Link of The Day/Week/Month for 2006
11/21/2006
Anomalies Unlimited - The Nov. 17 LockerGnome Tech News Watch Newsletter had this to say about Anomalies Unlimited, "Have you ever thought about the odd things that make up our lives? Urban legends, little known odd facts, that sort of thing. I am reminded of a quote from a John Wayne movie, “When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.” Today’s site is something like that, but it also has some very interesting verifiable facts as well.
The site is called Anomalies Unlimited. Here you will find information about ghosts, alien writings, optical illusions, and Disney. In the Disney area, you can find out about infamous Disney legends surrounding the Little Mermaid, Jessica Simpson, and the Lion King. Under religion, you can see such infamous sites as the Chicago Holy Virgin salt stain and the Virgin Mary on a Window in Brazil. Of special interest to travelers is the section on the Denver Airport, and for all of us, the Underground Bases section has some eye opening statistics."*
11/06/2006
The Face On… Canada? - LSDSmurf of DarkVision Hardware writes: Here’s another weird finding on Google Earth. Somewhere in Alberta, Canada you can spot mountains or large hills that look like the face of an Indian.
It looks pretty real, even a lot more realistic than The Face on Mars, IMO. It’s also pretty big; I used the measure tool in Google Earth to measure the size of the Native American’s forehead and it’s about 225 meters (0.14 miles) long.
You can check it out in Google Maps or just enter 50° 0′38.20″N 110° 6′48.32″W in Google Earth. And like someone in our comment section said, with a bit of imagination, you can see he has an earbud in his ear! (Maybe he’s listening to his iPod?) [Source: DarkVision Hardware]*
07/27/2006
COOLSITES by Mark Donaldson - Every month I collect websites that are COOL, SAFE, FUN, USEFUL, INFORMATIVE and FREE and publish them here and in my monthly newsletter. You can keep your system healthy, have fun and get knowledge safe from adware, spyware, viruses and content.* Y'all should check out his web site and newsletter. LOTS of great info there! I was surprised to learn that Mr. Donaldson had linked to my web site and included the link in his June 23, 2006 Newsletter. And, I am also honored. Thank you Mr. Donaldson!
Free Online Fax - Chris Pirillo says, "Another friend of mine (Kevin Savetz) just launched a new Web service that’ll let you fax documents for free. Of course, there’s an ad on the cover page - and a maximum of 3 pages per fax and 2 faxes per day. "FaxZero lets you send a fax to any fax machine in the United States (including Puerto Rico) or Canada for free. You don’t need a fax machine yourself, but you do need a valid e-mail address.""*
07/26/2006
Matt Hartley recently wrote a Building Your Own Home Projector article. DIY LCD Projector - A "Do-It-Yourself" LCD projector is a real projector you can build. This projector can achieve HDTV quality, rivaling projectors which cost many thousands of dollars. It can be used with Powerpoint presentations, video games (Playstation 2, Xbox), DVD movies and more.*
07/24/2006
SlickDeals.net! - The most frequently updated and complete deal site on the web! We provide you with the day's hottest deals every day. We also have over 800 coupons for all your favorite online stores. Browse around and you're bound to save more than a few bucks!*
Scot Finnie Recently Reviewed SlickDeals.net in His Newsletter, "Take a trip over to SlickDeals.net, and very likely you will find something there that's a very good deal. It may not be the product you're looking for right at the moment, but if you frequent this website, eventually something you want to buy will be a bargain. Sometimes, it's a very, very hot find, indeed. But the best deals go fast. If you're looking for a bargain on computers, electronics, and other things besides, SlickDeals.net is a good bet. Not only does it find the deals, but it helps you walk through the sometimes arcane steps needed to make the price break appear in your Web browser. Just be sure you thoroughly read the fine print on any deal you find. Happy hunting!"*
05/11/2006
Woody Leonhard's Microsoft Patch Defense Condition Level (MS-DEFCON) - I have a rating system that lets individual Microsoft consumers know when it's safe to install patches. I call it the Microsoft Patch Defense Condition Level, or MS-DEFCON for short. It's modeled after the US armed forces DEFCON system.
DEFCON 1: Current Microsoft patches are causing havoc. Don't patch.
DEFCON 2: Patch reliability is unclear. Unless you have an immediate, pressing need to install a specific patch, don't do it.
DEFCON 3: Patch reliability is unclear, but widespread attacks make patching prudent. Go ahead and patch, but watch out for potential problems.
DEFCON 4: There are isolated problems with current patches, but they are well-known and documented here. Check this site to see if you're affected and if things look OK, go ahead and patch.
DEFCON 5: All's clear. Patch while it's safe.
Note that the MS-DEFCON level applies to Windows XP Service Pack 2 systems only. I assume that you have a firewall installed, an up-to-date antivirus program, some form of hardware protection, and a good scumbuster, as described in the Security Baseline article in the latest issue of Windows Secrets Newsletter. The MS-DEFCON level also assumes that you're using Firefox, not Internet Explorer.
I firmly believe that Windows Automatic Update is for chumps, and I've said so for years: go ahead and let Microsoft notify you when it wants to install something on your computer, but don't blindly allow the 'Softies to install whatever they want. Follow the instructions in any of my books to disable automatic updating, or click Start | Control Panel | Security Center and take it from there.*
Jmtb02.com - Jmtb02.com is the home of digital web designer, John Cooney. Specializing in Flash game and animation design, this site is home to home-brewed, independent, alternative design. All content is provided for free, the way it should be.*
05/05/2006
ARTCYCLOPEDIA - is the guide to great art on the Internet.*
The Damnedest Thing I Ever Saw! - All Stressed Out and No One To Choke?* This site has, well funny stories that y'all just gotta read for yourself!
05/01/2006
Beer Games - When sitting down and enjoying a real beer, you're more likely to find yourself in conversation than in games. If you like nostalgia and humor, this section covers some games you may have enjoyed and some that are complete send-ups (read: not to be taken seriously) provided as conversation pieces.
The standard disclaimer here is that you must be of legal drinking age to consume beer, and you can substitute non-alcoholic beverages in the games as well.*
04/29/2006
Pandora Media™ - Created by the Music Genome Project™ - For almost six years now, we have been hard at work on the Music Genome Project. It's the most comprehensive analysis of music ever undertaken. Together our team of thirty musician-analysts have been listening to music, one song at a time, studying and collecting literally hundreds of musical details on every song. It takes 20-30 minutes per song to capture all of the little details that give each recording its magical sound - melody, harmony, instrumentation, rhythm, vocals, lyrics ... and more - close to 400 attributes! We continue this work every day to keep up with the incredible flow of great new music coming from studios, stadiums and garages around the country.
We've now created an interface to make this available to music lovers so they could use this musical 'connective-tissue' to discover new music based on songs or artists they already know.
Pandora™ is the doorway to this vast trove of musical information. With Pandora you can explore to your heart's content. Just drop the name of one of your favorite songs or artists into Pandora and let the Genome Project go. It will quickly scan its entire world of analyzed music, almost a century of popular recordings - new and old, well known and completely obscure - to find songs with interesting musical similarities to your choice. Then sit back and enjoy as it creates a listening experience full of current and soon-to-be favorite songs for you.
You can create as many "stations" as you want. And you can even refine them. If it's not quite right you can tell it more and it will get better for you.
The Music Genome Project was founded by musicians and music-lovers. We believe in the value of music and have a profound respect for those who create it. We like all kinds of music, from the most obtuse bebop, to the most tripped-out drum n bass, to the simplest catchy pop tune. Our mission is to help YOU connect with the music YOU like.*
Amusement Park Physics - You've bought your ticket and boarded the roller coaster. Now you're barreling down the track at 60 miles per hour, taking hairpin turns and completing death-defying loops. Your heart is in your throat and your stomach is somewhere near your shoes. The only thing separating you from total disaster is a safety harness...but are you really in danger?
The designers of the roller coaster carefully crafted this thrilling ride to be just that, but you're actually in less danger than you think. You face a greater threat of injury playing sports or riding a bike than you do on a park ride. Amusement park rides use physics laws to simulate danger, while the rides themselves are typically very safe.*
04/05/2006
OpenOffice Tutorials - To make the learning process as efficient as possible, these OpenOffice tutorials are full-motion Flash movies that feature graphics, text and narrated audio. These courses were developed especially for the web.
If your experience is like most users, these tutorials will help you learn OpenOffice 2 to 5 times faster than other methods such as reading books or trying to figure it out on your own.*
04/01/2006
Cool Science - Insanely Great Science Websites! - Too many web sites to mention! This is a MUST SEE SITE!*
03/19/2006
- BookGap is an idea from a student - and our focus is mainly for students. Of course, we welcome all the non students who are using this service. Our main intent, though, is to save students some money. Text books are simply expensive and book costs are a major financial drain for most students.
BookGap is a meeting place. We want to connect you with students or other people who might have that text book that might be needed for a few short months. Further, we want to connect you with people who want those text books that you will no longer use nor want. The BookGap concept is providing a place for people to connect. We do not profit from the sale of a book. The only charge to you is a nominal fee of $1.72 to list a text book or to list a need for a text book. That charge covers our overhead and the costs of maintaining the data bases on a daily basis.*
Answerbag - A compilation of human knowledge and experience. Answerbag is a community-built collection of frequently-asked questions, submitted and moderated by you, our members.*
03/17/2006
Google Invades Mars! - Check out Hecates, Tholus, Terra Cimmeria, The Face on Mars and more on Google Mars!
03/16/2006
spinoff - This site is maintained by me, an Adjunct Professor in the Wilkes Community College (IET) Industrial & Engineering Technologies Division.
The areas of study in which I instruct include Computer Engineering Technology and Electrical/Electronics Technology. However, you will find topics that cover many applications of computing systems.
To understand the nature of these two curricula, you might be interested to know that the graduates from the two courses of study will be able to perform many of the following functions.
Computer repair, setup, service and site cleaning
Virus, spyware, and adware removal and prevention
Hardware/software purchase and troubleshooting advice
Hardware/software installations and upgrades
Business network installations and support
Home network setup and support
Internet and email connections
Backup strategies, and more.*
While you're there, check out his Articles, Books, Computing Links, Courseware Links and Portfolio pages.
*These sites have been quoted directly as I believe what they say about their sites or they already know what to say, better than I do.
These names and logos belong to and are copyrighted or trademarked by the site owners.