metaViper

An accurately named webapp, Twitter is a hyper-social space on the inter-web that operates on one premise: “What are you doing?” People all over the globe answer in short phrases or paragraphs. It’s almost a kind of a global instant messaging.

So what if you want to see where these messages are coming from? That’s where TwitterVision jumps in. This unique site takes a Google map and shows where people are posting from live. Once in a while there are some useful messages along with some websites to check out that people are visiting as they post about it.

Be careful though, this can be an addictive page.

If you’re looking to buy or sell a house, sometimes it’s difficult to determine a fair price. Beyond that, it can be useful to understand market trends. For example if there are a lot of houses selling in a particular region it may be a signal to investigate.

That’s where Zillow comes in handy. The site immediately presents a couple of search boxes to identify what area you’re interested in. After that it generates a map showing homes that are for sale, recently sold, or make me move (for those with deeper pockets). There are also a variety of filtering options on a left nav bar and each property listed shows price and many provide pictures and detailed descriptions.

This is making some folks in the real estate business uncomfortable as one of their value drivers is providing the same statistical information Zillow now hands out freely.