Top of the ‘Net

I hope to provide you with “Top of the ‘Net” every weekend, which will usually be a list of not-to-be-missed web discoveries. Tune in!

Just when you think the Internet is saturated and things can’t get any more interesting, you discover new sites and blogs that just blow you away. I love to stumble across sites that make me ask: “Why didn’t I think of that?”

Three such sites come to mind, each one notable for its creativity. You must check these out:

1. One of my favorite blogs is Cake Wrecks, a clever blogspot blog that’s been around for just over a year and is “eating up” the competition on Google page ranks. Here’s the tag line for this blog: When professional cakes go horribly, hilariously wrong. This is a hilarious site, create by Jen Yates, that feeds off the submissions of whacky looking cakes that readers have either made, ordered or received. Among other things, this site, and the others I list here, are successful because the owners write well. Look for great captions and subtitles. Here’s a sample cake photo from Cake Wrecks:

The title above this entry (which included a seriously long menu of “horse” cakes) was: Why beat a dead horse…when you can eat one?

Yates has written a book, naturally, and is selling a variety of T-shirts, affectionately called “Wreckwear.” Her contributors and fans (legions of them) are called Wreckies.

Now why didn’t I think of that?

2. Again, a site that lives and breathes based on the contributions of others: AwkwardFamily Photos. This one, which was featured on The Today Show last week, was also passed along by my work colleague, John Resanovich, who is always sending me cool sites. Warning: Before you go on AwkwardFamilyPhotos, take a bathroom break. Otherwise, you’ll have an accident from laughing so hard. These are some of the most hilarious photos you could imagine.

Here are a couple of samples from Awkward, also notable for its spot-on captions and subtitles.

This one is titled: Joy Ride

And this one is called Mommy-the-Pooh:

3. Finally, I must introduce you to Good Magazine’s examination of a series of photos of the insides of people’s refrigerators. They were produced by photographer Mark Menjivar, and collectively make a fascinating statement about what our refrigerators say about us. For example:

Here’s what the caption says:
Carpenter/Photographer | San Antonio, TX | 3-Person Household | 12-Point Buck | 2008

Related articles by Zemanta
Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

A Global Cookbook — Courtesy of the Web

Just one more thing I love about the Web.

Fuelmyblog and Blurb are teaming up this month to create a global cookbook. Any blogger who has joined up with Fuelmyblog as a member can contribute a traditional recipe (they prefer recipes that are generic to your location in the world) and photos to be included in their Global Cookbook. Fuelmyblog says their membership represents just about every country in the world.

At the top of this post, you can see one page from Fuelmyblog’s last book venture, “The Human Behind The Avatar,” also published on Blurb.

All bloggers need to do is send in the recipe and photos taken of the completed dish, and Blurb will actually compile the book. Blurb is a web company that allows anyone to create customized books by downloading their free software and then creating books. Blurb is known for the high quality of their books. The actual printed version of your book is what you pay for.

Recipes should be sent to: cookbook@fuelmyblog.com. You need to include your name for credit and the URL of your blog. The top 10 recipes in the book get a free copy of the cookbook from Blurb. Fuelmyblog members can also get a 10% discount off their first purchase from Blurb.

Hurry to participate. The deadline is Nov. 30 and the cookbook will be ready in time for the holidays.

Last year, the FMB community created a book called “The Human Behind The Avatar” (you can take a look here). It was a great initiative and we have had hundreds of great comments.

Related articles by Zemanta
Reblog this post [with Zemanta]