Sites that make life a bit easier
By Jason Latimer
Due to the number of emails I received about the last web-related Under the Radar, I decided to put together another list of cool and helpful websites that have somehow eluded popular knowledge. Enjoy.
Google SMS
This little treat for your cell phone, with a home on the web, is by no means new. But it never ceases to amaze me how many people haven’t used, or aren’t aware of the full capabilities of Google SMS. Simply put, Google SMS is a service that allows you to send a text message to Google, free of charge (except for standard messaging fees, of course) and receive a vast amount of varying information in return.
For those without the aid of a fancy shmancy iPhone, that is, those of us shmucks carrying around a three-year-old Samsung, SMS can be an invaluable travel tool. For example, just text “1 usd to yen” to GOOGL (46645) for currency conversion, or “50kg to lbs” for weight conversion. Know the address you’re looking for, but can’t figure out how to get there? Google SMS can give you step-by-step directions. It can also give you sports scores, weather, movie show times, simple translations, and more. A full list of features can be found at www.google.com/sms.
SoLow
In a unique twist on the online auction game, solow.com offers four auctions a day, for electronics, tickets to events, gift cards and more, but on SoLow, the bidder with the lowest unique bid is the winner. In other words, you could bid one cent, but a bunch of other people are also probably going to make the same bid. Therefore, the aim is to find the perfect balance between low bid and not-so-obvious bid. Whoever finds that happy balance wins the prize for that day. The site is free to users, and you may guess (or “bid,” although you never really have to pay anything) up to 20 times per day.
Bringo
In a bit of an odd marketing move, this particular website decided to call itself Bringo, but host its website at www.nophonetrees.com. But that’s beside the point. You know what I hate? Navigating through endless automated phone systems just to speak to a single customer service rep, who probably doesn’t know what the hell they are talking about anyway. (I’m looking at you, Time Warner.) That’s where Bringo comes in. They can’t help the dummies working the tech support desk at HP, but they can give you a direct phone number to talk to an actual person, so that you can at least cut down on some of the time needed to solve your problem. Bringo has hundreds of phone numbers for banks, credit card companies, airlines, cell phone companies, and more. There’s no number for Papa John’s listed, but just try hitting zero a couple times; works like a charm. Now if only you could press zero a third time to skip the employee upsell sales pitch…
VideoSift
A relatively simple concept, VideoSift combines the best elements of YouTube and Digg. Users find the best new videos on the web and vote them up or down. The best videos are sifted toward the front page of the site, while others are filtered into obscurity. Users can also comment, and search by category.
Phonezoo
Some of the major cell phone companies love to gouge customers with exorbitant fees just to use certain features of the phones that they bought full out. Fortunately, sites like Phonezoo are on the side of the little guy. For the cost of membership (free), users can log onto the Phonezoo website and turn their mp3 files into custom ringtones, and have them sent right to their phones. While the site has faced some minor compatibility issues, most people should have no problem making custom ringtones and getting them sent to their phone for free. And if nothing else, you can easily spend hours listening to all the ridiculous ringtones other people have made for themselves, and maybe even use one or two.
Originally Published: Issue 647 - May 7, 2008
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