WEEKEND | 10:14 pm | December 7, 2011 | By Andrew Giambrone

Top 10 Websites for Wasting Time Online

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Photo by Andrew Giambrone.

Finals start this Saturday? You got this. You came early to your residential college library to find a good spot. You packed your backpack full of books that you didn’t get around to finishing (or starting) during the year. You have a large bag of kettle corn and some chocolate with you for emergency snacking. And, most important, you brought your laptop with you to do some serious Googling as the need arises.

Okay, let’s be real. You’ve still got two full days before exam season officially starts, so the only thing you’ll be typing into your web browser is the “F” to jump to Facebook or the “Y” to hop onto Youtube.

But what about all the other websites out there that are so awesome for wasting time?

This is a guide for maximizing your time spent on the Web during Reading Week, for getting the biggest bang for your typographical buck. The following are the Top Ten Websites for Wasting Time Online, based on a sophisticated, complex ranking system involving the fun-factor, length of time you are likely to spend on these websites, relevance to life at Yale, and pure randomness.

Sporcle: The motto says it all—“Mentally Stimulating Diversions.” On Sporcle, you can test out your trivia skills for pretty much any category you can think of. Personally, I’m a big fan of “Countries of the World,” “The Beatles in Latin” and “Yale Secret/Senior Societies.” Not so secretive after all, are we?

StumbleUpon: I’m convinced this website knows me better than I know myself. StumbleUpon, a “discovery engine” (whatever the hell that means…), finds and recommends web content to its users, based on their preferences and personal interests using peer-sourcing and social-networking principles. Indicate your likes and dislikes and the possibilities are endless!!!

SeriousEats: Food porn at its finest. Drool

New York Times: This one falls into the “well, at least I’m being kind of productive” category. Don’t have a subscription and are worried about reaching the Time’s paywall, the 20 article per month limit on online content? Fear not, you informed citizen you! Just delete your cookies/web history and hit refresh. It’s as simple as that.

YaleFML: ANGST (Always Nauseatingly Good Student Tirades) Ja, schadenfreude.

Animals Being Dicks: The title speaks for itself. Sorry animal rights activists!

Accidental Chinese Hipsters: I can recommend this one because I’m half Asian.

Gmail: Find yourself repeatedly hitting refresh to see if anyone loves you? Don’t worry; you’re not the only one.

Yale Bluebook: Thanks, YCC! Instead of studying for next week’s exams, I can start figuring out my finals schedule for next semester!

Sparknotes: Well, you had to do some reading during Reading Week, amirite?

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