I know crazy right? Real physical hands on work! Well in my quest for knowledge I found a awesome technical information website called ThomasNet.  I found the website by a little Google-Fu and came upon their About Us statement. Here is a snippet of it:

Maybe you’re just looking for some ground-level information. Maybe you need to make an informed sourcing decision. Whatever the reason, whatever you’re looking for, these primers, briefs, articles and guides serve as your gateway to learning more. Each resource category offers a wealth of information aimed at providing you with the background and facts you need.

After reading that, I thought they sound right up my alley! I grabbed my to-do list and saw that my first task, as I said, was how to polish a floor on the cheap. I browsed on over to their site:

The search bar across the top does not search the articles. You can use the links on the right hand side, as you can see here, to navigate the articles:

Polishing a floor would fall under Chemicals? I clicked on through and saw this:

The second article was exactly what I needed. I clicked on through and read through the technical information:

Every term that is important and might cause you to shrug your shoulders are underlined and hyperlinked so you can click on through to those topics. I printed this article out and moved on to the first link for epoxy floor coating. That link took me off-site to a clear definition of what epoxy floor coating is (I already knew but I am trying to show you this site!).

I now knew what I needed to buy and how I had to apply it and what other tools I needed. I was able to do a whole large garage in less than 3 hours and for a hellava lot less than it would have cost to hire someone to do it. Times are tough and every penny saved is hugely helpful.

After I was done with my project I found myself back at ThomasNet for more technical information. I was looking for something that caught my eye and would be a good project for my workshop. I decided to read up on laser cutting:

I quickly found an article under the Custom Manufacturing section and learned what I needed to buy as well as how to be safe while using it. I also learned about an alternative technique called WaterJet cutting. There helpful hints on proper ventilation and how most products emit toxic chemicals – so open that garage door or work outside!

I have my periods of time where I break out the tools and now I have a nifty site to add to my talents. Do you have a site that has a lot of good hands-on information? Where do you turn when you need information on something like this? We would love to hear about it in the comments!

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

• Top 10: Free and Highly Trafficked Q&A Communities (8)
• The Best Websites for Gadget Freaks (12)
• Swapaskill – Swap Skills & Trade Favours With Others (6)
• Massive List of ‘HowTo’ Sites + ‘HowTo’ Search Engine (42)
• Ask & Answer the Web’s Questions with Aardvark [Free Invites!] (8)

Unfortunately, the web is occupied by a lot of spiders that will give you poor advice for a high price or just ridicule you outright. But there are those out there that want to help others, often just for the altruism of it. Let me share with you some sites I’ve used.

Elder Wisdom Circle

This is a great resource that helps fill the void left by moving away from our hometowns and having older relatives close by.

What Elder Wisdom Circle does is connect you with cyber-grandparents. These are people who are a little older, often a lot wiser and willing to lend an ear. You submit your question and concerns to the site and one or two Cyber-grandparents will offer you advice based on their experience and wisdom, over e-mail.

For legal reasons, they can’t advise you on legal, medical, tax or investment issues. Mostly it’s to give you free relationship advice – like how you can relate better to your teens, or free love advice – what you can do to show your wife just how much you love her. These are the really important issues of life. Anything else is just gravy.

I have written to them before, and I have to say the free advice I received back was very well thought out and presented clearly with genuine concern. I hope you find the same to be true.

Life Advice from Old People

Seth Menachem’s blog takes him out into the world to ask older people for advice on having a good life. The insights aren’t necessarily directed at anyone’s personal issues, but it does help us tap into the rich resource of experience our senior citizens have. I like to think they are senior in the way a General is senior to a Colonel. Not senior just because they’ve survived, but because they have overcome.

Especially interesting is that the interviews are in video format. It lends a certain credibility to the advice and allows us to get the whole impact of the message. Often, the printed word fails in conveying how hard earned a lesson might have been or how enthusiastic a word of encouragement could be.

Seth also takes some time out to get advice from our future seniors as well. Definitely worth watching!

Teen Advice on About.com

About.com has some guides that are, well, lacking. Teen Advice is not one of them. Now, yes, I’m almost twice the age of any teen, however it helps me to better understand the advice today’s teen is looking for. It is a different world, and some principles are eternal, however, I have no idea how to deal with things like cyberbullying or single-parent homes. That didn’t seem to be the norm when I was growing up. So this advice helps me to help my teen as well.

It’s also a fun site for teens as it isn’t all about being talked to. It’s about being heard and being able to put fun into different areas of your life that might be very stressful. The Friday Mixtape idea is pretty cool.

FreeAdvice

Life has been fairly free of litigation for me, but it seems everyone will be involved with the law sooner or later. That’s where a site like FreeAdvice wants to be of help. FreeAdvice seems to cater mostly to the American legal system and its laws, but since a lot of the laws in the world are based on the Common Law system, like the U.S., you may find something that prompts you to dig further in your own local laws.

Although FreeAdvice says it offers free legal advice, well, it isn’t completely free. It is intended to act as a gateway to find you a lawyer to help you and those lawyers pay to be featured. However, that isn’t something that should deter you from this site.

FreeAdvice also has a free consultation feature that is interesting. You can submit your case for review to up to 5 lawyers. No cost – no obligation. Of course, there is also the forum where you can ask questions as well. Over all a very good site to help you understand the law as it applies to you.

Where do you turn to for advice on the web? Got any good sites to share? Where do you turn for free online vet advice, free automotive advice or free doctor advice?   Tell us about it in the comments. It’s like I often say, “The reason there are 6 billion of us, is because we can’t all do it alone.”

Image Credit : Frippy

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

• Yahoo Answers – Get Fast Answers (4)
• Top 10: Free and Highly Trafficked Q&A Communities (8)
• ThomasNet – An Awesome Repository Of Technical Information for DIY Men (5)
• The Best Websites for Gadget Freaks (12)
• Swapaskill – Swap Skills & Trade Favours With Others (6)

Decision-making is part of our daily lives, and with our increasingly faster lifestyles, there’s not enough time to carefully take into consideration every aspect of the problem.

You ask how can a website help you with making decisions? At first, I wasn’t at all convinced that it would manage to provide any sort of meaningful advice, but after reading up on the technology behind, I was impressed.

Created by very smart geeks from MIT, namely Matt Gattis, Weiyu Zhou, Peter Coles, Will Gaybrick and Tom Pinckney, Hunch uses the concept of ‘machine learning’, a process that analyses patterns in order to predict – in our case, decisions. The service leverages the so-called ‘wisdom of the crowds’ by aggregating answers and information from all the users that complete the various questionnaires available.

Based on the answers you provide, which can range from your computer type to your vacation destination, it matches your profile with other people that gave similar answers. What did these people that took similar decisions to you decide this time? Hunch provides that answer, in 10 questions or less.

Like any computer algorithm, Hunch’s artificial intelligence gets better by time.  Each day, as more and more people answer existing questions and add new topics, the A.I. has more information to relate to your profile. The same goes for your own ‘decision profile’; the more questions you answer, the better Hunch will be at offering advice. Like any A.I. though, Hunch might make some people uneasy.

While the service is based on human input, should you ultimately trust a machine with your next travel destination or camera? The Hunch team have made it clear where the revenue comes from, which represents a plus for credibility, but you can never know for sure without seeing the backend code. Are the affiliate links to stores like Amazon enough to keep a company afloat, especially in this down market?

Hunch is very community oriented – providing users with the ability to comment on questions and advice, adding pros, cons and of course, your own questions on which the community can share its ‘wisdom’. You’re also able to follow questions and other users, in a similar fashion to Twitter or the Facebook newsfeed, directly from your profile page. Hunch also scores high points for the Settings panel which lets you easily delete your account, saved answers and profile privacy.

In tone with the summer beat (and heat for us poor guys in the northern hemisphere), you should definitely check out some of the summer related questions and answers as well as some of the great tech related topics.

Personally, I’ve found that the topics I went through all had relevant questions and perfectly reasonable suggestions. I especially enjoyed the ‘Should I buy a Mac?’ one, which takes you through all the important aspects of making the decision. Even by asking yourself the questions presented, you are able to make a more informed decision.

A site similar to Hunch is Aardvark which also leverages the power of user opinion to help you answer your questions.  David wrote about it here.

Overall, Hunch gets my strong recommendation and a spot in my bookmarks bar. Visit Hunch and don’t forget to share your impressions and favorite topics in the comments.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

• 6 Unique Web Communities That You Won’t Forget (54)
• Yahoo Answers – Get Fast Answers (4)
• Wakoopa – Find Out What Software You (And Others) Use Most (10)
• Top 10: Free and Highly Trafficked Q&A Communities (8)
• Massive List of ‘HowTo’ Sites + ‘HowTo’ Search Engine (42)

It’s called Aardvark, and is a brand-new application that just came out of the SXSW conference this year.

The site was in private beta for a while, then was invite-only. Recently, it’s become publicly available and is now open for questions. It’s available to anyone who logs in through Facebook Connect (If you have a Facebook account already, you’re all set. If not, Facebook accounts are free to everyone!). The Facebook implications of Aardvark are pretty impressive, but even logging in with Facebook is a great tool. If you haven’t had the privilege of owning a Facebook account, read on — we have exclusive invites and we’re giving them out to MakeUseOf readers!

Signing up for Aardvark is simple, as is getting it running – just add some information about where you are, the IM client and username of your choice (as long as it’s Google Talk, AIM, or Live Messenger – for now), and the types of questions you’d like to answer for other people. You can also use the service by email, but I’m going to focus on IM because it’s so much cooler.

Once you’re set up, Aardvark lives in your IM window, and anytime you want to ask a question, just IM Aardvark with your question. Aardvark parses the question to figure out what it’s about – which it does a remarkably good job with – and then sends it to someone who it thinks is able to answer your question. You’ll get an answer back quickly, and be able to have a brief chat with the person who answered your question.

From the other side (the answerer), Aardvark is even more ingenious. When you sign up, you choose how often you want Aardvark to ask you questions; I chose “a couple of times a day.” When that time comes up, Aardvark sends you an IM saying “So-and-so has a question about ‘Some Topic You Can Answer.’”

You can respond one of a few ways – “Sure” to see and answer the question, “face” to pass it on to a Facebook friend who might be able to answer, or “pass” to just make the question go away. If you pass, you can then mute a given topic to not get any more questions based on that topic.

The cool thing about Aardvark is that the questions are limitless. For instance, I’m listed as able to answer questions about New York City, where I live. I periodically get a question like, “Where should I go for dinner near Union Square?”, and I’m able to offer a recommendation. The questions I get rarely require factual answers, and that’s one of the fun things about Aardvark – it’s a great way to find out what other people are into that I might like as well.

One of Aardvark’s sample questions is, “Where’s the best place to buy running shoes in San Francisco?” It’s this kind of question, one that Google wouldn’t know but an actual local person might, that gives Aardvark awesome potential. Instead of services like ChaCha, which essentially just replaces a Google search when you can’t do one yourself, Aardvark goes beyond the capabilities, and sets you up with an expert in their field – even if that field is running shoes in San Francisco.

As you use Aardvark more, you get a sense of people who are able to answer certain questions for you – maybe you have a friend in Utah who you trust to answer such questions. You create these connections, and Aardvark uses them to narrow down your respondents even more, to try and get you the best possible answer. From the get-go though, Aardvark’s always done a good job of finding me the right person to answer my question.

Once you set it up, it’s incredibly simple to use. It’s unobtrusive, and lives right in your IM window; nothing to install or download, or remember to run. There was a lot of buzz around Aardvark as SXSW got underway, and a few minutes using the app makes it easy to see why.

As a MakeUseOf reader, you can now sign up to Aardark without using your Facebook account. Just hit this link and sign up! It’s now open for questions, but there are only 300 invites so grab one quickly!

Is there anything else like this out there? Can Twitter do this better? What do you think?

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

• Top 10: Free and Highly Trafficked Q&A Communities (8)
• Massive List of ‘HowTo’ Sites + ‘HowTo’ Search Engine (42)
• Yahoo Answers – Get Fast Answers (4)
• Use Hunch to Answer Your Questions & Make Decisions (4)
• Swapaskill – Swap Skills & Trade Favours With Others (6)

So when I get down to planning to not make stuff, I look to my old friend the World Wide Web for ideas and inspiration. Let me share with you a few of my favourites sites. Once you have a look through these sites, you’ll never see a broken vacuum cleaner or left-over rebar the same way again!

Make:

This site is responsible for many a sleepless night as it sparked an idea for my next million-dollar invention. I use the word ‘next’ loosely as I never got around to the first one. Make: has a great layout, good organization and projects ranging from simple “science-fair” to “you-need-an-engineering-degree-and-a-good-burn-kit” complexity. At the time of writing, the front page of Make: is featuring a video for making slippers from duct tape and an article on using an Arduino microcontroller on a robot. I’m guessing the latter is for the engineering types.

Instructables

If you can’t find a project at Make: then Instructables is the place to go. Again, the projects run the gamut from something you can do with the kids like, How To Sew A Bag For Mothers’ Day, to things you really shouldn’t do with the kids like how to make a Coilgun Handgun. I suppose you could do that with the kids, if they’re Klingons!

One of the differentiating details between Instructables and Make: is that Instuctables has more craft-like how-to’s as well as recipes. Both are great though.

Instructables is also home to the guru known as Kipkay, whose awesome tutorials are found all over the web and have landed him a show on Science Channel TV.

It should be noted that a registering for a free account is necessary to make full use of the site i.e download the Instructables PDF file and to view the images at a larger size.

Bizarre Stuff You Can Make In Your Kitchen

Really, with a name like that you just HAVE to go to the site. This is a must when science fair season rolls around. Let’s face it, not all kids make the honour roll or have access to oscilloscopes and soldering iron, so if they need a kick – this is the place.

Each activity really does have a lesson to teach about science and they are all fun! I know it’s really simple but I like the Dancing Raisins or Mothballs one. Some stuff are just cool. The option to go a little high-tech is here too, but I don’t recommend making a Tesla Coil, or as Nikolai Tesla himself called it, ‘My Coil’, without the aid of an electrical engineer and the fire department standing by.

eHow

There is a tremendous amount of content at eHow, however not all of it is about making stuff. You need to sift through the mass of pop-psychology articles or Cosmo-like cliched articles. I particularly liked the article on How To Make a Haunted House, but don’t worry, it doesn’t feature a murder-suicide as one of the steps. That would make it haunted for certain! Where are the Winchesters when you need them?

Do keep in mind that a lot of the technical advice a little dated. There are articles on how to select camera film, or change the stylus on a record player.

Hackaday

An old-time favourite of mine and many other hackers. Now, when I use hackers in this sense, I’m talking about guys who do stuff with things for which they may not have been originally intended. Not in an evil or malicious way, but just because they can. Take for example, making a large-screen TV into a huge Etch-a-Sketch. Now you can make stairs and Aztec pyramids all day long! I’m not very artistic, though.

Have you built something cool and documented it to share? Why not share it here? Got an idea for making something neat? Where would you normally post it? Let’s talk about it in the comments.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

• Top 10: Free and Highly Trafficked Q&A Communities (8)
• ThomasNet – An Awesome Repository Of Technical Information for DIY Men (5)
• Massive List of ‘HowTo’ Sites + ‘HowTo’ Search Engine (42)
• How To Make Your Own Ethernet Cables (20)
• How To And Where To Find Answers Online (5)

The internet has played a big source of information and advice in the past, but never in the way that we’re going to be experiencing today.

One of the big flaws of this part of the internet, is that a great deal of it has an impersonal air about it (not all of course). Everything gets countered straight on, often in a rush.

Imagine a community where online help gets personal again, where people go to help, or in search of the latter. Like a grown up Yahoo Questions, where people go to swap skills – quite literally.

swapaskill

Dear reader, meet swapaskill. I’m sure you’ll get along just perfect.

Swapaskill throws the impersonality overboard and goes back to the essential things that friends and family do for each other – giving favours and returning them. It’s all based on the principle of doing things you love, and helping others at the same time. In return, when you’ve got problems with something, you can count on the help of others.

Swapaskill essentially brings together people who can help each other out with various things.

How Does It Work?

To match the right people up – as some might say – they quite simply ask each user to state their skills upon signing up. Of course you can always adjust these skills later on.

The meaning of these skills can be taken quite broadly. It can be something like being good with Photoshop, or MS Word, and willing to help the struggling other. It can also be something more solid, like being a good cook; you can not only offer tips, but even your service as a cook, or frozen meals.

Swapaskill has recently also started supporting. the possibility of swapping items.

If you need help with something, you can search for skills based on keywords; e.g. if I’ve got a problem with Spanish, swapaskill will put forward all the users who’ve stated it as one of their skills.

You can then access their profiles and contact them with any questions you might have.

Additionally, you can also save your searches, so skilled users can easily find and contact you themselves.

After you’ve been helped by someone, you can assign stars to rate the user. This way other people will know who they can depend on in the long run – kinda like with friends.

But Why? Tell Me Why?

A lot of people might be wondering about the why of doing this. To quote The Joker: “If you’re good at something, never do it for free”. However, this would show you’re missing the idea of doing favours. If your friend asks you to help them out with their computer, would you ask them to pay for it?

The spirit of favours was put down pretty well by the Roman Publilius Syrus who said that “The person who receives the most favours is the one who knows how to return them”, because next time you need help with some DIY furniture torture, Jdoe655 might remember that you helped him with the cooking for his lawn party.

What do you think about swapaskill? Is it brilliant or ludicrous? Or perhaps you know of some alternatives to this service.  Share it with us in the comments section below.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

• Top 10: Free and Highly Trafficked Q&A Communities (8)
• Massive List of ‘HowTo’ Sites + ‘HowTo’ Search Engine (42)
• Ask & Answer the Web’s Questions with Aardvark [Free Invites!] (8)
• Yahoo Answers – Get Fast Answers (4)
• Use Hunch to Answer Your Questions & Make Decisions (4)

Thankfully, though, there are a ton of ways to find to do computer-like things when you’re not at your computer. Different places are creeping up that will help you read emails, make plans, win bets, find pointless information, and generally do things you’d do on the computer, without it.

I’m going to assume that you have your cell phone with you when you’re away from your computer. With just your cell, and for most of these, any cell will do, you can do many of the things you always do on the computer.

Here are 9 of the many ways you can use a computer with just a cell phone, beyond just accessing mobile sites (which most sites have by now):

Disclaimer: with these products, you will start texting – A LOT. If you don’t have an unlimited texting plan, prepare to see your bills go up more than slightly!

1. Texting, Google-style with Google SMS

You name it, Google SMS can do it with a text message. By sending a text message to GOOGLE (466453) you can find information like restaurant listings, weather, sports scores, calculator, conversions, and the like. Here’s the full listing, from Google, of all the things they can do with your text message.

But of course there are some risks to using Google SMS…..

2. Ask, and You Shall Be Answered

Got questions? Text them to ChaCha (242242). A real-live human being will answer your question in 160 characters, and send you the answer.

ChaCha is great because it’s a real person on the other end, which means you can ask a real question instead of trying to nail down search terms. If you don’t want to send a text message, call 1 (800) 224-2242 (2ChaCha). ChaCha can also send you a random joke or weather information, but the question and answer service is their bread-and-butter. It’s a great way to settle bets, or find answers to the irritating questions you just can’t seem to figure out.

3. Get your Wikipedia On

Wikipedia, in the words of The Office’s Michael Scott, “is the best thing ever.” Trouble is, for anyone who’s tried to use it from a cell phone browser, it’s tough to read. The formatting is bad for a cell phone, and using Wikipedia is much harder. Wapedia fixes that by taking Wikipedia and formatting it in a way that’s much easier to read on your cell phone. It strips away all the unnecessary stuff like the sidebar links, and puts everything into a one-column view that’s much easier to read on your cell phone. For an information-phile like me, Wapedia’s a great way to keep an easy-to-use Wikipedia in your pocket.

4. Go to the Movies

Want to go to the movies? Despite their terribly annoying ads, Fandango’s still the best place to buy movie tickets. In addition to their mobile site, you can use their relatively new SMS service to make buying tickets from your cell phone even easier. Send your zip code and a movie title to FNDGO (36436), and Fandango finds all the results for you. With an increasing number of carriers, you can even buy tickets with a text. Spur-of-the-moment movie craving? You’re all set.

5. Find a Starbucks and some Wi-Fi

I love Starbucks. There’s one on the ground floor of the building where I live, and I may personally be keeping it in business. Odds are, wherever you are, you’ll be able to find a Starbucks just by turning around. If not though, text your zip code to MYSBUX (697289) and Starbucks will show you their three nearest locations. Plus, with more and more Starbucks offering Wi-Fi, you’ll be able to get back on your computer.

Don’t want to go to Starbucks? Send “wifi” and your location to US411(87411), and you’ll get a whole list of free Wi-Fi hotspots nearby. That way, you won’t have to miss your computer any longer.

6. “Hello, Operator?”

Google search, for your voice and phone. Most 411 services are ridiculously expensive, but Goog-411 isn’t. You search Google with your voice, for a business or personal listing, and it connects you for free. You can even request a text message with all the contact info, for free.  Just dial 1-800-GOOG-411 (1-800-6446411). For more, check out Karl’s post.

7. Never Miss a Thing

Let’s say you’re looking to buy something on Craigslist. A boat, say. If you want to know when a boat comes onto Craigslist that’s in your price range, check out Notify.me. Set up notifications for everything from your friends’ Twitter statuses to breaking news stories, and Notify.me sends you an alert every time something matches.

They can be sent to your IM, email, desktop client, or cell phone via SMS. This one’s the one that will kill your texting bill, but if you’re sitting at your computer waiting for something, or just don’t want to be behind, Notify.me is a really useful tool.

8. Never Miss the Important Stuff

So, you’re kind of a big deal. People know you. Sometimes you get important email, even when you’re away from your desk. With AwayFind, you don’t need to worry about missing crucial email when you’re not at your computer. Using AwayFind, you can set up an “Out Of Office” email to auto-respond every time you get email, and include a link to your AwayFind page.

If someone needs to get in touch with you, they can fill out the AwayFind form, and their email comes through to you on your phone. It gets trimmed to one message, and helps you rest easy that if someone really needed to get through to you while you’re on vacation, they could. Plus, it gives you something to check as habitually as you do your email.

9. Buy, Buy, Buy

Let’s be honest: half the fun of the Web is the random, unneeded impulse buys. If you’re away from your computer and decided you’ve just got to have that cool thing you saw this morning, never fear, Amazon is here!

Using their “TextBuyIt” service, you can send a text message with a product name to AMAZON (262966). You’ll get two results from Amazon, with more coming if you reply with a text saying “m”. If you decide to buy something, reply with the result number, and you’ll get a call from Amazon to create and confirm your order. It’s so simple, it’s a little scary.

Who says you need to be at a computer all the time? Just by using your cell phone, you can free yourself from its grip.

Which cellphone numbers or mobile services do you use to grab information off the internet?

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

• Get FREE 411 Directory Assistance with GOOG411 (27)
• 15 FREE Useful Services To Access from your Phone (9)
• 12 Google Services with Mobile Access (14)
• Watch Online Products for Price Drops with ShoppingNotes (9)
• User Generated Content (Episode II) (2)

To put things in perspective, Google Moderator was developed as an internal tool to see what questions a majority of people wanted to ask during a talk and then ask the top questions to the presenter. However, it found more uses and now it has been opened to the masses via the app engine.

So lets take this new tool for a spin, shall we ?

The primary use for Moderator is to crowdsource questions or suggestions. Let’s say we would like all of our readers to let us know if they want us to cover a particular app or recommend a solution to a particular need or problem. Google Moderator is ideal for such things. Here’s how we would go about it.

Create a new series

A series is like the top level heading under which you would like to group all the questions. I put in MakeUseOf since most of the questions and suggestions would be MakeUseOf related.

Create a topic

Topics are the next lower level in the hierarchy to series. Topics would be used to keep the things tidy. Like there is a featured series “Ask a World Leader” over at Moderator in which people submit questions they will like to ask famous personalities. So to keep things tidy, each personality becomes a topic. So now if you want to ask Barack Obama a new question you would go to the respective topic and put in a question.

For our MakeUseOf series I put in a Article Requests topic, where you can submit your article requests or thumbs up/ thumbs down other readers’ suggestions/requests. Periodically we will pick the one that is on the top.

Now let people vote and ask questions

Others can now vote on the questions that have been submitted in the topic. People can give a positive vote (which is essentially a thumbs up) or a negative vote (thumbs down). Depending on the positive to negative count of the various questions, the most popular question will eventually rise to the top. If a question has 100 total votes of which 50 are positive and 50 are negative, it will be ranked lower than a question with 90 total votes, of which 85 are positive and only 5 are negative.

Some things I missed:

(1) First off, is it just me or do the names: series, topics, questions sound confusing to you as well? Do they convey what you should put into what? See here ‘Suggest an android application’ becomes the series, ‘the genres’ become the topics and ironically the ‘actual ideas’ have to be termed as ‘questions’. It works, but it’s not so intuitive to the first timer considering that the masses will use it for different purposes and not only for picking up questions to ask in a tech talk. I actually ended up putting the question in the series name and it was only afterwards that I figured what is what. Either that or may be I just needed some sleep. What you say?

(2) Since the main focus is people, letting others know that you have created a new series and would like to know their suggestions would be helpful. So I greatly missed a share this link. Right now you have to go back to the series and copy paste the link from the address bar.

(3) No email notifications or RSS feeds at the moment. I think it would be nice if people could subscribe to the topics, or if the owner could get notifications of important events like a new top question, or a new event.

Go ahead, check out Google Moderator, see how you like it, how you would like to MakeUseOf it and then let us know in the comments. Oh, and by the way, there really is a MakeUseOf series over there at Moderator. So go ahead check it out as well and contribute.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

• Get FREE 411 Directory Assistance with GOOG411 (27)
• Yahoo Searchmonkey Expands with Playable Music Tracks (3)
• Yahoo Answers – Get Fast Answers (4)
• Writely – Online Word Processor (2)
• Where To Research Material For Your Homework (8)

When searching for answers, there are three basic principles that you should follow to yield great results:

I. Know what your question is.

That’s simple, right? Wrong! Often that is the toughest part.

For example when trying to solve a problem you’re having with a piece of software, you need to understand very well what the problem is. You may assume that it’s caused by this and that, however this assumption may limit the pool of answers. The root of the problem may not be related at all to the problem you’re seeing. So as long as you’re searching for answers that deal with the software you’re using, you will be stuck.

On the other hand, if your search is too general, you will have a hard time spotting the right answers among the thousands of results you’re receiving.

Hence, the key is to ask precise questions, including the right keywords.

II. Know how to ask your question.

When entrusting a search engine with finding the right answer, this is the most critical point. Your goal is to filter out all unrelated information, but nothing more than that.

So after figuring out what your question is, you now have to translate it into search engine lingo. Please refer to my article Master the Google Operands for details on how to speak to the world’s most famous oracle search engine for answers. Many of these tricks will work with other search engines, too.

III. Know where to ask your question.

While this part isn’t difficult to decide, it does deserve a thought. If you’re good at points one and two, stick with a search engine. However, if your question is rather challenging or too general to yield good results, turn to an expert or specific sources.

These are the top five destinations besides Google and Wikipedia to learn more about a subject or have your specific question answered:

1. About.com

A wealth of information packed into handy articles. The site is maintained by experts and each article contains links for further reading. The site can be searched by category (channel), topic or keyword.
2. HowStuffWorks

Similar to About.com, but different. In general, articles are much longer, containing a lot more basic and background information. These articles are not to the point, but nevertheless very thorough. A great resource to get familiar with a topic.

3. Yahoo! Answers

Anyone can ask anything and anyone may answer. The asker can pick the best answer and rate it, other users may comment on and vote for all answers. A very flexible system and often you’ll find answers from real experts.

4. AllExperts

Similar to Yahoo! Answers, but here your question will be answered by experts and the best part is that you can pick the expert yourself. Start by selecting the respective categories until you reach a list of experts. Read their profiles and past answers, then pick the one who appears most suitable to answer your question.

5. wikiHow

The wiki-based how-to manual contains instructions on how to do just about anything. The manuals are sorted by category, the wiki is available in different languages, and naturally anyone can contribute.

There are dozens or maybe hundreds more sites that provide information and expert knowledge. Which one is your favorite?

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

• Yahoo Answers – Get Fast Answers (4)
• Top 10: Free and Highly Trafficked Q&A Communities (8)
• Search Google, Yahoo, Bing & Twitter From Your IM Program (16)
• MUO Polls: Best Google Search Tips & Operators (16)
• Massive List of ‘HowTo’ Sites + ‘HowTo’ Search Engine (42)

Gadget Reviews

Whether you’re buying a new mobile phone, MP3 player, speakers or digicam, one of the first things you usually want to know is what other people who have used the product have to say about it. In most cases, a real feedback from someone who have used the same gadget before is far more valuable than what you get on the sales page. So what are the best websites for gadget reviews ?

TestFreaks – Features include: expert and amateur reviews, gadget images, rating scores (i.e. general user score, expert score, design, value for money, features, ease fo use, performance etc.), side-by-side comparison, and price comparison. [Original article]


ExpoTV – Over 250.000 of short and unbiased consumer video reviews. [Original artcile]



Swotti – Swotti scans web (blogs, review sites, forums etc.) for product mentions and gives you a lsit of quick opinions about it. Quite useful if all you’re looking for are quick summaries and not interested in details. [Original article]

Fix Gadgets

Where do you go when your gadget breaks? Google works well but only if it’s something popular, like iPods for example. For less popular devices you might need a more specialized source. So far I am aware of two websites that can be of great help.

The first one is recently mentioned SafeManuals. With nearly 900.000 user manuals this is the first site you should visit. Go and get the owner’s manuals for the device. However if you already have one and still can’t find the fix then ask about it on FixYa. FixYa is a free tech support community for troubleshooting and fixing electronic gadgets. Ask questions, browse HowTo guides, search huge databases of previously answered questions and so on.

More on FixYa …

Sell Old Gadgets

Want to get rid of that old cell phone or digicam and get some cash for it ? Of course you can always post on eBay. But if you’re just too lazy to go through all this auction hassle then BuyMyTronics (original post) is for you.

These guys will buy pretty much any used (or broken) gadget and most importantly give you a good price for it. Quick and simple. You can check out how much they will pay for your gadget by going to their website. There are no fees here, you’re only responsible for shipping.

There is also a website called SellMyOldCellphone, it does the same thing but only for mobile phones. Check out our SellMyOldCellPhone review here.

That’s all I’ve got for gadget sites. If you are aware of another good website that should have been mentioned let us know in the comments.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

• Top 10: Free and Highly Trafficked Q&A Communities (8)
• ThomasNet – An Awesome Repository Of Technical Information for DIY Men (5)
• Swapaskill – Swap Skills & Trade Favours With Others (6)
• Massive List of ‘HowTo’ Sites + ‘HowTo’ Search Engine (42)
• Ask & Answer the Web’s Questions with Aardvark [Free Invites!] (8)

Here are a few that have caught my eye recently :

GroupTweet

This interesting service seems to be trying to make a dent in Pownce’s bubble. Or look at it another way – imagine sending out one big private email to everyone – or one big SMS. Now you get an idea of what GroupTweet is all about.

GroupTweet is for when you want to send out instant private messages to a select group of people. You would set up an exclusive Twitter account, send the private messages to that Twitter account as a Direct Message (which keeps the messages out of the Twitter public timeline) and GroupTweet then re-sends the message to everyone in the group as a new private message.

TweetScan

TweetScan is a real-time search engine for latest Twitter postings. Want to find out more about what you have just read or heard in the news? Wondering if your favorite website is actually down? Tweetscan is the fastest way to look it up. Enter your query and see if anyone reported anything similar.

Twubble

Twubble markets itself as a site that can find more Twitter users for you to follow, based on who you are already following.

Provided you’re already logged into your Twitter account in your browser, Twubble will then search through your followers, analyze who your followers are following and then list those followers for you so you can follow them yourself. It’s fast and seems to work quite well.

For password security reasons, I wouldn’t recommend following someone through Twubble (that involves signing into your account again) but instead you can click on a user to be taken to their Twitter page where you can request to follow them there. Much more secure.

Twitter Answers

OK, it isn’t as good as Yahoo Answers but it’s still an amusing way to pass the time. If you want to ask a question on any subject, you can Twitter the question to Twitter Answers and people will answer it for you (hopefully).

You can also set up your mobile phone and IM settings to have new questions automatically sent to you – helpful if you’re sitting in a doctor’s office waiting room, bored out of your skull and you’ve read all the magazines. Now you can be sent a SMS with a Twitterer’s questions on “the most disgusting thing you’ve ever eaten” or “what you consider to be the best joke ever”. Personally I’d rather chat up the doctor’s receptionist.

Strawpoll

This one is a quick daily fun questionnaire on Twitter. You’re given a choice of two answers and you can choose your answer and also make a comment. You can then view the results later on the website. It’s easy to do and a nice little five minute diversion from your day. The website is also nicely designed.

Have you found a cool new Twitter service which has recently started up? Let us know the link in the comments!

Also don’t forget to join other MakeUseOf Twitter followers here.

(By) Mark O’Neill is a blogger and professional freelance writer. Visit his blog at BetterThanTherapy.net

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

• Yahoo Answers – Get Fast Answers (4)
• Who’s Following You on Twitter and are You Following Them? (11)
• Use Twitter From Gmail With TwitterGadget (4)
• Use Hunch to Answer Your Questions & Make Decisions (4)
• Update all your Social Status Messages with Ping.fm (14)

My company has had a subscription to Experts Exchange for a long while now. I guess I got spoiled because when the subscription ran out and the big wigs decided it was a waste of money expendable I started looking for a new solution with just as much information online. I searched for a while until I came upon IT Knowledge Exchange. It was just what I was looking for….a free version of Experts Exchange. A user-powered tech support community. I started by looking through their database of questions and found some interesting tid-bits.

I was really impressed, there were questions of all varieties. Easy, hard and those ever-so-special questions that make you go WHAT THE F*^&??!??

People get ratings and points, so you can tell who is serious and respectable. Obviously we wouldn’t want you taking server advice from a 8 year old looking to trip you up. Users were encouraged to discuss the answers/solutions and other problems. There were flocks of people asking and answering questions and amazingly there was NO FLAMING going on. Flaming is what 1337 users do to n00bs asking retarded questions….not here though. All questions seemed to be treated with the same respect and even after the question is answered people can edit it via a wiki-like interface or add a discussion point. All great collaborative options.

Then I dove right in with a current exchange problem we were having and came across a question, answer and a discussion that resembled my problem. I tried it out on my test platform and sure enough they fixed my problem! I booked-marked the site and kept it moving. A few weeks later in my daily web-shenanigans I came across a technology blog that seemed to be hosted by the same people from IT Knowledge Exchange. So not only do these guys do the free tech support thing they give you a free place to post your IT related blog and promote your content on their network. Check out their list of blogs here.

I really dug what these guys were trying to do and I decided to lend my AtA expertise to the mix and start answering questions… I blinked a few hours later and realized I WAS HOOKED! It also doesn’t help the addiction that you get points for answering AND asking questions. I was determined to see my name up on the list of VERY active users. I had answered 10 or so questions and felt like I had accomplished something…..

My work’s inbox might argue with you but to hell with it – it was a Friday afternoon.

So to this day I participate and try to give back a little more to the IT community but on the low I find some of my answers there as well. But after all isn’t that what a good system is based on giving and taking? No boys and girls, I am not preaching but, what have you done for the IT community lately? Go go go… donate a little of your time today for the greater good that is IT!

From their sites description:

Get answers to your toughest IT related questions and give back to the community by answering a question. IT Knowledge Exchange was created to allow members to ask, answer and share information to benefit the entire IT community. Read our site FAQ

(By) Karl L. Gechlik, a super hero of the IT industry with over a decade of technology expertise under his belt. When he is not busy with his loving family or working insane hours he can be found helping the technically inept via www.askTheAdmin.com. Check out his geeky humorous antics today!

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

• Yahoo Answers – Get Fast Answers (4)
• Use Hunch to Answer Your Questions & Make Decisions (4)
• Top 10: Free and Highly Trafficked Q&A Communities (8)
• Massive List of ‘HowTo’ Sites + ‘HowTo’ Search Engine (42)
• Ask & Answer the Web’s Questions with Aardvark [Free Invites!] (8)

I have made a new friend – well actually I am becoming reacquainted with an old friend. Have you heard of Smarterchild? Smarterchild is an AimBot, an automated assistant that can be added to your instant messenger contacts. It can help you remember things, lookup headlines, find out about local movies, and so on. Now that AIM has been integrated into Gmail this might be a great combination for making SmarterChild into your virtual Personal Assistant.

Smarterchild can not only shoot the breeze with you it can grab data for you, remind you to do things and be a smart ass. So from anywhere you are connected via AIM you can add SmarterChild to your buddy list and but him to work. The first time you connect to SmarterChild he will ask you a few questions and then you are ready to roll. Math, Definitions and a news aggregator? Oh and so much more. Sure you could use Google or Yahoo for searching but this is so much more fun… Check out our conversations with SmarterChild.

KarlGeeZBT (6:59:30 AM): Hello There Again SmarterChild
SmarterChild (6:59:31 AM): Hi again, Admin!Let’s talk!

KarlGeeZBT (7:00:42 AM): basic help
KarlGeeZBT (7:00:59 PM): order me a pizza
SmarterChild (7:01:00 PM): I know about pizza! It’s a food!>>> If you need to know the capital of South Dakota for some crazy reason – ask me.

KarlGeeZBT (7:01:19 PM): hmm how about get me a beer
SmarterChild (7:01:19 PM): I don’t know.
KarlGeeZBT (7:02:21 PM): what do you mean you dont know son
SmarterChild (7:02:21 PM): What do I mean I don’t know son? I’m not sure.
KarlGeeZBT (7:02:29 PM): a wise guy eh
SmarterChild (7:02:31 PM): 1 wise guy what?
KarlGeeZBT (7:02:44 PM): never mimd
SmarterChild (7:02:48 PM): No prob.>>> I bet you don’t know the capital of Suriname. Ask me.

KarlGeeZBT (7:11:32 PM): I love AskTheAdmin.com
SmarterChild (7:11:37 PM): I know about love. It’s hard to describe what love is.>>> What are your friends thinking? Type pollmaker and crunch the numbers.

KarlGeeZBT (7:13:04 PM): Hello
SmarterChild (7:13:05 PM): Nice to see you again, Admin. What would you like to do?
KarlGeeZBT (7:13:12 PM): Set reminder
SmarterChild (7:13:13 PM): That right?
KarlGeeZBT (7:13:25 PM): help
SmarterChild (7:13:26 PM): OK, please tell me what you’re trying to do.
KarlGeeZBT (7:13:32 PM): reminder
SmarterChild (7:13:32 PM): What would you like me to remind you about?
KarlGeeZBT (7:13:38 PM): Call the wife
SmarterChild (7:13:39 PM): When would you like me to remind you about call the wife? (Type a time, date and time, number of minutes or number of hours.)
KarlGeeZBT (7:13:50 PM): 7:14pm 12/22/2007
SmarterChild (7:13:53 PM): No problem. I’ll remind you about call the wife at 7:14:00 pm ET.
KarlGeeZBT (7:13:59 PM): awesome

SmarterChild (7:14:00 PM): -)>>> Ask me for info such as news, sports and movies!
KarlGeeZBT (7:14:03 PM): movies
SmarterChild (7:14:03 PM): Movies playing in or near Brooklyn, NY (11235) on Saturday, December 22nd:
1 National Treasure: Book of Secrets [PG]
2 I Am Legend [PG13]
3 Alvin and the Chipmunks [PG]
4 The Golden Compass [PG13]
5 Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story [R]
6 Charlie Wilson’s War [R]

Type more for the next set of results.
>>> Type nhl standings and I’ll show you who’s hot in hockey.

SmarterChild (7:14:09 PM): Hey, don’t forget about call the wife.

KarlGeeZBT (7:14:12 PM): nhl standings
SmarterChild (7:14:12 PM): Select the standings you’d like to see:
1 Atlantic Division
2 Northeast Division
3 Southeast Division
4 Central Division
5 Northwest Division
6 Pacific Division
7 Eastern Conference
8 Western Conference
9 Full NHL Standings

KarlGeeZBT (7:14:29 PM): weather
SmarterChild (7:14:30 PM): Current weather conditions for Brooklyn, NY:
Currently: 40 F
Condition: Overcast
Wind Chill: 33 F
Dewpoint: 33
Humidity: 77 %
Visibility: 10 mi
Wind: ENE/10 mph

To get the forecast for Brooklyn, NY, just type forecast.

KarlGeeZBT (7:14:45 PM): find me a pizza restauraunt
SmarterChild (7:14:50 PM): I’m sorry, I couldn’t find any Web search results for “me a pizza restauraunt.”>>> Type poll archive to take polls you missed or view updated results.
KarlGeeZBT (7:15:03 PM): get me a pizza
SmarterChild (7:15:05 PM): I know about pizza! It’s a food!

KarlGeeZBT (7:15:37 PM): what is 137 times 379
SmarterChild (7:15:41 PM): 137 * 379 = 51,923>>> Type word scrambles and we can really mix it up.
KarlGeeZBT (7:16:02 PM): what is pi
SmarterChild (7:16:03 PM): Which of the following do you mean?
1 Look up “pi” in the encyclopedia
2 Look up “pi” in the dictionary
KarlGeeZBT (7:16:08 PM): pi =
SmarterChild (7:16:09 PM): Who’s Pi?
KarlGeeZBT (7:16:20 PM): how many ounces in a pound
SmarterChild (7:16:22 PM): One pound is 16 ounces. (1 lb = 16 oz)>>> Remember, you can always see what my newest features are by typing what’s new.
KarlGeeZBT (7:16:28 PM): how many grams in a pound
SmarterChild (7:16:28 PM): One pound is 453.59237 grams. (1 lb = 453.59237 g)>>> Type calculator help to see a list of sample calculations I can perform.

KarlGeeZBT (7:16:51 PM): go get me a pizza
SmarterChild (7:16:51 PM): I’ll do nothing of the sort.
KarlGeeZBT (7:17:00 PM): what good are you
SmarterChild (7:17:01 PM): That’s crazy. I don’t know, Admin…>>> Wanna change my font and colors? Type colors now!

KarlGeeZBT (7:17:29 PM): basic help
SmarterChild (7:17:31 PM): OK. Basically, you make requests and I answer. Try it! Here are examples of basic requests you can make:
1 What is my horoscope for today?
2 Leave a message for (username).
3 What movies are playing today?
4 I want the top headlines.
5 What is the definition of “romance”?

Next time you want to see this, just type basic help.
Type more for more basic help. To see shortcuts you can use, type shortcuts.

KarlGeeZBT (7:17:38 PM): 4
SmarterChild (7:17:39 PM): Headline news provided by Reuters, © 2007.
1 Clinton targets women voters, rivals bicker (12/22/07 06:17 PM)
2 Turkish planes bomb Kurds in northern Iraq (12/22/07 04:21 PM)

Type more to see the next set of stories.>>> I’m a hoops fan. Type nba to see what I know.

KarlGeeZBT (7:18:36 PM): what is the capital of new york
SmarterChild (7:18:41 PM): The capital of New York is Albany. Do you want more information about New York?
KarlGeeZBT (7:20:03 PM): nah son I’m out
SmarterChild (7:20:04 PM): OK.

Are you ready to start? Add “SmarterChild” to your buddy list and give him a friendly Hey – how you doin?.

So as you can see this free service works and can give you a chuckle while you use it. But just like my real personal assistant – they have a smart mouth and talk back.

Do you use Aim Bots? What are you favorite? Do you use other similar services? Let us know in the comments!

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

• AIM Express lets you use IM without installing a client (12)
• Turn Your IM Program Into A Productivity Tool Using Imified (23)
• Translation For MSN: Auto Translates Messages While Chatting (17)
• Ask & Answer the Web’s Questions with Aardvark [Free Invites!] (8)
• 3 Web-Based IM Clients For Chatting The Night Away (14)

For my first MakeUseOf post I will be taking you through the wonder that is Goog-411. You dial up 1-800-GOOG-411 (1-800-466-4411) from any (US) phone. After you get a friendly Google hello you follow the voice prompts which are extremely intuitive.

Start by saying your city and state. You hear the Google engines spinning in the background and then you will be prompted to say what business listing you want (pizzeria, repair shop, Burger King, etc.). They understood me every time even when I put on various accents. I had previously tried out 800-free-411 and they never understood me – it was infuriating!

Now Goog411 will also complete your call for you FOR FREE or send you a text message FOR FREE with your listing, a link to their website, a link to a map and directions or any other information they have. For a list of all the commands check out this page here. This is all easily save-able on your mobile. The service is still in its beta stages and currently has NO ads! Suck it up while you can this is the way most services will be going in the near future. If you are interested in seeing a video demo go to GOOG411 on MUO Directory.

Goog411 currently only works from the US and we got mad love for our international readers so we have Google SMS for you. Well, for most of you.

Just save 466453 “Google” into your phone and text it with your query and Google will hit you back with all sorts of free information. How about dictionary definitions, calculations, curency exchange rates or movie listings (Google SMS -All Features). Give it a shot – its free minus the cost of the text messages of course.

Got to love the Google!

For other similar alternatives you can also check out Free411 Dial Directions and TellMe.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

• Top Mapping Tools: Maps, Local Guides & Driving Directions (12)
• 9 Ways To Use Your Cellphone To Get Information Online (7)
• 12 Google Services with Mobile Access (14)
• Use Google’s new Mobile Directory without a Keyboard! (7)
• The Five Best Things About Google Maps (24)

1. Instructables – Extremely useful, entertaining and rather addictive online community where people share what they do and how they do it. Here you can find hundreds of excellent home-made DIY (Do It Yourself) guides detailing how to turn some of the garage junk into cool stuf, like invisible book shelf, hairspray-powered potato cannon or even making a wallet (from an old keyboard). See pic below.

Read more: Instructables – The Web’s Biggest Show & Tell.

2. Scribd – The best way to define Scribd would be to call it a Youtube for documents. It is an online document library where users can search, browse, rate, upload, and share all kind of documents: jokes, facts, stories, document templates, presentations, and even amazon bestsellers.

Read more: Scribd – Document Sharing Community

3. UrbanDictionary – UrbanDictionary is basically a community-powered dictionary for slangs and all kinds of sayings and jargons that you won’t find in traditional dictionaries. Basically anything people use in daily talk.

• Dude: A word that americans use to address each other. Particularly stoners, surfers and skaters.
• Geek: The people you pick on in high school and wind up working for as an adult.

Read more: UrbanDictionary – Define Your World.

4. eHow / wikiHow – HowTo manuals for the everyday life. Lots of useful stuff here, everything from computer fixes and tips to personal finance and health tips. You will also find some not so usual but still essential tips, like how to take a punch or ungoogle yourself. In case the stuff you’re looking for isn’t there and you’re too lazy to digg for it on the web than ask it on Yahoo Answers.:-)

5. Sidereel – The aim of Sidereel is to create an ultimate directory for Movies and TV shows. Here you can submit or edit episode reviews, follow-up on favorite TV shows release dates, get links to watch episodes online (both free and paid), get personalized ‘to watch’ recommendations and more.

6. 43things – Active web community where people can set, track, discuss and share their goals. It can be something as simple as ‘watch all Simpson episodes’ or more serious stuff like ‘pay off my credit card debts’ and ‘climb mount Everest’. It’s also a place to discover like-minded people and learn from the experience of others on how to achieve your goals.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

• User Generated Content (Episode II) (2)
• Use Hunch to Answer Your Questions & Make Decisions (4)
• UrbanDictionary – Words Defined by Average People (16)
• Top 10: Free and Highly Trafficked Q&A Communities (8)
• Massive List of ‘HowTo’ Sites + ‘HowTo’ Search Engine (42)

But all is not lost for Yahoo. People love to put them down but I still love them and they are still a mighty force to be reckoned with. Here’s why:

(1) Del.icio.us

In my humble opinion, Del.icio.us is probably the best thing that Yahoo owns. As well as having a cool website name, it is also the number one place on the internet for storing bookmarks. In case you’re looking for a cool desktop tool to manage delicious bookmarks, I wrote a MakeUseOf post on how to organize Del.icio.us bookmarks.

(2) Flickr

One of the best business decisions Yahoo ever made was buying Flickr. I use Flickr extensively for backing up my photo collection (with the use of private encrypted albums) and if you are ever looking for a photo, Flickr is the place to go. Whenever I come back from holiday, I surf Flickr to see where I’ve just been and re-live the memories….

(3) Yahoo Answers

Do you know a lot about a subject? Do you like to show off your knowledge? Do you have a degree from the University of Life and the School of Hard Knocks? Share your knowledge on Yahoo Answers and get a thrill out of helping someone. Some queries are downright daft but some others are heart-rendering. One person some time back asked how to break the news to her mother that she had been sexually assaulted by her father.

(4) Yahoo Messenger / Chat

Before there was Google Talk, there was Yahoo Messenger. Yahoo Chat holds a special place for me as that was where I met my girlfriend seven years ago (and we’re still together).
I would steer clear of the chat rooms these days but I still use Messenger as it is one of the best chat programs out there today (right up there with ICQ).

(5) Yahoo Games

One of my guilty pleasures. If I want to while away a rainy afternoon, I will hang out in a dark shadowy online Yahoo games room playing canasta or blackjack with a professional player claiming to be a total beginner. If card games are not your thing baby then there’s lots of board games and role-playing games. My only complaint is that Yahoo Games gets a little hinky on Mozilla Firefox which makes me think Yahoo Games is secretly in love with Mr Internet Explorer from Redmond, Washington state.

(6) Yahoo Geocities

Aaahh….nostalgia! Long before I had my proper website, I had webpages on the free Yahoo Geocities. With its easy-to-understand PageBuilder, Geocities helped me to learn a lot about creating webpages. Again, only one complaint – Geocities absolutely detests javascript – many a classic webpage broke down because I added a line of javascript. Geocities also doesn’t support FTP so if you’re serious about your webspace, I’d suggest you do what I did and upgrade to a proper website.

(7) Yahoo Greetings greetings-yahoo.jpg

Despite it being over-run by an American Greetings premium service, Yahoo Greetings still has free offerings for all occasions. Send an e-card for someone’s birthday or just send an e-card to show you care. The free offerings ARE a little sparse though, compared to the past. If you have a Yahoo email account, you can search your email address book inside Yahoo Greetings to find the person you want to send the e-card to.

(8) Yahoo Movies

I normally look at the Internet Movie Database to read up on movies but Yahoo Movies is still worth a look, even just to get a second opinion. As well as reading news and gossip, you can also check the showtimes for your area, look at the box office charts to see what’s good at the moment, write movie reviews and watch movie trailers.

(9) My Yahoo

Before I was lured away by Google Reader, My Yahoo was the first page I saw when I opened my internet browser in the morning. I would then read the Garfield strip and check the news headlines. Makes for an excellent browser start page as you can also configure My Yahoo to notify you of new Yahoo mail and when Messenger contacts come online.

(10) Yahoo Widgets

Does your desktop look boring? Yahoo Widgets can spruce it up with a few widgets sprinkled here and there. Have a constantly updating weather report sit on your desktop, or an eBay feedback checker. Maybe a framed photo of your children? The widget directory probably has whatever you need. For more detailed overview along with couple of screenshots check out Aibek’s Yahoo Widget review here.

Do you know of any other Yahoo services that make you go Yaaahhhooooo?!!!! Tell us in the comments.

Mark O’Neill is a freelance writer, proofreader, editor and blogger. Check out his blog at BetterThanTherapy.net

Disclaimer: All of logos referenced herein belong to their respective companies.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

• Yo Frankie! – Free Open Source Platform Game (16)
• Yahoo! Games: WordRacer is my Boggle Game of Choice (6)
• Yahoo Answers – Get Fast Answers (4)
• The 3 Best NFO File Readers To Open Those NFO Documents (18)
• Smarterchild as Your Virtual Personal Assistant (21)

And that’s what this post is about: popular and totally free Question and Answers (Q&A) communities where users can

1. easily post whatever questions they have and wait for community to answer, rate and comment on them
2. browse and search through thousands of already answered questions.

*** TOP 3 (Fast Answers, Guaranteed) ***

Yahoo!Answers – biggest, well-designed, highly-trafficked, feature-rich, multi-lingual (over 20 languages), community-powered Q&A service. More on Yahoo Answers

AnswerBag – yet another cool, well-trafficked Q&A community. Additionally to standard feature set provides an option to quickly rate (+/-) questions in order to make interesting ones standout. Higher rated questions, receive more attention and tend to get multiple replies in extremely short period of time, sometimes within the first 5-10 minutes after it has been posted.

QnA.Live - based on the user-activity it seems to be less popular than the above two, although as it originates from Live.com, the network still ensures decent amount of daily users. Doesn’t provide that many features but incorporates couple of most needed ones, i.e., RSS support for each question to easily follow-up on replies via feedreader AND an option to tag questions and browse them by tags (by category or popularity).

*** OTHER (7 more) ***

• TheAnswerBank
• Ask.Metafilter
• AskVille
• wikiAnswers
• Wikipedia:Reference Desk
• AllExperts
• NowNow

*** BONUS ***

Find ‘Answers’ – google-powered, custom search engine letting you instantly search for ‘Answers’ on all of the above mentioned websites simultaneously.

• Massive List of ‘HowTo’ Sites + ‘HowTo’ Search Engine (42)
• Ask & Answer the Web’s Questions with Aardvark [Free Invites!] (8)
• 6 Unique Web Communities That You Won’t Forget (54)
• Yahoo Answers – Get Fast Answers (4)
• Use Hunch to Answer Your Questions & Make Decisions (4)

Good news, the amount of freely available, user-contributed HowTo’s out there is staggering. There is something for everyone: ranging from fun stuff i.e. how to make invisible book shelf, imitate gunshot wounds and even open up a Coke machine to more practical stuff i.e. how to negotiate a raise or tie a Tie. All categorized, commented and rated by users like you and me. Below you’ll find all ‘HowTo’ services we could find, as always all free, well-categorized and hopefully objectively ranked. Plus a bonus ‘HowTo’ search engine at the end. Enjoy!

*** HOWTO GUIDES ***

eHow (over 35.000 HowTo artciles)

WikiHow (over 20.000 articles)

Instructables (approx. 4.500 articles)

HowToDoThings (??? 2500 HowTo artciles)

Koonji (??? HowTo artciles )

*** VIDEO HOWTO GUIDES ***

VideoJug (approx. 2.500 video HowTo’s). Lets you downloaded videos directly to your iPod. More iPod Tools

ExpertVillage (approx. 28.000 videos, and growing by 4000 every month)

SuTree (approx. 5.500 videos)

Sclipo (approx. 1000 videos)

TrickLife (approx. 600 videos)

5min (approx. 500 videos)

ViewDo (approx. 350 videos)

HelpfulVideo (approx. 150 videos). Note: some videos require payment

YouTube (category ‘Howto & DIY’)

Metacafe (category ‘Video tips and Guides’)

*** TOPIC SPECIFIC ***

NewBaby [Parenting / Newborn / Breastfeeding / .... and everything related to babies]

TeacherTube [guides for education courses for Math, Literature and etc.]

Helpero [Computers / Networking / Mobile / Games / Internet]

Work [everything related to Entrepreneurs and Small-Business owners]

ShowMeDo [Computing / Internet / Python / java /Linux/ Ruby /Blender / Graphics / Screencasting]

Video-Tabs [Guitar] – over 200 video HowTo’s

*** BONUS ***

Google Coop – ‘HowTo & DIY’ Search: Here is something worth a bookmark, to make things easier I created all-in-one ‘HowTo and DIY (Do It Yourself)’ search engine, using Google Co-op. This custom Google-powered search engine will search on all of the above mentioned ‘HowTo’ sites, simultaneously. Works great,… TESTed.

• Top 10: Free and Highly Trafficked Q&A Communities (8)
• Ask & Answer the Web’s Questions with Aardvark [Free Invites!] (8)
• 6 Unique Web Communities That You Won’t Forget (54)
• Yahoo Answers – Get Fast Answers (4)
• Use Hunch to Answer Your Questions & Make Decisions (4)

Yahoo Answers is a place where you can ask and answer questions. And unlike many other similar services and forums, things happen extremely fast here. Most of the questions receive multiple replies within a one day of posting. It is like free consulting service.

Question posting process is quite simple, you only need is to select right category and specify how long it will stay open. Once this period is over best answer is choosen. Each posted question goes through 3 stages; open(still needs an answer), undecided(multiple answers are given and users are asked to vote for the best one) and resolved(best answer has been choosen).

Features:

1. Apart from asking and answering questions, you can also browse through 40 million already answered questions. There is a high chance that the answer you are looking for is among these 40 million answers, just search or browse by category to locate it.
2. For each question following options available

vote on it report abuse emait to friend add it to your watch list (this is very handy for tracking several questions) add it to del.icio.us track answers through RSS using your feedreader Add it to “My Yahoo!”

3. If you like answers given by one user you can monitor this person’s questions and answers through rss

4. User account interface provides detailed statistics about your questions, answers and points

5. Display your questions and answers on your blog or myspace profile.

To measure each user’s activity Yahoo answers introduced point based system. Each user receives some points for different type of actions like asking(-5 p) and answering(+2 p) questions. Initially every user starts with 100 points. This point system requires user to contribute in order to continue receive benefits of using the system. More on point system here. You can see highest perfroming users and their scores on the leaderboard seciton.

Need more information? Check out Yahoo Answers tour here. There is also Google Answers, which comes with a twist, it deserves a review of it’s own which will be coming soon.

Note: Yahoo does not guarantee the accuracy of the answers provided by users. So, people giving an answer may actually have no or little knowledge on the subject. Thus, I would not to rely on users when problem needs a professional assistance (ex;health issues).

• Use Hunch to Answer Your Questions & Make Decisions (4)
• Top 10: Free and Highly Trafficked Q&A Communities (8)
• Massive List of ‘HowTo’ Sites + ‘HowTo’ Search Engine (42)
• Ask & Answer the Web’s Questions with Aardvark [Free Invites!] (8)
• 6 Unique Web Communities That You Won’t Forget (54)

Ether provides service that lets these people sell their valuable knowlege. It is a platform for selling personal services and can be referred as “ebay for services”.

When service seeker clicks on the profile of service seller, s/he can see status(away/taking calls etc.), rate(pricing) and description of service. If a service buyer is interested it is possible to make an immediate call provided that seller is available or alternatively buyer can provide prefferred time slot for a conversation.

Phone call can be made simply with a click of a button and ether will establish a line between buyer and provider. Buyer will be charged as soon as the conversation begins. While this definitely in favor of a seller I think there should be some kind of protection for buyer as well. Ebay’s feedback system does a good job on this matter. Ether provides ‘report abuse’ in case buyer is not satisfied. However, user who is about to buy service will fell much more secure if there is some kind of guarantee/reference before his credit card is charged.

How to Start selling Services?

1. Get free Ether Phone Number. To start selling information/services user needs to get a phone number, where buyers can call him. To get an ether number number sign up is required. Ether Phone Number will look like : 1-888-MY-ETHER with an 8-digit extension that is unique to each user. Once number is obtained, user sets it to forward calls to the actual phone number(mobile, home, work, or any other number). Personal number provided by user is kept completely confidential to avoide misuse.

2. Set Price. How much user is willing to charge?

3. Set time when to be called. This tool allows users to set time when they want to be called.

These are main procedures. Ether phone number is not limited only for web usage, users can market themselves by placing this number on their business cards or websites as well. In addition to phone other means of selling is possible, for instance if user wishes to sell digital content it is possible to go through transaction either using ‘email’ or directly ‘Buy Now’ options.

I think this is cool idea and a whole new way for people to earn living. User who is a service provider does not loose anything and not required to make any sort of payments(no setup fees, no monthly charges etc) to ether but only 15% commison from all closed deals(not a high price for marketing of your services). Here you may check out list of ether sellers that have rates below $25 here.

Check out Techcrunch one of our favorite blogs for more information regarding the ether company itself.

• You Actually Can Earn Money by Taking Online Surveys (34)
• Yahoo Answers – Get Fast Answers (4)
• Use Hunch to Answer Your Questions & Make Decisions (4)
• Turn Your Amazon Links Into Affiliate Links (8)
• Top 3 Ways for Kids To Make Money Online (45)