Ever hoped someone wouldn't pickup?

I have friend that I’m pretty close with, we hangout, go places and have a generally good time together. The catch; I refuse to talk to him on the phone. The guy can go on and on about nothing. I once called him to ask if he wanted to see a movie and it took me 15mins to get off the phone. I only wish I had this site back then for situations like that.

Slydial.com (nice name) is a service that connects you directly to your contacts voicemail. Avoiding the conversation and still leaving you able to communicate verbally. Sometimes a txt message just won’t do and sometimes a txt message can be inappropriate. In fact there are dozen reasons why you may need to call but want to avoid the conversation it’s self. With Slydial you can do just that. An added bonus on some phones/carriers that voicemail arrives and shows that the receiver has missed a call. Slydial is free to use without signing up or logging in. And with a premium account you can also get rid of the ads. One thing to keep in mind, Slydial only works to connect with the voicemail of mobile phones. You can call from any phone but makes sure it’s going to a mobile device. I know we’ll be making use of this service in the future. So do everyone a favor and use your new found powers for good. Check out these slydail videos.

Does Index Size Matter?

click the images to visit Cuil.com

Cuil.com the search engine designed by ex Google employees launched earlier today. The new engine claims to index 120 billion webpages, supposedly more than the designers’ former employer. Although as far as we know Google doesn’t publicly state their index count anymore. Cuil also taking an interesting route away from it’s former employer and claims not to retain the search histories or surfing patterns of its users. Something becoming more common among search engines. Kudos for that.




Cuil’s Philopshy as taken from the website” Cuil’s goal is to solve the two great problems of search: how to index the whole Internet—not just part of it—and how to analyze and sort out its pages so you get relevant results.”


After spending a little time using the site, we're pretty pleased with it. We are definitely liking the slightly more visual display of results and the tab feature. The question is can/will Cuil become the common place search engine that Google has? Only time will tell, one things for certain, the more search engines we tryout the more we realize that there is something addictively simple about Googles layout that just can't be touched. While we're a fan of visual layouts (ex. Cuil, Viewzi) the real test comes in the form of functionality. Would you head to Cuil while working on a research paper? Or perhaps looking for a funny clip to share with friends? These are things that each user will have to take into account. We actually wanted to do a side by side comparison on Google vs. Cuil results and apparently Cuil's site is having a bit of difficulty at the moment so perhaps that will wait for another time. Even the current giant has down time so we won't hold that against them and as far as the site goes, we like it. And we'll be sure to check in on Cuil from time to time.

Incidentally this site came to our attention via a Twitter from Kevin Rose 2 hours ago, owner of Digg.com and host of popular podcast show Diggnation. (Like you didn't know) Lastnite around 1-2am eastern pacific time. Kevin went live via Ustream and shaved his head for charity and challenged others from the tech, podcast world to do the same. video below.










Yeah...it was 2am, and we were entertained for 20mins so sue us.

Telvesion and the Internet to Marry this Summer!

It’s not exactly news that many shows and networks are offering online content to go along with their on-air content. In fact, aside from the official network sites, there are several sites and or broadcasting programs that offer to bring television to your computer. That being said we want to introduce you to one of our favorites. We’ve had this site in mind since we started this Blog. Hulu.com, a site that launched in March of this year. Hulu brings the content from several television networks together in one place. Hulu features both current primetime shows and some of your favorite shows of the past. As well as offering a nice selection of movie content and sporting events. Pulling together over 50 content providers Hulu is sure to have something for everyone.

With Hulu a new episode of your favorite primetime show such as The Office, Hells Kitchen or House is available the day after it airs on television. And you can sit down and watch old episodes of your favorite shows of the past such as Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Married with Children or the Dick Van Dyke Show. And for those who might simply want to share that funny moment from the night before with a friend the site also offers clips from many of the primetime shows such as; Saturday Night Live, Family Guy and The Simpsons.

Cheap Gas real fast

Just a quick one for now. Got a little derailed after the 4th.

If there’s one thing we can all relate to these days it’s Gas Prices. Nobody’s happy about it and everyone wants the cheapest gas they can find. With gas prices not scheduled to take a nose dive anytime soon. It’s a wise idea to shop around for the lowest prices. So if you have a few minutes to spare before you head out to your given destinations checkout Gasbuddy.com

(Click the map to view gasbuddy.com)

The Page navigation looks a little busy at first glance but using the site couldn’t be simpler. Just enter your zip code in the search field and be given dozens of gas prices from your local area. The site gives you the option to search regular, premium and diesel fuels. Also if you log in you can download a widget for your desktop to display and report your local gas prices. GasBuddy.com

A Rip in time...saves you from boredom.

Let’s face it, the vast majority of us who spend time browsing the internet end up there just because we’re looking for something to kill time. Not all of us are busy video conferencing with business partners, or developing Web2.0 apps. So when the myspace and youtube itch has been satisfied; a good time killer site is just what the webmaster ordered.




The Idiot test site was actually sent to us via myspace a while back. Took us a while to track down the link again. Basically this site is going to test your listening skills and possibly your patience. The Links/buttons all look pretty cool and if you’re stuck at work or even bored at home this will keep you entertained for at least a few minutes. We'll be sure to inculde more time killers in future updates. The Idiot Test can be found at the following link. The Idiot Test

The following vid comes to you via Ebaumsworld.com.While this isn't our endorsement of ebaums we just thought this vide was pretty cool and decided to share. I’m sure many of you have been kept awake late into the night while the neighbor’s kids shot of fireworks for the last week or so. And with the 4^th less than 24hours away, your nights aren’t getting any more peaceful anytime soon. I know my neighbors like to let off fireworks up to a week after the 4^th has past. So onto the vid, apparently this is a display that sets 2 world records. The most interesting being the most fireworks ever set off at once. As the title says watch what happens when 10 million fireworks go off. In our opinion it looks more like a scene from Mordor.

Happy 4th of July!! Enjoy and be safe!!

Take in the View

One of the coolest sites I've come across lately and the topic of my first post here; comes in the form of a search engine. I know I know, google does a hundred more things than you need it to already. Trust me if you haven't already checkout the newly launched site. Viewzi.com "Viewzi is a new and highly visual way to search that brings all your favorite stuff together in one place."



Still in beta, when you first load the site. The layout is clean and pretty simple, hopefully in time they’ll find some way to give visitors a preview of just how nifty this site is from the start. Type in your search, and then be given over a dozen different categories aka ‘views’ to browse; depending on how specific your search is. All presented in a visually pleasing layout. A few of the categories/views include: (MP3) which will play snippets and sound clips or full songs depending on your search criteria. (Video x3 View) which loads results from sites such as youtube, blinkx and veoh. Taking advantage of blinkx’s motion preview thumbnails give the page a cool look as it loads. (4 sources view) which as near as I can tell visually brings you the top results from 4 sources. Google.com Yahoo.com MSN.com and ASK.com This seems like the perfect site to use on the new iPhones. If anyone gets a chance to test that out be sure to lets us know.

A new way to search taking advantage of the abilities of modern computers. It may not knock Google off the top spot anytime soon but Viewzi.com is certainly a new and innovative way to search; while taking in an interesting view.

Check out the corporate site for more info http://corp.viewzi.com/

Baby Steps

This is the starting point for the actualization of an idea. Here, RefreshYourNet will bring to you, new and innovative websites from all over the web. For everyone from the hardcore net user to the occasional e-mail checker; RYN will attempt to bring you websites with a fresh look and cool ideas. Stay Tuned.