Arts & Letters Daily: Conceived and edited by philosophy professor Denis Dutton, this fabulous home page offers hyperlinked thumbnail summaries of some of the finest pieces of writing on subjects like literature, philosophy, politics, culture, science and music.
You can find everything from highly perceptive reviews of the latest books to acutely argued essays on topics such as old age, linguistic diversity and the influence of the Internet.
The pieces are not original -- they're from various online sources, including the New York Times, The Independent, The New York Review of Books, London Review, The New Republic and the Washington Post -- but by scouring the Web for meaty material every day and turning surfers on to the best mind fodder, Dutton and his team give people with a ravenous appetite for words but poor access to well-stocked libraries a chance to sample writings that reflect the current mood of critical thought in various fields.
Most of the articles are serious and even somewhat highbrow, but anyone who loves the supple grace of the English language in the hands of masters will spend hours feverishly checking the articles highlighted.
The page is pretty straightforward, though somewhat crammed, and if you're not satisfied with the links on the main page, there're plenty of suggestions for great reads in the 2000, 1999 and 1998 archives.
Dr Ruth Online!: Dr Ruth Westheimer is described as "America's leading sex therapist", but whether the claim is justified or not, the advice on sex matters she dispenses at this site is often very sound.
The main page is updated daily and the most interesting question of the day is highlighted first, followed by the day's sex tip and links to other interesting topics.
Many of the featured questions and answers are neatly archived, and you can e-mail the doctor if you have a question of your own, though Dr Ruth wisely cautions people who have problems in their relationship or physical problems to consult a therapist or a doctor.
How tricky or tacky are the questions Dr Ruth gets? Here's a sample: "Our 8-year-old daughter walked in on my wife giving me oral sex. We immediately sent her to her room. But now she keeps asking questions. What should we tell her?"
If that kind of openness shocks you, maybe you should just avoid this informative site, though you'll be depriving yourself of a wealth of wisdom on a subject that not everyone would be willing to help you with, especially if you're not willing to pay for it.
The site is cleanly designed and comes with free desktop decorations, if such things turn you on.
Muslim Scientists and Islamic Civilization: This excellent resources is dedicated to "Muslims whose multi-disciplinary contributions sparked the light of learning and productivity and without whom the European Renaissance would not have begun..."
It comes with biographies of Muslim scientists and thinkers through the ages, including "Father of Chemistry" Jabir Ibn Haiyan ("died 803 CE"), astronomer Al-Sufi ("903-986"), sociologist/philosopher Al-Farabi ("870-950") and botanist Ibn Al-Baitar ("died 1248")
There's also a section called 'Glimpses of Islamic Civilization' which spotlights such topics as 'Morality in War', 'Tolerance in Islam', 'Dome of the Rock' and 'Causes of Rise and Decline'.
The 'Chronology of Muslim History' charts the main events that shaped Islamic thought, and 'Women in Islam', which comes with RealAudio clips, has some interesting insights.
There're also sections on the Prophet Muhammad and the Quran with audio excerpts on 'Prophet Muhammad in World Scriptures', 'The Meaning of the Glorious Quran in English' and 'Recitation of The Glorious Quran'.
A host of other links on Islamic history and the Muslim world also make this site put together by Dr A. Zahoor one of the most authoritative and comprehensive of its kind.
Near-Death: Fascinated by stories of "out of body" experiences? Want to know how the various religions approach the subject of death? Then this is the place you should head for.
What site creator Kevin Williams has done here is collect the personal accounts of people who've had near-death experiences.
He has grouped these under their names in sections like 'Christian NDEs', 'Muslim NDEs', 'International NDEs' and 'Non-Religious NDEs'.
Most of the accounts will have you in rapt attention, though many would sound similar or be vaguely familiar. And surprisingly, a large number of them are thought-provoking and hardly as terrifying as most people might imagine them to be.
Williams offers his own rationally-argued conclusions on some of these experiences though it's entirely up to you to accept or reject them.
Buy you can't deny that the site deals with a difficult and often dreaded subject in a manner that's at once coolly logical and religiously enlightened.
New Scientist: The online edition of the British science and technology magazine is a first-rate source of news, views and features on the latest technological advances and scientific breakthroughs.
It's neatly put together with summaries of the 'Latest News' at the top, followed by sections like 'Top Stories' and 'Recruitment: Job of the Week'.
The home page is updated every day and most of the best features in the magazine -- it costs a bomb here now -- are available free online.
To give you an idea of the broad range of topics covered, here's a list of items: 'The Great Dam Scam: Has half a century of dam building done more harm than good', 'Polio on the Loose: Live virus in a French city's sewers', 'Think Like a Teenager: A "memory pill" could one day restore old people's ability to learn and recall things', 'Blind to Change: How much of the world around you do you really see?...'
The daily news is neatly archived along with back issues. And 'Web Links' takes you to "over 1,200 of the best science sites on the Web".
Scifi.com: Sci-fi buffs will love this attractively designed home page that deals with science fiction in all its possible permutations.
You not only get a chance to chat with ultra-imaginative conjurers like novelist Stephen King and auteur David Cronenberg, but also can enjoy features on cult classics and reviews of the latest movies here.
'Today's News' reports on the latest happenings in the sci-fi entertainment world, and such sections as 'Sci Fi Today', 'Colony' and 'Freezone' trot out everything from readers' thoughts on the the best sci-fi works to downloads of trailers for films like 'Dune' and 'The X-Men'.
Like the main page, some of the features do take a while to download but considering what you're getting, the wait is worthwhile.