The 15 Best Places to Waste Time on the Web
Naysayers claim that the Internet can be one big waste of time. Here's to proving them right.
Christopher Null
With HP wireless printers, you could have printed this from any room in the house. Live wirelessly. Print wirelessly.
Best Time Wasters #11-#8
11. Moola.com
Yes, it's another gaming site, but this one has a twist: Users can win up to $10.7 million in real money by playing games here. Moola gives you a penny when you sign up. You then put that penny on the line against other Moola users in games of semi-skill/semi-chance (like a modified version of Rock Paper Scissors, each of which takes a few minutes to complete). The winner takes the cash and moves up the ladder. The loser gets another free penny and starts over. Win 30 times in a row and cash out for millions, though that may actually be impossible: My personal high mark is $1.28, though some players report taking home thousands to date. Bad news: It's currently invitation only, and you have to know someone who's already a member in order to get on the site. Oh, and you have to watch a short video commercial before each game, but that's a small price to pay for a free penny.
10. Rotten Tomatoes
Of all the movie review roundup sites, Rotten Tomatoes has the largest variety, often featuring hundreds of links to reviews for any film. Every movie also gets a discussion board (they're frequently packed), plus stills, trailers, and box office info. A recent update to the site even rolled out Rotten Tomatoes-hosted blogs to anyone who wants one. A visit to Rotten Tomatoes can eat up an entire afternoon or more. If you're passionate about movies, and your information needs go beyond what can be found in the credits, see our number 4 pick.
9. RuneScape
At press time, Runescape had been in the Lycos 50 for 19 weeks, outranking Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, and even Christmas. Launched in 2001, RuneScape is inarguably the Web's most popular browser-based MMORPG (Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game). It features nearly 10 million members, most of whom play the game in its free incarnation. Gameplay is familiar: Point and click to run around, kill stuff, collect gold, and complete quests. Learning the game is easy. Mastering it can take months...which is precisely why it's on the list. For a more sarcastic, low-tech take on the online RPG, check out Kingdom of Loathing.
8. Classic '80s Arcade Games
If you have the kind of job where you can get away with playing Pac-Man without raising eyebrows, well, more power to you. You'll definitely want to take a spin at TripletsAndUs, Miniclip, and UltimateArcade, which recreate '80s classics in Java and Flash, and offer copious arcade interpretations of their own as well. Of course, these sites are just the beginning of free online gaming. If you can't find a new Web-based game to play every day of the week, you aren't spending enough time at our number 3 and 6 picks.
PCW Download Guide
CDW Virtualization Center
Related Browsers & Add-Ons Articles
- Apple: Forget ICards, Try Mail This June's Worldwide Developers Conference saw Apple unveil the iPhone 3G, firm up its iPhone 2.0 plans, offer a brief peek...
- Ease the Safari-to-iTunes Lyric Pasting Task If you enjoy having lyrics with your music in iTunes, you're probably familiar with the tools available to collect those...
- Bugs & Fixes: ITunes' CD Mounting Bug Most often, when Apple releases an minor update to one of its applications, such as iTunes, its purpose is to provide bug...
- Yelp for IPhone You'd be hard pressed to find a more opinionated, verbose, and downright catty group than the citizen reviewers on...
- IE 8 Hits Beta 2, Privacy Features Added Final release aimed at year-end.
Best Prices on Security Software
Norton Internet Security 2008Price: $19.40
Internet Security 2008 - 3-User (Full Product, PC)Price: $12.99
Norton 360Price: $32.99
Norton 360 2.0 ( PC)Price: $40.00
Internet Security Suite 2008 - 3-UserPrice: $18.95
Internet Security 7.0 - 3-UsersPrice: $19.95
- PC World Webcast: Going Green Wondering how to make your business greener? These tips will help your business save money, and save the environment.
- The Future Sales Force - A Consultative Approach This white paper discusses the challenges of selling complex products and services, and the new skill sets sales professionals must employ in today's evolving market.





"The 15 Best Places to Waste Time on the Web" Comments