If you've ever fancied yourself as someone who could write for children, or you have a child that would like to be an author, then Story Jumper is the place to start. Using simple graphics, it allows you to create a cover, add text and images (upload your own or use theirs). When you're done, you can publish it to the library, or even order a hardcopy to be delivered.
Visit: Story Jumper
3. Imagine the future
This site looks at how incredibly complex ideas, designs, and inventions will get simpler in the future. Broken down into five themes: Meaning Economy, Making Exchanges, Outer Skills, Raw Systems and New Matter, this is an inspiring and insightful site.
Visit: Made in the Future
4. Create an audio and visual graphic
This is lots of fun and slightly addictive, but it's also pointless. Go to the website and press down any key and it will activate both a sound and graphic.
Visit: Patatap
5. Discover great quotes
Find the perfect quote by author or topic or pictures with Quotery. It says it is "an encyclopaedia of wit and wisdom" and allows users discover, share and collect quotes.
Visit: Quotery
6. Take a 2-minute break
So many people struggle to sit still and do nothing. Two minutes may seem like a short amount of time to do just that, but it's harder than you might expect. This website shows a soothing beach image with the sound of waves and counts down two minutes. If you touch your keyboard, you've failed and have to start again.
Visit: Do Nothing For Two Minutes
7. Learn how to save a life
If you were thrust into an emergency situation, would you know what to do? This UK site is an interactive film that allows you to test your knowledge of emergency situations and, if you get an answer wrong, it will teach you what you should have done. You can choose to login and save your progress.
Visit: Life Saver
8. Visit the past
Google has been capturing images for decades, and this site allows you to travel back in time to view maps of an area. It does cover New Zealand, but it also shows the rainforest depletion in the Amazon and the growth of Dubai.
Visit: World Time
9. Don't get caught out by Facebook crooks
As fast as Facebook reinvents itself, hackers are creating elaborate means to get into private accounts for illegal purposes. Facecrook's mission is to monitor and write about all the seedy stuff that happens on Facebook.
Check out their article about the top 10 Facebook scams to avoid.
Visit: Facecrooks
10. Shop for a geek
We all know one, and could even be one - a geek. This site celebrates the geeks in our lives by selling products to suit. Those obsessed with Minecraft, for example, will discover backpacks to magnets to jewellery. Best sellers include a build-a-brick mug, Doctor Who cookie cutters and a zombie head cookie jar.
Visit: Think Geek
- nzherald.co.nz