Interesting Websites

Interesting Web Sites
Possibly not educationally useful, but fun and/or practical and/or just cool!

Snopes.com is a place where you can check out those chain letters that well-meaning friends send to you (and everyone else in their contact list). They usually warn you about a health threat, ask for your support for or against something that Congress is about to do, send a postcard to a dying child, and the like. We've all received them, and we've often sent them on. However, most are just clutter for your mailbox and have little or no truth behind them. This is the site to find out about that message before you reproduce it. And, if it turns out to be false, consider passing the word back to the person who sent it to you.
Time and Date is a website that gives you local times all around the world, times of sunrise and sunset in world capitals on any given day, lets you print calendars, and more.

A LEGO Grandfather Clock has been built and then later improved by a young man who seems to have more patience and more LEGO than the average kid. He has done an excellent job of documenting his project, and it just goes to show that you can do almost anything if you are sufficiently intent on success. Really worth a look.

The Wheel of Dreaded Consequences How can you maintain behavior standards at home and still keep a light touch? You might want to check out this bizarre but inspired child-management idea. In fact, it might be the answer to some adult issues among those who share household responsibilities and hold out expectations for each other's reliability. Anyway, it will definitely be good for a smile. And you might decide to order one.

TerraServer is one of MSN's interesting features. Type in your address (or some other location) and get a look at the most recent satellite image from the USGS and/or a topological map that puts your chosen location right in the center. Explore a little further and learn a lot of demographic information about the town you're investigating. Not, perhaps, very relevant in a place as large as Philadelphia, but those of you in small towns may find some of the stats fascinating.

License Plates Around the World is just that -- images of license plates from, I assume, every nation that issues them. The USA, of course, has a very large collection here as there is one for every state plus some special types.

How Far Is It? is a site that calculates the straight-line distance between any two places on the earth. And it gives you some nifty additional information. Did you know that Philadelphia is not only located precisely at 40:00:25N 75:08:05W, but also that it's 40 feet above sea level on average? And, if you were a crow who wanted to fly from Philadelphia straight to Dublin, Ireland, you should point yourself northeast at a heading of 49.4 degrees and keep flapping for 3,263 miles.

Mark McClure's Homepage is a site maintained by an assistant professor of mathematics at the University of North Carolina. He has some wonderful images generated by assorted mathematical procedures, and he has some good links to other mathematics-related pages. Might be educationally useful, depending on your level, but definitely entertaining if you like that sort of thing as much as I do.

Fun Science Gallery is an Italian site that has an English-language section. It's filled with a remarkable collection of projects and activities that can be done in the classroom or at home. Turn your bedroom into a camera obscura. Make a compound microscope or build an herbarium. Lots of fun for the amateur scientist family. It's actually quite educational and is here only because I'm afraid you might overlook it.

Useless Knowledge is a trivia site. Great fun for undisciplined browsing; you might even want to make it your home page as its lead features change every day..

Songwriting Tutorial is a website put up by Steve Gillette, based on his book on the same topic. Want to be a songwriter? This is a good place to start.

Science U is a rich, fascinating site with TONS of stuff. There's a mathematics section, an observatory, a library, a studio where you can create visual wonders, interactive exhibits, and more.

The Daily Freebie is the answer to every child's wish to get things in the mail. But it's more than that -- it's a compendium of places that will send you all kinds of things: posters for your classroom, fonts for your computer, recipes, pet supplies, and on and on.

Puzzle Connection has a lot to offer if you like crosswords, word searches, and more. Play online or send them to your printer. Lots of fun.

Folk Music of England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and America is a very well-put-together site that contains a lot of material and links to more. Francis J. Child ballads, midi sequenced tunes, lyrics to a vast list of traditional music, and more. Contains a good search engine. Songs are sorted by country of principal association and also by topic.

The Magic Mirror of Life: The Camera Obscura is a site put up by a couple who are, among other things, photographers and who are passionately interested in the history of photography. The camera obscura (Latin: dark room) was an early step in the development of photography and the science of optics. These folks are dedicated to preserving the full-size rooms with pinhole light openings that entertained people, particularly in the 19th century. Did you know there used to be one in Fairmont Park in Philadelphia? They have a stereopticon card reproduced on their website showing it. Anyway, it's really fascinating and should be especially interesting to all those photographers out there. At the bottom of the page is a link to their home page, which is also worth following.

Discover the Abacus -- well, actually the soroban, which is the Japanese version. If your calculator is broken, this might be the answer. History, tutorial, even a downloadable version for the Mac.

Word Game of the Day is part of the Merriam-Webster Dictionary site. Like word games? It's different every time!

6 Billion Human Beings is an exhibit at the Musée de l'Homme, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle(Paris - France) which contains several fascinating interactive components focusing on the world's burgeoning population. It's also available in French, if you want to brush up on your languages.

Drew's Home Page is a great source of ideas about Celtic knotwork, Lego construction, making Stonehenge from Styrofoam, and other weird stuff. Entertaining, visually pleasing, mind-boggling.

SOAR Recipe Index If you eat food, you'll love this site! Find a recipe, submit a recipe, never be forced into serving the same old thing again. Look things up by major ingredients ~ very useful if you're cleaning your refrigerator. Even includes pet treats, er, treats FOR pets.

Folklore and Mythology: Electronic Texts is a very large collection of links to sites that specialize in tales and myths. Some are scholarly and some are hobby pages, but all are entertaining. This site is maintained by a retired folklorist from the University of Pittsburgh.

Africa: The Art of a Continent Sponsored by the Guggenheim Museum, you can use a clickable map to learn about African art from the earliest finds to modern times. Graphics-rich and well-annotated, it includes information on African photographers and filmmakers as well as more traditional art media.

Galway Guide If you're thinking about going to Ireland, take a look at what's happening in Galway City at this site. It's filled with news, entertainment schedules, maps, places to stay, and more. This, by the way, is our favorite city in Ireland. And, based on the crowds in summer, we aren't the only ones who feel that way about it.

The Green Willow Folk Club If you like modern and traditional Celtic music and if you live anywhere near Wilmington DE, check out this site. It's a very quick trip from Philadelphia on I-95 to most of their venues. The concert list at the site is not updated as often as it should be, but you can get on their (e)mailing list from this site and find out who's coming. An appropriate family excursion -- student tickets are discounted.

Daedalus Books You may have been to Amazon and to Barnes&Noble on the Web, but do you know these folks? It's a rather eccentric catalogue, deeply discounted, very reasonable shipping costs, and a great way to discover books you didn't even know you wanted. Best bet is to get them to send you a print catalogue to peruse at your leisure. (Actually, I think that's the only way perusing can be done.)

TerraQuest calls itself the site for virtual travel on the Web. So far, you can depart from here for Antarctica, the Galapagos, and a climbing expedition up El Capitan in Yosemite. Have fun!

The Internet Pizza Server is great fun and we even sometimes use it for educational purposes in the classroom. Who thought this up?

Celtic Clip Art is actually a mix of images and links to more. You, too, can make your shopping list resemble the Book of Kells.

World of Escher would like to sell you things decorated with Escher's puzzling, often tessellating, artwork, but there's more here than a gift shop.

Know of an interesting site that ought to be here? Share it by sending me the URL.






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		Interesting Web Sites *Possibly not educationally useful, but fun and/or practical and/or just cool!* Snopes.com is a place where you can check out those chain letters that well-meaning friends send to you (and everyone else in their contact list). They usually warn you about a health threat, ask for your support for or against something that Congress is about to do, send a postcard to a dying child, and the like. We've all received them, and we've often sent them on. However, most are just clutter for your mailbox and have little or no truth behind them. This is the site to find out about that message before you reproduce it. And, if it turns out to be false, consider passing the word back to the person who sent it to you. Time and Date is a website that gives you local times all around the world, times of sunrise and sunset in world capitals on any given day, lets you print calendars, and more. A LEGO Grandfather Clock has been built and then later improved by a young man who seems to have more patience and more LEGO than the average kid. He has done an excellent job of documenting his project, and it just goes to show that you can do almost anything if you are sufficiently intent on success. Really worth a look. The Wheel of Dreaded Consequences How can you maintain behavior standards at home and still keep a light touch? You might want to check out this bizarre but inspired child-management idea. In fact, it might be the answer to some adult issues among those who share household responsibilities and hold out expectations for each other's reliability. Anyway, it will definitely be good for a smile. And you might decide to order one. TerraServer is one of MSN's interesting features. Type in your address (or some other location) and get a look at the most recent satellite image from the USGS and/or a topological map that puts your chosen location right in the center. Explore a little further and learn a lot of demographic information about the town you're investigating. Not, perhaps, very relevant in a place as large as Philadelphia, but those of you in small towns may find some of the stats fascinating. License Plates Around the World is just that -- images of license plates from, I assume, every nation that issues them. The USA, of course, has a very large collection here as there is one for every state plus some special types. How Far Is It? is a site that calculates the straight-line distance between any two places on the earth. And it gives you some nifty additional information. Did you know that Philadelphia is not only located precisely at 40:00:25N 75:08:05W, but also that it's 40 feet above sea level on average? And, if you were a crow who wanted to fly from Philadelphia straight to Dublin, Ireland, you should point yourself northeast at a heading of 49.4 degrees and keep flapping for 3,263 miles. Mark McClure's Homepage is a site maintained by an assistant professor of mathematics at the University of North Carolina. He has some wonderful images generated by assorted mathematical procedures, and he has some good links to other mathematics-related pages. Might be educationally useful, depending on your level, but definitely entertaining if you like that sort of thing as much as I do. Fun Science Gallery is an Italian site that has an English-language section. It's filled with a remarkable collection of projects and activities that can be done in the classroom or at home. Turn your bedroom into a camera obscura. Make a compound microscope or build an herbarium. Lots of fun for the amateur scientist family. It's actually quite educational and is here only because I'm afraid you might overlook it. Useless Knowledge is a trivia site. Great fun for undisciplined browsing; you might even want to make it your home page as its lead features change every day.. Songwriting Tutorial is a website put up by Steve Gillette, based on his book on the same topic. Want to be a songwriter? This is a good place to start. Science U is a rich, fascinating site with TONS of stuff. There's a mathematics section, an observatory, a library, a studio where you can create visual wonders, interactive exhibits, and more. The Daily Freebie is the answer to every child's wish to get things in the mail. But it's more than that -- it's a compendium of places that will send you all kinds of things: posters for your classroom, fonts for your computer, recipes, pet supplies, and on and on. Puzzle Connection has a lot to offer if you like crosswords, word searches, and more. Play online or send them to your printer. Lots of fun. Folk Music of England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and America is a very well-put-together site that contains a lot of material and links to more. Francis J. Child ballads, midi sequenced tunes, lyrics to a vast list of traditional music, and more. Contains a good search engine. Songs are sorted by country of principal association and also by topic. The Magic Mirror of Life: The Camera Obscura is a site put up by a couple who are, among other things, photographers and who are passionately interested in the history of photography. The camera obscura (Latin: dark room) was an early step in the development of photography and the science of optics. These folks are dedicated to preserving the full-size rooms with pinhole light openings that entertained people, particularly in the 19th century. Did you know there used to be one in Fairmont Park in Philadelphia? They have a stereopticon card reproduced on their website showing it. Anyway, it's really fascinating and should be especially interesting to all those photographers out there. At the bottom of the page is a link to their home page, which is also worth following. Discover the Abacus -- well, actually the soroban, which is the Japanese version. If your calculator is broken, this might be the answer. History, tutorial, even a downloadable version for the Mac. Word Game of the Day is part of the Merriam-Webster Dictionary site. Like word games? It's different every time! 6 Billion Human Beings is an exhibit at the Musée de l'Homme, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle(Paris - France) which contains several fascinating interactive components focusing on the world's burgeoning population. It's also available in French, if you want to brush up on your languages. Drew's Home Page is a great source of ideas about Celtic knotwork, Lego construction, making Stonehenge from Styrofoam, and other weird stuff. Entertaining, visually pleasing, mind-boggling. SOAR Recipe Index If you eat food, you'll love this site! Find a recipe, submit a recipe, never be forced into serving the same old thing again. Look things up by major ingredients ~ very useful if you're cleaning your refrigerator. Even includes pet treats, er, treats FOR pets. Folklore and Mythology: Electronic Texts is a very large collection of links to sites that specialize in tales and myths. Some are scholarly and some are hobby pages, but all are entertaining. This site is maintained by a retired folklorist from the University of Pittsburgh. Africa: The Art of a Continent Sponsored by the Guggenheim Museum, you can use a clickable map to learn about African art from the earliest finds to modern times. Graphics-rich and well-annotated, it includes information on African photographers and filmmakers as well as more traditional art media. Galway Guide If you're thinking about going to Ireland, take a look at what's happening in Galway City at this site. It's filled with news, entertainment schedules, maps, places to stay, and more. This, by the way, is our favorite city in Ireland. And, based on the crowds in summer, we aren't the only ones who feel that way about it. The Green Willow Folk Club If you like modern and traditional Celtic music and if you live anywhere near Wilmington DE, check out this site. It's a very quick trip from Philadelphia on I-95 to most of their venues. The concert list at the site is not updated as often as it should be, but you can get on their (e)mailing list from this site and find out who's coming. An appropriate family excursion -- student tickets are discounted. Daedalus Books You may have been to Amazon and to Barnes&Noble on the Web, but do you know these folks? It's a rather eccentric catalogue, deeply discounted, very reasonable shipping costs, and a great way to discover books you didn't even know you wanted. Best bet is to get them to send you a print catalogue to peruse at your leisure. (Actually, I think that's the only way perusing can be done.) TerraQuest calls itself the site for virtual travel on the Web. So far, you can depart from here for Antarctica, the Galapagos, and a climbing expedition up El Capitan in Yosemite. Have fun! The Internet Pizza Server is great fun and we even sometimes use it for educational purposes in the classroom. Who thought this up? Celtic Clip Art is actually a mix of images and links to more. You, too, can make your shopping list resemble the Book of Kells. World of Escher would like to sell you things decorated with Escher's puzzling, often tessellating, artwork, but there's more here than a gift shop. Know of an interesting site that ought to be here? Share it by sending me the URL.



		copyright 2008 Lynn Hughes / The Miquon School