Ning!
So the guys over at 24 Hour Laundry have launched - a couple weeks late, but not too bad. The name of the service is ning.com and it's a web platform for creating social apps (I think... I'm still grokking it). Here's the information from the FAQ:
What is Ning?
Ning is a free online service (or, as we like to call it, a Playground) for people to build and run social applications. Social "apps" are web applications that enable anyone to match, transact, and communicate with other people.
Our goal with Ning is to see what happens when you open things up and make it easy to create, share, and discover new social apps. These might include for any city, your own take on Craigslist...for any passion, your own take on Match.com...for any interest, your own take on Zagat...for any event, your own take on Flickr...for any school, your own take on the Facebook...for any topic, your own take on del.icio.us...for any mammal, your own take on Hot or Not or Kitten War.
You choose the app, decide for whom it's most relevant, create the categories, define the features, choose the language - or just clone an app that's already up and running on Ning - and be on your way.
Okay... I just got a developer account so I'm going to start playing with it. So much work from these guys, you have no idea. They've been walking zombies for like 2 weeks. Congrats guys!!!
-Russ