This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of broadbandgenie.co.uk. All opinions are 100% mine.
I don’t move much, but when I do, one of the important things I look at is what broadband solutions will be available to me. I need my high speed access. Just last weekend, my mom, who has lived in the same house for years, got new broadband internet access. She called me for help with figuring out what all this stuff meant and which provider to use, but what if I didn’t know?
This is where a site like Broadband Genie comes in. They offer comparisons of broadband (and other) services along with guides, news, tools, etc. Here’s what they have to say about why you might want to use their site:
* Save time and money. We spend loads of time gathering and checking all the price and package data from all the top providers, so you don’t have to.
* Be a sheep, make your life easy. If you don’t want to trawl through the comparison tables looking for that special deal, see what our experienced editors and users recommend.
* Get an education. If you want to learn all about broadband internet, how it works and how to compare it, then let us translate it all into plain-English for you. We’ve got help guides, blogs, daily news, and loads of places you can ask questions or just have a good moan.
For those in the U.S., the site won’t be much help in regards to comparing services. Non-UK readers still have plenty of reasons to visit, though, so keep reading.
Compare Broadband Providers
In the interest of the review, I pretended I was in Staffordshire and used Google to find an address where I could pretend to live. This yielded much better results from Broadband Genie, which returned a list of broadband providers in order of suggested use. The list displayed the initial setup cost, monthly cost, contract length, speed, and download caps as seen below.
I was able to sort by any of the columns I mentioned above and more information was a click away, taking me to a page loaded with information specific to the provider. The provider page included service highlights, an overview of different packages, a “road test” widget showing overall user ratings, and customer reviews. This page proved to be a pretty good snapshot of what the provider has to offer.
Compare Mobile Services and More
This site goes beyond just home/office broadband to also compare mobile phone services, pay as you go mobile broadband, and even deals that give you a laptop (with a contract for the mobile broadband). These work in the same way, providing a sortable ordered list and detail pages.
Tools and Guides
Before buying any services, it’s helpful to get educated. Broadband Genie starts with a broadband guide right on the home page to answer questions like “What is broadband?” and “What are modems, routers & dongles?”. Additional guides help you determine compatibility, understand broadband speeds, and even help guide you through setting it all up. Along with the guides, the newsletter, frequently updated News section, forums, and “Ask the Genie” form seem to make sure you’ll find the answers you’re looking for.
Once you’ve learned all about broadband speeds, you can test your own to get an idea of what your needs might be. The first time I ran the speed test, it actually crashed Firefox. When I loaded it up again, it worked great, so I can’t say if that’s a bug or my browser was just having one of its fits. I’ve since tried on another computer in Firefox, and Chrome with no crashing problems, but I’m not sure the results are reliable. They seemed much lower than I had expected, so I headed to another site that returned vastly different numbers which were very close to my expectations.
Conclusions
The speed test didn’t impress me at all, but it was a small bump in a very smooth and freshly paved road to broadband knowledge. Broadband Genie had what I expected. Then it had more and more and even more. I still feel like I left some stones unturned on this site and can only imagine other features I’ve missed. It really only needs two things to be perfect, a U.S. sister site and maybe a better speed test (assuming it’s actually inaccurate).
Also, for those in Australia, Broadband Genie has an Australian site too, which also compares mobile broadband and broadband deals.
This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of SellMyMobile.com. All opinions are 100% mine.
This weekend, I was asked to review a file search engine called General Search. It’s a site where you can search through a few of the biggest file sharing web sites on the Internet.
How Does It Work
It’s pretty much just what it looks like. You head to the site and initiate a search for whatever files you’re looking for. If you need a Windows XP driver for a Sony DSCP110 camera, just type in the camera model and “driver” and hit search. The site brings back results and shows some helpful information such as a short description, file name, size, and hosting site. When you click on the link, you’re taken to the site to download the file. Bandwidth costs money, so most hosts have a (sometimes slower) free version or you can pay for membership to the host site for faster downloading.
General Search lets you pick which file host to search through if you want to narrow it down and if you register for one of their free accounts it will keep track of your past downloads so you don’t have to search again if you lose a file.
Why Would I Use This?
To answer this question, you should first ask why you would need to look through the file hosting sites this site searches. The biggest reason is to find obscure or otherwise hard to find files. A great example is if you wanted to track down an older driver that worked better for you but the manufacturer’s web site only has the latest driver. In such a case one of those file hosting sites might have the older driver and this file sharing search site might help you track down that file. So it’s good to have a site like General Search bookmarked for circumstances like these.
Additionally, it’s sometimes fun to take a look at the top or recent searches and see what people are looking for. You never know if you’ll discover some new song or funny video.
Content Quality
To be quite honest, I’m not as familiar with Uploading.com, but RapidShare seems to attract a lot of porn and pirated files. It seems like they do a pretty good job of removing anything copyrighted or illegal, but don’t be surprised if you see some adult themes in the recent and top searches. I suppose this could be a good thing if you’re looking for that stuff. If not, just type in what you’re looking for and the other spectrum of content shouldn’t get in the way of your search too much.
One of the things that I saw that I was unhappy with was a search result directing me to a site other than one of the actual file sharing sites. This alternate site pretends to try and connect to get your file and then tells you that this particular file needs you to create an account. It’s not illegal and I don’t know if it even tries to get money from you, but it’s a little sneaky and doesn’t seem very nice. I always ignore those and head back to the search results. I don’t know if I’m being directed to that site by General Search or by the file host.
Conclusions
Although I didn’t like the fake download registration option I came across, General Search, itself was fast and yielded some good file results. As a test, I was able to find and download a Samsung camera driver pretty quickly, which beats looking through forums for a while. I’ve bookmarked this site for my future file needs.
There are many things that are certain on the Internet. One of those things is that Chuck Norris is a cyber-idol. Another is that people will never cease to surprise me with how creative they can be. You may or may not know it, but Google offers up some very helpful (and sometimes funny) suggestions while you search and these suggestions are based on common search queries. After remembering some really funny suggested search phrases people found, I thought I’d see what I could find on my own.
Chuck Norris can…
We’ve all heard it before. Chuck Norris is a god and can do anything. What I wasn’t aware of is some of the creatively specific things people on the Internet are convinced he’s capable of. My second favorite is “Chuck Norris can divide by zero”.
My teeth…
The rest weren’t funny, but seethrough? Really? I think you should get that looked at. And how many people typed that in to make Google suggest it?
I smell like…
Some of this is gross, but maple syrup? Kinky.
I laughed so hard I…
Surely it’s a song lyric or title, but that fact that this “I laughed so hard I…” phrase made me laugh earned it a spot here.
What’s your favorite of the ones above? Have you found your own? Share in the comments!
I spend a lot of time online. I think it’s somewhere around 16-18 hours a day, really. Because of this, I also spend a lot of time looking things up, from directions to music lyrics to how to fix a computer. Today, I thought I’d share some of my favorite resources. While this list certainly isn’t complete, I think it represents some of the most useful sites on the Internet when it comes to finding things online.
Information Google – As a developer, I’m constantly looking up functions, code examples, error messages, etc. and Google is the number one source for finding what I need quickly, be it code examples, recipes, what time it is in London, etc. Tips: Try the advanced search and then watch what it puts in the search box when you submit. You’ll learn a lot of useful tips to refine your searches. Also, note the links at the bottom of the advanced search. When looking for a song you heard but only know some words to, type in a lyric phrase (in quotes) that includes a unique word for more precise results.
Bing – I’m a fan of Google and Microsoft is the company everybody loves to hate, but MS seems to have come out of the gate with a pretty solid offering this time around. There’s things I’d change about it, but Bing is definitely worth a look. Tips: ToThePC.com has written 10 Bing Search tips & features for better searching.
Wolfram Alpha – WA was hyped for months because of it’s intelligent search features. Instead of a flexible, yet broad, search, they offer specific information presented in a report-like fashion. If you’re looking for a grouping of information about a person or company, this is a good place to start. It’s a bit like a mix of Google and Wikipedia Tips: Try searching for a gadget by name or just type in a mathematical equation. Try entering a few stock symbols and see the comparisons.
Yahoo Answers – Yahoo has lost a lot of ground in search, but they’ve come out on top when it comes to the answers game. Yahoo Answers is a great source for personalized answers when you can’t find what you need at the above sites. Ask a question and people answer and even help you choose the best answer. Great system. Tips: Be patient. You’ll need to wait for human interaction, unlike a Google search. See if your question already has an answer. Answer questions from others. It helps your karma and earns site points, too.
Music GEMM – Over the years, I’ve had a few drinks bought for me because I found some obscure album hiding away in a small shop in the Netherlands for a friend. Every time, it was a result of searching GEMM. If it’s rare and you need it badly, this is the place to look. Tips: If cost isn’t a factor but getting it now is, just search and buy, but you can also wait for another seller to have your item cheaper. Either way, be aware of seller feedback. I’ve never had a problem, but the feedback might be why.
CD Universe – CDU was the second site I ever found selling a wide variety of music online. Now offering movies and games, too, they are a great resource when you want the physical item and not just a digital download. Tips: Watch for weekly deals and releases. Also watch for pre-orders so you can be assured to get that newest album as soon as it drops.
Software Download.com – Usually, if I need commercial software, I run to Best Buy for it, but most times, I just need a video converter, chat program, or some other utility that can be found often for free or a low price at Download.com Tips: Filter by your operating system from the start to save time. Sort by user rating and if you have to have free only, filter by license before you download something just to find it’ll cost $100 after 10 days.
Images Google Image Search – I use Google to help me find images several times a week. It’s fast and (mostly) reliable for finding what I need. Tips: Use advanced searching like web search. Filter by size to find wallpapers or icons.
Flickr – Flickr is a great way to quickly find more photos from the concert you went to or even royalty free images for your blog posts. Just last week, I searched for “Woodstock 94″ and found lots of great photos that other people took. It was like I was there again. Tips: Search groups or images and use the sorting options. You can refine your search by showing images where your search words match the tags only.
Directions Google Maps – Always my favorite for any geographic search, Google Maps shows me as little or as much detail as I want. I can even use street view to see what a place looks like so I’ll recognize it when visiting for the first time. Tips: Zoom in to the area you want to find a business in and then search to see all results in just that area. As mentioned above, use street view to see what you’re friend’s house looks like before dropping by for the first time. Wander around in street view some time. There’s some interesting things to see.
BONUS: Products eBay – I was all set with my list of 10 sites, when I realize I couldn’t dare leave out my favorite product resource. eBay is my first stop when I want to find a product. Many times, I want something very specific and eBay seems to have the largest selection at varrying prices. If I’m looking to buy something, I can usually find it on eBay. Tips: If there’s a lot of an item but also a lot of buyers driving the price up, look for it outside of the expected category or look for a misspelling in the title. You can often find something with little to no bidding competition this way and get in cheap.
I’m sure some of you, at this point, are thinking “What about… ?” If you have a good site in mind that you think should have made this list, please add it in the comments and don’t be shy about including tips. What sites do you used to find things online?
I haven’t had to go shopping for an apartment since before the iPhone. I have a love/hate relationship with the task. I love to see a new place and imagine a new home and how I could dress it up, but I hate all the driving around and making notes about everything. That part feels like work. These days, however, the iPhone spoils us with all sorts of ways to make things like this easier. You know the saying: “There’s an app for that.”
The MyNewPlace app
When provided the opportunity to give a paid review of this application, I have to admit that I hesitated. I really thought it would be some mediocre app and, having not been apartment shopping for years, I was unaware of MyNewPlace.com, which is actually one of the biggest apartment search sites on the web with over six million listings. Before even deciding to review this app, I made sure to watch the video below, and that’s what convinced me to give it a shot. The video provides a quick walk through of all the features and how they work.
Of course, to provide a fair review, I needed to download the application myself and come up with an apartment shopping scenario. I decided to re-enact my apartment shopping task when I was moving Michelle out here to live with me. We needed a two bedroom place with some nice features, a decent pool, and close to my office and also to a freeway as she didn’t know where her next job would be. Armed with some base criteria and my new app, I set out for an adventure (on my couch, that is).
Searching
The first thing you’re asked for is a city and state or a zip code to search. Alternatively, you can use GPS for location-based searching, but I wanted to search across town today. I’m all about the fastest route and this was it. After typing in the zip code at my office, I had 76 results, but I have criteria, remember? So I tapped the “Filter” button and all sorts of filtering options showed up on a new screen. I wanted two bedrooms so I could have a home office. Air conditioning is a must-have, as is laundry and a pool, so I turned all those filters on. After applying filters, I got a new list back, narrowed down to 30 results, but I want it to be close to the freeway, so I tap the “Map” button and up pops a map with 30 little flags. Here, I was able to move up and down through the list with a couple arrow keys or directly tap a flag for base info. I could then further investigate a property by tapping it’s info box.
Property details Once a property has been selected, I want to see pricing details, photos, amenities, etc. I also want to know about deposits, pets, etc. The details area just says “Yes” for pets, which I have to assume means all pets are welcome. It also doesn’t show “Fitness Center” for one of the places I looked at like it does for other places, even though I know this complex has one. If that was a deal-breaker, I’d be avoiding a good complex for no reason. I’m unsure if that’s due to too many other amenities listed or the complex just didn’t include it when they submitted their data. From the details page, I can go to another map with just the one property listed, view photos, see a property description, see the unit options, call them, email them, email the information to a friend, save as a favorite, or enter notes and photos. The photo gallery is clean, offering a large view and five thumbnails along the bottom. I like that they accommodate more than five photos by just letting you flick the thumbnail list left or right for more. I think my property actually had twenty photos. You can also just ignore the thumbnails and flick right through the larger views. The property description page includes a thumbnail, name and address of the property, contact options, and a long blurb of text. In this case, the text included visible HTML that was neither parsed nor stripped, so that looked a little funny. The next option from the property’s profile page was “See Units” which just shows the available unit types and detail about each such as square footage, number of beds/baths, and monthly rent range. One of the little treats that brought it all home was the Notes & Photos area. Suppose I visited the property. I could note that it had a full (two-sink) counter in the bathroom and a large garden tub. Both are selling points for me but aren’t listed in the amenities. I could also take a few pictures during my walk through and they will be saved to this profile. As soon as I do either, it saves this property as a favorite. Of course, I can always get back to visited properties with the “Recents” and “Favorites” buttons on the starting screen.
My wish list
- Larger photos I can zoom in on.
- Floor plans.
- Some form of indicator on a button to let me know it is going to eject me from the app out to Google Maps or my email. (There should be a standard, actually, and all apps should follow it).
- More details in regards to amenities, etc.
Conclusion
For starters, you can hardly ever go wrong with free if an app is even a little useful, but how does it compare to the competition? To answer that question, I downloaded four more apartment search applications and put them through the same test scenario. Comparatively, the other applications I tried offered larger photos or more detail or in one case all sorts of things I didn’t care about, but none were as intuitive and functional. This app is very easy to use and for the most part, well thought out, but could use a couple extras like larger photos and more details.
Get Higher Ranking in Google
Before buying any services, it’s helpful to get educated. Broadband Genie starts with a broadband guide right on the home page to answer questions like “What is broadband?” and “What are modems, routers & dongles?”. Additional guides help you determine compatibility, understand broadband speeds, and even help guide you through setting it all up. Along with the guides, the newsletter, frequently updated News section, forums, and “Ask the Genie” form seem to make sure you’ll find the answers you’re looking for.
