THE INTERNET IS a vast and beautiful place (most of the time) and there are some corners of it that need a little more recognition.
So here are some websites that you might not have heard of but are funny, useful, clever and infuriating – sometimes all at the same time:
1. Geo Guessr
This game is beyond fascinating. It drops you somewhere in the world on Google Street View and you have to guess where you are. The closer you pinpoint your location on the map, the more points you get.
You can even customise it so you can only be dropped in Europe or other regions. But for the real fun, you have to play the global version. Good luck when you try and differentiate a dirt track in Mexico with one in Australia.
2. A Soft Murmur
Just play around with the sliders to achieve your perfectly calming background noise. It’s impossible not to try every one and each has its own unique charm (we could listen to ‘fire’ all day every day).
3. Camel Camel Camel
This website, surprisingly, has nothing to do with camels. It’s an easy to use Amazon price tracker. Throw in a url for an Amazon product and it tells you how the price has changed over the years. You might realise you’re buying at the wrong time.
4. A Good Movie To Watch
One of life’s perennial problems: trying to think of a good movie to watch. This website takes care of it with quality suggestions that aren’t exactly well-known. If anything, a few clicks of a random suggestion will get you to something that will catch your interest.
5. Child’s Own
OK, so this is very cool. This site will take a drawing from your child and turn it into a stuffed toy. It will cost you a bit (about €250) for the artist to do it, but the very fact that this exists as a thing is cool enough in itself.
6. Hacker Typer
Type any gibberish and it comes up as code in that black/green colour from every hacker movie ever. This will excite and entertain you for 30 seconds as you pretend you are hacking into some important mainframe like some sort of spy.
7. Youtube Time Machine
Pick a year and watch every available clip from that year on Youtube. It’s either a nostalgia buzz or a confusing look back on how people used to live (or, what TV was like for them).
8. The Wiki Game
Simple: get from one Wikipedia page to another in the quickest time period or the least clicks. You’ll need to use your judgement here to decide which link will take you closest to the destination (while also getting a tour around some of the more fascinating and unique pages of Wikipedia).
9. Level Up Life
On this site, you put in real-life goals you are working to achieve and get points on your account based on their successful completion of them. Some people swear by it as a way to motivate themselves to do even the smallest tasks. And as an added bonus, it’s all in the graphics of an old school game.
10. Music Map
Type in any musician’s name on the homepage and it will give you a map of other artists you might like. The closer the names, the more alike the artist is. Give it a go and see if you can discover new music – it’s like having that mate who knows everything about bands in a searchable database on the internet. Not bad at all.
11. Drinking Game Zone
If you want to mix it up from the same old drinking games, this website has a comprehensive list of every one known to mankind. Handle with care, obviously.
12. The Sembeo Matrix
This is simple, bizarre and oddly addictive. Just make a couple of patterns by clicking the squares in the matrix and a rhythm comes to life. It’s equal parts addictive and infuriating.
13. Two Foods
Can’t decide what to have for lunch? Put your two options in here and it will directly compare their health attributes on different levels. Perfect for when you just can’t choose what to eat.
14. Scribble Maps
Put your own text, images and scribbles over maps. Perfect for when you’re planning a trip or if you need to put in some notes and share them with people you’re travelling with. Can also be used to gag it up and draw anything you like on your hometown, but that’s much less useful.
