Website of the Day

Commemorate the fifth annual Data Privacy Day by learning how to be proactive about guarding your personal data — and sharing that info with other cybercitizens like yourself! StaySafeOnline.org's Data Privacy Day page is a comprehensive resource for good privacy practices on the web, with tips specifically geared toward kids, teens, educators, and businesses.

StaySafeOnline.org is provided by the National Cyber Security Alliance, a nonprofit committed to cyber security awareness. There are especially handy tips for mobile and social networking privacy that apply to any digital citizen, young or old, tech-savvy or not.

The site also includes detailed info on how parents can teach the next generation of Internet users about online safety and provides thorough educational materials for teachers at the K-12 and college level.

Check out StaySafeOnline.org, and let us know what new things you learned about being in control of your digital footprint.

This year, if you're resolving to watch, listen, or read more, start tackling your list with Done Not Done, an interactive online movies, music, and books checklist that pairs with a great iOS app to help save, remember, and discover your new favorite media.

Use the app to bookmark a friend's suggestion on the fly, and mark it as "done" once it's, well, done. You can also rate the media and leave a brief review for others.

The site pairs with either a Twitter or a Facebook account to create a profile and, if you wish, builds a network of friends and family who are using Done Not Done. See what's popular within your network, or buddy up with one other person and take on a media wish list together.

Done Note Done was created by the same people behind the design-y task web app TeuxDeux and the Gimme Bar bookmarking tool. Its interactive and animated interface made it fun and easy to figure out when we took it for a test run. Sign up for the site and let us know: what's on your wish list?

Conversation platform Branch, launched by Twitter founders Ev Williams and Biz Stone, is finally ready to bring civil discourse to the Internet. The startup came out of Beta this week and is opening its membership to the World Wide Web.

Branch wants to bring great conversations — the kind friends have over coffee, long drives, and intimate dinners about their passions and interests — to the web, with a new social network that promotes healthy, lively discussion without the noise (or the trolls).

Like Quora, Branch is a "high-quality" discussion forum based on topics. But unlike Quora, the site is heavily integrated with Twitter (thanks, obviously, to Ev and Biz), the interface is much more user-friendly, and creators can choose to end discussions.

The site just added a host of new features, including an activity feed showing your interactions with others on the site, the ability to highlight and comment on individual sentences, and audio-embed compatibility with SoundCloud and Spotify.

Do you think Branch will bring people closer together? Take a look at the current heated discussions over Android vs. iOS usage and Reddit, and then tell us what you think.

Watch Branch's introductory video after the break.

Doing the "Which Streaming Service Can I Watch My Favorite Movie On?" routine has gotten tired — we want one place to find entertainment options rather than the app-to-app hopscotch that is Friday movie night. Enter M-GO, a new pay-as-you-go streaming media service that wants to be your homepage for movie and TV content.

Currently accessible on Chrome, Internet Explorer, Safari, and Firefox browsers, as well as many streaming players and Blu-ray players, M-GO will also be preloaded on 2013 RCA, LG, Samsung, and Vizio smart TVs, with gaming console integrations and mobile apps coming soon.

How it works: Search the M-GO library for your movie or TV show of choice, then opt to rent (many films are $3, and the company hopes to have many titles on day of digital release) or purchase (around $14) the title. Should the program not be available for viewing through M-GO, it'll direct users to the external services where the movie or TV episode is available including Netflix, iTunes, and Hulu Plus.

Created in a partnership with DreamWorks and Technicolor, M-GO has major Hollywood backing, with licensing agreements with key studios including Warner Bros., 20th Century Fox, Paramount, Sony Pictures, NBCUniveral, and Relativity Media. See ya, streaming media maze of 2012, not that we'll miss you.

If you're drawing a blank when it comes to resolutions, perhaps Google's resolutions world map can offer some global inspiration. Users are invited to add their pledges to the map and see what others are resolving to do in 2013, too.

Two Google teams collaborated on the project: Google Maps, which plots the resolutions, and Google Translate, which converts them into 44 different languages. The interactive feature bubbles through submissions from around the world or lets viewers filter them by type (love, health, finance, etc.).

Share your own 2013 undertaking by clicking the blue field on the bottom and entering a postal code, country, and category. The map is completely anonymous, so no one's judging you for wanting to kick your online shopping addiction to the curb.

Some intentions are as ambitious as "peace for everyone" and as personal as "quit smoking," so submit what's on your mind and get moving on those commitments for the year with apps and websites that help you stick to your goals.

Hey bookworm, if you're already looking for your next read, the answer lies in your tweets. BookRx is a book prescription engine that analyzes hashtags, accounts followed, and words used frequently to create custom reading suggestions.

Just enter in a Twitter handle, and BookRX will match the account to six or seven different subjects of interest, offering the top-selling and most iconic books in each category.

The web app isn't perfect (it thought #pizza was most directly related to science and technology), but it's a neat artificial intelligence experiment by Northwestern University's Knight Lab. Give it a try and tell us — what do your tweets say about your reading preferences?

We've all heard of the popular Reddit subsections like AskReddit or IAMA, where each has well over a million subscribers. But there are plenty of awesome less-famous subreddits that deserve more credit. Here are a few of them:

Chemicalreactiongifs: If you're looking for a cool way to kill time, this subreddit is the perfect way to while away minutes. You don't need a chemistry background to enjoy the gifs and videos of the coolest chemical reactions. Gaze in awe when you watch a close-up of a kernel of corn popping in slow motion or find out what happens when lava interacts with ice.

SubredditDrama: This is where all the Gossip Girl-like action happens on Reddit. If you're looking for some dirt on "abusive moderators, internet fights and other dramatic happenings from other subreddits," this subsection is for you.

FindaReddit: Looking for a subreddit that suits your needs? Just post your request in FindaReddit and readers will suggest subsections that may apply. For example, if you're looking for a special reddit for studying or one that will give you gift-buying advice, just post in FindaReddit and there is usually commenter who'll offer some suggestions.

Read on for more cool subreddit suggestions.

Secret Santa is arguably one of the best holiday traditions, but if your friends aren't meeting in advance to pick a name out of a hat, get help from a tool that promises to keep the names a secret.

• Elfster will organize your party and gift exchange. As the organizer you set up the exchange, input money limits, sign up and exchange dates, and create an invite to send to guests. Once they accept and all guests are accounted for, Elfster "draws" names and then emails your guests letting them know who they need to shop for.
• Secret Santa Random Name Generator selects names for a Secret Santa group and automatically sends participants an email. All you need to share are email addresses, the number of presents for each participant, and names of the participants.
• Sneaky Santa delivers more than a cute name. The site lets you virtually draw names for your group, set up gift rules, and send an anonymous message to the participants. The design is a little old school, but you can customize your site with a picture, which means you have an excuse to Elf Yourself or Scrooge Yourself again!

The museum, gallery, and national zoo behemoth that is the Smithsonian is dedicated to educating the public about discoveries in the fine arts, science, history, and culture. And since they're such experts, the museum staff receives questions that range from "What should you do if a troculus invades your home?" to "What exactly is 'snarge'?".

In response to all that scientific inquisition, the Smithsonian launched Seriously Amazing, an interactive, educational website that features thought-provoking questions and mind-boggling answers.

Wondering what the answer is to the inquiry above? It's meteorites at the Smithsonian! Seriously Amazing covers every compelling topic under the sun — from pop culture to politics, nothing is left untouched.

The best part of the site is its social integration, which allows readers to share their discoveries via Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest, and email, with tailored content for each. If curious minds desire further reading, the Q&A quips link to longer articles from Smithsonian archives.

Seriously Amazing is also seriously well-designed and responsive, with tiles that move and expand as users click on them. The site embeds pictures from their expansive image collection and tweets from the Smithsonian and associated museums' Twitter handles. Explore the site, and then share your scientific findings with us!