10 ways to waste time on the internet

It has been a cold, rainy August here in Zurich (not that I’m complaining – see any of my July posts for how much I hate the heat). Several times I’ve found myself curling up on the couch with some tea and my laptop, determined to reply to all of those emails languishing in my inbox in one fell swoop… before I know it, hours have gone by and all I have to show for it are 30 different open browser windows.

Just in case you happen to be looking for guidance in your next internet time-suck session, I offer you these ideas:

1. Check out what people put on their cats.
I have no idea why, but I find this site hysterically funny. If you like it, you may like this one, this one and this one, too.

2. Explore the blogosphere.
You can do this by clicking on the ‘next blog’ button on the Blogger header bar (at the top of this page), but I’ve found that it often takes a while to find something worth reading using this method. A much more satisfying way of losing yourself in the land of blogs is to click through to blogs on people’s blog rolls (the list of other blogs a particular blogger likes, such as my list of ‘friends who blog’ which you can find on the column on the right). I also like to read other expat blogs. Oh, and leave lots of comments as you go. I love receiving comments, so I am trying to remember to leave more comments for others.

3. Read America’s Finest News Source.
It’s a classic that never gets old.

4. Play games that keep your brain alive.
I love the card game Set, but rarely do I encounter anyone in the real world who wants to play it with me (and the husband is tired of getting his ass kicked).

5. Watch clips from the Daily Show and Colbert Report.
We only get the ‘international’ version of the Daily Show in Switzerland, so sometimes I must resort to the net to get my John Stewart fix. And if that’s not enough video for you, there’s always YouTube and Google Video. Warning – you may not want to start down this path unless you have a whole lot of time to waste. You might end up lost in the nostalgia of old Sesame Street sketches or watching crap like this.

6. Plan a vacation or a weekend getaway.
OK, this one almost doesn’t count as ‘wasting time’ since sometimes it ends up having a productive outcome. But for me, more often than not, attempted internet trip planning leads to indecision caused by too many options, even if I already have a destination in mind. Here’s a simplified version of the process: First it’s over to TripAdvisor to see what hotels are recommended. Then it’s back to Expedia and Travelocity and a couple other sites to see which highly-recommended hotels are available and actually affordable. Then there’s the comparison of taking the train or flying. Do any discount airlines go there? Do we want to depart at 4:00am? And so on and so on.

7. Send a message in a bottle or two.
This site makes me too aware of the fact that I am wasting time, but if you get an interesting message or two, it can be a little addictive. I’m still waiting to receive that one life-changing message from a stranger…

8. Look at other people’s photos.
Flickr and sites like it allow you to search through millions of photos by key words and tags, or just browse through the most recently uploaded pictures. Want to see other people’s Street Parade pictures? Or photos of the Swiss Alps? It’s all out there in cyberspace.

9. See what dieters ate in the 1970s and laugh yourself silly.
If I try to explain to you what this is, you won’t believe me when I say it is so funny it makes me pee my pants. Skim your way down to the bottom of the page to where it says “Click HERE to start the tour,” and click there. Just do it.

10. Play reindeer blogger games.
I am still pretty new to the blog world, and only recently have I begun exploring beyond the blogs of my real-life friends. Slowly I’m discovering all the crazy things bloggers do to drive traffic to their sites, meet new people, and have fun. Things like Weekend Cat Blogging, Blog Carnivals, and Photo Scavenger Hunts. This post actually represents my first (only?) dabble into the world of blogger games, as I’ll be submitting it to this.

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OK, so I know I’m not an expert on this time-wasting subject by any means. There are entire websites devoted to killing time on the internet which are much more complete than this list. But if I have helped just one person waste just a little more time online (say, by reading this post)… well then, my mission here is done.