Pick of the week: Scribd

If you've never heard of Scribd, prepare yourself for a little bit of information overload. Scribd is currently the largest social publishing company in the world. More than 60 million people visit each month and can discover and share original writings and documents with each other. In existence since 2007, Scribd has quickly garnered attention for their great interface, excellent search and upload tools, and of course, the quality and sheer quantity of the content hosted.

It's also worth mentioning that I've found Scribd invaluable for finding several out of date, out of print books, perfectly scanned and available for free. In my opinion, if a tool or site can help you find something that no one else has been able to, there must be some value to it! Head on over and take a look, I'm sure that like me, you will be completely amazed and will quickly bookmark this fantastic site.

Pick of the week: FFFFOUND!

Last week, I select a great site for finding interesting stuff online. Well, this time, I have selected a site that allows you to do the same with images online: FFFFOUND!. Take a quick look, and I'm certain that you'll end up staying for hours, looking at all of the images they've collected since they've been online.

Well worth a look and a bookmark!

Pick of the week: StumbleUpon

I like StumbleUpon; I've been going to this site quasi-religiously for several months now, and I continue to be amazed at the very cool things I find through this it. The makers and operators of the site describe it as the place to go to "find the very best of the Web", and I have to agree with them. The content is for everyone, as there is a little bit of everything, from the hilarious to the very serious, and everything in between! I am always so impressed by the things people come up with!

I highly suggest that you bookmark StumbleUpon, and soon, you'll be stumbling upon a whole lot of interesting stuff online.

Pick of the week: Design Ideas Depot

A rather special Pick of the week this week. As I mentioned last week, my wife has been working on her first blog and being a very talented amateur graphic designer, photographer and artist, she has a wide choice of things to write about and share with others. Her blog, aptly named Design Ideas Depot revolves around these topics. English is not her first language, so she took her time writing her first post, and I for one, was quite impressed with it. I find that the elegance and grace of her personality show through in her writing style.

Now, I know that you may think that I am a little biased, and I do admit to being my wife's greatest fan! But in defense of that, I am an intensely critical person, and I struggle to find anything wrong with her work. It's just not that easy; most people who view her photography are astounded by its beauty and quality.

I am keeping an eye on what she'll write about next, and I believe you'll feel the same way after reading her too.

Pick of the week: Rotten Dead Pool

The first time I came across the expression Dead Pool was with the Clint Eastwood movie The Dead Pool. In the movie, a lunatic has created a dead pool, a list of people he expects to die. Of course, in this case, the lunatic is conveniently killing the people on his list. But a true dead pool is very much like any other kind of pool, like hockey and football pools. Except that you pick people you think will die, rather than attempt to guess a score or a season winner.

The Rotten Dead Pool website is a fantastic resource and allows you to pick ten people you believe will die during the year. The game resets every year, and registered users have their scores kept and displayed throughout the year. The site also provides a pretty extensive database of past and present celebrities, along with any relevant information. Some basic rules about the game are also provided, and please keep in mind that any interference on the part of the player that might concern one of their picks renders the pick invalid. No, you can't kill the people on your list! Where's the fun in that?

My best score so far has been 5 out of my list of 10. I know, it's morbid, but it invokes some pretty deep thinking if you make your picks seriously. Go take a look right now and make some picks, see how you score this year!

Pick of the week: Meosphere

I browse through a lot of sites on any given week, and a few weeks ago, I ran into Meosphere. Essentially, Meosphere is over 2500 check lists and maps for marking where you've been and what you've done, and to help you plan where you want to go and what you'd like to do.

Some of the lists include selections such as Strangest Foods You've Eaten to Subway Systems You've Ridden On and all sorts of things in between. With the possibility of adding new items to many lists, and the chance to discuss with anyone willing to share their lists, Meosphere is sure to be an interesting browse.

Go ahead and take a look, you might find a few things you'd like to try.

Pick of the week: VersionTracker

Like almost every computer user today, I sometimes struggle to get all the updates to the software titles that I use on my computers, let alone find out about new software. There are many software repositories available online, but sadly, they are mostly for the Windows platform, and that is not too helpful for me, being an Apple user (my wife and I are both Apple users). But there is one that I have found to be helpful, well organized and current and that site is VersionTracker.

VersionTracker provides a list-type interface, as well as separate tabs for Windows, OS X, iPhone and the Palm OS.

If you use any of these software platform and didn't know about Version Tracker, head over right now. You'll be glad you did.

Pick of the week: Strobist

I've been an amateur photographer for almost 20 years now, and the one thing that I've discovered is that as a photographer, one is always learning. Whether learning new techniques, or revisiting something that hasn't been done in a while, there is something new each and every day. And with the digital revolution that has taken place, there is an entire new chapter to the art of taking pictures.

During my quest to learn more about flash photography, I came upon what I consider to be the most advanced amateur flash photography web site, Strobist. The site describes itself as being about one thing and one thing only: "learning how to use off-camera flash with your DSLR to take your photos to the next level. Or the next ten levels". Quite a bold statement, but with over 1000 articles on using lighting to improve your photography is no small achievement.

If you are into photography, do yourself a favour and head over to Strobist and learn something new today!

Pick of the week: 43 Things

Ever write a list of life goals? It is a demonstrated fact that writing down goals can help one visualize the goals in question, and plan a positive way to achieve them. I know that I've done it more than once in my life, but the sad fact is that I've misplaced that list more times than I care to remember. I've thought about keeping such a list online, but then, I've tended to forget about it, and never really consult it. Well in comes 43 Things to provide a solution to this problem.

Essentially, 43 Things is an online tool that allows you to write down your goals (take a wild guess at how many?), get inspired by other peoples goals, and read and write about those goals and the things you've done in your life. Personally, I've found that reading about other peoples goals has helped me to focus more on my own. From the frivolous and funny to the serious and profound, there are a lot of things that people want to do during their life. The ability to browse those other goals, quickly select whether or not you've done it, and then share some information about it, is in my eyes what makes 43 Things a fantastic idea.

Head on over and take a look, add a few items to your own list and start getting them done. You'll be glad you did.

Pick of the week: Bourque Newswatch

The tag line reads: Canada's Matt Drudge, after the American Matt Nathan Drudge, who runs the Drudge Report, a news aggregation website. As fantastic as is the site, it deals with mainly US related news and that is of little use to most Canadians.

In comes Bourque Newswatch. A fully Canadian news aggregation site, Bourque is a fantastic news site, updated several times a day. It also provides links to every news media in Canada, which is a great service in and of itself.

Keep Bourque Newswatch bookmarked, it will easily become a daily read and your first source for Canadian news content and a great news reference site.

Pick of the week: Wayback Machine

I have been browsing the Web on a daily basis for almost 10 years now, and was browsing irregularly for the 5 years before that. Although I have a pretty extensive collection on links and try to keep it sorted, refreshed and updated, I still run into a problem on certain occasions; when a site is no longer hosted, and simply disappears! We lose real gems this way!

In comes the Wayback Machine to the rescue. Browse through over 150 billion web pages archived from 1996 to a very recently. And it's easy to use too. To start using the Wayback Machine, just type in the URL of a site or page where you would like to begin, and press Enter. Then select from the archived dates available. The resulting pages point to other archived pages at as close a date as possible. Unfortunately, keyword searching is not currently supported, but it may be in the future.

If you've "lost" a site you really liked, do yourself a favour and head over to the Wayback Machine. You might be surprised at what you find!!!

Pick of the week: Smashing Magazine

I have been browsing the Web for many years now, and a topic that used to be very, very popular, web design, has given way to templates and other assorted time-savers for Mr. and Mrs. Everyone. The problem is, there are still web designers around, and they still need insight, inspiration and just plain help.

In comes Smashing Magazine, a fantastic weblog dedicated to web developers and designers. Although some of the articles tend towards the technical aspects of web development, none of them can be faulted with being boring or useless. If you are in the field and have never taken a look at this site, then do yourself the favour. If you are just an amateur, many of the design-specific articles will be of tremendous use as well.

Pick of the week: Wil Wheaton.Net in Exile

As I've mentionned before, and to those who already know me, I freely admit the following: I am a huge Star Trek fan! Well, interestingly enough, one of the most criticized and badly scripted characters in The Next Generation series, was young Ensign Wesley Crusher, played by actor Wil Wheaton:

And after watching every episode of TNG, I can safely say that the writers apparently really didn't like his character! For those who are not fans of the show, and even for those who are, Wheaton is really a fantastic guy, and a fellow geek to boot! He is an accomplished author, with several books to his name (including Just A Geek, pictured above, as well as The Happiest Days Of Our Lives, Sunken Treasure and Dancing Barefoot) and has maintained an active web presence for years now. He has also continued his active participation in conventions, both for science-fiction and RPG games.

His current blog, Wil Wheaton.net in Exile is usually updated on a daily basis and is truly an entertaining and often thought provoking read. I am not a fan of his acting, but I am a great fan of his honest and witty views on the film and television industry, the importance of life's true priorities, and a good game of D&D!

Well worth taking a look!

Pick of the week: oobject

Following up on the first instalment of Pick of the week, here is this week's pick. Those who know me also know that I am an somewhat obsessive person. In itself, that's not such a bad thing, but a side effect of this is my love of lists. In my search for various types of lists online, I came upon a list-lover's dream, Oobject. Calling itself a Daily User Ranked Gadget Lists website, the site provides lists of items and concepts for your enjoyment. I took great pleasure in such inane lists as 12 tiny Indian school buses, 12 inhabited bridges or 16 genuine cyborg technologies. There are hundreds of such lists, with fantastic images and links when possible. From the common to the extravagant, you are sure to find it here.

A great site, and highly recommended. Enjoy!

Pick of the week: One Sentence

Here is another instalment of Pick of the week. This week, I ran across a site that got me laughing at 4h30 in the morning, after I had fed my son. One Sentence is a site dedicated to telling a story, in one sentence. Although one might be reminded of Twitter, there are no character limits on One Sentence, and posts carry tags that allow users to search through the thousands of submitted stories.

A search using the humour tag revealed such gems as:

As we walked down the "Feminine Products" aisle, my 3-year-old son grabbed a box of panty liners off the shelf and said, "Look, Mama, Mouse Diapers!"

Do yourself a favour and take a look at One Sentence. You'll be glad you did.

Pick of the week: Cool Tools

It has been said that men have an unnatural attraction to tools. And it is this attraction that led me to discover Cool Tools. The site is one of a number of sites by Kevin Kelly, and I have been very impressed so far. Cool Tools describes itself this way:

"Cool tools really work. A cool tool can be any book, gadget, software, video, map, hardware, material, or website that is tried and true. All reviews on this site are written by readers who have actually used the tool and others like it. Items can be either old or new as long as they are wonderful. We only post things we like and ignore the rest. Suggestions for tools much better than what is recommended here are always wanted".

I have always found tools interesting, and as my wife might point out, I already receive enough tool catalogs at the moment. But CT is truly a fantastic place to explore, and there is always something new to find. Do yourself a favour and take a closer look at Cool Tools.

Pick of the week: The Art of Manliness

Since before the birth of my son, I have been browsing the Web to find all sorts of "fatherly" advice and information! Although I tried, Bill Cosby's book, Fatherhood, still wound up coming up once in a while! But during my research, I stumbled upon a fantastic site/blog called The Art of Manliness, and I have to say I've been very impressed so far. A good selection of articles, with some meaningful information that proved very relevant to the topic.

With the over-abundance of male related magazines with a complete lack of content, dominated by advertising of the most Neanderthalish type, it is nice to see that some men appreciate the importance of passing on generations of wisdom and advice from other men. From basic rules of etiquette like the proper handshake, to more complex topics, such as the problems of men with online pornography and everything in between, I found myself drawn to the archives in search of more.

I feel that this was a good find, and I am happy to pass it on. Enjoy!

Pick of the week

Those that know me well also know that I spend a fair bit of time browsing for new and interesting websites. I have accumulated a fairly long list of bookmarks and have spent an indecent amount of time cataloguing and cross-referencing these sites. But I rarely take the time to let others know about my discoveries. I guess a part of it is due to the fact that I wish to keep some of these gems to myself, but the main reason has to be a lack of planning associated with the dissemination of this information.

As such, I have decided to create a new column in this blog, labelled unimaginatively Pick of the week! Once a week, I will post a selection of the best sites I have discovered. This way, I can share the great discoveries that have impressed me during the week and more. At times, I may revisit classic sites that I continue to use to this day. Hopefully, I will manage to share some of what I have seen while browsing.

More to follow