A few months ago, I wrote a post introducing Aardvark (aka Vark) – a service where your question is broadcast to those mostly likely able to answer it within the Aardvark community.

Vark has been really useful because I can broadcast a specific question without clogging Facebook or Twitter feeds, and count on someone with at least a basic knowledge of my query, to point me in the right direction.

Today, I got an email from CEO Max Ventilla:

Since you’ve blogged about Aardvark in the past, I thought you might be interested in some exciting developments…

…Anyone can join now at http://vark.com using their Facebook account. (We’re integrating with other social networks very soon.)

[Fan them on Facebook too.]

This is a great move on the part of Aardvark.  They’ve really come a long way in the last few months, partly thanks to the growth in number of users.  Once it reaches critical mass, it’s value will increase exponentially.

Five more suggestions that I think will make their tool and brand name powerful are:

1. Allow my Vark Q&As to be published to social network feeds, particularly on Facebook, Twitter and FriendFeed.
2. Facebook app that can also be a tab within a profile where friends can see your Vark profile, and question/answers.
3. iPhone app (this is already in the works)
4. And if an exact or very similar query has already been answered, to automatically “reuse” that answer for faster responses (with a like/dislike option).
5. Vanity URL to profile.  (I’d like “vark.com/sherry”.)

I enjoy Vark because it’s (almost) anonymous social networking: I’m interacting with strangers to help them out, and vice versa.  If you use the instant messaging (IM) tool for Vark, the unexpected randomness of questions breaks up my work day.  Vark “interrupts” subtly by asking “Are you there?” and you can choose whether to engage or not by typing “sure”, “busy”, or “pass”.

Try it out… you’ll be surprised at how much you actually know.

For fun, here are a couple questions I’ve asked:

Q: How do I know when the tires on my road bike are worn, if they have no treads?

A: You’ll start to see threads come through the rubber in places and/or you’ll start getting more flats. Also, if you don’t ride often, the rubber may be brittle before they wear and you’ll see significant cracking in the tires. (Portland, Oregon)

Q: Looking for video to audio converter for Mac/OSX. Any recommendations? (i.e. MOV to AVI, MPG, MP3, etc.)

A: try Audacity (from New Delhi, India)

A: iSquint for basic stuff. If it is not enough, try avidemux. (from Dublin, Ireland)

And a few answers I’ve given:

Q: What’s a great book for beginners to use when teaching themself Photoshop? (from Springfield, Missouri)

A: A nice cheap book: Adobe Photoshop CS4 Classroom in a Book. A more expensive, and better one: Photoshop CS4 One-on-One: Fundamentals (both on Amazon)

Q: Is there a way to take an RSS feed and have my email updated when new entries are posted? (from San Francisco, California)

A: Try Feed My Inbox: http://www.feedmyinbox.com/

Q: What is a nice Agrituruismo (country farm stay hotel) in Chianti region Italy for a family to visit in August? (from Los Altos, California)

A: We loved staying at Podere Le Manzinaie http://www.lemanzinaie.it/ The family was wonderful and amenities great. Included is a dinner with the family one evening.