Live.com - Microsoft's Version of Maps

For this week's featured homepage, we wanted to focus on satellite maps. Yes, with Google Maps, satellite maps have been all the rage. With Google opening up their satellite map APIs, all kinds of Mashups have been spawned - housing, gas stations, fast food locators, sexual offender locations - you name it.

Why then would we give our valuable featured homepage space to Microsoft's 'late to the party' Live.com mapping technology? The answer is simple - the tool actually adds a lot of value IN ADDITION to Google maps. While the interface for Microsoft's maps isn't as slick (still in Beta, or maybe Alpha the way it looks...), the amount of detail that you can see is amazing. I believe Google maps allows users to see down to about 200 yards above ground with its satellite maps (don't quote us on that). Microsoft's maps actually zoom down to 30 yards above ground. The amount of detail you can see is amazing. We have told many of our friends about this - all people who are anti-Microsoft - they all agree, the detail is amazing.

For all of you stalkers out there, this could be another tool you use... For people looking at houses or real estate, now you'll be able to tell exactly where the property is located, whether it has a pool, and other amazing pieces of detail. With Google's satellite maps, you just can't see property specific detail.

Try it out - it is cool. If you are a sports fan, try zooming in on your favorite sports stadium. You may be able to tell when the image was taking based on the condition of the playing field.

The level of detail from Microsoft's maps make it this weeks' featured home page of the week.

First 3 free pixel squares are gone...

If you want to get a free pixel square, hurry before it is too late. The first people that email us at averynicehomepage@gmail.com will get a free pixel square on www.averynicehomepage.com. So far, 3 free pixel squares have been spoken for:

BitchSessions
AdviceForum
Jeunesse LSK

Hurry before the last 17 squares are gone!

Meebo - A great tool for individuals behind firewalls

Our first featured homepage is from www.meebo.com. We actually found out about this site from the TechCrunch blog. Michael Arrington's blog is great place to look for new and upcoming websites and web services. We read it every day.

A company that I used to work for didn't allow its employees to use instant messenger (no AOL, no Yahoo, no ICQ). The company claimed that it was for network security purposes. The guy in charge of our IT was an idiot - he was more obsessed with keeping people off of IM than he was about keeping our websites up and running. Anyways, Meebo would have been a godsend for my time there. This completely web-based, free service allows you to sign into your Yahoo IM, AOL IM, ICQ, and MUSM messenger services all at one time, through their easy to use interface. Once you put in your username/passwords for each of your accounts, Meebo will then open a new window that lets you chat with your buddies across each of these services. It is fast, slick looking, and pretty dependable. It also allows you to skirt any firewall issues that any over-zealous IT nuts try to use to cut you off from the rest of the world.

If you are stuck behind a corporate firewall or just want to consolidate all of your IM clients, try this out. It is very cool. That is why Meebo gets to be our first official homepage of www.averynicehomepage.com.

Meebo is indeed a very nice homepage!

Free 10X10 Pixel Square Ads - First 20 Requests

In order to get the website started, we are offering free 10X10 pixel squares to the first 20 people who email us. First come first served. Once we get the first 20 people, we'll post our list here. Tell your friends, tell your associates. One free pixel square per person or organization please (individuals who host several websites are counted as 1 person).

If you want to have a free square on our page, email us quickly at: averynicehomepage@gmail.com.

Good luck!

A Very Nice Homepage! Launches

The 'a very nice homepage!' blog was created inconjunction with the www.averynicehomepage.com website. This blog will chronicle the progression and development of the website, including each of the featured homepage reviews and any interesting observations as the website grows.

The inspiration for this website was from the Million Dollar Homepage website, created by Alex Tew. The Million Dollar Homepage's idea for selling pixel ads sparked us to create a similar pixel square site. While there are thousands of copy cat sites (a million dollars will usually do that), a very nice homepage! is different in that it contains listings of not only paid advertisers, but also 'Featured Homepages' (websites we like for one reason or another). For more information, read our frequently asked questions.

How does the site work you may ask? Here is how:

For paid advertisers, pixel squares can be purchased at $1 per pixel, with a minimum of a 10X10 square pixel block or $100.oo. Advertisers can purchase as many pixel squares as they please. The pixel square ads will be placed on the www.averynicehomepage.com website for a minimum of 6 years. There will be 2 links on the page, one from the graphical pixel image and one from the "Advertisers List" on the bottom of the page.

For 'Featured Homepage' selections, these websites are selected by us, based on website usability, design, functionality, or overall 'coolness'. We implemented this feature because it gives us a great way to showcase useful and interesting new websites we discover on the web. 'Featured Homepages' are selected solely at our discretion and will be featured on our site for free. While we anticipate listing 'Featured Homepages' for at least 6 years, we do reserve the right to change our mind. Know of any cool sites? Email us. Check back often for new featured websites. Our goal is to try and have a new featured website listed every week. We encourage you to buy a pixel square early - the earlier you get an ad, the larger the number of distinct website impressions your website will review.

Questions, comments, or suggestions? Email us. Check out the site!