The Single Greatest Invention Ever is the Internet

A few weeks ago, I was talking to a lady at work. We were discussing the store's new policies. The store is requiring everyone to have direct deposit. She asked me what I thought about this whole, "direct deposit thing." I explained that I was already using it. Our conversation went like this:

Her: "How does it work?"
Me: "Well, you give them your account number, and they put your check immediately in your bank account, without you having to go to the bank or anything. It's actually pretty nice. My check shows up Thurs. night instead of Fri, and if you're out of town and you aren't able to pick up your check, you can spend your money anyway."
H: "Well how do I know it's there?"
M: "You can check on it online or you can go to the bank and check it out."
H: "On-line? How do I do that?"
M: "Well you have to get a pin number from your bank, and log in using your account number, but then it shows you the deposited amount."
H: "Oh you mean online like the intranet?"
M: "No, it's the internet."
H: "Is there a difference?"
M: "Yes, but all you need is the internet."
H: "Well, that won't work. My husband and I don't own a computer. We think it's a fad, that computers and the internet are eventually going to die out."

I was shocked. This lady isn't that old. And she was being completely honest. I didn't know that there were people left on the earth that believed computers were a fad. We continued our conversation, which basically involved me begging this lady to consider the glories of the internet, e-mail, Microsoft Word, Paintbrush, Solitaire, and her telling me that she just didn't see why everyone thought that they should have a internet address for their company. Wouldn't a group of people answering phones do just as well? I tried to explain that a group of people answering phones is useless when 50 different people with a question can get online and get the answer that they were looking for in the time that it took to answer 2 calls. She didn't understand me, and I didn't understand her.

I enjoy reading blogs. And most of my friends/companions/people I've never met, are doing the i-pod shuffle thing. It's where you list 10 of your songs, and then (sometimes) explain your choices. Well, I don't have an i-pod. I don't have an mp3 player. I have i-tunes on my computer that houses my music, but that's about it. So I can't do the shuffle thing for you. (not that either of us would want that) But I will give you my favorite websites. In no particular order, these are websites that I visit at least once a week, but most of them are daily visits.

1. e-mail
I love e-mail. It's one of my favorite pastimes. Quick letters, quick answers. What more could you possibly want? Also, during this most recent campaign, I signed up for Hillary alerts. It was one of the wisest moves I've ever made. I treasure every single one of her e-mails.

2. msnbc.com
I love msnbc. I don't really know why, but I do.

3. nytimes.com
That's right, it's the "paper" that I read every day, without fail. Please no outraged looks, and horror at my love for the liberal media. How in the world can anyone say anything bad about the place that publishes Maureen Dowd's editorials? I'm completely addicted to her. Every Wednesday, and Sunday, she's my guilty pleasure. Her article written on this past Sunday, is still on the roll of "most e-mailed" four days later. If you know anything about the most e-mailed articles, you know that that is an impressive feat. You should also read some of her back articles during Obama/Hillary time, they make you want to weep with gratitude. nytimes also has some of the greatest photo galleries you will ever see, they are truly beautiful. Their movie reviews are usually pretty good, and they consistently have truly, truly interesting articles.

4. time.com
I love time. As websites go, it's not bad. But my two favorite features about time, are their "10 questions" and "Pictures of the Week". On the homepage, you have to scroll all the way down, and under "More Features" you'll find both of them. I love pictures of the week, because they're good pictures. I love 10 questions because they usually have more than 10 questions, and they draw from a wide variety of people to question.

5. espn.com
This website is impressive in so many ways. This website has on their front page the smartest writing, advertising, pictures, and interest level than some news websites have on their whole site. I love espn. Espn understand something that most other websites don't, which is, just because my sport isn't currently in season, (55 days) doesn't mean that I don't want to read about it. On espn, my sport is always in season, and it's always important.

6. aldaily.com
If you're not checking this website out regularly, you should be. I have never seen any website compile a list of more interesting stories. The only bias that they have on this website, is that the articles are well written, and intelligent. After reading some aldaily articles, I feel sure that the world is smarter than I usually think it is. I've started reading some of these people's columns/blogs/editorials/newspapers/magazines just because of clicking on an aldaily article that interested me. It's so good, and I pity anyone who doesn't check it regularly.

7. stumbleupon.com
That's right, I'm a stumbler. It is so addicting, and so much fun. I have countless bookmarks from websites I've found on stumble. If you don't know exactly what you want to do on the internet (we've all been there), stumble is always there for you.

8. wikipedia.com
If I have to hear another person tell me how I really can't trust things I read on wikipedia, I'll probably have to scream. I think everyone on the planet is aware that you can add whatever you want to wikipedia. But they should also be aware of the beautiful footnotes and external links that many of the wikipedia phrases are pulled from. It even says "citation needed" if there's no external link. And when you do click on those external links, they often take you to an article that you can then cite and use in your paper. I don't care what people say, wikipedia is a good place to start your research paper. Or for very quick, summed up information.

9. dictionary.com
I love this website. It makes me feel not so stupid. I'm forever checking my spelling, and the quick tabs to thesaurus.com and encyclopedia.com are also immensely helpful.

10. imdb.com
This is a great website. It has all movies, and tv shows and I mean all. I am constantly impressed by how much imdb knows. It's a beautiful source of entertainment. When I'm watching a movie, I'm splitting my time between imdb, wikipedia, and roger ebert, and my reviewer. It then becomes an interactive experience. Unless of course, it's a great movie, and then I can't bear to look away.

11. blogs
My single biggest bookmark collection is blogs. I love reading them.

12. youtube.com
You didn't think there would be a list of "popular websites among the young" and this not be on there, did you? youtube is a great website.

13. google.com
I live on google. I google everything. I google image everything. Google will absolutely run the world some day, there's no doubt in my mind. While many, many other websites have succumbed to distracting advertising, google has maintained its easy maneuverability. And that makes me very, very happy. Google is one of the smartest ideas ever. In fact, it ranks right up there with the internet.

The Single Greatest Invention Ever is the Internet.