PUBLIC MARKS from user Pete

Web-based WYSIWYG form creator. Use the drag-and-drop interface to create custom forms and copy and paste the code on to your own site. You can also have the form hosted on the JotForm site. The service is free, but confirmation emails are limited to 100 a day and file uploads are limited to 10 MBs per account (you can contact JotForm if need to upgrade). A nice application, and very easy to use. Wufoo and The Form Assembly are very similar.

Podcast search and recommendation engine. Find great podcasts and help others do the same. Includes tagging, rating, user profiles and reviews. Although the concept seems sound, Loomia doesn't seem to have gained any traction with podcast listeners.

Personal search engines. Rollyo allows you to create your own Searchroll - a list of sites that should be included in your personal search. You can also explore the Searchrolls of others. For instance, you can search Debra Messing's favorite shopping sites. The search itself is powered by Yahoo. Although the idea is an interesting one, Rollyo seems to be of limited use. Swicki has some similar features.

Browser extension for Firefox and Internet Explorer that allows you to preview webpages by hovering over a link. Although it may be useful to some users, it's hard to imagine how a business could be built around such a simple feature.

Personal avatars that let you define your own online identity. The avatars aren't really to my taste and it doesn't seem that the idea will catch on. You can also pay for your own personalized caricature. Totally uninspired.

Tag search. Search Technorati, Blinklist, del.icio.us, Furl, Google Blog Search, Yahoo, BlogPulse, Feedster, IceRocket, RawSugar, Tagzania, Shadows, Feedmarker and 43things all in one place. Although the interface is nice, this type of aggregation can already be done with other tools.

Online image editor. Crop, rotate and resize images images using a very responsive interface. You can also import pictures from Flickr or any website using the bookmarklet and export images in a wide range of formats. Extremely fast and easy to use. PXN8 is very similar.

Service to help you find the most talked-about news from around the blogosphere (usually referred to as a memetracker). Includes screenshots, tags, personalization and social features. Tailrank has innovated extremely quickly, adding new features daily and quickly out-running slower competitors. Although not as popular as Memeorandum, Tailrank is quickly becoming a powerful tool. However, it still needs work in terms of design and usability.

Social network for the cool kids. Create a profile, add products you like and generate buzz. The site design is perfect and the network feels edgier, slicker and more exclusive than the current crop of MySpace clones. Since the focus is on products, it should also be easier for Popist to make money. Overall, a nice site for those who think MySpace isn't cool anymore.

Simple web-based spreadsheet/database. Keep track of your budget, your diet or your exercise regime and monitor your progress over time. You can also share your TracksLife information with others. Extremely well-designed and easy to use. Prices range from free to $10.99/month.

Books sales analysis. TitleZ builds upon Amazon data to help publishers understand the trends in book sales and make better decisions about the books they publish. A simple tool that will create a lot of value for the publishing industry.

Source code search engine. Features some excellent tools to help you navigate code repositories. Also includes tabbed search and the option to save your searches. Krugle is an outstanding tool for programmers and it solves a real problem. Whether they can make any money from it is another issue.

Tool to help you share files and folders with your friends. Download the Zingee client (Windows only) and drag and drop files into it. Zingee creates a unique URL for files on your own PC. You can then share this URL with others. It's an interesting idea, but Zingee is entering an extremely competitive market and they'll have a hard time beating the email providers, the IM providers, the online sharing communities and the new breed of browser extensions that enable file sharing.

Social bookmarking and shopping. When you see an item on the web you're interested in buying, hit the Kaboodle bookmarklet and Kaboodle will automatically grab the image and relevant information from the page. You can also explore what others are bookmarking and comment on their choices. Kaboodle is very similar to Wists, the social shopping site.

Web-based calendaring application. Create a calendar, get reminders by email or phone, invite others, subscribe to RSS feeds and publish a calendar on your own website. Very simple interface and very easy to use. Similar services include Kiko, 30 Boxes and Spongecell.

Temporary bookmarking. Your bookmarks last 30 days (or however long you specify) before they are deleted. A good way to record webpages that are only useful to you in the short term. You can also copy your scratchlist items over to the major social bookmarking sites if you decide you want to keep them permanently. Listmixer is a very similar service.

Video search engine, now owned by AOL. Truveo uses visual crawler technology to find the most relevant videos. The search is fast and the results are pretty good. Alternatives include BlinkX and the video search services from Google and Yahoo.

News site where editors pick the 10 top news sources on particular topics. In most cases, this seems to involve picking the top 10 blogs in a category. Ultimately, you've got to wonder how much value they're creating here and how much money they might actually be able to make. My answer to both questions - not much.

Web-based calendar. Add events to your calendar and share them with others. Although the basic functionality is in place, the interface is a real eyesore and it's fairly difficult to use. Definitely needs more work from a design and usability standpoint. Alternatives include 30Boxes and Kiko.

Social network for dogs. Upload photos, add friends, join groups, award treats and send messages to other dogs. A crazy idea that seems to be fairly successful. Is this the long tail of social networks?

A social web browser. Del.cio.us, Flickr, Technorati and other social services are baked into the browser itself. This is really a tool created for geeks by geeks and unless you already use all these social services, you won't see much benefit. Nonetheless, this version is only a developer preview, so it may be too soon to judge.

Location-based instant messaging. Meetro is a downloadable IM client that allows you to see other Meetro users in your immediate vicinity. You can also sign on to AIM, ICQ, MSN or Yahoo though the client itself, which saves you having to run multiple IM clients. It's a pretty cool idea, but on the downside there may be privacy and personal safety concerns. Meetro is currently Windows-only.

Social bookmarking community. Includes search, tagging, RSS feeds and all the standard features. Simpy also allows you to earn cash by placing your own Adsense code on your page. Despite its simplicity, Simpy isn't all that easy to use and it's sometimes hard to find the feature you're looking for. Alternatives include del.icio.us, BlinkList and Ma.gnolia.

People-powered search. Rate and tag your search results and block results that you think are spam. Wink will personalize your results based on previous ratings, and your ratings will also help the community as a whole. You can also create search sets of your favorite links. Wink is definitely a sign of things to come, but Yahoo will also pursue this opportuniity soon - unless Wink can gain substantial traction (or get acquired), it will be eclipsed by the big players.

Online backup system. You receive 1GB free storage to start with, and 2GB if you fill out a survey. The backups are handled by a downloadable application. The catch? You must agree to receive email advertisements from Mozy's sponsors. It's not a bad offer, but you've got to wonder whether the company can create a sustainable business by giving away free storage.