Cool Web Sites
by Don Singleton
Tulsa Computer Society
From the November 2003 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
Harvard researchers studying moral intuition would like your help. Moral intuitions are the psychological underpinnings of our ethical judgments and actions; they're embedded in us by our upbringing and culture, often so profoundly that we don't even realize that they differ from person to person. You can help these scientists understand moral intuitions by taking an easy and confidential test, in which you're told about a situation and asked to make a choice about how to act in it. Such a simple request - maybe it's our own moral intuition talking, but helping out seems like the right thing to do.
All of the virus attack we have seen should have reminded (or convinced) you that safe surfing is a must. If you're finally convinced that you need help, staysafeonline.com has helpful hints on procuring basic protection from the Net's lesser citizens. Learn about choosing passwords, downloading patches and working behind firewalls. This site presents an easy-to-understand way to learn Net safety basics
Search by artist, museum, city, keyword, or exhibition title.
Before the Gateway cow, before Apple's "Think Different" blitz, computer advertising tended to be less iconic but very, very earnest. Wander down Memory Lane (gee, what did I do with that old Commodore 64?!) at Steve Browning's charming archive, but remember: If you hadn't replaced that beloved old 64, you probably wouldn't be able to see this.
Feel alone and afraid in a world full of security breaches and criminal masterminds? Remember, there are plenty of criminals out there who are simply too dumb to rampage effectively. For instance, one man who was tired of walking stole a steamroller and led police on a 5 mph chase until a cop stepped aboard the vehicle and stopped it. This site documents his ilk and reminds you that many bad guys are dangerous to no one more then themselves.
Includes tutorials on fractals, downloads, message boards and chatroom, and a very nice gallery of fractal images.
What's the one thing everyone reading this sentence has in common? Language, of course - we all have words. Maybe the love of language in all its forms is one of the roots of universal brotherhood, in which case a visit to this wide-ranging site could be flat-out good for your soul. Certainly the lively and amusing Agora, possibly one of the most civilized discussion areas on the Net, could give a person hope for peace on earth and goodwill toward men
Before you build your next sandwich, peruse this handy reference page to make sure you’re not spreading your bread with a layer of gastric uproar. Thanks to its familiar layout and extensive listing of edibles from mayonnaise to fish sauce, this chart is perfect for printing and posting on the fridge.
"An introductory website showing how various items are made. It covers over 40 different products and manufacturing processes, and includes almost 4 hours of manufacturing video. It is targeted towards non-engineers and engineers alike."
At cookierecipe.com, a presentation from the good folks at allrecipes.com, you’ll find recipes to please both the laziest chef and pickiest eater. Tempt your palate with brownies, peanut butter cookies and, er, fried cookies. Whip up a few batches of your own, then cruise on back to rate the top recipes.
It's not too late in the season to contemplate re-roofing the house. (Oh, joy.) Dreamroofs.com might have just the, well, dream lid you’ve been searching for. This site covers the basics of roofing, from terminology to technique to style, and gives you an idea of what might consitute a problem with the current roof over your head. The installation tutorial will have you feeling expert in no time.
"Generates nutrition facts labels and provides simplified nutritional analyses for all foods and recipes." Includes a nutritional profile of every menu item at 14 fast food chains. Its nutrient search tool allows you to find foods that are highest (or lowest) in specific dietary nutrients.
Never again be confused by those subtle hand signals when you’re at the center of a major drug bust or hostage situation. After diligently studying this guide to S.W.A.T. hand signals, you’ll know exactly when the officer is trying to convey to his colleagues that he’s out of ammunition (a swaying motion around the gun) or that you’re a crybaby (wiping near the eyes) or that he’s near-sighted (the peephole signal with his fingers.) We can’t guarantee that this data will get you out of a sticky situation, but at least you’ll know what they’re saying about you. (Some strong language included; reader beware.)
If you’re easily scared by the idea that most security systems are well, not that secure, then you probably don’t want to read some of this site’s mind-boggling first-hand accounts of lousy checks and scans. From airport security to credit card PINs to space centers, these tales of human error and sheer personnel laziness will make you suspect that all the terror databases and Departments of Homeland Security on earth can't compensate for sheer stupidity.
A virtual zoo, with lots of pictures, this also includes a directory of zoos and aquariums, Animal News, and a directory of animal webcams.
Next time you’re in the mood to insult someone and don't necessarily want the victim to know he's been hit, just call him a foppotee. That’s simpleton for those of you not well versed in these 400 English-language words teetering on the brink of oblivion. These phrases aren't just rare, they’re lost — unknown to Modern English or Google and essentially consigned to a lingering death in the tombs of the Oxford English Dictionary. Browse the Compendium for an A-to-Z list of these terms forgotten by Father Time.
What do King's "I Have A Dream," MacArthur's farewell address to Congress, and an 1983 commencement speech by Ursula K. LeGuin have in common? They're among the top 100 American speeches of the century as selected by American Rhetoric, a site designed to showcase the very best public debates and arguments and, perhaps, cause a few as well. The site also includes a large collection of other speeches given in contexts from murder trials to the movies, and includes a nifty multimedia reference guide to over 200 rhetorical devices and figures of speech.
Is there a topic you're following on a continuing basis? Have Google search it for you every day through the several thousand news sources it monitors, and notify you be e-mail.
Most folk can probably name a few of our National Parks — Yellowstone, of course, and most likely one or two in their general vicinity — but this charming new National Park Service site is likely to introduce you to vistas you might not have realized we had. The design is simple, the pictures are lovely, and the realization that America's got such beauty in it may make you yearn for one more summer road trip.
Clearly we feel strongly about the merit of a site when we include it in this column, but parts of Smithsonian Education are literally out of this world: Gather moon rocks and find out what it was really like to live on Apollo 11, with astronauts Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin as your virtual tour guides. Once your feet hit re-enter the stratosphere, you can browse Everything Art, or become completely immersed in History & Culture by following Lewis and Clark as they map the West. From People & Places to Science & Nature to Gorillas at the National Zoo, the virtual world of learning is your oyster.
Great stuff here, including photos of the Golden Gate Bridge as it's being constructed, earthquakes (including from 1868!), the Golden Gate International Exhibition, libraries (some from as far back as 1870), cable cars, opera houses, union activities, and views from every decade, 1850 to the present.
Before snobs from the Coast took to referring to it as the "flyover" zone, the Louisiana Purchase was appreciated for what it was: a tremendous bargain from the French that at one stroke more than doubled the size of our country. 2003 is the bicentennial of Thomas Jefferson's real-estate marvel, and this site covers all the best celebrations of the purchase and of the terrain's subsequent exploration by Lewis and Clark's expedition.
Remember Cabbage Patch Kids? How about flagpole sitting? It's time to get nostalgic with the rages that rocked society, sorted and memorialized by decade at crazyfads.com. From the surprising (swallowing goldfish was big in the '40s) to the funny (running nude was very big in the '70s) to the mind-numbingly fun (video arcades were the slightly gritty hangout of choice in the '80s) you'll be re-acquainted with those tacky trends that marked the 1920s to the 1990s.
"A tool which connects you directly to online translation tools. Fagan Finder itself does not contain these translation tools. Instead, it includes a listing of many translation tools, each of which has different language and translation capabilities. It matches up the translation you want with a tool that can handle it." Type in a URL or copy and paste a block of text to be translated, specify from which language into which language, and voila, you'll get a fairly passable machine translation.
Learning Federal Reserve facts can be fun with Fed101. (Seriously, would we lie to you about something as serious as the Fed?) This interactive site teaches you about finance with a minimum of pain; you’ll be a Fed whiz after these simple lessons about banking history, monetary policy and today’s banking system. And you’ll really be the life the party when you tell your friends what happens to their checks after they write them.
Before Dr. Seuss was entertaining millions of kids with The Cat in the Hat or Green Eggs and Ham, he was making political waves with pen and paper. The famed children's author was a political cartoonist from 1940 to 1948, drawing more than 400 editorial gems. Check out this complete online catalog of his best cartoons, categorized by People, Countries/Regions, War/Domestic Issues, and Battles and Battlefields for easy browsing. Some of the caricatures' similarities to the Grinch and other favorites are hauntingly delightful
Reports an experiment on how people use search engines which found that most searchers had no idea that some of the top results they were clicking on were paid placement results.
A variety of tech companies and advisors have combined to bring you, the nervous consumer, a collection of resources that can help you protect you and yours online. This site answers your questions about safe surfing clearly and concisely
300 images are available here from this Fall, 2002 project. You can also order the book.
Pharmaceutical industry organization PhRMA offers free prescription medicines to eligible patients; the site also links to similar helping agencies.
This portal site, covering everything that shaped, moved or had anything to do with the country's bloodiest war, should tickle the fancy of even the staunchest Civil War buff. David Mackey isn't looking for design awards here, but his concise evaluations of hundreds of online resources points visitors to the best coverage of cemeteries, battles, museums, prison camps and more. From photo galleries to chat rooms and contests, it's all here.
For more information on the Tulsa Computer Society click here
Tulsa Computer Society 11/01/2003
Don Singleton, President