Time Magazine’s 50 Best Websites of 2008

Well, as I noted before, it is that time of year for lists. Mostly “Best of” and “Worst of” with the range of experts and contributors extremely varying.  I especially like the way Time Magazine’s website has broken down their 50 Best Websites of 2008.   Instead of the usual 1 through 50, with 1 being the best, it’s more just a list of 50 separated into 5 subcatagories.  The cataggories are Advice & Facts, Info & Gossip, Handy Tools, Fun & Games, and Hobbies & Interests.  At the end there is the requisite poll providing a ranking of the sites in order.

So, here are eight of their 50 that I really appreciate making the list (no specific order).

• Hulu (Fun & Games) – Where you can streamline Bionic Woman or Conan O’Brien or the Simpsons or whatever.  Taking procrastination on the computer to a wonderful new level.
• NexTag ((Handy Tools) – Because comparative shopping done well is just a good thing. Especially in this economy.
• GasBuddy (Advice & Facts) – How much are you paying per gallon? Is it worth the gas to drive 2 miles to a “cheaper” station or are they the same?  Find the best prices on line and head their directly. Yeah.
• Zeer (Advice & Facts) – You can read all the nutritional labels of packaged food and then get user reviews.  So, if you are like many, and think that Ben & Jerry’s portion sizes are laughable, then here’s a great site for you.
• Afrigadget.com (Info & Gossip) – Why, yes, developing nations are being creative with sustainable agriculture, etc.  You may not see these get the top headlines they deserve elsewhere, so happily you can still learn about them here.
• Lookybook (Fun & Games) – A new site with full previews of children’s books. Now you really can tell what’s age appropriate before purchasing on line.  Barnes & Nobles beware!
• Open Source Food (Hobbies & Interests) – Food is community. Community is food. I love sharing food. I love sharing recipes. This is nice.
• Picknik (Handy Tools) – Free photo editing for novices. Make those mistakes look artsy with easy to follow directions.

For the complete list check out Time Magazine’s website which currently has a “Best & Worst Lists” tab at the top. Which 8 would you have highlighted?