Finding treasures while browsing
Editor’s note: Holly Bowen is news editor of the North Idaho College newspaper, The Sentinel, at nicsentinel.com.
News
I feel obligated as a student journalist and an American citizen to stay informed about current events. I browse headlines at Google News (news.google.com), and when I want to get a more in-depth and investigative experience, I visit BBC News (bbcnews.com).
Odds and ends
A more condensed version of YouTube, Fanpop.com gathers viral videos, links and forums popular with others. Finding a quality video on YouTube is like trying to find a needle in a haystack, but Fanpop assembles the best for easy viewing.
Browser tools
My favorite Firefox browser extension is StumbleUpon (Stumbleupon.com). Once it’s installed, you indicate your interests, press the “Stumble” button and you will be transported to a Web site recommended by others who share your interests. How else would I have found Wikipedia’s list of unusual deaths (http://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/List_of_ unusual_deaths) or the aptly named Cynical Traveler (www.cynical traveler.com)? That blog is an often-humorous record of the writer’s nearly five years in Japan.
Speaking of Japan …
TV in Japan (http://www.tvin japan.com) posts nothing but bizarre video clips from Japan. If you want pranks pulled on people in port-a-potties and a female model’s feet nibbled by fish, this is the place.
Shopping
For original and cheap T-shirts, Threadless (Threadless.com) can’t be beat. All shirt designs were made by visitors, and submissions are open to anyone.
Commentary
I am not a big fan of blogging, but I do enjoy the rants at The Best Page in the Universe (http://www.maddox. xmission.com). The site does contain strong language, but the author’s articles are often creative and entertaining enough to make up for it. In an entry about Idaho, he asserts the state has the worst drivers in America.
Every Sunday I make sure to visit PostSecret.com. People decorate postcards with their secrets and send them in anonymously. Each week 24 secrets are put on display; they range from humorous to heartbreaking.
Environmental
Enter your zip code at Scorecard.org and the site will give you a list of the biggest polluters and pollutants in your county.
The Miniature Earth (http://www.miniature- earth.com) is a Flash-based Web movie breaking down Earth’s demographics if 100 people rather than six billion were alive today. For example, only seven people would be educated at a secondary level, and only 12 would have a computer. The relative level of affluence we Americans hold is shocking.