Sporcle

Sporcle: Mentally stimulating diversions

This website is so fun I just leave it up on my browser all the time. It features tons of different quizzes on a number of subjects: history, literature, geography, movies, sports, you name it. Each quiz has a time limit and you have that long to name as many members of the selected category as you can. It's stunningly simple and wildly entertaining. Go check it out. You'll thank me later...much later if you get as hooked on these quizzes as I do.

Universal Record Database

Universal Record Database - The definitive site for human achievement

This website is really cool. At least I think it is. It allows anyone, anywhere to set any "universal record" that they want, as long as there is documentation and a witness. Site users vote on the validity and also the simple coolness of the record. No attempt is too ridiculous, no record to narrow or specific. That's it. That's the whole purpose of the site. I remember when I was a kid, probably around 10 years old, I thought that I should try to set the Guinness World Record for playing Monopoloy. I don't know exactly why I settled on that idea, or even what the record was, but it seemed like a really good idea at the time. It's worth mentioning that this is actually a category on the URDB, with the record time checking in at a robust 54 hours. I don't think I'm going to give that record a shot any more.

But I definitely think I should try something. As is abundantly clear after looking at the website, it can be anything. Almost literally. Cameron Diaz (yes, that Cameron Diaz) set a universal record for bunny snuggling in a hammock on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. I don't know what I like about this best: the record subject itself, the fact that Cameron Diaz, of all people, set it...or that her record has already been broken.

Anyway, I have to set a universal record. Any great ideas?

Never bored on the net anymore

A while back there was a commercial with a guy surfing on-line and he eventually got the message "you have reached the end of the internet." There were times that I used to feel like that as well--that I had seen and read everything that could possibly interest me. Not anymore. In the last year or two I have discovered tons of new ways to waste time on-line. Most of them involve social networking to one degree or another, which is pretty cool. Here are five of them.

Facebook. Somehow I've become completely addicted to Facebook, and I'm not sure why. I leave it open on my computer constantly and it's the second thing I check (after e-mail) every time I sit down. I love the status updates, the photos of friends, the odd feeling of getting closer to celebrities by being their Facebook friend, and even the people that I haven't talked to in twenty years that somehow tracking me down.

Twitter. This one seeemed a little strange to me at first, but currently I find it pretty interesting: mini updates with a limited number of characters. No rambling notes here, just one or two lines to get your point across. Again, I find Twitter updates from famous people strangely enjoyable to read. I also could absolutely see this site getting old after a few months. We'll see.

Blip.fm. Okay, I just stumbled onto this one (through someone else's Twitter update, naturally): it lets you be your own internet DJ, finding songs and letting you post them along with a brief line or two. It also will automatically send updates to other sites (like Twitter) whenever you post a song. You can also find other cyber-DJs with similar taste. Seems very easy and fun so far.

Plinky. They supply the topics, you supply your answers. I'm hot and cold with this one, but if you're looking for a way to kill a few minutes there have been some pretty cool prompts.

Tumblr. I just discovered this one and haven't tried it out yet, but it looks like a cool way to post all sorts of media. I'll let you know.

I don't know which of these will still hold my interest six months from now, but I bet at least a couple of them will. Okay, I'm off to complete another Facebook note.