9rules designer/blogger Mike Rundle was quick to notice that business incubator Next Internet (covered here) borrowed a teensy bit (by which I mean all) of the site design from eternally-alpha-testing browser Flock. The two sites are uncannily twinlike — identical fonts, identical basic color schemes, and two toolbars you'd never tell apart. But should we assume there was theivery just because Next Internet is Flock's perfect doppelganger?

Look, clearly they both received the divine revelation of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, god of the Internets. The corroboration of their site designs is a sign that He is watching, that He loves us all, and that He digs pastel blue.

Update: Pretty no longer, Next Internet has reverted to a fugly ol' template, in a very Web 1.0 gray. Unless you check out the Jobs page.

Next Internet Steals Flock's Website Design [BusinessLogs]
Earlier: Secret Web 2.0 Company Birther [Valleywag]

The meta-flipmeat wants to launch 15 dot-coms in the next three years. If Next Internet really plans to be "profitable and constantly growing," those five dot-coms a year can't be some re-microwaved social bookmarking sites or high-risk Webvan clones.

And they're based down in Mountain View, a two-minute drive from Google. That should make a quick afternoon move-in for freshly bought flipmeat.

Next Internet [NextInternet.com]
Next Internet: a new, local Net incubator [SiliconBeat]