Scientific American Web Awards

ldopa1 writes "Scientific American has just announced their 2nd Annual Web Awards. The article outlines the very best of the best of the web in the following categories: Archaeology & Paleontology, Astronomy & Astrophysics, Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Earth & Environment, Engineering and Technology, Mathematics, Medicine and Physics. Sadly, Slashdot isn't on the list, but some great sites are. It's worth checking out."

Comments

A mini directory listing

[OaITw]

This "Awards" are more of a mini directory listing than an true awards. The slashdot blurb states "The article outlines the very best of the best of the web", but on the actual site it is clear that there is no such claim. This is just a list of interesting sites, worth browsing in some scientific oriented categories. I think this is a good service. Hopefully it stays up for some time, and does not grow to much. I think large directory structures, like Yahoo's web directory listings are not terribly useful for browsing. I miss the early ninties when I could browse from home page to home page with individuals listing 5 to 10 interesting sites each. Now days I usually just browse from slashdot; in fact, excuse me while I return to browsing these science links.

Ah, a Web Award that actually means something

[Prof.Nimnul]

Hopefully S.A. can keep this up for several years to come. Two of the biggest drawbacks that I've found about web awards in the past are:

1) Sites can suddenly disappear or (more frequently) slowly slid into inactivity.

2) A number of awards really aren't all that impressive because the award was either given by a friend, or has been handed out so many times (i.e. a "Pick of the Day") that the luster fades about as fast as David Lee Roth's stardom after Van Halen.

I've always liked the idea of an annual web awards, but given the very fluid nature of the web, I wasn't sure if the idea would really work. I suppose that other annual awards are given out for web work, but I think these are the first that aren't based (solely) on design and graphics.

Matt

Slashdot not on the list?

[Jade E. 2]

Just in case you haven't gotten tired of posts theorizing why /. isn't on the list, try this: It's not there because the rest of the world has yet to recognize Zealotry as a science.