I constantly find myself stuck in a virtual Internet rut, going to the same Web sites day after day, refreshing the page even when I know deep down a site has lost its luster or stopped aiding in my productivity.
Often it only takes one new Web site to end the stagnation, and these sites in particular offer helpful services to every type of user.
digg.com Digg is perhaps the most important site I visit daily. An amalgamation of random information, breaking news and time wasters, digg is completely user driven. It works like this: I find something online I feel is worthy of “digging.” I submit it to the site and if other users read it and agree with me; they can also “digg” the story. The more “diggs” a story gets, the higher up on the front page it goes.
Because the content can be from virtually any Internet site, you are able to summarize a large portion of what is going on online that day. You can view digg.com’s general front page or break it down by subcategories that might be more interesting or important to you.
woot.com If you love a great bargain, woot is the Web site for you. Every night at the stroke of midnight, a new great deal is posted. You have until 11:59 p.m. that day or until the item sells out (whichever happens first) to purchase it. Otherwise, consider it gone forever. Still, I’ve scored some pretty amazing deals (Bluetooth headphones for $29.99, a 250 GB hard drive for $49, and two wireless routers for $14.99, to name a few). Shipping on any item (from 70″ flat screen TVs to flash drives) is always $5. Woot is a fun site for bargain hunters, techies and impulse buyers.
pandora.com Much like the Internet rut, I sometimes find myself bored with the music I’ve got on my iPod and definitely irritated with the radio. So I log onto Pandora, type in an artist I like, and it finds (and streams) similar tunes to me at no charge. I’ve found numerous great, lesser-known artists through Pandora, which has made it an indispensable tool for me, and for any music enthusiast.
meebo.com AIM, Yahoo!chat, MSN Messenger, and GoogleTalk rolled into one free, simple online chat tool? Sign me up! Just type in your username and password and it logs on for you, no software to install. Great for use on public machines that restrict your options for program installation and block ports chat programs use to communicate. Did I mention it’s free?
docs.google.com Need to write a paper but don’t have Microsoft Word available? Want to work on projects collaboratively? Spreadsheet due for class? Google Docs and Spreadsheets is easy, free, works with your g-mail account, and saves in .doc and .xls formats, meaning the files will open on any computer with Microsoft Office. It even allows you to save files right to your g-mail account, no disk required. An awesome tool, simple and powerful, and like meebo and Pandora, completely free.
DialAHuman.com Sick of dialing phone support just to be told to hit key after key or talk to a computer voice in loud, over-annunciated tones? Me too. DialAHuman.com will tell you exactly what to do to bypass the crummy menus that rarely get you to the right place anyways and just talk to an honest to goodness HUMAN BEING. With listings for hundreds of companies from auto makers to banks, insurance and computers, this site is worth its weight in gold.