A random collection of oddball sites and services

By Peter Vogel

This week I'm listing some things I've meant to write about in some detail but just never have.

Technology news

If you follow the technology scene closely you'll be aware of Cnet's News.com www.news.com. It is generally considered a reliable source of high-quality breaking news, along with in-depth interviews and backgrounders. On the blogging side, you might want to consider these well known sites:

• Engadget www.engadget.com. Terrific for tech news leaks, particularly with Apple products.

• Boing boing www.boingboing.net. Billed as a "directory of wonderful things," the site is essentially a tech blog for new products.

• Techcrunch www.techcrunch.com. A weblog "dedicated to obsessively profiling and reviewing new Internet products and companies."

• Gizmodo www.gizmodo.com. "The gadget guide. So much in love with shiny new toys, it's unnatural."

• Slashdot www.slashdot.com. "News for Nerds. Stuff That Matters." Covers a broader range of topics than the other sites listed above. A recent visit included features on the iPhone, exploration of Mars, and cyberbullying.

General news alerts

Many organizations offer news alerts via e-mail, but not everyone appreciates "missing cat" stories every day. Google Alerts lets you select topics and the frequency at which you'll be given news summaries. For example, if you run a company producing "widgets" you may want to be kept abreast of "widget" news. That's the strength of Google Alerts: www.google.com/alerts.

RSS and blog searches

If you want your news aggregated from various sources and delivered automatically to your computer then you'll want to set up an RSS feed, a personalized news wire. Most blogs and podcast services are set up to deliver RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds. Searching those blogs and feeds can be a task in itself.

Enter the blog/RSS-based search engine, such as these examples:

• Technorati www.technorati.com. Claims to be the authority when it comes to indexing "citizen media" such as blogs, videos, and photos.

• IceRocket www.icerocket.com. One of the first services to index blogs. Also features an RSS builder.

• Feedster www.feedster.com. Searches blogs, RSS feeds, and podcasts.

• BlogPulse www.blogpulse.com. An automated trend-discovery system that tracks developments in the blogosphere.

Podcast searches

For podcasts, essentially audio blogs, you might want to try

• Podcast Alley www.podcastalley.com. Useful site for podcasting software and directories of podcasts.

• Podcast.net www.podcast.net. A directory of thousands of podcasts in a searchable database and listed by tag.

StumbleUpon

A service terrific for "wilfing" (see our previous column), StumbleUpon www.stumbleupon.com has just been acquired by eBay, although it seems an odd fit for the Internet's top auction service. Calgary-based StumbleUpon's team has produced a service that essentially lets users "stumble" through areas that might interest them, ranking sites as they go.

The concept sounds hokey, but, believe me, you can easily become hooked. For instance, I enjoy looking through sites dedicated to networking and computer security. Perfect for StumbleUpon. The quality of the sites stumbled upon by others with similar interests means I'm not aimlessly searching through cyberspace, occasionally hitting a gem or two.

StumbleUpon requires installation of a browser plug-in. Think of the service as something akin to Amazon's recommendations features, where purchasers rate products on a five-point scale. That rating aspect may be a clue to eBay's interest.

It is no secret that eBay's ratings system is prone to abuse, with sellers and buyers essentially depending on one another for ratings points (I'll give you positive feedback if you do the same for me.)

Moo

A captivating printing service from Britain www.moo.com that produces, among other things, mini business cards featuring user-provided photos on one side and typical personal details on the other. Users order 100 mini cards for CAD $20 plus a small shipping fee.

The unusual aspect is that each card can feature a unique image, if you wish. One hundred cards, 100 different images, or any grouping of images/cards you care to make.

It turns out that Moo mini cards have become highly collectible in their own right. The Moo service is partnered with various social networking sites such as Bebo, Second Life, and Flickr. Other printing products are available, and the service is definitely in growth mode.

New search engine

Take a test drive with Mahalo www.mahalo.com, described as the world's first human-powered search engine. Try it with "Vancouver" to get an idea of the possibilities.

Share the quirky

Know of a quirky site you'd like to share with other readers? Drop me a line along with a sentence or two stating why the site might interest fellow BCC readers.

Peter Vogel is a physics and computer sciences teacher at Notre Dame Regional Secondary School (www.ndrs.org). Suggestions and comments may be sent via e-mail to peterv@portal.ca.