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...we sell entries in a (UK) based business directory gonumber.com and part of the selling process involves personal visits to high street retailers, restaurants etc. Approx 10% do not have an email address at all, while another 10% do not even use computers at all. (An email address does not of course require your own computer.) There are two groups who fit this profile: a) Older people of all ethnic groups. b) 1st generation immigrants. There are cultural reasons. Some people just like to communicate and do business in person - and why not? Others rely upon tried and tested methods. After all, how many people have ever had their (paper) notebook crash or require an expensive upgrade? Consider this, the pyramids and most of the world's most complex and beautiful buildings were designed, constructed and managed hundreds and sometimes thousands of years before the advent of calculating machines. Nothing like the human imagination to achieve wonders. I diverse...

This is not a unique idea, we at O'WONDER have been offering people in the UK 33% of our £295 lifetime membership fee to rep our directory at gonumber.com. Note, we are a directory, not a search engine, so our results are more succinct. We're initially just covering a few areas of London, but working to expand once we improve the service later in the year. Want to rep for us? Drop us a line to owonder.com/contact. Our price is high as membership is for life and we don't resell our data.

Dude, see my posting further down, reference to gonumber.com. We're adding the ability to locate businesses using various search factors, such as "open now" or at a specific time plus other keywords etc. Here's a listing showing our real time opening hours indicator: pressgang.gonumber.com.

As per porcini.gonumber.com, we have been including photos and (real time) opening hours for a while, plus coupons, price lists and/or menus. For example, no5belgravia.gonumber.com. Yes, we charge for 'listings' in our directory, but include some interesting and innovative features (many more to come) and don't re-sell data or embed any 3rd party advertising within it. Site looks boring, but is nice on a mobile device thanks to some sweet CSS and yes, we're working on a new logo! We use Google maps but hope to be different enough from them to avoid being squished. (For the geeks, gonumber.com is built using PostgreSQL and RDF for some nice metadata goodness.) One more thing, our entries end up high in Google. Try searching on 'Albertine London' in Google and see where the very top link takes you! If anyone out there wishes to partake in re-selling listings once we upgrade the service and take it Stateside, drop us a line at www.owonder.com/contact We have some cool ideas and seek top talent.

As per porcini.gonumber.com, we have been including photos and (real time) opening hours for a while, plus coupons, price lists and/or menus. For example, no5belgravia.gonumber.com. Yes, we charge for 'listings' in our directory, but include some interesting and innovative features (many more to come) and don't re-sell data or embed any 3rd party advertising within it. Site looks boring, but is nice on a mobile device thanks to some sweet CSS and yes, we're working on a new logo! We use Google maps but hope to be different enough from them to avoid being squished. (For the geeks, gonumber.com is built using PostgreSQL and RDF for some nice metadata goodness.) One more thing, our entries end up high in Google. Try searching on 'Albertine London' in Google and see where the very top link takes you! If anyone out there wishes to partake in re-selling listings once we upgrade the service and take it Stateside, drop us a line at www.owonder.com/contact We have some cool ideas and seek top talent.

Yes, we are building this on FOAF, and RDF. We hope to have some interesting features available in the future.

...not yet, so don't get grumpy if you think it's crap, but later in the year, we'll be trying a few things to give people a more dignified online presence! The backend is based on some nifty RDF and FOAF machinery. (Firefox only for now, else somethings will break.) GONUMBER.COM.

In trial mode in London currently, GoNumber.com has featured photos for a while, but we carefully position ourselves to get the best picture - even taking night time shots of restaurants to make them look more inviting - the yellow glow thing. A new version of GoNumber.com is in the works, based on open source of course and featuring a slew of innovations. That said, we're a bit smaller than A9 and their owners, so we may need to talk to them.

Learn more here.

Learn more here.