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Webby Awards Part V

The Webby Awards were handed out on June 17, but I’m going to tell you who was nominated in every category, category by category, anyway.

The Webby Awards were handed out on June 17, but I’m going to tell you who was nominated in every category, category by category, anyway. While this may appear on the surface to be mindless filler on the part of the author, I assure you that I know exactly what I’m doing. This is mindful filler.

I have a hard enough time finding something decent to watch on television with just 50 channels. Finding a good Web site out of tens of thousands is just about impossible. As a result I find myself visiting the same Web sites over and over again.

The Webby Awards are presented to the top Web sites in more than 30 different categories, and typically includes dozens of worthwhile sites I’ve never even heard of. For more information, visit www.webbyawards.com .

This week I’ll review the nominees in Net Art to Politics

NET.ART

360 Degrees ( www.360degrees.org ) – "Even as the crime rate is dropping, the criminal justice system continues to grow…" 360 Degrees is a stunning visual look at the American justice system that is gritty, informative and cool.

Consume ( www.consume.net ) – This is a tekkie site dedicated to superseding the existing Internet structure with a "free-for-the-people" kind of agenda. By leaving the servers out of it, connecting by nodes – e.g. your home computer.

DeskSwap ( www.deskswap.com ) – Ever get bored of your computer’s desktop? Wanna swap with someone else? Virtually every computer desktop is the same, although it may look very different with different fonts, background images, etc. This service allows you to test drive another layout, a different one every day if you want.

Praystation ( www.praystation.com ) – "Praystation is used to work out concepts…" Hard to fathom but intriguing nonetheless especially to Flash programmers and enthusiasts.

They Rule ( www.theyrule.net ) – "They Rule aims to make some of the relationships of the elite of the U.S. ruling class visible. It allows users to browse through the interlocking directories of some of the most powerful American companies and easily run searches on them. If a user finds an interesting Web site about a company or director they can add it to a list of URL’s…"

NEWS

AllAfrica.com ( www.allafrica.com ) – African news seldom makes it to us in North America, despite the fact that millions are dying as a result of famine, disease, crime and conflict. Stay up to date on this site.

Arts & Letters Daily ( www.aldaily.com ) – This is an omnibus of essays, editorials, literary journalism and arts news collected from dozens of leading papers from around the world.

BBC News ( http://news.bbc.co.uk ) – The BBC is simply one of the world’s most trusted and far-reaching news organizations. Find out what the rest of the world is up to.

DEBKAfile ( www.debka.com ) – An alternative world news service centering on political and social analysis, as well as other important international stories.

Poynter ( www.poynter.org ) – A resource for journalists, tracking top stories and the stories behind, within and beside the top stories. Great writing, ’nuf said.

Personal Web site

Abnormalbehaviorchild (www.abnormalbehaviorchild.com) – One man’s abnormality is another’s wholesale entertainment.

The Committee to Free Lori Berenson ( www.freelori.org ) – Lori is a human rights activist from the U.S. who was researching articles on women in poverty when she was arrested as a terrorist.

Hungry for Design ( www.hungryfordesign.com ) – 3D drawings and animations both commercial and personal.

Jeff Harris ( www.jeffharris.org ) – The work of a Toronto-based photographer who has had his picture taken once a day since the middle of 1999. Vain maybe, but the Web is a very subjective medium.

PrayStation ( www.praystation.com ) – See Net.Art.

POLITICS

California Voter Foundation ( www.calvoter.org ) – "The California Voter Foundation is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to appying new technologies to provide the public with access to the information needed to participate in public life in a meaningful way."

Center for Responsible Politics ( www.opensecrets.org ) – OpenSecrets follows the money in politics, and delves deeper into political ties to events like the Enron collapse.

The Hill ( www.thehill.com ) – What’s going on on Capitol Hill? I don’t particularly care most days, but you might.

Political Money Line ( www.fecinfor.com ) – This site tracks the activities of the Federal Election Commission, campaign money, and America’s feeble attempts at campaign-finance reform.

Washington Post ( www.washingtonpost.com/politics ) – Some of the best political reporting in the U.S. Not a whole lot of Canadian content, though.