NonSociety – Live Differently. Meghan Asha Tech Addict

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Are you having one of those bleak days in the cubical in need of an escape?  Look no further than FMyLife, a place that houses everyday stories of people just like you. Users are able to unwind and alleviate their frustrations by submitting experiences that screw with their day. I absolutely adore this website, it’s a great way not feel so alone when you’re having a tough day. Since it’s my birthday this week, I thought I’d post particularly striking birthday passage:

“Today, it’s my birthday. I have gotten three calls all day. The first one was my fiancee, saying he wanted his ring back. The second one was my best friend, confessing to me that she had been sleeping with my fiancee for the past three months. The third was the dentist’s office singing me a happy birthday. FML”

Don’t you feel better already??? Yikes!

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Are you one of those people (like me) fascinated by the classifieds? I know it’s nerdy, but I absolutely love looking through the various categories (wanted, lost, found, etc). If you’re looking for yet another portal into the wide web world of classifieds, why not check out the Best-of-Craigslist? These postings are nominated by Craigslist readers hoping to highlight the best, weirdest, funniest, and strangest submissions. ENJOY!

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I’ll admit it, I’m a very casual gamer. But, sometimes I find myself using Pogo.com to take a quick break before tackling the rest of my “To Do” list. Pogo has a vast selection of simple online games you can play against others or by yourself. My top two favorite games I play when procrastinating: Monopoly and NASCAR Web Racing!

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We all know about Etsy, an online marketplace that allows users to buy and sell handmade items. But, have you heard about Regretsy? If you haven’t (and you have some time to kill), I suggest you check out Regretsy.com a hilarious site that makes fun of some of the most ridiculous items listed on Etsy.

What’s my favorite category? Pet Humiliation! Who knew that so many creative costumes existed for every animal (including goats)? Truly entertaining – there’s nothing to regret about Regretsy.com.

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With the plethora of distractions on the web, I thought it time to highlight some of my favorite online diversions. Someecards is a site I just can’t get enough of because of it’s diverse (and sometimes crude) library of free online greeting cards. Where else can you send a card that says “I threw up a little today and I thought of you, then I threw up a little more.” or “I look forward to seeing you put on all the weight you lost in the last year.”? Procrastinate and make a friend’s day by sending them one of these very witty cards.

BEST WEBSITES 2009

I chose Bit.ly as one of the top websites of 2009 primarily because of Twitter’s surge into mainstream popularity. Bit.ly (which used to be TinyURL) is a URL shortner that tracks the statistics of a link you post. Most of the links on Twitter are shortened by bit.ly. It’s absolutely incredible how quickly this company has grown in such a short time period (to 8 million uniques per month). I think the main reason for Bit.ly’s growth is because ultimately (like Twitter) it’s simple and useful.

BEST WEBSITES OF 2009

My next new favorite website is SuperCook. It’s a recipe search site that has you enter the ingredients you already have in the kitchen (in my case, that would be cheese and chocolate) and gives you ideas from its database of 300,000-plus recipes. Forget about letting that food go bad because you don’t know what to cook. I dare you to visit SuperCook and test it out for yourself. You’ll love how painless it is to plan a meal using the SuperCook search engine.

BEST WEBSITES OF 2009

I decided to include HotPads.com on my list because of my ongoing fascination with New York real estate. HotPads offers a unique map-based search engine that features rentals, homes for sale, vacation rentals, and hotels. The key element is its “Buy vs. Rent” search portal, which allows users to look for both houses for sale and to rent. This helps users to make more informed housing deciscions on whether they can buy or rent. In short, HotPads has a vast array of real estate data in a very easy to view site.

BEST WEBSITES OF 2009

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to take a class at one of the top universities? Well, look no further than AcademicEarth.org; a new site built by web revolutionaries whose aim is to break down those Ivy gates, so that everyone has the same opportunity to learn. Academic Earth posts online course material (syllabi, course notes, and videotaped lectures) from colleges like MIT, Yale, Stanford, and Harvard for anyone to audit from their own computer. The access to information on Academic Earth is absolutely mind blowing. I highly encourage everyone to check it out.

BEST WEBSITES OF 2009

Want to know what the first version of Facebook looked like? How about the hearing the first geek podcast? All this and more can be found on the Internet Archive at archive.org. It’s basically an online digital library open 24/7 to the public with one mission - to back up the entire Internet!

BEST WEBSITES OF 2009 

With the constant stream of news on the web and beyond it’s often hard to find all the most popular information in one organized area. That’s why I decided to include Popurls as one of my picks of best websites for 2009. Popurls does an incredible job at aggregating the content from the web’s most visited portals (Twitter, Digg, etc.) by linking to the headlines from its sources in real-time. One of my favorite functions is that you can adjust and customize the site to fit all your news gathering needs.

ZVENTS FOR EVENTS

Are you looking to for activities in and around your area, but haven’t the slightest clue where to look? Recently, I had the same problem. There are so many incredible events happening in and around Manhattan, but no one site to access all that information. Enter Zvents a search technology company that makes it easy to find out about local events. It’s a very effective event aggregator because it teams with major media platforms as well as local sites. In searching for “dance” events, I received a long list of everything from “Sexy Ballroom” to “Tango”. Not bad, not bad.

Need Some Inspiration? Maybe a Muse?

I have a confession to make. I don’t have the slightest idea as to where I’m traveling to this holiday season. I want to go out of town, but don’t know where. So, in my quest to find the perfect vacation spot, I came across yet another very useful travel site. It’s called Travel Muse and it has an inspiration section for people (like me) who don’t know where to go. Simply input your departure city, the dates, budget per person, activities, and flight duration, Travel Muse will then give you a list of options that fit your criteria. My search results ranged from New Years in Paris to California wine country all on the same budget. Not bad place to start when you’re looking for a little inspiration.

A PERSONAL ASSISTANT FOR THE PEOPLE

Most people think personal assistants are for the rich and famous. Well, that’s not the case anymore. Now there’s a site called AskSunday.com that will help with your tasks and personal errands for a little more than $1 a day. AskSunday.com outsources help by connecting you to someone in India who speaks English and can do just about anything. It’s like having a virtual Mary Poppins to run all those inconsequential errands for you. Below are some of the services they provide:

• Data Analysis/Entry
• Internet/database research
• Find domestic services
• Travel / Transportation
• Scheduling / Appointment Setting
• Schedule future tasks & Reminders
• Restaurant Reservations
• Messenger / Time Services
• General purchases
• Document Editing
• Uploading content onto websites
• Managing online postings
• Coordinating and booking travel plans
• Email correspondence
• You can even have the virtual assistant break up with your boyfriend or girlfriend!

I just signed up for AskSunday’s basic 30-day subscription. I’ll let you know how it fares a little later this month. For now, I’m trying to think of some extra hard activities to put my little virtual assistant to the test. Hmm…