Regarding Things

I am going to (try) to do a weekly thing I will call “Monday Website-ings.” Simply  some interesting websites I have run across while wasting time on the web.

Tumblr.

I was in NYC when a blogger I met told me about Tumblr. “They made blogging fun again,” was the extent of the discussion, but it turns out he was right. Tumblr is a social blogging platform that I have been using off-and-on for about six months now. Tumblr streamlines the blogging process, with an emphasis on ease of use and connectedness. Despite Tumblr’s cool factor, I have yet to meet anyone else who has heard of it. Hence, this post. It’s cinch to sign up, and if you do check me out on my tumblog, Amalgamation.

Hip.Young.Thing.

Hip.Young.Thing. loftily proclaims itself to be “Inspiring design and trends for a better life.” Whether or not they accomplish that I have yet to determine, but with a collection of street art innovations and nifty doodads, this site will have my attention for while yet.

Politico

Nothing real new here, but I wanted to point out a few of my favorite parts of my favorite political news site.

• First off we have James Kotecki’s vlog, which never ceases to entertain and inform.
• Chief political correspondent, Mike Allen’s Playbook serves as a great daily brief of what is going on in politics and general news. I have it emailed daily, and usuaslly spend my precious snooze button minutes reading it in bed. I don’t know why.
• Forget trying to interpret polls, and look at this electoral vote map.
• And when I get the time, reading the Ideas section is always an edifying exercise.

Better World Shopper

Gotta give credit to Andy for showing me this site awhile ago. The site is very straightforward. Pick a shopping category and see simple rankings of how companies measure up in social and environmeantal responsibility. At first I didn’t think much of it. But one day, I was standing in an aisle at the grocery store, wondering which brand of tea to buy. Then I remembered this site and voila! “Choice Organic” brand tea! As a caveat, the rankings are probably too simple for any real understanding of how responsible a company is, but the site is useful for deciding what to buy when presented with a few similar choices.

Well that is all for now. Check-in next week for more web places that delight me.