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The search engine of the future

July 31, 2008 By Leave a Comment

www.trueknowledge.com

Internet search has come a long way in the past few years and is generally dominated by Google but the reality of search is that you sometimes do not want to find a general answer or company that provides a service you actually want to find an answer.

www.trueknowledge.com is a brand new search engine just in Beta at the moment that gives answers not just lists of things – by signing up for the Beta you will be helping test a great new technology and best of all its from the UK (not some strange valley in California).

Here’s how it works:

  • Ask a simple question: How old is Prince Phillip?
  • Get a simple answer: 87 years old

The database relies on the users putting in the right information and also information from open source documents- a bit like Wikipedia – and at the moment it does not have all the information but it is growing. We’d recommend anyone to give the site ago particularly if you are looking for facts rather than general information.

The only thing missing at the moment is that you can’t drill down to a source document – ie where was the information from but I am sure this will be coming.

Overall we’d call trueknowledge an internet revolution – a fantastic idea with great potential – lets hope that it does not get swallowed up by the big names too soon and becomes a real winner on the Internet.

Five stars for this site – it’s new, it’s useful and best of all it’s British. Well done all involved and please keep us informed about your future plans.

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Go green join a hire car club

July 30, 2008 By Leave a Comment

www.zipcar.com

The best way to describe Zipcar.com is a hire car club – basically you join the service and you can use one of many cars scattered in major cities around the globe. For those of us in the UK there are only cars in London at the moment but zipcar have assured me that there are more European cities to come.

So what’s the difference between zipcar and a hire car – well really the difference is that you only pay one rate for the car – either by the hour / part day or day and when you have finished using it you just walk away. Joining means that you get a unique access key to the car, you book the one you want, turn up and drive away.

Does it all sound very American – well it is. Originally launched in the USA for big city dwellers it means that you can get a car when you need it but without all the hassle of going to the local hire company.

The advantages – there are lots but Zipcar claim that one of the best things about it is that it is really environmentally friendly – you only use a car when you need it, less cars are on the road, less congestion in cities and no need to find a parking space.

Although not really a site review this is a great service that may just catch on – no good for those of us who live in the sticks but for all you city dwellers that want a car now and again but don’t want the cost of your own, a great idea. Prices are on the web site but joining is just £25 upwards and then you just pay for use.

We’re giving the site 4 stars to start with – it’s green and it saves money – in this day and age a brilliant idea and we may put this up to five stars as soon as they cover other UK cities. We’ve asked Zipcar to keep us informed !!!

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The pampered pooch gets everything

July 29, 2008 By Leave a Comment

www.doggydate.com

After putting out a request to all the PR agencies for web sites to review this site really stood out – we could not stop laughing. If you spend any time on the net you come across dating sites for all sorts of things but this just takes the biscuit !!

Dating for dogs !!!

OK not really, it a place for dog owners to share information – you could call it a facebook for dogs really. The site has really found a niche with all those dog owners the world over as it gives them an opportunity to share ideas, things to do and even more worryingly actual get togethers (for the dogs that is!!)

Not being dog people ourselves we did wonder what this is all about but after 5 mins on the site we got the concept and thought it could catch on. We’re not going to spend much time reviewing the site just to say – if you are a dog owner give it a go, you will be surprised how fun the site is.

Top marks to the PR agency as well – I’ve even put the press release on the next page – it was actually funny as we didn’t need to “bone up” on the site too much at the start !!!!

We’re giving the site four stars – It is actually different from other social networking sites. It pinches a few ideas from others out there – “woofs” instead of “winks” – but we liked it.

Have a read of the press release on the next page – www.doggydate.com really could catch on and they have an event coming up in September “Paws in the Park“.

We do think they are barking mad though !!!!

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Improve your golf game

July 28, 2008 By Leave a Comment

www.saveamillionshots.com

Not being expert golfers we thought it would be a good idea to take a look at this site. If your into golf it probably has everything for you but here are a few things:

  • Instruction videos
  • Courses
  • Hints and Tips

Overall the site is fairly easy to use and allows access to content without having to register (although to get the most out of the site we would suggest that you register anyway – is’s FREE)

Obviously the people behind saveamillionshots.com are golf nuts (well you would have to be) but they have also taken time to understand their audience – not everyone into golf is the next Tiger Woods or Nick Faldo – some people like to play for pleasure and hopefully improve their game. If any of us were taking up the game seriously or wanted to improve our poor handicaps we would definetly spend some time on the site.

I suppose you could say that saveamillionshots.com is social networking for Golfers – it’s a good idea and we hope it takes off. As the site is free we’re giving it three stars – tell us when you ad more features and we will always re-review.

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Find me a tradesman

July 27, 2008 By 1 Comment

www.quotatis.co.uk

If you have ever tried to find an electrician or plumber you know that there are a number of cowboys out there willing to take your money but not do the job very well. Up until now I’ve used yell to find a tradesman and to be honest the results have been mixed.

Quotatis is not a new site (originally called EasyquoteUK) but it does seem to offer a solution to a number of problems as follows:

  • What do I need doing?
  • Where can I find the right person?
  • What is it going to cost?
  • Can I trust them?

The system is fairly simple, enter your postcode and details of the work you want doing and the leads will be passed to the relevant people in your area. (Up to five). The tradespeople will then contact you to find out more details and hopefully give the right quote. All the tradespeople listed are vetted by quotatis so you don’t have to do the checking if you don’t want to.

As we can’t fully test the site as we don’t require a quote we are giving it a three star rating – if we had known about it last week though when we had a job we would definitely of given it a go.

The only thing the site misses we think is the ability to check your area before you submit an enquiry – after all if your postcode only has one tradesman in it you may be waiting a long time for quotes. I would also be nice to see who your enquiry is going to and the reviews they have had.

Please tell us if you have used the service – the more you let us know how good or bad a site is the better whatsgoodontheweb.co.uk becomes.

Quotatis – a good three star site – to read more details please follow the read more link after the ad.

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Mix up a quick cocktail

July 25, 2008 By Leave a Comment

www.mixxit.co.uk

Our editor claims not to have a drink problem but we are slightly suspicious. We recently put out a call to all those PR agencies out there for web sites for us to take a look at and low and behold as soon as Mixxit appeared the editor was straight on the site.

When all is said and done what we all want is a site that is relatively simple to use and can help us empty out those leftovers in the drinks cabinet and we think Mixxit has a great idea.

Simply go to the mixselector section and select the drink of choice using the arrows – in this example we shall use Vodka – select one of those left over mixers (Bols always seems a good idea when you buy it!!) and then select go. Hey presto a few drink suggestions appear – admittedly not always with the ingredients you wanted but it is a great idea.

We used this site at a party last weekend and found it to be a great way to sort out the drinks – no longer where we rooting around in the back of a cupboard for a book that had never been opened.

All in all a good site with some very useful functions. With Mixxit obviously the aim is to get you to buy stuff from the site but even just to visit it is a good idea. We’re giving the site three stars – it’s very good and has some great ideas in it but the choice of drinks is a bit limited. Please take some time to give the other sections a go – you can get top ten suggestion, say what style of drink you want and even save your favourites list.

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