I thought it might be interesting for others, and maybe helpful to share the websites I frequent on a regular basis. I spent inordinate amounts of time camped in front of a computer, and have therefore discovered many wonderful internet backwaters that most know nothing of. These are deliberately not “utility” websites such as Google Mail, or Facebook. The sites listed below are what you might bookmark as “interesting stuff”…
Newsvine
Newsvine is a strange beast, and takes some getting used to at first. Imagine a news site carrying all the news from the major news outlets, but also carrying news reported by normal people - you and me. Imagine your view of the news can be tailored based on the news you have said was interesting or important in the past. Imagine you can provide feedback to any story, and write your own column too. You’re imagining Newsvine.
Digg
I can’t imagine many people have not heard of Digg yet. Invented by Kevin Rose, Digg invites you to submit “things” from the internet that you think other people might be interested in. As a visitor to the Digg website, you are invited to tag the stories you think are good, by “digging” them - thereby influencing the story’s visibility within the site. Many thousands of people watch digg throughout the day - and getting a story to the front page of Digg has become very important as a marketing goal. Check it out - it’s anarchic, fun, and a great time waster.
Perhaps more simple than Digg, reddit is a list of things people read on the internet, with a voting mechanism to push popular “finds” towards the front page. Another great time waster, and lethal if you have an enquiring mind.
Slashdot
One of the oldest sites on the internet, carrying technology news (or “news for nerds” as it used to label itself). Slashdot has become somewhat famous for bringing other websites down - if they highlighted a story on another site, it generally resulted in twenty thousand geeks flattening the webserver - hence the term “getting slashdotted”. It’s a great news site, and has managed to survive seemingly in spite of it’s fame.
Techcrunch
Started as a regular blog just like yours or mine by Michael Arrington a few years ago, Techcrunch started out reporting on “Web 2.0” news stories, and become incredibly popular. Over time the stories have widened to include opinion pieces, and the site now covers the technology industry as a whole rather than just new web sites. It’s always interesting, and often scoops stories first.
43 Folders
Begun by Merlin Mann, 43 Folders describes itself as “a family of websites about stuff like personal productivity, life hacks, and simple ways to make your life a little better”. It’s always interesting, insightful, and a great read over a cup of coffee, usually causing you to pause for thought - and sometimes to think “you know, I should try that”. Go check it out
So there you go - 10 sites I stumble past from day to day. Many a tea break has been spent perusing the words they disseminate unto the world wide web. Go forth and enjoy them.