Back in October, I started exploring startups sites across the world to get a better sense of the global startup scene. It all started with Indian and Korean startup sites in Asia. Next, we visited Middle Eastern sites coming out of Jordan and Israel. Recently, we visited the Nordic, Dutch, and UK startup sites coming out of Europe.

Now, it’s time to double back to Australia. It breaks up the westward path we were charting, but for some reason, with Australia, that feels fitting.

TechNation Australia

TechNation Australia is something. They cover everything related to startups in Australia from interviews, events, new startups, top Australian sites by traffic, etc. “If it’s to do with technology and Australia then we’re on it.” What’s more amazing, the site’s ostensibly a labor of love by a group of dedicated contributors — there’s no advertising to be found. (Which, also, partly explains a design that is far surpassed by its content.)

VS Consulting Group

Vishal Sharma’s startup blog is an excellent place to start any review of the Australian tech scene. The site features Australian startup reviews, trends, and interviews with Aussie entrepreneurs. The blog has been a bit quiet as of late, but it’s well built for longer lasting content. There’s a comprehensive list of Australian startups, Australian research and analysis, and interviews accessible from the header.

Tech Events

Tech Events is a user generated Australian tech events site. It’s not a calendar service — nor is it meant to be. It’s a group of people interested in sharing technology events in and around Melbourne with new events posted in a blog-like format.

Phil Morle’s Technology for Humans

Phil Morle’s Technology for Humans is just a damn, great blog. Phil covers Australian startups and tech, but what’s really great about his blog are his usability insights and future of the web discussions. A few of my favorites are Web App Goal #2: Don’t Try to Change the World and Can Everyone in Your Startup Answer These Questions?

ITnews Australia

ITnews Australia covers both Australian and global IT news. There’s more of a focus on enterprise companies and gadgets.

Builder AU

Builder AU is a great resource by developers, for developers — regardless of whether they come from Australia or not. A series of blogs cover everything from Python tips to Design Principles, with a bit of Australian startup news mixed in.

Also worth checking out are BlogPond with its list of the 100 top Australian blogs as well as Scott Middleton‘s blog.

You’re tired of having to be an individual. You’ve joined all of these social networks, but on each one, you’re an island. There’s no one to talk to until you invite all of your existing friends. There’s no one there to see your witty messages and kooky photos. You’re just one person. This can’t be the best way to meet real people, right?

MIXTT, a recent TechCrunch50 startup, doesn’t think so. Outside of work and school, the way you really meet people is via your friends. Why not create a social network around that fits that model for social interaction? Eve Peters and her team have done just that. MIXTT is the social network for groups to meet other groups.

It’s a lot like MeetUp, but with a focus on groups meeting groups for fun, socializing, partying, and if you’re lucky, dating. What better way to use the web than to help you get off the web, get out, and meet people. In fact, “MIXTT is pretty much a guaranteed good time.”

When you join MIXTT, you’re immediately directed to create a group. (You might have your own profile, but the focus here is on the groups.) Next, fill out your group with a few friends or browse other groups. You can look up people’s social calendars, where they’re going to be, etc. When you zero in on a group that looks like a good time, well, go meet them. Better yet, bring a posse of your own and see what happens (a Beat It-like re-enactment, maybe?).

The MIXTT site is certainly designed for a good time, but there may be a few kinks in their plan. Like I said at the beginning, no one wants to be the first person of their friends to join a social network where all they’re doing is talking to themselves. A Facebook application would certainly help that. I also wonder how often I would actually update an online social calendar, but maybe future versions of the application could make use of email or Twitter-like updates.

Ultimately, you’ll get out of MIXTT what you put into it. It sure looks like fun — the site has a cool design, the pictures are full of party scenes. I just moved to San Francisco and could use a new social outlet. Their blogs (MIXTT blog and Check Please) are great, and, well, who doesn’t want to see a women-lead startup succeed?

Scripped makes it easy for the aspiring screen writer to write, format, print, and even publicize their latest script. I stumbled on Scripped as part of a recent VenCorps showdown (there’s more to come on VenCorps in a future post) and thought they did a great job delivering a unique, end-to-end service. I’m not quite their target market, but a few things about their site jumped out at me, including their entertaining blog. That’s a good sign for a writer’s site.

Scripped follows the ‘give away your core product for free and make money on the side’ model. Their core product, their script writer, is free. They also offer script storage services for a $5 fee, editing for $100+, and script marketing and contest submission services. The support services are partly thanks to partnerships with Coverage, Ink and WordHustler.

Their editor is simple but gets the job done. User’s can write scripts directly into a format that’s production ready with the proper indentation, font sizing, and page layouts. If you’re not happy with a draft, create a new one under the same project. When you’re finished, export to PDF for wider distribution or take advantage of their partnership with WordHustler to submit your content to publishers and contests. The various features support the beginning of the content creation process through the writer’s (hopeful) pay-out

The site’s design is evocative of a bygone, pre-computer era. The editor’s font looks like it’s straight off the typewriter. Coupled with black and white cartoons throughout the site, it’s just the sort of hip throwback that should do well attracting young, wordy users.

If there’s something Scripped could improve on, it’s the organization and coordination between some of it’s various parts. The Creative Support section isn’t quite as easy to access as some of the other features, but it could be really useful — especially for the company’s bottom line at $129 per script. A better marketplace-like view into available projects would be nice too, and the site sometimes feels too much like a blog than the writing portal their products seem to suggest.

Interaction will continue to be a challenge, but judging by the list of future features in their Pipeline, Scripped is intent on building a user community that will support the next generation of screenwriters.