So many internet phenomenons are devoted to the spectacular, like hilarious pranks or people with impressive talents. So I find it refreshing to see two sites devoted to the mundanely average.

 

AverageCats: This LOLCat parody revels in the averageness of pets. In their own words, "AverageCats is a site that has pictures of cats. As you may have noticed, nearly all cat pictures include captions. And these captions usually personify the cat in some way or another. What the internet fails to realize is that most cats do not think like people. They think like cats. AverageCats seeks to remedy this misinformation by providing a helpful, pictorial primer on cats."

My Life Is Average: This FML parody site from the same folks that brought you AverageCats also glorifies mediocrity. "MyLifeIsAverage is a place to share your everyday mediocrity. It is a place to post the mundane things in your life, and read about what makes life normal for other people. We believe that for every fail story, or good story, there are about a million normal stories. So tell the world what makes your life average. Anyone can submit a story, because everyone's lives are unexciting and insignificant at some time or another."

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Editor Robert Tracy sends in this gem: Unnecessary Quotes.

Everybody has that friend who incorrectly uses air quotes. But somehow, it's worse to see incorrectly used quotation marks in print. We see them everywhere: signs that indicate America's misunderstanding of grammar, punctuation, and especially quotation marks.

Go forth and enjoy the painful inaccuracy.

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Facebook’s advertising policy is a huge source of confusion, particularly when it comes to the issue of photo use.

Facebook has been using user photos for sidebar ads for awhile now. They run these advertisements from their own advertising system and let your friends know if you are connected with a product or service. However, third-party ad networks have recently been using user photos for ads in a manner that most likely violates Facebook’s terms of service, according to All Facebook, an unofficial Facebook resource.

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Co-worker Ryan Claunch directed my attention this gem of the Internet: SexyPeople-Blog.com.

Described as the "celebration of the perfect portrait," this blog features submitted photos of the most awkward variety.

Browse through the hilarious categories, such as "'80s," "Acid Wash," "Braces and Caps," "Matching Outfits," "Bowl Cut," "Double Exposure," and (my personal favorite) "Stache??"

AMAZING. Don't thank me. Just enjoy.

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iPhone apps. There are some you can’t live without, such as Facebook, TwitterFon, or Shazam. But others… well, there are some that boggle the mind, forcing you to contemplate why someone would go through the trouble of creating it and why others would actually spend money on it. These are those Useless Apps.

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FAIL. The term has swept the Internet in hilarious and embarrassing ways.

According to Wikipedia, "Fail" is the name of a popular Internet meme where users superimpose the word "fail" or "epic fail" (using Impact font) onto embarrassing, ironic, or compromising photos or short videos. The meme is widely believed to have come from the arcade game Blazing Star. When the player loses, the message "You fail it! Your skill is not enough!” is shown.

Enter FAIL Blog. Peruse the site and you’ll find submitted pictures and videos that expose various fails. It's impossible not to laugh as you scroll down the site.

It’s pretty addictive, too. If you’re like me, you’ll find yourself looking for fails in real life. Someone runs into a pillar while walking from their car to the office? Walking FAIL.

Raining on Easter and your dyed eggs are bleeding dye all over your hands? Easter FAIL.

Get a Chinese symbol tattoo that you think means “peace,” but really means “obese?” FAIL.

Make a joke that no one laughs at? FAIL.

Fail on, everyone. Fail on.

 

See a site you think should be highlighted on this blog? Comment below or get in touch with me on Twitter!

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I just discovered this gem today, thanks to a friend on Twitter, @emilypennington.

Awkward Family Photos is just what it claims to be... awkward family photos. People submit them and others comment. And we all enjoy.

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The following is a blog post I wrote for my own blog, Urban Living, back in February. That morning, I had noticed that one of my journalism professors was having students sign up for Twitter accounts. Knowing how confusing Twitter can be when you first start out, I wrote this post in an attempt to help Twitter n00bs and particularly journalists who are new to Twitter.
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One of the strangest phenomenons on the Internet is the growing obsession with cats. Bizarrely, pictures of cats with writing on them has become a funny and cool form of jokes and expression among geeks.

For an explanation of how this trend came to be, Wikipedia actually has an article explaining it all: History of Lolcats.

Here are a few sites worth checking out:

Lolcats:  The original.

The World Famous Random Kitten Generator: Want to see a picture of a kitten? How about infinite pictures of kittens? Here's your site.

Kittenwar: Which kitten is cuter? Spend hours picking the winner. Don't forget to check out the "winningest kittens" and the "losingest kittens."

 

Find a kitten worth sharing? How about another site you'd like to see posted on this blog? Let me know in the comments section or send me a message at http://twitter.com/samanthaurban.

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Welcome to "What in the Web?," the neighborsgo blog all about technology and fun things to do on the Internet. Know any sites we should highlight here? Let me know!

 

In the meantime, follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/samanthaurban.

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