Rdio – Web radio is a field All My Faves is quite familiar with because we listen to lots of music while we work at the office, and we make extensive use out of the web radios out there. See our Web Radio faveline on the homepage to explore the best ones. Rdio can also be classified under this category, but it offers so much more than what its counterparts do. In addition to creating your own playlists, you can explore music collections of other users, add these users to your page, see what artists are currently hot on the site, and loads more.
What makes it all very fun and creative on Rdio is the beautifully designed and well executed interface. To get started, provide your email to get a sign up invite (signing up is free). Once you’ve signed up find a random user profile and check out his or her Heavy Rotation list. Not sure what that means? It will all become clear in a matter of seconds.
P.S. Rdio also offers a mobile app which makes music on the go as easy as hitting the play button. Be sure to take advantage of it.
CalcMoolator – Sometimes the most necessary financial calculations we must do to live within our budget and spend wisely are the most incomprehensible. Many of us don’t even know where to begin. For this purpose the Web has many online calculators to offer, but more often than not, it’s difficult to understand the breakdown of their bottom line figure.
Have no fear, CalcMoolator is here. This virtually all-in-one, free financial calculator “makes it simple to calculate your mortgage payment, compare job opportunities, make educated financial decisions like whether to lease vs. buy and ultimately save money.” CalcMoolator truly is refreshing because in addition to providing the dry number calculations, it offers the related explanation of what these numbers mean. This site is highly recommended for complex calculations such as mortgages and refinancing, loans, credit card debt and job salaries, but also for the smaller calculations we need to make such as tips and pet cost. See the second screen shot below for my estimated costs of having a cat as a pet.
HomeAway – Vacation rentals galore, this great site lets you tap into special accommodation options outside the mainstream B&B scenario. Quite similar to Airbnb which was previously featured here on All My Faves, HomeAway matches more independent tourists and visitors with local property owners seeking to rent their place for short periods.
Aside from searching for rental properties by location, date, number of guests and price, HomeAway also allows you to compare rental places by stacking all your checked selections horizontally, showing you the benefits and drawbacks of each rental property. HomeAway is a great solution for the more savvy tourist who is looking for a more local feel. See the screen shot below of the comparison option, applied to a vacation destination in Cyprus.
Becoming Minimalist – This amazingly inspiring blog by Joshua Becker is my new RSS this week. Self-explained by the blog’s title, Joshua’s web diary of his family’s minimalist approach to life is beautifully written and extremely engaging. According to Joshua, Becoming Minimalist aims to “inspire you to live with less. And find more life because of it.”
Living in America in this day and age while consumption is at an all time high, we ought to praise people like Joshua for being the voice that reminda us what’s really important in life and how to maintain it. To get a glimpse of the great posts you will find on Becoming Minimalist, start with my favorite, The 10 Most Important Things to Simplify in Your Life. And if you’re interested in discovering what led Joshua and his family toward minimalism to begin with, read this.
Chicisimo – Claiming to be “a global community of girls sharing their personal style and inspiring each other,” Chicisimo is a wonderful resource I wish I had had available when I was in my teens. If you already have a facebook or Twitter account, signing up is easy -take advantage of this collective how-to style resource.
Tap into the sense of style and chic of young women all over the country, rate their looks and upload your own ‘workin’-it’ photo and get feedback from the Chicisimo community. Simplicity, straightforward style and sharing? Yes please! See a couple of photos I was inspired by and perhaps I’ll apply to my wardrobe this week on a night out with friends.
By the way, be sure to check out the Web’s best style resources on our Style mini page.
By Saucyglossie
Life with Dogs – Created by Neil, Life with Dogs is here “to fetch the most interesting and relevant dog news and video for your consumption.” But that’s not all Life with Dogs is about. It’s also about drawing rescue stories, dogs up for adoption, and user stories into the canine lovers spotlight.
Keeping high levels of interest via diversified post topics, excellent photos and user participation, Neil does an amazing job in maintaining a blog that’s not just another dog enthusiast web diary. It’s compelling, funny, witty, political at times but all in good taste, spoken by a true animal lover. Great blog. I urge you to subscribe. If you are a dog owner yourself, you’re invited to submit your Fido’s pics and/or videos -check out the Submissions page.
Exploring the content on Life with Dogs led me to this interesting article on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in war dogs. It’s fascinating. Also be sure to watch the video below. It’s the most compelling story of an abandoned dog, saved by good people. The video below is part 2. To catch up with the 1st part, click here.
Pixcetera – AOL’s huge photo gallery is open to everyone, and it would be a shame not to give it a long hard look, literally. Offering more than two dozen categories of mesmerizing photographs, Pixcetera also offers framed print for sale, cool iPhone app and other interesting photos on their radar.
Choose photo themes as interesting as Nature’s Best, Black Voices, Celebrities, Food, even Music! Even if you’re not set on buying some prints for you home, cruising along Pixcetera is awesome and entertaining. See a couple of photos below I thought I’d share with you.
Photography by Arthur Yeo
Cocobay Resort
Expedition Titanic – The world’s most famous sunken ship is known to most of us, and I think it’s safe to say 95% of all women in the Western world (including me) have seen the Hollywood movie Titanic. The tragic story of this grand ship thought to be unsinkable, has reemerged in 1985 when the wreck was discovered by a joint American-French expedition, led by Jean-Louis Michel (Ifremer) and Dr. Robert Ballard (WHOI).
Expedition Titanic is brought to us by Christopher J. Davino, President of RMS Titanic Inc. Having some of the world’s leading experts and scientists on the team and using the forefront of technology, Davino and his team wish to “create a portrait of the Ship unlike any that has been created before…” Navigate through the depths of the Titanic’s wreck site, explore the ship’s parts, the wreck’s environment, and learn more of the Titanic’s grandness prior to its fatal end. Expedition Titianic is a masterful commemoration and educational site, remembering and celebrating the Ship that will be forever cherished.
Ragdoll Cannon 3 – Beautifully designed, Ragdoll Cannon 3 is all about shooting the ragdoll to the right spot (look for ‘Here’) using the right amount of force. After several consecutive failures I got the hang of the game, and it was a lot of fun!
For more addicting games and the best there is in online gaming, visit I ♥ Games.
Your Tribute – Are you expecting a baby and want to both document and celebrate the occasion? Is your son or daughter graduating from college and you’re looking for an inspiring celebration platform? Look no further; Your Tribute is here. Whether you’re celebrating a new baby, a graduation or school reunion, wedding and anniversaries or other events, Your Tribute is worth checking out to make those special events truly unforgettable.
Offering a unique and comprehensive event planning and celebration venue online, Your Tribute is fast, easy and fun. Starting out with the basic plan is free, and you can upgrade if you feel like getting some added perks. See the example of a New Baby celebration and start creating your own event. Send invitations, add photos and videos, and stay connected with the friends of the event.
LibriVox – I just love the combination of free and usefulness, don’t you? Especially when it comes to free books, since these are hard to come by on the Web usually due to copyright issues. LibriVox has found a way to offer its user community a large collection of free books and audio-books from what’s defined as ‘the public domain.‘
Although the interface could use a face lift, LibriVox is all about quality service, user participation (volunteer as a reader of audio-books) and great books for free. It would be a shame not to take advantage of this great resource. To test drive LibriVox, check out their samples section and decide for yourself.
CreativeApplications.Net – With the aim of bringing together “applications that challenge the ways how we share and engage with information,” CreativeApplications.Net identifies the best creative apps out there, suitable for PCs, Mac, iPhone, iPad and other devices, and presents them to us in the most appealing way possible.
The slick interface and the terrific posts make CreativeApplications.Net a must stop for both creative professionals and savvy technology/Web users. See the uber-cool Sound Yeah post for an example of CreativeApplications.Net’s sweetness (click on the post’s photo below to read it).
