From time to time, maybe once a month or so, I plan to pass on some very cool and/or interesting websites. The last couple of days have been snow days, so I spent a little time on the internet. Here are a few sites I use regularly and/or discovered and found to be helpful, informative, interesting, or just plain amusing.
http://www.scienceaddiction.com/
In spite of the name, this one is not so scientific as it sounds. Its amusing and irreverent and intelligent. I have an opinion (well, more than one) about the RIAA and digital rights management, so I especially got a kick out of the entry called If Making Ramen Was Like Playing a Guitar.
This is a cool site for writers and lovers of words. It also keeps you up to date on certain slang terms and newly minted descriptive phrases such as age fraud or murderabilia.
http://zman.typepad.com/zmanmuse/webtech/
This is a blog, but a very professional one. This guy covers it all!
This site appears to be just parked, as it hasnt been updated for a very long time. Still, it includes the archives of a lot of tricks of various trades from Public Speaker to Landscaper to Auto Mechanic.
http://macslash.org/ and cousin site http://slashdot.org/
These are technology news sites that pull together rumors and news reports from various sources and about various topics.
Many of you know that this is my favorite home page type site. It can be personalized for your location to show you weather and news, TV listings and movie times.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/
This site just gives me a touch of perspective. It is the website that reviews and discusses news stories in Britain. You know what? The British love scandal (they enjoyed the story of the American astronauts diapered cross country quest to solve her love triangle), the weather (a predicted snowfall will theoretically paralyze London), and top ten lists. I particularly enjoy the daily feature, 10 Things We Didnt Know Last Week. Some of the knowledge Ive gained here Americans are no longer the tallest people on Earth, as the Dutch have taken on that title (I personally know a VERY tall Dutchman, but I didnt know he was the norm), Palm oil is in one in 10 supermarket products, and there are twice as many privately-owned tigers in the US as there are in the wild in the rest of the world.
EXTRA! EXTRA!
After I posted my weekly thoughts, I received a newsletter that many of you may find interesting. This newsletter is written by a computer professional who knew, used and wrote about all things Windows. Last fall, he decided to open his mind and immerse himself in Mac OS X for three months so he could better understand what might be best for his readers.
Those of you who use Macs know what happened next. Those of you who use Windows will have to read this to believe it. Heres the link: