting project to think about.

ShopWiki

Came about this new service via Search Engine Watch. ShopWiki is yet another shopping comparison engine. At first I thought it was a wiki where people can collaborate/review products (ala Wikipedia). I liked the idea, specially since I've been looking at affiliate marketing and how much you can make on it. Yet when I came to ShopWiki, it seemed like a search engine. And I don't see where you can change content like a wiki.

Doesn't work for me. It seems that its taking whatever buzz a wiki has. Or something like that.