5 New Favorite Sites

[zridling]

It's the end of 2010 and it's time each of you to share your favorite new sites you've been reading lately. I'm constantly updating my "start page" and if you have time to read when standing in line, waiting on a meeting/flight, etc., here are five I've been surprised by:

• Give Me Something To Read -- The best from Instapaper, which was designed as an iPad app, but works as a standalone page. Install a little java bookmark, and anything you want to “Read Later” gets saved to your instapaper page (and synched to your iPad).  You can create folders for different groupings of stuff. It's a simple, single-purpose page, but it works well.
• Longreads -- What the name suggests: Longer form journalism, magazine stories, and interviews (1500 words+).
• zunguzungu -- From California to Tanzania, here's an excellent blog about how small the world is, and no matter where you are, you're affected. Politics, literature, film, nothing is exempt.
• Five Books -- Five Books interviews a leading expert each day, and asks them to recommend -- you guessed it -- five books on their area of expertise. Another simple idea, well executed.
• Fake Name Generator -- When you need to not give your real name and detailed info about yourself. Gender and country appropriate!

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Mine is focused on reading, but yours will be your interests, of course.

[Lutz_]

A blog with rational and scientific literature based healthy lifestyle recommendations, which is also a fascinating read:
WholeHealthSource

[zridling]

Lutz, that's exactly the blog I need -- an author who explains the research! His explanation of why the Twinkie Diet worked is true to my "Ding Dong Diet" experience I conducted from 2007-2009. Too bad (for me) that the price of fresh/healthy foods are prohibitive.

[phitsc]

One of my new favourites is the new Qt extended (formerly Qtopia) web site. Perfect for when you want to do some web surfing, but haven't got much time. Induces kind of a positive feeling too. And here it is:

http://www.qtextended.org/

[tomos]

enjoyed especially the Five Books site from Zaine's list

A blog with rational and scientific literature based healthy lifestyle recommendations, which is also a fascinating read:
WholeHealthSource

-Lutz_ (December 03, 2010, 12:16 AM)

wow, that is a really great and interesting read -
seems to be totally objective and scientific; a great find
( I havent gotten to the twinkie diet yet )

@ phitsc: lol

[Lutz_]

Hi Zaine, glad that you liked it.  There is a lot to discover on the Wholehealthsource site.
But tell us more about your "Ding Dong Diet"     Sounds not exactly tasty but interesting.

Lutz, that's exactly the blog I need -- an author who explains the research! His explanation of why the Twinkie Diet worked is true to my "Ding Dong Diet" experience I conducted from 2007-2009. Too bad (for me) that the price of fresh/healthy foods are prohibitive.

-zridling (December 03, 2010, 06:06 AM)

The FiveBooks site is bookmarked for some leisure time enjoyment!

[koomi]

For this month, my favorite site is http://phpadvent.org/2010

[40hz]

I first got interested in the design and history of Tarot cards after reading Samuel R. Delany's classic sci-fi novel Nova.

5 New Favorite Sites

Some years later, I stumbled upon Piers Anthony's Tarot Series, a three-volume work that based it's entire story on the major trumps in an original tarot deck. That got me completely hooked on the creative possibilities such deck designs could offer to fiction writers and musicians.

5 New Favorite Sites 5 New Favorite Sites 5 New Favorite Sites

And apparently I'm not alone. Geiger, Zelazney, Gaiman, and a host of other sci-fi authors have either based novels on Tarot, or incorporated elements of it into their work since Delaney and Anthony pointed the way.

If you're at all interested in Tarot, it's history, current designs and decks, or anything else related to it, check out the Aeclectic Tarot website. Info, descriptions. reviews and sample images of virtually every Tarot deck (from the traditional Rider-Waite all the way out to the lunatic fringe) can be found at this website.

And if you're deck a collector (like I am), this site is an excellent resource for discovering new and limited editions to spend your money on.

Some examples from various decks:

5 New Favorite Sites 5 New Favorite Sites 5 New Favorite Sites 5 New Favorite Sites

Very cool stuff.  

[tomos]

• Five Books -- Five Books interviews a leading expert each day, and asks them to recommend -- you guessed it -- five books on their area of expertise. Another simple idea, well executed.

-zridling (December 02, 2010, 05:39 PM)

I'm not a great surfer/reader-online so I'm not coming up with my own five sites (not yet anyways)

From the five books site, I really enjoyed:
P J O’Rourke on Political Satire
Dr Patrick Porter on the Rise and Fall of America
(I read this one last week but dont remember anything about a 'fall' so not sure why the title)
Barry Eichengreen on the Euro

the interviews are very good - especially the P.J. O'Rourke one.
Interesting to see the US from different perspectives, and the euro one is very informative

[zridling]

My infamous "Ding Dong Diet" consists of eating your regular meals -- at least 5-6 a day to keep up your strength. Then make sure to have your "protein shakes" -- usually these are large milkshakes from your local ice cream store. And finally, when you get hungry in between all that, you choco-load with Ding Dongs. I don't recommend it for the faint of intestine.

The diet ends when either you teeth fall out or you explode like the Monty Python character!