20 Websites I can't live without

20 Websites I Can't Live Without
Amazon.com
It rules e-tail, with 34 different product categories (including groceries; new and used cars could be next) yet stays true to its bookstore roots, with nifty features like Search Inside the Book, and the new AmazonConnect, which links you to blog posts from your favorite authors from the home page.

Apple Movie Trailers
Coming attractions for movie buffs and reason enough to finally get that broadband connection.

Blogger
The place to go to create your own blog; tools are powerful and easy to use, and it's free.

CBSsportsline
Best all-around sports site, with sports news, sports videos, sports columns, fantasy sports and sports data galore.

Cartoons
Red Meat - Very odd & disturbing cartoons. I like them.
Brevity - Intriguing one panel cartoons that make you laugh & think
Dilbert - the classic. If you are in High Tech, sooner or later, you will be in a Dilbert cartoon.

Ebay
The auction powerhouse keeps expanding its repertoire, allowing users to write blogs and create wikis (collaborative info-banks), and to "Skype" each other about individual items up for bid (i.e. use the Internet telephony service to place voice calls)

Factcheck.org
Picks apart speeches, press releases, TV ads and other public statements by politicians of all stripes to set the record straight.

Google
What started as the Web's best search engine has become a jack-of-all-trades, offering all sorts of free applications, from Spreadsheets and Calendar to Picasa (for digital photos) and Gmail. There's Google Scholar, which lets you search for academic papers on any topic, and Google Finance (nice charts!); Google Maps has inspired countless "mash-ups" including weatherbonk.com. Register for a free account and you can personalize your home page too. Click here, for a menu of features and services that have officially launched; go to Google Labs for the new stuff that's still in beta (such as Spreadsheets). The unaffiliated (but lovingly devoted) Googletutor.com has helpful tips and advice for making the most of all things Google. Read more about some of Google's latest-greatest features in the TIME archives.

HowStuffWorks
Easy-breezy explanations of how things work, from money laundering to hybrid cars, game consoles to the human kidneys

The Internet Movie Database
Encyclopedia of entertainment that covers some 800,000 films, television shows and video game titles. Users help keep the Internet Movie Database current, submitting 16 million data bits in 2005 alone

Netflix
More than 60,000 DVD titles available to rent, from classics to art-house flicks to major studio releases. Digital delivery is scheduled to start early next year, but don't expect those red mailers to be phased out anytime soon

The Onion
Long before The Daily Show, long before Stephen Colbert, there was The Onion, and it's still hilarious, and now you don't need a subscription to read the fake news archives. Podcasts are also now available

Rotten Tomatoes
Gathers movie reviews from far and wide, and reports box office and other stats; flicks receive a critical average on the 100-point "tomatometer." Movies.com also gets a nod for streaming episodes of "Statler & Waldorf: From the Balcony," an Ebert & Roeper spoof starring those lovable muppet-curmudgeons

Shopzilla
New comparison shopping sites keep popping up (Become.com isn't bad) but nothing beats Shopzilla's search tools and merchant ratings

The Borowitz Report
Daily extremely funny and satiric commentary on current events.

The Smoking Gun
Continues to document interesting news (sample headline: "Six Skulls Found in Strippers Home") and get the occasional big scoop, like outing writer James Frey

Wikipedia
A real Web wonder: this massive, collaborative online encyclopedia is written, edited, and maintained primarily by volunteers; some 1.3 million articles in English, and millions more in 228 other languages

Yahoo!
Arguably Google's toughest competition for top Web property. Check out the new My Web 2.0 service, which incorporates the social bookmarking activities of the recently-acquired del.icio.us (you get to see where other people are surfing, and share your own favorite links). Maps.yahoo.com/traffic offers a visual guide to gridlock situations on major roads in 20 metropolitan areas; Yahoo Photos offers new ways to share images (more advanced search features, tagging and other tools); and the new Yahoo Tech page cherry-picks from CNET's playbook.

Zappos.com
Simply the best place to shop for shoes online, with stellar customer service and free shipping all the time