Interacting With the Best of the Web

Tired of refreshing your browser on business-as-usual? Why not use the SXSW Interactive Awards finalists as a jumping-off point to explore new sites, and sounds, and all-around oddballness.

Case in point: Breaking Bad: Interrogation, a tie-in to the AMC show that functions as a sort of graphic-novel choose your own adventure. It's a finalist in the Amusement category; we think its stiffest competition is the British know-your-civil-liberties game The Curfew, but I'll be damned if I could figure out how to play it.

You could lose hours to the Mural Explorer, one of five nominees in the Art category. A project of the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program, the site offers photos, videos, and commentary on some of the 3,000 murals the organization has been involved with since its inception. Another nominee, the Johnny Cash Project, is a crowdsourced artistic take on the eternal Man in Black -- "a living, moving, and ever changing portrait."

And that's just a drop in the bucket. Check out the finalist list – with handy links included – and start discovering your new web must-visits now.

The 14th annual SXSW Interactive Awards, emceed by Chris Hardwick, take place Tuesday evening, March 15 at the Hilton Austin Downtown.