It Ain't Pretty But It's Functional

The All Site Cafe isn't the prettiest site I've ever seen. But it sure has a lot of links. The site contains tables of links categorized into sections such as Search Engines, Fun Sites, Internet Sites, Hollywood Sites and a couple more. Then it creates tables for different aspects of each of the main subject categories. As an example: Under search engines it has a tables of links titled: Best Search Engines, Best Meta Engines, Best MP3 Sites, and Special Search Engines. A plain wrapper around a gift of gold.

National Histories

If you would like to know a little about the history of your ethnic homeland the History of Nations may have just what you are looking for. It has brief histories of every nation on the planet. All the information is based on content from the U. S. State Department with new material constantly being added.

19th Century Newspaper Available Online

The Brooklyn Daily Eagle was published from 1841 to 1955, and then again from 1960 to 1963. The site currently contains the newspaper from 1841 to 1902. This is just the first phase. There will be more to follow. Sounds like a great source for genealogists and historians of 19th century Brooklyn and New York.

Just the Facts Deux

More facts than ever before are available. The question on everyone's lips: "How many Twinkies did Hostess make last year?" Find this and thousands of other facts and stats at Facster: The Facts at Your Fingertips. Those who know me know I love trivial facts and stats. The problem I have with this site is that it has so much info that search time is drastically increased in attempting to narrow the search. However if you are willing to look in broad categories there are hyperlinks to specific specialty fact areas like: Comparative International Stats, detailed Consumer Price Indexes, State Statistical Abstracts and a whole lot more.

While we're talking of statistics: If you are into stats, you absolutely must subscribe to the Wall Street Journal's Numbers Guy, Carl Bialik. There's a lot of statistics running around without a leash out there and Carl Bialik gets the real deal on the numbers--where they come from, are they really accurate, what do they really mean. I think you can subscribe to his newsletter even if you are not a WSJ subscriber by going to: http://online.wsj.com/reg/page/0,,5_3017,00.html. There are other newsletters you may be able to sign up for as well.

Everything You'd Ever Want to Know About the Briny Deep

Marine Biology is teeming with photos, and insights into the depths of the oceans of the world. It contains information about nearly every conceivable life form you might expect to find in the oceans.

This One is for the Propeller Heads

If you're looking for Open Source Software, check out the Patent Cafe's OSS Patent Search Engine. Registration is required and you'll need to read the info and make your own decision as to how you wish to register. Here is how the site describes itself.

"PatentCafe's exclusive OSS Patent Search Engine™ contains only Open Source Software (OSS) patents that patent owners have made available to software developers. The initial collection includes IBM's 500 Open Source Software Patents. It is the only free, natural language patent search engine for software developers interested in utilizing OSS patents."

Thomson Gale Free Research

This past February Thomson Gale Publishers provided free access to several of their African history related web research sites. Even though Black History Month has come and gone, it appears that some of these free sites are still available. A great tool for educators, it contains a black history quiz, dozens of biographies (I think this is the publisher of Current Biography), timeline, calendar and more. If you visit the site and find sections of it inaccessible, please comment on it so others don't take unfruitful side trips.

Lest We Forger

That's the name of the site. It is a web version of a traveling exhibit called Lest We Forget: The Triumph Over Slavery. It was created by the Shomburg Center for Research in Black Culture at the New York Public Library. Visit this historical site for more information.

All the Colors of Diamonds

I've always thought of diamonds as being crystal clear sparkling rocks. Superman could turn common coal into diamonds by crushing and squeezing them with his super strength. But I hadn't realized the variety of colors they come in. The hardest substance known to man has an infinite variety of colors and shades. The Natural Color Diamond Encyclopedia will teach you all about them. Just think of how you can wow the folks at the neighborhood jewelry store next time you visit to get a new battery in your Timex.

First Aid from Mayo

The Mayo Clinic is known world-wide for treating severe medical conditions. This website has the clinic taking a different direction. It is the Mayo Clinic First Aid Guide. What can you do for sprains, black eye, electrical burns, and more. Some are simple and minor, while others may be more serious and require professional medical care. The guide provides instruction on what to do until that help arrives.