Not Exactly a Weblog; Maybe a Webzine -

• December 31, 2003 - Need a friend on New Year's Eve? Try Friendster. This is a unique service that allows users to make online profiles of themselves and then connect with others with similar interests creating online communities. It follows on the concept of "6 degrees of separation", that everyone is somehow related to someone else with some kind of tie through others. The site is not just for dating; some fictious identities have emerged, called Pretendsters, which can include everything from fruits to colleges. Other sites have sprung up including Tribe.net and Everyonesconnected.
• December 30, 2003 - If you want to understand so of what goes on behind the sceen at the Google search engine, check out Scroogle. They are stirring up a contraversy about how Google is selectively filtering out some web sites from key words in the search. There is a demo which you can use to compare.
• December 29, 2003 - For those of you who are into enhancing websites with Javascript and other code, try Mind Palette - Indianapolis Web Design. There is some cool stuff and tutorials, many of which relate to the Adobe Go Live software, a decent web editting tool. If you are not that technically inclined, check out the home page and move your mouse over the eye to see what happens.
• December 28, 2003 - Earth Observatory from NASA has some beautiful views of earth features from space. In addition, this website details some of the research NASA scientists are doing with this data. You can even view the recent earthquake damage of Bam, Iran. You can enlarge images but they make take a while to download. Also, Internet Explorer tends to change them to fit the screen after they are loaded. Move your mouse over the image and click on the expand image to make it large again.
• December 27, 2003 - Project VII is a web design group which has developed many designs and widgets for creating interesting websites. All are for a charge but fun to test out for free - check out the demo selection box at the bottom of the page. I also discovered that the new Dreamweaver MX 2004 has several site templates for websites using cascading style sheets for excellent, professional-looking websites. Watch for one here soon. Note: the Macromedial website for Dreamweaver will probably require you to upgrade your version of Flash.
• December 25, 2003 Mars Express from the European Space Agency.
• December 24, 2003 - More websites on Mars exploration are available. This one, Center for Mars Exploration or CMEX provides a host of images which you may not have seen. Click on Gallery and then Fun and Strange.
• December 22, 2003 - High resolution photography of earth from space is even now more accessible. Check out the HiRISE website which demonstrates how space-based cameras can view bolders in the Grand Canyon.
• December 6, 2003 - Cleveland Culture is alive and well as are their websites. Just went to the Cleveland Museum of Art Jasper Johns Numbers show and the Cleveland Botanical Garden (the Glass House of two environments is especially good). Also, planning to see the Contemporary Youth Orchestra, a local orchestra of high school students who perform 20th (and 21st) century music including new compositions. Visited Heights Arts, a small local gallery now having a Holiday sale/show.
• December 5, 2003 - Came across the InternetTourBus, a weird website which combines help for virus protection and strange things. Click on that link and try out some of this stuff. I like the Traffic Come Preservation Society.
• December 4, 2003 - There is a new book and website to think about: 5 Patterns of Extraordinary Careers. Includes a quiz to try out and presentation tools. Is this just another business success book trying to become a trend or is there really something here?
• December 3, 2003 - There are a growing number of amateur astronomer websites with their latest photos. One example is here which shows a gallery of new photos. The equipment is now available for amateurs to create better photos than professional astronomers could produce 25 or 30 years ago. Unfortunately, you have to scroll through the technical photography info but it is worth it. Some photos may take a long time to download and lookout for the popup ads.
• December 2, 2003 - Join Joe is a website at The Cleveland Clinic on an initiative by Joe Eszterhas, the Hollywood screen writer, to launch his anti-smoking campaign. Maybe you've seen his public service ads on TV. If not, view them through this website.
• December 1, 2003 - The Onion and The Spoof are two websites which look like the real news but aren't. Good for some laughs about current politics, society and news, just as long as you don't believe it is true.
• October 8, 2003 - Did you know that the CIA has a free factbook online. It includes maps, country profiles, flags, etc. You can download or order a copy. Is anyone watching?
• October 7, 2003 - Hurricane Isabel washed over the east coast in September. This astronomy photo shows an interesting comparison of spiral galaxies to hurricane Isabel.
• October 6, 2003 - Although the second anniversary of September 11 is past, CNN has a wonderful memorial site with photos and brief indentifying information and and tributes.
• October 5, 2003 - A planet-wide color movie of Jupiter. May take a while to download but worth it. Watch the swirls.
• October 4, 2003 - More Mars photos from the Mars Orbiter including a photo of the polar cap from above, something not visible from Earth.
• October 3, 2003 - Just a cool website. Can you figure out how to follow links and view the work that they have done? Check out Aue Design.
• October 2, 2003 - A new observatory openned recently called Gemini. The name is not just of a consellation but also signifies that it is actually made up of two telescopes continents apart one in Hawaii and one in Chile. "The Gemini Observatory is an international collaboration that has built two identical 8-meter telescopes. The Frederick C. Gillett Gemini Telescope is located at Mauna Kea, Hawai`i (Gemini North) and the other telescope at Cerro Pachón in central Chile (Gemini South), and hence provide full coverage of both hemispheres of the sky. Both telescopes incorporate new technologies that allow large, relatively thin mirrors under active control to collect and focus both optical and infrared radiation from space."
• October 1, 2003 - A friend shared this Mortgage Calculator - you can move slides back an forth to change amount, length of mortgage, interest rate, etc. and the page dynamically creates a graph of principle and interest over the life of the loan.
• August 30, 2003 - What is your favorite color? Now you can vote on the Internet at favcol.com. Send an email with your favorite photo or image and your's will be added to the mix. Click on How Does It Work? for more info.
• August 29, 2003 - Need a cheap computer to access the Internet? Try WebStation from Lindows. It is promoted as, "The lowest priced Internet-enabled computer ever! The Lindows WebStation is the first ultra-affordable, "unbreakable" computer designed specifically for Web work." Only $169 but you need to buy a monitor at $100 or $300 for flat screen. What is Lindows? See August 28.
• August 28, 2003 - Lindows is a PC version of the Linux Operating System. What this means is an alternative to Microsoft Windows which is a significant cost when you buy a new computer (Lindows is only $59). Lindows provides a web browser, email, etc. May be safer from viruses also.
• August 27, 2003 - There is much which could be said about the close approach of Mars. If you don't have a telescope handy, let the Hubble Space Telescope do the work. Hubble occasional turns from studying the deep sky objects and the origins of the universe and looks at planets. Try the rotating Mars globe images also. Quite a treat.
• August 26, 2003 - Mars has brought attention to the activities of amateur astronomers and their ability to perform incredible astrophotography. This story in Wired magazine is titled, Backyard Paparazzi to the Stars. Also, a member of an amateur group was featured on a local station in Dallas.
• August 25, 2003- I must recommend the vacation spot which good friends invited us to this summer, Edisto Beach, South Carolina. South of Charleston (which we also visted), it is a wonderful, quiet place. Quite a contrast to the big resort we visited almost a decade ago, Wild Dunes.
• August 24, 2003 - In searching for a new car this month, I visited a number of websites including Consumer Reports but especially, Edmunds.com. Edmunds has tons of information about cars, calculators for estimating your trade-in and estimating loan payments. Also, it gives reviews submitted by new car owners, like, "I got mine for $1000 under the sticker price."
• July 27, 2003 - Steve Wozniak, one of the founders of Apple Computer has an extensive personal website called Woz.org. Includes questions and answers, a corner for the cofounder, Steve Jobs, and a Woz Cam to view Steve in his office. Lots of references to the Mac, I am surprised that it doesn't say, "Best viewed with a MacIntosh Computer."
• July 26, 2003 - Bonaire WebCams claims it is the home of the world's first permanent underwater ReefCam, giving you a peek at reef life in the Bonaire Marine Park! It includes a reef cam, a beach cam and others. Best if viewed during the Carribian daytime hours.
• July 25, 2003 - What do you find if you do a search at Google.com, the web's most popular search engine for Weapons of Mass Destruction? The number one on the list looks like an error message unless you read it carefully. A real comment on the war in Iraq which was first noted in a British newspaper, The Guardian.
• July 24, 2003 - Meetup.com is a new website service which allows you to set up an in person meeting with any group of people. Already there are 1546 different topics from politcs to Dungeons and Dragons. Haven't tried it yet since I have a similar function for work meetings. Will see if it is successful.
• July 7, 2003 - Read in the New York Times today about people spending bundles of money on coffee makers including thousands on commercial expresso machines. One website noted was CoffeeGeeks.com. Another was: WholeLatteLove.com. some people get very serious about their cup of java!
• June 22, 2003 - You may have seen this one in the paper: DonsBoss.com. Don has assembled some tools to download to your computer to pretend you are working while you are surfing the web or playing games at work. The test of the typing soundars are my particular favorite. You have to scroll down to see the full page. The fake spreadsheet even hides which website you are going to when you hit this page.
• June 21, 2003 - What is iLoo? A hoax, a future product of Microsoft, an Internet toilet. Read about the phantom product idea by Microsoft in England which has all but disappeared except the rumors. Latest denials are on MSN.com
• June 20, 2003 - May 23 was the birthday of Java Programming Language. Again, you might not care unless you are really into the web, but if you notice on a web page the message "Applet loading" or "Running Applet", that is Java at work. Launched on May 23, 1995 by Sun Microsystems, it has the capability of running on any operating system (known as being "agnostic" in web speak) which gives it real advantages in the web world where everyone is running web pages on different systems. Source: wiki.com. Wiki is in itself and interesting phenomenon which is defined as: The simplest online database that could possibly work.
• June 18, 2003 - Programming for Information Architects may sound boring except to web designers interesting in understanding the mysteries of progamming but most of this article can be appreciated by the lay reader familiar wit the Internet. It is helpful to understand some of the work behind the magic which programming creates in web pages.
• June 17, 2003 - The 101 Dumbest Moments in Business published by Business 2.0 includes some now obvious mistakes in business which failed.
  
• May 9, 2003 - If you wonder how web pages work or know some of the code that makes them up, called HTML, check out this reference site: Sizzling HTML Jalfrezi. It is good for beginners and more advanced users and can help from fixing problems to creating new, beautiful pages. This site recommends another beginner's guide developed by the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA).
• May 8, 2003 - Sometimes a site is worth going to just because it looks cool. It you have the patience for the Flash program to download, there is lots to find here: Theory 7 - The Flash Store shows what several creative people have done with Flash and puts the art up for sale. Check out the buttons to bounce around. The link opens a new window.
• May 7, 2003 - Preventing health care fraud on the Internet is a big task. Some sites which are helping and worth checking out are the Federal Trade Commission, and The National Council Against Health Fraud.
• May 6, 2003 - The latest award website is Privacy International's Stupid Security Contest Winners. These are submitted from throughout the world to a real panel of security experts. It is quite a catalog of security gone wild.
  
• May 5, 2003 - A total lunar eclipse is coming up on Thursday, May 16th, goin total at 11:15pm. Should be a good one for the eastern USA. For a short explanation, go to Sky and Telescope's page, but for a more detailed and techical presentation of what to expect, try this NASA press release.
• February 19, 2003 - I read more each day about the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and wonder about the science behind it. Anyone who knows the history behind the four temperments knows that it has its roots in Medival and Greek "science" of the four humors in which based on having too much of one humor the "physician" removed it through blood-letting, diaretics, cough expectorants, etc. What makes it so scientific that it is taught in colleges, continuing education, business consultants? It has even been adopted by modern astrologers.
• February 16, 2003 - I recently spoke to a Man-to-Man support group in Cleveland. These are support groups which support men with prostate cancer and their spouses. In preparation, I came across Cancer News and may add the news headlines to this website in the near future.
• February 15, 2003 - A cool little piece of web technology which allows a back to top link down the page as you scroll. Check out the link on this page which floats next to the story.
• February 14, 2003 - Silicon Valley has so far refuse to give up punch cards for voting even though most of California has moved on to electronic voting. Odd that this county were the high tech revolution began is resisting change. News item from Wired magazine.
• February 13, 2003 - Check out this cool design, Nick Finck.com. A simple design with single words of text and photos of nature. Communicates well with such a simple design.
• February 12, 2003 - Again the Cleveland Clinic website has won several awards from the WWW Health Awards including: Taussig Cancer Center (Silver), Department of Dentistry (Silver), e-Cleveland Clinic Second Opinion Program (Bronze), Center for Corporate Health (Bronze), Department of Pain Management (Bronze).
  
• February 2, 2003 - Funny signs - The Savvy Traveler, an NPR program I sometimes listen to on the weekends, has a page devoted to signs which are good for a laugh. Make sure you check these out before you travel.
• February 1, 2003 - There are a number of websites to obtain information about the Shuttle loss. These include: Spaceflightnow.com , NASA's office Shuttle Site.
• January 25, 2003 - In the news this week is Kaiser Permanente, the nation's largest HMO, who will put their treatment guidelines on their website available to members. This is to include public access. Treatment guidelines have typically been created by doctors for doctors, so this is an another source of information for those with a diagnosed condition. They are not the first to put treatment guidelines on the the web, however. The Cleveland Clinic has these on their medical eduction website for some diseases written for a professional audience.
• January 24, 2003 - I don't usually bother with hoaxes or their disproof but came across an interesting one related to the Apollo program. With all the claims that the landing on the moon was a NASA hoax, one engineer built an extensive website to disprove all of the claims at Moon Base Clavius.
• January 23, 2003 - We recently visited the Peter B. Lewis building, Cleveland's only Gehry designed structure which is the home of the Weatherhead School of Management, Case Western Reserve University. Beyond the architecture, which features amazing stainless steel ribbons, the technology is equally cutting edge. It is featured in Cisco Systems IQ Magazine.
• January 22, 2003 - There is still free stuff on the Internet. Hits4Me.com has lots of free tools for websites. I hope to try some of them soon. Watch for new features.
• January 18, 2003 - Recently went to a party and met a guy wearing a Netscape 7 sweatshirt. Turns out he not only has his own website but is an avid writer on the topic of Cascading Style Sheets, Check out who he is and his books at Meyerweb.com. CSS are defined as: By attaching style sheets to structured documents on the Web (e.g. HTML), authors and readers can influence the presentation of documents without sacrificing device-independence or adding new HTML tags.(from What are Style Sheets?)
• January 12, 2003 - A major conference on Healthcare Information Technology will take place in early February, the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society or HIMSS. I have the honor of presenting a paper there on a new project. The abstract is entitled, "Creation of a Single Access Method Approach for Physicians".
• January 11, 2003 - Another Google feature - their news service which is "editor-less". Basically, it is a search of 4000 news services so no writing or editting is required by Google itself. According to the email newsletter Ascribe, "The most amazing aspect of the Google service, however, is that the story selection is done entirely by computer without the need for flesh-and-blood editors.
• January 10, 2003 - This is a rather sad commentary on workplace motivation: someone has create a whole site created as a satire of motivational photos which have become popular in recent years. Despair.com is not a site devoted to depression but posters an caledars which mock the motivational messages. Some are pretty funny.
• January 9, 2003 - I've added a Google search box to my home page. Google has the code readily available for any website. The search results page may include advertising or "sponsored links", aka advertising.
• January 8, 2003 - With winter well on it's way in Northeast Ohio, I have been check Accuweather Radar online. Weather.com of the Weather Channel is also a good source for weather but I like the Accuweather format with the tabs at the top of the page for navigating the site. Click on the "Animate this map". Try your own area.

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Business 2.0
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Camworld - cool ability to modify style sheets with buttons

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Updated: March 12, 2004 | Contact