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

If you’re like most people then I’m sure you’ve browsed through online classified sites, such as Craigslist or Backpage, looking for a good deal on one thing or another.  But I’m sure a lot of people out there have the same worry I do.  Can I trust the people selling this stuff?  Are they being honest when they say it’s only been “slight used” (I know they’re probably not but still…).  And on the flip side, I’m sure sellers are thinking, can I trust these people who want to come look at whatever it is I’m selling?  Unlike Ebay where there usually isn’t a physical exchange of the product, with Craigslist there usually is.  This can be a scary and sometimes dangerous thing.  So what can be done to help make these types of online classified sites safer?

Enter ListSafer.com.  Seeking to make these marketplaces safer, ListSafer has created a platform where both buyers and sellers can create profiles where they can upload photos, as well as post ratings and reviews on the other users that they buy from as well as sell to.  I think this is an interesting concept that could start to catch on pretty quickly, especially for those people who use Craigslist or Backpage frequently.  I wouldn’t be surprised at all if ListSafer badges started popping up on these and other online classified sites in the near future.

Just wanted to write a quick post to let everyone know that you can follow me on both Twitter and Facebook to receive updates of all my latest posts.  If you follow or friend me you will also get tweets and updates with links to cool websites I come across that don’t make it onto the blog, but are still cool or interesting and that I think are worth passing along!

If you would like to suggest a site that you have come across or that you started and run yourself, feel free to email me at admin@zeusofthenet.com or send me a tweet @ZeusoftheNet.  Look forward to the suggestions!

With the proliferation of social networking sites on the Internet these days, I figured why not blog about a site that’s helping to add to that proliferation.  I actually heard about Ning.com a while ago, but was just recently reminded about them again so I decided I would go ahead and share the site with you.  Basically Ning is a cool site let’s you create as well as join new social networks.  You can join any social network that either your friends or fellow Ningers have created, and they work in a very similar manner to Facebook or MySpace.  The main difference is that you only have to create one profile and you can either join other social networks or can start your own with the profile you created.  It’s pretty simple to join, you just have to give your name and email, then a password for your login and that’s it.

There are many ways this site could be used, from personal to professional, for businesses, and pretty much everything in between.  Currently there are social networks for Rottweiler lovers, Shakira fans, and of course Women’s Tackle Football.  So check out Ning and yours could be next!

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!

With so many websites out there on the ‘net today sometimes it’s difficult to find cool websites that cover topics and fall into categories that you’re interested in (which is probably why your reading this blog!).  That’s where StumbleUpon can help out.  Users fill out a quick info page, selecting which categories they are interested in, i.e. music and movies, art and history, sports, etc., and then download a toolbar where they can then ‘Stumble’ through the internet.

Using the toolbar, users can randomly surf the internet by clicking on the Stumble icon.  Websites are chosen at random using the categories previously selected, (filled out in the initial info page) which are then pulled from the pool of sites given a thumbs up by fellow Stumble users (a thumbs up is given to websites that users think are interesting, and that other Stumblers would like).

From the toolbar users also have the ability to share a website with friends, read reviews of the website that were left by fellow Stumblers, along with other advanced options, including the ability to Stumble only certain categories like music or sports for example.  With so many cool features, StumbleUpon’s toolbar is one of the few that’s definitely worth downloading!

Imagine combining all of your photo albums, scrapbooks, home videos, and correspondence all in one easy to access spot.  Well imagine no longer.  Lifesnapz.com is a free to use site that lets its users chronicle the events of their lives, and share those events with the people closest to them.  Users of the site fall into one of three categories: Group Founder, Full Member, or Read-Only Member.  The difference between them being Group Founder’s and Full Member’s have full editing and invitation privileges, while Read-Only Members can only view events and add comments.

Members, who have the privileges to, can add photos which can be uploaded from photo sharing websites flickr.com or picasa.com, and videos which can be uploaded either from youtube.com or vimeo.com.  This site has many cool features, but the coolest is probably the timeline (see example below).  This feature is an excellent way of visually looking at events in chronological order, which makes finding specific events much easier.  There is also a zoom filter option which let’s group members search for events by a certain increment of time (i.e. 1 month, 6 months, 10 years, etc.), to be able to narrow down their searches even further.

With the ability to have a virtual history of your life’s events available to view and share with family, and friends, LifeSnapz.com has hit upon something unique that could someday propel them to become a very popular social website.