chart

I believe we are about to see the birth of a new business organization - one that is optimized for complex systems of problems and solutions, rather than based on silos focused on specific functions, and which treats user experience as a core organizational axis rather than a meddlesome add-on. Call it Org Chart 2.0.

Today's companies are largely structured with Org Chart 1.0: silos of knowledge and product offerings (segmented by customer type, price point, technology, etc.). We have had this structure for decades, even centuries, and there are good reasons for it: it helps drive … Read more

Stories about animals are a staple for the nightly news and frequently make their way to the front page of news sites such as Digg and CNN. Not to be left out, Purina, purveyors of food for dogs and cats has its own social news site devoted to all things domestic pet with Pet Charts, a self-proclaimed "definitive guide to the best pet stuff online." It features news stories, videos, and photos for dogs and cats.

Users can swap between either species or view both at once. Content is ranked numerically and can be voted on by clicking … Read more

Best4c says it's the "best online diagram tool on earth." A pretty lofty claim, considering how many other chart utilities are out there that have similar feature sets (see Gliffy, mxGraph, Ajax13, Floor Planner, etc.) Best4c offers up a simple drag and drop editor, with a four-pane interface that mimics a other desktop drawing apps. You can pick from a fairly large selection of items to drag into your virtual space, including items for floor planning like desks, couches, and houseplants, all the way to flow chart tools to use as a virtual whiteboarding space. There's … Read more

Do you have the urge to tell your friends how much you like them or maybe dislike them? Now you can share your feelings about them on community Web site FriendChart, which debuted this week in beta. The site slogan is "Your friends at glance".

Interested? I wouldn't do it. It's OK to put yourself out there--that's a personal choice. But to expose your friends and rate them, that's drawing a line, at least for me. I haven't even thought about my friends in terms of scores.

In an example of one rating, … Read more

Each week, Crave tracks the most popular ringtones.

For all we know, the top five ringtones may be cemented in place for all of eternity. The same 10 ringtones make up the top 10 this week, except a few have switched places.

See the full Billboard ringtone chart right here.

Unk's "2 Step" holds on to the top spot and will presumably do so until everyone in America has downloaded it. Then, we'll all be confused whenever a phone rings, because everyone will have the same ringtone.

Elsewhere on the charts, Koji Kondo's "Super … Read more

Last week, Google quietly upgraded its online spreadsheet application, Docs and Spreadsheets with a charting function. Like almost everything else about Google's online apps suite, the charting tool is barebones yet useful, and benefits from being part of a suite in which collaboration is easy.

Creating a chart is easy. Just select a range of data, click on the little chart icon, and choose your chart type and a few options. You can't change colors or typefaces, or modify most of things people take for granted in a typical spreadsheet like Excel.

The new charting function is useful … Read more

Over on our sister blog Crave, we post about the occasional stargazing gadget for amateur astronomers. But if you aren't willing to shell out the cash for a pricey telescope, night sky projector, or home planetarium, never fear--that's where the wonderful world of free webware comes in. Wikisky was described by the Wired Science blog as "Google Earth for space," which is essentially an apt description. You can use Wikisky (which isn't actually a wiki, for the record) to view and navigate the entire night sky either as a graphical representation, or in legit photographs … Read more

Showtime and various folks behind The L Word have launched OurChart.com, a social networking site for queer women based around a story line of character Alice's web of "hookup" connections linking women through their different relationships. It's like The L Word meets Six Degrees of Separation on MySpace, and just to bring it full circle, the Web site then became a story line.

So is OurChart a useful social network or just a bald-faced marketing ploy? Seemingly rushed to production, the site notably lacks the networking features that the show's characters promote, an immense … Read more

When Digg 3.0 launched in December we wondered where the capability to Digg music was. We were led to believe it was coming, but Web 2.0 abhors a vacuum. There are already a few Digg-like services for music. Today I took a look at BandBuzz, iJigg, and ChartU.

None of these sites plays music from major labels, which is frustrating, because you'll miss hearing from artists who have signed recording contracts (unless their managers get with the program and start uploading tracks). But it's also wonderful, since it lets smaller indie bands bubble up in a … Read more