Cool Web Sites
by Don Singleton
Tulsa Computer Society
From the June 2001 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
Dust off those old dancin’ shoes and visit the Jazz lounge to learn how the cool cats
swing, relive some of the cultural events that impacted jazz music, search for local
stations specializing in jazz, or go behind the beat to explore the best recordings in jazz
history.
A Biography of America is a 26-program video series
that presents our nation's history as a living narrative.
This companion site aims to help you delve further into
that rich history.
Everybody loves a shopping bargain, and at this site you can find all sorts of overstock and factory refurbished
goods, including clothing, toys, electronics, computers, collectibles, housewares, sporting equipment and more.
We really like this site's shipping policy -- everything is shipped for a flat fee of $3.95. From watches to dining
room tables, it's all one price shipping to the 48 contiguous states.
Depending on where you live, finding culture and art exhibits might be as easy as heading to the latest art walk, or
nearly impossible. Now, thanks to Artmuseum.net, you can look through various galleries of art from anywhere
with an Internet connection. This site presents art exhibitions, projects and other programs for both individual and
group exploration and learning, either at home or in the classroom. Check out exhibits from Warhol, Van Gogh,
Art and Culture of the American Century and more!
There's information for everyone on the Internet, and here's a site dedicated to providing advice for people 50 and
over. Check out the bulletin board communities covering 30 general topics, cruise the classifieds or ask an expert.
There is also broad information on a wide variety of topics, including fraud, scams and abuses, retirement,
grandparenting, alternative medicines, housing options, sports, exercise and fitness, finances, intimacy and more.
This site has an extensive directory with chat rooms and advice for raising kids, dealing
with teenagers, and finding childcare services. There are dozens of chat rooms, such as
question-and-answer sessions with pediatricians and chats for parents of elementary
school-aged children. Search the baby name finder, the family pet center, school
reports, and lots more
The Library of Congress
boasts that it has met its goal of posting 5 million
images online. The American Memory project is a
national digital treasure.
Select a geologic period from the chart and you'll get a summary of the period, clickable listing of
fossil-bearing sites, significant events, and images of life forms for the period.
Surgery procedures, 101
Any surgery procedure can have complications, and before you receive anesthesia you should know all you can
about the operation that will be performed. While your personal physician is the best place to start for information,
here's a good site for straightforward explanations of a wide array of surgeries, along with pathologies of illnesses,
symptoms, methods of diagnosis, detailed description of procedures (very detailed, including photos!), alternatives
to surgery, possible complications and typical post-operative care.
Finding good health and life insurance information can be very difficult, but this site (formed by insurance groups
representing 160,000 agents) is designed to educate consumers with detailed data on health, disability and life
insurance. Check out the extensive glossary for definitions of all sorts of health and insurance terms.
PlaneCrashInfo.com says it lists 2,135 accidents in its database,
along with crash photos, cockpit warning signs and a variety of
accident stats
I was taking my son for a walk at an outdoor mall in Denver last week. In one of the
stores, he was given a balloon. As we were walking down the mall, he let go of his
balloon, and it flew away before he or I could grab it. My son was just on the verge of
tears. We were both standing there watching it float away when -- out of nowhere -- a
young man walked up, asked my son if he had lost his balloon, and then asked him if
he wanted his. He gave the balloon to my son but made me promise to come to the
web page and write about it. It was one the kindest gestures I have ever seen.
Scorecard introduces a series of user-friendly maps to
help citizens learn more about environmental conditions
in their geographic areas. And find out how to take
action to protect the Arctic while you're at it.
Traveling is great, but it's even better when you get a really good deal on your air, car rental and
accommodations! At this site you'll find tips and news for road warriors, on travel for seniors or students, traveling
with kids and more. Even better, check out all the travel deals and get in on last-minute steals.
Framed prints, cartoon licensing, free e-cards, vanity or original cartoon art -- it's all here at the New Yorker
magazine's Cartoonbank.com. Check out the 20,000 online single-panel cartoons in the archive, or fill in the
caption to create your own personalized cartoon.
Planning that long awaited vacation overseas? It wouldn’t hurt to know the foreign
exchange rate before arriving in that far away place. And for you Web developers,
what’s really kool is that you can cut and paste the various calculators for use on your
own page without infringing on any copyright laws.
Expand your knowledge of the science around you
with a daily Braindrop. Fresh info nuggets from
Philadelphia's Franklin Institute Science Museum.
LemonLawAmerica
Lemon Law Statutes for all 50 states
The Cyber Home Chef says she's dedicated to bringing "the world
of creative home cooking to computers."
Here's a place for kids to publish their stories and poems. You can read other kid's stories and let them know
how much you like their work by giving it a rating. Each month the best stories and poems go into the KidAuthors
Hall of Fame!
Disney’s all new theme park opened in February of 2001. Hold onto your hats and
glasses and warm up those vocal cords as you ride the screamin’ roller coaster that
twists and turns, loops and curves along the coast. Plan your vacation and book your
tickets online.
Drugfacts.com bills itself as the Net's premium source
of unbiased drug, herbal, patient and disease
management data. A huge compendium of news, tools
and backgrounders.
At kidshealth.org, you’ll find something for every kid, from prenatal and infant care for parents, to cool stuff for
kids to advice and information for teens. The site is divided into three areas based on content, and each section
has relevant feature and news stories, age-specific health and well-being information as well as fun games and
health-related activities.
A portal for the specific interests of military personnel and veterans, including reunions, pensions, medical
care, military magazines, POWs. Search engine for searching all .mil sites.
When spring rolls around, it's time to break out the mop and sponge and give the house
a good cleaning. Organized Home.com has a whole site ready to help you in your times
of cleaning crises. Get everything from cleaning tips, advice on tools, articles, reviews
of cleaning products, and a cleaning checklist for all four seasons of the year! Don't
miss anything this year with Organized Home.com.
Whether the project involves such things as
landscaping, decorating or home improvement, the
folks at the DIY Network say they have step-by-step
instructions to help you out.
Visualizing huge numbers can be very difficult, notes the
MegaPenny Project, which aims to help by answering that age-old
question: "What would a billion (or a trillion) pennies look like?"
Yard/garage sale time! BargainBunny.com can help you hold your garage
sale by providing you with tips on picking the date, types of items to sell, emergency
items, alternate plans in case of rain, haggling techniques, tools, and so much more!
You can even read the stories of past yard sales for a little fun.
Learn about money? What's there to know? Well, money can be quite complicated.
There are 10 brochures available in Adobe Acrobat for you to read for free. They
include "66 Ways to Save Money," debt, planning, becoming a better consumer, bills
and credit. See, more to it than you thought! It's a great place to expand your current
currency knowledge.
Program listings for hundreds of public radio stations around the world.
It's a great gift, we're told, to see ourselves as others see us. And
Tech Support Comedy (motto: "laugh or die, you decide") provides
an edifying view from the techie trenches.
Spruce up your landscaping. Gardening.com has loads of information on
gardening tools. Figuring out what types of plants would grow best in your area and
designing the finest floral arrangements are what Gardening.com is all about.
For more information on the Tulsa Computer Society click here
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times.
Tulsa Computer Society 5/06/2001
Don Singleton, President