Games Kids Play

"Looking for kids games?  How about rules for playground games, verses for jump-rope rhymes, and much more???"

Visit:
Games Kids Play

The World Wide Panorama

"The World Wide Panorama began in March, 2004, and has now become a quarterly series of events. Photographers all over the world are welcome to participate. The rules are simple - photography must be done during a specified time, and the final panorama must be in QuickTime VR format (within specified limits on file size and dimensions). The events are scheduled on the solstices (longest and shortest days of the year) and equinoxes (day and night of equal length)."

Take a spin at The World Wide Panorama

Business Plan Archive

"The Internet boom and bust of 1996 to 2002 was the most important business phenomenon of the past several decades. In the wake of this historic period, we have an unprecedented opportunity to learn from our past mistakes and successes.

To help us learn from history, we are creating the Business Plan Archive (BPA) to collect business plans and related documents from the dot com era. These plans – the “blueprints” that lay out the assumptions and strategies of Internet entrepreneurs – will enable entrepreneurs and researchers to conduct both qualitative and quantitative research."

Visit and learn from: Business Plan Archive

1918: Babe Ruth and the World Champion Boston Red Sox

"In 1918, the United States was struggling through the first World War. An epidemic of influenza took the lives of more than 650,000 Americans. Fuel shortages and food rationing were daily facts of life. Against this chaotic backdrop, the Red Sox began their quest for an unprecedented fifth World Series title. And a young Boston player named Babe Ruth began his historic transformation from ace pitcher to the greatest slugger the game has ever known."

1918: Babe Ruth and the World Champion Boston Red Sox by Allan Wood [the story of the 1918 Red Sox

Halloween - Pumpkin Carving 101

"Pumpkin Carving - Nothing better signifies Halloween than a glowing Jack O' Lantern! Whether it's simply carving a pumpkin to sit on the door step for Halloween night or holding a pumpkin carving party with you're friends and family, this age old tradition is a main event for young and old alike. Here you'll find everything you need to know to carve your own pumpkins into spooky masterpieces for Halloween and have a lot of fun doing it!"

Halloween - Pumpkin Carving 101 - Carve a Jack O' Lantern for Halloween

Last Wishes.com - Do YOU have anything to say?

"The only two sure things in life are death and taxes!! LastWishes.com is a secure, web-based service that lets you store private information and messages, which are then only distributed to the individuals who you choose in the event of your death."

Last Wishes.com - Do YOU have anything to say?

Welcome to the White House - WWW.WHITEHOUSE.ORG

"WHITEHOUSE.ORG is a digital parody of the Executive Branch of the United States Federal Government. WHITEHOUSE.ORG uses the names and images of public figures for purposes of satire. Any other names are invented. The content of this web site should in no way be construed as factual. WHITEHOUSE.ORG is intended for mature audiences, and should not be accessed by persons under 18 years of age or White House attorneys with nothing better to do than squander taxpayer dollars by composing empty intimidation letters to political satirists."

Welcome to the White House - WWW.WHITEHOUSE.ORG

Political Friendster

"Political Friendster is a parody of the social network Friendster. It allows a visualization of the connections between players in the political game."

Political Friendster

Fine Watches, Food, Wine, and other interesting passions - ThePuristS

Dr. Thomas Mao has collected watches for nearly 30 years and said he was inspired to create this site because he saw so much inaccurate information spreading online.

Fine Watches, Food, Wine, and other interesting passions - ThePuristS

MyBrokenLeg.com - Broken leg stories and advice

"Welcome to MyBrokenLeg.com. The site for people with broken legs. If you're stuck at home with your leg on a pillow, surfing the net desperately looking for a distraction - here it is."

MyBrokenLeg.com - Broken leg stories and advice

The Word Detective

"The Word Detective on the Web is the online version of The Word Detective, a newspaper column answering readers' questions about words and language. The Word Detective is written by Evan Morris and appears in finer newspapers in the U.S., Mexico and Japan."

The Word Detective

The Official Rock Paper Scissors Strategy Guide

"These general rules apply to all RPS (Rock, Paper, Scissors) games, its tripartite variants known in any permutation and/or combination of the following Scissors Paper Rock/Stone and by any other name that is currently known or unknown to the World RPS Society including Roshambo, Jaken, JanKenPo."

Learn more about: The Official Rock Paper Scissors Strategy Guide

Tom Otterness and His Art

Tom Otterness's art is sure to bring a smile. Take a look.

Tom Otterness

Guide to Art on New York City Transit

"Through the Permanent Art program, MTA Arts for Transit commissions artists to create site-specific artwork that is permanently installed in subway and rail stations as part of the MTA’s Capital Program to rehabilitate stations within the transit network.

MTA Arts for Transit works closely with the architects and engineers at MTA New York City Transit, MTA Long Island Rail Road, and MTA Metro-North Railroad to determine the overall scope of the artwork to be incorporated into each station scheduled for renovations. The Arts for Transit office also administers the process to select the artist for each project, researching artists and organizing a panel, comprised of visual arts professionals and community representatives, to select one artist to receive the project commission."

Learn more about the MTA - Arts for Transit Permanent Art

Hidden Kitchens

"The Kitchen Sisters and Jay Allison are gathering stories for a new radio series coming to Morning Edition exploring the world of hidden kitchens, street corner cooking, legendary meals and eating traditions — how communities come together through food."

Learn more about: The Kitchen Sisters

Identity Badge Worn Under Skin

"The VeriChip miniaturized Radio Frequency Identifcation (RFID) Device is the core of all VeriChip applications. About the size of a grain of rice, each VeriChip contains a unique verification number, which can be used to access a subscriber-supplied database providing personal related information. And unlike conventional forms of identification, VeriChip cannot be lost, stolen, misplaced or counterfeited.

Once implanted just under the skin, via a quick, painless outpatient procedure (much like getting a shot), the VeriChip can be scanned when necessary with a proprietary VeriChip scanner. A small amount of Radio Frequency Energy passes from the scanner energizing the dormant VeriChip, which then emits a radio frequency signal transmitting the individuals unique verification (VeriChipID) number. The VeriChip Subscriber Number then provides instant access to the Global VeriChip Subscriber (GVS) Registry - through secure, password protected web access to subscriber-supplied information. This data is maintained by state-of-the-art GVS Registry Operations Centers located in Riverside, California and Owings, Maryland."

Visit: VeriChip.com: "VeriChip™ - There when you need it

Commercial Astronaut Wings Issued

SpaceShipOne's pilot received a new honor: commercial astronaut wings awarded by the Federal Aviation Administration for those who fly more than 50 miles above Earth. But who else has won these wings?

See who has won the Commercial Astronaut Wings: Commercial Space Transportation - FAA / AST

Things to do to your colleagues

Evil Office Decorations: I'm neither condoning or condemning these ideas.

If you must, then visit: Things to do to your colleagues

The Columbus Navigation Homepage

The Columbus Navigation Homepage: "Examining the History, Navigation, and Landfall of Christopher Columbus"

Christopher Columbus - A Culinary History

"Let us look at the first voyage and the victuals embarked on the three vessels, the Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria. The first problem was to obtain supplies of food, wine and water. At the Canary islands they picked up fresh water, wood and the famous Gomera goat cheese.

Columbus' first voyage had the best victuals (and enough to last a year), not the case in his other voyages.

The menu for Spanish seamen consisted of water, vinegar, wine, olive oil, molasses, cheese, honey, raisins, rice, garlic, almonds, sea biscuits (hardtack), dry legumes such as chickpeas, lentils, beans, salted and barreled sardines, anchovies, dry salt cod and pickled or salted meats (beef and pork), salted flour. The olive oil and perhaps olives were stored in earthenware jugs. All other provisions were stored in wooden casks which, according to some reports, were of cheap and faulty construction permitting the preserving brine to leak out of the meat casks and moisture to invade the casks of dry provisions. All were stored in the hold, the driest section of which was normally reserved for those casks carrying dry provisions. A cooper (barrel maker) was responsible for keeping the casks tight, an almost impossible challenge."

Learn more: Christopher Columbus - A Culinary History

The Klingon Language Institute

"Welcome to the Klingon Language Institute. That's right, Klingon. Those bumpy headed aliens of Star Trek really have their own language, one which has far outgrown mere television and film. That's what we're about. We're here to promote and support this unique and exciting language. So, whether you've just stumbled in here by accident, or lost a bet, or have sought long and hard for people who share your passion for the warriors' tongue, come on in. Our site has information and resources to interest both skeptic and enthusiast alike. Join us in our exploration of the galaxy's fastest growing language."

Visit: The Klingon Language Institute

The Foliage Network

"Every autumn, nature puts on a brilliant show of color in many parts of the United States. From bright yellows to vibrant reds, the leaves transform, showing their rich and vibrant hues. From the Northeast United States, to the Southeast and Midwest United States, the foliage season begins in early September in the northern regions and ends in southern locations in late October or early November. Every year, people flock to these areas to take in the fall foliage, to catch a glimpse of natures splendor.

The Foliage Network was developed to provide accurate foliage information for various locations across the United States. During the months of September, October, and November, The Foliage Network collects data from our foliage spotters twice a week. This data is collected, plotted, and analyzed by The Foliage Network. The end result is The Foliage Network Report which is transmitted to newspapers, television stations, and web sites."

The Foliage Network - Providing accurate fall foliage conditions, fall foliage reports, and travel information for New England, the Northeast, Southeast and Midwest United States

A polaroid a day, everyday.

"Q: Come on, now, every day?
A: Yes. Well, ok, sure, once in a great while I get backed up and have to take two pictures in one day. I would say that happens once every two months or so, and I am perfectly happy with that level of accuracy.

Keep in mind that although I am taking pictures every day sometimes (weekends mostly) I don't actually get around to scanning them in and putting them up for a few days. I don't have a scanner at home right now and have to do that part when I have a few extra minutes at work.

Q: So, you take a bunch of pictures each day and post the best one, right?
A: Wrong wrong wrong. What you see is what I took, exactly. Maybe three or four times I have had catastrophic camera malfunctions resulting in all black or all white prints and had to re-shoot. There are PLENTY of pictures in here that I think really suck, and would love to've re-shot, but that is not how it works. Also, for what it is worth there is absolutely NO post-production or photoshopping on these.

Q: Formerly what?
A: Um. Well, 669 is the name of the Polaroid film that I used to use the most often."

Visit: a polaroid a day, everyday. dirtdirt.com; formerly 669.

Austin Babtist Women

"Created in 1986, the Austin Babtist Women have become an incredibly entertaining - and highly-respected - charitable force.  The all-male, all-volunteer comedy troupe performs throughout the nation and exists for the sole purpose of raising money for AIDS, HIV, and breast cancer organizations.

With a core group of six extremely talented performers, these men take on the personas of Southern church ladies and stage elaborately-choreographed, side-splitting routines.  In the past 16 years, their antics have been a part of raising more than $5 million for charities throughout the United States."

The Austin Babtist Women

Pyramid Scheme Calculator

"Pyramid schemes typically work as a club, where individuals pay their 'joining fee' or 'gift' or 'donation' to people further 'up' the pyramid, in the expectation that they themselves will get paid by new recruits who join further 'down' the pyramid.

Be wary: they're frauds, scams, confidence tricks, and illegal in most countries for the simple reason that people are given the fraudulent impression they will definitely make money when in fact they are extremely likely to lose money - unless they happen to be in the top few levels of the pyramid.

It sounds like an easy way to get rich, until you realise that the only way that anybody makes money in a pyramid scheme is by taking it directly from other participants - chiefly friends, relatives and co-workers. Also, it takes a very short time for a geographical or social community to be swamped with scheme members, the vast majority of whom will never make any money from the scheme - as you can see if you run the numbers in our calculator."

Try out the Pyramid Scheme Calculator

City Comforts

"Cities, architecture, the 'new urbanism,' real estate, historic preservation, urban design, land use law, landscape, transport etc etc from a mildly libertarian stance. Our response to problems of human settlement is not 'better planning' and a bigger budget for local government. But alas, conservative and libertarian (not the same, to be sure) response to shaping our cities is too often barren and in denial. Our goal is to take part in fostering a new perspective. But not too earnestly."

City Comforts Blog

The Ig Nobel Web Page

"Each year, ten Ig Nobel Prizes are awarded. The selection criterion is simple. The prizes are for "achievements that cannot or should not be reproduced." Examine that phrase carefully. It covers a lot of ground. It says nothing as to whether a thing is good or bad, commendable or pernicious.

For example: after something has been discovered or created, no one - anyone, anywhere, ever - can later become the first to have made that discovery or creation. The "firstness" cannot be repeated. Thus, Don Featherstone (Ig Nobel Art Prize, 1996), the creator of the plastic pink flamingo, clearly qualifies under the "cannot be repeated" clause.

Similarly, Bijan Pakzad (Ig Nobel Chemistry Prize, 1995), the inventor of DNA cologne (which comes in a triple-helix glass bottle, and is marketed with the explanation "Product does not contain deoxyribonucleic acid") also qualifies under the "cannot be repeated" clause.

And Anders Barheim and Hogne Sandvik (Ig Nobel Biology Prize, 1996), who discovered that sour cream stimulates the appetite of leaches, but that beer intoxicates the creatures and garlic often kills them, clearly qualify under the "cannot be repeated" clause."

The Ig Nobel Web Page

World and Regional Rankings

"Aneki.com is an independent, privately operated website based in Montreal, Canada. We are dedicated to promoting wider knowledge of the world's countries and regions. Our website serves as a comprehensive source of continental and world rankings in an increasing number of categories. The data for our compilations is derivedfrom numerous sources including United Nations agencies and the United States' Central Intelligence Agency's World Factbook."

View: World and Regional Rankings