Editor’s Note: This post is part of an ongoing series at Mashable - The Startup Review, Sponsored by Sun Microsystems Startup Essentials. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here.

STARTUP DETAILS:

Company Name: diditz (Invite details after jump)

20-word Description: Get popular by sharing your coolest experiences about things you are passionate about and discover similar feats from around the world!

CEO’s Pitch: So far, the only way to participate and interact with people sharing similar interests has been through online groups, forums and communities. Someone having different interests has to manage different accounts, across different social networks, and more often than not, many such communities are segregated and require active participation for your content to be visible.

The purpose of diditz is threefold: (1) provide a simple interface where users can publish their own experiences and discover a community based on their interests and locations, without the hassle of joining different groups or forums; (2) give an opportunity for an average blogger to decide their audience, interact with them and get regular traffic for their best content, even if they publish it infrequently; 3) create a collection of people’s experiences for the most happening things around the world.

Mashable’s Take: Its name might seem typically silly for a new Web startup, but as its CEO makes plain, the intent is to signify that age-old “did it” remark that people somewhat humorously affix to life’s task list. Trekked the Grand Canyon? Did it. Traveled to the top of the Eiffel Tower? Did it. And so the idea behind diditz, a New Delhi, India-based effort, is to offer Web users a place to share those stories and photographic and video-recorded memories with friends and the community at large. Perhaps the best thing going for diditz at the moment: the genuinely refined appearance of the service, from the front page to individual accounts presented by site members.

At first it might strike you as a tad rough-cut. Maybe a little busy in layout as well. But linger around and browse what has already been produced, and you’ll see that diditz, despite its alpha tag, is really something to consider signing up for - particularly if you have lots of cool stories on hand to share with fellow users. Just one of the nice features to have at hand is the image display option. When a photograph is clicked to be viewed in enlarged format, it expands within a graphical overlay. You’ll see this kind of presentation in lots of places elsewhere online, for sure. It’s quite common today, in fact. But it nonetheless gives each page a pleasant feel. It simply adds to the general impression that a good deal of care is being given to detail.

That being said, one aspect I noticed that seemed unusual was the display of a diditz.com label in the lower right corner of each image. Normally this would trigger a response as to the site’s stance on copyright concerning its users’ material and IP. A look at the website’s disclaimer, however, shows nothing to the effect that uploads are deemed the property of diditz, so prospective registrants perhaps shouldn’t worry themselves.

If I’m to draw a comparison between diditz and another Web 2.0 journaling service of fairly unique design, Sosauce would have to be it. Both are designed to give users the ability to share their life experiences and those of others in ways that standard blogging services cannot. Yet, while Sosauce is certainly more atypical in its delivery of user content, diditz falls more in line with standard designs. Albeit more polished than most. Which one can appreciate. It gives a balance that few others manage to pull off. It is fresh, intuitive, and well-featured and well-crafted, all rolled into one convenient package.

If you want to try diditz out for yourself, Just enter “MASH” where a code is requested. The door remains open to the first 500 visitors.

Sponsored By: Sun Startup Essentials

Several months back, the idea of a “pay per tweet” network was quickly refuted as an April Fool’s joke. But that hasn’t stopped Twitter from becoming a serious tool for self-promotion, including many users customizing their page backgrounds to advertise their various web sites and social media profiles.

Now, enter a new service called Twittad that wants to monetize that background real estate. The company is allowing Twitter users to make their page backgrounds available to the highest bidder. Each listing includes the number of followers, the duration, and the price. Advertisers can then purchase the spots, with Twitter ad collecting a 5% commission on the transaction. So far there aren’t enough transactions completed to estimate the average value of a Twitter follower over a given time period, but this example of a recently sold ad spot for an account with 250 followers went for $5 for one month.

There are a few obvious problems with this model, the first of which is that page backgrounds are not clickable and there is no easy way for a third-party service to track any meaningful metrics other than impressions. Further, with so much activity taking place on either your friend timeline in the Web interface or in a third-party app like Twhirl or Tweetdeck, profile pages are not necessarily especially valuable real estate. So, ads purchased through Twittad are almost exclusively a branding play – much like the giant Fig Newton sticker on Ricky Bobby’s windshield in Talladega Nights.

Despite the inherent problems in Twittad’s model, there are a number of other companies attempting to monetize web page backgrounds, including AdCamo, who is providing a platform to both publishers and ad networks.

Kyte’s particular brand of marketing has been to partner with celebrities and other influencers for using its self-publishing platform as a way to better connect with fans and viewers through live and scheduled programing. This process as a whole has been made easier with popular Nokia n95 cell phones and similar mobile devices that enable live video streaming to the Web. Kyte has been making some changes to better reflect the type of service it’s promoting, leveraging its increasing ease of use (with the right tools) and celeb endorsements to boot.

Kyte’s new types of advertising embrace the in-show overlay format, which will now display over the bottom 1/3 of the viewer canvas. There are also show production ads, which act as splash pages to be used in other video content as a form of cross-promotion or merely another advertising option within Kyte’s platform. True, overlay ads have been around for Web-based video programming for some time, but Kyte’s somewhat niche sector in the online video market has afforded it some wiggle room in regards to its ability to attract the type of brands that would want to promote themselves on Kyte’s user-generated programming.

The show production ads, however, go hand in hand with another upcoming feature from Kyte: an internal ad server for the support of brands that would like to insert their own ads from their inventory. What this will do is allow brands to directly cross promote their own Kyte content (or other content/events/promotions) within existing Kyte content, offering brands more control and making the effect of an owned Kyte channel more appropriate for individual brand’s marketing purposes. With that, Kyte will also need to improve its analytics offering. Currently, premium partners can take advantage of Kyte’s basic advertising options, but Kyte doesn’t have any robust ad analytics and behavioral reports just yet.

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Google Apps, the simple online office package aimed primarily at small businesses, now has support for videos. Users can post and embed videos, tag them, and leave comments - just like having your own mini YouTube. According to CNET, the technology used was actually developed by YouTube for corporate clients, and although it’s quite similar to what you get on YouTube, some features stand out. Scene Browser, for example, lets you browse through the video using thumbnails which refer to certain keyframes.

It might seem like a small upgrade, but it’s actually quite significant; hosting videos costs money and resources, and many companies will be relieved to have a simple solution such as this within Google Apps. Granted, the storage offered within Google Apps Premier Edition (which costs $50 yearly) is 3 GB per user, which is not that much when it comes to video. The videos themselves, however, are without standard YouTube restrictions: up to 300 MB in size and without a time limit.

Google Video is an interesting test for Google. Depending on its success, we can probably expect additional features like more storage, live video streaming and video conferencing, which will make it much more interesting to enterprise customers. Perhaps Google has an idea how to make money out of video sharing after all?

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Over the weekend, a number of bloggers and the New York Times rose to defend what they termed as a number of bloggers and podcasters who were arrested in Minneapolis. Podcasting News called it “a pre-emptive attempt to stifle protest and independent media coverage.” The truth is a little bit different from the story presented there and at BoingBoing, Salon and a dozen other blogs.

It’s a really attractive story, though.  I was prepared to jump on the bandwagon and speak out in defense of the members of the blogger set that were being denied access to the event - the RNC certainly didn’t do a great job in 2004 making the New Media feel welcome either. Very famously, they relegated foreign press to second class citizen status, had “free speech zones” set up for protesters, and arrested dozens of Internet radio streamers as well as hundreds of other bloggers (including Emanuel Goldstein, the well known editor of 2600 Magazine).

I even experienced first hand the way that the establishment tries to relegate legitimate New Media press members to second class status during the 2004 presidential cycle.  When the presidential debates came to Miami, I applied for and recieved clearance to simulcast the debates for a streaming radio station I appeared regularly on at the time. When I made it through the thirty security checkpoints with about forty pounds of equipment, I was told once I set up that I could only broadcast if I purchased a $700 internet access card, and was denied access to the bulk of the politicians and the actual room where the debate took place.

That isn’t the case this time around, though, as both parties have openly embraced New Media coverage, issuing indie bloggers and podcasters press credentials, and even appointing a New Media haven like UStream one of the official streaming coverage providers of the convention.

This time around, though, law enforcement appears partially justified in their pre-emptive raids on at least four houses where self-proclaimed anarchists and anti-authoritarians were housed.  While some of them might have had personal blog or even blogs dedicated to politics, their goal was not primarily to document, but (according to their organization’s website) to help “all anarchists and anti-authoritarians, all radicals and rabble-rousers … crash the convention” and blockade downtown so as to “disrupt traffic to the convention.”

Despite the glowing words the New York Times and Salon used to gloss over the weekend arrests as a move by an oppressive gestapo against innocent independent journalists, it turns out their actions were justified by events which transpired today. In the midst of peaceful protests by a wide assortment of anti-war and liberal activists, multiple newswires say that 56 violent folks were arrested for the very crimes that the police purported to be attempting to prevent this weekend.

The Washington Post reports that a small group of the violent protestors set fire to dumpsters and smashed windows of police vehicles along the protest route. Another group of the violent protestors came towards a delegation from Connectitcut, tried to rip off their credentials and sprayed them with a toxic substance that, according to KMSP-TV, burned their eyes and stained their clothes.

I bring all this up, not because it’s an example of bloggers behaving badly (as it was at the DNC last week).  Rather, this is a situation where a good definition of a journalist and news-based blogger would come in handy. Admittedly, the New York Times didn’t really emphasize the New Media connections much in their initial coverage, but most of the major blogs who picked up the story did.

I don’t mean to be elitist here, either, in differentiating myself and “my big time New Media job” from the average Joe with a blog. The thing is, though, we’ve crossed over into a time where the tools to become a journalist with world-wide distribution are literally open to anyone. Everyone with a digital camera and a library card can put their words, images and video in front of a worldwide stage.

I don’t propose that we lobby for legislation that determines a legal definition of a blogger, at least not for these purposes. I do, however, ask for a modicum of discretion in what we refer to as bloggers and journalists in our own coverage of these types of events. When everyone is a “journalist,” is it even requisite to use the term when we describe these people? The term connotates an air of higher purpose, but as is evidenced by their actions today, they’re actually just common thugs.

As someone who professionally blogs with journalistic intent, I’m not quite comfortable being lumped in with them. I’m guessing a number of the bloggers who wrote about them so glowingly, in retrospect, aren’t either.

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So the tech blogosphere is all abuzz about Google’s now outed Web browser that goes by the name of Chrome. The thing that I find absolutely hilarious about the whole thing is the fact that they used a comic book to announce it. C’mon, a comic book? How can you take seriously a product when it comes by way of a comic book announcement.

Anyways, such is the case with Chrome, as this morning saw Philip Lenssen from Google Blogoscoped where he let us know how he discovered the latest major initiative from the search giant:

“Today there was a comic book in my mail, sent by Google and drawn by no less than Scott McCloud, creator of the classic Understanding Comics. Within the 38 pages, which I’ve scanned and put up [edit: link to comic coming back soon, the server is a bit stressed right now], in very readable format Google gives the technical details into a project of theirs: an open source browser called Google Chrome.”

Of course, this sounds like the long-rumored “GBrowser” project which Google has denied for ages. According to the comic, this will be an open source project based on the existing Webkit engine, just like Apple’s Safari browser. Much like Philip thinks the browser is a good idea, Mathew Ingram noted:

“Although there will likely be some concerns raised about Google — the prism through which many people see the Internet — developing its own browser (will it build features that render its pages and search results better than others?), I think competition is overall a good thing. I can hardly wait to see some of the other features that Mozilla and Google and Microsoft come out with as the browser becomes a kind of OS for the webtop or “cloud” desktop.”

While there is no firm release date for Chrome, it definitely shows that Google is continuing its march forward to dominate in all things relating to your desktop and the Web. Whether this is a good thing remains to be seen.

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Congratulations to the nine finalists of the Mashable Showdown on VenCorps:

* Avenda
* Bizak
* Buybak
* Change Round-Up
* Commuto
* molv
* SocialVoter
* Stream To Me
* StyleHop

Over the next 30 days each startup will answer common questions VCs ask, share detailed biographies of their teams, make slide presentations, perform due diligence calls and get rated by expert judges.

This will be an exciting journey as the community learns more about each startup, and uses their points to pick their choices. The startup with the most community support wins a $50,000 investment and 50,000 points.

Good luck to everyone!

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Here’s Mashable’s latest round-up of upcoming Web 2.0 events, parties, and conferences. Not on this list? Contact us and let’s establish a media partnership.

September 6-7, 2008: SearchCamp is designed to be an affordable and fun way for small businesses and marketers to learn about how to market their businesses online. Topics range from Pay Per Click Advertising (PPC), Search Engine Optimization (SEO Basics) to Public Relations & the Internet and Web 2.0 Technologies. Speakers are from the local Philadelphia area as well as New York City and Washington D.C. including well known blogging authors Geoff Livingston, Debbie Weil and search experts like Mike Grehan and Kevin Ryan. The event will coincide with PodCamp Philly. Read more about SearchCamp Philly.

September 7-9, 2008 Be the first to see the most innovative, marketing defining new technologies unveiled for the very first time. Attend DEMOfall 08 on September 7-9, 2008 in San Diego. Mashable readers are invited to attend for a special rate of only $2,395 – a $600 savings off our regular rate. Click here to learn more and register: http://www.demo.com/F8mashable

September 8, 2008: The Inbound Marketing Summit brings together experts in the field of inbound marketing to share the latest strategies, tools, and best practices to utilize inbound marketing methods to grow your business. In order to remain competitive, businesses need to be found on the web and leverage inbound marketing techniques to reach customers with targeted messages that customers seek out, not ignore.

Learn about search engine optimization, business blogging, social media marketing, optimizing landing pages, closed loop marketing, and more. Keynoting the event are best-selling marketing authors and bloggers Seth Godin (Permission Marketing, Purple Cow, Meatball Sundae, and more) and David Meerman Scott (The New Rules of Marketing & PR). More information and a discount code are here.

September 10th, 2008: Join The E.Factor for an evening filled with some of the brightest minds and learn how this economy could be a prosperous time for start-ups and Entrepreneurs alike. More information, agenda, and registration information can be found here.

September 10, 2008: StartupSF is back with Scott Nazarian, Principal Designer for frog design, inc., who will be speaking. Be the first of 10 to sign up with the code SUSFmash88 for free tickets to the event.

September 16-19, 2008: Web 2.0 Expo New York will be held at the Javits Center. Whether you’re new to the Web 2.0 world or an expert or in Ajax, Ruby, tagging, the social graph, user experience, meta-programming, search engine marketing, community building, web operations, user-generated content, building startups from scratch, or “Web2.0-ifying” the enterprise, come to Web 2.0 Expo New York and immerse yourself in the Web 2.0 experience. Mashable readers can save or get a FREE expo hall pass! All the juicy details are here.

September 18, 2008: The Houston Interactive Marketing Association presents “Interactive Strategies: Secrets Exposed,” a full day conference in Houston, Texas, on September 18, 2008. Interactive Strategies is the South Coast’s rogue interactive marketing conference featuring Tara Hunt as the keynote speaker. Breakout sessions will cover topics in social media, SEO, and digital media. More conference details and a 20% discount for registration can be found in the official announcement on Mashable.

September 19-21, 2008: Join Mashable staffers in Las Vegas for BlogWorldExpo, the first and only industry-wide tradeshow, conference, and media event dedicated to promoting the dynamic industry of blogging and new media. BlogWorld also features over 50 seminars, panel discussions and keynotes from iconic personalities on the leading-edge of online technology and Internet-savvy business.

ALSO, this year, Mashable is ready to help organize booths and sponsors for BlogWorldExpo! Got what it takes? Email us at advertising@mashable.com and we’ll fill you in with all the details! More information and a discount code are in this post!

September 23-26, 2008: Returning to Sydney Australia in September for the 5th year, Web Directions South ‘08 once again features a two day conference of leading international and local experts in web design and development, two days of in depth workshops, parties, receptions and other networking events. Featured speakers this year include Jeffrey Veen, Derek Featherstone, Daniel Burka, Douglas Crockford, Jeff Croft, and Lynne D Johnson, who will cover front and back end web development, web app security, web design, interaction design, and much more. Check out Mashable’s official announcement here.

September 29-30, 2008: InterAct 2008, to be held on September 29-30 at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington DC, hopes to have 1,000 attendees each day, 65 exhibitors, and 35+ of the industries hottest talents speaking about proven methods to increase market share on the web, turnkey web solutions, user experience, search engine optimization, user interface design, branding, rich media, video, mobile media, social media, new business development, and networking, networking, networking. Want more information and a discount code? Hop on over to our conference post with all the deets!

September 30, 2008: For the very first time in the UK, the Web 2.0 University is running a one day Executive Bootcamp on Tuesday 30th September in London. The Web 2.0 Executive Bootcamp is a one day event for a management and executive audience to gain a thorough brefing on the state of Web 2.0 and why it matters to any business. If you’re building and delivering next-generation online products and services, this intensive, day-long course will provide you with a thorough grounding in the revolutionary world of Web 2.0—a set of design patterns and business models that are reshaping the face of the Web. More information and a 10% discount code is here.

Startonomics is a one-day workshop (October 2nd) designed by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs on how to create simple, actionable metrics for internet startups, and how to use them to make better product and marketing decisions for long-term growth and success. Twenty VIP tickets are available to Mashable readers. Grab yours today!

The hands-on Aloha Social Media Summit will be in Boulder, Colorado, and 25 special people get to learn about social media strategy from pros such as Charlene Li, Peter Shankman, Om Malik, and Biz Stone. It’s a great opportunity for executives and marketers to get some face-to-face time with influencers who know all about the forms of new media. A discount is available to the Aloha Social Media Summit so sign up now.

October 6-8, 2008: Back for the second year, Virtual Worlds Forum Europe 2008 (VWF) isproduced by the Virtual Economic Forum, Europe’s leading virtual worlds media company. Three days of congress, expo and workshops covering entertainment, enterprise, community, education, marketing, regulation, and finance… plus lots more. VWF is the place to make connections, be inspired and have fun. See more information and get a discount here.

October 14-15, 2008: The Mequoda Summit to be held in Boston the #1 Internet marketing conference for traditional publishers and information marketers. The online publishing & marketing event is geared toward publishing executives, editors and marketers looking to create new online revenue streams, sell more products online and build more profitable websites. Summit attendees will learn from over forty case studies based on successful online publishing companies. There are eight online publishing courses spread out over two days focused on the seven strategies of a successful online publishing business. Get more information and a discount here.

October 15-16, 2008: The 4th Communitelligence Executing Social Media Conference & Roundtables is a must-attend event for anyone in need of good advice on using the new social media tools for business advantage. The conference delivers practical, how-to take-aways from the most experienced experts and practitioners who are boldly executing successful new media programs today. Read more and save $200.

October 20-21, 2008: Mashable is pleased to be collaborating with US-based Virtual Worlds Management to bring you to Virtual Worlds London, the premiere event focused on virtual worlds and Web 3D. Virtual Worlds London takes place 20-21 October 2008 in the heart of London at The Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre. Virtual Worlds London is the leading event for businesses seeking to understand and maximize business strategies within virtual worlds. VW London is presented by leading VW business blog Virtual Worlds News. More information and a discount link is right over here.

October 21-23, 2008: Marketing Connections is a unique event focused on exploring the great power and strategic value in integrating all the pieces of the modern marketing landscape: both traditional and emerging. Most events today only present a sliver of the marketing mix — whether it’s online, search, email, tv or radio. At MCONN, attendees will walk away with a holistic view of the broad spectrum of technologies, strategies and solutions at their disposal in this new marketing world — leading them back to their most important goal — generating effective outcomes for their customers. Get a discount code and more details in this post. Register with code freeipod to get a chance to win an iPod (and get $200 off automatically!)

The Marketing & Online Communities Conference is an invitation-based event held at the exclusive Tribeca Grand in New York City on November 5th, 2008. The conference will bring together thought leaders from the marketing and online community sectors to discuss marketing challenges – and unprecedented opportunities – in online communities. Get your invitation and read the details for attending right here.

November 11-14, 2008: For anyone involved in the production, marketing, or management of an Internet web site - this is a must attend event to be held in Las Vegas, NV. PubCon covers search engine optimization (SEO), search engine marketing (SEM), web hosting issues, domains & the domaining business, Internet video, podcasting, multimedia, and special sessions of interactive attendee site reviews. In addition, there are tracks on new marketing techniques, linking strategies, social media, and online advertising. Save 15% by using the code on our discount announcement.

November 24-25, 2008: Affiliate marketers unite in Israel for Affilicon Israel. For the first time ever, you have the chance to meet face-to-face in Israel with top affiliate marketers and learn from experts in Search Engine Optimization, social networking and media, and other leading internet technologies. At Affilicon, network with highly successful affiliates who live and breathe the world of affiliate marketing. Meet new people and explore new potential relationships with operators and vendors. Want more information? And perhaps a discount code? Click here.

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