Blogging/microbloggingNow easier than falling off a log.
Tumblr Multimedia microblogging plus Twitter-style following :
http://www.tumblr.comPosterous Goes from instant microblogging into lifestreaming :
http://www.posterous.comSoup A "super-easy" tumblelog for scrapbook keeping and lifestreaming :
http://www.soup.ioBlogger Fast way to start blogging; training wheels for Wordpress :
http://www.blogger.comBloglines For reading web feeds. Smart and clean :
http://www.bloglines.comWordpress Free, and most importantly spam-free, blogging :
http://www.wordpress.comBrowsersDo we all need five browsers nowadays?
Chrome Now here for Mac, and anticipating future world domination via Chrome OS :
http://www.google.com/chromeFirefox Everyone's favourite is under attack from all sides :
http://www.mozilla.com/firefoxMaxthon Based on IE code. If it stays "hip in China" it could reach a large global audience :
http://www.maxthon.comCartoonsEveryone needs some relaxation. This is a visual one.
Dilbert It wouldn't be so funny if it wasn't so true :
http://www.dilbert.comXKCD Stick-figure strip poking fun at geek topics and relationships :
http://www.xkcd.comCelebrity gossipNo one needs this stuff, but it's starting to drive world news and web traffic.
TMZ Rose to fame when it broke news of Michael Jackson's death :
http://www.tmz.comPerez Hilton Among the bitchiest of goss sites and often involved in 'interesting' celeb baiting :
http://www.perezhilton.comGawker New York-based media alert and gossip blog network, with fingers in many pies :
http://www.gawker.comCreate/collaborateWith all of us now living more of our lives online, these sites just scratch the surface.
Netvibes Your to-do lists, news, weather and photos on one page :
http://www.netvibes.comScribd Shares 35bn words online: they can't all be wrong :
http://www.scribd.comSlideshare Like YouTube for PowerPoint decks :
http://www.slideshare.netZamzar Useful: converts files from one format to another :
http://www.zamzar.comFilmSites to see before heading for the latest blockbuster at your local multiplex.
IMDb The most authoritative site about all things film and TV, which is why Amazon bought it :
http://www.imdb.comRotten Tomatoes Collects online film reviews, aggregates a score out of 100 and rates the film "fresh" or "rotten" :
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/Film Said to be the favourite film blog of directors Jason Reitman and Darren Aronofsky, /Film features news, reviews, interviews and a special UK update each Friday :
http://www.slashfilm.comCinematical Terrific film blog with a Hollywood focus :
http://www.cinematical.comGamingA field where handheld, bedroom and Flash games are becoming mainstream
Eurogamer Reportage, with breadth, if not always depth :
http://www.eurogamer.netThe Independent Gaming Source A great place to pick up on tomorrow's breakthrough Xbox Live Arcade, WiiWare and PSN hits :
http://www.tigsource.comPocket Gamer Still by far the best site on handheld gaming :
http://www.pocketgamer.co.ukGamasutra Where professional games creators hang out, and sometimes get jobs :
http://www.gamasutra.comGeek squadHere be programmers …
Stack Overflow Where programmers gather to try to solve their problems :
http://www.stackoverflow.comThe Daily WTF Daily dispatches from the coding warzone :
http://www.thedailywtf.comJoel On Software Essays by a former Microsoftie, now head of Fog Creek Software :
http://www.joelonsoftware.comGovernment/public services/politicsRecycle Now Winner after a slight false start of the government'sShow Us A Better Way competition. What can you recycle close by? :
http://www.recyclenow.comBritish and Irish Legal Information Institute A database of laws. Only survives hand-to-mouth on voluntary donations; where's yours? :
http://www.bailii.orgWhat Do They Know? Makes filing a Freedom Of Information request as easy as sending an email. Too easy, some in power think :
http://www.whatdotheyknow.comUpmystreet All the detail on your area you could ever want :
http://www.upmystreet.comThey Work For You A site set up by volunteers to keep tabs on our elected members of parliament – and our unelected peers :
http://www.theyworkforyou.comLink economyWith millions of links on the web, we all need sites for sharing the best ones.
Digg Still the reigning champion of where the latest internet memes are though not always polite :
http://www.digg.comDelicious The thinking person's link aggregation site. We use it :
http://www.delicious.comPopurls Aggregating the aggregators: the web in a window :
http://popurls.comMetafilter Living if isolated proof that a site can be successful without pictures or video, and can also host thoughtful conversations :
http://www.metafilter.comSlashdot Now looking venerable and old, but "News for nerds" site with a jokey name (/.) still attracts a big, and often knowledgable, audience :
http://slashdot.orgTechmeme Technology news chosen by computer, though it's now refined by human editors :
http://techmeme.comLocationServices like these blossom with a mobile phone that can access the internet.
Dopplr "Share your future travel plans with friends and colleagues", then find out if others will be there too :
http://www.dopplr.comQype Localised search for pubs, restaurants, etc; also a bit of a social network :
http://www.qype.co.ukLoopt "Transforms your mobile phone into a social compass" :
http://www.loopt.comBrightkite A "location-based social network" :
http://brightkite.comMapsThe flipside of location-based services: seeing where you are.
OpenStreetMap A rights-free map created by people like you. Remarkably detailed and precise :
http://www.openstreetmap.orgGoogle Maps Street View Virtual tourism with practical applications, too :
http://www.maps.google.com/help/maps/streetviewMoney/finance/consumer fightbackWe all need someone on our side.
Money Saving Expert Does what it says on the tin :
http://www.moneysavingexpert.comSay No to 0870 Direct-dial numbers, not expensive national-rate ones :
http://saynoto0870.comConsumer Direct Government site for consumers :
http://consumerdirect.gov.ukMusicLast.fm British-made, now CBS-owned, music recommendation station :
http://www.last.fmAmazon Now has its own MP3 store in the UK as well as the US :
http://www.amazon.co.ukHype Machine Picks up the latest news by tracking the music blogs :
http://hypem.comPitchfork The magazine of the music web, now with video, and lots of great lists :
http://pitchfork.comOffbeatThe Onion Still the satirical newspaper of record. If it's not in the Onion, it's probably happened :
http://www.theonion.comB3TA Beyond classification; its forum has spawned many memes … and more than its fair share of trolls :
http://b3ta.comLolcats respite from stress with daft cCaptioned cats and other animals :
http://icanhascheezburger.comNews Lite respite from stress with daft cGreat source of news that's much too trivial to print :
http://newslite.tvOddee Setting an internet standard for sets of curious and mildly amusing pictures, not cats :
http://oddee.comPostSecret Notes of secrets sent by people who want them posted. So they are :
http://postsecret.blogspot.comPassive-Aggressive Notes Would it be too much trouble for you to have a look? :
http://www.passiveaggressivenotes.comPhotographyFlickr The granddaddy of photo-sharing sites :
http://www.flickr.comPicnik Photo editing in your browser :
http://www.picnik.comPicasa Google's photo organisation and editing tool :
http://picasa.comDPreview The web's best guide to cameras. Now Amazon owned :
http://dpreview.comReferenceCIA Factbook All the data you need on pretty much anywhere :
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/index.htmlWikipedia en.wikipedia.com the gradually growing user-edited encyclopaedia is Still a first port of call on most topics :
http://en.wikipedia.orgInternet Archive/Wayback Machine The web in aspic. Useful for research into how the web used to look :
http://www.archive.orgMetacritic Aggregates reviews of movies and DVDs, TV programmes, music and games :
http://www.metacritic.comWikileaks Anonymous source of a huge range ofleaked documents. If you dig, there's something important there :
http://wikileaks.orgSearchGoogle dominates but Bing is challenging, and Yahoo and Microsoft are left in the dust.
Google So good it's become almost synonymous with search :
http://www.google.comBing Microsoft would like you to bing it, but its "decision engine" still has a long way to go :
http://www.bing.comWolfram Alpha An "answer engine"that delivers when it has the data, but not that easy to use :
http://www.wolframalpha.comSocial softwareTwo years ago it was nascent; now it's embedded in our culture. Chances are high you're a member of at least one, and perhaps all, of these sites.
Facebook Still changing and growing to become not just your home on the web, but your ID provider :
http://www.facebook.comLinkedIn Contact sports for business users :
http://www.linkedin.comNing One place to start your own social network – just as Madonna did – though it has yet to really take off :
http://www.ning.comTravelExpedia Still the daddy when it comes to travel sites, and particularly good if you can bundle a flight with a hotel and other services :
http://www.expedia.co.ukTripAdvisor Essential reading for the user reviews of hotels, but it now covers much more :
http://www.tripadvisor.comLaterooms Specialises in hotel discounts :
http://www.laterooms.comTwitter, and associatedTwitter has proved itself over and over this year, from the Chinese earthquke to the Mumbai attacks to the Madoff fraud as a vector for news.
Twitter The ur-site, where you can create an identity (or several) :
http://www.twitter.comTwitter Tim.es Creates your personal newspaper based on your friend's tweets :
http://www.twittertim.esTwitterfeed Posts blog contents to Twitter :
http://twitterfeed.comTwitterCounter Graphs the growth in your followers :
http://twittercounter.comTwitterfall Tracks trending topics; enables custom searches :
http://twitterfall.comListorious Twitter lists make it simple to follow large groups of Twitter users, and Listorious makes it easy to find the best lists :
http://listorious.comVideoYouTube Dominant provider of video content online :
http://www.youtube.comVimeo Better rights control than YouTube and a cleaner interface :
http://vimeo.comBBC iPlayer The king of the online catchup services :
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayerHulu The networks fight back with their own video site, which may make the UK in 2010. We hope :
http://www.hulu.comVideojug The motherlode of instructional videos, all in one place :
http://www.videojug.comVirtual worldsSecond Life Continues to exist and is, apparently, still popular, but not the media darling it was :
http://secondlife.comEntropia Universe Set in a distant future on the untamed planet of Calypso :
http://www.entropiauniverse.comClub Penguin Minigame-tastic virtual world for youngkids :
http://clubpenguin.comMoshi Monsters "Educational" virtual world for kids :
http://www.moshimonsters.comVisual artsSaatchi Gallery Gallery, listings and artworks for sale :
http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.ukArt Daily The first "art newspaper" on the net :
http://artdaily.orgCulture 24 Everything about UK galleries and museums :
http://www.culture24.org.ukVisualisationInformation is Beautiful Creating effective infographics is one of today's key skills, and on this site, it's also an art :
http://www.informationisbeautiful.netInfosthetics An archive of some of the finest examples of "information aesthetics" :
http://infosthetics.comDabbleDB Create online databases and analyse them :
http://dabbledb.com 