The Web Hostess: The Best of the Internet in Only an Hour

A weekly chat about the best ways to kill time online. Our Web Hostess, Monica Hesse, sifts the Internet so you don't have to, searching for meaning, manners, and the next great meme.

This week, we ask for a peek inside your bookmarks: What sites can't you live without? What do you simply have to check every day?

Web Hostess chat archive.

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Monica Hesse: Time wasting sites are crucial to any self-respecting Internet citizen. But today let's talk meat and potatoes. What sites do you visit every day? In what order? What do you need to visit to feel informed, to feel grounded, to feel entertained? Honesty is the best policy -- we won't tell, and we all want to know.

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Monica Hesse: Sorry guys -- we're running a little bit late today, and I have to dash off a little before 2 for another story. We'll get going here in a few. In the meantime, here's an email i got from a chatter with suggestions for podcasts, re: last week's chat.

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Mt. Lebanon PA: My library site (Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh) to find out what's new, what's due, and what I'm to pick up here in our little community.

Can't live without books. Wouldn't want to anyway.

Thanks much.

Monica Hesse: Are you a librarian, or just a bookworm?

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Alexandria, Va.: Most often - Washington Post - six to ten times a day. And I get the paper, too.

my home page is SLATE. I was one of their few paid subscribers back in the 1990s. Absolutely indispensible.

INSTAPUNDIT and Dynamist are visited daily; INSTA three or four times a day.

Fairfax County Public Library; used to reserve and renew loans. Wonderful.

GOOGLE for searches; daily.

Cook's Illustrated (paid subscription) - used to augment magazine subscription. Yes, I pay for both, just as I do for Consumers' Reports. Online access gives me a searchable data base, and is worth the money.

Arts & Letters Daily; kind of a clipping service for interesting stuff presented in a reasonably erudite manner.

Class Struggle: I read everything POST education reporter Jay Mathews writes, on whatever subject and in whatever publication. This page keeps my somewhat current.

Monica Hesse: Arts and Letters daily is a fantastic find. So much brain food, so elegantly done. Thanks for the mention; it's a good thing for anyone to add to their diet.

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Washington, DC: Do you have any comment regarding Friday's fistfight?

Monica Hesse: For anyone who hasn't heard of this, you can find accounts of varying accuracy on Google. My personal faves are the ones that go with the Damsel in Distress scenario -- two burly men fighting over my tears. I should be so lucky.

In reality, the issue was over a story that both Manuel and I had worked on, not just defenseless me. In broader reality, newsrooms are chaotic, exciting places where people (gasp) cuss, bellow and growl over stories we care deeply about. Henry and I have always had a great relationship.

And Cupcake doesn't cry in newsrooms. There's no crying in newsrooms.

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Morning Internet routine: Jezebel, Gawker, TMZ, Gizmodo.

Is this a bad sugary cereal diet?

Monica Hesse: Nah, but you maybe should invest in Gawker media?

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Arlington, VA: Deadspin, Particularly Drew's Football Jamboree and his open mailbag. He is what Bill Simmons used to be. Simmons site is now largely worthless.

Monica Hesse: I hope more sports people ring in, as it's a whole field of knowledge that just whooshes right over my head. Unless we're talking swimming and women's gymnastics. Which we're probably not.

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Best. Time-Waster. Ever.: Sporcle - Online Trivia Games

Sporcle.com

Monica Hesse: WARNING: If you visit this site, be very careful of the world geography quiz that involves naming all of the countries. I lost a good week of my life that way.

Upside: I can now label Kiribati on a map.

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Bethesda, Md.: Sites I visit every day (and some more than once): Post, NYTimes, Feministing, Yelp.

Monica Hesse: A truly balanced Internet diet.

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Skeezy?: It's not skeezy to leer at women who are taking a shower on a public street. Quite the opposite. They are acting as exhibitionists. No different than staring at a prostitute one passes on the street.

Monica Hesse: I think the PETA interns know that. The staring is kinda the point.

(this is related to the piece I had today about PETA interns in Washington...Paul, can we have a link?)

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Arlington, Va.: The Onion!! Absolutely my No. 1, cannot live without. If you cannot laugh at this crazy world you would cry. They are still funny EVEN with Bush gone. Amazon next, and then WAPO and the NYT.

Monica Hesse: And sometimes it makes you laugh until you cry. Any particularly amazing Onion stories recently?

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Washington, DC: DC Urban Moms Forum

And Facebook, of course!

Monica Hesse: Where some of the DC Urban moms have posted their kids' photos on their Facebook pages, and annoyed their single friends?

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my morning routine: consumerist.com, questionablecontent.net, 2000dollarwedding.com, washingtonpost.com, baltimoresun.com

Monica Hesse: Does my colleague Ellen McCarthy know about 2000dollarwedding? I love when people planning weddings are also sane. It's a pleasant intersection that doesn't happen often.

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washingtonpost.com: Washington's other interns PETA volunteers' body of work speaks for those who can't

washingtonpost.com: Washington's other interns PETA volunteers' body of work speaks for those who can't

Monica Hesse: Here's the PETA piece.

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Favorite Sites:

I check out Animal Planet: The Mole blog and always find something fun or interesting, not political or celeb oriented!

Monica Hesse: No...celebrities? No...politics? I can barely picture such a site. Amazing.

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Monica Hesse: Whoops -- Paul just tells me that I never pasted the email I said I would at the beginning of the chat. Here ya go.

Since I'm never there for the live chat, I wanted to pass along some more podcasts worthy of a listen - there are lots of BBC ones in a similar vein to NPR stuff, specifically the Friday Night Comedy podcast from BBC 4. Admittedly, it's got a Brit-specific approach and the content may lose some U.S. listeners, but for true Anglophiles or people wanting to keep up with world events, it's an informative and entertaining one - it focuses on current events and politics with humor much like "Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me" does. There is also the Jonathan Ross podcast, the Ricky Gervais podcast and a host of others. For US stuff, Bill Maher's podcast is good as is "All Songs Considered" from NPR and "This American Life" - any user of iTunes should just go and browse...amazing the treasures there to be found!

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DC: washingtonpost.com weather.com espn.com dice.com (always looking for a better gig) drudge (for the static links)

and of course google.

Monica Hesse: We almost don't think to mention Google, do we? It's basically like saying, "I wake up and go to my kitchen." Well of course you do, hon.

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Takoma: I see that there are already Facebook memorial pages to the two teens who tragically committed suicide this weekend. What's your take? Is this touching or tacky?

Monica Hesse: I think touching. It gives an immediate and public for grief, and creates a community for people who have lost loved ones and might not otherwise have each other to (virtually) lean on.

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You can find Kiribati ...: ... but can you pronounce it?

Monica Hesse: Hope so. Otherwise my bragging about knowing the location over the past month or so has been either idiotic or just confusing.

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Phoenix, AZ: Slate - Salon - IMDB - Daily Snopes - AZ Central - washingtonpost.com (multiple times daily) - televisionwithoutpity.

The Onion and AV Club on Wednesdays, rogerebert.suntimes.com on Friday.

At night, icanhascheezburger.com - the Straight Dope - Zero Punctuation on The Escapist.

Monica Hesse: I like you. Can we be friends?

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2000dollarwedding.com: I'm just trying to counter the crazy wedding dress chat that happened earlier today!! :D

Monica Hesse: I haven't read yet! Don't spoil it. Crazy is better unfurled all on its own.

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About Google...: Even if I don't have anything to look up, I hate to miss one of the doodles.

Monica Hesse: Didja know that the guy who comes up with all of those is actually called the Chief Doodler? I interviewed him a few months back.

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I'm glad you don't know me: Ashamed to say it but...Perezhilton, TMZ, People, Washington Post, EOnline, and CNN.

Monica Hesse: Now, that's just fine. We'll assume you spend all your WaPo and CNN time reading about Iraq and elections, so you deserve a little brain break.

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Columbia, Md.: Must have sites: washingtonpost, facebook, major league baseball, google, howard county library, espn

Monica Hesse: Lots of people are saying they daily visit library sites. I had no idea.

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Oh yeah, and Facebook: But only to see what the young 'uns are up to. They never call, they never write...

Monica Hesse: ...they don't appreciate you walking to school uphill, both ways, etc. etc.

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Washington, DC: Hi, in order, Washington Post, MSNBC, Today Show, NBC 4 Washington, G Mail, Yahoo, Facebook, Twitter

Monica Hesse: Today Show? How'd that get in there? No judgment, it's just not something I go online for. Today seems more like a "eating your cereal in the morning" TV show.

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Crofton, Md.: Piano World

Monica Hesse: See, this is amazing. Never would have guessed, and always love to hear about what particular sub-community sites interest people.

Beyond the regular news and entertainment sites, what are the niche-y sites that you and 50 other people worldwide simply must go to?

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Baltimore, MD: Love to sing karaoke, and www.karaoketraveler.com is the only source of up-todate info on karaoke nights...in most major cities in the country.

Monica Hesse: Like this! Karaoketraveler.com!

You know what's weird? The online karaoke communities, where everyone logs on and then sings for each other like they're in a virtual bar.

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Gaithersburg, Md.: The WAPO, of course, but when I need a good out-loud laugh, the Wonkette. It's the best therapy.

And when I need something to print and read, Arts and Letters Daily.

For articles in good Spanish, so my Spanish doesn't get too anglified, the newspaper El Pais from Spain.

These are essential.

Monica Hesse: Thanks!

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Daily Sites: Fark for general awareness

With Leather and Deadspin for sports.

Warming Glow for TV stuff.

Wall Street Journal, Drudge, The Post for news and cultural whatnot.

My local paper for local stuff, although if they don't figure out Firefox display, they're gone.

My alma mater's hometown paper, for more sports.

Dilbert.com

Monica Hesse: Ahh, hometown newspaper site. I still visit mine at least onces a week. Anyone else keep in touch with home via the local newsrag.

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Washington, D.C.: Everyday sites:

• Local: Washington Post, DCist
• Misc/Oddball news: Fark.com
• Cute animals: Icanhascheezburger, Cute Overload
• Gossip: Dlisted, ONTD

Monica Hesse: Add on FailBlog. I think you'll like.

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True Story: I asked my interns to research a question and to report back, citing their sources for any facts they included. One not-so-brilliant young lady cited "The Onion." She has now moved on to a more artistic career path.

Monica Hesse: Hahahahaha!

Let's assume that she was subversive and ironic, not that she missed the brain giveaway.

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Charlottesville, VA: Craft Server forums.

Monica Hesse: The forum called "Wickless" seems that it would be a good place for people like the Onion-citing intern, yes?

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Betehsda, MD: Has no one mentioned FARK.com yet? It's like all I do all day: read wacky stories and argue with people on the internet. It beats actually working.

Monica Hesse: I think someone did. But if not, here's another shout out.

And reminds me of that cartoon with the guy whose wife wants him to come to bed. He yells back something like, "I can't, honey, someone is wrong on the Internet."

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Today Show: It is fluff but I get to work early and I want to see fluff before I start the work day. . . . just me. TODAYshow.com

Monica Hesse: Oh, so it's a warm-up site, for when your computer is on but you just can't stand the idea of actual work yet. I have DearAbby.com for that and (don't laugh), the old site for the For Better Or Worse comic strip. It was just so gentle in the morning. Like herbal tea.

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Arlington, Va.: Will you please do an internet chat dedicated to gifts/holiday shopping? That would be awesome. I've already learned of so many new sites on this chat, I can't imagine how many new shopping sites the chatters would be able to suggest.

Monica Hesse: Good idea. Let's save that for late November.

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On-line knitting community: Ravelry. It's fantastic.

Monica Hesse: The knitting community is almost as revolutionary as the librarian community. I am not being facetious. I also am not spelling facetious correctly. Fecitious. Fasheshess.

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There's no crying in newsrooms: I just had an image of Tom Hanks dressed in his "Road to Perdition" wardrobe screaming that line in the Post newsroom from "All the President's Men."

Monica Hesse: Where was Geena Davis?

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Falls Church: LiveJournal, Facebook, Washington Post, Gmail, Television Without Pity, Twitter, Bloglines (for some 100+ feeds).

Re: memorials on Facebook, I recently lost a friend, and we've been doing a Facebook memorial (I'm 27). It's been very helpful to be in touch with others who are also grieving, and to spread the word about services and donations. However, it did necessitate a 3AM phone call to learn about his death, before I woke up and checked Facebook and learned from others' status messages. So, good and bad.

Monica Hesse: From others' status messages? Wow.

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time waster: It's not really wasting time if you're learning something, is it? Even if it's movie gossip.

But playing games, ah! THAT's time wasting.

Travian: A delightful little wargame that will hook you up with other lunatics and keep you busy for the rest of the year.

Monica Hesse: We take this information, and we will use it wisely.

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DC: Economist's View, hosted by U of Oregon Econ Professor Mark Thoma, is an awesome site for economics related news. I'm not an economist, so it really helps me understand issues of the day better. Always really interesting links. I check it every day.

Monica Hesse: Good -- we can sprinkle this over our Fark visits, much like bran buds.

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Washington, D.C.: Lemme ask a Friday question that's related to this chat, at least I think. What new does your experience on the blogosphere tell you about the Internet?

Monica Hesse: That it's the Internet.

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State of Humor: I cannot let an hour pass without visiting Dave Barry's blog. My life would be an empty, humorless shadow of itself. http://blogs.herald.com/dave_barrys_blog/

Monica Hesse: After that plug, how could we not mention it?

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wiredog: Bookmark dump:

Blogs: http://slashdot.org Slashdot

http://schneier.com/blog/ Schneier on Security

http://blogs.herald.com/dave_barrys_blog Dave Barry's Blog

http://jerrypournelle.com/ Chaos Manor

News: http://www.washingtonpost.com/ A Decent Local Paper

http://news.bbc.co.uk/ Best world news site. Period.

http://sltrib.com Salt Lake Tribune (I used to live in Utah)

Magazines: http://www.theatlantic.com TheAtlantic.com

http://www.pcmag.com/ PC Magazine

http://www.salon.com/ Salon.com

http://slate.com/ Slate Magazine

http://www.wired.com/ Wired News

Misc:: http://www.swellinfo.com/surf-forecast/ocean-city-maryland.html Ocean City Surf Report

Comics: http://userfriendly.org/ User Friendly

http://comics.com/over_the_hedge/ Over the Hedge

Monica Hesse: Good gravy. We may never have to chat again.

But we will -- same time, next week. If I didn't post any sites you feel are necessary to all of our education, please send them to hessem@washpost.com, and I'll try to post them next week.

And on that note, happy Interneting!

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Editor's Note: washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions. washingtonpost.com is not responsible for any content posted by third parties.