Single Serving Site: Is The Library Open?

Aaron highlighted a great tool on Walking Paper - a single serving script that shows whether the library is open or not:

Great job Durham County Library for coming up with it, and thank you very much for making the code freely available.

This is definitely going on my library's website (when I get a chance) - but of course, with 24/7 Library Anytime, the answer is always YES!

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Single Serving Sites

The internet is endlessly innovative and entertaining. My current favorite phenomena is Single Serving Sites - websites that do only one thing.

In stark contrast to the "be everything to everyone" mentality, these one-off'ers are kind of refreshing. Most of them can't even be called "websites," because they consist of only one web page - but, for a fraction of a minute, they serve a purpose. Here's a list of my favorites:

Useful Sites

• DownForEveryoneOrJustMe.com - very handy when it comes to library public computers
• WhatIsMyIP.org - I can never remember
• ThePostalRate.com and PriceOfAStamp.com - something I get asked frequently (my answer: buy forever stamps)
• DoIHaveIt.com not actually an SSS, but I like it
• WhatTimeIsIt.com - for those us who don't wear a watch (also, also also)
• Terror-Alert.com - current Threat Level
• KeepMeOut.com - prevents addicts from visiting a particular website for a set amount of time

Weather Sites

• GoingToRain.com
• UmbrellaToday.com - also sends email/text alerts
• DoINeedAnUmbrella.com
• Blaccuweather.com - the weather in Quahog, RI

Silly Sites

• LetMeGoogleThatForYou.com and JustFuckingGoogleIt.com - librarian job security in a can
• IsItTuesday.com
• HasTheLargeHadronColliderDestroyedTheWorldYet.com
• DoWebsitesNeedToLookExactlyTheSameInEveryBrowser.com - try this page in different browsers
• d-e-f-i-n-i-t-e-l-y.com - so you'll never misspell that word again
• IsLostARepeat.com - this would be great for almost any show
• IsItChristmas.com
• WhatColorIsTheEmpireStateBuilding.com - maybe more interesting to New Yorkers; I'd also like to see one for Niagara Falls
• DeathClock.com - find out when you will die (not Dethklok)
• InternetLastPage.com - where the Internet ends

Once you start looking for these, it almost seems that they outnumber regular websites. Check out longer lists of single-serving sites here and here. Also, IsThisYourPaperOnSingleServingSites.com is worth reading - I hope he got an A.

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