Something about MeFi that makes it an oasis of basically what the lurid 90's folks imagined the Web would become. Probably because it's from the 90's, but it's a dingy dirty utopia of sorts
Websites people say have changed their lives
11–20 of 78 posts
Re: Websites people say have changed their lives
#12Amazon / eBay. Urban-center level access to necessities and more helped enable a move to a rural, old-time village. The kids go out the door. I know my neighbors. No traffic. Lots of flowers and birds.
Re: Websites people say have changed their lives
#13Wikipedia.
So much information, generally well written, and a good level of detail on many pages. I've used the "Random Page" link a few times.
Just this morning I read "Apollo 8"[1], since I heard samples from the radio broadcast in a song last night.
Re: Websites people say have changed their lives
#14Hacker News changed my life, I found my first job thanks to a Who's Hiring post. :)
I'm surprised that Khan Academy isn't listed anywhere. Their videos were incredibly helpful when I was in college.
Re: Websites people say have changed their lives
#15HN is up there for me. It gave me a much broader perspective on the happenings within the field. And it encouraged me to move to the great city I now live.
Re: Websites people say have changed their lives
#16I am surprised no one mentioned Reddit. Reddit really helped me gain perspective. For one thing, it made me realize how similar people all over the world are. No matter how specific a post is, chances are really high that someone else will chime in and echo the feeling/experience that has been expressed. In short, the positive message is: You're not alone! For another thing, it is (despite the horrible search functio…
> For one thing, it made me realize how similar people all over the world are. For me, it made me realize how similar redditors all over the world are.. =)
4chan(/pol/ and /int/ in particular) is what did it for me. An Indian complaining about Pakistanis looks an awful lot like a German complaining about the French, or an Aussie complaining about Kiwis.
Re: Websites people say have changed their lives
#17Google
Re: Websites people say have changed their lives
#18Terence Tao's 'What's New'[1] and Mathoverflow[2]. Books and papers in mathematics don't tell you much about the penumbra of stories, hopes and plans around the formal work, particularly at the higher levels. These sites make (some) of that intuitive knowledge accessible to everyone.
[1] https://terrytao.wordpress.com/ [2] https://mathoverflow.net/
Re: Websites people say have changed their lives
#19I am surprised no one mentioned Reddit. Reddit really helped me gain perspective. For one thing, it made me realize how similar people all over the world are. No matter how specific a post is, chances are really high that someone else will chime in and echo the feeling/experience that has been expressed. In short, the positive message is: You're not alone! For another thing, it is (despite the horrible search functio…
> For one thing, it made me realize how similar people all over the world are. For me, it made me realize how similar redditors all over the world are.. =)
True, in a sense some subreddits are echo-chambers.
Re: Websites people say have changed their lives
#20Here are some I like:
https://archive.org
http://meh.com
https://www.1843magazine.com
http://ribbonfarm.com