There was a thought-provoking interview conducted by Crain's Chicago Business with Jason Fried, one of the founders of 37Signals. You may recall that this is the guy that blew off a product idea I once sent them, but apparently I don't hold that against them. I love what they do (as do their million other users) and they continue to innovate with a geographically-distributed team of 8 people. Which is pretty incredible!

I am not telling you anything new when I say that online communities are becoming more important than actual communities in some cases. Can you rattle off the names of 5 people whose blog your read? Can you rattle of the names of 5 of your neighbors? This is not to judge (we are horrible at meeting neighbors and I haved bake a "welcome to the neighborhood" batch of cookies in...well, I don't know if I have ever done that, although I have thought of it).

So, online communities are important. You know about LinkedIn, MySpace, Facebook, etc. I hear about new ones like Damsels in Success (clever name) targeting professional women. What if none of these exactly fits the community that you'd like to be a part of? Why not start your own?

The leader in social network tools is Ning, who boasts 80,000 networks. Whether you are a Phish fan, in the advertising business, addicted to One Tree Hill, or a proud graduate of the Blue Springs High School class of 1987, you can find or create your own community. Like all good things on the web, there is a free option (ad-supported). They have private label options for corporate communities, premium options that include your own domain name, and for $19.95 you can set-up to run your own ads on your social network and create your own media empire.

To broaden your options, you should also check out KickApps, which is a similar thing, but emphasizes "rich media community experience" and all the content gets displayed in a Flash viewer. They have some cool viral elements like widgets that others can embed to help spread the word about your community. Again, it is an ad-support, no-cost-to-you business model.

As an aside, a visit to Ning and KickApps illustrates the yin and yang of website design and voice. One is power-punching and athletic (as in rugby) the other is more ethereal and poised (as in yoga). Just goes to show how different visions and brands can manifest themselves online.

According to TechCrunch there are others that do this as well including CrowdVine, GoingOn, CollectiveX, Me.com, PeopleAggregator, Haystack, Onesite. They did a handy comparison chart that you might find interesting.

Now, I bring this up because I wonder if tools like this are being used for more than connecting with classmates and industry professionals? I could see these tools being a very powerful foundation for a church or ministry website, as it could include published content (sermons, songs, articles, announcements about upcoming ministries), as well as forums and places where parishoners could post their own photos of events or discussions about related topics.

I wonder also if any of these sites allow the network administrators to charge for membership to their networks? This could be interesting as an extension of a college course or the like and if there was a way to charge, this would be a very interesting "lab fee" item.

Now here is a tool that makes the life of a blogger a bit easier. It is called tumbalizr and their alpha version site allows you to type in a URL and then select a pixel width. It gives you a thumbnail JPEG of the site you selected (either a screen or the whole page). Then you can embed the shots into your PowerPoint presentations, websites, or blog posting (see left). Cool!

Smashing Magazine did a great contest recently asking people to redesign the dreaded 404 Error Pages to something more beautiful and user-friendly. You'll love some of these. My favorite is this one designed by Vi-Su.

I like how the creative designers re-envisioned how to deliver a bad message in a more beautiful way. One them by Jeremy shows how a message can be delivered in sensitive copy. He writes, "Oh Boy...This is awkward. 404 Error: Not Found. Man....I feel bad about this. Whatever you are looking for ha smoved or has been removed from the server. Let's take you back to the start and hopefully you can find your way."

I wish more companies (especially service organizations) took this approach. Be personable. Show you care about the customer. Try to sincerely help them out. What else can you ask for?

GrandCentral, acquired recently by Google, is a new service that allows you to get one number that is then forwarded to whatever phone(s) you are currently using at the time.

I could see this being as popular as the universal email addresses (Yahoo, Hotmail, gmail) that allow you to mask your ISP and move around without changing your email address. Combined with voice-to-text messaging and Google's other services this could be pretty powerful for those of us that are not tied down to one phone.

They are currently in private beta (which you might be able to get in on through InviteShare), but you can sign up to reserve a number when the service becomes more widely available.

After years of admiring the innovation of on-demand printing businesses, I have decided to launch one myself, as a shopkeeper with CafePress.com.

You can find the store at http://www.hsvgear.com/.

This site has a huge variety of products that celebrate the active lifestyle of Hot Springs Village, Arkansas. The Village is 26,00 acre gated community, complete with 12 lakes, 9 award-winning golf courses, and lots of recreational activities.

Check it out and spread the word to anyone who might live or visit Hot Springs Village! Fans of Creative Outlet Labs will like to know that this is one of the first of many planned sites and projects in the works. Stay tuned for updates.

Consider the juxtaposition of these two quotes I read today: