Do you know about picnik? If not, you need to. Picnik is an awesome site that simplifies the art of photo editing. And it’s free. Yes, they do have a premium service that costs $24.95 a year but most people don’t need it.

Here’s a brief rundown of their services listed on the picnik homepage:

• Fix your photos in just one click
• Use advanced controls to fine-tune your results
• Crop, resize, and rotate in real-time
• Tons of special effects, from artsy to fun
• Astoundingly fast, right in your browser
• Awesome fonts and top-quality type tool
• Basketfuls of shapes from hand-picked designers
• Works on Mac, Windows, and Linux
• No download required, nothing to install

“Fix your photos” is quite vague considering all you can do with your photos. Red eye reduction, teeth whitening, and blemish removing are just the beginning. You can add stickers, frame photos, and add text and effects. They even have a sandbox area where you can play to your hearts content. Best of all, it’s simple to use. And did I mention free?!

Not all of us can be Photoshop geniuses and for those of us who aren’t, be happy we have picnik.

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This week’s Sweet Site of the Week is: iLounge

For anything iPhone, iPod, iTouch, or i-Anything related, use iLounge. iLounge is a collection of previews, reviews, articles, and forums on everything iPod. Need a new case for your shiny new iPhone 3G? Check iLounge. Wondering which armband is perfect for your iPod nano? iLounge has the answers. Not sure which software is best for converting your DVDs to iPod? Yep, you guessed it. iLounge will send you in the right direction.

iLounge is well organized and full of useful information. First, they review anything and everything. They have reviews for things like adapters, armbands, and batteries to software, speakers, and even stickers. Of course, they review apps as well.

In addition, they have breaking news and useful articles. The Ask iLounge section has very useful tips and tricks when working with your gear. For example, the Ask iLounge article from 5-8-09 covers the following:

Organizing audiobooks, Problems transferring purchased items back to iTunes, Keeping played podcast episodes on iPod, Transferring iTunes library to a new computer, iPod shows no content, Using a new iPod with an existing iTunes library

And that’s just one article of the dozens on the site.

Another great feature is their link into PriceGrabber from the site. Once you find the item you want, they will link you straight into PriceGrabber so you can find it online at a reasonable price.

So if you’re a i-Anything owner, you should be using iLounge.

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This week’s Sweet Site of the Week is: LogMeIn

LogMeIn is basically a tool that is used to remotely access a computer from anywhere. On the road and need to access your home or work PC, use LogMeIn. Got a client in another city, or even country, that requires local support, use LogMeIn. Got a conference call and would like to present a PowerPoint for everyone to see, use LogMeIn. I think you get my drift but in case you don’t, here’s what LogMeIn describes itself as:

Businesses and IT service providers use LogMeIn’s solutions to deliver remote end-user support and to access and manage computers and other Internet-enabled devices more effectively and efficiently. Consumers and mobile workers use our solutions to access computer resources remotely, thereby facilitating their mobility and increasing their productivity.

I use LogMeIn Free to remotely access my home PC while I’m at work or on the road. So all I had to do was install a small app on my home PC and then no matter where I am I can log into the LogMeIn website and access my home PC. That’s it. I use it to access my personal email, my personal bookmarks, and my personal files. Maximize the screen and you can’t tell the difference between your home monitor and the one you’re using remotely. And it’s so convenient. In case you were wondering, there is a version for the Mac and there is even a iPhone app you can use to remotely control your home PC as well.

So if you ever need to access anything from your home PC while at work or on the road, I suggest you use our Sweet Site of the Week, LogMeIn.

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This week’s Sweet Site of the Week is: Zillow.com

In a few short words I would call Zillow.com a home valuation website. But it’s so much more.

If you’ve ever in the market to buy or sell a home, Zillow.com may be one of your best friends. The website basically does most of the work your realtor does regarding home valuation. By compiling all the prices of recent sales of homes in and around your neighborhood, city, state and country, Zillow.com can give you accurate information regarding the value of your current home or the home you are looking to purchase. In the realty industry this is called comps or comparables. Much of your realtors’ job is to compile the comps so you know what you’re selling or what you’re buying is priced right. Well, this is the information age and now you don’t need a realtor for this information. Just navigate to Zillow.com and you will have all that information at your fingertips.

Recently, Zillow.com has branched out into other areas regarding home purchased. Zillow.com has a Mortgage tab where you can research mortgage interest rates, use mortgage calculators, and even get custom loan quotes. The newer Advice tab is also a nice addition. Here consumers and professionals can swap answers for burning questions on anything from buying and selling, to home improvement and mortgages. Finally, their Directory tab will get you hooked up with professionals in all areas of real estate. Lenders, agents, inspectors, movers, landscapers and the like can all be found quickly at Zillow.com.

So whether you’re buying or selling, or even waiting, using Zillow.com will give you the knowledge you need to navigate the realty market.

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This week’s Sweet Site of the Week is: woot.com

Ah woot! What I can I say about one of my favorite sites on the web? Woot is an addiction, a compulsion, and hard habit to break. There’s a strange obsession that happens once you start wooting. It’s weird. I can’t help but check woot every evening at 12pm central. And when that elusive bag of random crap comes up, I act like a fool trying to get my hands on one. Yes, I get all those feelings from a website.

It is difficult to describe what woot is. It’s an online marketplace for new, used, and usually refurbished items. It’s a site where you always get a great deal on whatever is on sale. Always. The trick is, there is only one item for sale per day. Yes, you read that right. One item per day. It could be anything from an iPod to a TV to set of speakers to a cell phone to a flash drive. Anything. It’s usually some sort of gadget or electronic item which I guess is another reason why I love it so much. The item goes up for sale at 12am central, stays on sale for 24 hours, then a new item goes on sale again the next day. Best of all, $5 flat rate shipping no matter what the item or the quantity. You can buy up to three items at a time but the shipping stays at $5. Even if you buy three 40″ TVs!

Woot is more than just gadgets. It has branched out to wine.woot and shirt.woot. At wine.woot, great deals can now be had on wines and wine accessories. Shirt.woot offers unique, one-of-a-kind, and custom t-shirt for $10 everyday (free shipping). Just like woot though, only one t-shirt is offered per day. Luckily, if you miss a great design, you can get a previous t-shirt later for $15. The best part about shirt.woot are the derbies. Shirt.woot puts up a contest for designers to submit shirts for. Wooters vote and the best t-shirts are put on sale.

So woot, wine.woot, shirt.woot, and sellout.woot (links you through yahoo shopping to a secondary woot page) are the sweet sites of the week. They are addicting. Try them at your own risk.

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This week’s Sweet Site of the Week is: yelp.com

The real goal of the Sweet Site of the Week is to highlight sites others may not know about, or at least don’t know how useful they are. To my amazement, yelp actually fits in both categories. I’m sure there are several thousand people out there thinking, “How does someone not know about yelp?” I know, and I agree. It shocks me how often I bring up yelp to someone and they have no idea what I’m talking about. But more shocking are the people that know about it, and don’t use it to its potential.

Yelp is a simple site. It’s a free online warehouse of reviews on anything. From restaurants to real estate and from health and medical to nightlife, yelp has a review for it. The best part is, it is all user reviews. Not some nose-in-the-air critic or posh “expert.” It has reviews from you and me and everyone in between. And I use it all the time.

Traveling and looking for a good restaurant? Check out yelp. I have eaten at many great food establishments that I would have never found without yelp. For example, if you’re ever near Sacramento, check out Manderes. Or if you’re ever near Redding, CA, check out The Downtown Eatery and Libations. With 100% surety I can tell you that I would have never found either of these with yelp. And these restaurants are amazing.

Going to Vegas and looking for a great show? Yelp suggests Jersey Boys as the top show in town. In New York for the weekend? The Benjamin is the hotel with the best service. In Phoenix for the week. Check out The Wrigley Mansion Club for the best nightlife. The list goes on.

The best part about yelp is using it where you live. Find out what others think about all the different places in town. Or, better yet, create an account of your own and help everyone else out with your opinions.

And for the iPhone users out there, don’t forget to add the free yelp app. So much information with the tap of your finger.

So when it comes to usefulness, yelp tops my list. And that’s why it’s this week’s Sweet Site of the Week.

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If you’re looking for a place to track all your personal finances, set and monitor reasonable budgets, and find ways to save money at the same time, then try mint.com.

Mint.com is a safe and anonymous website that tracks your spending and budgets. It performs most of the tasks that you get from expensive off the shelf software in a free, accessible, and secure environment. In fact, I find it’s easier to use.

First, the setup is a breeze. Just create an account and in just a few minutes you can add all your checking, savings, credit cards, loans, and retirement accounts into the system. You can also add your assets like your home and your car. In fact, mint.com will calculate your home value for you, sum it up along with all your other assets and debts, then give you an estimate of your total worth. Pretty cool.

After the initial set up, mint.com takes over. It will give you suggestions for ways to save money. After you set yourself some budget goals, you can create all kinds of alerts to make sure you are keeping on track. Mint.com will also send you weekly or daily updates regarding what’s happening across all your finances. I even got an email once letting me know that my credit card interest rate was increasing. The email told me I should call and see what’s up and even provided me with the 800 number for that card. That sold me right there.

Oh, and for those of you wondering why I haven’t mentioned Apple in this post, mint.com has a great iPhone app too. Free, of course.

So check out mint.com. You, and your wallet, will be glad you did.

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This week’s Sweet Site of the Week is: dealcatcher.com

I can honestly tell you that I never miss a deal or a coupon or a discount when I purchase online. And I can also honestly tell you that, for me, a very good portion of those deals, coupons, and discounts are found on dealcatcher.com.

Dealcatcher.com scours the internet for deals on everything from PCs to flowers and from clothes to diamonds. There is nothing dealcatcher.com doesn’t cover. Take, for instance, Dell. Did you know that Dell always has a sale going on? No really, always. As I’m writing this, dealcather.com informed me that Dell has savings of 15 – 25% on desktops, notebooks, and all-in-ones. Target has $5 off a $50 purchase. Old Navy has free shipping on orders over $75. There’s stuff like this all over the site.

But dealcatcher.com is more than just sale items and discounts. They also have printable coupons, Sunday ads, rebates, and a price compare engine. I used price compare to check the price of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W300 from this week’s Top 3. Instantly I got the bottom line price (total price plus tax plus shipping) from 7 different stores.

Now you know why dealcatcher.com is our Sweet Site of the Week. I like to save money, and I think you do too.

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And now, our first Sweet Site of the Week: SeatGuru.com

SeatGuru.com is not a site you will use everyday. However, when you do, you will be thankful. Trust me!

Next time you have travel scheduled, check out SeatGuru.com before selecting your seats. Just bring up the website, find the carrier you booked your ticket with, and select the aircraft you will be flying on. Unless you’re a part of the mile-high club, this is when the magic happens. You immediately get a graphical representation of all the seats on your plane along with a guide on which seats are good, and which to avoid. You can also hover over seats to get more details about why they are good, poor, or have mixed reviews.

On a personal note, had I know about this site before my 9 hour flight to Sweden a while back, I would have realized that the exit row seat I selected was right next to the bathroom and that for the entire 9 hours I was bumped by just about every person on the plane on the way to the bathroom and for about 90% of those individuals I had to let them know how to open the bathroom door because it would stick a little bit and they would stand there for a good 30 seconds messing with the door and causing a commotion if I didn’t say anything. Did I mention that I couldn’t sleep because of all of this? I’m not at all bitter though. I just wish I had known about SeatGuru.com earlier.

So there you have it. SeatGuru.com is the Sweet Site of the Week; because not all exit rows are created equal.

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