I like to get advice from friends on all sorts of things, and love to give it even more. In the past few years, instant messaging, e-mail and Twitter have sped up the process, but there’s still room for improvement. The creators of a free Web service called Aardvark think they have the solution. Aardvark lets you ask questions that get routed to friends and friends of friends. The goal is to quickly deliver specific answers on everything from apartments to zoos. Aardvark is far from the first relayer of online advice. For example, Yahoo Answers and LinkedIn let users give each other guidance. The recently launched Hunch.com uses software to offer people answers on a number of preselected topics. But Aardvark is counting on setting itself apart with a combination of software (which analyzes and classifies queries) and trusted hardware (people who sign up to ask and respond to questions within a relatively confined social circle). While the service

has a ways to go, it’s fun, clever and helpful. You can sign up through Aardvark’s main site, vark.com (aardvark.im also works), though you currently must have a Facebook account, because that’s how Aardvark knows who your friends are. Once that’s done, there are many ways to use Aardvark: On its main site, via instant messaging services like Google Talk and AIM, over e-mail or through Twitter. I primarily tested Aardvark through Google Talk, which runs on my computer and smart phone. When I was off-line, Aardvark shot me answers by e-mail. You can also set your account so it will e-mail you questions when you’re not online. Initially, I was skeptical about the quality of answers I would receive, partly because I didn’t have many friends using the service. But the network effect is powerful: By including friends, friends of friends, classmates, co-workers and people…

See original here:
Review: Need Advice? Aardvark Can Sniff It Out