Peep These Sites (JMcQ):

Digg.com – Previously, I had checked out fark.com for a lot of my goofy news and information, and sometimes peeped out Slashdot.com for my tech information. Now, I am somewhat well versed in computing and tinkering, but nothing to the degree that the average Slashdot reader was. I actually found the link for dig.com on Fark, when someone was lambasting the latter for stealing the link from the former. Digg.com is a website that panders to the average tech-savvy reader, with different links that are approved by the readership for general consumption. This is different than the system employed by Fark, who actually has a team of administrators and moderators that set the tone for the entire site. Digg.com has a hand in promulgating open source software, but also covers the Discovery/Scientific American angle with various cool pieces of scientific news.

The site further gets kudos from my end because it does not seem quite (if at all) celebrity-based, a fact that really makes reading Fark more and more of a nuisance. The only drawback that I can see to Digg is that the website is not updated nearly as often as some of the other sites (Slashdot and Fark), but the interest quotient in each of the stories is much higher than either of the two other sites. Added pluses to an active comment system, as well. The final thing that puts Digg into another realm is that their stories are divided into different subjects; with this division, individuals can easily pick out which stories tickle their fancy instead of being forced to wade through material that is not interesting in the least. Beyond looking at just the sites, one MUST go through the aforementioned threads on each of the stories. For example, in a story describing an alternative to putting up music on Itunes, 95% of the posts show other alternatives, clarify information about the service, or weigh in on the best ways to make money off of online downloads.

http://www.40ozmaltliquor.com – Anyone who knows me even in the most tangential sense knows I love cheap beers, and 40s are no exception. Imagine my surprise when I found this website, which had a listing of all the currently made (and some retired) types of 40s that were or are on the market. Couple that with a dedicated group of reviewers and pictures out the ass, and one has all the trappings of a great website. What the site imbued to me is that there are incredibly many different regional types of 40s, and that individuals tend to trade them all across the United States and Canada (of course, only to those states/provinces that allow that sort of thing). Much like video games or action figures, there is increasingly a market for old 40 (and their precursor 64oz) bottles. Old 40s can easily top $100; a 64oz bottle (with nothing in it) went for $160 on ebay.

Even more than the collector side, there seems to be a burning desire for the sites creator – Bruz – to try to construct a history of everyone’s favorite brown-bagged treat. With each different brand of 40, there are a collection of pictures of the design changes that have happened throughout its lifetime; for example, an veteran brew like Colt 45 has (this assumes that all variants have been collected) 10 40oz variants, 2 45oz variants, and 1 64oz variant. Add on the variants to their Double Malt, Power Master (which was pulled off the market under some arcane law that forbade brewers from touting the strength of their beverages), Premium, Ice Beer, Ice Malt Liquor, and Cool Colt (the only menthol malt I can recall off the top of my head), and that’s over 21 different variants. Even more interesting about the forum system at 40ozmaltliquor is that there are dedicated individuals that go to each bodega, gas station, liquor store and other beer seller they can just to find the next big new thing or some find collecting dust. Oh, and if you happen to know where any Rock Head or Camo Genuine Ale 40s are at, hit up the forums and let the 40oz crew know. I'm sure they would be interested.

http://www.Mininova.org – I find it kind of shocking that there are still individuals out there that use programs like Kazaa and Morpheus for their program and movie needs. Bittorrent has really came into its own in the last few years, and Mininova is the example of the ideal bittorrent site. Created after suprnova.org was shit-canned by the MPAA, this site has a tremendous amount of material being hosted by an equally-impressive number of seeders. Do you want current Scottish comedy? There are about 10 people seeding Still Game and Chewing The Fat. Have a hankering for a DVD rip of The 40 Year Old Virgin? 200 people have that. Different TV shows are put up a day or so after the original air date; for example, the BBC World News takes 24 hours, while there have been times where the latest episode of The Simpsons have been uploaded merely an hour after the original airing date.

For those people like me who are too poor to have cable, entire runs of American Chopper, Miami Ink, and fine reality TV are available; even NFL games are available for perusal. I’ve updated all the shareware on my computer to full programs; Winzip, Winamp, AVG Anti Virus, Photoshop; they are all available. Of course, being available does not mean that they are legal; it still does not mean that individuals shouldn’t buy the full programs if the organizations making them are not morally reprehensible. What really distinguishes Mininova from the rest of the Warez sites is that there are no pop-ups or Trojans popping up to trash your computer; the entire premise of the site is that if a file is corrupt or bad, individuals will stop seeding it and eventually remove the offending torrent. There are also extensive Anime, Books and Games sections on the site, but I’ve not really delved into them as deeply as I have with Programs, TV Shows, and Movies.

[JMcQ]