Seems like every website has a links page, so I might as well step up and add my own!
Below are some of my favorite sites on “that thar Intarweb”, organized for your convenience! Note that any sites marked as NSFW are “not safe for work” and should only be accessed from home. If you’re absolutely sure that your company is cool with it, go ahead and try it from the office, but remember: you were warned!
All links will open in a new browser window.
Tech Stuff
Ars Technica – The number one overall tech site on the Internet. Ars has news and reviews of the latest stuff in the Windows, Mac and Linux world, as well as home audio\video and PC accessories. Ars also has a *huge* online forum where helpful geeks can answer any IT question you might have as well as the infamous “Lounge”, where you can chill and kick it with your geek brethren.
ActiveWin – A news aggregator site – that is, a site that doesn’t have a lot of original content, but collects news and information from various online sources – based on the Microsoft Windows platform. Check in at this site every day – as I do – and you’ll have a great understanding where Windows is going. It also has many “sister sites’ like ActiveXbox and ActiveDVD.
Betanews – A site dedicated to the latest news about beta (testing) software. If you enjoy the cutting edge, check in to this site and be the first on your block to be running the latest programs! Sadly, it’s not interesting enough for a daily visit, but definitely worth a weekly stop.
Neowin.net – This tech news site gained fame for getting their hands on leaked betas from Microsoft. They always have screenshots and links to the latest and greatest MS stuff, as well as news about the entire computing market – Windows, Linux, file sharing, etc. An excellent site worth a daily visit!
Bink.nu – Yet another news aggregator site, Bink has gotten famous for pulling many stunts similar to Neowin.net – posting screenshots of internal MS software releases, how to tweak Windows into doing stuff that MS doesn’t want you to do, etc. Good for an occasional visit.
Engadget – These folks bring you news about every conceivable gadget under the sun… from cool new mobile phones to portable music and video players to video game consoles to… the crazy Japanese obsession with USB-powered devices! They also have some general IT news, but it’s nowhere near as comprehensive as other sites like Ars or Neowin. Be wary of Engadget’s RSS feed though… they will typically post the same story four or five times a day… so you’ll have 100 posts in your RSS folder, but only 25 unique stories.
Download Squad – a geek news blog similar to Engadget, but with less focus on “gadgets” like cellphones, game consoles and PDAs and more emphasis on PC and web-enabled applications.
Mopo.ca – A blog that focuses on the silly side of tech\IT news. Recent stories included posts about how the new Jaguar was designed after Kate Winslet’s body, alarming news that bicycling can make women’s genitals less sensitive, how to build your own flash drive out of a bowling ball, and how to turn your pee blue by drinking methylene blue.
Astalavista NSFW – Have you ever downloaded a shareware program that needed a serial number to be “unlocked”? Or a downloaded a “demo” version of a program that expired after a set time period or was “crippled” it its features? If so, Astalavista is there to help! This site allows you to search for “cracks” (programs that make shareware fully functional) and “key generators” (programs that generate serial numbers for programs). Beware that this site is all about the porn pop-ups, so aside from the illicit nature of the actual Astalavista site, you have that to deal with too so do not visit this site from work unless you’re absolutely sure that it’s OK with your company! UPDATE: Astalavista is still around, but it seems that many of their contributing websites have taken to adding viruses\malware to their downloads (in addition to the actual keygen\cracks). The trouble is, they using a filename for the trojan\malware that is very close to the name of the “legitimate” keygen or crack. So you unzip a file, only to see two very similar files – which one do you click on? Don’t go here any more if you don’t have up-to-date virus protection!
Google Groups – this is the single greatest resource to use when you need an IT problem solved. Google Groups collects all of the text posting from Usenet – which includes years and years of troubleshooting posts. If you have a problem, just enter a description of the problem or the text of the error message and be on your way to getting it fixed! This site is usually better than the Microsoft Knowledge Base or some other “official” site, because someone else that had the same problem you’re having might have described it the same way you did, which leads to better hits.
DNS Stuff - This site has just about every network tool you could possibly need to have. You can do pings and traceroutes, WHOIS lookups (including IPWHOIS and IP Routing), as well as HTML validators and and general domain info. And it’s lightning fast and presented in a simple, elegant (if cicra-1997) interface. I use DNS Stuff at least a couple of times a week!
The GUI Gallery – See how far we’ve come – and how far we have to go – in this collection of screen captures of user interfaces. Includes screen shots of most versions of Windows – even shots of a very early pre-Windows 1.0 demo! – most Apple derivatives (Lisa, OpenStep, and GEOS), and *nix variants. They even have a “Miscellaneous” section with such gems as Amiga, BeOS, DECWindows and even some Microsoft OS/2 shots! Be sure to check their links page for even more GUI history stuff – even Microsoft Bob has his day here!
You Had Me at EHLO – The blog of the Microsoft Exchange team. If you need information about Exchange, this blog has quickly become the web’s premiere place for it. The blog has a nice RSS feed too!
Experts Exchange – This site has information on thousands of topics – if you’re having a problem with a Microsoft product, chances are that someone else has had the same problem and has asked the question at Experts Exchange before. Amusingly, this site’s original URL was expertsexchange.com, which led many transsexuals to the site before it was changed to experts-exchange.com.
Whatis – Whatis is a great site for learning about tech stuff. It has thousands of entries for just about any tech term you can think of, and also has their famous “every file format in the world” section, which is great for figuring out what that .WQF file a friend sent you is. Although I am “old school”, there are still tons of tech things I don’t know that much about; when I need to get my learn on, this is where I turn.
Zamar – an online file conversion website, Zamar can convert sound and video files, images and documents from one format to another. The service is free, but file sizes are capped at 100MB. You simply go to the site, attach your file, tell if which output format you want, then wait for Zamar to send you an email with a link to download your converted file(s). Although uploading and downloading takes up considerable amounts of time, if you’re somewhere that won’t allow you to install a file converter, Zamar is for you!
KeepVid – Ever wanted to actually keep a video from YouTube, Google Video, iFilm, or some other streaming site? Just go to KeepVid, enter the URL of the file in question, and KeepVid will snag it for you. This service is free, but many of the files are in FLV (Flash) format, so they won’t work with most media players and won’t playback on TVs.
MailBigFile.com – A file transfer website. If you’ve ever needed to send a large file to someone, you’re probably familiar with these sites: just select the file you want to upload, enter the recipient’s email address and click “upload” – the site gets the file from you and sends a download link via email to your recipient. It couldn’t be simpler! The site is free and requires no registration. It supports files up to 512MB, which is down from the original 1GB, but is still bigger than most of the more popular transfer sites these days.
ReactOS – Interesting but pointless. There’s all kinds of talk about alternative operating systems these days, and most of the talk is about Linux. Those of us (including yours truly) that hate Linux with a passion should check out ReactOS – an open-source attempt to create an operating system that’s 100% compatible with Microsoft Windows XP. ReactOS looks like Windows, uses the same hardware drivers as Windows, and can run Windows programs… but it’s free! Sadly, development on the OS is as slow as a glacier (which is why I said “pointless”), but it’s still interesting nevertheless. I personally would love to run an open source operating system, but although Linux has come a long way in the past few years, it’s still not there yet. And ReactOS is light years behind Linux!
Giveaway of the Day – This site contracts with shareware makers to offer a free software product each day. At this point in time, the site offers simple things like utilities and screensavers, but they promise more interesting stuff in the future. I haven’t found anything of interest to me yet, but I *am* slightly troubled by the site’s warning on most programs that you need to install the software within the 24 hour period that the offer is going on. This seems to indicate that there’s some kind of activation or limited-use product key (serial number), so I dunno if you can re-install stuff from this site later on or not.
Entertainment
DVDTalk – one of my long-time favorites, DVDTalk has all the latest news and info about DVDs and movies as well as great forums for asking questions about DVD releases, hot bargains or dealing with online merchants! Find out when your favorite old movie is being released on DVD, why you shouldn’t buy DVDs from eBay and what you should (and shouldn’t) do if you need to contact Amazon customer service!
Rotten Tomatoes – This site has reviews of thousands of movies. Their famous “tomatometer” collects reviews of movies from critics and Average Joes so everyone gets their say – because just ‘cos Leonard Maltin liked it, that doesn’t mean that you will! Also has a neat feature where you can create your own “journal” and do your own reviews! Check out my journal at the link on the main navbar!
Ain’t It Cool News NSFW - Sometimes they’re dead-on. Other times they’re way off. Either way, AICN has all the latest gossip and news about movie and DVD releases. Although it has a bent towards geek and “comic book guy” type movies – these people are all over the Star Wars and Lord of the Rings movies – there’s enough here for everybody – if you can deal with their ugly website. I tagged this as NSFW because of the abundance of foul language on the site; if your company isn’t cool with that sort of thing, check it out from home!
IMDB – The Internet Movie Database has information about tens of thousands of movies. Want to know who starred in a certain film? Want to know the name of a film but can only remember one of the actors names? IMDB has got you covered. Also has links to buy movie tickets and news about Hollywood.
TV.com – The all-knowing oracle for TV shows. This site was originally called “TVTome”, but was bought by C-Net and was absorbed into their own (at the time, anemic) site. The conversion resulted in a cluttered interface that no one seems to like, but TV.com still has information about all current (and many, many former) shows, as well as news about shows still in development. Want to know what happened to that movie about The Go-Gos that ABC was working on? Look it up at TV.com and find out!
Movie Mistakes – Huge site catalogs thousands of flubs in movies, from the unintentional (the gorilla wearing a wrist watch in 2001: A Space Odyssey) to sloppy research (wrong Confederate-era flags in Gods and Generals) to bad editing (The Joker’s hand prints on the paintings in Batman). Fun stuff to read, but sometimes goes a bit overboard – like noting a scene in Titanic where Jack tells Rose that he lived near a lake in Wisconsin that didn’t actually exist until 1918.
MadonnaTribe – My favorite Internet site about my all-time favorite diva. Get the latest news, links to cool remixes and get your 411 on in the forums (ooops! the forums are currently closed to new members! Sorry!).
Life In The Office – A blog for fans of the American version of The Office. The site offers recaps, audio clips, links to YouTube and NBC streaming video, and also reminds you of upcoming Office-related stuff (like actors doing TV and radio interviews).
Jenna Fischer’s Blog – The MySpace blog of actress Jenna Fischer, who plays Pam Beesley on the American version of The Office. The site offers great behind-the-scenes pictures and commentary, inside hints at future Office storylines, insights into the show’s cast and crew and also gives us a glimpse into the total cuteness that is Jenna!
Pop Candy – The blog of USA Today columnist Whitney Matheson, Pop Candy is your all around one-stop shop for pop culture news, especially for 25-35 year-olds that are too old for MTV but don’t yet drive a minivan. I really like the blog, as her tastes (music: R.E.M, TV: The Office) seem to mirror mine. She’s already turned me on to several new bands like The Essex Green and The Isles, and readers are constantly sending her links to goofy websites – like a site that ranks the Top 10 Hottest Disney Ladies! She also has a podcast (unfortunately, iTunes or streaming only) and also answers your questions several times a week.
Box Office Mojo – The A-#1 site for the box office business. Wanna find out how much money a movie made? Go here. Wanna find out how much money it made per week? Go here. Wanna find out which 100 movies have gross the most this year? Go here. Wanna find out which move grossed the most whilst opening in the third week of May? Go here. You get the idea.
Pandora Internet Radio – This is a completely unique music site. You go there and enter the name of one of your favorite artists, and the site will find similar music and stream it for you. Unlike other sites that do this via human organization, Pandora judges your music tastes based on the Music Genome Project, an experiment that breaks music down into hundreds of attributes (“genomes”) and compares them via machine. You might be surprised at what Pandora finds for you! The streaming player has “thumbs up” and “thumbs down” buttons so you can refine your selections even further, and you can create an account that will retain your choices for future streaming use.
Humor
The Onion NSFW – You’ve probably already been to the Internet’s premier “faux news” site – Lord knows, The Onion has been around for ages! Although the humor gets a little… routine – how many of the “Area Man Decides To (insert routine event here)” articles have we seen over the years, like “Local Loser To Spend All Day in Bed” and “Area Man Decides to Keep Blockbuster Tape”. So the site is not one you visit all that often, but it’s still funny when you get there. After all, “U.S. To Cut Ties With Chad – ‘He’s not the same when he drinks’, Clinton Says” is still comedy gold!! Generally speaking, The Onion is probably work safe most of the time, but if your company is in any way touchy about this sort of thing… well, it’s better to be safe than fired!
BBSpot NSFW - Laugh-out-loud funny IT humor site. Most of the IT jokes will go over the heads of the non-IT crowd, but this site just cracks me up! It’s “faux-news” like The Onion, and the headlines are just too funny: “EU Required to ‘Unbundle Scotland’ in Microsoft Counter-Suit” and “Which Nigerian Spammer Are You?” hehehehehe.. if you don’t get it… well, that’s your tough luck! Mostly work-safe, but tagged as NSFW for occasional lapses.
Landover Baptist NSFW - A hilarious spoof on evangelical Christian churches, Landover Baptist is all about God, Guns, Guts, Glory and America! Because it’s spoofing a church website, it doesn’t have any bad language or nudity, but it certainly has some very questionable racial and\or social content. For example, a recent headline read: “Where on Earth Did Negroes Really Come From?”, so you probably don’t want this site on your desktop when the boss pops in your cube or showing up in your company’s firewall logs.
The Superficial NSFW - The Superficial is many things. At first glance, it is a site the provides news about celebrities. Dig deeper, and you find that the site’s commentary is hilarious. About Britney Spears and her march into oblivion, the webmaster writes: “it’s like watching someone read a paper as they walk down the street with their nuts perfectly aligned with that parking meter that ain’t movin’”. Reporting on a donation Christina Aguilera made to several animal shelters, he writes that “she’s the only sane voice in pop music, which I guess is kind of cool, regardless of how pathetically low that bar may be. It’s like winning ‘Cutest Necrophiliac.’ It ain’t much, but, hey man, you won!” Talking about Angelina Jolie’s… interesting sex life, he says “And this is why I love Angelina. No matter what you might bring up in bed, no matter what depraved deviant thing you heard they did in a German porn one time, she’d almost certainly be up for it. Another girl? Sure! Pop-Rocks? Check! Sex on the dance floor at my high school reunion? You got it! Enthusiasm is the sexiest thing in the world, and even though Jennifer Love Hewitt is maybe kinda just as good looking, I gotta imagine sex with her wouldn’t be that great. Comments like, ‘What are you doing,’ ‘You’re on my hair,’ and ‘Eww, gross, it’s all over me’ aren’t the aphrodisiac you might think”. But still, whilst the site skewers celebrities, at the same time it offers plenty of high-resolution scans of said celebrities, so the site actually perpetuates the superficial myth it claims to hate so much. Ironic, huh? Tagged as NSFW for gratuitous talk of celebrity T&A, even if actual nudity is pretty rare on the site.
Clubbo Records – This totally hilarious site spoofs indie record labels. While some of the humor is totally in your face, much of the humor is quite subtle. If you were ever a regular at a “Comic Book Guy” type of record store, you really need to check this site out. But beware – if you’re not careful you can spend an hour or more at the site! Truly fun and interactive humor! Site is work safe unless your office is completely uptight.
Ebola Monkey Man – Have you ever received an email from “Mustaphar Rahim, the son of late Mr Godfrey Rahim of blessed memory, one time by politicalappointee chairman of Angolan Diamond mining Corperation” who needs your help with the small matter of smuggling “$25,800.000 (twenty-five Million united State dollars)” out of Angola? We all probably have, yet most of us never reply to them. Well, the people at Ebola Monkey Man sure have – posing as gangsta rappers, the heads of huge corporations, etc. And they string along those Nigerian scammers like you wouldn’t believe! The next time you get one of these in your inbox, you might be tempted to reply!
Rachael Ray Sucks NSFW - A LiveJournal community dedicated to bashing the queen of 30 Minute Meals. I am soooo done with Rachael Ray it’s not even funny. Although it’s generally an “OK for Work” site, if your employer is really uptight and not cool with swearing then this site is absolutely NSFW.
Knowledge
Snopes – Ever get an email from someone you know is fake, but can’t necessarily prove it? Head on over the Snopes, the Internet’s #1 site for debunking urban legends. The site has sections dedicated to various “offline” legends, as well as special sections dedicated to email hoaxes and trick photography. They also have a sleepy message board… which is mysterious, given the site’s *huge* popularity.
Wikipedia – Calling itself the “free online encyclopedia”, Wikipedia is a “collaborative project” using the brainpower of users all over the world to create the largest online encyclopedia. There are currently 291,295 articles on the site and it’s growing by the day. Amazingly useful and getting better all the time! Keep in mind that anyone can write or edit one of the articles, so the site if rife with errors; Wikipedia is a great starting point for beginning research, though.
How Stuff Works – As you might imagine, this site is all about how ordinary things like CD players and washing machines work. It’s fascinating stuff, all explained in plain English. It comes in handy when a device is giving you trouble, yet is absorbing enough just to browse.
Damn Interesting – This site has dozens of articles on fascinating topics within the subjects of medicine, science, history and more. Whether discussing the Principality of Sealand, nuclear fusion, the Holocaust, hydrogen injection, the nature of lightning, Howard Dully’s lobotomy techniques, Alien Hand Syndrome (AHS), Electronic Voice Phenomenon (EVP) or the day a B-25 aircraft crashed into the Empire State Building, you’ll always find something… well, damn interesting at the site! Aside from the possibly NSFW domain name, the site is 100% OK for surfing at work.
Blogs
Note: there are links to other blogs throughout this page (especially in the Tech section). This section is for blogs that don’t really fit into any of the other categories.
Gates of Vienna – Another right-leaning blog, also with special emphasis on “the Muslim question”, especially as it relates to Europe.
Grouchy Old Cripple in Atlanta – Yet another right-leaning blog, also with special emphasis on “the Muslim question”. Not nearly as erudite as other blogs, this site is fun in a “Samuel Adams\street fighter” kind of way.
American Thinker – Another right-leaning blog, this one is perhaps the most general on the list. Although the site currently has lots of articles about Iraq and Islamic Fascism, there are also articles about freedom of speech, why Jews don’t vote for the GOP, Target banning the Salvation Army this holiday season… even one on Britain’s NHS and why Americans don’t want that here.
Confederate Yankee – One last right-leaning blog.
The Recording Industry vs. The People – Run by Ty Rogers and Ray Beckerman, two New York City lawyers that are fighting against the RIAA for Fair Use Rights and against RIAA’s “sue everyone” tactics. A must-view (at least once).
Moe Jackson NSFW – A blog all about hawt celebrity chicks, complete with high-res pictures! Although nudity is pretty rare on the site – most pictures are on the same level as Maxim and FHM – it’s still tagged as NSFW due to the incredible amount of celebrity T&A. Although the subject matter of the site is similar to The Superficial (also NSFW), this site lacks The Superficial’s witty writing, so I decided to put it in this category instead of the “Humor” section.
Fatback Media – A Southern woman’s take on celebrity news. In general, Fatback Media reports celebrity news with the same sarcastic tone as The Superficial or The Bastardly, only with less swearing and cute Southern idioms throughout. In fact, much of the site’ subtle humor might be lost on non-Southerners. This is highlighted by the fact that the site’s main graphic includes the line “because ‘Bless Your Heart’ really means I hate you.” You don’t have to tell Southerners that.
Hollywood Tuna NSFW - Yet another celebrity news blog, similar to The Superficial or The Bastardly.
I Don’t Like You In That Way NSFW - Yet another celebrity news blog, similar to The Superficial or The Bastardly.
Don’t Link This NSFW - Yet ANOTHER celebrity news blog, similar to The Superficial or The Bastardly.
I’m Not Obsessed – Yet another celebrity news blog, similar to The Superficial or The Bastardly, only this one is better behaved. It’s generally safe for work, but don’t hold me responsible if it isn’t!
Cinematical – A blog about the movie industry. The site is general enough to appeal to folks like me, and doesn’t get so involved with the inner workings of Hollywood (like the Hollywood Reporter often does). Which movies are being greenlighted? Which ones are going nowhere? Find out here.
Film Threat – Another movie industry blog. This one focuses on indie films, although it also covers “mainstream Hollywood” too.
Slashfood – If you like food, you’ll love Slashfood. It’s one of the best “foodie” websites out there, and thankfully most of the original articles aren’t as snooty as many of the comments that some readers leave. Although there is some emphasis on restaurants in the NYC, Boston, Chicago and Los Angeles areas, most of Slashfood’s content is about food products, recipes and food news, so everyone can enjoy! Beware of their RSS feed – it’s not uncommon for the feed to have 30+ items in a single day.
Luxist – The blog you love to hate, this site is about high-end luxury items. I don’t read this site every day (or even every week), ‘cos it’s just too depressing to read about $2,000 handbags, $2,500 die-cast toy cars, $90,000 vacations and $1,500,000 boxes of chocolate (no, that’s not a typo). Still, it’s fun to check in occasionally just to see what great new stuff the rich are getting.
Gadling – A travel blog, mostly about international and exotic\outdoorsy travel. Good stuff here!
The Truth About Cars – Although the site’s name seems to indicate some horrible hidden secret about automobiles, it’s really just a non-biased blog about new cars and the automotive industry. The premise of the site is that many of the mainstream sources for automotive news – like Car and Driver magazine – have to suck up to the manufacturers so much that they can’t offer truly unbiased reviews of the cars; since TTAC doesn’t suck up, it’s free to tell the truth about what’s bad (and good!) about cars. And while Car and Driver frequently tests cars you’ll never be able to drive, TTAC has a more down-to-earth approach and reviews Toyota Camrys instead of AMG Hammers.
Football Outsiders – An American football (gridiron) site that is “attempt[ing] to bring objective analysis to football that matches the revolution in baseball writing and analysis over the past 20 years”. The site is usually freakish accurate, and also has lots of interesting articles about football-related items (such as new stadiums, how parking lots are designed for stadiums, front office news, etc.). Any true football fan must bookmark this site, although to be honest, you have to be a hardcore stats junkie to really dig the site.
Personal
Church of Our Saviour – My “home parish” even though I don’t live in Atlanta anymore. It’s an Anglo-Catholic church, which means that it’s Anglican (Episcopal) but is very traditional both in theology and practice. If you need your religion to be “intellectual” yet “orthodox”, this is the place for you! Sunday’s 11:00 High Mass is sung and services using the 1928 Book of Common Prayer are also offered. If you’d like a quick explanation about what “Anglo-Catholic” means, check out this excellent page from Grace Church in Newark, NJ (NOTE: a decent knowledge of Anglicanism in general required for full understanding).
Forward in Faith – The Church of Our Saviour is a member of this organization (formerly called the Episcopal Synod of America in the USA) that is fighting tooth and nail for recognition of Anglican orthodoxy within the dioceses of the United States and elsewhere. If traditional Anglican orthodoxy is your bag, be sure to check out the American Anglican Council or Virtuosity too!
Alpha Soda – My good friend Angelos’ family owns and operates this awesome restaurant – which has been an Alpharetta, Georgia institution since the late 1920s. Alpha Soda originally offered standard “soda fountain fare” like hot dogs, hamburgers, fried chicken and meatloaf; in recent years they have remodeled both the restaurant and the food, so you can enjoy contemporary fare like Maryland crab cakes and New Zealand lamb in a relaxing Art Deco atmosphere. Lisa loves their extensive vegetable list while I love their comfort food favorites and their extensive desserts! If you’re anywhere near Alpharetta and you’re hungry, Alpha Soda is the place to be!
The Flannery O’Connor\Andalusia Foundation – This site is all about the homeplace of the best author the state of Georgia ever produced – Flannery O’Connor! The main reason I’m linking it here is one of personal history. One Sunday my friend James, his fiancée and myself decided to take a road trip to see her grave in Milledgeville, GA. Flannery’s mother – Regina – was still alive then and we actually called her to get directions to Flannery’s grave. So when I first saw this page – with the picture of the farmhouse on the front – I kind of got a lump in my throat to know that when we called her, the phone rang in that house! It might seem kind of silly to you, but I’m sure we’ve all had similar moments.
Radio Stations – My all-time favorite radio station is Absolute Radio. This British radio station streams multiple stations in just about any format you can think of. They also have their own web-based player for listening at work and podcasts for listening on your portable player. If I ever owned my own radio station, my playlists would be almost identical to what Virgin Radio plays – I like it that much! Another favorite of mine is WREK, the student-run station at Georgia Tech (get it? Ramblin’ Wreck? WREK?). WREK offers Georgia Tech sports and their eclectic shows online in 128kbps MP3 format, as well as playlists and a a 7-day archive of their content. Check it out, yo! Unfortunately, my alma mater’s radio station – WRAS (Album88, “the voice of Georgia State University”) – is lame and doesn’t offer online streaming. It really sucks too, ‘cos I really love Album88 and listen every time I’m in Atlanta. One of my new favorites is eRockster, which is available online and as a subchannel on ClearChannel alternative stations in many markets.
The “ToAsTOr” – A friend of mine from my Pathfire days wanted to build a PC that looked a little different, so he went out and bought a circa-1960 General Electric toaster and added a mini-ITX board and all the other components he needed to make a working PC out of a toaster! The CD-ROM drive even pops-up out of the toaster slot! Hehehehe – cool stuff and I’m proud to say I know him!
Shopping
Amazon – I’m sure you’re familiar with Amazon.com – after all, it’s almost THE online store. But if you’ve never shopped at their sister sites – like Amazon UK or Amazon Canada – you might be missing out on some good deals! If you’re in the market for an import CD it’s almost always cheaper to buy it from Amazon UK than Amazon US, even with pricier shipping from the UK. For example, Bananarama’s Drama CD cost me only £10.38 ($17.97, including shipping) from Amazon UK whilst the same disc from Amazon US would have cost $34.47. And Amazon Canada sometimes has good deals on DVD box sets; since Canada uses Region 1 and NTSC any Canadian DVD will play in a U.S. machine. A few years back, Amazon US had the Band of Brothers DVD set at the “pre-sale” price of US$89.95; at the same time, Amazon Canada had the exact same set for CAN$89.45. At that time this was around $53 American dollars – a huge savings!
Zappos – The best damn online shoe store ever! Zappos has a huge selection, great prices and outstanding customer service. Most orders ship the same day you place them. Every order I’ve placed with them has been upgraded to overnight shipping free of charge, and every order comes with a pre-printed, pre-paid UPS return label in case the shoes don’t fit properly or aren’t to your liking. Ordering a new pair of Docs on a Monday afternoon and having them in hand by 10am the next day is AWESOME! I just can’t say enough good stuff about these folks!
Deep Discount – My favorite place to buy DVDs online. 9 times out of 10 Deep Discount will have the lowest price for a given DVD anywhere – other online stores, brick & mortar stores, garage sales, you name it! DDD initially rose to fame for having free shipping – which they still offer on any purchase. But since it’s shipped via Media Mail, you’re probably gonna have to wait a while to get your stuff. Still, it’s worth it with the savings DDD offers and with their decent catalogue – not the biggest, but enough for 99% of you out there – there’s always something out there to satisfy! Shipping upgrades are also available if you need it overnight.
NewEgg – Newegg is my favorite online store for computer parts and has also become the favorite of most folks at Ars Technica too! They don’t always have the lowest price on a part for your computer, but most of the time they do. They also ship very quickly and use FedEx exclusively. For some hot items, they even offer FREE shipping!
Geeks.com – Geeks.com isn’t exactly a “salvage yard”, but they *are* known for having great deals on older technology. If you need a part for an ancient PC, or need a scanner or some speakers and don’t mind using yesterday’s models, geeks.com is for you. They’re been around forever and have always given me great service in the past!
J-List NSFW - J-List is a site that sells wonderfully wacky items from Japan – including goofy T-shirts, region-free DVD players, bento boxes, anime, nudie calendars and adult toys! The prices are reasonable but the shipping can sometimes be a bit slow: although J-List has a warehouse in San Diego, many of the items are shipped directly from Japan, so it might take a while. Fun stuff regardless – I LOVE my “Completely Confident In My Sexual Power” t-shirt! Listed as NSFW for adult content; they also have a work-safe site called J-Box that has all of their non-adult items.
Think Geek – Need to buy a gift for a geek? Stop searching – your store is here! I personally want just about everything they sell – from “No I Won’t Fix Your Computer” and other funny geek t-shirts to super geeky gear – like USB watches, high-tech flashlights and cube toys. It’s the FAO Schwartz for the geek set! I still wear my “RTFM” t-shirt at least once a week!
Gallery Hidden – This Chicago art gallery’s motto is “Art for the Price of Meat!” and it’s TRUE! Their online store features hundreds of popart prints featuring established cultural icons like Jack Kerouac, Montgomery Clift and Audrey Hepburn as well as newer pop icons like Morrissey, Tom Waits and Bernard Sumner. I like Esqui’s work so much that I have this print from the movie Amélié and this print of Flannery O’Connor hanging on my wall right now! Most prints sell for only $25 – $35 and custom framing is available for most prints for around $30 (depending on the size and complexity of the print).
Discount Magazines – Magazines make the lion’s share of their money from selling ads. As you might guess, the more readers they have, the more money they can charge companies for their ad space. Many magazines will almost give away their magazine as a way of increasing their readership. And that’s where a site like discountmagazines.com comes in. The site offers yearly subscriptions to around fifty magazines for $5.95/year and has cheap deals on other magazines as well. I paid only $5.95 for a year’s worth (51 issues) of OK! magazine, a savings of $195 over the cover price, and around $65 than the second-best deal I could find online. Miss Lisa also signed up for several magazines that interested her – she paid less than $30 for yearly subscriptions to 5 different magazines… Score!
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Slate – Sure, they’re liberal bastards. But Slate has enough general interest stories to keep everyone interested. I got into this site due to the headlines that appear almost daily on the MSN homepage and after a while I just added Slate itself to my favorites. Good writing, but sometimes flaky and self-important. Around half the time I want to print out the articles to show the missus – the other half of the time I get two paragraphs into an article and press the “back” button my my browser.
Abandoned Tube Stations – This site (along with this other site) explore many of London’s old and “disused” tube stations. I stumbled on to this site while researching the Underground for a recent trip to London and ending up spending hours at the sites. It sounds silly, but it’s just plain fascinating to see the old Underground stations – many of which still have the propaganda posters hanging in them from their days as bomb shelters in WWII. Absolutely fascinating stuff! Did you know that the Royal Mail used to have it’s own subway system used to deliver mail?? Cool, no? If London’s not your bag, check out a similar site dedicated to derelict stations on the NYC subway. If this subject matter in general interests you, check out Subterranea Britannica too!
J-Track – This site is SO COOL!! It’s a NASA site that allows you to track – in real time – the International Space Station, the Hubble Space Telescope, the space shuttle (whenever it flies again), GPS birds and any other man-made satellite orbiting the earth. Be sure to check out the “J-Track 3-D” link on the page to see it all in user-configurable 3-D!
SpyNumbers.Com – For years now, shortwave radio junkies have reported stations that pop up out of nowhere, broadcast a simple tune, then repeat a set of numbers over and over for sometimes hours at a time… then disappear forever. Here’s a sample of one in MP3 format (1.73MB, zipped for your protection!) Are they spy agencies sending instructions to agents in the field? Communication between drug dealers? No one knows for sure, but what’s certain is that some spy agencies – including the CIA, MI-6 and the Mossad – own and operate at least some of these stations – the sample file I just linked to is a rather famous one called the “Lincolnshire Poacher” after the tune that’s played in the middle of the recording. It is known that MI-6 owns the station which broadcasts the Poacher’s signal from Cyprus. “Building a mystery”?? For sure!
Justice for Kirsty – Popular English singer Kirsty MacColl was killed in a boating accident off Cozumel, Mexico on December 18, 2000. She was diving in a restricted area with her two children when a speedboat ran over her. She was probably killed by the initial impact with the boat, but her death was made certain when her body was then mutilated by the speedboat’s propellers. The boat that killed Kirsty was allegedly piloted by Guillermo González Nova, the chairman of CCM, one of Mexico’s largest retail business. CCM operates restaurants, supermarkets and “hypermarkets” (a store that sells food and general merchandise, like a Super Wal Mart). CCM also owns a 50% share of Costco de Mexico Group, the Mexican branch of the American wholesaler Costco. Let’s be honest here: “Mexican justice” isn’t very good, even on its best day. And when the alleged murderer just happens to be one of Mexico’s wealthiest men, any subsequent investigation can be… well, suspect. Nova initially admitted that he was piloting the boat, then claimed that an assistant was at the wheel. He also claimed that the boat was doing 1-2 knots in the restricted area, whilst eyewitnesses and the damage done to Kirsty’s body indicate otherwise. Nova’s assistant would eventually be found guilty of culpable homicide – a token sentence to be sure, as Mexican maritime law (like most other civilized countries) normally assigns blame to the captain of the vessel, regardless of who’s actually piloting the boat at the time (Exxon Valdez, anyone?). Because Mexican law also assesses criminal fines based on the convicted’s ability to pay, the assistant had to pay a fine of just 650 Mexican pesos (US $60.59) as well as restitution of 1034 pesos (US $99.27) to Kirsty’s family. Had Nova been convicted, restitution payments would make likely been in the millions of dollars. Justice for Kirsty seeks to have the Mexican government re-open the case and produce real – not token – results. Go to the site to find out how you can help.
Liam’s Pictures From Old Books – I stumbled upon this awesome site whilst looking for desktop wallpapers of Westminster Abbey. As you might guess from the name, this site has thousands of scans of pictures from old books. What you might not know is that many pictures are offered in a variety of resolutions (up to 2000×2000 or larger!) and all of the images are in the public domain in the US (or out of copyright in Canada), so you can use them as you see fit. I came for Westminster Abbey, but stayed and looked through several old books. Although the site has scans of several 500+ year old books, I found myself fascinated by the 1880s-1910 era British photography books. Seeing the rolling green hills of England in grainy black and white held some kind of fascination for me.
FlyerTalk – Have a question about airlines? Chances are that someone in the FlyerTalk forums has an answer for you! Although the site is geared towards frequent flyers – you might get abbreviation anxiety in some of the threads and wonder if they’re actually speaking English – the good denizens of the site will certainly help you in any way that they can.
Multichannel News – This hopelessly boring site has tons of news about broadcasting and cable operators. So why did I decide to list it here? Well, it’s one of the few places in the world where you can actually GET NEWS about what your cable provider is planning for the future. Want to know if your cable company is going to get a certain channel or carry a certain brand of DVR? This is the place to find out, even if most of it is so boring it’ll make your eyes glaze over. Why cable companies aren’t more open and honest with their customers is beyond me; it’s just sad that we (as consumers) have to visit trade websites to find out what they’re up to!
Electronic Frontier Foundation – One of the most important groups in our digital world, EFF is fighting against huge companies that want to erode our rights via campaign contributions. Whether defending folks from silly RIAA or DMCA lawsuits, fighting for free speech against the corporate copyright holders of Barney the Dinosaur, or taking states to task over shoddy e-voting machines, the EFF is there. I’ve donated to them… have you?
