If you’re the type who likes free swag, then here’s a heads up.

Ziki is a people-search engine (a la spock), which allows you to not only search for other people, but secure your own profile for others to see.  I haven’t used it a great deal, but its premise is kind of interesting in that Ziki promises that once you do fill out a profile (or at least claim one), that profile will rank number one on Google, MSN, and Yahoo.

How?  Well, the catch is that Ziki plans to purchase the sponsored link for that search term, thereby enabling that your profile is numero uno.

I haven’t had a chance to thoroughly check this out, but it does pose an interesting conundrum for the John Walkers of this world, or really anyone with a common name.

Anyway, back to the free swag.

If you’re interested in promoting your identity offline (or online), get 100 free business cards courtesy of Ziki.  Now if you’re willing to pony up another $5, you’ll be able to customize color, fonts, and background images.  Otherwise, you’ll have to live with promoting Ziki’s logo (although you can change the URL if you like).

For US Customers, go over here.

For folks living in the UK, head over here.

(it looks like “free” includes shipping to those countries.  For folks living in Canada, it looks like we’re crap out of luck :P )

… wow, its late — but better late than never.

The winner of the Spock.com beta invite was David Bisset of DavidBisset.com. Congratulations, man!

Spock.com, for those still paying attention, is a search engine focused on finding people. I still plan to write my own opinions about it, but suffice it to say, its kind of interesting to claim your own name.

Well, actually, I did run another small test, just for the hell of it.

You may have heard that Vator.TV launched the other day? Its a new media concern that allows companies to post video clips of their elevator pitches in hopes of securing VC funding. Webware.com, a CNet production that reviews web applications and web2.0 companies, did a small review on Vator.TV — but also featured a clip from Vator.TV as an example.

As I was watching the clip, I thought — “Man, this guy [who’s doing the pitch] has a great voice. No wonder he’s the chief of communications. I wonder if he’s ever done any professional work before … ? ” So, of course I powered up Google to find out a little more about this dude, named Mil Arcega.

After all — how many “Mil Arcega’s” could there be?

Probably not as many as “Tony Hung” (almost 2 million entries), right?

Anyway, it turns out that Mr. Arcega was a former reporter and anchor for a local Washington news station, and affiliate of NBC. That, and apparently he likes Chinese food. That’s what I was able to figure out from a quick Google search. Also, by actually going to the Vator website, there are a few other tidbits, like the fact that he was the “Business Correspondent for the English Language Services at Voice of America.”

So, you might wonder … how did Spock.com fare?

Well, it showed up a Mil Arcega’s MySpace page. This one. That’s it. And to be honest, I hope that’s not *really* Mil Arcega, Chief of Communications, and award-winning reporter … because he doesn’t really look like someone you’d give VC funding to. Maybe a couple bucks for a coffee, but that’s it.

If you’re interested in a Spock invitation of your own, I might be able to hornswaggle a few extra invites in the future. Leave your name and comment below, and considered yourself pre-entered into a future Spock.com contest!

Hi guys,

Spock.com is a startup / web application that specializes in finding information about people.  I will be posting my own thoughts about it a later date (soon), but suffice it to say that it does a little more than scan social networks. It also search engines, and automagically creates a permanent page for people, along with tags and so on. Pretty nifty stuff.

Problem is that its in closed beta, and open to invitation only. Mike Arrington had 100 invites to give away about a week ago, but you can bet that they’ve dried up like his warm and fuzzies over Silicon Valley’s imminently bursting bubble.

The good thing, of course, is that I *do* have an invite to give away (maybe even more than one).

If you’d like to see Spock in action — and more importantly, create a profile for yourself (I wanted to secure “Tony Hung” so the bajillion other Tony Hung’s in the world, such as that Tony Hung at DynaFund Ventures, won’t get the first one), all you have to do is leave a message below explaining why you’d like one.

Make it funny though, as I’m grumpy as heck for having worked this long weekend and I need to be amused.

The winner will be chosen by me in another 72 hours or thereabouts.

Cheers,
Tony