I can’t remember the last time I had this much fun on a website. It is one of the simplest ways to make a video I have found. Just upload your pictures, choose a style and music (available on the site, or upload your own), then add it to your website.

You can use photos from a variety of sources: your computer; your account on onetruemedia, flickr.com, or photobucket.com; an image url; or stock content. Registration takes about a minute and after you add your pictures there are a variety of ways you can tweak the video. You can rotate pictures, zoom in, or apply effects. You can either use your own music or the music from the sample songs on the site.

You can use this site to make a video of any of your photos: pictures of your children for their grandparents, pictures of your youth group for your church website, pictures of items for a church auction, or just pictures of your friends. After you are done, the site will walk you through how to add the video to Facebook, your blog, Google or Yahoo! groups, Myspace, Piczo, Friendster, or any other website.

www.nymbler.com

This is a fancy high-powered baby naming website. Features allow you to search for or choose a name and find out facts such as the name’s origin, its peak year for popularity, and three-year trends. There is also a neat chat that shows frequency of the name per one million babies. Another useful attribute of the site is the area that provides inspiration for other names that are of the same origin, that sound similar, or are similar in style. The power of this site is that you can mark each name as “add to inspirations” or “add to my favorites” and keep a favorites list. Whether you are naming a baby or a new pet or helping your five-year-old name a new doll, or if you just want to see how popular your name is, this is a great site to play on.

www.travelpod.com/traveler-iq

Here is a quality educational game you can play online or on Facebook. It tests your travel and geography IQ. And it’s really encouraging. I thought I was awful at geography, but this game makes me feel like I know more than I thought I did about places around the world. If you have kids in school, have them try it. If you struggle with geography, this is a fun way to learn. The game times how long it takes you to find London, England, for example. You click on the world map where you think that city is located, and the game tells you how many miles away you are. It then tallies your points. There are some other fun things on this site as well. Check out travel blogs, travel photos, and more.

www.twitter.com

Twitter is the new hot site in the world of “micro blogging,” where people publish brief text updates on the Internet, text message, email, or ipod. Twitter facilitates these updates (also called “tweets”), which can be up to 140 characters long. You can post them using tools you (or your kids) are already using, such as your instant messenger program, cell phone, or mp3. People can see these tweets on their sms, rss feed, email, or other program like Facebook or a blog.

This way people always know where you are and what you are doing. Instead of calling one friend on your cell phone to say you got last-minute tickets to the Final Four, you can twitter your entire social circle in about two seconds.

www.justsayhi.com/bb

This site has some fun toys to add to your blog. Here you will find quizzes, widgets, and other cool things to stick on your blog. Some of them are not worth looking at, but there are enough good ones to check out even if you don’t have a blog. For example, try some of the quizzes. See how many countries you can name in five minutes, or take the geek quiz to find out how much “geek” is coursing through your veins.

My two favorite things at this site, however, aren’t the quizzes. They are the bumper stickers for your blog and the blog awards sections. The bumper stickers include electronic stickers like “This blogger is addicted to coffee” or “Warning: cat on keyboarddddfggdef…” And you can give a blog award even if you don’t have a blog. I just gave a blogger an award that said, “You have just been awarded a strong cup of coffee.” Keep in mind that, like all websites, there are some bumper stickers and awards here that are not worth giving.

www.buildyourwildself.com

This website is sponsored by the New York Zoos and Aquarium and the Wildlife Conservation Society. Do you remember the children’s book Where the Wild Things Are? You can build your own version of your wild self right here. It’s a lot of fun. Choose your body, your face and clothes, and then start having fun by choosing which animal legs, arms, and head pieces will make your wild self. o