Cool Web Sites
by Don Singleton
Tulsa Computer Society
From the August, 2004 issue of the I/O Port Newsletter
Including links previously reviewed at
http://www.educationindex.com/index.html,
http://www.komando.com/,
http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/arch.htm,
and http://marylaine.com/neatnew.html
Learning about the ancient Greeks is delightfully odd fun as you follow Lil’ Squeaky Hermes into a Flash site that’s practically as extensive (and gorgeous) as the country itself. Ask the Delphic Oracle for advice, take a history tour with some of the greatest Greek thinkers, create a Grecian vase, or send some e-cards from ancient history. If you’re looking for souvenirs from your virtual Greek vacation, pick up a new desktop image or grab a screen saver. And no suitcases to pack!
If you were still a toddler when radio was the hippest wireless invention around, take a second chance to marvel about what filled the ether back when. The BBC is opening up the vault and has started digitizing some of its memorable radio documentaries for the Web. This smorgasbord of radio programming also carries current news from all over the world in more than 40 languages.
An annotated guide to resources on Japanese, American and world animation, television animation, festivals, technical processes (including several guides for amateurs), and online video and book stores. Its creator, Richard Llewellyn, also maintains a chronology of animation history at http://www.public.iastate.edu/~rllew/chronst.html
If you’re the sort of person who feels that the perfect job is one so in tune with your interests and talents that work is hard to distinguish from play, you’ll appreciate the good fortune of the ten engineers profiled in this fascinating piece: they’re building robots, making music, and venturing into space and far beneath the sea. If their stories make you wonder what you’re doing with your life, be sure to check out these folks’ advice for getting an equally sweet hookup in your own life.
Nothing will sway us from our love affair with that well-known DVD rental service, but when the recommendations on that site just aren’t clever enough, we duck in here for the Net’s most unusual suggestion process. It’s a two-part thing: The first time you visit, the site will ask you a number of questions that will give it an idea of your personality and preferences. After that, when you drop by you’ll sign in and tell the site if you want more of “the usual” or something a bit off your usual routine, and whether you’re seeking fluff or a challenge. We’ve been very pleasantly surprised with the results.
Links to free patterns (limited to those that are illustrated), and tutorials (note the tutorial specifically for left-handers!)
If even our closest planetary neighbor has water, it’s likely that water exists on many worlds – and that at least some of those worlds sustain, or have sustained, life. If that’s not enough to re-instill your childlike sense of wonder, we’re sorry for you, but give yourself one last change at joy by paging through the images on this site and wondering if, at last, we can believe we’re not alone
For everyone who yearns to return to the days when classroom stress could be blown off by passing around a funny cartoon of the teacher, Jeremiah Murphy’s got the site for you. Behold the frustrated scribbles of folks whose supervisors are driving them to juvenile behavior, or if you think you’ve got what it takes (that is, a bad boss), fire up MS Paint and whomp out a sketch of your own to contribute to the throng.
"This Web site invites visitors to experience the diversity of American performing arts through the Library of Congress's unsurpassed collections of scores, sheet music, audio recordings, films, photographs, maps, and other materials."
These twenty-plus pages of information cover a lot of tough terrain and – miraculously -- manage to keep it easier to understand and more fun to read than any similar resource we’ve seen. (The goofy hidden sound files don’t hurt.) Learn what happens when some clown steals your identity, how you can keep the worst from happening, which official records you should be monitoring to make sure your data’s safe, and where to turn if things get ugly.
Regular visitors to the Tech section know that there’s a great deal of controversy over the advent of electronic voting. Concerned citizens have called into question everything from the honesty of the folks building the machines to the security of the votes themselves – something we think about every time our own PCs are pummeled with the latest virus onslaught, to be frank. This site does an admirable job of covering what’s going on in all fifty states, and can help you contact the officials who are responsible for keeping the system accountable.
Makes Google's advanced search transparent with a series of drop-down menus.
Sounds basic enough, the latest offering from KewlBox: The number tiles patter into the tray, and you do some quick mental addition and figure out which ones to click to match the number in the upper-right corner. Right. Simple arithmetic hasn’t made you this frantic since third grade. We were just fine until the negative numbers began to appear, and though we could swear that subtraction is no more difficult than addition, we must confess that our crushing defeat made us hope that it’s too late for anyone to revoke our SAT scores
Jason Kronenwald is creating portraits on plywood with… gum. Chewed gum. Chewed, naturally-colored gum. Chewed, naturally-colored gum donated by volunteers. He’s got images of Britney, Anna Kournikova, Britney again, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Britney, and various other blondes, some of who may also be Britney. There’s even a magnifying glass so you can inspect them. Because they’re made of gum. Chewed gum. And he wants you to see that very clearly, because odds are you’re not going to have this experience again.
Interviews drawn from the long history of the BBC include major cultural, political and scientific figures of the 20th and 21st century, including Virginia Woolf, Noel Coward, Aaron Copland, Freeman Dyson, Agatha Christie, Mohandas Gandhi, Werner Heisenberg, Margaret Thatcher, Desmond Tutu, Charles Schulz, George Bernard Shaw, etc.
Skip the M*A*S*H re-runs and tune into the real thing: stories from the personnel of the 21st Combat Support Hospital, currently somewhere in Iraq doing their duty – one that involves some of the most profound ethical dilemmas imaginable, on top of working conditions that most of us would find mind-boggling. Learn how they cope and what they’ve seen, and hear what they have to say about their lives after the end of official combat.
Provides "information regarding a wide range of aerospace-related fields, including aircraft design, spacecraft design, aerodynamics, and aerospace history." Includes pics from the Aircraft Museum, articles on aircraft design issues, an "ask the rocket scientist" feature (with an archive of previous answers), and more.
Professor Felix Just, S.J., has compiled a remarkable set of resources here, including art, images, and original materials on the Book of Revelations (by chapter), as well as his own topical study guides and annotated links to related web sites. You might also wish to explore his links to Biblical Resources, Church Documents, Religious Art, etc.
Playing God by creating transgenic creatures is fun, sure, but all those years of biotechnical education can be so… tedious. Skip the formalities and get down to some hands-on mutating at Laura Cinti’s appealing art site, where you can work to perfect the flower-laden, finger-waving cactus “plant” for which the world of botany has been yearning. We’re sure it’s be both lovely and useful.
Cornell's Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections explores the evolution of games since 1800 in this exhibition of antique and contemporary games, and rare books.
"A Web Guide to wheelchair and assistive technology choices, wheelchair views and reviews, and related information and articles. Promoting user involvement in the selection of appropriate assistive technology."
This site documents creations that made their literary debuts well before they reached meatspace; everyone from Douglas Adams to Roger Zelazny is represented, with definitions of their best “predictions.”
Yet another contribution by Marcus Zillman, this provides links to issuers of all kinds of alerts: computer security, medical hoaxes, food safety, recalls, etc. It also links to Zillman's other resources
"A visual analysis of website interaction," but do read the glossary to find out who the major players are.
If you’ve ever been fond of a perfume that has been “retired” or a line of dinnerware that has fallen out of its manufacturer’s favor, you know that finding discontinued products isn’t always as easy as dropping by eBay. This growing site provides links and offline contact information for a number of specialty sellers that just may be able to hook you up.
Designed for families and teachers, this includes a Q&A library, classroom activities, a teaching themes library, a guide to grants and funding sources, guides for building a school greenhouse and creating wildlife habitat in the schoolyard, and more.
I'd recommend using the site map to explore this rich collection of guides to archaeology, mapping, museum exhibits, historic landmarks, military history, etc. The offerings on rehabilitating historic buildings are especially impressive, as are other kinds of technical assistance and training opportunities.
This Kohlberg Foundation-sponsored Web site offers a digital library of images and footage illustrating more than 200 years of American history, and visitors will find that there’s something particularly immediate and effective about pondering history with these artifacts as one’s guide. The site is an excellent resource for history buffs, student, teachers, or anyone who wants the experience of 'being there' for the making of American history
"Search for people, places and events in the collections of libraries, museums, galleries, archives, universities and other cultural agencies, in Australia and abroad - all at the same time."
From Microscopy UK, "home of enthusiast microscopy." Choose the Freshwater or the Marine Collection to begin your exploration of these strange and beautiful life forms.
“Congratulations! You’ve just made yourself a million dollars.” Wouldn’t that sound like music to your ears? Armed with a virtual $100,000 and your most bloodthirsty instincts, take this chance to jab at the big shots. This is certainly the site to visit if think you’ve got a knack for numbers and the ruthless ambition to make a killing.
From the International Reading Association and the National Council of Teachers of English, a guide to lesson plans, standards, web resources, student materials, and more.
For more information on the Tulsa Computer Society click here
Tulsa Computer Society 8/01/2004
Don Singleton, President