Hardball Frenzy 2 – This sequel is an upgraded version of the first in terms of style and colors, but the concept of the game remains the same: shoot the green rounded objects. Find a way to bybass the big nasty red ones, and be sure to be precise when bombs are involved…

For many more exciting and highly addictive online games, visit our  I♥GAMES page and be in-the-know on a daily basis. 

CriticalPast – Forget about the History Channel; now you can tap into more than 57,000 videos of historical videos depicting important, influential and compelling moments in history, available for free viewing online. CriticalPast is “one of the world’s largest collections of royalty-free archival stock footage.”

Aside from the obvious educational value CriticalPast possesses, the amazing footage you can explore on this site is simply phenomenal. Superb content along with a slick, easy to use interface make CriticalPast a must stop if you have some spare time in your daily routine. Browse the videos by decade, country, or simply type in a keyword into the site’s search box. See the video below of a German sailor dancing with a girl outside a house in Europe in 1913.

Blippy – A first of its kind community shopping  forum and review hub, Blippy is here to let you consult, advise on and share your purchases, whatever the product. According to Blippy, the site is “a community of people helping each other discover interesting things by reviewing & discussing almost everything we buy.”

For those afraid of privacy issues, don’t worry; Blippy allows you to set sharing limits to your information and purchases, so whatever you want off the radar will stay that way. As for me, I sincerely admire Blippy’s novel and creative concept, but I think for now I’ll wait to see how the site progresses in the next few months. If you’re interested in exploring Blippy for yourself, signup with Facebook Connect, import your friends’ contact info and start sharing.

Here’s an introduction video to learn more on Blippy. Enjoy.

Kngine – A new Web 3.0 search engine “designed to provide meaningful search results,” Kngine tries to offer a search engine with an added value. Yours truly took the search engine for a test drive using the keyword phrase ‘BP oil spill,’ and compared the results with the same search on Google. The screen shots below show Kngine’s results compared to Google’s.

As you can see (if the screen shots aren’t clear enough, click on them for the respective results page), the Web search results for the chosen keyword phrase are for the most part identical. No real innovation there. Where Kngine really shines though, is in their additional search themes such as Kngine Movies, Music and my favorite, Kngine Stats. This last feature offers great graph based statistical information on an array of topics ranging from energy and economics to culture, food and education. See the screen shot below of the Kngine Stats search I did for Exports of goods and services in different countries. It’s great stuff!

The Google giant indeed offers amazing free products, and the one that let them break into the market was their flagship service, Web search. However, it has yet to offer the innovative perks Kngine does. I strongly suggest that you take the time to explore Kngine and the various services it offers. It’s refreshing, extremely user friendly and engaging.

IdiomDictionary – This fun and handy tool offers the identification, explanation and etymological description of over 5000 idioms found in the English language. Simply type in any word and you’ll be presented with a list of related idioms. Clicking on any of these will propmt a clean page giving a short definition of the idiom, its use in a sentence and a brief etymological explanation (origin history of the word or phrase).

Look at the screen shot below of my search for an idiom many of us can identify with at this time of year: Dog Days.

Bandcamp – Where do new music artists and bands go to publish their music online? MySpace for the most part. It’s not a bad service; there’s the textual content you can publish as a band or a performer, chat with fans, and upload your music using the MySpace music player. However now there is a much, much better alternative. I dare call it the best online solution available for upcoming musicians, singers and bands.

Bandcamp truly is the ultimate virtual stage for musicians, bands and singers seeking professional and effective publicity, not to mention interaction with their fans. The music advertisment dominance by MySpace has come to an end, succeeded by a comprehensive multi-functional, multi-opportunity, beautiful music hub for artists and bands. Bands are provided with an array of tools including visitor statistics, excellent sound quality music player, music sales platform, different music download formats your fans can choose from, mailing list and loads, loads more.

Why settle for the mediocre when you can get the absolute best in every possible aspect? Bandcamp should be your 1st choice. Actually, your only choice. See the screen shot of a featured band called Mars Argo I came across Bandcamp, and also be sure to check out the site’s video which shows Bancamp’s power in a nutshell.

MyFitnessPal – This is another ambitious calorie tracking and fitness site on a mission to help its users lose weight and keep it off. According to MyFitnessPal, the site focuses “on making sure you can log your meals as quickly and easily as possible. Because the easier we make it for you, the more likely you are to stay on track, and the more likely you are to succeed in your weight loss goals.”

Their mission is commendable but I’m always a bit suspicious when it comes to online fitness journals/diaries. As I see it (and please take this with a grain of salt), most people find it more tedious to keep logging back to the website and fill in their daily diet/exercise information rather than, say, follow a fitness plan with an actual buddy.

I absolutely salute MyFitnessPal for the effort, the offered tools and the great free service. They certainly have done all they possibly can to invite people to a healthier lifestyle. I have my own weekly plan of exercise and food intake and I don’t need a Web aid to stay fit, but that’s just me. I guess you’ll simply have to try it out to see for yourself. See the screen shot below for some of the offered tools on MyFitnessPal.

By the way, for a variety of wonderful diet and exercise resources, visit our Health & Fitness mini page.

BoreMe – Claiming to offer “a collection of bite-size entertainment circulating the internet,” BoreMe does just that and delivers amazing and intriguing videos you won’t easily find elsewhere. This is yet another terrific coffee break stop/offbeat site you will enjoy if you have a couple of spare minutes in your busy day. See the surprising video below to get a taste of the delights you will find on BoreMe.

Twaggies – This funny and creative site is unusual in the most positive sense, offering original and totally hilarious illustrations and graphics, usually accompanied by sarcastic/downright funny commentary. Having scored the crown of the Weekly Blogs, Twaggies nailed the Weekly Fave spot last week and it’s also one of my personal favorites.

Twaggies does it right: a sort of a creative visual tweet generator, each post is short, composed of one illustration or visual creation, and you are invited to follow that visual’s creator on Twitter.  Moreover, navigating through the site is easy and appealing; you  can dig the archive, choose a category or click the Random Twag Generator for maximized entertainment. That is how I found this lovely visual, created by @xenijardin. Enjoy.

Everyone – One of the most inspiring media projects I’ve seen in a while, Everyone is a production company based in NY and Los Angeles. Having an impressive history of past clients such as NPR, Radiolab and Mediacom, Everyone is a visual content virtuoso, cleverly presenting the subtlety, oddity, beauty and narratives of the modern human culture.

There is no other way for you to understand what I’m referring to without sitting down for a couple of minutes and seeing the majestic power of superbly edited and shot, short movie stories of Everyone. See Words, my current favorite, below (by Everyone, in collaboration with WNYC’s Radiolab and NPR; directed by Daniel Mercadante & Will Hoffman; Supervising Producer: Robert Krulwich; Original Score: Keith Kenniff (unseen-music.com).

Color Theory – Work the power of colors to your advantage and manipulate your path to the next level. This retro style game seems harmless, but you will have to outsmart the obstacles in your way if you wish to proceed and win this game. For more addicting and fun games, join us on our I♥GAMES page on Facebook.

fflick – Going to the cinema is still quite magical in my view; the big screen, the comfy seats and the smell of popcorn make the cinematic experience totally worth it. On the other hand, great entertainment is seldom free and a trip to the cinema costs an average of $12 (and that excludes gas expenses, snacks and beverages). Want to make sure your twelve bucks are well spent? Check out fflick.

Based on movies’ buzz on the Web that’s coming from Twitter feeds of users all over, fflick tells you which movies are worth your trip to the theaters. If you have a public Twitter account then you’re automatically a fflick member, which makes it really easy to find out which movies you should go and see. The fflick concept is so simple and so useful we just had to make it a Weekly Fave. Don’t you agree? See the screen shot below of the detailed review page of the movie Mao’s Last Dancer which really moved me. Highly recommended!