Content

• To step
• Method 1 of 7: Play games
• Method 2 of 7: Watch videos and listen to music
• Method 3 of 7: Finding fun, random things
• Method 4 of 7: Learn and discover
• Method 5 of 7: Using social networking sites
• Method 6 of 7: Having fun without the internet
• Method 7 of 7: Exploring computers as a hobby
• Tips
• Warnings

If you're in the mood for instant entertainment, all you have to do is sit down at your computer. It doesn't matter what you like to do for pleasure, because the options are endless. Watch new games, chat with your friends, watch funny videos or create your own content to share. If your computer works, you will never be bored again.

To step

Method 1 of 7: Play games

1. Look for fun games online. If you are bored you can have fun with one of the many online games. It doesn't matter what kind of games you like to play, because you will always be able to find something cool that you can play for free.
   • For example, look in an online database of free games, such as:
     • Spele.nl
     • FunnyGames.nl
     • Addicting Games
     • Newgrounds
     • Mini clips
     • gprime
     • PC Gamer
     • FreewareGames
   • If you like immersive RPGs (role-playing games), you can also try the following games:
     • Minecraft
     • Clash of Clans
     • World of Warcraft, or any of Blizzard's other games.
2. Look for the flash versions of classic arcade games. Have you ever played Asteroids or Centipede? No? Then you have not lived yet! For fast loading games you can check out Andkon and [1]. Also all the arcade games below are available online as a free flash version:
   • Super Mario Bros.
   • Missile Command
   • Contra
   • Donkey Kong
   • Carnage
   • Galaga
   • Pac-Man
   • Tetris
3. Use Steam to install games on your computer. If you're interested in more free games to install on your computer, then you can use the Steam client. You can find this client for free at steampowered.comLearn more about how to install Steam in this English guide. Here are some examples of popular games you can install:
   • Team Fortress 2
   • League of Legends (Separate Client - Not through Steam)
   • War Thunder
   • DOTA 2
4. Develop your own video game. If you're feeling ambitious, you can try making a simple game yourself at MIT Scratch's site. Scratch allows you to create a game that other people can play. You can talk to other people, play each other's games and peruse game studios. It's great fun, especially if you're a gamer.

Method 2 of 7: Watch videos and listen to music

1. Watch original content on YouTube. YouTube has videos of everything you'd like to see - from wacky videos of cats making crazy noises to images from outer space. Search for topics you like or check popular channels to subscribe to. Below are some examples of popular YouTube channels:
   • Pewdiepe - Video games and commentary on video games
   • HolaSoyGerman - popular Spanish-language comedy
   • Smosh - video games and nerd humor
   • EpicMealTime - insanely decadent meals
   • CollegeHumor - funny videos and sketches
   • JennaMarbles - popular comedy and vlogs
   • nigahiga - popular comedy and vlogs
   • Machinima - video game and movie reviews
2. Make your own YouTube video. Do you want to go "viral" yourself? If you make your own videos and put them online, you can have a lot of fun with your computer. Here are some ideas to get you started:
   • Start vlogging
   • Review your favorite foods and drinks.
   • Record funny skits with your friends.
   • Clutter through your wallet or purse and describe what's inside.
   • Do a "haul" video: tell us what you just got from the supermarket, library or mall.
   • Teach us a "life hack".
3. Watch movies on the internet. On the best sites, you will have to pay for high-quality movies, but you can also find videos without having to waste money.
   • Pay sites for streaming video include:
     • Netflix
     • Hulu Plus
     • Amazon Prime
     • Vudu
     • iTunes
   • Free streaming sites without spam or other advertising include:
     • Hulu
     • YouTube
     • Folkstreams
     • UbuWeb
     • MetaCafe
     • Veoh
     • Vimeo
4. Listen to music online. Computers have changed music forever. Digital technology is just as important to the music industry today as guitars are. You can see that in the way the music is recorded, but also in the way we listen to music nowadays. Below is a list of great (almost) free ways to listen to music online:
   • Pandora Radio
   • Grooveshark
   • Spotify
   • Soundcloud
   • Bandcamp
   • DatPiff
5. Listen to a podcast. Podcasts are like free radio shows that cover all kinds of different topics. Check out PodCastOne or PodBay for a variety of free podcasts to listen to. It seems almost everyone has a podcast these days, from professional wrestler Stone Cold Steve Austin to author Bret Easton Ellis. Below is a list of some of the most popular podcasts:
   • The Apples and Pears Show (NL)
   • Hybrid Writer (NL)
   • RadioLab
   • This American Life
   • The Nerdist
   • Hardcore History
   • Stuff You Should Know
   • Adventure Zone
   • Joe Rogan Experience
   • Savage Lovecast

Method 3 of 7: Finding fun, random things

1. Go "window shopping". Do you have some time to spare, but no money to spend? Go shopping online, but don't buy anything. You can buy almost anything online and it can be a lot of fun to shop around and compare prices - from clothes and shoes to lots and villas. Make a wish list of all the things you want. Just be careful not to waste all your money.
2. Plan a dream trip. Use Google Maps to explore new cities and see local attractions on Wikipedia. Then go to Expedia and compare flight prices, or check the offers on AirBnB or the ads on CouchSurfer. Once you know where you want to go, you can start saving to make your dreams a reality.
3. Visit random websites. A "random website service" is a website that sends you to random, wacky and interesting websites. You will be hours ahead as you scroll through all the different links. There are all kinds of random website services, including:
   • The Useless Web - theuselessweb.com
   • Pointless Sites - pointlesssites.com
   • StumbleUpon - stumbleupon.com
   • Reddit FIR (Funny / Interesting / Random) - reddit.com/r/firwebsites/
4. Learn a magic trick. Do you want to impress your friends the next time you see them? Try a card trick or a coin trick. There are many places on the internet where you can learn such tricks at your own pace. One of the most popular sites is that of GoodTricks (goodtricks.net), but you can also find many useful instructional videos on YouTube.
5. Make some art on the internet. Creative mood? You can find many different types of drawing and painting services online, ranging from the crazy to the super professional. It is convenient that these services are available online, because you do not have to install anything yourself. Popular websites are for example:
   • DoodleToo - doodletoo.com
   • iScribble - iscribble.net
   • Queeky - queeky.com
   • Sketchpad - sketch.io/sketchpad
   • DrawIsland - drawisland.com

Method 4 of 7: Learn and discover

1. Explore Google Earth. Google Earth allows you to study almost any place in the world in more detail. Using Street View you can even walk the streets of Tokyo or try to find Al Pacino's house. Find your own house to see if someone has left a window open.
   • If you want to put your topographic skills to the test, look up GeoGuessr. GeoGuessr shows you a random street photo from Google Earth, of which you have to guess where the photo was taken. The closer you are, the more points you get.
2. Go through some lists. Want to see a list of the world's best 25 sandwiches in .gif format? How about the 20 toys that kids from the nineties love? Buzzfeed, Upworthy, Slate, The Awl and AlleTop10Lijstjes.nl have all kinds of hilarious and interesting lists of random things you didn't even know you liked! Check them all out to kill some time and zero your mind.
3. Surf the Deep Web. The Deep Web includes all online data that is not searchable because it is neither indexed nor cataloged. Still, there are ways you can access that data. The Deep Web contains more than 300 times as much data as the superficial web. Imagine what you can find in those mysterious, invisible ones.
4. Read the local and regional news online. You can find news that is important to you on the websites of local news sources. Read the stories you find interesting. People are becoming less and less involved in their local news sources. This means that the average internet user knows more about the lives of celebrities than about the life around them. Use the internet to learn more about what's going on in your area.
5. Take a free online course. Develop skills and improve yourself while having fun! Massively Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are free and easy to find. It is like walking in the famous halls of Harvard, only then at home. Find free courses by browsing databases like this one.
6. Read cultural or specialized blogs. Whatever you're interested in, chances are there is a whole community on the internet that is too. Do you like games? Visit the PC Gamer or IGN websites to learn more about the latest games. Music fan? Check out Noisey, OOR, Pitchfork, Aquarium Drunkard or Brooklyn Vegan. Shop around a bit and find a community of like-minded people who share the same interests as you.
7. Travel back in internet time. If you're curious about what the internet looked like ten or fifteen years ago, there is a handy way to travel back in time. The Internet Archive has built a tool that allows you to view old versions of websites.
8. Read and contribute to wikis. If you're already here, you might as well be doing your part! Wikis like wikiHow and Wikipedia can only survive on the content generated by users, and by users who are willing to perform all kinds of essential tasks to maintain the site. Contributing to a wiki can be a rewarding and fun activity - from checking recent changes to starting new articles.

Method 5 of 7: Using social networking sites

1. Chat with your friends. Yes yes, you have of course already thought about this, but you might learn a new way to estimate with your friends. Go to Uberfacts and see who can come up with the most random topic of conversation. Share links, photos and videos that will make your friends laugh.
   • Facebook, Skype, Kik Messenger and Google Mail are probably the most used chat services, but Yahoo !, AOL and chat generators from other email services are also available for old-fashioned instant messaging (IM).
   • If you feel lonely, you can try video chat with your friends. It can make you feel like you are actually chilling out with them. Just don't video chat with people you don't know well. Reach out to an old friend and start video chatting on Facebook or Skype.
2. Use Facebook or create a Facebook account. Facebook is an excellent way to kill time. You can upload content, check other people's updates and talk directly to your friends. It's a great way to connect and have fun with your computer.
   • If your feed is boring you can start looking for people you don't know. Your best friend's great-niece probably has a Facebook page you've never seen. For example, check out her vacation photos from ten years ago.
   • You can also add content yourself. Research has shown that people who spend more time viewing other people's content and less time adding their own content are more depressed and bored than people who post more content themselves. Update your status, add some photos and write on the timeline of others.
3. Compose a few Tweets. Create a Twitter account and start following celebrities, your friends and other interesting Tweeters. This way, if you haven't already, you can get involved in the hashtag community. If you can compose concise and witty tweets, you can build an outcome. You can entertain your followers on a daily basis with ridiculous tweets. You can also start a Twitter fight with Nicki Minaj or John Smith. Just kidding, don't do that.
4. Write reviews on Yelp. Have you ever been to a restaurant that you had a strong opinion about? Surely. You might as well put that opinion online, can't you? But seriously, posting real reviews is an excellent way to pass time and have fun. Let your voice be heard.
5. Pin some cool finds to Pinterest. On Pinterest you can find all kinds of fun facts, clothing, lifestyle hacks and recipes that you can share with others. Pinterest is easy to browse, making it an excellent resource if you have no idea what to do online for fun. Create a page and start pinning!
6. Look for a nice internet forum. Without internet forums, we would never have had the concept of the "meme", the "lulz" or the well-placed .gif. It can be difficult to get used to the forums at first, but there is a large community for every type of subculture - from punk rock to skating, to anime to video games. Find a good forum related to your interests, create an account and start chatting - but do it safely.

Method 6 of 7: Having fun without the internet

1. Change your desktop background and screen saver. Bored? Give your computer a makeover. People who are good with computers call this the "desktop theme". You can start by clicking “My Computer” and then “Control Panel” on a PC, or by opening “System Preferences” on the Mac. You can also do a lot of things by giving your computer a makeover:
   • The look and colors of your computer change.
   • The sounds of the computer change.
   • Change the mouse settings.
   • Change the display settings.
2. Change your background. Visit Google Images or websites that specialize in desktop backgrounds and look for cool wallpapers for your computer. Sharks wearing party hats? Why not. Be creative: choose a photo of your favorite singer, a cool pattern, or a nice photo from your favorite magazine or brand.
3. Change your screen saver. Scroll through your photos and choose a new screen saver, or download a new one. You can also choose to have a slideshow of your photos play (meh) or choose one that looks like The Matrix (bold!).
4. Turn the screen upside down. Press the combination CTRL-ALT- ↓. This works on both the Mac and the PC.
5. Listen to music. Have fun at the computer by listening to the music on your computer. Dig through your playlists to find fun music. Create a new playlist to dance to, meditate to, or exercise to - take the time to organize the songs properly. Set iTunes to shuffle to shuffle all songs, then try to guess which song is playing. Turn on the iTunes or Windows Media Player visualiser / visual effects so that you can watch something while chilling out. You can of course also choose to listen carefully to all that beauty.
6. Take some pictures. If you have a webcam, you can mess around with photography a bit. Take fun selfies, make strange still lifes for the computer, or just play around with the filters on your computer. Make yourself look like a crazy alien with a weird nose, or gland a little bit with the colors to make it look like you're seasick.
7. Photoshop some pictures. If you have Photoshop installed, you can crop some photos and create new meme-worthy photos. Do you want to stick your grandmother's face on Sylvester Stallone's body? Then you are well on your way.
8. Keep a digital journal. In the Middle Ages (such as the 1970s), people kept diaries in which they wrote about their lives with utmost eloquence and detail. Bizarre, huh? But if you can't access the internet, it's a great way to spend a few hours in front of your computer. Open a word processor and just start writing about your day. For example, keep a sports or food diary. Who knows, you might like it so much that you switch to your own blog at some point.
9. Record a song. Most newer computers have a built-in microphone and software that allows you to record and manipulate songs (or sounds, at least) in an instant. You don't have to be super talented or even have an instrument to make music. Record yourself humming, turn on the "distortion" and listen to the disturbed sounds you can make yourself. Read random passages from the Bible, then record the sound of your dog snoring. Lay the two recording layers on top of each other and you have an avant-garde masterpiece!
   • Act like old school DJs: record a podcast of yourself and talk about your favorite tracks in between songs. Choose songs with a specific theme and create a playlist, then record your voice as you talk about your favorite songs. Do it with a friend for even more fun.
   • Mix songs together, change the settings of Bob Dylan songs to make them sound like death metal, or mess around with death metal to make it sound like lounge. Slowing down songs by 700% was also a hype recently, from phone ringing to Nickelback records.

Method 7 of 7: Exploring computers as a hobby

1. Learn to code. If you are a bit fed up with the “standard” ways of experiencing computer fun, why not take your passion to the next level? Learning how to write code enables you to develop your own computer programs from scratch. It's a bit like learning a new language and can be a daunting task, but it won't do you any harm (and will also look good on your resume).
   • There are one a lot different programming languages. While there is no one “right” way to learn to code, the following five languages ​​are usually recommended for beginners:
     • Python
     • C / C ++
     • Java
     • Javascript
     • Ruby
   • Check out CodeAcademy.com for free interactive tutorials for multiple programming languages.
2. Learn web design. Do you spend a lot of time online? If so, consider learning the basics of web design. This way you can create your own sites and give back to the online community! Basic web design skills overlap quite a bit with the programming languages ​​described above (many sites use Javascript, for example). On the other hand, skills like HTML programming give you the opportunity to do web-centric programming.
   • Here is a short list of sites that offer free web design courses:
     • GeekChamp.com
     • WebPlatform.org
     • Berkeley.edu
     • Learn.ShayHowe.com
3. Explore new operating systems. Did you know that you don't necessarily have to use the operating system that came with your computer? Yes, you can run Windows on Mac computers, PCs can run Mac OSX, and they can both run user-created operating systems! As it can be a bit tricky to install properly, if you have any problems, please check the help page for the program you are using (or read our articles).
   • To run Windows on a Mac, use:
     • Boot Camp (this program is standard on most Macs and is also available as a free download).
     • A Parallels program, such as Parallels Dekstop 10 for Mac.
   • To run a Mac OS on a PC, use:
     • A bootable USB drive
     • A virtualization program, such as Virtualbox.
   • Also consider alternatives, such as Linux and Ubuntu - these are free operating systems that work on the Mac as well as the PC!
4. Adjust your computer. If you can't get the performance you want from your computer, you can consider unscrewing the computer and replacing the hardware. Depending on what exactly you want to do, this can be surprisingly easy. However, since it is all too easy to damage the fragile components inside the computer, it is important that you only do this if you know what you are doing.
   • Here are some components you can modify or replace to improve computer performance:
     • [[Installing a graphics card-The graphics card]
     • The sound card (This will not improve the performance, but it will increase the sound quality)
     • The fan / cooling system
     • RAM memory
     • The processor / CPU
     • The computer can also get faster if you remove all the dust. Just make sure you are grounded, as static electricity can destroy a computer!
   • If you feel particularly ambitious, you can make computer maintenance your hobby. Some people enjoy taking computers apart and reassembling them again - just as some people enjoy tinkering with cars. Best of all, this hands-on skill gives you a natural understanding of the inside of computers that most people can only dream of.

Tips

• If you are creative and like clothes, you can go to Polyvore and click "Create". Here you can combine your favorite clothes. If you like animation you can create an account and animate yourself. It's completely free and a lot of fun!
• If all else fails, you can search Google for fun software. This allows you to find something fun that you can mess around with.
• Try something new if all the items in this list bore you!
• View the browser history when your children use the computer. It could just be that you stumble upon something nice!
• Try some websites for kids! Some can be really fun.

Warnings

• Be careful when looking for "freeware games" on unknown websites. Some “free” games are infected with viruses and / or malware. If in doubt, find out how trustworthy the site is (Wikipedia often has articles about dangerous websites and software) or stick to “open source” games.
• Know that not all information on the internet is reliable. Books are usually a bit more secure!