It's that time of the year again: Time to be thankful for all the things that help make life a little better, a little sweeter, and a little less boring. Here are the 50 things on the Web that brighten up my days.
The leaves have fallen off the trees. The frost has rendered our windshields useless. And in a couple of days, most of us will be sitting around a table, pondering the things in this world that make life worth living. (Or, you know, stuffing our faces with turkey and fighting with the in-laws.) That’s right, it’s Thanksgiving time. So for this week’s State of the Web, I’ve put together a list of all thing Internet-related things for which I’m thankful, for better or worse.
- Google search: Still the best way to settle any debate
- Reddit: It’s called the “front page of the Internet” for a reason
- Skype: Putting long distance rates in their place (i.e. the grave)
- Tumblr and all its GIFs: Because GIFs are back
- Hacker News: The best way to keep tabs on those rascally Silicon Valley types
- Techmeme: If you want to know why tech blogs write about all the same stuff, this is why
- Twitter: Sometimes annoying, never boring, vital during a natural disaster
- Chartbeat: Nothing is more addicting than watching people flood to your website in real-time
- Electronic Frontier Foundation: Because nobody helps keep the Web free with as much fiestiness
- Google Maps Street View Collections: I will never travel everywhere I want to go, and this makes that less painful
- Chilling Effects: It keeps tabs on government attempts to stifle online free speech, something my smart friends say is important
- This Is Now: Actually, real-time Instagram uploads might be more addicting than Chartbeat’s analytics
- NYTimes.com interactive graphics: Because The Gray Lady knows how to make infographics that aren’t worthless
- Library of Congress Thomas legislation search: It’s old and ugly looking, but it’s the best way to find out what the heck Congress is up to
- WhoIs: Sometimes you just need to figure out which idiot made that website you hate
- Google Transparency Report: It makes me feel like Google isn’t an impenetrable juggernaut feeding on our private data, at least a little
- PrivacyFix browser plugin: Not only does it block ad trackers, it tells you how much you’re worth to Google and Facebook
- The Week’s ‘Only in America’ flipbook: Because ‘Murica!
- The Onion: Duh
- Tor: You’re every online move is being watched (without Tor)
- Netflix Watch Instantly: The only way to not have cable (without losing your mind)
- This thing: Seriously, check it out
- Wikipedia: Sure, it might sometimes be inaccurate – but who cares, really?
- The Pirate Bay: Not because of the free (illegal) movies, but because the fact that it’s still up and running is punk rock
- IMDB: Until movies are no longer a thing, IMDB will be the place to find out about them
- Dear Blank Please Blank: I have no idea what this is, but Caleb told me to include it
- The Atlantic’s In Focus photo-blog: Stories told in big, beautiful photos, just as it should be
- Vimeo: Because its clean look kicks the crap out of YouTube
- Quora: For when Google leaves you hangin’
- @YourAnonNews: The only Twitter feed you need to know what in tarnation Anonymous is up to
- Audible: Because reading while driving is really dangerous
- Wi-Fi: Cords needs to die
- XKCD: Do I have to explain?
- What If?: The infinitely curious Randall Munroe at his finest
- Pandora: No other service makes being too lazy to make playlists a good personal quality
- DuckDuckGo: Search without all the Big Brother tracking makes me feel in control
- HBO Go: “Game of Thrones” anywhere – need I say more?
- Hide My Ass VPN: Sometimes you just need a little privacy (or to watch “Downton Abbey” before it hits the U.S.)
- Space.com: The fact that we can leave this planet still blows my mind
- Peer-to-peer online sports broadcasts: Because watching soccer in the U.S. is hard
- Imgur: Every other image hosting service is too hard after Imgur
- Craigslist: Used dirt bikes just aren’t going to sell themselves (to me)
- Online bill pay: Who has time for mail?
- Overheard in New York: Six years later, it’s still funny
- TOS-DR: Because terms of service need to be summarized
- Louis CK’s website: Louis CK is the bald bastard who figured out how to sell entertainment media to Web users the right way
- This other thing: Almost as awesome as the last thing
- Amazon: Deep in my soul I know it’s evil, but I’ll be damned if it doesn’t have good customer service
- Arts & Letters Daily: The best way to make people think you’re smart
- Free porn: Because we’d all be lying if that wasn’t on here
Have something on the Web that you’re thankful for? Don’t keep it a secret! Let us all enjoy it in the comments. Remember: We wouldn’t have Thanksgiving without “giving” (or the pointless slaughter of countless Native Americans). Happy holidays!
Source : digitaltrends[dot]com
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