Reading

Wonderful source for online articles
meridianmagazine.com

For a good laugh
gcfl.net

Good on a tough day
forbetterlife.org

An interesting read about politics
constitution.org/law/bastiat.htm

Selection of Reference Materials

Many dictionaries indexed into one place
onelook.com

Best translation dictionary I know of (lets you use it about 10 times per day for free)
ultralingua.com/onlinedictionary

Occasionally I try to use a thesaurus instead of being my own
machaut.uchicago.edu/rogets

Solid health information site
qualityhealth.com

Gathering of statistics from all over the world
nationmaster.com/statistics
(nationmaster is sometime finicky in its ability to return search results. One incredibly useful new feature they're rolling out is the ability to look at a specific statistic for a specific country over time. If the search results list has a "..." column, click on the "..." to see these.)

Answers technical questions better than any other site I've found
howstuffworks.com

Web tools

Best online email that I know of
gmail.com

Way Back Machine (retrive versions of webpages from 6 months and up)
archive.org/web/web.php

**For a temporarily down page or newer page that you can't access, try a Google search formatted like this...
cache:www.thefulladdress.com/ofthepageyouwant.html

Media

Paul's music is ideal for listening to while reading, thinking, or talking with others
paulcardall.com

Ratings that are actually accurate
kids-in-mind.com
(try reading what kidsinmind says about a couple movies you have seen first, then compare to one that you're thinking of seeing. *KiM uses annoying advertising, but its rating system with three numbers 0-10 indexing the amount and degree of which kinds of icky content and its detailed indexing make it worth the visit before watching a questionable movie)

Select programs worth adding

Google Toolbar
toolbar.google.com
search sooner, and find what you want faster with additional shortcuts and tools. My favourite is the find features (for use within webpages)

Google Desktop
desktop.google.com
Find files, emails, and visited websites quickly

Good source to investigate and choose what other programs you might be needing:
download.com
(the reviews are very informative and helpful. Sometimes a grain of salt is necessary)