BEST OF THE WEB: Cool Items from Newspaper Web Sites

By: Kathryn Blaze Carlson It's Friday. Kick back and and enjoy the best of today's newspaper Web sites, compiled for your surfing pleasure.

Off the Rails
Los Angeles Times
Photo Gallery and Map
Los Angeles Times staff

From rail to resto, this L.A. Times photo gallery and map simplify life for subway riders in search of a satisfying meal. The online feature goes through the underground system stop by stop, listing off chic eateries and lesser-known spots that offer commuter lunch specials. With more and more people opting for the underground and leaving gas-guzzlers at home, the feature is especially friendly to first-timers.


Comic Strip Shootout
Albuquerque (N.M.) Journal
Cartoon Competition
By Albuquerque Journal staff

The Albuquerque Journal staff wants your opinion: should it go with Agnes, the "young girl who lives with her grand mother," "has really big feet," and "an even bigger imagination," or should the paper opt for Frazz, the "janitor who, as all the kids know, is really in charge of their elementary school"? Help the Journal decide which comic strip namesake will star in the paper's comics page. In the most recent battle of the comics, "Get Fuzzy" beat out "Hi & Lois" by a margin of 4,209 votes to 3,655 votes. Check out the Agnes and Frazz cartoons and then cast your vote on the Journal's main site here (scroll towards the bottom of the page). Note: Voting ends July 18.


Can You Keep the District on the Right Path?
Rapid City (S.D.) Journal
Online Game
By Rapid City Journal staff

Think you have what it takes to efficiently manage a school district? Test your district-managing skills in the safety of your own home or office -- no need to experiment in reality. Partake in the Rapid City Journal's online game "Can you keep the district on the right path?" and find out what district officials are up against (ie: gas prices, student population decline, and leaky roofs).


Mongolia Post-Election Riot
The New York Times
Photo Slideshow
By Shiho Fukada

Leave it to the Times to deliver a compelling photo slideshow. This gallery, appearing in the World section online, depicts scenes from Mongolia in the wake of a recent election riot. Inflation and corruption were the likely catalysts for the unrest, which prompted the government to shut out the media, stop the flow of alcohol, retaliate with violence, and impose a four-day state of emergency. Importantly, Mongolia is known as "the only democracy between the Sea of Japan and Eastern Europe."


Twitter iBlog
Chicago Sun Times
Twitter Blog
By Kevin Allen

If you're reading this post, you're probably not in line buying the new 3G iPhone. The anxiously anticipated version of the sleek and popular device launched today at 8 a.m., and Apple aficionados flocked to stores to nab the gadget. Feel like you're missing out in all the fun of exhaustingly long lines and the excitement of leaving the Apple store with this new tech toy? No worries -- the Chicago Sun Times "hit the streets" to live Twitter blog the launch. Kudos to the paper for capitalizing on Twitter, the social network and micro-blogging service that allows users to send updates (AKA "tweets") to a site via text-message. The Sun Times twitterer, online producer Kevin Allen, cracks us up with his nearly minute-by-minute tweets.