Over a year ago I started working with Laszlo Systems to make sure that they'd be successful. We had spent years trying to develop a 'rich media platform' of our own, so I knew exactly what they needed to do and had a ton of ideas for them.

You see (unless it's not evident already - dear readers.....) I'm an idea guy. And since everything we were doing is predicating on having a killer rich media platform to build on - well then - Laszlo was perfect! I also really like David Temkin, Brett, Max, Adam, Sarah, Peter, Antony, Lyndon and all the other folks at Laszlo, so... it was aa no brainer.

One of the ideas I had for Laszlo was inspired by Jason DeFillippo's Blogrolling.com service. I had tried to convince Jason to turn it into an entire open distribution system platform, to no avail. [BTW Now that Tucows has purchased Blogrolling.com...... hhhhmmmm.]

Well anyway - it's year later now and here are three blogroll objects for you to put into you blog's gutter. The idea is that they're open and free, can be placed into one's blog gutter (or any other web page) and bring to you some of the benefits of rich media platforms. I say some - 'cause we're not done yet! All of this Laszlo source is available - so anyone can take it and run with it. And as long as it's a non-commercial project, educational or non-profit - Laszlo is free. And for developers - Laszlo is free as well.

One could even extrapolate that general purpose 'micro-content' editing tools were coming - so one could create reviews, opinion pieces and surveys - that included images, music and wasn't limited by the obviously mutliemdia adverse world of HTML (sigh! grunt! growl!) But before I go off on micro-content publishing systems and open shared servers, let's look at what Laszlo's giving us all.

- LinkBox - this was the original BlogBox object and it turns your boring, staid blogroll into a fun, dynamic expand/collapse menu. I don't see how anyone can live without one of these. I'm never going back. Sure sure sure - you can do it in D HTML like Joi has on his blog - but still, this is just so cool, I cry sometimes......

- SoundBlox - so you're sitting there, blogging away, reading other people's thoughts and expressions and you see the classic "I'm listening to this now". Well - I'd rather listen to it myself, not just hear about it! So if you go to MY blog - you can hear two Reggae sets, two R&R classic sets and a bunch of whacko original music I did in the late 70's and early 80's. We called it "electro strobing funk music". SoundBlox is a fully functioning jukebox for your blog visitors (and yours) pleasure!

- PhotoBlox - completeing the triumverate is PhotoBlox a fully functioning sldie show, image management tool. Beautiful cross-fades, moves and special effects can be put onto your everyday images. PhotoBlox (like her two sisters) is based upon simple XML files that you create and put up anywhere. You then point the Javascript (which you embed in your blog) at those XML files - and away you go!

All three of these BlobBox object are residing in my blog gutter and have been for a while. [Jonas has a saying about 'eating your own dog food' - yum yum.] Look for features that enable end-users to upload images into your PhotoBlox to create your own shared gallery. Also look for MP3 playlist sharing - like WebJay.

All in all I'm proud as hell to be associated with Laszlo. They're not only consumate professionals and have killer technology but they're on the bleeding edge, hanging ten, changing the world as we speak.