Over on Shiny Shiny, they've been showcasing their favourite time-wasters, and I thought I'd get in on the action as it's Friday and we can all do with a bit of 'lite' reading. So, I've raided my Bloglines, Del.icio.us and bookmarks folders and have highlighted my top ten favourite sites I check out, for your Friday skiving enjoyment.
1.) The Daily Mash - Call it the UK version of The Onion, it's a satirical mess of topical news and politics. With hilarious headlines like 'Foreigners told to have their babies in the sink', 'Ferguson apologises to pre-menstrual Reading fans', and 'M&S on the brink as public decide to peel their own vegetables', it's the best way to stay informed on the latest UK news. True or otherwise.
2.) Wooster Collective - I love street art and graffiti, and this NYC-based blog catalogues all the best efforts from around the globe. On a recent trip to NY, I was thrilled to stumble across the road from which it took its name, and discovered some absolute treasures.
3.) Fake Steve Ballmer - It's no secret in these parts of the world that I'm a massive Microsoft fangirl, and it's of my personal opinion that this fake-blog is actually more entertaining than the original fakie, Fake Steve Jobs.
4.) Oobject - Described as 'Like Billboard Charts for gadgets', every day it has a new top-15ish chart which people can vote on. My favourites so far have been the best abandoned technology, best concept laptops, best concept cell phones, and of course...the all-time worst Apple products.
5.) CrunchFood - It may've only lasted for two months, but when it was getting updated, it was such a great read. In the style of Fake Steve Jobs, it was meant to be a food blog written by Michael Arrington, who created the Crunch network of tech sites, most notably, TechCrunch. Famously disliked, with a distinctive writing style, this parody excelled with hilarious descriptions of food-as-business-models, such as "The minute chicken kicked beef to the curb for dominant market share in the DAF (dead animal food) category, we knew it wouldn’t be long before the imitators would come looking for their slice of the pie. Today comes word of Turkey, a rare animal whose name (and flesh) may soon be on your lips and tongue."
6.) Idiot Toys - I've been an avid fan of gaming blog UK: Resistance for five years now, and creator Gary's second blog, Idiot Toys, since it started. I became such a massive fan of both his sites, particularly Idiot Toys, than in 2007 I convinced Shiny Media (the company that publishes Tech Digest) to buy both sites and Gary as well. You'll see he now works for Tech Digest as well, making all my dreams happen at once. Regular features on Idiot Toys include a healthy obsession with batteries, women, gadgets-with-faces, supersize printers, women, even more batteries, and thing-holding. You've got to check out the thing-holding. This site is a must for those with a strong sense of humour.
7.) Charlie Brooker's Guardian column - Sadly these come but once a week, but when they do, they usually leave in a fit of laughter. This man deserves every literary prize imaginable, and possibly every cinematography prize too, for his TV show Screen Wipe.
8.) Various lol sites - Who needs Lolcats when the much geekier LolGoths, LolKottke, LolGeeks and LolBots are on offer? True, most of them haven't been updated much in the last six months, but *sigh* they were fun while it lasted. KTHXBAI?
9.) Game Cakes - Mmm, cake. This blog was created by Kotaku writer Mike Fahey, who certainly knows his stuff when it comes to gaming. But does he know his stuff when it comes to game cakes? Take a look and decide for yourself.
10.) eBay - I have managed to almost defeat my addiction to this site, but so far, I just can't help but check it at least three times a day. I am obsessed with buying concert tickets (sadly putting money in touts' pockets at the same time) because I am generally quite slow when it comes to buying on Ticketmaster, and can't help but look online each day for various otaku items like Japanese toys, manga and anime films. I think I need to join Winehouse in rehab :(
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