Skip to main content

22 Unexpectedly Useful Websites for the Uncommonly Curious

This eclectic list of websites has so many out of the ordinary pleasures that it is hard to know where to start.

This unique list has links to many entertaining and/or useful websites. The sites are not listed in any particular order of importance, and this list is not intended to be an all-inclusive map of the Internet or a comprehensive source of information. If you know of a site you think others should be aware of, feel free to post it as a comment. If you know something interesting about one of the sites in this list, don’t hesitate to share your knowledge.

Usually there are comments from those who find at least one of the included sites useful or entertaining. There are also those who post links to websites that were not included in the list but maybe should have been. I thank you and appreciate your comments.

  1. Guerrilla Mail
    Get a temporary email address that expires after 15 minutes. During those 15 minutes you can read and reply to any messages.
  2. Chain of Thoughts
    A seriously cool concept…you type in a subject you would like to research and this generates a list (you choose its length) of related keywords and topics. You can visit a Wikipedia page at any time or continue navigating through the related keywords until you find what you want. It is a very cool way of diversifying a research effort.
  3. Ted
    Some really interesting videos about varying topics.
  4. Wiki Travel
    Another Wikipedia inspired website relating to travel. Written and edited by users. This site promises to be one of the most useful of all travel sites due to its constantly being updated.
  5. Fix It Club
    Learn how to repair or recycle household items that you might otherwise throw away.
  6. Simple Help
    This site promises to, “help beginner-to-intermediate computer users learn how to do various things with their computers.” It is free.
  7. Life Script
    Life Script does sell health products but it also offers free newsletters and web portals with information and articles about general health, dieting, nutrition, beauty, etc.
  8. Full Books
    An index of thousands of books, free for you to read.
  9. Study Guides and Strategies
    A huge database of study guides for a number of subjects published in many languages.
  10. Meta Religion
    This site has a huge number of articles about religion, science, and philosophy and is published in Spanish and English.
  11. World Freedom Atlas
    The, “World Freedom Atlas,” provides a visual method of understanding the issues of freedom, human rights, democracy, etc in the world.
  12. How to Clean Anything
  13. Literally…this site provides tips about how to clean just about anything.
  14. Dear Cupid
    Ask, Answer, or browse through questions about any and every aspect of relationships. There are also many forums and articles available.
  15. Help With PCs
    This is a decent tutorial site that specializes in PC issues.
  16. Sclipo
    Sclipo is a video site that you can use to broadcast instructional videos that you edit or just to look up how-to videos. There is a live hosting feature, and the site is published in English, Espanola, and Deutsch.
  17. Speed Test
    A news site for broadband issues. This link is for a feature they offer that allows you to find your IP address and test how well your broadband is operating.
  18. Google Translate
    This is another of the many cool Google applications out there. You can translate an entire web page or any other amount of text you need. There are a number of languages available.
  19. Foodio 54
    This is a huge catalog of restaurants (United States only…for now). They claim to be different from similar sites in that they use a feature called, “collaborative filtering.” This is a method of determining which restaurants you might like based on your reviews and the reviews of other members. Foodio54 is a free site.
  20. Big Oven
    This recipe-sharing site allows users to upload their favorite recipes or search for new ones. You can search by entering up to three ingredients, by keyword, or by rating.
  21. Beer Advocate
    As described by the owners, Beer Advocate helps you learn about, share, and advocate beer.