Favorite Surf Spots

You're better off turning off your television and your computer and reading a book. Then again, so am I, but here I am at my computer. Here are some interesting sites.

Resources

Manna Cabana, Outer Islands: An impressive site of links to quality Christian resources of all kinds.

International Christian Concern: Calling attention to the worldwide persecution of Christians.

beliefnet: A vivacious site concentrating on religion and spirituality. Their Islam section is candid and relatively free from the insecurity that weakens many other Muslim sites.

Software

OpenOffice.org: Tired of all those 'features' of Microsoft Office you can't turn off, especially the crashes? Me too. Here is an open source office suite (word processor, spreadsheet, slideshow) that is compatible, stable, intuitive, and free. (Before you shrug it off, at least read the testimonies of satisfied users.) Windows, Linux, Solaris; Mac coming soon.

Logos Research Systems: A Bible reference tool with a powerful interface. Expensive, but that's because you get real secondary literature (BDB, BAGD) rather than obsolete stuff in the public domain. Windows only.

Adobe Acrobat: Send a document somewhere else to be printed with the correct pagination. Give someone a file that uses fonts only you have. Put a document on the web looking just like it does in your office application. Insanely easy to use. Most OS's.

Tinderbox: I can't wait to use this personal content management software. Unfortunately I have to, because it only works on Mac.

Magazines

The New Republic: Buff neo-liberalism. "That National Review would be more like The New Republic: Lord, hear our prayer."

Slate: Formerly edited by the impressive Michael Kinsley, and still generally strong.

Weekly Standard/Daily Standard: Beltway neo-conservatism. Not always dry and stuffy!

Relevant: Pop youth culture magazine by hip evangelicals. (They look hip to me anyway, which isn't saying much.)

alt.muslim: A "Muslim news community" with information and commentary from the Muslim world.

The Onion: No one parodies journalism better, except journalists themselves. Sometimes tasteless; usually worth it.

Blogdex: Thousands of geeks can't be wrong. (Can they?)

Pundits, Weblogs, and Me-zines

Glenn Reynolds (a.k.a. "InstaPundit"): A law professor at the University of Tennessee and techno musician who somehow finds the time to post thoughtful entries on his weblog every thirty minutes or so. In other words, the Buckaroo Banzai of the twenty-first century. He leans libertarian but ranges wide.

Ted Olsen: Compiler of the ChristianityToday.com weblog.

Mickey Kaus: The most accomplished user of exclamation points on the web! [Brackets, too. -ed.] Neo-liberal.

VodkaPundit: Stephen Green and Will Collier: Soft libertarianism and hard drinking.

James Lileks: Bleats like a butterfly, screeds like a bee. Politics: "anti-idiotarian."

Asymmetrical Information: Soft libertarian economics and off-topic discussions from Megan McArdle ("Jane Galt") and others.

Jeff Jarvis: New media convert/commentator. If Marshall McLuhan were a Congregationalist who saw 9/11 firsthand and lived to blog about it, he would be Jeff Jarvis. (McLuhan as Howard Stern fan ... hmmmm. Maybe I need a better metaphor.)

Virginia Postrel: A high-tech libertarian from Reason magazine. People like her give modernism a good name. (Well, almost.)

Steven Den Beste: A consistently thoughtful, scientifically literate, not quite utilitarian atheist who finds lots of interesting things to write authoritatively about. His legendary verbosity actually makes me look concise. Just don't upset him; he flies off the handle at things that don't bother most of the rest of us. So does his foreign policy sometimes.

Jill Stewart: "The attack dog with the pretty hair." My favorite Los Angeles journalist ever since hearing her on NPR. Neo-liberal, and as ruthless as Kaus in exposing the failings in her own ideological camp in state government. Boy, do I wish she would write more!

Camassia: A friend and interlocutor at the edges of faith. How come her Christian links are better than mine?

Joanne Jacobs: Tales of atrocities from the world of education.

Amy Sullivan: I just found her, but I like her already. She worked with Tom Daschle, graduated from Harvard Divinity School, is finishing a doctorate in sociology at Princeton, and writes for The Washington Monthly, often about religion.

Eve Tushnet: Washington DC freelancer, theologically astute Catholic (one among many on the Internet), and consistently interesting weblogger. Politics: "rock'n'roll conservative."

Ekklesia Project Online: Webzine of postmodern Christian pacifists.

StrategyPage: From mainstream journalists to right-wing pacifists, we ignore the people of the military at our peril (and often to our embarrassment). This is one of a host of interesting people in uniform who know their stuff. Belmont Club is another.

Daniel Pipes: A widely published and widely vilified scholar of the Middle East. Old-fashioned Realpolitik, served straight. For a well placed criticism of Pipes, see here.

Martin Roth Online: A Melbourne journalist who runs a thoughtful Christian weblog and running commentary. Roth also maintains the "semi-definitive list of Christian blogs."

Tim Blair: Australian conservative journalist who writes some of the funniest stuff on the Internet.

Rick McGinnis: A writer and reviewer with a beautiful site and a hilarious weblog.

ScrappleFace: SatireWire's worthy successor.