50 Kick-Ass Websites You Need to Know About
Posted 10/21/09 at 11:00:00 AM by Alex Castle, Norman Chan, and Forence Ion
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It's time to update the entries in your browser's links toolbar. But with recent estimates putting the size of the internet at well more than 100 million distinct websites, it's getting harder and harder to get a handle on all the great stuff that's out there. That's why we've compiled this list. And unlike some lists you may have seen, which try to name the very "best" websites, but end up just telling you a lot of stuff you already know, we've chosen instead to highlight 50 of our favorite sites that fly under most people's radar. Think of it as the Maximum PC blog roll (remember those?). These sites represent great alternatives to popular web destinations like YouTube and Hulu, and include useful references, powerful web apps, and the unknown blogs you must absolutely bookmark.
You might have heard of some of these sites, but we'll bet you haven't heard of all them. Read on and find out. You won't be disappointed.
Demoscene.tv
See What Can Be Done with 4 Kilobytes
If you’re any kind of nerd at all, you probably know about the demoscene, where talented programmers create complex videos rendered in real-time, stored in incredibly small files. If you’re not familiar, you should make yourself acquainted with the scene, and all of the trippy, procedurally-generated content it has to offer. And hey, it’s not like you’re going to hit your bandwidth cap watching demos.
But what if you just want to see what all the fuss is about without actually downloading and running an executable? That’s where demoscene.tv comes in. Think of it as YouTube for the scene, letting you watch demos in HD on the web. And if you like what you see, the full demo executable is just a click away.
lite.Facebook.com
Clutter-Free Social Networking
You can admit it. Along with Twitter, Facebook is one of the sites that you absolutely feel compelled to check every day to keep track of your friends’ activities and latest funny links. But while we’re all for friend-stalking, we could definitely do without the AJAX-heavy sidebars and interface modules that clutter up the Facebook homepage. Try using Facebook Lite, which gives you lean views of friend feeds and your user profile. You get access to essential image and update posting functionality without being bothered by the newest Facebook game apps.
Letsplayarchive.com
Let other people play games for you
The Let’s Play Archive maintains a list of hundreds of “Let’s Play” games, where somebody plays through a video game while maintaining a journal using text, screenshots and videos. Some are funny, while other’s just give you a whirlwind tour of a game you’ve never played before. Sounds dumb? Give it a try, you might just find it more engrossing than you’d imagined.
Soyouwanna.com
What They Didn’t Teach You in School
If you’ve ever needed some advice on how to do go about doing the most obscure, but didn’t really know who to turn to without receiving some sort of critical feedback, So You Wanna is a great resource for inquiring minds that think alike. So you wanna…audition for American Idol? Bottle your home-made beer? Get a travel visa to a foreign country? So You Wanna tells you all about it and assists you in your quest to become the all-knowing. Note that there is some NSFW content floating around the site.
Google Building Maker
Crowd Sourcing the 3D World
14th Century cartographers would be right about Google Earth – its world is pretty flat. Despite high-resolution satellite imagery that lets you zoom in on your neighbor’s skylight, buildings are still part of one big flat surface. That’s where you come in. Google’s Building Maker is a website that lets you help design and create buildings for Google Earth. Using a plug-in based version of their Sketch-up modeling program, you can easily create a textured 3D model of your neighborhood or local landmarks and submit them to be included in the Google Earth database. The process is surprisingly simple and really fun to use. Google has rolled out the service to 50 cities so far, but plans on expanding its reach in the future.
Ikeahacker.blogspot.com
Outsmart the Swedes at their Own Game
If you’ve been a college student or 20-something living on a budget in the last couple decades, chances are good that there are a couple of bits of Ikea furniture gracing your living quarters. The Ikeahacker blog shows you how other people have transformed their old Swedish furniture into something awesome.
You forget
Submitted by dandart on Fri, 11/20/2009 - 7:08pm
Last.fm (music, scrobbling, sharing, recommendation)
Jamendo.com - brilliant free music
Your Creative Commons search bar - search for free moddable stuff.
xenon.kevinghadyani.com - a Web OS plus file, video, audio, picture sharing and hosting!
Stuff:
sourceforge.net - free software
freshmeat.com - free software
ubuntu.com - a whole free OS
linuxmint.com - another one that may be the easiest OS I have ever used
amarok.kde.org - a great audio player
Wikipedia.org
Google.com
Submitted by Kevin398 on Thu, 11/05/2009 - 9:51pm
Like the previous post said, I agree that this website looks like a good idea. Seems like it lets consumers combine buying power to get a better deal.
Submitted by freb on Wed, 10/28/2009 - 5:33am
This site looks like a good idea. I don't know if it works or not. http://www.swaggitsearch.com
Freb
Submitted by bballisgod on Tue, 10/27/2009 - 12:26am
I also thought the all in one search engine http://www.onepageartist.com was pretty good, you guys should think about it for your next list! Thanks for the compilation!
Great list!
Submitted by Phoebe on Thu, 10/22/2009 - 12:54am
Great combination of standbys like Kayak and io9 mixed with some useful new discoveries.
Those looking for an alternative to Hulu etc. might also take a look at Jinni http://www.jinni.com for a new, visual way to choose and get seamlessly connected to watch with Netflix, Hulu, etc.
Submitted by rharjanto on Wed, 10/21/2009 - 10:08pm
http://www.heapr.com
Search Google, Twitter, Wikipedia, WolframAlpha, etc. all at once, super fast (search on key press)!
Submitted by ericalong1 on Wed, 10/21/2009 - 6:48pm
The Filthyrichmond site is ridiculously funny, you guys left out http://booklookr.com for finding cheap textbooks/school books, great list!
TVTropes
Submitted by gendoikari1 on Wed, 10/21/2009 - 2:30pm
Great job MPC, you just [[TVTropesWillRuinYourLife ruined hundreds of lives]]... AAAGH IT HAS ME!
Submitted by markohurlo on Wed, 10/21/2009 - 2:25pm
I think Prom Date Depot --- http://www.promdatedepot.com --- is one of the better site ideas I've seen in awhile....
Submitted by johnny5000 on Wed, 10/21/2009 - 1:16pm
It's not listed, but I really like Woopid.com
tons of really great tutorials for me and those I help out
i now <3 openwith.org. thx
Submitted by nsk chaos on Wed, 10/21/2009 - 12:19pm
i now <3 openwith.org. thx guys!!!!!! XD
Submitted by gleep on Wed, 10/21/2009 - 8:44am
Thanks for the list, guys. Got some great new bookmarks out of it.
Submitted by Obsolete on Wed, 10/21/2009 - 8:04am
Thanks so much for linking to ObsoelteTheBook.com! My name is Anna Jane, however. Not Mary Jane. Although, I do like Mary Janes...
The site is actually just an extension of my book, <A href="http://bit.ly/obsoletebook">OBSOLETE</a>. Thanks for allowing me this shameless plug.
Signed,
MJG
Submitted by norman on Wed, 10/21/2009 - 8:09am
Oops, fixed! Sorry about the error. Good luck with your book!
-- Norm
Submitted by DogPatch1149 on Wed, 10/21/2009 - 7:18am
I've been using Weather Underground for a long time now, and the ability to select advanced radar types alone is reason enough it beats Weather.com in my book. (Of course, WU doesn't have Heather Tesch, so it's kind of even, I guess. :) )
More than once, I've used WU to monitor approaching storms...the interactive radar display gives you six frames of playback (more if you pay), which is more than adequate to figure out where the serious weather is headed.
Submitted by snapple00 on Wed, 10/21/2009 - 7:16am
A top 50 with no porn? Shame..
What is the world coming to...
Submitted by fnordfnord on Wed, 10/21/2009 - 6:46am
FilthyRichmond.com is hilarious. But WTF is up with her grill?
Submitted by WFUJay on Wed, 10/21/2009 - 6:16am
Gethuman.com is extremely helpful.
Nice article.
PostSecret
Submitted by K0BALT on Wed, 10/21/2009 - 3:30am
PostSecret.com is an intersting site that I check every Sunday.
Craiglook Is Useless
Submitted by Comic Book Guy on Wed, 10/21/2009 - 1:49am
It only searches cities in Iowa, what good is it for Craigslist..?!
Comic Book Guy
.....did you only put in
Submitted by myndflyte on Wed, 10/21/2009 - 3:27am
.....did you only put in Iowa zip codes when you searched?
Submitted by Comic Book Guy on Wed, 10/21/2009 - 4:11am
Why would I put Iowa zip codes, I am in Canada, I tried postal codes, as well as city; it's only good for the US then...so it's still useless!
Comic Book Guy
I think you are mistaken! It
Submitted by Modred189 on Wed, 10/21/2009 - 4:43am
I think you are mistaken! It just means it is useless to people who don't live in the US. Who are pretty useless anyway!!!
I KID!!!mm :-D
Not so smooth
Submitted by Havok on Wed, 10/21/2009 - 6:08am
Oooooooo.... you just pissed off A LOT of users Mr. Naruto-avatar-person...When a Canadian pokes fun at Canada, it's funny, when a 'Mericain makes fun of the US it's funny, just not the opposites. Canada shames YOU!
CLICK.
Submitted by snapple00 on Wed, 10/21/2009 - 7:51pm
Is the Canadas apart of the Chinas?
Nah, Canadian independency
Submitted by Xylogeist on Wed, 10/21/2009 - 6:27am
Nah, Canadian independency is a joke. You'd be better off anexed by the US.
Submitted by Havok on Wed, 10/21/2009 - 2:59pm
It's not Fallout!?!
CLICK.
"Independency" isn't a word.
Submitted by naxself on Wed, 10/21/2009 - 9:29am
Just thought I'd point that out.
Good list, though. I've clicked on a couple of sites I didn't know about.
Nice list! I like
Submitted by DBsantos77 on Tue, 10/20/2009 - 8:57pm
Nice list! I like soyouwanna.com, saves me a lot of time rather than using a search engine.
-Santos
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