I started compiling this list of lists because I was amused that they started coming out weeks ago, with much of the secular year to go. Since then, many more Top Whatever Lists have come out. I've added many over the weeks and could spend the next month tracking additional commentary, but won't. This list of lists is inherently incomplete.
All these links worked as of 12/31/06, though some had intro screens and some lead to further links.
A list of lists covering 2006
News and information lists:
- Top 25 Censored News Stories of 2007 from Project Censored. Printed in Disinfotainment Today, this is the list that got me started. Presumably, they mean a list to talk about in 2007 of stories censored in 2006. I'd hate to do all these things over again. See also Top 10 Censored Stories of 2006 from 2005 and note how few of them are being covered yet. Further lists predicting 2006 in "Predictions from last year" section below.
- Top Ten Stories You Missed in 2006, an oft-cited list from Foreign Policy.
- Top 10 Censored News Stories of 2005-2006 from Project Censored published on Metroactive.com, a more pure listing of neglected stories with references but not links.
- Censored Stories from the Tucson Weekly.
- Top 10 News Stories of 2006 from associatedcontent.com.
- 2006 list of 10 Most Censored Countries from the Committee To Protect Journalists has one glaring omission: The US.
- 2006 list of 10 stories the world should hear more about, from the United Nations.
- Dear AlterNet Reader: Top Ten Stories. Most popular stories on alternet.org August 1-October 4, 2006.
- Top Ten Myths About Iraq from Juan Cole.
- Most Outrageous comments of 2006 as compiled by Media Matters.
- Cartoons of the Year 10 published in Time during 2006.
- Top 10 Scams of 2006 from Consumer Affairs. Some old favorites, some new. Includes video.
- YouTube top ten for 2006 from the Sydney Morning Herald. I assume there are a lot of these kinds of lists but the Aussie view is a different take.
- Top 10 Stories of 2006 from National Geographic.
- 15 Most Popular News Stories from National Geographic.
- Top Ten Animal Stories of 2006 from National Geographic News.
- Top Ten Videos of 2006 from National Geographic News. Geeze, they're really into lists these days.
- Socially responsible companies, from Money.com. Their second annual ranking of global 500 companies, with other links.
- Top Ten Desktop Diversions 2006 as compiled by Business Week. They claim all of these are work safe diversions.
- 20 strangest gadgets of 2006 from Tech Digest.
- Hayek Tops Best Nude Scenes of 2006 claims zap2it.com. Interestingly enough, I've seen precisely none of these films. Ah well, let's hope Netflix has 'em...
- Most Popular Search Terms the 2006 Year-End Google Zeitgeist.
- Top Searches of 2006 from Yahoo.
- Top Searches for 2006 from ask.com.
- AOL Top Searches of 2006. All about the weather.
- Top Fads of 2006 from Lycos.
- Most popular time-shifted TV shows and other lists from Nielsen Media Research as compiled by lostremote.com.
- 2005 Privacy Year in Review from the Electronic Privacy Information Center. Issues from January 2006 with issues to watch in 2006.
- Top ten data center stories of 2006. Geek out with searchdatacenter.com.
- Ten Stories about Election 2006 from Fairvote.org, though the article is from before the election.
- Top Ten Migration Issues of 2006 from the Migration Policy Institute.
- Top Ten Pediatric Stories of 2006 from Journal Watch, published by the New England Journal of Medicine.
- 2006 10 Worst Toys List as compiled by W.A.T.C.H.: World Against Toys Causing Harm.
- Ten Best Books of 2006 claims the New York Times.
- Top Ten Canadian Films of 2006 per the Toronto International Film Festival.
- 10 Most Wanted Stories of 2006 about the ad industry from AdFreak, a blogger for Ad Week. You have been warned.
- Ten best stories of the 2006 NASCAR season by Tom Tuttle of Sports Illustrated.
- 10 Stories You Loved in 2006 as raved about by the readers of MSN Health & Fitness.
- Best Places to Live in 2006 from Money.
- Biggest News Stories of 2006 from Firing Squad. Video Game news and stories.
- P.U.-litzer Prizes for 2006 as compiled by Norman Soloman of The Huffington Post.
- Top 10 Bizarre World Cup News Stories from MSN UK. Penalty for using your hands to type these in.
- Top 10 news exclusives of 2006, network myths and threats topped the list from SearchNetwork.com
- Top Words of 2006 from The Global Language Monitor. An interesting compilation of their take on Top Words, Top Catchphrase, Top Name, Top Politically Incorrect Words (though they don't seem to understand what that means), Top YouthSpeak Words, Top Chinglish Words and other lists as they add or change the blog. Not definitive but worth a look.
- Year in Review: Best of 'Best of' Lists from politicalhumor.about.com. Some redundancy with this list of lists.
Notable numbers from 2006:
- U.S. has second worst newborn death rate in modern world, report says, from CNN.
- Half of 2007 cars sport iPod integration, says a survey for Playlist.com
- Happiest stories of 2006 from MSNBC.com. Two lists, one voted on by readers and an editors' pick.
- US listed as one of the Extensive surveillance societies, at or near the bottom in several categories, from Privacy International.
- Global Security Round-Up in 2006 from the BBC. Major security flashpoints of the year.
Non-year-specific lists:
- Top 10 Biggest Computer Flops of All Time says Miguel Carrasco. A list of failed computers.
- Ten Scientific Frauds That Shook The World from the Neatorama blog, citing only one book for all of them. I don't recall being shaken, but never mind.
- Top 10 Lies of Corporate Partners from former Mac Evangelist Guy Kawasaki.
- Ten Most Fattening Cocktails, from Forbes (though you have to skip the ad and look at pictures to find the exact cocktails).
- The 25 Best things ever said, by anyone, a DailyKos Diary entry.
- The Top 20 All-Time Stupid Republican Quotes. Another DailyKos Diary entry.
- Best Cartoons Not on DVD, a slightly outdated list from October in Associated Content.
- Top Ten Weirdest, Creepiest, Freakiest Children's Television Shows from the blog Fireflies In The Cloud.
- All-Time Best Cartoon Characters from Bullz-Eye. Heavy on recent animation and ignores anime.
Predictions from last year
mostly misses, but some hits.
- 15 Failed Predictions that the end of the world would happen in 2006 from Religious Tolerance.
- Worst Predictions of 2006 from Businessweek. 20-20 hindsight, but a good compilation.
- Global Predictions for 2006 from the BBC.
- Predictions for 2006 in Media, Technology, and Pop Culture, a toungue-in-cheek, idiosyncratic mix from Fimoclulous.
- Top-10 2006 Emarketing Tech Predictions from iMedia.
- Web 2.0 Predictions for 2006 from Dion Hinchcliffe. Too geeky for me to say whether these proved correct.
- 15 Search Predictions for 2006 from Google Blogscoped.
- Ten Amazing Predictions for 2006 from Juan Cole.
- Annual 2006 Psychic Predictions from Elizabeth Baron. She's wrong a lot, but I give her props for leaving her predictions on the net. Most psychics have taken their predictions down.
- Predictions for 2006 from the readers of Paranormal Phenomena at about.com. More wrong than any other list. This is why I shy away from bloggers blogging. And these are Time Magazine's Person of the Year.
Predictions for 2007
- Top 10 Concepts You Need To Know for 2007 from Popular Mechanics.
- Top Ten 2007 Security Problems: Predictions from esecurityplanet.com.
- Top Ten Threats for 2007 geek predictions from ZDnet.
- Top Ten Forecasts for 2007 from The Futurist.
- Top 10 Artists To Watch in 2007 from pop music watcher Bill Lamb.
- Predictions 2006/2007 from a Tarot card reader, with commentary on the 2006 predictions.
- Predictions for 2007 AD based on scriptural arguments.
- Wild Predictions for a Wired 2007 by the Wired News Staff. Mostly serious.
- Predictions for 2007 from Alt at Wired. Not entirely serious.
- 10 Must-Do Adventures for 2007 from Fodor's.
What's your favorite list? Doesn't have to be one of these. Heck, make one up now.
