My summer internship was going great. I covered to a story or two, wrote them up, got edited and then checked out. A few weeks ago, however, I got a curt e-mail that said I had been leaving too early. And so, now I'm stuck sitting in an office with nothing to do but browse the ol' Internet.And so, I present to you my Top 5 websites for the Summer of 2003, complete with "Protips" in an homage to a video game magazine I used to get when I was in fourth grade.
1.)Ready.gov (www.ready.gov): Naah, I'm just fuckin with ya. (Protip: Do not go to www.ready.gov.)
2.) Something Awful (www.somethingawful.com): Daily -- and routinely funny -- news updates, archived hilarious features and a forum with thriving discussions on everything from porn to Machiavelli. (Protip: The forums cost $10, but it's more than worth it.)
3.) Defend Your Castle! (www.xgenstudios.com/castle/index.htm): Addictive game. Very addictive. Hurts your wrist. Worth it. (Protip: This site loads approximately 754,000 pop-ups on loading. If you're not using some sort of pop-up blocker, be warned.)
4.) Google News (news.google.com): Sometimes it's good to look like you're doing research or work. This site is just the trick. It pulls news from about 4,500 news sources into a constantly-updated, searchable database. (Protip: Search "Daniel McQuade," and the first match is an article by yours truly.)
5.)Snopes (www.snopes.com): This site debunks or affirms hundreds of urban legends. Did you know that Coke doesn't rot your teeth and that passing on that chain e-mail won't get you a free copy of Microsoft Office? (Protip: There is truth to the urban legend that some people are stupid enough to read an article about the best websites in a newspaper. Get on the Internet, ya bum.)
-Daniel McQuade
