The websites, publications, and events we use to keep up with the trends of the day.
Acroynym Finder
www.acronymfinder.com
The corporate world is full of alphabet soup ("the SVP needs to know how SOA and VoIP will help
ROI"), but you don't have to suffer anymore. Acronym Finder transforms these letters into English.
Be warned: The website is heavy on advertising, FYI.
AP Stylebook Online
www.apstylebook.com
Subscribe to the online edition of the AP Stylebook, and you can create a customized corporate
style guide, as well as your very own library of personal style preferences. The Web-based
interface was designed with editors in mind. Annual individual subscriptions cost $20 per user, and
corporate site licenses range from $350 for up to 25 users to $2,050 for up to 30,000 seats.
Daily Candy
www.dailycandy.com
When it comes to knowing what an audience wants—in this case, 25–40-year-old urban women—and serving it forth with aplomb, nobody does it better than Daily Candy. More than a city guide, this site manages to pull off an updated Audrey Hepburn attitude that's sassy, informative, and stylish. What we like about this site is that it's not trying to do everything for everyone; they know exactly who they are, and they own it like Chloë Sevigny owns YSL (and if you don't get that reference, you're not in their demo).
Dictionary.com
www.dictionary.com
Move over Merriam-Webster. This online dictionary aggregates definitions from a handful of
trustworthy sources. Extras, such as a thesaurus, translator, and word-of-the-day email, make it a
central hub for wordsmiths of all kinds.
Diigo
Signing up for yet another social bookmarking site is probably near the bottom of your priorities, but hear us out: Diigo is way cool. They call themselves "social annotation," which goes beyond mere social bookmarking: You can add sticky notes to your bookmarks, simultaneously add bookmarks to your digg and del.icio.us (and other) accounts, "clip" text and video, and even create slideshows from your bookmarks! Powerful features and a simple interface make Diigo our go-to bookmarking service.
The Elements of Style, Fourth Edition
By William Strunk Jr., E.B. White, Roger Angell (Longman, 2000) They don't call it a classic for nothing. This little Strunk and White volume packs a punch: It's quick, concise, and chock-full of essential information for writers and editors.
EmailStatCenter.com
www.emailstatcenter.com
We’re a little embarrassed at the enthusiasm this site was greeted with in some corners of the office, but the self-consciousness wore off quickly in the face of this useful resource. Aggregating and categorizing hundreds of stats related to email marketing, EmailStatCenter.com gives marketers the information they need quickly and easily. Features include an email newsletter and the ability to post new stats or suggest new categories.
FactCheck.org
www.factcheck.org
Didn't know who or what to believe in the November election? FactCheck.org is here to guarantee truth in advertising—and while they're at it, truth in debates, speeches, and interviews, too. This nonpartisan, nonprofit tool for voters tries to bring the facts back to politics. Devoted truth-seekers can sign up to receive special reports via email.
Hoover's
www.hoovers.com
Need to look up annual sales growth for Disney? With an online database of 12 million companies, including some 40,000 profiles compiled by a team of 80 editors, Hoover's is the ultimate business research tool. Search a limited view for free or subscribe to access the mother lode.
Institute for Global Futures
www.futureguru.com
The Future Trends section on the IGF website will help you get ahead of the competition.
Language Log
itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/
Words. We love 'em. So does Mark Liberman, a University of Pennsylvania phonetician who heads up this group blog, which is an engaging look at our changing language. He tackles issues from gender specific pronouns to the first Tongan dictionary. Trust us, it's interesting stuff. But our Internet crush on Liberman blossomed when he delivered a critical beat-down on airport novelist Dan Brown's clunky style: "Renowned author Dan Brown staggered through his formulaic opening sentence."
KeepMedia
www.keepmedia.com
This site aggregates articles from 200 national publications—including Business Week, Newsweek, Forbes, and Fast Company—into one monthly online subscription, making it a handy research tool.
New Thinking
www.gerrymcgovern.com/new_thinking.htm
Learn something new each week when you subscribe to Gerry McGovern's weekly email newsletter, which explores best practices in website content management.
The Onion News Network
www.theonion.com/content/video/
Since it first went online in 1996, the Onion has been one of the most consistently entertaining sites on the 'Net. The broadband boom is now allowing the Onion crew to branch out from online and print to video. Log on to see a talking head named Brandon Armstrong introduce the same kinds of hilarious parodies you've been forwarding to friends for years. No one will mistake Armstrong for Jon Stewart, but if you like the online and print versions of the Onion, be sure to put the Onion News Network in your weekly time-killer rotation.
Online Journalism Review
www.ojr.org
Thoughtful articles about online media, presented in a Web-based journal produced from the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication.
Pecha Kucha
www.pecha-kucha.org
If corporate marketing and performance art had a baby it would be Pecha Kucha (pronounced "pet-shah coot-shah"). Started by Tokyo-based architects Mark Dytham and Astrid Klein, the rules for participating in a Pecha Kucha night are simple: Submit 20 PowerPoint slides and speak about each slide for 20 seconds. Sweet! Check out the website for a performance, er, presentation near you.
Pew Internet & American Life Project
www.pewinternet.org/reports.asp
For all your questions about who's doing what online and why, this resource tracks and reports on social aspects of Internet use. The free downloadable reports are a handy tool for understanding specific market segments and tracking Internet usage trends.
Plain English Campaign
www.plainenglish.co.uk
The online newsletter of the Plain English Campaign sends us helpful reminders for writing clearly and concisely. A recent edition called attention to the need to spell out acronyms on first reference, especially when they are presented to an international audience. Sign up at www.plainenglish.co.uk.
PostSecret
postsecret.blogspot.com
For an illuminating glimpse into the minds of strangers everywhere, visit PostSecret. This ongoing community art project collects the secrets of strangers revealed and mailed on homemade postcards. The results are touching, devastating, hilarious, and frightening. You can't help but view your average colleague in a different light after reading through some of them.
Rotten Tomatoes
www.rottentomatoes.com
When Time magazine started its annual list of the coolest websites in 2003, Rotten Tomatoes made the cut. Four years later, it’s still a dependable resource for movie reviews, which are compiled and rated by “tomatometer”—from fresh (red) to rotten (green and smashed). The site delivers information that’s both practical and fun in an easy-to-understand format, and the tomato theme is a playful, memorable device that gives the site personality and traction with users. Usability plus personality: If that's not a recipe for best practices, we don't know what is.
Search Engine Watch
www.searchenginewatch.com
Search engine optimization isn't just for codeheads and spammers anymore—online marketers need to keep up with the technology and trends that are making search big business. SearchEngineWatch.com gives you the info you need in an easy-to-understand format.
Tagline Guru
www.taglineguru.com
Stumped on how to capture the essence of your latest project? Check out TaglineGuru.com. The site offers a definition of what a tagline is (and isn't), top-line tips on writing compelling taglines, and examples of taglines (our favorite is the tagline hall of shame).
True Knowledge
www.trueknowledge.com
For the first time, we're featuring a Favorite that hasn't emerged from beta testing. But if True Knowledge delivers on even half of what it promises when it does release, it will be a killer search app. By combining a Google-like search algorithm with the ability for human users to improve the knowledge base (à la Wikipedia), True Knowledge claims to be able to answer just about any question you input into a Web form.
Currently you can watch a brief but informative video on how it works, register to become a beta user, and even register to test their API service. Remember, you heard it here first.
Verbotomy
www.verbotomy.com
Remember sniglets? Ever think you'd be great at coming up with those? Verbotomy lets you do just that, five times a week. They provide the "definition," and you compete with other verbotomists to create the perfect word to match. Or if you aren't feeling inspired to provide your own word, you can peruse (and rate) others' attempts.
Webopedia
www.webopedia.com
Brought to you by JupiterWeb, the publishers of Internet.com, Webopedia is our cheat sheet for learning new computer and Internet terms. A Top 15 list and Term of the Day highlight some of the most important words we encounter in our online travels, and a list of recently added terms helps us keep up with the trends of the day.
Whatis.com
whatis.techtarget.com
This free website includes an IT encyclopedia, learning center, word of the day, and helpful links to promote self-reliance when your IT department is out to lunch.
Wikipedia
www.wikipedia.org
A global network of voluntary contributors keeps this online, open-source encyclopedia up-to-date in 160 different languages, with 471,000 English-language entries.
Wired How-To Wiki
howto.wired.com/wiki
This collaborative site is geared toward the do-it-yourselfers among us who want to pick up useful tips for tasks that run the gamut, like lacing your shoes (apparently there are 43,200 "perfectly legitimate" methods), touching up photos, finding lost Web pages, and brewing ginger beer. And that's just the beginning.
