webware

eHow is a fantastic how-to site that includes both videos and articles, though the focus is more on print instructions than video. The service enlists the help of professionals to create the more than 300,000 articles on the Web site. From learning how to tie a tie, to how to caulk, the site has it all. But if you're looking for video, you're not going to find much on eHow--it's designed to provide step-by-step text instructions. Sometimes--especially when figuring out how to build something like a deck--that's ideal. But for simple topics like learning how … Read more

About.com is a database of how-to guides and informational pages. Unlike crowd-sourced guide services, About only uses guides written by credible experts hired by the company. About.com picks its guides to write in certain subject areas. Their work is then overseen by a professional editor who copy edits, fact checks, and offers advice to improve their writing.

About's business model revolves around advertising and being listed in search results. Each topic page has its own contextual ads that are usually related to the topic. Users are then free to access the content without having to pay a … Read more

As the name might suggest, WikiHow is a wiki how-to guide, which is a populated by users of the site and powered by MediaWiki. It's essentially an extension of eHow, which itself has tutorials on a variety of subjects (and--actually--eHow has a lot more of them). As with any how-to, writers put together steps, tips, and warnings on any topic, and--in this case--other users can make additions or edits to those articles.

Like other wikis, wikiHow will let you search for articles, edit articles, and add your own articles. The site is very straight-forward and simple to navigate. You … Read more

Scour is a search tool that blends results from Google, Yahoo, and MSN together in one stream. You can hot-swap between the three, or break out any single result into another search. If you come across a bad result, or one you think should go above the others, you can also vote it up (or down) or leave a comment.

Unlike traditional search engines, Scour also has something called Friends Feed, which keeps track of friends on the service and tells you what results they are commenting on. It also allows users to add an image to their profile, redeem … Read more

Wikipedia is a free online encyclopedia. Instead of being authored by a select group of editors, Wikipedia can be edited by anyone anywhere, and at any time. Wikipedia is available in a large number of languages and has entries about nearly everything. It's become so well-known, people consider it an adjunct to Google as a place to find out more about almost any subject.

Each Wikipedia entry gets its own article as well as a built-in discussion in which users can talk about things they want to add or request changes from frequent contributors. There's also a history … Read more

Topix is a news aggregation service that pulls local news from a variety of local source and gives a large amount of control to citizen editors. On Topix.com, users apply for the job of editor for a topic or a community and once approved (as with Citizendium, it's not automatic), they can add stories, move stories around on the page, and remove the stories that the Topix "roboblogger" has added (the roboblogger does the necessary service of keeping alive pages that have no editors, or lazy ones). Designated editors also can write their own stories for … Read more

Yelp is an online reviews service for local eateries and attractions. Users can leave reviews for any business they've been to, including photos and personal anecdotes. Yelp then gives the establishment a 1-5 star rating based on the total number of ratings, which makes it easy to find out whether or not a restaurant is worth going to.

In a particularly handy turn, Yelp's service can also be found on mobile devices, allowing users to look up reviews on-the-fly when visiting a new city or confronted with an unfamiliar business. The service manifests both as a mobile-friendly Web … Read more

OpenTable is an online reservation service. It lets people find reservations at local restaurants and book them from their computer or mobile phone; all the while, not having to use the traditional system of calling or visiting the restaurants in person. The service is currently available in all 50 states (big cities, for the most part) as well as a growing number of international locations. Total number of restaurants is now in the tens of thousands.

OpenTable's reservation system allows customers to search for restaurants on three different criteria: type of cuisine, restaurant name, or location/neighborhood. Customers can … Read more

TripIt is a personal travel organizer aimed at casual and business users. If you forward your electronic travel confirmations (from an airline, car company, hotel, and so on) to it, TripIt will intelligently collate them all into one place, parse the information, and add related information as well, such as maps, weather, events (from Eventful) and photos of where you're going (from Flickr). The goal being to replace all your pages of printed confirmations with a single online page that has all the relevant information, nicely organized for you.

The TripIt "Itinerator" also has a social function: … Read more