Now that the internet has become such an integral part of our lives, it is sometimes difficult to imagine the early days of the network. In the mid 1990s, more and more people were discovering that they could create content that could be viewed by anyone who had access to the internet. This was a revolutionary concept, because before the internet an average person could only reach a relative few.
The proliferation of new sites was explosive, and webmasters experimented with new formats, ideas and content. If you were looking for something in particular, you could rely on directories such as Yahoo; if you wanted to see something new and innovative, however, you could turn to Cool Site of the Day.
The editors of Cool Site of the Day scoured the internet in search of the maverick sites that tried out new things or presented content in unique ways. Each day, one new site was featured for the internet community to enjoy. After the site enjoyed its one day of fame, it was entered in the Cool Site of the Day archives, which has become a sort of who's who of cool websites. The archive dates back to August 1994 which in internet time, seems like the stone ages!
Since the mid 1990s, the internet has continued its explosive growth, and there don't appear to be any signs on the horizon for a slowdown. Search engines have become the new arbiters of internet traffic, but they are best suited for finding something very specific. If you know precisely what you are looking for, craft a search query for your favorite search engine and search away. But, just as it was in the early days, if you want to find something cool, you can still head to Cool Site of the Day.
In addition to the daily coolness, Cool Site also has previously held competitions for Cool Site of the Month, and Cool Site of the Year. The sites that win these honors are the true cream of the crop. Visitors to the Cool site of the day are able to rate the day's site on a scale from one (lowest) to ten (highest). At the end of the day, the scores are tallied, and the result is recorded in the archives. Users can sign up for their free newsletter to be notified of the latest Cool Sites.
9 May 2005 Update: The editors of wiseGEEK are pleased to announce that our site has been selected as today's Cool Site of the Day! It's a great honor, and we are particularly pleased that the day coincides with the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II.