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

Similar to Flipboard in terms of aesthetics, Zite is different in that content is compiled using automated algorithms that find & deliver articles that have “buzz” (i.e. pieces of content that are being discussed on websites, blogs, and social media).  According to their website Zite “is a free, personalized iPad magazine that understands what you like and gets smarter every time you use it.”

Since content isn’t chosen by a person on Zite, personalization plays an important role.  This means that when a user engages with a piece of content, shares it on Twitter, and/or (most importantly) when they give it a “thumbs up”, that user will be more likely to see similar content in the future.  On the flip side, when they don’t engage with certain pieces of content or when they give content a “thumbs down” they will begin to see less and less of that type of content in the future.  This personalization based on user interaction is what differentiates Zite from all of the other news reader apps (very similar to what Pandora does in the music space).

So if you’ve got an iPad, I’d recommend downloading Zite to test out for yourself.  And as always, I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments!

*Update* Yesterday (12/9) Zite released their new app for the iPhone. After downloading it I definitely recommend checking it out if you’re an iPhone owner!

For those who’ve already selected the destination(s) for their big trip, the next step is deciding what to see & do once you get there.  A new site called Tripomatic makes planning your trips a whole lot easier by allowing you to create a personal itinerary.  With deep Google Maps integration this site allows its users to create a day by day sight-seeing schedule with directions from one location to the next location on their itinerary.  As a quick side note, the Google Maps integration is quite impressive and probably one of the best I’ve come across.

In addition to showing all of the more popular things to see/do in a particular city, Tripomatic also has a “must see” filter (pretty self explanatory).  They also have a “Hotels” filter which shows all of the hotels in the area in which you are currently looking at on the map.  The only downside I saw as of right now is that there are only European destinations available.  However I’ve been told that destinations in the U.S., Canada, and the Caribbean will become available by the end of this year, with countries on other continents coming sometime early next year.

I have to say this site does a really good job of balancing features and functions with a clean looking design that’s intuitive and easy to use.  So next time you’re planning a trip, go prepared and plan it all out ahead of time using Tripomatic!

If you are then this site is definitely for you!  Listverse presents a new and unique list every day that covers topics from Crime & Mystery, History, and Bizarre.  With a total of 15 different categories, there’s bound to be lots of interesting things to read!  For example this article, “Top Ten Shocking Historical Firsts” is a fascinating look at some lesser-known ‘firsts’ that have taken place in history.

So if you’ve got some extra time on your hands check out Listverse and let me know what you think in the comments!

Going back to the early days of the web, and even still today, a popular place to ask questions and get answers were and still are forums.  Simple, straightforward, and usually niche specific, forums allow users to post questions and get answers.  But that’s pretty much it.  Not to mention the issue of SPAM.  Luckily there are a couple of sites out there that are trying to revitalize the world of Q&A  (see my previous post on Quora).  Recently I came across a new site in this niche called Namesake that looks very promising.  Namesake initially caught my attention because, number one I think they selected a great name and number two the design, usability, look and feel, and colors used on their site look very professional and work really well.

This site is still in its early stages so there’s not a ton of questions and answers or conversations yet, but I’m sure that will change as it begins to catch on with more and more people.  I think this site has a ton of potential and I’m excited to see what the future holds in store for them.  I recommend joining and checking the site out for yourself…and then come back and leave a comment and let us know what you think!

With the economy slowly chugging along it may not seem like the best time to buy a house, but it actually is (at least for those who are in the financial position to do so).  However because of the large number of houses on the market, many potential buyers are quickly realizing that finding the right house is a very time consuming process.  That’s where Redfin.com can help out.  This site helps to make gathering important information about a particular house easier.  Redfin also offers brokerage services, which is something that none of their competitors can say.

Launched in February 2006, Redfin provides quite a bit of data as well as maps, of houses located within the geographic areas they currently serve (which includes most major metropolitan areas in the U.S.).  This data includes basic information like square footage, number of bedrooms, bathrooms, etc., but also things like how much you can expect to pay in property taxes.

If you’re looking to do some research for that next (or first) house you might want to pay a visit to Redfin.  They just might have the information you’re looking for!

I know that may sound like a weird question but if you think about it, your brain is a muscle like any other (bicep, deltoid, pectorals, etc.) and needs to get a good workout to stay in tiptop shape!  So in addition to working on those “guns” (or for some “water pistols”… but hey who’s judging?) you should also be working out your brain!  Who knew?  Apparently a guy by the name of Lindsay Gaskins, who started a company called Marbles: The Brain Store.  They have a website as well, where all of the products they sell in their Chicago area stores can be purchased.

I think this is a great concept for a business.  There are lots of people of all ages, not just aging baby boomers, who could benefit from regular brain stimulation.  I really like their website too, it’s clean, easy to navigate, and has a lot of brain fitness related information.

So what do you think?  Would you buy something from Marbles: The Brain Store?  Looking forward to your comments!

If you’re like most people, you sometimes have questions that the search engines are, at least at this point in time, unable to answer.  That’s where a new site called Quora comes in.  Quora is a Q&A site that has been able to attract participation from a lot of well-known and highly respected individuals across many disciplines.  They’ve joined the site to contribute to the community; to help answer questions that many people have been asking, and of course last but not least, to boost their personal or company’s brand awareness.  This is of course impossible to avoid, but I don’t think it’s a bad thing.  Having that accountability looks to be helping to reduce spam, which is always an issue on these types of sites.  However I’m sure to Quora and its members (btw it’s free to join) as long as the answers are open, honest, and genuine, the self-interestedness and spam that has plagued other sites will be able to be avoided here.

So give it a shot, if you’ve tried other Q&A site like Yahoo Answers, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the types of questions and answers that are being exchanged on Quora.  And who knows, maybe the answer to that question you’ve had has already been answered.  If not, Quora is a great place to start.

I’ve blogged about many websites since I started this blog back in August of 2008 but I have to say, this site is the only one that’s ever given me goosebumps.  I don’t know what it is about the site, maybe it’s the fact that the seemingly far-fetched futuristic sci-fi movies from the not too distant past seemed to be coming true before my eyes.  I know that probably seems overly dramatic, but after you check out the site I think you’ll understand my initial reaction.

The site is called Qwiki (pronounced quick-ee) which I think is catchy, memorable, and very apropos.  Essentially the site is a Wiki (similar to Wikipedia) but instead of having to read a lengthy scholarly article, Qwiki provides an experience that is similar to watching a video, but better.  Qwiki provides an engaging experience, that I think will revolutionize the way we consume information.

To begin using Qwiki simply type in a query that you wish to learn more about, and hit enter.  A female sounding computer generated voice will quickly begin speaking, and describing in detail whatever it is that you queried.  So for example if you type in “Apple Inc” Qwiki will quickly load the information and begin showing you a montage of relevant pictures, accompanied by the female voice, and the text of what is being spoken so you can following along if you’d like (I’m guessing this was also done for the hearing impaired).

I’ll tell you what; words don’t do the Qwiki experience justice.  You’ve got to see and experience it for yourself.  It’s such a great site that I was waiting for them to enter into their Beta but couldn’t wait any longer to share with you guys.  So even though the site is currently still in Alpha, you should submit your email address to join because trust me, it’s totally worth it.

In an industry dominated so completely by one company (Google) it would seem to be very unlikely that any company, especially a start up, would be able to compete.  I mean even though Bing has dropped $100 million in advertising alone, they still haven’t been able to take away any market share from Google.  Nonetheless Blekko.com (still in beta) has decided to challenge the Mountain View behemoth that is Google.

There are several features that set Blekko apart from other search engines, the biggest being what they call “slashtags”.  This is basically a new way of searching that allows users to filter their results right there in the search query box.  For example let’s say I want to do a search on “Facebook” but I’m research online marketing strategies and would like to read some tech blogs that talk about marketing on Facebook.  I would simply type “Facebook /techblogs” and hit search.  Doing this search will return very relevant results such as Mashable, TechCrunch, and Wired.  And if users want to they can further filter by date, by simply clicking on or entering into the search box “/date”.  The other cool feature to note is a link under each result labeled “seo”.  Clicking on this will reveal lots of interesting/helpful information.

Only time will tell if Blekko will be able to compete with the big boys, but they do offer some very cool features which I think many users would find helpful.  What do you think; would you switch from your search engine of choice to give Blekko a shot?

This is actually the first time I’ve done a post on an app (although it can also be played on Facebook) and not a website.  With the explosion of smart phones and Internet capable mobile devices, I thought it was time that I started sharing cool, interesting, and/or fun apps that I come across as well.  I’ve always been a big trivia buff myself (Trivial Pursuit is hands down one of my favorite games) and so one day I decided to see if there were any good, and free, trivia apps out there (for the iPhone).  Out of the dozens and dozens, one in particular called QRANK stood out.

The graphics and interface are easily the best I’ve seen from a free app but what put it over the top was the original idea of the game itself (format, etc.) and then of course the questions too.  Now let me talk about the questions for a minute.  I would say this app is geared towards someone who is into trivia games and considers themselve a trivia buff.  I say that because most of the questions are on the medium to difficult side.  That being said though, I think the ‘Play Live’ feature makes it enjoyable for all audiences.

All around this has been the best (graphics, content, interface, & ease of use) free app I’ve come across.  If you have an iPhone and like trivia, I highly recommend downloading this app!