I'm halfway through my next post on rewriting the Beginner's Guide, but I'm just too tired to go on. Losing three hours coming over to New York doesn't help, either. So, I've turned my attention away from the project for now and thought I'd ask something a bit more participatory of the crowd here...

What are the 5 industry-related websites (excluding the search engines themselves) that you learn the most from - the 5 that you couldn't live without (or at least, couldn't earn as much without)?

I'll share my answer:

1. Techmeme
   If I visit Techmeme a couple times a day, I can be virtually assured that there will be no "big" conversations in the blogosphere or the tech world that I'm missing out on. That alone is worth its weight in gold. I really can't remember how I survived without it, but I'm pretty sure I had to do a lot more skimming to find the signal.
2. SearchEngineLand
   In search, there's no better source for industry-sepcific news. The columns on advice are occassionally good, too, but I find the majority of the value comes from Greg, Barry & Danny, who won't let any of the big or important stories fall through the cracks.
3. SEOBook
   Aaron's ascerbic take on the engines' motivations and his solid understand of the economics of web properties make his advice the most valuable single source I read.
4. Cre8asite Forums
   When I need help with a topic or a resource where I know plenty of folks smarter than I will rush to the rescue, I turn to Cre8. Kim Krause has built a property that is 100X better than forums 100x its size, thanks to the quality of people and contributions - no small feat.
5. Reddit
   I know, I know, technically it's not in the search or technology industry. However, the stories I find there, particularly some that never make it past page 3 give me a view into what the influencers of the web are enjoying and reading, even if it's outside the insular world of blogs & tech. It's also the best way I've found to have good stories to share at dinner conversations when everyone gets tired of talking about the latest top blog list.

Sites that even I'm shocked didn't make the list include Roundtable, MarketingPilgrim, ResourceShelf, Sphinn and about 3 dozen others. Maybe I'm just not the kind of guy who can only live with 5 sites.

Now it's your turn - which 5 sites would you be unable to live without? Feel free to leave live links to the URLs and don't worry about needing to explain your choices if you don't want to.

p.s. My guess is that 50% or more will list Facebook #1.... <sigh>...