Zeus of the ‘NetReviews of the Coolest Sites on the Net

Launched in February 2008 this site is the latest in a line of niche social networking websites.  However unlike the hundreds and hundreds of other social sites that have fallen by the wayside, this one appears to have what it takes.  BrightFuse is a self-proclaimed “talent community” that aims to “give professionals a tool with which they could network and interact easily with other professionals”.  The site is completely free to use, anyone can create a personalized professional profile to connect, interact, and network with fellow industry peers and other professionals from around the globe.

With more and more research and fact finding being done online by those decision makers in HR departments all over the world, it is becoming necessary to maintain and control your personal online presence.  BrightFuse enables its users to create a professional webpage (similar to LinkedIn) where their work history can be showcased in a very presentable way, basically amounting to an online resume.  With the way the economy is going, this is one social site that you won’t want to pass on because who knows if and when that pink slip will come.  Take advantage and become a part of this growing community as it continues to expand throughout the recession and beyond.

If you love watching animals doing funny or silly things, or crazy tricks, this YouTube-esque site is the place to go.  Showing only pet videos, PetTube has something for all of the pet lovers of the world.  The site is pretty self-explanatory with the various categories running along the top.  Some of the Sub Categories include ‘Most Recent’, ‘Most Viewed’, and ‘Top Rated’.  This site is unique compared to the many other video sites out there on the web in that they host all of the videos themselves (just like YouTube).  So since people love their pets I thought this would be a nice niche site to share where you can not only watch funny videos but can let your own little scruffy indulge in his fifteen minutes too.

When you think of online auction sites pretty much just one comes to mind: Ebay.  Well that might be about to change.  Founded in January 2007, Bonanzle is rapidly becoming a plausible alternative to Ebay and it’s big business ways.  If you’re a seller who’s tired of the seven pages you have to go through just to select a category for something you want to sell on Ebay, then you might want to check out Bonanzle’s quick and easy listing process.  No more high selling fees and poor customer service.

More interactive and user friendly, Bonanzle is poised to pounce on the thousands of disgruntled Ebay users (both sellers and buyers) and convert them to become one of the growing number of Fellow Bonanzlers.  So if you’re in the market to buy or sell, you might want to pay a visit to Bonanzle and see for yourself if they’ve got what it takes to tango with the 800-pound gorilla that is Ebay.

With the economy getting worse and worse as the months go by, it seems like everyone is now watching every dollar they spend and for good reason. With rent being the largest monthly cost most people incur, I thought this rent calculator site would be of particular interest to those out there that are looking to rent an apartment sometime in the near future.

Rentometer is very basic and easy to use.  First enter in whether you are a tenant or landlord, then enter in your address, followed by how much the monthly rent is currently, and lastly how many bedrooms the apartment has.  You will then be taken to the results page that displays a meter (that looks similar to a speedometer) that gives you a quick visual as to whether the rent is reasonable or overpriced.  At the top of the page it will also tell you what percentage of apartment listings are either priced higher or lower in the surrounding area.  And finally on the bottom right hand side there is a Google Maps mashup that displays other apartments in the area.

This site is a great quick reference tool that can be used by anyone out there that is in the market for an apartment and wants to know what the average rent cost in a particular area is and if they’re getting a good deal.  After all every dollar counts during these tough economic times.

For those of you out there who are obsessed with cars, as well as those who just have a healthy appreciation for them, this site will help you get your daily dose of all things car related.  Covering a wide range of topics, Jalopnik has something for everyone.  From diehard enthusiasts to casual observers, this site has something for all the car lovers of the world.  From this interesting article about deciphering your cars VIN number, to this article (with plenty of pictures included) about an American muscle car classic, the Corvette.

Updated with new information, articles, and pictures on a regular basis, Jalopnik is a great way to find out what’s going on in the world of automobiles.

Although previously unheard of, this social networking site is poised to burst onto the American social networking scene to take on two Internet behemoths.  As far as social networking sites go MySpace and Facebook are by far the biggest players, with no real competition.  That might not be the case by the end of this year. The name Hi5 is virtually unknown here in the U.S., but that isn’t the case overseas.  Hi5 is the number one social site in over 30 countries spanning the globe from Latin America, to Europe, to Asia, and Africa.

What sets this San Francisco, California based company apart from its huge competitors is its language flexibility.  Offered in over 40 languages (with more than 60 additional languages planned for the near future) they are way ahead of their competition.  Currently with over 80 million registered users in over 200 countries, Hi5 is in the perfect position to be the most popular social networking site in the world.

If you’re looking to try out a new restaurant, bar, hair salon or dentist but aren’t sure where to go or which one to choose, check out Yelp.  Soaring in popularity since Google began including reviews from Yelp on their local listings section, the concept is simple: a place to talk about what’s great and sometimes what’s not so great about the places and business you visit.  Known as Yelpers, the users that comprise Yelp make the site what it is.  The very definition of Web 2.0, Yelp is a great site for users and businesses to find each other, and learn more about what the other is all about.

Once an account is created (free of course) you too can become a Yelper and upload photos, add a bio, and most importantly begin reviewing!  And with the addition of Mobile Yelp users on the go will never again have to randomly choose a restaurant or bar without first seeing what their fellow Yelpers have to say about it!

If you’ve ever wanted to create your own cool slideshow of say vacation, birthday, or Christmas party pictures, then Animoto.com is the site for you.  In fact, it’s the site for just about everyone with a digital camera and an Internet connection.  There’s a lot of hype surrounding Animoto these days, which can be daunting for any company but especially so for a web start up.  However this site lives up to it and then some.

For absolutely free, yes that’s right free (once you try it out you’ll be as amazed as I was that it’s free) users can create their own 30-second video, complete with music and everything.  After creating an account, users can then upload pictures (approximately 12-20 for a 30-second video), and can then re-arrange them in the order that they want.  After the order is selected, music for the video can either be upload or chosen from the library of songs on the site.  Next a title and description can be written for the video, and then finally Animoto takes over and does the rest.  A 30-second video takes about 2-3 minutes to be created, and once it’s finished just sit back and enjoy.

Videos can be emailed, downloaded, embedded, or uploaded to YouTube.  Because what would be the point of creating something as cool as your own video slideshow, if you couldn’t share it/show it off to your friends and family?  Well with Animoto you won’t have to worry, because now you can share your pictures in a very cool and unique way.  Bye Bye Boring Slideshow.  Hello Animoto.

Have you ever tried mixing random liquors, only to come up with something that tastes like it came straight from the Nyquil reject batch?  Yea, yea me neither.  But seriously, this is where ExtraTasty and their recipes step in and help make that mixing/experimenting process easier.  With thousands of drink recipes to choose from, and a new drink of the day every day, this site offers liquor lovers many cool drink options.

Doing a random search on ‘tequila’, 271 results are returned, ranging from guava margarita to citrus express to death wish.  Each gives the booze, the mixer, the garnish, and the directions.  Ratings and comments are included with each recipe to give users a better idea of what the drink will be like.  So before you decide to host that next party, be sure to hit up ExtraTasty to get some unique drink ideas.

While this still remains to be seen, the founders of the enormously popularly and widely referenced Wikipedia website, have decided to give it a go.  Their search engine site Wikia Search is similar to the big three (Google, Yahoo, and MSN) in that the results are displayed in the standard fashion, with ads along the top and right hand side.

To test out the relevancy of this newest Google challenger, I did a search on ‘basketball’.  The results are displayed in a manner that is very similar to Google with a few exceptions.  The first result (as I also tested with several other searches) is always a wikipedia article relating to the search query, which makes sense I guess.  Also along the top of the results page, various topics related to the search query are given.  In the case of my ‘basketball’ search, the topics included: shoes, games, drills, court, plays, rules, etc.

Another unique feature of the site is that users never have to go page by page through the results.  As you scroll down the page new results are continually added, so you can continue to just scroll down until you find the result that best matches your search.

Cool features aside, the determining factor of whether or not this search site will be successful lies solely in the relevancy of the search results given.  So far they are doing a pretty good job.  As for being a serious competitor to Google…only time will tell!