<I>Family PC</I>'s Best Of The Web
How do you know which Internet destinations are the most useful when it comes to parenting, cooking and helping the kids with homework? Family PC magazine's editor-in-chief, Robin Raskin, appeared on The Saturday Early Show to explain four of the magazine's top picks for family Web sites.
With all of its intended ease and speed, that Internet can require a great deal of patience, Raskin points out. Web surfers burn a lot of time clicking around in search of information. To find the information you need fast, bookmark a few top sites to serve the needs of your family, Raskin suggests.
Family PC asked its editors and writers to scour the Internet in search of the best sites in family-oriented categories like parenting, education, personal finance and travel. The sites were chosen based on ease of use, design and content. Here are four of the magazine's picks.
Family.com
Family PC proclaims Family.com the top pick for overall family needs. This site offers family-oriented functions and ideas for holiday projects. For Halloween, you can choose from a list of costume ideas.
Family.com has parenting information, including checklists and problem solvers. The site is very easy to navigate, says Raskin, adding that the instructions and recipes are always easy to follow.
Refdesk.com
Refdesk.com is Family PC's pick for at-home research and fact finding. The magazine says this site lives up to its promise of being "the single best source for facts on the Net."
This site, says Raskin, is well designed and very easy to use. Refdesk.com can access several online encyclopedias as well as daily newspapers and headlines from across the country. There is even a built-in version of Webster's dictionary.
Quicken.com
Quicken.com is Family PC's top pick for personal finance. The site is highly respected for having easy-to-use and helpful personal finance information, Raskin says. It goes beyond bill paying and offers great information for aging baby boomers, including such information as deciding how much to set aside for retirement, choosing the right IRA, and determining how to allocate a 401(k). Quicken.com also tackles issues such as taking care of aging parents and whether to buy long-term care insurance.
Travelocity.com
When it comes to booking a family vacation or any kind of travel, Travelocity.com gets very high marks from Family PC. Travelocity.com was a winner in the magazine's test of travel Web sites. It has great tools for booking flights, cars, hotels, vacation packages and cruises, Raskin claim.
Travelocity.com also boasts detailed guides of more than 400 destinations. Raskin says the "Vacation Finder" function and the printable custom miniguides for domestic and international trips are very useful.