Some interesting web sites - Yahoo Picks of '04

Everyone has their picks of the year, Yahoo included. Here's a post from the Yahoo Search Blog on the subject. My recommentations follow.

Yahoo! Picks of the Year

There's a closely guarded secret here at Yahoo!. Erik Gunther (our Buzz Index Editor) freely admits to it, but some Yahoo! editors strive to conceal it or at least feign indifference to it. But truth be told, the editors at Yahoo! are just like the rest of the Yahoo! Search community when it comes to pop culture. We share your fascination with the rising and falling stars of stage, screen, and DVD. And once a year we unashamedly reveal our preferences for the obscure, the unusual, and the sensational in Yahoo! Picks of the Year.

Since we first started the feature in 1996, our Picks of the Year shows that we're just as attracted to the A- and B-listers as everyone else who hits the Search box for the latest on trends and trendsetters. But we don't just look for the same old fawning celeb web sites. We scour the Internet to discover fresh, fun, or funky creations to spotlight every day as Yahoo! Picks. Over the course of the year, we feature hundreds of sites, from fascinating photo blogs to sophomoric stunts to intriguing innovations -- as an eclectic a mix as the Web itself.

So, while you may have joined the ranks searching for Britney, Atkins, or breaking news stories, we offer a daily dose of the sites you didn't search for -- the humble and human side of the Web as well as the famous and fantastic.

You can find Yahoo! Picks at http://picks.yahoo.com/ or subscribe to daily or weekly email. Or click Add to My Yahoo!to add Picks to My Yahoo!.

Laura Varteressian
Yahoo! Picks Editor

My favorite picks are the following three. The first one is especially cool since the conference room in my division office now has subway maps for a couple dozen cities. The second one is nice because the train tunnels in New York are inherently interesting and I particularly like Grand Central Station. The third one is an extreme redecoration on a theme developed by Kelly House at Earlham. The descriptions are from from the Yahoo picks page.

Animals on the Underground
Animals on the Underground
The screenshotanimals were first seen on the London's Underground approximately 15 years ago. Paul Middlewick spotted the first one, an elephant, while staring at a map of the tube, making it the first animal to be found in the underground animal kingdom. Since that fateful day, several other animals have been seen lurking around -- a dog, pig, whale, fish, and stag can all be found in the wilds of the Underground. These days, animals are constantly being spotted in the tube. To be one of the first to learn when a new animal has been discovered, join the Animals on the Underground mailing list. We recommend you visit this "tube zoo" before it's overrun with tourists.

Undercity.org
Undercity.org
If screenshotyou think you've seen everything New York City has to offer, photographer Steve Duncan might suggest you dig a little deeper. Coining himself "a guerrilla historian in Gotham," Duncan takes his camera underground and to unknown sites in New York and captures them in this celebration of the city. In the photos section, explore the haunting tunnels of Atlantic Avenue and East New York, delve into the underbelly of Grand Central Station, or witness the site of the 1964 World's Fair as it is today. If the visuals don't fascinate you, the stories and research will. They provide facets of history and essays about the city, as well as tips and tricks on how to experience your own urban adventure. Take a peek at Duncan's covert work, for as he states, what good is a secret unless you share it?

Project Foil
From Yahoo Picks
Project Foil
So, screenshotthese three dudes are sitting around their dorm room, facing four days with nothing to do. They're bored. When suddenly, it hits them. The perfect project to pull them out of their ennui -- cover their roommates' room with foil. They would wrap everything -- from the furniture to the teensiest items on it, under it, and over it. The ceiling, walls, even one victim's guitars and guitar picks were encased in the shiny stuff. A mere 1500 square feet of aluminum foil and four days later, the dedicated trio of students completed the task. In meticulously chronicling Project Foil, Sam Holton shows us the focus, hard work, and creativity that epitomize students in America's institutions of higher learning. Their parents must be so proud.

Here's a list of the other picks:


70s Live Action Kid Vid March 12, 2004
Signs of Life March 20, 2004
Ian's Shoelace Site April 16, 2004
Who Is That With Jeremy? April 19, 2004
Monterey Bay Aquarium: Sharks April 28, 2004
Jay Maynard's TRON costume June 4, 2004
Double-Tongued Word Wrester June 10, 2004
David Hasselhoff Online June 14, 2004
The Scribbler June 18, 2004
Hungry Girl June 23, 2004
Polapolapolapola... July 27, 2004
WordCount August 1, 2004
The Illustrated Smiths August 4, 2004
Transportation Futuristics August 9, 2004
Good Plastic Surgery September 26, 2004
The Online Guide to Whistling Records November 4, 2004
Kite Aerial Photography November 8, 2004
1 year performance video November 15, 2004
Crazy Kent November 18, 2004
Painting the Weather November 24, 2004
Postcards from the Attic