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

You might have already heard about this site but I thought I’d share it with those who might not have (or for those who have and weren’t sure what it was all about).  Foursquare is for use on mobile devices (specifically smart phones like the iPhone, BlackBerry, Android, Palm, etc.) but can also be used via text message for those users on non-smart phones within the U.S.  After downloading the Foursquare app onto your phone (completely free) you can begin to ‘check-in’ at different locations.  The check-in process is based on your location (using GPS) and is pretty simple; all you need to do is select your correct location from the list.  If for some reason the business/location is not listed you can add it and then check-in.  You can also leave a short message, 140 characters or less, describing your experience.  Sounds interesting.

The question is why would anyone use this?  To address this issue, Foursquare has created a game style format with points and badges where you can login in at the end of each month and see your stats.  The ultimate goal behind this is to become “mayor” of a certain business location (your local Starbucks for example) which is achieved by checking in at a particular location more times than any other fellow Foursquarer.  Once you are mayor of that location you unlock the mayor’s badge and in some instances can receive a discount off of purchases ($1 off purchases at Starbucks) simply for being mayor of that location.

I think there’s a lot of potential in this new geo check-in arena but Foursquare is dealing with quite a few competitors at the moment and some pretty formidable ones at that (Yelp).  It will be interesting to see how it all unfolds over the next 6-12 months.  What do you think, would you use a service like this?

Me too!  But since we all know that’s not possible (at least not without a flux capacitor) let’s talk about a site that will get you as close as possible to time travel.  In existence since the very early days of the internet (1995) Archive.org has archived nearly every website, audio, live music, text, and moving image that has been posted online in the last fifteen years.  Most users of this site however take advantage of the coolest feature called the “Wayback Machine” (with a top speed of 88 mph… OK I’ll stop).  With over 150 billion pages currently in its archive the Wayback Machine has the most extensive collection of webpages on the internet today.

It works like this: users go to the site and type in the URL of a website (let’s use Yahoo as our example) and then click ‘Take Me Back’.  It then takes you to a search results page that has the years, number of pages, as well as links with exact dates of went a snapshot was taken.  For example the earliest snapshot of Yahoo.com was on October 17, 1996 and links to this snapshot. This can be done for most websites in existence (with a few exceptions).

So just thought I’d share this neat tool that can be used for research or for those of us with a curious streak.  Whichever reason you decide to use it, I’m sure you’ll find it to be a valuable resource! (I’m sure Doc Brown would have agreed…alright I lied!).

Have you ever wanted to show someone a funny or cool scene from a movie but couldn’t find it on YouTube?  Or Google?  Well this site’s got you covered.  Currently still in beta, Movieclips.com has over 12,000 clips (from 6 major Hollywood studios) that range from “Dirty Harry” to “When Harry Met Sally” and everything in between.  With HD quality videos and a similar layout to both Hulu and Vevo, this site has got what it takes.

With the standard social media elements integrated into the site (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) this site has got all of the bases covered there too.  So after you find that scene you’ve been looking for you can share it with all of your friends.

I’ve used this site several times myself and it’s been a nice little money saver.  Now to some RetailMeNot.com may seem slightly on the unethical side, but hey you have to figure that the big online retail stores take websites like this into account.  At least that’s how I rationalize it.  (Actually for those who need a clear conscience, it appears that they will remove the coupon and discount codes if the retailer requests it.)  However judging from the sites popularity, I’m guessing the people who have been using it so far shared my sentiments.

The site is very easy to use and navigate.  Just type in the URL of the site you are looking to make a purchase on and it will take you to that page with the list of all the coupon codes.  It’s that simple.  So next time you want to save some money pay a visit to RetailMeNot.

This site definitely fits the category of a cool website. Now it doesn’t hurt either that I’m a big trance/house/dance fan (which is what the two default videos and playlists are set to). However this site, called Ibizaah! (a fitting name) would still be cool even without those default settings just because of its simplicity. The sites creator Miguel Hernandez said he created the site because he “was annoyed at having to switch between windows when trying to keep the music going at a party.” Problem solved.

Ibizaah not only plays trance and house music but using the ‘Search Videos…’ will play any music video on YouTube. So say you wanted a Pop music mix you could have Beyonce and Shakira’s ‘Beautiful Liar’ on the left and Britney Spears ‘Toxic’ on the right playing simultaneously. How cool is that.

Did I forget to mention this site is free? Yeah it’s completely free to use. So next time you’re throwing a party at your pad, impress your friends and be your own deejay!

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!

Full length documentary films have been around just as long as movies themselves have, but it wasn’t until more recently that they started to enjoy some of the same attention that mainstreams movies have enjoyed all along.  This of course changed with several documentaries such as Super Size Me, Bowling for Columbine, and An Inconvenient Truth.  For people out there who enjoy watching documentaries, Topdocumentaryfilms.com is a really cool site that lets you search for and watch over 695 documentaries.  The full length documentaries are embedded from various video sites (such as Google Video, YouTube, etc) and can be viewed on the site itself, or for better viewing, videos can be viewed on full screen mode as well.

If you know the name of the documentary you want to watch you can easily find it by typing it into the search bar in the upper right hand side.  You will then be taken to a results page where the first result will take you to the page where you can then view the full length video.  If you don’t have a particular documentary in mind you also have the option of choosing from any one of the over 20 different categories listed along the right hand side.  If you would like a more narrowed down list, just to the left of ‘Documentary Categories’ is ‘Most Commented Docs’.  This lists the documentaries on the site that have received the most comments from other users.

I really enjoy watching documentaries, so if you enjoy documentaries films as much as I do then you should definitely pay a visit to Topdocumentaryfilms.com.

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.