chosen by your "librarian without walls," Marylaine Block mblock@netexpress.net

November 20

2009 Gift Guide - TreeHugger
http://www.treehugger.com/giftguide/
TreeHugger urges you to have a slow holiday, and recommends gifts that help people savor the moment. There are suggestions for people with a variety of interests: foodies, outdoors enthusiasts, green geeks, do-it-yourselfers, etc.

Best of What's New 2009 - Popular Science
http://www.popsci.com/bown/2009
The editors point to their favorite things to buy, or simply marvel at, in auto technology, gadgets, green tech, home entertainment, and more.

The Business Insider
http://www.businessinsider.com/
A 2009 Webby Honoree in the Blog - Business Category. In addition to its main page, it includes other business-related blogs like Clusterstock, The Green Sheet, and Law Review. Among the recent stories: "Americans Still Delusional About The Value Of Their Homes," "How To Blow Your Business School Interview," and, wonder of wonders, "Goldman's Blankfein Finally Says I'm Sorry" for destroying the world's economy.

Everyday Giving
http://www.everydaygiving.com/
New year's resolutions don't need to be hard. This site shows you how to "build a better world by doing everyday things." Check out its articles ("7 Unique Ways To Make Someone Smile," "Little Things Do Make a Difference," etc.), its suggestions for all the different ways you can give, and "9 Questions to Consider Before Volunteering."

Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index
http://www.well-beingindex.com/
Gallup interviews at least 1000 Americans every day, asking about their physical and emotional health, healthy behaviors, access to health care, and their sense of how their life is going, to track "what people [Americans] believe constitutes a good life." Each chart displays variations by month and compares to the previous year's data.

Holiday Meal Planning from the American Diabetes Association
http://www.diabetes.org/food-and-fitness/food/planning-meals/holiday-meal-planning/
With so many American adults and children afflicted with diabetes, there's a good chance someone you're cooking for has it, so this should come in handy. Also check out all the suggestions for a Diabetic Diet at MedlinePlus http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/diabeticdiet.html>

How To Make a US County Thematic Map Using Free Tools
http://flowingdata.com/2009/11/12/how-to-make-a-us-county-thematic-map-using-free-tools/
This step by step guide shows you how to use free tools to map any US data by color across a United States map.

It Made My Day
http://itmademyday.com/
Reader-submitted reports of amusing and/or heartwarming incidents or comeuppances.

National Day of Listening
http://www.nationaldayoflistening.org/
Urges you to use the day after Thanksgiving as a time to get older people in your family or community to share their stories with you, record them, and make them part of the nation's oral history.

Reducing Risk Factors for Alzheimer's and Promoting Successful Aging
http://www.alzprevention.org/
The Alzheiner's Foundation offers guidance on prevention, lifestyle choices, early detection, and education about the disease.

Science Made Fun
http://www.youtube.com/sciencemadefun
This YouTube channel explores science through ice rinks, the famous drinking bird toy, pets gone wild, hot air balloons, sleep, sonic booms, and more.

Women Writers - BBC
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/arts/features/womenwriters/index.shtml
Maya Angelou, Jamaica Kincaid, Bharati Mukherjee, and several other world-renowned women writers "talk about their writing and how their gender has influenced their works."

November 13

10 Clever Fixes for Your Broken Stuff - Lifehacker
http://lifehacker.com/5399043/top-10-clever-fixes-for-your-broken-stuff
Problems solved here include failing hard drives, wet cell phones, stripped screw holes, splinters too tiny for tweezers to remove, and more.

2009 Public Officials of the Year - Governing.com
http://www.governing.com/poy/2009
Once again, governing.com reminds us that government done well makes a difference in people's lives. Honorees include the man responsible for rebuilding Greenburg, Kansas after it was flattened by a tornado, a transportation official whose major highway rebuild was ahead of schedule, on budget, with minimal traffic disruptions, a mayor cleaning up blight in a declining industrial city, and a state auditor prosecuting massive corruption in her state.

2012: Six End of the World Myths Debunked
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/11/091106-2012-end-of-world-myths.html
Just in time for the release of the end-of-the-world movie 2012, National Geographic examines the truth behind the scary myths.

The Becker Collection: Drawings of the American Civil War Era
http://idesweb.bc.edu/becker/
Contains around 650 drawings by Joseph Becker and other artist-reporters for Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Weekly, including images of the Civil War, reconstruction, the Spanish-American War, and the Chicago fire. Also includes landscapes and political cartoons.

Cheap Family Vacation Ideas, Travel Tips, and Travel Deals
http://travelingmom.com/
TravelingMom.com aims to provide "stories, tips and expert advice to make your trips easier whether you are traveling with or without your kids." Contributors offer their takes on family vacation destinations, free tourist attractions in 50 states, travel deals, and travel solutions ("parents' weekend do's and don'ts," taking kids out of school for a family vacation, etc.).

FinancialStability.gov
http://financialstability.gov/
The Treasury Department's site to keep us informed about government efforts toward financial regulatory reform, consumer financial protection, making homes affordable, etc.

Hair Loss - MedlinePlus
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/hairloss.html
Offers info on prevention, specific conditions, treatments, clinical trials, and more.

The Healthy Heart Handbook for Women
http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/other/hhw/hdbk_wmn.pdf
One in four American women die of heart disease (including my mother and sister - I'm the first woman in my immediate family to live past 60). This handbook consolidates the latest research on risk factors, treatment, and prevention.

Holiday Shipping Deadlines for Christmas 2009
http://www.couponsherpa.com/online-coupons/holiday-shipping-deadlines/
CouponSherpa promises to keep adding to this list of over 100 retailers' "drop-dead holiday shipping deadlines for Christmas delivery." While you're at it, you might want to browse through CouponSherpa's guide to coupon offerings.

InsideHoops.com
http://insidehoops.com/
Shares news, views, and rumors for NBA, other pro leagues, college, high school, and fantasy basketball.

The Jobless Rate for People Like You - Interactive Graphic - NY Times
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/11/06/business/economy/unemployment-lines.html
Unemployment is not distributed evenly. Select any combination of demographic categories (ethnicity, gender, age, education level) to see how people like you are faring.

Science Blog - science news straight from the source
http://www.scienceblog.com/cms/index.php
Links to press releases on new findings from research organizations around the globe. Its archive is searchable.

November 6

101 Historical Moments You Can Relive on YouTube
http://www.onlinedegree.net/101-historical-moments-you-can-relive-on-youtube/
Events from both political and cp>ultural history, captured and stored on YouTube, including Pearl Harbor, the Oklahoma City bombing, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the 1929 stock market crash, Billie Jean King in the "Battle of the Sexes," the first MTV program, the O.J. Simpson trial, the 1960 presidential debate, Woodstock, and the space shuttle Columbia disaster.

Best Jobs in America: Top 50
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bestjobs/2009/snapshots/1.html
Money chose these jobs based on pay scale, job growth, and quality of life. There are also Top 10 lists for specific factors like job security, flexibility, benefit to society, etc.

TheBioenergySite.com
http://www.thebioenergysite.com/
"devoted to the global bioenergy industry from a farming/agricultural perspective." Includes news, articles, market reports, regulatory information, and videos, searchable and browsable by subject, sector, and crop.

GovernmentAttic.org
http://www.governmentattic.org/
Anyone who distrusts government secrecy should have fun with this collection of "interesting Federal Government documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act." While some, like the list of brown bag talks for employees of the Fish and Wildlife Service, look so innocuous or boring that you can't imagine why they were kept secret, a lot of them look quite intriguing.

How-To Guide - 60 Great How To Sites and Resources
http://mashable.com/2009/02/18/how-to-guide/
Includes both everything-but-the-kitchen-sink directories, and specialized how-to's on business and careers, technology, productivity, and miscellaneous (how to photograph, eat sushi, go green, etc.), as well as a sampling of Mashable's own How-To guides.

Kaiser State Health Facts
http://www.statehealthfacts.org/index.jsp
State by state data on health costs, insurance coverage, Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP, women's health, etc., plus the ability to compare state performance on any of these categories.

Mapping Main Street - a Collaborative Documentary Media Project
http://www.mappingmainstreet.org/
The goal of this project is to "document all of the more than 10,000 streets named Main in the United States. We invite you to capture the stories and images of the country today." So far, in the six months since the project debuted, they've garnered around 40 stories and songs about Main Streets all over the country. Check out the instructions for contributing your own Main Street to the project. (This would be a great project for librarians, who could draw on their local history collections and solicit photos from townspeople.)

Nature Podcast
http://www.nature.com/nature/podcast/
The weekly podcast highlighting content from the current issue of Nature includes interviews with the scientists behind the stories, and analysis from science journalists. You can download or read the transcript of archived podcasts, and subscribe to new ones through iTunes.

Random Kitten Generator
http://www.randomkittengenerator.com/
Every time I'm tempted to get a new kitten, who would disrupt the placid lives of my elderly cats, I get my kitten fix here instead.

Research Channel
http://researchchannel.org/
This site from "a consortium of leading research and academic institutions to share the valuable work of their researchers with the public" offers more than 3500 videos. The library is searchable and browsable by broad disciplinary categories, series or program titles, or the institution supplying the program.

RetirementRevised - Retirement planning, investing, and jobs
http://retirementrevised.com/
Journalist Mark Miller, who specializes in reporting on retirement and aging, uses this site to post information on how the crash of our economy is affecting the retirement plans of older Americans. Includes guides to retiremement planning, jobs, benefits, and investing.

Vitamins: MedlinePlus
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/vitamins.html
Given the recent news stories about widespread vitamin D deficiency, this might be a good time to find out more about how vitamins make our bodies function properly. As always, MedlinePlus is a good place to find consumer-friendly, authoritative scientific information - overviews, info on specific conditions, info targeted to children, teens, women, and seniors, and more.

October 30

8th Day Cafe - Vegan and Vegetarian Recipes
http://www.eighth-day.co.uk/recipes.htm
This Manchester cafe is well-known for making tasty vegan fare. The recipes, served with several ounces of droll British humor, show you how to prepare your own vegan versions of Mulligatawny, kebabs, goulash, pancakes, pizzas, and more.

15 Podcasts that Will Make You Smarter
http://www.collegecrunch.org/entertainment/15-podcasts-that-will-make-you-smarter/
Annotated links to series from NPR, the BBC, TED talks, and programs about science, economics, and political issues.

Ask Henson Archives
http://web.archive.org/web/20001003125242/www.henson.com/ask/ask_archives_body.html
Fans of Muppets, Fraggles, Sesame Street, The Storyteller, and the magical Jim Henson movies (The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth) will find answers here to all kinds of questions about the characters, techniques, puppeteers, etc.

Child Psychology Research Blog
http://www.child-psych.org/
"A research-based informational blog on child development, parenting, and child psychology." Recent posts comment on research on ADHD, bullying, sleep problems, vaccination, etc.

Halloween 2009: Top Costumes, History, Myths, and More
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/10/091028-halloween-facts-costumes-history.html
Where do our pumpkins come from? How many potential trick-or-treaters are there? National Geographic offers these and other tidbits of information about the holiday.

How to Clean Stuff
http://www.howtocleanstuff.net/
Tips on cleaning pretty much anything: old photos, a Blackberry screen, cats, spas, etc., and even smashed candy (which could be useful to know come November 1.

Knowledge Score - General Knowledge Quiz Game
http://www.knowledgescore.com/
Allows you to test your knowledge in a variety of subjects: chemistry, history, movies, politics, etc. You're scored on both correctness and how quickly you come up with the answers. You might want to protect your self-esteem by doing these in private the first time around.

Sleep Disorders - MedlinePlus
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/sleepdisorders.html
As always, MedlinePlus points you to authoritative medical information about virtually every sleep problem. It includes info about specific disorders, treatments, videos, journal articles, and info about sleep problems in men, women, teens, seniors, and children.

Starting a Business? Government Can Help
http://blog.usa.gov/roller/govgab/entry/starting_a_business_government_can
The GovGab bloggers give a nice round-up here of links to all the free government resources and financial assistance for would-be entrepreneurs.

Test Tube: Behind the Scenes in the World of Science
http://www.test-tube.org.uk/
"an award-winning website following the highs and lows of life as a scientist. Each week we feature new videos, showing the reality of life in the lab, from the joys of discovery to the disappointment of funding rejection." It's a wonderfully useful site for students wondering how the life of a practicing scientist would suit them.

Walk Score
http://www.walkscore.com/
I've mentioned Walk Score before, but it's recently made some improvements. Now, in addition to showing you how close the address you type in is to various kinds of services and retail establishments, it also shows you a current valuation on that property and how it compares for walkability to the entire community's walk score. You can also check out their rankings for America's most walkable neighborhoods.

World Monuments Fund
http://www.wmf.org/
Working with local communities, governments, and funding agencies, WMF applies "proven techniques to preserve important architectural and cultural heritage sites around the globe." One technique is publicizing each year's Watch List of the world's most endangered cultural heritage sites.

October 23

BBC Wildlife Finder
http://www.bbc.co.uk/wildlifefinder/
"Watch the most amazing animals in the world." Hundreds of videos and audio clips on individual species, as well as on habitats, ecozones, and adaptations.

Career Advice and Guide for Job Searches - US News Business
http://www.usnews.com/money/careers/
US News has long specialized in rankings, and there are plenty of them here: America's best careers, best employers for older workers, and America's best places to find a job. Also includes lots of advice (10 things to do when you're unemployed, how to survive when you hate your jobs, etc.).

Child Care Resource Center
http://www.ccrcla.org/home/index.asp
A resource for both parents and child care providers, this site includes links to a database of licensed child care providers, financial assistance for child care, a learning and lending library, and training resources for child care providers.

DatabaseFootball.com
http://www.databasefootball.com/
Fans and fantasy football league managers will revel in the wealth of data here: current and historical NFL statistics, awards, player info, records, draft data, and more.

Fall Maintenance Tips for Your Home
http://www.statefarm.com/learning/be_safe/home/seasonal/fall.asp
Even in mild climates, you'll need to spend some quality time with gutters, chimneys, windows, furnaces, etc. to protect your home from weather damage and keep your family safe. Here's one useful checklist.

NeighborGoods
http://neighborgoods.net/
Why should a neighborhood with 16 houses have 16 lawnmowers, 16 snowblowers, etc., when with a website like this they can share and schedule the use of each other's equipment? So far this site is available only for southern California, but people elsewhere may want to imitate this idea.

New Geography
http://www.newgeography.com/
"Economic, demographic and political commentary about places." The articles and blog are searchable and browsable by categories Economics, Politics, Urban Issues, Small Cities, Demographics, Suburbs, Housing, and Best Cities Ranking(s).

NPR: National Public Radio
http://www.npr.org/
Radio programs are fleeting, but its archives, happily, are not. NPR offers news, opinion, concerts, reviews, interviews, blogs, and podcasts of their programs (available an hour after the program airs).

Public Data Sets on Amazon Web Services
http://aws.amazon.com/publicdatasets/
Amazon provides not only a centralized repository of several immense public data sets, but also tools that allow researchers to analyze the data and collaborate in their use. Datasets include Daily Global Weather Measurements, 1929-2009, census data for 1980, 1990, 2000, Ensembl Annotated Human Genome Data, the PubChem Library, and lots more.

Recipezaar
http://www.recipezaar.com/
A cooking, baking community that has contributed over 384,000 recipes to the database. Searchable, and browsable by recipes, cookbooks, and menus (romantic dinners, brunch, kid pleaser meals, etc.). Check out the currently featured Halloween Sweets and Treats.

SciDevNet
http://scidev.net/en/
"News, views and information about science, technology and the developing world."

The Science of Cute
http://www.wimp.com/cutescience/
This video illustrates the current scientific thought on why baby animals and particular species and behaviors are universally awwwww-inspiring.

October 16

5 Ways Google Can Save You Money
http://moneyfeatures.blogs.money.cnn.com/2009/09/24/five-ways-google-can-save-you-money/
Check out these Google features you may not have known about, including free voice/video chat anywhere in the world via a gmail account

America's Smartest Cities
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-10-04/americas-smartest-cities---from-first-to-worst/
The Daily Beast analyzed the 55 largest American metropolitan statistical areas. Their measures for "smartness" were: percentage of the population with bachelor's and postgraduate degrees, nonfiction book sales, number of institutions of higher education, and percentage of eligible voters who actually vote. (I wonder why they didn't they measure public library circulation.)

Archives Month and Archives Week Activities - Council of State Archivists
http://www.statearchivists.org/archivesmonth/AAM-directory.htm
Do you have any idea what a wealth of history - documents photos, recordings, films, posters, etc. - is available in state archives? October, known to archivists as Archives Month, is a good time to check out what the state archives linked here have made available on the internet.

Basketball Reference
http://www.basketball-reference.com/
Here's a useful site for anybody who's gearing up to spend the next 6 months watching professional basketball. It's got current and historical player and team statistics, coaches' records, and data on playoffs, all-star games, awards, drafts, the WNBA, and the D-League.

Behind the Headlines: Your guide to the science that makes the news
http://www.nhs.uk/news/Pages/NewsIndex.aspx
The United Kingdom's National Health Service provides "an unbiased and evidence-based analysis of health stories that make the news," which is important because the headlines, and the news stories themselves, are misleading, and leave out key information and qualifiers. To see what bad health news reporting looks like, take a look at this case study I wrote, "The Devil Is in the Details (and the Details Are in the 6th Paragraph)" <http://marylaine.com/exlibris/xlib273.html>.

Book of Odds - the Odds of Everyday Life
http://www.bookofodds.com/
Uses US statistical data to predict the odds on practically everything: your chances of cheating or being cheated on, owning a pair of high heels, being the victim of a firearms accident, owning a clothes dryer, living to 88 years or longer, etc.

Flu Myths and Realities
http://www.flu.gov/myths/index.html
A lot of people, including health professionals, are reluctant to get vaccinated for seasonal flu and/or H1N1 because of widely circulated rumors. Here's what the Centers for Disease Control has to say about those charges.

Gender Law Library
http://www.doingbusiness.org/elibrarydata/elibrary.aspx?libID=1
This "collection of national legal provisions impacting women's economic status in 183 economies," available in multiple languages, allows you to discover and compare women's legal rights and or restrictions on them, from country to country, by categories like marriage and divorce, child care, work-hour limits, equal pay, citizenship, etc.

The GOOD 100 or so
http://awesome.good.is/good100/good100.html
Good Magazine's "collection of the most important, exciting, and innovative people, ideas, and projects making our world better." You don't have to agree with all of them for this to cheer up your view of the human race.

Gun Safety - MedlinePlus
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/gunsafety.html
If you have both children and there are guns in your house or the houses of friends or relatives, you might want to check out the National Library of Medicine's suggestions for protecting the kids from firearm injuries.

National Association of Free Clinics
http://freeclinics.us/
People with medical needs and no insurance are flocking to these free clinics whenever and wherever volunteer medical personnel set up shop to take on all comers. This site helps you find a free clinic that might be coming to your area, and allows you to donate to the cause.

United States Conference of Mayors
http://usmayors.org/
While national leaders may not see problems like homelessness and unemployment as urgent, the damage they cause to lives and property is inescapable in cities, and mayors have no choice but to try to solve them. That's why this web site's repository of reports and best practices is an unusually practical policy resource. (The search engine would be more useful if it put recent material at the top of the results, though.)

October 9

30 Dumb Inventions - Photo Gallery - Life Magazine
http://www.life.com/image/3270485/in-gallery/25371/30-dumb-inventions
An entertaining look at dumb (and even horrifying) ideas, including the curved barrel shotgun, baby cage, motorized surfboard, yodel meter, birdman flying suit, etc.

30 Resources to Find the Data You Need
http://flowingdata.com/2009/10/01/30-resources-to-find-the-data-you-need/
Links to significant data resources, some comprehensive, and some that are specific to government and politics, geographic data, sports, and more.

Archival Sound Recordings - British Library
http://sounds.bl.uk/
Makes available thousands of the British Library's extensive recordings of music, spoken word, and natural sounds. Search or browse by categories: accents, arts, classical music, environment, jazz, oral history, sound recording history, and world music. Users from license-holding institutions have full access to all recordings, but many of them are freely available to the general public.

Distracted Driving - Consumer Reports Cars Blog
http://blogs.consumerreports.org/cars/distracted-driving/index.html?EXTKEY=I91ECON&CMP=OTC-ConsumeristLinks
The Consumer Reports Car Blog provides an overview of recent Distracted Driving Summit, and links to related posts they've done on the issue. I assume that eventually we'll be able to find the proceedings of the summit on its web page, <http://www.rita.dot.gov/distracted_driving_summit/>

EatingWell
http://www.eatingwell.com/
If you want to improve your family's nutrition, this is a pretty good place to start, with its healthy recipes, tips on healthy foods and cooking, and nutrition and health. It also provides food news, a menu planner, blogs, and videos. Among the topics addressed here are healthy AND tasty school lunches, cooking for two, recipes under $3, delicious low-cal dinners, game-day recipes, healthy makeovers of favorite splurge foods, etc.

EconomPic Data
http://econompicdata.blogspot.com/
Uses charts to help people make sense of economic news and ideas. Recent posts include a breakdown of the economic performance of the 30 companies making up the Dow-Jones Industrial Average, stabilization of home prices, the returns of treasury bonds versus high yield bonds, consumer confidence trends, etc.

Injury Prevention - Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh
http://www.chp.edu/CHP/besafe
Offers a downloadable Home Safety Handbook, and advice on potential hazards in your home and yard, preventing falls, fire safety, etc. With Halloween approaching, check out the safety pointers for little trick-or-treaters.

Kaiser Health News
http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/
More accurately, this is health policy news, covered by the top organization in the country for creating and gathering objective information and statistics on health issues. You can browse specifically for news on health reform, Medicare, Medicaid, health costs, aging, health I.T., quality, etc.

Money and Main Street: Money's Two Cents
http://moneyfeatures.blogs.money.cnn.com/category/moneys-two-cents/
This blog from Money Magazine is full of intriguing bits of economic news, data, and possible indicators of the state of the economy (the Hot Waitress index, the Underwear Index, etc.)

National Criminal Justice Reference Service
http://www.ncjrs.gov/index.html
A guide to official government statistics and information on a wide variety of crime and criminal justice policy topics (and not just the big ones - topics include bullying, date rape, DUI, missing children, hate crimes, etc.).

Organized Home
http://organizedhome.com/
Devoted to helping you organize your home and your home maintenance chores. It currently features a Fall Cleaning Chore Checklist, a Christmas planner, "Declutter 101," a freezer cooking guide, "speed clean tips from cleaning pros," and lots more.

Park Histories - National Park Service
http://www.nps.gov/history/history/park_histories/
If the Ken Burns PBS series on the national parks whetted your curiosity, here's where you can find out lots more about when and how each park came to exist.

October 2, 2009

2009 Green Rankings for US Companies - Newsweek
http://greenrankings.newsweek.com/
This should interest anyone who'd like to work for or invest in green companies.

Banned Books Week: Interactive Map of Book Challenges, 2007-2009
http://bannedbooksweek.org/Mapofbookcensorship.html
A little late for Banned Books Week, but the subject should be of interest any time of year. As for which books are targeted, see Books Challenged or Banned in 2007-2008 <http://www.ila.org/pdf/2008banned.pdf>. Also of interest: the Kids' Right To Read Project, <http://www.ncac.org/images/ncacimages/KR2R%202009(1).pdf>.

Bullying Prevention Awareness Week October 4-10, 2009
http://www.pacer.org/bullying/bpaw/index.asp
"free web sites, downloadable activities and helpful information for teachers, administrators, parents and community organizations to engage and educate children about bullying prevention."

Futurity
http://futurity.org/
"An online news source featuring the latest discoveries in science, engineering, the environment, health, and more from North America's leading research universities." Searchable and broswable by Earth & Environment, Health & Medicine, Science & Design, and Society & Culture. Among recent posts: "Largest quakes weaken fault zones worldwide," "Tai Chi lowers glucose, helps control diabetes," "Brain may crave fast food fix," "Putting social media to work in a crisis," "Software speeds hunt for cancer triggers," etc.

Get Rich Slowly - Personal Finance That Makes Cents
http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/
Money Magazine calls this "the most inspiring money blog." The author says he's an average guy who got in a financial mess, then read and studied his way back to solvency; from there, he went on to "getting rich slowly." Recent topics include fixing a rotten resume, free e-books on personal finance, spicing up your emergency fund, and money “carnivals”that collect the best articles on one financial topic from a variety of sites.

Golden Gems
http://goldengems.blogspot.com/
"A collection of little golden books and other vintage & modern illustrations meant to inspire and delight."

Manipulating the Public Agenda
http://departments.oxy.edu/uepi/acornstudy/
If you've wondered what the deal is about ACORN, you might be interested in this academic study of ACORN, the political campaign against it, and the failures of the press in objective reporting on the issue.

Museum of Animal Perspectives
http://www.sameasterson.com/map
gathers videos from inside animal nests, cameras carried by animals, camera traps, and remote vehicles.

Not Invented Here, by Bill Barnes and Paul Southworth
http://notinventedhe.re/
Fans of Unshelved <http://www.unshelved.com/>, the comic strip set in a public library, will recognize Bill Barnes as the artist half of the duo that created it. His new comic strip centers on life in the software business (which he used to work in).

Off the Page: A Historical Collection of Live Poetry Recordings
http://poetry.eprints.org/
Here's your chance to understand what poetry really is: not just words on a printed page but words chosen as carefully for their sound as for their meaning.

SciTopics
http://scitopics.com/
Free "distilled, authoritative and up-to-date information for researchers on scientific, technical and medical topics," courtesy of science publisher Elsevier.

Stay Warm, Save Money: Financial Assistance for Energy-Saving Improvements
http://www.energysavers.gov/seasonal/financial_assistance.html
When even southerners have started pulling electric blankets out of storage, it's time to start thinking about improving both our heating systems and their expense. Fortunately, help is available here.

September 25, 2009

13th Annual Webby Awards Nominees and Winners
http://www.webbyawards.com/webbys/current.php
Also includes the People's Voice winners, which are often different. It's a good place to start browsing for quality sites in a variety of categories:

100 Best Movie Soundtracks
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/3671089/100-best-movie-soundtracks.html
Eminently suitable for a conversation/argument starter or for a library exhibit featuring matching videos from your library's collection.

The Avenue: Rethinking Metropolitan America
http://www.tnr.com/blogs/the-avenue
An intriguing blog for anyone who loves cities.

eNature - America's Wildlife Resource
http://www.enature.com/home/indexNew.asp
There's a lot here to love, particularly the field guides to wildlife, the park guides, and the Ask an Expert feature, with its archived 5,000+ answers.

Jigsaw Puzzle Gallery - JigZone.com
http://www.jigzone.com/gallery
My favorite online jigsaw puzzle site. Not only can you choose from hundreds of designs (many of them gorgeous), you can also choose many different kinds of cuts, and sizes ranging from 247 pieces down to 6 piece cuts that little kids can work.

LearnThat.com
http://learnthat.com/
Provides free tutorials, primarily on tech and business topics but also solutions to daily living problems like barbecuing, kidproofing your home, and choosing the right health insurance plan. A related site, HelpThat.com <http://helpthat.com/>, lets you post your questions for experts to respond to them.

MacArthur Foundation 2009 Fellows
http://www.macfound.org/site/c.lkLXJ8MQKrH/b.5410503/k.11CB/Meet_the_2009_Fellows.htm
Find out here about the recipients of this year's "genius grants," who work in a wide range of specialties. Among them: computer vision, investigative reporting, climate science, health services, biogeochemistry, novelist, bridge engineering, poetry, etc.

Medpedia
http://medpedia.com/
"In association with Harvard Medical School, Stanford School of Medicine, Berkeley School of Public Health, University of Michigan Medical School and other leading global health organizations, Medpedia is "a long-term, worldwide project to evolve a new model for sharing and advancing knowledge about health, medicine and the body among medical professionals and the general public." People may suggest changes, but the content of the articles is overseen by a committee of medical professionals.

Research Blogging
http://researchblogging.org/
In which scientists and scholars describe interesting research in science and the social sciences. Search or browse by topic.

SmallTownGems: recommended best small towns in America
http://www.smalltowngems.com/
The site creators visit small towns across America and walk the streets of the downtowns, taking dozens of photographs. They recommend the best, providing maps, town history, and an overview of their historic sites. But they also list the towns that do not meet their standards or are awful enough that they think you should "not stop in these towns unless you experience 3 or more simultaneous flat tires."

Switcheroo Zoo
http://switchzoo.com/default.htm
A great place to learn by playing around. That's how this site got started: "We were playing around with the idea of making new animals by switching their parts... Today, there are 142 species in Switch Zoo, and the site features animal games, music performed using animal voices, a reference section about all of the animals in Switch Zoo, lesson plans, and poetry, stories and artwork created by students and visitors." Visitors can make their own new animals, build an online habitat, learn to make balloon animals, and more.

What's Next - Career Change, Financial Planning, Life Balance
http://whatsnext.com/
Includes inspiring "Career 2.0" stories of people who've made a midcourse correction, how to guides for entering several careers, financial planning advice, and tools for getting where you want to go (including a self-assessment test and rankings of best jobs for middle aged baby boomers.

September 18

9-11 Commission Records
http://www.archives.gov/legislative/research/9-11/
About 35% of the records of the 9-11 Commission - interviews, testimony, articles and monographs, and the commission's original research -- are available here and at the Commission's own website, preserved intact since it closed up shop in 2004.

13 Things That Do Not Make Sense - New Scientist
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg18524911.600-13-things-that-do-not-make-sense.html?full=true
Science breaks new ground by confronting problems that, according to existing theories, should not exist. The placebo effect, dark matter, and not-so-constant constants are among the anomalies that are currently causing scientists to say, "Huh? What's going on here?" See even more at 13 More Things That Don't Make Sense, <http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20327245.800-13-more-things-that-dont-make-sense.html>.

America's Affordable Health Choices Act HR 3200 - District by District Impact
http://energycommerce.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1717&catid=156&Itemid=55
The House Committee on Energy and Commerce has prepared this analysis of how HR 3200 would affect small business, seniors on Medicare, health care providers and the uninsured in each congressional district. You might want to see how your own district would fare.

CyberCemetery - UNT Libraries
http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/default.htm
The CyberCemetery, operated by the University of North Texas Libraries in partnership with the Government Printing Office, archives selected federal government websites that have ceased operation, including the Columbia Accident Investigation Board, the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, the Select Bipartisan Committee to Investigate the Preparation for and Response to Hurricane Katrina, and quite a lot more.

Heart Information Center - Texas Heart Institute
http://www.texasheartinstitute.org/HIC/his.cfm
This site provides overviews of heart surgery, cardiovascular anatomy, diagnostic tests, medicine, and more than 100 heart conditions. It also includes a glossary and a self-test for your own heart health.

MagazineArt.org Gallery
http://www.magazineart.org/main.php/v
"Vintage magazine cover and advertising art from the golden age of American illustration." This seems to be mostly 19th and early 20th century magazines of all types: pulps, women's magazines, science fiction, humor, health and fitness, etc.

Personal Finance Information from Consumer Reports
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/money/index.htm
Includes advice on banking & credit, family finance, home mortgages & insurance, retirement, investing, consumer protection, and taxes. Also includes news, a blog, and a Guide to Financial Survival.

Planetizen - Urban Planning, Design and Development Network
http://www.planetizen.com/
Though this is designed with urban planners and designers in mind, anyone interested in how they're improving the way cities work will find it interesting. Regular topics include architecture, community development, historic preservation, transportation, and more.

Science News for Kids
http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/
Includes not only news, but puzzles, games, and challenges to help kids understand the science. There's also a Science Fair Zone, a Lab Zone for hands on science opportunities, and a Teacher Zone

Sonic Memorial Project
http://sonicmemorial.org/public/index.html
"Shortly after September 11, 2001, NPR's Lost & Found Sound brought together radio producers, artists, historians, archivists, and the public broadcasting community to collect and preserve audio traces of the World Trade Center" before and after 9/11. Ordinary people added hundreds of their own tapes. Search or browse by themes including the evacuation, memorial, observation deck, Windows on the World, and more.

VietNam War Internet Links
http://www.wellesley.edu/Polisci/wj/Vietnam/vietlink.html
Wellesley professor William Joseph links to a wealth of photos, documents, recollections, maps, mass media portrayals, as well as sections on Vietnam veterans, the draft, the antiwar movement, etc.

World of Tales - Stories for Children from around the World
http://worldoftales.com/
Includes texts (and some audio versions) of folk tales, fairy tales, fables and Christmas stories from around the world.

September 11

Biomimicry Institute
http://www.biomimicryinstitute.org/
The Institute believes we could benefit by using as a model biological solutions that animals have come up with for some of the same practical problems we confront, like heating and cooling, optimizing strength, getting water in an arid environment, etc. Particularly interesting features are the case studies and the media section's "In the News."

Don't Fuel Fires - Create a Defensible Space
http://www.calmast.org/sbc/html/defensible_space.asp
See also Fire, Defensible Space and You <http://www.sdcounty.ca.gov/dplu/fire_resistant.html>. While these sites were created specifically for California communities in the fire zone, they could provide valuable information to anyone whose home is surrounded by dry, flammable vegetation.

Flu.gov
http://flu.gov/
The government's official site for the most current flu information - prevention, vaccines, guidance for schools, current outbreaks, etc. Also see Flu Wiki <http://www.fluwiki.info/>

Hard Times Resources
http://www.secstate.wa.gov/library/hardtimes/
Resources selected by the Washington State Library to help with money management, jobhunting, insurance, help with medical bills, mortgages, insurance, etc. There are also specific resources for seniors, veterans, Spanish-speakers, and people with disabilities. Some resources are specific to Washington state residents, but most are generally applicable.

Hispanic Heritage - Gale - Free Resources
http://www.gale.cengage.com/free_resources/chh/
Gale, the trusted reference book publisher, provides some of its resources on Hispanic culture here for free, including biographies of prominent Hispanics, a timeline, and backgrounders on holidays and music genres.

Interactive - Health Care Reform and You
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2009/09/healthcarecalc.html
The pro-reform Center for American Progress offers an interactive to help you understand how the current legislation will affect your health care coverage and your taxes. There's also an interactive calculator for small businesses and a video on how the health insurances exchanges would work. I generally won't steer you to one-sided sources, but since there's a great deal of misinformation circulating, and politicians and the news media have done virtually nothing to explain how the legislation would affect ordinary people, I'm making an exception. If you'd like to read the text of the President's address to the Joint Session of Congress, it's here: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-by-the-President-to-a-Joint-Session-of-Congress-on-Health-Care/

Making Home Affordable
http://makinghomeaffordable.gov/
This site helps you determine whether you are eligible for the government's refinancing or loan modification programs, and then look up your loan, find a counselor, and contact your mortgage servicer.

NIST and the World Trade Center
http://wtc.nist.gov/
Perhaps a good way to commemorate September 11 is put to rest some of the rumors swirling around the collapse of the twin towers. Read what scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology have proven about how it happened.

Sibley Online Guide to Birds
http://sibley.enature.com/
A searchable digital version of the acclaimed book by David Sibley.

SkinCareGuide.com - a Medical Guide to Skin Care Written by Internationally Recognized Dermatologists
http://skincareguide.com/
A place to learn about basic skin care, skin conditions and diseases, and cosmetic skin treatments.

Social Psychology Eye
http://socialpsychologyeye.wordpress.com/
If you're interested in research on human behavior, explained in terms ordinary people can understand, you might enjoy this blog.

Visual Economics - Financial and Economic Infographics
http://www.visualeconomics.com/
These visualizations help to make challenging economic information intelligible. Current topics include what America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009 would cost and how it would be paid for, recent Employment Change by Industry, how countries spend their money, etc.

September 4

100 Best Science Sites for Kids
http://onlinenursepractitionerschools.com/?page_id=41
Annotated links for general science sites, lab experiments, activities and projects, science news, and more.

Audio Books for Kids
http://www.kidsaudiobooks.co.uk/
Over 300 MP3 downloads available. Books include classics like Babar and Gerald McBoingBoing, fables and folk tales like Hansel and Gretel and Paul Bunyan, and even Mel Blanc renderings of Warner Brothers cartoon stories.

Daily Yonder
http://www.dailyyonder.com/
Dedicated to providing news about rural America.

Encyclopedia of Mental Disorders
http://www.minddisorders.com/
Provides "comprehensive medical articles on [150] mental disorders and conditions," each detailing "the definition, purpose, precautions, description, and external resources that can be used to obtain additional information about every condition." Search or browse alphabetically.

The Government May Owe You Money
http://www.usa.gov/Citizen/Topics/Money_Owed.shtml
The federal government shows you the many places where you may, without realizing it, have money waiting for you to claim it. Sources include pension funds from former employers, accounts at failed banks or liquidated credit unions, undelivered tax refunds, state unclaimed property sites, and more.

Philanthropy News Digest
http://foundationcenter.org/pnd
Anyone involved with grants, whether as provider or seeker, should find this interesting. The Foundation Center offers a digest of news about philanthropy, along with original commentary, book reviews, and interviews with newsmakers.

Science.tv
http://www.science.tv/
A place to create, share, and discover science videos. Search or browse categories including not only the science disciplines but also gadgets, demos, debate, and more.

Smithsonian's History Explorer
http://historyexplorer.americanhistory.si.edu/
"Your gateway to innovative, standards-based online resources for teaching and learning American history" draws on the digitized resources of the National Museum of American History to make history come to life. Search or browse by key words, timeline, lessons/activities, interactives/media, museum artifacts, or web links.

Student Researchers' Toolkit - Oxford University Press
http://www.oup.com/uk/orc/bin/9780199202959/01student/toolkit/page_01.htm
Helps students prepare for, design, and conduct social science research, do the data analysis, and write up the results. It also explains the dos and don'ts of social research, and offers scenarios demonstrating common problems student researchers may encounter.

Top Ten Money Saving Sites - by Digital Trends
http://reviews.digitaltrends.com/guide/289/top-10-money-saving-sites
Digital Trends points you to its favorite sites for finding bargains, coupons, free stuff, barter items, and more.

Washington Monthly College Guide
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/college_guide/
The Washington Monthly editors rank colleges based on whether they are "producing cutting-edge scientific research and PhDs," sending graduates into public-service jobs, and recruiting economically disadvantaged students and helping them graduate. Not surprisingly, there's not a lot of overlap between their top schools and those in the US News rankings.

Women in Science and Technology: Past, Present and Future
http://sciencewomen.blogspot.com/
This blog features stories about both pioneering and current female scientists. Browsable categories include awards, conferences, contests, education, life as a woman scientist, pioneers, science for kids, each scientific discipline, etc. Another bonus is links to related blogs.

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Neat New Stuff I Found This Week
by Marylaine Block
Copyright 1999-