what's your favorite internet mental break?

January 12, 2006 7:40 PM

breaking up the day? what are the best five minute 'break' websites you visit?

over the years i find that i'm dwindling down and less ambitious to hunt out those 'best' websites for the five minute mental break like mefi, transbuddha, boingboing, etc. any suggestions, what are your favorites? sfw please.

posted by eatdonuts to computers & internet (37 comments total)

(mefi's own) languagehat
posted by nomis at 7:44 PM on January 12, 2006

my favorite five minute breaks involve taking a few turns at urban dead. but maybe i just enjoy it because i have a bit of a zombie thing. :-)
posted by tastybrains at 7:51 PM on January 12, 2006

I enjoy overheard in the office, overheard in New York, found magazine, although all of those might have some NSFW language. Oh, and McSweeney's, especially for the lists.
posted by ferociouskitty at 8:02 PM on January 12, 2006

i made netvibes.com my homepage and scan about 30 rss feeds for whatever the latest crap is
posted by psychobum at 8:04 PM on January 12, 2006

www.redhotpawn.com
posted by pompomtom at 8:37 PM on January 12, 2006

Gizmodo, for when you want to see something shiny.
posted by LarryC at 8:43 PM on January 12, 2006

along the same lines as urban dead is travian. I mean I enjoy it.
posted by bigmusic at 9:12 PM on January 12, 2006

Cute Overload
posted by maudlin at 9:19 PM on January 12, 2006

Cynical - C
posted by johnny7 at 9:22 PM on January 12, 2006

Classic: The Onion.
posted by Firas at 9:41 PM on January 12, 2006

Don't hate me, but since nobody's mentioned the obvious, I have to throw out Fark .. the best time waster ever, imho. The discussion there is way more juvenile than MeFi, but the headlines alone are worth it, and the articles linked to are often good reads, hilarious, or both. Just don't click on "boobies" links, and you're safe. Fark's mainpage is sfw.

If you like gizmodo, also try engadget, which I tend to like a bit better despite its less cool sounding name. They often have a lot of the same news stories as each other, though.

If you're a tech nerd, there is the other obvious slashdot.

If you're in need of only a 30 second time waster and a smile, I'd recommend the daily kitten...
posted by twiggy at 11:50 PM on January 12, 2006

digg

somewhat juvenile mac / windows debates and such, but interestings posts abound.
posted by meta87 at 12:54 AM on January 13, 2006

whoops, my link causes an error for some reason. I think because I got lazy and didn't put www

the site is www.digg.com
posted by meta87 at 12:54 AM on January 13, 2006

See also: Stumble Upon, digg, del.icio.us, Overheard in New York, Post Secret, Lifehacker, Everything2 and We Make Money Not Art.

Those first three should link you up to plenty-thousands of sites others think are worthwhile.
posted by disillusioned at 1:15 AM on January 13, 2006

I second twiggy's suggestion of Engadget over Gizmodo, simply because it features Gizmodo's founder, Pete Rojas. And it's got slightly better writing as well.
posted by antifuse at 2:05 AM on January 13, 2006

Second del.icio.us. Scan home page, reload, scan homepage, reload, scan home page. Don't forget to bookmark all the interesting sites you've discovered this way...
Also, on the same idea as Everything 2, you could try the Wikipedia home page. There are interesting tidbits at the end, and you can always stumble on something you did know by clicking on the "random page" link.
posted by XiBe at 2:33 AM on January 13, 2006

i like the new science blogs - especially Pharyngula (and the archive at the old site).
posted by tnai at 4:58 AM on January 13, 2006

You The Man Now Dog!

The source of many Internet fads and crazes.
posted by wackybrit at 5:21 AM on January 13, 2006

The falling sand game and it's variants on that Japanese blog. But it's perhaps crossing the line from 'mental break' to 'obsession'.
posted by Harry at 6:57 AM on January 13, 2006

Flickr, of course.
posted by booth at 7:56 AM on January 13, 2006

It's kind of dorky, but I often scan FatWallet's Hot Deals forum to see if I can get any absurd prices on things.

If you want internet games with great music, beautiful art, and tons of overall cuteness, try Orisinal.com.
posted by Ekim Neems at 8:45 AM on January 13, 2006 [2 favorites]

I can't believe that no one has mentioned Gawker.
posted by TurkishGolds at 8:49 AM on January 13, 2006

Harry - OMG!!!! What have you done, introducing me to the falling sand game???? EVIL!!!
posted by jasper411 at 9:09 AM on January 13, 2006

This is kind of not along the lines others have mentioned, but sometimes I need a break AND a stretch, and I think this Everyday Yoga site has some nice desk stretches.

When I'm just wasting time, I'll third Engadget over Gizmodo. Favorite comics are always nice.
posted by bibbit at 9:21 AM on January 13, 2006

I second Cuteoverload. Sorta makes me want to squeeze things sometimes...
posted by penchant at 10:13 AM on January 13, 2006

sudoku.com.au posts four Sudoku puzzles each day, at four different levels of difficulty. I can generally solve the "Easy" one in under five minutes. You can also save partially solved puzzles if you want to work on the harder ones in five-minute increments. Old puzzles are archived there as well.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 10:30 AM on January 13, 2006

<shameless-self-plug>
Fractal Recursions - fractal images and animations
</shameless-self-plug>
posted by jockc at 11:30 AM on January 13, 2006

Cool Tools
The Morning News Headlines
Chowhound DC Subboard
Crunchland
posted by Dave Faris at 10:16 AM on December 31, 2006

I enjoy Dubious Quality, Bill Harris' sorta-gaming blog. It's consistently entertaining in a low key way, and once in awhile it gets very funny indeed.
posted by Malor at 11:21 AM on December 31, 2006

Set Game
Catsthatlooklikehitler.com Go directly to "Best Kitlers"
Instructables
posted by BoscosMom at 11:48 AM on December 31, 2006

. . . jockc, your fractals are amazing. Wow!
posted by littlegreenlights at 12:00 PM on December 31, 2006

Soap operas for the net generation

music owns me
posted by mycapaciousbottega at 12:33 PM on December 31, 2006

Art Nudes Blog

definitely not porn, but prolly nsfw
posted by andythebean at 6:24 PM on December 31, 2006

Nothing to do with Arbroath, Neatorama and the indispensible Go Fug Yourself are my fave quickie internet diversions. I have to put flickr in as a longer-term diversion because I just get lost in there....:)
posted by Lynsey at 10:18 PM on December 31, 2006

Web Sudoku (easy level games take about 5 minutes after some practise).
posted by teleskiving at 3:52 AM on January 1, 2007

Oh, I check Comics Curmudgeon just about every day as well.
posted by teleskiving at 3:56 AM on January 1, 2007

I have a Bloglines account with subscriptions to [checks] 123 feeds at present. When I feel like wasting time I just login and click on whichever feed fanceies me. Its like an amalgam of most of the above individual links, though without the opportunity to appreciate their individual web layouts.
posted by nihraguk at 3:32 PM on January 2, 2007