Fan-site watchers compile Internet’s best of the worst

Two Web sites for the price of one this week.

If the Internet has taught us anything since Al Gore invented it, it’s that you don’t have to be talented to be on it.

The world of online fan fiction is a scary one. Sites like www.fanfiction.net allow and even encourage everyday people to rewrite the stories we all know and love, usually ruining them and making themselves the hero in the process.

Fortunately there is recourse against such murder of the written word: God Awful Fan Fiction.

Proving there’s a Yin to every Yang in the universe, there are people who search out the worst of the worst from fan fiction writers everywhere and present them in a place, where we can make fun of them.

Before you judge me, let me remind you that anyone who writes 5,000 words about their secret affair with Harry Potter, deserves what they get.

Especially if they’re a 30-year-old man.

These literary car-wrecks can be found at www.godawful.net. Only certain areas are available to non-members but I’ve never signed up and I still get a kick out of it. Of course, I am very mean.

Be forewarned, a lot of the original stories are not as clean and happy as the world they came from. Even Disney can be disturbing in the wrong hands. Fortunately, the good people at GAFF are really good about warning you if a particular piece is not safe for work.

In order to get to the stories, click on ‘community’ and then on ‘forums.’ The top three are the ones I usually read.

For anyone out there looking to use the Internet for more than degrading strangers and their life’s work – although seriously, why? – there’s always the limitless sources of information available to you.

Digg.com has become an Internet phenomenon. Not as geeky as Slashdot, nor as sarcastic as The Onion, Digg is a place where various news stories from around the Web battle it out for supremacy.

The stories are submitted by regular users and are generally not CCN type news but rather from areas ranging from science and technology to music and movies.

After a story gets submitted, other users can “digg” it. The more diggs a story gets the better it’s placement among other stories.

It’s a simple system and it really helps filtering through all the stuff out there that you can read. Plus, I get a great sense of pride from watching stories I dugg leave lesser stories in the dust.

Anyone can browse through the site and go to the linked stories. If you want to take part in the whole process, it’s a simple registration process. So far, I’ve received no e-mails beyond a registration recognition.

Go to www.digg.com to start keeping on top of the cool side of the world around you. Ya digg?

Steve Shinney is a junior majoring in computer science. Comments can be sent to him at steveshinney@cc.usu.edu.