Okay, time for a break

Sometimes you work a lot and you deserve a break. This week, we showcase some websites that are designed to give you that break from work that you so richly deserve. Of course, they might also end up wasting a lot of your time. But at least you'll be having fun! Thanks to my friend Gizmo for the information about these sites.

Side note: I don't know why, but this blog post took me hours to finish.

World Clock
I found this site very interesting. This World Stats Counter shows current statistical figures for world population, births, deaths, deforestation, and much more. Except for population and earth temp, all stats reflect the growth since the beginning of the selected time period. Hint: click the "Now" button to reset several categories to zero, and see how quickly the numbers rise.

What's wrong with this picture?
You may have seen this before. Look closely. I figured it out - can you?

You control gravity
This is a fun little diversion. Drag the circles and the levers around, and adjust the angles of the levers, to control the direction of the bouncing balls.

Line Rider
Draw the line from top left to bottom right, then click the Play button and watch the little guy ride his sled down the slope you just created. My guy died multiple times at high speeds.

Scene switcher
I am not sure exactly what this is because the site is not in English, but it seems like an advertisement for a kitchen manufacturer. Click and hold the mouse for a panoramic view of the different scenes.

Fake or Foto?
Do you think you can look at an image and tell if it is a real photo, or if it is computer generated? Take this quiz and find out. I got five out of ten correct.

Icon's Story
Every wonder what your desktop icons do at night while you are sleeping?

Your birth date
Everything you ever wanted to know about the day you were born. I didn't really care to know the date I was conceived, but it was interesting to find out that I share my birth date with Paul Revere and J. Edgar Hoover.

Only Riddles
If you like figuring out riddles, this is the place for you. Example: Which does not belong in this group: Apple, Grape, Banana, Cherry, Pear. (Answer: Banana - it's the only one that you have to peel before eating). Just keep hitting the Home/Refresh link to get a new set of riddles.

Optical Illusions
Nothing here but things to trick the human eye. I particularly liked the Mona Lisa test.

Cool Illusion
This one is amazing! I still don't get how it works. First you see some pink dots in a circle. Then you see a green dot that isn't really there. Then all the pink dots disappear, and only the green dot is left - even though the only dots there are actually pink, and they never did disappear! You have to try this one!

Falling Sand Game
Draw lines to see how you can control the falling sand.

Slow motion videos
Lots of common things shot with a high-speed camera and then played in slow motion.

Kitten band
Complete nonsense, but it will make you smile.

Windows Sounds mix
Whoever created this knows Flash and Sound Recorder very well. And has way too much free time.


This week's video - why every kid should have a pet!