worthwhile websites

It came to my attention recently that my tag cloud was more of a tag pile, since individual tags were not shown at different sizes based on the frequency of their use on this site. Since I fixed the tag cloud I see that "worthwhile websites" is the most frequently used tag. In the several months after I became more seriously interested in web development, I wrote brief blurbs about different websites I found worthwhile and tagged them as such. I don't write a blurb for every website that I think is worthwhile, and despite the fact that that tag for these blurbs is so prominently featured, they are not really intended to be a main feature of this site. Just throwing that out there...

http://maps.webfoot.com/

Fairly self-explanitory and somewhat astounding.

Google Gadget Awards

http://images.google.com/imagelabeler/

http://www.google.com/transit

Google's public transportation directions website. Currently still in beta at Google labs, Transit only supports the Portland, OR metro area. I prefer it to Portland's Trimet trip planner because the interface displays more information and the map is much easier to use, especially for figuring out how to walk to\from the Trimet vehicle.

http://www.pollstar.com

Useful for seeing which musical artists or comedians are coming to town, Pollstar is a consolidated artist tour schedule that allows you to view by artist, city or venue. Pollstar is a major agency which charges for inclusion in its lists, and the artist or venue you're looking for must be a paying member to be included. Their most useful feature is an e-mail notifier which alerts you when changes to an artist, city or venue on your list of interests occurs. Free accounts allow for up to 5 notification watches. Note that it's always a good idea to check the website(s) of the artist and venue, as discrepancies in content or posting time for different websites does occur.

http://www.revver.com

Revver is a video hosting website. Unlike sites like YouTube, Revver allows users to retain ownership rights for the media they upload and share the advertising revenue created when viewers click the unobtrusive image ads automatically appended to the end of each video. Of course, Revver offers html snippets for easy, seamless integration into other blogs and websites. Revver is the primary host for video on www.ezra-g.com.

http://www.allmusic.com

"The allmusic website was created in 1995 as a place for music fans to indulge their passion. Whether you’re visiting allmusic to look up an out-of-print recording, to get our take on a new release, or simply to explore the world of music and see where it may lead, you’ve come to the right spot.

The AMG editorial staff, along with hundreds of expert contributors (all music fanatics in their own right), has made allmusic the most comprehensive music reference source on the planet. We are all dedicated to creating and maintaining the knowledgeable, spirited content that music lovers and industry professionals have come to expect from AMG.

All genres and styles of music are covered here, ranging from the most commercially popular to the most obscure. We critique albums and artists within the context of their own genres - from opera to garage rock to traditional country. This ensures that fans of any style of music can depend on us to keep them up-to-date with their favorite artists as well as introduce them to new sounds.

For the vast range of artists, albums, and musical styles that we cover, we delve beneath the surface to present a level of detail unmatched anywhere else. Content on allmusic falls into the following four categories:

• Meta Data: Facts about an album or artist, including title, tracks, genre, label, credits, release date, and cover and artist images.
• Descriptive Content: Deeper details that really illuminate an artist or album including styles, moods, years active, instruments, birth/death date/place, and country of origin.
• Relational Content: Information that helps you make meaningful connections between artists and the music – such as major influencers and followers, similar artists, top artists, and top albums.
• Editorial Content: Original and insightful writing by AMG’s staff and network of professional freelance music contributors. This content includes biographies, album and song reviews, style descriptions, composition descriptions, and AMG ratings and picks.

By word-of-mouth alone, the allmusic website has gained phenomenal popularity, developing a large and loyal following among consumers and industry professionals alike. Editorial independence has always been an AMG hallmark, and the numerous awards allmusic has won are a testament to AMG’s status as a respected and trusted voice in music content and criticism."

http://www.last.fm

The "favorite music" field of an online user profile may now be obsolete.

I just discovered this site a few days ago and it is quickly becoming one of my favorites. While I'm not completely familiar with it yet, the gist is this:

Install their small, open-source program on your computer. The program keeps track of each song you listen to and records it to your online profile. This process is called 'scrobbling.' Last.fm takes that information, puts it in a database and "goes to town" with it, offering an array of charts and other information about your listening habits including which artists and songs you listen to and with what frequency. It does this for each of the site's users (there are approximatley 10 million scrobbles per day) and gives you access to that sum of information. You can see who else likes a particular artist or even a particular song and add those people as your friend.

Their standalone program allows you to listen to a personalized "Neighbors" station which plays songs by artists that your friends enjoy. You can free-tag a song while listening to it and perhaps the most innovative feature is that you can enter a list of tags, and the Last.fm will stream a personalized radio station which plays songs with matching user-entered tags.

Of course, they also provide a nifty API so that developers can play with all of the information they record. More casual users can easily add html snippets to their blog or website displaying various types of information about their listening habits.

http://www.pandora.com

"Can you help me discover more music that I'll like?

Those questions often evolved into great conversations. Each friend told us their favorite artists and songs, explored the music we suggested, gave us feedback, and we in turn made new suggestions. Everybody started joking that we were now their personal DJs.

We created Pandora so that we can have that same kind of conversation with you."