Bob J.

Great resource for researching anything related to the bible. This site has dozens of versions and translations of the bible, audio versions, reading plans, devotionals and a lot of other things.

There are advertisements, but they aren't so intrusive that they prevent you from enjoying the site.

REASONS TO USE:
[1] You need a readily accessible bible reference
[2] You want to see different versions of the bible
[3] You just want to read the bible

REASONS TO LOSE:
[1] Minimal ads
[2] You hate bibles.

Slightly different setup than memegenerator.net but nearly identical content. Once again, the idea is that you create a character (usually someone or something with a candid expression) and put a caption on their picture. Popular captions are posted up front and there is a lot of hilarious material.

From 5 stars to 4 for very minimal advertisements.

REASONS TO USE:
[1] Funny and plentiful content
[2] Extremely simple navigation

REASONS TO LOSE:
[1] Minimal ads

Very peculiar but fun site. All you do is upload a picture which is attached to various things and you make it dance. The Sweedish band Fulkultur does the background song which is strangely addicting.

You won't find reason to make this a regular site, but may end up entertaining you for a few minutes.

There are no ads, and the interaction with the site is great.

REASONS TO USE:
[1] ad-free
[2] Fun time waster
[3] You may like the band

REASONS TO LOSE:
[1] Low re-usability

Pretty nifty cooking site. The idea (apparently) is to break up the monotony of normal cooking instruction and make it a little more fun.

"And I believe cooking should be fun. Not "fun" as in what you make should be quirky or brightly colored, I mean the process itself should be fun. " - Tyler (creator/owner/operator) of the site.

This site is ad free, easy to navigate and appears to be fairly young with a bright future ahead of it.

Want some great tasting chili and a laugh? Check it out!

REASONS TO USE:
[1] You like to cook
[2] You like to eat
[3] You like to laugh while doing both

REASONS TO LOSE:
[1] You don't like to cook, eat, or have fun.

Unique site that has funny pictures, videos, and jokes. Very minimal ads and a simple interface make it easy to navigate. The reason I wouldn't give it five stars is because while it has a lot of content you won't find in other places, some of that content can be offensive.

REASON TO USE:
[1] Funny material
[2] Virtually ad free
[3] Incredibly simple navigation

REASONS TO LOSE:
[1] Some offensive material

Very simple interface, design, and navigation. A lot of unique material and I've actually found a lot of other good sites via pete.com. Some of the content is funny, some moving, some cute... it has a wide variety. From comics, to animal pictures, to videos, this site offers quite a lot of material.

Minimal ads push this from a 3 to a 4 star and I will probably visit once a week or so to check out the new material.

REASONS TO USE:
[1] Diverse content
[2] Virtually ad-free

REASONS TO LOSE:
[1] Minimal ads

This handy little tool will find music videos from various sources based on what you type into the engine. When you arrive at the site you are presented with a sleek logo and a search box. Type in the musician/band of your choice and you will be instantly transported to a video and a list of other videos. You could even type in a random subject. You might be surprised at what kind of music video exists for those subjects.

There is minimal advertisement at the site but it can't compete with the simple interface and pleasant design.

REASONS TO USE:
[1] You are a music fan
[2] You need to find a music video about a certain subject

REASONS TO LOSE:
[1] Minimal advertising, but it exists

Absolutely dreadful. Swamped with advertisements, the occasional pop UNDER advertisement and links to a slew of completely different sites. This site barely registers 2 stars because if you can survive the horrid interface and link/ad fiasco you may find some fun little games. But it's not worth it. There are plenty of superior alternatives.

REASONS TO USE:
[1] Some decent games

REASONS TO LOSE:
[1] Pop-under advertisments
[2] Any link could lead to another site with no warning

Yes, it's another flash games site. Again there are advertisements, but you won't be paying attention to them as you play mario jump 2 or any of the other hundreds of games on the site.

If you register, you compete with all other users on the site for high scores making it a bit of an arcade throwback party.

Be careful because there are a lot of links to other sites. Not every "play now" button is real.

REASONS TO USE:
[1] Better quality games than many similar sites
[2] Global site high score list w/ registration
[3] You like to play games

REASONS TO LOSE:
[1] Advertisements
[2] A lot of links to other sites (another type of ad).

Tremendous idea for a website. It is youtube meets stumbleupon in a way. Without registering you can still choose a channel and watch tv.

The difference between this and television though is that the content is chosen by other "curators". If you register and get connected to a few people that share similar interests you'll be able to sit back and watch videos without having to get up.

Videos appear to come from a variety of sources including youtube and crackle.com.

Alternatively, similar to stumbleupon, you can choose certain subjects to follow and you will be shown a list of videos matching that subject.

It is possible to hook the site up through your tv as well, making this the telvision version of netflix.

There are, unfortunately, the same floating style ads on many of the videos.

REASONS TO USE:
[1] Wide variety of content
[2] Television for free catered to your interests
[3] You want to become a "curator" yourself

REASONS TO LOSE:
[1] Minimal ads, but they exist
[2] You prefer traditional tv

Another neat little toy for fans of music gizmos. It's basically a bunch of little "fish" with lights on them. Pick the pattern/sound of that fish and add it to the pool. You are left with a lot of fish swimming around blinking with your peculiar mix playing.

Once again there isn't a lot of re-usability to this site unless they continue changing it, but it is a very neat little gizmo to play with.

The only advertisement is a request to donate to their project.

REASONS TO USE:
[1] You enjoy quirky little gizmos
[2] Ad-Free (minus the one)

REASONS TO LOSE:
[1] Lack of re-usability

This site gets 4 stars from me strictly for its artistic appeal. You may not visit more than once, but you should enjoy that visit immensely.

You are greeted by an artistic title and a box that asks for the address where you grew up. A short film is then shown incorporating the address that you typed in.

Don't be alarmed as a bunch of little windows are going to open up and move around on you as its all part of the show.

I would normally give a site like this 3 stars at most because of its lack of re-usability, but I was impressed with the artistic style.

REASONS TO USE:
[1] You enjoy artistic sites
[2] ad-free

REASONS TO LOSE:
[1] Lack of re-usability

Nifty little toy to play with for a few minutes, but unless the reported next version is much more complex than there's no reason to return to the site.

Basically it's a sound byte song mashup where you pick certain sounds, throw them onto the t-shirt of a guy and watch him make the sounds you picked.

It's pretty cool for 10 minutes until you've gone through all the sound samples and there's nothing left to see. I will probably check back later on to see if the new version is revolutionary.

REASONS TO USE:
[1] Fun to play with
[2] Incredibly simple and clean interface

REASONS TO LOSE:
[1] Very little to return for

There is almost too much happening on the homepage to appreciate what this site has to offer. When you arrive you are greeted by a hodgepodge of links, pictures, and advertisements. When you cut through all the mess you'll find quite a lot of interesting articles and news.

The site also features some fun little quizzes, an amazing fact generator, and a few other things.

I would give this site a 3.5 if I could. It has a bit of an overwhelming design at first look and it does have obnoxious advertisements.

Overall, this site has great potential if they were to clean it up a bit.

REASONS TO USE:
[1] You are a sucker for trivia and quizzes
[2] You like random, interesting facts and articles

REASON TO LOSE:
[1] Has the "information shotgun" factor
[2] Advertisements

Interesting site that is definitely worth a look. The idea is that you tell stumbleupon what you like and it will scour the web and find sites it thinks you'll enjoy. Over time, as you like or dislike the sites that it shows you, it is supposed to "learn" what you like the most and continually refine what it shows you.

Definitely a great time waster and you may "stumbleupon" something interesting.

The site (once you are signed in, etc) turns into an unobtrusive bar at the top of your screen which you use to like/dislike or stumbleupon other sites.

REASONS TO USE:
[1] You're bored and want to explore the web
[2] You would like to enjoy only a certain type of site
[3] You want to join a community of others who share similar interests

REASONS TO LOSE:
[1] You prefer to browse on your own

Tons of good information! I have frequented this site over the years when I wanted to know how something worked. They have quite a few more advertisements than they did in the beginning, but there is enough content to make up for it.

Articles are split up into sections and labeled so you can skip right to the parts you want to read rather than reading one long page of information. Videos compliment the information and the quizzes are fun.

REASONS TO USE:
[1] You want to know how something works!
[2] You want to read interesting articles
[3] Navigation is intuitive

REASONS TO LOSE:
[1] Slightly annoying advertisements

I have been using this site for years to build my own personal computers. Do some research, gather a list of items you would like to buy and newegg probably has it. I've never had any issues with shipping or delivery.

It is not the cheapest option out there for buying computer parts, cell phones, etc. but it may be one of the most convenient.

REASONS TO USE:
[1] Large inventory
[2] Site has been around for years

REASONS TO LOSE:
[1] Slightly hectic design

Anyone who reads can benefit from this site. After reviewing a few titles you are given personalized recommendations for books to read. It is a social atmosphere where you can add friends from Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo, Facebook, Twitter and Friends of friends.

There are a couple of ads here and there, but none so bad as to take away from the quality of the site. Great place to explore literature!

REASONS TO USE:
[1] You enjoy reading
[2] You would like recommendations on good books to read
[3] Minimal ads

REASONS TO LOSE:
[1] You don't know how to read

I have no reason to dislike this site. I recently switched my default search engine to duckduckgo.

When searching for something you get a little snippit of information about it at the top (whether it is a definition, or just an interesting fact). Below you are shown one page of results (quite honestly you don't want to have to look through 14 pages to find what you're looking for anyway). By clicking on "more links" at the bottom you see all the other things the engine found not displayed on the top of the list.

REASONS TO USE:
[1] Tired of google
[2] ad-free
[3] "DuckDuckGo does not collect or share personal information."

REASONS TO LOSE:
[1] Doesn't have "image search" capability yet

Again, a very clean site with negligible ad presence. If you are in the mood to enlighten yourself and learn, or fill in the gaps on a college course you are taking, this is a free site that can help you.

Open Yale Courses are offered, not for college credit, but simply to learn. I took a 1 hour class on classical music that was very interesting and informational.

REASONS TO USE:
[1] You enjoy learning
[2] Negligible ads

REASONS TO LOSE:
[1] You don't like to learn.