Cool Sites
=== Solitaire
You know
the game. Well, there are a number
of variations and an easy way to make your moves.
What more could you ask for.
Try it and
see for yourself.
http://www.solitairebliss.com/
=== The Radio
The Radio
is a great way to listen to music online! It's so easy to use too. After the
short advertisement plays, you’ll be given a search prompt. Just type in the name
of your favorite artist or genre and hit Enter. That will start the searching
process for your artist or genre.
If there's
more than one match for your entry, you’ll get a listing of channels to choose
from. For example, I typed in Mozart and from my results, I had a lot of
different channels to select from.
Once you’ve
listened to a channel, you can click on the History tab to see the channels
you’ve already listened to. That's really helpful if you’ve switched channels,
but didn’t like what you heard and wanted to go back to what you were
previously listening to.
The
Channels tab lets you pick a channel to listen to from their default listing.
That's a great way to listen to a specific genre.
If you want
to stay on top of new developments and updates to The Radio, I suggest signing
up for it. You can help them make a better service by giving them your feedback
and you can stay up to date on what’s happening on the Web site. Just click on
the Sign Up for Beta link at the top of the page and fill out the form. It’s
that easy!
No matter
how you look at it, you’re getting great music streaming right off your
computer for free! You can change channels as your mood changes and you can
even keep track of your favorites. Just check out the Favorites tab for more
information on how to save your favorite channels and rate songs. Happy
listening!
=== One Across
Word
puzzles have always been something I’ve loved. I think it was a trait I
inherited from my mother. She still pours over the crossword puzzle in the
newspaper and you can find a plethora of word puzzle books on her bookshelves.
It’s really annoying when I do a crossword and only miss a few of the answers,
not to mention frustrating.
Here at One
Across, you can search not only the pattern answer, but the clue as well. Isn’t
that nifty? Talk about helping to narrow down the possibilities! I recommend
checking out the Hints for Searching link at the bottom of the page. Why? Well,
because it actually has very useful tips for getting the most out of your
search and it’s written plainly, so you don’t have to guess at what they mean.
And of
course, there is more help waiting for you here than just help with crossword
puzzles. You can check out the Cryptograms, Anagrams and Reference sections for
more help too.
Cryptograms
– Here you just paste in the encrypted text and click Go to get help with
decoding the puzzle. You can also click the links Easy, Medium and Hard to get
a random cryptogram if you were setting up a puzzle for others to solve.
Anagrams –
Here you can search anagrams and use the search tips below the search field for
the best searching results. They haven’t gotten the search hints up for this
section yet, so it’s a little more complicated of a search, but it works.
Reference –
Did you get the answer, but have nary a clue as to what it means? Well, at the
reference section, you can put in the word and search the database for a
definition.
Forum – Need
extra help? Well, you can always browse the forum where you can get extra
puzzle help, make suggestions and check out the announcements.
Whether you
are solving puzzles or making them up for your friends to solve, this is an
excellent site to check out!
=== The Longevity Game!
This age
tabulator calculates your age off of your responses to questions about your
general health, family background, and experiences. How long will you live based
on your answers?
I filled
out the questions and answered honestly. According to the age tabulator, if I
continue living the way I do now I could live until I'm 87 years old.
The neat
thing is you can go back through and answer as if you were living the
healthiest way possible and compare the difference. If I lived healthier I
could live up to 100 years old.
You can
also get to the other extreme and choose all the worst answers and see what
happens. With that set of answers I could live only until I was 41 years old.
Nice incentive to keep up my current health regimen.
It's only
twelve quick questions and only takes about two minutes to fill out—what age
will you tabulate out to?
http://www.nmfn.com/tnetwork/longevity_game_popup.html
=== CurioCity
CurioCity
is an interesting Science site that explores science itself, engineering, and
technology, but best of all it is interactive!
Do you have
questions about how something works? Or have you wondered why about something?
Well, then you should head over to the Ask Us section, and ask your question.
Just fill out the form on the right side of the page with your question, first
name, and e-mail address, grade level (if you’re in high school), City, and
your Province or State; then click the send your question button. Oh and make
sure to check the box that you’re over 13. The other great thing about the Ask
Us section is that you can browse through all the questions that have been
asked and see how they were answered.
I love The
Lab section where you can find experiments that you can try. There are a lot of
interesting and easy to do experiments. For example check out the Sudsy or
Slimy experiment. It is easy and something that you can do at your home with
minimal investment in materials (I had everything but the distilled water and
that was cheap to pick up). I love experiments like this that take an everyday
product like soap and show me how it is scientific.
Everyday
Science is a neat section all about the science of everyday things. The most
recent article is about the Science of 3D, which I’ve noticed has become a
popular option again for movies these days.
No matter where
you browse on this site you are certain to learn something in a fun and
engaging way. Pass this one onto your budding scientists, your kids!
=== Lost Vocals
I am a huge
fan of old movies, so you can bet your bottom dollar that I was excited when I
discovered this site! The site takes clips from old movies and restores the
actor’s real singing voice to the scene. You’ll also find they’ve also included
alternate tracks of scenes, or restored deleted lines. It’s really cool!
I stumbled
across this site while trying to find a clip from the Singing in the Rain, with
Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds. The movie is an all time favorite of my sister
and I, and I wanted to cheer her up with a clip. Then I discovered that they
didn’t let her sing all of her own parts!
So after
that I decide to check out some of the other videos, and when I stumbled onto
Ava Gardner’s “Can’t Help Lovin’ That Man of Mine” I knew I had to share this
with you. I grew up on the soundtrack of the Show Boat, so I was shocked when I
saw the movie and it wasn’t her singing, but now thanks to the miracle of
technology I can!
On the Main
Page you’ll find a set of featured videos, but if you truck on over to the
Videos section you’ll find even more! This site is a real gem, not only do you
get hear the real voices of the performers but most of the videos have
information about what you’re seeing, sometimes from the actor themselves.
Check it
out!
=== 1-800-Volunteer
Are you
looking for a place to do some volunteer work? Well, if you are, this Web site
makes it super easy for you to find the organizations that match your goals and
ideals. How does it work? Just search for opportunities that interest you,
create a free account so you can sign up and then you can start volunteering.
It is
really easy to start searching. It’s right at the top part of the page. You can
search by keyword or just by your city, state or zip code. There are even
advanced search options that really help you narrow it down and zoom right in
on what you’re looking for.
Creating
your account is very easy too. Just click the Create Account link at the very
top of the page. Here you are presented with some options. You can sign up as
an individual or as a group. Or, are you a member of an organization that needs
volunteers? If that's the case, you can post your events and even recruit
volunteers here. Just create an account for your organization.
Organizations
that need your help for worthy causes are just a click away. This is a great
way to be active in your community too. You can get local results, so you’re
giving back where you can see the difference. It doesn't get any better than
that!
http://www.1-800-volunteer.org/
=== Access my Library
Access my
Library provides free access to libraries all over the United States and Canada,
as well as, free access to over 30 million articles from premium sources.
On the
front page you’ll see all the categories of information that you can browse.
They are: Arts & Humanities, Business, Consumer News & Advice, Culture
& Society, Education, Government & Law & Politics, Lifestyle &
Personal Interests, Medicine & Health, News & Current Events, Science
and Technology.
As you can
see they have just about everything you might need right here. All you need is
a valid e-mail address, and a zip code. You don’t need a library card of or
anything. If you have more questions about that – check out the FAQ you’ll find
a link to it at the bottom of the page.
This is a
great free resource, check it out today!
http://www.accessmylibrary.com/
=== Old Car and Truck Pictures
I love old
cars and trucks, so I’m pleased as punch to be bringing you a site that is
devoted to them! To get to the images you need to scroll down the page until
you see “And now the old car and truck pictures”, beneath that you will find a
gallery of old cars and trucks.
You can
click the image or the link below it to enter into the gallery of your
choosing. Once you’ve clicked into one of the galleries you will find a lot of
information on that particular car or truck, as well as, more images of that
car or truck! There are even a few motorcycles tucked in among the cars and
trucks!
I really
love the Divco Truck, and the Crosley. Be sure to check out the Odds and Sods
section too – you’ll see some really interesting cars and trucks in there like
the Ricottis Alfa Torpedo!
This was a
fun site to check out; I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
http://oldcarandtruckpictures.com/
=== RIOT
Radical
Image Optimization Tool (RIOT) is a free program that lets you compress images
in your computer losing little to no quality. Here is how you can download and
use this free program.
Step 1-
Download the software
The first thing
you have to do is download the software. To download the software, go to the
following website: http://luci.criosweb.ro/riot/
Next, click on the download link, and download the software to your computer. The
download process should take the no more than a minute, because the file size
is only about 1 MB.
Step 2- Set
up the RIOT
Once the
download process is completed, extract or unzip the downloaded file. This can
be done with winrar or 7zip. Next, click on the setup file and start the
installation process.
Step 3-
Start compressing images
Once the
installation process is complete, you are now ready to start compressing your
images. To compress your images, open the program and drag an image file into
the window. Compressing images in this program is very easy and effective.
After you
drag an image, RIOT will then display two screens: a screen of the original
image on the left, and a screen of the compressed image on the right. RIOT will
then give the option to compress the image. It is recommended to select a
quality of 75 percent, because you will barely notice any change picture
quality.
Do you how
the file size nearly decreased by half when the quality is decreased to 75
percent? The file size decreases a lot of decrease the quality further.
The picture that was shown has a resolution of 3072 by 2038 pixels--which is a
lot. Notice how you not could barely make a difference in quality between the
optimized and initial image. This program was tested further by decreasing the
quality by 30 percent. The file size decreased to only 200 kilobytes, and the
picture still looked crystal clear.
This is a
great tool, it is strongly recommended to download it.
=== Soungle
This is a
neat site that lets you search free sounds like sound effects, musical
instruments, and such. I was looking for a gong noise to make play when I
started my computer up. I know I’m a dork, right? But anyways, when I found
Soungle I got really excited and typed in gong. They had 27 different gong
sounds!
Then later
in the week, I had someone ask me what a clarinet sounded like, so I got onto
Soungle and looked it up for them. There were 12 different samples of clarinet,
and they varied from a single tone to multiple notes being played.
Once you
find the sound you want, click download on that sample. A window will pop up,
you want to choose Save As, or Save File (depending on your browser) and just like
that you have that sample on your computer!
I also
thought it was fun to play multiple samples from the same instrument. For
example I looked up flute and then pressed play on a couple of the samples in a
row and they all played, it sounded like an orchestral warm up.
This is a
great sound site, check it out today.
=== Andrew Zuckerman: Bird
I cannot
begin to tell you how awesome this site is. I think it quantifies beyond words.
But I can tell you how to navigate it, and see for yourself how amazing it is!
Start by
clicking the OK button at the bottom of the page, this will take you into the
site proper. The navigation menu consists of the following categories:
Photographs
– here you will find a listing of each individual bird that was photographed
for the book Bird. Not only can you see them individually, you can hear them
too! If there is a little speaker next to the numbers for the individual photos
click it to hear what that bird sounds like. You can also click the words Bird
Information and learn about that bird specifically.
Films – I
watched all the films here, and I would recommend that you start with the film
entitled Aviary, and then watch the rest of the videos. I would start with
Aviary because it explains how the photo shoot came together, and how they
achieved such glorious images.
Book – here
you can look at the actual book, cover to cover. Use the numbers to along the
top to navigate through the book’s pages.
Info – here
you can find all sorts of information, including how to get to Andrew
Zuckerman’s site where you can see more of his work.
So what
happens when Andrew Zuckerman visits the National Aviary? Pure magic! Check out
these amazing images today!
=== Media Cope
Being a
computer user, a time comes for everyone when one needs a player other than
Windows Media Player. The time came for me too, so I downloaded a 3rd party
player and was happy.
Then came
the time when I needed to cut a portion from my video clips, so I downloaded a
cutter for each video format. If I remember correctly, I downloaded four of
those cutters. Same was the case when time came for audio cutters.
Now came
the time when I needed to put my audio/video files in my mobile device. In this
instance I really don't remember how many converters I downloaded. Same was the
case with photo cutters/converters, slide show viewers.
I was using
all these utilities until I found Media Cope. It can be downloaded for free
from http://www.mediacope.com
This
software provided me everything that I was using for my multimedia needs under
one simple and clean interface.
Media Cope
includes:
- Audio/Video Player
- Audio/Video Cutter
- Audio/Video Converter
- Photo Cutter/Converter/Resizer (Photo Cutter is wonderful and a dream come
true as its design lets you cut 100s of pictures in minutes manually. Yes, try
it for yourself to believe)
- Movie Like Real Time Slide Show Viewer (I always use it to view my pics with
music and movie effects)
As a bonus,
there are also a couple of innovative internet tools included:
- Web Image
Full Screen Viewer (Can zoom any image on a web page to full screen. I love it)
- Speak Text (Can speak any text on a web page)
Media Cope
supports almost every audio/video format including mp3, wav, aac, wma, flac,
m4a, ac3, rmvb, mp4, 3gp, wmv, mov, avi, divx, mpg, flv, mkv and vob. Also, it
supports almost every image format including jpg, bmp, gif, tiff, png, emf and
wmf.
Media Cope
is so easy to use that one can almost instantly start using it like an expert
after installation. If in any case you get a problem there is a very well
written help file that comes with it. Once you run Media Cope, you can see this
help file by simply clicking on the help button as shown:
Once help
button is clicked, a new window with all the help topics will open as shown
Everything is explained so well that you will say to yourself “Finally a help
file that is truly helpful”.
=== Nation Master
This is an
interesting site where you can check out and compare nations based on the
information in their database. This is your one-stop site to find your
country’s statistic on everything from soda consumption to crime rates. Not
only can you find different nation’s statistics, you can also find sections on
Flags, Maps, and even read articles from the Encyclopedia section!
The main
page that you start out on has an interesting article that explains how
everything works. You can also check out the FAQ if you have any more
questions. On the left side panel of the main page, as you scroll down, you’ll
find links to recent statistics, the most popular statistics, recent articles,
and more!
This site
provides an interesting look at the world we know! Check it out today!
http://www.nationmaster.com/index.php
=== Serious Eats
This is one
of my favorite blogs! It's called Serious Eats. You all know how much I love food,
and this blog just raises my food love to the tenth power!
This site
is worth visiting just for the mouthwatering images that they share of tasty
treats and savory dishes! Sometimes I visit and just scroll down the page and
eat with my eyes! But you’ll be glad to know that most of those mouth watering
images come with lovely articles about food.
At the top
of the page you’ll find a link to whatever food is in the food lab (when I was
there, it was all about chili) and you may even find a link to a quiz, but
you’ll definitely find links to hot recipes. I swear recipes are collectable as
postage stamps or coins! I adore lovingly adding a new recipe to my recipe
book. You’re sure to find some recipes here that will definitely make the cut.
Oh about that
chili article I was telling you about, you can check it out here in case it has
moved when you get there. I absolutely adore the way the recipe is broken down
for the reader, and the experiments that they tried with salt and beans.
I also
recommend that you visit this site with a snack in hand, because you are sure
to get hungry! Check it out today!
=== Design Sponge
This is the
other blog I’ve been dying to share with you. I just find it so inspiring! And
there are so many things that you can walk away from here with that you can put
use in your own life and space.
Obviously,
the site is set up blog style, but you’ll find a very hand side menu that will
help you find the DIY projects and Guides!
This is
another blog that has pictures that are just a feast for the eyes. I could
scroll down and just feel inspired by the different colors and textures that
are being highlighted, but that there are DIY projects and guides to help me
along in the practical aspect of designing my space – that’s just fantastic.
Check out
this amazing Take Out Binder project, that you can do with just a little time
and creativity. I can’t wait to make one of these, because we’re always
searching for where we last put the phone number for our favorite takeout
places!
And I was
absolutely floored to get to explore this creative proposal idea that combined
a lot of love with illustration and craftiness in order to pop the question!
There is a
section of recipes and videos too! I am currently exploring through those –
I’ve added a slew of these recipes to try out. I’ve been into making truffles
lately, and I’m happy to confess that they’re getting prettier!
I hope that
this site will inspire you to make your own space prettier, I know that‘s what
it does for me!
http://www.designspongeonline.com/
=== K9 Web Protection
K9 Web
Protection is free software that filters fraudulent, illicit, adult, and
pornographic content. It is a great alternative to software that charges you
for such service. To download K9 Web Protection go to:
http://www1.k9webprotection.com/
=== Google Privacy Concerns
Ever since
the Google Street View program was released in May 2007, many people have been
complaining about the privacy issues associated with it. Apart from seeing
their houses on Google's Web site, people have reported seeing themselves on
the Internet as well. Now, I'd say that's taking it a bit too far. If you
agree, here’s how you can keep your home and yourself a little more private!
1.) If you
don’t want your house to show up in the Google Street View program because of privacy
issues, all you have to do is click on the Report a Concern button.
2.) Next,
choose Privacy Concerns for the reason why you don’t want the image shown in
Street View.
3.) Now,
describe why you don’t want the image in Street View and then enter in your
e-mail address.
4.) Next,
move the Street View image until the red rectangle is centered over your
property.
That's it!
Google will then review your concerns and delete the image if they agree with
you. Yes!
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&tab=wl
===
Learning Games for Kids
I love
online games, but I really adore them when they combine learning and fun. These
are elementary level games, designed specifically to help kids learn.
On the main
page you’ll see the featured games, as well as, a side menu for navigation. The
games are split up into categories. They are:
Educational
Songs and Videos – here you’ll find songs and different kinds of videos that
will help teach your child things like slow motion science, or experiments.
Health
Games – here children learn about allergies, body parts, dental science, and
staying fit.
Art and
Music Games – here kids can explore Art at the Getty, musical matching, music
scales, and much more!
Math Games
– what an excellent way to practice math. Here your child will discover fun
math games that will let them hone their math skills.
Preschool
Games – these games are designed to entertain and educate a preschool level
child.
Keyboarding
Games – here you’ll find games that will help improve your children’s typing
skills. I love these games; I’m such a sucker for a typing game.
I played
all of these games, they were super fun!
Geography
Games – here kids can practice geography skills. There are challenges for all
the different locations in the world.
Science
Games – these games are divided up between Animal/Nature games, and Space
games.
Miscellaneous
Games – any game that doesn’t fit into the other categories is found here.
This is a
great way to reinforce the information your kids are learning in class in a way
that is fun for them.
http://www.learninggamesforkids.com/
=== ePetitions
Do you ever
get an email petition asking you to add your name at the bottom and pass it
along to all your friends? Regardless of the cause or how well meant the intention
of the originator was, such petitions are worthless. Why? Because
all the signatures you pass along are duplicated as each person signs their
name. And no government office or public agency would pay the slightest
bit of attention to a petition with so much duplication.
Well,someone finally recognized the need to provide a viable alternative.
It's a website called ePetitions.net.
Here's a sample petition so you can see an example.
http://treast.epetitions.net/
If you care enough about a cause and would like to circulate a petition, now
you have a very handy tool. Take a look. Oh, yes. And it's a
free service.
Kudos to you, ePetitions.net.
Here's a link to their website.
http://epetitions.net/
~Yale
Schwartz
=== Macaroni and Cheese Recipes
One of my
friends got married last summer, and has been trying to teach herself to cook.
The other day she called me up and asked me if I had a good recipe for making
macaroni and cheese. While I do have a good recipe, the instructions are a
pinch of this, and a dash of that – not a problem for me since I grew up making
it with my mom; but not great for a beginner.
So I went
hunting for a good recipe for her, and told her I’d e-mail the link to her.
I found a
site that is dedicated to just macaroni and cheese and the many ways you can
make it.
You’ll find
recipes here for: microwave, stovetop, oven, and crock pot preparations. You’ll
even find a recipe for fried macaroni and cheese balls!
You’ll also
find a link to give your macaroni and cheese a makeover that talks about mixing
up the cheeses you use or finding healthy pasta to use instead, or even what
you can add that will give it a zing!
Below the makeover
link, you’ll find a link to macaroni and cheese’s history! There you will learn
where about the history and what made Kraft decide to mass market it. At the
top of this section you can find a link to Cheeses. The Cheeses section
describes many different kinds of cheese.
Of the
recipes on here I can’t wait to try the gourmet version, and the fried version.
Which recipe will you try out?
http://www.macaronicheeserecipes.com/
=== Rules
of Thumb
There are
rules of thumb for virtually everything in your life; from advertising to
crafting, from dancing to exercising, from the miscellaneous to marriage. This
site captures all those rules of thumb in one place, so that you can find them easily!
On the main
page you’ll find the Featured Rule of Thumb, a search engine, The Main Rules
Collection (a category search engine), they also offer a desktop search engine
for free download, and a featured column.
Under the
Main Rules Collection, if you scroll down the page you’ll see that they’ve
given an example for some of the categories so you have a good idea of what
you’ll find there. I really like that.
If you’d
like to be a contributor you can sign up free. Just click the Sign Up Free link.
You’ll need to provide your name, a working e-mail address, and create a
password. Optional information you can provide is your occupation, city, state,
and country. When you have that all filled out then you can type in the
security code, and check the box that you agree to the terms and conditions,
then you can click the Register button.
Check it
out today!
=== Dog
Tipper
This site
is loaded with dog tips from dog lovers, as well as, cute pictures of dogs, dog
news, and dog contests. You’ll find navigation along the top of the page,
divided up into categories. The categories are:
Site
Features – here you’ll find the dog tip of the day, pet pro profiles, and
dogtipper contests! What I love about the dog tip of the day area is that it is
setup blog style so after you read the tip for today, you can scroll down and
read the tips that came previously to it!
News and
Reviews – here you will find the latest news, and more importantly you’ll find
pet product reviews that can help you decide whether or not you want to buy a
product for your dog!
Celebrity
Dogs – this is a fun section where you can check out which celebrities have
canine companions and what movies have dogs in them! There is even a Celebrity
Canines Blog!
Dog
Pictures – here you can get your daily dose of doggy goodness with the Dog of
the Day section! You’ll also find pictures of celebrity dogs, and have access
to the dog photo gallery.
Getting a
New Dog – practical tips can be found here for anyone who is considering
getting a new dog. You’ll find info on saving shelter dogs, choosing between a
dog and puppy, what breed is best for you and your lifestyle, budget tips and
even tips on bringing your new pal home! Be sure to check out the budget
section – the free .PDF has great dog biscuit recipes and great budget tips
that can help anyone with a dog!
Caring for
Your Dog – do you already have a dog? Well then you can get extra tips here for
caring for your friend. You’ll find tips on grooming and caring for your pet,
feeding and supplies, training and behavior, travel, and the one I really want
you to check out Health & Safety. Be sure to check out that section because
it mentions all sorts of safety information that I had never given any real
thought to. For example: preparing for cold weather, pool safety, dealing with
wild animals, moving your dog, traveling safely with your dog, and more!
This is an excellent
site for any dog lover to check out – if only for the doggie biscuit recipe! I
love to make dogs homemade treats. It’s cheaper and I know what is in them!
=== Encyclopedia of Life
This is not
your average encyclopedia. The Encyclopedia of Life is dedicated to collecting
information about the known 1.8 million species, as well as, collecting data
about any new species found.
My favorite
way to get started is to just click one of the images on the scrolling explore
bar. It is awesome to just dive in and explore a new species, or a species I’m
curious about.
But if you
want more direction on how to navigation you can take the Video Tour! Mouse
over Using the Site on the green navigation bar at the top of the screen and a
drop down menu appears. Click Video Tour and you’ll be whisked away to the tour
page. There are two videos. One is for navigation, and one is for the species
pages.
Once you’ve
selected a species to check out, you’ll notice that each page has an image of
the species you’re viewing, then a general overview, and the scientific
category that the species belongs in.
This site
provides an interesting way to learn about the species all around us, as well
as, those we never have the chance to come into contact with. Check it out
today!
=== Old
Photo Lab
Do you like
the charm of old photographs? Well now you can take any picture from today and
give it that old photo charm. Not only that it is easy and free to create old
photos from your computer.
To begin
click the English button at the top of the page (unless you can read Japanese)
– this will translate the important parts of the page into English for you.
I checked
out the images below the menu options before I dug into the site. If you mouse
over the images beneath the browse field you can see the images that they’ve converted
as examples on the site. The ones of the buildings and statuary are very cool!
You have
two ways to upload a photo you can chose the File tab or the URL tab. The File
option allows you to click the browse button to find an image stored on your computer’s
hard drive. Once you’ve selected an image click the Convert button. Now the
site will process your image – when it is finished it will load below the form
you used to upload it and there will be a Save button. If you like the way your
photo looks click the Save button, choose where you want to save it and you’re
good to go.
The URL
options works in a similar fashion to the File option, except here you will put
in the URL of the image you want to make look old. Then click the Convert
button and when it uploads the Save button just like in the File section.
Now you can
convert any of your new images to images with a retro feel – for free! Check it
out today!
=== Find Law
Welcome to
Find Law for the public. This means that you can find answers to your pressing
law concerns before contacting a lawyer. Find information on just about any
legal topic you'd ever want
The first
thing the site asks you for is your zip code. Why do they need it? Well laws
vary from State to State. Entering your zip code will help the site make the
information you are searching for more pertinent to you.
The side
menu is comprised of the search engine. Now you have a lot of search options with
this engine. You can search topics, the message boards, and even find a lawyer
near you.
I came to
this site seeking specific information. My mom fell at work and broke her knee,
now her doctor has forbidden her from going to work, so I wanted to make sure
she was entitled to her pay still or at least could avoid termination. I also
wanted to see if she needed to fill out worker's comp forms or other paperwork.
I wasn't sure they even had worker's comp where she works.
Turns out
Slip & Fall accidents are very hard to take to court, I wasn't looking to
sue anyone really so I headed out of the Accident Section and into the Employee
Rights section. It seems it's all up to her employer and whether or not they
have worker's comp. But I did learn a lot about my rights as an employee.
Use the
tabs at the top of the page to navigate through the different sections. When
you are in the section notice that the colored bar under the highlighted tab
also has more links for you to investigate.
There is
nothing like being able to be forewarned and forearmed when it comes to being
on top of legal information that you have to deal with. So browse around and
find the answers to your questions today.
=== Kid’s
Audio Books
When I was
growing up audio books were a real treat to me. I can remember checking them
out of our local library, and being sad when I’d gone through all the ones available
at our branch. With the arrival of MP3’s on the scene, audio books became even
easier to obtain and listen too. Here at Kid’s Audio Books you’ll find over 300
titles to download and enjoy with the whole family!
To get
started you can either click the MP3 Downloads button, or click the Complete
Listing link on the main page. I like the MP3 Download link better myself, it
takes you to the A-Z index. The letters are shaped with blocks and it’s just so
fun looking! It would be more fun for a child to explore, at least in my
opinion. The Complete Listing link takes you to exactly that - a listing of all
the titles in alphabetical order!
Once you’ve
found the title you’d like to download, click its link and if it is a series
you’ll then be able to choose which book you want to download. If it is a
single title, you’ll be taken to its page where you can click the download
link. Each story has a time next to it letting you know how long the reading
is.
This site
is going to be super fun to explore with your kids, or grandkids at that!
Because not only does this site offer audio books but you can also check out
the Coloring Books and Reading Books.
http://www.kidsaudiobooks.co.uk/
=== 50 Clever Tutorials and Techniques for Traditional Drawing
Okay, I’ve
always wanted to draw. But I have to admit my talent runs into the stick figure
variety. Yet, I’m still drawn to learning how to draw and while these tutorials
show a lot of how to draw one thing. I think if you’re clever you can apply the
techniques you learn drawing those things into the rest of your work.
I
particularly like the Gordon Ramsey tutorial – because it fills you on how to
pick a high quality photo to work from for best results. Better yet what you
need to look for to pick a photo that will really benefit you to work from.
I also
really love all the hand and feet tutorials because having talked to a lot of
artists around school they can be one of the most difficult parts of a drawing.
No matter
what your level of drawing is you can find something to try your hand at. I
think this is a great collection of tutorials that you can walk away with some
interesting information from.
=== Portable Applications for Flash Drives
I have
something really cool for those of you who use flash drives!
Usually, I
write about one or two free programs I have found, but today, I'm going to
write about an entire Web site full of free programs. The site is called portableapps.com
and it has tons of absolutely free applications that are designed specifically
to be installed on a flash drive. All of the applications can be installed on a
flash drive and instantly used on any computer you plug it into.
The Web
site offers a bundle of programs called a suite, which includes a word
processor, an e-mail program, a password utility, a calendar and even a Sudoku
game. I installed the suite on my flash drive and I just love it! I can take my
flash drive to any computer, plug it in and instantly have my documents and
e-mails, just like it's my own computer.
If you
don't want all of the programs, you can install them individually. There are
dozens of portable applications to choose from.
Here's a
quick note about installing the applications: make sure you have your flash
drive plugged in when you download the apps. After you start the installer, it
will ask you where you want to install them. To do it correctly, choose the
drive letter of your flash drive and then continue on with the installation.
That should be all you need. Enjoy!
You can
check out all of the portable applications right here.
=== Best
Crosswords
Here you
can find daily crossword puzzles from both sides of the pond. You’ll find two
daily American puzzles and two daily British puzzles. Be warned this site is
highly addictive. I found myself not only lost in it for hours solving
crossword puzzles but also coming back to it day after day.
To begin,
you can select one of the daily crossword puzzles or you can click the green
Puzzles tab at the top of the page. There are four different options on the
puzzle page: Guest Constructor, Casual Interactive, Casual Printable, and Competitive
For some of
the puzzles you’ll need to register for an account (for example: the
competitive puzzles). Registration is easy, just click the Sign Up link, then
create a username and password, provide a working e-mail address and you’re
good to go.
If you run
into any problems I highly recommend the Help section. It has separated the
help question into those dealing with java and those that have become part of
their FAQ.
This is an
awesome crossword puzzle site, bookmark it today!
http://www.bestcrosswords.com/bestcrosswords/Home.page
=== Pixadus
I love this
site. It gives me a real pick me up feeling whenever I’m down!
Basically
it is a photo site devoted to Nature Photography, but it is set up blog style
instead of gallery style. You just scroll down the page and view the images,
and when you reach the bottom of the page you can either select the Next Page
option or you can choose the page number you’d like to view.
I like to
start on the last page and work my way backwards but with 9000+ pages of photos
that’s quite a task. There are other ways to view the photos, and you’ll find
most of those options near the top of the page. They are: Recent Popular, Newly
Added, Most Popular Today, Recently Up-Voted, Recently Commented, Most Popular
Ever, Random Best, and Tags Cloud. On the main page beneath the advertisement
on the right side of the page you’ll find a listing of Tags that you can view
by as well.
Another
cool thing about this site is you can vote the photos up or down. Up if you
like it, and Down if you don’t.
Do you have
a fantastic Nature photo you’d like to share? Then click Post a Pic up by the
viewing options at the top of the page to be whisked away to the Upload form.
This is an
awesome picture site that you can easily loose hours in checking out all the
neat images posted there. Check it out today!
=== Lotsa
Helping Hands
Welcome to
a site that is devoted to helping you create Community. Whether you’re taking
care of an ill loved one, or just trying to keep in touch with someone whose
spouse is deployed, or maybe you just want a place where your whole family can
stay in touch – this is the place for you to create your community for free.
On the main
page you’ll see many examples for what the site can be used for – after you’ve
decided what type of community you want to build, I’d recommend checking out the
How it Works tab. After you’ve read through their handy information on you can
begin creating your community right from that page just by clicking the orange
Get Started button.
Now fill
out the form with the name of your community, what type of organization it is,
your name, a working e-mail address, zip code, and then click the Create
button.
You’re
ready to begin creating your community! Won’t it be nice to be able to get
together from anywhere just by checking the community and staying in touch? I
wish we had found something like this for staying on top of what was happening
in my grandfather’s health.
http://www.lotsahelpinghands.com/
=== Paperless Post
Do you need
to send out invitations? Why not save trees and send out paperless invitations
with this site Paperless Post. Designing is free, and you get 25 stamps to use
free too! (After your free 25 – the stamps do cost money, just so you know! You
can earn 5 stamps per friend referral though!)
Registration
is easy, just click the Create an Account button, and you’ll be whisked away to
the sign up page. There you will fill out the form with your name, e-mail
address, and then create a password. Check the box to agree to their terms, and
then click the Submit button. Now go check your e-mail for the confirmation
letter, click the envelope to confirm your account and you’ll be whisked back
to the site to get started!
Creation is
easy with their creator application – it takes you through step by step and
will even offer you wording assistance. You’ll start by selecting a style of
card, and then a motif for it, and then you’ll design the wording, and
envelope!
You can
make custom invitations that are gorgeous and send them out via e-mail for just
about any occasion. You can even monitor them with the tracking section.
This is an
awesome way to send out amazing and professional invitations and save trees at
the same time!
http
://www.paperlesspost.com/session/new
=== Origami Diagrams
I love
origami! It seems like every time summer starts, I get into making paper
crafts. There is just something so fun and at the same time calming about
folding paper into amazing designs. You can look back on it when you’re done and
realize that it was just a square of paper when you started, and now, it’s a
crane, or frog, or box.
The box is
by far and away one of my favorites, because you can put stuff in it! I like to
make them for presents when I’m giving away jewelry or trinkets, or heck,
anything small enough to fit in the box! People really seem to enjoy getting
them too.
Origami is
also a great way to keep the kids entertained for an afternoon. Just print off
some design and give them some paper and ta-da! You’ll have busy children!
This is an
amazing database of origami designs! They range from simple projects to complex
ones. And you can use the search engine to sort the projects by difficulty. You
can also search for models by name or the date they were added.
Oh! And be
sure to check out the Origami Gallery, you’ll find the button for it at the top
of the page. You’ll be able to see finish products and get a link to a larger
and more recently updated gallery as well. I adore the roses at the bottom of
the page.
Check this
one out today!
http://dev.origami.com/diagram.cfm
=== Speechable
I found
another great site that lets you add speech bubbles to your favorite photos! It
is very easy to use and when you are done you can share your photo via e-mail
or your favorite social networking site.
To begin
just click the button for the way you want to upload. Your choices are directly
from your pc or from a URL. After the image has uploaded you will be on the
creation page where you have three options of how to customize it. You can
Bubble, Ab Text, or Doodle.
Bubble –
clicking this will open up the bubble tool where you can select the shape of
your bubble, as well as, the border and font style. You can also drag the
bubble around the image to place it where you want it. To add text to the
bubble, you’ll need to click on the Type Here text. It will give you a cursor
and you can type in your text.
Ab Text –
this will give you a text window to just add text to your photo. You can change
the font and color in the handy text tool that opens. You can resize the text
box by clicking and dragging the green circles on the text box. And you can
move the text box to where you want it by dragging it there.
Doodle –
the doodle option basically gives you a paintbrush that you can doodle on the
photo with. You can change the size and color of your paintbrush with the
doodle tool box that opens.
When you’ve
finished your photo you can click the Save button. This will take you to a page
where you’ll be provided with a link to share your image and the option to
share it over several different social networking sites. (Click the Share This
button to get the options to come up.)
If you
don’t like what you’ve done, or have made a mistake and need to start over at
any time before saving, just click the Undo button. You’ll find it next to the
Save button.
This is an
awesome site for adding speech bubbles and text to your images. Check it out
today!
=== Iconspedia
Are you
looking for a good icon, would you like it to be free? Well then, you’ve come
to the right place. Iconspedia offers you quality icons for free in many fun
categories!
On the main
page you’ll find three highlighted sections – Featured Icons, Latest Icon
Packs, and Random Icons. Next to those on the side menu you’ll find a plethora
of categories: animal, brands, business, cartoon, computer, food & drink, games,
holidays, internet, media, movies & TV, nature, objects, phones, sport, and
vehicles.
Do you make
icons? Well you can submit your icons to the site by clicking the Submit Icon
tab, filling out the form, clicking the browse button and selecting them. When
you’ve got everything filled out and ready, click Submit Pack.
To download
an icon, find one you like (or a pack) and click the download link – your
option are .png files or .ico files. You can even select the size you want on most
of the downloads!
This is an
excellent database of free icons! Start downloading!
=== Paper
Modelz
I find the
art of papercraft amazing. So when I found this site I couldn’t wait to share
it with all of you. Here you can check out marvelous papercraft, but more
importantly you can download the patterns for free to try making them yourself.
Navigation
of the site is blog style. Just scroll down the page and see the wonders in
paper to explore. When you get to the bottom click either the >> button
or the next page number, or you can browse them by categories by using the menu
on the right side of the page.
The
categories are: Animal, Building, Cartoon, Cute, Electronic, Fantasy, Food,
Games, Japan, Military, Miscellaneous, Natural, Origami, Paper Boxes,
Uncategorized, and Vehicle. That just goes to show the incredible diversity of
projects on this site!
If you’ve
found one you want to try out yourself, you’ll be looking for the link
following the description of the project. It will be something like Get it
Here, or Download Here, or even just Source.
If you
don’t want to try your hand at these papercrafts, you’ll still be wowed by the
gigantic range of things people have made out of paper and how realistic they
are. My favorite papercraft from this site was of the Le Sagrada Familia which
is a cathedral in Spain. It was exquisitely captured in paper and you can see
it here on the site!
===
Foodista
I know I’ve
brought you a lot of interesting encyclopedias over the years, well I’ve found
another great one to add to your bookmarks! That’s right Foodista is an amazing
cooking encyclopedia!
Here you
can search recipes, foods, techniques, and even tools – just by using their
handy dandy search engine! For example type in braise. Then choose braising
from list (it brings up everything that has braise as a keyword which makes for
a lot of interesting, mouthwatering browsing if you get distracted) and you’ll
be taken to the page about the technique braising. It is by far and away one of
my favorite ways to cook food.
On the braising
entry you’ll find a definition of the term, images of what braised food can
look like, recipes that involve braising, and even the Wikipedia definition.
Back on the
main page you’ll find a listing of most recently edited topics, as well as,
recent blog topics, and if you scroll down the page you’ll find different ways
to explore the site.
The
categories for exploration are: Explore Foods, Explore Tools, Explore
Techniques, and Explore Recipes – much like what you can search for with the
search engine. Under each category there is a listing of items that fall into
its heading that you can check out, and if you click the More link for any of
them you’ll get a full alphabetical listing!
If you love
cooking, trying new recipes, or just exploring foods you are going to love this
site!
=== Know
Your States
How well do
you know the United States? Here's a chance to find out.
http://jimspages.com/States.htm
=== Next
Stop
What are
your favorite things to do in town? What is really worth seeing where you live?
Not only are these questions I can answer readily but with Next Stop I can
share my recommendations with the whole world, and guess what, you can too! If
you were coming to Toledo I’d recommend you check out the Toledo Zoo, and the
Art Museum. Both are well worth exploring on a visit to Toledo.
Next Stop
provides you with recommendations from local people to the location you
selected. They also allow you to write recommendations for your town as well.
Their focus is on short and positive recommendations.
To get
started recommending place you’ll need to get registered. To do so is easy;
just click Join Next Stop at the top of the page. Fill out the form with a
username, e-mail address, and then create a password and click the Create
Account button. Once you’re registered, you’ll be automatically logged in and
on your profile page. Here you can edit your information and get started with
your recommendations and guides. I don’t have time to write a guide at the
moment but I did make two quick recommendations. Check them out here. The way
the profile page is setup, you have a guide for what to do every step of the
way because they explain everything so beautifully.
Be sure to
check out the challenges section, you can write guides that will help out
charities and more. For example, I’m going to go back and write a guide about places
to eat in Toledo, so that they’ll donate 5lbs. of food to America’s Second
Harvest Food Bank.
Don’t want
to register because you don’t have anything to recommend, that’s fine there is
still plenty for you to do at this site. You can type in a location into the
search engine, and find out all sorts of things to do there on your vacation –
or it could help you decide to make the trip there!
On the home
page you can see all sorts of popular recommendations, as well as, a listing of
popular destinations – make sure to check these out if you’re headed in that
direction! Or just type in the place you want to find recommendations for in
the search engine and see what the locals have had to say.
=== The
Color
School is
out for summer, and you might just need a way to entertain your kids. Welcome
to The Color, an amazing online coloring book!
If you want
to save the images they color, you’ll need to get registered for an account! It’s
free and easy to do. Click the Sign Up Today link at the top of the page. This
will allow you to save any pictures they color to the My Gallery section. You
also have the option of e-mailing the images to your family and friends. Or
printing it out – to hang on the refrigerator, you could also print them out
blank for offline coloring!
To start
coloring select a category to pick out the coloring page from, and then all you
have to do is select a color, click where on the image you want that color – and
poof – there’s color! I love that you aren’t limited to just a few colors, to
get more colors to color with click the More Colors link at the bottom of the
color chart. At the top of the color chart you’ll be able to see what color you
have selected currently.
This is a
great way to teach color recognition, eye-hand-coordination, and even the names
of all 192 colors offered on the site. Plus, it’s just plain fun!
===
CamStudio
The program
we used for creating the on screen recording is called CamStudio and it is
completely free! CamStudio is simple to use and it will let you make a
recording of anything on your computer screen so you can watch it later or
share it with someone else. All you need to do is download CamStudio from this
website, install it and then press the record button. Here is what it looks
like.
As you can
see, it's a pretty simple interface. Here are a couple tips. First, the program
is set up by default to record the entire computer screen. If you want this to
change, go to the "region" menu. This will allow you to only record a
certain portion of your screen. Second, if you want to record audio too, make
sure to go to the options menu and make the necessary changes to the settings.
Lastly, just hit the red record button and you will start. After you are done
recording, press the blue stop button.
If you
would like to see CamStudio in action, you can check out our video demo for File
Name Editor by clicking here.
NOTE: The
downlaod link is about 1/4 way down the page. Click the link that reads
"CamStudio20.exe".
In case you
missed it above, here is the link to download CamStudio:
http://camstudio.org/
=== Free
Conference Call
Do you need
to make conference calls to brainstorm, hold meetings, or even just get in
touch with multiple people at once? Then you should definitely check out this
site where you can make conference calls for free and even record them!
In order to
get started click the Get Free Service button, then fill out the form to create
your account. You will need to provide your name and a working e-mail address,
check the box that you’ve read the terms and conditions then click the submit
button. You will be logged in as soon as you sign up, but you still need to
check your e-mail for the confirmation letter. You’ll find your login
information on this page – as well as, instructions. You should definitely
read, or print this to refer back to it.
The
navigation strip is blue and above the instruction area. You’ll find the
following categories on it:
Account
Info – here you’ll find your account information and a quick reference sheet on
how to get started.
Recordings
– here you’ll find recording instructions, as well as, any recordings you have
made of your conference calls.
Podcast/RSS
– this provides you with the links you need to listen to your recording on
iTunes, or an RSS Client.
Invitations
– this is where you will be able to invite people via e-mail to a conference
call.
FAQ – do
you have a question? Well check out the Frequently Asked Questions section to
look for the answer.
About Us –
here you will find out what the company running this site is all about, and
what they aim to provide their users.
This is an
excellent service that provides you with a way to make free conference calls,
check it out today!
http://www.freeconferencecall.com/
=== Cross
Tips
I have
definitely inherited my family’s love of crossword puzzles. My grandfather does
them, my mother does them, and I can’t wait to get my hands on a new crossword
puzzle. But sometimes I just get stuck on a word, and while I try to solve
around it still can’t puzzle it out. Well if that happens to you too then you
are going to love this site.
Welcome to
Cross Tips, where you can find all the crossword puzzle help you need! It is
really easy to use too.
Just input
the number of letters the word has, and then fill in the blank slots with any
letters you know. It will then generate a list of words that could possibly fit
the criteria you’ve provided.
And if you
don’t like that way of searching you can switch to the simple interface, where
you’ll type in the letters you know with spaces for what you don’t know. I like
the other interface better myself, because I’m a very visual person, and can
easily mess up counting spaces.
I just love
this site! It gets me out of a pickle every time.
===
Wayfaring
Wayfaring
is the neatest thing to hit maps in a long time. I admit that I’m a map geek.
So when I found this site I went gaga and spent way too many hours playing with
it instead of writing about it.
Now that
I’ve gotten the 'playing with it' out of my system, I'm delighted to share it
with you. You’re probably asking yourself, "What’s so neat about this map
site?". Well it allows you to create your own personalized map and to
check out maps others have personalized.
The first
thing you need to do is click the Create Map link on the top black bar. This
will allow you to Register – don’t worry it’s FREE! You just need an e-mail
address. Once you’ve confirmed your registration you’re ready to begin.
This is an
excellent tool for giving directions, let me state that right away.
To Create a
Map, you need to login, and click Create Map. Then you need to name your map. Once
you’ve named your map, click the Next button. Now you can edit your map, and
put your place markers down on it. You put notes, routes, and even other
people’s wayfaring markers for the same area on it with the advanced options.
When you’re done click the orange check mark labeled Finished.
This will
take you to the Tag station – where you will add key words to your map to make
it searchable. The better your tags are at describing your map the more people
who will be able to find your map. Next is description – you’ll find this under
text. You have an empty text block to start filling with a description of your
map. Last but not least is Settings – this is where you can set your map to be
public or private, and decide who can edit your map. Then all you need to do is
save it.
Now you
have other options to explore this site. You can Search or Explore.
Search –
this option lets you use a search engine to find waypoint or maps in either
your area or an area of your choosing. It is very easy to use.
Explore –
this option let’s you explore the most recent maps added, as well as the best
of wayfaring.
So get out
there and EXPLORE!
=== Perfect
Portions
I’ve gone
from cooking for five people to cooking for two, and let me tell you, it is
hard to adjust the amount you’re cooking to get the right portion size. It took
me month to figure out that instead of a whole box of pasta I only needed about
a third of it for two of us. Mind you, I didn’t keep cooking a whole box; I
went down gradually till I got the right amount.
I would
have loved to have this site to take the guess work, the trial and error, and
agony out of that process.
You start
by picking what you’re cooking from the categories they’ve provided, select
from the list, unless you’re actually cooking one of their popular ingredients.
Next, you’ll select how many people you’re cooking for. It will then calculate
how much you need to cook and display the answer with the best way to measure
it.
Once you’ve
set the amount of people you are serving, you can just change food items from
the list at the bottom to plan your whole meal. So you could start by having it
measure how much pasta you’ll need, and then you can choose from the list and
see how many strawberries you need for desert. This will make meal planning
much easier – especially if you’re cooking for a dinner party where you will
serve more people than you’re used serving.
This is a great
site that will help you cook the perfect portion every time. This site is great
for meal planning, dieting, and your everyday cooking.
http://www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/perfect_portions
=== Optical
Illusions
I adore a
good optical illusion, so I was very happy when Steve directed my attention to
this site. The site is set up blog style, so all you have to do to navigate it
is scroll down the page!
The first
image is stellar. A man sitting on a ledge, looking over a road that seems to
be going straight downwards, it is certainly one of my favorite images here.
As you are
viewing the images, make sure you click them so you can see them full size. You
can use the back button on your browser to navigate back to the main page. I
think it’s certainly important to viewing the ones that move.
Next you
move onto animations that are really moving, the question here is, which way
are they actually moving? Clockwise? Counter-clockwise? You decide.
The stereo
images move, but in a unique way. They have the feel of the way waves of heat
will make what you’re looking at move. So it gives the impression that the
swimmer really has just dived into the water, the fire is blazing away, and I’m
guessing you should feel like you’re walking through the forest.
Point of
view illusions are next! And the site has dedicated quite a few pictures to the
cause. These are absolutely amazing, be sure to check them out! The site
focuses on buildings at first but after you look at some 3D Transformations,
you’ll come right back to point of view illusions. I love the picture of the
man holding up the island.
After
you’ve made your way through all the optical illusions on this page, I
encourage you to click the Read Part 1 link – where you will find even more
optical illusions and some amazing sidewalk chalk art, as well as, amazing
feats of advertising!
Check it
out today!
http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2007/07/optical-illusions-update.html
=== Find
Sounds
Welcome to
a sound search engine! All you have to do is type in the sound you want to hear
and you'll get it.
For
example, meow, bell, ring, bark, etc.
Find Sounds
starts searching the Web for your sound right away. Then you can either click
on the link of the search result or you can click the speaker next to it to
hear the sound. You can even see what the wave looks like underneath the
results.
You can
also choose what kind of sound your results show, such as AIFF, AU, WAV, Stereo
and Mono. Included with those are different resolutions, rates and even file
sizes as well.
Need
examples of what you can listen to? Then click the Need Examples link underneath
the search field where you can check out nature, animals, musical instruments,
holidays, household and much more. There's way too many to list them all here!
Need help?
Then just click the Help link next to search field. It will explain the different
types of files, resolutions and file sizes. It also explains what kind of sound
player you need to listen to the sounds and even how to set it up so the sounds
will play on different functions of your computer.
I loved
playing the meow sounds! I ended up with all three of my cats trying to climb
on my desk to find the cat hidden in the speakers, which was both too funny and
too cute. Have fun!
=== What It
Costs
Do you ever
find that you’re curious as to what things cost? For example: How much would it
end up costing you if you filed your taxes late? Or how much does a personal
trainer really cost? How much would it cost you to have a professional stager
come in to style your house for sale? How much does doggie daycare cost?
These are
all questions that you can find the answers to here at What It Costs. On the
main page you will find featured articles, as well as, six of the most recent
articles and a few Top Ten articles.
On the side
menu you’ll find access to other articles that have been divided up into the
categories you find there. If you scroll down the main page you’ll even find
Historical Articles where you’ll find out how much certain things cost in the
past. For example: How much did cost to build Fenway Park in 1912? Or even what
gas cost in 1960.
No matter
what category you chose to delve into, you are sure to find interesting and
helpful information as to the cost of things. If you really like what you see, be
sure you sign up for the free newsletter, so you can get What It Costs in your
inbox. Or you can submit ideas of things you’d like to know the cost of by
clicking the Send button under the Suggestions heading.
===
Xtranormal
Welcome to
Xtranormal, a site that allows you to make movies. All you have to be able to
do is type! You don’t even have to sign up to get started; you only have to
sign up if you want to save your video.
This site
is a lot of fun, but I’m going to warn you right away that it will suck you in
and you’ll lose track of time. I spent an hour just setting up my movie and
then another fine tuning it! I didn’t have any clue so much time had passed.
To get started,
click the Try Now button. This will take you to a screen where you’ll be able
to select your actors. Right now there are four styles to chose from (3 of
which are free during beta) – pick your actors and you’ll be whisked away to
the studio! I picked the cute little animals for my actors.
Now you’re
in your movie studio and you’re ready to get started. I’d start by scrolling
down the page to the Design the Scene area. This is where you’ll pick your set,
what your actors look and sound like, and add the soundtrack. Click apply, and
you’ll head back out to the main part of studio.
Now you’ll
want to start adding dialogue. You can just type it in. Then click the + at the
bottom of the dialogue block to add another. You can drag and drop animations,
and expressions from the left onto the dialogue blocks to make your characters
emote.
If you get
stuck click the Quick Tips button and it will walk you through some helpful
tips that can get you back on track. When you’re finished click action so that
the characters can rehearse the scene, then when it’s loaded you can click play
to watch it. If it’s perfect you can click the It’s a Wrap button to save it.
If you
haven’t signed up for an account, it will ask you to do so now. It’s the only
way you can save your work. But don’t worry you can sign up for a Basic account
for free!
It is just
that easy to make a movie! Check it out today!
=== Second
Picture
Welcome to
one of the best Digital Art, Photography, and Design tutorial sites I’ve come
across.
One of my
pet peeves is going to a tutorial site on design or photographs that just looks
ugly, you may have good information but if you’re not putting your own tips into
practice who is going to put any faith in what you have to say.
So I’m
giving this site very high marks for creating a site that is both instructional
and beautiful to look at. (If you scroll down to the bottom of the page you’ll
see a lovely white fluffy cloud that echoes their sky theme at the top of the
page.) Love! Love! Love the site design!
Now that
I’ve gushed over the site’s design, let’s dive right into the meat of it, the
tutorials! You have several options for tutorials to choose from on the
navigation strip.
They are:
3D
Tutorials – these tutorials are things that I dream about being able to make
someday. Here you’ll learn all about how to make 3D models, shading, photo
montages and more.
Photoshop
Tutorials – are always a blessing. Photoshop is one of those programs that I
always mean to learn better. There is so much that you can accomplish with it,
yet I find myself often sticking to making buttons, and just adding effects to
photos. Here you’ll learn to do that but you’ll also learn how to add radical
effects, make realistic water reflections, and more.
Photography
Tutorials – here you will find tons of tutorials that teach you how to get the
shot you’re after. They focus more on the technical side of capturing a photo
than the artistic side of composition. You can learn about HDR cameras, how to
take better family photos, and of course the most basic, how to take a good
photo. There are a lot of tutorials to investigate here but its well worth it
to enhance your skills.
Photography
Composition – this is what I came here for! I’m learning to use my digital
camera to take photographs of the outside world, as well as, my sculptures.
There are days where I just have to get my hands into some clay in order to be
happy. But in order to share my work, I need to be able to take crisp photos of
it. I have to think about lighting and backgrounds in order to highlight it at
its best. This section has nine excellent tutorials on photographic
composition. So whether you want to take better vacation photographs, pictures
of still life, or want to further your skill as a photog – you are sure to find
a tutorial here to help you along the way.
Web Design
Tutorials – I can still remember hand coding websites back in the 90’s. As soon
as I learned about CSS (cascading style sheets) I knew they were going to be a
blessing. The tutorial they have here will teach you how to make a navigation
bar like the one they have on their site. It does require you to have some HTML
and CSS knowledge. If you don’t, you can still learn it – because they’ve
provided a link to where you can get the background knowledge you need to
continue forward. Just follow the directions, and before you know it you’ll
have your very own horizontal navigation bar.
Are you ready
to create amazing images, I know I am! With these tutorials we can all learn
how to do it!
===
Roadside America
Welcome to
Roadside America, an online guide to find unusual tourist attractions. Right
off the bat, before we get started exploring this site, I want to draw your
attention to Light Bulb Methuselah’s. This is under the Features section on the
side menu. Click on the image or the link to enter the section. Once inside,
you will learn all about the longest lasting light bulb, which is a light bulb
that has worked for 100 years. Isn’t that amazing?!
This is one
of those sites where it’s fun to just click around to explore and I suggest that
you be brave and give it a try. Navigation is actually all over the place! Here
are a few great ways to start exploring.
Check out
the What’s New section. Here you can find the most recently added strange
tourist attractions. Or you can scroll down the page and start at the
Contagious Sightings where you will find everything from a shoe tree to big
bovines to two-story outhouses!
You can
also use the Map-a-City section. Click on the Map-a-City link and when the page
loads, you will have a couple of options. You can enter in the town and state
you want to map and then click Show Map. There's also a Popular City list you
can use if you have a special place in mind that you want to check out. This
will load up a map that has several bulleted areas on it. Click on one of the
bullets and you’ll get a little bubble that comes up and has the address
information. It will also have a link you can use that will let you explore
that attraction in more detail. I liked doing this for places I’ve lived or
visited.
There is so
much to discover here at this site and I don't think I could cover it all even
if I tried. I got lost in a lot of the attractions and have learned about many
new things to see and do when I travel. Check out these offbeat tourist
attractions today!
=== Gazelle
Do you have
electronics just sitting around collecting dust? Have you recently upgraded a
game console, laptop, or heck even your cell phone? Well, why are you hanging
on to that stuff when you could be getting money for it?
Welcome to
Gazelle, a site that is dedicated to helping you get your old electronics out
of your house where they are collecting dust to either resell them or recycle
them. This is a great way to start going green, as well as, to put some cash
back in your pocket.
I know
you’re probably curious as to how it all works, so click the How it Works tab
and watch the short online demo video. The video walks you through the whole
process of selling your old electronics. They’ll even send you a postage paid
box to send the item out to them in the mail. So it doesn’t cost you a penny to
get rid of those dust collecting electronics.
For
example, I have an old Xbox that we don’t use anymore. It is literally
collecting dust on my TV stand. So, I select game console, choose the Xbox
model I have, and find out I can get seven dollars for it! That’s more than the
used video game store would give me. I don’t have to pay anything to ship it
away either!
Another
great resource this site offers is found by clicking the grey tab at the top of
the page with the recycle sign on it. This takes you to a listing by State of
where you can recycle old printers, fax machines, and CRT monitors. Just put in
your zip code and click the submit button to get a listing of recycling
locations near you!
I think
that this is a stellar idea that might actually get people to recycle their old
electronics instead of just throwing them away. Especially with the way people
change cell phones these days, now you can get some money out of that old
phone.
Are you
ready to recycle your old electronics and put some cash in your pocket? Well
then, check out Gazelle today!
=== POSTBOX
Today I
have found an awesome new email client that just might replace Outlook Express.
The program is called PostBox and it combines all of the features you see in most
mail clients with some awesome, new and innovative features.
PostBox was
easy to download and install. This is a must for me. I downloaded it and opened
the file. From there, PostBox handled the rest. It even imported all of my
email and settings from Outlook Express so I didn't have to do anything but
click "OK".
Like I
mentioned before, it has all the regular stuff like most clients. It retrieves
and organizes you email, it keeps contacts and allows for easy use of folders.
Where it stands apart is in some of the additional features it offers. One of
my favorites is the search option. PostBox will index all of your email data so
it is easily and quickly searchable. It creates searches for links, contacts,
images and attachments. This saves me a ton of time.
Another
feature is the todo list. You can mark any email as a ToDo item. This will mark
it and put it in a list for easy organization.
And wait
till you see the Compose sidebar. This allows for you to quickly compose new,
rich emails with content from other messages and search results. This makes
writing email fun!
If you are
interested in download PostBox or learning more, check out their website here:
http://postbox-inc.com/
===
Clerkdogs
I love to
watch a good movie to relax. There is something about sitting in front of the
television with some freshly popped popcorn and putting in a movie that just
lets me unwind for a little bit.
If you’re a
movie lover bookmark this site! Clerkdogs is an amazing site where you type in
the name of a movie you like and you’ll get movie recommendations hand picked
by video clerks.
No matter
how you get your movies to watch: online, the video store, the grocery store,
etc; you’ll love getting these recommendations to help you find more movies
like the ones you like. I do a little bit of all three of those to watch videos
and now that I can get recommendations to find more movies similar to the ones
I like that means more options for my relaxation time.
One of my
favorite movies of all time is Much Ado About Nothing with Emma Thompson and
Kenneth Branagh, so I started my search with that movie. After searching the
database it came up with ten picks from the clerks. The main one was A
Midsummer’s Dream with Kevin Kline, and Michelle Pheiffer. I thought that was
definitely a good match.
But what
about the other nine you ask? This is what I really love about this site! The
other nine were listed with explanation of how they were different. For example:
The Taming of the Shrew was listed as Similarly Witty. Kiss Me Kate (another
favorite of mine) as listed as More Music. This way if you want a similar movie
but say you’re feeling like a drama, you could pick the More Drama option.
Another
really neat attribute of this site is Compare Movies feature. Here you can type
in the names of two movies and compare them side by side! Or you could try the
Mash It feature, where you put in the name of a movie you like, and change the
sliders to match your mood to get a movie recommendation.
To register
click the Sign Up button and fill out the form with the following information:
an e-mail address, create a username and password, type in the word
verification, provide your first and last name, gender, and birth date. You’ll
also get to list your five favorite genres, and your five favorite movies of
all time. The really nice thing is if you decide you’re not going to use the
account here, you can deactivate it.
=== Study
Stack
Welcome to
Study Stack! This is my favorite study Web site, because it integrates studying
not only by traditional means (think flashcards), but it includes studying by
playing games. I love to recommend this site to my friends in class who are
getting ready to take the GRE (Graduate Record Examination).
Start by
selecting the subject matter you’d like to study from the list provided. You’ll
then be taken to a much larger list that has study stacks for the specific
topic you chose. Choose a study stack from the list and you'll be taken to its
page. There you can choose the method you'd like to study. Your options are:
Notes, Flashcards, Study Stack, Study Table, Matching, Hangman, Crossword, Word
Search, Unscramble, Type In, Bug Match, Export, Print, Edit, E-mail and Hmm.
Three
options I really want to point out to you are Export, E-mail and Print. Export
allows you to download the date to your cell phone, PDA, computer or even your
iPod. The E-mail option allows you to send the address of the study stack to
your friends via e-mail. Print allows you to print out flashcards in several
different styles to use offline.
You can
also add your own study materials if you can’t find what you need to study. To
add your own, scroll down to the bottom of the list for the subject you want to
study and then click on the Create Your Own link.
You’ll need
to register to add your own material. It's really easy if you have a Facebook
account, because you can use that to log in. If you don’t, that's okay too!
Just register for Study Stack. To do so, fill out the registration form with a
username, e-mail address, password and agree to the terms and conditions. It’s
that simple!
Once you’re
logged in, you can also create a study stack by clicking on the Create a New
Stack link under your Stacks tab. You’ll need to name your stack, type in a
description for it and decide whether you want to let other users edit it or
whether you want it to auto-generate for the games.
Now, click
on the Data tab. That's where you'll be able to insert the data you want to
study. Type in the questions, then the answers and make sure you click on the
Save Changes button when you’re done updating the data information.
Before you
know it, you’ll have your study stack completed and you'll be ready to start
using it. Pretty neat!
=== Google
Earth 5
It seems like
not that long ago, I was telling you about the release of Google Earth 4. Well,
lucky for you, Google has been on top of their game and they just released the
next version, Google Earth 5. The new Beta version has some really cool new
features you just have to check out!
If you've
used Google Earth before, you probably already know about many of the features,
such as being able to look up anywhere on the planet and see awesome aerial
satellite photos. Well, version 5 even introduces something you've never seen
before! With Google Earth 5, you can go below the ocean and explore the sea
floor. How cool is that?!
Other than
looking into the ocean, you can also look into the past. With the new version
of Google Earth, you can click on the clock icon and see how places looked in
the past and how they have changed over time. That feature is awesome for
looking at progress while something was being built, such as a stadium or sky
scraper.
If you
think you might like all of the new features, you can check out Google Earth 5
for yourself right here. Enjoy!
http://earth.google.com/index.html
===
VerbaLearn (build your vocabulary)
Welcome to
VerbaLearn, a Web site devoted to helping you learn vocabulary! I would start
by watching the VerbaLearn demo. To do so, just click on the image of the video
or hit the Play button.
I love the
demo video, because it walks you through every step of the process for using
the site. You’ll learn how to create study lists, how to download them to your
computer, how to turn them into podcasts and so much more!
This site
could be so helpful to students preparing for the SAT, ACT, a college entrance
exam or any other standardized test.
To sign up,
just click on the Start Now button. You can select which test you’d like to
study. The options are: SAT, ACT, GRE and General Vocabulary. Once you’ve made
your selection, click Continue. Now, you can start building your first word
list. While you're doing that, it will suggest that you should save your
progress and you can do so by clicking Continue. That will lead you to the
registration form. Fill out all the fields and then head on over to the e-mail
address you provided to click on the confirmation link.
The
confirmation link will bring you back to the Web site, where you'll then set up
other features. You’re going to select why you’re using the site and you’ll
then have to select how large of a study list you’d like and how long of a
pause you’d like between words for the audio study list you can download.
The next
step is to finish building your word list. You’ll do that by continuing the one
you left before. It will also review words you’ve already gone over as if
you're doing flashcards. I love that!
I hope that
if you can’t personally use this site, you pass it on to someone who can. The
more people, students in particular, who have access to this study tool, the
better. Check it out today!
=== Live
Mocha (learn a second language)
Have you
ever wanted to learn a second language? Are you learning a language on your own
or maybe taking formal language classes? If so, this Web site can help you out!
It provides self-study lessons and it then sends you off to practice in a
global community.
It's really
easy to get started! Just select your native language and the language you want
to learn. Then click on the Get Started button. You’ll find yourself on the
registration page. Fill out the form with a username, e-mail address, password,
select where you're from, choose the skill level for the languages and then
click on the Register button.
You’ll need
to go to the e-mail address you provided to confirm your account. Click on the
link in the e-mail and you’re taken directly to your profile page.
I highly
recommend you set up your profile now, as it will lead you through everything
you need to do to get started. You’ll set up your introduction, choose why
you’re learning the language and it will help you select your native language
partners. Lastly, it will help you determine which free language course you
should enroll in.
I am
enrolling in French 101. I have more advanced French training than that, but
it's been so long that I want to really relearn the basics.
Next,
you’ll be directed to your homepage where a mini-tutorial will start. Click on
the Let’s Get Started button to begin. It will tell you how to check your
messages and how to add friends.
You’ll find
the course you signed up for under the Learn tab. I like the way they approach
teaching the languages. You not only see the word or sentence they’re teaching,
but you can hear it too. The courses also combine interesting assignments where
you have to choose the right answer, the right picture or even form the right
sentence.
You can
even take crash courses if you’re going to be traveling to a foreign country
and need just enough to get around while you're there. You’ll find that option
under the Courses section on the Learning tab.
Check it
all out today!
===
Renovators
This site
offers "Old-House Community and Know-How, Restoration Advice, and Home
Improvement," so if you own an old house, or are thinking of buying and
renovating one, this site could be a very handy resource.
I live in a
house built originally at the end of the 1800's or the beginning of the 1900's.
Let me tell you it's a mess. Someone thought that it would be a great idea to
add rooms on in odd areas and to change a lot of the architecture of the house
itself. Then someone had the bright idea to make it into a duplex. I didn't
know much about old houses myself, but I grew up with my daddy doing repairs on
wherever we lived at the time. So I can do some repair work myself, but this
house is a challenge. It makes you want to throw your hands in the air and
scream sometimes. So I went looking on the web for help and found this site.
Let me tell you it has come in so handy that it is book marked on both of the
computers in the house for easy access.
I find the
Do-It-Yourself Knowledge Database to be a priceless tool to have. You can
search the database by topic or you can go to the top of the page and use the
search engine to find the information you are looking for.
On the main
page you'll notice that there is a list of top 10 most searched for items.
Which all seem to be common problems people run across in older houses. If you
don't find what you are looking for there, use the search engine and find it
that way.
There are
excellent forums for help on this site. Just click on the Old-House Friends
Forums. You can go into general discussion or you can choose a forum based on
the age of your house. Pre 1900's, or Post 1900's, or you can choose the Where
Can I Find forum, which will help you find the information you need and are
looking for.
This site
is a renovator's dream helper.
=== Cheap
Eats
I must be
on a food kick lately! I found another great Web site that helps you find
restaurants to eat at. This one specializes in restaurants you can eat at for
under $10. Want to know how it works? Of course you do!
All you do
is type in your city, state or the zip code of where you want to eat. Then
click on the Search button. It will search the database and generate a listing
of restaurants where you can eat a meal for under $10!
You may
notice a Join option on the site as well. Click on Join Now and then fill out
the form with a username, e-mail address, password, your name, zip code, fill
in the code and then click on the Create Account button.
What does joining
get you, you ask? Well, you can keep a list of your favorite restaurants, read
reviews and receive coupons!
Was a
specific restaurant you were looking for not listed? If so, click on Add a
Restaurant at the top of the page. Fill out the form with all the necessary
information and then click on the Submit button.
This Web
site is a handy tool whether you’re a local looking for a cheap meal or a
tourist visiting a new city. Give it a try today!
=== Cookstr
I found a
great new way to discover recipes! You have to check out this Web site if you
love to cook and want to try new things. On the main page, you’re greeted with
the Chef of the Day and the Recipe of the Day!
Chef of the
Day – Here you'll learn all about the person they’ve selected as the Chef of
the Day. You’ll find out if they own a restaurant, if they have cookbooks and
even if they're ever on TV! This is a great way to see the faces behind some of
the top notch restaurants around the country and the world.
Recipe of
the Day – Here you'll find the recipe they’ve assigned for today. If you click
on it, you'll go directly to the recipe page where you can click on View This
Recipe to get the full recipe. While that’s a great way to discover new
recipes, you’ve also been led to the area where you can search all the recipes
on the entire site!
If you
scroll down past the Recipe of the Day, you’ll find different ways to browse
the recipes on the Web site. You can browse by: Main Ingredient, Cuisine,
Holiday/Occasion, Meal/Course, Chef/Author and even by Method.
There's
also a search engine at the top of the page. There you can put in the name of a
chef, ingredient or recipe and click Search to be given access to hundreds of
wonderful recipes. Just try typing in cheese and see what comes up! Or, you can
be adventurous and click on the Surprise Me button. Was I adventurous, you ask?
Of course I was! That was the first button I clicked on after checking out the
Recipe of the Day.
Go on now,
find a recipe and get in the kitchen!
=== Capzles
Do you want
to remember some historic event in your life? Perhaps the birth of your first child
or your trip to Europe or maybe even a concert series you attended. Either way,
now you can with Capzles. It's a Web site that allows users to create time
capsules using photos, videos and even their own blogs, all for free!
Before you
decide to register, I suggest doing two things. The first is to take a moment
and watch the video of the guided tour. That will explain how the site works
and what all you can do here.
The second
thing is to click on the Take a Flying Leap link at the top of the page. That
will take you to a random Capzles that you can explore and really experience
what a user-made time capsule looks like.
Registration
is easy! To get started, click on the Join Now button at the top of the page.
Create a username and password and then click on the Go to Final Step button.
Now, enter in your name, location, gender, birth date, e-mail address and fill
in the code you see. When you're finished, click on the I’m Done, Let Me In
button. You can then get started right away!
To start
making your time capsule, click on Create. That will take you to the creation
interface where you can not only upload your content, but design the capsule
itself.
I put one
together in roughly 15 minutes and you can see it here if you'd like.
I think
this is a great way to store memories of events, places and things you’ve done
in your life. So, tell me, what will you put in your time capsule?!
===
Confusing Words
There are a
lot of confusing words out there! For example, affect, effect, affluent,
effluent, their, they’re and there.
I often
have trouble using affect and effect correctly. So much trouble that I often
double or triple check to make sure I have the right one. But now, I have a
really easy resource I can use to check them out!
On the
Confusing Words Web site, you can check out tons of different words. Just type
in the word you're unsure about and click Find.
As an
example, I looked up affect. Not only does it give the definition for affect,
but it gives the definition for effect as well. It also shows examples of how
each are used, making it easier for you to see the difference. Also, in the
Notes section, it gives you a way of remembering the difference between them.
How cool is that?!
I think
this is an amazing resource and I hope you enjoy it too!
http://www.confusingwords.com/index.php
===
Braingle
Are you ready
to test your wits with some brain teasers, puzzles and riddles? Then let’s get
started!
I highly
recommend you click on the Site Tour link on the left hand side of the page.
That will take you through each section of the Web site and describe the benefits
you’ll receive as a member for that section. When you’ve learned all you want
to know about a section, click on the Continue the Tour link to move on to the
next one.
Becoming a
member is easy and free! Just click on the Become a Member link at some point
during your tour or click on Create a Free Account at the top of the page.
Either of those links will take you to the registration page. You’ll be asked
to provide a username and e-mail address, as well as, to create a password.
When you’re registering, you have the option of checking two boxes to receive a
daily teaser and a daily trivia quiz via e-mail. You’ll also need to verify
your account to unlock all the features, so make sure you provide a working
e-mail address when you sign up. I got my verification e-mail right away, so I
didn’t even have to wait to start enjoying the benefits of a membership.
The site is
divided into five different sections: Brain Teasers, Trivia, Mentalrobics,
Games and Community.
Brain
Teasers – Here you'll find brain teasers, optical illusions, puzzle hunts,
codes and ciphers and mechanical puzzles.
Trivia –
Another favorite of mine is the trivia section. Here you'll find quizzes, the
fact box, photograph identification quizzes, famous art quizzes and even celebrity
quizzes. I loved the famous art quiz. It was challenging and fun!
Mentalrobics
– In this section, you'll find activities to exercise your brain. Your options
are Articles, Memory Tests, Flash Cards, Vocab Builder and IQ Tests.
Games –
Here you'll find three navigation options: Braingle Games, The Game Directory
and Card Games. I loved the word searches in the Braingle section. They’re
awesome!
Community –
Under this tab, you can access your private messages, the forums, live chat and
the talk boxes.
You’re sure
to have a little fun on this Web site, so check it out today!
===
Spreeder
Would you
like to learn how to speed read? I sure would! I mean, it would make getting
through my college text books a lot easier. Well, with this Web site, we all
can!
What
Spreeder does is train you to read quickly. Type or paste some text into the
text box and then click on the Spreed! button. That will take the text you’ve
inserted and format it into the Spreed player.
Once the
player has loaded, click on the Play button to get your training started. It
will play your text across the screen at 300 wpm (words per minute) and all you
have to do is read it!
You can
change the Spreeder settings by clicking on Settings. You can alter the speed
it reads at, the font size, the size of the window and even the font color and
positioning.
You can
start a new Spreeder session by clicking on New. That will take you back to the
text box where you can input new text.
I recommend
reading the tutorial at: http://www.spreeder.com/tutorial.php
It offers great tips on how to train yourself with Spreeder to speed read. It
also offers you links to more specific information about the settings.
Spreeder is
a lot of fun to try out and I can see myself using it to teach myself to read
faster with better comprehension as well. I hope you enjoy it!
=== Which
Book
Don’t know
what you want to read? Are you looking for a new series after finishing an old
one? Do you want to read something funny or something a little crazy? Either
way, Which Book can help you decide what to read next!
It's really
easy to use too! If you want, you can watch the demo videos. They'll walk you
through the Web site step by step. I just dove in and started moving the
sliders around. You can use up to four of the sliders at one time to generate a
suggestion. When you have them all in place, simply click on the Go button.
For
example, you could select Happy, Funny and Unusual. When you click Go, you'll
get a very interesting assortment of books recommended for you.
You can also
search by Character, Plot or Setting. I love the Setting option, because it
gives you a map to click on to choose the location of the story. It then gives
you a listing of books from that location when you click Go.
You’re sure
to find something new and interesting to read with Which Book, so give it a try
today!
http://www.whichbook.net/default.aspx?glow=0
=== 123
People
123 People
is the ultimate people search! This Web site helped me locate a friend I
haven’t been able to get in touch with for the last seven years or so. You can
also use it to check up on your favorite celebrities.
How does it
work? Well, you simply type the first and last name of the person you're
looking for into the search field and then click on the gold arrow button. That
will start your search. It will then search the Web and compile all the results
it found for that name.
The results
include: images, e-mail addresses, phone numbers, Web links, news, documents,
blogs, biographies, tag clouds and social networking sites.
On the main
page, you’ll also find three movie stars of the week and three music stars of
the week. You can click on their links to visit the results for them.
You can
also use the search feature to search for people by location using a city or
zip code.
This is a
great search engine, so be sure to check it out as soon as possible!
===
Paint.NET
From time to
time, I have found myself needing a program for making graphics and pictures. I
used to try and use the Paint program that comes with Windows, but I almost
always find it to be lacking in features. Because of that, I have been looking
for a paint program that has a lot more options and features. After looking for
awhile, I came across a free program called Paint.NET. And let me tell you,
this program has everything I could ever want! It's easy to use, it's easy to
install and did I mention it's free? Let's check it out!
Paint.NET
has support for layers, unlimited undos, special effects and a wide variety of
useful and powerful tools. An active and growing online community provides
friendly help, tutorials and plug-ins as well. You just can't beat it! From
their site:
Paint.NET
is free image and photo editing software for computers that run Windows. It
features an intuitive and innovative user interface with support for layers,
unlimited undo, special effects, and a wide variety of useful and powerful tools.
An active and growing online community provides friendly help, tutorials, and
plugins.
It started
development as an undergraduate college senior design project mentored by
Microsoft, and is currently being maintained by some of the alumni that originally
worked on it. Originally intended as a free replacement for the Microsoft Paint
software that comes with Windows, it has grown into a powerful yet simple image
and photo editor tool. It has been compared to other digital photo editing
software packages such as Adobe® Photoshop®, Corel® Paint Shop Pro®, Microsoft
Photo Editor, and The GIMP.
You can
download Paint.NET for yourself right here. Enjoy!
=== Indeed
So, you
want to find a new job or you need to find one and you don’t know where to
begin your search. Well, now you do! Start your search here at Indeed, where
you get to search job sites, newspapers, associations, career pages and much
more, all in one place.
How does it
work? It's easy! You can search by your location and get all the listings for
your area. Or, you can search with a keyword and your location to narrow down
the results a little more.
If that
isn’t specific enough, you can click the Advanced Search link found under the
Find Jobs button and tailor your search even more. You can also check out the
Preferences link under the Find Jobs button and change how your results are
displayed.
To learn
more about the site and how it got started, as well as, what its purpose is,
check out the About section. The Blog section feels more like a news section to
me, as the blog was about what was happening recently with Indeed. You can
check out the Forum sections for job related topics and a chat room as well.
I used to
work as a cashier and I know the turnover rate is high, so I decided to use
"cashier" as my example search. There were a lot of results,
especially now that everyone and their brother are hiring for seasonal help.
What I really liked though is that the newest additions to their database were
marked as new, so there was no doubt as to whether or not the ads were recent.
So, if
you’re looking for work or a career change, this is a great place to get
started!
===
PocketMod
Don’t have
a fancy Pocket PC or organizer? Well, with PocketMod, you don’t need one! I
discovered PocketMod just a couple of weeks ago and I haven’t stopped using
mine since. Let's check it out!
So, what is
a PocketMod? Believe it or not, but it’s not another electronic gadget. It’s
actually just a piece of paper you can use as a personal organizer. And best of
all, it's completely customizable!
http://www.pocketmod.com and click on the
Start icon.
=== All
Experts
Do you need
an expert opinion? You can definitely find one at All Experts. Choose the
category you have a question about and choose the area of the topic your
question is in. Then choose someone in the forum to answer your question. Put
in the question and e-mail address, and they will get back to you. I've quoted
below their info on response time. I asked a question and had it answered
within the hour. Be patient and polite, and the best part is, the advice is
free. Enjoy this one.
"Our
studies have shown that nearly 50% of responses arrive the same day or within
24 hours. Another 30% arrive by next day and about 20% arrive the day after
that. Sometimes you can get a response in minutes! If, however, you find, for
whatever reason, that you don't get a response after 3 days, write us and we'll
investigate. We'll always get back to you!"
===
Inventor’s Handbook
I was
reading the news about this kid who invented a toilet prop that automatically
raises and lowers the toilet seat with a foot lever. In the article, they
talked about whether or not they would patent the invention. That got me
thinking about what you need to know as an inventor to get a patent, licensing
and such. And what I found was this great Web site!
This
handbook is divided into 11 sections, with an extra section devoted to
Resources. Here’s some of what you’ll learn:
What is Intellectual
Property? – Here you will learn the four classes of intellectual property. They
are patent, trademark, copyright and trade secret. What’s the difference? Well,
check out this section and you'll find out!
What Can Be
Patented? – There are three different patents that can be granted: Utility
Patents, Design Patents and Plant Patents. Since a patent is a product of the
legal system, there are some very specific guidelines for those three types of
patents. Find out more here!
Is My
Invention Worth Patenting? – How do you know if your invention is worth
patenting? This section will tell you the questions you need to ask yourself
before you start the patenting process and spend any money.
How Do I
License My Invention? – Here you will learn how to license your inventions, as
well as, how to watch out for scam artists who want to steal your ideas!
The other
sections cover raising capital, making a business plan, conducting patent
searches and even how to prove the idea is yours. So, if you’ve invented some
useful, nifty little gadget or if you're thinking about making something,
you’ll find a lot of great information on how to go about the patenting process
right here. Check it out!
http://web.mit.edu/invent/h-main.html
=== Wordia
Welcome to
Wordia, a dictionary Web site like no other dictionary site you’ve ever seen!
Here you'll find words defined as they are in a dictionary, but with a twist.
There are video definitions recorded by everyday people who not only define the
word, but tell you what it means to them!
Since the
site is still in the beta stage, not every word has been defined. So, if you
search for a word and there's no definition for it, you might want to think
about defining it and submitting your own video definition.
My favorite
part of the Web site is the "word a day" calendar you can receive via
an RSS feed. Or, you can check it out on the main page of the site as well. I
find myself looking forward to a new word everyday!
I also
recommend you check out my favorite definition so far and look up the word
"because." Not only does the gentleman define the word, but he does
it in a humorous way and I just can’t get it out of my head.
If you’d
like to submit a video or rate one, you’ll need to register. Just click on the
Sign Up button on the left hand side of the page. Fill out the form and then
click on the Sign Up button again. Have fun!
=== Face
Memory Test
Did you
know your memory is one of the first things to go when you're tired? I didn’t!
Well, you can take this test to see how well you remember what you’ve seen. I
was really tired when I took the test, so my results were very interesting. Give
it a try!
The test
takes place in three phases:
Phase 1 –
In this phase, you'll be shown 12 photos of people. After you’ve looked at
them, you should take a five minute break before moving on to phase 2.
Phase 2 –
In this phase, you'll be shown 12 photos of people. After you’ve looked at
them, you should take a five minute break before moving on to phase 3.
Phase 3 –
In this phase, you'll be shown 48 different photos, 24 of which you have
already seen in phase 1 and 2. For each photo, you must decide which phase you
saw it in or if you've never seen it.
After that,
your score will be compiled into two categories. One category is just for
recognizing the faces you saw in phase 1 and 2. The second category is for
correctly recognizing which phase they were from.
I scored 95
percent for the overall recognition and 68 percent for remembering which phase
they were from.
I took the
test again after a good night’s sleep and my score went up to 100 percent for
overall recognition and 85 percent for remembering which phase the face was in.
I think that definitely shows how tiredness can affect your brain.
I also
recommend taking this quiz to check out your daily rhythm and how fast your
reaction time is with Sheep Dash. Have fun!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanb...uctions_1.shtml
=== Civil
Answers
Welcome to
Civil Answers, a Web site where you can ask legal questions and get answers
from experts for free!
I want to start
by telling you that I adore this site! I wish I had found it years ago. There
are so many legal questions I could have had answered and saved myself a lot of
time and money.
It's so
easy to use too! Just type in your question, select the best legal field for
your question, enter in your e-mail address and then click on Get Answer.
That’s it!
If you’d
like to see some examples of questions answered, click on the link that says
"Click Here for Recent Answers." That will give you an idea of what
kinds of questions they're receiving and answering.
Right next
to that, you’ll see the Recent Articles link you can click to see more
articles. It will also take you to the site's Civil Tree. Civil Tree is another
excellent resource to have at your fingertips!
If you have
a legal question you need answered, this is the place to ask. It's free and it
could save you a lot of time and money in the future. Check it out!
=== Wonder
How To
Have you
ever wondered how to do something? I know I do all the time! Well, I’d like to
welcome you to Wonder How To, a Web site devoted to teaching you how to do
things through video tutorials. Now, I wouldn't recommend letting your kids run
wild on this site, because there are a few videos about alcohol and pranks.
However, if
you weed those out, there are a lot of really great videos! I’ve already used
this site to find out how to do some algebra, how to do my makeup for
Halloween, how to draw clouds and how to cook several different dishes I was
leery of trying due to complexity.
You can
navigate the site with the search engine, the navigation tabs or my favorite
method is to just start with one video that catches your eye and then go through
the related videos for that topic.
This site
covers everything from replacing light switches to painting a room. You can
even find how to videos for software you might own. I also ran across several
very helpful Photoshop videos. Check it out today!
=== Cozi
Welcome to
Cozi, a free online organizer for families! Here you can keep a schedule of
what’s going on from day to day, keep a family diary, keep in touch with your family
members with the message system, keep shopping lists and even get reminders. To
get started, you’ll want to sign up. Or, if you're still not sure Cozi is for
you, you can take a tour of the Web site here.
Signing up
is easy! Just click on the Sign Up tab and fill out the form with your name,
e-mail address and password. The next step is to start customizing your
account. You’ll set up a household name, add your spouse, children and agree to
the terms and conditions. Next, you’ll log in to your account with the e-mail
address you provided and the password you created.
That’s it.
You're ready to dive in! You’ll see a few things you can do under the Get
Started heading. The actions you can take are: type an appointment in the
calendar, add items to your shopping list and jot down an entry in your family
journal.
I love the
calendar feature! Not only is it easy to use, but it's easy to edit and you can
set up appointments/events for one family member, two family members or the
whole family. You can include where the appointment/event is located, the time
and even a description.
Now, you
may be wondering how a site this awesome can be free! Well, they pay for their
costs with advertisements that pertain to family needs. I was thrilled to find
that it also includes recipes! I was writing out a grocery list when a picture
of these delicious cookies came up. I clicked on it and it was a link to the
recipe of the day. You can check out the recipe they sent me right here.
If at any
time, you want to navigate to a specific section, you can use the orange
navigation strip at the bottom of the page. To get back to the homepage, you
can always click on Home in the upper left hand corner.
With
families becoming more and more technological these days, this Web site
provides a great way to keep your family organized. Give it a try!
=== Autism
Assistance Resources and Information
Today, I’m
bringing you a blog that was brought to my attention by a reader. I try to
limit the amount of blogs we include in the newsletter, because we can never
guarantee what information they contain. However, this blog is different. It's
bringing resources and information together in one place for people who have autism
or people who are taking care of a loved one with autism.
You'll find
information about college grants for those with autism, different organizations
that are dedicated to families coping with autism, the latest toys to help
children with autism develop to the best of their ability and much more.
If you
scroll down the page, you'll find articles about autism in the news, links to
the archive, resources and even information about the people who write the
blog. Michelle and James are parents to children with autism, so this blog
isn’t coming to you secondhand from someone who hasn’t experienced what you and
your family might be going through. It’s coming from people who have been there
and understand.
More
importantly, they understand how expensive it is to try and help your children
grow up with autism and making sure they get the help they need. You'll learn
about funding strategies, where and how you can get financial assistance and
which grants exist for your kids to apply for when they enter college.
Autism is a
cause near and dear to my heart, so I hope all of you know you're not alone.
There are resources like this Web site that are ready and waiting to help.
Check it out!
http://autismassistance.blogspot.com/
===
Printable Paper
I ran out
of college ruled paper this afternoon and I decided to search the Web to see if
I could find some to print out. And let me tell you, I hit the motherload!
There are over 100 different kinds of paper you can print out on this Web site.
Let's check it out!
On the main
page, you’ll find the most popular 15 styles featured. I was happy to find my
college ruled paper among them. Along with college ruled, you'll find graph
paper, Cornell Note paper, dot paper, penmanship paper, wide ruled, law paper
and even bowling score paper.
On the left
side of the page, you'll find the navigation menu. It's broken down by
categories. There are six different graph paper categories, a score sheet category,
music paper, calendars and that’s only a few of them!
For all the
different kinds of paper you need in your life, get it right here!
http://www.printablepaper.net/
=== Amusing
Facts
Welcome to
Amusing Facts, the place where you can find fun and interesting facts on many
different subjects. And if that weren’t enough, they even have a free
newsletter, so you can get these facts directly in your Inbox!
Navigation
is pretty simple. You can use the Content Channels menu on the side of the page
or you can use the thumbnails in the middle of the page. I recommend both,
because then you have all your bases covered.
You’ll also
notice in the middle section of the page that there is a search engine. It’s
pretty easy to use. Just type in what you’d like to look up. For example, maybe
you want find some amusing facts about bunnies. So, type in “rabbit” and click
the Search button. The page will then load all of the rabbit listings they
have. Can’t find what you’re looking for? Try the Advanced Search Options. The
link is under the Search button.
You can
also find the links of New Fact and Add Fact directly under the search engine. There,
you will see the most recently added facts or you can choose to add your own if
you can’t find what you were looking for.
So, what
are some of the categories of facts? Well, here’s a few: People, Animals and
Creatures, Weird Town Names, Entertainment and Sports.
I hope
you’ll enjoy these amusing and interesting facts. I know I did!
=== Left
Over Wizard
I have a hard
time eating left over food. It's usually just a matter of not knowing how to
reinvent it into another meal. But with this Web site, I don’t have to rack my
brain trying to think of something. I can just put my ingredients into this
wizard and let it do its thing!
It's really
easy to use! All you have to do is select the ingredients and click on the What
Can I Make? button. You can search with one to three ingredients. If your
search comes up with no results, try to broaden it by dropping an ingredient.
I put in
spaghetti sauce and cheddar cheese and the wizard came up with 42 recipes. From
that search, I found a crock pot pizza recipe I’m dying to try. It looks and
sounds delicious!
Two great
sections on the site are Flavor Combinations and What’s Fresh Now!
Flavor
Combinations gives you a list of the hottest flavor combos you can try
searching for. Some of my favorites are listed, such as garlic, lemon and
chicken. A few more favorites are soy sauce, orange juice and ginger. This
section gives you great inspiration.
What’s
Fresh Now gives you a listing of what's in season right now. It allows you to
plan your meals around those fresh ingredients. You can even change the month
and pre-plan your meals. For example, switch the month to November and you'll
see what will be fresh for Thanksgiving.
Now that I
have some ideas for my left over chicken, I think I’ll go get started on
dinner. Go try something new and exciting with your leftovers today!
http://www.bigoven.com/leftoverwizard2.aspx
===
LetterFu
I think
it's a terrible shame that letter writing has gone out of style. I personally
love to receive mail and I like to send it out too. So, to get back into the habit
of letter writing, I went looking for a way to make it interesting and fun
again. And that's when I found LetterFu!
LetterFu
will teach you how to send a letter without an envelope, glue or cutting. All
you need is a way to print and a stamp.
Based on
origami folding, you write the letter on one side and have the envelope design
on the other, with all the folds marked. Then you just fold it up, put a stamp
on it and mail it out!
The really
cool part is the plentiful amount of designs you can choose from. The sushi
design is just adorable and I can’t wait to use the Christmas one as well!
You’ll find
instructions under the Instructions category, which walks you through all five
steps of making a letter. I also recommend reading the About section, because
you’ll learn about the inspiration behind the Web site and how LetterFu came to
be.
This could
be a great activity to share with your kids or grandkids. It's also a fun way
to keep in touch with your family. Check it out today!
http://www.letterfu.com/index.php
=== Armor
Games
After a
very stressful week, I really needed some downtime to do something a little
mindless and fun! So, I went searching for games to play and I ran across this
Web site. After playing Armor Games, I couldn’t help but share it with all of
you!
Armor Games
is a site full of games you can play in your Web browser. With plenty of
different categories, there's definitely something for everyone! The categories
are: Action, Adventure, Arcade, Shooting, Puzzle and Skill, Strategy, Sports
and Misc.
I almost
always start with the Puzzle and Skill category. I played Button Hunt 3 for
about an hour without realizing I had been playing that long. It challenges you
to find the button in any scenario. You have to think and problem solve as you
go through the images and of course, they get progressively harder. It's a lot
of fun!
For each
game, you can see how many times it's been played under the title. Click on the
name of a game to go to that game’s page. If you scroll down past the game,
you'll find some information about it and the controls. Most games have a
tutorial to help you get started.
If you run into
any problems or need help, feel free to visit the Help section. There you'll
find FAQs that will answer any questions that may arise. You can also register
to be a member of Armor Games. It's completely free and being a member allows
you to rate games, save them to your favorites and keep a buddy list.
Check this
one out today. You’re sure to have some fun!
=== Karaoke
Party
I’m going
to start by warning you that this Web site is very addictive! Once you start
playing, it's hard to stop. I could barely stop playing long enough to write
this article, because it's just so much fun!
This site
offers an interesting take on karaoke. Instead of singing and recording
yourself, it’s a game. You sing and you're scored on your song. You can play
without registering, but if you do register, it will keep track of your scores
for you.
Plug your
microphone in and get ready to sing! You get points for every right note you
hit as you sing. That's shown with the red and green bar. Red means you’re far
from hitting it right and green means you're right on the money! After your
song finishes, you'll get your score.
There are
two settings you can play with. Easy has the vocal to help you out and Hard is
just the music. The first time you play, you’ll need to adjust your microphone.
Just click on the Auto Configuration button in Step 2 and you'll be good to go.
Then just press the Start button and sing your heart out!
If you
registered, your score will be saved and you can view it on your My Page. You
can edit that page to describe yourself and your musical tastes as well. You
can even add friends to your My Page!
So, what
are you waiting for? Head on over to this Web site and start singing!
http://www.karaokeparty.com/en/
===
Photoshop Lady
Photoshop
can be tricky to learn at first. There's just so much you can do with it. So,
of course, the Internet is swarming with tutorials. But now, you can look in
one place for everything you need. The aim of Photoshop Lady is to collect all
of the best free tutorials on the Web and store them in one place for easy
access!
In order to
save your favorite tutorials, you’re going to need to register. Never fear!
Registration is easy. Just type in a username, provide a working e-mail address
and a password will be mailed to you. (You can change the password by clicking
on the Change Password button and typing in what you'd like it to be).
On the left
side of the page, you’ll find the site menu. The categories you have to select
tutorials from are: Most Viewed, Highest Rated, 3D Effect, Abstract Effect,
Drawing Effect, Photo Effect, Text Effect, Textures and Patterns and User
Interface Design. That covers just about everything you can do with Photoshop!
With new
tutorials added everyday, you may want to subscribe to the RSS feed. You can do
that by clicking on the word "bubble" by the little postman at the
top of the page.
Below that,
you'll find the featured tutorials of the day. At the bottom of the page, you
can use the numbers to navigate back through past tutorials.
This is an
excellent Photoshop resource! If you use Photoshop, I suggest bookmarking this
page so that it's never more than one click away. Check it out today!
===
Bradicon!
Have you ever wanted to make your own icons? Want a way to do it that's fast
and easy? Well, you've come to the right place! You can make icons on this Web
site in just three easy steps.
1.) First, create an image or choose one from your computer. To do that, just
click on the Browse button and select it. Then click Open.
2.) Now, just watch the progress bar as your image uploads.
3.) Next, download your icon and enjoy!
It really is that simple! Plus, you can make as many icons as you want. To make
more than one at a time, just skip step 3 and go back to step 1. Choose another
image, let it upload and then download both of the images or go back and make
yet another one.
You can download them by clicking on the Download link beneath them or you can
right click the image and select Save Target As. Both methods work!
I hope you have as much fun as I did making new icons. Enjoy!
http://ico.bradleygill.com/advanced.php
=== Test Freaks
Do you love gadgets and video games? I know I do! But I have a really hard time
coughing up the cash for something I’m not sure I’m going to like or if it will
do what I need it to do. I rely heavily on customer reviews for products I’m
going to buy, especially if it costs over $40.
Here at Test Freaks, you can not only get the latest reviews on gadgets and
video games, but you can also review them yourself and let other people know
what you thought.
If you scroll all the way to the bottom of the page, you’ll find a link to the
FAQ section, which answers some basic questions. It also gives you a search
field to use to find information.
Now, not only can you get customer reviews of products you’re thinking of
buying, but you can also get expert reviews, manufacturer specs and more.
Simply click on one of the products on the main page. For example, try the
Nikon D300. (If it’s no longer there when you visit, just pick something else!)
On the page, you’ll find detailed images of the product, its Freak Score, price
ranges, reviews, videos and you’ll even find forum posts for that product.
That's a ton of information! This Web site does a very thorough job of
reviewing the products.
Based on the reviews of the Nikon D300, if I had enough money, I would
certainly run out and buy it! But since it's out of my price range, I went back
up to the top of the page and clicked on the Digital Camera link. That took me
to the Digital Camera page where I was able to see the best cameras by their
Freak Score and price, which made it very easy to find something in my price
range and of the quality I want.
I think this is one site you should bookmark for all your big gadget purchases.
It will help you do your research so that you know you’re getting the most for
your money!
http://www.testfreaks.com/
=== Tiny Song
I am in love with this Web site! Have you ever heard a song and desperately
wanted to share it with your friends or family? I know I have! My roommate and
I like to find songs that we both will like and now, we can share them with
each other easily.
So, how does it work? Well, quite simply! All you have to do is type in the
name of a song or the name of an artist into the search field. Then just hit
the Enter button. The site will search their database and bring up a listing
for you to choose from.
Choose the song you were looking for and the application will generate a tiny
URL you can use to share it with your friends and family. Just copy the URL and
paste it into an e-mail or instant message to quickly share the song with
someone else!
Don’t be afraid to try different things if your song doesn’t come up at first.
For example, I wanted to find Stevie Nick’s Beauty and the Beast. So, I typed
in "Beauty and the Beast," hit Enter and got the cartoon’s soundtrack
in my results. Undaunted, I changed tactics and just typed in "Stevie
Nicks." Success! I selected it and it generated a URL for me.
Here it is:
http://tinysong.com/hPv
It also comes up if I search for "Stevie Nicks: Beauty and the
Beast," so if you don’t get a hit the first time, try a different or more
specific search.
I know this site is going in my Favorites list so that I can share songs with
my friends anytime I find a great one. Check it out today!
http://www.tinysong.com/
=== A.nnotate
Welcome to A.nnotate, a Web site where you can upload a document or Web page
you need feedback for, without the hassle of having to e-mail it back and forth
for changes and commentary. And best of all, you can do it all for free!
On the main page, there's a demo video that describes everything you can do
with A.nnotate, as well as, some tips on how to use it. You can try it out
without registering, but you’ll need to register to save or share your work.
Registration is very easy as well! Just type in your e-mail address, click on
the Log in/Register button and then go check your e-mail to get your password.
Also, make sure you click on the confirmation link in the e-mail. Once you do
that, you should be automatically logged in and you can begin!
To get started, you need to either upload a document or type in a Web address
that the application can convert to .PDF. To upload a document, click on the
Choose button and select it from your computer. For a Web page, type in the URL
of the site and then click on the Take a Snapshot button.
If you’re already registered, you’ll be able to use the Upload a New Document
and New Webshot buttons near the top of the page to do the very same thing.
Once your document or Webshot has loaded, you can begin.
I decided to take a Webshot for an example and I used WorldStart's Web page.
Once it loaded, there was a gray navigation bar with these options: Snapshot,
Notes, New Note and Send E-mail.
Snapshot is the default page you’ll be on and it shows you the Web page you
took a snapshot of.
Notes will show you any comments anyone has made on the Web page.
New Note allows you to add a comment or note to the document.
Send E-mail allows you to send the document to the person you need or want to
look over it.
There are tons of uses for this site, so I urge you to go and find them. Have
fun!
http://a.nnotate.com/
=== Good Tutorials
Whether you're building a Web site, taking photographs or trying to get the
most out of Photoshop, a good tutorial is always welcome. And that's where this
Web site comes into play! Plus, if you register for an account, you can even
keep track of the tutorials you’ve looked at and the ones you still need to
see. It’s very easy to register too. Just click on the Create Account tab, fill
in the required fields and then click on the Submit button.
The tutorials are broken down into 13 categories: CSS, Flash, HTML,
Illustrator, Java, JavaScript, Maya, Photography, Photoshop, PHP, Ruby, Ruby on
Rails and 3ds Max.
On the main page, you’ll also find the 15 Newest Tutorials. When I visited,
there was an excellent tutorial on learning the interface for Photoshop, which
can be quite overwhelming if you've never used it before.
You’ll also notice some links beneath the articles. They are: Rating, Clicks,
Comments, Save, Share and Report. If you want to save an article, click on the
Save link and it will display another link you can use to save the article.
If you’ve registered, you’ll find the articles you save under the Account Name
tab. The menu for that section includes the following areas: Profile,
Submitted, Saved, Comments and Tutorial Comments. So, if you click on Saved,
you can see how many articles you've kept. If you click on Comments, it will
show you how many comments you have left. And so on.
This is a very helpful tutorial Web site and I hope you’ll add it to your
Favorites. I know I did!
http://www.good-tutorials.com/
=== Water Effect
Have you ever wanted to add a water effect to one of your images? Well, now you
can and it's so easy!
Once you get to the Web site, all you have to do is click on the Browse button,
select the image you want to add the water effect to and then click on the
Upload Now button.
When the next page loads, you’ll see your image with the water effect
enhancement instantly!
You can then share your new image on more than 24 different social networks
with just the touch of a button. Or, you can copy the code they give you and
paste it wherever you want!
It’s so simple to do and it can add such an amazing effect to your pictures.
Give it a try today!
http://www.watereffect.net/
=== Free Shipping
I tend to do a lot of online shopping and one thing I’m always pleased to find
is free shipping, so I was elated when I found this Web site! What's it do?
Well, it gathers up all of the free shipping offers from online stores and it
puts them in one database where you can easily find them!
I often buy heavy items (computers, cameras, etc.) and since heavy means more
shipping charges, I now go here and search to see which places have free
shipping that I can use to my advantage.
On the main page, if you scroll down past the introduction, you’ll find the
Editor’s Free Shipping Picks. It's an alphabetical listing of the offers the
editor liked the best. You’ll find companies like
Navigation can be done in several ways. You can choose a company from the
listing above the introductions, you can use the alphabetical store search on
the left side of the page or you can use the category listing beneath the
alphabetical listing to browse by what you’re purchasing. You’ll also find
those options on the gray navigation strip along the top of the page, with two
more options: Soon to Expire and Most Recent.
Soon to Expire – This section contains the listing of free shipping offers that
are going to expire soon. So, if you want to take advantage of them, you need
to do so soon.
Most Recent – This section has a listing of the most recently discovered free
shipping offers.
Want to get notifications about free shipping offers? If so, just type your
e-mail address in the Enter Your E-mail field near the top of the page and
click Submit. You'll then be added to the Deal Alert list.
I hope this site helps you save money on your online purchases. It's already
saved me a bundle!
http://www.freeshipping.org/
=== Hulu
With this Web site, you can watch TV and movies online for free! It's only
available to users in the
Did you miss an episode of your favorite TV show? Have a favorite movie you’d
like to watch right now, but don’t feel like running to the video store? Well,
now you can watch them from the comfort of your computer chair whenever you
want!
To watch, you first need to register. Just click on the Sign Up button in the
top right corner, fill out the form and type in the code you see. Then click
Join. Once you’re logged in, you can begin viewing at your leisure!
You can browse through the TV shows by: Popular Episodes, Popular Clips,
Popular Shows, Alphabetical and Network. That gives you plenty of options to
find something entertaining to watch.
You can browse through the movies by: Popular Movies, Popular Movie Clips,
Alphabetical and Studio.
Each clip or film is rated, so you'll know ahead of time what kind of content
you’ll be watching. Plus, there are only a few commercial interruptions and
they’re well placed, so they’re not much of a bother.
Around the video screen, you have options as well! You can change the resolution,
dim the lights (fade the white areas to gray), share, e-mail, embed, pop the
video out in a pop up window or even watch in full screen mode.
This is a great site to catch up on missed episodes of your favorite shows or
to catch a movie and relax. Enjoy!
http://www.hulu.com/
=== AVG 8
When it comes to free antivirus software that is also powerful, there's really
only one option. It's called AVG Free Edition and it works great for basic
antivirus protection on a home PC. I know there are several of you out there
who use AVG, so I decided to give you a heads up on some big changes you should
be aware of. For quite some time now, the newest version of AVG has been
version 7.5. I know I have used it on my home PC for almost a year now and it
has worked out great. Well, just the other day, I received a notice that said I
need to upgrade to version 8. At first, I thought they were just trying to sell
me the pay version, but that wasn't so!
It seems AVG has completely revamped their free and pay versions of the
software. AVG 8 is now available, so if you're still using v7.5, you should
upgrade immediately. After doing some further research, I found out that AVG
7.5 will no longer be supported after the end of this month. So, if you don't
upgrade to version 8 soon, you will no longer be protected from viruses or any
other bugs that may be lurking around.
Now, I know upgrading software can be a hassle, so I went and upgraded my AVG
7.5 to AVG 8.0 just so I could tell you all about it! It turned out to be a
pretty painless and simple process. Here's how you do it:
First, go to AVG's Web site and download the newest version of AVG Free
Edition. Here's the link to their Web site: http://free.grisoft.com.
Make sure you choose the Free Edition (if that's the one you currently use) and
then just follow the steps to download it to your computer. In the final step,
you will be asked if you want to save or run the file. Choose Save and just put
it on your desktop so that you can easily find it later.
After the file finishes downloading, find your current AVG icon in your system
tray down by your clock (it looks like a square with four different colors on
it). Right click on that icon and choose "Quit AVG free control center.”
That will prompt a warning, asking if you're sure. Choose Yes. After you do
that, shut down any other programs running on your system.
Third, find the AVG installation file you downloaded earlier and double click
on it. That will start the AVG free installation. The nice thing about this
installation is it will remove the old version automatically. Just go through
the steps by clicking on the Next button. After the installation is complete,
it will tell you it wants to check for updates, but the update check will fail.
Don't worry, we will get to that on the next step. After clicking Next through
all of the screens, you will be asked to restart your computer. Click Yes to do
that.
The final step is doing the update that failed earlier. After your computer
restarts, your AVG icon will have a red X on it. Double click on the icon and
choose the option to update the software. The update will complete and the red
X will disappear.
You're done! You now have the newest version of AVG. Until next week, stay safe
out there, my friends!
=== Bodocus
Bodocus sounds weird, right? Well, it stands for Best Online Documentaries and
what you get is a comprehensive list of the best documentaries you can watch
for free. That’s right, for free!
You’ll find navigation on the side menu to the left. It’s a listing of the
categories and when you mouse over them, another menu pops out with even more
categories and videos to choose from.
For example, if you mouse over Biographies, another menu pops up that has two
sections: A-M and N-Z. Then if you mouse over either of those, you’ll see the
documentaries in that section!
The different categories are: Anthropology, Biographies, Business, Environment,
Foreign, (Geo)Politics, Health, History, Lifestyle/Society, Mystery, Religion,
Science and Technology/Future.
Once you’ve selected the documentary you want to watch, it’ll take you directly
to the video. Press the Play button on the video and you’re good to go! If you
find a video link that doesn’t work, you can report it as well.
To report a broken link, click the “Help me find broken links” link beneath the
logo. That will open your computer's default e-mail client with the e-mail
address you can send the message to.
If you don’t use that e-mail client, you can just copy and paste the e-mail
address into a new e-mail in the program you use. Make sure you also put the
right subject in the subject line, which is "Broken Links."
This is a fantastic Web site for documentaries and I hope you enjoy it!
http://www.bodocus.com/
=== Websites for Seniors
Q:
Are there any Web sites out there today that are aimed directly toward senior
citizens? I sometimes get bored with some of the other sites I use and I would
like to try something new.
A:
That's a very interesting question and while it's not something we've really
touched on before, I think it's worth going over. I know a lot of WorldStart's
readers spend a lot of time on their computers and it's always good to have new
and exciting Web sites to look at throughout the day. Whether it's while you
work or in your leisure time, there are several Web sites designed just for
senior citizens.
Okay, before I list some sites for you, I want you to know that these are all
good for networking with other seniors, making new friends, learning more about
computers, obtaining information about retirement, etc. If that sounds
interesting to you, come along with me as we visit some of them!
1.) Senior Citizens Resources - This Web site is run by FirstGov and it
provides several tips for senior citizens. It gives information on consumer
protection, places senior citizens can volunteer, seniors and adult education,
advice on estate planning and federal and state agencies for seniors. This site
also has links to the government sites that may be beneficial to senior
citizens, such as the Administration on Aging, the Social Security
Administration and the Veteran's Health Administration. Check it all out here.
2.) SeniorNet - This Web site's mission is to provide access to computer
technology for older adults. As a result, senior citizens will be able to gain
more knowledge and wisdom and eventually share it with others. This site is
basically set up as a discussion board. Everyone is welcome to participate in
the SeniorNet RoundTable discussion groups. You just have to sign up for the
boards and then you will be able to learn and teach others about computers and
using the Internet. If you feel like you could share your wisdom with others or
if you want to learn more, this site is perfect for you! Check out SeniorNet
right here.
3.) Web Pointers for Seniors - If you're looking for even more sites to try
out, this is the place you'll want to go. It is managed by a retired couple
from
4.) SeniorLink - This site is mainly helpful for senior citizens in maintaining
independence in their own homes. The developers of this site want seniors to be
able to do this safely and with dignity. This site even offers some help for
children who have aging parents. It gives advice on making the difficult
choices that come with the elderly care of their parents. This site does have
some parts that require a paid subscription, but you can access free
information in the Caregiver FAQ and Top Elder Risks sections. Take a look at
it here.
5.) Write a Senior Citizen - Here is one more site I thought some of you might
be interested in. This is more on the fun side of things! This Web site was
actually created by two teenagers who wanted to bring senior citizens together.
You can use it to write other seniors by e-mail or even by snail mail as a pen
pal. If you're wanting to get connected with other seniors, this is the best
place for it. Check it out here.
Now, I know this isn't something we usually share at WorldStart, but I thought
some of you might get a kick out of it. Start fresh with all of these new Web
sites and bring new life to your Internet experience!
~ Erin
Have a question for the newsletter? Submit it at the link below:
http://www.worldstart.com/submitquestion.htm
=== ReachBy
With the world becoming more and more technological everyday, it seems like you
need to have a place online where you can keep your contact information.
Whether it's just your e-mail address or more, ReachBy can help you do just
that!
To sign up, you need to fill out the registration form. You need to create a
username, which will be displayed on your contact page. You also need to create
a password for your account. Then just provide your e-mail address, fill in the
page headline, edit the page content (what your page will say), set up your
security question and type in the verification code to prove you are human.
The next step is to check your e-mail for a confirmation. Mine came almost
instantly. Click on the link in the e-mail and you’re ready to go! The link
should direct you to your contact page so that you have an idea of what it
looks like. If you’re happy with it, you can leave it as is and start handing
out your contact link to other people.
If you’re unhappy with the way it looks, you can edit it. To get back to your
main account page, click on the ReachBy logo in the top left corner of the
page. You’ll find navigation on the left with these options:
Account Home – This takes you back to the main page of your account.
Edit Content – This is where you can edit what your contact page says and looks
like. To find more customization ideas, click on the Formatting Styles link.
That shows you the codes you can use to give your profile a more personalized
feel.
To use the formatting styles, simply copy what's shown. For example, we’ll use
fine print.
They have [-fine print-] and you would put [-Hello!-]
That's pretty easy, right?! For more examples, check out the demo page I made
here.
Picture – You can also add a photo to your profile via the Picture section.
Click on the Choose button to pick a photo from your computer and then click
Upload. Next, select a position: right, middle or left. You can also put a
border around the picture with the "Draw a thin line around the photo"
option. Just check that box if you’d like to add a thin line border. Now, all
you have to do is click the Save Changes button and you’ve got a picture on
your contact page!
Change E-mail – This is where you can change the e-mail address you want your
contact notices to go to!
Set Password – Here you can reset your password. Note: You’ll need to answer
your security question to do so.
Identity Info – This is where you can reset your security question.
Protect Form – If you chose not to allow anonymous contacts, this is the
section where you can make yourself even more secure from spammers by setting
up a question the person has to answer. Or, you can change your settings if you
chose to allow anonymous contacts and you no longer want to. And vice versa.
Deactivate – If you no longer need your contact page, you can deactivate it
here.
Button Link – Here you can find a selection of buttons you can use on a Web
page or social profile like MySpace, Facebook, Blogger, etc. That way, people
can click on the button and go straight to your contact page. Just copy the
code next to the button you want and paste it on the page where you want it
displayed.
Logout – This button logs you out of your account.
That's it. I hope you have fun using ReachBy!
http://reachby.com/
=== Time Machiner
Welcome to Time Machiner, a Web application that allows you to send yourself,
or your friends and family, e-mails at a later date. It's easy to use and can
serve many purposes!
How does it work? Well, it’s very simple! Choose a date, input the e-mail
address of who you're sending it to, fill in the subject line and then write
your message. Then just click the Send This E-mail to the Future button and off
your message goes to be delivered at a later time.
I’ve been using this to remind me of things I need to do. I set one up for
Monday to remind me to take my puppy to the vet. I also set one up for Friday
to remind me to tape a television program for my roommate. As you can see, the
possibilities are endless!
This is a really neat application and I’m already using it everyday. I hope you
do the same!
http://www.timemachiner.com/
=== Comiqs
Have you ever wanted to make your own comics? Well, now you can! And all you
need are a few photographs and a little creativity. Here at Comiqs, you will
find an easy to use application for making really neat comics out of your very
own photographs!
Registration is easy. All you need is an e-mail address, username, password and
to pick what country you're from. Then just type in the words you see (with a
space between them) and click Register.
Not sure you want to take the plunge and register just yet? Well, you can check
out the Learn More section instead! There you can watch a video that shows you
exactly how easy it is to make comics from your photographs.
Or, you can head over to the Explore section and check out the comics other
people have already made. That will give you a really good idea of everything
you can do on this Web site. I really enjoyed a lot of the instructional
comics, as well as, the funny animal ones!
So, you’ve registered and you've clicked on your activation link. Are you ready
to get started? Great! Just click on the Start button and you’ll be whisked
away to the Comiqs application.
Once you’re there, you’ll start with a blank canvas and the site’s photo
library will load. To use your own pictures, you’ll need to click the Add
button. Then click on Browse to select them from your computer.
The really nice thing is you can upload more than one at a time. To do that,
just continue to select Browse until you have all the photos you want. When you
have all of them, simply click Upload.
Once they’re uploaded, you’ll be taken back to the My Photos area, where you
can select the images you want and start putting your comic together! If you
head over to the Graphic tab, you can select different fonts and layouts. Also,
the Text tab will let you add funny text to your images.
When you're finished, you can save it as a draft by hitting the Save button.
That's a great option if you think you still want to fiddle around with your
comic or if you want to add more pages later on. Or, you can go directly to
Publish, which will save it completely and publish it to the site so that you
can share it with your friends and family!
Take a look at what I whipped up here. This is a very fun site, so go on and
enjoy it!
http://comiqs.com/
=== Tonebee
So, you have a great mobile phone, but you can’t find a ringtone you like.
Well, fret no more, because now you can make your very own ringtones! In order
for this to work, your phone just has to be able to play MP3s. Plus, it’s
absolutely free! To get started, you just need to register.
Registration is really easy! All you need to do is fill out the form with your
nickname, e-mail address and password and then click on the Sign Up button.
Once you get your confirmation e-mail (mine came almost instantly), simply
click on the link to confirm your registration. Once you’ve confirmed and
logged in, you’re ready to get started!
Go to the Make Your Ringtone tab, let the application load and then follow the
directions. It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3! Just load your song, choose the 25 seconds
you want and then save it.
If you run into any snags, the Help link at the top of the page is where you
need to go. It has step by step instructions with pictures, so it's really easy
to follow along and create your first ringtone. Then you just download it to
your phone and set it up as your new ringtone! Note: Not every phone will
support this application, so just keep that in mind if it doesn't work out for
you.
Have fun!
http://www.tonebee.com/
=== Photo Soup
A long time ago, I wrote an article on the photo Web site of Flickr and now,
I’m bringing you Photo Soup, which uses the pictures you have on Flickr to make
word puzzles! You don’t have to have a Flickr account to play, but if you do,
you can use your gallery to generate your own puzzle.
How does it work? Well, I found the best way to get a puzzle is to use the tag
option. To do that, just type in a tag name. I used their example of
"Zoo," as well as, "Portrait." Each of those tags generated
great puzzles, so they are definitely a good starting point.
From the tag, it generates a word puzzle and the puzzle is surrounded by up to
17 images. Those images are your clues. You can also turn on hints, which will
show you the photo tag you're looking for.
For example, the Zoo puzzle had Lion, Monkey, White, Canon and Water.
Now, that's not really what you might expect from the Zoo tag, so if I get
stuck, turning on the hints is really helpful.
Each puzzle is timed as well. For every word you find, you get 10 seconds added
back to your clock. I’ve gotten addicted to trying to finish one, but so far,
my best score is 14 out of 17.
If you want to share this site with your friends, just go to the Embed option.
Then type in the tag or username you want to use to generate the puzzle and it
will then make the code you need to embed it. Now, all you have to do is copy
and paste it on your Web page, blog, journal, etc. Have fun!
http://next.yahoo.net/photosoup/
=== Name Card Designer
Welcome to Deyey (pronounced D-eye-y), the Web site where you can make name
cards for free!
To get started, I recommend checking out the demo, which you can do by clicking
the View Demo button located along the orange navigation strip. The demo walks
you through the whole process, starting with designing your background, logo
and adding your information.
To dive into your designing, start by registering. To do that, just scroll down
the page until you see an orange tab that reads Sign Up/Sign In. You just need
a username, password, e-mail address, to choose an industry, state whether you
are a company or an individual, match the picture and agree to their terms of
service.
Then just click Sign Up! The nice thing about this process is the Sign Up sheet
confirms your information as you fill it out. As soon as you click the Sign Up
button, it registers you and you can get started!
Next, click Create a Name Card to start your project. Then go through each step
as described in the demo, starting with one and ending with four. Check out the
example I made here. It's really fairly easy!
With pre-loaded graphics and the ability to upload your own images, the options
for name cards are unlimited. You can use them as a way to give out your name,
address, e-mail address and cell phone number at your next get together or you
can design really nifty business cards. Give it a try today!
http://www.deyey.com/web/eng/index.php?open_tab=1
=== MailFreezr
Are you terrible at remembering important dates such as birthdays and
anniversaries? Do you want to make sure your loved ones get a message from you
on their special day, no matter what? Well, now you can through MailFreezr: a
revolutionary Web site that freezes your messages until the date you choose to
send them. When the day you’ve chosen rolls around, MailFreezr then sends your
messages out.
How does it work? Well, it's very easy to use! Just fill in the recipient's
e-mail address, your e-mail address, your name and a subject. Then you just
simply write your message. For example, I chose to send my sister a birthday
message. I labeled it "Happy Birthday" and wrote her a birthday
message in the message box. It's so cool!
Next, you choose how many years you want it to be frozen. I chose one year, so
now I’m covered for her birthday next year! If there's a situation where you
can’t choose the specific date, you can plan accordingly and fill out the
e-mail on that day. Let's say you just got married and you want to send your
spouse a message for your five or even 10 year anniversary. To do so, just fill
it out on your anniversary and set the freeze date for five or 10 years!
After you’ve filled out all the address fields, the message field and you've
selected how many years you want it to be frozen, you’ll need to type in the
code above the box that reads "Code" (you can just type it over the
word). Then simply hit the Freeze button and you're all set!
At the top of the page, you have the navigation options of Freeze, Check and
About. About will tell you all about the service and Freeze will take you back
to the main form. Check, however, is a lot more interesting! It allows you to
put in your e-mail address and see if anyone has frozen a message for you.
Check it out today!
http://www.mailfreezr.com/
=== Just Say Hi Quizzes
The quiz I'm bringing you today from Just Say Hi is called "How Many
Colors Can You Name in Five Minutes?" It's so much fun!
This quiz is truly a test of your recall abilities. To play, just start typing
names of colors in the text box and hit Enter. There are 238 colors in total.
When your time is up, a pop up box will appear that says, “Times up! Let’s see
how you did!” On my first try, I got 37 out of 238. : )
The nice thing is, they list all of the colors that are in their database after
your time is up so that you can see what you missed.
If you scroll down beneath your results, you will find some other quizzes you
can take. The quizzes (and my results) are: "How Many Countries Can You
Name in Five Minutes?" (I managed to name 31), "How Geek Are
You?" (I’m 80 percent) and some sillier quizzes like: "What Are Your
Chances of Surviving a Zombie Apocalypse?" (41 percent) and
"Synesthesia, Is Your Brain Wired for Creativity?" (73 percent!)
After each quiz, you’ll find the code you need to post your results on your
blog, journal or Web site. Just highlight the complete code and then copy and
paste it wherever you want to put it.
I had a lot of fun taking these quizzes and I hope you do too!
http://www.justsayhi.com/bb/view2/colors
=== Meemix
Are you ready to listen to the soundtrack of your life? I have to say, I am a
real sucker for these kinds of Web sites that allow you to create custom music
stations based on your music preferences and mood!
Here at Meemix, all you need to get started is the name of a song or an artist
you like. The site will then give you a list to choose from and if what you're
looking for is there, great! Go ahead and choose it and it will start playing
for you. If it didn’t find what you wanted, simply try a new search. Once
you’ve found something you like (I did have to search several times, but then
again, I like a lot of music that isn’t mainstream), it will ask you to
register so that you can save your preferences.
Registration is very easy! All you have to do is click Register (it doesn’t
even interrupt the song your station is playing), type in a username, click the
button next to that to check its availability and then enter in a password. Next,
it needs an e-mail address and for you to type in your confirmation image.
That’s it! You are now logged in and Meemix is recording your preferences.
Now, you will notice on the left side of the screen that you have a station
listing and beneath that, you have some slider bars for your Mood Control. The
first one is surprise, the second is pulse and the third is volume. The first
one (surprise) controls the variety of the station, playing tunes that are more
of a variant than what you originally selected. This is a great way to discover
music. The second one (pulse) controls the tone of the music. The left is more
relaxed and the right is more upbeat and aggressive. The third controls the
volume of the music.
Now, if you hear something you don't like, you don’t have to keep listening to
it. Just use the slider bar under the middle section of the page. Slide it all
the way under and the station will move on. You may have to do this quite a bit
at first, but it is very worthwhile, as your choices customize your station. Of
course, if there is something you really like, make sure you rate it as
"hot" so that you keep getting more music just like it!
Game Mode – This is a fun way to spend your time on Meemix! What you have to do
is identify music you hear in the first 30 seconds. It is based off the music
you listen to on your station, so you have a good chance of answering
correctly. I got really addicted to it and made apprentice in no time at all!
Each question is worth 12 points originally and it goes down as you use the
hints. Of course, you get zero points if you answer incorrectly. If you click
the X in the top right corner, you can go back to your station, where you can
continue to listen to your music.
If you run into any problems, you can always check out the Quick Help section.
You’ll find that button right above the station in the right hand side corner.
There you will find some quick tips that will really help you out.
So, what are you waiting for? Go make your stations and enjoy!
http://www.meemix.com/intro/
=== Spoken Text
Alright, I’m not really sure why anyone would need to do this, but it is really
cool, so I had to share it with you all! This Web site transfers text to speech
and you can then download it as an MP3 or iPod file. Cool, huh?!
To get started, you will need to register. Don’t worry, it’s free and it only
takes a few seconds to do. Once you’re registered, you can log right in and get
started.
When you’ve logged in, you will notice near the middle of the page, there is a
Quick Start guide for you to listen to. That will really help you in getting
started and understanding how everything works, so I highly recommend starting
there.
To start making a recording, click the Create a Recording button or go to the
New Recording category on the side menu. Now, choose the person you want to
read your text from the drop down box. Next, click the Choose button to have
the document transferred from text to speech. Once you’ve found it, choose
whether you want to be notified by e-mal when your recording is done, as well
as, whether or not you want the recording to be public. Then just click the
Record button. All you have to do now is wait for it to be done!
I have thought of several great uses for this as I was visiting the site. This
would be a great site to use to translate things from text to speech for those
individuals who are blind. You could translate e-mails, books and more for them
to listen to. This would also be very handy for people who want to record some
robotic text for a podcast. I’ve heard that done before and it is hilarious.
There's one voice on here that is very robotic and it works perfectly for it!
I recommend you do not leave the words per minute at 160. That makes them talk
so fast and you can’t really make out what they're saying.
If you have any trouble with the site, you may want to check out the FAQ
section or the Help Tutorials. They may be able to help you troubleshoot your
problem. The Help Tutorials are set up in a blog style and they have an
archive, so you’ll probably want to search through them with the search engine
in the top right corner of the page.
I think this is a very interesting site and it will be neat to see how many uses
people have for it as it evolves over time. Enjoy!
http://www.spokentext.net/
=== ZIPskinny
So, what’s the skinny on your zip code?
Welcome to ZIPskinny, a Web site where you can get Census information by your
zip code and compare it to neighboring zip codes around you. It’s really easy
to use too! All you have to do is type in your zip code or the zip code you
want to know about (I did my mom’s, as well as, my own) and then click on the
Get the Skinny button.
The page that loads will have all the Census data for your zip code first and
it will then compare it to the neighboring zip codes in your area. The data
compared includes: unemployment, marital status, education, income and even
poverty.
Beneath that, you’ll find specific statistics for schools in your area,
demographics and a map of the area. Underneath that, you will find an even
cooler feature! It will have the zip code you typed in and a bunch of blank
boxes. Fill in the blank boxes with specific zip codes you’d like to compare to
the original query and then click Submit. You can compare up to 20 zip codes at
a time!
Once you’ve gotten the skinny on your zip code, you can even put it on your own
Web page. To do so, just click the Available Now link above the video at the
bottom the page and you’ll be whisked away to the "Create Your ZIPskinny
Widget Here" page. You’ll see a bunch of sample charts and a video that
shows you how to do it.
I thought this was a really neat site and I just couldn’t wait to share it with
all of you. Enjoy!
http://zipskinny.com/
=== Buzzword
Welcome to Buzzword! It is a Web based word processor that I’ve quickly come to
adore. In order to use it or even take a gander at it, you need to click the
Sign Up link in the top right corner of the page. Just provide a name, e-mail
address, a password, agree to their terms and you’re ready to go! It works with
Internet Explorer, Firefox and Safari.
To be honest, I’ve stopped writing up my cool sites in Microsoft Word and have
started writing them on this site instead. Once you’ve registered, the
processor will load and you will see a document already there. Whatever could
it be? It is titled "Welcome to Buzzword Preview."
This document welcomes you to the program and explains how it works, what
features it currently has and how you can get help with it. I personally
believe this is a must read for anyone who wants to use this processor
efficiently. It only takes a few minutes to read through and it is so helpful!
You should at least read enough so that you know what the menu symbols are for.
That is a definite "need to know" before you get started.
I fully expected there to be a good deal of delay between what I typed and what
appeared on my screen and I was shocked to find it was as responsive as using a
word processing program installed on the computer.
It has several fonts for you to choose from, which are all nice, crisp and easy
to read. You’ll notice it can handle lists, word wraps around pictures and make
tables.
Buzzword is in beta right now, so all your comments are very useful. To submit
a comment, just click the teal chat bubble button and choose Add a Comment. Or,
you can read what others have to say just by clicking Show Comments.
You’ll also notice a menu at the very top of the page. The categories in it
are: Document, Edit, Insert and Help. I want to discuss the Edit and Insert
tabs with you a little bit. Under the Edit tab, you will find Check Spelling. I
was thrilled to find that there! Then under the Insert tab, you will find the
insert menu for images, links, special characters and more.
I hope you all fall in as much love with Buzzword as I have. Go check it out. I
don’t think you’ll regret it!
http://www.buzzword.com/
=== Make Use Of
Are you looking for amazing Web applications that are easy to use and are free?
Well, if so, you’ve come to the right place! This blog is dedicated to finding
the best free Web applications you can find online and reviewing them so that
you’ll know how useful and amazing they are. Here’s a direct quote from their
About page that states it better than I ever could:
“On Make Use Of, we don’t write about any new Web applications that come
around, but only about ones that are cool, free and useful!"
The page you load in on is the blog, which is where you’ll find the most recent
entries at the top. Just scroll down the page to go back through the entries.
Beneath the black navigation menu, you’ll find the options for viewing the blog
entries. They are: Latest Articles, Top 20, Recommended Lists, By Category and
Full Archive.
Directory 2.0 is a great listing of the applications for both the Web and mobile
options. It is broken down into categories for easy searching. Each category
has a number by it, denoting how many applications will be found in that
particular category.
Among the blog topics, you’ll not only find applications that will make your life
easier (for example, check out the entry on Handy Recovery), but you will also
find great tips and software reviews.
You can also subscribe to this blog either via e-mail or an RSS feed reader. I
signed up via e-mail and it was really easy. Just type in your e-mail address
under the one you’d like to sign up for and click Subscribe. Then type in the
security code you see and click Complete Subscription Request. Next, check your
e-mail for the confirmation letter and you'll be all set.
Now, before I run off to get some of these applications for myself, let me
mention the Geeky Fun section. Here you will find some computer geek funnies
that range from comics to videos. I didn’t have a chance to watch the videos,
but I really enjoyed the mailbox picture tremendously. Check it out today!
http://www.makeuseof.com/
=== Science Hack
Do you enjoy science? Do you like learning about scientific topics? Do you like
watching videos? Well, now you can combine your love of videos and science here
at Science Hack!
The video categories are: Latest Videos, Physics, Chemistry, Space, Psychology,
Robotics, Biology, How It Is Made, Mathematics, Civil Engineering, Computer
Science, Green Energy and Nature.
Lots of topics, huh?! I was a bit overwhelmed by all of the options as well, so
I’d recommend going to the topic you’re the most passionate about first. Or,
maybe you have something you want to know about, like clouds. If so, just type
that into the search engine and see what comes up.
Something even more interesting about this site is that every video you watch
has been viewed by a scientist to make sure it's accurate information. How cool
is that?!
I’m a huge nature lover, so I thought I’d duck into that topic and see what was
there. I found the most incredible video about icebergs floating off the coast
of
I must have spent two or three hours here watching different videos, so be
warned! It is very addicting, but quite enjoyable and not to mention,
educational. I think this is an awesome science resource for all ages. Have
fun!
http://sciencehack.com/
=== Online Medical Advice
1.) WebMD
http://www.webmd.com/
2.) MayoClinic
http://www.mayoclinic.com/
3.) eMedicineHealth.com
http://www.emedicinehealth.com/script/main/hp.asp
4.) VeryWell.com
http://www.Verywell.com
5.) RX List
http://www.rxlist.com/script/main/hp.asp
=== Musicovery
Are you ready to make a musical discovery? Or, how about letting your mood
guide what music is played? Well, if you are or if you're just curious now, why
don’t you check out Musicovery?!
How does it work? Well, let’s get started by choosing the language we want to
listen in. I chose English, but to change it, just click on the flag
corresponding to the language you want to listen to. Your options are English,
French, Spanish and I believe, Portuguese.
Once you’ve chosen the language you want, you can choose whether you want to
listen to hits, non-hits or discovery. You also have the option of choosing
them all, which is what I did. Next, you can choose the era the music came
from. I choose All for mine.
Now, you’ve made it to the Mood tab. Here you can set the player to play music
that suits your mood. The four quadrants are Dark, Energetic, Positive and
Calm. I chose to move my preference into the positive and calm sector, but do
whatever you're feeling!
You can now choose the genres you want to listen to. You have the option of
selecting them all, but I’d really like to listen to some classical music, so
I'm going to pick just Classical. If you reset the genre from All, you’ll have
to set your mood again.
If you’ve ever spider webbed a thought or idea, you’ll notice that’s the method
they use for the musicovery engine. They start with a selection and from there,
it will web out to different pieces of music. I didn’t like the first piece of
music, so I moved on to a very tranquil piano piece. The player will skip
around the web by itself, so you can just let it play from there.
Did you enjoy what you heard? If so, you can register for a free account by
clicking the Register link. On the main page, that is obscured by the player,
so you’ll want to make a selection on the player first so that it moves to the
left side of the screen where you can see the link. But, if you’ve already
started listening, it should be right in the top center of the page.
Just provide the required information of Name, Age, Gender, Birth Year,
Country, Language, Password, Secret Question and check whether or not you want
to receive the newsletter. The free membership allows you to mark your
favorites, as well as, ban songs you dislike.
Well, I hope you are ready to embark on your musical journey. I know I can’t
wait to get back to mine. Enjoy!
http://www.musicovery.com/
=== Wikisky
I don’t even know how to preface this Web site, other than to tell you it is
incredibly neat! When the page loads, you’ll be looking at a sky full of stars,
with blue and green lines drawn on it.
I fully recommend that you start your journey here with Getting Started. This
section will walk you through the site’s features, as well as, explain it more
thoroughly than I could ever hope to. I’m still sitting at my desk thinking,
“look how pretty that is!”
If I’m reading this correctly, the green lines connect constellations. Yes,
they do and you can toggle them on and off with the menu button that has a
constellation on it. You can also search for specific things in the sky. For
example, Orion, by using the search field and clicking the magnifying glass
next to it.
If you mouse over anything in the sky, a pop up box of information about it
will come up for you. Clicking that will take you to another page that will
have even more detailed information about what you clicked!
Another very neat feature is the Find Stars Above You Now. This button is on
the left side of the search field. It has what appears to be an infinity sign
on it. If you click it and put in your zip code or location, it will find which
stars are currently above you. How cool is that?!
Talk about being able to know the skies above you! You can click on any of them
to learn more. Or, just mouse over the sky and see what’s there. I think it's
all very cool!
Well, I'm really itching to explore the skies above me, so I’m going to run off
and do that. Enjoy!
http://www.wikisky.org/
=== Wink
Welcome to Wink, the Web site "where people find people!” That’s their
slogan and let me tell you, it rings true after browsing through the site. When
you think of how many different social networking sites there are online today,
such as MySpace, Facebook and Live Journal, just to name a few, wouldn’t it be
nice to be able to do one simple search to find your friends?
What’s even better is you can search by name, location, interests, school and
even work! You’ll find the search engine near the top of the page in the light
blue box. Just fill in the information you’d like to search by and click the
green Search button to get started.
While you're here, why not claim your profile too? That way, it's easier for
your friends and family to find you. I know I have profiles on several different
sites, so it would be nice for someone to be able to find me at any of them
from just one place.
To claim your profile, click the Sign Up link at the top of the page. You’ll
need to provide your name and e-mail address, as well as, set up a username and
password for yourself. Next, check the box to agree to their terms and that you
are over 13 years of age. Then just make sure you check your e-mail to confirm
your account. You can now start setting up your profile with information about
yourself, with as little or as much as you’d like!
That was pretty easy, right?! Now, people can find you on any of your many
social sites, from one easy point of search. And you can do the same. Enjoy!
http://wink.com/
=== The Common Cold
Well, it's already gotten me this year. Yep, that nasty little thing we call
the common cold. I have the sniffles, a sore throat, fatigue and the doctor
says it’s just a cold. So, since I’m sick, I figured I’d look into what exactly
the common cold is and share it with all of you!
At any point, you can use the links in the Article Sections to jump ahead to
different parts, rather than going through it page by page.
Introduction – Here you will learn what the common cold is, how often you’re
likely to get it, as well as, how long it will be before you're feeling better.
Signs and Symptoms – Here you will learn what the symptoms of the common cold
are.
Causes – Are you curious as to how you caught your cold? If so, this section
explains how you can catch a cold.
Risk Factors – This is where you will learn about some of the risk factors that
allow you to catch the common cold, as well as, which seasons you will be more
susceptible to catching it in.
When to Seek Medical Advice – This is an important section. It tells you when
you should seek medical advice. For example, you should when you have a high
fever, a fever with the sweats or chills, etc. There is also a special listing
of when you should seek medical care for your child if they have a cold.
Complications – This section lists some of the complications that can occur
with the common cold, such as ear infections, sinusitis, wheezing or secondary
infections.
Treatment – Since there is no cure for the common cold and antibiotics are
useless to fight it, you may want to know how you best can treat your cold.
Your options are pain relievers, decongestants and cough syrup. For more
detailed information, check this section out.
Prevention – One of the best ways you can take care of yourself is to take
precautions that will help prevent you from catching a cold. You can learn all
about them here and if you guessed that hand washing is on the list of things
you can do, you’d be right. In fact, it is number one on the prevention list!
Self-Care – Here you will learn other things you can do to take care of
yourself when you are ill with a common cold. I personally adore those shower
soother things you can put in your shower and they make a vapor from the steam.
They're awesome!
Well, I hope this will keep you all from getting a cold this time of year. I
know I’m definitely going to remember these things for the future. Take care!
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/common-cold/DS00056
=== Reporting Spam E-mail
We here at WorldStart often tell you about new e-mail scams that are going
around on the Internet, but we've never really told you what you can do to
report all the spam you receive in your Inbox. Lately, I've been asked that
question a lot, so I figured it was about time we addressed it. I do apologize
for taking so long to do so. Reporting spam e-mail is very easy to do and if
everyone does their part, who knows, maybe the bad side of e-mail will finally
disappear for good. Let's check it out, shall we?!
First of all, I want to make sure everyone is clear on what I'm referring to
when I say spam e-mail. Spam can come in a variety of ways, including messages
from business marketers trying to sell their products, forwards, bogus money
offers and just any messages you may get from people you don't know. I'm sure
you all have gotten your fair share of those, because no matter what you do, it
seems impossible to protect your e-mail address from getting into the wrong
hands. And I don't know about you, but junk e-mails really get on my nerves and
they waste my time!
So, the next time you see a spam e-mail in your Inbox that you think is
deceptive, do us all a favor and forward it to the Federal Trade Commission
(FTC) at this address: spam@uce.gov. You can
do that just by hitting the Forward button in your e-mail and typing that
address on the To: line. The FTC then uses the e-mails they get at that address
to pursue law enforcement actions against the people who send them. They have
even put together a new law against spammers, called the CAN-SPAM law, which is
designed to hold spammers responsible for their actions. It's nice to know
there is something we all can do to help combat the dreadful problem of spam.
Do your part today and let's all start to make a difference!
=== Joost
What’s Joost? Well, I was certainly wondering that myself when I first came
across this Web site. Basically, it is over 15,000 shows you can watch from
your computer for free. Whether you want to watch CSI, your favorite sitcom or
cartoon, you’re sure to find something to watch here!
How does it work? Well, you just need to download Joost to your computer. To do
so, click the Download tab from the black navigation strip along the top of the
page. Next, choose your platform of either Windows or Mac and then download it.
You’ll find excellent installation instructions provided right on the page.
Once it is installed, you need to choose a Joost name. You can do that right
from within Joost, without having to tab out and without any hassle! You just
need a username, a password, your name and your zip code. They also provide
their Privacy Policy, so you know exactly why they need that information from
you.
Now that you have a Joost name, you can start watching your favorite shows. It
should load up in a full-screen mode the first time you use it, but keep in
mind that you can also watch it in a windowed mode.
Want to see if there's even a program you’d like to watch? Well, feel free to
browse the What’s On section. That is where you can see the listings of
different channels and you can even browse by different categories. Once you
pick a channel to watch, you will find a listing of different shows that appear
on it. For example, if you choose music, pick IMTV and you will get a listing
of what artists are playing on the Irish Music TV channel. Cool, huh?!
I have to admit, I’m already addicted to the CSI channel, as well as, exploring
the many music channels Joost offers. Check it out today!
http://www.joost.com/
=== Free Rice
This Web site brings you a very addictive way in which you can help end world
hunger! How does it work? Well, you play a vocabulary game and for every
correct answer you get, they donate 10 grains of rice to the United Nations.
Now, for all the technical details about how this program works, you should
head on over to the FAQ section. The FAQs cover how the rice is donated, how
the vocabulary program works and how playing helps you develop your vocabulary
skills as well!
The game itself has 50 levels of difficulty and the more you answer, the harder
the questions get. So, you can definitely challenge yourself. I know I have! I
love it though, because you get to learn new words, what they mean and you're
also helping give food to needy people.
So, how does the game work? Well, you just start by clicking the correct
meaning for the current word on your page. Then you continue choosing the
correct word and for each one you get right, you move on. If you get it wrong,
it shows you the correct answer and then you can still move on.
You’ll notice your vocabulary level underneath the definitions. That way, you
can keep an eye on where you are within in the range of levels. My best so far
has been 38, but I’m totally addicted, so I’m sure that will go up over time!
I think this site has a wonderful concept and I can’t wait to head back for
more. Check it out today!
http://www.freerice.com/index.php
=== WOWIO
Welcome to WOWIO! This Web site is dedicated to bringing you free books you can
download to your own PC and read at your own leisure. The best part is that
it’s the only place on the Web where you can download such high quality
copyrighted books legally!
To get started, you need to register. To do so, click the Account button at the
top of the page and choose "I am a new user." This will take you to
the Registration page. This site requires authentication of your identity and
you can do this in three ways:
One way is to provide an e-mail address that is not anonymous, which means no
Hotmail, Yahoo! or Google addresses will be accepted. The good news though is
that if you have Internet service, you most likely have access to an e-mail
address that’s not anonymous. For example, YourNameHere@YourInternetProvider.com.
The second way is to provide a credit card, which will not be charged and it is
only used to authenticate you. Or, the third way is to provide a scan of your
ID, which will be deleted as soon as you are authenticated and are transmitted
securely.
I used my e-mail address to be authorized. It seemed to be the least invasive.
Now, I know that’s going to put some of you off. I mean, why do you have to be
authenticated at all? Well, here’s what the site had to say about it:
“Signing up for a WOWIO account requires that you agree to the terms of a
licensing agreement. Since an agreement is only meaningful when it is between
two real parties, we require that people offer some proof that they are who
they say they are. This licensing arrangement is what enables WOWIO to protect
the content of our publishing partners and provide you with free e-books.”
Now, it's your call, but I think this service is truly worth the
authentication. You’re getting free books that you can download to your
computer to be yours forever! You can get the classics, college textbooks,
comics and more.
Once you are authorized, you just need to confirm the information you
authorized with and then fill out an optional survey. Then you are ready to
start downloading books, with only a limit of three per day! Even being the
voracious reader I am, I seldom read more than two books a day, so that seems
very fair to me.
Navigation is pretty easy too. There are featured titles on the main page and
you can search by Title, Author, ISBN or Keyword. Or, you can use the drop down
menu and use the categories to find a book to enjoy.
I like the category browser when I’m not looking for something specific. I was
happy to find familiar reads like Shakespeare, Emily Dickinson, Kurt Vonnegut,
as well as, helpful books on Business, Life, Computers and Textbooks. It really
is like a bookstore where you can go browse and select the books that interest
only you!
I would not let children browse around this site by themselves, just as I
wouldn’t let a child run loose in a bookstore. They might find books you
wouldn’t want them to know about. I think you should browse the children’s
section together, just like you would at the kid’s corner of your local
bookstore.
I know I’m going to use this site quite a bit. I hope you will too. Enjoy it!
http://www.wowio.com/index.asp
=== Games for the Brain
Welcome to a highly addicting game Web site that challenges you to think. Here
you will find puzzles, word games, memory games and more!
I have already spent a good hour exploring this site and I became very addicted
to the game What Was There? In that game, you have to look at images, memorize
them and then answer questions about what you did or did not see. Each right
answer scores you 10 IQ points!
Dragger was also a lot of fun. You have to drag the pieces into the puzzle
frame in the right order. It’s a nice twist on a jigsaw puzzle.
Counterfeit was another one I spent a lot of time playing. You have to look at
two paintings and figure out in what ways they are different. Some of them were
very hard to spot and were quite a challenge to solve.
Rotate is a puzzle game where you have to rotate the squares into the right
positions to make the correct image. Everything has to match up perfectly, so
be careful before you click Continue that you have the solution you want.
For all you Sudoku lovers out there, you’ll find your favorite number puzzle on
this site as well! These puzzles have the highest IQ points I have seen on the
site, as they are worth 100 points each.
If you click the link for word games, you will see even more options for games
on this page. I found LetterMaze hard to complete in the time limit and it was
pretty challenging, because you have to mouse over the letters very precisely.
But, once you get the hang of it, it is a lot of fun!
Other word games you’ll find here are: Anagramania, Guess the Word, Spellice
and The WordHunt Game. That’s just naming a few that I tore myself away from
the other games to play!
Spellice was a very fun game where you have to type the sentence you see
correctly. The version you are looking at has spelling errors in it. I thought
it was rather nifty, because all the phrases came from
The WordHunt Game has moving letters that rotate around the square and you have
to figure out what they spell. I was hoping for an actual word hunt where you
have to find words in a jumble of letters. You know, like those word search
magazines you can get at the grocery store. But, this was still very fun!
I hope you’re ready to test your brain with these challenging puzzles. I know I
can’t wait to get back to them. Enjoy!
http://www.gamesforthebrain.com/
=== 20 Questions
Welcome to the 20 Questions Web site! This is where you can play the popular
game online for free. And trust me, it's loads of fun! When the page loads up,
you’ll see four tabs along the top: Play, Blog, Game FAQ and Other Games.
Play – Here you will be able to choose to play 20 Questions in any of 21
languages, all for free. Once you’ve selected the language you want to think
in, you can fill out the optional survey as to your age, gender and location.
Then scroll down and click the version of the game you’d like to play.
Now, you’re ready to start the game. First, you need to decide if you are a
person, place, thing or unknown. Having decided that, 20 Questions will start
asking you questions to decipher what or who you are. Once the game feels it
has garnered enough information, it will make an educated guess as to what or
who you are. Sometimes it takes the full 20 questions, but sometimes it does
not. The game guessed I was Alf after only 16 questions!
Next, it will list the contradictions it found in what you answered (that is,
if there are any). It will also explain how other people answered it in a
different way. There is a nifty link at the end of the game to "How
20Q" learns. It explains the way 20Q gathers information from people
playing the game. I found that to be pretty neat!
Blog – Here you will find a blog that reads as if it were written by 20Q. I
thought it was a very cute and funny read.
Game FAQ – Here is where you should head if you have any questions about the
game. Just choose Online Game, which is where you will not only find questions
and answers, but a link to a quick tour of the game.
Other Games – Here you will find links to play 20 Questions Junior, Memory and
Hangman. What a great way to have even more fun after you’ve played your round
of 20 Questions!
Well, I’m quite addicted to this game at the moment, so I’m off to play another
round of TV 20 Questions. Enjoy!
http://www.20q.net/
=== Global Restaurant Guide
So, you’re in a new place and you’re hungry. What do you do? Well, you find
somewhere to eat, of course! And this restaurant guide can make it easier for
you to find a great place. This is an excellent tool for vacation planning,
business trips and even to check out what’s good in your own town!
The main page is broken down into sections and those are:
Since I’m not going on vacation, I thought I’d check out a restaurant near me.
I typed in my zip code and it found nothing right next to me (the search only
goes 15 miles away), but it did give me a neighborhood search, so I chose
You can not only see ratings, but comments from people who have eaten there as
well. You can even write a review with very minimal fuss. You just fill in your
e-mail address, name, choose whether you want your name to be displayed and
then confirm your review when you get the e-mail in your Inbox.
This site is easy to use and it is filled with helpful reviews so you can get
the most out of your dining, in any town. Bon Appétit!
http://www.restaurants.com/default.html
=== TimeLeft
I have been so busy around the office lately, it's ridiculous! I feel like the
poster child for multi-tasking. Sometimes it's so hard to keep up with all my
appointments and deadlines that I'm either late or seriously late. Throughout
the day, week and even throughout the year, there are dates and events that you
don't want sneaking up on you. You know, things like, did you remember to back
up the database or when's the next three-day weekend?! I find myself creating
endless post-it notes or making mental time hacks, which is a method plagued
with shortcomings and disorganization. So, to avoid all of that, I use
TimeLeft.
TimeLeft is a small program with tons of flexibility and great options to keep
you right on schedule. Here's what the TimeLeft countdown timer has to offer:
Reminder, Countdown, Stopwatch, Clock, Time Synchronization, Message Window and
it can open Web sites and folders as a reminder option.
On top of all these choices, you can completely change the way the title acts
and looks with a staggering amount of configurable settings, all for a free
time program. Nestedoft's site has an FAQ section and there is an accommodating
Help file along with it. There is even a tutorial in the program. As a matter
of fact, I just set it up to open an audio file when my lunch is over. I also
set one to open up the WorldStart homepage for me. It works perfectly every
time!
If you need a little something to keep you on track, you will find TimeLeft to
be a real lifesaver. Check it out for yourself today!
http://www.nestersoft.com/timeleft/
=== Mouse Print
Welcome to the Web site that is devoted to reading through all the fine print
in the world in order to find the hidden catches that could sneak up on an
unsuspecting consumer at any given time. The site is in a blog style, with the
most recent entry at the top.
On the left side of the page, you will find the side menu, which is divided
into the following categories: About, Ad Categories, Price Checker, Resources,
Archives and Search.
About - Here you will find information about the site's background, as well as,
find the page for company rebuttals. You will also find information about fine
print articles, which include a saucy comment about print size. You can even
click the Submissions link to send in your own examples of misleading fine
print. Plus, under the Use of Asterisks section, you can learn what their legal
use is and much more!
Ad Categories – This section allows you to surf the site by types of ads. It is
divided up into the following categories: Auto, Business, Computers, Finance,
Food/Groceries, Health, Internet, Retail, Sweepstakes, Telephone, Travel and
Uncategorized. Choosing one will show you the entries for that category in the
same blog style that is on the main page.
Price Checker – This section takes you to a different site where you can
compare the prices of digital cameras, computers and software, televisions,
etc. I didn’t look too closely at this one, but I wanted to warn you that it
does go to a whole different Web site.
Resources – Here you will find links to the resources this site uses. These are
also outside links, but I did have time to check them out. They all looked
pretty safe to use and they had a lot of useful information on them.
Archives – Here you can browse through the previous entries by month. The
archive spans from March 2006 to September 2007.
Also, at any time, should you wish to return to the main page, just click the Return
to the Homepage link at the top of the side menu.
I was grateful for the article on laundry detergent. I will definitely be more
careful when looking at those bargains from now on! I also thought it was funny
that a car company has nothing to hide, but makes it difficult to get ahold of
their lifetime warranty.
So, go on and check it out today. Who knows, it might save you time and money
with some of the things you purchase too!
http://www.mouseprint.org/
=== Metaphorical
I don’t want to give too much away about this Web site, because exploring it is
what makes it a lot of fun. So, I’m going to briefly describe the ways you can
navigate it.
This site’s navigation is so fun when you choose the Interactive mode. When the
page loads, it will give you directions on how to use this section. To sum it
up, basically, you click around the page to explore! When you are ready, click
the Click to Enter link and the first thing you’ll notice when it loads is you
have a cursor on the page that moves when your mouse does, as it slowly reveals
words to you. Click the word to explore its topic.
You may find pictures, poems, thoughts, games, videos, definitions and even
some concluding thoughts for the topic. It is a lot of fun to scroll around,
click and discover.
You also have the option of a more linear navigation. To use it, choose the
Index mode, which is labeled by the author as boring. It may be boring, but it
is more straightforward. It has a typical table of contents that allows you to
choose from the following categories: Form, Nature, Boredom, Labyrinth, Code
and Information. Notice they aren’t exactly straightforward categories and as
such, I still found it a delight to explore this way as well!
I hope you have as much fun exploring this site as I did. Are you ready? I know
I can’t wait to get back to it. Enjoy!
http://www.metaphorical.net/index2.html
=== Kongregate Beta
Welcome to Kongregate Beta, the Web site where you can play over 1,000 games
for free! What makes this site so different from all those other free game
sites, you ask? Well, here you can register and become part of a community of
gamers and developers who work together to make the most amazing game site
online today. Another difference is that if you are a game developer, you can
upload your games here for people to play as well!
I’ve started you out on the About page, so you can find out what the goals of
the site are for the community. Navigation is fairly simple. I’d recommend
heading to the Home page from here, simply by clicking Home.
Notice on the Home page there is a section underneath the main navigation strip
(Home, Games, Upload, etc.) that reads “Hello, are you new to Kongregate?”
You’ll find a link there that will lead you to some recommended games. These
seem to all be five star games that have gotten good ratings from the community
as well!
Now, you can play the games without registering. However, you need an account
to chat, upload games and such. The games are Flash games also, so you’ll need
a Flash player to play them. You can download one right here.
Once you select a game, you’ll notice that the instructions, ratings, comments
and such are on a navigation strip above it. On the side of the game, you will
find the chat window and if you scroll down the page, you’ll find the details
of the developer who made the game.
At the top of the page, you’ll find links to log in, get help and more. Right
now, I’m madly addicted to playing this game called Warbears. Also, make sure
you report any bugs you find on the site so that they can continue to fine tune
everything.
I hope you’ll enjoy playing these games as much as I already have!
http://http://www.kongregate.com/pages/about
=== AskPhilosophers
Welcome to AskPhilosohpers, a Web site where you can ask a philosophical
question and get an answer from a philosopher! This site is fairly easy to
navigate. First, I am going to direct your attention to the side menu where you
will find:
About the Site – This section very clearly explains what the site is about and
how exactly you can use it. It is a great place to start your journey.
Ask a Question – Here you will find the form to ask your question for the
philosophers. Type in your question, label which word it starts with and
provide your e-mail address if you’d like a message sent to you if your
question is answered. Check out the guidelines to learn how to best write your
question so that it will get answered.
Recent Responses – This link takes you to the most recently answered questions.
You will just see the response to see the question they were answering. Click
the Show link in the right hand corner of the response to view it.
Concept Cloud – Here you can choose a word randomly from the page to see what
questions were asked for that subject. If you don’t like the subjects on the
page, click Randomize near the title to have more random questions chosen for
you to look at.
Categories - You will find this on the side menu as well. You can choose All or
you can go by the category you want to explore from A to Z.
Back on the main page in the center, you will find:
Question of the Day – Here you will find a new question. It changes every day
and it appears to be completely random.
On the left side menu, you will find the listing of panelists. Next to their
name is a number that shows you how many questions they have responded to. If
you click their name, a short biography will pop up. Underneath their
biography, you will see the Concept Cloud with some of the topics they’ve
answered randomly. If you would rather see all their answers, click All Responses
at the bottom of the pop up box.
So, are you ready to ask a philosophical question? Or, maybe you’re just ready
to browse and see what others have asked. Either way, you are sure to get your
mind thinking when you read the questions and answers on this site. Enjoy!
http://www.askphilosophers.org/
=== Wise Geek
Welcome to Wise Geek, a Web site that is dedicated to giving you clear, cut
answers to specific questions. You will find examples of questions on either
side of the page. They are linked to articles with the answers, so if you see
one you’d like to know the answer to, don’t hesitate to click the link and find
out what the answer is!
The best way to search for an answer to a specific question you have is to use
the search engine. The search engine is found in the center of the page for
easy access. Type in your question and click the Search Wise Geek button. This
will find the articles that are most commonly related to your question. Sometimes
you’ll get an exact match, while other times, you’ll get things that match by
category.
If you don’t have a specific question, that's fine too. You can always scroll
down the page to the categories. Here you can select from different categories and
read the articles each of them contain.
If you scroll even further down the page, you will find the blog section,
which, to me, is like an updates section. Here you will find what’s new as far
as articles go, as well as, with the site news. There was a very interesting
article down here about getting the most out of eating at an "all you can
eat" buffet. I’d definitely check that out if you tend to enjoy buffets!
My roommate and I often eat at this Chinese Buffet with a Mongolian Grill, so
it had some interesting and useful tips for me.
Of course, if you have any questions about the site, you can scroll back up to
the top of the page and click the FAQ link. There you will find the most
frequently asked questions about the site and how to use everything on it.
I can’t wait to start checking out all the different questions. I often have
questions about odd things and this site looks like it was meant to help me
discover the answers. Enjoy!
http://www.wisegeek.com/
=== Share Your Bargains
Do you know someone who is always finding incredible bargains? Or, maybe you're
the one who always finds them. I am an avid bargain hunter when I’m making
decent sized purchases. Well, here you can share the bargains you find with
other people, as well as, see what they have shared!
This Web site is set up in a forum style. The FAQ section is only really useful
for questions about the forum and how to use it, but not what they are about.
The really fun and main part of this site is abandoning tips. To find out more
about this, I highly recommend that you browse through the Instructions on How
to Post Your Abandoned Tips. The idea is to write down your tip and leave it in
a public place, making sure to include a link back to this site. Then you post
to the appropriate state’s listing here and say where abouts you left the tip.
So, it’s almost like geocaching for money saving tips!
There are also forums devoted to Online Deals, Off Topic Talk, Product Reviews
and Recipes and Gift Ideas.
In order to post, you may need to register, which is very simple. Just click
the Register link, agree to their rules and then fill out your information.
Then you're good to go!
I think this site has a very fun idea behind it and it’s always nice to be
pointed in the way of a good deal online. I also like to share my opinions on
products that I’ve used, so this is perfect. Check it out!
http://www.shareyourbargains.com/
=== A Europe of Tales
So, the Snow White Web site we looked at last week really got me thinking about
other fairy tales and I was able to find this awesome site that just so happens
to come in eight different languages, while it explores tales from all over
Europe! It does require a Flash Player, which you can get here for free!
Once the site loads, you will see that the navigation is done by country.
Choose to learn about tales from
The section will pop up in its own window and load. You will then be able to
choose which tale you’d like to hear. When you choose a story, I’d like to
point out the links at the bottom the page: Info, Photo Gallery, Map and Tasks.
Info – Here you will learn background information about the country you are
reading tales from.
Photo Gallery - Here you will see real images that relate to the story you are
reading. I found this to be really helpful, because if you're reading about a
specific place or item, you can see it too!
Map – This map shows you where all the stories are from. Just click on the
country to see it larger.
Tasks – This section gives some ideas for teachers that will help increase
their students' understanding of the stories.
I hope you enjoy these tales as much as I did. I think I’ve read them all at
least twice now. I particularly enjoyed the tales from
http://www.europeoftales.net/site/index2.html
=== Symptom Checker
Have you ever gotten a sore throat or an ear ache and wondered why? Or even
more, what it could be a symptom of? I most certainly have. So, I like to go
and look at a symptom checker like this one every once in awhile to see what
could be going on.
When the page loads, you’ll notice that there is one side for Adults and one
for Children. Choose the appropriate side for the person you are checking the
symptoms for and then look at the list of symptoms to choose the one that
matches.
This will take you to a page for that symptom where you will fill in the
checkboxes for everything that applies. It is normally divided up into
sections. The most common being: Symptom is, Triggered By, Accompanied by,
Relieved by and Pattern. Go through each section for your symptom and be honest
in your answers. Then click Submit.
It will then load a page of diseases and conditions that your symptoms match,
as well as, information on the disease, what symptoms matched each disease and
when you should seek urgent medical care.
Now remember, this is only a guide and it shouldn’t serve as a diagnosis for a
condition. It’s sort of just to point you in the right direction and let you
know when to seek professional health care!
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/sy...checker/DS00671
=== Language Dictionaries
After spending quite a bit of time pouring through the 100 most commonly
misspelled words, I explored the rest of the site and I stumbled upon these
dictionaries. They are such an awesome resource that I couldn’t wait to share
them with all of you!
Did you know that there are over 6,000 spoken languages in the world today? Or
that about 2,000 of them have written languages to go with their verbal ones?
This Web site brings you around 300 language dictionaries to browse through.
The dictionaries are in alphabetical order and they go across the page to the
right, making it easy to find the language you are looking for. Navigation is
simple. Just click the name of the language of which dictionary you'd like to
browse through. It will take you to a page full of links to dictionaries of
that dialect, as well as, some you can open in your word processing programs.
I think this is a handy tool to have around for many different projects.
Whether you want to help your kids with their language class, you want to look
up a certain word you’ve seen or you use it to find a word to use for a
project, you’ll find so many different dictionaries here that you’d be hard
pressed to ask for anything more.
Check it out!
http://www.yourdictionary.com/languages.html
=== Instructables
I have fallen in deep DIY love with this site. Here at Instructables, you will
learn how to make a ton of amazing stuff. To get the most out of the site, I
recommend signing up first. You can add your own instructables then, as well
as, post comments and save your favorite projects for easy viewing access.
The categories are Art, Craft, Food, Home, Life, Not Liable, Ride and Tech. If
you’re logged in, you will find them under Explore on the orange navigation
strip near the top of the page.
Art – Here you will find instructions in many different forms of art. The art
ranges from Origami to Theatrical Effects to 3D Effects, etc. I loved the
instructions on how to make your own buttons, using seashells!
Craft – Here you will find even more general forms of crafts. Learn how to make
a light saber, Tetris ice cubes, sharpen knives, resurface CDs and more.
Food – I’m always looking for how to options for cooking, so I dove right into
this section. I found a great how to for mashed potatoes that I could have used
a couple of years ago before much trial and error. But mostly, these are food
related instructables. I also found a great instructable on making Thai-Iced
Tea, which is my absolute favorite summertime drink.
Home – Here you will find all the home projects you could ever desire. From
making your own hammock, bookshelves, furniture, lamps, fold t-shirts, stripes
for your lawn and more!
Life – This section is a bunch of miscellaneous things revolving around the
topic of life. You’ll find great tips on how to close your chip bags, how to
search for four leaf clovers and even how to get rid of a sunburn!
Not Liable – I don’t recommend this section. I didn’t see anything useful here
and I almost wish it wasn't included on the site.
Ride – Here you really get into an inventor’s section. See instructables on
bikes, hovercrafts, go-karts and more.
Tech – Here you will find the really technical stuff, like making an ice light
bulb (very cool), battery chargers and even flashlights.
This site will keep you occupied with all its "how tos," that's a
promise. There's a lot I can’t wait to try for myself. Check it out!
http://www.instructables.com/
=== FixYa
What do you do when you are frustrated by the lack of technical support from
the manufacturer of a product you bought? Well, maybe you decided to create
your own Web site and offer free tech support for consumer products to
everyone. Maybe that's not you, but that’s what the authors of this site have
done. Here you will find free tech support for your cell phone, printer,
scanner, computer and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
There are a couple of ways to get help on this site. You can search by product
or by problem and if you scroll down the page further, you can use the
alphabetical listing to browse by manufacturer. If you browse by manufacturer,
I want to warn you that there are Buy Me buttons. Just ignore them and either
click Get Support Now or the link for the product. This will take you to the
support section for them.
On the main page, you will also be able to view the Top Experts, Recent
Solutions, Recent Problems and there is even a Repair section where you can put
in your zip code to find a repair shop near you.
To get the most out of this site, I recommend registering. It’s free and it
allows you to keep track of your questions and your answers, as well as, your
ratings.
If you are a technical expert, you can register as one and help people
troubleshoot their gadgets. You don’t have to be an expert to help someone out
though. You just have to be registered.
This site is definitely worth bookmarking for all your future technical needs.
I know I’ve saved it for mine. Check it out today!
http://www.fixya.com/
=== Vcarious
This Web site puts a unique spin on travel guides. I recommend registering
first, because then you can participate in the community, keep track of your
travels, as well as, where you’d like to go.
All you need to do to register is provide your name, e-mail address, a username
and a password. Both your name and your e-mail will be kept private. An
activation e-mail will come to the address you provided (mine came
immediately). Once you receive that, all you have to do is click the activation
link and you’ll be good to go.
Main – Once you’re logged in, under the Main tab, you will find the links for
Home and My Profile. Here you will be able to customize your profile with a
picture of yourself and with as much or as little detail about yourself as
you’d like to share. You can also see your contributions (photos, journals,
etc.) and even detail where you’ve been or where you’d like to go.
Explore – This tab is broken down into three categories: visuals, journals and
guides.
Visuals will give you travel photos to choose from. There was a beautiful image
of an arched doorway from
Journals is a delightful section, because you can learn about people’s
experiences from the places they’ve seen and stayed at. Use the map on the left
hand side to choose where you’d like to see journals from. You can sort the
content with a drop down on the green bar near the top of the page. Your
options are: Writing Quality, Travel Experience, Humor and Latest Updated.
Guides is where you can find the travel guides. Again, you can use the map to
navigate through the places you want a travel guide for. I’m not sure if there
is another way to do this or not. There is a search engine, but since I adore
the map navigation so much, I actually didn’t try it out. Travel guides really
seem like a one stop area. You’ll find information about the location, you
might see videos or pictures, there are maps and there is even a news section.
My Travels is a section all about where you’ve been. You can write journal
entries describing your travels and upload photos from your trip. I think it is
very cool that they are providing people an opportunity to share their
experiences in different places like this!
Community is a section where you will find Members, Messages and Discussions as
the links. The Members link will take you to the database of users who are
members. You can scroll down through them and learn all about them. Messages is
where you will find messages other users have left you. And finally,
Discussions is pretty much a forum. You’ll find discussions on travel, places
to stay and other topics of the sort. You can also start a discussion of your
own to get your own answers or you can present your own topic.
This is a great site that really captures the spirit of traveling around the
world. Plus, it lets you share it with others or even just experience it second
hand. Enjoy!
http://www.vcarious.com/
=== Brain Bashers
Welcome to a Web site filled with games, puzzles, illusions and logic games
that will truly make your brain work. Navigation is super simple. You’ll find
it on the side menu or you can use the buttons located in the middle of the
page.
Puzzles – Here you can view all the different (and many) puzzles on this site.
They are divided into different categories to make navigation easier. You can
even see which puzzles are the most played in the Top 10 section.
Games – Here you can find everything from puzzle games to arcade games to
strategy to even word games! There are tons to choose from. You’re not likely
to get bored in this section.
Illusions – In this section, you get three types of illusions: optical
illusions, fractal images and stereograms. Select the section you want to start
with. Each section defines what it is. The stereograms were my favorite. A
stereogram is where there is a 3D object hidden in a 2D picture.
Today – Here you will find all the daily content. You can find fresh Sudoku,
fill ins, jigsaw puzzles and so much more!
Sudoku – This is a puzzle that has taken the world by storm. Everyone I know is
doing it, but thankfully for me, there is a Help section. You can do the daily
Sudoku or you can choose to do a random one.
Fun Stuff – Here you will find a miscellaneous group of fun things to try. You
can pick your favorite color and see if it ranks in the top 10 most voted for
or you can see if you can guess exactly when 10 seconds are up, which by the
way, is harder than you might think. The closest I got was 9.6879. There’s a
maze to escape from and my absolute favorite of Can You Follow Instructions?!
So, are you ready to challenge your brain to these brain bashers? Have a blast!
http://www.brainbashers.com/
=== Geni
I am so happy to bring you this site! For all of you avid family tree makers,
it just got a whole lot easier. Here at Geni, you can easily make an online
version of your own family tree.
To get started, on the My Tree tab (if it didn’t take you directly to the start
page, please click that you are a new user), just add your information and from
there, you can expand it. Click the yellow arrows around you and you will get
the option to add a brother, sister or spouse. Once they are added, you can
edit their information and add lots of other useful information about them. You
can add where they were born, how old they are, where they live, their
occupation, maiden name, photo and much more.
You’ll notice there are some navigation tools as well. There is a slider bar,
which makes the page zoom in and out for you and there is a house surrounded by
arrows, which will let you scroll the page either right, left, up or down.
Once you have all the people you’d like to add at the moment, you can click the
My Profile tab and start filling out your profile. You’ll need to confirm your
account by checking your e-mail address and setting a permanent password for
yourself.
To share your tree with your other family members, all you need is their e-mail
address. And in this day and age, not many people are without an e-mail
address. Even my grandparents have one! Geni will even keep track of who you
have invited, so you won’t repeat yourself.
If you get lost or confused at any point while creating your tree, scroll to
the bottom of the page and click the Help link. Geni's Help section is really
very helpful. It’s well thought out and it answered all my questions. You can
even search Geni Help with the search engine at the top of the page.
So, are you ready to create and share your own family tree? I can’t wait to
share mine. Check it out!
http://www.geni.com/tree/start
=== Mom Ready
Today's cool site is an awesome online parenting magazine! While I’m not a
parent (unless you count my pets that are too smart for their own good), there
were great tips here for me too. I found some on organizing and getting things
done, as well as, some nifty crafts!
There are two places to navigate from. There is the green navigation strip near
the top of the page under the logo and there's the side menu. The green
navigation strip has links to the current article "Today’s Momready"
and the Archives, as well as, the About section.
The side menu has all the rest of the good stuff under Departments, including
Organize, Tips, Book and Film Talk, Art Projects, Boredom Busters, Food &
Health, Birthday Club, Rant, Message Board and Blog.
Organize – I can’t begin to tell you how many helpful tips I picked up from
this section. Here you can find a great column called Ask Peter where folks
write in and ask Peter Walsh for tips on organizing. Another nifty feature of
this section is Charge It, which is where you learn to make a nifty box to hide
the power strip and plugs to all the devices you need to charge up.
Tips – This is where you will get to the heart of the parenting advice. It is
divided into three columns: Tips, Proceed with Caution and Tech Talk. Each one
has many articles devoted to their topic. I love the tip section, because it
brings to light not only issues that you have with your children, but things we
do in our everyday lives as well.
For example, the article "No Complaining" not only discusses how to
teach your children not to whine and complain, but to reflect on how much you
do it as well, so that you can lead by example.
Book and Film Talk – Here you can find suggestions on books and films for your
kids to see and read. Each month, there are books recommended for kids zero to
12 in the Book Talk articles. Check them out. They're pretty neat!
Boredom Busters – This is another great section! Why? Well, it is filled with
great ideas on how to ease your child's boredom. This deals not only with
summer boredom, but also those times when your kids are sick and have
absolutely nothing to do. You will also find a review on games that your kids
can play and even some you can play with them. Pretty cool, huh?!
You can also view this site in Spanish. If you like what you find here, you can
also sign up to get their free daily newsletter in your e-mail Inbox. You can’t
miss the bright orange Sign Up Now button, so go ahead and do that if you'd
like.
Well, I think you are starting to get the idea of what this site is all about,
so I’ll let you finish exploring this practical site that is going to help you
and your family out so much. I just know it!
http://www.momready.com/
=== Read Print
Welcome to a Web site that any avid reader will love! Here at Read Print, you
can read online books, poems and even short stories. Not only did I find some
of my favorite authors here, I also found some that I had never read before.
For me, this site is an online library where I can go and read, without leaving
the comfort of my home. You will find mostly classics here, which makes it a
great resource for both students and teachers.
It is extremely easy to navigate through as well. There is a navigation strip
at the top of the page that gives you access to the Author Index, Shakespeare
and Articles sections. Or, you can scroll down the page and choose your
favorite author to read.
Some authors you will find here are: Jane Austen, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Homer,
Niccolo Machiavelli, Tolstoy and Voltaire.
If you scroll down, you’ll also notice that there is a Recently Added Books
section where you can see what the new additions to the site are. I love the
straightforward design of this site. It makes everything so easy to find.
In the Articles section, you will find a section brimming full with helpful
information. This is a great section for teachers and students as well, because
you can find information on Blank Verse, Sonnets, Writing Magazine Articles and
much more.
So, you’ve found the author you want to read. Just click their name and you’ll
be whisked away to their page. There you will not only get a listing of works
that you can choose to read, but you'll find a biography of that author as
well. How nifty is that?!
I think you’re ready to choose an author. Go ahead and select a book or poem
and start reading. I can only hope you’ll get as much enjoyment from this cool
site as I did!
http://www.readprint.com/
=== Q: What can you tell me about social bookmarking?
A: Well, a lot actually! I know most of you have probably heard of bookmarking
and some of you probably know what I'm talking about when I say social
networking, but what about social bookmarking? Do those three things even have
anything to do with each other? The answer to that is yes and no. Allow me to
explain.
When you bookmark a Web site, you're pretty much adding it to your Favorites
list (in your Web browser) so you'll be able to find it easier and faster the
next time you want to visit it. That way, you don't have to take up so much
time finding it again in the wide world of the Web. Now, I'm willing to guess
that most of you bookmark a lot of Web sites on a regular basis. Am I right?
So, once you have all those sites compiled, what are you going to do with them?
Wouldn't it be nice to be able to share them with other people who may have the
same interests as you?
Well, that's where social bookmarking comes into play. It allows you to share
your bookmarks with other Internet users in a collaborative sort of way.
Usually, social bookmarking takes place on sites where the users can create an
account to add their bookmarks to. It's also helpful to do it on sites that
allow you to insert keywords for the types of bookmarks you add. That way, they
all can be organized and set into categories that other users can easily search
through.
Social bookmarking gives you the chance to see all of the Web sites you may
have missed thus far. By seeing what other users submit in certain categories,
you can view the ones that fit your interests the best. You won't have to waste
your time looking at other sites that don't interest you either. Also, by being
able to see all the sites that other people add, you can start to accumulate a
whole slew of new resources. It's all so helpful and you certainly can't
complain about any of that!
Once you become a part of a social bookmarking site, you become a member of
that community. You and all the other users are there for the same thing and
you can help each other out in finding sites that will benefit all of you. It
also makes searching the Web so much easier and quicker. Another great thing is
that once you're part of a site, you can access it from any computer and any
browser. That way, you're never limited in seeing the social bookmarks you've
been waiting for.
Now, you're probably wondering how you can get started. There are a few social
bookmarking sites online today, with one of the most popular being del.icio.us.
You can create your own account there and once you're all set up, you can
search by keywords to find other bookmarks that may interest you. This site
also has lists for the "Popular" and "Recent" categories,
so you can dive right into your searching. You can find bookmarks for all types
of things on here too. From software to design to photography to shopping, it's
all here.
Another great social bookmarking site is digg.com. We've told you about this
one before in our newsletter and you can read here for some basic information
about it. Digg is mostly geared toward technology and science, but if you're
into that, it will be perfect for you. You can leave comments (diggs) on this
site as well, which makes it all a little more interesting. One more popular
social bookmarking site is reddit.com. It is a great source for up and coming
online content. Reddit also has a very unique and easy voting system. Other
social bookmarking sites that may be worth a look are Furl, StumbleUpon and
Slashdot.
Now, of course, there are always pros and cons to everything and social
bookmarking is no exception. If social bookmarking is going to work properly,
it takes a lot of organization to make sure all of the information is divided
up correctly and is relevant. Sometimes, the sites fall short of that and it
can make your research a lot more difficult. On the other hand, these sites
allow users to gain a bigger knowledge base, all while helping others do the
same thing. Social bookmarking is a feel good type of thing and if done right,
it can benefit a lot of people.
=== Grand
Illusions
I couldn’t wait to share this site with you. This is my current brainteaser.
I’ve been challenging myself to solve this Russian Puzzle and now I want to
share it with you.
It’s very easy to get started. Just click the piece of the puzzle you want to
use first. If you want to rotate the puzzle piece, you need to press the Shift
key down while clicking.
When you get all the pieces in the right order, a message reading
“Congratulations” will pop up on your screen and that’s how you will know that
you solved it. For more information on this puzzle and its creator, you may
want to check out the information below the puzzle as well.
I still haven’t solved this puzzle, but I will be working on it diligently
until I do. If you liked this puzzle, you may want to surf around the rest of
the site too. You’ll find articles on toys, puzzles and even real life
mysteries.
I liked the article on the ancient Greek Antikythera. It’s a device that
plotted the movement of the heavens. Very neat!
Alright, I have to get back to trying to solve this puzzle before it drives me
batty. Enjoy!
http://www.grand-illusions.com/articles/russian_puzzle/
=== Live Science
I love to bring you sites that I regularly visit and this is one of them. There
are a lot of ways to navigate this site. I’ll be honest, I’m usually so
fascinated by the topics presented on the front page in the Top Stories, More
Headlines, Cool Stuff and the Featured Article (you’ll find it on the left hand
side of the page, because it isn’t really labeled), I don’t use the other
options to navigate. But, just for you all, I looked into it.
The navigation strip you’ll find along the top is divided into the following
sections: Animal Domain, Health SciTech, Forces of Nature, Environment,
Technology, Science of Fiction, History and Strange News.
Animal Domain – Here you can learn all about animals and check out what animals
have been in the news recently. For example, when I was there, I got to read
about the beaver who has moved back into
Health SciTech – Here you can learn interesting things that relate to human
health. One of the interesting stories I read here was about how the color of
orange juice changes how we perceive the taste. Isn’t that interesting?!
Forces of Nature – This section is all about the weather and how the forces of
nature affect the world in which we live. From headlines about volcanoes to the
world’s weirdest weather, there is a lot to check out here.
Environment – There was a very interesting feature article here about strange
new creatures found in
Technology - Here you can learn about the latest in technology. From
exoskeletons that will help people walk to windmills that can generate power in
places where there isn’t as much sun to all kinds of other interesting findings,
there's something for everyone here.
Now that you have an idea of what you’ll find, I think you’ll understand why
I’m so hooked on this site. Are you ready to dive right in? I know I’m ready to
get back to checking it out too!
http://www.livescience.com/
=== Acronym Finder
Welcome to Acronym Finder. This is the place where you can look up just about
any acronym, abbreviation or initialism to find out what they mean.
It’s really easy to use too! Just type in the acronym you want to find. I used
ZOMG. Then just click the Find button. You can also fill in the bullet for
whether it’s an acronym you’re looking up or a word in meaning.
My results came back like this:
ZOMG – Zoh! My God! (gaming, World of Warcraft)
ZOMG – Zombies! Oh My God!
ZOMG - Zeus, Oh My God!
I was trying to find the first one. I thought it would be harder to find, since
it is mostly used in a game. The results came back fast and accurate though. I
was impressed!
Other things I really loved about this site were the examples provided in the
upper right corner. The examples display how the search engine works. So, if
you click coffee, the example they’ve provided for Word in Meaning, it will
show you all the abbreviations and acronyms that are related to the word
coffee.
On the left side at the top, you will find a link that allows you to view the
search on the side. This gives you a search box and a drop down box of many
ways to search by.
You will also find a link called The Acronym Blog. This is where you will find
the latest information and news about the site, as well as, some related sites.
This site is a great tool to have. I know I bookmarked it for later use and I
hope you will too. Check it out today!
http://www.acronymfinder.com/
=== Paperback Swap
Welcome to Paperback Swap, a site recommended by one of my readers after they saw
my write up on BookMooch. This site is completely dedicated to paperbacks
though. I have to say that I love this site's layout. Everything is so easy to
find and there was nothing I had to search for too long.
I started my visit by clicking the “How Does it Work”? link on the side menu,
which took me to a page that has a video of news coverage about this site. It
also had a six step concise description of how it works. If you still have
questions after that, there is a link that takes you to the
Of course, to use the site, you will have to register. To do so, click the
Register link on the side menu. Fill out the forms, agree to the terms of
service after reading them and then you’ll be all set. Right now, the
membership is free and you’ll be signed up as a charter member.
There are also some really fun parts to this site that have nothing to do with
the swap. You’ll find them under Additional Services, Book Discussions and
Misc. You can keep a Book Journal or take part in The Eclectic Pen, where
writers post stories and can interact with each other through a forum style
area. Now, that’s just a tiny taste of what you can do here!
If you’ve got paperbacks lying around your house (I know I do), this is a great
way to get rid of them and clear out some of your clutter!
http://www.paperbackswap.com/
=== Classic TV Outtakes
I adore outtakes from my favorite movies, so you can bet I was pleased when I
found this site. I was so excited to know that I was going to be able to watch
outtakes from some of my favorite television shows.
You will notice there is a profanity warning on this site, so you may not want
your youngsters to check it out at all, or at least, without you pre-screening
the content they will see. The reason for this is that these are unedited
outtakes and are shown as they were when filmed.
What shows can you see outtakes from? Well, just to list a few: Star Trek,
You’ll need a media player to watch these files. If you don’t have one, you can
download QuickTime, RealPlayer or Windows Media Player to view them with. (Just
remember to choose the free or basic versions).
To get to an outtake film, you'll want to click the red links in the text of
the page, not the movie covers scattered around the page on the top, bottom and
sides. Those links lead you to Amazon to purchase the DVDs of that show.
For me, it was worth ignoring the ads on this page to get the content. I mean,
how often do you get to see outtakes from shows that you grew up watching and
loving? Even in today’s age, it isn’t that often. Have fun!
http://www.tvparty.com/embloutake.html
=== StartCooking
I want to start by telling you all that I adore this site. Not only is it great
for the beginning cook, but there are some handy tips that you can pick up as a
more experienced one as well. Even if all you get out of this site is the
recipes, you will still come out a winner.
There are three tabs at the top of the page: Recipes, Tips & Techniques and
Food & Living. Along the bottom, there is a row of thumbnails. The ones
marked with a "V" have a video attached to them. Each one leads to a
tip, a recipe or a video. To watch the videos, you will need the QuickTime
player, which you can get here for free. (I would select the option without
iTunes. You can opt out of the newsletters as well).
Recipes – If you mouse over this tab, you will see a listing of recipes. Click
the one you want to check out and you’ll be taken to it. Some of these have
videos with them. I watched someone make English Muffin Pizzas and I’m starving
now! Why, oh why did I follow it up with the Roasted Chicken video?!
Tips & Techniques – Again, mouse over this tab to get the listing for this
section. Here you can learn all the tips and techniques you need for cooking.
From how to separate eggs to cooking in a microwave to how to chop parsley, you
will really find a lot of useful information here.
This section is also divided into categories to help you find what you need
faster. Those are: around the kitchen, equipment, herbs and spices, fruits and
vegetables, eggs, pasta, rice and breads, other and meat. I found that this
section had lots of useful things for me. For example, if I wanted to check to
make sure I pick out good eggs when I go to the grocery store, I could
reference this site and know what I should be looking for.
Food & Living – This is where you will find interesting bits about both
food and life. From how the author of the site met her husband to the food you
might enjoy in
So, I’m ready to start cooking. How about you?!
http://startcooking.com/blog/
=== Book Mooch
Welcome to Book Mooch, a site where you can give books away and get books you
want to read in return. It’s absolutely free to join and browse. The only cost
is to ship your books to others. All in all, it is a really sweet deal.
I recommend joining right off the bat. To do so, click the Join tab and fill
out the fields that are required. On the Join page, you will also find some
links that will help better explain how things work. Look next to the Info
area. There are three links: overview, points explained and interview.
Once you’ve joined and logged in, you’ll have more tabs across the top. They
are: Browse, Add, Inventory, Wishlist, Pending and Member Home.
The Browse tab allows you to search for books that you would like to receive.
You can do this by username, book title, by Amazon and there are even more
options below the main search area.
Add – This is where you can add books for other people to mooch from you. There
are several ways to add them. I would start with by hand.
Inventory – This shows the books that you’ve added for people to mooch off you.
Wishlist – This is where you can keep a listing of books that you want to
mooch.
I highly recommend that everyone check out the FAQ section, as it helps clarify
some of the questions you may have about points and shipping. You do have to
earn points before you get free books, but really, the price of shipping isn’t
that bad of a cost to get rid of books that may be cluttering up your house.
I can’t wait to start whittling down my extensive stacks of books by giving
them to people who are actually going to treasure them. Get started today!
http://bookmooch.com/
=== Seventeen Moments in Soviet History
I like this style of history. You know, the kind where you can learn a little
bit about a whole lot. I like to call it history at a glance. So, why don’t we
check out these seventeen moments?! One of the interesting facts about the
Soviet history is, unlike most modern history, it has an end. It lasted from
1917 to 1991.
I highly recommend reading the well written introduction to this site.
Navigation is fairly simple. Click a year at the top of the screen and learn
all about what was going on during that year.
Each year will have a main event highlighted, but to see more of what happened
that year, you can use the drop down menu near the top of the page. You’ll also
notice that there is a side menu once you get into the section that contains
more texts, contexts, video, images and Web sites. So, if you find a section
that really intrigues you, you can really learn all about that year.
Other navigation options on the Home page include About Us, Glossary and
Biography. Biography opens a list of names that you can get biographical
information on. About Us talks about who created the site and who they were
funded by. The Glossary opens like the Biography section and allows you to pick
terms off a list and have them defined for you.
So, how much or how little you learn is really up to you. If there’s something
you want to skip over, you most certainly can. Or, if you want to get further
into a subject, you definitely have that option too!
http://www.soviethistory.org/
=== Setting the Timeline
Ever need to create a timeline for a work or school project?
Do you find yourself wasting a whole lot of time trying to create drawing
objects and moving text to get everything just as you want it?
Wish you had a template ready to go? You know, something that would have the
set up ready and all you'd need to do is fill in the details?
If this sounds like a good idea to you, I have some excellent news for you.
Many of us never think to look, but Microsoft has a wonderful variety of
templates available for download if you visit their site. Give this address a
try:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/templates/default.aspx
In the search at the bottom of the page, I entered "timeline."
If you have a particular program you need to work with, select it. (If you make
no program selection, you'll get a complete list, which will allow for a lot of
flexibility if you know how to work in many different programs).
When you click Go, you'll find that they have several to offer.
Now, it's a matter of downloading your choice.
Once downloaded, the file will open and you're ready to get right to the
business of entering your data, without all the initial set up hassles!
=== Musopen
If you love music or even better, free music, I have a wonderful link for you
today. As we know, in recent years, a lot of controversy has been created due
to music sharing. Most of the artists are against this and the RIAA (Recording
Industry Association of America) has created quite a ruckus by prosecuting
people who are downloading music illegally from the Internet and sharing it
with others. In such times, it seems impossible to think that someone could be
sharing free music online in a legal way, right? Well, today it is possible.
Musopen is one Web site to thank for that. The goal of the Web site is to share
the music that is available to the public, free of cost.
So, how are these people able to share music for free? It's quite simple
really. They share music that has no copyrights or music that is freely
available in the public domain. Now, don’t expect to find your favorite Garth
Brooks song there, because the kind of music they have uploaded on Musopen is
mainly in the classical genre. Think more Beethoven than Britney Spears. Since
the music is so old and no one holds the copyrights anymore, it's yours for the
taking.
The interface is rather simple. You can either browse the entire collection to
see if your favorite pieces of music are there or if you are new to classical
music, you can click on "Random music" to do some browsing. The music
is categorized according to composer, style, period, instrument and performer.
Another favorite thing of mine on this site is the Musopen radio. It’s just
perfect if you don’t want to download the music, but just want to listen to it.
The speed of the buffering is rather fast and the quality is pleasant. If you
are new to classical music, I suggest you go through the learning pages first,
which will tell you a lot about classical music and its glorious past.
There are virtually no limitations to what you can do with the music you find
here, but for ethical purposes, they request that you do not sell the music. If
you do use it commercially, you should at least mention Musopen.com in the
credits.
You can also contribute back to the project by providing them with any
copyright free recordings that you might have in your possession. If you have
any songs of your own, you can offer them as well, but do remember, once you provide
Musopen with your songs, they do become public property.
This should be exciting for many people, especially those of you who just love
classical music. The quality of the music is satisfactory and there’s no guilt
involved in downloading this free music. So, what are you waiting for? Head on
over to www.musopen.com and browse their
music collection today. Enjoy!
http://www.musopen.com
=== AdSense
After mentioning this term in one of the tips last week, I received several
e-mails from all of you wondering what exactly it is. I'm sure most of you can
figure out that it has something to do with advertisements, but what else does
it entail? Where does the term come from, etc., etc.? Those are all good
questions and I'm here to answer them for you right now!
Basically, AdSense is an advertisement serving program that was created and is
maintained by Google. (There's nothing those folks over at Google don't do, is
there?!) If you are a Web site owner, you are able to take part in AdSense in
order to put text, image and even video ads on some of Google's sites. All of
the ads are taken care of by Google, while they make their profit on a
per-click type of basis. So, every time someone visits a Web site that contains
your ads, Google generates some of the revenue, but you also get to enjoy the
benefits of advertising for yourself.
Google works to place your ads on other sites that are similar in content as
well. They use your geographical location and other factors to make this
happen. AdSense is also very popular, because their ads are more personable
than most Web site banners are and as I said earlier, they go along with the
content of each particular site. If you are a Web site owner and would like to
get involved with AdSense to get your name out in the online world, you can
sign up right here. Everything else that you need to know about the service is
explained there as well.
http://adwords.google.com/select/Login
=== Cooking
by Numbers
Are you at a loss as to what to make for dinner tonight? Or do you have a
limited amount of ingredients and need to make the most of them? Well, now you
can! At Cooking by the Numbers, putting together meals has never been easier.
There is a list of ingredients on the site. Just check the boxes next to
everything you have, for both the fridge and the cupboard. Once you're done
with that, click the Find Recipes button.
This will give you a listing of recipes that you can make with what you have.
It also tells you the percentage of your ingredients that matched the recipe.
To see more recipes, click the More link or the down arrow.
If you click the I Feel Lucky box on the list, you'll get only one recipe and
it tells you the percentage of ingredients that you have and what you are
missing.
Say you want to make a chicken dish. You could just check chicken, as well as,
a few other ingredients and get a listing for only chicken recipes. For
example, if you want to make some sort of chicken pasta, check chicken,
tomatoes, cooking oil, pasta and noodles. The results will be mostly different
types of chicken pasta dishes, with some tomato dishes thrown in, like Tomato
Salad.
Another great section here at this site is Skills by the Numbers. This is where
you can learn all sorts of different cooking skills. For example, How to Joint
a Chicken, How to Slice a Potato, How to Fold, How to Make
You can also check out the Tomato Attack section to play a game where you save
good tomatoes while avoiding bad jumping tomatoes. My highest score was 100 and
that was only my first try. I got worse at it the more I played.
This is quite an interesting cooking site. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did
and I hope you find something tasty to try!
http://www.cookingbynumbers.com/frames.html
=== Photonhead
Welcome to Photonhead. This is a site stuffed full of digital camera tips and
tricks and it has an awesome Beginners Guide to Photography! It seems like
everyone I know has a digital camera on their Christmas list this year or
they're going to give one to someone else. So, it got me thinking that there
were going to be a lot of photography beginners out there and I figured they
might just want to check out a site like this.
The Beginners Guide to Photography – Whether you are familiar with photography,
just brushing up on your theory or are brand new to it, you may find something
interesting here. For a beginner to the camera, this section offers very
helpful information.
In The Camera section, you get a brief history on how the camera came to be, as
well as, how digital cameras compare to regular cameras.
Camera Modes teaches you about the common modes that you will find on a camera
and the icons that may represent them.
I found The Half Press theory interesting and now that I know how it works, I
will most definitely be trying it out. It’s a method of half pressing your
button so that you get a better response time and can take faster pictures. It
also gives you more control over the focus.
This isn’t even half of the information you will find in the Beginner’s Guide
area, but as there is much more to tell you about, I can’t focus solely on
that. You'll just have to check it out for yourself!
The Digital Camera Buying Guide might be quite useful for you if you are
actually buying a camera this holiday or if you can’t decide between a few
you've picked out. You may find a review of a camera here that helps you pick
the one you want with more ease. I actually found the “What Kind of Camera”?
section here most useful, as it tells you the difference between different
types of cameras that take digital pictures.
Okay, so you already know the basics and have a digital camera. If so, this
section may be for you. It is called Photography Tips. Here you can refine your
camera technique and really get the most out of your camera by following the
tips that are offered. Learn how to avoid the camera shake, how to take better
landscapes and much more.
You have taken the pictures, but now you want to edit them and you aren’t quite
sure how or where to start. Well, check out the Photo Editing section where you
can learn not only how to edit them, but what software you might want to use to
help you make the most of your pictures.
The SimCam is a favorite section of mine on this site. It is a camera simulator
that you can use right online from the comfort of your computer chair. It is
designed to teach you basic photographic principles. Read the explanation and
follow the directions so that you can see the theory applied and then you can
change the variables as much as you want as you experiment with the theories
presented.
Whether you are a new camera user or an old hand at photography, I think this
site offers a little bit of something for everyone. Check it out!
http://www.photonhead.com/
=== Comics
So, you love reading the comics in the newspaper everyday (or at least, every
Sunday), but you’ve missed a couple episodes. Or maybe you just want to read
more of the funnies to have a laugh. Well, either way, this cool site can help
you!
Just come to Comics.com and you can read all your favorite comics any time you
want. Just be careful not to get wrapped up in reading them like I did. I was
there for an hour before I started my write up of the site!
On the side menu, you will find links to the Newest Comics, as well as, comics
about Family, A Slice of Life and even Web Exclusives.
If you click the Comics tab on the navigation strip going across the top of the
page under the sign in button, you will get a full index of comic strips to
browse through. They are also divided up by category.
The categories are: Offbeat, Men, Women, Family, Serials, Ages 18-30, Ages
30-50, Pets, Business, Slice of Life, Web Exclusives and Editorials. That’s a
lot to choose from and believe me, plenty of comic relief is provided.
You will also find that Editorials is next on the tabs after Comics, so if you
want to read just editorials, you may want to head directly there. You can
check out the featured artists or choose from the entire listing. To check out
the entire list, just scroll down the page.
E-cards – Here you can send free comic e-cards to the people you love. You can
choose by occasion or by a certain comic strip. Either way, these cards are
sure to be a hit with your friends and family. Talk about a great way to send a
smile.
Now, I am ready to get back to browsing. I have some Wizard of Id to catch up
on. Enjoy!
http://comics.com/
=== Color & I
(You may need a Flash Player to use this. You can get one here).
This is a fun application that allows you to select options to various paint
colors to paint the shown object. The color you choose will help determine your
color profile.
To begin click Start. You will then click the paint roller. After that, you
need to click the color you want to paint the object. Now, touch your paint
roller to the object shown and then click Next. You’ll do the same thing for
each object until you get to the end and then you will click Results to get
your color profile.
Each object stands for a certain personality trait and the color you choose
represents what your personality in that area is like.
Don’t like your results? Or maybe you’d like to see what the other colors mean?
Well, you most certainly can find out. Just click the Restart button near the
top and take the quiz again.
I took this several times, just because there were times where I couldn’t
really choose the color I wanted to paint it, because I liked a couple of my
options. Either way, it was a fun diversion on this snowy morning!
http://vn247.net/flash/Color-and-Me.swf
=== City Data
This site is really neat. Not only can you find out information about the city
you live in, as well as, possibly see some neat pictures of it., but if you are
moving, you can check out your new hometown too!
There are a couple of ways to navigate. You can check out the links: Top 100
Lists (where you can find lists of the top 100 cities and pertinent information
like the highest income, the least crime, the newest houses, the most females,
the shortest commute, the best educated residents, etc.) and Random City
Pictures.
Now, you can also just use the search engine to look up your city, which is
what I did. I typed in
You can also search by your state. Choose your state from the list under the
So, go ahead and check out your city or your future city, for that matter. Do
it today at City Data!
http://www.city-data.com/
=== Like Better
This is a really fun photo game and all it requires from you is to choose the
photo you like better. You get the option to choose between two photos and when
you have chosen enough, the brain near the bottom will flash pink. This means
that the brain has some insight into your personality or life from the photos
you’ve chosen.
Is your brain flashing pink? If it is, click the brain and you’ll see what
revelations it has discovered for you. Sometimes it is right on the money,
while other times, it's not so much. You can tell the brain if it’s correct or
if it’s wrong, which will help the brain to get to know you better.
You can create a profile if you want to save your votes by clicking the Sign Up
link, either on the top silver title bar or by voting and then getting the
brain to flash. There’s an option after you tell the brain whether it’s right
or wrong to sign up as well. Signing up is very easy. You just need a nickname,
a password and an e-mail address.
What good is having a profile, you might ask? Well, not only can you save your
results, but you can upload and share your photos as well. Pretty neat, huh?
So tell me, which one do you like better?!
http://www.likebetter.com/
=== Zillow.com
What is Zillow.com?
Zillow.com is an online real estate service dedicated to helping you get an
edge in real estate by providing you with valuable tools and information.
http://www.zillow.com/
=== Digital Photography Class
Welcome to the Digital Photography Class. This site is going to help you learn
how to make the most out of using your digital camera.
I originally stumbled across this site when I was trying to find out what to
look for when I went to buy a digital camera for my mom. You don't only get
tips on what to look for in a camera to shoot for your needs and budget, you
can get Judy’s recommendations on some cameras that are on the market right now.
You will also find links to the best digital camera review sites and the best
digital photography sites. Not to mention, information on avoiding losing
photos on your memory card, transferring photos to your computer, Photoshop and
understanding files and folders.
Below those sections are some book recommendations. Just scroll past them and
you’ll find even more information on how to use your camera. One of the more
interesting sections is about digital scrapbooking, how to do it and where to
get some great scrapbook flair.
You’ll also find Photography Tips, Techniques and Tutorials a fairly handy
section. Especially the "When to Break the Rules" link where you will
learn all about composition and when it’s okay to not follow the rules. You can
even learn how to best shoot in sunlight in this section.
Need somewhere to share your photos? Well, you can find a list of the best free
and premium sites to do it at. Or maybe you need some image viewing software.
Or even printing software. Well, you can find more information on those here at
this site as well.
Whether you need resources or you are just starting to learn to use your
digital camera, there is information for every skill level. Check it out!
http://digitalphotographyclass.net/
=== Fun Advice
Do you need some helpful advice? Or, do you know a lot about a bunch of
different things and would like to give some advice? Well, then Fun Advice is
the place for you!
To get the most out of the site, you’ll want to register, but don’t worry, it’s
free! Just click the Join Fun Advice link.
Joining is really easy. You just need a username, an e-mail address and a
password. Once you have all that, fill in something in the About Me field. Then
click Join. Once you've done that, you can log in and start posting answers and
asking questions.
I would not recommend this site for kids! There is a “Love, Sex, Relationships”
category that should only be viewed by adults! But seeing as we are adults, I
don’t think this category should be held against the site. You can choose not
to view it if it’s offensive. There are a lot of really helpful answers and
interesting questions here to ignore the site completely, but I wanted to let
you know ahead of time, so it didn’t take you by surprise.
Asking a question or a piece of advice is really simple. Just type your
question in the blank text box under the Ask for Advice heading and click the
Ask for Advice button when you’re done to submit it. You’ll then be able to
give your question a title, choose a category and even add a photo if you’d
like. There are even some great tips on the side of the page on how to make
your question clearer. Once you have some answers, Fun Advice will notify you
via e-mail.
Answering a question is pretty easy too. If you see a question you'd like to
answer and you are logged in, just scroll down the page past any other answers
to the blank text field under the heading of Answer This Question. You can upload
a photo here too and even check the box that will let you know via e-mail when
this topic gets updated.
All of that’s pretty easy, right? Well, if you agree, go get your questions
answered and why not give some advice while you're at it?!
http://www.funadvice.com/
=== Car Buying Tips
Buying a car can be a difficult, frustrating task if you don’t know what you’re
doing or looking for. This site tries to help you get rid of the guess work
with its tips. When you think about it, a car is usually the first investment
anyone makes and since they depreciate in value over time, you want to get your
money’s worth for sure.
Choosing a Car – This section discusses some of the things you want to think
about as you choose a car to purchase. Will it suit your lifestyle needs? What
do you value in a car? Find out the questions you should ask yourself before
buying.
Buying a New Car – Here you will find tips on the kind of research you should
do if you have your heart set on a brand new car, as well as, things you should
keep in mind when you are on the lot. There are also some negotiating tips.
Buying a Used Car – Buying a used car can be just as tricky as negotiating your
price point on a new car, but it does have some advantages. This section
discusses the advantages and disadvantages of buying a used car, as well as,
the differences between buying it from a car dealer or a private seller. If
you’re on a budget and willing to do your homework, this is a great way to get
a car in your price range.
Selling a Used Car – So, you’ve worn out your car and want to sell it. Well,
then check out this section and find out what you need to know to get that car
to sell fast.
Auto Warranties – Here you can learn about what warranties come with cars, from
the Lemon Laws most places have, to dealership warranties. This is always
helpful information to review. Also, make sure you find out about the Lemon
Laws in your area before buying.
Auto Financing – This section covers the different ways you can finance your
new car, whether through the dealership or a bank. Make sure you look for
hidden fees as well. You’ll learn about the pros and cons of each way of
financing, as well as, options for financing for people who don’t have perfect
credit.
So, now you have a taste of the tips offered here. You can also get tips on
leasing a car, auto insurance, car repairs and even car auctions. So, when you
go to purchase your next vehicle, you will be prepared and you'll have
confidence in your choices!
http://carbuying.tipcentral.net/
=== SketchSwap
Welcome to this highly addictive sketching game. How does it work? Well, you
use your mouse to draw an image. When you are done, click Submit a Drawing and
you will get to see a drawing that someone else created. Then you can click
Draw Again to draw another picture.
I found that both the drawing and the receiving of an image were fairly
addicting and a lot of fun. I draw pretty pitifully, but I got some very well
drawn sketches back for my poor efforts.
I wish there were more colors to draw in and a way to erase, but other than
that, it was pretty fantastic. If you decide to use text, they ask that you
write in English, so it can be approved.
To learn more about this site, go to their About section where you will learn
that every single sketch is approved by the site administration. You can also
see some great examples of the sketches that some people have made and some
testimonials.
Go forth and sketch, then swap and sketch again! Have fun!
http://www.sketchswap.com/
=== Best Apples
It’s apple season! That means it’s time to go to the orchard or the local grocery
store and pick some apples for pies and such. Well, now you can learn all about
the different apple varieties before you go and buy them!
The varieties that they describe here are: Red Delicious, Golden Delicious,
Gala,
You can mouse over each apple to get a brief description of the apples or you
can click them for a full description and a listing of what they can be used
for. For example, salads, pies, sauce, baking and freezing, as well as, what
seasons they will be available in.
There are also recipes on this site and you can either view them at the main
Recipes link near the bottom of the page or on each apple’s page, you can get
the recipes that are good for that variety.
You can also check out the usage chart, which will let you compare the apple
uses to one another. You get to see all their ratings at once on a very nice
chart, which makes it easy to see their findings.
I know we have some other apples that are gown locally that I adore, so you
should definitely try apples from the local orchards and growers near you. I’m
off to the store to buy some apples and then I'm making pies. Yum!
http://www.bestapples.com/varieties/index.html
=== Explore the Pyramids
Welcome to Nova Online’s Pyramid. I’ve decided to bring you to the site from
the table of contents, simply because it makes it easier to explore everything.
The table is broken down by pyramid and sphinx, as well as, excavation and the
usual credit links.
The pyramids are Khufu, Khafre, Menkaure and you get the bonus of the Sphinx.
Khufu – Here you can view what it’s like to stand at the top of this pyramid
and look out over the surrounding area with View from the Top. Thanks to
QuickTime, you get a 360 degree view of the area. You’ll find the directions
for looking around the image just above it. Want more detail and you have a
cable or DSL connection? Scroll down to the bottom of the page and see the same
view in high resolution. Don’t have QuickTime to see the VR photo? Well, just
click the link About QuickTime VR and you’ll be whisked away to where you can
learn about it and get it for free!
The Cross-Section link takes you to a diagram of the pyramid’s layout. From
here, you can click the link to the Inside Story. The Inside Story not only
gives you the history of the pyramid, but also allows you to step inside. You
have several options of how you can travel inside. You can choose the High
Resolution or Low Resolution Routes that use QuickTime VR or you can choose the
I took the high resolution tour and boy was it breathtaking! It’s like you are
actually walking and exploring inside the Khufu pyramid. In the pyramids
section on the table of contents, you will also find links to learn about the
history of
The Excavation section is a lot of information for you to read and learn about
So, are you ready to go visit the Sphinx or look down over the land from the
top of Khufu? Enjoy!
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/pyramid/textindex.html
===
Storytelling Power
Storytelling is an important part of our culture and has been for a very long
time. In essence, my articles are storytelling. They tell you about the site
you’ve yet to explore. So, I was more than a little curious about this site.
What will you find here? Well, tips and tricks to be a better storyteller, a
free newsletter and some useful links.
There are articles listed on the front page if you scroll down to them. If you
want to look at more than what’s highlighted, look at the side menu and click
the button Free Articles. This whisks you away to the Free Articles section
where you can hone your craft as a story teller.
With great articles like “The Virtues of Storytelling with Simplicity,
"Remember KISS," "Keep It Simple, Silly,” “A Treasure Trunk of
Teller’s Tips” and a whole lot more, there is a ton of great advice.
Some articles I really enjoyed were “Apply the Purple Cow to Storytelling,” “A
Beginner’s Guide to Story Telling – Not Only For Beginners,” and “A Tapestry of
Storytellers’ Tips and Tricks.”
Portfolio Potpourri is the Free Newsletter you can receive in your e-mail. If
you sign up, you also get 10 free tips to "Enhance your Personal and
Professional Style."
With this great site, you’ll not only improve your storytelling, you’ll make it
more enjoyable for you and your listeners. Tell memorable stories that really
stick with your friends and families or write memorable tales to delight
everyone!
http://www.creativekeys.net/Storyte...wer/sphome.html
=== Backpack
Welcome! On this site, you can sign up for free to help you stay organized. You
can plan events and trips, make to-do lists and much, much more. The first
thing you have to do is sign up. They don’t ask for too much information; just
your name, e-mail address and they ask that you create a user ID with a
password. Pretty simple.
I know a lot of people hate giving out their personal information, so I
recommend checking out all the examples and demos. You can find these by
clicking Tour on the main page. Here you will see an example of someone looking
for houses, then you can tour the very functional calendar and view demos of
it. Or you can click Examples at the top of the page to further explore other
things you can do here at the Backpack Web site. I think this site is well
worth it for the Calendar alone.
Once you’ve registered and logged in, you are taken to your Backpack. There are
four tabs across the top of the page: Pages, Calendars, Reminders and
Writeboards.
On the first tab, Pages, you can make to-do lists, leave yourself notes, make
writeboards and share all of this with the people you want to see it. All of
this also comes with a primer to help you through it your first time! View mine
here.
Calendars – This is what I use the most. I love this customizable calendar. I
highly recommend that you watch the calendar demos to really learn how to use
it to your best advantage.
Reminders – Here you can set up reminders for yourself. They are always sent
right to your e-mail address. Just type in what you need to be reminded to do,
select a time to get the reminder from the drop down box and click the Set
Reminder button.
Writeboards – I know you’ve probably been wondering what writeboards are. Well,
they are Web based text documents that you can edit to your heart's content and
share with others. You can take a tour of writeboards too! This will really let
you get an idea of what they can do, why you’d want to share them and much,
much more.
This is an awesome organizational tool and boy, do I need it! How about you?
http://www.backpackit.com/
=== Parking Perfection
There are people in this world who are parking perfectionists and I must admit
that I am one of them. I have to get my car parked just so or I’m unhappy while
I run my errands or shop. So, when I found this game, you can probably guess
that I was hooked from the get go.
This is the most addicting game I’ve found in a great while. You have to park
the car in the parking spot without crashing into any of the other cars. You
use your arrow keys on the keyboard to drive the car. All instructions are on
the site.
It seems like it would be the easiest thing to do, but I’ve crashed my car into
the other vehicles too many times. I’ve been trying to complete level one for
an hour. I always get just about perfectly aligned and then clumsily hit the
wrong key.
This site is really popular too, so it may be down when you try to visit. Just
come back later and play then.
Can you park your car to perfection? I hope you have better luck with it than I
did. And don't forget, this is highly addictive. You have been warned! : )
http://www.107.peugeot.co.uk/peugeot.swf
=== The World Fact Book 2006
Welcome to the newly updated World Fact Book. As you may know, the fact book is
updated every year to add new information or to update old information so that it
is always current. What will you find inside it? Well, you'll see maps, flags
and country information.
Navigation is really simple. It's right in front of you on the main page.
There’s no fancy side menu or top menu. I’ll highlight some sections for you.
History of the World Fact Book – Here you can learn how the book got started
and why. This is a pretty interesting read. You learn all about the
Intelligence Cycle, World War II and much more.
Reference Maps – Here you will find awesome reference maps of the world. You
can find them by region, time zone and there’s even a political map of the
world.
Flags of the World – Here you can find the flags for all the countries in the
world, all in alphabetical order, so they’re easy to navigate. Click the flag
to see it larger. That is pretty easy, huh?!
Gallery of Covers – I actually enjoyed this section the most. It’s just a
gallery of all the different covers that have been on the fact book, but I
think it shows an interesting progression of history in itself. My favorite
covers are for 1998/1999 and 2006. But just comparing the ones I like, you
notice the current graphic trend has changed so much from back then.
I bet you are wondering what the drop down box is for? Well, if you click on
it, you will see that it is a listing of countries. This is how you get to the
country information. Just choose the country you want to explore. You get the
map of the country, as well as, information about it.
This is a great site to bookmark for those going to school, because you might
need the maps someday or the information for a report. Go on and take a small
arm chair journey to a different country every once in a while!
https://www.cia.gov/cia/publication...book/index.html
=== Internet Public Library
Welcome to the Internet Public Library, brought to you by a class from the
University of Michigan’s School of Information. This Web site is also now being
used in many other schools. To learn more about how it got started, check out
the section under the Inside heading, specifically the link “How the IPL
Consortium Came To Be.” Or, you can check out the About the IPL section on the
side menu.
There are two things here that I absolutely adore! One of them is the
Spotlight. Here you can see different places spotlighted for your education or
enjoyment. When I was there, the spotlight was Teenspace Poetry Wiki, which is
a place where teens can post and read poetry. You can even check out the
previous spotlights by clicking the link “See all of the IPL’s Spotlight
Features.”
The second thing I adore is their search engine and the ability to GROK your
results. What does GROK do for your search results, you may ask? Well, it takes
about 10 seconds to load the first time, but what it does is map your results.
It will take what you type in (for example, presidents) and map the possible
categories that you might be looking for inside the circle. You can then click
on the different topics to narrow it down. While searching for presidents, I
got these as categories: General, Ladies,
Now, as to the side menu, if you feel like just browsing through the different
sections to find what you are looking for or to just stumble across something
new to learn, you’ll find all the sections on the side menu to be helpful. This
Web site is just like a real library in your hometown! There’s Subject
Collections, Ready Reference, the Reading Room, Kidspace, Teenspace, Special
Collections and Searching Tools as well.
What will you learn at the IPL today?!
http://www.ipl.org/
=== Homework Center
Welcome to Fact Monster’s Homework Center. This is a fabulous Web site to
bookmark for your kids or grandkids who are probably heading back to school
very soon. Here they kind find help on specific subjects, along with an added
bonus of a huge reference section to search in. In the middle section of the
page, you’ll find the Search Engine, which will search almanac, atlas,
dictionary, encyclopedia and even biographies for the information you are
looking for. What a great homework tool!
In the middle of the page, you will also find links to the following subjects:
Geography, Mathematics, History, Science, Language Arts and Social Studies.
Also, I must mention the Skills section where you can learn more
Writing/Research Skills, Speaking and Listening, as well as, Studying skills. I
love the skills section, because those are harder to master than subjects you
can learn out of a book. I still get butterflies in my stomach when speaking in
front of people. I don’t know why and I was even a theater major in school!
Also, learning to study and do it well is a tip that will help your child
throughout life.
Further down the middle of the page, you can find Tools for School. There's
calculators, chemistry help, the periodic table, sun, moon and stars. If you
look just below that, there’s a great Math Flashcard section as well.
On the side menu, you’ve got great sections like World & News, U.S.,
People, Word Wise, Science, Math & Money, Sports, Cool Stuff, Games &
Quizzes and if you scroll down just a bit, Fact Monster Favorites.
With all this at your disposal, your kids can rule the school! Well, at least
the homework their teachers give them. Check it out!
http://www.factmonster.com/homework/index.html
=== The Swing Years
Today's cool site is short and sweet. I really enjoyed it and I thought that it
could stand on its own without a lot of frilly writing!
Swing took this country by storm in the 1930s, but had already started
formulating in the late 20s. Now you can relive or discover swing with this Web
site! You will need Real Audio which you can get here for free. (Choose the Get
RealPlayer Free link to start your download).
This site gives you the option to stream the music or to download it. " S
" means stream and " DL " means download. You’ll find those
codes next to each song. So, if you want to listen to it now, click S or if you
want to listen to it later, you can click DL.
There are four archives here of great music. From the music style of Glen
Miller to Benny Goodman to Duke Ellington, you’ll find tons of it to listen to
here. You will even find songs that aren’t just instrumental; you can listen to
Bing Crosby, The Andrew Sisters and many more!
Let’s get swingin!'
http://www.hhbrandy.addr.com/swing.html
=== Food
411
Welcome to the ultimate online food resource. This site is a well crafted food
resource that takes you from the best recipes to the best places to shop online
for food or food services. To learn more about Food 411 and its history, check
out the About Us section.
The sections of this site are: Let Others Cook, Ingredients, Baked Goods, Drink
& Be Merry, Tools of the Trade, Healthwise, Gift Ideas and Food Reads. You
can also get to the archives by clicking the archive banner at the top of the
page.
Let Others Cook - This section is a collection of links for sites where you can
find different services from full meals to dessert. It's all covered here. It's
a fabulous resource for a dinner party or a special occasion when you don’t
have time to cook. Come to Food 411, browse in this section and you are sure to
find something that you like.
Ingredients – This section is a collection of links that will help you find and
research those hard to find or not frequently used ingredients. There are some
links included here that can even help you find local places to buy food (for
example, produce) that you may not have known about. I was thrilled to find
this section. I’ve been searching all over town for blood oranges and haven’t
found any, but now I have reliable links to buy them whenever I want.
Baked Goods – Here you will find a section devoted to finding that perfect
baked good for your next party or family get together.
Drink & Be Merry – Here you will find a section just for finding the
perfect drink for your special occasion or maybe you'll find another kind of
wine to add to your collection. You will find, not only links to buy your
favorite wines, coffees and teas, but also links to great information on the
topics. For example, the Wine Lover’s Page where you can get straight talk
about wine. And there’s no snobbery allowed!
Tools of the Trade – Here you can find places to get the kitchen tools you
need, as well as, great product reviews.
Healthwise – Do you have a special diet, do you want to control your weight or
do you just want to get the skinny on organic foods? Well, if you want to do
any of those things, this is the section to browse.
Food Reads – This section is my favorite part of the site and the entire reason
I wanted to bring the site to you. Here you will find the most amazing
resources, from recipes to food blogs to magazines and cookbooks. There are so
many interesting food recipe sites that I jumped for joy and got ready to dash
to the kitchen to start trying things out. I loved Crash Test Kitchen.
Food 411 is an excellent, all around resource site. Whether you want to cook or
order in, you’ll find what you are looking for here. Check it out!
http://www.food411.com/
=== Rijksmuseum
This has to be the most amazing online museum that I’ve ever seen. And even
better, it was a bit of a click and discover journey as I tried to figure out
how it all worked. Each click led to a new bit of understanding of the site’s
layout and I was able to learn a little bit more about art as I went. So, if
you're up for it, explore by clicking everywhere and you will discover the
museum just like I did. It was a lot of fun for me, but I also know that it
would be very frustrating for some people. Well, don't worry, I’m here to
eliminate some of that frustration!
When you get to the site and it loads up, you’ll notice that it has layers. The
first layer is Nightwatching. Click the word Nightwatching to enter the
section. Here you can explore Nightwatching by Peter Greenaway. You can even
click the Nightwatching Special to see a slideshow for this area. Nightwatching
is a project by Peter Greenaway that brings Rembrandt's’ The Night Watch to
life. It's pretty interesting, so make sure you check it out!
The second layer is The Rijkswidget. Click the text to enter the section. Here
you learn all about the widget and how to download it. You can even read users'
comments on it! It’s a neat little program.
The third layer is The Masterpieces. Again, click the text to enter. You
completely want the Open de button here. Let the window open and click the link
that says Take a Look at the Masterpieces. This lets you get a look at all of
the art work. There are also links along the bottom that let you look at other
things of note, such as a dollhouse that costs the price of a real house and
was one woman’s hobby. (Perhaps, obsession is a better term!)
The fourth and last layer is Really Rembrandt? This section discusses whether some
paintings were really Rembrandt’s handy work or not. I find it very interesting
that so many of the paintings that people claim were painted by famous artists
are under such debate.
Get ready to explore a very interesting online museum. I hope you all enjoy it
as much as I did!
http://www.rijksmuseum.nl/index.jsp?lang=en
=== Leonardo3 - The Official Web Site
Welcome to the official Web site for Leonardo da Vinci. I thought with the
large splash of success that Dan Brown’s “The da Vinci Code” has made in the
media lately, it would be interesting to explore da Vinci himself.
On the main page that you load in on, there are a lot of interesting featured
information and articles, so take your time exploring them. You’ll find
navigation on the gray bar across the page. The sections are Leonardo da Vinci,
Exhibitions, L3 Studies, Machines and Paintings.
Leonardo da Vinci – This page is divided up into sections. Learn all about da
Vinci here with a fantastic timeline and manuscripts. The time line spans from
1452 to 1519 and each date has information associated with it.
Exhibitions – Here you can see where da Vinci’s works are being exhibited. You
can also check out a streaming video in either low or high resolution. This
video allows you to check out highlights of the exhibitions from all over the
world. If you click on the picture from each exhibit, you are taken to that
exhibit's page where you can see more photo highlights.
L3 Studies – This section is well worth exploring. The L3 team has been working
on studying some of the machines that are not as well known from the
manuscripts, as well as, more well known machines. You get to learn all about
the projects and see some great photos of the progress they’ve made. This is by
far my favorite section.
Machines – Well, if you guessed you would learn all about da Vinci’s machines
in this section, you are right! You can either scroll right down the page or
you can use the jump links at the top of the page. There are a lot of machines
to check out, from flying machines to musical machines. There are also machines
of the same type designed by other engineers of that time period. Very neat!
Paintings – Here you can learn all about the paintings that Leonardo da Vinci
painted or had a hand in painting. There are also some that are just thought to
be his work. Each painting has two scales directly under the painting and under
the text describing the painting. The scale under the painting depicts how sure
they are that the artwork is da Vinci’s and the scale under the text states
when it was painted on the timeline. From famous works of art like the Mona
Lisa to less famous pieces, you can really experience his artwork in this
section.
Now, I leave you to explore. There’s a lot on this site to discover, so make
sure you take your time!
http://leonardo3.net/leonardo/home_eng.htm
=== Traffic Reports and Alerts
Okay, so we’ve covered gas prices until we were blue in the face, so let’s move
on to traffic. The only problem I have with this site is that it is highly
metropolitan based. Go ahead and register (it's free!) with as much or as
little information as you want, and confirm. Then you can start to set up your
custom drives, a personalized map with markers where roads are closed,
customized reports and even an RSS feed. This site rocks for those of you who
live in any of the cities listed on the site.
If you don’t want to register, you can still make good use of this site. Just
click the Metropolitan Areas tab. Then from the map that loads, choose the city
whose traffic you want to check out. Then just wait for that city's page to
load and you can see where the traffic jams are and what their Jam Factor is.
The Jam Factor is like a Richter scale for traffic jams. If you want to know
how it works in-depth, head to the “What is the Jam Factor” link at the top of
the white section of the page.
A little lost? Need some help? Well, check out the Help tab where you can get
your questions answered! This is a detailed FAQ area that covers a lot of
ground and it answers some really good questions.
The good news is that even if they aren’t in your area now, they might be soon.
They are planning on expanding over time. I imagine it takes a lot of work to
put this kind of information together. I know I’ll be bookmarking this site for
later use, because maybe my city will be added soon.
Check it out!
http://www.traffic.com/index.html
=== Math Cats
This is a fun site that combines math and math trivia questions with cute
photos of cats! Navigation is super simple. Just click any one of the pictures
to explore. The sections are: Math Cats Explore, Math Cats Love MicroWorlds,
Math Crafts, Math Cats’ Art Gallery, Math Cats’ Attic, Math Cats’ Love Mail and
my favorite, Math Cats’ Photo of the Week.
Math Cats Explore – This is the place to really get the lead out and explore.
You will find tons of math related problems, trivia and other activities here.
For example, the ancient Egyptian Math Cats Fractions, where you can learn all
about fractions with Math Cats. You’ll also find links to story problems, games
and fun applications. For instance, the “Exactly How Old Are You”? application.
This one breaks down exactly how old you are from the information you put in.
It even tells you when your next birthday celebration is! My favorite here was
the New Math Loving Animals in the News section. You can learn all about the
beavers who built a dam out of money there!
Math Cats Love MicroWorlds – For this section, you need to download the
MicroWorlds Player, but trust me, it's well worth it and it's free. (There are
instructions at the top of the page on the yellow band of color on how to do so
and where you can get it). This section is full of interactive applications
that will help you learn and make math fun!
Math Crafts – Here you will find a bunch of craft projects that are math
related, but fun for your kids to make. This is a great way to start teaching
geometry to little kids, because it makes it fun.
Math Cats’ Art Gallery – Here you can find artwork that was designed for a logo
challenge. You can also find some fun drawings made by children that were sent
into the site. A fun, frisky section.
Math Cats’ Attic – This is an archive of past questions and answers from the
magic chalkboard. What’s the magic chalkboard? Well, you are right to ask. You
may have noticed the black boxes of scrambled text all over the site. Well, if
you mouse over them, they reveal not only the correct answer to the question,
but usually the method to get there.
Math Cats’ Love Mail – Here you can send in feedback and read the feedback that
others have left on the site before you. The site author even posts as to why
there are more open ended math explorations than games, which I thought rocked.
See, once you got the right answer in a game, you could just memorize it, but
that doesn’t encourage you to think! Makes sense to me!
Math Cats’ Photo of the Week – I love this section! You’ll find the link to get
here by looking just under the yellow bar before you get to the mouse hole
shaped pictures of the other sections. Here you get great cat facts mixed with
trivia and math questions. You can even check out the past photos of the week!
This is a great site to use to help get kids interested in math. Go ahead and
make it fun at the same time!
http://www.mathcats.com/contents.html
=== Sky.fm
Okay this is an awesome radio site, but to start with, you need to learn how
you can tune in. Go to the Help tab and choose How to Listen from the drop down
menu. This will explain in detail what you need to listen to it and how to set
it up. Once you’ve gotten that sorted out, go to the Listen Now tab.
Listen Now – This is where you can pick the kind of music you want to listen to
from the drop down list. The categories are: Mostly Classical, New Age,
Classical Guitar, Smooth Jazz and Top Hits, Best of the 80s, Roots Reggae, Top
70s, Country, Modern Jazz, Salsa and DI.fm channels. DI.fm Channels has a whole
other listing of radio stations that you can choose from.
The other way you can pick a radio station is to just scroll down the main page
past the premium login area and you’ll find a complete listing of channels.
Whether you’re looking for music to serve as a backdrop or just to enjoy, you
can definitely find what you’re looking for here. I’ll admit, I’m quite
enamored of the new age station. I listen to it while I work. It’s serene and
peaceful, but not so distracting that I have to stop what I’m doing.
Enjoy!
http://www.sky.fm/
=== Database of Oldies Records
I was cleaning house and ran across my roommate's stash of old records, which
got me thinking that it would make an interesting subject for my cool sites.
Welcome to the 45RPM Records Database of Oldies Records. This database has
records from the 1950s all the way to the 1980s.
Warning: this site does have sound and animation when it loads (it has to load
all the way first). To turn the music off, click the button on your Internet
browser. If you’d rather check it out with the sound and you are at work, you
may want to wait until you get home to view it (unless you have headphones!)
To start checking out the database, you have two options. You can click the
black “View 45 RPMS” button or scroll even further down the page and click a
letter from A to Z to begin the journey into the database. Once you are in the
database, you can use the arrow buttons at the top of the page to navigate
through. Or you can click the middle Home button to go back to the main page at
any time.
If you are a record collector, you may want to check out the Collector’s
Corner, where you can be added to the collector’s list for free. You can also
check out everyone else who is on the list.
You can also search the Record Database by a certain category. Just click the
black “45s by Category” button or you can check out instrumental records by
clicking the “Instrumental” button by the juke box.
That’s this site in a nutshell. Enjoy!
http://mysite.verizon.net/jhurray/
=== Pandora
When I saw the name of this link, I was really curious. My mind instantly went
to the thought of the Pandora’s box myth. Of course, I had to click on the link
to see what it was all about. I waited and the page loaded and boy was I
surprised! I found a Pandora’s box alright! The only difference is that this
one is dedicated to music.
This site was created by the Music Genome Project and they are opening the
Pandora’s box of music to help you and others find more of the music that you
want and like, based on your preferences. Isn’t that neat? You do need to have
Flash Player to use this site. Most computers already have this, but if you
don’t, you can get it here.
To get started, type the title of a song you like or an artist's name into the
text box and click create. I happen to like the artist Frou Frou, so I typed
her name in hoping it would find other similar music.
First, the Pandora player played a Frou Frou song to make sure I had typed in
the right artist. Then it started playing other music in the same genre as Frou
Frou, which I could then rate and decide if I liked by clicking the Guide Us
button.
When you click the Guide Us button, it gives you several options for each song.
You can choose whether you like it or dislike it, for the song not to play for
a month, find out why it’s playing and find out how to add more types of music
to this station. This is so awesome. If you don’t like something, they never
play it again!
But, this is a great way to expand your musical tastes in a genre and find more
music that you like as well. If you have more questions that aren't answered on
the site, you can click the Help button and choose the FAQ section where there
are tons of questions answered.
Now, if you decide you really like Pandora and want to use it a lot, you are
going to want to go to the Account button on the player and choose Create. This
walks you through the registration process. You want to choose the free
version, so make sure when they ask if you want to subscribe, you choose
"no thanks."
Now, you are all set to start exploring!
http://www.pandora.com/
=== Fact Monster – Origins of Easter
You can learn all the facts
http://www.factmonster.com/spot/easterintro1.html
=== Poker Chip Tricks
I confess I've watched the World Poker Tournament and even the one with the
celebrities playing poker together. I also really love to play Texas Hold
'em poker with my friends. So, I started wondering if there was any way I
could learn to do some of the really cool things that they do with their
poker chips. Lucky for me, I found this site.
You start out by default on the Home tab of this site. Go ahead and click
the tab for the Tricks section now instead of hanging out on the home page.
As you scroll down the Tricks page, you will see lots and lots of different
tricks you can do with your poker chips.
What are some of the tricks you can learn? Well there's a bunch. I'll list
some for you here.
Tricks - Mexican Jumping Chip, Bounce Back, Top Spin, Around the Clock,
Finger Roll, Switch, Butterfly and that's just some of them!
Since finding this site, I've learned that you have to practice to get these
down. I'm terrible at them. But it's a lot of fun to learn them and the
Butterfly is definitely my favorite, even though it is down right hard!
I hope you learn them faster than I have. Each one is explained with photos
and step by step instructions, so go and check it out!
http://pokerchiptricks.com/
=== Photo Camel
Well I found this great photography forum site, where you can learn all about
photography from the lens to the picture. The first thing you are going to want
to do when you get here is to register an account, so that you can post on the
forum and download pictures that people have uploaded.
To register, click the register button (the one with the red check near the top
of the page on the silver bar) and fill out the information. Make sure you read
the terms and then click the register button. Now, go to your e-mail and click
the activation link. You should be good to login now.
Now for my confession. I spent two hours looking at the pet pictures here, so
be warned that it is very easy to waste time here and not even notice. I was
just thinking I’d surf around, so I could tell you all about it, but then I
stumbled upon the pet section, and when I looked at the clock again, two hours
had gone by. Yikes! But, it is so lovely to see other people’s photographs.
The forum is divided into sections, making it very easy to navigate. The
sections are: Camera and Lenses, The Photographer: Galleries and Discussions,
Camera Equipment and Accessories, Commerce and PhotoCamel Miscellany.
Camera and Lenses – here is where you will find the topics about specific types
of cameras and lenses. You can even check out the Camera Review topic, where
you can find awesome camera equipment reviews.
The Photographer: Galleries and Discussion – here is where you can find images
in many, many different categories (pets being one of them!) contests and
instructional videos. How cool is that?
Camera Equipment and Accessories – this section is more dedicated to techniques
than equipment. At least it seemed that way to me. But, oh, there is a great
area on different kinds of software you can use.
Commerce – here you can find forums dedicated to items people are selling or
buying. So if you have an old camera or tripod you want to get rid of, you
might want to post it here and see if anyone is looking for one. Or maybe you
are looking for a specific piece of hardware. Maybe you’ll find it here. You
can also check out the forum on how to sell your photos and to show off the
ones you have sold. This has got to be a very helpful section to photographers
who are trying to break into the business, I would think.
PhotoCamel Miscellany – This is where you can introduce yourself to the forums,
make suggestions and even get the latest updates from the moderators.
Well, I’ve got the photo bug, so I guess I’ll have to go take pictures of my
darlings, my pets!
http://www.photocamel.com/
=== Lyrics Freak
I’m always looking for good lyrics sites, and I really like this one. It has a
nice layout and is friendly to the eye. It also has links to live chat, guitar
tabs and forums. So not only can you find lyrics and get tabs to play it on the
guitar, you can chat about your favorite songs.
There are several ways to find lyrics. You can use the # to Z listing at the
top. Choose one and get all the songs under that letter of the alphabet or that
number.
Or, you can check out the songs on the Charts link, where you can see what
songs are the most popular.
If that wasn’t enough, you can even check out the Links section where you can
find even more sites that provide lyrics to the songs you love.
There are also blog style news articles on the main page that can keep you in
touch with some of what’s going on in the music industry.
This is a handy site when you want to find those lyrics that you can’t quite
keep straight, or heard some one murder. Check it out!
http://www.lyricsfreak.com/
=== Post Crossing
I love the concept of this site. Post Crossing is a site that allows you to
receive postcards from all over the world. So, how does it work? Well, you have
to register and then you send a postcard. You wait to get one yourself and then
you can log when you received it. To learn more about the nitty gritty details,
click Learn More on the main page.
Navigation is simple. You’ll find the links you need to explore across the top
of the page. The sections are Home, News, About, Stats, Forum, Gallery Contact
and Links.
Home – this takes you back to the main page at any time.
News – find out what’s new at the site.
About – this section tells you all about the site. This is where the Learn More
link takes you.
Stats – here you will find stats that are updated hourly. You’ll learn how many
users there are, how many cards have been sent, how long it took, the average
time a postcard takes and so much more. Very neat!
Forum – here’s where you can get together with other Post Crossers and chat up
a storm.
Gallery – here you can check out images of the postcards that have been sent,
received and registered. It’s really cool to see all the postcards that they
have in the gallery.
So are you ready to start Post Crossing? I know I am.
http://www.postcrossing.com/
=== The Song Tapper
I’m always getting songs stuck in my head. Mostly just one phrase or a line of
a song and then I’m stuck. What comes next? Who sang this? Will it EVER go
away?! :-) Since this happens a lot, I’m always looking for Web sites that
identify songs for me. C’mon, you know I’ve written them up in the past! But
this one is different. There’s no singing into the site, there's no trying to
figure out the right notes. All you have to do here is tap!
In order to use this site, you have to have Macromedia Flash 6 or whatever the
current version is. You can get it here. I think it is well worth having it
anyway, because so many cool things are in Flash.
The sections of the site are About, Song List and See Example Video.
About – this area tells you all about the Song Tapper, including who’s brain
child it was, the system requirements and it gives you a link to Search.
Song List – this section tells you how many songs are in the database and gives
you a link to search by tapping.
See Example Video – here you will get a demonstration video of how to use the
Song Tapper. They are tapping in the song Jingle Bells.
So how does it work? Well, click any of the many Search or Try Tapping links
scattered throughout the site. Once you get there, you start tapping your song
to begin (I've found that it does help to sing along as you are tapping out the
lyrics), and when you are done tapping, click the link. Then the Song Tapper
finds all the songs that could match what you tapped. Pretty neat, huh?
http://www.songtapper.com/s/tappingmain.bin
=== Frvade
This site is weird. It is a Web riddle. It’s hard. So I thought I’d share it
with you and see if any of you can solve it. I can only get to level two. My
brain is just not firing on all cylinders to solve this.
I suggest starting at the Information link. This is where you will learn how to
play and why the author thought of this.
Next, you can check out the forum for some tips. You need to register, but it
is free! This will be very useful to help you solve all these tough levels.
Alright, take a deep breath and steel yourself. Then click on the "Begin
the Journey" link.
Here are some tips I can offer you:
You may want to use the View Source option on your browser, which you can find
under the View menu. (Go to View and then down to Source for IE. For Firefox,
go to View, then Page Source).
Click around the image, you may find a clickable area.
Walk away when you get frustrated and come back to it fresh.
Now, I’m off to continue trying to solve the riddle.
Let me know if you manage to solve this baby!
http://www.frvade.com/
=== Stickam
Welcome to Stickam, a site that I am really excited to bring you. Whether you
want to share your favorite MP3s, video or photos, this site makes it so easy
that you are good to go.
I fell in love with this site and have been there everyday since it went live
on February 15th. If you’re looking for me, my user name is Maeve. So, what you
need to do is register and set up your profile. Don't worry, it’s free! Once
you do that, you can upload music, photos and video to your profile and share
it with the world.
What is really wild is that if you have a Webcam, you get on the video chat, or
you can use Stickam to get the code to stick your Web cam on your Web page.
This is uber cool.
What’s even cooler is that they are having a referral contest, so refer your
friends and if they join, you could win prizes! You can even win just for
signing up. They draw five random names a day. I never win anything, so it
won’t be me! :)
Okay, so you’ve registered and made your profile. Now you can explore through
these tabs: Who’s Live, Gallery, Chatroom, Shuffle, What’s New and Help. Also,
just below there, you have white tabs that read: Edit My Audio, Photo, Video,
Profile and Go Live.
The Edit sections are where you would upload your content, whether it be music,
photos or video. That’s where you need to go to share your stuff. If you go to
my profile, you’ll see that I have two songs uploaded and one photo. I don’t
have a Webcam, so I can’t play with that option yet. But soon! All of these
sections thoroughly explain how to upload content, so I’m not going to get into
it.
Go Live – this opens up the Stickam player so to speak. Here you will be able
to chat, be on your Webcam and see your photos and music. Pretty cool, huh?
(Oh, and I forgot, if you have a microphone, you should be able to voice chat
too).
Who’s Live – this section shows you everyone who is live at the moment, which
means they’ve clicked their Go Live button and are in their Stickam player.
Gallery – here you will find the latest photos and videos that have been
uploaded to the site!
Chatroom – pretty self explanatory, don’t you think? Maybe I’ll see you in
there sometime!
Shuffle – this section is coming soon, and I can’t wait for it to be live.
What’s New – this is where you’ll find updates and news about Stickam.
This is a great way to keep in touch with your family, share photos and music.
It’s also a great way to meet other folks online who share your common
interests and chat. I’m going to try and get my mom to sign up so that I can
chat with her via Webcam as soon as I get one.
I hope you fall in love with this site, I know I did.
http://www.stickam.com/
=== Name My Tune
I can’t stand to have a song stuck in my head! Especially if all I have is just
the tune and not the lyrics, or if I can only remember a few of the words to a
song. That makes it really hard to do a lyric search to find it, but I need not
fear that ever again because I’ve found Name My Tune, and I can get other
people to help me out.
Sing – this is the section where you can put your song out there to get named.
What do you need? Well you need a microphone, that’s it. Choose your microphone
from the drop down list, then click next. Record your tune and click next
again. Now you need to choose the genre, era, enter your e-mail address and
then click submit. Then people can start identifying your tune.
Listen – this is the section that lets you listen to tunes and identify them.
This is the flip side to the sing section, of course! To start, select a genre
and an era and click Search. You can search through the "any"
category to get a complete random selection. To listen, click playback and if
you know the name of the tune, click the Name This Tune button underneath the
player. If you don’t know it, you can move ahead to the next tune by clicking the
next tune button.
Help – if you’ve had trouble in any of these sections, you can head over to the
help section, which will walk you through it step by step, and probably answer
what ever questions arise.
Are you ready to name those tunes? Well, get out there and start listening!
Only you can put someone else’s mind at rest by naming their tune. Have fun!
http://www.namemytune.com/
=== Foodie View
When you’re cooking, do you ever feel like you’ve slipped into a rut? I know I
sure do. It seems like I make meatloaf, taco bake, chicken pesto and pasta,
chicken and corn and potato casserole every week. I’m really dying to get out
of my cooking rut, so I went hunting for a good recipe search engine. I found
Food View and it met all my needs.
I can search by ingredient, dishes, chefs, cuisine and so much more with the
handy search engine on the very front page. Or if I really want to give it some
more thought, I can use the links on the side menu. On the side menu you’ll
find:
Browse by Category – I found this section helpful when I just wanted to browse
around with nothing particular in mind or when I had too many ideas to narrow
it down.
Recipe Box - with a free registration, you can have your very own recipe box on
this site. This means that if you really like a recipe, you can add it to your
recipe box and then you don’t have to go through the hassle of searching the
site for it at a later date. At the top of the recipes you search, you should
see an Add to Recipe Box button. Just click it and you can find it in your
recipe box.
Product Reviews – I admit that I am very leery of buying cookbooks. I'm not
even sure about the ones my mother owns, that I know are tried and true recipes
I like and with the Internet, there is such easy access to all the recipes my
heart desires, so I just can’t see plopping money down for one. But, if you do
like to own cookbooks, or like me, are slightly curious about them, you can hit
this section and get great reviews on cookbooks from people who have bought
them.
Restaurants – this is an experimental section that is only really good for
those of you living in the
FoodieView Blog - this section includes great articles like how to eat
chocolate! I just couldn’t get enough of this blog.
This is a site to bookmark especially if you are really going to use the recipe
box. You can keep coming back for recipes as often as you like to add a little
zest to your cooking routine.
http://www.foodieview.com/index.jsp
=== Fly Lady
Do you have a lot of clutter in your house? Did your home just sort of get away
from you? Well I know mine has. There is almost no useable storage. The closets
are all tiny and there is nowhere to really put anything.
By joining Fly Lady – which is free – you’ll start on a step by step journey to
reclaim your house from the clutter within it, as well as, keep a really shiny
sink! To join, head over to the Flying Lessons link were you will see
"Join FlyLady."
This site is all about teaching you baby steps to get your life organized. It
teaches us to stop listening to the perfectionist side of ourselves that wants
everything done now and done right. It didn’t take just one day for your house
to get away from you, even though it may feel like it happened overnight.
Some of my favorite sections are Kelly’s Mission, which you will find in the
FLY zones section. This is where you can find, what I would describe as, a
weekly mission. When I was there, it was to work on the bedroom. The Table of
Contents is also a great section. It really helped me navigate around this site
and stay on track.
Food for Thought is an awesome section filled with ideas on menu planning and
it even has recipes for you to try. It also has some for your slow cooker.
The FLY FAQ – this is a good section to take a look at. I love checking out the
frequently asked questions, because this is where you can access information
about what people are generally confused about. Who knows, they might be
confused about the same things you are, so it's an easy way to get info quick!
Now, I’ll leave it up to you to decide if you think Fly Lady’s method to
declutter your life will work for you or not. But, you know, even if this way
is too much for you, you can definitely pick up little tips. A shiny sink
really does make you feel proud!
http://www.flylady.net
=== Fun Trivia
Sometimes you just need to take some time and have some fun. Well this site has
plenty of it. This is a site full of quizzes, crossword puzzles, and trivia.
Why don’t you put what you know to the test?
There are several ways to navigate the site. You can use the side menu and find
trivia and quizzes by category. For example: Animals, Celebrities, Hobbies,
Literature, and a whole heck of a lot more. You can also navigate by using the
center of the page where the categories are also listed. The categories are:
Quizzes, Encyclopedia Trivia, The Global Trivia Challenge, Public Tournaments,
Need Trivia Questions, Crosswords, Prize Games, and Build a Tournament.
Quizzes – here you can access all the latest quizzes (just select the new
button), or maybe you’d like to check out the Editor’s Choice.
Encyclopedia Trivia – here you will find a vast encyclopedia of trivia. From
literature to video games and many subjects in between, with over 1.3 million
entries, you are sure to find something interesting here.
The Global Trivia Challenge – here you can put your knowledge of trivia against
others from all over the world. Just register (it’s FREE) and get started in
the newbie’s division and work your way to the Immortals division. Compete
against friends and co-workers if you like. You can even see how you ranked. My
user name is Mairwynne if you want to compare our scores!
Public Tournaments – here you will find public tournaments in several
categories from Easy to Challenge, or check out what’s new. More competition
awaits you here.
Need Trivia Questions – here you can create quizzes to challenge your friends
and family.
Crosswords – well this one is self-explanatory, isn’t it? If you love crossword
puzzles, then this is the section for you. Why don’t you check it out?
Well that’s a quick look into this site, are you ready to explore and have some
fun with trivia? I know I am!
http://www.funtrivia.com/
=== No Slang
What is No Slang? No Slang is an Internet Slang Translator and Dictionary site!
Are you ready to explore it with me?
With the zillions of acronyms and slang out there related to the Internet, you
may just need a translator or a dictionary. Now you’ve found one. I found this
site while looking for what a blog was so I could accurately describe it to my
mom. I knew what it was, I just wasn’t sure I was explaining it the best I
could. I popped blog in the translator and it told me it was slang for Web
blog. Now, with a solid definition, I wrote my mom a detailed message with all
the facts I knew. I do blog regularly, so it wasn’t a stretch to explain it.
What threw me for a loop was when I was on a game I play online and someone
typed in 1337, or l337, in the chat box. I’m thinking to myself, what the heck
is that? So, I typed it on the translator and found out that it means elite.
The site is easy to navigate. Just use the tabs along the top of the page under
the No Slang banner. You’ll find Slang Translator, Slang Dictionary, Netspeak
Guide, Add Slang, FAQ, Blog and Search.
Slang Translator – this should be the starting page that you have in front of
you. Type in the acronym or word you want translated, enable the adult language
filter or translate by 133t Speak by putting a checkmark in the blank box. The
translator is on the adult language filter by default. Then click translate.
Your translation will appear above the blank text box where you put in your
word to be translated.
Slang Dictionary – here you can search for words or browse by letter. Be warned
though, there is no adult filter for this section, so if you are browsing
through, you may see adult language and acronyms defined.
Now before anyone gets offended – normally I would avoid a site with adult
language like the plague, but I got to thinking that if my mom didn’t know what
the word blog meant, she wouldn’t know a lot of the other slang used on the
Internet either.
This is a good site to check out to learn what acronyms mean in case your
children are using them. The Internet is filled with chat places and parents
need to monitor their children’s chat practices. They may not even know what
they are saying. I have a younger sister and I wouldn’t want her to be chatting
with someone and not knowing what she was saying and in turn, giving the wrong
impression of her age and personality. This is how predators can really take
advantage of kids. So if you want to avoid adult language because it offends
you, please just use the translator and not the dictionary section.
My warning and words of caution bring us to our next section, the Netspeak
Guide – here you will find articles on Internet safety, commonly misused words,
etiquette and even how to Geekspeak!
Add Slang – have they missed a commonly used slang that you and your friends
use? Well, if so, you need to check out this section and add it to the
dictionary. Type in the slang word or acronym and then put in the definition
and the explanation. Then click on the Add New Slang Button.
FAQ – here you can learn why the site exists, get submission questions answered
and you can even find a link to a translator that makes what you type sound
like 12-year-old AOLer wrote it.
This is a great site to translate Internet slang, and it can even help you keep
your kids safe with great guides and translations.
http://www.noslang.com/index.php
=== Fun Copter
First of all, a word of warning! This site is very addictive. Click to start
navigating your helicopter through the course. There are obstacles to be
avoided by flying either higher or lower, but you also have to be careful to
avoid crashing into the ceiling or the floor.
What have I learned? You can spend two hours here and not even realize the time
has gone by. That I can’t get above 1,200 as a distance, but I can fall greatly
short of that over and over. And that no one would want me to fly them out of a
cave like structure in a helicopter.
Navigating is easy. Just click to start the application and then use your mouse
to drive the helicopter. You click and hold the left mouse button down to go up
and let go of it to go down. It takes some fine tuning but you’ll soon get the
hang of it.
The site keeps track of your best score, which I didn’t notice until about the
eighth try in. And looking back on it, I can’t believe I made it to 1,200 for
my best score. I must have really been in the zone then.
Well no matter what, I sure had a lot of fun driving that helicopter. It was a
nice break from my routine. I hope you have as much fun as I did, and beat my
score!
http://www.hurtwood.demon.co.uk/Fun/copter.swf
=== Monticello Explorer
Welcome to the Monticello Explorer, where you can virtually tour the plantation
that served as, not only a home, but as a functional plantation to Thomas
Jefferson. I suggest starting at the top of the page with the Help tab. This
will bring up another window that really details how to functionally explore
this site. It is well worth the effort of understanding how everything works so
you can really get the most out of the site.
There are two ways to navigate the site. One is with the sections on the main
page and the second is the
Explore – this is where you can really explore
You can also explore the house itself. With this area, you can go through a 3D
recreation of the house and learn all about the people who lived there as well.
I found the tour through the house to be amazing. You can change the angle of
what you are looking at by holding down the left mouse button and dragging. Or
you can click on the little orange camera icons to see actual photos of the
rooms.
Tour – this is also a pretty fun section. Go on tour of
This site is truly a well put together look into the past that captures the
beauty and charm of
http://explorer.monticello.org
=== Artcyclopedia
Welcome to an excellent guide to art on the Internet! This site really puts art
at your fingertips. One really stellar option on this site is the MasterScans
section where you can see top artworks from all over the world. It also puts
the work at a higher resolution, which brings all the details and life of the
painting right to your monitor.
Navigation is simple. You can use the side menu or the four sections on the
main page. I found that surfing from the main four sections was easiest and a
lot of fun. The sections are:
Art Conversation – a forum where you can chat about art in all its many
splendors.
Search Artcyclopedia – where you can find, not only one, but three search
engines, allowing you to search by artist, title and museum.
MasterScans – already mentioned above as my favorite section. Here you can see
the very best art images online.
Browse by – this allows you to browse artists by name, nationality, medium,
subject and more. This section allows you to really explore the artists. You
can’t possibly know the name of every artist that you might like, so this
option allows you to really get your feelers out and learn new styles of art.
And as an extra, there's a hidden (okay, it’s just below the Master Scans) art
news section.
Now get out there and explore! The art is just waiting for you!
http://www.artcyclopedia.com
=== Ask Dr. Universe
Welcome to Ask Dr. Universe, a site devoted to answering science related
questions for kids of all ages! There are two ways to navigate around the site.
You can use the side menu or the picture menu in the middle of page. Both take
you to the same sections.
Those sections are:
Who is Dr. Universe – just who is this Dr. Universe and why are they answering
all these questions? Want to discover the answer? Then check out this section!
Today’s Questions – here you will find a selection of questions for today and
the answers Dr. Universe has for them.
The Big Questions - in this section you find a listing of categories of
questions, along with much more in depth answers.
Find A Question – this section is the handy dandy search engine that you can
use to search the site for the answers you really want.
Recent Questions – here you’ll find a listing of recent questions that have
been answered by Dr. Universe. I think my favorite one that was answered was
the one about why we wear our wedding rings on our left hand opposed to our
right hands.
How Do I Submit Questions? – this section allows you to ask Dr. Universe a
question. It also gives you a good idea of places where you might be able to
find some answers on your own.
Favorite Links – this section has a great listing of links that you can surf
to. You’ll find links to both sites for adults and for kids! Great places to
explore science and much, much more.
Well it’s time for me to get back to searching this site for some answers to
some of the questions I’ve thought up while I was here.
http://www.wsu.edu/DrUniverse/Contents.html
=== The Helpful Gardener
You’re thinking it is winter, why a gardening site? Well if you love gardens
you’ll know that there is always something going on in every season. You can
start planning your garden now.
You can find navigation along the top yellow bar or the side menu and lots of
articles featured right on the front page.
Did you get a poinsettia this Christmas? Well don’t toss it out! Instead, learn
how to cultivate it and keep it growing. My mom has some that are several years
old and they still bloom every winter for her.
Here you find a lot of tips from specific flowers (roses, lilacs, etc.) to
garden types (Japanese, year round, etc.) that will help you be a better
gardener.
For those of you who love to have a community to talk to and share ideas with,
check out the Garden Forum where you can talk to like minded individuals, ask
questions and so much more.
Vegetable – here you will get information specific to growing in a vegetable
garden. From planning your garden to growing your favorite herbs, and even some
great tomato tips. If you love to grow vegetables, this is the place for you.
Rose Gardening – here you will learn what you need to know to grow pretty
roses. Although the rose can be a picky flower and can be complicated to
cultivate, they are very rewarding. Here you can learn to pick what roses to
buy for your garden with the handy article "Choosing your Rose."
You’ll also find a great tips on how to plant your rose, and how to care for
it.
Flower Gardening – here you can find out what to plant for early blooms, how to
garden with bulbs and how to plan a fragrant garden.
Container Gardening – for those of you who don’t have a sprawling estate or
even a little plot of land to call our own, we can still have a garden. A
container garden can make any amount of space lovely! I think this is the kind
of garden I’m going to make this year, as I want to do some major renovation to
my yard and flower beds.
Japanese Gardening – if I did have a great space, I’d love to try my hand at
this. My roommate is a big fan of all things oriental. Here you can learn the
principles of Japanese gardening. You will also find awesome information on
caring for the bonsai tree and for making a rock garden.
With so much to offer, this site is full of tips, tricks, and ideas to make you
a very happy gardener.
http://www.helpfulgardener.com/
=== GIGAPXL Project
I want to bring you my favorite section of this site. The Balboa Reflecting
Pool in
This project is about photography with Gigapxl cameras. To learn more about the
project, I recommend checking out the Project Overview link. It will explain
all about the project in great detail and really educates you on photography as
a whole.
These pictures are amazing. The clarity alone makes you feel as though you are
standing right there at the reflecting pool or looking out over the
So, I hope that you enjoy this jaunt into photography. Some of the sights that
you will see are just amazing. I highly recommend you view the Square Tower
Ruin, Angel’s Window (Grand Canyon), Half Dome Yosemite and the
To take a glance view of the images, click the Image Gallery link where you can
see all of the images at once and pick and choose which ones you really want to
see further in depth.
I also think their FAQ page is great and answers a lot of cool questions. To
check it out, click the FAQ button on the silver bar at the top of the page.
This site makes me want to join their project and just travel the world taking
pictures.
http://www.gigapxl.org/gallery-BalboaPond.htm
=== The Poetry Archive
I’m really excited! This is a fantastic poetry site. Not only can you search
for poems to read. you can also listen to them. (Note: You need to have
RealPlayer installed on your computer to listen to the poets).
I’ve been browsing here for several hours now, lost in poem after poem. When
you listen to a poem, they suggest another and I just keep clicking and
listening. I love hearing the different accents and dialects that each poet
offers.
There are several ways to enjoy this site. You can take a guided tour, search
for poets or poems, or listen to the featured poets on the front page and surf
like I did from poem to poem.
Guided Tour – these really show the range of poetry on the site. You can see
the poems listed and then click your back button to listen to the next one on
the list. I enjoyed both tours that were available and am looking forward to
more.
Search – looking for poets or poems is an easy way to check out this site. You
can either type in a poem or poet in the search engine and click ‘Go,’ or you
can use the alphabet to search by a poet’s last name, or poem title.
For Teachers – this is a great section for teachers who use poetry in their
classrooms to teach. There are lesson plans, tips for listening and even
classroom activity ideas.
For Students – have an English class that requires you to study poetry? Or are
you taking a poetry class at college? Well, this site has a special section
just for students. Here you will find instructions on how to get the most out
of the resources that are provided.
The Children’s Archive – this was a great find. I love this section. This is
where you can let your kids surf to learn, listen, and read poetry in a child
friendly format.
Interviews – you’ll find these spread around the site. I couldn’t find an
interview page where they were all listed, but there are some great interviews
out there.
After having spent way too much time here I found a few favorites – I really
enjoyed Valerie Bloom.
http://www.poetryarchive.org/poetryarchive/home.do
=== National Geographic Photography
It is winter now, and I was looking for a new desktop picture to suit the
season. I ran across the National Geographic site and saw that they had a whole
section devoted to Winter Wildlife.
There are 10 Winter Wildlife photos that you can use as wallpaper for your
desktop. I chose the beautiful wolf sitting in the snow. Underneath the photo
you’ll see two options: Enlarge and Wallpaper. Enlarge makes the picture
bigger, and Wallpaper gives you the options of which size you’d like for your
wallpaper. You will also find some handy download directions for both the PC
and the MAC, making it easy to get the wallpaper to decorate your desktop.
Not wanting to look at Winter Wildlife on your desktop – well hey, that’s not a
problem just scroll down the page to the gray boxes where you will see Desktop
Wallpapers and Photo of the Day. Each has a drop down box that shows you photos
or categories you can choose from.
The Photo of the Day section is pretty neat too. You can access it from the
area we’ve already talked about or the side menu. If you’re choosing from the
gray box area – you’ll find the link Today’s Photo – that will get you the photo
of the day. When I was there the photo was of some Highland Cattle – very neat
and wicked looking. I wouldn’t want one of them to chase me, that’s for sure.
There are also some really excellent photo galleries I’d like to mention. For
instance 100 Best Photos, which just had some very beautiful images. I expect
great quality from National Geographic and they’ve yet to let me down.
So whether you are hunting for some new desktop wallpaper or want to go on a
photographic journey to Modern Day Mongolia (another interesting photo gallery)
you’ll find some to enjoy here.
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/photography/
=== TIME:
The Best Photos of the Year 2005
Click enter begin a journey through some of the best photographs of 2005. I was
unprepared for what I was about to see. These are some of the most haunting
photographs that I’ve seen a while. I forgot that they were from TIME, and
would be the year in review.
From
You’ll find navigation just above the photos. You can scroll through the
images, show/hide the caption, or vote. If you scroll all the way through the
pictures you’ll be given a page to vote on anyway. Vote for the image you find
to be the best photograph of the year.
This type of photography isn’t for everyone. I don’t think I’d show this to
kids, but for adults, I think it makes a real statement of the year in review.
Another highlight for me was image 16 – Color Purple, which shows a woman in
http://www.time.com/time/yip/2005/
=== Add
Remove Pro
Have you ever had a bad experience uninstalling a program? You know the kind -
no matter what you do you can’t seem to uninstall the whole program. I’m
talking about those annoying “system ghosts” that linger long after the program
has been removed, little bits left behind poping up and appearing here and
there in your system. You find them in your Startup Menu in the Programs lists,
and occasionally you even get error messages from some program that you thought
was removed long ago.
Well if you have dealt with any of this I’ll bet you never want to do it again.
Dealing with corrupt and seemingly unremovable programs is one of my least
favorite computer activities. Even if you feel comfortable searching through
your PC and removing fragmented entries that your uninstaller neglected to
find, it can still be an incredible hassle.
Of course, there are the registry cleaners that will help you find orphaned
entries in the system’s registry - a process I have seen blow up in
many-O-people’s faces. This is not something to be taken lightly and most of
the Registry Cleaners I have seen work in pretty much the same way. They like
to present a list of unusual entries detected in the Registry. This list is to
be looked over by the user who indicates if they would like to remove or keep
the entry. The problem with this method is that the entries in the list are
cryptic and confusing at best. And this is where the trouble begins. A lot of
the times users will select the entire list of entries indicating that they
would like them to be removed from the system. This can have all kinds of ill
effects on your computer and can possibly render it useless.
Well, hopefully with today’s Download of the Week all that will be in the past
because with Add/Remove Pro all the work of uninstalling a program is done for
you.
Add Remove Pro is a third party program uninstaller. Plainly put, Add Remove
Pro will uninstall programs for you removing any file, folder or registry entry
- leaving behind no “system ghosts”. Add Remove Pro also puts the question of
how should you uninstall a program to rest. Should you use the Windows
Add/Remove service or the programs own imbedded uninstaller? With Add Remove
Pro you will always uninstall programs the same way through the easy to use Add
Remove pro.
If you have corrupt and seemingly unremovable programs in the system, Add
Remove Pro will check all the system entries, make sure their valid, and if not
they are removed. This validation finds all the “pieces” of a program even -
hidden registry entries that would have been easily overlooked otherwise.
Add Remove Pro is a program that most of you will find a great deal of use for.
It's a great substitute for conventionally uninstalling programs. It's time to
rid your computer of “system ghosts” once and for all!
~Chad Stelnicki
Note - You'll have to click the "Freeware" link on the left to get to
the correct page.
http://www.superwin.com/index.htm
=== Steve's
Pages (Born/Died Today)
I always hated History in school; Mrs. Entwhistle in the fifth grade was a good
example of the kind of stodgy old bat who chose to drill this information into
the soft pliable minds of 10-year-olds. My reasoning was that, unlike subjects
like Math, English, and Science, I would never need this information in later
life. What good could it possibly do me to know in which year
Then, one day about four years ago, I bought a book of quotes at lunchtime: The
637 Best Things Ever Said, compiled by Robert Byrne. Around the same time, I
was supporting Web Products for SBT, and I built the first version of my Web
site. I enjoyed the quotes so much, I felt compelled to share them on my Web
site. I also started typing them into a FoxPro database for my own reference.
Occasionally, I would find a particular saying attributed to two different
people, and I would do a bit of research to determine who said it first. Many
quotes are made more relevant by the knowledge of the times in which they were
made. Also, often, a person would say something about another person from the
same time period, and it helped to know who coexisted with whom.
So, in my database, I started adding information about birth and , the
occupation of the "attributee," and sometimes the subject of the
quote (Gandhi saying "I think it would be a good idea" doesn’t mean
much unless you know he was asked what he thought of Western Civilization).
I’ve gained a new respect for Mrs. Entwhistle - it’s fascinating to read the
words of artists, businessmen, politicians, and cultural icons of all times,
and to be able to put history in perspective by way of the people who lived in
it.
The database now contains over 6500 quotes, with at least one for almost every
day of the year (2/29? Gioacchino Rossinni [and
Since rejoining SBT, I rebuilt the web site, and added a set of daily quotes
pages, and also added more information about the people quoted. It’s a work in
progress, so right now the only active dates are those between the end of
August and today, but I encourage you to check it out!
http://www.born-today.com/steve.htm
=== Snow Days
There is nothing I love more than to watch the snow fall at night. It has a way
of making the world soft and quiet, not to mention beautiful. Some of you who
have been subscribed to this newsletter for a while may remember this site as I
have featured it before. I LOVE IT! Snow days is a site that provides me with
endless hours of fun when I should be off crocheting Christmas presents or
putting up my tree, or playing with my animals or getting my house cleaned.
I have already spent way too much time creating snowflakes here today. To find
my flakes go to Find a Flake. Where it says name type in AMANDA @ WORLDSTART,
and then click the orange search button. I’ve learned how to make more
interesting flakes since last year. It should tell you how many flakes I’ve
made and tell you to watch for them to fall. They will fall with green arrows
by them, and then you just have to click on the flake to enlarge it.
If you’d like to make some snowflakes yourself, click Create Your Own Snow
Flake. Click and Drag with your mouse to cut out your snowflake shape and click
done when you’re finished. Then you will be asked to fill out your name,
location (if you want) and a message. Put your e-mail address in (if you don’t
want to be contacted by others on this site then uncheck the box beneath that
asks if you want notified if someone replies to your flake) then click add.
This is where you can send it to your friends. Or, if you don’t want to do that
then just click no thanks and your flake will be added to those that are
falling.
You can even see how many flakes are made per minute and how many Snow Flake
Makers are on line as well as the total number of Snowflakes on the site. When
I was there the Flake Count was: 1,649,018. I’m sure by the time I leave the number
will be a lot higher then that as I’m making about 5 flakes every 10 minutes. I
can’t help it – it’s very addictive.
In fact I did check before I left and the flake count was already at 1, 649,
220. So I know that I’m not the only one getting a kick out of this site! This
has become a holiday favorite for me!
http://www.popularfront.com/snowdays/
=== Wisdom Quotes
This is a quote site dedicated to the category of Ideals. With the holidays
just around the corner and Thanksgiving just behind us, a lot of us start
thinking about our ideals and how they apply to our lives.
As we get ready to make our New Year’s resolutions we may seek wisdom and
inspiration to help us decide what purge from our lives and what to keep.
Even if your resolution this year is the same as mine, to lose some weight and
be healthier, then you can find inspiration here.
The quote that gets me thinking positively is –
“First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.” –
Epictetus.
Or
“We aim above the mark to hit the mark.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson.
While losing weight is more of a goal instead of an ideal, I can still use
these thoughts to inspire me to meet that goal.
If you’re facing tough decisions or just need uplifting thoughts, I’m betting
you can find a quote here that will help you make that decision and uplift your
spirit.
Or maybe you're just having a down day and need to think more positively about
your own ideals and goals. Inspiration is just around the corner!
I should also mention that if you scroll down to the bottom of the page you'd
find even more categories of quotes to explore. I just now noticed them myself.
I'm off to explore them.
I really loved this site, and I’m glad I could share it with you.
http://www.wisdomquotes.com/cat_ideals.html
=== The Longest List
Have you ever wondered what the longest car, beard, train, whale or apple peel
was? Well if you have then you can find your answer here, as well as find out
what many other “longest” things are.
Welcome to the “Longest List of the Longest Stuff with the Longest Domain Name
at Long Last!”
It’s very easy to surf too. You can either use the alphabet, or just scroll
down and find the category you want to view.
Did you know the
Those are just a few of the interest facts on the list that you can check out.
You can also find a listing of the Most Expensive items from Barbie dolls to
Yo-yo's.
Some most expensive examples:
The most expensive baseball card is Horus Wagner, check this one out there is a
very interesting story to go along with it. It sold for over 1 million dollars
on Ebay.
The most expensive hamburger is a whopping $99. Isn’t that nuts? I don’t like
to pay more than $6 for a hamburger so I can’t imagine paying $99.
You can even check out Old Wives Tales, Interesting Trivia, Famous Firsts, or
even the World’s Smallest!
There is a lot of very interesting information here from many different aspects
of our modern life. This is a fun one to check out.
http://thelongestlistofthelongeststuffatthelongestdomainnameatlonglast.com/
=== wikiHow
When I first hit the internet in search of How-to sites I fell in love with
E-how. Now I found wikiHow – a collaborative writing project to make the
world’s biggest how-to manual. And as their slogan says “The How-To Manual that
Anyone Can Write or Edit.” It’s how-to guide that you can participate in.
The first thing you’ll probably notice – is the Search field near the top of
the page. Type in what you’re looking for a guide for and click the Search
wikiHow button. Having had some difficulty bathing my dogs recently I looked up
“dog bathing” which was a very general search term – but came up with good
results.
There were 4 main search results, and then on the side there were more – I
found the ones on the side to be more pertinent to my search. I don’t know if
that is the case every time or not. When you read the tips from users on
wikiHow you can rate them by clicking the checkmarks underneath the tip.
Below the Search field is the welcome paragraph, and then the Categories. Here
you can choose from different Categories to search for what you are looking
for. Beneath that is the Getting Started Section where you will find all the
information you need on writing a tip. From what topics they are looking to
have covered as well as some writing tips to make it easier for you to write
your How-to guide up. Here you will also find a link to Practice editing tips
as well.
On the Side of the Front Page you’ll find two things a drop down Toolbox, and
the Featured Articles section. When I was there, there was an article in the Featured
Articles that taught you how to eat an artichoke. (I have to admit that was a
mystery to me before hand.)
Now isn’t that cool? Not only can you find help – but you can give help. I wish
my dad would write a bunch of these articles on how to fix stuff!
http://wiki.ehow.com/Main-Page
=== Answerbag
Welcome to Answerbag.com, a site where you can get your questions answered.
I really like this site a lot. What really got my attention was the Selected
Questions section on the front page – which has questions that were recently
asked by members.
The question that caught my eye was:
“How can you tell if an egg is rotten without cracking it open?”
The answer:
“The way to know a good egg, is to put the egg into a pan of cold water; the
fresher the egg, the sooner is will fall to the bottom; if rotten, it will swim
at the top.
There is a small air pocket in the large end of the egg. When the egg is fresh,
the pocket is only about 1/8th of an inch deep and as large around as a dime.
As the egg ages, however, it loses both moisture and carbon dioxide — shrinking
— so that the size of the air space increases. And the size of the air space
determines the buoyancy of the egg. So if you submerge a very fresh egg in
water, it will lie on the bottom. An egg that is a week or so old will lie on
the bottom but bob slightly. An egg that is three weeks or so old will balance
on its small end, with the large end reaching for the sky. And a bad egg will
float.”
Isn't that an interesting reason? My next thought was I need to try that. None
of my eggs were rotten, sadly so I didn't get any floaters. I decided to
celebrate by baking cookies.
Under the Selected Question area, if you scroll down you'll find lots of
categories. The categories are: Arts, Automobiles, Business, Computers,
Electronics, Entertainment, Finance, Food & Dining, Games, Health &
Fitness, Hobbies, Home, Kids, Legal, Life & Society, Real Estate,
Recreation & Sports, Science, Social Science, and Travel.
Back the top of the page you'll notice they have a Random Question, with the
Top Categories listed beneath it. The search engine is located in two places at
the top corner and just above the selected questions to find an answer just
type in your question, or subject and click Go. If it hasn't been answered,
submit it and get it answered.
What you're getting is real questions asked by real people answered by real
people. I found a lot of really useful information from dealing with my pets to
home repairs to rotten eggs.
=== SegPlay
Did you ever do a paint-by-numbers painting in your lifetime? I know I've done
my share, some really horrible ones and some decent ones. Well if you enjoyed
them – you can enjoy them again on your computer! I'm very excited about this
site. It's a lot of fun. Yes, I've really spent way too much time at it
playing, err, researching for this article.
You'll need to have Java to play. To play, click SegPlay Online at the top of
the page. And be warned it takes a little bit for the categories to load the
images you can choose from. The images are ranked from Simple to Complex.
There are a lot of categories to choose from. From famous artists to simple
photos taken by everyday people. From animals to skies to fruit. You'll have
tons of options to choose from. This a very entertaining way to spend the
afternoon.
Choose the picture you want to color. After the java loads you'll see what you
saw on the front page example, an image that has a lot of lines and numbers
just waiting for you to color it in. Beneath that image you will see a palate
of numbered colors. And MOST importantly the Zoom in, and Zoom Out tools. They
look like magnifying glasses. I suggest that you zoom in to make coloring super
easy. As soon as you start coloring the timer starts. It shows you the fastest
time it has been completed, I believe.
Next to the timer you'll see the pause, play, rewind, and help button. If you
want to see it colored in click the play button and watch. It goes and fills it
in color by color. It's really neat to watch.
The other thing that is really cool, is if you fill in the colors while you
have it zoomed in, and then zoom out to check your progress, it's neat to see
the image come together, and it gives your eyes a small break!
This is a great way to experience great photography in a new light. This could
be a great way to keep kids entertained for a while. Oh, and most of all have
fun with it.
http://www.segmation.com/SegPlayOverview.html
=== Painting Flowers
This is a sister site to the site we ran earlier in the year called Painting
the Weather. Navigation is pretty easy. You can browse with the side menu by
Title, Artist, Flower Type, Theme, or Locations. At the bottom of the page, you
can check out the Quiz on Flower Painting.
Once you choose a gallery, you'll see options within the gallery. Under flower
type, you can choose roses, lilies, sunflowers, or tulips. Choose a flower to
view and you'll see thumbnails as well as a little information on the art you
are viewing. Choose a thumbnail. To enlarge the image, click on the magnifying
glass. To see the picture in detail, click on the circle with little lines
coming off of it.
To use the detail feature, click on picture detail, then click on the artwork
you are viewing. This will zoom in on that portion of the artwork. Now you can
change the area you are looking at by using the navigational arrows around the
picture. There are even more detailed instructions for using the picture detail
mode on the page.
Can you find some of my favorite paintings here?
Love in Idleness
Still life with Flowers
Sunflowers
The Annunciation
And those are just a few of my favorites! Check out this interesting art site
where you can find the beauty of flowers reflected elegantly on canvas.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/paintingflowers/
=== Everyday Science
"The National Synchrotron Light Source is a scientific facility that is
funded by the U.S. Department of Energy. Each year, more than 2500 scientists
from all over the world come to perform experiments at the NSLS. This website
describes some of the everyday science that goes on at the NSLS and how it may
impact your everyday life."
Doesn't it sound exciting, all those scientist converging in one place to
perform experiments? You'll find navigation on the side menu under the red bar
that reads Navigation. You can also click the links to sections that are found
in the middle of page with pictures above them
The categories to check out are Synchrotrons, Corrosion, Breast Cancer, Osteoarthritis,
Alzheimer's disease, Catalytic Converters, Hard Drives, Space Travel,
Then it goes onto explain how it works in understandable terms (not
incomprehensible high-tech terms) and how it is used. There are pictures, fast
facts, and the occasional schematic.
Here are some example fast facts that I found especially interesting:
"Hundreds of pounds of aluminum foil are used to help bake off impurities
from the inner walls of the beam lines."
"A common way to slow corrosion is to add a layer of paint to block
contact with the atmosphere."
"Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among women in the
"About one-fifth of all elements are magnetic, and there are thousands of
magnetic alloys and compounds."
The Synchrotron is the common thread through the sections, and it was really
interesting to see all the ways it was being used in their experiments. Whether
it was studying the corrosion or breast cancer, it was fascinating.
http://www.nsls.bnl.gov/about/everyday/Default.htm
=== Ask
As a writer I adore word sites. There is something just so appealing about
quotes, stories, and new ways to use words or just the opportunity to learn new
words and integrate them into my vocabulary and writing. I really like this
site because of its witty quotes and interesting layout.
The main sections are in the middle of the page: Word of the Day, A Quote From,
A Word From, Quote of the Week, and Ask the Experts. You can also navigate
around the site by using the links near the top of the page in green: Ask the
Experts, Better Writing, World of Words, Games, Global English, and Foreign
Languages.
You can view this page in one of two ways. You'll find the option underneath the
top corner search engine. You can view either the
This is a dictionary site as well. You can search the dictionary either using
the search engine at top or the option below where you changed the view. Just
put in the word you want to look up, click search, and off you go to dictionary
heaven.
Below the search engine in the
The Ask the Experts section has things like the FAQ, Jargon Buster, and
Collective Terms for Animals. I love that there is an area devoted to the
Collective Terms for Animals. I mean what do you call a bunch of hogs, for
instance? Well, you call them a drove of hogs. Check this section out. It's
pretty neat and informative.
I fell in love with the Better Writing section. Even people with an excellent
grasp on the English language can sometimes misuse a word. If in doubt about
word usage, you can check out the section Spelling and Grammar Tricks. It's set
up in a search engine style.
World of Words has some history of words. My favorite part of this section is
the Word a Year section, where you find out what words were chosen to represent
a year. From 1904 to 2004 you'll find a word. Makes you wonder what the word
for 2005 will be!
The Global English section talks about the effect of having over 300 million
people speaking the English language. From pronunciation to the effect that a
person's culture has on their language, you'll discover the nuances here.
Global English is standardized English that is spread by the internet and
media. Pretty interesting stuff!
Foreign Languages has the French, German, Italian, and Spanish dictionary information.
There is also a foreign quote of the week and a featured book!
I find this site to be a definite keeper for my Favorites folder. If it were a
paperback dictionary, some of the pages would be dog-eared and worn out by how
much I've already used it.
http://www.askoxford.com/?view=get
=== Geological Time: The Story of a Changing Earth
I have to admit, I really love well-put-together sites, and this one is simply
beautiful. This site is an excellent source of information on the different
time periods of the earth.
The time line at the top of the page has the controls Zoom In, Zoom Out, and a
drag bar that can move the time line. At first, only the earliest stages will
be readable and the ones near the end will just be slivers of color. If you
Zoom In several times, you'll make the time periods at the end larger. The
colored boxes with the names of the time periods are clickable and take you to
that section. You could navigate that way, but it is far, far easier to use the
drop down box at the top of the page.
The Earth's time periods are (deep breath): Hadean, Archean, Proterozoic,
Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian, Mississippian, Pennsylvanian,
Permian, Triassic, Jurassic, Cretaceous, Paleocene, Eocene, Oligocene, Miocene,
Pliocene, Pleistocene, and Holocene.
Whew! Some of them sound more like something you'd cough up than a time period.
I don't want to take away from your joy of discovery, so I'm only going to
really pick apart the first one, the Hadean period.
The overview of the time period has links on a side menu called Contents that
you can explore. In the overview area, you find out some specific
characteristics of this period and an explanation for its name. If you scroll
down the bottom of the overview you'll find more links: Eon Overview (a link
back to this page), Formation of the Earth, The Earth's Atmosphere, and Earth's
Surface. You'll also notice that those are the same links as under the Contents
menu so it's up to you which you use to navigate.
The Earth's Surface section discusses what the Earth was made of at this time
period, and let me tell you, it's interesting to find out all about granite.
The Evidence section was my favorite part. Here you can check out a chunk of
Meteorite that hit
Below all of this you'll find a section in orange called Foundational Concepts.
This is where you can learn about methods of dating the evidence displayed on the
site as well as the time periods. You'll learn all about the Earth's Processes,
from plates shifting to climates changing.
When you're done with Hadean, you can move onto all the other time periods and
watch as the Earth changes. Highlights would obviously be the Triassic,
Jurassic, and Cretaceous periods when the dinosaurs roamed the Earth.
Take your time with this one, it's a real gem!
http://www.nmnh.si.edu/paleo/geotime/main/index.html
=== Kids Newsroom
"Kidsnewsroom.org provides children with a safe, kid-friendly Internet
site loaded with stories, pictures, contests and opportunities for learning.
Each week, a new issue is added to the site with the latest news in sports,
music & entertainment, health, history, local events and happenings around
the world, all designed with kids in mind!"
This site is great for kids, especially for in-classroom use. At the top of the
page near the title Kids Newsroom there is a button with a goofy looking
cartoon guy that reads How to Use this Site. This area explains the many great
applications of this site, from using it in the classroom to kids using it on
their own. It is an excellent How-To section.
The circle buttons provide access to the following sections: Weekly News, Info
Central, Games & More, Our Writers, Election 2004, and About Us.
The Weekly News sections include: This Week in History area, World and Local
news, Government, Science & Technology, Sports Zone, Comics & Poems,
and Music & Entertainment. The setup reminds me of a real newspaper. And
you can even access past issues with the drop down box at the bottom of the
page.
Info Central has special news articles directed at kids in a variety of
categories. The categories are: Special Topics, Science, History, Language
Arts, Math, Geography, and Art. Some are written by Kids Newsroom Staff and are
denoted with a KNR in front of them. Others are students' projects and are
denoted with an S in front of them. I liked the Special Topics area where kids
can learn to write websites in HTML and write stories among other things.
Games & More has a variety of games that help challenge your child's mind
while they are having fun. You'll find games like quizzes on information, Simon
Says, Battleship, Math Flash cards, and Pegs, just to name a few.
The Our Writers section introduces the staff of KNR. Find out who's writing
these articles! This lists the writers, their featured column, and when they
started writing. If you scroll down the page, you can even find out about past
writers at KNR.
The Election 2004 section has articles about the presidential election of 2004.
You can also find a listing of the presidential nominees for the election.
While this is old information now, it can still be useful for school projects!
The About Us section has the mission statement of KNR. Find out how they got
started and why they do what they do!
This is a great site for kids and an excellent resource for teachers. I can't
wait to send this one to my Mom to use at her school!
http://www.kidsnewsroom.org/
=== Remember the Milk
Remember The Milk is the easiest and best way to manage your to-do lists
online.
http://www.rememberthemilk.com/
=== HELP: Impartial Information for Older Adults
“Helping People Meet Aging-Related Legal and Care Challenges.” This site can
answer your and your love ones' questions regarding Financial, Legal, Care,
End-of-Life, Consumer, Medi-Cal, and General.
From planning your retirement to dealing with your property taxes, the
financial section has all the information you need to make smart decisions.
The H.E.L.P. legal pages have information and advice on issues relating to
power of attorney, legal referral services, and private consultations.
The Care section discusses health issues that affect older adults. From Eye
care to Medicare issues to Making the Most of Your Doctor visits, it covers
what things you need to tell your doctors, answers to questions about certain
conditions, and the effects of aging on the body.
The End-of-Life section covers living wills, power of attorney for medical
care, and even includes a check list to do when you lose someone you loved.
The Consumer section discusses making sure that consumers are not taking
advantage of you. From Identity theft to scam artists trying to get your money,
you can find a lot of great information here in this section on how to deal
with these things.
The Medi-Cal section teaches residents of
The General section discusses things that didn’t really fit into other
categories, like Driving, Important Planning Tips, and even an Aging
Preparedness Kit.
http://www.help4srs.org/home.htm
=== Useless Information
Have you ever wondered how Q-Tips got their name? Want to find out how
Band-Aids come from Listerine? What would you do if you were President for a
day? Well, you can do that at this site.
I have to admit that I fell in love with this site and spent a good two hours
of my day just reading the articles. The slogan of this site is "Stuff You
Never Needed To Know, But Your Life Would Be Incomplete Without."
On the main page you'll find lots of articles, like the Bath School Disaster,
U.S. Camel Brigade, and a nifty article called Fast Facts where you can get a
bunch of neat facts all at once.
Just click the link to read any of these articles. I really liked the
After you've had your fill of the front page, scroll to the bottom and click the
image with the three arrows that reads "Click here for more stories."
This takes you to a page where the stories are in categories: Forgotten Genius,
Hmm.., Incredible Stories of Survival, Inventive Genius, Presidents and Rulers,
Unbelievable!, Why? Why? Why?, You've Got to Be Kidding!, and other site files.
The other site files area includes information about the author, the site, some
photos, and even some links.
http://home.nycap.rr.com/useless/index.html
=== Turning the Pages
Check out 14 great books in this gallery presented by the British Library. What
will you find here? Leonardo's Notebook, Jane Austen's Early Work, The Original
Alice, and those are just the featured sections. I clicked into Leonardo's
Notebook first and waited for it to load.
Let me say it right up front: this site is one of the more technology-demanding
sites I've brought to you guys. I'm not sure how friendly it will be to slower
connections. It may take up to a minute and you need the latest version of
shockwave to see this site's Turning the Pages format. If you don't have the
shockwave, it should ask you to install it. If you don't want to install
shockwave, you can still view three of the books and they'll be adding more
later on.
It's worth the load time, believe me, because it isn't every day that you get
to see Leonardo da Vinci's Notebook where you can turn the pages and magnify to
see it up close. Navigation is at the bottom of the page. Use the arrows at the
bottom of the page to turn the pages. You can also read and hear the text, and
the magnify button gives you a large square magnifying glass to move over the
area you want to enlarge.
Jane Austen's The History of England is a very interesting read that pokes fun
at the historical books of her time. I chose to listen to it rather than read
it. Hearing it in a woman's voice made me feel as though Jane was reading it.
I adored the Original Alice, a manuscript that was written for
You will also find excellent illustrations in the other sections. Classic of
Botanical Illustration, Masterpiece of the Renaissance, Pinnacle of Anglo-Saxon
Art are definitely worth checking out. I couldn't find a section that I didn't
like here at this site. This site truly is a treasure to view.
http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/ttp/ttpbooks.html
=== Howdy Doody Online Show
"It's Howdy Doody Time!" My memories of the show Howdy Doody come
from my mom's stories, but I was thrilled when I found this part of the history
of children's television. Some of you can revisit it, and for those of you like
me who have never seen it, you can discover it now online.
Howdy's History: This page includes an audio track and sections about the Howdy
Doody Show, Remember When, Flashback, Trivia, and Howdy Doody Collectibles. The
history section the Howdy Doody Show is lovingly written from the point of view
of Howdy, and tells how the show started and ran with charm and humor. Did you
know they aired almost 3,000 episodes of the Howdy Doody Show?
Doodyville contains Biographies, Buffalo Bob's Corner, Games, Flapdoodle, and
Story Time. Buffalo Bob's Corner is the biography of Robert Schmidt who played
Buffalo Bob. Like the history of Howdy Doody, it's written with flair and a lot
of fun facts. Information on the rest of the cast is in the Biographies
section. In the Flapdoodle area, you'll learn all about the gadgets used on the
show.
Peanut Gallery! Did you sit in the peanut gallery as a child? You may want to
check out the Great Peanut Search and share your experience. You can also read
about people's experience as part of the audience. Classic Moments shares some
of the great bloopers of the show. Some of these were really hilarious. In the
Legendary Peanut Gallery, you can find out which famous people sat in the
audience as kids.
Howdy Doody and the Gang includes sections on The Cast, Puppeteering, Do's and
Don'ts, and Life According to Howdy Doody. In The Cast, you can meet the
puppets of the show, which I admit I was highly curious about. In Puppeteering,
you can learn about the people who puppeteered the show and how they did it.
Do's and Don'ts is dedicated to the part of the show where Howdy and the gang
would teach children what was polite and nice and what wasn't.
That's just the beginning of the fun you can find on this site. All in all,
this site is wonderfully put together with sound and pictures that make it a
great deal of fun to surf.
http://www.howdydoodytime.com/
=== The Science of Gardening
This site is amazing. Not just because of the videos, but because you really do
learn the science of gardening.
Feed — This section has two videos: one about how carnivorous plants work and
one about a garden in
Control — This section also has two videos: one on subzero gardening and one on
competitive growing. Both were pretty interesting, especially the Subzero
Gardening video about hydroponics and get to see a garden in
Bloom — This section has my favorite video, a Little Patch of Dirt. A community
in
Exploring all of this great site's goodies took up most of my morning. I can’t
believe that I learned so much more about gardening.
http://www.exploratorium.edu/gardening/index.html
===
"Common-place is a common place for exploring and exchanging ideas about
early American history and culture. A bit friendlier than a scholarly journal,
a bit more scholarly than a popular magazine, Common-place speaks--and
listens--to scholars, museum curators, teachers, hobbyists, and just about
anyone interested in American history before 1900. Common-place is a common
place for all sorts of people to read about all sorts of things relating to
early American life--from architecture to literature, from politics to parlor
manners. And it's a place to find insightful analysis of early American history
as it is discussed not only in scholarly literature but also on the evening
news; in museums, big and small; in documentary and dramatic films; and in
popular culture."
This site updates monthly with new articles about history. This month, in the
Featured Section, the article compares Thomas Paine's invention of iron bridges
to the introduction of home computers to our lives. It's amazing how much the
iron bridge changed the world and how Paine thought about inventing.
In Ask the Author, there's an interview with Alfred F. Young, author of
"Masquerade". This book about a female soldier in the continental
army sounds really interesting, both for military history buffs and women's
history enthusiasts.
Common Place also has find other great sections like Tales From the Vault (how
do biographies get written about people who didn't leave journals or many
written records behind?), The Common School (the use of music in teaching
history), Common Reading (a book review about a historian's solution to a
mystery from 250 years ago), and Web Library (more sites related to historical
interests).
This site provides an interesting way to look back at history and learn. I
think I’d have loved to have found this while I was in school working on
projects. Check it out!
http://www.common-place.org/
=== Painting the Weather
This site is a fun jaunt into art based on weather conditions, and it's very
easy to navigate. From the home page, just click on the type of weather you
want to see in the Choose a Symbol box and view all the art for that type of
weather.
Once you have chosen a symbol, the site displays a listing of art with
thumbnails. Choose the one you want to view. This gives you information on the
art, such as where it is being displayed, who made it and why, and much, much
more. You can also click on the image to will enlarge it so that you can see it
in better detail.
Can you find some of my Favorites?
The Sheepfold, Morning in Autumn
Spring Time
Belle-Isle Windemere in a Storm
Sponsa de Libano
MacBeth
Those are just a few of the ones that really caught my eye while browsing the
site. You can send these as E-cards too, if you find one you want to share with
those you love. This site is a delicacy to be explored. Enjoy!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/paintingtheweather/
=== Doll Attic
This is the place to learn the history of the Barbie doll. "The idea of
Barbie doll all started in 1959 when Ruth Handler, Barbie's creator, noticed
her daughter Barbara playing with paper dolls and imagining them in grown up
roles such as college students, cheerleaders, and adults with careers."
If you take a walk in the History section, you will learn all about Barbie's
creation and growth until 1968. To read more about it, you'll need to continue
in the 1970's section. In 1968, the first talking Barbie was created. The 70's
has its own section and covers all the way to the present because that is when
Barbie picked up momentum. I found out some very interesting things about the
doll in this section.
Then there is the facts section. Here are the two facts I found most
intriguing: "Right now about 120 new dresses and clothes are designed
every year and more than 105 million yards of fabric has been used to create
them." Also: "After stamp collecting, Barbie collecting is the most
popular hobby in America."
http://www.dollattic.net/
=== United States Newspapers
Do you have relatives in another state? Are you thinking of moving? Do you want
to see what's happening in your out-of-state college student's city? Wonder how
a national news event was covered by the home front? Have you moved recently
and want to stay in touch with events in your old town?
Well, this is place to do that. If you are moving, this is a great way to find
a new job. Check out their local paper. This is also a great way to check out
local weather forecasts if you are traveling.
You start by clicking on the state. This takes you to a listing of newspapers
organized alphabetically, with their city in parenthesis next to the link. I
chose the Rocky Mountain News, a
If you're curious, you could find out what's happening in
For me it was also really interesting to see all the different names of papers
from the Ely Echo (
It's a lot of fun to find out what's going on outside your own town. What's
happening near you, I wonder?
http://www.50states.com/news/
=== AbbreviationZ
This is a terrifically handy site to have: an A to Z of Acronyms &
Abbreviations on the net.
There are a couple of ways to use this site too. You can use the search engine
near the top of the page, the linked alphabet, or the categories.
The Search Engine is fairly simple to use. Type in what you want to search for,
like "LYLAS" and hit "search", then bang, you get results.
LYLAS = Love you Like a Sister, or Love Ya Like a Sis. It gives you all known
variations for the term you searched for.
The Linked Alphabet is pretty self explanatory. Click a letter of the alphabet
to get a listing for that letter.
Categories — Here you can choose from categories of acronyms and abbreviations.
The categories are Computing, Business, Internet, Governmental, Academic &
Science, Community, Miscellaneous, Regional, Medical, and International.
And on the side of the main page are little interesting things like Most
Popular Queries, and Did You Know That.
All in all this site is going on my favorites list due to usefulness.
http://www.stands4.com/index.asp
=== Your Amazing Brain
This site is broken into sections, and the sections: Brain and Body, Super
Senses, Inside Your Brain, Love and Sex, Your Memory, and Test Yourself.
Let's get the shocking one out of the way and start with "Love and
Sex". This section seems to be really about how you feel about Fertility
Treatments and Contraceptives. Nothing very shocking was really to be found
here. But you will probably enjoy the Men vs. Women study.
Let's move on to "Brain and Body". This section has a lot of stuff
that you can do. A couple of quizzes and experiments that will explain things
like: Are you right or left eyed? How sensitive are you?
"Super Senses" has an Optical Illusion section and An Upside Down
Face section. You'll find fun activities and interesting facts in this section of
the site. The Upside Down Face part is a section that tests you to see if you
can tell what the facial expression is on an upside down face.
At "Inside Your Brain" you can learn what your brain looks like, what
your dreams might be about in comparison to other people, and what your brain
waves mean.
Go to "Your Memory" and test your memory with games and quizzes that
will let you know where you stand as far as memory capacity goes. Learn what
memory chunking is and how it affects you.
If you want to skip all the information and just play games, take quizzes then
go to "Test Yourself".
http://www.youramazingbrain.org/
=== Scrapbooker Online
Do you love scrapbooking? Well kick it up a notch with this site. I've got to
admit, I love to scrapbook, but I just can never seem to find the time and
leave it to occasions like birthdays, wedding, and holidays to justify making
time to do it.
The first thing I want to talk about is my favorite part of the site. It's the
Idea Gallery where you can view people's projects in different categories. The
images really inspired me. I really can't wait to make some spiffy bookmarks.
And there are so many galleries from certain projects like name cards and tags
to holiday projects.
There is a Members section though but the good news is that IT'S FREE!!! So all
it takes is a moment of your time to sign up and then you have access to the
member's gallery. It's definitely worth signing up for.
You can also sign up to receive the SBO (Scrapbooker's Online) newsletter, and
get new scrapbooking ideas and tips delivered right your inbox.
There are great articles on many different topics from tips and hints, to
projects, to photo work, and much, much more you'll find interesting articles
to read. There is also a great forum where you can exchange ideas with other
scrapbookers like yourself.
Let me tell you this site, is definitely getting added to my favorites list, I
have the feeling I'll be back often.
http://www.scrapbookeronline.com/
=== Idiomsite
"Find out why you say what you say!" With a slogan like that it's
easy to be lured
into this site. "What's an idiom?" you ask? Well, an idiom is "a
manner of
speaking that is natural to native speakers of a language."
What's this site about? Well, you get a listing of commonly used idioms, click
on
the idiom you want to know more about and you get the history of it.
Example: Absence makes the Heart Grow fonder. Definition: The lack of
something increases the desire for it. That's what the phrase means. Its origin
comes from Francis Davidson's Poetical Rhapsody, 1602. Also in Thomas Haynes
Bayly's (1797-1839) Isle of Beauty: "Absence makes the heart grow fonder,
Isle
of Beauty, Fare thee well!"
http://www.idiomsite.com/
=== Tourism Offices Worldwide
"The Tourism Offices Worldwide Directory is your guide to official tourist
information sources: government tourism offices, convention and visitors
bureaus, chambers of commerce, and similar organizations that provide free,
accurate, and unbiased travel information to the public."
That sums up what you'll find here, but it does leave you wondering… How does
it all work? Well that's pretty simple too—there are two search engines: one
for outside the
To use the search engine click in the drop-down box and choose the country (if
looking outside of the
For instance, if I chose to search inside the
The next search I tried was outside of the USA—Scotland. And got a wonderful
list of results including one for the Highlands of Scotland that had a website,
and let me tell you, a lot of these travel sites are beautifully crafted and
definitely make you want to hop a plane with your passport and go.
http://www.towd.com/
=== Wilderness Survival
Well, first of all, how well would you do in a survival situation? Take the
quiz and find out. I passed at 75%, missing questions that, if I were in a
survival situation, wouldn't matter as much like crossing the river safely.
If I want to spend the time building a bridge to get across, let me.
What else will you find here? Well, tons of survival information. Do you
know what to do if a plane crashes and you survive? Do you know what to not
eat because it's poisonous? Could you make a fire in the middle of nowhere
with just the stuff in the area?
If you can't, you can find out how on this site. You can find out about
dangerous fish, insects, and animals. Learn about survival gear, and how to
make a shelter that will keep you out of the storm.
To navigate through the sections, use the menu on the sidebar. They are
divided into three categories: Wilderness Survival, Survival Reference, and
Marketplace (which we won't be discussing here).
I really liked the information provided in the Survival Reference section.
Lots of pictures of what the things you need to watch out for look like. The
fish were exceptionally interesting, because a lot of people assume you can
just eat whatever you catch, not even realizing that they would die from
toxins, or get stung from fin spines.
Don't get lost in the woods-be prepared.
http://www.wilderness-survival.net/
=== Planet
Tea
My roommate is a tea aficionado, and through her love of tea, I've grown to
understand and love the stuff myself. Although my earlier efforts were to drown
it in sugar and cream, now I understand what a good cup of Jasmine with just a
little bit of sugar is all about. Now I have many favorite teas, and I'd like
to share my love of it with you by sharing this site.
Here you will be able to browse the following sections: Resources, What is Tea,
Tea's Origin, World of Tea, Preparation, Health Benefits, Article Archives, and
Links.
What is Tea? Well if you check out the "What is Tea" section, they
can answer that question promptly. There you will learn all about tea from its
technical definition to its simple definition. From the four kinds: Black,
Green, White, and Oolong. Oolong happens to be my favorite. (I love Orchid
Oolong.)
World of Tea — This section gives you a map where you can explore the different
kinds of tea from different places all over the world. If you click on the
location you can see in detail what kind of tea that location produces.
Preparation — Do you know how to make a proper cup of tea? Well it's not
heating water in the microwave and stuffing a tea bag in, that's for sure.
Learn all about how one makes a cup of tea, and how long you should let it
steep.
Health Benefits — well we all sorta know that drinking tea has health benefits,
but what exactly does it do for our bodies? Find out in this section.
I also want to recommend the "Article Archive" where you will find
some great articles on tea. They were very interesting and diverse.
Hey anyone want a cuppa tea?
http://www.planet-tea.com/index.htm
=== Net State
Welcome to Net State—I know it looks like some other sites I've brought you on
states and their capitals.
And if you just use you mouse to rollover the states, that's all you will
get—the state and it's capital. But, if you are adventurous and click on the
state THEN you get to what is great about this site.
Go on...click a state!
See, you get wonderful historical information pertaining to that state. I, of
course, chose
"Welcome to Ohio, birthplace of seven U.S. presidents, birthplace of the
first professional baseball team, and birthplace of that all-American favorite,
the hot dog!"
"
Boy that makes
So check out your state, and then every other state that catches your eye—I
sure did my share of trotting around
http://www.netstate.com/states/study/map.htm
=== Dead or Alive?
Have you ever wanted to know if someone famous was dead or alive? Well now you
can find out! With this site you'll find out who's among the living and who is
deceased.
I mean, it's tragic when the people who have entertained us pass on. Just
recently one of my favorite actors died—James Doohan, who played Montgomery
Scott (Scotty) from Star Trek. When I found out I cried out "Oh no!"
I was sad that he had passed on because of all the joy he brought to my life
through his portrayal of Scotty.
For the How To information on using this site, click "Instructions".
I just clicked around the site and randomly checked things out by using the
Alphabet on the side menu. A – Z , just click the letter of your choice and see
the alphabetized listings for that letter.
Underneath the alphabet you'll notice that you can check out Birthdays for
Today, Deaths for Today, and then Deaths for the last 6 months. Not to forget
who died before age 30, People Alive Over 85, People who lived to 100, and many
more categories of note.
There are also Quizzes, Tests, and you can even view by Cause of Death,
Statistics and much, much more.
Is your favorite writer, actor, musician, politician still living? Find out
here!
http://www.deadoraliveinfo.com/
=== Legends
Growing up some of my favorite stories where those of Robin Hood, King Arthur
and his Knights of the Round Table, not to mention pirates, fairy tales, and
such. Now at Legends you can explore these stories that have not only lasted
through time but have inspired people enough that we still enjoy them.
Explore Robin Hood, King Arthur, Beowulf, Pirates and Privateers, Ballads and
Broadsides, Swashbucklers and Fops, Fairy Tales, Shakespeare’s Stories, Sagas
& Sea Kings, Paladins and Princes, Poets and Painters, and
I was so happy I found more stories that I could explore than I already knew.
Like Sigurd the Dragon Slayer, old ballads, and poetry even.
Then you can also check out Legendary Resources, Search Legends, What’s New,
and Notes on the Illustrations.
"Search Legends" is a Google based search engine that will search
both the site, and the World Wide Web if you want it to. It’s a very nice
search engine.
I found the Notes on the Illustrations section to be interesting and
informative.
I hope you enjoy these adventures as much as I did.
http://www.legends.dm.net/
=== The Abacus
Welcome to The Abacus a site dedicated to the Art of Counting with Beads. This
site is full of information that I didn't know—for instance, there is a
specific way to use the abacus and only certain fingers should be used to
count.
In the Introduction, which I found to be worth the read, you learn about the
Basics of using an Abacus and how they are constructed. There is a java applet
where you can see how an Abacus works, and you can learn how the Abacus is
still used today.
The History section is exactly what it says—it's the history of the Abacus from
it's earliest recorded origins to present day. There is a great timeline too!
The Interactive Abacus Tour requires you to have Java, and teaches you how to
add and subtract on and Abacus. I thought this was really neat. It comes with a
built in tutor, and you can chose the style of Abacus you want to learn on.
The Calculations Section gives you the option of Addition, Subtraction,
Multiplication/Division, Square Roots, and Cube Roots.
The Lee Abacus section lets you browse the manual for the Abacus in two ways.
Check it out.
The Abacus as Art — this section is dedicated to the art of Michael Mode who
builds exotic abaci (abacus plural) some of these are really cool. My favorite
is the Abracadabracus model.
Now that's just enough for you to get your feet wet in this site—there is a lot
more for you to discover like the "Abacus: the Mystery of the Bead",
and all the interesting articles on the Abacus.
Count on having a good time.
http://www.ee.ryerson.ca:8080/~elf/abacus/
=== Chess for Kids
"Chess for Kids is a resource for chess players of all skill levels, from
beginners to advanced tournament players. We provide tutorials to improve your
strength, as well as chess puzzles to practice on and learn from."
This is an excellent site for learning how to play chess. If you have never
played before, or need a refresher course like I did, then start off in How to
Play.
How to Play — This section goes through everything from the board to the chess
pieces, including special moves and alternate game endings.
Basic Strategies — Here you will learn piece values, and basic strategies like
the pin, the fork, the skewer, discovered attack, discovered check, and double
check. Put some strategy into your game by reviewing this section.
Advanced Tactics — Here you can go step by step through the game from opening
to middle to endgame, as well as learn about weak squares, pawn structure and
piece activity. Make your game tighter by learning the techniques mentioned
here.
Opening Book — this section goes over the options that you have in Opening Game
moves. I know that when I play I tend to start with the Sicilian.
Chess Puzzles — Test your knowledge and strategy with these chess puzzles.
Answer correctly for ten points and move one, or learn a better strategy than
yours with the correct answer. I did really well on the more advance puzzles
but the simple ones I just seemed to choose the wrong piece!
Tournament Play — this is where you can learn the rules for tourney play. Check
this out if you want to compete!
A great refresher for me, I even learned new moves.
http://library.thinkquest.org/6290/
=== Montage-a-Google
This site is so neat that I played with it for an hour before realizing that I
had to write up a review on it. It was so easy to get lost in gathering new
searches and seeing what it came up with. What exactly is Montage-a-Google you
ask?
In its creator's terms, "Montage-a-google is a simple web-based app that
uses Google's image search to generate a large gridded montage of images based
on keywords (search terms) entered by the user."
So scroll down to the black button that says "Launch Program". This
opens the program and after it loads you just type in a word that you want it
to search for—like puppies, and then when it finds 20 images you can click
"Create Montage" and see what your results came up with.
And with each image you can click on it and see its original source. So you can
go get more of the same pictures or check out what else they have to offer of
what you are searching for.
This is a really neat program—you could do so much with it.
Now if you liked using the image search you'll probably want to follow the link
to the Guess-a-Google—the game where you see if you can guess the term used to
search for the images I got seven out of ten. It's a lot of fun. And some of
them are so puzzling!
All in all this is a great site! I hope you get as lost in it as I did.
http://grant.robinson.name/projects/montage-a-google/
=== Idaho Potato Commission
Are you sick of just eating baked potatoes, scalloped potatoes, or mashed potatoes?
Well here at the Idaho Potato Commission you can find tons of recipes to jazz
up your potatoes.
In the Recipes section you have the option of their excellent search engine to
find a recipe from their database. Or you can browse section by section. They
have potato recipes in the following categories:
Appetizers/Small Plates, Baked, Breads, Breakfast/Brunch, Casseroles, Desserts,
Dipping Sauces, French Fries, Hash Brown, Instant/Dehydrated, Main Dish,
Mashed, Microwave, New, Pancakes, Pressure Cooker, Salads, Scalloped/Au Gratin,
Side Dishes, Skins/Twice Backed, and last but not least Soups and Stews.
That's a lot of potato recipes and quite a few of them are delicious.
Especially the Pesto Potato Squares in the Mashed section. Yum! Make sure you
check out the contest winners for recipes that are exceptionally healthy.
In the Consumer section you can check out the Potato FAQ, Nutrition
Information, Photo Album and Potato Videos. In the video section you can watch
Tater Vision and see information on how potatoes are harvested, their
nutritional value, French Fries, and their current commercial.
This site is spud-licious.
http://www.idahopotato.com/
=== Radio Memories
Welcome to Radio Memories where you can listen to old radio programs. From
Westerns to Science Fiction to Detective Stories you'll find a lot of great
programs to listen to.
The current two week's radio programs are shown on the front page. Listed from
most recent to the oldest, and each day seems to be a different kind of
program. For instance, Friday's programs are Science Fiction, Tuesday's are
Westerns, and so forth.
If you want to catch up on a program there are always the archives to explore.
You'll find the archives located on the side of the page. You can either choose
the links for the archives or click the date on the calendar.
Now the really nifty thing is that after listening you can post comments on the
radio programs you listened to! Instant feedback for the programs! I loved the
Science Fiction ones, and music serenades.
This site was really cool, with a simple design that makes for easy use,
http://radiomemories.libsyn.com/
=== Tiny Houses
I had the privilege to stay in a house much like some of these shown on the
site for Thanksgiving of 2003 and it was quite an adventure. It also made me
realize that my tastes run to spacious, well laid out homes where everything
flows well. I personally am not made for one room living, but I find these
tiny houses charming anyways.
Pictures - this link takes you directly to a page full of pictures.
Underneath the photo is a title for the image-if you click the image you can
see more of that house and learn about what goes on there. They all has such
varying stories that it was hard to pick the one I liked the best, but a
girl has to do what a girl has to do, and I chose Vlada's House as my
favorite. Why? I loved the hand made stained glass windows and the vibrant
house paint.
Artwork - see tiny houses in artwork, and learn all about the artist Grant
Wood. This section has some great paintings of tiny houses. Choosing my
favorite painting was a lot easier than choosing a favorite tiny house. My
favorite painting is the middle painting in the top row. I just love those
rounded trees and sweeping hills, I'll be honest, at first I didn't even
notice the tiny house in that painting.
Definitions - this section has the definitions of terms used frequently on
the house so that you can get an accurate definition of what a "tiny"
house
is.
The last section I want to talk to you about is the "Town Sign"
section. I'm
not sure how it ties into the tiny houses, but I loved this section. My
favorite sign is for
wooden sign with a lovely ship on it. When you click the pictures you get
information about the town as well.
http://www.tinyhouses.net/
=== Erase Your Hard Drive
People give their old PCs away to family members, charities, and some end up at
the local PC repair shop without ever being properly wiped clean. Everything
stored on your PC is on the Hard drive. There was a two-year experiment done by
MIT graduates Simon Garfinkel and Abhi Shelat where they collected 156 Hard
rives from various places (the web, ebay, PC shops, and businesses). Out of the
158 drives tested 129 drives worked and hardly any of them were properly wiped
clean. There were thousands of credit card numbers, pornography, love letters,
you name it, that was completely recoverable on these drives.
Most people believe that deleting data and then cleaning out the recycle bin
does a sufficient job. This is NOT the case however when you delete something
in windows—it just marks it to be over written. There is also a misconception
that formatting a Hard drive permanently erases stored data. This is also not
true—a format just reconstructs the allocation table and checks the blocks on
the disk but it does nothing actively to remove the data, it simply leaves it
"unprotected". With both of these scenaria, if you have the right
software you can recover data thought to be unrecoverable.
So, how do we erase this data on my hard drive for good? You can physically
destroy the drive—but that's not as easy as you think and you would be amazed
at what people can recover data from. There are cases where people have drilled
holes in the platters and it could still be recovered. You can take it to a PC
repair store that has a Degausser that removes all the magnetism from the drive
leaving it useless for good, but this can be way too expensive to justify the
price for the common end user. You can write Zero's to the drive with the utilities
at the Hard drive manufacturer site and that will stop most people, but
experienced users can still recover it.
If you don't want to destroy the drive, and are concerned about keeping your
privacy here are two free programs that will totally erase data from your hard
drive.
First is Darik's Boot and Nuke which is an application that you can install on
a bootable floppy or CD Rom. Boot and Nuke uses several methods to wipe the
data on your drive to an unrecoverable state.
http://dban.sourceforge.net
The second title is Eraser 5.7 Though this software is free as well, a $15.00
donation is encouraged. This software does a great job of sanitizing your hard
drive by removing all magnetic and solid state memory. It does this by using
several different techniques including "pseudorandom data overwrite"
and techniques defined by the Department of Defense.
http://www.heidi.ie/eraser/download.php
Once one of these procedures is performed the drive is ready to be given away
or thrown out without fear of privacy invasion, fraud, or worse. Would you just
throw away an old wallet with everything still in it? Of course not. So why
would you give or give your PC away with making sure it wasn't safe? I've seen
this many times repairing someone's PC that they were giving to their folks or
have gotten from friends and these people made vary little effort to protect
themselves and with little effort I probably could have taken them to the
cleaners if I wasn't a law biding morally strong person :-)
=== Ireland's Eye
This is a very interesting site with lots to cover, so hang on tight, for this
whirlwind ride. In the middle of the page there are articles of interest. Then
on the side menu there is a ton of interesting subjects.
Features contains: Irish Fairies, Titanic, The Blarney Stone, and Ghost Watch.
Irish Fairies tells you all about fairy myths from the emerald isle. The
different kinds of fairies, and so on.
Titanic discusses the building of the doomed ship in
The Blarney Stone section teaches you all about the history behind the
origination of the “kiss the blarney stone” phrase and why it's still in our
speech today. I loved this section the most.
Ghost Watch talks about the more famous hauntings around
Culture is a great section too, it contains: Music, Talk, Names, and Recipes.
Music — learn about traditional Irish music, read some lyrics, or take a gander
down at the dance section. The Irish love to dance as you can tell from this
section.
Talk — This is where you will learn the myths of
Names — here you will learn family names, first names, and place names from
around Ireland.
History — in the history section you can choose from people, places, and
events. It is chocked full to the brim with information.
And last but not least — do you want to visit bonny ole
After leaving this site you'll feel as though you've been to
http://www.irelandseye.com/
=== World Music
Welcome to World Music, where you can hear types of music from all over the
world. I fell in love with this site, but when it comes to music I have pretty
eclectic taste anyway.
The site is divided into four sections: News, Catalogue, Listen, and Network.
News — Here you can read interviews, take quizzes, and learn all about what's
happening in World Music.
Catalogue — Here you could buy something if you wanted to.
Listen — the heart and soul of this page. Here you can listen to and watch
music from around the world. You will need Real Player, Media Player, or
QuickTime to use this section, and let me tell you it is well worth it.
Network — Here you will find links, and more information about the World Music
Network.
A musical journey around the world that is well worth the trip.
http://www.worldmusic.net/index_flash.html
=== The Red
Hot Jazz Archive
"The music called Jazz was born sometime around 1895 in
At The Red Hot Jazz Archive you can learn about Jazz before the 1930's. When
artists improvised the notes and made music with the starting point of a common
song. The sections of this site are broken down to: Information, Bands, Films,
Essays, Musicians, and Search.
Information – Here you will find some great suggested reading. You may want to
see if your local library carries any of these titles so you can get swept away
with Jazz.
Bands – I have to confess this is my favorite section. Here you can learn all
about the bands that made Jazz exceptional from 1895 to 1929. You'll find it is
an alphabetized list of the bands. You can click on the band's name to get more
information. And you may even find a sample of one of their songs.
Films – here you can find jazz bands that managed to get a spot on film. A huge
accomplishment for the time they lived in. Of course you'll find Louis
Armstrong here!
Essays – Here you can read essays on these groundbreaking performers from
Billie Holiday to Duke Ellington to The Origins of Jazz. A lot of these are
interesting reads. I spent some time here browsing and found myself better for
it.
Musicians – This is where you will find what we would now consider the solo
artists of their generation. Again you see when they played, get more
information on them, and if you're lucky a sound clip.
Search – This is the search engine for the site, and it even comes with some
great tips to use it efficiently.
This is a terrific site dedicated to those with more than just a little talent!
http://www.redhotjazz.com/
=== Nostalgia Central
Ready to sit back, relax, and enjoy a little nostalgia? Now, while I can only
reminisce about the 80's, I still really enjoyed going through the rest of the
site. What's it all about? Well it's about the 60's, 70's, and 80's and what
happened during those years in
The easiest way to surf is to just choose the year you want to check out and
then click on the appropriate image. Or you could just check out the Special
Features section, or you could use the multitude of tab options at the top of
the page (Home, News, Pop Culture, Music, Television, Movies, Year by Year, and
Audio) or you could read their interesting copyright issue at the bottom of the
page.
The 60's — this section gives you a rundown of what happened during the 60's
and the option to go through it year by year or to chose Pop Culture,
Television, Music, and Movies. Some stunning examples of the 60's nostalgia are
Barbarella, the Jungle Book, the Beatles, Bob Dylan, Elvis, Star Trek, Lost in
Space, just to name a few.
The 70's — this section gives you a kaleidoscope of the 70's with the same
exploration options as the 60's. Here you will find pet rocks, glam rock, mood
rings, Star Wars, Happy Days and many more.
The 80's — again you have the same exploration options as before. What's
nostalgic for me from the 80's you ask? Well let's see there's Pac Man, Cabbage
Patch Dolls, Fraggle Rock, The Smurfs, She-Ra, Night Court, Charles in Charge,
Cheers, the deliciously funny Black Adder, and I remember all the bright
colors. Hot Pink, Neon Green, Electric Blue, and Out of this World Bright
Purple!
What's nostalgic to you?
http://www.nostalgiacentral.com/
=== Eternal Egypt
This is by far one of the most thorough sites on Ancient Egypt. You can use the
plain text version of the site, you can use the ultra-spiffy multimedia version
of the site, or you can use the guided tour option.
The guided tour was very neat and an efficient walk through of the site. I
highly recommend it. But I am also a big fan of surfing around a site on my own
and just discovering.
While you are discovering it for yourself let me point out a few of the really
great things. The biggest thing for me was the Highlights area underneath the
Welcome area. Here you will find four pictures of different objects. My
favorite of the four is the necklace or pectoral with cross. Click the image to
learn more about these objects. I chose the pectoral with small cross, and will
use it as my example. Here you will learn the definitions of certain words like
pectoral, and Coptic, and you will learn about the materials the object is made
of and why it was made of those materials. If you click the image to zoom you
will need Shockwave, but you can zoom in and out on the image then and really
get some great details.
Now on the other side of the Welcome area is a side menu that is chocked full
of things for you to do and explore. You will find the sections Connections,
Timeline, Map, Multimedia, Library, Topics, Type, Sites and Museums, Search,
and Digital Guide.
The Connections section was utterly fascinating. It shows how just about
everything was interconnected. Their introduction for the section definitely
sums it up much better than I can so I will just share it with you.
"The artifacts, characters, and places that define
I must have spent 3 hours in this section just exploring the different ways
things could go and having a terrific time just learning. Which brings me to my
next thought; wouldn't this be a great site for you to share with the kids?
http://www.eternalegypt.org/
=== The Lawn Institute
I don't know if you remember me complaining about having to grow new lawn about
a dozen garden sites ago, but I'm still fighting that battle here in Ohio. I'm
still trying to get my lawn to grow. I just put seed down and am watering it
religiously in the sudden heat wave we've had. And so I went surfing on the net
for something to point me in the right direction.
I found the Lawn Institute and their lawn tips section. The tips are broken
down into parts: "How to Select the Best Grass for a Northern Lawn"
and "How to Select the Best Grass for a Southern Lawn". Choose your
location and then it goes over the different seed types for your area and then
what needs they are best at meeting.
How the Environment Benefits from a Well Maintained Lawn — this goes into the
environmental issues of maintaining your lawn. Did you know that grass
conserves water and cleans the air you breathe? Did you know that healthy lawns
help produce healthier soil? Did you know that green grass was one of the
things most missed by our troops during Desert Storm?
How to Read a Seed Label to Determine Quality — this section teaches you how to
read a bag of grass seed's label so that you are truly getting the best mix for
your conditions. I'll be honest, I bought two bags of grass seed locally for
relatively little money because I wasn't certain it would take and anything
would be better than the huge bare spot in my yard. But now I know how to read
a label and I found out that for the high traffic of my lawn I didn't do too
bad at all.
Other sections on this site will teach you about fertilizing your lawn,
watering your lawn, and even renovating and over seeding your lawn. This is a
great resource on getting your grass to grow beautifully and how to maintain
it.
http://www.turfgrasssod.org/lawninstitute/
=== Email Security Scan
Well troops, surprise inspection! Let's see how secure your defenses are
against mail-born threats. Think you're up to the test? Then read on.
The problem with all the security holes that arise from day to day is that it's
hard to keep up. "Am I protected?" you wonder, "I update
constantly, I scrutinize all my email messages, especially attachments, and
read all of Chad's awesome security articles, but how do I know for sure?"
Well, since such a large number of security holes center around email I'm glad
to announce today a service that can check your system for potential exploits.
The service is a web based email scanner that you can tailor to send out over
20 different emails, each attempting to defile your system with dummy exploits.
It's like hiring a security agent to go over your system and tell you what
aspects of your security is in good shape, and what areas could use some
improvement. When set in motion, the scanner fires off the dummy viruses and
exploits to the specified email address. Don't be surprised if your virus
software starts popping up with security messages, as a matter of fact, this is
exactly what you want to happen, it means your system is seeing the threats
coming in.
The emails themselves have message bodies describing what their particular test
was for and how to make sure you're protected from this sort of attack. Some of
the emails have attachments and some attempt to create text documents on your
desktop, the emails tell you exactly what to do to ensure the tests ran
correctly, thus providing an accurate assessment of your system's defenses.
In addition to the testing your system for security holes this is also a good
way to educate yourself on some email-born security issues by getting a chance
to see them in action without putting yourself in any danger.
Click here if you would like to have your email security tested...
http://www.windowsecurity.com/emailsecuritytest/
=== SurLaLune Fairy Tale Pages
I've always had a warm place in my heart for fairy tales. Designed originally
to teach children morals they are a great way to pass the time. With this site
you can get a little more in-depth with them, or even read tales that you've
never heard of.
You may find yourself overwhelmed with your options on this site, so let me
break it down for you. If you have a favorite fairy tale that you are looking
for I recommend using the search engine on the side of the page. Type in the
title and click "Go" to begin your search. Underneath the search box
you will find the news section where you will find out what has been added to
the site.
Now the rest of the site navigation is all in the center of the page, it's
broken down into sections for easier viewing. There's the Introduction and
About section at the top which tells you why the site exists and what they are
trying to accomplish. Then next to that you'll see the section for the
Annotated Tales which has a long list of stories underneath it. I loved
"East from the Sun and West from the Moon" and, of course, "The
Nightingale".
Underneath the Intro area you'll find the sections for the Discussion Board,
Full Text Books, Fairytales and their Authors, and under the Annotated section
you'll find the Illustrations and Books Store.
So why don't we begin your journey with "Once Upon a Time…"
http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/
=== Kiddie Records Weekly
Welcome to Kiddie Records Weekly, Classics from the Golden Age. Their purpose
is to share those classic stories with you and your children, or your
grandchildren. Come here to listen to these classics with them.
All the past weeks are archived so you can spend quite some time here surfing
through this collection. From Roy Rogers to Woody the Woodpecker there are some
famous voices to grace your ears with.
I remember going to the library and listening to these kinds of records on
their record player, and for a little while we had a record player at home. I
used to check the records out of the library with awe. I know that I'd want for
my children and their children to be able to share the experience, even if it
is through an mp3 file on the internet.
They are doing us a great service in preserving what was on these records for
future generations to come visit. To surf this site you can use the side menu
or your can click on the record album covers to visit different sections of the
archive.
My favorites are The Unsuccessful Elf, Puss in Boots, and Saludos Amigos. And I
can't wait for Madeline. You'll notice that the albums are scheduled ahead too
by date. So you have a good idea of when you want to come back for a certain
album.
This site is a treasure, don't you think it is time to go treasure hunting?
http://www.kiddierecords.com/
===
American Garden Museum
Finally! A site that is dedicated to the hard work of American Gardeners and
their gardens! Why don't you explore the museum with me today?
Showcase — this section seemed to be the highlighted garden of the site at the
current moment.
Gardens — click on the map and choose a state to see the gardens highlighted
for that state. Explore gardens across the United States, and believe me, you
can spend hours just looking at these lovely places.
Exhibition — the scrapbook of Lois Travis Thornton. See beautiful photos from
the 1920's to 1940's of gardens all around America. My favorite is of the pond
with the water lilies—it's such a beautiful view.
Inspiration — This is a great section too. Here you can find breath stealing
inspiration for your own gardens. From paths, gates, and fountains to the very
different kinds of plants you can grow in a garden here you will find definite
inspiration.
Botanical — "You can view almost 100 popular and historical garden species
through this growing archive. Just click the links below to search by Common or
Latin name or click 'Next' to browse through all the plants."
From my garden to yours, I hope you find inspiration to grow something new from
this site. Enjoy!
http://www.americangardenmuseum.com/
=== Handcuffs
Welcome to a collector’s guide of vintage handcuffs. Before visiting this site
I knew that handcuffs were a collectable item—I’ve been to some of the local
gun and knife shows and you can find everything from guns and knives, to
stamps, jewelry, army memorabilia and much more and I’ve seen some great cuff collections.
But they were quite small after looking through the gallery here, especially
when you throw in the other sections of the galleries: leg chains, nippers, and
thumb cuffs. This made me really want to know the history behind them.
To start learning about he history of handcuffs just scroll down the page to
the section labeled "Handcuff Companies & their Wares". Under
this heading you will learn some of the history of handcuffs as well as how
profitable they were for some companies.
A really neat section of this site is the "Escape Artists and their
Craft". Here you can learn about escape artists from the famous to the
relatively unknown and you may even learn something about escapology yourself.
Other great section include the forum, the archived forum, and interviews.
After checking this out can you answer the site owner’s question? If you want
to know what the puzzle is, go to the section "A Puzzle for Experts".
I got five of them right. How will you do?
Once you get into this site it's hard to escape.
http://www.handcuffs.org/
=== Bembo's Zoo
Here at Bembo's Zoo the first choice you have to make is whether you want to
view the site in Flash or go download the flash so you can view the site. I
find Flash to usually be worth it because it is fluid, fun, and frisky.
Pick a letter, and let your journey begin.
Each letter has an animal associated with it that begins with the letter you
chose. For Example: The letter D gets you the word dragon, and then you
watch as the letters themselves make a drawing of a dragon. It's very neat!
The Dragon is my absolute favorite of this site.
Each letter of the alphabet has an animal so it's a lot of fun to go through
the alphabet and watch the remarkable art as the letters turn into animals
before your very eyes.
This is a great site that shows you just how remarkable Flash can be, and
how much imagination you can employ with a some effort.
I hope that you all like this site as much as I did. It's a great site to
share with your kids and grandkids especially when they're learning the
alphabet.
http://www.bemboszoo.com/
=== The Museum of Online Museums
This is like the archive of all archives and the museum of all museums. Here
you will find great links to new and exciting exhibits online in the Museum
Campus section. The links in this section take you directly to the museum or
exhibit in the title link.
Below this are the Permanent Collections. This section has some really unique
and interesting galleries like the Grocery List Collection, or Fading
Billboards. These are linked directly to their permanent location—so if a link
is bad you may want to let the museum know so they can remove it. What's really
cool is that after you've viewed a collection and click back over to the Museum
of Online Museums, it will be checked off the list. You won't have to guess
which sites you've been to—isn't that great?
Below this are the Galleries, Exhibits, and Shows. Again with the great check
mark system and some really interesting galleries. Like the Museum of Seventies
Matchbox Cars, or the Burnt Food Museum . Or one of my favorites, the Gallery
of Museum of Monster Toys, or the Catalogue of Lesser-Known Superheroes, make
sure to check those out they are really neat.
All in all, my favorite Online Museum site! There are way too many cool links
on here to spend all day chatting about them, so you'll just have to explore
them all at your own pace. Enjoy!
http://www.coudal.com/moom.php
=== Legal Online Music?
Online music currently sails in turbulent water, but the ship has not sunk. In
fact, the very cause of the storm can also be a safe harbor.
Huh?
Sorry, it's an old poetry slam injury that flares up now and then. If you go to
record company websites you can usually find free music—either as
"streams" (you can hear it but not save it), samples (under one
minute), but occasionally as downloads. Granted, you won't find that song they
played all last summer, but you can get some new stuff, often before you start
hearing it on the radio twenty times a day. Many even offer streaming video in
QuickTime, RealAudio, or Windows Media. Check your CD liner notes to find the
record label website of your favorite performers.
Another place to find free music is at the artist's official web site or fan
club. You might find a live track, an unreleased song, or the latest single.
Again, check the CD liner notes for websites. Try running some of your
favorites through a search engine and you may be surprised what you find.
The Internet Underground Music Archive is a place where independent artists can
offer their songs for download. You probably won't find super-stars, but you
will find great music by unsigned artists, independent bands, and local talent
that you might not hear otherwise. Every music style can be found here too,
including Pop/Rock, Classical, Jazz, Country. You can listen to a
"stream" of the song before you download.
Beau-dacious Oldies But Goodies offers over 4000 full length songs in Real
Audio format available for streaming or download. This is a great place to find
classic doo-wap, swing, and oldies.
For fans of Folk, Bluegrass, Celtic and old-timey music, be sure to stop by
eFolkMusic.org . Some songs can be downloaded for free by registered users,
while others will cost you just under a buck. Since radio stations still ignore
this kind of music (despite the popularity of the soundtrack to "O
Brother, Where Art Thou"), this is a valuable website indeed.
Paste Music also features downloads and reviews of folk, Americana, blues,
Alternative Country and more.
Amazon.com has a free music download site too. You'll find a few major stars
along with thousands of independent artists. It's not as easy to navigate as
the previously mentioned sites, but it is worth a visit if you have not filled
up your hard drive with music files yet.
Sure, the days of file sharing mp3s a'la Napster are over. Illegal music
downloads can bring the recording industry lawyers to your door like wolves to
fresh meat, but that doesn't mean online music is dead. Record companies and
artists are aware of the benefits of online music—they mainly just want their
cut of the action.
If you're willing to pay you have a few options:
Napster http://www.napster.com/
Music Now http://musicnow.fullaudio.com/
Wal-Mart http://downloads.walmart.com/music_downloads/introToServices.do
In a few years the storm will calm down. Of course, by then, every music lover
will probably think nothing of forking out $1 per song or paying a monthly
subscription fee to download music. While the storm rages on, you can sail into
some of the safe harbors mentioned here today.
=== Memoir Café
This is an interesting site full of writing from people who may turn out to be
just like you. As always I checked the FAQ section and I was bitterly
disappointed when I found that you had to be a member and that it cost money in
order to post. I was almost ready to toss this into the do not write up pile, but
then I started reading the stories and it changed my mind.
In spite of the money they want you to pay to write, you can read for free. So
what can you read about that would have me moved enough to tell you about? Well
to be honest, for me it was "Stephanie's Drawer" where I read about
17 years of her life filtered through experiencing her cat. Stephanie is the
founder and tutor of Memoir Café.
But you can read about: the natural world, the civilized world, family and
private life, working life, the world of things, culture and tradition, life
with women, life with men, food, the spiritual life, harsh times, and more.
Each section of writing has tons of stories for you to read. They come from all
walks of life, in all styles of writing. There is enough reading to keep you
busy here for days, and I found myself moved by these stories. There were some
that were so vivid it was as though I had lived them.
All in all a really, really cool read.
http://www.memoircafe.com/
=== Wired
For Books
In order to use this site you need to have Real Player which is a free
download, you will find the link to download Real Player near the top of the
page.
Why would you want to have Real Player for this site? Well because you get to
listen to famous, and not so famous, people read works of literature.
In the "Kid's Corner" you can listen to the tale of Peter Rabbit, and
right next door you could listen to Alice 's Adventure's in Wonderland. Not to
forget great literary works like Macbeth, The Illiad or the The Aeneid.
There is also poetry from “classic English poems, including poetry by Blake,
Burns, Byron, Donne, Herbert, Hunt, Keats, and Shakespeare,” to the “Den of
Lions” poems, and the poetry of Emily Dickinson.
Not to mention all the wonderful non-fiction and fiction that you can listen
to! This site gets an A++ in my opinion for being so diverse, and for bringing
so many wonderful poems, and stories together in one place for people to listen
to.
Enjoy!
http://wiredforbooks.org/
=== Online Etymology Dictionary
“Etymologies are not definitions; they're explanations of what our words meant
and how they sounded 600 or 2,000 years ago.”
As a writer I fell in love with this site. But I think just about everyone can
get use out of it. You can either search for a word directly via the search
engine at the top of the page or you can use the alphabet located beneath it.
If you choose a letter you get all the entries for that letter, there were 27
pages for the letter A. You'll be surprised by how much you learn for example:
Abduct — "to kidnap," 1834, altered from abduce "to draw
away" by persuasion (1537), from L. abducere "lead away," from
ab- "away" + ducere "to lead". Abduction is first recorded
1626 in lit. sense of "a leading away;" the illegal activity so
called from 1768.
Not only do you find out what the word means, you also find out how it
originated, and how it was originally used. You will probably want to check out
the section "Introduction & Abbreviations". As you get a list of
the abbreviations used on the site and why the author of this site felt it was
necessary to make this page. I thought that the author has a great idea.
This site is all about a love of language, and will teach you how it all began
for each word. Check it out!
http://www.etymonline.com/
=== Guide to Shooting Rubber Bands
I remember in high school the boys would have rubber band fights and I would
end up getting flicked with a rubber band and in an attempt at firing back snap
my finger and ended up the walking wounded. Now I've learned how to properly
shoot rubber bands. And all from this site!
After learning the "Pistol" method of firing a rubber band I will
never injure my thumb shooting a rubber band. I shot off a couple for my cats
to chase-just be sure you don't hit them and that they don't eat the rubber
band. My cat actually plays fetch with them. I'll shoot one off, he'll give
chase hunt it down, and then bring it back and drop it at my feet. He plays
fetch with soft foam balls too, it's great!
Now this guide goes through the history of rubber band shooting, the refinement
of the art of shooting a rubber band, and the rules to the game. Some how I
think bored college students got together and decided to have rubber band wars.
They even have a penalty system. It's a very tongue-in-cheek site full of witty
humor and practical techniques.
This site even discusses the physics behind shooting rubber bands, and in the
individual styles of shooting (Pistol, Rifle, Spear, etc.) it discusses the
accuracy of the shot, the probability for misfire.
This site is really neat even if you don't engage in rubber band warfare.
http://hometown.aol.com/morganbolt/index.html?f=fs
=== The Official Web Site of the Sultan of Swat
Welcome to the Official Babe Ruth site. Here you can learn all about the
"Sultan of Swat's" life. Just check out the section "About Babe
Ruth".
Here you will find News, his Biography, Stats, and Pictures. On the side menu
you'll find Achievements, Quotes, Awards, and Fast Facts. The biography is a
quick 3 page read that is very informational.
I loved the Quote section best of all. This is where you can see what the man
himself said. From famous quotes to obscure ones, you'll find it all here. I'd
recommend this section to everyone.
I also enjoyed the "Fast Facts" section where I learned an overview
of Babe Ruth's life. From who he married to how he threw.
There is a lot of information to digest at this site so take your time, and
explore the many facets of Babe Ruth.
You can also find links to Tribute sites, the Babe Ruth Museum and much, much
more. Enjoy!
http://www.baberuth.com/
=== Blurry
Photos Gallery
Welcome to the Blurry Photos Gallery. It's exactly what it says it is: gallery
devoted to blurry photos taken with a camera phone. Why am I bringing you this
site? Well because a lot of the photos are interesting and not even all that
blurry.
Here's how the site works. You'll see nine little squares that are thumbnails,
and a big white arrow. If you scroll over the photos then you will get a
description of the shot and if you click it will make the image larger.
On the larger image you can click near the edge of the photo and the photo will
be framed with a white arrow allowing you to move forward through the pictures
if you don't want to use the thumbnails.
After you have viewed the first nine you can click the arrow by the thumbnails
and the gallery will scroll forward and you will have nine new images to check
out. There are seven pages of images and all but the last page is a complete
set of nine. So there are some very interesting pictures here for your viewing
pleasure.
Of course if you use the arrow on the large image you can just click through
the whole gallery without using the thumbnails or the arrow located next to
them. In the long run this site made me want to get a camera phone so I could
take pictures of my own that were this neat.
http://www.houze.net/photos/blurrygallery/index.html
=== Pirate Soul
Welcome to a museum like very few you've had the opportunity to hear of. Pirate
Soul is a museum dedicated to the history of Pirates!
We'll start our journey in the History section which includes Origins, Notable
Pirates, Pirate Life, Plunder, Map, and Resources.
The Map is a great way to learn information about the places that pirates lived
in, sailed to, and plundered. Click a topic above the map and the location will
be highlighted in red and an information bubble will pop up. You can get a
snippet of information, and if you want to know more, just click on the
"Click here to learn more" link.
Origins — Here you learn the history of Piracy from it's Origins to the Golden
Age of Piracy. The Golden Age of Piracy is when pirates were the most active in
one area and occurred from 1690 to 1730.
Notable Pirates — This is where you can learn about the individual pirates who
stood out, made names for themselves, and went down in history for their acts
of piracy. From Blackbeard, Captain Kidd, Sir Henry Morgan to Anne Bonny, Mary
Read, and Sir Francis Drake each has a vivid history that is definitely worth
reading. I, in particular, enjoyed the story of Anne Bonny, a female pirate—which
was practically unheard of in those times seeing as women were unlucky to have
on board a ship.
Pirate Life — Here we learn about what life as a pirate consisted of. From
Medicine, Food, The Pirate Code, Jolly Roger, En Route to Plunder: Pirate Navigation,
and Death. Each section was an in-depth read of information that you probably
didn't know about pirates. Especially the Jolly Roger section where you learn
that not all pirates flew a flag of skull and crossbones. Some had their own
flag with its own meaning of surrender without a fight or die.
Plunder — Learn about the battles that pirates had for plunder. What kinds of
weapons did they use? What were they trying to plunder? Here you will learn
about the weapons from the infamous blunderbuss to cannons. Here you will learn
about raids for sugar, rum, fabric, medicine, food, and Spanish treasure.
Museum — In this section you can learn what kinds of things the museum Pirate
Soul displays. From weapons to treasure — you get a brief description and bit
more history thrown in for good measure. An interesting section that makes me
want to go to the museum myself.
So lift anchor and sail over, mateys. Argggh!
http://www.piratesoul.com/
=== Time-Warp Archive of Technology Through the Decades
This site is remarkably easy to use—just set the decade you want to visit from
1900 to 2000 with the up and down arrows, and click Go. You will then Time-Warp
to the decade you choose. Use your mouse to scroll over the pictures of the
technology like phones, radios, record players, type writers and you'll get the
option to check them out more in-depth. When you scroll over them you get
options to check out. Pick what you want to learn about and get whisked to information
about the object you selected. You can even learn about toys—what did kids play
with during that decade that fit in as technology?
I had a lot of fun starting in the 1900's and working my way through each
decade till I reached 2000. It is a great way to discover how things have
changed and what leaps and bounds technology has made in just 100 years.
For a good description of what all you might find on this site you may want to
check out the "Time-Warp Project" button at the top of the page. The
"Research" button yields some great information too. Just scroll down
and check out the timeline.
http://www.time-warp.org/
=== Google Fight
This site is really cool! Put in any two keywords and have them duke it out.
How do they win? Well, this site searches to see how many listings there are
for the words and then the one with the most wins the fight.
I put in tea vs. coffee and coffee won with a grand total of 53,500,000 results
to tea's measly 37,200,000.
You can also check out the last 20 fights by clicking the option for it on the
side menu. This will show you what other words are fighting it out. Or you can
choose the Classics. The Classics consists of the following:
God vs. Satan
Pen vs. Sword
Tony Parker vs. Michael Jordan
Those are just a few. Check out the rest by visiting the Classics. My favorite
section though is Funny Fights. Here "Me" fights "Myself"
and Me wins by a landslide (probably thanks to the Windows OS), or Alpha vs.
Beta and Beta wins by a slimmer margin.
You should check "Fight of the Month" too, where Pro vs. Con, The vs.
One, while the Beatles and The Rolling Stones duke it out. To find out who
comes out on top you'll have to visit the section and watch them battle it out.
Pit your favorite words or people against each other, or even your favorite
animals. I was surprised at the slim margin that Lion won over Penguin. This is
just a lot of fun and you can keep it as versatile as you want by changing up
what you use to fight it out. You should put names in quotes to get more exact
results.
From people, places, things, words—you name it—if it is on the web you can have
it fight right before your eyes.
http://www.googlefight.com/
=== Google Maps
I know we've brought you map sites before, but now I've found one that is so
useful you'll have to bookmark it. I've already used it about a dozen times to
find places I need to go to or just places I want to check out.
Not only is it useful, but it is easy to use too. I highly recommend that you
take the tour located at the bottom of the page. You'll find the "Take a
Tour link" under the Get Directions area on the side.
These maps have great zoom capability, are draggable (just click the map with
your mouse and move in the direction you desire, the map moves with your
mouse), and make getting to and from places as easy as if you were looking at a
street map.
To get directions somewhere type in (under the Get Directions title) the search
box where you want to go and where you are leaving from such as, Directions to
Cleveland from Toledo, Ohio. Type In: "Toledo to Cleveland" and then
click "Search".
This then brings up the route on the map as well as giving you driving directions
on the side of the map. You will notice it gives you how long the drive is, as
well as the option to get reverse directions so you can get home. Clicking the
linked numbers in the directions gives you bullets on the map. These bullets
are zoomed in to street level so you can tell before you drive it how the road
is going to go. With tricky roads that is a real bonus!
This site is a real keeper! Bookmark it today!
http://maps.google.com
=== American Field Guide
I suggest everyone reads the "About AFG" section because it really
tells you what all went into making this site possible. They've collected data
from over 30 stations across the country to bring you this site.
Animals — in this section you can choose from, you guessed it, what animals you
would like to learn about. They are broken down into subtopic categories like
mammals, birds, insects, reptiles, and amphibians. You can also check out the
Featured Video Clips.
Ecosystems — in this section you can choose from Canyons, Desert, Forest, Lakes
and Ponds, Mountains, Oceans and Beaches, Prairie\Grasslands, Rivers and
Streams, and Wetlands. Learn all about how unique these ecosystems are from one
another. This section also has Featured Video Clips for you to check out.
Human History — Here you will find categories on Archeology, Economic Use of
Nature, Exploration & Settlement, Folklore\Legends, and Native Peoples. See
how the human race has grown and explored and settled down in America.
Livelihoods — "Not everyone spends their day behind a desk. Meet some of
the people who make their living working in or get their inspiration from the
American Outdoors." Here you can learn about the different jobs that
people do in the great outdoors.
Earth and Space — the categories of this section are Fossils, Geological
Events, Glaciers, Rocks and Minerals, Weather, and Volcanic Activity. The clips
on Volcanic Activity were really neat and I highly recommend that you browse
some of them.
Plants — Here's the section for those of us with a green thumb, I love learning
all about plants. Here you can learn about Flowers, Grasses, Non-Native
Species, Shrubs, and Trees. The clips from this section were very informative.
This site also has a wonderful search engine, two topics we didn't cover, TV
schedules, Programs A to Z, Teacher Resources and plenty more to make you visit
here turn into return visits too. I loved this site and hope that you'll enjoy
it as much as I do.
http://www.pbs.org/americanfieldguide/
=== Today's Front Pages
What does this site have to offer? "372 front pages from 39 countries
presented alphabetically." The nice thing is that it is also very easy to
use. The pages are listed alphabetically and you just scroll over them with
your mouse to see it larger on the side, and if you click it you can get it
full size. For more you simply click "View More Pages".
But better yet, there are different ways to view it too. You can view it by
Region or through the Map View option. Each lets you select a different way of
seeing what is going on in the world.
I loved the map view because the map was dragable like the Google maps we
brought to you. For those of you with pop-up blockers you may have to enable
pop-ups from this site seeing as quite a few things open in new windows—but let
me tell you it is worth it. From the Map View style you just choose the country
you want, let it load and then scroll over the bullets on the map and presto
you have the paper from that area.
Then there is the archive. Here is what Newseum has to say about it: "The
Newseum keeps an archive of national and international front pages that
chronicle events of historical significance."
From the Tsunami to the Election to the Columbia Shuttle Explosion you can find
quite a bit of big historical importance.
So now you can enjoy your morning paper as well as papers from around the
world.
http://www.newseum.org/todaysfrontpages/
=== Pencilmation
Welcome to Pencilmation where you can watch fun pencil animations. You have
your choice of the original pencil drawings, or the colorized animations. There
are three original pencilmations, which are the Original, Infinity Snail, and
Infinity Snail 2. They load in another window and you can rate them on a scale
of one to five.
There are five colorized animations which are: Boogalah, Best Friends Forever,
Friend Part 1, The Headache Part 2, and Night Part 3. Again they load in
another window and you can rate them on a scale of one to five.
My favorite is the original—I think it is quite witty. It's a play on animation
itself, and in the end the little pencil drawing gets the tip of his creator's
pencil and can animate his own world.
Quite a little site that will help you find some diversion in a boring day.
http://www.pencilmation.com/
=== Motorcycle Online: Virtual Museum
This site is divided into four sections: Vintage Iron, Racing, Restoration, and
History.
Vintage Iron - This is where you can see things that are in museums. From the
Indian's Model 841 that never really did come into fruition to the Ural. I
highly recommend the "Ural? What the heck is a Ural?" section-it is
quite interesting. The Art of the Motorcycle exhibit has great pictures of
antique motorcycles dating back to 1901. I particularly like the Bohmerland
from 1925.
Racing - Read all about vintage motorcycle racing, and Project TZ50. A great
read with incredible pictures for all you racing fans.
Restoration - Here you can see some classic rebuilds, some restorations of
vintage motorcycles and an interview with Walt Riddle, Master Restorer. Great
reads, and full of helpful tips if you are of a mind to restore vintage
motorcycles. My favorite is "The Long, Hard Process of Restoring a 1948
Indian Chief." I happen to love Indian bikes, there is just something
about them, and that would be the motorcycle I would own.
History - this section makes the site shine. From "The First
Motorcycle?" to the "A Brief History of Indian Motorcycles" you
find the gems that really brought motorcycles into fruition. Learn about the
first attempts to make a motorcycle and how it was refined over the years. Make
sure you read about the Indian Motorcycles who were once the number one race
winners, and manufacturers of motorcycles in America.
http://www.motorcycle.com/mo/mcmuseum/
=== The
Global Network of Dreams
Have you read everything by your favorite author? Have you run out of music to
listen to? Sick of trying to figure out which movies you will actually enjoy?
Well now you've met a site that can help you out.
When you load up this site you will notice that there are four sections: Gnod
Music, Gnod Books, Gnod Movies, and Flork. We're going to start in the Gnod
Books section.
Gnod Books - You have four options when you get to this section: Gnod
Suggestions, Map of Literature, Literature Forum, and Literature Locator.
The "Gnod Suggestions" is great when you've run out of books by your
favorite authors to read. You just type in three names of authors you enjoy and
click "Continue" and it brings up the name of an author that its
artificial intelligence thinks you may enjoy based on the authors you've
listed. I've found so many new books to read thanks to this tool.
The "Map of Literature" gives you a lot of options too. Put in the
name of one author you enjoy and then click "find this writer" this
takes you to a blue page that has a lot of authors names floating on it in
white, the closer the names are to the name you put in the more likely you are
to like that author's work. When you click on the name it will take you to
another map with more authors on it, and so on and so forth, providing you with
endless possibilities.
Gnod Music - This section works a lot like the Gnod Suggestions section from
Books. You type in three artists you like and click continue and it finds you
an artist you might enjoy based on what you've put in. You can click on the
artist's name and be taken to the Discussion page (you have to be a member of
Flork to join the discussion.) You can also click "related bands" and
see a music map for that artist if there is one. You can also tell them if you
like or dislike the artist, and this will help it find artists that are
customized to your tastes.
Gnod Movies - This works the same way as the other two sections books, and
music.
Flork - seems to be invitation only to join which makes using the discussion
groups hard. If any of you figure out how to get invited please let me know.
http://www.gnod.net/
=== Look at
Book
You will need the latest version of Flash for this site, if you don’t have it
you can get it here...
http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/
Now when you enter the site a new window will pop up.
What are you looking at? Well this is an art project that traveled over 60,000
miles before reaching its completion.
About Book — this gives you the rich history of how this project was started
and what it was about.
View Book — take a gander at all the art in the book. Click on the individual
pages to see them up close and personal.
View Exhibition — take a virtual tour of the exhibit, or view the timeline. If
you choose the tour pick rooms that you want to look at and have fun checking
everything out.
Artists — This is where you can find out about the artists who put this book
together. Two artists in Brooklyn, NY, and two in Belfast, Ireland. Read their
bio’s and learn all about them.
A really neat project worth exploring, enjoy!
http://www.lookatbook.com/
=== The Aviation History Online Museum
You'll notice that navigation is to the side and that it starts with Aircrafts.
If you click the description link you are taken to photo of that airplane along
with some information. You will notice on the airplane page you are viewing
that you can click the link Full Text to learn more about that aircraft.
The list of planes in the "Aircraft" section is in alphabetical
order, and shows who manufactured it and whether the photo is in color. Some of
the aircrafts come with the text already on the same page as the photo of the
plane. My favorite aircraft off of the list was Lockheed P-38 Lightning.
In the "Photo Gallery" you will find another great selection of
airplanes. Just click the description link and you will be taken to the photo
of that model of airplane. Here you get less information, just how many were
made, when the photo was taken, and the location. My favorite from in the Photo
Gallery was the Aeronca C-3 (Razorback).
The "Airman" section is a listing of airmen, with the subject they
are talking about listed, and the country and whether or not there is a photo.
Each one tells a very thorough story. I particularly enjoyed the story of
Alcock and Brown who flew across the Atlantic "in 16 hours, and 12 minutes
sometimes upside down through dense, icy fog." I'll be honest though, I
ended up reading them all because they were all so interesting.
In "Engines" you can take a look at 12 airplane engines, complete
with photos and text. If you check out DB 605 you even get a sectional view of
the engine which lets you get a good look inside it.
"Early Years" is a very historical section—go back all the way to
1849 and start learning about the history of flight with George Cayley and end up
with information from 1908 with Glenn H. Curtis. And who can neglect to mention
the Wright Brothers in 1903. Very interesting section that is worth reading,
you will get a real feel for how flight progressed.
"Theory" covers the scientific theory behind flight.
I think this is an interesting site that pays homage to something that most
travelers take for granted: it wasn't always so easy to go catch a flight to
wherever you wanted to go in the world.
http://www.aviation-history.com/
=== Radio Locator
This site is an excellent tool that anyone who listens to the radio should book
mark. With multiple ways to search it is easy to use. The easiest way to search
is to put in your city or zip code along with the state you live in and click
go. This starts the search for what's in your area. Then it lists all the local
stations in your area and both am and fm radio. Once you find the station you
are looking for click on the call letters for that station and you'll be taken
to their homepage. This is a great way to find out about the station you listen
to, as well as some of the stations list what was playing at a certain time so
you can find out the artist and song title if they didn't say it on the radio.
It is also a great way to find out what's going in your community.
Or you can search for your station by call letters, or you can use the more
advanced search if you still didn't find what you were looking for. You can
also search Canadian and International stations too.
Now say you want to find something to listen to online—well now you can! Just
go down to the find internet streaming radio, choose a format from the drop
down list, and click GO. I chose Adult Contemporary and hit GO and was listening
to music in under three minutes. What's more is that this option has tons of
genres of music so you can probably find what will please your ears easily. Get
this—they even have a section called Grade School (K-12) that you could play so
your kids have music to listen to.
If you want to find something International, I highly recommend that you use
the World Radio search option; it has a drop down list of countries for you to
choose from. Just select the country you want and click go and you'll be whisked
away to that listing.
http://www.radio-locator.com/
=== Stanley
Steamers
It's hard to know where to begin with this site. Here you can find excellent pictures
of Steam Cars. If you click the photo you either get an enlarged picture, or a
page full of information about the car and what was taking place in the
picture. Like the third photo from 2004 talks all about Thomas Edison. What
incredible pictures! At the top of the page there are three buttons, Vintage
Photos, Mystery Photos and "Chuff, Chuff, Chuff".
Vintage Photos — takes you to a page full of photos that are from when these
cars were actually made and the main way of transportation.
Mystery Photos — an interesting lot of photos that ask a lot of questions.
Quite a few diagrams, and perhaps design drawings.
Chuff, chuff, chuff — is a media file that you can download, to hear what the
engine sounded like. It does make a chuff, chuff, chuff sound.
If you scroll down past the photos, you can browse other parts of the site like
the Alma Engine page filled with pictures of the engine. And if you scroll
further down the page you can find the “What is a Stanley Steamer?” link. Which
takes you to another site, but has a lot of great definitions of what makes a
Stanley Steamer, and what makes them so nifty. It even has pictures too!
Back to the original site of today's cool site, it is filled with gems and it
just takes surfing around to find them, this is an excellent site devoted to
the Stanley Steam Motor Carriages. I'd love to own one of these, and just drive
it around some I think it would be fascinating! I'll be adding it to the list
of cars and motorcycles I'd love to restore.
http://www.stanleysteamers.com/
=== National Puzzler’s League
If you love puzzles, and solving them, you are going to love this site. This
site has got everything that people who love puzzles can appreciate from Solving
Tools to Guides, to a Newsletter all about puzzles.
Guide — The Guide is where you find information on everything pertaining to
this league from membership to puzzle types to reference books you can use to
solve puzzles. Literally the heart and soul, meat and bones of this site, you
should definitely start your journey here.
Solution Tools — Here you can find a Word Finder, and Word Lists. The Word
Finder allows you to search for words, whereas the Word Lists let you choose
words from pre-created lists based on subjects and puzzles, for instance,
Scrabble. Word Lists are downloadable to your computer so you can access them
at your convenience.
Join Us — This where you find the membership information, it is not free, but
there are a lot of resources on this site that you can use without joining.
(It’s rather expensive, so I’d just use the free stuff unless you are a
hard-core puzzler.)
Related Organizations — This is the Web Links section and here you can find
links to more helpful resources for those of the puzzle solving mind. Like
Wait, Wait, Don’t tell me (a site about limerick writing with last word
missing) and The US National Scrabble Association, and many more.
http://www.puzzlers.org/
=== Congressional E-mail Directory
All Americans should access to their representatives in Congress. This
directory makes that easy. Just scroll down the menu of states and choose the
one you live in. I live in Ohio so I would scroll down to it and click it.
When I click on it, it opens a list of Senators and Representatives for Ohio.
You'll notice that there are two links just about for each person—the first one
goes to their web page, the second is their e-mail address.
For me these open in Outlook Express, if you don't use Outlook Express or a
default mail program, then you will have to right click on the e-mail address,
choose "Copy Shortcut" and then go to where you have your e-mail
online (for example: Yahoo, Hotmail, or AOL) login, go to compose and paste it
in your address line. When you do that you'll have to delete the mailto: that
comes before their address for it to send correctly.
Isn't wonderful to be able to use the internet to get in touch with the people
who are representing you in the government?
http://www.webslingerz.com/jhoffman/congress-email.html
=== How Everyday Things Are Made
"AIM has developed an introductory website for kids and adults showing how
various items are made. It covers over 40 different products and manufacturing
processes, and includes almost 4 hours of manufacturing video. It is targeted
towards non-engineers and engineers alike. Think of it as your own private
online factory tour, or a virtual factory tour, if you wish."
To use this site click the title "How Everyday Things Are Made" and
it will open up in a new window. Now you can pick and chose which videos and
tours you want to watch. You can see everything from bottling to how certain
items are made.
When the window first opens there will be an introduction and below the viewing
screen a list of resources you can check out. Online Tours, Books, Process
Info, FAQ's, and About us. On the side you'll notice there are tabs that read
Products 1, 2 and 3. Choose a tab to look at different products.
I love the Jelly Bean video. It was very interesting to see how they made them,
not to mention some of the pictures are very neat.
You can also check out how they do casting, make crayons, or even cars and
airplanes. All of this is really neat. I'll be honest I watched it all
beginning to end and was much enriched by everything I learned.
Enjoy!
http://manufacturing.stanford.edu/
=== Legends of America
This site's slogan is "A Travel Site for the Nostalgic and Historic
Minded." You'll find tons of fun travel information from Ghost Towns to
Treasure Tales and there is even a Photo Gallery for those of us who like
visuals.
What's New — This tells you what has been recently added to the site.
American History — Here you can learn all about America's History from books
you can read to bits of valuable information. There are quite a few good reads
in this section like "Women of the American West", "Nicodemus,
KS—A Black Pioneer Town", and "The Largest Land Grant in U.S.
History" to name a few.
Ghost Towns — Find books you can read on ghost towns, plus a listing of Ghost
Towns by state. There is obviously the famous Tombstone, but there others too
like Diablo's Canyon, Calico, St. Elmo, White Cloud and many more.
Legendary Route 66 — Most everyone has heard of Route 66 if you live in the
U.S. It is one famous road. Now you can read all about its history and even
check out some trivia on the subject too.
Photo Galleries — This section is categorized by State. Pick a State, then a
gallery, and you are on your way to some really awesome pictures of these
places. I loved the Tombstone set, and the Route 66 set. But they were actually
all really good so spend some time here checking them out.
Treasure Tales — My dad loves tales of treasure, so this section made me think
of him. Here you can read all about the lost treasures that are supposedly just
waiting for someone to find them. There is some general treasure information,
but then you can search State by State for interesting tales of treasure to
beguile you.
This site paints a rich and vivid tale of the History and fun to be found
around America.
http://www.legendsofamerica.com/LA-Treasures.html
=== The Reference Desk
"The single best source for facts on the Net"
http://www.refdesk.com/
=== Theaters
http://dorsettheatrefestival.com/
http://www.westonplayhouse.org/
http://www.goodspeed.org/
=== Search engine
http://ilor.com
http://www.Profusion.com
=== Historical stock prices
http://www.bigcharts.com/
=== German to English dictionary
http://www.quickdic.de/index.html
=== music on the net
http://www.myplay.com
http://www.audiogalaxy.com
=== software resource
http://hotwired.lycos.com/webmonkey/
=== tee shirt business
http://www.cafepress.com/
=== coal region nostalgia
http://www.standardspeaker.com/
http://www.coalregion.com/
=== high school
http://www.classmates.com/
http://www.highschoolalumni.com/
http://hinet1.hasd.k12.pa.us/alumni/index.html
=== CDNOW MOOD MATCH
http://cdnow.moodlogic.com/
=== search for pictures
http://www.webshots.com/go?browse
http://community.webshots.com/
=== TMOL
True Meaning of Life
http://truemeaningoflife.com/
=== BUYING
A CAR
Here are some other sites to check out automobile information.
http://carpoint.msn.com/homepage/default.asp
http://www.autopedia.com/
http://kbb.com/
http://www.autotrader.com/
http://www.edmunds.com/
=== ARTLISTER
http://www.artlister.com/look/form.html
=== CELEBRITY PICTURES
http://www.anycelebrity.com/
=== HOAXES
http://www.europe.datafellows.com/news/hoax/
- disney
=== Gamesville
http://gamesville.lycos.com/
=== lycos web site
http://entertainment.lycos.com/
=== more things for Zeyda's bookmarks
http://www.digipress.ch/msc/Clk.exe
clickomania
http://www.bigchalk.com/
http://www.planetpals.com/ppsitemap.html
Ryann likes the poems and the rythem thung
http://biography.com/
http://disney.go.com/dcards/select2.html
http://windowsmedia.com/radio/Radio5.asp
=== software
must have applications l-view, winzip, snag-it
=== Developing International software
http://www.msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.htm
After clicking this link, go to Books and select "Developing International
software for Windows 95 and NT"
=== Smithsonian
Smithsonian Magazine: Explore Art, Science and History
http://www.smithsonianmag.si.edu/
=== humor, Jerry Lewis memorization
One hen
Two ducks
Three squawking geese
Four limerick oysters
Five corpulent porpoises
Six pairs of Don Alverso's tweezers
Seven thousand Macedonians in full battle array
Eight brass monkeys from the ancient, sacred crypts of Egypt
Nine apathetic, sympathetic, diabetic old men on roller skates with
a marked propensity toward procrastination and sloth
Ten lyrical spherical diabolical denizens of the deep who haul stall
around the corner of the quo of the quay of the quivvy all at the same time.
=== news
Here's a very good link to use whenever you want to find current
events (NEWS) of any type.
http://www.msnbc.com/
=== SOFTWARE
This tip came from this web site.
http://www.coolnewsletters.com/
ZDNet http://www.hotfiles.com/
Winfiles http://www.winfiles.com/
Jumbo http://www.jumbo.com/
Rocket Download http://www.rocketdownload.com/
Freehound http://www.freehound.com/
(This one is ALL freeware)
I have more listed on my download source page:
http://www.worldstart.com/download.htm
Most of the sites above have both freeware and shareware programs.
Shareware programs are a "try before you buy" deal. You download the
software and get to take it for a test drive. If you like it, you can
purchase it. If not, it will probably expire after a certain number of days
or uses have past.
Freeware is what it sounds like. Free software. Sometimes it's really good,
sometimes it sucks. Depends on what it is and who wrote it. Most of the
time there are no strings attached, although some authors will want (or
require) you to register the software. Still, you can't beat the price!
=== coupons
http://finditnow.8m.com/
http://www.freebiedirectory.com/Couponing/
http://cdnow.netmenu.nl/
=== Nothing But FREE Stuff: http://www.thefreesite.com/
Now who doesn't like Free Stuff that is really Free? This site is
a ton-of-fun and there is something for everyone. It offers a
multitude of freebies and we are sure you may find something that
interest you.
=== Need To Send A Large File: http://www.whalemail.com/
The is a great service for sending large files up to 50 megs,
your regular ISP just can't handle that kind of load. Go ahead,
transfer you entire C Drive to the ones you love most. It's even
FREE! Nice guys huh?
=== other projects
stream your own audio at http://www.live365.com/
how to embed "comment characters" in an email address
learn how to put a password on a directory or html page
===
Parenting
http://www.smartparent.com/
=== tax forms
You can get the government forms from the web:
http://www.irsus.com/irsforms/All_1040_Federal_Tax_Forms.htm
=== investigate these sites
http://www.crs4.it/~giach/fun.html
http://starry.com/novel/toc.htm
=== WEB CALENDAR
http://www.visto.com/
check out their calendar feature - especially for synchronizing a
group meeting (ala bowling party)
=== karoke
http://www.eatsleepmusic.com/community/links/player.cfm?r=1759
=== iwin
http://www.iwin.com/
=== Homicide - the conspiracy page
email for Jason Charnick = jason-charnick@mindspring.com
http://www.mindspring.com/~jason-charnick/mamet-museum/conspiracy.html
=== half.com $5.00 off $10.00 purchase
To visit Half.com, click here. If you are a first-time customer to
Half.com, you will receive $5 off a $10 merchandise purchase.
http://promos.half.com/DEJA
=== jackpot.com
http://www.jackpot.com/
=== flipside
http://www.flipside.com/
=== Gourmet
http://www.gourmet.com/
=== Survey on your web site
.. http://or.psychology.dal.ca/~wcs/hidden/home.html
yukk http://www.coolsurveys.com/
.. chat board and surveys at http://netbula.com/anyboard/
=== Software resources online
http://www.werbach.com/barebones/
=== How Things Work
How would you like to ask questions to a physics professor? You know,
stuff like:
How do paper towels absorb water?
Why do things change color in the sun?
How are "G" forces measured?
What happens to you if you use a microwave oven with the door open?
And tons more. I could spend HOURS at this one:
http://rabi.phys.virginia.edu/HTW/
=== Evite
With more than 22 million registered users and over 25,000 invitations sent
each hour,
Evite is the top online invitation and social planning website.
Evite invitations are free to send and receive.
So you save on stamps — and trees — while freeing yourself up
from keeping lists and making phone calls to organize your events.
Select your invitation design, add your guests’ email addresses,
and send via email or text message.
http://evite.com/
=== others
http://www.0border.com/translation.htm
http://www.translation.langenberg.com/
http://greatcleaners.protocolusa.com/gclean/product_usage_frame.html
http://www.jokes2go.com/quotesmenu.html
http://tycho.usno.navy.mil/cgi-bin/timer.pl
http://mailnull.com/
=== RADIO
http://www.vh1.com/sounds.visions/vh1atwork/
http://www.mtv.com/mtvradio/
http://www.country.com/radio/
http://music.windowsmedia.msn.com/
http://www.vh1.com/sounds.visions/vh1atwork/
http://www.country.com/
http://www.usedmusicexchange.com/
http://www.launch.com/
http://classic.winamp.com/
=== "cool Top 15 sites June 2003"
1. PC Pitstop // Help you to get your PC in top form.
2. Kelly's XP Korner // Troubleshooting Windows XP
3. Webopedia // "The only dictionary you need for computer
technology".
4. Computer Networking // About.com Computer Networking information
5. SpywareInfo // The spyware and hijackware removal specialists.
6. PracticallyNetworked.com // Networking Information Site.
7. Refdesk.com // "The single best source for facts on the Net"
8. Fatal Exception Errors // Henri Leboeuf's Fatal Exception Errors
9. OIT Help Desk // University Of Maryland Help Desk
10. ADSLguide // The UK's largest independent ADSL review site.
11. Virtual Dr // Computer Help & Support forums
12. AfterDawn // Discussion board related to DVD, DivX or MP3.
13. Everything Computers // Web site for "O'Donnell on Computers"
radio show.
14. TechiWarehouse // "Learn everything about IT and the web."
15. Outer Technologies // Powerful tools for Windows
=== Extreme Science
With a slogan like "Feed your Brain", who can resist this site? Not
me,
that's for certain.
Check out the Time Portal, Weather, Space, Creature World, Earth Science,
and their Free Stuff section. Better yet, there is a Young Scientist gallery
section for those rambunctious kids you have running around all summer.
Streamlined and extremely well put together, this site is charming and full of
education and interesting information. Find tons on interesting facts, for
example: Angel Falls in Venezuela is the highest waterfall in the world. And
don't forget to check out the "Gallery of Extreme Scientists".
Dive in!
http://www.extremescience.com/site_map.htm
=== Dictionaries
http://www.amo.qc.ca/ODico/
http://www.oneacross.com/
http://www.crosswordstar.com/
http://dictionary.langenberg.com/
http://dictionary.reference.com/fun/
http://www.dictionary.com/fun/crossword/
http://www.crossword-puzzles.co.uk/
http://www.yourdictionary.com/crossword/
http://www.homeware.com/
===
Tutorial Find
Do you need a tutorial? With this A to Z listing you'll find a tutorial on
pretty
much anything.
Tutorials range from Computer knowledge to Crocheting, Russian to Skydiving.
You name it, there is probably a tutorial for it here. Here's a partial
listing:
Access, Acrobat, Accounting, After Effects, Assembly, Arabic, Astronomy,
Audio, Ballet, Basketball, BIOS, Book Binding, Candle Making, CGI, Chemistry,
Cross Stitch, Dental Health, Digital Cameras, E-mail, English, Feng Shui...and
the list goes on.
Choose the topic you need a tutorial for. I chose French, clicked it on, and it
took me to a listing of sites where I can get a French tutorial.
Neat huh?
http://www.tutorialfind.com/tutorials/sitemap.asp
=== The Garden Gate
"Into the garden and beyond" is this site's slogan. It has everything
when it
comes to gardening. You can check out the "Reading Room"-where there
are online books, catalogs, and such. Or try "Teaching the
Garden"-where
you'll find "Enough databases, glossaries, FAQs, special topic WWW pages,
collections, and plant lists to keep the info-junkies among us busy for quite
a while."
My favorite part is "Down the Garden Path"-which is a virtual garden
tour.
I'm a gardening junkie so this fills my earth needs especially when I have a
barren yard to look at because of Ohio's soil. Enjoy and get your gardening
fix.
http://garden-gate.prairienet.org/
=== The Constellations and their Stars
Well, you must think I have my head in the stars or something! We learned
about "Naked Eye Astronomy", now I'm bringing you a site on the
actually
constellations and the stars that make them up. Here you can learn what
exactly a constellation is, view interactive sky charts, get an alphabetical
listing of constellations and stars.
My favorite parts of the site were the interactive sky charts which are
fabulous,
and the section on Constellations in Greek and Roman Mythology. For those
of you who love viewing outer space via picture, there is an Astronomy Picture
of the Day section to enjoy.
Well what are you waiting for, go check out those constellations and stars!
http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~dolan/constellations/
=== Jack Horkheimer : Star Gazer Cartoons
I'm bringing you the cartoon section of this site in its own cool site slot
because
of how fabulous it is. Well drawn, funny and educational these cartoons will
teach
and entertain you. Better yet these cartoons are fabulous teaching tool for
kids.
You can view cartoons all the way back to 1998, and on many different topics.
Such as: Why is Spring called Spring, The Truth about the North Star, Some
Different Birds for Thanksgiving, and the Planets Disguised as Stars. And those
are only a few.
Keep looking up!
http://www.jackstargazer.com/Cartoons.html
=== Cooking
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/show_tm/0,1976,FOOD_9997,00.html
You might be interested in this and may want to put it on your web page.
There are numerous cooking tips and recipes. Check it out. You will
not
need to call for us substitutions, there are some listed under the link
"ingredient Substitutions"
Bill Rice
=== Vermont Living
http://www.vtliving.com/index2.shtml
=== RootsWeb
The oldest free genealogy site on the web-search for you ancestors here.
You can even find living relatives, MetaSearch, and browse through the
Social Security Death Index.
Why don't you start with their "Getting Started at RootsWeb" section,
which
will give you a good idea of what you need to do to get started hunting down
your ancestors. I found some of mine that my family didn't even acknowledge
but have since been added to our family tree.
This site is easy to use and gets results, so start your search today.
http://www.rootsweb.com/
=== MultiHobbies - Balloons and Juggling
Have you ever wanted to learn to juggle? Or just see how they do it? Well you
can learn at this site. Get tips and tricks and video clips from the pros.
Learn
how to make your own juggling balls, and then how to juggle them. Then you
can check out the more advanced stuff like One hand tricks, fountains, and
multiple objects.
And if that wasn't enough you can even learn to make balloon animals at this
site. Choose the Marvelous Balloons section and get ready for some balloon
bending fun. This site will teach you everything from what balloons to use and
how to properly blow them up to advanced balloon sculptures. While you are
there don't forget to check out the Sculpture galleries for very nifty balloon
sculptures.
http://www.multihobbies.com/
=== Thrills, Chills, and Spills
Can you build the fastest, scariest roller coaster known to man? Well then
click
on this link and go to the Discovery Channel's interactive roller coaster
builder.
You can build and test out your coaster, watching the fear level to know how
successful you are.
You can choose from lots of loops to steep drops, or heck, why not build with
both.
Test your coaster and put fear into the hearts and stomachs of virtual riders.
Drag
the section of roller coaster where you want it and then drop, it will connect
itself
to the track. Easy and fun, how much fun can you have a mile a minute.
Enjoy!
http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/coasters/interactive/interactive.html
=== Say Yes
Don't you hate it when you're in the car, listening to the radio and a really
great song comes on but the DJ doesn't tell you who it's by or the name of
the song? Then you have to wait to hear it again and hope they say it that
time.
Well you don't any more. Not since the creation of this site. Their slogan is:
"Hear it on the radio. Find it here. Get it now." How does it work?
Well when
you hear the song, make note of the time, and then when you get home or to
the office, log onto the internet and come to yes.net.
Choose the city the station is located in, choose the time of day, the radio
station and the song title and artist will come up for you. Better yet if you
want it right away you can click the YES button and it will take you to
amazon.com where you can buy it or learn more about the album and artist.
(You don't have to buy the CD to get great usage out of this site.)
http://www.yes.net/
=== Sounds from Edison
The archive at Edison National Historic Site includes approximately
48,000 disc and cylinder records produced by Edison in West Orange,
New Jersey, between 1888 and 1929. Many of these, including unreleased
and experimental recordings, have been at the Laboratory since Edison's
lifetime. Ranging back to the first years of the invention and development
of the phonograph, some of the earliest examples of recorded sound in
existence are preserved within this unique collection.
The subject matter of the recordings is mostly music, covering genres
popular in the United States during Edison's era. Spoken word recordings
include vaudeville comedy sketches, documentary speeches, educational
lessons, and motion picture dialogue soundtracks. Experimental recordings
document research carried out at the Edison Laboratory to develop recorded
sound technology.
http://www.nps.gov/edis/sounds.htm
=== Puzzle Parlor
Do you enjoy puzzles? Well then, you're going to love this site. Start by
clicking the logo to begin your playtime. Select a shape to start your
puzzle. My favorite puzzle is "Snowflake Square".
Choose a piece and place it on the puzzle surface-you can rotate pieces
by pressing the right arrow key on the keyboard, and if you mess up you
can reset the puzzle at anytime. Some of these puzzles are difficult, but
very enjoyable.
http://www.gamepuzzles.com/pparlor/puzzleparlmm.html
=== NCBuy Game House
It's been a while since I brought you a great game site. With tons of
categories like: action/adventure, mind puzzles, board games, card
games, classics, educational, racing, and shooting games for your
pleasure. And better yet, you can play them free.
I suggest you check out Hangaroo under the Education category. Have fun!
http://www.ncbuy.com/entertainment/gamehouse/
=== The Yuckiest Site on the Internet
Kids will love it, and so will you. This site has a good deal of gross fun.
Not to mention educational for your kiddies. Find out why you burp, what
eye gunk is and where it really comes from, learn 10 things about roaches,
get up close and personal with worms, and there's even some fun and
games.
I surfed right into the "Gross and Cool Body" section and found out
that
in a year you are likely to shed 8 pints of tears. Having been thoroughly
intrigued and equally grossed out I headed to "Yucky's games". There
I
found mad science labs and other games.
This site is totally cool and educational to boot. Enjoy!
http://yucky.kids.discovery.com/
=== Osama Ben Bowling
http://www.imgegrt.com/product/full/ap/3026336/graphic1.swf
=== Totally Absurd Inventions
This is a neat site where you can view some of America's goofiest patents.
You can check out their Featured Invention, Absurd Archives, Totally Absurd
Golf Inventions, Classified Ads, and their Inventors Showcase.
The Featured Invention while I was visiting was the Helmet Bar. Here's part
of the write up on the Helmet Bar: "Remember the popular hat with beer
holders
on each side and a drinking tube attached? Simple, yet effective (goofy
looking,
but hey, maybe the user needs both hands free to drive the lawnmower). So our
intrepid inventor took this simple idea and over-engineered it into the Helmet
Bar,
suitable for mixed drinks and sodas." You even get pictures of these goofy
things.
Then I surfed on over to the Golf section, to see how there could be so many
absurd inventions that golf would get it's own category? The featured one,
(yes it has it's own individual featured section as well as an archive) was
called
the "pointy pointer". Here's the write up:
"Hey, keep your eye on the ball! Not as easy as it sounds, is it? The
tendency
is to let your eyes follow the club. But head movement often equals bad shots
and is frowned upon by those in the know. So, the inventor suggests you clip
his expandable metal, pointy tipped pointer rod to the bill of your hat and
point
it at your ball at all times. Any head movement is greatly exaggerated by the
length of your rod, reminding you to stop moving your head!
Who knows, this thing might work well but even if it doesn't, it's great for
giving
hands free lectures and doubles as a cell phone antennae booster. Just don't
forget what Mom said, be careful, or you could put an eye out with that
thing!"
Very strange, very weird inventions here at this site, check it out.
http://www.totallyabsurd.com/
=== Dog Behavior Information
Expecially good info about doggie doors and crate training
http://doggiedoor.com/info.shtml
http://doggiedoor.com/crate.shtml
http://doggiedoor.com/nocrates.shtml
=== The Museum of Unworkable Devices
This is a site that makes you think. Check out inventions that didn't
work, and then try to puzzle out why they went wrong. Definitely a
site worth exploring. It's also very educational and written at a level
where almost anyone can understand.
The main gallery includes: It'll Never Work!, Overbalanced Wheels,
Stevin's Problem, Friction and Idealizations, What about free energy?
Buoyancy Motor, and Capillary Motor.
And that's not all, there are more galleries. My favorite was "The Gallery
of Artistic Impossibilities", which explains the principles of artistic
illusion.
Check this site out!
http://www.lhup.edu/~dsimanek/museum/unwork.htm
=== The Archive of Misheard Lyrics
This site is a lot of fun: look up songs you know and see what other people
misheard them as. The domain is named for the world's most commonly
misheard lyric. If you want to know what the lyric that is most commonly
misheard is, check out this site.
Here's one example: The Beatles, I Want to Hold your Hand.
Misheard lyric: "And when I touch you I feel happing inside. It's such a
feeling that my love, I get high, I get high, I get high!"
Real lyrics:"And when I touch you I feel happy inside. It's such a feeling
that my love I can't hide, I can't hide, I can't hide!"
This site was a barrel of laughs and had some interesting definitions of
what exactly a misheard lyric is and its importance throughout history in
the passing of folk songs down through out the generations. Enjoy!
http://kissthisguy.com/
=== Smithsonian National Zoo
I know we've been running a lot of zoo sites lately but this site is too
wonderful to leave behind. With the warming weather what better places
to visit than zoos? This site is laid out exquisitely, and with tons of useful
information.
You can check out the photo gallery, read up on species by continent,
learn about activities and events to help you plan your visit, live cameras,
and zoo news.
This site is helpful for kid's biology or science reports, and a joy to view.
http://nationalzoo.si.edu/default.cfm
=== Welcome to the Gallery Project Page
Gallery is a slick web based photo album written using PHP. With Gallery
you can easily create and maintain albums of photos via an intuitive
interface. Photo management includes automatic thumbnail creation,
image resizing, rotation, ordering, captioning, searching and more. Albums
can have read, write and caption permissions per individual authenticated
user for an additional level of privacy. Give accounts to your friends and
family and let them upload and manage their own photos on your website!
http://gallery.menalto.com/
=== The Rail
We're Building a Railroad Across the Internet
And all along our railway you'll find web sites displaying The Rail Icon.
Click the icon on any site that's connected to The Rail, and you'll be
transported to the nearest member junction where you may travel
onward to the East or West. No matter which way you go, you'll
continue discovering new and notable Rail Stops, each one sporting
their own Rail Icon.
http://therail.com/cgi/station
=== The Museum of Unnatural History
This site boasts being "a slightly bizarre, cyberspace, science museum
for all ages." Looking into explaining things like why the dinosaurs died
out, is there really a Loch Ness monster, could there being flying saucers,
mysteries of space and time, odd archeology, the seven wonders of the
ancient world, and many more.
Having been fascinated with the seven wonders of the ancient since I
was a little kid, I started my journey there and found the information to
be fascinating, correct, and with resources. I also found myself enjoying
the virtual tour of the wonders.
Check this site out and find something that fascinates you.
http://www.unmuseum.org/
=== Rhyme Zone
Type in a word to find its rhymes, synonyms, definitions, and more.
Other great features on RhymeZone
...Shakespeare
Comedies, Tragedies, Histories, Poetry, Top lines, Coined
words. Quizzes
Verbs, Nouns, Adjectives, State capitals, French, Spanish, More...
...Quotations
Douglas Adams, Voltaire, Groucho Marx, User submissions,
More...
...Mother Goose
Simple Simon, Old King Cole, Jack and Jill, Pairs and Pears, More...
...Famous Documents
Old Testament, New Testament, U.S. Declaration of Independence,
U.S. Constitution. ...Other features
Boxcar Blockade puzzle game, Valentine Slam, Forum, Canada Day
special, Customize RhymeZone.
http://www.rhymezone.com/
=== Kitchen Kettle Village
http://www.kitchenkettle.com/
=== Vermont
http://www.newenglandrecipes.com/index.html
http://www.vtliving.com/recipes/
http://www.vtliving.com/phototours/
http://www.vermontcountrystore.com/
http://www.store.yahoo.com/froghollowgallery/
http://seevermont.nybor.com/
http://www.vtliving.com/joketime/index.shtml
http://www.vtliving.com/index2.shtml
http://www.freeworldmall.com/index2.htm
http://www.jaysartgallery.net/shop/subjects.asp
http://www.vtliving.com/subscribe/index.shtml
http://www.vtcheese.com/vtcheese/charliestory.htm
http://www.scenesofvermont.com/
=== AGUDAS ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE
http://home.ptd.net/~dvbob/agudas.htm
=== Cowboys and Sidekicks
http://www.surfnetinc.com/chuck/pals.htm
=== The Palatus Personality Test
This site is just for fun. Ignore the three ads and have a blast answering
the 10 questions to find out your personality type. Just choose your answer
to the question and click through to the next question. It took me about two
minutes to take the test. Here's what I found out about myself.
"Other people see you as sensible, cautious, careful, and practical. They
see
you as clever, gifted, or talented, but modest. Not a person who makes friends
too quickly or too easily, but someone who is extremely loyal to the friends
you do make and who expects the same loyalty in return. Those who really
get to know you realize that it takes a lot to shake your trust in your
friends,
but, equally, that it takes you a long time to get over it if that trust is
shaken."
Let me tell you that it's pretty accurate. Take the test and find out about
your
personality. Enjoy this one!
http://www.bhmedia.com/personality/index.shtml
=== USDA For KIDS
The U.S Department of Agriculture for Kids is today's cool site.
What's spiffy about this site? I personally think Zip-the-Bee is.
This is a great educational tool for your kids, and even your grandkids.
Teach your children how to prevent against food born illnesses,
weather, backyard conservation, nature watch and so much more.
Especially let them play with Zip-the-Bee, an interactive game for
their pleasure. Better yet print out some of these terrific coloring
pages. Enjoy!
http://www.usda.gov/news/usdakids/
=== Garage Sale Hunter
This site's goal is to create a "nationwide garage sale forum."
It's that season and let me tell you here in Toledo, the garage
sales are already in full force. You can find a garage sale near
you or you can post your garage sale so people can find you.
The best part is that it's absolutely free.
You can also find garage sale tips, and get on their garage sale
mailing list. The mailing list will give you a daily e-mail of garage
sales in your area. You can even use their flyer maker for free to
make flyers to post for your garage sale. Yet another handy site
for your favorite lists. Check this one out.
http://www.garagesalehunter.com/
=== Cal's Gallery
this is a phenomenal site -- mini-vacations for the heart and mind;
a feast for eyes and ears, slide shows and screensaves of great
beauty and all for free. I strongly recommend you bookmark it
or put it with favorites. You will NOT be sorry and as a stress
reducer and spirit reviver -- it can not be beat. Give it a few
minutes of your time. really.
http://www.wtv-zone.com/cal555/index.html
- galone
=== Boycott Watch
What is Boycott Watch? Their FAQ answers this question
efficiently, "Boycott Watch is a non-profit organization that
looks at boycott calls, asks both sides their story and posts
it at Boycott Watch so people can decide for themselves what
the truth is." If you have more questions about them and their
goals check out their FAQ.
Get your information on boycotts you are watching as they are
updated an new information as it comes to light, stay on top of
new boycotts as they arise. Think of it like News for boycotts.
You've probably recieved email with lists of alleged French
companies to boycott in reaction to the French position on
Iraq. Well, here you'll find a CONFIRMED list of which companies
really are French and which actually are not. Or read the REAL
stats on where oil is imported from before you believe the internet rumors.
Head on over for the information, then decide for yourself.
http://www.boycottwatch.org/
=== US History
This is a neat history site. I wasn't too sure when I got there
but it won me over. Have you ever wondered what the most
historic mile was? Well you can find out at this site. And so
much more, learn about Valley Forge, Betsy Ross, and you
guessed it the Liberty Bell.
Check out their What's New section for fun activities and
information. You can get a virtual tour and tons of information.
It makes you want to visit Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Enjoy!
http://www.ushistory.org/
=== Disturbing Auctions
You can't actually buy anything from this site, but is dedicated to the
research and study of the most bizarre items found for sale on internet
auction sites. Many strange and unusual things worth browsing for a
giggle or two.
What kind of strange things can you anticipate seeing on this site? A
forg purse, Dean Martin hand puppet, Wedding Trolls, Furry Novelties,
and dolls made out of beer cans, just to name a few of the off the wall,
left of center items on this site.
You can browse through Art, Clothing and Accessories, Literature, and
many other odd categories. Check it out!
http://www.disturbingauctions.com/index.pl
=== Grimm Brothers
National Geographic brings you the Grimms' Fairy Tales, from Folklore
to Forever. This site is a treasure. Here you can find 12 of the Grimms
Fairy Tales from an early 1914 translation, so expect them to be gruesome.
Here's a quote from the site:
"Once they saw how the tales bewitched young readers, the Grimms, and
editors aplenty after them, started 'fixing' things. Tales gradually got
softer,
sweeter, and primly moral. Yet all the polishing never rubbed away the solid
heart of the stories, now read and loved in more than 160 languages."
Click "tell me a story" to begin your journey. This will present you
with three
story choices, or you can click on the locked box and pull up a menu for your
navigation delights. Choose a story to begin. You can also read up on the
Grimm Brothers and how they got started. Enjoy!
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/grimm/
=== Unnatural Wonders
Well you've probably all read or heard about natural wonders of the
world. This is a site dedicated to the Unnatural Wonders around the
world. It's listed from A to Z, just click the link to be whisked to the
wonder you have chosen.
Prepare to be amused as you surf through these wonders, I particularly
loved the Shoe Trees. You can find places and objects you'd expect like
buildings and such, but others will surprise you at some people's
creativity like the "Piece of the Berlin Wall" photo.
Take a gander at these "marvels".
http://www.thom.org/gallery/unnat/
=== Last Words
Sporting the Shakespeare quote, "The tongues of dying men enforce
attention like deep harmony." (Richard II, II.1.5-6), this site is about
famous last words.
You'll find a collection of Famous Last Words from real people and
fictional characters, as well as, Famous Epitaphs, Famous Wills and
Obituaries, Famous Last Stands, and Famous Farewells.
From the profound to the just plain dumb, you can find it here.
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/6537/
=== International Press and Media of the World
You can read newspapers from around the world, check out art and
other forms of media. This site is well put together, and has a topic
reminder with nifty image on every page so that you can get a quick
glance at what's happening on that page.
This is from an online magazine titled "Escape from America" that
offers information for people traveling or relocating out of the country
(I know, "Who'd wanna do that?" No jingoistic email please).
Even if you don't travel, you can find tons of information on Europe,
Asia, and other cultures from all over the world. A great way to broaden
your perspective in travel and culture.
Czech it out!
http://www.escapeartist.com/media/media.htm
=== All the World's Maps
Need a map for a report? Need a map of a country for your vacation?
This is the place to get your maps. How does it work? Choose a map
from the drop down box and then click the Launch Map button and
ta-da you have a directory of sites to choose your map from.
Better yet you can even get maps of specific cities within that country.
There are tons of maps on this site, and it's very well organized. Go
grab yourself a map and enjoy!
http://www.embassyworld.com/maps/maps.html
=== Book-A-Minute Classics
This is their welcoming slogan: "In just one minute, you can read
entire books and learn everything your teachers will expect you to
know." Sounds hard to believe, well they thought that everyone
would think that too.
So I gave them a try and discovered that they were witty if not
truthful. The summaries do apply to the book, I just don't think it
fills all the information that a teacher would want you to know for
report. But this is pretty funny so check it out.
Here's an example:
The Collected works of Jane Austen-Ultra-Condensed by Christina
Carlson and Peter da Silva
Female Lead: I secretly love Male Lead. He must never know.
Male Lead: I secretly love Female Lead. She must never know.
(They find out.) The End
http://www.rinkworks.com/bookaminute/classics.shtml
=== About Famous People
As a kid in school, I had a hard time finding women in history, this
site has a fabulous collection of information of famous women throughout
history. From First Ladies to Spies, you'll find it all here, not to mention
famous men as well.
Get information on the Presidents, and their first ladies, homes and
monuments that were erected to honor famous people, what days of
the year are dedicated to famous men and women around the globe.
All in all I was fascinated and captivated by this site for several hours.
Check it out!
http://www.aboutfamouspeople.com/
=== The Last Word
The Last Word is dedicated to all the small mysteries of everyday life.
Why do we all have different fingerprints? Why do men have nipples?
How to keep onions from making you cry? These and many other
questions have been asked and answered on The Last Word page in
the print edition of the "New Scientist" magazine over the past seven
years and they are collected here on the web.
http://www.newscientist.com/lastword
=== MSN Learning & Research
Nifty site! Use it as a reference for dictionary, encyclopedia, or
maps.
Or, quiz yourself on a wide variety of topics.
http://encarta.msn.com/
=== Road Runner - member home pages
http://home.mn.rr.com/
=== Passover
Curious about the Jewish festival of Passover that begins at sundown
tomorrow night and runs through next week? Then this is THE site to
visit. I recommend viewing the flash version which you can do by
clicking on "Mr. Matzah". Choose between MY Kitchen, The Journey,
and Matzah Media. Wander through these sections with Mr. Matzah and
you will learn a lot, there are even some recipes for traditional favorites.
That's all I'm going to say about the spiffy flash section, I think you just
should surf it to discover its mysterious cuteness.
The HTML version of this site is very straightforward, and easy to navigate.
You can learn about Passover, get recipes, visit the kids section, and so
much more. You can even read a straight translation of the Passover
Haggadah, the Passover Companion, or the Understanding Passover
section. All of which I found highly educational information that was
presented in a format that was authentic and clearly explained.
Definitely worth your time and a look. Enjoy!
http://passover.net/
=== NSTORM
Particle Jam is a fast paced game of challenge and skill with multiple
scoring opportunities and a few hidden surprises.
Before particles completely fill the screen, click on 3 or more of the
same color to disintegrate them.
Use the mouse to click on particles. Score points for groups of 3 or more.
The bigger the group, the more points you score.
Use the Jammer Bar to disintegrate all particles in its path. Activate the
Jammer Bar by clicking on it or using the spacebar. Jammer Bar size will
increase in later levels giving you more disintegrating power.
But watch out for The Reactor Particle which will cause a chain reaction
that triggers a particle storm. Try to disintegrate the chain before it
reaches the top.
Play "Particle Jam" online here: http://www.nstorm.com/
=== Gadzillion Things to Think About
Let's start with an example: "Why is it that when you've got loads of
work to do, you're not organized, but when you've got no work to do,
you're lazy?" Now sit, and ponder young grasshopper.
You'll find tons of things to think about on this site from Advertising
to Situational to the weather. Lots of oddball phrases, wacky quotes,
and thought provoking meandering that you'll enjoy and probably want
to share with your friends and family.
http://www.gadzillionthings.net/
=== Yo-yo Universe
First of all, ignore the shopping links (unless you need a new yo-yo),
this site was too cool to pass up. I love yo-yo's and hope you all do too.
You can get information on yo-you events, news, tips and tricks, chat,
the pro spinner's club, and information for you parents out there.
I love the tips and tricks section: you can learn how to do the moves,
and if you have a question you can ask the experts. I think my favorite
move is probably "Walk the Dog". What's yours?
http://www.yoyouniverse.com/
=== eStationary Samples
http://stationery.mark-it-systems.com/samples.htm
=== LinkStash
LinkStash is an outstanding new bookmarks/favorites manager which
works for all later versions of Internet Explorer, Netscape, Mozilla,
Opera and NetCaptor. Just 5 minutes with LinkStash and we are
betting you will never want to use the IE favorites, Opera or Netscape
bookmarks again! Note that although you will find LinkStash far more
convenient to use to manage a substantial list of favorites, you can still
use Internet Explorer's favorites to visit certain websites if you wish, for
example, a short list of sites you visit most frequently.
http://www.rosecitysoftware.com/linkstash/
=== How to Make Ukrainian Easter Eggs
This web site claims to, "tell you everything you need to know about the
basics of making pysanky (more commonly known as Ukrainian Easter
Eggs)! All you need is patience, a steady hand, some supplies, and you
can make a beautiful work of art! Have fun with this fascinating artform!"
Now the designs are simply beautiful, and worth the effort. This site
walks you through what supplies you'll need and tells you where to get
them, then goes through and tells you how to make them, hints and
tricks, and there are 29 designs to choose from.
In the end you'll have gorgeous Easter eggs for friends and family.
http://www.learnpysanky.com/
=== CyberSleuth Kids
"An Internet Search Guide for the K-12 Student." Is their slogan, but
how good are they? Fabulous. With tons of links to information your
student really needs. There's clipart to make those school projects a
lot snazzier, learning software, educational tools like flashcards, math
work sheets, and an online word search will help your child out.
For teachers there are at least 1,000 free lesson plans. You will find a
search engine to help you and your students find the information they
need. Sections are conveniently grouped and linked by subject, for
instance, Art & Music, Health, History, Language Arts, and Media.
This site is a handy tool to anyone in school, bookmark this one today.
http://cybersleuth-kids.com/
=== Zoo Web
This is your world wide link to zoos and aquariums. What's so special
about it? Well, I think the Atlanta Panda Cam is a big bonus right now.
(Of Course, I've spent an hour watching the panda bear now!) But the
Satellite Tracking Wildlife is also really neat. Or would you like to be
a zoo keeper or animal handler, at Zoo Web you can find out how.
Check out their list of live web cams from different zoos around the
country and the world. A hometown mention for those of you who live
in Ohio, (since we're based in Toledo) go to the Toledo Zoo Hippo cam
and see our new neighbor, a baby hippo. And for those of you in Columbus
take a look at your Manatee cam.
There are also games, links to zoos and aquariums around the world, an
online poll, zoo groups, and the Zooper Site of the Month. Enjoy!
http://www.zooweb.com/
=== The Informed Webmaster's Choice
Free Webmaster Tools and Resources
Your center for absolutely free high quality webmaster resources and
tools to manage your web site. All utilities, programs and sites are
carefully selected.
http://kresch.com/resources/
=== A Walk Through Time
A Walk Through Time proudly brought to you by the NIST Physics
Laboratory. This site is neat. It shows the progression of time
measurement throughout the ages. From the earliest calendars to
the first simple time keeping devices.
I think my favorite section was the Earliest Clocks. You can learn
about sun clocks and water clocks. Egyptian Shadow Clocks RULE!
This site has an excellent progression and is interesting to read-not
dry like a textbook. I think our cultures have been fascinated with
time and will continue to be, so what are you waiting for? check it out!
http://physics.nist.gov/GenInt/Time/time.html
=== Serenity Snow
11/17/2002 Entry: "Serenity Snow"
So, it's been snowing.
It started yesterday, while I was doing my blog entry, in fact. I woke
up this morning and it was still snowing. If I had to pick a snow that
I like (hard to do, I hate snow), it would have to be the kind of snow
we've had this weekend. The white, puffy, fluffy kind that floats to the
ground, meandering about and around as if it had all the time in the
world to get to its destination. It makes the world look like a postcard,
floating white polka-dots that look like cottony mist in the distance,
coating everything in a whipped-cream layer that you could burrow into
and take a nap. Everything looks surreal, ethereal, like the world you
see in your peaceful dreams. As darkeness falls, it makes the street
lamps appear with fuzzy halos, and the sky becomes an enchanting
peachy-pink brighter than moon light. Every time the snow falls like
this I wish I could capture it. Not just the images, but the feeling it
comes with. A brief moment of serenity. I wish I could package that
all up into a bottle. Then I could take it three times a day and nothing
would matter anymore.
http://www.lara.on.ca/~wendi/blog/archives/00000032.html
=== Serenity
http://www.angelfire.com/ky/kkandyz/wish.html
=== Desktop Land
Desktop Land is the largest art guide and search directory for many
Desktop Online Stores. Quick, easy and smart downloads for free 3D
Wallpapers, desktop wallpaper, computer wallpapers, anime wallpaper,
free 3d Screensavers, Backgrounds, Desktop Themes, Desktop Icons,
window Fonts, Custom Mouse pointers, animated cursors, Icq and
Winamp Skins, Mouse icons, Desktop icons, buddy icons, aim icons,
free themed backgrounds, hotbars, 3d computer animations, basics
skin, Internet Explorer (IE) skins, msn yahoo messenger skins, hot bars
Art Soft and more with preview
http://www.desktopland.com/
=== Do It
Yourself
Another fabulous site for those of you who like to "do it yourself"
rather than pay someone to do it. In the world of home repair and
such, too many of these sites can't be anything but a blessing. I
know it is to me.
And believe me, this site has it all from the do it yourself tips to a
loan center to help you get the money for those repairs and the
occasional blunder you need to fix. You can choose your repair tips
by topic, or search for it with their search engine.
Topics include: Build/Remodel, Repair/Fix It, Decorate, Outdoors and
Living/Finance. Each of those topics drop down into more specific
areas to be more helpful for you when looking for the particular tip
needed at the moment. I give this site an A+.
http://www.doityourself.com/
=== Knowledge Hound
This site claims to be "the Web's biggest directory of free do-it-yourself
tips and tutorials. From sports to cooking to computers and much, much
more, we'll help you become one smart puppy."
From surfing around their site, and checking things out, I'd have to say
they have the right to their claim. I think you'll love the categories and
then the array of information that you'll find. I started out by choosing
sewing (and I know there are some of you who love this particular hobby)
I am a very uneasy beginner and found great tips and information, not to
mention links. I think I'll take up crocheting too.
I also loved the sections on weight maintaining, personal finance, and
automotive help. I think this site is diamond in the rough, so check it out.
http://www.knowledgehound.com/
=== Spy Checker
Yesterday's newsletter about spyware filled my email with gigabytes of
response. One was, "How do I know if a program I am downloading is
spyware?"
Well, if you want to find out if a freeware program you are about to
download is spyware, adware, or will install third-party components
(foistware) on your system, this is where to go.
Just type in the program in question and find out. You will find a link
to the company's privacy statement so you can read exactly what
information will be collected and how it will be used before you download.
I was surprised to find familiar names like RealAudio, which tracks your
downloads and listening habits.
So, before you download, check it out and find out just how much security
you'll be giving away.
http://www.spychecker.com/
=== Medical
http://www.webmd.com/
=== Personal web site
http://www.mamarocks.com/
=== Playing with Time
This site boasts, "Unseen worlds of change will be revealed. You will see
time sped up and slowed down, and behold the beauty of change. Time
will be in your hands to witness, replay, and even create. You never know...
you might not look at things quite the same way again."
Having spent a couple of hours at the site, I will say that they have their
bragging rights on this one. It's fabulous. Choose the To See and Do
section and start your journey through time command.
You can visit the Gallery and flit through their time experiments. Or
you can choose Activities and get creative. In the Activities section
there are three challenges that let you get your hands on time. Give
them a try, and become masters of time. I particularly enjoyed the
Fractal Tree challenge in the Activity section. I'm sure you will too.
http://www.playingwithtime.org/
=== So You Wanna.com?
So, you wanna learn how to do something, or know something, or try
something. This is the place to find out how.
So you wanna... buy a laptop, meet people in your neighborhood, or be
a human guinea pig? Get some clear and direct tips on how to get
started and what to do. Maybe you want to work for the CIA or fake an
appreciation for art. It's here too.
There are also more useful items like how to buy a DVD player,
organize your closet, or ask for a raise. If you wanna do something,
chances are you can get some ideas on how to start at this site.
http://www.soyouwanna.com/
=== Sand Castle Central
You guessed it this site is about sand castles, they boast at being
you best "on-line source for all things sand sculpture, including free
tips for beginners, information on the best sand carving tools, updated
contest and master sculptor information, related links and lots of
photos."
They have tips for both beginner builders and advanced sand sculptors.
Learn basic sand stacking and check out how to build a better sand
castle. Find out what tools you might need, and where you can find
sand castle competitions.
This one is definitely a great site, maybe it will chase the winter
blues away with some summer fun.
http://www.sandcastlecentral.com/
=== Paperfolding.com
Want to learn Origami? You know, the Japanese art of paper folding.
Here you can discover its history, find fun ways to use origami to teach
math, and much more.
This is probably the most complete origami site on the web!
http://www.paperfolding.com/
=== Internet Pizza Server
Order and view a Pizza over the web. Just choose your toppings!
The "renderpie" program, written by a professional with years of
experience in both the software and pizza food-service industries,
converts your text pizza orders into fairly realistic graphical pies.
It supports half and half pizzas, as well as extra toppings such as
Beetles, Golfballs, Bolts, and Legos. All Internet Pizza Server pies
are made with 100% recycled electrons. Enjoy!
http://www.ecst.csuchico.edu/~pizza
=== Hyperhistory
A really great world history site, covering over 3,000 years of history
from around the globe. They have 460 biographical timelines for you
to peruse and make use of.
I suggest you click on the HyperHistory link to get to the online viewing,
otherwise youâ?Td think this was an advertisement. Itâ?Ts cleverly
hidden-but lets make it more simple go here and view 3,000 years of history.
http://www.hyperhistory.com/
=== Web
Pages that SUCK
Want to know what makes a web page suck? Well this is the place
to find out. For webmasters this is a valuable resource of what
not to do, what doesn't work, and what will just plain drive web
surfers away.
You will enjoy the Daily Sucker - What's New in Bad Design, You
Think These Sites Suck, and The Two Minute Offense. But while
those are great I think the real enjoyment of this site comes from
the Original Web Pages That Suck section - this is a look at crappy
web design that both this site and maybe even you, the web designer
have done that is just painful and annoying.
Enjoy (or don't)!
http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/
=== Calskp's VIRTUAL VACATION
http://calskp.50megs.com/index-Main.html
=== Castles on the Web
Have you ever wanted to live in a castle? Need information on castles
for a report or for your own curiosity then you need to visit Castles on
the Web. They have a fabulous castle search engine if you have specific
questions. There are also galleries of images, greeting cards you can
send online and information.
My favorite part of this site is the Castle Tours section. Where you can
take a tour of a castle across the world from the seat of your computer
chair. Enjoy!
http://www.castlesontheweb.com/
=== The Artchive
Like fine art? Well if you do this site has it, and it's free. You can find
everything from tribalism to modernism here, and all the good stuff in
between like expressionism and romanticism. They even have a section
of just women artists. You can take a tour or stroll through only the
sections you like.
Perfect for school reports, or just if your trying to find a picture you
like. This is art-tastic. There is a theory and criticism section and
much, much more, check it out.
http://www.artchive.com/
=== The Free Site
Need a source of freebies? Well then this is definitely it. There are
tons of freebies here and a little bit of something for everyone.
Webmasters - you can find freebies to make your sites neater, cleaner
and better.
Music Listeners - you can find wavs, midis, and mp3s.
And that's not all. Choose the freebie section of the site you wish to
view and get links to more freebie sites. You can even sign up for
their freebie newsletter and get freebies sent directly to your e-mail.
Enjoy this one.
http://www.thefreesite.com/
=== I Should Be Working
I Should Be Working is a site dedicated to "slackers, goof-offs,
procrastinators, loafers, long lunchers, and web addicted employees"
states their front page. They also state, "we strive to be the best
online starting point for web surfing slackishness."
Curious? Well their statement of intent got my attention.
So I checked it out and it is a fun place to hang out. Their feature
sections include: Office Survival, Loafing Tools, Mail Room, Cartoons,
Panic Button, and the ever popular Football Pool.
I spent a lot of time loafing around in my pj's surfing their cartoon
section and office survival section.
So get slacking, check out this site!
http://www.ishouldbeworking.com/
=== eHow
I know, the name is kind of strange, but let me tell you, the site is
chock full of great how-to advice. They say they have over 15,000
articles (I wasn't going to count), so if you have a how-to to do
here's your site :-)
http://www.ehow.com/
=== DUMP WARNINGS
http://www.dumbwarnings.com/
=== useful PC info site
http://www.globalarray.net/user/shotzy/index.html
=== STARTUP MINIMIZED
http://www.netsquirrel.com/msconfig/
=== PC Answers
http://www.computing.net/
=== MUSIC midis with lyrics
Large list of midis, many with lyrics
http://www.341stbombgroup.org/music/
=== MUSIC
http://www.barbaralea.com/html/links.htm
=== Lexical Freenet Connected Thesaurus
This site is fabulous for anyone who needs a thesaurus, especially if you're
like me and can never find yours lying around the house. You can power search
like never before.
For example, you can search by words that rhyme, words that connect, semantics,
biographical, and much more. There are tons of word connection options. And for
those of you in college, with literature classes there is even a Shakespeare
search. Give it a try.
http://www.lexfn.com/
=== Suspicion of Murder
Welcome to Suspicion of Murder. Here, you are the detective. This is a
wonderful
site for those of you who love solving mysteries. Play "Murder Without
Escape"
today. To do so, click on the words Start Playing.
This takes you to the first page of the mystery. Can you solve this murder
before there are more victims? Challenge your wits and your survival skills in
this daring game. It's possible to score 102 points. Can you solve this
mystery?
http://www.suspicion-of-murder.com/crime/e/book11.htm
=== TV Tome
Welcome to TV Tome.
http://www.tvtome.com/tvtome
A whole new TV reference guide for the shows you love.
TV Tome has over 900 complete guides covering almost all the current shows and
many of your favorite classics. There's also an additional 2000+ guides that
are
partially complete or under development. Use the search box to find your
favorite or browse through the list of all shows.
http://www.tvtome.com/tvtome/servlet/ListShowsServlet
=== I Love Pickles
http://www.ilovepickles.org/
=== Netives
Welcome to Netives, a place to relax and have some fun. What kind of fun am I
talking about? The kind that can only come from playing a game. Here at
Netives,
you can play Gems, Invasion, Jroids, Jalaga, Marbles, Speed Marbles, and
Wormz.
And best of all its free. You just pick a game, read the instructions if you
need them, and then click "play". The game loads and you are on your
way to
hours of fun. For those you who like Spore Cubes, you'll want to try your hand
at Marbles. For anyone who enjoys Tetris, have fun playing Gems. All in all,
enjoy!
http://netives.com/Games/index.njsp
=== Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream
http://www.benjerry.com/indexg.tmpl
=== yiddish
http://www.jewishpath.org/mnoglossary.html
http://www.koshernosh.com/dictiona.htm
=== Game Cabinet
So you buy a brand new board game and play it for several weeks, then like all
new things it loses its appeal for awhile. Then suddenly you have a craving to
play that board game again, except its been so long you don't remember the rules
and you just happened to lose the itty bitty sheet of paper tucked in the game
that had the rules printed on it. Sigh. Whatever will you do?
Well never fear, there is a solution for those of you who lost the rules to
that
favorite game. It's called the Game Cabinet. Choose from an alphabetical list
to
find the rules to your game. Just click the name and you are whisked away to
the
page with the rules on it. Even better, they are all in an easy printable form
to make printing out a copy for your board game as simple as hitting ctrl + p.
Have fun!
http://www.centralconnector.com/GAMES/GameCab.html
=== Spore Cubes
Bored? Waiting for an important e-mail? Waiting for an instant messenger buddy
to return to their keyboard? If so, here is a neat little game for you to play
while you wait, or just to fill time, hey you can even play it just for fun.
It's called Spore Cubes.
The object of the game is not to have any blocks left. You click on matching
blocks and they disappear, the stack changes and you're on to find your next
set.
It has two levels of difficulty- Easy and Hard. The difference between the
levels is the number of colors you have to match; the hard level has more
colors.
Now I have to go play some more Spore Cubes, I'm already addicted to it. Enjoy!
http://www3.sympatico.ca/spore/wip/Cubes.html
=== GAME SHOWS online
http://www.uproar.com/
=== Hoax Sites
We've had loads of Hoax Site submissions since I ran the E-mail Etiquette issue
a few days ago. There were two that kept coming up over and over, so I wanted
to
share them with you.
# 1 - Truth or Fiction -
This one was sent about 50 times. It's chock full of information and would be a
welcome addition to anyone's favorites file:
http://www.truthorfiction.com/
# 2 - HoaxBusters
Here the other one that kept coming up. It's call HoaxBusters and it's another
good source to help you figure out if you're getting taken for a digital ride:
http://hoaxbusters.ciac.org/
# 3 - Urban Legends
http://urbanlegends.miningco.com/science/urbanlegends/library/blhoax.htm
=== OCR software
install and try out the TextBridge (OCR) software
it came on the CD with the slideshow software
I bought from World Start (slideshow)
ArcSoft PhotoBase 2.0
=== Bell South radio
http://home.bellsouth.net/
http://home.bellsouth.net/scripts/staticpage.dll?spage=cg/news/channel_entemusic
.htm&only=y&ck=
=== Coloring Fun
Didn't you just love coloring books when you were a kid? This site will let you
do just that, only in a high tech way using your web browser.
There are all kinds of categories and pictures that you can choose from and
there's always new ones added weekly.
It would be a great site for those who are just bored or to keep the children
busy. If you don't like a color you chose, then just hit your back button and
try again.
http://www.coloring.com/
=== Read The Paper!
Have you ever wanted to read newspapers from a town you use to live in or
maybe
just wanted to see what was going on in other cities? This Cool Site gives you
an extensive collection of links to almost every newspaper, TV Station, and
Radio station in virtually every area of the United States.
http://www.usnpl.com/
=== Home Improvement
Need to do some home repairs? Not sure where to start? Check out today's site.
They have information on just about any time of home repair or improvement you
want to do.
http://www.todayshomeowner.com/
=== JEWISH MUSIC RADIO
http://www.jewishbroadcast.com/
=== CyberSoup
Are you looking for a certain recipe? Do you need to convert a recipe to make
it
larger or smaller? Would you like to add new and creative recipes to your
cooking repertoire? How about learning to cook foreign dishes? Well you can
find
all of those things here and more. Give it a looksee.
http://www.netcooks.com/
=== International High IQ Society
This is a truly fascinating site. You can choose to use the flash version of
the
site or the HTML. I choose to use the HTML.
There are five free IQ tests : The Ultimate IQ test, Verbal IQ Test, Logic IQ
Test, Culture Fair IQ Test, and last but not least the Test For Exceptional
Intelligence.
A score of 126 or above on any of these tests and you are invited you to become
a member of their society. There are also 5 Logic puzzles that you can take a
gander at. My favorite of the puzzles was #2, the Kryptos monument.
The best part is that all the tests are free and the results are immediate.
Have
fun!
http://www.highiqsociety.org/
=== MAILNULL
Don't you hate getting spam? Don't you wish you could stop it? With a MailNull
account, you can give out an email address whenever some Web form asks you
for
one. Mail sent to this account will forward to you. For example, if your
MailNull account name is 'dave' and you buy a book from amazon.com, you could
give the following email address to Amazon:
dave.amazon@mailnull.com
Each address can be annotated with information to help you remember to whom
you
gave the email address. If you start receiving spam to a particular address,
you
can disable it with a flick of the mouse. This also should help you track which
Web companies are selling their email address lists to other companies. If you
start receiving spam on your amazon email address, you would know whom to
blame.
http://mailnull.com/
=== who owns this web site?
http://www.easywhois.com/
=== tv listings
http://tv.yahoo.com/
=== Interview with God
http://www.reata.org/interview.html
=== NStorm for free games
http://www.nstorm.com/
=== Archive of the Internet
http://www.archive.org/index.html
=== Family Fun
Looking for ideas to keep the kids busy? How about some advice on
keeping them healthy? Or maybe they need a little help in school. All
this and lots more are covered at the site below. It's one of the best
family advice sites I've seen.
http://www.familyeducation.com/
=== Online Art Museum
Want to see some of the world's best artwork but don't want to leave
your house? As you've probably guessed by now, you can do just that with
today's Cool Site. Check it out:
http://www.metmuseum.org/
=== Bizarre!
You want to try some really fun stuff? Check out this site. They'll show
you how to use water to crumple a tin can and how to make a popping
bubble gum wrapper cap. Really!
http://freeweb.pdq.net/headstrong/control.htm
=== Riddles
http://cvs.anu.edu.au/andy/rid/riddle.html
=== Time Capsule
Want to know what happed on a particular day in history? Here's a site
that can help. You type in the date you're interested in and it spits
out the history. What could be easier?
http://dmarie.com/timecap/
=== Street Studio
Here's a different one. Take a couple guys, give 'em a backdrop, and
send them out on the streets of New York to take pictures of people.
What do you get? A site with lots of cool pictures, that's what.
Although the site is a bit of a pain to navigate (symbols instead of
pictures), it's still worth taking a look at.
http://www.streetstudio.com/
=== News Overload!
I found a cool site that is basically a search engine for news-related
sites. Click on a category or enter a search term and it delivers links
to all the most relevant news sites. Whether you're looking for a
specific story or just wanting to keep on top of things, this site is a
must see.
http://www.totalnews.com/
=== Discount Software Page:
http://www.worldstart.com/store/index.htm
=== Computer Terms:
http://www.worldstart.com/tips/terms.htm
=== Greeting Cards
http://www.ohmygoodness.com/
=== Repair Clinic
http://www.repairclinic.com/
=== Virus Hoaxes
You've just been sent an e-mail with a virus warning. Do you send it
along to everyone you know? Check these sites first to make sure you're
not just wasting bandwidth.
Snopes:
computer/internet virus or hoax info?
http://www.snopes.com/computer/computer.htm
Vmyths – truth about computer security hysteria
http://vmyths.com/
Urban Legends:
http://www.urbanlegends.com/
About.com's Urban Legends & Hoaxes:
http://urbanlegends.miningco.com/science/urbanlegends/library/blhoax.htm
A web search will reveal many other sites, but these should
provide quite a bit of useful information.
This first one has great demographics on viruses!
http://www.sevenlocks.com/SCBVirusProblems.htm
A simple introduction to viruses:
http://www.chey.com/security/vfaq.html
Other good sites:
http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/index.html
http://www.sands.com/
http://www.oswego.edu/icc/virus.html
http://www.op.net/~rkane/pcvirus.htm
http://www.firmware.com/pb4ts/virus.htm
A small page of Mac virus info is:
http://www.mscd.edu/~mac/macvirus.html
Descriptions of some anti-virus programs:
http://cwsapps.tower.net.au/svirus.html
=== Games!
Looking to do some online gaming? Check out the site below. They have
links to tons of cool java games. Enjoy!
http://www.addictivegames.com/
=== Ask An Expert
Need expert advice on something? Maybe you're stuck on some aspect of an
aerospace project. Maybe you need something explained about quantum
physics before you can complete that super computer you've been
designing. Well, even if your question isn't quite as difficult as that,
you'll probably find the answer at this site. Check 'em out:
http://www.askanexpert.com/
=== Need A Manual?
Have you ever had a product that you lost the manual to? Maybe a camera,
computer, vcr, etc? Well, here's a site that'll help out. They are an
online manual search engine. You tell them what you're looking for, they
try to find a way for you to order a manual. Great idea, if you ask me.
http://www.livemanuals.com/
=== Fix Your Own VCR
Ever had your VCR go bad? Well, this site can help the do-it-yourself
types out there to avoid costly repair bills and fix the thing yourself.
Everything from safety, to database pages (for various brands of VCRs),
to step by step instructions. They even have a neat trick to eject a
stuck tape.
http://www.fixer.com/
=== Like Technology?
If you're like me, you can't get enough electronic gizmos. I'm always
looking towards my next technology purchase with a child-like
enthusiasm. In fact, right now I'm hoping for one of those digital
big-screen TVs :-)
Anyhow, if you like technology, you'll love this site. Information on
everything from computers to phones. Not only will you pick up a trick
or two, but you'll also get information on how to record vinyl records
to CDs, saving on your electric bill, and more.
http://www.technocopia.com/
=== area codes
http://www.areacode-info.com/maps/images/us-mid-atlantic.gif
http://www.areacode-info.com/COC/default.htm
=== Recipes for things, not food
Interesting site with lots of how-to recipes. Learn how to make everything from
car wax to shampoo, bath oils to cosmetics. There are even projects for your
kids to do, make clay, faerie castles, or slime.
http://www.make-stuff.com/
=== Just for Kids
Do you need somewhere online for your kids to play games, and learn things as
well? At 123 FreeBiz for kids, you'll find online games, and learning links. A
Fun place for your kids on the internet.
http://123freebiz.com/Children.html
=== Cooking Help
Have you ever wondered how to prepare a certain food? Don't you wish
there was somewhere you could go for help? Sure, you can ask a relative,
but they may not know either. And if they *do* know, then you're forever
indebted to them. No thanks.
Check out Ask A Chef. They are a Q&A site where you ask the questions.
In fact, they have a searchable database you can use to find past
questions. I wonder if they have anything on hot dogs...
http://www.askachef.com/
=== Bubble Wrap
Want to pop virtual bubble wrap? Check out this site. It's not quite as
fun as popping the real thing, but it beats working :-)
http://www.urban75.com/Mag/bubble.html
=== Research Anything!
Wow, I stumbled across a good one the other day. This site has research
links to just about everything you would ever need to know. If you do any
kind of research on the web, you need to bookmark this one!
http://www.gate.net/%7Ebarbara/index.html
=== Have Some Fun!
Check out this fun site. They have stuff like IQ tests, games, puzzles,
brain teasers, and tons more. It would take several days (at least) to
explore this one. Have fun!
http://www.afunzone.com/
=== Dumb Laws
Did you know that it's illegal in San Francisco to pile horse manure
more than six feet high on a street corner? Or that it's not permitted
to fish for whales on Sunday in Ohio (yeah, we have a big problem here
with all those whale hunters).
If you enjoy dumb laws like the ones above, you'll spend hours at the
site below:
http://www.dumblaws.com/
And no, it isn't just the US that has dumb laws (although it seems we
lead the pack) - check out some of the other countries too.
=== Puzzled
Like puzzles? This site has everything from word puzzles to jigsaw puzzles.
And in no short supply. This site will keep you busy for hours.
http://www.thepuzzlefactory.com/
=== Science Stuff
Interested in genetics? Neuroscience? Medicine? Biology?
If you answered Yes to any of those questions, then check out the
journal
Nature online. Tons of interesting information on the above topics and much
more. You do have to go through a free online registration , but
it's
worth it.
http://www.nature.com/
=== Just For Kids (and parents)
Check out Seussville! It's Dr. Suess online. Lots of Seuss-type games,
contests, events, and more. I think I ll spend some time on this site with
my daughter. She ll love it!
http://www.randomhouse.com/seussville/
=== Need Info?
Sure you do. We all do from time to time. So, how do you go about getting
it? Open up an encyclopedia? Well, throw those paper ones away! Here's an
online encyclopedia you can use for free. Just type in your topic and
you'll be a mini-expert before you know it.
http://www.encyclopedia.com/
=== the
Dotcomguy
Check out the Dotcomguy. He has decided to live off the internet for the
entire year. Everything he needs, he gets online. He started with an empty
apartment and went from there. You can find out all about him at the
address below.
http://www.dotcomguy.com/
=== Egg Hunt
If you would like to see some cool Easter Eggs (the kind that live in
computer programs) then check out the site below. They have nearly 2000
eggs for computer programs posted on their site, plus some eggs for other
media as well. Have fun!
http://www.eeggs.com/
=== Wave Files
Since we re busy taking about Wave files, here's a site that has tons of
them archived for your playing pleasure. The stuff on this site is mostly
from movies, but it will give you a good chance to try them out. Just head
to a section you like and click the link. It should automatically play.
http://www.wavplace.com/
=== Just For Fun
If you enjoy little web shows of animated gifs, pictures, and
sounds,
you'll love Deb's Fun pages. Check em out.
Here's a link on that site that ll make you laugh for sure:
http://www.debsfunpages.com/out
Here's the Homepage:
http://www.debsfunpages.com/
=== Old 'toons
Remember all those great Saturday morning cartoons? Well, they live again
at the site below! Find out what happened to all your favorite cartoons and
see what's happening today. It's kind of a walk down an animated memory
lane. I m going to see if I can download a shot of smurfette...
http://www.yesterdayland.com/
=== Green Thumb
Here's a cool little home and garden type site with a sense of humor
(check out their "tacky Yard Art" contest!). They have tons of info
on
anything related to your backyard. Stuff like product reviews,
discussions, articles, links, and tons more. Here's the link:
http://www.gardenreview.com/
=== Freeware
If you don't like paying for software, this site is just what you've
been looking for. They have hundreds of freeware software titles to
browse through. Here's the link:
http://www.freewarehome.com/
=== 15 Seconds of Fame
What would you do for 15 seconds of fame? Well, check out today's site
to watch some videos of what others have done. Strange stuff. For sure.
http://www.entertaindom.com/pages/15seconds/index.jsp
=== Cool Encyclopedia
Looking for an online encyclopedia? Check out this one! It's called the
"Eyewitness Encyclopedia" due to the tons of photographs it has. It
would be great for all those upcoming school reports
:-)
http://eyewitness.dk.com/
=== Funny Web Cams
See the online verison of "America's Funniest Home Videos". Need I
say
more?
http://www.funniestwebcams.com/
=== Get Live!
If you want live streaming audio/video from new sources all over the
globe, here's a site you'll like. They have live satellite broadcasts
from all over the globe you can listen to and / or watch right from your
computer. Check them out at:
http://www.mediacrossing.com/
=== Party Time!
Do you enjoy having guests over? Do like to entertain? Here's a site
filled with advice on everything from what to cook to what theme to use.
Advice for kids parties too! Take a look:
http://www.greatentertaining.com/
=== Rotten Tomatoes
Know what I hate? I hate going to (or renting) a bad movie. And it seems
like there's more and more of them set loose every year. So, to save
yourself some money, head to this site. They have tons of great movie
reviews. I spent a half hour at the site before I could pull myself back
to this newsletter!!
http://www.rotten-tomatoes.com/
=== News Hunting
Have you ever found yourself hunting around for more information on a
current news story? Well, here's a search engine for news! Just type in
what you're looking for and it will give you links to relevant
sites.
http://www.newsblip.com/
=== Better Grammar
Is it your or you're? Its or it's? Bare or bear?
If you've ever wondered about proper word usage, here's a site that can
help. They have an excellent collection of common grammatical errors
that you can browse through. Who knows, maybe one day I'll be able to
write one of these newsletters without making all the English teachers
out there cringe.
Maybe not :-)
http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/errors.html
=== Computer Tips? Not!
In case you were wondering how NOT to fix a computer, here's a funny
site you'll enjoy. If you follow any of his advice, don't come crying to
me!
http://www.magiccarpet.com/~bcarpio/cures.htm
=== Animal Zoo
Need information on an animal? Here's your site. They have an enormous
collection of links to different animal sites. Great site for kids doing
school reports.
http://netvet.wustl.edu/e-zoo.htm
=== Looking for someone?
Need to find someone? Check out AnyWho. Just type in the fields you know
and it will attempt to find the person or business you're searching for.
It doesn't always work, but who knows, you may find your long lost Uncle
Fred.
http://www.anywho.com/
=== Baby Pictures
Want to see your baby picture? A reader sent in this incredible site.
All you do is put in a little information and up pops your picture! They
have millions of pictures, yours is bound to be in their database. Check
it out and let me know if you find yours :-)
http://www.nurseryphotos.com/
=== Like Jigsaw Puzzles?
Check out today's site. Tons of jigsaw puzzles you can play online. You
can choose the number of pieces base don your skill level. Anywhere from
6 pieces (my level) to 256.
Yup, it's another big time waster, but hey you're on company time
anyway, right?
http://www.jigzone.com/
=== Medical Info
You've heard of the Physician's Desk Reference, right? Well, here's the
online version. Tons of great info for both those in the medical field
and us regular people. Huge site, tons of info.
http://www.pdr.net/
=== In Passing
Here's an interesting one. It's basically quotations of overheard
conversations. See for yourself:
http://www.inpassing.org/
=== What's your religion?
If you're not sure, check out the quiz at the site below. It will help
you match a religion to your beliefs. And I thought I had seen it all...
http://www.beliefnet.com/features/quiz/
=== Dumb Teachers
Before I recommend this site, let me say that I know the vast majority
of teachers are great people and would never belong on this site.
However, in every group you tend to have a few, um, bad apples. Here's a
site chuck full of stories (you'll need to click the "read stories"
link
at the top) that'll make you laugh, cringe, and just plain scratch your
head. Here's the link:
http://www.dumbteacher.com/
=== The Latest News
Here's a news site that grabs info off of other news sites and gives you
the very latest headlines from all over the world. If you're looking for
an article on a breaking story, you'll enjoy this site.
http://www.newsblip.com/
=== Internet Magic
Here's a cool site, chuck full of fun internet magic tricks. If you
watch close, you'll probably be able to figure them out, but they're
still lots of fun:
http://www.simeonmagic.com/
=== Crop Circles
Are those mysterious crop circles really information on how to make
cheap energy - compliments of extraterrestrial visitors? Hmm...
http://j_kidd.tripod.com/presentations/crop.html
=== Insults
Here's a different one. You click a little button and it generates a
curse in Grand Elizabethan style. Yeah, I wasn't sure what it was
either.
Turns out it gives you a curse phrased the way it would have been in
Shakespeare's time. Stuff like, "Thou loggerheaded paper-faced
jolthead!" .
I know, you're probably thinking this is a good one to skip. Try it out
though, you'll be surprised how addicting it can be!
http://www.tower.org/insult/insult.html
=== Any Last Words?
Ever wonder what people say before they die? This site is filled with
the last words of famous people. They cover last words, executions, and
suicides.
My all time favorite is:
"I drank WHAT?!?"
~ Socrates
Anyhow, here's the link:
http://www.corsinet.com/braincandy/dying.html
=== Drive Like A Moron
Don't you hate bad drivers? Well, the author of this site has taken that
hatred to an unhealthy level. It's a complete guide on how to drive like
a moron. Take a look:
http://members.aol.com/doggiesnot/
=== Article
Finder
This is basically a magazine search engine. You type in the kind of
article you're looking for and it gives you a list to choose from. Find
an article that looks interesting and your off. This is a must see. I
can think of tons of uses already.
http://www.findarticles.com/
=== What's
That Symbol?
Have you ever come across a symbol that left you scratching your head
trying to figure out it's meaning? Well, here's a site with thousands of
symbols and their meanings. Check it out:
http://www.symbols.com/
=== History House
This site proves that if you don't learn from past mistakes, you'll
repeat them. It's one of the coolest history sites I've seen. Tons of
good "See, that's happened before" type articles. Check it out:
http://www.historyhouse.com/
=== Movie Reviews
Should you go pay the big bucks to see that new movie? Sure, it looks
good in the previews, but don't they all?
Well, before you go and waste your time and money, check out the site
below. It has reviews from all sorts of different sources. Really handy.
http://www.mrqe.com/
=== M.C. Escher
Want to take a look at some impossible art? Head to the site below and
take the "virtual tour". It takes a little bandwidth to download each
individual tour, but they are very cool.
You'll see what I mean:
http://www.mcescher.com/
=== Woof!
Got a dog? Does it behave like it should? If so, skip this site.
Still there? I kinda thought so :-)
Here's a site that will help you train and understand your dog. They
stress training using rewards and praise, and have tons of tips for
keeping your best friend in line (still talking about the dog here).
In addition, they have tips on choosing the right dog, interpreting
behavior, proper feeding, and more. Check it out:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/woof/home.html
=== Family Time
Need advice on rising your kids? How about great game ideas?
Or tips on keeping them busy? Well, it's all at the site below, plus
tons more. They have just about every aspect of raising a family
covered. Take a look:
http://www.family.go.com/
=== ATM Locator
Need to find an ATM? Stop wandering the streets and try the ATM locator
at the site below. It's a worldwide ATM finder, so no matter where you
are, you'll be able to get some cash.
http://www.visa.com/pd/atm/main.html
=== Strange Sites
Looking for some unusual sites? Here's a page that's chuck full of 'em!
Check it out:
http://www.robinsnest.com/articles/ChicWeird.html
=== Time & Date
OK, I know what you're thinking, "Why would I need a website to help me
tell time?" Well, cuz this site does lots more than give you the time.
It can give you the current time in most countries and many major
cities. In addition, they have a cool little date calendar where you can
put in a start and stop date, and the software will give you the
difference. Of course, there's lots more to this site, so give it a
look-see:
http://www.timeanddate.com./
=== Copy & Paste
See this tip on the web at:
http://www.worldstart.com/tips/copypaste.htm
=== Music Facts
Hey groupies, here's a site that'll give you the facts on your favorite
singers. Find out where they were born, track their careers, and much
more. Lots of great information.
http://www.allmusic.com/
=== Digital Camera Reviews
Are you thinking of buying a digital camera? One of our readers sent in
the site below that you'll love. It has reviews for just about every
digital camera currently available (and lots of discontinued ones too).
I checked the info on my Nikon 990 and was pleasantly surprised to
discover that this site actually had more info on the camera than Nikon
did! Check it out:
http://www.steves-digicams.com/hardware_reviews.html
And no, I'm not the Steve in the URL above.
Wait, one more thing before you go. If you need to familiarize yourself
with the "ins and outs" of digital cameras, check out my guide at:
http://www.worldstart.com/guides/digital1.htm
=== Trouble in the skys?
Check it out with the FAA or Travel Warnings site.
http://www.faa.gov/
http://travel.state.gov/travel_warnings.html
=== So You Wanna Travel?
No matter where you're traveling to, you need to be careful of travel
scams. To avoid losing your cash, property, or anything else, check out
Discovery Travel's guide to avoiding travel scams. You'll be glad you
did.
http://travel.discovery.com/tv/wmdangr/scams.html
=== Got A Family?
If you said yes, have I got a site for you. These guys have just about
every aspect of raising a family covered. Stuff like easy meals that
kids will eat, games, getting your kids to read, safety tips, and tons
more. Take a minute to check it out at:
http://www.family.go.com/
=== Backgrounds
This site is a US Government site, but I think it would be useful to
people all over the globe.
If you're planning to travel out of your country, you should check out
this out. They give you the background reports on countries all over the
world. Information on people, government, history, political conditions,
and tons more.
http://www.state.gov/www/background_notes/index.html
=== Satellite Fun
Can you find your neighborhood from space? Well, check out this site and
maybe you can.
They have an interactive, online satellite map of sorts. You can select
and area and zoom in fairly close. To see what I mean, head here:
http://www.terraserver.com/
=== How Stuff Works
One of our readers sent this one it. It's called How Stuff Works, and it
easily falls into the "bookmarkable" category.
They have information on how just about everything works. They cover
topics from toasters to missiles. If you're the curious type (like me)
better plan an hour or two for this one.
http://www.howstuffworks.com/
=== Bones About It
Check out this skeletal site. If you've ever wanted to explore the human
skeleton, but just couldn't bring yourself to do the grave digging
thing, then this site may help. They have complete skeletons online for
your perusal. Yeah, I know it's a little strange at first, but if you
have a kid doing a science report, this site may prove invaluable. Have
a look:
http://www.eskeletons.org/
=== Green Thumb Anyone?
Looking for gardening info? Here's site that is filled with hundreds of
gardening links. No matter how far your thumb is from being green, this
site can help. Who knows, maybe even I can get a plant to live for more
than a few hours...
http://garden-gate.prairienet.org/
=== Earth
From Above
Here's one you'll enjoy. It's mainly outdoor landscapes taken from
planes/ helicopters. The images are from all over the globe, so you'll
probably see something from a country near you. They're all extremely
well done. Makes me want to go get my pilot's license...
http://home.fujifilm.com/efa/pi/index4.html
=== Super Dictionary
Need to look up a word? Try the site below. They have nearly 3 million
words on file (multiple languages). It's a meta-search for online
dictionaries, so you'll get plenty of results.
http://www.onelook.com/
=== Super Homework Help
If you've ever needed help with homework (your own or your kids) than
here's a site that should find its way into your favorites folder. They
have homework / research info for just about any subject. You tell them
what you’re looking for and the grade level, and they find what you
need. Really cool:
http://www.bigchalk.com/
=== Too Funny
You guys gotta check out this site, it hilarious. I'm going to start you
in the Action Figures Theater, but make sure you check out the whole
thing. This site should probably be considered rated PG.
http://www.itsalladream.com/figures.html
=== Stupid Inventions
Here's a site dedicated to showing you all sorts of, well, stupid
inventions. Everything from the "Alarm Fork" to "Foot
Hoops".
http://totallyabsurd.com/absurd.htm
=== What's That Number??
Hunting around for an e-mail address, telephone number, or fax number?
Here's a site I stumbled across that has it all. It's more of a
directory to other sites than a database, but it's a great place to
start.
http://www.phonenumbers.net/
=== Crayola
Looking for a cool site for kids? Try crayola.com. They have tons of
great ideas that will keep the kids busy till spring. Check them out,
before your nerves are totally shot.
http://www.crayola.com/
=== Gross
Food
Want something to eat? Well, you may think again after taking a look at
the old food ads & cook books on today's Cool Site.
http://www.lileks.com/institute/gallery/
=== Internet Bumper Stickers!
Yes, bumper stickers have found a home on the net, and this site gives
them away for free. You can stick 'em on your e-mails, your web site,
or even in documents. They are lots of fun to read through, so enjoy :-)
http://www.internetbumperstickers.com/
=== Kids Bored?
Are your kids looking for stuff to do? Are you sick of hearing "I'm
bored"?
Well, I stumbled upon a cool little site that is just the ticket. Lots
of indoor style activities that will help keep your kids busy and keep
you out of therapy. Lots of arts & crafts type projects.
Take a look:
http://www.theideabox.com/
=== Useless Knowledge
http://www.uselessknowledge.com/
=== The Gender
Test
Liven up your dull morning by taking this fun and interesting test. It is 50
interesting questions long, and takes only about 5-10 minutes to complete.
You answer a series of questions and then the test predicts whether you are
male
or female.
It guessed I was female and Steve was a male from the way we answered the
questions. There are even some interesting facts about men and women at the
very
end. Go ahead - I challenge you all to take the gender test...
http://test3.thespark.com/gendertest/
=== My Virtual Model Inc.
Create your own virtual model. This site allows you to create and customize a
virtual model that will allow you try clothes on while being online. No crowded
dressing rooms, no hassle trying to get a sales clerk to unlock a dressing
room,
no need to even get undressed. Don't you ever have days where you want to buy
clothes but don't because you'd have to try them on?
Well here is a solution to that problem. Make your own online model, it takes
roughly ten minutes to get your model created, customized, and ready to go. You
can get style advice for what works best for your body type, and the best part
is they give you graphics to show you so you don't have to worry about trying
to
figure out fashion jargon. You can even take your model shopping at their
affiliate sites. Check it out.
http://www.myvirtualmodel.com/mvmhome/jsp/home.jsp
=== Candy USA
Do you have a sweet tooth? Well if so, you can visually feed it at this site.
Learn how to make candy crafts, read candy statistics, find candy recipes, as
well as candy trivia. Read up on Nutrition and Health information where they
answer such questions as:
"Is my candy safe?"
And cover topics like:
"Pyschology" foods, Chocolate Does Not Raise Cholesterol, and Snacks,
Chocolate,
Candy and Kids, and many more. Check out this very tasty eye candy.
http://www.candyusa.org/
=== Milky Way
View the Milky Way and zoom down until you get to the atoms of a single cell.
Each time you zoom in you see a new picture that's 10 x closer than the
previous
one.
Here's how it works:
Starting at the Milky Way, each picture gets 10 times closer until you are
seeing our solar system, then earth, then Florida, then a tree, then a leaf on
the tree, then the cells on the leaf and finally you zoom in to see the protons
and electrons.
Runs in a gradual slideshow or you can use the navigation buttons to zoom in
and
out. Very cool. Check it out!
http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/primer/java/scienceopticsu/powersof10/
=== Colorgenics
Try Colorgenics, a personality test based on color. You choose colored cubes in
the order of your preference, with the one you are most drawn to first until
there are no cubes left. This determines your personality traits based on
color.
After you are done choosing it generates a personal profile made just for you
based on your choices. I was surprised how easily it applied to what's going on
in my life, and it only takes about 5 minutes of your time. For some easy fun
check out Colorgenics.
http://www.colorgenics.com/
=== Food Geeks
Need a recipe? Can't find it or you want to try something new? Give Food Geeks
a
try. They have special seasonal recipes, regular everyday recipes, you can
submit your own recipes, and they have a convenient search engine to make
finding the recipe you want easier. Hungry? Check out these recipes.
http://www.foodgeeks.com/
=== Sherlockian.net
Are you a Sherlock Holmes fan? Do you enjoy a good whodunit? Well this is the
place on the web to find anything and everything you ever wanted to know about
Sherlock Holmes. There are pictures, sounds, games, and so much more.
Was Sir Author Conan Doyle a murderer? Find out by checking out the Sir
Author
Conan Doyle section. Take a gander at the FAQ or learn about the time period
that Doyle wrote in. A fabulous site, with hours of information. Enjoy!
http://www.sherlockian.net/
=== Mel's page
http://www.angelfire.com/journal2/melspictures/
=== Julie's Site
http://www.angelfire.com/nc/JuliesSite/
===
MuseArts Cartoons
In the mood for a rendition of your favorite play? Interested in seeing Waiting
for Godot, Sound of Music, Romeo and Juliet but with a twist? Well then these
cartoons are for you! See Guinea Pigs perform your favorites or play The Great
Guinea Pig Race. Are you curious to just see what the heck I'm talking about?
Then check it out.
http://www.musearts.com/cartoons/list.html
=== Orisinal
A cool game site where you can waste time getting addicted to catching bees,
delivering toys, or even shoot cannonballs at falling rocks and dragons. Lots
of
fun interactive games. Enjoy.
http://www.ferryhalim.com/orisinal/
=== Movie Mistakes 2005
Now that the year is coming to a close, why not check out all the movie
mistakes from 2005? Whether it’s a continuity mistake or the crew and their
equipment is visible, you’ll find it here.
Just choose a movie off the list and you can discover out all the mistakes that
have been found in that movie. With 151 movies to choose from there’s a lot of
ground to cover, and some of the mistakes are hilarious.
Example:
From the movie Mr. and Mrs. Smith: “Factual error: The movie is supposed to
take place in and around New York City, however during the car chase where
Angelina and Brad are fighting off the three BMW's, a wide shot clearly shows a
street sign announcing Los Angeles. Submitted by Nicoletta C Kho”
I tend to get lost in suspended disbelief - the magic of movies when I watch,
so I don’t tend to notice these mistakes. But after having gone through the
list it makes me want to re-watch movies and see if I can spot these goofs.
Some of these movies have 5 pages worth of mistakes. That’s just unbelievable
to me.
On the side menu is a listing of years all the way back to 1915. You can check
out previous years movie mistakes just by clicking the year you want.
It makes me wonder what mistakes they will find for 2006.
http://www.moviemistakes.com/year2005
===
Movie-Mistakes
Have you ever been curious what mistakes were made in a particular movie?
Do you enjoy bloopers? I know I do. That's why I found this site fun to visit.
Over
12580 mistakes from 1762 films are on the site for you to read about and enjoy.
Here's an example off their top films list:
Titanic (Insert swelling, dramatic music here)
Mistake: When the old Rose is shown at her house, she has three fish in the
fish
bowl. When she arrives at the place where they are exploring the Titanic, she
unloads her fish bowl, which now has five fish.
Interested in what else is there to discover? Check it out.
http://www.movie-mistakes.com/
=== Music
Robot
Can't find the music or sound clip you're looking for? Are you ready to pull
out
your hair? Well don't - there's an easier way to do it.
Use the Music Robot to search for wav files with lightening speed. Just type in
the letter or letters in the name of what you're looking for and it brings up a
list of all the files that start with that letter. Have Fun!
http://www.musicrobot.com/cgi-bin/windex.pl
=== Emode
Weird name huh? Well that's because it's all about you and your emotions.
This is a personality quiz site. It has tons of fun quizzes. When you first go
to the site, there's a pop-up window that asks you a question fill in the
bullet
and you will be whisked away to the personality quiz. Again, lots of laughs,
and
fun.
You'll find other quizzes like : What Breed of Dog are You? What's the Perfect
Workout? What's Your Lucky Charm? And many, many more. Lighten up your
Monday
with some quizzes. Check it out!
http://www.emode.com/
=== Art Gallery
http://www.abcgallery.com/index.html
http://www.allposters.com/
===
Bonehead of the Day Awards
Bonehead Awards are handed out to a group or individual for a boneheaded
action.
The awards are give out daily, and are based on current mainstream news. These
are great for a laugh, and a good way to brighten up your Monday morning. They
also have previous boneheads archived for you. So you don't have to stop after
just one story. Check it out.
http://www.bonehead.oddballs.com/
=== Calendars Through the Ages
"Explore the fascinating history of the human endeavor to organize our
lives in
accordance to the sun and stars." That's the intro for this web exhibition
on
calendars. Isn't it neat? Well so is the exhibit.
Hit the Next button to start your journey. You'll find yourself in "Our
Year"
which defines how our calendar is setup, how astronomy plays into it, the
history
of our calendar, and when countries changed their calendars.
Then you can go onto "Various Calendars" which will show you
calendars from
all over the world. Both used and unused calendars so you can check out
calendars from the past, as well. I highly recommend checking out the unused
section. The Mayan calendar was wildly fascinating.
You can also check out the origin of the seven-day week in the "Our
Week"
section. You'll also learn the meaning of the names of the days of the week and
their origin, as well as how they differ from country to country.
There is also the "Timeline" which shows interesting calendar facts.
A very nifty site. I'd like to point out that there is a lot of lovely artwork
on these
pages. It's amazing how some people's minds work to interpret things like days,
weeks, and seasons.
Set a date to check this one out.
http://webexhibits.org/calendars/
=== Switch
Zoo
Switch Zoo is a very fun site where you can mix up the parts of animals and
create your own. While it's loading your animal of choice there are nifty facts
for
you to read. Did you know that "Meerkats eat Scorpions, because they are
immune to Scorpions venom."
Then you should have a picture of your animal. I chose a dog. You can do a
quick
switch by using the quick switch area, which replaces a body part with the one
you chose. Or you can watch the body parts grow which is really neat when you
get to the tail. Choose the animals you want to mix. First I gave my dog a
cheetah
head, bear legs, and a monkey tail. So I have a Dogtahbearkey. :-)
Click "photo" when you're done and print out a picture of your
creation. You can
also add a title and a story to your creature. If you have troubles you should
check
out the FAQ, or the How to Play section. Enjoy.
What kind of animal can you make?
http://www.switchzoo.com/zoo.htm
=== The
Crafter's Community
Crafter's Community is like "the site" for crafters. With plenty of
craft projects to
keep you busy throughout the spring. You're going to love this site for your
crafting needs.
On the front page there are lots of Holiday/Season specific crafts for you to
try
out like: Bunny Bells, Hanging Hearts, and Plastic Rabbits. You will also see
that
under "Community Center" on the front page a list of most recent
message
boards, happy birthdays, and top resources.
If you go to the "Projects and Activities" section you will find tons
of nifty
projects you can do. I am also a soap maker so I headed straight to those
projects
and they had some cool ideas like Soapcicles, and Soap Crayons for kids.
Speaking of kids, there are a ton of fun craft projects you can do with your
kids.
Check out Kids Crafts for more details.
In the Community Center you will see Message Boards and Pen Pals Place. They
have a very nice Pen Pal Program on this site with over 1600 pen pals-I'm sure
you can find some one to talk to about your crafting. Their slogan is
"Enter as
Strangers, Leave as Friends."
Now, should you not find a project you are looking for in the project section I
suggest checking out the message board (the heart and soul of this site). You
can
probably find any project you are looking for under the sun on this site. Or
start a
new topic and get the results you want from asking a question. The message board
was my favorite part of the site.
This is a fun, frisky crafter's site. Check it out!
http://crafterscommunity.com/index.php
=== The
National Museum of Women in the Arts
At the National Museum of Women in the Arts you can view over 250 galleries of
art created by women from around the world. You can view art from the 16th
century to today. You can have a lot of fun frolicking through the artwork of
their
permanent collection where you'll get to see lots of art of different media and
styles. Women were as varied in their subject matter as their male counterparts
of
the time. But even better yet, if you find an artist you enjoy you can find out
all
about them.
It is very easy to get lost in the work shown on these pages while you are
browsing. Some of the artist profiles even have quotes that make from the
individual that make their profiles dance and sparkle a little more. Here's an
example:
"One day seven years ago I found myself saying to myself-I can't live
where I
want to-I can't go where I want to go-I can't do what I want to-I can't even
say
what I want to-...I decided I was a very stupid fool not to at least paint as I
wanted
to. "
~ Georgia O'Keeffe, 1923
Right now there are several excellent Exhibits that you shouldn't miss out on.
So
definitely check out the Exhibit section where you can see Portraits of Women
by
Women. Should you be located in Washington D.C. or be planning a trip there
soon you can go to the Museum itself and check out this lovely exhibit in
person.
Enjoy!
http://www.nmwa.org/
=== The
Bubblesphere
This site is so neat, and is all about bubbles. Bubble blowing originated in
the
18th and 19th century and is still popular today. I know that I still enjoy
getting
out the catnip bubbles I have and playing chase the bubbles with my cats.
Bubbles
are a very light hearted form of enjoyment and there are so many ways to make
bubbles.
Using as little a a piece of wire wrapped into a loop and some bubble solution
or
soap you can have hours of fun blowing bubbles. Here at this site you can learn
all about the history of bubble blowing, find new ways to blow bubbles, and you
can even follow the journeys of Professor Bubble.
I loved the "Solutions" section where you can find out how to make
your own
bubble solution and there are even several different formulas depending on the
kind of bubble you want to make. There is an ingredient list, and you might be
surprised by what is on it. Check out "Tools and Formulae" to find
this
information and don't forget to scroll to the bottom of the solution page for
more
options.
The "History" section was a very interesting read. Why don't you find
out how
Pear Soap helped make bubble blowing popular?
Check out the "References" section and click on the Video/Film link
in the
paragraph on the page. This takes you to the Film page, here you can download
videos of Bubble performers. I watched all of them and it was well worth my
time. I had no idea some of the things you could do with bubbles.
There are three games you can play on this site. Bubblechase, Bubble Pop, and
Tic-Tac-Bubble. The Bubble Pop was a lot of fun you have to see how many
bubbles you can pop in twenty seconds my highest score was 245.
There are a ton of neat things to do and learn at this site.
Don't blow this one off.
http://bubbles.org/
===
Historic Panoramic Maps
Well if you enjoyed the VR Panoramic site I brought you, you will love this
site
too. These Historic Panoramic Maps are from all over the world. You can start
by
going to the drop down box at the top of the page and choosing where you'd like
to browse.
If you choose Foreign, you'll notice that it loads a lot of maps and photos of
foreign lands. There are 30 pages worth of pictures and they are in
alphabetical
order for easier viewing. Let's check out the first picture together. It is a
map of
Sydney, Australia. If you look at the bottom of the map - it looks like the
year
1922 is when it was printed. Look at how detailed it is - like any good map of
a
city should be. But I'd also like you to notice the neat coloring of this map.
Moving onwards, let's choose a state. Hmmm, I think I'll pick Ohio since that
is
where I live. There are 17 pages of pictures. I found a photo of Toledo from
1876.
The details again are fabulous on this map. Though it is a far cry from the
city I
call home today, there are similar elements. But the details I absolutely loved
were the horses, carriages, and the booming ship business in the lake. Not to
mention that it is well colored, vibrant, and in great condition.
What will you find in your state, or country?
http://www.historicpanoramicmaps.com/
=== Skype -
free phone calls
Skype is free and simple software that will enable you to make free calls
anywhere in the world in minutes. Skype, created by the people who brought you
KaZaA uses innovative P2P (peer-to-peer) technology to connect you with other
Skype users. If you are tired of paying outrageous fees for telephony, Skype is
for
you!
http://www.skype.com/
=== Fagan
Finder
Fagan Finder's goal is to help people find what they are looking for. Of
special
note, see the Translation Wizard.
http://www.faganfinder.com/
=== Judy
Blume
This is the official site of Judy Blumeand it has a lot to offer. To find out
what's
happening now click the "Check Out What's Happening with Judy" link.
This will
get you current news. You can also find a link to this in the "From
Judy" section,
which is a few notes from Judy that she put on her website, with a very
touching
one regarding September 11th.
There is a Bio & Photos and a Questions section that all have to do with
Judy.
How she grew up, why she writes, and of course what is her family like. I
highly
recommend the Questions section as there are some very interesting answers.
There is a Writing section, where Judy discusses her writing tips. A great
section
on Censorship-well worth reading. She discusses censorship from when it began
to how it challenges her now. The Book List section is a lot of fun because you
get to read descriptions of Judy's books from Judy. I even found some that I
want
to re-read.
The "Kids Page" is a page directed towards kids, with a lot of did
you know's that
are fabulous and will strike a cord in kid's curiosity. Did you know that The
Pain
and The Great One are based on Judy's kids? Mainly when her son was six and
her daughter was eight. For more fun facts check out the Kid's Page.
More news is that there are now Musicals of Fudge and Sheila the Great. Look
for
them near you as Superfudge and Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great. They
sound rather interesting. And don't forget that Fudge was also in the Tales of
a
Fourth Grade Nothing.
These are stories that a lot of us read in our childhood, or have read them to
kid-
and they are timeless. Enjoy more Judy Blume right now with her webpage!
http://www.judyblume.com/
=== Book a
Minute
http://www.rinkworks.com/bookaminute/
=== Wayne
Senior Center
198 Station Road, Wayne, PA 19087 Phone 610-688-6246 email wsc@email.com
Executive Director: Susan Shapiro
Services Provided
Meals: Hot nutritious meals are served daily.
Health Screenings: Trained, registered nurses help to identify health problems
and
monitor on-going conditions, providing an invaluable link to physicians.
Socialization: Whether it's a fun day trip, a friendly game of cards, an art
class or
a special event, opportunities are open to making friends and sharing
experiences.
Counseling: Compassionate, professional assistance in dealing with special
problems encountered by older adults is offered to participants and their
families.
Transportation: Transportation can sometimes be a challenge for the elderly. We
provide transportation to and from our center. Special arrangements can even be
made for doctor's appointments and shopping.
Continuing Education: Many opportunities are available for personal development
through life-long learning experiences. Choices of interest can range from
music,
physicial fitness and dance to creative writing and computer literacy.
http://www.wayneseniorcenter.com/aboutus.html
===
PetFinder.com
Search for any animal, any breed. Specify your zip code. And you'll
find lots of
pets to adopt, complete with pictures and a description of their temperament.
http://www.petfinder.org/index.html
=== Federal
Trade Commission - ID Theft
A growing problem facing both businesses and consumers is ID Theft. If you do a
lot of shopping online (like I do) than this site will be priceless to you.
First I
would check out the "What is Identity Theft" Section. You can view it
text or pdf-
it's your choice. This guide goes through and explains how these thieves can
get
your information and use it. It also explains some things you should do if you
think your identity has been stolen.
If you do think your identity has been stolen, you should read the home page of
this site and follow the four steps on it. It is very important to get things
taken
care of as soon as you think your identity has been stolen because the quicker
you
can get these steps into action the less time the thief has to ruin your good
name.
Now I'm going to recommend reading the following guides:
ID Theft - When Bad Things Happen to Your Good Name
2003 Identity Theft Trends
Information Compromise - Business Guidance (this is great for business owners)
I suggest you read through this site thoroughly and make note of the things you
can do to protect yourself. I do still believe that it is safe to buy online,
so long as
you do it wisely. Shop at places that have secure shopping carts (like
WorldStart).
You can tell if they are secure if the little lock comes up at the bottom of
your
browser. If you do your banking online make sure you change your password
every three to six months. If you're buying off of Ebay or Amazon make sure
that
you read user feedback on the person you are buying from. If it says they
aren't a
good seller, or there are complaints of people being cheated by them, don't buy
from them. Just be Safe.
http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft/
=== TV on
PC
http://www.cinemanow.com/home.aspx
=== Read the
World
Get easy access to front pages of newspapers worldwide from Today's Front
Pages.
http://www.newseum.org/todaysfrontpages/
=== Dogster?
We are dog freaks and computer geeks, unafraid to admit that when we see a dog,
any dog, our heads turn and we howl with delight. Who wants a treat? Who does?
Well, we do -- and we think it's about time there is a canine sharing
application
that is truly for the dogs. We hope you do too! All the dogs in the house say
Wooooof! ... Woooooooooooof! Bark bark bark!
http://www.dogster.com
=== Brain Pop
BrainPOP is one of the neatest educational sites I have run across yet. With
broad
spanning subjects and animation to make learning easier, this is a site you are
going to want to put in your favorites to help your kid (or college student
out.)
The sections of this site are: Health, Science, Technology, Math, English, and
Social Studies. With plenty of witty animations and movies to help move the
subjects along. You can also look at information for Teachers, Parents, and of
course Kids.
Let's tour the Health Section together. Click on "Health". The page
then loads
with tons of icons representing all the different topics in the section. If
you've
already browsed two subjects-you need to register (it's free). Now you'll see
that
you can get movies on the subject, or that you can view a comic strip. You can
even do experiments with the Ex-Lab Rat who has interesting experiments to go
along with the subject although they may not seem to when you start reading
them, but the technical explanation ties it all together. The experiments would
help a child who was stuck on grasping a concept a lot.
Well, enjoy BrainPOP! I hope you think it's a keeper too!
http://www.brainpop.com/
=== Spam
Deputy
Spam Deputy is an application that makes it easy to report spam for users of
Microsoft Outlook Express, Netscape Messenger, Eudora and other email clients.
Simply drag-and-drop or copy-and-paste you spam messages onto Spam Deputy
and click the "Report Spam" button.
http://www.spamdeputy.com/sa/overview.htm
=== Verify/confirm email addresses
http://www.verifyemail.com/
=== eNature
Local Guides
When you arrive at this site you'll get a pop-up that asks you to put in your
e-mail
address and zip code. If you decided to do so you, and hit go you will a get a
local
field guide for your area. Then you can see what kind of wild life is hanging
out
where you live. I got a list of birds right off of the bat, and found out that
the bird
that's following me around around when I do my yard work is a Common
Grackle.
If you choose not to do that, then close out of the pop up window and browse
the
field guides by their type. You can go from mammals to birds to insects and
even
wildflowers. Browse the wildlife and then you can figure out if they are in a
place
near you. Or you can check out the Parks and Refuges.
You can even find out what the experts have to say about your local wildlife.
Or
for gardeners like me, get the dirt on what local pests you are up against
before
you start planning your garden. For nature lovers who want to say hello to a
friend
you can check out their free e-card section that has 5,000 images for you to
choose from. If you like this site you can sign up for their free newsletter.
http://www.enature.com/
=== aerial
view
http://www.terrafly.com/
=== 28mm
28MM is an online a photography magazine. We showcase traditional,
digital,
and lo-tech photography by amateur, hobbyist, and professional photographers.
http://28mm.org/
=== Try Science
Children are naturally curious and will love this site because it lets them run
with
their curiosity through science. Their are adventures, experiments, and even
field
trips awaiting them on this site. At the top of the page you'll notice the
"Are you
Curious?" that may flash at you near the title if you click-it takes you
to the
"Curious" section where I learned all about fire ants and mealy bugs.
You can
take a quiz on the topic and see what answers where right.
Then there is the "Adventure" section where they can explore outer
space or take
the Extreme Challenge! The Extreme Challenge, takes the Ultimate Race and puts
you through several courses, and you have to apply the science behind the sport
you are using to win it. This is fun. I'm still trying to beat it though...
In the "Experiment" section includes the "Featured
Experiment" and also lots of
other Experiments that you can do. The featured experiment is all about being a
DNA detective.What is really neat about these experiments is that you can try
them online or you can try them offline-just choose the option that suits you
and
proceed from there. Don't forget to check out their live cams.
Now for "Field trips"-start by choosing a country and then explore
all the
possibilities provided for you. You may find some nifty things to explore in
your
own back yard.
Hey, do like it says, Try Science!
http://www.tryscience.org/home.html
=== Art
Renewal
WELCOME. You have just entered the largest on-line Museum on the internet. A
work in progress, steadily expanding with thousands of high quality images of
the
greatest paintings and sculpture in history, the Art Renewal Center is building
an
encyclopedic collection of essays, biographies and articles by top scholars in
the
field.
http://www.artrenewal.org/index.html
=== Worth 1000
One picture is worth a thousand words and this site proves it.
http://www.worth1000.com
=== National Library of Australia
Why would I be bringing you this site? It's quite simple really: for the
fabulous
exhibits. As you will see there is a long list of exhibits to choose from.
Explore
them all, or just as many as you like.
My favorite exhibit is the "Follow the Sun: Australian Travel Art Posters
of the
1930's to the 1950's", definitely worth checking out. In this exhibit
click "take a
trip" to get into where the goodies are. You then get a few options:
Destinations,
Symbols of Australia, Styles, and Artists. To the side you can click into a section
on Lithographs and the ANTA (Australian National Travel Association). The
"Destination" section is so neat because you first get to click on a
map for the part
of Australia you'd like to see the posters from and then it takes you to a
suitcase
where the travel posters load up on. You can pick a poster then and get all
this
lovely information about it including when it was made. I think you'll love
exploring the rest on your own so I'm not going to give any more away on this
section.
I also positively enjoyed the "Who'll Come A Waltzing Matilda with
Me" section.
Which goes into the origins and many version of the song, how it came to be an
unofficial anthem, and even explains what the song means. This is a lovely
section you should also check out.
I did spend an hour or so exploring here and I think you'll find something that
strikes your fancy-whether you only check out what I brought attention to, or
if
you just check out the things that sound interesting from their titles to you.
I dare
you to check out the "Bunyip" section, unless you're too scared. :-)
Enjoy!
http://www.nla.gov.au/exhibitions/online.html
===
EUROPEAN CUISINES
http://europeancuisines.com/
=== Pepys' weblog
The famous diary that Samuel Pepys (pronounced PEEPS), once the head of
England's Navy, kept during the years 1660-1669 is being made available online
in the form of a weblog. Phil Gyford, who conceived the idea, is converting the
diary, which was already in electronic form as part of Project Gutenberg, into
weblog format using software called Movable Type. He added Pepys' entry for
January 1, 1660 on January 1, 2003, and, since then, has continued to add a new
entry each day. In its current form, Pepys' weblog allows a reader to create a
public annotation, asking or answering a question or perhaps explaining some
now obscure 17th century term that Pepys uses. The weblog site includes an
overview and other historical background. Hypertext links are provided where
Pepys mentions historical events and specific people. Pepys' diary has
long been
a primary source for understanding daily life and events in the 1660-1669
period,
which includes the The Great Fire of London and the Plague. It is also very
readable and in many places revealing of Pepys' character and his most private
thoughts. Because Pepys wrote his diary in a form of coded shorthand, some
believe it was never intended for public view. However, he willed his diary as
part
of his library to Magdalene College, probably knowing that it would become
accessible in future years. Historians (and many readers) have been grateful
ever
since.
Gyford says he is committed to creating a new diary entry each day for the next
nine or more years. With the Web site now complete, however, he believes the
work will take him only an evening or two each month.
http://www.pepysdiary.com/
=== Find Any Music
Access Over 5 Billion MP3 Music CDs & Movies. Find any song.
Enter Here
http://www.findanymusic.com/freemusic15.htm
=== The International Surfing Museum
I remember growing up watching beach movies, and in a them had surfing, of
course. Well, here is a museum dedicated to surfing. This site is really cool.
You
can find out about surf legends, check out memorabilia, stroll down the walk of
fame, and that's only a handful of all the neat things to do here.
Starting with the "Legends" section you'll start to learn all about
professional
surfing as a sport. Corky Carroll is deemed the original pioneer of
professional
surfing, check out his cool surf board in the pictures on this page.
If you dive into "Exhibits" you will find special exhibits on
surfing,
skateboarding, skin diving, and rendezvous ballroom reunions. They are all
pretty
nifty and have photos to boot.
The current Exhibition on the main page is George Greenough-you can learn all
about his surfing and check out the listing of his movies such as, "The
Innermost
Limits of Pure Fun", "Dolphin Dive", and a couple more.
A site definitely worth surfing over to.
http://www.surfingmuseum.org
===
Australian Wildlife
This is a great wildlife site. It is rather specific to Australian Wildlife but
that's
kind of cool because there are animals in Australia that we need to devote more
time and attention to studying. Quite simply because they only live in
Australia,
so why don't we check them out today. You'll find a lot of animal information
to
gather.
In the "Featured Section" you will find a list of links that take you
to a section
devoted to each individual animal listed, or in the case of marsupials there
section
devoted to them as a group. I suggest checking them all out but if only one
name
strikes your fancy then by all means check only that animal out. I particularly
enjoyed the Rainbow Lorikeet. It went over their species and genus, diet and
coloration, and pertinent information.
For "Short Notes" you click the link on the words "Short
Notes" and are whisked
away to section that has a listing of all these animals specifics. (Note the
animals
in this section are listed in regular type below the link Short Notes so you
can
know at a glance if you want to learn about any of the animals residing there.)
"Science Reports" is a section devoted to Australian Wildlife in
scientific news.
So head down under and learn about these unique animals.
http://www.australianwildlife.com.au
=== Welcome
to the music site, pesenki.ru!
This is the largest collection of song lyrics, guitar chords, and tabs found
anywhere.
Up to 1000 new song lyrics, guitar chords and tabs are added weekly.
All songs are sorted alphabetically, allowing you to find a song faster.
All the files are in text-format which reduces access speed.
We are always open to cooperating with you, and we will pay attention to all of
your letters.
http://pesenki.ru/?lg=en
=== Top 100 Guitar Sites
http://www.top100guitarsites.com/index.php3
=== Game
Show Network
http://www.gameshownetwork.com/
=== Mr.Picassohead
Have you ever wanted to be an artist? Well now you can try your hand and being
and abstract artist-Picasso to be precise. .
Choose "Play" and you are taken away to your canvas to begin creation
of your
picassohead. Here you will find your tools, color palette and canvas. Begin
your
masterpiece.
Choose View Gallery to see the art that came before you. You can view my self-
portrait if you go to "View Gallery" and decided to use the first
search option. (Be
warned I have no real sense of the abstract.)
Type in :
Amanda @ Worldstart
Then click "Find"
You should come up with my self portrait picassohead. Or you just search the
gallery randomly by typing in whatever you want. If you want to view the full
gallery click Full Gallery underneath the featured painting. Then you can see
all
of those picasso's that came before you.
Make art, Make Picassoheads!
http://www.mrpicassohead.com/
=== U.S.
Presidential Election Maps
Now you can check out the Presidential Election maps with this site. You can
see
the percentage of popular vote and electoral vote distribution and totals.
View the information on popular vote on a map so you can see in which states
the
president was more popular. It is color coded by presidential candidate.
For Electoral Vote Distribution and Totals, the information is also shown on a
map and is color coded for ease of information. One color for one candidate and
another for the person running against him. It is interesting how easy it is to
see
through the years which elections where a very close call.
The years 1860 through 1996 have already been represented and this site is
constantly being updated with new electoral information.
Check it out!
http://fisher.lib.virginia.edu/collections/stats/elections/maps/
=== Les
Chefs
"The Worldwide Gourmet presents to you cooking from around the world, a
reference for all gourmets." That's what the header to this site had to
say, but the
question I had was could anyone make these creations? Yes, it is possible, I
made
some fabulous desserts from this site.
If you choose "Recipes", you are whisked away to another page that
has some
rather tasty looking food on it, and says "From Beginner to Master
Chef" then you
will notice that you can browse by Country, or what's new for the month. Not to
mention if you scroll down further, you can surf the recipes by type. Now I
always start out in the dessert section. Then I got hungry and had to go make
some lunch. All the food on this site is presented in a very appetizing way.
But the
desserts, ooh, la la - they were fantastic. I have now proudly made several of
the
tarts on this page as well as some of the ice cream creations. And some were
more
complicated but the directions are all very thorough.
If you decided to start in Countries, you will be taken on a tour of that
countries
cuisine. A very interesting read, even if you don't care about other countries
cuisine you should at least read up about what they had to say about the United
State's cuisine. I had an Irish friend tell me once that I ruined potato's
because I
put ranch dressing on them. This is a very American trait, I'm told. So it was
very
interesting to read about Alaska, Maine, Texas, The Old South, and so on. The
Cajun or Creole section was a delight.
The Chefs section was not what I expected ( I expected a section about chefs,
and
how to become one) it is a listing by country of where you can go out to. Each
section is called Going out in USA (for example) and list fine dining and
hotels. A
very useful site to those of you are travelers.
All in all, enjoy, and Bon !
http://www.leschefs.com/
=== How
Electronic Stuff Works
http://electronics.howstuffworks.com
=== Photo Albums
Kiley on Ofoto
http://www.ofoto.com/I.jsp?c=o42wvsr.69fctcov&x=0&y=e0kus
Kiley on Yahoo
http://f1.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/yaleschwartz/album?.tok=ph7i8kABnbmsHOse
&.dir=/Kiley+Hannah&.src=ph
=== photo
album
http://www.holidate.com/
=== Anat
& Friends
My name is Anat and I love to make WebPages... Just for fun.
I called my site "Anat & Friends" as this site was built for the
cards I made for my
friends on the Net. In 1998 I made some Web Greeting Cards and send to my
frineds, They liked it so much that they asked me to make more so they could
send too. You can find all my WebCards in my Cards Index.
http://anat.iwebland.com/Englishindex.htm
=== Yahoo Companion Toolbar
The Yahoo Companion Toolbar offers many handy features. Follow this link
to
take a tour.
http://companion.yahoo.com/config/slv4_page?.p=intro&.src=o
=== TeamSound
TeamSound lets you chat it up with anyone over the Net also running the
software. It offers great sound quality, uses very little CPU power, and gives
you
a way to stay in touch without tying up your phone.
For gamers, TeamSound includes a function called "battlefield
sequencing" where
you can program a synthetic voice to issue commands to teammates. It's
particularly useful for timing team actions within a real-time game
environment.
I keep a permanent TeamSound server running where my friends can log in and
chat together. With its browser integration, support for all flavors of
Windows,
and user-management controls, TeamSound is a great way to be heard.
http://www.teamsound.com/
=== Operation Paperback
Operation Paperback is non-profit organization that is sending "gently
used"
books to our troops overseas. With many US soldiers still deployed overseas I
wanted to bring this site to your attention.
Here you can find out how you can help out if you want to, how the troops feel
about the project, and what you can send. There are guidelines for what kind of
books can be sent. The list of what can be sent to the troops includes a little
bit of
everything.
In their section "Sites We Like" you'll find a whole list of other
groups that
support the troops, and much much more.
But the concept here is very simple-send the troops books through Operation
Paperback. You have the books, you ship them where they need to go, you report
where you shipped to and when it was shipped, and they take care of the rest.
The
lists of where books are needed are updated frequently.
Check this one out!
http://operationpaperback.usmilitarysupport.org/
=== Mean
Kitty
Do you have a Mean Kitty? If so then you can totally commiserate with the
people who have posted their cat's picture on this site. Go the Gallery and
click
the photo to get the story behind why the precious angel you're looking at is
really
a mean kitty.
The stories behind the photos are very funny, and being a cat owner, I can
definitely relate to them.
You can also send Mean Kitty Posties which, to be blunt, are very hilarious.
Share
them with anyone you know who has a mean kitty, or your favorite friend. They
are animated too, so you might want to check them out in the preview screen. My
favorite postie was the kitty in the basket holding a Barney doll.
The Advice section is where the author of this site answers the fan mail, and
questions sent in. Some of it is very funny. Especially the ones that are from
cats.
You can ignore the T-Shirts section as it just stuff to buy with the logo Mean
Kitty on it. Either way, enjoy this site.
If you check out the links section there is a Halloween page, that has lots of
cute
pictures of Halloween cats. Some in costumes, some just in their fur, and lots
of
cute stuff. And other cat sites about mean kitty's.
Meow!
http://www.meankitty.com/gallery.htm
===
Seussville
Sit down with a tuna sandwich, then choose between low or high bandwidth. Now
your journey has begun, a trip to Seussville for some fun.
In "Biography" you'll learn of Dr. Seuss and how he turned the
fantasies inside his
head into the books so many of us read. From his early childhood days you'll
find
a curious boy with a curious mind. Interesting facts are in there too, like how
Ted
Geisel became Dr. Seuss.
In the "Playground" you can score at all the Seuss themed games
galore. Try out
The Fox in Socks Matching Game or One Fish Two Fish Concentration.. Very
fun to play with children, or when your're bored, or when you're chillin'. In the
"Seussville Favorites" section you'll find print and play games and
other
distractions.
Head on over to "Events", to hear about Seuss events. Events in
tents? Perhaps or
other venue, see if there is one near you.
You'll love this site, so don't be chicken, point your mouse and get to
clickin'.
http://www.seussville.com/
=== DIY
Thrift Deluxe
If you thought DIY (Do it Yourself) was cool before, this site is going to
really
make you think it's cooler. This is one of the neatest DIY sites I have ever
run
across. The best part is that not only are they easy you can do them by
following
simple instructions, they are also almost all inexpensive. The projects have a
difficulty rating of 1-3, three being the most difficult and a price rating
then runs
along the same way.
Out of these projects, I've already tried the coke vase and it was super easy
and
fun. It also turned out really neat. I chose to use red PVA paint but I bought
orange as well and if you drizzle red on one side and orange on the other and
then
roll the coke bottle you get a swirly design. (This does take some practice.)
Project #9 involves a planter, and a pendant light. Which was very neat. But
didn't
last long with my cats batting at it. You could also paint it other colors than
white.
The projects themselves are fun and thrifty. I'm looking forward to other
projects
from this site, so you can bet your buttons I'm going to be tucking it into my
favorites. So all in all thrifty, fun, and easy projects that you can do in the
space of
minutes to a couple of hours. Not to mention you can read some nifty design
news, and gather ideas of your own.
http://www.thriftdeluxe.com/
===
Insultingly Stupid Movie Physics
This site would make my dad proud. He's always complaining about how a
particular stunt is impossible while we're watching a movie. This site not only
goes through why different stunts wouldn't work but also tries to figure out
how it
could have worked.
While I don't mind having the physics explained to me, the part of the site I
loved
was the movie review section where you can choose by movie to find out what
was impossible. It even has current video/dvd releases like The Hulk, Reign of
Fire, and The Sum of All Fears. Not to mention older movies like The
Terminator, Speed, Independence Day, and many more. I checked out Reign of
Fire.
I thought it was interesting, just on the principles of physics, how many times
everyone should have died. From the dragons who were the villians to the humans
hiding who were the heros. The dragons from their own fire if they could even
have made fire to the dragon's flaiming the human's fortress.The fire that the
dragons breathed on them would have at least eaten their air supply so that
everyone would have died from asphyxiation or carbon monoxide poisoning.I
enjoyed the commentary on why exactly certain guns would have affected the
beasties. How their internal organ would have been injured. I absolutely loved
this
review and suggest you read it.
This a fabulous site. You should get some popcorn and check it out.
http://intuitor.com/moviephysics/
=== Lost
Labor
"LOST LABOR: Images of Vanished American Workers 1900-1980 is a selection
of 155 photographs excerpted from a collection of more than 1100 company
histories, pamphlets, and technical brochures documenting America's business
and corporate industrial history." Over the last 20 years this collection
of rare and
difficult to find pictures was collected. This unusual historical record of
20th
Century America documents many factories, machinery, and jobs that no longer
exist.
You'll want to surf this site from the sidebar, category by category. Even on
dial-
up the images loaded quickly. The photos you see are haunting, and full of
character. You'll see people hard at work in contrast to modern society where
many people are hardly working. We've refined work so that machines do most of
it for us. But these pictures show exactly what it was like before computers
and
computerized machinery. They even have pictures of women who worked in
factories.
I loved the "Automotive" section-my favorite photo was the
"United States
Rubber Co. 1947". If you click on an image it will pop up enlarged and
with a
caption. My favorite caption was for the American Tobacco Co. The caption was
" The Story of the Lucky Strike."
This site is flawless in design and has a quality that many sites lack.
Everything
flows seamlessly.
Check it out after work.
http://www.lostlabor.com/
=== Find
Your Spot
This is a very fun online quiz that helps you figure out where you should live,
work, and even retire. It free and fun. You start by checking one of the three
options of community size then click "find my spot".
The quiz starts with a discussion about your weather preference. Choose how you
feel about the options with Strongly Agree, Agree, Neutral, Disagree and
Strongly
Disagree. Next comes "Cultivating Culture" with the same answer
options.
"Teacher's, Doctorates & Planes, Oh My" is next and so on and so
forth. Keep
answering questions through the eight pages of question.
Notice that while you are answering questions at the top of the page is a
little
circle where the picture keeps changing to different scenes of countryside,
these
are places that you are currently compatible with. It was rather fun to watch
the
options narrow down until there were just a few.
My compatible spots were: Little Rock - Arkansas, Alexandria - Louisiana,
Providence - Rhode Island, Baton Rouge - Louisiana, Hartford - Connecticut,
you'll get lots of options. From there, choose a community to find out more
details
and even book a trip there. you can get in touch with real estate agents and
more.
You can find your ideal location today.
http://www.findyourspot.com/
=== The
Mood Gym
Is one of your New Year's resolutions to work out more? We often think of
exercising our bodies, but what about the mind?
"Mood Gym is a free, fun interactive program consisting of a number of
different
modules." The modules explore why you think the way you think, how to
change
the way you think, changing warped thoughts, knowing what makes you upset,
assertiveness and skills training.
Go through the introduction and fill out the information they ask for-you don't
need to give them your real name, but you do need to create a user login. To
begin
choose "start the training program". Next you'll meet the characters
at mood gym.
The characters represent some thought patterns we all experience from time to
time.
Next you can take a depression quiz, anxiety test, and warpy thoughts test.
When
you've completed them you can view your results and compare them to how the
character's scored. Next you can start the modules. After completing the module
you can check out other interactive sections. Feel free to log out at anytime.
Give yourself an emotional work out..
http://moodgym.anu.edu.au/
===
International Statistics
By Cat Schwartz
The United Stated consumes more energy than India, the Middle East, South
America, South East Asia, and Oceania combined. Getting this information only
took me a couple minutes at the amazing site I'll show on today's "Call
for Help."
If you need to find statistics about countries or research different parts of
the
world before you travel, surf to Nationmaster.com, a site featuring eye-popping
graphs and charts that delivers tons of information about countries from all
over
the globe.
To find stats, go to the green box at the top of each page and use the
drop-down
menus to select which countries you want to research.
1. Select a country (hold down Ctrl to select multiple countries), groups
within
continents, or all countries.
2. Specify the type of results you want. You can choose All Stats, Top 10,
Bottom
5, and everything in between.
3. Choose the topic you want your graph to represent. You can choose from more
than 20 categories including Crime, Environment, Energy, Government, Health,
and Labor. Once you make your selection, the site will present subcategories to
narrow your search. For example, when you select Energy, you can narrow your
search to Gasoline, Oil Consumption, and several other choices.
4. Decide how you want your graph to look. You can have it appear as a map,
graph, map and graph, printable page, pie chart, or scatterplot (an X, Y, Z
axis
chart).
The impressive-looking charts will amaze you and you'll get statistics,
factoids,
images of flags, and maps, almost everything you'll need for a report or worry-
free trip.
===
Nativetech
Native American Technology and Art, not to mention some of the best recipes
I've tried in a very long time. Everything from Beverages to Dessert-you won't
find this site lacking. I'd like to focus on the recipes, but please feel more
than
free to visit the other areas of this site.
You can search this recipe database by tribe and region or you can scroll down
the
page and see how it is convienently divided into catagories like "From the
Bird"
or " From the Fish". My favorite, "Recipes that Defy
Catagorization" includes
meals like: Navajo Bacon Surprise, Roast Turtle, and Sun-cooked Salsa.
This site is delicious from the Beverages and Tea to the Defiant Bunch of
Recipes, you are sure to find a recipe or eight to go into your repetoire. Good
Eating!
http://www.nativetech.org/food/
=== Reel Classics
Do you love old classic movies? If so, like me, you're going to love this site.
You
can prowl through the Stars of the films, the Films themselves, Audio and
Visual
material, and much more.
The Stars section is broken up into Actors, Actresses, Animated Voices, and
Screen Teams. Want a sampling of who you'll find there?
Actors: Fred Astaire, John Barrymore, Jack Lemmon, Jimmy Stewart, and
Spencer Tracy to name a few.
Actresses: Ingrid Bergman, Bette Davis, Judy Garland, Grace Kelly, Jean
Simmons, and Ethel Merman.
You'll find photos and information in just about every category.
"Films" is broken
up into regular films and musicals to make it easier for you to find what you
want.
In the "Audio/Visual" section you will find a collection of clips.
Broken up into
different sections you will find: Music Clips, Movie Quotations, Video Files,
and
Plug-ins. There are just tons of clips-it will take you a while to get through
them.
Simply Fabulous Quotes and music samples.
I hope you enjoy them, because this site is a classic movie fans dream.
http://www.reelclassics.com/index.html
=== Travel
Scribbles
"The World in Words," a slogan that makes you want to read to see how
things
are described.
"Destinations" takes you to a map where you can pick a place from off
the map.
Choose a destination and a list appears of places that there are write ups for.
Say you picked the United States, and you choose Arizona. Tombstone, Arizona
to be specific. You get a very in-depth, rich description of Tombstone with
pictures to boot. So why don't you check out the destinations section and do a
little desk chair traveling.
You can even stop by the Quiz section and see if you can guess the answer to
the
current quiz question, you can even check out the past quizzes. This is a
lovely
site that can help you relax and imagine far off places.
Enjoy!
http://www.travelscribbles.com/travelscribbles.html
=== Funny
Posters
http://www.despair.com
===
Beginners Genealogy
Do you want to trace you family history, but you don't know where or how to
start? Well I have the answer to that problem-you simply need to visit this
site.
You'll find a ton of getting started guides and tips to tracing your ancestry.
There are also numerous resources that will help you out like marriage licence
databases, birth records, census information and much, much more. There are
even National and ethnic links for some of the harder to trace backgrounds.
You can even search information by state, so if your family was always from
your
state you can trace their ancestory back via that information. This site is
organized
and full of useful search tips. Check it out!
http://www.genealinks.com/begin.htm
=== States
and Capitals
This site is really simple to navigate. You can either choose the state from
the list,
choose the state from the state map, or choose the capital from the capital
map.
Choosing Ohio from the list, I got a page full of information about the State.
It
starts off with the capital (Columbus), the longitude and latitude, and then
information about when it was admitted as a state and so on. You can find out
about Famous Ohioans, the State Bird (cardinal), Colleges, Climate, Economy,
Editorial Cartoons, State Flag, Population, Presidents born there, Soil, State
Song
and much, much more.
If you choose to view the State map, you get a map of the United States with
the
abbreviations for the states. If you choose the Capital map you get a map of
United States with both the abbreviation for the state as well as the capital.
If you want to skip the middle man to find just the State bird, flag, news,
song, or
tools-scroll down a little further, and choose the section you want. For
example, I
chose "song", and a list of states loaded with their songs beneath
them. This is a
wonderful site if you need to do a report or need quick information on the
state
you live in.
An A+ site.
http://50states.com/
=== World
Beard Championships
This site should brighten up your day, even if you don't have a beard. The
World
Beard Championships (I'm not kidding-it really does exist) is a beard
competition
that started in Höfen/Enz, Germany, a small village in the Black Forest in
1990.
With a second competition in 1995. Subsequent championships took place in
Norway, then Sweden, back to Germany, and in 2003 it was held in America on
November 1st, 2003 in Carson City, Nevada.
I suggest you check out the gallery of contestants and champions. There are
some
very interesting pictures, and things I never knew you could do with a beard.
I also suggest you check out the Beard and Moustache categories, as it will
give
you an idea of what the contestants you were looking at were going for. I
particularly enjoyed the Full Beard freestyle.
The winner of the 2003 competition can be found by clicking the word
"here" in
the sentence: "Newer!!Click here for complete RESULTS of the World Beard
and
Moustache Championships." Pictures of the winners are shown, and it tells
you
each name and where they came from to compete!
Enjoy!
http://worldbeardchampionships.com/
=== Plants
Database
First of all there are some very nifty tools on this site like the Crop
Nutrient Tool,
and the Erosion Prediction tool. Very handy and helpful-check out the other
tools
while you're here.
You can search a plant, read about alternative crops, view fact sheets, and
read
about endagered plants or invasive ones. All in all, if you need to know it you
can
probably find it here.
I think my favorite section is the "Plant of the Week" section. While
I was there it
was the White Fir. Click on the photo and you get not only a larger picture of
the
plant to view but also information on that particular plant. Plant information
will
inlcude where they grow, the different species of the plant, a pdf file of
plant
facts, classification and much, much more.
Check this one out. It could help you with planting your garden next spring.
http://plants.usda.gov/
=== Fall's
Joy Greeting ~ RiverSongs Greetings
http://www.riversongs.com/Flas/fallsjoy.html
=== Moose Peterson's Wildlife Research Photography
Well I couldn't resist this site, and I don't think you will be able to either.
From
the gorgeous photography to the slogan, "No photograph is worth
sacrificing the
welfare of the subject," to the huge how-to section on digital
photography, I think
you'll get sucked in the way I did.
I adored the "Photo of the Month" section and spent at least an hour
surfing
through the archives before I realized I had four other coolsites to write and
bookmarked the site for later perusal. But you don't care about that part you
want
to know what I was lost in.
The how-to section is very well written and made a photo novice like myself
feel
like I could do it too. You open the how-to section and there is a fabulous
article
on Alaskan Grizzlies. You can also read up on Nesting Birds, Hovering Birds,
The Art of Sitting, Grey Ghosts, Maine Moose, and Wading birds. I clicked into
the "Biological" section of How-to on accident but am very glad I
did.
From the menu, hold your cursor over "Photo How To Tips", and you
will see
that you have two options, Biological and Technical. If you want advice on how
to photograph things, choose technical.
Read through the articles and go on your way. My next stop would be "WRP
The
Photo Safari".
The Photo Safari is where you can join Moose on a photo safari. You can also
read and view pictures from past safaris. If you are serious about learning
this
might be for you. Or you may be like me and just want to read about the
experience. I have no desire to stand in wet, or cold conditions to take
pictures.
But I'll visit from my armchair. :-)
And don't forget to check out his gallery at http://www.moosegallery.com/ that's
where you'll find tons of wildlife photos. Enjoy this site!
http://www.moose395.net/
=== Virtual
Italia
There is so much meat to this site-it's better than a whole plate of spaghetti
and
meatballs. Well, if you are of Italian descent, you like Italian food, or you
just
want some neat information, this is a site well worth visiting.
First of all there is a fabulous, totally terrific recipe section (and you know
how I
love recipes). There is also a section on being Italian American, with a
passion for
stopping in little Italy-you can now find the "cyber little Italies"
all over the
country. You can also chat in forum with others on growing up in little Italy,
trade
recipes, and much more.
For movie fans, there is a whole section on the sirens of Italy from fabulous
40's
and onward. With information on Sophia Loren, Anna Magnani, Gina
Lollobrigida and many more. There is also a whole section devoted to movies.
And I know that scouting out your family tree is important to a lot of our
readers,
so let me tell you about their Genealogy section. In the "If These Walls
Could
Talk" section you can learn how to put the puzzle of your past together
through
clues that you have-like old letters, maps, clothing, diaries and less obvious
sources. There's a section on understanding genealogy terms, and more
importantly, there is an entire section on how to avoid getting taken by some
forms of internet research and genealogy scams.
Whether you're Italian, Italian American, or anything in between (I'm a good
old
Heinz 57 variety mutt) you will enjoy this site that is full of rich culture.
http://www.virtualitalia.com/
===
Industrious Clock
If you're on dial up this site might take a little bit to load, but it is so
worth it. One
of the most ingenius clock sites I have ever found. Here you will find both the
time and date, brought to you by mono*crafts.
This very nifty clock was originally designed in 2001, and is still going
strong.
Fully animated, you'll love this clock. Check it Out!
If you like this clock, you can check out more of the features at mono*crafts
by
clicking on Mono*Crafts 3.0. : Yuko Nakamura at the top of the page, this takes
you back to the main page which will tell you a new version is coming soon, but
you can still browse version 2.0 or 3.0. Just choose the version you wish to
browse through and go on your way surfing through the site.
http://www.lares.dti.ne.jp/~yugo/storage/monocrafts_ver3/03/index.html
=== Cool
Math
An amusement park of mathematics. There is a Kids section, a "13-100"
section,
Parents, Teachers, Other Fun: Science, and a Games Section. Not to mention all
the cool stuff on their front page. For those of you in college there is an
online
graphing calculator and other calculators.
I absolutely adored their game section-talk about making math not only a mental
challenge, but fun too. I love the IQ game where you have to jump pegs till
there
is only one left (I remember playing the real version on road trips as a kid),
sadly I
can only ever get it down to two.
Learn about Fractals, Alegebra, Geometry, Trig, Calculus and much more, with
some really helpful tips on how to suceed in math. Math was never fun for me,
but this site makes it really fun and cool.
http://www.coolmath.com/home.htm
=== Plug
Into Recycling
Is it time to get a new computer, cell phone, or hey, even a new TV? Well, if
you
are thinking of getting a new one, you should pay some thought to what you are
going to do with the old one. This site will tell you where and how you can
recycle old electronics.
Did you know that mobile phones will be discarded at a rate of 130 million per
year by 2005, resulting in 65,000 tons of waste? Or that TVs and computers can
contain an average of 4 pounds of lead (depending on their size, make, and
vintage) as well as other potential toxins like chromium, cadmium, mercury,
beryllium, nickel, zinc, and brominated flame retardants? These materials need
to
be handled carefully. More than 3.2 million tons of electronic waste is laid to
rest
in landfills each year. That sounds like a lot to me.
With Plug Into Recycling you can find companies near you that recycle these
items. I know that in our city the Humane Society is collecting them for
recycling,
and Alltel is collecting them to make emergency phones for battered women.
So, don't let your old electronics go to waste-find out where to recycle them.
You
could be helping out by donating your old electronics rather than using them
for
paperweights, or worse, taking up landfill space.
Don't just dump this link, head over!
http://www.plugintorecycling.org
===
Quatloos-Cyber Museum of Scams & Frauds
Quatloos.com is a public educational website covering a wide variety of
financial
scams and frauds, including wacky "prime bank" frauds, exotic foreign
currency
scams, offshore investment frauds, tax scams, "Pure Trust" structures
and more.
Well, that's what they had to say for themselves, now here's what I think.
I think that this site is a god-send. You can browse through so easily, and the
information is presented in a way that everyone can understand it. From the
Nigerian scam to Viaticals Fraud, you'll find what you are looking for here.
The best place to start is the Quatloosers Hall of Shame. Read through the Hall
of
Shame and you will learn about tons of scams you might fall prey to otherwise.
I
was shocked by some of what I read, yet not surprised at all by others. Whether
it's a scam sent via e-mail or a con artist at your door, you can bet it is
here at
Quatloos.
http://www.quatloos.com/
===
National Atlas
As far as Atlas sites go, this one is sweet! At the National Atlas site for the
USA
you'll find interactive, animated maps on hundreds of different subjects, as
well as
regular standard maps of the USA. There are a lot of choices as far as maps go
on
this site.
Living off the shores of Lake Erie, I was fascinated that they had an Animated
Invasive Species Map. It shows the spread of Zebra Mussels throughout the USA-
and here I thought we were the only ones stuck with the little buggers. There
is
also a West Nile Virus map, a Vegetation growth map, and even a Tapestry of
Time and Terrain. The Tapestry of Time and Terrain, I'd recommend you take a
look at, it's pretty neat.
You can also read about the Atlas. How it was started and what goes into making
it. There is also a selection of printable maps, for you to check out. Very
nice for
reports and school. Enjoy!
http://www.nationalatlas.gov/
=== Strong
Numbers
This site calls itself the "Blue Book for Everything". I know that
when you think
Blue Book, you think vehicles. Well normally you would find your car or truck's
value in a blue book.
At this site you can find the value for everything including Camera's &
Electronics, Toys & Games, Music & Instruments, and much more. So if
you've
got something you want to sell, you probably want to check here and see what
it's
blue book value is.
I'm adding this site to my favorites for the next time we have a garage sale.
This
would also be a good site for those of you who buy and sell on auction sites
too.
Check it out!
http://www.strongnumbers.com/
=== Modern
Times
Do you love old movies? I'm talking black and white films from when the film
industry was just starting out. I love them. And now I've found a great site
about
them to share with you. Modern Times has it all.
Whether you want to trace the history of African Americans on film, find out
about Comedies of that time, or even the Palace Classic Film, you'll find
everything you need here. From sound clips to video clips--you name it they got
it.
Lovely construction, easy to surf and a joy to visit, this site receives two
thumbs
up from me.
http://www.moderntimes.com/
=== The Joy
of Shards
I love mosaics-whether in tile or stained glass, they are absolutely lovely. If
you
like mosaics, you are going to love the Joy of Shards. At this site you can
learn
about mosaics and how to make them yourself with their step-by-step instruction
section.
Check out the spiffy Tour section, where you can view mosaics from Italy,
France, Spain and the UK with virtual tours. This section is not to be missed,
and
is utterly fantastic.
With beautiful photos, and easy to understand language I think you are going to
love this site.
Mosey on over!
http://www.thejoyofshards.co.uk/
===
American Museum of Photography
Today we are viewing the American Museum of Photography. You can learn how
to create clones with a camera, Learn about "Spirit Photography",
Daguerreotypes, and much more.
"Spirit Photography" is a section on finding ghosts and such with
cameras and is
interesting in a "believe it or not" kind of way.
Daguerreotypes are made on polished metal plates without a negative; each image
must be exposed individually in a camera. The finished pictures are brilliant,
mirror-like, and finely-detailed. I found this section extremely interesting
and well
written.
That's just a sampling of what this site has to offer.
Click on over!
http://www.photographymuseum.com/
=== Library
Spot
Love to cozy up with a book at the library? Well why don't you save that for
when
you visit your local library, because this site is full of reference
information
(maps, dictionaries, links to online libraries, encyclopedias and quotations).
If you need to find information, this is the best place on the web to do it. I
loved
the fact that I could find medical information there. Sometimes it's really
hard to
find exactly what I'm looking for medicinally, so I check there first.
My favorite part of this site was the "You Asked For It" section.
Where you can
find common questions such as "What Happened on a Particular Day in
History?", "Where Can You Find Full Text Articles", "How
Much Did That
House Sell For?", and much more.
This site is definitely one that's going in my favorites, why don't you
bookmark it
today?
http://www.libraryspot.com/
=== Muffin
Films
Who loves muffins? I do, I do. And I especially loved this site. The Muffin
films
came about as a thesis project by Amy Winfrey at UCLA Animation Workshop.
There are 12 in all-each one is very witty and cute. You need Macromedia Flash
to view these films if you don't have it, get it here...
http://www.macromedia.com/software/flashplayer/
With sounds and music, not mention dialogue, these films are the perfect way to
treat yourself to a muffin in the morning. I really enjoyed films 1, 6, and 11.
Number 11 is in French with subtitles and is very cute. I am sure you'll want
to
share some muffins with your friends.
So, whether you are being eaten by muffins, invaded by muffins, feeding a
woman muffins, or dancing with muffins, you are sure to have a muffintastic
time.
http://www.muffinfilms.com/
===
Hypography
"Sci-Tech: Science and Technology for everyone." is the slogan of
this site. They
throw a lot of sections at you right away with their navigation bar so I wanted
to
get to the heart of this site and find out what it was all about. So I chose
the
"About" section and found their mission statement:
"Hypography Sci-Tech is a privately owned web site which aims to provide
popular science and technology content to a general, world-wide audience on a
daily basis. By content, we think of reviewed science links, images, book
reviews,
articles, press releases, research tools, software, and otherwise whatever fits
the
general genre of 'sci-tech'."
I highly suggest starting your journey in the "About" section. You
may also want
to check out the "Quizzes" section on the site-very nifty. I just
found out how very
little I know about Roman Numerals. The quizzes test a variety of topics.
You can chat in the forums with other people, read up on technology in their
news
section, read review on books and topics, and I definitely recommend their
"Hypographies" section where you will find Mars Exploration, Anthrax,
Missing
Matter, and Wormholes, just to mention a few topics. Best of all, it's written
in
everyday English and probably won't confuse you like some science
magazines/sites do.
Lots of food for thought here. Enjoy!
http://www.hypography.com/
=== Corbis
- stock photography
http://pro.corbis.com/search/searchFrame.asp
=== Color, Contrast, & Dimension
This site is very sweet. You can learn all about color here. This is an
interactive
color guide tour. You can begin by clicking the START button, or browse
sections by clicking the circles at the bottom of the page.
As you go through the tour you'll notice that it will say "click here for
exercise".
Doing so lets you try out color changes and see how they change the tone and
atmosphere of the picture. Then continue your way through the tour. You'll be
surprised how much you learn about colors, the way you see, and tons of things
like contrast, absorption, and saturation.
So, whether you are making up a flyer for your garage sale, or making a website
for your business, you can benefit from learning how colors interact with each
other and how they affect a person's perspective.
Add some color to your life today!
http://poynterextra.org/cp/colorproject/color.html
===
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Wikipedia is a multilingual project to create a complete and accurate free
content
encyclopedia. We started in January 2001 and are currently working on 161796
articles in the English version. Visit the help page and experiment in the
sandbox
to learn how you can edit any article right now.
http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
=== The
Flotsam Project
The site's name is LILEKS, but I wanted to specifically bring you "The
Flotsam
Project" on this site. Not that you shouldn't check out the "Urban
Studies" section,
because it is really interesting too. In the "Flotsam Project" there
are a lot of
categories-so much to see and do.
If you are starting in the order they are on the page, you will wind up in the
Institute of Official Cheer first which has everything from men's fashion
photography from the 50s, 60s, and 70s to the orphanage of cast-off mascots.
The
section will definitely give you something to smile about. The photos are
especially fun to browse through, but the commentary is funny and enjoyable to
read. Don't miss their archive section, "Jetsam Cove".
Next head to the Comics. View and read comic strips from the 20s, 30s, and 40s-
everything from Lance Lawson, to WWI cartoons, to Mr. Coffee Nerves. Lots and
lots of comics for you to browse through here in high detail.
"Matchbook-O-Rama" is pretty much what the title says it is: lots of
vintage
matchbooks, arranged with commentary. In the "Old Ad Archive" you can
browse
through vintage ads ranging from the 1920s to the 1960s. I particularly loved
the
ads from WWII . The "Postcard" section has some very lovely postcards
from
motels all over America. The "Have a Seat" section features postcards
from
restaurants and diners from sea to shining sea.
Sure there are vintage ads, comics, and postcards from various ages, but would
this site be without vintage money and stock certificate engravings? Check the
vintage money out in "Curious Lucre", and the stock certificates in
"Bureau of
Corporate Allegory".
For a young'un like me it's like an online time capsule, while for those of you
who
lived during those eras, it's a trip down memory lane.
http://www.lileks.com/
=== Slang
Site
This site's slogan says it all, 'SlangSite.com is a dictionary of slang,
webspeak,
made up words, and colloquialisms. Click on a letter below to browse our
listings,
or submit your own words to our site." Scroll down their front page to see
a few
examples.
So, you follow their directions, and start browsing. I chose the letter K, and
was
surprised at the amount of slang that starts with that letter. From
"K", as in OK, to
"Kahooga", as in extremely babyish crying, and many more.
Example... "Keeper of the speed": a motorist who makes it their
personal mission
to drive below the posted speed limit at all times, thereby ruining the commute
of
those motorists stuck behind
So why don't you check out all those other letters and see what new slang you
can
find?
http://www.slangsite.com/
=== Movie Bloopers
The "how to use this site" section here was too good to pass up so
I'll give it to
you here so you can just jump in: "Welcome to Movie Bloopers! The first
site on
the internet devoted to mistakes in the movies we love. Using Movie Bloopers is
very easy. On your left, you will see a list of blooper categories. These
bloopers
are visitor submitted bloopers. These bloopers are updated daily and contain a
text
description of the blooper. Across the top you will see blooper categories as
well.
These are our featured bloopers..."
Are you ready to dive in? Well that's fabulous because they have oodles of
categories for you to search through. Like what? You ask. Well, how about:
Action, Comedy, Cult Classics, Drama, Horror, SciFi, and for those of you who
love it, Star Wars.
Choose the section of movies you want to view and pick a title off the list.
Then
you will get text and pictures to view. This site is awesome!
http://www.moviebloopers.com/
=== Mom Shack
Whether your pregnant, a parent, or a grandparent there is a lot of info for
you at
this site. You can learn about the stages of motherhood from conception to
empty
nest syndrome to getting be grandma. There is even a section to help you out if
you have twins, triplets, or more.
Then there is the "Mom Lifestyle" section: Home & Garden, Beauty
& Fashion,
Health & Safety, Food & Nutrition, Crafts & Hobbies
That just a small selection of the section and there is ton of information.
Learn
how to make calculated home improvements, or how to lure ladybugs to your
garden. There is even a section on how to deal with computer viruses.
There is even a "Mom Fun" section where you can find chat rooms,
games,
postcards, and useful links to help you out. Enjoy!
http://www.momshack.com/
=== The Old Timer's Page
This site's slogan is: "The way we used to do it." You can learn a
lot on this site,
like how to build a root cellar, or how to build a cistern. You will also find
old
recipes, how to cure ham, and much, much more.
The site goes on to declare:
"Today there is an increasing self awareness among many toward becoming
more
self reliant. We try new things and-in my opinion-try to re-invent the wheel.
The
pioneers of 100 years ago were already more self-sufficient than most of us
will
ever be. Perhaps instead of looking to the future and new ways of doing things,
we ought to at least take a small look into the past and re-acquaint ourselves
with
the old ways that are proven, that work, yet are nearly forgotten."
I have to agree-could you imagine living without electricity? The recent black
out
proved how very reliant we are on our modern comforts. So the things on this
site
were really interesting to read about.
Check this one out it is very interesting.
http://waltonfeed.com/old/index.html
=== Great Lakes and Seaway Shipping
Do you like boats, ships or boat watching? I like to look at boats so I was
drawn
to their photo gallery the minute I loaded up the site. The photo gallery is
huge!
You can see historic, fleet, saltwater, tug photos and there is even a whole
lighthouse gallery. I could do a whole segment on these fabulous photos, but
there
is more to tell you about.
The "Facts and Figures" section is full of fun, and neat facts that
will definitely
keep your attention. Such as:
Which Vessels have been sold, renamed, or scrapped.
Scanner Frequencies
Cargo Records
Travel Times between Ports
The other major thing I wanted to mention to you guys is the "Information
Search". If you are looking for information on the Great Lakes, or Boats
this is the
place for you. You can post your query and someone will answer it or point you
in the right direction. Or you can browse through the topics and maybe help out
someone with a question of their own. It's a nice give-and-take system.
Make sure you flip through the photo galleries though, they are really
marvelous.
http://www.boatnerd.com/
=== The
National Obituary Archive
"The National Obituary Archive is the world's largest repository of
obituaries and
death records with more than 55 million individual entries on file. Visitors
may
search the archive freely to learn about the deaths of friends or family or to
explore relationships when building family trees or doing genealogical
research."
This is how the site describes itse, but it doesn't tell you about some of the
really
great things you will find here.
This site has a fabulous memorial to those who perished on September 11th, as
well as all the obituary information you might be looking for. You can find out
if
someone noteworthy recently died at the "In the News" section. You
can also
search for your loved ones with their hometown search.
To search through the obituaries type in the city you are looking for and
select the
State that city is in. It will then bring up an array of obituaries for you too
browse
though. If you find someone you'd like to see the full obituary to click on
View
Obituary.
The obituary will give you the pertinent information, just like one in a
newspaper.
You will see the date the person was born and the date they died, as well as
some
information on the person. You will also see the source that provided the
information, whether it was social security or a loved one, or the local funeral
director.
http://www.nationalobituaryarchive.com/
===
Computer Sounds
Do you like those sounds on your computer? You know the generic ones it came
with? Well if you haven't turned them off, why not get a better option. At
Computer Sounds you can choose through many different sounds for all the
different applications on your computer.
There are Email sounds, Start Up sounds, Shut Down sounds, Recycle Bin
sounds, and a whole collection of miscellaneous sounds for you to choose from.
Now, with all those options do you still want to waste time with all those
boring
sounds that came with your computer?
There are instructions on saving them to your computer and they aren't very hard
to install, just go to your control panel and choose "Sounds", which
brings up a
window where you can scroll through all the applications that currently have
sounds. Browse sounds and Apply. It's really easy.
Enjoy.
http://webcanada0.tripod.com/sounds.html
===
Internet Sacred Text Archives
This site is very much what the title says. It is an archive of texts, that are
online,
for anyone to view without establishing nation or creed, to promote religious
tolerance and scholarship.
You can read up about everything from myth and folklore to the major religions.
If you want to read the Bible, the Koran, or myths about Atlantis-they are all
here.
On their main page, scroll down and you'll have find a listing of subjects to
read
about.
You can then choose what in that topic you would like to read about. All this
information is really well written and they will even give you titles of books
on
the same subject you can read for more in-depth information.
All in all this site is a gem.
http://www.sacred-texts.com/index.htm
=== Irish
Literature, Mythology, Folk Lore, and Drama
I fell in love with this site. It is a great site for those of us who always
wished we
were Irish to those who grew up being Irish. Here you can find the history of
Ireland, learn about Gaelic (the Irish language), read through Periodicals, not
to
mention check out literature, mythology and folklore.
That's a lot of information jam packed into one site. I challenge you to
explore
through this site that is so rich with history and charm. Read about all this
rich
mythology and folklore, you'll be entertained and intrigued for hours.
http://www.luminarium.org/mythology/ireland/
===
Essential Links
This site is exactly what it says it is. Tons and tons of useful links that
everyone
should have, but they're all rolled into one site. It has News, Search Engines,
Comic Strips, Weather, Directories, Stuff for your Kids, Of The Day, and much,
much more.
How will you discover everything this site has to offer? Well, you have to
explore
it of course. I think my favorite section is the "Of the Day"
section. Here you can
find the joke, word, lottery numbers, recipe, game and more "of the
day".
You can look up the weather for your area, find out how your stocks are doing,
look up words in the dictionary, and lots of other stuff, so head on over!
http://www.el.com/
===
Writing.com
Writing.com is a site for both readers and writers. If you like to read you can
find
all sorts of stories on this site to read, and enjoy. For those of you who like
to
write, this is one of the best resource sites you can ever find.
The first thing you should do is go to the "Noticing Newbies" section
on their
front page, and introduce yourself. Then you can take the virtual tour which is
also in that section. Feel free to chat in their forums and make friends.
For those of you who are writers but don't want to go through the hassle of
getting
an agent, and then waiting for someone to like your stuff enough to publish it,
you
can check out their self-publish section. There you will find links that take
you to
places where you can self-publish or find information on how to do it.
Get over ther write now!
http://www.writing.com/
=== Radio Lovers
At Radio Lovers you can get free old time radio shows, including Abbott and
Costello, Amos and Andy, A Date with Judy, Avengers, Batman, Authors
Playhouse, and many more. I love their intro so I'm going to share it with you
here in my corner.
"We offer hundreds of vintage radio shows for you to listen to online in
mp3
format, all for free. Before the days of video games, shopping malls, MTV, and
the Internet, families used to sit in their living room each night to listen to
radio
shows such as Abbott and Costello, Superman, Groucho Marx, The Avenger,
Gunsmoke, Sherlock Homes, and many others. When TV became popular in the
1950s, most of these shows went off the air, but they now live on at websites
such
as this one and on weekly nostalgia radio broadcasts worldwide."
You can browse by category, or you can simply click a link and see all they
have
to offer, either way I don't think you'll be disappointed. This site is an
archival
treasure. So check it out.
http://www.radiolovers.com/
=== Wise Guide
I know what you're thinking, it's another how-to site. But it's not. It's a
site about
American history. With fabulous sections like American Women: A Guide to
their History; Lewis & Clark: Go West, Young Men; How did America Get It's
Name? And much more.
Chocked
full of history and information, this site is a jewel. One of my favorite
sections is in the "American Women Guide", and talks about 8 women
who came
to the front in WWII as broadcasters and journalists. I thought it was
fascinating-
war wasn't something women reported on then, and these women went to where it
was happening got knee deep into it and weren't even remember for it. But now
they will be.
This site has lots of information like that. "How did America get it's
Name" was a
great section too. And it isn't just about America-there's a section on Timbuktu,
Presidents, and much more. All brought to you by the Library of Congress.
This site is informational, fascinating, and pictorial. A real marvel.
http://www.loc.gov/wiseguide/
=== Stained Glass Photography
I love stained glass, but it's a dying art. Now you can see it photographed
exquisitely at Stained Glass Photography. I was a skeptic at first-you know,
how
can a photograph be as good as the real thing?
I was so wrong.
I browsed through these galleries and had my opinion changed. This is like
looking at the stained glass itself. The photos are so detailed and vibrant.
You can
see the stained glass of Tiffany, William Morris, Charles Connick, Maitland
Armstrong, Henry Holiday, Charles Kemp, John La Farge, Evie Hone, and many
others.
This site is a real gem. Check it out!
http://www.stainedglassphotography.com/
=== Arresting Images
I couldn't help but want to bring you this site. What is it?
Well, you can see candid photos of some of your favorite celebrities. Check out
their mug shots, and see what they really look like without all that help from
cameras, lighting, and makeup. You can also see mug shots of athletes,
musicians,
serial killers, historical figures and many more.
Most have captions that tell you what the person was incarcerated for. You'd be
surprised by some of them-I know I was. You can see the mug shots of
"favorite"
gangsters too.
Book 'em Dan-O!
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/mugshots/
=== Sign Language
"It was the best of Signs, it was the worst of Signs." With a slogan
like this, who
can resist this site? I know I couldn't. They also advertise the site as
"A collection
of photos containing humorous, bizarre, and or confusing signs from around the
world."
Let me tell you what to expect. With 32 galleries you won't be bored, but
you'll
definitely be amused-both by the signs and the commentary. My favaorite is a
picture in gallery 32. It's a tire posted on a stake in the ground that say's
"Beware
Lambs." That's too funny, I mean watch out for those evil lambs.
http://www.signslanguage.com/
=== Vintage
Labels-The Lost Art of Travel
I suggest browsing this one in full screen (just hit F11), it's graphically
better this
way to me. But you can also view at your regular browser size and enjoy it.
From
"The Brief History of Travel" to the "About the Site"
section, I was instantly
charmed by this site.
Well written and well put together, it is a visual triumph as well as
interesting.
The "Image Gallery of Vintage Labels" was a history lesson of
pictures. It's like
stepping into the past when traveling was exquisite and very much for the
starlet
of Hollywood or the money of Boston, but now the regular Joe or Jane (in my
case) can travel through these labels and get a sense of the grandeur that once
was.
http://www.vintagelabels.org/welcome.html
=== The Museum of Hoaxes
Welcome to the Museum of Hoaxes. Jackalope anyone?
You read silly things in the newspaper everyday, like Metallica suing a band
for
using the chords E and F. You want to know if it's true? Well, you can check
the
Museum of Hoaxes, for both current hoaxes as well as past ones.
There are also some pretty spiffy tests: The Gullibility test, the Christmas
Test,
the April Fools Quiz (my favorite) and a couple more. You can also browse
through the hoaxes by categories, like Hoax Websites, Hoax Photos, April Fool's
Day, College Pranks, Birth Hoaxes and my favorite, Tell Tale Creatures.
I didn't make this up, go for a visit!
http://www.museumofhoaxes.com
=== Legends Online
"A continuing series of interactive galleries highlighting the work of
renowned
photographers." With a intro slogan like that you probably expect to be
kind of
bored. So let me spice this up for you: a site that is full of gorgeous
photography
that is updated frequently!
You can browse by going through their currently featured photographers on the
front page or you can click on the gallery button, and browse by photographer.
Some famous photographers you'll find here are: Steve McCurry, Arnold
Newman, Rodney Smith and many more.
Browse through the galleries at your leisure, each one is different and has
special
intrinsic qualities that should be celebrated. Some use different mediums,
others
just have an eye for quality photography, either way you'll enjoy it.
http://www.pdnonline.com/legends/
=== NameBase
http://www.namebase.org/nbhome.html
=== Soda Machines
This site contains over 400 different types of classic soda machines. You can
browse through them by choosing manufacturers. Then choose the small five cent
image and you can see the pictures of soda machines.
Different manufacturers made very different vending machines. It was really
neat
to go through and see all the different types from when they were first
originated
to more modern ones like we see every day. The vintage ones I think are by far
the neatest. It was also neat to take a tour back in history because this gives
you a
good idea of how things were kept cool based on the era.
Check it out!
http://soda-machines.com/machines/index.html
=== Grace Hopper
http://www.cs.yale.edu/homes/tap/past-women-cs.html
- Grace Hopper
=== sites
for Maureen
http://www.graphicgarden.com
http://www.wysiwygs.net/
=== Project
Greenlight
This year's Project Greenlight Contest began with over 7,000 contestants. After
months of online and offline review, assignments, and interviews the Project
Greenlight Contest ended on January 18, 2003 with the naming of the winners.
Erica Beeney, for "The Battle of Shaker Heights", was named the
winner of the
Screenplay Contest and Kyle Rankin and Efram Potelle were the inaugural
Director Contest Winners. HBO is filming the "making of" the movie as
a
documentary that is CURRENTLY AIRING.
http://projectgreenlight.liveplanet.com/
=== Women of Our Time
This site is a historical gem. I'm bring you the Twentieth Century Photographs
from the National Photograph Gallery, as you scroll through you will notice
these
are all women. These are the great women of the Twentieth Century collected
here to be remembered for all time.
Scroll over a photograph and it will give you the name and occupation of the
woman featured, click on the information and you will be given a short
biography
of the woman featured. With fascinating tidbits and information you can't go
wrong just randomly choosing.
Some well-known women featured are: Eleanor Roosevelt, Amelia Earhart, Billie
Holiday, Mae West, Sylvia Plath and many more.
http://www.npg.si.edu/cexh/woot/
=== NativeWeb
NativeWeb is a site that is dedicated to bringing information from and about
indigenous nations, peoples, and organizations around the world- from Abenaki
to
Zuni, they are all here! Their goal is not just to preserve information, but to
foster
communication between native and non-native people, to conduct research, and to
provide resources for indigenous peoples to use technology.
Find information from all sorts of cultures, definitely a time consuming page,
as
there is so much to see and read. But it's worth it check it out.
http://www.nativeweb.org/
=== Stay
Safe Online
This is a site every cyber citizen needs to visit. You should start off by taking
the
Self Test, and find out just how secure your style is. Then I'd visit the
fabulous
Security tips section and read up on how to be safe online.
They also have a step-by-step beginners guide to being secure on the Internet.
Not
to mention other walkthrough topics. For those of you who own businesses you
can even read their small business security section.
This site is very helpful and is updated frequently. I don't know about you,
but I'm
book-marking it.
http://www.staysafeonline.info/
===
Puzz.com
No, "puzz" is not some Yiddish insult, it's short for puzzle. This
site is both for
puzzle lovers and for test takers. You can find tons of both here along with
other
goodies that will keep you quite busy.
You'll find IQ tests, trivia, puzzles and a lot of other stuff. Scroll down the
page to
visit all their links. A lot of them are owned by puzz.com, but quite a few are
independent sites that have their own mysteries to explore. So, if you love
puzzles
this site is for you.
http://www.puzz.com/
=== Rotten dot com
The soft white underbelly of the net, eviscerated for all to see.
Rotten dot com collects images and information from many
sources to present the viewer with a truly unpleasant experience.
http://www.rotten.com/
=== Vote Smart! (US Site)
If you live in the US, you know it can be difficult to make a decision on who
to
vote for in our elections. Usually you have to go for the lesser of two evils
and are
forced to come to that decision by watching cheezy TV ads. Well, you can be
better informed by checking out this site. They have quick bios on just about
everyone who's running in an election, even local guys & gals.
Additionally, they give you contact information on everyone. So, if you want to
send an e-mail to your governor, go for it. Want to complain to your senator
about
the unfair treatment mosquitos due to bug spraying? Knock yourself out. Here's
the link:
http://www.vote-smart.org/index.phtml
=== Tornado Chase Day
This is an "image site for tornado chasers, weather photographers, sky
lovers and
dreamers" and all of the above can find something to enjoy here.
Here you can see New Images of 2004's Tornado season. They are sorted by
location, so choose a location to browse the images. The New ones are marked
with the word "New" in orange before the link. Not only do you get
dramatic
images of these tornados you also get radar imaging of the storm cell and you
may even see some hail. It was amazing to me how different the tornados were
from one another. Each was very unique.
I like the pictures from Freeport to Argonia in Kansas. Because it is as though
the
tornado is swallowing up the sunshine in that area as it grew. Very neat. You
can
also check out the archives in this section-a lot of great images there.
Scrolling down a little further you will notice that you can look at Stock
photos of
tornados (high speed connection recommended), you can look at Hail Storms
(images of hailstones, hail fall, hail storms, and punching), you can also read
the
two page lesson on Learning Storm Features, a very educational read. You will
also find images of Wind Storms, Lightning Storms, Tornados and Funnels.
You should take you time browsing this one because there are a ton of really
excellent photographs to see.
http://www.chaseday.com
=== Grave Addiction
This site contains photos of cemeteries, haunted places, abandoned buildings,
and
historical parks that the site's author has visited.
It is divided by categories:
Cemeteries - You can browse this section in two ways. One, just scroll down and
click the links that you fancy taking a look at or two, you can browse by
County/State, City/State, Haunted Cemeteries, or Top 50 which are linked at the
top of the page. There are 291 cemeteries that you can browse through so you
might be in this section a while. I chose to browse by Haunted Cemeteries for
my
exploration of the section.
I was amazed first by how many from Ohio were listed-this means I can go visit
them this summer and check them out for a nice adventure. Secondly I was
amazed by how detailed some of these accounts are. I recommend in the Haunted
section to check out "Mary Jane's Grave (Lucas, Ohio)" where you'll
find a long
and interesting bunch of information on it that was really a great read. Use
the
option box to select what photos you want to view.
Haunted Places - Here you will find a listing and photos from Haunted places
like
Alcatraz, Oak Alley Plantation, Mudhouse Mansion, and many more. Again they
come with detailed accountings of what the hauntings supposedly are. Some even
have links where you can get more information about the location.
Abandoned Buildings - This list is a lot shorter but is still interesting so I
wouldn't
discount it as something you should dismiss, I'd thought it was worth a look.
Historical Parks - This is another large list. Check out these places, some of
the
photos are really neat. And this can also give you summer travel ideas. :)
There is a lot more to this site, so take your time, and wander carefully.
http://www.graveaddiction.com
=== Only Piano
This site is wonderful. For anyone who likes to listen to piano music, or plays
the
piano, this site is for you. My favorite section is "Only Piano"
where you can
listen to piano music 24 hrs. a day. You'll need to download the Live365 player
(which is free) to listen to this free music station. I've been using Live365
for two
years and love it.
My next favorite is the "Resources" section. This is where you can
learn all about
the history of pianos. Here you can learn about everything from the early Piano
Fortes to the Grand Pianos of today. "Cristofori's 'gravicembalo col piano
e forte'
was designed after the pattern and usage of the harpsichord to meet the demands
of the ever more technical keyboard literature."
If you are looking to learn to play the piano, or you have a child that is
interested
in it, you should check out "Piano Instruction". This is a compiled
listing of Piano
Instructors and may make it easier for you to find one near you. It also has
some
sites where you can find all the information to start teaching yourself the
basics.
Should you decided to check out the Pianist section in "Resources"
you will find a
world wide listing of pianists. It was very interesting to check out some of
the
biographies on them.
The "News" section will give you all kinds of interesting news on the
piano. Like
upcoming piano artists, reviews, Broadway news, kind of like a newspaper for
the
musical world. I found some of the stories very interesting so you'll probably
want to browse here as well.
Explore at your own pace, check out the information in the resources section
while you listen to some brilliant piano music, enjoy!
http://www.onlypiano.com
=== A Ghost in my Suitcase
A Ghost in my Suitcase, your guide to haunted Travel. We'll focus our
information on three of their sections-Haunted Places, Ghostly Travel Guides,
and
Ghost BLOG.
Haunted Places - Here you can read very interesting accounts of the writer of
this
site and his wife. They travel and tend to check out haunted places. My
favorite
story was of the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose. It has a lot of lovely
pictures too. You could spend quite some time entertained by reading all of
these
accountings, I know I did.
Ghostly Travel Guides - "Pick your destination, then click on any of the
links to
learn more about these books. You will be taken to a website for the particular
book's publisher, with its discounts and security, where you can purchase the
book."
Ghost BLOG - Think of this section like Ghostly Cool Sites. "I know that I
give a
lot of links here, and that many will disappear over time, but I really want to
give
some cool places to visit." It also has a ghost journal feel. It's worth
checking out.
As to the rest of this site-explore it! See if you find anything that interests
you.
http://www.ghostinmysuitcase.com
=== WEHT.net
WEHT stands for "What Ever Happened To?" This is where you can find
out
where all those one hit wonders, child stars, sitcom stars, and many more.
There
are a lot of categories to search through and a lot of information on different
people.
There is a top five list of the most searched for, last added, top 5, top 5 of
the
week, to make some searching easier. I know I learned a lot while I was here.
Of
course you can always just put in the name of who you are looking for and
search
that way.
Like Fabio "now runs his own film production company specializing in
animation." That's right the fashion model who graced the covers of tons
of
romances has settled down to a very private life running his own business.
There are so many to browse through. You will feel like you are really getting
a
history lesson on what's been going on in these people's lives. This site is
very fun
and frisky. Try not to get lost browsing it though, I found myself looking up
one
person only to get distracted by more options and spending a good deal of time
just reading and looking around.
There is a newsletter you can sign up for too, as well as discussion boards so
you
can discuss your favorites with others on this site. From History to Pop
Culture if
you are wondering what ever happened to them-you'll probably find it here.
Enjoy!
http://www.weht.net
=== Lost in Translation
Have you ever used a translator online and found that it wasn't exactly right?
Well
this site is dedicated to those kinks in translation.
This site asks: "What happens when an English phrase is translated (by
computer)
back and forth between 5 different languages?" So they set out to find out
and
now you can too. Here is how it works, you put in an English sentence and hit
"Babelize".
http://www.tashian.com/multibabel
=== Seasons Greetings
"It's always snowing somewhere!" That's a line from the introduction
to this site.
It's always snowing here. I'm thanking my lucky stars too, because I'd give
anything for snow right now. My front yard looks like a mud pit from all this
winter rain.
Well if you want to see the flakes I made, go to "Find a Flake".
Where it says
"name", type in AMANDA, and where it says "location" type
in
WORLDSTART. Then click the orange search button. It will tell you how many
snowflakes that they found that I've made. (I've lost track of how many are out
there!) Then it will tell you to watch for them to fall. They should fall with
green
arrows by them, just click the flake to enlarge it.
If you'd like to make some snowflakes yourself, click "Create Your Own
Snow
Flake". Click and Drag with your mouse to cut out your snowflake shape.
Then
when you're finished, click "Done". Then fill out your name, location
(if you
want) and a message, put your e-mail address in (if you don't want to, uncheck
the
box beneath that asks if you want notified if someone replies to your flake)
then
click "Add". You can send it to your friends, or if you don't want to
just click no
thanks and your flake will be added to those that are falling. The really nice
thing
is that you can preview what your flake looks like as you make it.
I could spend hours just looking at some the snowflakes here. How people get
their snowflakes so intricate is beyond me-I just have fun. So if you just want
to
view some snowflakes, then mouse over the snowflakes falling and enjoy!
http://www.popularfront.com/seasonsgreetings
=== Relaxing TV Channel
It sure is cold here, and I wish I had a fire. Well, I may not have a fireplace
but I
can watch a fire. Not only can I watch a fire but I have three pages of fires I
can
choose from. Just choose your download speed, save it and then open it to have
a
wonderful, crackling fire to watch and enjoy! Even a Yule Log for the holidays.
You may also enjoy the sounds they have also provided. To hear them along with
your video you can either click "launch the music" on their webpage,
or you can
click "launch music in the media player". This helps make the
experience
complete-now you can hear your fire crackle!
You can also enjoy Aquariums, Beaches, By the Sea, Flowering, Foliage, Grand
Canyon, Harbors, Hawaii, Lighthouses, Snowfall, Sunrises, Sunsets, Waterfalls,
and even Zoos if fires aren't your idea of fun things to watch.
All of these are beautiful imagery, with crystal clear pictures. Take time and
enjoy
the vast variety that this site has to offer.
http://www.relaxingtv.com/fireplace.asp
=== Brain Explorer
Have you ever wanted to explore your brain? Well now you can with Brain
Explorer.
Brain Atlas - "From the brain and the brain alone arise our pleasures,
joys,
laughter and jests, as well as our sorrows, pains and griefs"
(Hippocrates). Here
you can learn about the structure of your brain, and the body functions
controlled
by each part. Explore the Forebrain, Midbrain, Hindbrain, Spinal Column, and
Cerebral Vasculature. This section is full of interesting information.
Focus on Brain Disorders - This is where you can find information on brain
diseases and emotional diseases. You can learn how, and what part of the brain
they effect. I have a friend with Bipolar Disorder, so I found the information
here
fascinating. They also study Anxiety Disorders, Dementia, Depression, Epilepsy,
Migraines, Multiple Sclerosis, OCD, Panic Disorder, Parkinson's Disease, PTSD,
Schizophrenia, Sleep Disorders, and Strokes. Tons of great information here. A
MUST READ.
Glossary - This is where you can find the terms that are currently on the site.
Yep
it's a glossary of brain terms!
Neurological Control - Learn about Neurotransmissions, Action Potential,
Synaptic Signal, Neurotransmitters, Pre-Synaptic Control, and Disorders of the
Brain. This section is about the neurons that are firing around in our brain
all day
long.
Gallery - This is where you get to see the nifty pictures of the different
parts of
the brain. Being a visual learner this really helps me out to see the sections.
I wish
I had found this site when I was going to high school and was taking Anatomy.
You'd be out of your mind not to check this one out.
http://www.brainexplorer.org
=== NATIONAL DO NOT CALL REGISTRY
The National Do Not Call Registry gives you a choice about whether to receive
telemarketing calls at home. Most telemarketers should not call your number
once
it has been on the registry for three months. If they do, you can file a
complaint at
this Website. You can register your home or mobile phone for free. Your
registration will be effective for five years.
https://www.donotcall.gov/default.aspx
===
Chanukah
Chanukah, the Festival of Lights, begins at sundown tonight. The holiday
celebrates events that took place over 2300 years ago in Judea (modern
Israel)-the
victory of the Maccabees, the rededication of the Jerusalem Temple and a
miracle
of oil that burned for 8 days.
Welcome to a wonderful resource on this holiday. Here you are going to find
recipes, stories, and coloring pictures for your children, games and even
crafts
you can make.
The Story of Chanukah - this section is exactly what it says it is. So check it
out to
find out all about how Chanukah came to be celebrated.
The Menorah - This section answers the question, "Why is the Chanukah
menorah
different than our usual Shabbat menorah?" You can even light a virtual
Menorah
here.
The Dreidel - You can learn how to make your own Dreidel! What a fun spinning
toy!
Holiday Music - Find all your Chanukah music here, why don't you turn up your
speakers and sing along with the music. Okay it's only one song, but it's great
that
they included it.
What else will you find on this site? Well there are Chanukah goodies where you
can make crafty things for this holiday. There are Chanukah Recipes where you
can make tasty, tasty treats. The only down side is that the site has tons of
pop-ups
so have your stopper running when you visit.
http://www.holidays.net/chanukah
=== The Degree Confluence Project
"The project is an organized sampling of the world. There is a confluence
within
49 miles (79 km) of you if you're on the surface of Earth. We've discounted
confluences in the oceans and some near the poles, but there are still 12,555
to be
found."
They are taking pictures of all these confluences. So that means that are tons
of
photos for you to browse through of these special places and from all over the
world.
I recommend checking out the journey of Rainer Mautz. Who traveled from
Germany to China, mostly by land and sought out 29 of these confluences. It is
filled with neat pictures from many countries.
And if you are only interested in seeing different countries you can scroll
down
the page and go by the country listing. Just choose the country you want to
view
and it will whisk you to the pictures of the confluences in the those
countries.
This site is really neat. I wish I had the time to drive around taking pictures
of
some of these place. If you do, you can get in touch with them - and send them
the
pictures you take. So you can even participate.
Go check it out!
http://www.confluence.org
=== U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
Another one for all of us consumers! This site has all the recent U.S. recalls
that
were issued for safety. You'll want to bookmark or put this one in your
favorites
so that you can keep up with it.
But it isn't just for recalls! You can also find safety information here. I
appreciated the "4 Kids" section which talks about safety for your
children. Please
check out the recalls and this kid's section if you have children. The recalls
on the
page the day I checked it out were mostly toys, and baby products. Don't let
your
kids get hurt by an unsafe product.
There is also a section for you to report an unsafe product!
http://www.cpsc.gov
=== The Paperback Revolution
The year is 1935, the place is Britain, the revolutionary idea is-paperbacks.
Can
you imagine not having paperbacks? Some of my most favorite books that I've
ever read are paperbacks, and can not even be found in hardback editions.
Let's explore this revolution. Click the "Revolution" tab to begin.
One of the neat
things in this section is the "Animated Paperback Timeline". (The
timeline
requires macromedia flash, you'll be directed where to go). To explore the
timeline simply click on one of the sections of books. The time line starts
with
1935 to 1939, and goes until 1955 to 1960. I loved this time, you can literally
watch the birth of the genre of paperbacks. Watch as publisher names you know
and love become big success, such as Harlequin and Doubleday.
The Edmonton Collection - this section is devoted to the collection itself.
Learn
all about this collection by stopping here for a quick read.
The Gallery - the Paperback Gallery also requires flash. Here you can see and
page through some of the books that you find on the rack. I chose Ripley's
Believe it or Not, and wasn't disappointed. I got to see the covers, and the
introduction as well as some of the publisher's information. There is quite a
sampling of old paperbacks for you to check out.
This was a fascinating site, I never really thought about the history of
paperbacks
before. But now I am glad I did. Check it out!
http://www.crcstudio.arts.ualberta.ca/paperbacks
=== Postcards from the Attic
This has to be one of the neatest postcards sites I've run across in a long
time.
These are all postcards from 1900-1910. There are several ways that you can
browse this site. You can check out everything that is on this main page or you
can click "Complete Archives".
In "Complete Archives" you can browse by section (Landscapes,
Animals, etc.) or
you can just go through card by card. And there are a lot of sections. Take you
time and go through them. The Novelty section was quite a hoot. My favorite
from the Novelty section was the one with the man riding the donkey holding
carrots out in front so that the donkey will run faster and says "Am
coming as fast
as I can travel."
Now here's the fun part, any of these you see and like you can share with your
friends and family. They have this site up so that you can use these as
postcards.
Click "Info" under any image you like, and then click "Send as a
Card". This
takes you to the form to fill out to send it out via E-mail.
Looking back on the site I would also like to recommend that you check out both
the Landscapes section and the Boats and Buildings. These are very good from
both a aesthetic point of view and from a historical one and are worth enjoying.
http://fultonchain.net/postcards
=== Everything Ocean
"Did you know that female dolphins sleep at the water's surface, with
their blow
holes exposed so the can breathe, and male dolphins sleep just below the
surface,
rising to the surface periodically to breathe?"
This is just one of the interesting facts you can learn here in
"Poseidon's Library"
at Ocean.com. You can also find out about the featured sea creature of the
moment by clicking on its picture underneath Poseidon and his trio of dolphins.
There you will find facts and movies of the sea creature. (The movies require
QuickTime, Windows Media, or Real players to view-you can choose your
connection speed as well.) There are 75 short clips of sea creatures that you
can
watch. I watched them all in about half an hour. You can also send them to
friends
by using the "Email This" link.
You can checkout "Sea Stories" for great stories involving the sea
from around
the world. From the largest wave to the largest fish! This a fun section full
of
interesting stories. I loved the story entitled "Two Idiots". It's
about cave diving
and is written with tremendous wit. I like the one about Leafy Sea Dragons too.
Then there is "Ask Poseidon", a section of question and answers.
Like: where did
the ocean come from? Do barracuda's attack people? How do Jellyfish sting you?
And much more.
If you click the "Home" tab at the top of the page you'll be taken to
the front page
of Ocean.com, where you can read a story about Cortes Banks and extreme
surfing that was excellently written. I enjoyed it a whole lot.
If you click the "Ocean Gallery" tab, you'll be whisked into some of
the most
amazing pictures I've ever seen. They even have a picture of a shark attack!
:-|
*shivers* Scary stuff. But also a lot of totally magnificent pictures. You can
view
by photographer's galleries.
I'll be book marking this one for when I feel the need to explore the deep!
http://www.ocean.com/Library
=== Banished Words and Phrases 2004
Since 1976 Lake Superior State University has released its annual list of words
that should be banished from the English language due to Mis-Use, Over-Use and
General Uselessness. The school recieved over 5000 nominations this year from
all over the world (up from 3000 last year).
Among this year's list are "companion animals",
"bling-bling", "LOL", and the
most over-used word in current marketing: X. That's as in Xtreme, X-Box, and of
course, Windows XP.
Be sure to view the Banishment Archives to view words and phrases from the past
that should have gone away.
http://www.lssu.edu/banished/current/default.html
=== Librarian's Index of the Internet: Photos
I'm bringing you the photograph collections of this site. They range from
Aerial to
Regional, Panoramic to Stereoscopic, Nature to Science, so you are assured that
you will probably find something you like here. Hey you'll even see some of
those
daguerreotypes that I've recommended before.
Now when you visit each topic you will be directed to a listing of sites with
definitions of what they contain, because this is an index. So if you have a
favorite type of photography you are likely to find several sites that you will
enjoy. There are a ton of galleries to browse.
For example, if you go to "Landscapes" you'll get almost a search
engine indexing
of sites. I checked out the very first one that came up - Between Home and
Heaven. Excellent photos of the landscapes of America. But that was just one of
the first twenty results. It's very easy to find the subject you're looking for
and
then spend hours viewing the different galleries.
If you know of a site that has a photographic collection that you think would
be a
bonus for them to add to their index, you can click the "Suggest a
Site" link at the
top of the page. What's nice about this feature is that you can request a reply.
So
you'll know if they've added it or if they found it unsuitable. You can also
Submit
Comments and Questions by clicking the "Comment" link. This works in
very
much the same fashion as submitting a site.
Don't be afraid to get lost among the galleries. It's just about as good as
going to
the library and getting lost in the stacks of your favorite book category.
Enjoy!
http://lii.org/search/file/photocollections
=== History of Nations
Their introduction was concise and to the point, so I thought I would share it
with
you. "This site has a history of every nation in the world. Each country
is covered
by a brief essay which gives the highlights of each nation's history."
There are several ways to use this site-you can either choose a continent from
those they have provided, and then choose the country you are looking for
information on. Or you can type the country you want information on into the
search engine and click "Google Search". (It is defaulted to search
only the
History of Nations website, but if you don't find the information you are
looking
for you can switch it WWW to search the World Wide Web.)
Or a neater way to find out about the history of these places is to scroll down
the
page, and learn about countries via the different ages. It starts with a Brief
History
of the World and then moves through the ages starting with Neolithic and
spanning to the Twentieth Century. A fun and easy read that is chocked full of
information, and links to more information.
It even has a link to Uncover the Net, an interesting web directory, that comes
equipped with forums for topical discussion on a great many subjects. I think
this
web directory would be a benefit for historical searches as well.
Well, check it out!
http://www.historyofnations.net
=== Paper Airplanes
I remember as a little kid that we would get bored in school and try to make
paper
airplanes to fly notes across the room when our teacher's back was turned. I
was
never very good in getting mine off the ground so I switched to origami and
made
footballs to pass my notes from desk to desk. But now I can learn how to make a
decent paper airplane with this site. This site not only has diagrams but has
many
different styles of planes.
This site would have been useful for my ninth grade science project where we
had
to make planes and write down our findings scientifically. I found that my
plane
did not fly.
Here you can find out the World Records for paper planes. You can learn how to
fold planes in the section "Paper Planes you can Fold".
I suggest that you check out the section "Workman Paper Airplane
Club". If you
scroll down the page, you will find a flight simulator that rocks!
You can also learn the history of the paper airplane from this site. Did you
know
these facts?
"Jack Northrop used paper airplanes in the 1930's to help in his ideas for
flying
wing airplanes. In a sense, those paper airplanes helped shape a corporation
and
lead to the B-2 stealth bomber."
"Early model balloons were all paper, and their first human-carrying
balloons of
1783 were cloth lined with paper."
http://www.paperplane.org
=== The World of Peter Rabbit
This site is not only about the World of Peter Rabbit and his friends but also
about
Beatrix Potter the author who brought us Peter Rabbit. I loved these stories as
a
child and was happy to get onto reviewing this site. Choose your language at
the
bottom of the page to begin.
I would like to start with the Biography section, so click the purple circle
that
reads "Beatrix Potter." Here you will find information on the author
herself, as
well as, and yes I am excited about this, her watercolor landscapes. You will
also
find childhood sketches, and the famous picture letters! In the letters you
will find
a story about the naughty Squirrel Nutkin, and the very first telling of Peter
Rabbit.
On the side bar you will notice categories in this section you will find more
wonderful imagery by going through the art section. But I would recommend the
Life section (the heart of the biography), and Peter Rabbit goes dancing where
you can find out all about the Peter Rabbit Ballet!
The "Fun" section will bring you a lot of joy. I definitely would
recommend
sharing this site with children! You will find images you can print out for
your
kids to color, crafts, activities, videos, e-cards. A great meet the characters
section
and even the stories of Beatrix Potter! Make sure to turn the sound on so you
can
hear the tale too.
In the section "Vote" you can find out the results of the poll that
this site had to
see which of the characters from Potter's stories was the most popular.
http://www.peterrabbit.co.uk
=== Kid's Web Japan
Whether you use this site to teach your kids about Japan, or use it yourself to
learn about Japan, you will find that it is a real delight.
Explore Japan - In this section you will do exactly what the title says.
Explore
Japan. Here you can find out about the Regions of Japan along with a nice map,
nature and climate, but that's not all. You will also learn about Clothing,
Housing,
Schooling, The Imperial Family, The National Flag and Anthem and so much
more. If you want a brief explanation of that you can just choose the
"Japan at a
Glance" link!
Culture Corner - In this section you have a few options you can check out
Virtual
Japanese Culture, Folk Legends of Japan, What's Cool in Japan, and Young
Masters of the Arts. All are chocked full of goodies.
Cookbook for Kids - This section is wonderful. Not only can you find out the
history of Ramen noodles, but you can learn about Japanese cooking, and snag
some really cool Japanese recipes.
Kids Life - This section explains to kids what life is like in Japan, what
going to
school there is like compared to the schools they attend. You can also read the
monthly news section and see what is going on in Japan.
Say it in Japanese - I love this section. This where you can learn some
Japanese.
Here you can learn kanji and other forms of Japanese writing. All with
pronunciation guides, and you can even hear how the word is pronounced. Very
educational. I loved the Quick Kanji, and Quick Japanese. In Quick Japanese you
learn phrases that would be useful in greetings, questions, and many other
simple
phrases that would make it easier to get by if you were a tourist in Japan.
Hi-Tech Japan - This section will introduce you to how science and technology
are used in Japan. Technology that ranges from eco cars to Suica and ICOCA,
toilets, video games and even mobile phones. Plus you can check out the special
effects in Godzilla!
Kids Travel Agency - Do you want to travel to Japan? >From the travel desk
you
can find out what some of the attractions in Japan are. Like the dagashi candy
shops or even the famous ninja villages. This will walk you through the things
you would see here. With a lot of charm and information making this section is
a
must see, read, and browse.
http://web-japan.org/kidsweb
=== The Nocturnes
This is a site dedicated to photography. But not just any kind of photography,
this
is a site dedicated to night photography. Here you will find galleries of night
time
images, workshops, resources, exhibits, and even their forum "Night
Talk".
The gallery is wonderful. In it you will find several galleries of different
photographers all giving you a wonderful idea of what the essence of night
photography really is. I liked all the galleries so much that I cannot even say
that I
have a favorite one. They are all lovely and show many different effects, so
why
don't you check all of them out?
In the "Workshops" section you can find out where to learn all this
nifty stuff in
person. Yes, it does cost money, but some of you are real photo buffs so it
might
be worth your time. 'Nuff said on that. However, you can also click the link
that
shows you some of the images made by their alumni, so even if you don't want to
go to a workshop you can see the fruits of their labors.
The Exhibits-my favorite section. Here you can see all the exhibits. You can
submit your own night time photography, or you can browse through the previous
exhibits by browsing through the Online Exhibits. Again, I couldn't pick a
favorite. There are some very talented photographers posted here. Take your
time
and absorb it all.
Night Talk-Here you can either click the link that takes you to Night Talk Live
the current forum, or you can read through the old entries that they archived.
This
section is full of valuable resources, and you may even find some of your own
questions answered.
http://www.thenocturnes.com
=== The Why Files
"The Why Files-the Science behind the News." That is a simple
description of this
site. While visiting I got caught up in an article about Climate Change which
discusses the movie "The Day After Tomorrow" and looks at the premise
of the
movie from a scientific point of view: could rapid climate change lead to
another
ice age as quickly as the movie showed? It is a very interesting article that
talks
about Global Warming and the Ice Age. I was very fascinated by the idea that
you
could date climates by the isotope frozen in ice samples.
There is also a good article on Sharks. It's all about Shark Repellent, and
whether
or not it works. This article also mentions "Open Waters"the new
shark flick.
You can also find out about "The Human Lie Detector". Not to mention
the
fabulous in depth article on Mt. Saint Helens which talks about how volcanoes
work, the ecology after an eruption, and even the science of predicting when
and
if volcanoes will erupt.
You can also check out the Cool Science Images, and the Interactive Science. In
Interactive Science you can play with lightning, control a tornado, or even hit
a
home run.
This is one nifty science site, check it out today!
http://whyfiles.org
=== RinkWorks
RinkWorks is an expansive collection of entertainment-related features that you
may browse together or independently. This page will give you a brief
description
of each of our features; at any time, you may jump to a feature by clicking on
its
logo.
http://www.rinkworks.com/guide
=== iDaily Diary
We at Worldstart get calls from time-to-time about a specific type of software-
journal software to be specific-something you can use to record your life. The
calls or emails usually sound something like this, "Hey, do you guys have
anything like that software Dougie Houser used to use on that TV show, you
know for writing journals." In the past I would just describe to them that
they
could use any word processing program and consistently keep it organized and
dated.
Well, yesterday we decided to look for a freeware program to do this and found
a
really cool one. It's called iDailyDiary, and it's a very easy to use, yet
robust
program for keeping a journal. The freeware version has fewer features than
their
professional (pay) version, but still has such nice options and presentation we
were all really impressed.
iDailyDiary uses rich text and gives you the ability to insert URL's, Hypertext
links, and links to other diary pages. Here's a list of some of the features
the
program offers:
· Data files encrypted and password protected
· Richtext Editor
· Fully Searchable
· Multiple "pages" for each day
· Export to HTML format to create web pages
· Supports Unicode (non-western character sets)
· Mutli-Language GUI, including Chinese, Dutch, French, German and Italian
On top of all these cool features you can also run this program from a
removable
media mass storage device, such as a thumb drive, or Ipod. This means you can
take it with you anywhere, and edit your journal, without installing the
program
on all the PC's you plan to use. Here's a link to a forum thread that discusses
how
to do this...
http://www.splinterware.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=377
This coupled with the easy import/export, and backup/restore features makes it
safe to utilize this procedure without fear of losing all of your work. You can
even
password protect your journal to stop curious eyes.
The features don't stop there, the support for this program is absolutely great
as
well. For instance the "Help" is filled with in-depth descriptions,
and screenshots,
which really helps you to understand all the options, and get the most out of
your
Diary. The site has forums and contact information for their techsupport,
FAQ's,
incident forms, and update news, as well as another couple of free downloadable
programs.
I believe if Dougie Houser was still on TV this is the software he would use.
As a
matter of fact, as soon as I find an email address for Neil Patrick Harris I'm
sending him the link. Maybe not.
Download it here...
http://www.splinterware.com/download/index.htm
=== Encyclopedia Mythica
Welcome to one of the nicest encyclopedias I have found in a long time. This is
an encyclopedia about mythology, folklore, and legend.
To use the encyclopedia choose the "Explore" section. This will allow
you to
explore through the articles until you find something that strikes your fancy.
It is
setup by categories: Mythology, Folklore, Bestiary, Heroes, Image Gallery,
Genealogy, and Featured Items. On the side menu you will notice those topics
all
listed under "Areas", you'll also see a section called
"Miscellaneous". Under this
section you can find the Pronunciation section. Which, if you want to talk
about
your subject of interest, could be quite helpful.
If you are looking for a specific subject say, griffins, then you should go to
the
"Search" section and type in "griffin" and hit search. This
brings up an article with
information on the creature and allows you to cite, rate, or print the
information.
Then there is the "What's New" section which gives you a summary of
the recent
additions or updates.
If you want to know more about the encyclopedia you can choose
"About" and
learn all about the encyclopedia itself.
This one is bookmark worthy. Enjoy!
http://www.pantheon.org
=== Matchbook Museum
I love the crisp, clean look of this site. And it is even easy to use as well.
Two
thumbs up for excellent design. What's more, it's full of interesting content.
You
can browse this site in two way-you can look at the "Most Recent"
section or head
right to the "Start the Tour".
If you choose the "Most Recent" section to continue browsing after
the first page
you need to hit the back button and travel backwards through the entries. My
favorite this way had to be "Dixie Belle". It is the second one in
this section, so if
you hit the back button once you'll get there. Not only will you find
information
about the matchbook's cover design but you'll also learn about the company it
was
made for. Very witty and informative.
To go through the"Start the Tour" section simply click "Start
the Tour" and be
prepared for some very interesting matchbook covers. To continue browsing
through this section simply click the Next button. You'll find that this is
pretty
engrossing, in fact it is darned easy to lose track of time while you are
surfing
through this site.
http://www.lileks.com/match
=== Operation Migration
Welcome to the Photo Journal for Operation Migration. Here you can find images
of birds in different stages of migration. Operation Migration works with
Canada
Geese, Sandhill Cranes, and Whooping Cranes to establish safe migration
patterns
for the birds to fly and stay wild.
The photo journal is of the 2001 Whooping Crane Migration that was successful.
You can watch it progress through the photos that are simply amazing. Just
choose a photo to make it bigger and then head back to the thumbnails to choose
another. At the bottom of the first page of photos you are given the option to
see
more photos or to see the final arrival photos. If you choose the final arrival
photos you can see some really great photos but on the side bar there is a
button to
watch a baby whooping crane hatch. You'll need real player to view it but it was
very neat.
If these photos make you curious to find out Operation Migrations story you
should just click "Our Work", and click on the image of the bird you
would like to
find out about either Canada Geese, Sandhill Cranes, or Whooping Cranes. Each
section has its own story.
Fly on over.
http://www.operationmigration.org/2001_WC_photos.html
=== Musipedia : The Open Music Encyclopedia
I'd recommend that the first thing you do when you get to this site is to read
about
the Parson's Code. The code is ideal for those of us who can't read music but
have
a tune stuck in our head, because you don't need any musical knowledge, you
just
need to know if the note is higher or lower from what I understand. They give
an
example in the explanation with Beethoven's 8th.
Another really cool feature of this music encyclopedia is Melodyhound. It's a
musical search engine that you can whistle or sing to, or directly put in the
Parson's code to find that tune. You can search also by genre is it popular or
classical, or maybe a folk song? For those of you who are the opposite, who are
extremely musical, you can add and edit entries in the database to help those
of us
out who aren't.
Aren't you ready to name that tune that's driving you bonkers?
http://www.name-this-tune.com
=== The Butterfly Site
With the Butterfly Site you can check out 12 exciting topics that will help you
with your butterfly activities. From Rearing Butterflies to Releasing
Butterflies it
is all here on this site.
In the "Gardening" section you'll learn all about the types of plants
you need to
plant in your garden to attract butterflies. In "Biology" you will
learn all about the
life cycle of the butterfly, and how they live their lives out.
Get ready for "Rearing" where you will learn all you need to know
about raising
butterflies and how rewarding it is to watch them grown and change and then
releasing them into the wild to help the butterfly population out.
My favorite sections were the "Fun Facts" and the
"Pictures". In fun facts you can
learn all kinds of nifty butterfly facts like:
* Butterflies range in size from a tiny 1/8 inch to a huge almost 12 inches.
* Butterflies can see red, green, and yellow.
* Some people say that when the black bands on the Woolybear caterpillar are
wide, a cold winter is coming.
* The top butterfly flight speed is 12 miles per hour. Some moths can fly 25
miles
per hour!
*Monarch butterflies journey from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, a
distance of about 2,000 miles, and return to the north again in the spring.
You can also check out amazing pictures of many different types of butterflies
from all over the place-in bright, vibrant color too.
Fly on over!
http://www.thebutterflysite.com
=== The Word Detective
The Word Detective is an online version of the Word Detective that appears in
newspapers from Mexico, Japan, and the U.S. But you'll find a lot of things to
do
here.
My favorite part of the site is the "My Favorite Word" section. Here
you can send
in what your favorite word is and why, not to mention you can also read about
what other words are the favorites of others. My favorite word is
"precocious". I
like the way it rolls off the tongue. Submit your favorite word today.
If you scroll down near the bottom of the page you will find some wonderful
links
to some other word worthy sites. You can find out things like why New York is
called the Big Apple. If you scroll down even further you will find the
"How
Come?" section for all sorts of answers to your scientific questions. If
you don't
find the answer you are looking for then you can submit your question.
And then, of course, there is the word detective article itself. Click on the
"Latest
Issue" section. Get through the please subscribe business (with the cute
kitten) if
it comes up and click on the continue to article or you will just be at the
current
article. They are wonderfully written and full of valuable information on words
and phrases like: "unrequited love", "cherry pick", and
many more.
Word!
http://www.word-detective.com
=== Creative Americans: Portraits by Carl Van Vechten
Carl Van Vechten was born on June 17, 1880 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. His name
might not mean anything to you, but if you read his biography by clicking on
the
link of his name in the first paragraph you learn how he eventually turned to
photography and promoting African-American artists. "Some of his subjects
from
this period include F. Scott Fitzgerald, Langston Hughes, Alfred A. Knopf,
Bessie
Smith, and Gertrude Stein."
Surfing around this site took me a few minutes to find where you could look at
his
artwork, but after diligently searching it out I found it. Then I realized it
was
really very simple you can do a search by keyword, browse the Subject Index, or
browse the Occupational Index.
This site is not kidding you when they say that they have over 1,000 pictures
that
Van Vechten took. You can view everything from abandoned buildings to the
greatest stars of his time. (To see the building you need to choose the Subject
Index.) In the Subject Index you will also find images of locations. I choose
to
view the list for United States and saw some really nice historic images of
different locations.
You'll probably love the images of the stars of the 30's and 40's, I know I
did. The
best way to view these is to choose the Occupational Index. You'll notice that
the
listing is by job title so if you are looking for an actor or actress you
should
choose A - Actors, African-American Leaders, Artists, and Authors. Here you'll
find Earl Jones, Mary Martin, Laurence Olivier, and even Orson Welles. You'll
find a great lot of historical images under African-American leaders too like
W.E.B. DuBois.
You should take your time browsing and exploring as there is a lot of different
galleries to cover.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/vvhtml/vvhome.html
=== Atmospheric Optics
This site is really neat. It's all about the effects of light playing off different
surfaces. So you are in for some truly delightful pictures.
If you click "Contents" you are taken to a page with the other
sections listed with
descriptions:
Rays and Shadows - "Dust, small aerosols and moisture droplets scatter
light to
make the sun's rays visible and cloud and mountain shadowed air dark by
comparison. Air and very small particles scatter colours selectively to paint
the
blues of skies and fires of sunsets. Air at varied temperatures and densities
refracts the rays of setting suns and moons to fashion fantastic shapes.
Unaided
perspective generates apparent glows around shadows."
Water Droplets - "The tiny water droplets of clouds mists and fogs produce
strange optical effects, mostly ringed and mostly brightly coloured.
"Rays" have
little meaning in this domain where water droplets are so small that wave
diffraction and interference dominate over classical journeys of light along
straight lines."
Rainbows - "The rainbow's apparent simplicity of form and purity of colour
belie
many subtleties of appearance and formation. There are multiple bows, coloured
fringes, dark bands, radial spokes, red bows and more."
Ice Halos - "Ice crystals of gemlike quality and placement flash shafts of
light to
form sundogs, pillars, circular halos and sometimes intricate coloured arcs
which
web the sky."
High Atmosphere - "Strange mother of pearl and noctilucent clouds high
above
normal weather. Higher still, aurorae glow with atoms excited by vast
disturbances of the Sun. Further away, dust again scatters the sun's rays to
form
the zodiacal light."
This site shines!
http://www.sundog.clara.co.uk/atoptics/phenom.htm
=== Exploratorium
A more in-depth look at this site was warranted when I tried out some of the
experiments in my boredom. This is a huge site with a ton of things to do, so
I'm
going to tell you about some of my favorite parts of this site.
Science of Music - Here you can learn why your voice sounds so good when you
sing in the shower, you can learn how opera singers hold those long notes at
full
volume, or you can play with the exhibits and mix, or remix music to your
tastes.
I loved the dot mixer exhibit where you can even mix styles. Then you can click
the more exhibits button and find tons of neat things like the drum circle, or
a
space for the blues.
You can explore the anatomy of memory through the dissection of a sheep's
brain,
if you can find the link. If not, type in "sheep dissection" in the
search engine and
click the direct link that will come up and learn all about memory and its
secrets.
I highly recommend the cooking section. You can get to it by clicking
"Explore"
and then look under "Accidental Science". Here is the cooking
sections
introduction: "Discover how a pinch of curiosity can improve your cooking!
Explore recipes, activities, and Webcasts that will enhance your understanding
of
the science behind food and cooking." So you can start in eggs, or you can
dive
into seasonings, or even get a sweet tooth by visiting the candy section. I
adore
the candy-o-matic, which explains many of the common cooking terms you'll read
in candy recipes and also shows you the heat it takes to make those
confections. I
also loved the behind the scenes tour of a candy factory where you can see how
it's all done on a mass production level. Very, very cool! And the Candy from
Around the World was a very interesting journey.
Stepping out of the sugar haze that the candy section put me into I headed down
to meat, curious as to what scientific niftiness awaited me there. I'll be
honest, I
got a lot of my Thanksgiving Turkey tricks from this site. They have a lot to
offer
in the way of tips and user submitted ideas. I highly recommend the "Fowl
Science: Talking Turkey" web cast. (You'll need to have Real Player to
watch it.)
You'll find turkey tricks but you can also learn all about grilling, and share
and
explore recipes.
You could get lost and hungry in the cooking section but there is so much
information and all of it is good, intelligent and fun. Enjoy.
http://www.exploratorium.edu
=== American Memory
American Memory: Historical Collection for the National Digital Library. I was
originally going to write this up earlier, but they had a news bulletin that
caught
my eye and I found that they were updating the page on October 6th. So I
figured
I'd wait for the update. Let me tell you I am so glad that I did. They
streamlined
the navigation of this page so it is easier to view and find things.
You'll notice that there are featured articles called "Collection
Highlights". While
I was there the highlights included Newspaper Pictorials, and The Thomas
Jefferson Papers. Both were wonderful exhibits.
Below the Collection Highlights section you'll find the "Today in
History"
section. I figured it would probably be like other sites of the same type, but
was
greatly surprised to find interesting articles depicting history. For October
6th it
was an article called "Of Rails and Robbers" and it told of the Great
Train
Robbery as well as some history on train robberies. Here's a brief snippet:
"On October 6, 1866, thieves boarded an east bound Ohio & Mississippi
passenger train near Seymour, Indiana and entered an Adam Express Company
car. Pointing guns at Adams Express employee Elem Miller, the masked bandits
demanded keys to the safes. Miller held keys for the local safe only, so the
robbers emptied that safe and tossed the other off the train intending to open
it
later. Signaling the engineer to stop the train, the robbers, later identified
as the
infamous Reno brothers, made an easy get away. Unaware of what had happened,
the engineer sped off into the night while the thieves congratulated themselves
on
a job well done."
On the opposite half of the page you will find the "Browse by Topics"
section.
With the option of browsing by many other ways if you choose the "More
Browse
Options", or you can choose "List all Collections" which will
give you an array of
topics to surf through.
One topic I particularly enjoyed was the Coca-Cola one. Fifty Years of
Coca-Cola
Ads via television you can find it here. It was really well done. You can find
old
ads, and information on their journey through advertising.
No
