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"This post is part of Mashable\u2019s Spark of Genius series, which highlights a unique feature of startups. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here.  The series is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark.\nName: TileStack\nQuick Pitch: Web-based environment for creating interactive content. Anything from a game to a slide show to a database. For the average computer user.\nGenius Idea: TileStack believes that a barrier to building great, creative web applications is programming.  Building a cool game, a nifty photo album, or a organizing drawings into dynamic slideshows usually requires a developer to build the application.  How do you open up the possibilities of the Web to people who don't know code?  This is the problem TileStack tries to address.\nTileStack is essentially a multimedia platform for building web-based applications.  Users can draw, type, edit, and design different \"tiles,\" which are essentially blocks which you can play with.  What can you do with a single tile? Well, the features are extensive.  Users can change tile colors, input text using multiple font and editing options, upload photos, doodle with an image editor, and more.  \nWhen you combine multiple tiles, you create a \"stack,\" thus a TileStack.  To say I understand all the possibilities and features of TileStack would be a lie - the feature set is definently rich.\n\n\n \n\nThe magic behind TileStack, however, are the speak scripts (or speak language), which are essentially commands to tell the tilestack how to interact.  It essentially uses standard programming commands (i.e. if statements, loops) to create interactive Web applications.  There are a ton of standard functions, such as average, which just averages a list, or BottomRight, which helps set the lower right corner of a specific field.  The main difference between this and standard programming is that you can simply type out or \"speak\" the commands, bypassing the need to understand or execute programming concepts such as multi-dimensional arrays.\nOnce you've taken the time to draw, doodle, type, upload, and speak your tilestack, you can execute it and share it.  The end result can be anything from a photo album to a game, like the one I've embedded below.  It's very easy to share your work on a blog or elsewhere.  Some of the applications made via TileStack include an interactive periodic table of elements and even a Pokemon Pokedex.  TileStack is capable of building some gorgeous applications.\nIs there a learning curve?  Yes, a large one in fact.  But there is a library and a lot of tutorial videos to help you understand TileStack.  TileStack ends up being a platform for simple Web programming, replacing development languages with speaking scripts and an easy-to-use toolbar for drawing, typing, and editing.  If you can put in some time to learn how the system works and the commands, you will find that TileStack is capable of creating just about everything you'd ever want to make.  \n\n\n \n\nSponsored by Microsoft BizSpark\nBizSpark is a startup program that gives you three-year access to the latest Microsoft development tools, as well as connecting you to a nationwide network of investors and incubators. There are no upfront costs, so if your business is privately owned, less than three years old, and generates less than U.S.$1 million in annual revenue, you can sign up today.\n\nReviews: DiggDigg reviews, MashableMashable reviews"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2009/04/06/tilestack/>