2008 Woodie Awards
Promoting procrastination
Bored, sick of homework or just looking for something new? Try these entertaining Web sites
Holly Meyer
Issue date: 8/22/08 Section: A&E
It is always more entertaining to do something totally unproductive than it is to accomplish something. Sure, it might feel better to finish the term paper or read the six chapters for tomorrow's class, but putting it off for an hour longer for some fun Web surfing seems more immediately gratifying than that hard-earned sense of accomplishment. Passing by the standard time-wasters like Facebook or Myspace, check out these Web sites to pass the time.
www.pandora.com
Called the Music Genome Project, Pandora is an interactive online radio where the user picks the song or the artist and Pandora compiles a radio station with similar music around the user's selection. Basically, pick an artist and Pandora will show you music you also might like. If Brittany's version of "Satisfaction" unpleasantly shows up on your Rolling Stones station, you can just click the thumbs down button and skip to the next song. Pandora will build a perfectly tailored radio station from the thumbs up, thumbs down feedback provided by the user. Pandora is completely free, but for continual listening, the Web site prompts you to set up a login and password. This is advantageous, as Pandora will save all of your radio stations and likes and dislikes for you to come back and listen another time.
www.thislife.org
"This American Life" started as a weekly radio program presented by Chicago Public Radio. About an hour long, each episode has a few stories that revolve around a different theme every week. Hosted by Ira Glass, the stories are usually true and delve into the everyday lives of average people who have had a unique experience or two. The Web site has an archive of all of the program's episodes that can be downloaded for 95 cents or listen to them for free on the Web site. The most recent episode of "This American Life" is available to download as a podcast for free the week after it airs on the radio. "This American Life" is also a television show on Showtime.
www.pandora.com
Called the Music Genome Project, Pandora is an interactive online radio where the user picks the song or the artist and Pandora compiles a radio station with similar music around the user's selection. Basically, pick an artist and Pandora will show you music you also might like. If Brittany's version of "Satisfaction" unpleasantly shows up on your Rolling Stones station, you can just click the thumbs down button and skip to the next song. Pandora will build a perfectly tailored radio station from the thumbs up, thumbs down feedback provided by the user. Pandora is completely free, but for continual listening, the Web site prompts you to set up a login and password. This is advantageous, as Pandora will save all of your radio stations and likes and dislikes for you to come back and listen another time.
www.thislife.org
"This American Life" started as a weekly radio program presented by Chicago Public Radio. About an hour long, each episode has a few stories that revolve around a different theme every week. Hosted by Ira Glass, the stories are usually true and delve into the everyday lives of average people who have had a unique experience or two. The Web site has an archive of all of the program's episodes that can be downloaded for 95 cents or listen to them for free on the Web site. The most recent episode of "This American Life" is available to download as a podcast for free the week after it airs on the radio. "This American Life" is also a television show on Showtime.
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