TCS - Cool Web Sites

Cool Web Sites

by Don Singleton
Tulsa Computer Society
From the December 1997 issue of the I/O Port Newsletter


http://www.chocoholic.com

It is reported that Napoleon carried chocolate with him on his military campaigns, and always ate it when he needed quick energy.

Tootsie Rolls were named in 1896 by inventor Leo Hirschfield in honor of his daughter. The first wrapped penny candy, Tootsie Roll sales for 1984 were $93 million.

At last count, chocolate was determined to contain about 1,200 chemical compounds. Some 369 volatile compounds have been identified in roasted cocoa beans.

These are just three of the interesting trivia about chocolate available from http://www.chocoholic.com, where you can also register birthdays, anniversaries, graduations or special celebrations and receive a reminder two weeks before the event so you can order a chocolate present, join a Chocolate of the Month Club, or order chocolates from a number of different chocolatiers, including: Anette's Chocolate Factory, Biscotti Nucci, Ghirardelli, Le Chantilly, Marich Confections, Rabbit Brothers, in the SF Bay Area, Chocolat Nouveau, Grand Avenue, Jerbeau Chocolates, Mackenzie's Kandy Kitchen, and Richard Donnelly in California Boehm's, Crabtree & Co., Fenton & Lee, and Moonstruck Chocolatier in the NorthWest King's Cupboard in the West, Cloud Nine, and Lou Retta's Custom Chocolates in the East, or Guylian, Lindt, Perugina, and Toblerone in Europe.

The site allows you to search by type of chocolate, (milk, dark, etc.) and type of candy (chews, creams, truffles, etc.). Thus, you can search for milk chocolate and clusters and receive a page with all offerings of milk chocolate clusters. If you do not specify a type of chocolate, but select only a type of candy, e.g. truffles, you will see all of the milk, dark and white chocolate truffles.




http://www2.godiva.com

Think sun-ripened fruits. Think truly decadent cookies and biscotti. Think luscious glacé apricot, ginger, and orange slices. OK, now think about dipping them in one of the world's most delicious, rich ivory, milk and dark chocolates. OK, you've done enough thinking. Why not stop into your Godiva Boutique and experience Godiva Dipping for yourself. Prices are $30.00 per pound, individual pieces range in price depending on their weight. Visit the godiva home page to find the store nearest you, or to order online.




http://www.hersheys.com/homepage.html

Hershey Chocolate North America's main plant in Hershey, Pa. - with approximately two million square feet of manufacturing space - is the largest chocolate factory in the world. The factory officially opened for business in 1905 and, until it discontinued its public tour in 1973, hosted millions of visitors. But with the advent of the internet you, too, can take the tour that made Hershey, Pa., one of America's favorite destinations.




http://soundamerica.com/

Lots of sound clips from cartoons such as Bullwinkle, Duckman, Ren & Stimpy, The Simpsons, The Tick Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Animaniacs and more, special outtakes from the voice team behind Thundercats and Silverhawks, classic sound clips from Abbott & Costello, the Marx Brothers, Monty Python, and the Three Stooges, and many, many sound clips from too many movies to list here, classic, unforgettable lines and bits from old and new favorites such as clips from the Andy Griffith Show, Battlestar Galactica, Friends, Lost in Space, the Muppet Show, Mystery Science Theater 3000, Red Dwarf, Seinfeld, Star Trek, the X-Files and more, theme songs from movies, television, cartoons, commercials, spoofs of commercials, Barney, answering machine messages, and an assortment of sound effects, both real and toony.




http://www.linkexchange.com/

LinkExchange(TM) is the web's largest advertising network, with over 100,000 member sites. Do you need more exposure for your website to attract new visitors quickly and easily? When you sign up, you'll be given some HTML code to insert into your web page. Each time somebody views your web page, a graphical banner like the one below will automatically appear.

This banner will be an advertisement for either 1) another member, 2) LinkExchange, or 3) a sponsor. Each time our system displays a banner on your site, they will automatically credit your LinkExchange account with 1/2 a credit. For every full credit your account earns, their system will display your banner on other members' sites.

For example, if your site displays 1000 banners, your LinkExchange account earns 500 credits, and the system will display your banner 500 times on other LinkExchange member sites. Your credits will be spent automatically by their system, as long as you have submitted a banner that is approved for display on other members sites.

Every banner which is submitted to LinkExchange must be 400 x 40 pixels in shape and 7k or under in size. You can even use animated banners which animate for only 7 seconds or less; they will automatically loop your banner continously, adding a 2 second pause between loops.

If you don't wish to display animated banners on your page you can shut this feature off by adjusting the filter in your account control center. However, please remember that you will not be able to use an animated banner to advertise your site if you don't display animated banners for other members!

Targeting gives you the opportunity to define and reach your specific audience. For example, if you own a bait and tackle store, you might target your ads to Sports:Outdoors. If you are business travel agency, you might target Money & Finance:Investment Services; Business:Business News & Resources; Business:Entrepreneurial; and Business:International Economy

If your site is not visited that often now, and you need more display of your banner than you can earn by people visiting your site, you can pay money for additional exposures. If you pay $50 or more they will credit your account with an extra 4000 ad exposures for every $50 contributed. The duration of your ad campaign is totally up to you. The extra exposures you receive can be spread over 1, 2, 3 or 4 weeks depending on your needs. If you best benefit from a sudden burst of traffic, then they should run your ads in one week. However, if a smaller, but steady flow of traffic is better for your site, then they can run the ads over a month.




http://www.theonion.com/

If you like wacky news reports on news that never happened, and if you are over 18, you should check out The Onion, where you see stories like:

New York Times Adds Color to Target Under-70 Demographic

In an effort to reach the coveted under-70 demographic, The New York Times announced Monday it will add color to its traditional black-and-white format next month. "Having color photos on the front page should really add some razzle-dazzle and youthful energy to the paper," said Times editor-in-chief Leo Salzberger. "I expect the new look will be very popular among those born in the 20th century." Despite Salzberger's enthusiasm, many of the nation's under-seventysomethings are skeptical. "I may check out the Times when that happens," said longtime USA Today reader Millicent Scopes, 68. "But right now, it looks like something my granddad would read." Salzberger said if the introduction of color is successful, he may experiment with other innovations, including photo captions, page numbers and commas.

Civilization Collapses Earth

Several millennia of relative stability and order came to an end Tuesday as global civilization collapsed, plunging the planet into a chaotic gallimaufry of superstitious cults and roving tribal armies. "Our leader, Astar the King, derives his power from Go-Ard, the one true god who lives in the sun," said former KFC third-shift manager Ernest Billings, who now exists to serve Astar, overlord of much of what used to be the state of Washington. Phillip Trainer, formerly a political science professor at Duke University, predicted that his own city-clan of Babylramia will grow in power and influence until it encompasses the entire world, at which point an eternal golden age of harmony will begin.

A couple of really far out stories were too long to include here, but which started like this:

Los Angeles To Siphon Water From Minorities' Bodies

After 12 years of political controversy, legal delays and statewide referendums, California legislative officials and Los Angeles municipal authorities finally greenlighted a proposal Monday to allow water-poor Los Angeles to begin drawing water for public use from the bodies of the metro area's estimated seven million minority residents.

"With its rich tapestry of black, Asian and Hispanic cultures, Los Angeles' diversity is one of its greatest strengths," said L.A. mayor Richard Riordan, announcing the plan. "And with some 15 gallons of water contained within the body of an average 170-pound L.A. minority resident, these people also represent one of our city's great untapped natural resources."

Initially proposed by the Federal Bureau of Reclamation in 1938 and revived by the L.A. Department of Water & Power in 1985, the $10 billion minority- drainage system will draw nearly 100 million gallons of water a year from non-Caucasian residents via an elaborate network of pipelines individually inserted into their bodies. The water will then be pumped to various aquifers and reservoirs throughout the city, where it will be processed and made available for public consumption.

U.S. Fat Reserves Full

Unable to keep pace with the fat-storage needs of an increasingly prosperous, inactive and consumptive American populace, the nation's 140,000 federal fat- reserve tanks are in danger of bursting their seams and discharging several billion gallons of clotted human fat into sensitive ecosystems across the U.S., Department of the Interior officials said Monday.

"On Wednesday, Sept. 17, at 11:23 a.m. EST, the federal fat reserves reached their official absolute design limit," Deputy Interior Secretary Richard Rominger said. "A crisis state now exists during which the Department of the Interior will operate its fat-pipeline and tank-storage units under emergency conditions only."

The fat reserves, estimated to hold 230 billion gallons of excess U.S. lipids, adipose tissue and cellulite, have now been packed into triple-hulled steel tanks at up to four times standard pressure, seriously threatening the structural integrity of the system. Federal fat-management personnel, using computer flab-flow monitoring systems, project that the reserves will suffer at least one major rupture in the next three months. Further, almost all of the tanks have experienced overflow conditions ranging from minor lard seepage to explosive catastrophic weld failure.

The Onion also issues bogus corrections:

Last week, The Onion mistakenly reported that a sudden, completely unpredictable auto accident had crippled the Governor, and that an investigatory probe had found the Gambini Bros. completely blameless in the accident.

In actuality, these events will take place next week.

The Onion - number one source for news that didn't happen.




http://www.imdb.com/

Internet Movie Database - everything you ever wanted to know about every movie ever made contains information on over 117,000 movies.

It covers filmographies for all professions in the industry; plot summaries; character names; movie ratings; year of release; running times; movie trivia; quotes; goofs; soundtracks; personal trivia; alternative names; certificates; color information; country of production; genres; production companies; distributors; special effects companies; sound mix; reference literature; filming locations; sequel/remake information; release dates; advertising tag lines; detailed technical data; alternative versions; laserdisc availability; languages; reviews; links to official studio pages, fan pages, image and multimedia archives; direct purchase links for movies and associated merchandise; box office grosses; movie posters and Academy Award information.




http://www.learn2.com/

Learn2.com - online instruction on just about everything that's useful to know, but isn't typically taught in school.

Sections include Bon Appetit (Food), Drink & Entertaining, Feeling Good (Healthier Living), Get Crafty (Hobbies & Such), Hear Ye (Communication Skills), Help Yourself (Household Fixes), It Figures (Financial Solutions), Look Sharp (Personal Care), Parent Power (Childcare Skills), Shine On (Cleaning & Preparing), Technowise (Computers & Consumer Electronics), Wheel Appeal (Automotive & Cycling), Work It (On-the-Job Insights), Your Turn (Sports, Games & Recreation).

For example, in the the Learn2 Glove Compartment Companion you can read:

Change a Flat Tire
Drive a Stick Shift
Improve Your Gas Mileage
Jumpstart a Car
Parallel Park Your Car
Understand Tire Care
Sell Your Used Car
Install and Remove Snow Chains
Cars are not the only thing they cover. You can also learn how to:

Avoid Junk Mail

Folks today are finding more and more of their mailboxes (and lives) taken up by junk mail. This 2torial shows a way out of the madness: just a few polite letters and phone calls, and gradually you'll get your life back. Also included are tips on dealing with unwanted email and telephone telemarketing calls.

Balance Your Checkbook

Tired of assessing your net worth from an ATM printout? Account balancing was difficult enough before the onslaught of ATMs swept the nation. So let's get those growing piles of bank statements under control; as this 2torial shows, it's really not too hard once you assemble the necessary elements.

Calculate Utility Costs

Monthly utility bills can be a frustrating expense for a person trying to keep their expenses low. You've undoubtedly used the power that's listed on the bill, but where did it all go? By performing an evaluation of your power consumption, you'll have a clearer picture of where your money's going. This tutorial shows you how.

Hold a Garage Sale

Garage sale, moving sale, car-boot sale, yard sale, call it what you will: In this day and age of mass consumerism, it's nice to see an institution of recycled goods. Besides providing affordable and already-tested goods, garage sales are an adventure in acquisitions. And what a great way to meet your neighbors. So hop to it--the ancient marketplace lives on your street corner, weekends from 8 to 5.

Lease a Car

With the average cost of a new car hovering around $20,000, many people are searching for purchase alternatives--but lease contracts can be both misleading and mind-boggling. Start your research with this 2torial and you'll be on the road to a smart lease agreement.




http://www.last-word.com/

Why is the sky blue? Why does hair turn grey? Hundreds of science trivia questions answered in this archive from New Scientist Magazine (http://www.newscientist.com/home.html). It contains over 350 questions on scientific phenomena, with answers provided by their readers, and you can answer the unanswered questions, comment on the other answers, or ask your own questions.

Questions are divided into categories:

Plants and animals
Bubbles, liquids and ice
Around the house
Strange nature
Mysteries and illusions
Gadgets and inventions
Your body
Inside machines
The physical world
For example, in Mysteries and illusions you can find out:

Perfect pitch: Musical pitch and mood--the connection.
Mekong mystery: The Mekong mystery explained
P C world: How gender relates to language
F factor: The mysteries of an optical illusion explained
By the left: Why, when you're walking with another person, do your steps become synchronised?
Milk and alcohol: Can you live on milk and Guinness alone?
Live fast: How does the life expectancy figure take into account the infant mortality rate?
Wild child: Are more babies born during a full moon?
Open secret: In these days of advanced chemical analysis, how can things like Coca-cola's "secret" formula really stay secret?
Split second timing: How do the judges produce accurate individual times in bicycle races that last over several days?
Summerwear: In the heat should you wear black or white or both?
On the double: What happens to a sonic boom at the speed of light?
Numbers game: The peculiar behaviour of cyclical numbers
Smell from hell: Why do all dustbins smell the same?
Sour cream: Can a thunderstorm curdle milk?
Time bombs: Why do my battery operated watches always stop working within a few days of wearing them?
Sealed in light: What's the blue flash when you open an envelope?
Nutty water: Why water in a used peanut butter jar turned blue
Keyboard errors: Why are certain kinds of typos more common?
Deep breath: I have heard that whever we breathe in we inhale some of Leonardo da Vinci's atoms. Is this true?
Hearing things: How your mind picks out things people say about you, even if you aren't actively listening at the time
The living dead : Do the living outnumber the dead?
Cross examination: The cause of death in crucifixion?
Highland blues: Why a bar of soap turned tap water blue
Cold store: Does freezing batteries increase shelf-life?
Pole poll: What time is it at the North Pole?
Take the pils: Why do I stumble to the left when drunk?
Signs of life: Will there be any signs of humans in a million years?
Chinese puzzle: I have heard often that the Great Wall of China is the only man-made object visible from space. Given it's width, this seems unlikely. Can anyone confirm or deny this?
The dating game: Determining the date in prehistoric times
In the smoke: Do facemasks really protect against pollution?
Splat!: Can a fly stop a train?
Scarper flow: Long ago, when the Thames used to freeze through in winter, how could fairs be held on the river without flooding at high tide or the ice collapsing at low tide?
Frosty reception: People who interfere with TV signals
Aisle miles: The quickest way to find lost shoppers
Brick it up: Does it save energy to fill your freezer?
Sloping off: Can cars roll uphill?
Dreamy sleepers: Why railway sleepers seem still from a train
Rising damp?: I've seen what appears to be smoke rising from the spires on a local church; can anyone explain what it really was?
Drip dry: Should you walk or run in the rain?
Down the tube: Is it more efficient to switch off fluorescent lights for a short time, or just to leave them on?
Steamy movies: Why do American drains steam?
Mirror image: Why a mirror inverts left/right but not top/bottom
Heated argument: Why a hot bath is relaxing and pleasant but hot air of the same temperature is stressful
Fishing well: How can fish be found in newly-dug wells
Wear and where: Where does used tyre rubber go?
Clear thinking: Why can you see through water?
Left in doubt: Is a left-hander more likely to have an accident?
Is it a bird?: Can a shadow travel faster than light?
Mystery digits: The mysteries of postal codes
Clammy claims: Why damp cold feels colder than dry cold


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Tulsa Computer Society 11/08/97
Don Singleton, President
tcs@galstar.com