Austin: Still weird after all these years

"Austin: Still weird after all these years
The capital of down-home cool (and Texas) is growing up fast. But everything that makes it great—the food, the music, the people—is being threatened by high rents, traffic, and the likes of Baja Fresh. Can Austin keep the misfit spirit alive?"

Read more, Austin: Still weird after all these years

The Restoration of Mangiasaurus rex

"The Restoration of Mangiasaurus rex

As noted in the local news, Mangiasaurus rex, the beloved mascot of Mangia Pizza, was found severely vandalized on Tuesday, September 22.

Here at the Texas Memorial Museum, we decided to see if we could help put Mangiasaurus back together.  Check back here every few days to see the progress of the restoration.  And stay tuned for a celebration of the re-installation of this Austin landmark!"

Texas Memorial Museum: The Restoration of Mangiasaurus rex

Old Time Radio Shows

"RadioLovers.com offer hundreds of vintage radio shows for you to listen to online in mp3 format, all for free. Before the days of video games, shopping malls, MTV, and the Internet, families used to sit in their living room each night to listen to radio shows such as Abbott and Costello, Superman, Groucho Marx, The Avenger, Gunsmoke, Sherlock Homes, and many others. When TV become popular in the 1950's, most of these shows went off the air, but they now live on at websites such as this one and on weekly nostalgia radio broadcasts worldwide."

Visit: RadioLovers.com - Old Time Radio Shows

What Impact Would Set the World on Fire?

"When a huge asteroid slammed into the Earth 65 million years ago, it began a catastrophic chain of events that caused the extinction of the dinosaurs, and 75% of the species on Earth. One devastating aspect of the event was when hot debris rained down, starting enormous wildfires across the entire planet. Scientists from the Southwest Research Institute have come up with a model that calculates how large an impact had to be to cause massive fires. A crater 85 km (52 miles) across probably caused continent-wide fires, and a crater 135 km (83 miles) across could ignite fires around the whole world."

Universe Today - What Impact Would Set the World on Fire?

Planet typography

"Planet Typography is a portal entirely dedicated to the art and the science of typography."

Need to be in touch with your inner fonts, then visit: Planet typography.

Jack La Lanne

"Jack La Lanne, often called the Godfather of Fitness, is a mover, shaker, and motivator. Jack is a pioneer who opened the first modern health spa in the United States in 1936, and in 1951, brought exercise to TV. Although in his late 80s, Jack looks 50. He and his wife Elaine speak all over the world, inspiring people to help themselves to a better life, physically, mentally, and morally."

Visit: The Official Jack La Lanne World Wide Web Site

The Forgotten Technology

Wallace Wallington says "You do not need to lift weight to move it from place to place." He also writes: "I found that I, working alone, could easily move a 2400 lb. block 300 ft. per hour with little effort, and a 10,000 lb. block at 70 ft. per hour. I also stood two 8 ft. 2400 lb. blocks on end and placed another 2400 lb. block on top. This took about two hours per block. I found that one man, working by himself, without the use of wheels, rollers, pulleys, or any type of hoisting equipment could perform the task."

Learn more about The Forgotten Technology he uses.

FactCheck.org - Annenberg Political Fact Check

"We are a nonpartisan, nonprofit, "consumer advocate" for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics. We monitor the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews, and news releases. Our goal is to apply the best practices of both journalism and scholarship, and to increase public knowledge and understanding.

The Annenberg Political Fact Check is a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania. The APPC was established by publisher and philanthropist Walter Annenberg in 1994 to create a community of scholars within the University of Pennsylvania that would address public policy issues at the local, state, and federal levels.

The APPC accepts NO funding from business corporations, labor unions, political parties, lobbying organizations or individuals. It is funded primarily by an endowment from the Annenberg Foundation."

Check it out: FactCheck.org - Annenberg Political Fact Check

typoGenerator

"typoGenerator is a random generator for 'typoPosters'. A typoPoster is a poster, created from images and letters/text that doesn´t have any sense, just to look good. The user types some text; typoGenerator searches images.google for the text and creates a background from the found images, using randomly chosen effects. Then it places the text, using random effects too."

Try: typoGenerator

Unlocking the Secrets of Animal Locomotion - Robots

"Meet the Robots: Ariel, Rhex, Sprawl, and Mecho-Gecko

Ariel: Moving just like a crab, this autonomous robot built by iRobot (formerly IS Robotics) is the first legged platform capable of walking either on land or underwater in the turbulent surf zone.

RHex: With its snub-nosed, squat form and dogged persistence over rocks and obstacles, RHex resembles a hyperactive terrier, but in locomotion it's closer to a cockroach. It has six legs oriented in the horizontal plane, like those of crabs, lizards and cockroaches; each leg turns clockwise around its central axis, giving it purchase even on uneven steps.

Sprawl: The SPRAWL family of six-legged robots represents a leap forward in robotic materials. Using a new engineering technique called shape deposition manufacturing, the researchers can not only form limbs in the right shape, but also build desired material properties (like stiffness or bendability at certain points) right into them.

Mecho-Gecko: iRobot has built two gecko-inspired robots. The Mecho-Gecko's three legs are tipped with a pressure-sensitive adhesive (think Post-Its) to mimic the unroll-and-peel-off manner in which geckos climb, while the Bull-Gecko uses the same adhesive on bulldozer-like treads instead of legs."

Learn more about: Unlocking the Secrets of Animal Locomotion - Robots

Bambino's Curse: Diary of a Red Sox Fan

"In 1918 the Red Sox won their 5th World Series, the most by any club at that time. One of the stars of the Boston championship franchise was a young pitcher by the name of George Herman Ruth, aka The Babe or The Bambino.

In 1920, however, Red Sox owner Harry Frazee needed money to finance his girlfriend's play, so he sold Babe Ruth's contract to Colonel Jacob Ruppert's New York Yankees for $100,000 (plus a loan collateralized by Fenway Park).

Since then, the Yankees, who had never won a World Championship before acquiring Ruth, have gone on to win 26, and are arguably one of the greatest success stories in the history of sport.

Meanwhile, the Boston Red Sox have appeared in only four World Series since 1918, losing each one in game seven. Many consider Boston's performance after the departure of Babe Ruth to be attributable to "The Curse of the Bambino."

Bambino's Curse: Diary of a Red Sox Fan

Who is that with Jeremy?

"Where the Elite Meet the Petite.'

Welcome to my Web Site, pictures of me with well known people.

My name is Jeremy and I was born on March 30, 2002 and I live in New York City. When I was 3 months old, mommy went back to work and daddy became a stay-at-home dad.

My daddy thought that it would be fun to take pictures of me with well-known people, and it has been fun! We have met lots of interesting people, from actors to politicians, news personalities and talk show hosts. We have met Oscar winners, Grammy winners, a Senator, a Duchess, a former President and lots, lots more! All of these people have been very nice to me and my dad. I hope you like looking at these pictures as much as we liked taking them."

Visit: Who is that with Jeremy?

Robo Tuna

"Consider the fish: highly maneuverable and an effortless swimmer, this animal 160 million years in the making is superbly adapted to its watery environs. Now, in work that could lead to mini submarines with similar attributes, MIT engineers have developed the first robotic version of Nature's piscine wonder. In summer 1995 the researchers' original creation, patterned after a bluefin tuna, took its maiden swim down the MIT Testing Tank."

MIT Ocean Engineering Towing Tank

The Glycemic Index

"The glycemic index is a ranking of carbohydrates based on their immediate effect on blood glucose (blood sugar) levels. It compares foods gram for gram of carbohydrate. Carbohydrates that breakdown quickly during digestion have the highest glycemic indexes. The blood glucose response is fast and high. Carbohydrates that break down slowly, releasing glucose gradually into the blood stream, have low glycemic indexes."

Learn more, visit: The Glycemic Index

New Used Cars and other Oxymorons

"An Oxymoron is a combination of contradictory or incongruous words, such as 'Cruel Kindness' or 'Jumbo Shrimp' (Jumbo means 'large' while Shrimp means 'small'). It is a literary figure of speech in which opposite or contradictory words, terms, phrases or ideas are combined to create a rhetorical effect by paradoxical means."

Oxymorons.info - Oxymorons, Oxymoron

Googlewhacking

"Your goal: find that elusive query (two words - no quote marks) with a single, solitary result using Google search!"

Googlewhacking: The Search for The One True Googlewhack

Women and Dogs

"Hello and welcome to my little corner of the world wide web. This page isn't about me so much, it's more about my hobby. I collect second-hand photographs of women and dogs. That's right, both women and dogs together."

Women and Dogs

September 11: One Year Viewed From Space

"On September 11, 2001, America was changed forever by the worst act of terrorism ever committed on our shores. Rather than instilling terror, this attack unified Americans in ways not seen since the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.

To commemorate the one-year anniversary of September 11, Space Imaging is offering the following digital archive of pre- and post-attack images of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. As no other high-resolution commercial imaging satellites were in orbit on that fateful day, IKONOS was the only space-based camera able to capture this compelling visual chronology of the destruction and rebirth. The imagery provides a special perspective to this story that couldn't be achieved with hand-held cameras on the ground or even cameras mounted in airplanes."

September 11: One Year Viewed From Space

The Reincarnation FAQ

"For the foreseeable future, there can be no absolute scientific proof of reincarnation, and none against it. It is up to the individual whether they take a personal stand or not on the issue. But for those interested in the subject, it is desirable to have as much information about the evidence to date and the various schools of thought.

This FAQ (short for 'Frequently Asked Questions') was created to provide answers for the many common questions people have about reincarnation and also to give as wide a background to the subject as possible in terms of scientific, religious and mystical exploration."

The Reincarnation FAQ

Kristina Krumb and the Scary Hair Monster

"Kristina Krumb is a spunky little girl who collects bugs and accidentally discovers a Scary Hair Monster growing in her bathroom drain. When the Scary Hair Monster becomes her best friend, Kristina must protect her secret pal from weird scientists, nosy neighbors, and the infamous hat society."

Kristina Krumb and the Scary Hair Monster

Yoga Poses by George Bush

"Welcome to Bush Yoga! Here, you will find the leader of the free world demonstrating a variety of ancient yoga poses. The Elite Force Aviator George W. Bush action figure is what makes Bush Yoga possible.

Love him, or hate him, you can now pose George W. Bush to your heart's content."

Bush Yoga - Yoga Poses by George Bush

Raw and Living Foods Recipes

"Raw/live food gourmet cuisine is delicious, filling and satisfying. After consuming these raw foods for a period of time, the pull back towards or attraction to cooked foods will lessen. If you can manage to stay completely away from cooked foods for at least 3 to 6 months, then when you again taste cooked foods, you will discover that the flavor is not as good as you remember. That is when you'll notice that something is missing in them that you were never able to discern before. And you would be right. The missing factor is . . . the Life.

You can choose to eat only raw/live foods or you can choose to incorporate more of these types of foods into your cooked menus. This choice is yours alone to make. Even if you choose the second option, your health is sure to improve and this may lead you to adhere even more faithfully to the raw food diet in the future."

Raw and Living Foods Recipes: Gourmet Uncooked Vegetarian and Vegan Cuisine

The Straight Dope

Does garlic repel mosquitoes? How did salt and pepper become the standard table spices? Is a diamond's price a true measure of its value? How can companies get away with calling processed foods 'natural'? Is the Molson's (Canadian) beer sold in the U.S. watered down?

All these ignorant questions answered and more.

The Straight Dope

The Smoking Gun

"The Smoking Gun brings you exclusive documents--cool, confidential, quirky--that can't be found elsewhere on the Web. Using material obtained from government and law enforcement sources, via Freedom of Information requests, and from court files nationwide, we guarantee everything here is 100% authentic.

The site was founded in April 1997. In December 2000, The Smoking Gun was acquired by Court TV, a basic cable network with more than 80 million subscribers."

The Smoking Gun

Instructions for Meeting Time Travellers

"By following the directions in this booklet, you'll provide your time visitor with a legal document detailing instructions to determine the when & where, the time & locations of a projected visit........SIGNED, SEALED & DELIVERED BY YOU, the how is up to them!

Your document is the key, and it must be passed down from generation to generation with the utmost care, until the time is ripe for future Time Travel. Before you pass on from life, you must give your document to some- one you can trust.......someone who understands it's not a joke.......some- one who will pass the document on to someone else just as trustworthy as you and he.......and so forth and so on, until Time has brought forth the ability to Travel in Time.......The Holder of your Document should seek out those who will help you succeed. The Document Holder should deliver the document to the one that's coming to visit you..............."

Travel to the past and read the Instructions for Meeting Time Travellers by Bebe Williams

Quoteland.com - Quotations on every topic

"Quoteland.com - contains a large collection of quotations divided by topic and author, as well as the text of historical documents."

Quotations on every topic, by every author, and in every fashion possible: quoteland.com

Gallery of ''Misused'' Quotation Marks

"You've 'seen' them. Maybe on a sign at the 'grocery' store, maybe in an ad in your 'local' newspaper. Perhaps even in a 'memo' that circulated throughout your company.

They're quotation marks, and they turn up in the strangest of places."

Gallery of ''Misused'' Quotation Marks

Babel Fish Translation

"Translate text or entire Web sites with the Babel Fish translation tool."

AltaVista - Babel Fish Translation