Reasoning: you want something, they got it. You got something, they want it. Anyone can use ebay. Anyone at all. No matter what your personal interest are, somehow, you can use this site.
2) Google.
Sad to say, google is king of the internet. It's uses are universal and plenty.
3) YouTube
I consider YouTube to be the next form of free speech. Is there plenty of dumb stuff? Yes. But a variety of Vlogs with decent video's stuff people do in their backyard just really appeals to me. Anyone can literally voice their opinion, regardless of how stupid, to the entire internet.
A rarely talked about site, but the concept is that when people sit down and logically talk things out about a question, a better answer will come up than just asking one person. If you have a question, see what a group has to say.
5) Wikipedia
Quick easy answers, little research. Just don't quote them.
6) Atomfilms/Newgrounds
Honestly? I'm a huge fan of independent creativity.
7) Amazon.com
Online shopping made simple.
8) Mapquest
Mapquest was made for people like me. I'm an idiot when it comes to directions. Mapquest hasn't failed me once. Everyone should know about this site- it saves you time and effort.
Coolest nonfictional stuff ever. Always a good read.
10) Worth1000
Both artistic photography and manipulated photography. This is a true showcase of photoshop talent- an art you'll find no where else but online, and they have the best.
What are yours?
Posted by ricree101 (Member # 7749) on :
You've covered most of mine.
Digg.com Is another really good site. It is a link site where user can submit stories and once a story gets enough votes it gets promoted to the front page of the site. The comment section is ok. The posters aren't that great on average, but it does feel like they are getting better.
Project Gutenberg is another great site. It has a huge archive of texts that are in the public domain. If you are looking for anything that is old enough to be out of copyright, this is a good first place to look.
Also, it's not really a site, but I would encourage anyone who doesn't already read webcomics to look into them. There are plenty of great ones out there that you will surely be able to find some you'll love. I don't know of a good place to start looking offhand, but I'm sure someone can provide that in this thread. The ones I currently read are: Questionable Content Goats The Noob Penny Arcade Ctrl Alt Delete Posted by Jhai (Member # 5633) on :
Get Firefox.com If you don't already have firefox, you should strongly consider getting it. If you do have it, you should spend at least an hour getting the addons that make the browser much better for YOU. I particularly like "Add Bookmark Here" and "StumbleUpon." I've found my favorite websites through stumbling, and wasted many hours too.
www.bugmenot.com Allows you access to a lot of good websites that require logins, both purchased and free (but annoying to register at).
MIT OpenCourseWare Features the lecture notes, syllabi, quizzes, tests, and other fun stuff from many of MIT's classes. Free learning.
AcademicBlogs Wiki If you've got a subject you love, or something you've always wanted to learn more about, this wiki will lead you to blogs about the subject.
The BBC and The Economist are like the British versions of CNN/NBC/Fox and Newsweek/U.S. Weekly, except much, much better. Good places to get your news, especially if you want more than two headlines on international stuff.
Etsy Think of it as the Amazon or eBay of hand-crafted items (and supplies!). Great selection, beautiful things, and a wonderful inspiration.
I have a bunch more, but I think that will do for now.
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
It's always good to see how the rest of the world views things.
Posted by Belle (Member # 2314) on :
NoodleTools - a free MLA citation generator, for when you have that weird cite and your MLA handbook isn't handy.
Posted by El JT de Spang (Member # 7742) on :
Woot -- one great deal per day. It's hit or miss, but I got a 250 gig HDD for 40 bucks a few months ago. Mostly techie stuff.
Fark -- is the like the Jon Stewart of internet news sites.
Stripped music has exclusive live acoustic performances of about 30 big time musicians. Content is limited, obviously, but they have new stuff every week. A great timekiller if you like popular music.
Posted by Fyfe (Member # 937) on :
Shoutcast - my favorite place to get net radio stations.
Radioparadise - hands down, the best net radio out there. Yes, even better than Pandora. Where else do they have playlists that include Bob Dylan, Beatles, Beck, The Decemberists, Death Cab for Cutie, Tom Petty, Roy Orbison, The Cure, U2, Ella Fitzgerald, and Sting! (and streaming at 192kb)
Onion AV Club For unique interviews of musicians and artists by the people who brought you the Onion.
quote:Stripped music has exclusive live acoustic performances of about 30 big time musicians. Content is limited, obviously, but they have new stuff every week. A great timekiller if you like popular music.
Thanks! That acoustic version of "How to Save a Life" is amazing!
[ November 01, 2006, 08:41 AM: Message edited by: vwiggin ]
Posted by Euripides (Member # 9315) on :
I won't repeat what's already here, so here are some additions, in no particular order:
whereis.com Mapquest for Aussies. How many of us are there on Hatrack anyway?
Abebooks.com If you are having a hard time tracking down books, this site is definitely worth a try. It saved me heaps of time and got me out-of-print things I didn't know existed, but had to have when I found them.
Google Scholar Google for research - sometimes very useful.
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/ Had the best blog coverage of the Foley scandal as it was breaking. Multiple political bloggers on several linked sites.
I've only been going to http://www.blognoggle.com/politics.html for a few weeks, but it's cool. Tracks the top 100 political blogs, both right and left. Gives me a chance to see the Republican talking points of the day soon after the daily memo goes out.
Political humor: http://www.sadlyno.com/ Delights in ripping apart right-wing bloggers and pols in a funny way. Great comments crowd, very funny.
IMDB.com - Sorry if someone already mentioned this, too lazy to go check - The Internet Movie Database (how did I ever live without it?), and of course Netflix.
GardenWeb. All things gardening, helpful forums.
Posted by Icarus (Member # 3162) on :
Snopes Google BugMeNot TinyURL woot Hatrack
www.bn.com - Has a better search engine than Amazon, and gives you more options when ordering out-of-print books.
www.mlb.com - the best website of any professional sport, bar none. I especially love the streaming games.
I'm at work, so I don't dare try to type it in to see if I have the address right in my head, but something like www.theunderdogs.com is a great site for downloading "abandonware" for the PC.
www.download.com is a good site for downloading other software. As far as I know it's legal and safe. It's not all free or anything, but you generally get to try stuff before you buy it.
Posted by Dr Strangelove (Member # 8331) on :
Did I miss it or has The Onion not been mentioned? It's one of my regulars.
Also, an interesting sight for movie reviews is Plugged In Online I wouldn't recommend it for everyone, but it reviews movies for things like curse words, violent content, positive and negative aspects, and, probably controversially, spiritual aspects.
Oh, and also not for everyone, but for every college student: RateMyProfessor Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
www.pandora.com -- find music you love that you didn't know existed.
Posted by Morbo (Member # 5309) on :
Icarus, it's http://www.the-underdogs.info/ Thanks for that! I just downloaded an old favorite, 688 Attack Sub.
Posted by beatnix19 (Member # 5836) on :
homestar - actually surprised that this is the first mention
ninjai - a very cool flash animation site about a little ninja. Great animation, fantastic score and wonderful voice work. The story arc is not complete yet and it updates slowly but it is a great site.
JJ Huddle - Site dedicated to Ohio High SChool Athleteics. Great for fans, even better for coaches.
The Mat - Home of USA Wrestling. THis is the real stuff, not that crap on TV.
ESPN - Don't know what I would do without my daily fix.
Posted by El JT de Spang (Member # 7742) on :
ESPN is without a doubt the worst sports-news site on the internet, bar none. Buggy, ad-filled, and full of craptactular vids that load without my permission. In addition to that, most of the stuff I'd be interested in reading is subscription only content.
Si.com and cbs sportsline are both far superior, and even foxsports is a good bit better. I like the analysts at ESPN, but that site is just inaccessible at best.
Icky, agreed about mlb.com. And I don't even like baseball.
Posted by Dasa (Member # 8968) on :
Donate if you search -- Start your Google, Yahoo, Amazon etc searches from here and you can donate to your favorite charity while you search or browse.
The Hunger Site -- Click and donate food.
Posted by beatnix19 (Member # 5836) on :
while I agree that the site has it's probelems I continue to visit because it has the best sports analyst out there.
Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :
Slashdot Posted by Storm Saxon (Member # 3101) on :
That underdogs site is awesome. Posted by Storm Saxon (Member # 3101) on :
Except you don't get a license for stuff. Thought there was a license. Blah.
Posted by Shmuel (Member # 7586) on :
I can't believe no one has posted this. Weather.GOV
The absolute best source for weather information.*
Features:
NO ads
NO pop-ups
FREE!
*You're free to disagree with me, but you're wrong. Posted by sweetbaboo (Member # 8845) on :
Recipe Zaar cool website for recipes that are rated and with comments from other users
Cyndis List another genealogical website with several hundred thousand links to genealogical websites
There are so many other great ones listed, these are the only two that I could think to add.
Posted by imogen (Member # 5485) on :
quote:Originally posted by Euripides: I won't repeat what's already here, so here are some additions, in no particular order:
whereis.com Mapquest for Aussies. How many of us are there on Hatrack anyway?
Posted by Euripides (Member # 9315) on :
[ November 01, 2006, 10:06 PM: Message edited by: Euripides ]
Posted by SoaPiNuReYe (Member # 9144) on :
hiphopdx.com a decent site if you're looking for music that hasn't gone mainstream yet.
Posted by Baron Samedi (Member # 9175) on :
www.allmusic.com Don't take their reviews too seriously, or the "album picks" or ratings, which often drastically contradict themselves. But think of it as IMDB for albums. If you want to know how many albums a group released, what year they were put out, what was going on at the time, where they were from, and how long the third song on their seventh album is, this is the place to look. It will even give you a fairly complete list of works written by a classical composer, and every version of every piece you're ever likely to come across. Startlingly useful.
www.sacred-texts.com Scriptures and classical works from just about any religion you can think of.
www.npr.org/programs/asc/archives/index.html This is one of the most useful sites ever for discovering new music. These guys just listen to whatever is coming out, and then play full tracks from their favorite albums. You can either listen to full 45-minute shows, or just browse through the artists you think sound interesting and listen to their songs. Not all of it will fit any taste, but some of it will fit every taste. And the great thing is (unlike most review sites with text descriptions and 30-second clips) you'll know exactly what to expect before you buy it. I can't even estimate how much money this site has cost me. But none of it has been wasted.
www.npr.org/programs/specials/vote/100list.html Not as generally useful as the last one, but still endlessly entertaining. An archive of fascinating documentaries on some of the greatest American musical works of the 20th century. NPR is the greatest thing ever.
www.artrenewal.org/ This site moves a little slow, but I've never found a bigger collection of classic artwork anywhere else. One of those sites I could browse for hours without getting bored.
Posted by Tarrsk (Member # 332) on :
No need for Mapquest when the far superior Google Maps is available.
(True dat!)
(Double true!)
Posted by Samprimary (Member # 8561) on :
Bluesnews.com For all things game related. Gamefly.com Netflix for console games. If you want a free trial let me know I can set up 10 or so people for 1 month free. Kernel.org Kernel.org: Where to get the latest Linux kernel. WorldOfWarcraft.com WoW related things. MMORPG if you aren't in the know.
Most of the others I visit have been mentioned. /. SA Google Maps.
Posted by Eduardo St. Elmo (Member # 9566) on :
Elfwood.com A great collection of sci-fi and fantasy stories, as well as some other beautiful works of art.
Posted by erosomniac (Member # 6834) on :
Good gravy, how did I forget Pandora?
Posted by MightyCow (Member # 9253) on :
I'm biased because I write for them, but www.WiseGeek.com has a lot of useful information. It's all written by people who know their stuff, and the information is to the point and easy to digest, without lacking in content.
Posted by Euripides (Member # 9315) on :
I've used that site, and it really was helpful. No brownie points for presentation, but 10/10 for content.
Posted by Will B (Member # 7931) on :
You people are great. I'd used many of these, but some are new.
Posted by Shmuel (Member # 7586) on :
quote:Originally posted by Tarrsk: No need for Mapquest when the far superior Google Maps is available.
Y'know, while Google's interface is spiffy, I use Yahoo Maps much more often. The sidebar options are excellent; to pick one example I use a lot, it takes two clicks to include the location of every subway stop on the map.
Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
Its my mother-in-law's site. She can also answer most gardening questions (certified Master Gardener, and recent honor student at Gwinette University Agriculture Department)
Posted by Vamp96 (Member # 9030) on :
quote:Originally posted by Tarrsk: No need for Mapquest when the far superior Google Maps is available.
Y'know, while Google's interface is spiffy, I use Yahoo Maps much more often. The sidebar options are excellent; to pick one example I use a lot, it takes two clicks to include the location of every subway stop on the map.
It's my preference as well. And not just because I was using the old version for years, and it knows huge numbers of my addresses.
Posted by Shmuel (Member # 7586) on :
Oh, and I should probably plug InfoPlease, seeing as how I work there. Tons of information, incorporating an almanac, encyclopedia, atlas, and much more. Plus we have editors and factcheckers, for those who like that sort of thing.
(The kids' version is Fact Monster. There's a large overlap between the content, though each site has some stuff not in the other.)
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
quote:Originally posted by Shmuel: Plus we have editors and factcheckers, for those who like that sort of thing.
*amused* Such as those who are thus employed?
Posted by vwiggin (Member # 926) on :
quote:Originally posted by Shmuel: Oh, and I should probably plug InfoPlease, seeing as how I work there.
Shumel, I thought these listswere very interesting.
I've thought about putting up similar lists compiled by other sources (e.g. AFI's best 100 movies) on a commercial website I'm affiliate with. My very fuzzy memory of copyright law tells me that compilation of lists cannot be copyrighted. Is that pretty much the understanding of your editorial staff as well?
(check out #80 )
Posted by Shmuel (Member # 7586) on :
quote:Originally posted by rivka:
quote:Originally posted by Shmuel: Plus we have editors and factcheckers, for those who like that sort of thing.
*amused* Such as those who are thus employed?
Indeed. Though I'm also a Wikipedia partisan... both have their place.
quote:Originally posted by vwiggin: Shumel, I thought these lists were very interesting.
Aww, thanks. I was the one who put that one up.
quote:I've thought about putting up similar lists compiled by other sources (e.g. AFI's best 100 movies) on a commercial website I'm affiliate with. My very fuzzy memory of copyright law tells me that compilation of lists cannot be copyrighted. Is that pretty much the understanding of your editorial staff as well?
Not quite. There are some cases like that; my understanding is that phone books can't be copyrighted, as the compilation isn't deemed to be creative in any meaningful way. Similarly, lists of the baseball players with the all-time best batting averages are pretty much fair game. The stats are readily available to the public; it's just a matter of assembling and ranking them.
On the other hand, stuff like the most influential people who never lived or the 100 best movies of all time are thoroughly subjective, and creative works in their own right, and you do need to get permission from the copyright holders. Ditto Nielsen ratings and other statistics involving original research.
Fortunately, the copyright holders are often just fine with your using their lists, provided that you give them credit. The AFI, for example, releases their lists to spark interest in classic movies, and films in general. They want the lists to be spread far and wide. Getting permission is not a problem in such cases.
In some other cases, we do have to pay to reprint content. We sometimes decide not to carry lists because the asking price is too much. (For instance, I looked into adding some top 10 lists from the Princeton Review's college rankings this year, but they wanted a small fortune.)
Finally, it should be noted that anything put out by the United States government is in the public domain. We get a lot of our statistics that way. (Our files help considerably toward knowing where to find everything and compile it usefully.)
Posted by vonk (Member # 9027) on :
Thank you very much Shmuel. That was extremely helpful!
You guys have been around since 1938? No wonder you know so much.
Posted by Brinestone (Member # 5755) on :
If I had to pick sites that everyone, from your great-aunt Judy in Arkansas to Bill Gates, should know about, it would be these:
Amazon eBay craigslist Google (including Google Maps, Froogle, and gmail) Snopes wikipedia Merriam-Webster (www.merriamwebster.com, a much better dictionary than dictionary.com) Monster America's Job Bank
Hm. That's only nine. I'll have to think about the last one.
Posted by Euripides (Member # 9315) on :
I second Merriam Webseter; m-w.com Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
I hate you all, I've been surfing web-comics for a week or two now.
Posted by Shmuel (Member # 7586) on :
quote:Originally posted by vwiggin, and overlooked by me until now: Thank you very much Shmuel. That was extremely helpful!
You guys have been around since 1938? No wonder you know so much.
Well, the radio show incarnation dates back to 1938. The first edition of the almanac was published at the start of 1947.
I've actually gone back and looked at the first few editions in our archives (very, very carefully), and while everything has been revised over the past sixty years, and tables have come and gone, it's still recognizably the same book. I love that.
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
)
![[Wave]](graemlins/wave.gif)