There are pretty many websites that I frequent..my fav sites run much above 10. So when I decided to write this review I knew I had to filter them. I have removed those sites from my list that are very popular in the hope that some of the sites that I list here might be new to someone and hence, useful...
Yet still, I know that the sites that I’m listing here are pretty well known and I think many of them have already featured in other reviews under this category. Anyways..here are some of my fav online hangouts in no particular order:
The Onion
https://theonion.com/
’’Israelites Sue God For Breach Of Covenant’’..continue to read the full article complete with pics and reports. The Onion calls itself ’America’s finest News Source’ and its dedicated to UTTER and GENUINE nonsense.By far one of my most fav hangouts online. Read it at ur own risk. You might have trouble stopping ur laughter. ..(buavaahahaha..its really funny, man!!) Read incredibly sarcastic and rib-tickling news complete with photos and reports. Its genuine nonsense, but its creative and thought provoking:) If you haven’t yet visited this site before I recommend you do it right away!
Internet Archive
https://archive.org
An online archive of the internet. This is a trip down memory lane to bring in nostalgic memories. The wayback machine is one of the coolest tool on the web . I must warn, though, that it doesnt archive all the sites (if you try to use the wayback machine on ur personal site, u might be disappointed) and also that it doesnt archive hyperlinks. But it does work with a LOT of sites. For a sample, just type https://mouthshut.com into the wayback machine and on the links that appear click to view how our very own MS looked like in 2000 :)..cool, isn’t it? I have spend hours on the wayback machine typing sites and viewing their old versions. Go time-travelling in cyberspace!
Gutenberg Free eBooks
https://gutenberg.org
A copyrighted work moves into the public domain after 50 yrs AFTER the author dies.(What all rules we homo-sapiens have!:) Project Gutenberg provides easy access to such books in the public domain.Here you will find a lot of classics such as Call of the wild, Emma, Wuthering Heights, Far from the madding crowd, Tarzan, Works of Edgar Allan Poe, Sherlock Holmes, Works of R.L Stevenson, Mark Twain and LOADS more....now u know the strength of the public domain and open community :)
Lysator Fantasy Art
elfwood.lysator.liu.se
’’Welcome traveller, to the magic fantasy realm of Elfwood. In this enchanted forest you will find more fantasy and science fiction art than you could ever dream of...’’
If you love art work, especially fantasy..then this site is a heaven for you. I draw a teeny-weeny bit and since I have seen this site, I’ve been in love with it..The art is mind blowing, the folks are friendly and the feel is fantastic! There are enough categories and sections to keep you engrossed around the year. You can also register and become a part of this site, by uploading your work, moderating and contributing in the forums with reviews and comments.
Star Lite Cafe
https://thestarlitecafe.com
I was introduced to the starlitecafe by Mark Schanze, cousin of a close friend, who shared a dingy lodge room with me when we volunteered for tsunami relief work at Tamil Nadu. He writes under the name of ’woodaben kenobi’, is an absolute crack-nut and I can’t make head or tails out of his poems..but there are soo many other writers that I like..for some strange reason I find myself coming back to this site to read the poems.
’’There is a special place in life
A goal I must attain,
A dream that I must follow
For I won’t be back again......’’
Stock Exchange
https://sxc.hu
One of the biggest online photo galleries, with very good quality images. I prefer this over webshots..There are many royalty free images available.I love the cool interface, the forums, as well as the images. You can become part of the community by registering and uploading images. Every photo is screened and approved before they become a part of the site. So be sure to read the upload rules before uploading.
How Stuff Works
https://howstuffworks.com
I guess most of the people out there would be acquainted with this site. This is where I go first when I’m completely lost about something:) After getting armed with the basic info provided in this site, I dive into more detailed sites. This is the best first-reference-on-how-anything-works site I can recommend. It explains stuff in plain, simple, for-dummies kind of manner and being the block-head that I am, I really appreciate them for that. I am usually able to comprehend what I read here :)
Wikipedia
https://wikipedia.org
Should be the most establised and popular site in this list. A marvel of what can be achieved when people work for a common cause in harmony. For those of you who dont know what a wiki is, its ’’A website or similar online resource which allows users to add and edit content collectively.’’. Wikipedia, is by far the most comprehensive and successful implementation of a wiki. Its a wiki encyclopedia.. you will get details about almost anything. The beauty is that all info is contributed by volunteers. A true implementation of ’of the people, by the people and for the people’.
Idea a day
https://idea-a-day.com
A small, simple, silly site that flashes a new idea each day.Some are useful, some are silly and some are downright stupid..but all are gems..funny funny ones:) Browse the archive and go through these wonderful ideas..discover what makes man stand out among other animals! his endless list of ideas :) and if u find an idea about having openers on both side at a toothpaste, so that when its almost over we can easily squeeze the remaining paste from both ends, then its mine :)..though I no longer see it in the site.:(
Geo Cache
https://geocaching.com
’The sport where you are the search engine’, reads the catch phrase. I first stumbled across geocache couple of years ago. Its a novel concept.You hide something in your locality as a ’cache’. It is usually a water-proof container with a log-book and some inexpensive souvenir as gifts for anyone who locates it. Then post the cache in the site including the langitude/longitude. Other geocachers might try to locate the cache if they travel through ur area. The game requires a GPS receiver for u to track down the cache. Though I haven’t played this, due to the time and effort (and money:) involved, I’m interested in the game and visit the site often enough to call it one of my favs.
Thats it! Those are 10 of my most fav sites. There are many many more..I can’t live without google, I am a die-hard fan of yahoo..lots more..but then they are favs of everyone..what I’ve listed are the smaller sites in my list of favs..This list is a bit subjective since the topic is ’’My’’ Favourites. Do check them out and let me know what you think. I would love to hear.
Epilogue:
I would have loved to add sodaglass.com to the list:)Its my own site and naturally my most fav..but I didn’t want to post a dead link, because I took the site down:(