Reading about people around the world protesting against the U.S. handling of  the Afia Siddiqui case, I’m amazed how the power of the Internet allows people to organize protests of such scales. Concerned parties have congregated wherever possible to peacefully protest against what is being seen as an unfair trial tearing away an innocent woman from her children for years on end.  

Bumpin could be a powerful tool in the hands of such committed people. It would be perfect to connect with other people who want their voice heard. Best of all, it would allow people around the world to share ideas on how to protest, how much of a difference they are making and what they should do next. Web 2.0 is all about people power and Bumpin only makes the links between people stronger.

Independent data says that Facebook is currently the king of the hill when it comes to social networking websites. It’s enjoyed 153% growth over the last year while MySpace continues to stagnate. Much of that growth is coming from the emerging markets. It’s accepted within the United States that such social networking is a mature market which can only expect modest growth in the near future.

But maybe consumers just aren’t so excited about the static pages of Facebook and company anymore. Tools like Bumpin have the potential to add another dimension to social networking. Without having to go through the trouble of maintaining a cumbersome profile, they let you connect with who you want and facilitate opportunities for discussion and commercial activity. In a way it’s triggering Web 3.0 that heralds in an age of consistent interactivity. Those who mourn the lack of growth in social networking beware: it’s precisely periodic innovations like Bumpin that keep this industry thriving.

Having already pondered over some of the more practical applications of Bumpin, I realized today how great it can be to beat plain old boredom. It’s been raining cats and dogs out here for the past few hours. The streets are flooded and I can’t venture outdoors to meet up with friends or entertain myself. From my vantage point at my window, I see that the rain has eliminated the boundary between the road and adjacent field. Unfortunately, that seems to have caused a car to run off the road and it’s now stuck in the field.

At times like this, Bumpin proves to be one of the best outlets for my sense of adventure. What can beat meeting new people with similar interests and sharing views with them while surfing the Web? Bumpin makes it possible to be social and have fun even when Mother Nature doesn’t allow it. I see that the guy in the stuck automobile down there is on the phone probably calling for help. If he has Internet enabled on that phone, I would recommend he use Bumpin to pass the time, otherwise he’s probably going to get lonely out there very quickly.

Massively Multiplayer Online games have taken the world by storm. For the Koreans, it’s apparently a way of life as they whittle away the hours creating avatars in virtual worlds. Someone got the brilliant idea that there should be a virtual world based on the Star Trek series and it’s expected to be launched in the coming months. Trekkies and gamers alike are excited by the prospect of suiting up and exploring new galaxies.

While the aficionados will be bumpin into each other as avatars in the game, I could see strategy wikis and forums spring up to discuss every nook and cranny of this virtual world. And a tool like Bumpin would allow interactive discussions on the way to get the best bang for your buck in this world, how to upgrade your spaceship and what species you should expect to encounter on every planet. People with similar interests could find each other and plan to meet up in the Star Trek galaxy taking social networking into outer space.  

Specialized networking sites seem to be all the rage. Law students around the world keenly await the launch of www.casemakerx.com It promises to be a hybrid of Facebook and LinkedIn, promoting professional and social bonds within the global community of future lawyers. Law school types will be networking for internships and mentoring and also sharing resources of academic and general interest.

While such tools will always have their own value, professionals of the legal world might find some unique benefits from networking through Bumpin. Applicants can find others going through the rigors of the application process and have their own support group. Current students could find other people investigating online cases and potentially consult them. Recruiters could connect with budding talent scouring through online resources.

You have a fair idea of what kind of information you can get from a standard networking site. But the fun of Bumpin is the element of variation it throws into every interaction. You could bump into different people every time and that’s the best way to cast a wide net for information.

As Beijing 2008 draws ever closer, the frenzy to get those elusive tickets keeps piling up. But thanks to Bumpin its easy to connect with people in search of those last remaining online tickets who may be able to help you figure out what you need to get to be in the right place at the right time. It functions really well as a live forum.

I expect Bumpin to enhance the Olympic viewing experience. The Chinese government may censor the output of journalists, but who is to stop us olympic aficionados from exchanging our thoughts? We’ll be watching Michael Phelps swimming after Spitz’s Olympic record. We’ll be wondering if Federer can use the opportunity to regain his throne from Nadal. And we’ll be itching to see if LeBron James remains true to his word of bringing back basketball glory to the United States of America. And thanks to Bumpin we’ll be exchanging cheers, jeers and notes during the live action with other people who care about the Olympics.   

Always nice to see other bloggers commenting on BumpIn and providing their input as here.

I don’t really agree regarding the comment that BumpIn is positioned against the interests of content publishers. The purpose of BumpIn is to make the surfing experience richer. It allows interactive discussions on content and provides assistance for people looking to make online purchases. In an earlier blog post, I gave the example of how you might benefit from the service while researching digital cameras online. If anything, I think the content publishers would welcome a tool that facilitates online activities.

The concerns over privacy too are unwarranted. There is no central repository of information from BumpIn users in an identifiable format. So BumpIn users really should have no concerns. Add to that the fact that you can choose whenever you want to BumpIn or BumpOut and really this tool gives you complete control over your activities.

Seeing that I spend an increasing amount of time in front of my computer screen, it makes sense for me to be able to access television content there too. Fortunately for me, the folks at NBC are a step ahead and have already made some of my favorite shows available at www.nbc.com

So whenever I’m ready to catch the next snippet of The Office in between working, blogging, net surfing and the like, I don’t even have to leave my laptop. The only thing that could make the experience better would be the presence of others to watch it with. And thanks to Bumpin, that’s a possibility. I can have an interactive discussion on the evolving romance of Jim and Pam and the latest idiosyncracies of Michael Scott with other people who care enough about the show to be catching it online.

I’ll just have to hope that people who have already watched the episodes once will not spoil future content for me. Maybe we could broadcast out a warning to others on television sites, “No spoilers please”?  

I sometimes recall a particularly frustrating university biology class. The instructor expected us to spend a chunk of time online using an interactive tutorial to explore the innards of the human body. While journeying through the complexities of the human blood stream, my exasperation often used to get the better of me. Can’t I find another human online who can explain these things to me?

Too bad I didn’t have Bumpin back in those days. Now I have easy access to people studying the same pages who can help me when I’m drowning. I could see why this would be particularly valuable to someone reading business and legal cases.  Imagine someone burning the midnight oil preparing the case against Microsoft for his antitrust law class the next morning. Being able to have an online discussion with other people reading the case could make you that much sharper for the graded discussion the next morning.

Even if the Bumpin study buddies don’t prove to be too useful in helping you understand things, it’s nice to know you’re not alone in your misery.

For most students, summer time means a break from student life and the chance to indulge in some fun. But for someone approaching the last year of high school, it also means the chance to settle on a focus and direction and decide on which colleges to apply to.

My cousin based out of the United Kingdom is in such a position. He dreams of attending college in the United States and is devoting hours to understanding what it takes to land a fat envelope from the Ivy League. Unfortunately, his efforts are confined to Google searches and scouring some well known forums like College Confidential. He would love for the chance to actually visit the schools of his choice but costs and logistics make such an endeavor prohibitive.

That’s really another area where something like Bumpin could be a life-saver. If you can’t actually traipse through Harvard Yard before applying, the next best thing would be to be able to connect with people in a similar situation who may just have access to superior knowledge. Some of them may actually have made the campus visit and be able to share insights that could allow you to make a guided decision as to which is the right college for you. Try broadcasting a question to other people viewing a college admissions page with you, you’ll be surprised by how much people are willing to share.