Deaf Illinois

For information about events for the hearing impaired in Illinois, Deaf Illinois News has it. While it doesn't have a great deal of data it does try to keep a calendar of upcoming events that would be of interest to the hearing impaired. Currently it has information about the upcoming DeaFest '04 coming up at William Rainey Harper College on November 19-20. Other events and news stories are covered from the perspective of the deaf.

Fun and Educational at the Same Time

That describes Funology, the science of having fun. The site is filled with short, trivial science facts, simple experiments you can perform at home, magic tricks and more. A good resource for at home education and schools with tight budgets.

Gerry Mulligan

The Library of Congress just continues to set up one fantastic site after another. This one is the Gerry Mulligan Collection. Gerry Mulligan was a jazz musician. His career has spanned several eras of jazz, from performing with Gene Krupa and Woody Herman to performing for President Jimmy Carter at the White House, and numerous awards and unique performances. The site contains a timeline for this great performer, an oral biography, a photo gallery, and discography.

Serving the Universe on a Paper Plate

Some sites just have the neatest mottos, I can't resist using them for my titles. This is a great resource for at-home educators, as well as classroom educators with budget limitations. Everything at Paper Plate Education revolves (sometimes literally) around the use of paper plates to demonstrate everything from scientific phenomenon to art. What can you do with a plain old paper plate? The Transit of Venus, Addition & Multiplication tables, Altitude measurement, Capo dial for transposing music on guitar, and lots more.

Every Search is a Direct Hit

That's the motto of Ice Rocket, a search engine I've just run across. It has the look and feel of Google with a few variations. While it has a web search, downloadable toolbar, and image search it also has a blog search, phone pictures search, and find a friend search. Ice Rocket also contains a preferences/set up that can be created for the current machine-not as many languages as Google- but similar filtering of explicit material. A very nice, smooth seeker.

National Address Server

If you give the National Address Server (NAS) a valid postal address it will return a properly formatted version of that same address. Leave out a north, south, east, or west reference and the NAS supplies it. Drop an avenue, road, parkway and again NAS supplies it. All of this and the appropriate ZIP+4. There's more features to this site. You can perform person searches, ZIP searches to find what cities are represented by which ZIP codes. The site even includes some limited international address searching.

What time is it in Arizona?

The above question may seem simple enough but it's not. The reason is that Arizona has no Daylight Savings time. That means they don't change their clocks twice a year. So sometimes they are 2 hours behind New York and sometimes 3 hours. Visit Official U.S. Time to get the absolute correct time anywhere in the United States as well as information about the concept of time, chronological devices and more.

This Ones for the Birds

If your interests go beyond the casual observation of the birds at the feeder in your yard, you might find the Searchable Ornithological Research Archive (SORA) of interest. It represents an extensive data base of 6 professional ornithological based journals: Auk, Condor, Journal of Field Ornithology, Pacific Coast Avifauna, Studies in Avian Biology, and Wilson Bulletin. Several of the issues are indexed and searchable back into the 1800s.

Delicious Food

This is a food blog. It presents links to sites with recipes. Shiokadelicious provides a brief explanation/review and then the link for additional information.

Frommer's Online

Anyone who has traveled the world has probably run across one of the Frommer Guides. Now Frommer's makes its information available online. Find out how to trim those expenses after you get to where you're going. The site has links to various other travel sites, reviews, and deals along the way for nearly any destination you can think of.

An Index of Fonts

The aim of the International Type Index is: "to build a searchable database of all fonts from all foundries, from all the world, to the benefit of both users AND authors." I thought I would try this out and typed in the names of some rarely used fonts I know about. It didn't have them in the data base. I got more and more common in my requests, all the way to Times New Roman and it still said it couldn't find anything. The data base does have some fine fonts but at this point the collection is not extensive and the trend seems to be towards the more unique/interesting fonts as opposed to the more frequently used fonts. It has an advanced font search feature which has questions about appearance, thick/thin, foundry, author and another dozen or so. The only time I could get this feature to really work properly was when I chose just one of the multiple choices for one question. While I'm less than totally enamored with the site, it has potential and bears watching. Keep your eye on it.

Search Engines - Modified, British, and New

Three general search engines are the topic of this post: Yahoo! Local, UKWizz, and Exalead.

Yahoo! Local has a different presentation screen from the standard Yahoo! There are two entry box fields. In one you place the subject you are looking for and in the second you list the geographical location where you want to find it. For example: Type the word "pizza" in the first box and "Chicago IL 60605" in the second. Yahoo! Local will display a listing of pizza shops within an "X" mile radius. It takes a little getting used to but works fine after you get the hang of it.

UKWizz is a search engine that performs the majority of its searches on British sites. It does perform searches outside the British realm but the focus is heavily on British sites.

Exalead is so new it still has "Beta" as part of its home page. It incorporates a lot of the features we are seeing in the newer search engines. You have your choice of looking at the citation list in all text, text plus a thumbnail of the first page, or slightly larger thumbnails of the home page with no text. It also suggests related search areas in a sidebar at the left side of the screen. It's worth a try.

The Old Corral

Do the names of Bob Steele, Johnny Mack Brown, and Duncan Rinaldo hold a special place in your heart? If so you'll want to visit the Old Corral. It is a database of old "B" westerns and the stars from these films. The site promises you won't find a single "A" movie in the batch. Not only are the stars and the films listed but there is additional information about the locations of the films, the stunt people involved, and spreadsheets, trivia and statistics.

The Irish-Australian Connection

The National Archives of Ireland has placed the Ireland-Australia Transportation Record Database on line. Genealogists who think they may have Irish or Australian roots should definitely check this one.

How Many Ants are There?

Did you know there are over 11,000 species of ants worldwide? Well there are. Any creature with that many variants must have its own web site and Antbase is it. You can search for specific species of ants, or authors of articles/books about ants. There are also links to an ant bibliography of over 30,000 entries, ants of Bahia, and images.

Another University Resource

The National University of Singapore Libraries has set up Statistics on Singapore. The site provides stats about economics, culture, financials and more. Some of the stats provided are: population census, crime, demographics, income and consumer prices, medical and health care, and marriage and divorce and many more categories.

University of Tennessee Creates Digital Library Center

The University of Tennessee now has a Digital Library Center (DLC). According to the DLC site it will "...provide durable access to digital content through the establishment of best practices and standards." The DLC will also house various special collections. Some are available now and others are under development or in planning. Some of these collections are: Southeastern Native American Documents, Egyptian Photograph Collection, Manhattan Project, and Historical Rugby.

Virtual Gumshoe

The Virtual Gumshoe has got to be one of the most diverse collection of hyperlinks I have seen. If you are looking for genealogical info, criminal records, Bar Association records, cults, gangs, libraries...you can find links to an appropriate data base that will get you to the info you want. Most of the links provide the info for free

Another Clustering Search Tool

Clush is another in the growing number of clustering web sites. Clush takes your topic and creates a diagram around it with different clusters of additional phrases and words to help you narrow your search. For more info about clustering search tools see the October 7 post called "Cluster Searching," also in this blog.

Flower Pictures

From the Allium to the Zinnia the Flower Pictures web site covers the flowering world. It even goes beyond by displaying pictures of succulants and garden creatures. There are over 2,000 photos of flowers of every variety. As with any collection some of the pictures are breathtaking and some are not. A great collection and one every flower gardener should visit.

As Long as We're Off Topic

If you have Gmail, Hotmail, or Yahoo! mail you can now create your own email icon for your website. Visit the Email Icon Generator and see how it works. This will probably be most useful for web masters or bloggers.

Google Alerts

We said we wouldn't talk about Google much in this blog unless it was something out of the ordinary. The problem is Google continues to reinvent itself and what is extraordinary today will be ordinary tomorrow. But on with the extraordinary.

Google is currently testing a beta version of Google Alerts. You go to the Google Alerts site, type in your keywords like you do for any other search. Then you determine whether you want to search the News, Web, or both. You can choose the notification frequency (once a day, as it happens, once a week), then enter your email address and sit back and wait for the results to start coming in.

Herbal Safety

Available in both English and Spanish, Herbal Safety, from the University of Texas at El Paso and University of Texas at Austin, is a must for anyone who takes a holistic/herbal approach to health care. Just like drugs, herbs can have side effects and hazardous interactions with other herbs. Herbal Safety allows you to research and discover both the strengths and weaknesses of the herbal world.

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe

Everything you could possibly want to know about this cult sci-fi classic is here. There are video and audio clips from the BBC TV and radio episodes, background information about the late Douglas Adams, quizzes, poetry and more. This is the ultimate guide to the Hitchhiker's Guide and all true fans should visit.

Entertainment Collectibles

The Millionaire Playboy web site is an online magazine focusing on toys, comics, and movies. Many of the items posted here tie in with movie, cartoon, or comic book characters. The reviews here come from the perspective of a collector and not from a child that might actually want to actually use the item for entertainment purposes. A great place to find out what's happening in the way of entertainment tie-ins.

Here's Looking at you, Bogey.

At the Official Site of Humphrey Bogart (not too sure of who made it official) you'll find lot's of info on one film's most memorable actors. Photo galleries, biographical information, screensavers and more can be found at this site.

Omaha Indian Music

The Library of Congress has done it again. The Omaha Indian Music site have compiled hundreds of sound bites (songs and speeches) from as far back as the 1890s (wax cylinder recordings) and other music recorded at recent Omaha pow-wow celebrations. The site also includes keyword searching, photos, spoken word, and list of events.

LoveToKnow Free Online Encyclopedia

The LoveToKnow Encyclopedia has reproduced the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica and is making it available on the Internet. According to the hype, "the 11th edition is generally much more in-depth and thorough on it's topics." The site also claims it is currently updating and editing thousands of the entries and making new, relevant topics available as well.

Mathematics According to The Simpsons

Even when the math is incorrect the Simpson family and friends can be useful in demonstrating mathematical concepts. The site is based on a 15 minute presentation made at the 2001 Mathematical Association of America Mathfest. Various examples of math principles being presented by the Simpson characters (both correct and incorrect) are available from Mathematical Content from the Simpsons site. Math teachers can probably get some good lesson plan ideas from this.

Old Radio Programs Available

Arthur Godfrey, Batman, George Burns, FBI in Peace and War, and Philip Marlowe. All of these former radio programs and personalities can be found at RadioLovers. The site has free downloads of many of the dozens of regular daily and weekly programs broadcast over the radio in the first half of the 20th Century.

Stadiums of the NFL

While this site is named Stadiums of the NFL, it also has links to AFC stadiums. There are photographs and renderings of football stadiums from the past and the future. Seating charts of the stadiums are available, along with artists' renderings of stadiums of the future. If you're a Chicago Bears fan you can show your youngsters or grandchildren how beautiful Soldier Field looked before the aliens came and landed a flying saucer on top of it.

Steamboats on the Water

What better romantic vision of the mid 1800s than a steam-powered paddle wheel traveling down the Mississippi River. Steamboats.org is the place for those that love that vision. This site has access to pictures, calliope music, book links, steamboat glossary, booking info and more.

Super Hero Hype

Want to find the status of the latest super hero movie? SuperHeroHype is where you will find the info you seek. What's the status of Batman Begins, Wonder Woman script, who's playing who in Fantastic Four, and will Supergirl return? This and lots more up-to-the-minute info on your favorite super heroes awaits you at SuperHeroHype.

Clinical Trials

The TrialsCentral (TM) web site "...provides free and confidential access to listings of clinical trials. This information about current clinical research studies helps to support informed, evidence-based decision making in health care.

"The Clinical Trials page has an easy-to-use database of clinical trials registers. Search by health condition, such as cancer or diabetes, and by geographic location of the trials.

"The Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page can help you learn more about clinical trials. You may want to read this before beginning your search for trials.

"The Resources page has links to further health care information sites, including medical dictionaries, published [or recent] articles, and links to other evidence-based health care sites."

Who's A Rat?

"The Who's a Rat web site is a database driven website designed to assist attorneys and criminal defendants with few resources. The purpose of this website is for individuals and attorneys to post and share all information that has been made public at some point to at least 1 person of the public prior to posting it on this site related to local, state and federal informants and law enforcement officers."

Washington Archives

The state of Washington has just opened their Digital Archives to the public. It contains records of births, deaths, marriage, naturalization, and military records. Many of the records reach back to the 1800s.

Search the Libraries

The Law Library Resource Xchange (LLRX) is a most valuable reference resource. You don't have to be a lawyer to make use of it either. It is published as an electronic zine with regular articles on a multitude of topics. This week there's an article titled: Free Online Resources for Public Library Users: Florida and Illinois. In the article there are hyperlinks to the library resources available in each state. In Florida you can access: The Florida Photographic Collection, Florida State Archives, Jacksonville Public Library, Miami-Dade County Law Library, and the Florida Electronic Library. Illinois provides access to the Illinois Digital Archives, Illinet Online (ILCSO), Talking Book and Braille Service (TBBS), and Illinois Periodicals Online (IPO).

Flu Season is Here

Here's a data base from the American Lung Association. It's a Flu Shot Locator. It's very simple. Enter your Zip Code and the data base provides you with a list of flu shot locations nearby. Some are in medical clinics while others are in various chains of drug stores. With the apparent shortage of flu shot supplies this is as good a method as any to find a supply site for your flu shot.

Cluster Searching

There's a different type of search engine out there attempting to make it easier to lock in on your real subject. It's kind of a cross between a keyword search and a subject index search engine. It's called clustering. Clusty (in Beta) is such a site. Your looking for information about software that will help you create an online photo album. With a keyword search you have to type enter what you're looking for, what you're not looking for, and any additional keywords that will help narrow things down. With a subject index search you look through a list of broad categories and then get narrower and narrower choices until you find what your looking for. Clusty allows you to enter the major focus of your search and then it looks at these hits and creates a subject index that allows you to key in very quickly to your exact topic with a minimal of syntax or continuously narrowing menu choices. Clusty is currently in beta from Vivisimo.

Track That Tune

If you have a favorite recording artist but have not yet found his/her work on iTunes yet, you can stop coming back every day to find it. Let Tunes Tracker notify you when it arrives. With Tunes Tracker you register, tell it what your looking for, then wait for it to contact you telling of the availability of that favorite artist or tune.