Let me begin this column by saying thank you. Thank you to everyone that wrote me to say farewell after reading my column for so many years. But it appears that the goodbyes in my last column were a bit premature. The Citizen has been granted a reprieve and so I’m back for at least one more column, maybe more.
That said, let’s get down to business.
I’ve written about Web sites for a long time. Over the years, I’ve come to rely on a few because they’re easy to use and are insanely helpful. I’ve listed my favorites below, in no particular order.
• Google at google.com. This may seem like a no-brainer but I still run into folks that use search engines like Yahoo.com, Alta Vista or Dogpile. In my opinion, none of those holds a candle to Google, both for its simple format and it’s highly accurate and focused search results.
Sometimes I’ll think up some wacky phrase and plop it in Google just to see what kind of search results I get. (Yes, I’m a nerd.) I’m always amazed at the depth and accuracy of the results.
• E-How at ehow.com. As the name implies, this is a how-to site for almost everything under the sun.
• Two of my favorite travel sites are Kayak, at kayak.com, and Lonely Planet, at lonelyplanet.com. Kayak is a travel-site aggregator. That is, it searches more than 140+ travel sites to find you the best deals on airfare, hotel and rental cars. Lonely Planet, like the line of books it’s named for, is an outstanding resource for researching travel destinations.
• Worried that the pain in your knee is something serious? Go to WebMD at webmd.com. You can find out information on nearly every medical ailment and, in my opinion, should be your first stop before your next doctor’s visit.
Romi Carrell Wittman is a writer and the communication services director for Trico Electric Cooperative. E-mail: romi.wittman@comcast.net.