I love the internet, its one of my favourite inventions of the last century, I'd much much rather live without my car or my washing machine than without the internet! I think its amazing that it has so many uses and so much potential. You can find out almost any fact you need to know, amuse yourself, shop and connect with people from all over the world.

So it was very very hard to come up with a top ten from all the websites I visit, I've tried to include sites from a variety of 'genres' and purposes, and shockingly, facebook isn't on the list!

1. bbc.co.uk
This site is the place I get nearly all of my news, a clearly laid out website, easy to read, easy to find what you're looking for and consistently solid and accurate reporting. Generally, if its on the BBC website, you can trust it. I also love iplayer, or i did until I got sky plus! The option to watch programmes you've missed at your convenience is great, and the image and playback quality is surprisingly good.

2. Wikipedia
Yes, its a bit controversial, but I'm including it! The original online encyclopaedia, it can be edited and added to be anyone so you have to be aware that the information may not always be 100% accurate. However the wiki community seems to be pretty reliable for the most part, if an article's quality is in doubt there wil be a notice at the top of the page informing you about the issues. With nearly 4 million articles in English alone, this much information has never been at your fingertips in the whole of history, I find it amazing that I can wonder to myself "Have the Olympics ever been held in Dusseldorf?" or something equally or more random and have the answer along with tons of background info in seconds. I also enjoy going on 'Wikipedia journeys", start with a topic that interests you then follow the hyperlinks that catch your eye and see where you end up, you can go from Brad Pitt to Brazilian streetfighting within 10 minutes!

3. damnyouautocorrect.com
This is a slightly more lighthearted addition! With the advent of the iPhone, a generation of users have discovered the annoyance that is the 'auto correct' feature. The phone's dictionary will try to guess what you are typing before you've finished, often with hilarious results being texted to friends and family. If you haven't already visited this site, go right now, seriously, go!

4. moneysavingexpert.com
A comprehensive site founded by celebrity financial expert Martin Lewis offering advice and tips on every aspect of money saving and managing your finances, from the best savings accounts and investments to current special offers and vouchers to how to make sure you are getting everything you're entitled to. There is also a thriving forum with lots of knowledgeable members where you can go for more personal advice.

5. Amazon
The original and still the best online store. You can buy everything here, from books and DVDs to furniture and clothing to electronics and appliances, usually cheaper than the high street and delivered straight to your door in a suitably speedy time frame. I've been ordering from Amazon for years and its always the first place I head to when I need something. I've only ever had a problem once and found customer services to be very helpful and effective.

6. DooYoo
How could I leave out good old DooYoo? I've been using the site for nearly a year now, and I still love it, I've been influenced by the reviews I've read here and now own books, DVDs, kitchen stuff and even furniture thanks to the recommendations of the good folk of DooYoo! I find the site easy to navigate and use and really enjoy writing reviews, especially the more personal ones for 'the lounge'. Not to mention the fact that DooYoo miles just paid for my car's MOT!

7. OnePoll
This is one of the more popular survey sites, unlike others it doesn't send you reminder emails when a survey is available you have to sign in every day to check. The rewards for surveys are quite small, generally 10-25 pence each but as the surveys are usually short and easy and there are several available each day you don't feel like you are spending too much of your time on it as can be the case with the lengthier, more involved surveys on other sites. It takes a while to reach the £40 payment threshold but when you do it goes straight into your bank account and is a lovely little bonus!

8. Sporcle
A site full of quizzes on virtually every subject you can imagine. Can you name all the countries of the world? Can you guess the Beatles song with no clues whatsoever? Can you name the landmark from a thumbnail picture? Once you get started on Sporcle you will definitely be addicted, its a simple, easy to use site that also has a brilliant iPhone app so you can sporcle on the go!

9. Google
The search engine that became a verb. What more is there to say? I especially love their way of changing the banner for special occasions and to mark lesser known historical events, I've learned a few new things just by clicking on the banner to see what it means today. With the introduction of Google Earth, Maps and Streetview, it keeps consolidating its status as the top search engine and the first stop for when you need to find something out.

10. Cakewrecks
If you haven't heard of this, I recommend you start at the very beginning of the archives when you visit. Cakewrecks is a blog featuring hilariously bad professionally made cakes, trust me though, its a lot funnier than it sounds. Its become a bit of a phenomenon, with people now recreating replicas of famous 'wrecks' for their parties and two books published as spin offs. It still cracks me up, and you wonder how some of these people ever got jobs in bakeries!


So there you have it, probably not the most surprising or unique top ten, but that's the funny thing about the internet, the entire world is at our fingertips but we still tend to gravitate towards the same few regular haunts!

Happy surfing DooYooers!