vark.com - Your dynamic advice network

Aardvark - or vark.com is an interesting concept. You sign up, express some interests, and then become part of an amorphous advice network.

The user experience happens via instant messenger (IM) (or, at least that's how I'm setup) - which is actually quite natural. You participate by both asking and answering questions about any topic of interest. So far, I've answered two questions:

if i am trying to learn programming, should i start with ruby or objective-c? i want to build iphone apps, but i am wondering if it is better to learn ruby first and then graduate to objective-c.

and

How should I get the attention of my husband? He is workaholic.

It's an excellent concept, and the interactive experience is done quite well. The Aardvark bot senses when you're too busy to answer questions, gives you the opportunity to skip questions, and even tries to expand your interest set - for example, asking me about marriage and taxes because I mentioned I'd offer answers about marriage¹.

Give it a try, you might just find it the right venue for answering that pressing question. If nothing else, it's a fun exercise trying to codify your advice in tiny-IM sized bites.

Thanks Manoj for suggesting the service!

¹You'll be pleased to know that I made it abundantly clear, I don't have any advice about marriage and taxes to offer. Well, I have one bit of advice: don't piss off your wife, if she does taxes.