Cool Web Sites
by Don Singleton
Tulsa Computer Society
From the December 2002 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
Thanks to Paula Sanders for pointing out Mr. Know-It-All's Online Guide to Signs.
Personal services that can help you breeze through the Holiday Season:
Decorations, Gifts Galore, Cards & Wrap, Fancy Frocks, Entertainment, Festive Food,
Churches and Charity, At Your Service
Here you can find technical data on most Web sites. Learn when the site was last rebooted, its operating system and who hosts it. Just type in the domain name.
The way the term 'weapons of mass destruction' has been thrown around lately, it's easy to lose sight of just how destructive a nuclear weapon can be. This PBS site lets you type in a hypothetical blast location (even a street address) to see how far the devastation would spread, and what forms it might take. Eerie but informative.
It’s not a good idea to pirate another’s Web design. This site puts two Web pages side by side. You decide if one was pirated.
It's a funny old language, English. Whether someone kicks the bucket or goes on and on about tech nerds, few know where these words and phrases originated. While not always conclusive, WordOrigins.org offers keen etymological insight into our language and how it got that way.
There's something mesmerizing, and just a little creepy, about watching flowers and plants quickly erupt into life via time-elapsed photography. For the price of a Quicktime plug-in, this site puts you front row center for plants that grow, vines that climb, Venus flytraps that trap, and other rare glimpses of flora in full fidget.
If you want to make ice cream, here's the place. Links to ice cream makers, history, recipes, and video demonstrations.
True, there's no shortage of unsolicited movie opinions on the Net. But where most of these sites simply aim to trash Hollywood, OriginalPlots.com offers constructive criticism of current releases with an eye toward giving future movie makers some helpful pointers. (The way it reveals the endings to these films is particularly clever.)
There's more to cooking than fresh ingredients and Williams-Sonoma, as you will discover at the Exploratorium's Science of Cooking site. Learn how to judge the degree to which meat has been cooked using only your thumb and index finger, or puzzle over the chemistry of egg whites, all while drooling over recipes to feed the hungry scientist in you.
Bob the Builder is a children’s television program. This Web site has lots of cool activities related to the show.
He may be the richest man in Springfield, but how does The Simpsons' Montgomery Burns stack up against comicdom's Richie Rich, Citizen Kane, or the Great Gatsby? Forbes magazine puts the fortunes of your favorite fictional tycoons head to head. You may be surprised by who comes out on top.
"This web site will direct you to adaptive equipment and alternative methods available for accessing computers," including mouse and keyboard alternatives, and assistive devices for visual- and hearing-impairments, cognitive disabilities, speech-recognition, and text-to-speech devices.
From the folks behind the Dumb Laws site comes DumbWarnings.com, a roundup of no-kidding advice appearing on appliances, food, toys, and even Web sites. Forget 'Never iron clothes on the body,' what can be done with a society that needs: 'Contents may catch fire' on a book of matches?
Birds do it. Kitties do it. The 'it' in question is paint, and the Museum of Non Primate Art is there to bring this somewhat esoteric artform to the masses, one mouse click at a time. Delve into the history of feline art, learn to tell fakes from originals (quit that snickering), and have your furry friend take an online creativity test.
No text, just pictures. But those are beautiful, and searchable, and they load quickly.
Parents and kids can learn more about being a teenager. Get teen perspectives, learn “teenspeak” and take a teen quiz.
To lift the lid on the Library of Congress' online collection of the Alexander Graham Bell family papers is to take a front row seat at the creation of a technology that brought human beings together like no other. Journals, blueprints and photographs shed light on the life and dedication of a most extraordinary man.
It became abruptly clear after the recent Wall Street nosedive that business reporters didn't know how to read a financial report to separate the truth from the hype. This guide by a professor of accounting tells them -- and investors -- what to look for and what questions to ask.
Sure, some never tire of reminding us they hail from the Lone Star State. But many, like Carol Burnett, Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry and Lee Harvey Oswald all called Texas home at one time. Entries at FamousTexans.com feature lengthy histories of those profiled, and detailed bibliographical info to, uh, boot.
With several U.S. boardrooms seemingly slated to reconvene in prisons around the country, the folks at Forbes came up with a list of the five federal penitentiaries most palatable to business movers and shakers. Highlights include Florida's Eglin, which allowed prisoners to go home and have dinner with their families back in the '80s.
A comprehensive site where sacred texts, poetry and myths of the world's religions can be viewed -- not just the major ones, but those of the ancient near east, native Americans, neopaganism, the tarot, Greek, Roman and Norse mythology, Baha'i, Nostradamus, and more. Another useful feature is the hyperlinked timeline of sacred texts.
This federal site breaks down the nutritional information of over 6,000 foods. Check 117 different categories.
Having a hard time following the implosion of the business world? Wall Street Follies offers a handy diagram showing the complex relationships between Enron, Martha Stewart, and all the other people and corporations swing dancing through today's headlines.
Information Today has created this web site to supplement its invaluable book series, the Super Searchers' Guides -- which means it has expert links for global business information, news resources, health and medicine, primary sources, legal information, and more.
Help the young people in your life discover the amazing world of science and technology with TryScience.org's extensive collection of online Shockwave experiments and activities. From mummifying apples to measuring your own lung capacity, the lessons to be learned here are endless.
Mother Nature, like a next-door neighbor who's taken up sleight of hand, is just dying to show you a trick or two if only you'll let her. Experience ice halos, mirages, coronas, and other atmospheric marvels with this elegantly understated site. (So much more entertaining than 'Aw c'mon, pick another card.')
This very useful site mixes chronologies with backgrounders for each time period.
A selective, organized set of links to some valuable primary sources.
Go where no man has ever gone before. The Hubble telescope can photograph images from the farthest reaches of outer space. Check out some fascinating pictures of exploding stars and black holes at this site.
Apparently we've reached the point in our history where we're not just digging up ancient cities, but film sets modeled after ancient cities as well. This site commemorates ongoing efforts to excavate the enormous set used for Cecil B. DeMille's The Ten Commandments, which was buried after the 1923 classic was completed.
For more information on the Tulsa Computer Society click here
Tulsa Computer Society 12/02/2002
Don Singleton, President