Like most people, I’m fairly good at ranting about things I can’t stand. I take it for granted that people know what I like, and why I think they should visit/purchase/view those things.
It’s time to categorize some places you probably should go/places you should be aware of…so here it is..the Hot List. Not because I like it, but because you will benefit from it, or better yet, save money.
Best Place to buy things of an electronic nature: NewEgg
NewEgg sells everything from cameras to stereo systems. It’s also my go-to for all things tech. Whether I’m buying RAM for a computer, or dropping cash on speakers, this is the first place I visit. Could I save 5 0r 10 bucks by shopping elsewhere? Yes, but NewEgg consistently has the best combination of service and price of any place on the web. That includes Amazon.
Best Site for last minute cooking: Yummly
Have a can of olives, some chicken broth, and dehydrated cream of mushroom soup? Yummly can find a recipe for you. In the mood for a certain taste sensation, say…spicy? Yummly can find that too. What about nutritional information? Done. Yummly kicks out a detailed nutritional survey based on the ingredients in your recipe. It searches all the other recipe sites, so you don’t have to.
Top Purveyors of a Certain Bean: Coffeefool
I fell in love with Coffeefool roughly 3 years ago. It’s the best Google Ad I have ever clicked on. If Gevalia is all the hype your money can buy, Coffeefool is the real deal. Their coffee does something to me I can’t describe…like pull me through my day by my toenails. I mean that in a good way. It awakens parts of your brain you forgot existed. I can only speak for their Kenya AA, or Costa Rican Tarrazu…ummmm…hmmmmmm. It’s not quite as cheap as your local supermarket blend, but it’s worth the premium. Plus, on Friday, if they roasted too many of a certain variety of bean, they give you 20% off.
I can promise you, they don’t do that at Lowes Foods.
Best Item of Formerly Detested Clothing: Charles Tyrwhitt
My chosen profession means that I have to wear dress clothes for the rest of my life. The worst part about dress clothes is generally “the dress shirt”. They look nice, but are hateful to wear and iron. Now, I heard there are dress clothes that feel nice, and also look pretty classy. Unfortunately, they were rumored to be a bit above my pay grade.
After looking through some reviews, I settled on the Charles Tyrwhitt brand of shirts (in this same class, you also have names like TM Lewin and Thomas Pink, all British). What I could not deal with was the price. They retail for ~$130 apiece, but realistically sell for $60-90 at market. Still too pricey. So I went to Ebay, and got several new for less than the price of one. Worth. It.
If the job/wedding/date/interview/funeral you are attending dictates that you wear a dress shirt, you need at least one of these. Plus, unlike American dress shirts, they don’t have that annoying, raised fabric panel down the back.
The Most Incredible Search Engine You’re Not Using: DuckDuckGo
I first heard about this little baby as the result of an ad on Reddit. No, DuckDuckGo doesn’t flow off the tongue like Google. In all fairness, neither did Google, the first time you heard about it. What’s the best thing about DDG? They don’t track your browsing habits like Google, Bing, or Yahoo. They don’t use that information, and sell it to advertisers.
One of the more important things they do is grab results from information engines like WolframAlpha. Need to now what the population of Zaire is? DDG returns that in your search results. Have to know who wrote those song lyrics? It’ll grab them, and place them right at the top of the page.
The best part: The search results are demonstrably better. Try it, you might like it. If you don’t, nobody’s keeping you from Google.
Best Netflix Related Site: Instantwatcher.com
The double-edged sword of having unlimited streaming movies from Netflix, is the difficulty it takes to find a good movie. Even Netflix’s suggestion engine is highly inaccurate. Most of the movies they suggest are movies I don’t like. That’s where Instantwatcher comes in: I can sort those movies by release date. IW keeps a scrolling list of the top 50 movies on Netflix, so I know what other people are watching. They even let me sort by Rotten Tomatoes or NYT Critics list suggestions.
Best of all, I don’t even have to visit Netflix’s site to add something to my queue. It’s a beautiful thing.
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Surprisingly, there are other places/things I like…so there may be another list in future. If you see one I obviously missed, drop me a line in the comments.