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LIFESTYLE AND CULTURE
BY MARYANNE MURRAY BUECHNER
Each site listed here pertains to a particular area of interest — politics, science, health, music — but they all have two things in common: great content and great presentation.
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Got kids? For health information for children from infants to teens, go to kidshealth.org
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| COURTESY KIDSHEALTH |
Apple.com/itunes/
store/
Despite several copycat efforts in recent months, this is still the best place to buy music, legally, and it's more popular than ever, selling 2.7 million songs a week. Choose from more than 700,000 tracks or check out the new celebrity playlists (Mischa Barton is a Guns 'N Roses fan ? Who knew?). Another new treat: music videos (a video link will appear on the artist's main page, if there are any in the offing). Before you can visit the store, though, you'll need the iTunes software, which is free and runs on both Macs and Windows PCs (Macs need OS X; PCs Windows 2000 or XP). Get it at apple.com/itunes/download.
Cancerfacts.com
A great online resource for cancer patients and their families. The profile tool delivers information tailored to a specific cancer diagnosis. Register with an email address to receive news of new therapies and treatment options. Then take a moment to stop by thebreastcancersite.com. Click on the big pink button for a page of ads from sponsors that donate mammograms to poor women based on the number of click-throughs.
Engadget.com, Gizmodo.com
Forgive us, but we couldn't tell the difference between these two competing blogs written by gearheads, for gearheads. Fanatics may want to bookmark both to make sure they don't miss anything about upcoming product releases, trends in tech culture and the like. To fully submerge yourself in this world, make slashdot.org your home page. To avoid looking like a complete geek, stick with CNET's news.com.
FFFBI.com
The home of "The Fin, Fur and Feather Bureau of Investigation" seeks to teach kids problem-solving and critical-thinking skills while introducing them to other places and cultures. To participate, you must choose a mission, follow instructions and answer questions to help foil evil plots. Cute and clever.
Freshdirect.com
This New York City-based home-delivery service is what every food shopping site should aspire to be. Ordering is a snap, and it's beautifully illustrated with bright and colorful photos (even the raw slabs of beef look pretty). Even if you don't live in the Big Apple, the site is worth visiting for its wealth of information. In the potato section, for example, it doesn't just list 16 varieties; it describes each one in detail, rates its taste and texture and offers serving suggestions.
Kidshealth.org
Produced by The Nemours Foundation, KidsHealth is really three sites in one, with each section written and designed differently to appeal to its target audience. The Parents section offers all sorts of guidance on keeping children healthy and caring for them when they get sick. The Kids section features games and other activities; and the Teens page links to articles about the Body (Finding the Right Bra, Why Exercise is Wise), Mind (Binge Eating, Depression), Sexual Health (All About Menstruation) and Drugs & Alcohol (Are Steroids Worth the Risk?).
Metacritic.com
See what all the critics are saying about that movie you want to see, that album you want to buy or that video game you want to play. The "Metascores" show the critical consensus at a glance; they are a weighted average of all the critics' grades. When you click on a particular title (the searchable database covers the last five years), you'll still get the master index of current releases along the right-hand side, in alphabetical order, with color-coded scores attached. Yellow star, good. Red box, dud.
Mojam.com
Find out when Blues Traveler will be performing in your neck of the woods, or shop around for shows to attend the week you'll be visiting friends in Seattle. You can search the concert database by artist, city or venue. The MyMojam feature allows registered users to save their favorite searches so that they can get the results immediately upon signing in.
Noggin.com
Great games and other forms of "edu-tainment" for pre-school-aged children based on Miffy, Maisy, Oobi and other popular shows from the cable TV network of the same name. Honorable mention goes to pbskids.org, home to Arthur and Clifford the Big Red Dog.
Talkingpointsmemo.com
We're always interested in what this guy has to say about politics and the world, and so do a lot of other people, which is why Joshua Micah Marshall — a freelance journalist based in Washington and the site's creator and chief contributor — is one of the most popular bloggers online today. He doesn't rant, he reasons, and he often supports his arguments with source material.
Wordswithoutborders.org
Calling itself the Online Magazine for International Literature, Words Without Borders publishes stories, poems and essays by foreign authors translated into English — a rare opportunity to get a non-American perspective on things, given that so little of these kinds of works get published in the U.S. through traditional channels.
Yoox.com
A huge hit in Europe, this fashion e-tailer is making headway in the American market thanks to a slick site and the best selection of high-end designer clothing for both men and women we've seen anywhere on the Web. Much of the inventory is last season, so prices are slashed. Browse by designer (15 are featured, including Armani, Gucci and Prada, and there are dozens more listed in the search engine's pull-down menu); category (choices include seven different styles of trousers and five types of skirts); and size range (XXS through XXXL).
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