October 23, 2007...11:03 pm
the 10 most useful or interesting websites in my life right now that you should probably check out
1. No Phone Trees. Have you ever noticed that the crappier the customer service of a company, the harder it is to find their number? This site is my new best friend. Just find the company you need to call (comcast? delta?), put in your digits, and they call you when they’ve connected to someone on the other end. Genius idea.
2. Kayak. If you’re still using orbitz, try this now. Kayak is a travel metasearch engine that is easier to use and more useful. You can easily tailor your search by adjusting the parameters (times, airlines, # stops, etc.) using a slider with a range. As you narrow in on your preferences, the flight options instantly change on the screen. I use this site every time I book travel.
3. Joost. Because TVs are for the 90s, now you can stream television shows and movies to your computer.
4. Bug Me Not. Ever want to access something on a site, but didn’t feel like making the required account? This site provides you with a free name and password to access almost every big website. Most useful for media sites from the NYPost to YouTube.
5. Free Documentaries dot org. Just as I love non-fiction, I’m a sucker for documentaries. Here you can stream them for free (like super size me, which is one of the many reasons I don’t eat fast food)
6. Educator’s Corner . I used to use this site to d/l case studies. Now, I mainly watch their vast collection of videos and podcasts of people like Larry Page and Case professor Richard Boyatzis. Categories include innovation, globalization, and social entrepreneurship.
7. Retail Me Not. A collection of almost every Internet coupon out there. Nordstrom, Victoria’s Secret, Target, you name it.
8. 72 Hours. For my fellow San Franciscans who are just as afraid for our next big earth quake as I am, please visit this site. For a government sponsored site, it’s surprisingly well designed and provides info to help you prepare for the next ‘quake.
9. Monocle. Check out the online version of the new UK magazine, the Monocle. This magazine is a younger, sexier, artsier version of the Economist. I’ve heard that it retails for $20, but the online experience is free.
10. Couch Surfers. Traveling on a budget? Find someone who has volunteered their couch for you! Okay, I’ve never actually done this, but I love the idea and oftentimes find myself browsing the list of couch-donors. Putting aside the fact that the UI is hideous and suboptimal to navigate, the premise is beautiful and valuable to meeting people and saving money while traveling abroad.
Other obviously useful ones that don’t need an introduction: wikipedia, wordpress, the hype machine, netvibes, NY times, flickr, digg, google earth, pandora, amazon, yelp, craigslist, and of course, facebook.
3 Comments
October 24, 2007 at 6:49 pm
Hell yeah, Kayak! They even beat the corporate travel agency for my Thanksgiving trip back to Kentucky. I haven’t heard of most of the others but will definitely check out The Monacle, being a fake economist and all.
November 3, 2007 at 5:58 am
I’m going to check out retail me not and no phone trees. Those sound quite useful!
February 26, 2008 at 3:31 am
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