Cool Web Sites
by Don Singleton
Tulsa Computer Society
From the March 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
Everything you ever wanted to know about beetles, and quite possibly more.
"A compilation of indicators from a multitude of data sources which provides a rich array of information on the current state of education internationally. They are intended to provide snapshots of the U.S. education system in comparison to systems in countries around the world."
Includes a calendar of storytelling events, an extensive list of links to storytelling sites, a directory of storytellers, and tables of contents of its magazine, Storytelling.
Choose your planet and enjoy the images captured by our spacecraft in their voyages through the universe.
The most useful thing about this site is the process it demonstrates, with a timeline, a project log, a step-by-step outline, a discussion of scientific method, and a feature on how judges think.
The Bancroft Library draws on its special collection on the history of California and the American West for this exhibition, which consists of "illustrations from rare books, pamphlets, journals, pulp magazines, newspapers, and ephemera in addition to selections of original photographs, including stereographs, lantern slides, and cyanotypes."
Created by a group of cleaning professionals to help you solve problems inside and outside your home, including cleaning hot tub filters, birdbaths, and grills, and removing adhesive residue, pet hair, and stains. Also includes a glossary and reviews of cleaning products.
LaDonne Delgado, coordinator of government documents at Mississippi State, has created this outstanding guide to both web-based and print documents by and about the United Nations, its history, divisions, current awareness sources, indexes and databases, etc.
"When asked what inspired them to become inventors, many adults tell stories about playing as children. In our virtual playhouse, you can set your own inventive thinking in motion." The Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation offers children a chance to play around with visual thinking, puzzles, wordplay, and make believe.
"Like a press-freedom news agency." It presents articles that have been banned in their country of origin, hosts newspapers that have been closed down in their homeland and serves as a forum where journalists who have been "silenced" by authorities can voice their opinions. Includes its Worldwide Press Freedom Index and "The Internet under Surveillance - Obstacles to the free flow of information online."
The site's creators, Dan Gillmor and David Weinberger, urge us to "Take back these words from the politicians and hucksters who've stolen them and twisted their meanings." Anybody can submit their pet peeve words. These make for some interesting discussions.
2003 Update of the Berkeley research project that attempts to estimate how much new information is created each year. Truly mind-boggling.
Teaching math by taking advantage of the series' popularity with kids and the fact that it "contains over a hundred instances of mathematics ranging from arithmetic to geometry to calculus, many designed to expose and poke fun at innumeracy."
"A directory of pages that provides information on the history of mapmaking, what maps can teach us about the Earth, how accurate maps really are, the compromises in displaying our planet on flat maps, and how maps can bring the human rights issue into focus."
Indexes news from a variety of technology websites, updating every 15 minutes. You can do a full-text search for recent articles as well. You can also click tabs for science, health, entertainment, sports, and financial news.
"A portal to the realm of fairy tale and folklore studies featuring 26 annotated fairy tales, including their histories, similar tales across cultures, and over 1,000 illustrations."
Bios of agency heads, congressional leaders and committee chairs, judges, ambassadors, etc. Also includes a Who WAS Who section.
Another Library of Congress production. Browse by state for these historical birds-eye representations of cities.
Save this article to read after your most depressing or frantic days at work. Rest assured, your job could be much, much worse.
"View our planet through the beautiful images taken by the Landsat-7 satellite." Click on a continent, view thumbnails, and click on the images for a printable, higher resolution version with scale (8.5" x 8.5", 144 ppi). You can also download printable poster TIFF files
"Thinks.com has the unique distinction of consistently being recognized as a top Education site as well as being a top Entertainment site." A source of puzzles, word games, chess problems, brainteasers and more.
You'll like its How To Library, which offers free advice on a wide range of topics. You can also search its index of articles and order any that interest you, and sign up for a free home improvement e-mail newsletter.
Searchable, browsable guide to online federal, state and local government resources. Input your zip code before you search or browse, and your results will highlight (but not limit to) your local government resources. A useful service from AOL.
Edited and translated by Prof. D. L. Ashman. It has a combined index of authors, titles, and themes (baldheaded men, "abducted by aliens," end of the world, etc.).
"Monitoring the Largest Volcanic System in North America." Includes the volcanic history of the region, current monitoring data, an FAQ file, and a photo gallery.
"A dictionary of over 70,000 medical, pharmaceutical, biomedical & healthcare acronyms and abbreviations. Plus medical news and searches for the medical, pharmaceutical or healthcare professional." Updated daily. Searchable by abbreviation or by definition.
"The largest bibliographic database dedicated to Economics and available on the Internet. Over 200,000 items of research can be browsed or searched, and over 110,000 can be downloaded in full text." Useful for public policy and finance issues as well as pure economics.
It's fun to browse through these funny/weird/wise/ buttons and bumper stickers whether or not you purchase. The cat buttons are dead on target: "Anything on the ground is a cat toy. Anything not there yet--will be."
The wide range of resources here includes: The National Park Service's Action Plan for Preserving Natural Resources, a calendar of wildflower events, an overview on restored species, student opportunities and sabbaticals in the parks, a park geology tour, a brochure on watchable wildlife in the parks, and lots more.
Congressional Research Service reports and videos are not generally available online unless members of congress have linked them on their websites, but they are available free if you write your representative. Memory Hole has also preserved 300 CRS reports at http://www.thememoryhole.org/crs/. The widely ranging topics of videos and reports include bioterrorism, immigration, social security reform, AIDS in Africa, the CAFE Standards, child support enforcement, identity theft, etc.
Find out how each element has been represented in comic books, then follow the link for technical information about the element.
For more information on the Tulsa Computer Society click here
Tulsa Computer Society 4/01/2004
Don Singleton, President