50 Best Web Resources

The World Wide Web now contains tens of millions of websites, so trying to find all of the best resources can be a daunting task. But if you know where to look, you can find high quality and free (or low-cost) resources such as innovative instant messengers, media managers, and even anti-virus software. With the Internet growing by leaps and bounds every day and becoming an integral part of our daily lives, we’re sure that these 50 sites will all come in handy.

ANTI-VIRUS, ENCRYPTION, & PROXIES

NORTON SECURITY SCAN 2007
The Good: Beside Windows XP, this program also supports Vista. Great Basic security.
The Bad: This is a PC only program, with no Mac support. Advanced features require a purchase.
The Info: Norton Security Scan is a free, easy-to-use antivirus tool that scans your PC for viruses, spyware, and other threats. With Norton Security Scan, users have an easy-to-use tool that scans their PC specifically for viruses and spyware. In addition to the scan feature, the Google Pack version of Norton Security Scan removes all existing viruses, trojans and worms found on a user’s PC and provides them with helpful tips on how they can further improve their PC security.

MCAFEE VIRUS INFO DATABASE
The Good: If you'd like to know more about a virus your computer has been infected with, this is the place to go.
The Bad: It's nice to know about viruses, but what we really need is a way to prevent or remove them!
The Info: If you've ever found a virus on your computer, you probably wanted to know more about it. The McAfee Online Virus Database catalogs thousands of known computer viruses, with info on their behaviors, prevalence, and removal. If you've ever wondered what a worm or a trojan horse was, they also have basic definitions of those and other common terms.

KASPERSKY FREE ONLINE VIRUS SCAN
The Good: Offers the industry's most comprehensive virus scanning.
The Bad: Only works with Internet Explorer. Doesn't remove viruses.
The Info: If you have a suspicious file that you'd like to scan for viruses, you can upload it here and have it analyzed for free. You can also scan your entire hard drive with the industry's best detection algorithms. This free online virus scanner is a great way to find out if you have any viruses or spyware on your machine. You just need to be online and using Internet Explorer.

ASHAMPOO FIREWALL FREE
The Good: Full firewall protection without confusing jargon
The Bad: Almost any firewall can cause system problems, so sometimes it's better to go with the major brands.
The Info: You probably know that you need a firewall program to use the Internet safely. In addition to protecting you against attacks from the Internet, a good firewall will also tell you when programs installed on your computer are trying to phone home and then enable you to prevent them from doing it. aShampoo will also prevent your computer from being turned into a “zombie” controlled by spammers or destructive hackers.

SPYBOT SEARCH AND DESTROY
The Good: SpyBot is great at locating spyware and then removing it, which can speed up your browsing and protect your privacy.
The Bad: Full scans are important, but can take a long time to complete.
The Info: Spybot Search & Destroy detects and removes spyware, a relatively new kind of threat not yet covered by common anti-virus applications. Spyware silently tracks your surfing behaviour to create a marketing profile for you that is transmitted without your knowledge to the compilers and sold to advertising companies. Spybot-S&D can also clean usage tracks and allows you to fix some registry inconsistencies.

TOR ANONYOUS WEB SURFING
The Good: Available for most platforms and provides great privacy protection.
The Bad: The military wrote this program, so they probably have backdoors into it.
The Info: Tor is a privacy toolset for a wide range of organizations and people that want to improve their safety and security on the Internet. Using Tor can help you anonymize your web browsing, your instant messaging, and many other applications that use the TCP protocol. Tor also aims to protect you from traffic analysis, a form of network surveillance that threatens your personal anonymity and privacy

THREAT FIRE INTRUSION PROTECTION
The Good: It's free and it's some of the best protection you can get!
The Bad: Advanced features require a licensing fee. More security means the possibility of a slower computer.
The Info: ThreatFire protects you when your antivirus can't. PCs are under constant attack from viruses, spyware and identity theft. When left unsecured in tests, household internet connections receive dozens of exploratory hits from hackers hourly. Anti-Virus software is important, but ThreatFire takes things a step further and has proven to provide up to 243% more protection when combined with traditional AntiVirus products. Instead of looking for particular malware programs, ThreatFire works by looking for the behaviors that they tend to display.

BROWSERS & UTILITIES

FLOCK WEB BROWSER
The Good: Drag and drop photo uploading to image share sites.
The Bad: Bookmark management is still a bit clumsy.
The Info: Flock is a free web browser that makes it easy to connect with your friends and express yourself online. You can receive updates when friends have new photos, videos or blog posts and can automatically load up to 1,000 photos at a time to popular photo sites.

OPERA WEB BROWSER
The Good: Tons of features, all built-in - with the smallest download of any other major web browser.
The Bad: You may occasionally encounter compatibility issues with sites built for other browsers.
The Info:The award-winning Opera Web browser is the coolest, fastest, and most secure Web browser available. Opera gave birth to innovative ideas that other browsers have since copied such as tabbed browsing, widgets, and mouse gestures. It's available for free download on just about every platform, so try it today!

ONLINE REFERENCE LIBRARY
The Good: It's an entire reference library at your fingertips, 24/7, without books to lug around.
The Bad: Sometimes it's easier and more convenient to use a physical book than to stare at a screen.
The Info: You used to see a bookshelf dedicated to standard reference books in every home or office, but now those books are largely unnecessary due to these great Internet versions. You'll find an online Dictionary, Thesaurus, and Encyclopedia - all available 24/7 and constantly updated.

SMART FTP CLIENT
The Good: Tons of features and simple interface, making it perfect for most users.
The Bad: After 30 day trial, you have to buy a license to keep using it.
The Info: SmartFTP is an FTP (File Transfer Protocol) client which allows you to transfer files between your local computer and a server on the Internet. With its many basic and advanced features SmartFTP also offers secure, reliable and efficient transfers that make it a powerful tool. Use it for web site publishing and maintenance or to download and share large files with friends or coworkers.

GIMP IMAGE EDITOR
The Good: This cross-platform program is your best free alternative to pricey applications like Adobe Photoshop.
The Bad: It's good for most basic users, but graphics professionals and artists may find it lacking.
The Info: GIMP is the GNU Image Manipulation Program. It is a freely distributed piece of software for such tasks as photo retouching, image composition and image authoring. It works on many operating systems, in many languages, and can stand in for Adobe Photoshop if you're on a tight budget.

SPEED TEST BROADBAND CHECKER
The Good: This great utility is fast and the interface is simple and clear.
The Bad: Speed Test lets you test your internet connection speed.
The Info: Find out if you're getting the bandwidth you are paying for. By measuring the download and upload rate from a set location, you're able to accurately measure your current line throughput or internet connection speed.

GOOGLE DOCS ONLINE WORD PROCESSOR
The Good: This viable alternative to Microsoft Word makes your files available from any computer.
The Bad: It can be slow and has limited features compared to Microsoft Word.
The Info: More and more, the browser is replacing desktop applications. Google brings us this great online word processor that lets you import and export to and from various common formats. You can also share documents selectively and work collaboratively online.

STOCK.XCHNG FREE STOCK IMAGES
The Good: These images are high-res and royalty free - ready to use in your layouts.
The Bad: Most of the images are untouched, so you'll probably need to do some cutting to remove objects from backgrounds.
The Info: If you need some stock images for a design but you don't have an expensive collection of your own, you can use this great online archive of user-uploaded, royalty free images. At the stock.xchng you'll find over 325,000 high-res images, all uploaded by people from around the world and searchable by keyword or category.

UTORRENT BIT TORRENT CLIENT
The Good: It's simple and fast and won't hog your system resources or bandwidth. Plus, it's Vista compatible.
The Bad: It lacks some of the more advanced features of programs like Azareus and it's PC only.
The Info: UTorrent is a lightweight and efficient BitTorrent client for Windows with many features such as multiple simultaneous downloads, a configurable bandwidth scheduler, global and per-torrent speed limiting, and quick-resumes from interrupted transfers.

GOOGLE TRANSLATOR
The Good: Translate selected text or entire webpages between dozens of languages.
The Bad: Machine translation can be inaccurate, and some important languages are not yet supported.
The Info: The world has gotten much smaller now that services like Google Translate make it possible for us to read web pages written in languages that we don't understand. Unlike traditional machine translators that simply follow a set list of rules, Google's statistical machine translation algorithms actually learn by analyzing usage patterns. The more it is used, the better it gets!

EMAIL

GMAIL
The Good: Unlimited storage, fast interface, easy to use and has high-tech sorting and searching capabilities.
The Bad: Gmail doesn't offer IMAP support - just POP access and online email. Plus there are some contextual ads in a small sidebar.
The Info: Gmail represents the Google approach to email and chat. It offers practically unlimited free online storage and allows you to collect all of your messages into an easily searchable database. Gmail's simple but very smart interface lets you find individual messages precisely and to see them in context without effort.

AIM MAIL
The Good: Almost unlimited storage and great spam protection.
The Bad: Lacks small details like labels, smart folders, and message threading.
The Info: AIM Mail, AOL's free web-based email service, shines with unlimited online storage, very good spam protection and a rich, easy to use interface. AIM Mil also offers very functional IMAP (as well as POP) access. If you've already got an AIM user name, why not make that into your email address?

BIG STRING
The Good: Mo more regrets, since you finally have a way to make emailing a reversible activity.
The Bad: Basic services are free, but more advanced offerings require a small subscription fee.
The Info: BigString.com is a free 2 GB email service that includes rich certified mail services and lets you expire or edit sent messages. It doesn't have the greatest features for organizing your mail, making it perhaps undesirable as a primary email client. It's great to have when you need to send a sensitive email, though.

HOTPOP
The Good: A great client for POP3 or IMAP email.
The Bad: You don't get a lot of storage space for your email, and there's no web-based access to email.
The Info: HotPOP offers free, reliable email accounts you can use with any email program using POP3 and SMTP. In addition, HotPOP lets you forward incoming messages to multiple other addresses. If you're looking for a desktop email client for POP3 or SMTP, HotPop is a good basic choice.

GOOWY MAIL
The Good: If you're looking for a full-featured and fun to use desktop email program, Goowy Mail shines.
The Bad: There's no online storage of email. This is strictly a desktop program.
The Info: Goowy Mail is a very rich Desktop email program with a speedy interface that lets you drag and drop and features a very attractive interface. You get a desktop email program, a calendar, an RSS Feeder, and even a small set of games in this nice productivity suite.

INSTANT MESSAGING

ADIUM
The Good: Keeps track of all your online conversations.
The Bad: Keeps evidence of all your online conversations!
The Info: Why not trust a cute cartoon duck to manage all of your personal conversations? Adium is a brilliant messenger system for Mac OS X that manages all of your different messaging accounts, allowing you to simultaneously log onto AIM, MSN, Jabber, Yahoo, and more – logging and organizing all of your conversations in one place, even across different chat sessions.

AOL/AIM
The Good: They’ve perfected communicating online!
The Bad: The annoying sounds are difficult to turn off!
The Info: We’ve had AIM since it was first released. Not only is it the most popular form of IM communication but it’s also kept up with the newest useful office technologies like transferring documents and pictures via IM.

BEEJIVE
The Good: Instant Messenger for your iPhone
The Bad: This is not a standard widget that will sit on your start screen like other apps. It’s browser based, so if you clear your browser it goes away.
The Info: BeeJive is one of the first companies to come out with an instant messenger that’s compatible with the iPhone. While it has its drawbacks, it’s fast and generally works well – making it a fun and free messaging utility for iPhone users!

FLICK IM
The Good: You can design your own skin for Flick IM and the program is very fast!
The Bad: Many of our online buddies didn’t show up as online in the buddy list.
The Info: Flick IM is a sleek site that lets you keep in touch with your friends on your iPhone with web-based messaging. It’s fast and simple, but there seem to be some bugs to work out when it comes to status of friends on your buddy list!

GOOGLE TALK Gadget
The Good: Unlike the previous version, this one is compatible on all systems.
The Bad: Cannot perform voice calls to other Google Talk Users like the previous Google Talk.
The Info: Die-hard Google Talk fans will want to check out the new Google Talk Gadget! It’s now ready for download on OSX and Linux, too, and now features new Emoticons and a group chat function!

MEEBO
The Good: When IM communicators die they want to go directly to MEEBO!
The Bad: Trying to be more than just IM central, MEEBO has since expanded to hosting blogs.
The Info: Whether you prefer AIM, Google Talk, MSN, Yahoo!, Jabber, ICQ, or Meebo, this two-year-old wonder hosts it all. Having recently undergone a site remodel, Meebo is now easier to use but retains the same feel as the old program.

MSN MESSENGER
The Good: MSN Messenger is becoming more popular, attracting more of the general public rather than just Microsoft fanatics.
The Bad: Numerous people have said that the MSN interface looks more like a web page than an application - and we happen to agree.
The Info: MSN Messenger often gets a bad wrap for being too difficult to use and not as colorful as Yahoo! or AIM. Despite the bad points, MSN Messenger does have some great features - including the ability to communicate with all your buddies who use Yahoo!. Plus, if your place of employment utilizes Live Communications Server 2005 then you can also IM your friends who use AOL, AIM, and iChat – and you can also create your own emoticons.

MUNDO: iPhone EDITION
The Good: Mundo allows you to stay logged into multiple screens names all at once.
The Bad: You mean we have to add our buddies again? Not good! This version still has bugs!
The Info: Besides the computer version of Mundo, they’ve now come out with an iPhone Beta Edition that works with different messengers (AIM, Yahoo!, Google, MSN) but it still has some bugs to deal with. Give the Mundo iPhone program a month or so to release a new update and we’re sure it will be one of the best iPhone IM programs out there!

YAHOO! MESSENGER
The Good: Yahoo! Voice is amazing and the customizable IMvironments are still fun and unmatched.
The Bad: In our few days of playing with the Messenger it frequently crashed – and many other users on message boards have reported the same thing.
The Info: Yahoo! Messenger has really improved their IM client over the years. Yes, there are still quirks that need to be figured out but overall the chat system is fun and a lot more colorful than AOL’s.

AUDIO AND VIDEO

iTUNES
The Good: The most complete music store on the Internet.
The Bad: Some of our favorite music artists have yet to sign any deals with Apple (i.e. – The Beatles and Tool) but we’re keeping our fingers crossed!
The Info: Known for constantly adding new music, audio books, movies, television programs, and celebrity play lists. iTunes is the essential store for all media lovers!

KEEPVID
The Good: Let’s you download your favorite videos from flash-based sites like YouTube.
The Bad: We had some initial problems getting the videos to play, until we downloaded a free flash player.
The Info: Grab those beloved online videos and put them on your desktop in just a matter of minutes. Download the free player or purchase the upgrade $5 player – either way you come out a winner and get to keep those YouTube videos on your desktop!

MY FLASH FETISH
The Good: Set yourself apart from the other MySpacers with an old skool tape player, boom box or iPod.
The Bad: Nothing beats owning an original ghetto blaster.
The Info: Make a mix tape or set your electronic iPod on shuffle when you incorporate these cool players onto your MySpace page. It’s a space-saving way to satisfy your desire for a boombox, and not everyone is using these yet. We’re not sure why, though – because they’re cool and free!

NPR MOBILE
The Good: Free, intelligent programming that is available on most phones.
The Bad: Stations are still being added, so stay tuned if your favorite is not listed yet!
The Info: If you’re a fan or member of National Public Radio then you know that they’re known for brilliant journalism and entertaining shows. Now available for your cell phone, NPR’s mobility is nothing short of ingenious!

QUEER CASTERS
The Good: High quality queer podcasts!
The Bad: Poorly designed. Could be a bit more user-friendly!
The Info: Whether you have an MP3 player or not, you can still listen to the podcasts on QueerCasters.com. Hosting a slew of different casts, these regularly updated shows are fun and targeted directly at the GLBT community.

ONLINE TICKER
The Good: Easy to use and understand - especially for novices.
The Bad: If you’re looking for a ticker with frills this ain’t it! Instead, this Online Ticker is a stripped down version of what the big companies use.
The Info: This site isn’t lavish but it gets the job done. It’s a smooth running program that’s easy to use and extremely user-friendly. Online Ticker is compatible with both Internet Explorer and FireFox and offers some customizable functions, too!

YAHOO! MUSIC JUKEBOX
The Good: More songs, a bigger music community, and clearer music. If you were previously a MusicMatch user the change over to Yahoo! will be extremely easy.
The Bad: Whether you like it or not, you have to change from the old to the new version. Sorry!
The Info: Formerly MusicMatch, the new Yahoo! Music Jukebox has thousands of songs and offers up faster CD burning and high-quality digital music. Aimed to give iTunes a run for its money, this player offers lots of customizations that iTunes doesn’t support.

FIXES, TIPS, & TOOLS

APPLE PRO TIPS
The Good: Complete and straightforward. If you have a dilemma Apple Pro will probably have the answer.
The Bad: Ouch - your eyes will hurt because of the poorly designed and overly fancy intro page!
The Info: Featuring loads of topics aimed to help out in your most dire time of need, Apple Pro Tips is a comprehensive site that lives up to the Apple name.

AUCTION SNIPER
The Good: This is your best bet for winning online eBay auctions. You get several free snipes per week.
The Bad: People who don’t use snipers think it’s unfair, but it’s not against the eBay rules.
The Info: Ebay auctions have gotten so competitive that it’s often impossible to win an auction for a decent price. Auction sniping, however, makes it possible. Sniping involves placing a single winning bid at the last possible moment (just seconds before the end of the auction) and thus giving other bidders no time to outbid you. Try Auction Sniper and never lose another auction.

INSTRUCTABLES
The Good: Step-by-step instructional videos and photo-essays that show you how to do just about anything.
The Bad: Be patient with this site. It’s still young, but the content is growing by leaps and bounds.
The Info: Have you ever wanted to know how to crack Windows passwords or how to build a Tagtool suitcase? If that’s too techy for you, maybe you’ve wanted to whip up a quick banana nut bread or a rustic apple tart? No matter what your goal, the Instuctables site has a how-to, step-by-step demonstration of virtually everything!

MYSPACE TOOLBOX
The Good: A wealth of fun, free add-ons for your MySpace page.
The Bad: Not the most organized page, but get past the cumbersome design and you’ll find some real treasures!
The Info: Whatever you need to decorate your MySpace page - MySpace Toolbox probably has it. With pre-made layouts, custom codes, and cool graphics, this mammoth site is a favorite destination for thousands of MySpacers!

THIRD PARTY APPLICATIONS FOR iPHONE
The Good: The third-party applications that work are phenomenal!
The Bad: The NES application and a few others still have some issues, but stay tuned!
The Info: Leave it to Gizmodo to find the best homebrew apps for your iPhone. Apple didn’t give us any cell phone games, so fellow gamers obsessed with Nintendo created this NEW emulator to play standard NES roms. It’s still in beta and only a few games are working, but keep your eyes peeled for future releases!

TIPS TO BETTER MANAGE YOUR FILES
The Good: Good information and useful tips.
The Bad: Not for Mac users. Also, these basic hints may bore power users.
The Info: Most of us are guilty of not keeping our files adequately organized. Want to get things cleaned up and save space at the same time? If you’re a casual PC user, you can incorporate these tips into your daily computer routine to greatly optimize your computer’s performance!

MISCELLANY

CRAIGS LIST
The Good: One of your best online resources for jobs, housing, and great deals!
The Bad: You have to check the site frequently. Good deals go fast.
The Info: With local versions of the site for just about every major city, Craigslist can be your best resource when looking for just about anything. From job and apartment to great deals on used furniture, clothing, or electronics – Craigslist has it all. People post everything imaginable up for sale (or for free) and you can even search for sex (or for laughs) in the infamous Personals section.

iWIDGETS
The Good: After all the hype, iWidgets are finally here!
The Bad: Keep an eye on this site. They are still updating some technical glitches and ironing out the gliches.
The Info: A lot of iPhone users weren’t too pleased with Steve Jobs after discovering Apple didn’t give users any options for importing different widgets onto their iPhone for personal customization. The new iWidgets site is fun but still new, so watch for it to really take off in coming months.

NONAGS
The Good: Free software? That’s definitely a good thing!
The Bad: They suck you into the site saying that it’s free, but then tell you that it’s not. A sham? Not really, since the fee is nominal and it’s well worth the price.
The Info: Safe, free software is extremely hard to come by nowadays. No Nags is just that, offering 4,200 fonts, Live 24/7 New & Updated Software, Direct Downloads, No broken links to files, 5.1 GB of free software, and - best of all - no advertising!

POPCAP
The Good: A bountiful array of games.
The Bad: A little bit on the expensive side.
The Info: Popcap is a popular site for game addicts to download video games like Bejeweled and Alchemy. You can choose to download games, play online, or take them mobile. However, if you want these games permanently you have to pay anywhere from $9.95 to $14.95 for each one. Try the demo versions first to see if you really want the full games!

POST SECRET
The Good: The site is always entertaining and fascinating and often enlightening.
The Bad: Some of the confessions are very sad, but the net effect of reading them is always uplifting and empowering.
The Info: This amazing site, which started out as an art project, features anonymous true confessions submitted by postcard - sometimes funny, sometimes sad, and always deeply personal.