I've been meaning to to post this link for the past two weeks. My Monday Japanese instructor introduced us to these sites. They basically make it 100x easier to read Japanese articles.
http://www.hiragana.jp/en/
Go to any Japanese site and it'll add furigana for you. Makes reading soo much easier.
http://language.tiu.ac.jp/
Copy/paste text into the box, and it'll give you a list of vocabulary, PLUS tell you what level it appears on the JLPT test. It'll say if it's 1kyu level or if it doesn't apply to the test at all.
Obviously these links are for those at least in the lower-intermediate level. I hope it's useful
Also, two more links I forgot.
http://www.iknow.co.jp/
Japanese flash cards. Great for absolute beginners to those aiming for 2kyu. Has a beginners course for kana, so I'd recommend trying it out. I'm using it to increase my vocab, although I haven't used it as much as I like over the winter break. ^^;;
http://lang-8.com/
If you make it, they will correct it. Keep up a journal in Japanese and others will help ya out. All they ask in return is that you correct others too. I've only done a few articles so far, but I normally get corrected within at least an hour of posting. Highly recommended!