One of the most popular topics on the New York Tech mailing list as of late is about the startup Fiverr. The startup is a place where people post things they will do for $5. I bought a SEO report from a Fiverr user and it arrived within two hours. There are tons of listings on Fiverr from users all over the world. You pay for the tasks using Paypal and I found the payment and account system very easy to use. Most of the tasks I’ve looked at also offer “upgrades” which push the price over $5 and sometimes way over.

Dean Collins from LiveFanChat posted on the mailing list that the best Fiverr task to-date has been from a customer who requested a club remix of his recording of his stolen car to the Detroit Police. You can listen to the jam here – it was created by a musician in Croatia.

Here are five interesting tasks currently listed on Fiverr (click the links to watch the videos for each task):

Listing 1: I will be your girlfrend on facebook for a week for $5

Valentine’s Day is now long gone and next year you won’t want to be single on this very important holiday. Well user Dores from the UK will be your Facebook girlfriend for a week for $5. So doing the math, you and Dores can be hooked up for a year for just $260!

And if you are looking for a boyfriend, then check out user Kanisoori from the US – he too will change your status to “in a relationship” for $5 per week.

Listing 2: I will hand coo the song of your choice for $5

Based in the UK, this man with 23 positive reviews will “coo” any song you want for a $5 bill. No seriously – he will “coo” any song you want for $5.

Listing 3: I will say anything you script with my hands as puppets for 30 seconds for $5

With 40 positive reviews, user buckywoods from the US will say anything you want using his hand for up to 30 seconds for a crisp $5. You can tack on an upgrade for an additional $5 that will allow you to post a URL inside the video.

Listing 4: I will keep your secret safe for $5

Killed someone recently? Had sex with an ex and now you think you might be pregnant with his baby? Not really a social media expert even though you say you are? Well then user Realwahl from Italy is the person you need to connect with! For $5, you can tell him your secrets and he will keep them safe. He promises not to tell anyone!

Listing 5: I will promote your website, say your message while in the shower for $5

If you need more promotion to your website or want something funny for a friend, maybe give user melaishere from the US a try. For a $5 bill she will say your message or website while she is in the shower. Her big upgrade costs another $5 and for the $10 total she will be soapy in the shower while she says your message. She does make it clear that she will not do topless or nude videos.

Find any interesting Fiverr tasks? Post them in the comments!

Check out some of the latest web technology and business jobs posted for February 12, 2012 on the CenterNetworks Job Board. Subscribe to the CN Jobs feed and get all of the latest Web industry jobs delivered directly to you.

Featured Jobs:

• Lead PHP and Javascript developer at Indiewalls
• Information Systems Developer at The Metropolitan Museum of Art
• Senior User Experience Architect Technician at Allstate Insurance

More Jobs:

• Vice President/Director, Digital Services at LipmanHearne
• Web/Interface Designer at Garmin International
• Application Developer (Programmer/Analyst III) at University of California, Irvine

Employers – Join other top companies on the CN Job Board. Post your jobs today – only $10!

Below is a recap of the February 10, 2012 episode of the ABC show Shark Tank (episode 302). If you are unfamiliar with Shark Tank, the concept is simple – entrepreneurs pitch their ideas to a panel of investors and the investors have to provide at least the amount the entrepreneur is seeking for a deal to be completed.

Tonight Barbara Corcoran was replaced by QVC product creator Lori Greiner.

Pitch #1 – The Swilt

Ivori Tennelle pitched her product called, “The Swilt” which she describes as a sweater and blanket together. She was seeking $30k for 35% investment and wanted to use the money for SEO and to create inventory. None of the sharks were interested and Lori noted that the Snuggie is dead.

Pitch #2 – Show No

Up next was Shelly Ehler presenting her “Show No” towel. Basically it is a changing towel for kids so they can change into dry clothes at the beach or a water park. So far Shelly has sold $15k in Show No towels to two major amusement parks. Shelly was seeking $50k for 25% investment. This was one of the most heated battles between the investors to-date. Kevin O’Leary referred to the product as a “towel with a hole in it” but the other investors were very interested. Final offers were: Lori at $75k/25%, Damon John at $75k/20% and Mark Cuban at $75k/25%. Shelly selected Lori Grenier’s offer and Lori actually handed a signed check to Shelly – a first for the show (although I would assume it was to make good tv).

Shark Tank Update – Notehall

I am sure you already have heard about Notehall – they signed a deal with Barbara Corcoran for $90k and last year sold to Chegg. Venturebeat noted that Chegg gave Notehall $3.7 million in stock plus an undisclosed amount of cash.

Pitch #3 – Puppy Cake

I am not a dog person so I certainly don’t get this one but Kelly Chaney presented her creation called the, “Puppy Cake“. The Puppy Cake is a cake mix for dogs so you can create a cake for the dog’s special day. She was seeking $50k for 25% and Kelly noted she has $80k in sales over her 4 years in business. Unfortunately none of the investors took the deal. Somehow I think that the idea would work better if Kelly made the cakes and sold them in specialty food stores.

Pitch #4 – Wine Balloon

Last up was Eric Corti with his invention the, “Wine Balloon“. The product is basically a balloon that you insert into a bottle of wine, pump it up and Eric notes that it saves the quality of the wine better than any other device on the market. This was yet another hot battle for the investors. Eric was seeking $40k for 30% and Kevin O’Leary offered exactly what Eric was seeking. Lori Greiner offered $500k for 100% of the company. Mark Cuban joined Lori and offered a combined $600k for 100% of the company. Eric didn’t accept quick enough and Lori and Mark came back with an offer of $400k for 100% and Eric accepted. So in the span of 3 minutes, Eric lost $200k.

Several friends and colleagues have noticed the HelloBar on CN noting that I am looking to sell the site and they have asked me why. It’s simple…I am focused on my startup now and just don’t have the time to put a real effort into CN anymore. I’d like to sell the site either as a domain name sale or the full site including all of the content.

Here’s part of what is included in the sale:
– centernetworks.com domain (domain age 1999)
– over 5,600 posts (CN uses WordPress as the blogging platform)
– other domains not being used today: centernetworks.net, centernetworks.org, centrenetworks.co.uk, centernetworks.co.uk
– the new owner would take over the CN Twitter account (nearly 10,000 earned followers)
– the new owner would take over the CN Facebook page

If interested or if you would like more details, please contact me at general@centernetworks.com.

The New York Technology Council held an incubator showcase for several NYC-based incubators last summer. Joly MacFie from WWWhatsup NYC posted a video of the event – you can watch the 90 minute event below. Here’s the presenter list:

• Bruce Niswander, Director, Technology Innovation & Entrepreneurship, NYU-Poly
• Daria Siegel, Director of the Alliance for Downtown New York’s Hive at 55
• Natalia Arguello, Director, NYDesigns
• Matthew Shampine, Co-Founder, WeWork Labs
• Charles Kemper, Managing Director, ER Accelerator

From what I can tell, Hive and 55 and WeWork Labs are more coworking/shared office space than a traditional incubator where a group trades services for equity. Since the list does include coworking, I must include the first coworking space in NYC, New Work City.

Next Tuesday is the annual holiday known as Valentine’s Day. The day is named after St. Valentine and over 150 million cards are exchanged – here’s the full history of this very special day. This year the new deal sites are holding a cage match with each site offering a deal with a national floral delivery service. Most of these deals expire asap so you should be quick if you want to grab some flowers for your sweetie. Also note that the delivery fees are higher for a delivery on Valentine’s day. Lastly, I see some of the local cities within the deal sites are also offering flower deals so make sure to check your local city before purchasing a national deal.

If you want to pick up flowers yourself, I am hearing the best deal for super fresh roses is Whole Foods with 2 dozen for $19.99. Make sure to call your local store to get current pricing. If you don’t have a Whole Foods in your area, Walmart is offering 1 dozen roses for $15 beginning today.

LivingSocial – offers $25 for $50 credit at Teleflora. I used this deal yesterday for some flowers for my mom who is recovering after some surgery – note, there is a $15 or more service fee and Teleflora added me to their email marketing list even though I specifically unchecked the boxes to be added to their lists. Voucher may be applied towards service costs.

Groupon – offers $20 for $40 credit at FTD.com. Voucher may be applied towards service costs.

Google Offers – from what I can tell, this deal has now expired but they were offering 2 dozen roses, vase and shipping for $45.

Amazon Local – offers $15 for $30 credit at ProFlowers. Voucher may be applied towards service costs.

Eversave – offers $25 for 2 movie tickets and a $10 gift card good at 1-800-flowers.com.

It’s important to note that there are tons of discount codes available for most of the online florists so make sure to spend a few minutes to find the best deal for the floral arrangement you are interested in.

Yakov Sadchikov, President & CEO of visual search engine Quintura, has put together the following list of the top 10 Russian web startups for 2011.

In September 2011, Russia became the largest Internet market in Europe with 51 million online users. Who are the top emerging internet companies that disrupt the Russian market. Find out below a list of top 10 Russian web startups of 2011.

1. Oktogo.ru

Having raised $5 million in venture capital from European early-stage investors, Oktogo.ru is #1 in Russian online travel. Russia’s ‘Booking.com‘ Oktogo.ru has not only collected the largest online hotel database in Russia but also baked it with user reviews from TripAdvisor.

Oktogo.ru CEO Marina Kolesnik is one of the most visionary female internet entrepreneurs from Russia.

2. ZeptoLab (Cut the Rope)

Russia’s answer to Rovio‘s Angry Birds, ZeptoLab‘s Cut the Rope reached 60 million game downloads in the first year from initial release without venture money.

Managed by Voinov brothers, Misha Lyalin and, from recently, Diana Moldavsky, Moscow-based ZeptoLab strives to leverage its Om Nom game character by releasing Cut the Rope sequel and branching out into comic books and plush toys.

3. Biglion

Heavily-funded by Tiger Global and Ru-Net, coupon service Biglion beats Groupon and other upstarts in the space in Russia. Biglion delivers the highest revenue growth in Russia’s internet history: from zero to $15 million monthly revenues in one and a half years. Biglion could be the next largest internet IPO candidate from Russia after Yandex in 2011 and Mail.ru Group in 2010.

4. Metabar

Metabar is the perfect example of how to turn a simple idea into a hundred million business. Founded by Yandex grad Michael Ushakov, Metabar offers browser toolbar creation service, just like Conduit. To grow fast, Metabar has raised $1 million from Runa Capital.