Recently, a handful of interesting Web sites have either launched or otherwise come to my attention. It seems that darn Internet keeps a-growin'. Let's take a look.

It's a pretty low-grade Web 2.0 phenomenon, but there are a lot of places you can post lists of things (favourite books, movies, natural wonders, and so forth). It's long been a geeky feature incorporated into sites like Amazon, but now you can skip the shopping and just bliss out on lists. Trouble is, as a trip to Tenspotting (www.tenspotting.com/) proves, you have to be pretty bored–like Grade 10 social-studies class bored–to think you're getting much that's worthwhile out of reading people's lists of albums they listened to in high school, the best rock videos ever, or favourite sexual positions. And besides, I have a real problem with a list of Top Ten Fictional Music Groups that doesn't include the Rutles.

For somewhat less trivial lists, try 43 Things (www.43things.com/). I assume the name has some new-age connection to the concept of stuff you should do before you die. As a result, more than anything it's a collection of people's short- and long-term wishes. Accordingly, items are everything from "clean the house," "write more thank you notes," and "go scuba diving" to "be happy with myself," "make out in a red telephone booth," and "randomly quote e.e. cummings." And somebody going by the name ebb9 wants to "spend less time fooling around on the Net and more time actually working." Off to a fine start, I'd say.

X-tremegeek (www.x-tremegeek.com/) is another on-line store full of wacky and/or useful gifts, although at least this one also has an actual retail location (in Rancho Cordova, California). Besides all the usual decorative totems for cubicle dwellers and gadgets that plug into USB ports, a few choice items are on offer. (Check the best-selling–products page for quick access.) For instance, there's a cassette deck that fits into a standard-sized drive bay in a PC for converting tape to digital files, a round floor mat that looks like a New York City manhole cover, and the Laserpod Light Projector Lamp ("Imagine crossing a disco ball with a lava lamp and then supercharging it with a laser"). Sounds like something that should come with a free bong and set of Pink Floyd albums.

Cracked (www.cracked.com/) bills itself as "America's Only Humour Website". That certainly isn't true, but Cracked is pretty good. Partly devoted to the art and practice of standup and other comedic forms, Cracked is a lot less juvenile than many so-called humour sites and actually makes attempts at satire and parody rather than just cheap gags. How about a South Park version of those Mac-and-PC ads, or an exhibit of "The 5 Most Obviously Drug-Fueled TV Appearances Ever", complete with video clips? Even the "Webpicks" from other sites tend to be on the subtle and intelligent side.

Don't you hate it when you end up at some comparison-shopping site and start to check things out, only to realize it's all American stores and U.S. money? Well, now there's Shopbot.ca (www.shopbot.ca/), which lets Canadians compare the prices of products at our own stores. Now, if more retailers (big and small) allow themselves to be listed, this will really get useful.

Musicovery: interactive webRadio (www.musicovery.com/) offers a unique visual metaphor with its on-line radio service. Though you can simply start the tunes playing by genre or decade, there's a set of axes that lets you select any point from calm to energetic and dark to positive. There's another set of axes for tempo and danceability. And, once music is playing, the song title and band name show up in a graphic in the centre of the page, colour-coded by genre and connected to other songs and clusters of songs. You can travel down these connections, sometimes catching a glimpse of a tune or two curving into view from another strand. Problem is, it's so interesting to click along the trails that it's hard to settle back and just listen.

For a genuinely useful site, check out Librarian Chick (librarianchick.pbwiki.com/). It's an exemplary (and concise) collection of research links and resources, divided into broad academic categories. People looking for free audiobooks and e-texts should definitely visit this site.

Finally, when Bill Wyman quit the Rolling Stones, Keith Richards said something to the effect that nobody leaves that band if they're still alive. (I guess he forgot about Mick Taylor, although he seems to be correct about Mick Taylor's career.) Anyway, it turns out Wyman started finding interesting artifacts and buried treasure back in 1968 when he bought an old manor house in Suffolk, England. So he became a metal-detector enthusiast. And now, he's actually endorsed one. "The Bill Wyman Signature Detector is a lightweight treasure finding instrument incorporating all the latest developments in location technology." And the Bill Wyman Signature Metal Detector site (www.billwymandetector.com/) even features his own hints, tips, video clips, and favourite finds. I'm sure it's great fun, but I bet he still misses the groupies.