There are millions of sites on the Web that tell you how to make the most of your computer and the Internet. With help, here from that unmanageable mishmash of resources, is a list of 50 exemplary sites, each of which excels at making some aspect of your daily digital life easier, more comprehensible or more enjoyable.
CNet's Help.com
Launched just as I was finishing this article, CNet’s Help.com is packed
with articles, tips and info about almost all aspects of computing. Hardware,
software, Web building, games... it’s all there.
PC Webopedia
The Webopedia is a constantly updated dictionary of PC and Internet terms.
You can search by keyword or dig down through the categories. Most definition
pages include links to useful related resources on the Web.
Driver Headquarters
If you need a driver for any part of your computer system, chances are
you’ll find it on this site. Make sure you check out the Driver Detective
program which will give you full information on all the current drivers and
their versions on your computer.
Patch Central
This brand new site lists hundreds of games patches. In the works are
links to patches for Adobe, Microsoft and Apple software.
WinDrivers.com
A professionally produced site that’s right up to the minute with the
latest drivers and support tips for Windows. For beginners, there’s a driver
installation guide.
Google
Fast, uncluttered, accurate. Isn’t this what a search engine is supposed to
be? Come to Google when you’re fed up with the sloth and distractions on
so-called search ‘portals’.
ProFusion
ProFusion is a ‘metasearch’ engine. Feed ProFusion a single search request,
choose the search engines you want used, and it will zip out and get results
from each of those engines. Fast and attractive.
Ask Jeeves
Tired of working out how to phrase a search engine question? Just Ask
Jeeves instead. Ask Jeeves understands questions such as “Where can I find a
concise article on emeralds?”. While you formulate your own question, you
can see what others are asking at the same time.
Dogpile
Dogpile is another metasearch engine. DogPile takes a single search string
and fetches results from search engines on the Web, Usenet, FTP sites and news wires.
Liszt
Much of the best information on the Internet is not to be found in Web
sites, but in the discussions carried on via mailing lists or newsgroups.
Liszt lets you search over 70,000 mailing lists and newsgroups by keyword or
category.
Orientation
Explore new realms beyond the US and Western Europe. Orientation is the
gateway to a series of regional Web sites covering Asia, Africa, Central and
Eastern Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, the Middle East, and Oceania.
Yahoo’s regional search engines
Yahoo! lets you find things on the Web by digging down through its
categorised lists of sites. It’s not comprehensive, but it’s still
impressive in scope. Even better, try one of the regional engines:
Sweden
UK & Ireland
Denmark
France
Germany
Italy
Norway
Spain
Asia
Australia & New Zealand
China
Hong Kong
Japan
Korea
Singapore
Taiwan
Brazil
Canada
Adrenaline Vault
The Adrenaline Vault has reviews, previews, feature articles and
interviews. You can also get your hands on demos and other downloads, check
out cheat sheets, and join in discussions and online events.
Happy Puppy
Happy Puppy remains one of the Web’s best games sites. It’s stocked
with downloads, tricks, cheats, news, a newsletter, radio show – you name
it. All of this is wrapped up in a lively and responsive interface.
Gamespot
ZDNet does a nice job with its games site. Gamespot has all the latest of
everything: previews, reviews, demos, patchs, and links to developers’ Web
sites.
Digital Learning Center
Kodak’s Digital Learning Center is a great guide to understanding
digital photography and using your digital camera. Online courses provide
in-depth instruction, and tips include things such as how to sepia tone a
digital photograph.
PC Mechanic
Reviews, overviews, techniques and tips about such things as motherboards,
memory, drives, expansion cards and power supplies. The site also includes a
good collection of links.
The PC Guide
Hardware references, tutorials, optimisation guides and more. This site
covers every aspect of hardware, from sockets to hard disk geometry. A
wonderful reference.
Tom’s Hardware Guide
Tom’s is an excellent technical resource for anyone who wants to tinker
with their hardware or rev up their system. There’s reference material on
motherboards, chipsets, hard disks, CPUs, BIOSes and video cards, plus
benchmarks, reviews and commentary.
CNet News
CNet’s News.com is one of the very best sources of daily computer news.
As well as featuring stories by its own correspondents, CNet pulls stories
from news sources all over the globe, including Australian sources. All of it
is updated several times a day, and neatly cross-referenced.
Silicon Valley.com
The San Jose Mercury has long been a reliable provider of high-tech news.
Its Silicon Valley.com provides daily updates on personal and business
computing.
What does the Internet look like? How are we all connected? How do you map cyberspace? This site provides fascinating views of cybergeography.
Learn the Net
This multilingual resource features a great guide to the Net, covering
everything from its birth, to a preview of its future. Other articles look at
e-mail, newsgroups, conferencing, publishing and much more. You’ll also find
a glossary and weekly updates.
Webmonkey Guides
The Webmonkey Guides are part of HotWired’s stable of Internet
offerings. Well-written and up to date, the guides include the basics of
getting online and what to do once you’re there. Recommended for beginners
and intermediate users.
MP3.com
Whether you want to learn how to play MP3 music files, create your own, or
download some music, MP3.com is a great destination.
Live365.com
Have a hankering to have your own radio station? Here’s the easiest way to
get yourself up and running as an online broadcaster. And if all you want to
do is sit back and listen, Live365 has over 20,000 Internet-based radio
stations to choose from.
Linux.com
This slickly produced site has an introduction to Linux plus news,
articles, downloads and links. The ongoing Dave’s Diary gives a great
account of downloading, preparing, installing and tweaking Red Hat Linux.
TutorialFind
Track down tutorials
on all sorts of topics, from technology to turnip pickling at this
well-organised site.
TutorialHound
This site has a narrower, more techie focus than TutorialFind. The Hound will
help you find tutorials on HTML, Flash, Java, Javascript, Visual Basic and all
sorts of other Web dialects.
DevX
Whether your language of choice is Visual Basic, C++, Java, XML or SQL the
Development Exchange is worth bookmarking. This site features news, articles,
tips, resources and links for each language. You can also talk code with
fellow developers on the discussion boards.
Useit.com
Jakob Nielsen is a usability advocate who speaks incredibly good sense
about Web site design and software usability. Useit.com is essential reading
for anyone designing anything with a user interface, whether it be a site or a
program.
VBNet
The Visual Basic Developer’s Resource Center is a wonderful independent
resource for VB programmers. The site has an extensive code library, an FAQ
library, articles on various aspects of VB coding, and a great set of
carefully vetted links.
Microsoft Security Advisor
Microsoft Internet Explorer has been leaking like a sieve; so have Windows
95 and NT. While Microsoft is not alone in having products that have large
security holes, breaches in Microsoft software affect an enormous number of
users. If you’re concerned about security, especially online, check out
Microsoft’s site dedicated entirely to security issues.
Symantec Anti-Virus
Research Center
Keep up to date with the latest virus news (and hoaxes) at Symantec’s
excellent Anti-Virus Research Center. The latest addition is Sarcman, a
virtual comic book designed to raise virus awareness, for which you’ll need
Macromedia’s Shockwave.
Freshmeat
An extensive collection of shareware for the Linux operating system. Each
program is reviewed and many feature user feedback.
ZDNet Software Library
ZDNet Software Library reviews and rates tens of thousands of shareware
and demos. It has an excellent search engine (try the advanced mode) and
regular compilations and featured downloads.
Corel Technical
Support
Corel’s Technical Support site offers tips, tricks, patches and updates
for the whole range of Corel products.
HP Customer Care
Hewlett-Packard’s Customer Care is one of the best support sites. As
well as drivers, a knowledgebase FAQs, and online manuals, it features an
excellent set of interactive troubleshooting guides.
IBM
IBM has revamped its site, putting links to drivers and demos on the front
page, plus a quick search engine.
Intel Support
Interactive troubleshooting, FAQs, forums, driver downloads and an
extensive section on Year 2000. If you have a Pentium III, you’ll find a
selection of links and downloads that make the most of your hefty hardware.
Microsoft
Personal Online Support
Microsoft regularly revamps its online product support. The new Personal
Online Support is geared towards individual users and contains interactive
troubleshooters, a searchable knowledgebase, FAQs, support Webcasts,
newsgroups and a glossary.
Glassdog
Opinionated and challenging, Lance Arthur’s Design-o-Rama is a must-read
guide for anyone about to create or recreate a Web site. You’ll find
coverage of HTML, javascript, and cascading style sheets, plus a whole lot of
advice that’s well worth heeding. Or ignoring. It’s up to you.
The House of Style
Western Civilisation’s House of Style is a well-produced guide to using
cascading stylesheets (CSS) in your Web pages. The Handbook provides a
detailed introduction to CSS. The Tutorial steps you through creating your
first stylesheet. You’ll also find the complete specifications for CSS, a
compatibility guide for the different browsers, and a link to download Style
Master, an excellent stylesheet editor.
Builder.com
CNet’s Builder.com is bursting with articles and tools for all levels of
Web developer. There’s everything from Build Your First Web Site to job
search tips to advanced ASP development. An essential resource.
MSDN Online Web
Workshop
The Microsoft Developer Network Online Web Workshop provides an
extraordinary amount of information about all aspects of developing a Web
site.
The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Web
Technology
This really is an impressive resource for any Web developer, stacked high
with tutorials, example code and applets, plus links to other resources.
Web Review
Web Review bills itself as ‘Cross-training for Web teams’. It
certainly contains one of the most useful, up to date and well written
collections of articles on Web authoring, design, development, multimedia,
e-commerce and backends that you’ll find anywhere.
Webmonkey
Billed as a ‘How-to guide for Web developers’, Webmonkey contains a
rich assortment of articles on Web design, programming and browser technology.
Project Cool
Project Cool is the coolest of the cool sites. If you’re looking for
stimulating new places to visit on the Web, this is the place to come first.
Tech Sightings
Tech Sightings serves up daily reviews of the best technical sites on the
Web. It’s a great way to stay current with new computing related sites and
old ones that you may have failed to notice.