That’s right, everybody: it’s time for the start of another [NOUNS] I [VERB] series! This time, I’ll be talking about websites I frequent, either through daily visits or RSS feeds. Also, rather than doing a separate “Websites I used to frequent” post (or three, in the case of webcomics), I’ve included websites that are a little further of my daily visits these days. Many of these can be considered blogs, but I’ve decided to save single-author blogs for a separate series.

Anyway, on to the content!

• AlterNet – AlterNet is a progressive-leaning news website that covers a wide variety of topics, from politics to the economy, from entertainment media to religious and social justice issues. The articles are often interesting, but can be long reads (at least for a website).
• Ars Technica – This is a technology news site, covering all sorts of issues from desktop OSes to smartphones and recent issues with government surveillance. A good way to stay informed on technology without getting too technical. Owned by the same parent company as Wired Magazine.
• Boing Boing – One of those “cool stuff on the Internet” blogs that are hard to explain, but are great for wasting time picking up random trivia. Often touches on issues of developing cultural issues, like maker culture and digital rights. It started life as a print zine, if that helps you get a feel for the type of content.
• The Brothers Brick – LEGO pr0n! A blog showcasing awesome unique LEGO creations, from mechs and spaceships to dioramas and model trains. There’s also the occasional official set review if you’re into that sort of thing.
• The Chive (and The Berry) – WARNING: do not go here if you want to get anything productive accomplished ever. It’s basically an image blog, with multiple galleries posted daily on various themes, from randomness to cool architecture, and of course sexy ladies. The sister site The Berry is also good, and has the occasional gallery catering to the more male-attracted crowd (man, that sounds worse than I meant it). Both are awesome sites, but resulted in far too much wasted time in grad school, which is why they’re pretty much out of my daily rotation at this point.
• CNET – A great website for tech reviews and short news. More of a business site, it does have reviews of everything from phones and televisions to cars and video games. Basically, if it’s a tech something, they likely have a review of it. Also has good articles answering basic and not-so-basic tech questions (PROTIP: Monster Cables are a ripoff, and no better than a wire coat hanger).
• Cracked – The ultimate listicle site. They publish several articles a day on a wide variety of topics that manage to be both entertaining and educational. A lot are surprisingly well-researched (especially for a comedy website). Another great time-waster.
• DailyKos – A very left-wing political news site. I was reading this one fairly regularly for a while, for what it’s worth. The worst part was it was clearly biased in a direction I trend, and thus had an echo chamber effect. I had to stop because it became too upsetting, and no one should be that insulated from dissenting opinions (on either side of the political spectrum).
• Destructoid – A gaming news site that I haven’t really read regularly since college. I’ve never been the most up-to-date when it comes to gaming hardware (especially consoles), so once they started talking mostly about what was then considered “Next-Gen” (Playstation 3 and Xbox 360) I realized that my GameCube and I were basically wasting our time.
• The Escapist – Another gaming news site. I frequent this one mostly for the videos and articles of Yahtzee (Zero Punctuation) and MovieBob (Escape to the Movies, The Big Picture). Fast-talking, snarky commentary on nerd culture for the win.
• GamePolitics – As their tagline says, “where politics and video games collide.” A good way to stay up-to-date on what happens when gaming culture crosses over into existing social structures. Kinda cheering to the pep squad in my case, but it’s nice to see a gaming-friendly take on current events.
• GamesRadar – Another gaming news site that has fallen out of regular rotation. I started reading for their “Top 7” listicles, but (much like Destructoid) got less interested as things drifted past my interests and capabilities. Also, a redesign made it hard to find the content I liked.
• Gizmodo – This blog covers technology of all sorts, as well as sometimes touching on design. Real interesting stuff for the techy-inclined. I mostly follow it through RSS these days, as I wasn’t that big a fan of the Gawker Media redesigns (I like my articles in chronological order).