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

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!

If you’ve ever wondered which roads and highways are the most dangerous in and around your neighborhood there is a site that can help out.  I came across SafeRoadMaps.org thanks to a recommendation by my girlfriend and was immediately impressed with not only the idea and the information given, but how it was presented.  The website is a mashup that integrates data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System and uses Google Maps to present the information visually.  Some people might think this site is a bit morbid, however I think it can be very useful in helping to save lives.

According to SafeRoadMaps there are over 42,000 crash related fatalities each year in the U.S., which is why this site (a joint effort between the University of Minnesota and the Center for Transportation Studies) was created.  After selecting the Maps tab, and then Safe Street Maps, users can do a simple address search to see how many fatalities have occurred in their neighborhood.  After entering in an address, results can be filtered further by selecting a distance, anywhere from half a mile to ten miles away.  A Google Maps satellite view is then displayed, showing an icon where each fatality has occurred.  For further information, users can click on the icon and can find out the date, time of day, age, and sex of the driver and passengers, as well as if speeding or alcohol was involved, or if seatbelts were worn at the time of the accident.

Websites like SafeRoadMaps.org offer valuable information to help keep yourself and your loved ones safe.  With the holiday travel season coming up, hopefully the information given can help make it a safe trip for everyone.

The holiday season is quickly approaching, and that usually means two things: shopping and traveling. With shopping covered in the last post (Looking for a Good Deal…) that just leaves traveling. And that’s where Kayak.com steps in. Pulling from over 140 travel websites, and covering flights, hotels, cruises, car rentals, and more, Kayak is the place to start if you’re planning on traveling and are searching for cheap travel deals.

There are quite a few features that make this site stand out from the crowd. The first is the ability to filter the results of your initial search. Users can filter by price, star rating, hotel brand (i.e. Hilton, Marriott), amenities, or by miles away from certain landmarks or neighborhoods. The second is the different views in which the results can be displayed. There are three options, List View, Map View, and Photo View. The Map View can be particularly useful if you used the landmarks or neighborhoods filter, and are looking to stay in a very specific region of a city; and the Photo View helps to give you an idea of what the hotel and the rooms look like.

With so many websites out there selling or offering the same or similar services, it can be difficult to cut through the clutter to find a good deal. Traveling is no exception, but Kayak.com helps users to navigate through all the clutter to find the best deals.