48m contribute user-content
A PEW study finds that nearly 50 million American adults, or about 35 percent of internet users, have contributed user-generated content (or UGC) on the internet. The news bit that is driving headlines, however, is that there is an up-tick in broadband home users—including 73 percent of those bloggers and online media self-publishers. “Adoption of high-speed internet at home grew twice as fast in the year prior to March 2006 than in the same time frame from 2004 to 2005,” primarily in middle-income homes. The Pew Internet & American Life Project report also notes that 51 percent of home broadband users are under 30 and only 36 percent were over 30 years old.
Fo.rtuito.us
Sometimes people prefer to “StumbleUpon” rather than search. Premised on the same inclination, Fo.ruito.us helps people meet each other randomly, then decide if they like what they’ve found. One begins with an open email line to a stranger, with no knowledge about them—not their gender, race , age, nationality or otherwise. Users have four days to communicate and determine if they want to be friends. If you don’t make contact at least once, then you do not receive a new potential friend. Just released in beta, Fo.rtuito.us was founded by Chris Stegner. 
The Fo.rtuito.us websites says it “allows people to meet others who live completely different lives. We want people to be able to form some of the best friendships of their lives and in many cases from the least likely of candidates. We want this web-site to open their eyes to the world they’re missing by not learning about others.”
TechCrunch’s Michael Arrington likes the idea. And WebProNews points out a bug: “a photo is required for signup, which takes away from the anonymity and the beauty-is-on-the-inside concept”—just don’t upload a portrait as your icon.
Stalkerati
And once you’ve made new friends, you can start stalking them with Stalkerati. This friendly little mash-up of web 2.0 sites provides a one-site search on the individual of your choosing simultaneously in MySpace, FaceBook, Friendster, Google, Technorati, and for images (in Yahoo, Flickr).
Says the creator, Jared, who starts college in California this fall: “This site is basically a little hack I put together in 2 hours on May 1st, 2006 when a friend was heading out for a blind date and my sis was asked out (via email) by a guy that googled her. I hope to eliminate the hassle of going to 4-5 sites to find information/check out/cyberstalk/[insert excuse for cyberstalking here] on someone.”
The site, launched early this month, just finished a push that brought with it a digg traffic jam, so you may have to check back if you want to test it out.
An Interview with Google Enterprise VP
Dan Farber at ZNet interviewed VP/GM of GoogleEnterprise Dave Girouard last week. Here’s part one and part two of the interview, in case you missed it on your way out for the weekend. They discuss “elusive Google Web Office,” the Enterprise portfolio, disinterest in the software game, and product strategy in coordination with Microsoft’s Office Live. “The company is experimenting with a hosted service that includes domain hosting, email, calendar, instant messaging, desktop search and administrative services.”
OurStory beta
The startup OurStory publically launches in beta its interactive, web-based scrapbook. OurStory’s various tagging and uploading features let users create a timeline of events they can share and search through. Silicon Beat gives a full review of its many neat features, like automatically searching the web for pictures of events you mention and pinging relatives to fill-in unanswered questions about pictures. And CBS has an audio interview from when OurStory launched in mid-May. Most of OurStory is free, but the upgrade comes with the ability to store multiple timelines, control several privacy circles, and eventually burn your story to DVD or print it into a book.
51 percent of home broadband users are under 30 and only 36 percent were over 30 years old.
13 percent are exactly 30 years old?