I Thunk I Saw a Snake

Maybe it has to do with all the ads for back-to-school supplies. I found myself drifting towards children’s sites this week. That meant sifting through bunches to bring out a few of the better ones.

Snake Tracks (www.snaketracks.com). This is billed as the “world’s largest snake enthusiast site.” Since I am not particularly fond of snakes, I had to toughen up considerably to stay unbiased while looking around the site’s pages. Expect a link to species identification, and a forum for snake enthusiasts. There is a page devoted to building custom enclosures, and also to breeding. I learned one thing in my spin around Snake Tracks: that “field herping” means looking for snakes in the wild. I am sure young boys ages 7 & up will be thrilled to know this site exists.

Science Toy Maker (sciencetoymaker.org/). Be forwarned that the homepage is filled with different color fonts, making it a bit difficult to read. It appears like an amateur website but don’t click away—you’ll find lots of fun projects for kids to explore. This site is appealing to parents, teachers, home schoolers, teens, and science fair participants. Materials to build the various toys are cheap. Each project comes with step-by-step instructions, background information, and in some cases, preview videos. Kids who are past bored with their summer vacation can use what time is left for building such goodies as an Overhead Water Rocket, a Putt Putt boat, or a pair of Robot Hands. There are enough projects to keep someone busy for at least a month.

Izzy’s Skylog (http://txk.k12.ar.us/~izzy/). Izzy’s website is retired, but his free software, Constellations—A Guide to Learning the Stars, is still available at the site. The software could easily help you become an expert stargazer. It tells you where in the sky and when to look for the constellations, and it provides stars’ mythological backgrounds. The software is old, and I have not tested it, but small screen captures of the program impressed me. If it works for you, you can impress your favorite companion with your knowledge of the night sky.

Tales of Future Past (http://davidszondy.com/future/). If you’re not spoiled yet by the video presentations on the Web, then you might enjoy this entertaining commentary about predictions made in the past about our current times. But you have to read. Yes, read. I bet you most people would pass this up in a flash because the site does’nt have Flash. Too bad.

Thunk (www.thunk.com). Your secret fantasy is to become a cryptologist with the C.I.A. Get a head start here, where you type your message, then click to scramble it. Copy the coded message and send it to a friend who enjoys decoding messages. Qnyyf V rz pyru V rz qnan. If you need to know what my message says, you will have to go to Thunk and have it unscramble the code. Another fun bit of Web entertainment that will appeal especially to middle school age children. And some of us adults.

What Mood Are You In?

My roaming took me to all sorts of places this week. Good thing the last place I stopped is a website called “Moodstreams.” The visuals and music stream mesmerized me, putting me in a state where I did not want to surf any longer.

Sing For You (www.sr.se/p1/scr/sing). Not only is the web address weird, the website is sorta strange. You type in lyrics or words of your own choosing, and in a mere second or two you’ll hear a vocal playback. Forget the idea of a sweet melody, though. The vocals hit random notes. What you type in comes back to you sounding strange.

Wordie (www.wordie.org). When I browsed these pages, I came away with the thought that a bunch of academics spend their time adding obscure words to the lists here just to show off. Therefore, language enthusiasts will love this spot on the web. Outside of being a helpful place if you’re into Scrabble, I believe only hard-core word lovers could care about this website.

Parent Hacks (www.parenthacks.com). Now here is a useful website. Parents provide tried-and-true tips for other parents of babies on up to teenagers, and even young adults still hanging around the house. The advice is immediate, non-academic, and free for the taking. Sensible, too. You could call this site the equivalent to moms (or dads) at a coffee klatsch talking about their kids, except that instead of focusing on problems, the focus is on solutions. I highly recommend this site for parents looking for down-to-earth guidance.

The Voice of Reason (www.thevoiceofreason.com). If you are a fan of British humor, you are likely to enjoy this site. It is filled with spoofs, weird news, comedy videos, and lots of other stuff. It has vintage videos of Frank Sinatra in his early singing years, Buster Keaton, Abbott & Costello, and more to keep a person entertained and diverted from work.

Moodstream (http://moodstream.gettyimages.com). Still and video images combined with music streams show off the works of professional photo-and videographers. So what do you do with it? You can tweak the music to fit your mood, then stare at your monitor while images float by. You can choose different moods: simplicity, energy, refresh, inspire, and zone out from the real world for as long as you wish. I wanted to see if the selections of moods made a difference in my attitude. I tweaked the built-in console to play happy music in a slow tempo (a challenge) and the images that floated by did affect my mood. I was not interested in feeling sad, but a person can program that mood, if they wish. I doubt if I will visit the site again, but for those who do, they can flag their favorite visuals and create their own moodstream for future visits.

I leave you this week with a cute email I received from a friend.

Dear Tech Support,
I upgraded from Boyfriend 5.0 to Husband 1.0 and noticed a distinct slow down in overall system performance, particularly in the flower and jewelry applications, which operated flawlessly under Boyfriend 5.0.
In addition, Husband 1.0 uninstalled many other valuable programs, such as:

·        Romance 9.5
·        Personal Attention 6.5
And then it installed undesirable programs such as:

·        NBA 5.0
·        NFL 3.0
·        Golf Clubs 4.1
Conversation 8.0 no longer runs, and Housecleaning 2.6 simply crashes the system.
Please note that I have tried running Nagging 5.3 to fix these problems, but to no avail.
What can I do?
Signed,
Desperate

DEAR DESPERATE,
First, keep in mind:

·        Boyfriend 5.0 is an Entertainment Package, while
·        Husband 1.0 is an operating system
Please enter command: ithoughtyoulovedme. html and try to download Tears 6.2 and do not forget to install the Guilt 3.0 update.
If that application works as designed, Husband1.0 should then automatically run the applications Jewelry 2.0 and Flowers 3.5.
However, remember, overuse of the above application can cause  Husband 1.0 to default to  Grumpy Silence 2.5, Happy Hour 7.0 or Beer 6.1.
Please note that Beer 6.1 is a very bad program that will download the Gassiness and Snoring Loudly Beta.
Whatever you do, DO NOT under any circumstances install Mother-In-Law 1.0 (it runs a virus in the background that will eventually seize control of all your system resources.)
Please do not attempt to reinstall the Boyfriend 5.0 program, these are unsupported applications and will crash Husband 1.0.
In summary, Husband 1.0 is a great program, but it does have limited memory and cannot learn new applications quickly. You might consider buying additional software to improve memory and performance. We recommend…

·     Cooking 3.0 and
·     Hot Lingerie 7.7
Good Luck Babe!
Tech Support

Help Us or Distract Us

While we’re grumbling about the high gasoline prices and just about everything else, let’s take a break and see what sorts of websites can help us, or at least distract us.

The Daily Green (www.thedailygreen.com). We are hearing more and more about “carbon footprints.” Almost makes a person feel guilty for flying off somewhere to visit family or to take a vacation. And yet, most of the people I know are trying to be conscientious about recycling, and the many other ways each of us impact the environment. This website offers tips and advice for living a greener lifestyle. Now, some people have been living greener for a long, long time, yet it seems that the Green movement has finally hit its stride and only recently become fashionable. In the spirit of this new “fashion,” go to the website and take a little quiz to determine your “Live Impact” score. Scores range from 150-900, and mine was in the bottom third, I’m happy to say. My score also told me that my annual carbon output was 6 tons. That’s scary.

The Dollar Stretcher (www.stretcher.com). I am so glad that it’s finally okay to admit to shopping at thrift stores. It’s fashionable now, folks. A few years back I mentioned in this column a website that listed thrift shops by state—a wonderful service for everyone who’s feeling the financial pinch. I will sort through by files of links to find it for you, but not this week. As a substitute, check out this website, which is nothing fancy, but filled to the brim with links to articles about saving money. This is a good website to know about right now, and I’m guessing you will find at least two or three articles here that will be helpful to you.

Natural Highs (www.zeltser.com/inspirations). What inspires you? If you are out of ideas, you can generate a list of things that contributors have mailed in to the site. Add your own, and make the list grow.

Scientific Blogging (www.scientificblogging.com). Some science articles are a little too difficult for the average person to read. This website posts articles that are easy to understand. I was particularly interesting in an article that talked about an easy solution for CFL lightbulb disposal. The product is not on the market yet, however. Now, if someone could tell me where to dispose of batteries (camera, flashlight, etc), I would be very happy.

Henriette’s Herbal Homepage (www.henriettesherbal.com). I love her tag line: “Welcome to the Bark Side.” You’ll find everything you ever wanted to know about herbs here. She includes scans of major works about herbs dating back to the 1890’s, hundreds of images, and wonderful links. One definitely worth mentioning is Jonathan Treasure’s (www.herbalogical.com). He has downloadable charts regarding medicinal herb use and potential drug interactions. He also notes that “in Europe, herbal medicine [the practice] is a legally recognized healthcare delivery system.” Treasure is a trained practitioner and he has a wealth of information on his site, too.

Be Happy

Girls for A Change (www.girlsforachange.org). This is a national organization for teen girls who want to do something about social problems. Presently, the two main chapters of this organization are in Arizona and California. Perhaps the organization will expand if it receives a bigger following. This is a wonderful option for empowering young women who want to make a difference in the world.

Serendipity Factory (www.serendipityfactory.com/happy-discoveries). This blog’s purpose is to spread positive news, and the nice part about it is that it seeks out people doing positive or creative things and gives them a moment in the spotlight.

The Happiness Project (www.happinessproject.com/). Gretchen Ruben, a former lawyer and clerk for Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Conner, has created a blog that tracks her insights on the challenge of being happy. There is an entire science that has been developed around the positive thinking effect, and courses at the University of Pennsylvania have been developed for psychology students. Anyway, Gretchen provides weekly tips, along with her thoughts about living happily 24-7.

Unclutterer (http://unclutterer.com). If you need a little extra motivation to clear out the junk and provide a simpler, less stressful environment at home or work, this blog can give you the boost you need. Included are photos of “Workspaces of the Week,” and they might make you envious. They did me. I noticed that most desks had laptops. Does that tell us something? One thing that I found odd was an article titled, “10 Places to Find Hidden Clutter.” I you have reached the point where all your clutter is hard to find, I would think you could just pass over this website.

Oh Gizmo (www.ohgizmo.com). This place is for techies who want to keep up with the latest….gizmos. If you have been to the Unclutterer website, then maybe you won’t be tempted by all the bright and shiny new gadgets waiting for you. I have to admit, however, that this blog is entertaining, and provides the latest information on gadgets, innovation and design.

Alltop (http://alltop.com). This is a handy aggregator, a list of links to “all the top” sites on the Web in dozens of categories: gaming, celebrity gossip, lifehacks, sports, fashion, culture, and on and on. I use it to scan sites and find links to websites that eventually get