TCS - Cool Web Sites

Cool Web Sites

by Don Singleton
Tulsa Computer Society
From the November 1998 issue of the I/O Port Newsletter

Including links previously reviewed at http://www.usefulcool.com/, http://www.sau.edu/cwis/internet/wild/Neatnew/index.htm, and http://www.nb-pacifica.com/iu/index.shtml

All Hallow's Eve

Web page decorations and audio files, and information on Halloween crafts. Also a ghost studies page.

A Spooky Place

Graphics, animated GIFs and sounds of all your favorite spooks, from skeletons to aliens. Also, lots of Halloween-related links.

Awesome Halloween Greeting Cards

Send cards in seconds, it's fun, easy and free.

A Postcard Place

Send a Halloween Greeting Card via the Internet

Healthy Halloween Harvest Fest!

Delicious Recipes from the authors of the new book The Doctor's 30-Day Cholesterol BLITZ: Goblin's Veggie Chowder, Slimey Salad Stuff, Spooky Chicken Bones and Wings, Witches' Kettles of Butternut Squash, Greenie Beanies with Potato Heads, and Smashing Pumpkin Pie in Your Face

Thanksgiving Animated Electronic Greeting E-cards

"Turkey Dance" Cute illustration and Poem by Ashley
"Turkey Dance" with your poem Same as above, but write your own poem!
Teddy Bear for You Customize with your own saying
Thanksgiving Native American Game of "Hide-Ball" A real working game!
Thanksgiving Trivia Quiz Game on government and history! Difficult Game for brainy know-it-alls only!

Animated E-Cards Thanksgiving Greetings

Ben and Jerry's Thanksgiving

You won't find any turkey ice cream, but you will find plenty of Thanksgiving games, project ideas and recipes!

Thanksgiving with Reader's Digest

Recipes, crafts, hosting tips, stories, and books to make your family's thanksgiving the best ever.

Thanksgiving: Traditions & History

Take the Thanksgiving quiz.

Graphics Unleashed

The Ultimate Resource for Graphics Users

Get the most out of your graphics software. Users of CorelDRAW, Corel PHOTO-PAINT and the World Wide Web are invited to sample the wisdom of Foster D. Coburn III and Peter McCormick, co-authors of the best-selling CorelDRAW! Unleashed series of books and CorelDRAW 8: The Official Guide.

Includes Tips and Tricks like:
Logos for the Design Challenged, Part III
Using CorelDRAW 8's Color Styles for Quick Changes
Converting Bitmaps Logos into Vector using CorelDRAW
Creating Web Page Background JPEG files
Creating Fantasy with Corel PHOTO-PAINT's Clip Mask
Technical Illustration with CorelDRAW
Publishing CorelDRAW Illustrations as GIF
Logos for the Design Challenged, Part I
Logos for the Design Challenged, Part II
Creating an Elixir in CorelDRAW and CorelDREAM
Why Windows 98 is Not the OS Upgrade You Want
CorelDRAW 8 Rev B Details
Customizing Your Interface
Solving System Instability
Font Articles
Finding CorelDRAW Clipart
Beauty of the Blend
Scanning Oversize Objects
Soft Drop Shadows
Quick Tips
CorelDRAW Utilities & Patches
CorelDRAW Reference Color Chart
Corel TEXTURE

Cancer Care

If you or someone you love has cancer, this site may be Useful to you. It's a non-profit support and information center available both over the Internet and by toll-free telephone call. Health professionals can also access "virtual teleconferences" via RealAudio on such topics as Support for Family Caregivers and Communicating with Your Health Care Team.

Online Communities For Colleges

Collegestudent.com, a young Austin-based company started by four University of Texas undergraduates is run by a band of students from across the country who use the power of the Internet to reach student campuses. The service develops virtual student communities for college campuses nationwide free of charge and currently services 50 of the largest universities in the country.

Cyberspace Law

Invaluable guide from Law School on topics such as protection of children, free speech, copyright, child pornography, information access and control and lots more. Links in case law, statutes, articles from law reviews, etc.

How To Put Questionnaires on the Net

A useful tutorial by Dr Paul Kenyon, Department of Psychology, University of Plymouth

Remove-List.com

If you are anything like us, you're beginning to wish that SPAM was outlawed and are wondering why your e-mail Inbox is starting to look as cluttered as your regular mailbox on "coupon day." Well, don't ever say that we're not willing to help - as a matter of fact, this is one of the most useful websites we've come across in a long time. Promoted as an AntiSpam organization that is trying to take a new approach to lessening and eventually eliminating unwanted bulk e-mail, their general "remove system" was built to try to help folks like us who do not want to receive bulk e-mail through utilization of a global remove list that is distributed to known bulk e-mailers.

Understanding Viruses

While almost everyone who has a computer has heard of viruses and what thay can do to a machine, very few know what a virus actually is, how it does its dirty work, and what is myth and what is fact regarding these little bugs. Well, the folks at IBM have set up the Understanding Viruses website, an area you can visit to get clued in on the world of computer viruses and what they are all about. Beginning with a full explanation of what a comnputer virus actually is and does and working up to antivirus programs and how they work, this program covers all the things you'll need to know to get at least a working understanding of computer viruses and how to prevent them.

Starting The Day

Sometimes the day gets off on a negative note. Turn it around, with the help of the aptly named Positive Sayings of the Day site. Click your browser to it when you need a lift, or sign up for an e-mailer and get a daily reminder. There's also a weekly archive for those really bad days.

Onion Routing - Privacy Test Sites

Anonymity during Internet browsing sessions is becoming a very hot topic these days, and with more and more people getting wired in to the 'Net, your ability to maintain privacy while surfing has steadily decreased. The creators of the "Onion Router" (the U.S Defense Department, believe it or not), maintain that the use of a switched communications network should not require revealing who is talking to whom. Their plan includes a flexible communications infrastructure that is resistant to both eavesdropping and traffic analysis. At this area of their site you can view their list of Pretty Good Privacy Test sites, areas that show you how vulnerable you may be while surfing the web. A very thought-provoking and interesting web trip.

SMART Pages

Smart Pages, a combined service of Southwestern Bell, Pacific Bell, and Nevada Bell, offers business listings, city guides, and shopping guides for cities in many different cities, such as Austin, Dallas/FW, Houston, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Little Rock, Los Angeles, Orange County, Reno/Tahoe, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, St. Louis, and Tulsa and business listings on a variety of subjects, such as Attorneys, Autos, Books & Music, Careers, Computers, Flowers/Gifts, Health/Fitness, Home Repair, Sporting Goods, Travel, and Vets & Pets.

The listing for Tulsa can be found at

http://www.smartpages.com/sil/smartpages/
cityguides/ok/tulsa/

Once you get there, the URL will be changed to include a much more cryptic string in the middle of the URL, but apparently the simpler string will work, and you don't need to bookmark

http://www.smartpages.com/sil/smartpages/__342a49a
5ccDlQ1jrbxQ/cityguides/ok/tulsa/

I was feeling a bit hungry for Barbecue, and had noticed that a number of the places I used to frequent had closed, so I used Smart Pages to search for Barbecue in Tulsa, and at

http://www.smartpages.com/sil/smartpages/__342a49a5ccDlQ1jrbxQ
/directory/search.html?DIR_type=&DIR_proxCity=&DIR_sortBy=
&DIR_listBlock=&DIR_fuzzy=&DIR_proxLat=&DIR_proxName=&DIR_proxState=
&DIR_id=581224|Barbecue&DIR_validated=1&DIR_proxAddress=&DIR_categoryTop=
&DIR_proxRadius=&DIR_proxLon=&formtype=Pb::Panel::Directory::
SearchByTypeFinder&DIR_listingsTypeNormal=&DIR_proxnameSave=&x=20&y=2
&DIR_geo=Tulsa&DIR_listingsTypeBizToBiz=&DIR_proxZip=&DIR_geoType=region
&DIR_category=Barbecue&DIR_proxStreet=&DIR_name=&DIR_state=OK

I found a listing of 12 barbecue joints, 10 of which had maps showing where they were located. Two supposedly had reviews, but for some reason they just displayed as a blank page on my system.

Interactive frog Dissection

This online tutorial is just one of the great educational resources on the Net. It sets out to teach you how to be nifty with a knife in the biology classroom and is aimed at US high schools. The text is admirably clear and the movies alarmingly to the point. This is not for the squeamish, but then again watching a frog being hacked to pieces on screen is probably preferable to doing it yourself.

Mulan

Explore this site to find games, info, and activities about Disney's latest animated feature! Visit the Flower page to sharpen your mind with "Mulan" brainteasers. Fire a cannon at Shan-Yu and his evil band of Huns on the Thunder page. Go to the Garden page to read the poem that inspired the film in SIX different languages! Send Fan Mail postcards to your family and friends. Discover fun facts about the making of "Mulan"!

Not The News

When you're not looking for a reliable, accurate Web site for computer industry news, there's only one place to go: The Denounce News Wire, which boasts that it's the world's best source for completely fictional news and information.

The Parent's Guide To The Internet

This web site has been developed to assist parents in helping their children develop their Internet skills, while, at the same time, protecting them from the potential risks of this new medium.

Amusement Park Physics

Thinking back to your school days and past science classes, you may have a hard time associating the words "amusement" and "physics" together - but what better way to grab a youngster's attention about a scientific study than by applying it to a subject that everybody loves? This fun site explores the natural laws that help a roller coaster loop-to-loop and the forces behind the collisions in bumper cars. A mixture of physics lessons and interactive quizzes, the site can also help alleviate fear through facts - and not just for kids, either. An excellent place for parents and kids to explore together to learn more of what goes on behind the scenes with their favorite amusement rides.

The Bubblesphere

The art of and science behind blowing bubbles, in excruciating and fascinating detail. Nuff said.

Single Parents Resource Center

This site is maintained by a single mom; in addition to her own thoughts and experiences, it contains resources for law, finances, publications, spirituality and support.

The Cartoonery

Repository of the animated political cartoons of Chris Hiers, who is also the cartoonist for Fox News Online.

Is It a Book?

This fascinating site deals with the psychology and philosophy of text, whether the linear text of books or the nonlinear hypertext of electronic resources, and offers some speculations on the future of the book.

Corbis Picture Experience

View close to half a million of the world's greatest photographs, then send your favorites as electronic cards - "Corbis Cards" - to friends and loved ones.

Speak Like A MicroGeek

The Microsoft Lexicon proclaims that it's the only complete insider's guide to understanding that insidious language known as Microspeak. Chances are some words may apply to your company, too.

Webdweller

Webdweller is in the business of creating a picture of the average human face by asking visitors to submit images of their own faces. As they collect the thousands of submissions, they morph them into one face, an average of the entire bunch, then display the morphed image.

Physicists on the Money

Physicists have been honored by having their picture on currency in many countries around the world.

Linking America

Looking for a statistical profile of a city, county or metropolitan area? Turn to the American Community Network, an ambitious project to link the nation's communities to cyberspace. A clear, user-friendly layout.

Twisted News

Ani-Grams bills itself as the place where you'll find "all the news that twists to print!" Headlines range from the Clinton investigation to sports to weather, and as you watch, the letters in the headline separate and form another headline. For example, Blue Cocktail Dress changes into To Sack Seducer Bill and Windows Ninety Eight transforms into Show Widening Entity and Bill Gates Deposition transforms into Obtained Spoils Legit

Web Standards Project

A group of design-savvy netizens have formed a group that they hope will help put the brakes on a bad trend: the Balkanization of Web by browsers that don't speak the same geek as each other. Here's how to join in the Web Standards Project.

Books Online

One more reason not to make that drive to the library: The On-Line Books Page provides an index to more than 7,000 books that can be freely read on the Web. Includes an extensive collection of "banned" books.

Web Browser Test

Like to know whether your Web browser is performing the way it should? Windows Magazine invites you to try out its new BrowserTune98. All you have to do is click. And even if your browser works fine, you'll learn a great deal about its capabilities in the course of the tests.

Special Effects

The great thing that movies such as Armageddon and Godzilla have in common is great special effects. Visual Effects Headquarters offers a behind-the-scenes look at those and other highly visual flicks.

Broadcast News Archive

Budding broadcast media critics have a great Web resource to turn to. The Vanderbilt Television News Archive began taping the evening news broadcasts of the three major networks in 1968, so it can offer online abstracts and story descriptions. Browse by date or search by keywords.

The Ad Graveyard

The Ad Graveyard offers ad campaigns which never quite made it out the door- - killed either by frightened clients, focus groups or ad agencies themselves.

TracerLock

TracerLock can monitor search engines for you and notify you by e-mail when a new instance of a search term is found. For example, if you tell TracerLock to monitor search engines for the word "Peacefire," TracerLock will e-mail you when new pages appear on the web containing the word "Peacefire."

The Informant

The Informant is a FREE! service that will save your favorite search engine queries and web sites, check them periodically, and send you email whenever there are new or updated web pages.

Homework Central

If your student needs some help with research, here's a good place to start. Homework Central has listings in more than 2,000 subject areas of sites that are likely to be of help to students. It beats going through the standard search engines and sifting through sites that may or may not be of use.

A History of Traditional Games

Are you interested in REAL games, with boards and pieces, where you sit across from a real live person and actually talk. This is a lovely site dedicated to the histories of all the major board game families, like chess, go, backgammon, mancala and the like. It's just fascinating; you may find yourself settling down this winter with a cozy companion and a Chinese Checker set.

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times.
Tulsa Computer Society 10/1/98

Don Singleton, President
djs@ionet.net