The 100 Essential Websites, from the Guardian.co.uk. Their comments are, naturally, British-centric. I’ve noted the ones I’ve tried.
Blogging/microblogging
Tumblr . Tried it, didn’t know what to do with it.Posterous . Don’t know it, so of course, I’ll have to try it.
Soup . Ditto.
Blogger . My preferred blogging platform. The Guardian considers it a starter platform until you’re ready for Wordpress, but Wordpress requires you to find a host, which usually means paying, and Wordpress.com is too limited. Blogger is regularly adding features and integrating with other Google services.
Bloglines . The feed reader I use, but Google Reader is fine, too. I was already well entrenched with Bloglines when Google Reader came along and while I did try it and still have the account (with a gadget on my iGoogle page, no less), I still use Bloglines.
Wordpress . If they mean the free hosted version, I found it frustrating and limiting to use. I had to pay $15 (annual fee) so I could get into the code and change the font size. I didn’t want to pay for a second year, so the font reverted to tiny. I’ll stick with Blogger, which doesn’t require me to find a hosting service for my many blogs and gives me a lot of cool toys to play with.
Browsers
Chrome . I didn’t really like the layout. It’s not how my mind works, I guess.Firefox . I love love love it. Am trying the latest beta version at home.
Maxthon . Never heard of it.
Cartoons
Dilbert . I found this an odd category, and while I like Dilbert, I sometimes read it in the newspaper (gasp, the print version) and would’ve preferred they cite sites that aggregate comics, such as GoComics.XKCD . Pretty funny, tech savvy, hip stick figures comic. I subscribe to the syndicated feed for LiveJournal. (Gotta spread my reading experiences around the web.)
Celebrity gossip
Not my category, at all.TMZ. I might’ve been on this once, following a link.
Perez Hilton . Don’t know, don’t care.
Gawker . Supposed to be good for this sort of thing.
Create/collaborate
I haven’t done this much. Mostly just wrote stories with a couple of friends, using Google Docs.Netvibes . The non-Google iGoogle page. I prefer iGoogle, which now lets you share stuff. If that’s your thing. If I want to share, I’ll blog about it, like now, or post to Facebook.
Scribd . I added this at home to help me write my blog entries. In the four months since, I’ve never used it.
Slideshare . Apparently, for presentations of some sort. I haven’t had reason to try it.
Zamzar . For file conversions of some sort. Again, I haven’t had reason to use it.
Film
IMDb . Despite some errors I’ve found over the years, mostly for people’s TV acting credits, the best authority of its kind. It’s improved over the years, despite not letting me make corrections years ago. (No one ever responded to me, darn it!)Rotten Tomatoes . Pretty cool site I don’t usually have time to explore.
/Film . Not familiar with it, so I’ll need to give it a look.
Cinematical . Another one I don’t know. I’m feeling behind the times.
Gaming
I’m not a big gamer, mostly playing FreeCell on my PC or Facebook games. So, I’ll leave these without comments.Eurogamer .
The Independent Gaming Source .
Pocket Gamer .
Gamasutra .
Geek squad
I suppose I should give these a look, but programming isn’t my forte. At all. So, again, no comments.Stack Overflow .
The Daily WTF .
Joel On Software .
Government/public services/politics
Recycle Now. Don’t know it.British and Irish Legal Information Institute. Don’t know this, either, but then, I’m not the target audience.
What Do They Know? A Freedom of Information site I’ll need to check out.
Upmystreet . Don’t know this, and not sure I want to. But I’ll give it a looksee.
They Work For You . Sounds like another site I should check out.
And just because it’s my blog, here is my favorite political commentary blog: Get Real with Jay Dedapper (formerly of NBC New York’s local news). I also like the White House blog and novelist Barry Eisler’s The Heart of the Matter (though he doesn’t post that often). Eisler was once with the CIA, so he’s not just another “celebrity with a political agenda.”
Link economy
Digg . Never could get into the Digg culture.Delicious . My link site of choice. I don’t use the sharing feature much, though I do have a few searches and people I watch. I just don’t check often.
Popurls . Never tried this.
Metafilter . Interesting, but I’ve never had the time to really play with it.
Slashdot . Never found this interesting.
Techmeme . Don’t know this.
Location, location
Seems to be a list of sites that work with mobile devices, which I have limited experience with, so I won’t comment. On my cell phone, I mostly just check email, use the mobile versions of Twitter and Facebook. And uh, make phone calls.Dopplr .
Qype .
Loopt .
Brightkite .
Maps
OpenStreetMap . I don’t know it, but they said it’s “rights-free,” and it sounds interesting. Another one I’ll have to check out.Google Maps Street View . What’s not to love?
But shouldn’t MapQuest be listed, too? It’s still good. Although, I just checked the site, and the link to AOL Mail on top is disturbing. Anything with AOL Anything is disturbing these days.
Money/finance/consumer fightback
I don’t use any of these types of sites, other than online banking.Money Saving Expert .
Say No to 0870 .
Consumer Direct .
Music
Last.fm . It’s a nice site, but somewhat limited, IMO. I much prefer Pandora, which requires so little effort on my part.Amazon . I don’t download music, but I do buy the CDs from Amazon and have previewed cuts, so that’s useful.
Hype Machine . Don’t use it.
Pitchfork . Don’t know it.
And why isn’t Pandora on here? It’s the best, IMO, letting you program stations and finding great music for you. All you need to do, really, is give it something to start with, and then mark thumbs up or thumbs down until it settles into a groove you like. Radio stations also often have good sites and online listening. WAXQ has an active site and most if not all the DJs blog.
Offbeat
The Onion . No argument with this choice. News satire at its best.B3TA . Never heard of it.
Lolcats . Just the name of this site makes me cringe, along with Cute Overload. Ack!
News Lite . Not familiar with it.
Oddee . Don’t know it.
PostSecret . This blog of anonymous secrets submitted on postcards, often handmade, has spawned books and tours by its creator. A true phenomenon and addictive.
Passive-Aggressive Notes . I don’t know this, but it sounds interesting.
Photography
Flickr . My photo sharing site of choice, with group discussions, too. And I like the new Gallery feature that lets any member become a curator.Picnik . An online photo editor, one of many. This is now integrated into flickr.
Picasa . From Google, and pretty good. Photos I upload directly to Blogger end up here.
DPreview . A camera site. I’ve never used it.
Reference
CIA Factbook . Nice to see this mentioned. It’s long been my favorite “go-to” site for information on countries.Wikipedia . Even with the errors and gaps, it’s still chock full of information, and especially useful for tech info/history.
Internet Archive/Wayback Machine . If you’ve never played on this site, you’re in for a treat. A trip down online memory lane.
Metacritic. Not familiar with this.
Wikileaks . For leaked documents. Never tried it.
I will add a few other comprehensive reference sites. I’d include more specialized ones, but this post is long enough as it is.
- New York Public Library.
- Info Please.
- The Internet Public Library.
- iTools.
- The Library of Congress.
- Virtual Reference Shelf. From the Library of Congress.
- WikiHow.
Search
Google . Long my favorite search engine. I like using the personalized iGoogle page with my reference gadgets, including weather, tv listings, news, comics, sports, Twitter, dictionary, Wikipedia search box, translations, etc.Bing . I suppose I should give it a try. nah
Wolfram Alpha . I’ve used this a few times. It calls itself a “computational knowledge engine.” It’s not the most intuitive thing out there, but it can serve a purpose. Worth giving a look.
Social software
Facebook . It’s definitely moved past the college student/recent college graduates staying in touch era, given how many of us “older folks” are using it. I’ve gotten addicted to it and can see the appeal of having everything or close to everything come to me on one page. I doubt I’ll stop using Bloglines and blogs, but I’m hooked on Facebook. In its own way, LiveJournal is a community of community and not just blogs. It’s worthy of a mention here.LinkedIn . For networking. As I near the end of my career, I tried it and realized I have no real use for it.
Ning . Lets you create your own social network. I find the layout annoying, the navigation confusing, and the overall experience of using it frustrating. Maybe it’s just me, because a lot of people use and seem to love it.
Travel
I don’t have experience with travel sites, though I suppose MapQuest would fit this category, too.Expedia .
TripAdvisor .
Laterooms .
Twitter, and associated
If they didn’t want to include Twitter in microblogging, they should have come up with a new category. As a category name, this one is unhelpful.Twitter . Thoughts, actions, ads, updates, in 140 characters or less. Addicting. And it’s great for humorists. The FakeMTA is a great example. I’ve also enjoyed live tweeting while watching TV shows. By following a topic (when coupled with hashmarks, they become instant links to the topic) as you post, you can end up in something akin to a real time discussion/conversation.
Twitter Tim.es . I haven’t tried this.
Twitterfeed . I use this service to send the feed of 3 of my blogs to my Twitter account.
TwitterCounter . A statistical site. I haven’t used it.
Twitterfall . A trending site. I haven’t used it.
Listorious . Works with Twitter’s new list feature. Again, not something I’ve tried.
Video
YouTube . Does anyone not know YouTube? I watch videos here, subscribe to favorite YouTubers, and have even uploaded a few of my own videos.Vimeo. I’ve heard a lot of good things about this and need to try it.
BBC iPlayer . Not familiar with it.
Hulu . For network TV shows. I haven’t had the time to really enjoy this site, but it’s got a lot of good stuff. I also find individual network sites useful to watch tv shows I’ve missed. CBS and SyFy are good about that. I haven’t really had to try the other networks.
Videojug The motherlode of instructional videos, all in one place.
Virtual worlds
Second Life . I tried this a few years ago, but my old PC couldn’t keep up. I had graphic issues, with large areas of black space blotting out parts of the screen image. Navigation was difficult. And I spent way too much time making my avatar.I haven’t tried the others. With all the social network sites vying for my time and attention, living in a virtual realm hasn’t been a priority.
Entropia Universe .
Club Penguin .
Moshi Monsters .
Visual arts
At least one (Culture 24) is British. The others might be, too. We could probably come up with our own US list, or NYC list.Saatchi Gallery .
Art Daily .
Culture 24 .
Visualisation
I have no clue about these. I might take a look someday.Information is Beautiful .
Infosthetics.com .
DabbleDB .
There are some areas that are rather lacking. Where’s SPORTS? WEATHER? May I present the following:
Sports: Online Updates
Weather Online
Then there are all the Books and Reading sites, and… well, I’m a librarian. Of course, I have more than 100 Essential Sites. What librarian doesn’t? Do you have a favorite site or 10 not listed here? I’d love to hear about them.~~~o0o~~~
