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

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!

Do you enjoy waking up early on a Saturday or Sunday and driving around your neighborhood looking for yard sales?  I would totally be one of these people if it wasn’t for the waking up early part.  Me and mornings don’t get along.  For those of you who are like me, there’s a website that can help take care of this aversion to the AM.  The site is called Yardsellr.  The genius of this site is the social aspect and the deep integration with Facebook (and Twitter, but the focus is more on FB).  Once logged in (through Facebook Connect) you can begin buying and selling things online in a little as 60 seconds.  It’s that easy.  No more getting out of bed, brushing your teeth, or showering…at least before 9am on a weekend.

One of the other things I like about this site is what they call “blocks”.  They have over 4,000+ blocks that range from Jewelry, to Star Wars, to Baseball Cards and everything in between.  Also when you put something up for sale they will not only spread the word on your block, but also in the news feeds of millions of Yardsellr fans on Facebook.

There are tons of items just waiting to be bought (and if your closet, garage, storage room, etc. is like most there’s probably tons to sell too!).  So what are you waiting for?

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?).

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?

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!

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.

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.