the Internet

Overview
This section is about the Internet as a place where people (users) connect and interact with each other. For technical information about the internet, see computing (and eventually internet or maybe internet technology).

Articles

 * blogs
 * Internet video
 * video sharing
 * online advertising
 * webcomics

Reference

 * Wikipedia: collaboratively-written encyclopedia
 * Merriam-Webster: online dictionary
 * Babel Fish: online translation of text and web pages
 * hypertextbook: reference on a number of scientific areas, and one or two other online books

Directories

 * AboutUs: wiki-based directory, pre-loaded with domain name whois data and home page screenshots
 * htyp.org

Search Engines

 * The main ones
 * Google
 * Yahoo!
 * new/experimental
 * Factbites
 * Qwika: wiki search

Artwork
see 

Auction & Barter Sites

 * eBay: hugely popular auction site
 * MightyBids: online auctions
 * SwapAce: "buy, sell, swap, meet, barter, and negotiate for free"

Audio
see also, 
 * The Freesound Project: Creative Commons licensed sounds (sound effects, etc.)

Banking

 * Kiva: worldwide peer-to-peer microloans

Books
books with full content available online (see also )
 * libraries:
 * Google Books: library of online books, complete and partial
 * authors:
 * Edgar Rice Burroughs: the copyright on most or all of his works has now expired in Australia; many have also expired in the US
 * novels:
 * Jame5 by Stefan Pernar: a science fiction novel about the singularity (site is a blog with link to PDF of novel)

Brainstorming
Places where new ideas are collected and discussed
 * AllYourIdeas wiki: post original practical ideas
 * SinceSlicedBread.com: "What's your common sense idea?"

Chat Rooms

 * SluggySquad

Communities
see also, , 
 * opinion:
 * 2007-02-20 blogging and communities

Collaborative Projects

 * Amazon Mechanical Turk: automating human information processing
 * Cambrian House: for-profit idea sharing
 * Helium: paid writing & collaborative editorship
 * about
 * PeLeMa: simpler interface; no "groups" (US only?)
 * crowdsourcing:
 * 2006-11-03 Gannett to Crowdsource News
 * reputation tracking:
 * RapLeaf

artwork
These sites let you upload your art for display and (optionally) sale, typically printed on something such as a t-shirt or coffee mug. The selection of item types is generally yours, and you receive a commission.
 * CafePress
 * Corporate Casuals
 * deviantART
 * Zazzle

Electronic Publishing
see also 
 * Lulu
 * Wowio

Fonts

 * GMK freefonts: several thousand free fonts

History

 * Internet Archive

Data Services
not sure if these services are available to customers globally, just in the US, or in certain countries only
 * Amazon S3 Web Services
 * rsync.net: "Secure, Online, Geo-Redundant Data Storage for Offsite Backup, Remote Access, and Personal Use."

Humor

 * ...about computers:
 * BodgeCo
 * Bud Uglly Design: parody of bad web page design
 * CLOSE THIS WINDOW! Turn off the Internet!
 * Surprisingly, they don't suggest playing the internet backwards in order to hear the Satanic messages....
 * Make My Logo Bigger!!! Cream: parody of bad marketing graphic design
 * The Daily WTF: "Curious Perversions in Information Technology" (see also WTF)
 * Zombo.com: parody of web site self-overhype
 * ...about the humanities:
 * The Postmodernism Generator
 * Novelty sites
 * Warning Label Generator and Warning Sign Generator (same idea, different layout for the result)

Images

 * Image Sharing
 * deviantART: original artwork
 * flickr: photos
 * PBase Photo Database
 * Cute Animal Pictures
 * Cute Overload: "we scour the Web for only the finest in Cute Imagery"
 * Kittenwar: ratemykitten meets the card game War
 * Rate My Kitten: kittens, kittens, and more kittens
 * stuffonmycat.com: cats, with stuff on them
 * The Daily Kitten: "a new kitten every day... at 3:07 pm"
 * cats with captions...
 * another variation
 * Kattalogen: parental advisory: this site contains levels of cattage which may be toxic over prolonged exposure times
 * I Can Has Cheezburger?: a blog of lolcats images

Information Sharing

 * ResearchWikis: wiki for market research (their terminology is a little confused in that they seem to consider each page or subject area to be "a (research) wiki")
 * wikinvest: wiki for information about financial investing

Literature

 * Jim Baen's Universe: online F/SF magazine

Maps
Maps of the internet
 * The Opte Project: graphical maps of all Class C networks on the Internet

Multimedia
see, , 

Music
see also 
 * free, legal downloads
 * Jamendo (music sharing)
 * VIRB (music & other media sharing)
 * Magnatune: "The open music record label"
 * Mr. Furious Records: free downloads of complete songs
 * Incompetech: royalty-free music: mostly instrumental for use as backing; some are loopable
 * artists with free downloads:
 * The Cheap Imitation: all tracks Creative Commons licensed
 * Hrishikesh Hirway and his One AM Radio
 * musical scores:
 * International Music Score Library Project (MediaWiki-based)
 * legal and portable but not free:
 * emusic:
 * site is slightly annoying because there is apparently no link to see what music they have until you sign up, although there is a free trial period; however, this URL seems to work even if you aren't signed up
 * 2006-05-22 Making money selling music without DRM: the rise of eMusic
 * free streams (aside from ) (all work with Linux/Firefox):
 * Aimee Mann
 * Lesley Gore
 * independent artist promotion sites:
 * last.fm
 * (see also Hoooka)
 * novel demonstrations online:
 * whitney music box: the music of the spheres!
 * BallDroppings: the Windows download version works in WINE
 * information about artists
 * WikiMusicGuide, "The music fan site that anyone can edit" (still in beta, so memberships are not automatic)

News

 * mainstream (see issuepedia:mainstream media)
 * CNN
 * MSNBC
 * highlights: collections of interesting items from various sources
 * EurekAlert (RSS): "The premier website for science news since 1996. A service of AAAS." Generally one or two dozen stories per day; RSS feed gives only a summary.
 * New Scientist (RSS)
 * commentary: links to news items, with summary and reader comments
 * Slashdot (RSS): elaborate rating system, but comments tend to be chaff anyway

Radio
Radio stations listenable over the net (without special software or a subscription)
 * DementiaRadio: plays newer music of the sort generally heard on the Dr. Demento Show
 * Egg Radio
 * Radio Hidebound: "151 proof college radio aged 20 years" (but they do play stuff younger than 20)
 * MFA Radio: a feed from Music for America (haven't actually tried to load it yet --Woozle 12:30, 14 November 2006 (EST))
 * Radio Paradise: "eclectic online rock radio" .. "listener-supported"
 * SomaFM: multiple channels, multiple streaming formats, listener-supported

Rights

 * Electronic Frontier Foundation
 * Open Rights Group

Social Networking

 * Facebook
 * Flork
 * Friendster
 * LinkedIn: networking for professionals
 * MySpace: generally regarded as awful, although extremely popular
 * Ning: "Ning is the only online service where you can create, customize, and share your own Social Network for free in seconds. You can make it public or private and for anything - and anyone - you'd like."
 * Orkut (now run by Google)
 * Twitter

Status

 * Internet Traffic Report

site metrics
popularity estimates for individual sites
 * Alexa: rankings
 * quantcast: number of visitors, by month

Video
see Internet video, video sharing