BlueMidget's Places To Go (Top Ten Websites) (Top Ten Websites)

Member Name: BlueMidget

Product:	Top Ten Websites
Date:	04/11/06 (473 review reads)
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Here is a list of my Top Ten favourite places to visit online. Some of the sites you’re possibly already familiar with, others I hope a new to you and something you think might be worth checking out. So, let us begin…

1) WWW.IMDB.COM - Have you ever been watching a movie or TV programme and thought to yourself, "Where have I seen him/her before?". IMDB, (short for Internet Movie Database), allows you to search for movies, television shows, or actors and actresses. By searching for a movie or television programme, you will be given a list of the cast and crew involved and the roles they've played; by searching for a specific actor you will be able to view anything they've appeared in, but it an onscreen role, or providing a voice, etc. Also included on the website are brief biographies about actors and actresses, as well as some random trivia.
The site is extremely easy to navigate and an invaluable way to settle any arguments, or answer that niggling question that would otherwise have bugged you for days. I also think it's a great way to stumble across movies and actor's you perhaps haven't heard of before.

2) WWW.GOOGLE.CO.UK - On the off chance that someone has never heard of Google before, it is a search engine that allows you to search through the internet for specific website, general information about anything you might want to know about, images and a whole host of other things.
For parents with young children, or perhaps people of a sensitive disposition, you can activate a filter's known as 'Safe Search', which will prevent any undesirable content from being displayed.
The website itself is very easy to use - even if you're not computer literate or are new to the internet, using Google couldn't be simpler. Also, what impresses me personally about the site is the speed at which your searches are returned, combined with the accuracy of the information. Very rarely will you not be able to find what you're after and more often then not the information you want is towards the top of the search, so even though there may be thousands of matches, you won't (generally speaking) have to scroll through pages and pages before you find something useful.

3) WWW.AMAZON.CO.UK - Amazon is an online shop that sells DVDs, books, CDs, electronics, kitchen appliances and a whole range of other products. I've used Amazon for several years now and, with only a handful of exceptions, virtually all my DVD and book collection has been bought from here. Quite often they do special discounts that last for about a month, so if you time it right you can pick up that box-set collection you've been wanting far cheaper than on the high street. Occasionally, prices on Amazon might be a little more expensive than if you were to go out and buy it in the shops, but the ease of use and fact that you can shop from home is always a bonus.
The other great thing is that Amazon has deals with most consumer websites, (such as DooYoo) so you can get vouchers to have a certain amount discounted from your purchase. Equally, any order over a certain value, (I believe it's currently about £20 or so), can be delivered free of charge, though you might have to wait a couple of days before delivery.
One criticism I do have of Amazon is that occasionally when I've ordered a series of books I've been sent different editions so may collection is a little mixed. This irritates me a little bit as I like to have a consistent series, but I'd imagine most people are perhaps a little less fussy than myself.
I've never had any major problems with deliveries or receiving the wrong item. In fact, a couple of times when I've purchased a product and the price has changed a couple of days after I paid for it, I have actually been credited the difference - something I'm not aware of other sites doing.

4) WWW.GUITARTRICKS.COM - GuitarTricks is a website that gives you lessons from various 'instructors' across the world. All the instructors are members of the website who want to pass on their knowledge. There is also a very friendly and informative Forum where you can post questions about anything music or guitar related, as well as just generally chatting to people about any subject you might want. People on the forum are friendly and always willing to answer your questions.
I've seen the site go through some radical changes in the seven or so years I've been there, but it's always gone from strength to strength. It's an excellent place to develop your understanding of different styles of playing and there's always something for you to learn, whether you've been playing for three days or three decades.
One thing that might put some people off is that to access the vast majority of information you do have to become a 'Full Member', however this only costs US$5 per month, which equates to about £2.40 per month and I can assure that the wealth of information at your disposal is truly invaluable.

5) WWW.QUOTATIONSPAGE.COM - "Your Source Of Famous Quotes". This is a great website for finding both entertaining and thought provoking quotes. As well as quotes from famous people, such as Oscar Wilde, Winston Churchill, there are also traditional proverbs from across the globe.
This website can be a great way to pass the time when you're bored, but it can also be the source of inspiration. Categories allow you to find quotes about a particular topic, so there should really be something here that would appeal to most people. I particularly like the 'Random Quotes' feature, which, as the name suggests, displays random quotes from any and every topic. One slight draw back to this is you can sometimes read the same quote a couple of times, but overall the database is large enough that the vast majority of random quotes are different every time.

6) WWW.HOTMAIL.COM - Hotmail provides you with a free e-mail account, provided by Microsoft. The biggest advantage of having an e-mail account such as this is that you can access your e-mails from anywhere in the world, (assuming you have an internet connection of course). Hotmail gives you all the normal features a traditional ISP e-mail account does, allowing you to send attachments, send e-mails to multiple addresses, as well as saving e-mails as drafts to come back to at a later date and you can also create an address book of address of your friends and family so you can quickly e-mail particular people.
The spam-filter, which prevents junk e-mail from filling up your account, is overall very good. Whilst one or two pieces of junk mail do get through, on the whole it works very well. It also places these junk e-mails into a separate folder which you can check and should something be a genuine e-mail you can place add the user to your address book and Hotmail will then place any additional e-mails from that address straight into your Inbox.
One slight problem I've had in the past is not to do with Hotmail itself, but with other websites. Some websites are not keen on allowing you to use a Hotmail account because it's potentially very easy for people to create multiple accounts. This is only really an issue if your Hotmail address is your only e-mail account and it really is a minority of websites that have this policy, so generally speaking it's few and far between when this would be a problem.

7) WWW.SATRIANI.COM - Joe Satriani is a world-renowned guitarist, who made a name for himself particularly in the 1980's because of his technical brilliance and imaginative style of guitar playing. Satriani.com is his official website and here you can find news about his up and coming projects, gigs and other bits of information that fans would find interesting.
I particularly enjoy the free webcasts that they do and they often have interviews with Joe and his band, clips of him on tour and various other things for you to download and view at your leisure. This probably isn't a website that would appeal to anyone unfamiliar with Joe, but if you're a fan I can highly recommend it.
The navigation isn't perfect and can it can take a little time to find exactly where you want to go, but for me the effort is usually rewarding enough. I also like the fact that from time to time Joe will leave a personal message and will also answer as many questions as he can that users have left for him; this I think is a really nice, personal touch that is sometimes lacking from other official websites and it really adds to your enjoyment of the site as a whole. I would definite recommend this website to anyone who is into Joe's music.

8) WWW.PANDORA.COM - Pandora is part of the 'Music Genome Project', (MGP). This project is an attempt to catalogue aspects of music so that you can find music that suits your taste. Essentially, Pandora is an online radio station where you get to choose the playlist. By rating whether or not you like a particular track the website determines other, similar songs that might appeal to you - this is a great way to come across new bands and artists that you perhaps otherwise would never have heard of. You can create a variety of 'Stations' so that you can have a variety of music to listen to, equally you can expand a particular station by adding additional artists or particular songs, so only station, for example, could have a mix of rock and pop songs that appeal to you.
The website and 'MGP' is still in its infancy and so you'll occasionally get tracks that are a little away from your particular taste. Equally, I've always found that depending on my mood, certain songs appeal more at times than they do at others. The other side effect from being in its infancy is that the there are still some artists and songs that have yet to be added to the catalogue, so it's not always possible to find exactly the track or artist you're after. Overall though, I think this is a brilliant website that is easy to use and have something playing in the background, as well as a means of discovering new material to add to your music collection.

9) WWW.DILBERT.COM - Dilbert is a daily cartoon by Scott Adams, which depicts office life in a software company. Along the lines of Garfield or Peanuts, these cartoons often three panel affairs that provide a little bit of light relief. Anyone who has ever worked in the office is very likely to be able to identify with the characters.
The website is updated daily with today's cartoon. You can also access the previous month's worth of archived images. There is also a download section so you can have wallpapers for your PC desktop, screen savers, etc.
This is just a great place to go for a quick laugh and I think any office worker would appreciate this comedy and style of Dilbert - I'd recommend everyone at least take a look at this website.

10) WWW.ORIGAMI.COM - I got into Origami early in 2006. Origami.com is a great place to find diagrams for a whole range of different models, from animals, flowers, fictional creatures, vehicles and various other things. You can also find models of varying difficulties, from simple folds that young children would be able to do and enjoy, to complex models that can take you hours to make. The search facility is extremely simple to use and, having found the model you want to make, you can either view to file online, or download it to use at a later date, (NOTE: Both means use .PDF, so you will need a programme capable of handling .PDF formats).
The quality of diagrams varies depending on who has contributed them and occasionally the instructions are not always very clear. This is not a website that teaches you how to fold, so if you have no experience of Origami I'd recommend looking for one that teaches you the basic folds or purchase a book - you can check out the LINKS section of the website for some other useful sites which have more information. That said, if you have some degree of experience, overall the instructions are clear enough that you can typically work out what you're supposed to be doing, (though I have to admit it's sometimes taken me several attempts before I got it right).
Origami.com is a great source of entertainment for people of all ages and all degrees of paper-folding skills. Even if you've never tried origami before, but think it's something you might enjoy, I would highly recommend you check this website out.

Summary: Some (though not all) of my favourite places to unwind, learn or just generally procrastinate.