Full List
Sites to Bookmark
- Amazon.com
- BBC.co.uk
- Citysearch.com
- Craigslist.org
- Del.icio.us
- Digg.com
- Ebay.com
- ESPN.com
- Facebook.com
- FactCheck.org
- Flickr.com
- Google.com
- HowStuffWorks.com
- The Internet Movie Database
- YouTube
- Kayak.com
- National Geographic.com
- Netflix.com
- Technorati.com
- TMZ.com
- USA.gov
- Television WithoutPity.com
- WebMD.com
- Wikipedia.org
- Yahoo.com
2. Citysearch.com Helps steer you to the right restaurants, bars, nightclubs, hotels and spas in dozens of cities, with editors' picks and user reviews, and a Yellow Pages directory that includes shops and other services. A mobile version lets you access listing info from your cell phone. Other local search services worth consulting: Yelp!, which relies on reviews by its members (a.k.a. "yelpers"), who now chime in from more than two dozen cities, and Attendio, which clues you in to events happening in your area.
3. Digg .com The leader in social news, where users determine what's important and interesting by submitting it, "digging" it and posting a comment. Click "Top in 24 Hours" to see the most popular articles, blog posts and other Web pages of the day. In recent months the site has expanded beyond tech news, adding separate sections for Science, World & Business, Sports, Entertainment and Gaming. Digg Labs continues to roll out new and visually interesting ways to view the links and find out immediately what's hot (and what's not). On BigSpy, stories pop up at the top each time they get another digg, the moment they get it. The bigger and bolder the headline, the higher the digg count. Arc, meanwhile, arranges stories in a circle; mouse over a piece of the pie to preview the link.
4. Factcheck.org The Annenberg Political Fact Check, a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania, is an independent, nonpartisan effort to cut through the routine spin and dissembling of politicians and other public figures. Staff writers check speeches, TV ads, news releases and other public statements for accuracy, and provide clarification and context.
5. Flickr.com More than half a billion images are now posted on Flickr, a superbly designed sharing platform and social network for photo enthusiasts that, since June, also offers French, Spanish, German, Chinese, Italian, Portuguese and Korean language options. (Next up: video.) Upload and tag your images and make them available for community consumption, and see how they rate on "interestingness" and "gorgeousity;" join a group (there are more than 300,000 of them, and each one has its own theme); comment on other people's images or subscribe to a photo stream. The cool Maps feature shows where photos were taken. For more private sharing and straightforward printing services, use Shutterfly or Kodak EasyShare Gallery. Or try the new, no-frills Picupine; it doesn't offer printing or long-term storage, but it allows you to share your photos quickly and easily, without forcing you to create an account first. Once you've submitted your photos, the site creates a Web link you can then send to friends and family.
6. Howstuffwork.com Easy-to-read explanations of how things work, from plasma converters to antibiotics to E-Z Pass. Now the site lets you upload photos and video to help supplement its written content. UNICEF sent in a video clip about land mines; NASA on sonic booms; and GE on photovoltaics.
7. The Internet Movie Database is not just the Net's more extensive directory of films and TV shows of the past, present and future —it is also a stomping ground for film buffs who like to quote dialogue, share trivia and recommend favorite flicks to their friends. Or, before you head to the theater or pop in that DVD, go to Rotten Tomatoes to see what all the critics have to say. 8. Kayak.com When planning your next trip, make this your first stop. The search engine works fast, scouring hundreds of travel sites to find the best airfares. You can compare rates on different travel dates, or check prices to several destinations at once. Create a profile so you don't have to enter certain data every time you use it. When it comes time to choose a hotel, read the reviews on TripAdvisor.
9. Technorati.com This blog search engine now searches for social media too —photos, video and music posted on online sharing sites — and a tag cloud on the home page shows you the hot topics of the day. Blogs are given an authority rating, based on how many other blogs currently link to it. The new BlogStorm also tracks blog love; register your site to receive free statistics. Another honorable mention goes to Sphere, where you can select a topic (Sports, Politics, Entertainment) and the site will generate links to the most popular blog posts, news stories and other related content.
10. TMZ.com The best for celebrity and entertainment news. Recent scoops include a May 18 post about Andy Roddick's buffed-up bod on the cover of the June/July issue of Men's Fitness (the site's crack team of reporters even scooped Roddick, who blogged about the seemingly doctored photo four days later: "little did I know I had 22-inch guns...") Check out the latest paparazzi shots, browse the video galleries or click for an archive by name. (Full disclosure: TMZ is a joint venture between Telepictures Productions and AOL, which, like TIME and Time.com, is owned by Time Warner.) Can't get enough? Check out Yahoo's splashy new omg!, which is big on photos. (Brangelina with the kids! Kate Bosworth at the beach! Paris jogging — before being jailed!)
11. USA.gov The official Web portal for the U.S. government, with links to every branch, agency and organization involved in federal business, plus reports, guides, reference material and other resources to help you navigate the system, and, whenever possible, get things done online. Each Web page of links is more specific than the last, so you can quickly drill down to the matter at hand. It took three clicks (and three seconds) to find NASA's bank of images and animations of our home planet (select Science & Tech, then Physical Sciences, then Visible Earth), learn how to file for bankruptcy (Money and Taxes/Personal Finance) and read up on Medicare prescription drug coverage (Health). Also: FedStats.
12. Television withoutpity.com Bitingly funny recaps of dozens of popular TV shows, plus forums for further discussion.
13. WebMD.com A big portal packed with information about health and related issues. A recent redesign introduced a nifty new tool called Symptom Checker, which lets you self-diagnose—sorry, "pinpoint potential conditions"—in seconds by clicking on body parts and selecting from a list of specific complaints (just be sure to check with your doctor for a real diagnosis). The new WebMD Health Manager lets you store your personal medical records online and make them available to doctors. The new Revolution Health portal, which launched in April, has many of these same tools and features, including its own symptom checker (but WebMD's has cool graphics). Other trustworthy sources of information about disease and other health matters: the Medem Leaning Centers, which aggregates top articles from leading medical societies on a wide range of topics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and National Institutes of Health.
