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iBoogie is a search engine that does a meta search of selected directories. They also cluster searches into even more specific subsets, allowing you to select exactly the subject you are really looking for. Additionally, you can search and read news, use tabs to really specify where you want it to search, create your own custom tab to limit searches in specific ways, and much more. This one is certainly worth playing with.
Algebasics is a site that demonstrates the concepts of algebra through Flash animations. It is simply done, making it great for instruction.
Fivelimes is a site that features eco-friendly and social responsible products, services and companies. This is the place to come to find new green products, browse product categories, or read reviews of products written by real people.
WildVoice offers free hosting for podcasts, blogs, and photographs. Right now they are running Halloween-themed podcasts as their feature, but you can also see the most recent posts and other featured posts.
Missing-Auctions.com is a site to search eBay for auctions with mis-spelled words. Often a mis-spelling can let you find items for much less money than if they were spelled correctly. The site incorporates Web 2.0 details like RSS feeds for specific searches, a tag cloud, recent searches, and buttons for IE and Firefox.
Travelistic is a site filled with travel-related videos uploaded by users. You can view featured videos, view entries from the most popular producers, browse through the popular tags, or do a keyword search. Click "Places" and you see a map of the world witih videos to view related to those regions. Of course, if you are a videographer, you can also join the community and upload your own travel-related videos.
MetaGlossary is a site that offers definitions of over 2 million terms, phrases and acronyms. Nicely, the site also has links to the sites where the definitions are pulled from. In the case of acronyms, this means that you are often connected with the association organization. Very handy.
I have been trying to figure out why I like the web-based aggregator Newshutch so very much. It is a lot like Bloglines, but for some reason I find it easier to read. I think at least part of it is the fact that the screen is much less static with items marked "read" in a visual way where they disappear from the screen. I think it is also the Web 2.0 feel of the site, something that is missing in the current Bloglines. But tops for me is that it recognizes all of my feeds, no matter what the format. Very nice.
I might still recommend Bloglines for starting out, but for people who already have a list of feeds they follow, this is a nice step up in Web 2.0 functionality.
Sometimes you have to go out searching for something and stumble upon a really handy website. Such is the case with Locate-A-Flower-Shop.com. I like it much better than the national florist chains, because it allowed me to directly call a florist in the small town I needed who knew all about the funeral I was talking about, the people involved, and talked with me about my choices in a warm and friendly way. It closed the distance gap for me in a meaningful way, something I don't expect from websites but am happy to have found.
This is exactly what domain searching should have been all along! PCNames lets you start typing in the domain name you are interested in and will immediately tell you whether it is available or taken. If you click on More Tools, you can also take a look at all of the 3-character and 4-character domain names that are available, search for available domain names containing a specific word, look at a list of domains left which can be found in a dictionary, and more.
Top 10 Sources takes a given topic and lists the top ten online sources of information. They have a traditional website with an RSS feed as well as a blog. You can browse the different topics they have covered or just take a look at the top ten most popular categories. This is a great way to find sites you haven't heard of in specific areas that interest you.
I have posted one of eConsultant's lists before and this one is equally wonderful. One of the problems is knowing that there is an extension for Firefox out there that can do exactly what you need. eConsultant has created the I want a Firefox Extension to ... 200 common problems solved list where you can browse by the type of thing that the extension does, including blogging, bookmarking, chat, images, links, RSS, security and passwords. There are so many options here for extensions to add to your Firefox.
Browsr is a directory of websites broken into categories where users rank, tag and add comments, affecting what is listed as the top websites under any given category. This means that the listings are fresh, popular, and often very useful. Beware of the list of recent tags, because it contains a lot of spam, but the lists of top sites appear to be of high quality. Definitely a site to spend some time browsing around on.
The Garden Safari is a site filled with incredible photographs of animals, birds, insects, spiders, and more. You can do a keyword search of the site, view the photo of the week, or see the most recently uploaded photographs.
FlightStats is a place that you can learn about flights, speak up about flight experiences in the forums, find recommendations, and generally network with other flyers.
Wine Lovers Page is a site that offers information on how to taste wine, offers wine advice, and has many columnists, specialty departments and wine news. It claims to be "the oldest, largest and most popular independent wine-appreciation site."
Costumzee is a site that will help you find the perfect costume this Halloween. Whether you want to be a traditional witch or werewolf or go out on a wild limb, this site will help. You can browse the popular ideas, search by keyword, or wander around the tag cloud filled with strange ideas.
SingShot is a site that takes Karaoke to a whole new level. You can record songs for free as well as listen to and rate songs that others have recorded. The site lists the top-rated singers and has lots of songs to record. You can browse by genre or view the lists of the newest songs and the most selected songs. I can see this being made into a library program, with the library offering the mic and the patrons recording online. It could be a lot of fun, both for teens and adults.
Kevo is a social site that focuses on celebrities. You can do a keyword search, browse the top rated celebrities, or look through various categories. The site links to websites, information, media, images and news on the specific celebrity. You can contribute to the page, recommend links, or just enjoy reading.
Ottobib is a very slick automatic bibliography maker. You just enter the ISBN of the book and select which format you want your bibliography in (MLA, APA or Chicago/Turabian) and it creates the citation. Very fast, with almost no entry of data needed.
Calcoolate is an online calculator. Type in your expression and then use the advanced buttons if you need them. A handy history of previous calculations is kept.
Squirl is a site for collectors of all sorts where collections can be cataloged, organized and shared. Take a look at other people's collections, meet people who enjoy collecting the same things you do, and follow the growth of collections via RSS feeds. Joining is free and you can browse the site without joining. If you are not interested in the social dynamic of the site, you can also just use it to catalog your own collection and not share it publicly.
eConsultant has a great list of freeware: I want a Freeware Utility to ... 450 common problems solved. The best thing about the list is that it is in broad categories and then specific issues are targeted. Very handy, and even better you may not have been aware there was free software out there to take care of the problem!
iconaholic.com offers a collection of icons for both Windows and Macs. You will find wallpapers, themes, and icons that have a glossy, modern feel.
Yedda is one of the new question and answer sites. It offers a slick design, the ability to ask any question you like, the ability to answer any question you can, and the chance to browse through answered questions and learn things yourself. Again, I see that librarians and libraries especially in larger communities could very successfully offer this type of service on their websites.
Feed Crier is a very interesting idea. It is a feed reader that works via Instant Messenger! Now you can get your feeds and read them right in IM. There are limits to the feeds you can subscribe to via a free account, but it is a very fascinating take on reading feeds that could work for a lot of people who IM more than they email.
ALA Weblog Service is a blog that collects posts from all of the ALA blogs. So you have a single place to go to get all of the blog posts from ALA. The blogs include YALSA, AASL, ALCTS, MemberBlog, Green Kangaroo, RUSA, ALA Editions, ACRL, ITTS, and LAMA. Don't know what all those letters stand for? Well, head out to the blogs to find out!
As summer turns into autumn, and the leaves are filling the ditches, Cold Climate Gardening is a good place to go. It is a gardening blog designed specifically for those of us in cooler climates like Wisconsin. In addition to their informative blog posts, they have links to resources and a directory of gardening blogs.
AnswerBag is a site that allows anyone to ask a question. Then the users of the site answer it for you. The questions are a fascinating mix of law, technology, common sense, and specialist knowledge. People answering the questions are then rated and become experts in their fields.
This is a very interesting idea. What if libraries offered something similar?
What if instead of fugitive fact files, we opened those files up online and offered answers to questions. Seems to me that it is a perfect match for reference librarians. You could even have a more basic question/answer site for the children's department without the rating system.
Pandoralicious Grazr is a slick little app that allows you to see other people's Pandora channels, so that you can subscribe to them as well. The channels are organized by genre, and you can subscribe to a feed of any that you are interested in that will tell you about newly added channels. What a nice way to add to your Pandora selections!