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!

Have you ever dreamed of being a well-renowned writer known all over the world for your excellent insight and vivid descriptions?  Maybe long desired to be an editor-in-chief of a prestigious newspaper?  Or fantasized about owning your own newspaper?   Now you can do all three!  Well, kind of.  A new website called Paper.li (still in alpha) organizes links you share on Twitter and/or Facebook into an easy to read newspaper style format.

Personal newspapers like this one from Brian Solis can include pictures, videos, as well as your own twitter feed.  Paper.li segments the links you’ve shared into different categories such as:  business, art & entertainment, politics, technology, etc, and then through proprietary means, surfaces the day’s most relevant articles and constructs your personal newspapers front page.  Another cool feature is that you can login and edit the titles of any article you want (that editor-in-chief dream just became reality!).  Also all of your previous “editions” are archived for you and can be accessed from your front page.

So what are you waiting for?  Get started and who knows maybe someday you can give William Randolph Hearst a run for his money (hey you gotta dream big right?).

After creating a free account with Mygazines.com, users are allowed to view all of the thousands of magazines that have been uploaded by other users.  It works like this: a user who has an account with Mygazines uploads a PDF scanned version of a particular magazine, let’s say Entrepreneur magazine.  Once it is uploaded, other users can then view that issue of Entrepreneur.  Very basic concept, similar to many music or file sharing sites.

One of the really cool features of this site is the ability to ‘flip through’ a magazine almost as if you were holding a real copy of it.  Once a user selects a magazines and issue they want to look at, a new window will open up displaying the cover of the scanned magazine.  In that new window the user has the ability to flip through the pages by either using the mouse or the arrow keys as well as zoom in and out on a particular page.

While still in the beta phase, Mygazines.com definitely has room to grow and expand.  There are a limited number of magazines on the site right now, but once this site catches on, most likely many more will be uploaded and available to view.  The major road block to success will be the issue of displaying copyrighted materials.  Hopefully Mygazines.com can get together with the various publishers and make it work.