ANIMATED SHORTS: ICEBOX www.icebox.com/icebox/new_showcase.html Reopened for business and ready to dish out some good anime. Creators of shows like The Simpsons offer cartoons such as The Elvis and Jack Nicklaus Mysteries (the King and Golden Bear as a crime-fighting duo). First episodes are free; 25 cents to 40 cents a pop after that.

BANKING: BANKRATE.COM http://www.bankrate.com/ Comparison shop for certificates of deposit, atm fees, home and car loans, and more. The site collects financial data, which it sorts geographically, so you can find the best and most accessible deals.

BASEBALL: BASEBALL PRIMER baseballprimer.com/clutch A lively weblog devoted to the national pastime. Posts the latest news (from trade rumors to think pieces on Jason Giambi's hitting philosophy). Visitors pitch in with their comments.

CAR SHOPPING: CARSDIRECT.COM http://www.carsdirect.com/ The end game of most car-buying sites is to push you into the arms of a dealer. But at CarsDirect.com you can select a make and model, compare rebates and incentives, configure vehicle specifications, arrange financing and make a payment, all in one fell click.

CIVIC GUIDE GOVSPOT.COM http://www.govspot.com/ Excellent gateway to a host of useful government and civic sites. Check your Social Security benefits. Find out how much your neighbor paid for that house five years ago. Learn how to change your name. Remove yourself from junk-mail lists. E-file your taxes.

CONSUMERS' REPORT: EPINIONS http://www.epinions.com/ Magazine reviews are fine, but sometimes it's helpful to read the opinions of everyday people who have to deal with the products every day. Epinions' buyer reviews offer you just that from the mouths of complete strangers.

DOING GOOD: NETWORK FOR GOOD http://www.networkforgood.org/ Finding a way to be of service can be a full-time job, but thanks to this site's Volunteer Search, you can easily connect with a nonprofit that's near you and needs your skills. A special section highlights timely crisis-relief efforts.

DVD RENTALS: NETFLIX http://www.netflix.com/ Rent movies by mail for a flat monthly fee ($20). Keep flicks as long as you want before returning them in postage-paid envelopes. The site lets you watch trailers and read reviews before you add titles to your wish list.

EVENINGS OUT: CULTUREFINDER.COM http://www.culturefinder.com/ Useful for planning evening entertainment when you're out of town. Get listings and program schedules for theater, dance, classical music and opera events in more than 1,500 U.S. and Canadian cities. You can purchase tickets via telephone with a credit card.

FANTASY LEAGUES: SPORTSLINE.COM fantasy.sportsline.com A robust set of tools for fantasy-sports players is what separates this from the rest of the sports-sites pack. Join a league to match managerial wits with other webbies, or host a private, customized competition.

FREE GAMES FLIPSIDE http://www.flipside.com/ Play your favorite games against others. Flipside features traditional pastimes, from bridge to backgammon to blackjack. Die-hard game addicts will also want to check out Pogo.com and Yahoo Games games.yahoo.com).

FUNNIEST SITE: THE ONION http://www.theonion.com/ Dead-on deadpan satire of current events (MILITARY PROMISES "HUGE NUMBERS" FOR GULF WAR II: THE VENGEANCE) and pop culture (BOOK-CLUB MEETING DEGENERATES INTO DISCUSSION OF OSCARS). Warning: not for the irony impaired.

GENEALOGY: ROOTSWEB.COM http://www.rootsweb.com/ Everything one needs for researching a family tree, including a free database of 181 million ancestor names.

HEALTH HUB: WEBMD http://www.webmd.com/ Hard to beat for basic medical info. Get the lowdown on the condition that ails you, locate a doctor in your area. You can also check out the drug and herb directory for the latest news and discoveries. Or consult MayoClinic.com.

NET RADIO: SPINNER http://www.spinner.com/ The free player program is a snap to download and easy to customize, with plenty of channels to suit any musical taste, from new indie and mod punk to bossa nova and jazz. (Owned by AOL Time Warner.)

NEWS AND DISCUSSION: FARK.COM http://www.fark.com/ Links to the day's strangest, silliest and scariest news stories posted on the Web, with message boards inviting users to comment. Lots of fun.

OVERSEAS-TRAVEL: HANDBOOK U.S. DEPT. OF STATE www.state.gov/travel Even when the U.S. isn't at war, it's a good idea to check whether the government has issued any travel warnings for the country you're headed to. The site also posts global crime rates, traffic reports and hospital ratings.

PARTY PLANNING: EVITE http://www.evite.com/ Take the headache out of organizing potluck dinners and other casual get-togethers. Send out snazzy e-mail invites, post maps and directions, and keep track of R.S.V.P.S. (Not recommended for weddings or formal dinners.)

PC AWAY FROM HOME: GOTOMYPC http://www.gotomypc.com/ For a monthly fee ($14.95 or $19.95, depending on length of contract), this service lets you access and remotely operate your work or home PC from any Windows computer with a Net connection. Try it for free for 60 minutes online or 30 days, whichever expires first.

PEOPLE FINDER: CLASSMATES http://www.classmates.com/ Locate former school sweethearts and chums by designating the school you attended. Registration required but free.
PHOTO SERVICE: OFOTO http://www.ofoto.com/ Share your snaps online by mailing in a 35-mm roll or uploading your digital images. Do some minor editing and order Kodak prints at decent prices.

RARE BOOKS: ALIBRIS http://www.alibris.com/ Virtually no out-of-print book is out of reach for Alibris, an emporium of rare, first-edition, foreign and otherwise hard-to-find volumes.

RELIGION: BELIEFNET http://www.beliefnet.com/ Thank God: Here's a multi-faith community open to talking about whatever's on your mind or in your soul without proselytizing. Religion shopping? Key your credo into the Belief-o-matic to find the closest-fitting faith.

SHOPPING: BIZRATE.COM http://www.bizrate.com/ Comparison shop online for everything from apparel to electronics to housewares. BizRate.com also provides user-submitted ratings of merchants. Also check out DealTime http://www.dealtime.com/).

TECHSPEAK EXPLAINED: WHATIS.COM http://www.whatis.com/ Plain-English encyclopedic explanations of all things tech, from general computing terms like broadband to the more obscure jargon you come across in product manuals.

TUNES OF THE TRADE SPUN http://www.spun.com/ Think of it as a fantastic music store, minus the crabby clerk in the Ramones T shirt. Buy new and used CDs, dvds and games; exchange your old goods for store credit. If something isn't in stock, Spun will e-mail you when it arrives.

TV CRITICS: TELEVISION WITHOUT PITY http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com/ It takes some time to read through each snarky episode recap of popular TV shows like Dawson's Creek and Ally McBeal, but you'll find yourself sucked in by the critics' love-hate relationship with the programs they spend so much time analyzing. You'll also laugh out loud. The site was formerly known as Mighty Big TV.

URBAN LEGENDS: SNOPES http://www.snopes.com/ Was a bound pair of hands found atop a building near ground zero? (Yes.) Were a bunch of 9/11 domain names registered before the attacks? (No.) Urban-legend hobbyists David and Barbara Mikkelson debunk non-WTC myths too.

WORLD NEWS: BBC news.bbc.co.uk If international news is your bag, the Brits do it best. In-depth articles on what's happening around the globe, plus cool multimedia features. Coverage of the U.S., in partic-ular, is worth a look for the BBC's detached perspective.

'ZINEs: SALON http://www.salon.com/ A fresh blend of news and features, from Washington politics to counterculture book reviews. Some articles (including adults-only fare) require subscription, but the comics are free. When you're done, you can head over to Slate http://www.slate.com/) for more.

AMAZON.COM http://www.amazon.com/ The place to buy things.

EBAY http://www.ebay.com/ The place to auction things.

YAHOO NEWS dailynews.yahoo.com Top stories throughout the day.

EPICURIOUS http://www.epicurious.com/ The Web's best recipe database.

GOOGLE http://www.google.com/ Find everything.

INTERNET MOVIE DATABASE http://www.imdb.com/ A movie fan's dream: archives include cast credits, actor and director bios and movie trivia.

PAYPAL http://www.paypal.com/ Web money: send or receive payments via e-mail.

WEATHER.COM http://www.weather.com/ Best of the weather sites.

QUICKEN.COM http://www.quicken.com/ Manage your personal finances.

MAPQUEST http://www.mapquest.com/ Driving directions galore as well as maps from around the world.