10 useful websites
Blayne Slabbert shares a few websites to add to your reading list.
There are more than 600 million websites available online but most of us peruse the same dozen or so each day.
That’s partly because big tech companies dominate the web but also it can be quite hard to discover new sites.
If you are a bit bored with your usual digital destinations then here are 10 new websites to explore the next time you’re online.
Radio Garden
This website allows you to tune into streaming radio stations all around the world.
This is great if you live away from the town you grew up in and want to keep in touch or reminisce by listening to your old station. It’s also a way to listen to a wide range of music and learn about different cultures.
It has a cool interface, too. You scroll around a globe which has green dots over it representing stations, and when you hover over one it starts playing.
Useful Interweb
This is like a daily edition of this story. Each day, several links are posted, with topics ranging from educational, useful to ‘‘just cool’’.
Visit usefulinterweb.com and you’ll find websites such as How to Draw What You See and 27 Best Websites for Wasting Time on the Internet.
Future Me
This is like a digital time capsule for yourself. The website, futureme.org, lets you write an email to yourself that will be delivered on a certain date.
You can make the letter private or publish on the site anonymously. There’s plenty to read on the site, ranging from trivial to heart-wrenching.
Every Noise
The name is slightly misleading and should really be called Every Music Genre Available but that name is not as catchy.
Music lovers will adore everynoise.com as it lists more than 2000 types of music, ranging from Italian indie pop to Brazilian surf rock to Japanese jazz. Its minimalist look allows you to easily sample music and clicking on each one will bring out specific bands of that genre.
Print Friendly
If you still like reading on paper then this is the website for you. To use the site, printfriendly.com, just paste the url (website address) into the allotted box and press preview.
The webpage will appear with ads and widgets all stripped out and the copy will all be formatted so it’s easy to read. There’s also a function that lets you email the page to a friend so they can easily print it.
Support Details
This website provides basic tech information about the computer you’re using. The idea is that you can use it to provide tech support staff with details to make their job easier.
Just visit supportdetails.com and it’ll automatically list your operating system, IP address and web browser along with other handy information.
Egg Timer
This site is exactly what you’d expected, it runs a countdown timer. You can go to e.ggtimer.com (yes, that’s a dot after the ‘‘e’’) and type in a time or use one of the presets.
There are also a few special timers such as ‘‘brushteeth’ ’ which runs for two minutes or ‘‘morning’’ which is a series of countdowns including running on the spot to get you ready for your day.
Koalas to the max
You’ll only visit this website once but it’s worth it.
When koalastothemax.com loads, you’re presented with four circles. Hover over one of them and it splits into four. Continue doing this until the circles get smaller and smaller and an image is revealed.
It’s a fun site and is strangely mesmerising and a great one to share with friends.
Geo guessr
This is a game that tests how good your geographical knowledge is. The concept is simple, when you start playing at geoguessr.com you’re presented with an image from Google Street View and you have to guess the location by clicking an area on a world map.
Some are quite easy as you can see a flag or number plate but others are harder as it can be a street with just a few trees.
You can either play by yourself or in challenge mode against others who are online. The only downside is that you have to sit through an ad each round.
What should I read next
The name says it all. Type the title of the book you like and the site presents several options on what to read next. The best part of whatshouldireadnext.com is that the suggestions are based on real readers’ favourite books and not just some piece of software so it’s more accurate than Amazon. The site has no commercial agenda but it does offer links to sites where you can buy the recommended book.