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 There once was a dark, dreary time when the earth was (gasp) without the internet. Blasphemous, we know, but the time unfortunately existed. CEOs waiting on dial-up had to sit idly at their rainbow Apple computers, staring at lime text flashing before a black background. Students had to use their (rotary) phones to sign up for classes. Mail was sent in this absurdly ancient fashion involving stamps and paper envelopes. You could only find porn on VHS. People actually had to get off their asses and meander into the physical vicinity of that hottie to "poke them." THERE WAS NO WIKIPEDIA. Like we said, it was a dark, dreary time. But thanks to the all-powerful tech geniuses out there (or maybe Al Gore), we now have the Internet.
The damn thing has exploded with over 1.114 billion users myspacing and googling away. It's the perfect place to retrieve questionably reliable information and to track the top 5 stupid things Paris Hilton does daily. But as wonderful as the interweb may be, it can also be an information abyss. Rest assured you drowning surfers, the internet is your friend and SNMag is here to help. You just gotta know where to look.
SHOPPING
When the mall, like, omgah totally, like, sucks. Fer sure…
1. Thefind.com: When you're too lazy to browse the racks yourself, go to Thefind.com. It's the "time crunched savvy shopping" search engine. Lookin' for some stunna shades? Enter your shopping request into the search, and Thefind.com will find all the products out there, complete with price and image.
2. Threadless.com: It's the hipster one stop tee shop. Users submit designs, the site prints them, you shop them.
3. Shopittome.com: This site is like your own personal online shopper. You enter your preferences, and the site lets you know when all the crap you want to buy is on sale.
4. thesartorialist.blogspot.com: Wanna see high fashion on the streets? Check out fashion photographer Scott Schuman's blog, which he created as a way to close the "disconnect between what [he] was selling in the showroom and what [he] was seeing real people (really cool people) wearing in real life."
NEWS
Because sometimes you don’t want newspaper ink-smudged fingers...
1. Truthdig.com: It's the web magazine that "drills beneath the headlines," providing not only accurate and current news info, but provocative POVs from experts. Plus, it just won two Webby Awards for Best People's Voice and Best Political Blog!
2. Theonion.com: If you want a break from the usual humdrum newspaper articles, log onto The Onion.com. The satirical newspaper mocks the stiff template of every other publication out there, publishing a mix of real and imaginary news stories. With headlines like "Report: 70% of all praise sarcastic" and " Woman's day entirely ruined by bangs," The Onion definitely proves to be America's finest (and most entertaining) news source.
3. Reuters.com: This site is the CNN of website news... if you don’t count CNN.com.
4. Fora.tv: Got something to say about what's going on in the world? Fora.tv provides "deep, unfiltered content, tools for self-expression and a place for the interactive community to gather online." And it has this awesome mac-esque clean and trendy layout.
VIDEOS
Hey lookit! YouTube spawned…
1. current.tv: This site is more like a news video forum; "Current TV is a global television network that gives you the opportunity to create and influence what airs on TV."
2. veryfunnyads.com: This site has…well…very funny ads. They even have that one with the creepy Starburst Berries & Cream guy.
3. vimeo.com: It's like youtube but with a more community vibe. You can even tag other people in the videos!
4. move-me.com: Move-me.com features a photo booth that takes videos of people dancing moseys around England. Enjoy British people shakin' it.
FOR PURE AMUSEMENT
Because the internet is really for filling in those dull times at work…
1. Postsecret.blogspot.com: You know you wanna know everyone's deep dark secrets... Each week, people send in their confessions via dressed-up postcards to Frank Warren and he posts them. It's addictive.
2. pjortro.com: At pjortro.com you can make your own musical dancing guy. It's the subservient chicken meets Borat meets Napoleon Dynamite, i.e. AWESOME.
3. youaredamned.com: When some people get pissed they'll throw eggs. When some people want revenge, they key cars. But you could be hardcore and DAMN SOMEONE at youaredamned.com.
4. rasterbator.com: Need to decorate, but too broke to buy posters? Upload a photo, rasterbator will magically enlarge it into a pixelated piece of artwork, print it out on paper, and tape them together. Voila, 5 cent poster.
GOSSIP
Forget water cooler gossip, all the dirt you need is right here...
1. thesuperficial.com: The motherload of gossip sites, The Superficial's got more dirt than the entire trashy magazine checkout aisle.
2. celebitchy.com: Instead of scrolling down usual picture-text blog format, Celebitchy lures you in with juicy pix. It's pretty much point and shoot gossip.
3. overheardinny.com : Ever overhear a really hilarious conversation, but have no one to chuckle with? Overheardinny gives you a solution to this dilemma, providing a forum for eaves-dropping quotes. Who needs Will Ferrell when you have "thug #1” and "thug #2" pulling one-liners?
4. fafarazzi.com: If you feel left out during fantasy sports season, Fafarazzi brings you the Fantasy Celebrity League. Instead of drafting athletes, draft Fergie and Justin. Celebs who have the most mentions on gossip blogs reel in the points.
5. Gossip Triple-Threat: First hit up Perezhilton.com or Pinkisthenewblog.com for your CELEB gossip (obvs). Then tune into iwatchstuff.com for your TV/MOVIE gossip (this is for you movie fiend). And finally tap into Geekologie.com for your TECH gossip (hey pocket protected geek, we look out for you too).
MUSIC
When you’re itchin’ to rock out…
1. Pandora.com: Known as the "music genome project," Pandora streams songs you can listen to right on your comp. It takes a song or band of your choosing, searches its databases for similar types of songs you might enjoy, and makes the most bumpin’ playlist imaginable. It's a perfect way to discover new music for free!
2. Last.fm: Same concept as Pandora, but this site is UK based and a little more community-oriented. Everyone has a “profile,” allowing you to tune into other people’s favorite tunes.
3. Tourfilter.com: You're pumped that Mika is playing in LA, but, eff, you found out too late and now tickets are sold out! To be notified asap when your favorite bands are playing at a venue near you, visit tourfilter.com. It's a lot easier to maneuver than ticketmaster, and it automatically emails you when the bands you ACTUALLY want to see are in town.
4. Pitchforkmedia.com: Pitchforkmedia's got everything you'd want/need to know about the hottest indie bands. Music reviews, news, music streaming via "forkcasts," feature articles - it’s all there!
GAMES
It’s never been easier to celebrate your inner-dorkness…
1. Gamespot.com: The “video reviews” are the best—the latest video games reviewed on camera by very articulate, passionate, devoted dweebs, available for you to stream and enjoy. It could also be described as a form of “video game sensory overload,” given the amount of content. It’s a Mecca of all things video games, but like a flashy movie site. Basically, if all video game websites had matching castles, Gamespot’s would be tall and sharp…and made of candy. You’ll never, never need another game site for news, previews, videos and all that.
2. Gamefaqs.com: You’re stuck on the final boss of Double Dragon because you and your buddies hot-wired your dusty NES and have your weekend planned…but you’re stuck, you’ve died a million times. Were games always this hard? And Double Dragon came out in like 1930. Who knows about it anymore besides that guy with the Metallica T-shirt in the arcade at your local bowling alley in his late thirties? Well, probably just still him, but I bet he’s written a “Walkthrough,” a step-by-step guide to Double Dragon, or Tony Hawk, GTA, any game ever really. There’s just some things Wikipedia doesn’t have.
DATING
When you've been on one bad date too many...
1. match.com: Hey man, I'm not one to pick a fight with Dr. Phil. If the P man says it works, it works.
2. perfectmatch.com: Not gonna lie, this one looks like it’s for an older demo (if you know what I mean). But hey, the name of the site is pretty promising?
3. yahoo personals: This site is great because there are tons of pictures. Even, if you never get the nerve to actually proceed with any of the dates, you'll have at least done a lot of yahoo personals stalking.
4. myforeignbride.com: A solid last resort.
NETWORKING
When facebook just isn’t hitting the spot anymore (damn newsfeeds)…
1. vox.com: It’s blogspot, flikr, facbeook, and youtube rolled into one big community website. You can save yourself the clutter of too many windows open at once on your desktop.
2. orkut.com: Because google is taking over the world, one internet option at a time (have you seen their google docs?), they’ve created their own myspace-esque site. It’s pronounced “or cut.”
3. bebo.com: This site is a lot like the band and music-heavy myspace, but also integrates blogs, videos, and photos. Bebo takes social networking “to the next level” by even allowing people to chat AIM-style while logged in.
4. rateyourprofile.com: If you suffer from low self-esteem or are just plain narcissistic, go to rateyouprofile.com. Just by adding a code to your profile, visitors can rate your myspace and facebook profiles based on “hotness,” “coolness” and “popularity.”
MOVIES
Because there’s no excuse for watching bad movies…
1. rottentomatoes.com: Our Senior Editor trusts it, and so should you. This site presents you with “a smattering of reviews” and even links you to other kickass reviews of the film in question. All you need to do is look for the splatters. See a lot of green? I’d skip that flick.
2. film.com: Film.com’s got everything you want to know about entertainment. Movie reviews, DVD releases, TV gossip; it’s the ultimate moviephile site. Specialized writers from around the country make up their editorial staff, and the interface is super chic and easy to maneuver. Plus, there is an uber comprehensive indie section.
3. Comingsoon.net: Wanna know what movies you can look forward to seeing? Comingsoon.net tells you when movies are… coming… soon. They give you the date, the talent, the synopsis, and trailers for all the movies on the brink of premiering.
4. Imdb.com: Find anything and everything you ever wanted to know about actors, directors, films, and the like on this online movie database. Who was that one guy with the hair in that movie with Zach Braff? IMDB it.
COOL WEBSITES TO FIND COOL WEBSITES
If you’re still not impressed by our list after all that, let these sites do the finding for you...
1. thecoolhunter.net
2. damninteresting.com
MISCELLANEOUS GOODNESS
Just good to know for future ref...
1. blingo.com: Since you’re googling already, you may as well Blingo. Why? Each time you blingo, you could win a car or $5000 or something else ridiculously cool. And there are no strings, no registration, it’s just upfront prizes for searching. No lie - they’ve already given out 42,326 prizes to date.
2. fixya.com: Oh crap. My iPod won't play songs, the digital camera is doing this weird red blinky thing, and my computer is blue-screening! Well Fixya.com’s got your back, providing a huge forum of how-tos and fix-its just a click away.
3. meebo.com: Have you ever been at the library and really really wanted to AIM. You know, just had the itch to profile surf or type in “LOL?” Of course the Library’s comp doesn’t have AIM installed, but never fear, MEEBO is here. You can log into AIM, Yahoo messenger, MSN messenger, google talk and a bunch of other services without downloading anything, allowing you to instant message everywhere.
4. barfinder.com: A web-based community designed to keep patrons informed about bars and clubs nationwide. Great for finding new hotspots in your area, planning a bar crawl or for drink recipe ideas.
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