Unit 18.2

5 media websites I check often:

Allmusic: Despite the fact that I often disagree with a lot of their opinions, their taste in modern music is pretty crap and they give Diamond Dogs a 2 star review which is a joke, its a great source of info on a lot of music (band music, not drum and bass or rave music though) with lists of discographies and bios for most of the artists they feature on the site. The people who write usually know what they are talking about, Heather Phares is someone I’d like to met IRL, and nice features like Album of the Day are great ways to find new bands and genres you would normally never find.

http://www.allmusic.com/

Gamerevolution: My oldest regular website, I’ve been visiting this site since I was 7 years old. All about video games and whats happening in the industry, they have been my favourite for years because they are a bunch of cynical bastards. In all fairness over the past year or so they have been softening up a bit, but traditionally they are the hardest bunch of geeks to please, happy to give games F ratings when they deserve it, they treat the reader intelligently, assuming a certain level of knowledge, and more importantly never feel like they might have been payed a bit to sway their opinion on a game, something which you see quite a lot over websites. Also, Nick Tan, the guy in charge, is a ninja.

http://www.gamerevolution.com/

Facebook: Ahhhhh good old Crackbook. In a few measly years facebook has evolved from a small page exclusively available to people with a Harvard email address, to the biggest social networking site in the world. A sign of quite how huge it has become is that in areas where its commonplace to have a computer or mobile phone (most first world countries, some second world) its quite out of the ordinary to find someone who doesn’t use it, even more so a young person who doesn’t use it. Its a space where people can post information about themselves, as regularly or irregularly as they like, and other people who know them can view that info and share messages, photos, videos... Its been the subject of much controversy: stories of information being sold to the CIA, the whole website being banned in countries for its use in insurgency and rebel uprisings, cyber bullying, hell its even coined the term Facebook Stalking, which is pretty self explanatory, but despite all this it remains a powerful and useful tool which has saved me a hell of a lot of money in phone bills to Spain.

http://www.facebook.com/

IMDB: Another oldschool website which I have been visiting for years, its become one of the biggest sites online, offering information on pretty much anyone who has been involved (or credited) with making films. Want info Tim Burtons out of print shorts he made as a student? There will be something about it here. Wondering if the unfilmed sequel to John Waters Pink Flamingos ‘Flamingos Forever’ actually exists? Have a look and see what you can find. Now, an absolutely essential tool that I use in work everyday.

http://www.imdb.com/

Discogs: I have no shame in my geekyness. Discogs is a website dedicated to vinyl enthusiasts (fetishists) who can compare collections, brag about finding a copy from the limited 200 print run of that Pavement LP which was only ever released for one day in one shop in the middle of nowhere in America (yes I do own it), and buy and sell records. Its got a great community who will usually answer questions you may have, and is a great place for finding some of the more obscure LP’s your hunting down.

http://www.discogs.com/