So, this year, you've resolved to lose weight, take a class, learn a new language and buy a better mobile device. Good for you - but we all know how well most new year's resolutions go. If you want to strike while the iron is hot, we've found mySomeday , a new tool for solidifying, planning and executing your dreams into realities. The site's a little bit like Dorthy.com and a little like LetSimonDecide , but it's also got simple project management tools and interesting social features. Could mySomeday actually help us stick to our resolutions? Sponsor A while ago, we tested Dorthy.com, a semantic search engine for aspirations that asked users to list goals, share progress and encourage one another. This is quite close to what mySomeday purports to do, as well, albeit through very different mechanisms. Calling itself a "goal achievement platform," mySomeday combines planning tools, social networking features and a support community. It makes sense that publicly sharing goals with one's network has a positive impact on one's chances of reaching those goals. Also, hacking a dream into a plan with a series of steps and measurable outcomes can help transform a cloud-castle into a reality. The site also reminded us of LetSimonDecide, a decision-making platform that helps users analyze their dreams or wishes to determine if they're optimal, practical and advisable. Once the decision-making process is complete, users can share their conclusions with other site members and make an action plan to implement the decision. On mySomeday, users are prompted to set deadlines and receive email reminders, but one of the most interesting features is the option to add multimedia inspirational content, including pictures and videos. Visual reminders have powerful effects - much more than mere words on a glowing screen would, we suspect. As part of their business model, mySomeday is offering branded "Expert Plans" for common or niche goals. Currently, Expert Plans are being offered by Seeds of Peace, Flirtexting, BK Farmyards and Nuru International. What methods or tools are you using now to keep your resolutions - whether they were made for 2010 or whether they're just longstanding but dormant goals? Do you think mySomeday is a site you could use? Would the imagery, reminders and community help you achieve your goals? And what do you think of the company's rather unique Expert Plans model? Let us know your opinions in the comments. Discuss

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Keep All Those Resolutions You Just Made: Try mySomeday

Recently I was the keynote speaker at the Unlimited Potential W2W (Wellington to the World) event in Wellington, New Zealand. The topic of my presentation was running a virtual company . In the presentation, written by our Marketing Manager Elyssa Pallai , I spoke about the unique nature of ReadWriteWeb's virtual business model and culture. Watch the video of my entire presentation below, for details of how our company is run and the Internet tools we use. Sponsor As I explain in the video, ReadWriteWeb is a totally virtual organization. We have no head office, or any office for that matter. Our team work from home or on the road, around the globe, in multiple time-zones, 24/7. Being totally virtual is about a cultural change - a mind shift. Presentation, video-taped by Spring TV and available on Viddler : Slides, via Slideshare : Discuss

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Totally Virtual: How ReadWriteWeb Operates

Microsoft announced Internet Explorer 9 at its Professional Developers Conference earlier this month. One of the unique features of IE9 that Microsoft announced at that time was hardware acceleration for its browser. Thanks to technologies like Direct2D and Direct Write that are available for Windows7, Windows developers can use a computer's graphics card to render websites faster. While Microsoft is still working on this project behind closed doors, however, you can already download a Direct2D-enabled pre-release version of Firefox 3.7 today. Sponsor Beyond JavaScript: Fast Browsers Thanks to Direct2D Ever since the release of Google's Chrome, browser developers have emphasized JavaScript performance. There is still a lot of work left to be done in this area, but developers have also started to investigate other parts of the browser that could benefit from new technologies. According to Firefox developer Bas Schouten , the current implementation of Direct2D in this pre-release version will work best with graphics cards that support DirectX10 and WDDM1.0 drivers. On systems that fulfill these specs, though, users are likely to see significantly better performance on graphics-heavy sites. Sites that mostly render static text or depend on Adobe Flash to display their graphics won't benefit greatly from Direct2D. One benefit of Direct2D that users will notice on most sites, however, is improved font rendering. For the time being, this is just an experiment and it isn't clear if Mozilla will integrate this technology into Firefox 3.7. What is clear, is that Mozilla seems to be ahead of Microsoft and by doing its development out in the open and through open source, Mozilla will be able to rely on its vast developer community to test and enhance these features. What About Google and Apple? Some would argue that the release of Google Chrome started this new race towards faster browsers, and as CNet's Stephen Shankland pointed out earlier today, the Chrome development team is quite aware of Mozilla's efforts and investigating the use of hardware acceleration in Chrome as well. As Shankland also notes, these Direct2D efforts shouldn't be confused with other projects like WebGL or Google's Native Client. Direct2D-enabled browsers will be able to render current pages faster, while these other technologies will require developers to redesign their sites. Currently, a lot of these experiments are mostly focused on Windows. With OpenCL in Snow Leopard , Apple already offers a programming interface for using graphics cards for general-purpose computing. Apple is probably also looking at OpenCL to speed up Safari, though we aren't aware of any projects from Mozilla or Google that are making use of OpenCL at this point. Get it Now If you feel like experimenting with a new browser, you can download an early pre-release of an alpha version of Firefox 3.7 here. While we have tested this browser for a while and didn't see any crashes, it is worth remembering that this version isn't meant to be run in a production environment and that most of your extensions will likely not work. Discuss

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Hardware Acceleration: The Next Frontier in the Browser Wars

It's rare to look at a bookmarking tool and feel convinced that it's going to win a design award. Pearltrees is such a product. The French site offers us a new way to explore and contextualize the web. In what looks like a mind map structure, users collect "pearls" (links to articles, videos and web pages) and drag and drop them to form a body of knowledge that folds and expands upon itself. In an interview with Pearltrees CEO Patrice Lamothe, ReadWriteWeb found that company already has a loyal user base including our friends at ReadWriteFrance. Sponsor Said Lamothe, "We wanted a type of game play that was playful to use and map the web...and the fact that you can group and ungroup content easily means that you can re-catalogue it and keep it current." Rather than looking at the web as a series of linear pages, this service lets us build tree graphs of connecting arguments, share them and then break them at any time. Using a browser bookmarking tool, we can add and connect related pearls or ideas, place them within other pearls or start a new pearl tree (or train of thought). Rather than displaying a list of items, your pearls connect to your profile. You are literally the center of the universe and your thoughts follow you wherever you go. Naturally, as a newly anointed God of information, other great thinkers will gravitate towards you. Shared pearls connect you to others and allow you to view their collections. From here you can choose your favorite content and omit the noise. From here you can email your pearls, embed them in your blog or broadcast them to Twitter and Facebook. The Future of Touch Interfaces Given the unique user interface of Pearltrees, Lamothe expects that the company will roll out feature releases and enhancements on an ongoing basis. Says the CEO, "Once we've launched the web interface, the potential of a touch product will be very exciting." At this point, I almost fell out of my chair thinking about the possibilities. Using Pearltrees in conjunction with a touch interface would be extremely practical. Rather than swiping down long lists of links to find articles, images or videos, users could tap on their desired pearl and follow the connectors to the information they wanted. Not only would this greatly improve the research experience, but it could also change device design. For some reason, many touch interfaces mimic the experience of the first personal computers. We are offered a series of boxes from which to start our applications with little room for reorganization or prioritization. The Pearltrees model may prove to be the most efficient way to navigate period. To try the product register at pearltrees.com or click on ReadWriteFrance's pearl below.

If you've ever had the urge to write your name in wet cement, then you understand what it's like to want to leave your mark on the places that define you. Rather than vandalizing construction sites or tagging your old high school, one positive way to commemorate your life's path is to map it. Instead of locking away your memoirs in a journal or using a family tree to display shared connections, a map is one way you can preserve your history while leaving the door open for others to contribute. Below are seven tools to help you get started: Sponsor 1. Lifenaut : This service allows users to map their lives; however, rather than editing individual layers, users upload files and have the option to give the exact coordinates for specific locations. When another person uncovers that spot on the map all of the deposited files are revealed similar to real life geocaching. 2. Platial : Although slightly busier, the great thing about Platial is that users can follow an RSS feed of a particular point of interest. For example, if you're hoping to reconnect with a childhood friend who isn't searchable on Facebook, you can subscribe to a feed of their home in the hopes that they'll leave a comment. 3. Zoom Atlas : Zoom Atlas lets you edit and upload text and images on top of a map layer. One of the unique features of this site is the LifePath tool where users edit the places they've lived and share their personal timelines, via Facebook. Rather than editing on a Google Map layer, this tool offers users a chance to edit ground layer and set up buildings and landscaping exactly as they remember them. 4. 43places : This service is less about the remote past and more about our adult histories. Users create wish lists of where they'd like to go and tag the places they've already been. 5. Map My Life : Map My Life is a Google mashup where users can add stories to a map. Users upload an xml file with their life's history enclosed and the tool loads and plays that history in both a map and timeline version. 6. Wikimapia : Wikimapia specializes in regional histories; however, many users add their personal histories in the comments below. One of the great things about this site is that rather than trying to edit disparate Google map layers, community residents can come together and take pride in the rich histories that unite them. 7. Wayfaring : Wayfaring is a site where you can add routes and points of interest to your personal map and embed it to your blog. The service takes advantage of Google Maps and lets you invite others to collaborate. This is a great site for hash house harriers and other social running clubs. One user has already created a map of tech companies in the Bay Area below: Discuss

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Seven Tools to Map Your Company or Life History