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The Cool Tricks and Trinkets Newsletter #209 8/29/02 |
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Welcome to the 209th issue of the Cool Tricks and Trinkets Newsletter offering weekly insights into new, cool, useful, fun, unusual and interesting sites on the Internet. In this issue: -
Galileo's Struggle ~~~~~ Cool Tricks and Trinkets is made possible by~~~~~~ <Editor's Note> A1 Discount Hotels is our primary business and source of income. You can support Tricks and Trinkets, by checking us out the next time you're planning a trip. For personal travel needs, write me at info@a1-discount-hotels.com A1 Discount Hotels (an affiliate of Hotels.com) offers discount rooms in over 5000 hotels worldwide with choices from budget to 5 star hotels. Bookmark our site for you next trip. Visit us online or call our operators at 888-511-5743 http://www.a1-discount-hotels.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Galileo's Struggle Imagine being the guy who had to convince the world that it was not the center of the universe. Three hundred years ago that was the battle, documented at Galileo's Struggle, the companion web site to the two-hour NOVA special based on the bestseller, "Galileo's Daughter." Considered the father of modern science, Galileo infuriated the Church with his astonishing notion that the Earth, like other common planets, revolved around the sun, contradicting both the Bible and common sense. Learn about the thinker's intellectually heroic life and his place in science. An interactive section lets visitors test his theories via experiments with inclines, pendulums and falling objects - a test that even Aristotle failed. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/galileo/ Alternative Rock Bible Only Trouser Press can speak with such authority about Bad Religion, who released its first LP in 1982 and 20 years later still rocks a new generation of punks. In two sections, the first covering the 70s and the 80s and the second the 90s and beyond, Trouserpress.com reminds visitors of a time when "alternative" really did mean new and different. The Bible of alternative rock since 1983, the original New York-based rock magazine preached the gospel of the British Invasion and new wave. In the older section, visitors are treated to an archive of the mag's first four record guides covering everything from 60s punk roots to 80s new wave. The 90s section contains updated discographies - all searchable alphabetically. Grand Illusions Remember Monty Hall and his now famous Three-Door Dilemma? TV game contestants had a chance at a fabulous prize if only they could choose the right door. At Grand Illusions, inquiring minds learn the mathematical solutions to such puzzles and experiment with dozens of fascinating optical illusions. See Jesus, try out a trick best played on a group of drunken scientists, or take the brain teaser that Microsoft allegedly uses to test job applicants. At the Grand Illusion Shop, visitors can buy classic illusions and scientific toys almost impossible to find elsewhere, like the amazing melting spoon or Juno's Spinner, a polyhedron that strangely morphs between two shapes. http://www.grand-illusions.com/index.htm SHORT TAKES Computer Stupidities The biggest bug in any computer sits on the chair right in front of the keyboard...that's right, you. The mistakes users and experts alike make with hardware, software and usage are gathered, grouped and exposed at Computer Stupidities, where anyone with a mouse will feel right at home. <><><><> Word Oddities and Trivia Word Oddities and Trivia gives word-freaks 19 pages of random word facts, like the three 7-letter words that can be played on a musical instrument and a whole page of words beginning with the letter Z. http://members.aol.com/gulfhigh2/words.html <><><><> W. J. Sidis Archives The child prodigy William J. Sidis may have burnt-out early, but here admirers have gathered his contributions to cosmology, Native American history and two books' worth of theory and thought, inviting others to contribute to the search for his lost manuscripts. Enjoy
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Grammar and Language Courses If you think the irregular verbs and quirky spelling of English are tough, try learning Estonian. It has one present tense, three pasts and no future. According toYourDictionary.com's Grammar and Language Courses, it's one of the world's most difficult languages to master. To
start the lesson, or to learn Akkudian, Finnish or Mayan for that matter,
scroll through the list of over 100 languages, click on your choice, and
be taken directly to online lessons with audio clips for pronunciation
and practice, find off-line resources on CD ROM and in books and related
links to foreign language newspapers, radio stations and http://www.yourdictionary.com/grammars.html Mystery Portal Mystery fanatics with investigation notes of their own or oft-told family tales that make little ones duck their head under the covers at night can share their creepiest suspicions with others at the Mystery Portal. Haunted Britain, UFOs, crop circles, ghosts of all kinds and even haunted airfields are fodder for the fans of mystery who gather here to read the features, updates, articles and reader submissions. From UFO photographs to legendary "earth mysteries," like the shape-changing fearsome demon dog of English folklore, the offerings are detailed and often accompanied by first-person notes and evidence. The Great Seal Imagine the mother of all branding campaigns - coming up with a logo and a slogan to symbolize a feisty new nation intent on cornering the market on democracy. Great Seal.com tells the story of the six-year effort by the Founding Fathers to create a public identity for the USA. Talk about brainstorming. Old Ben Franklin liked the idea of Moses extending his hand over the sea to overwhelm Pharaoh as a pillar of fire from the clouds shined on Moses to show he acted at God's own command. Learn the whole story of how America's symbolic mission statement came to be, from the other preliminary designs to the significance of the Seal's symbolic elements and Latin mottoes. **********Advertisement************** THE COOLEST COLOR BUSINESS CARDS These cards will make you proud to have a business. Create, personalize, edit, print and order a unique one of a kind business card. http://www.ebusiness-cards.com
Movie Spoilers Don't tell me how it ends! If you're the type who closes your eyes, stuffs your ears and hums loudly during movie trailers, Movie Spoilers is not the ticket for you. On the other hand, moviegoers sick of dropping $8 or more for a clunker need never be disappointed again. Detailed plot lines, scene-by-scene action, even direct quotes from in-release movies like Signs and The Master of Disguise are here, submitted by regular people who have no compunction whatever about revealing the ending. Over a hundred spoiled movies take up residence, so visitors can also catch up on movies that flew under their radar or, if they just can't not tell, submit their own spoiler. http://www.themoviespoiler.com/ The Virtual Cave Nature has an astounding way of using its own power to relentlessly whack away at its own creations to recreate them. Witness The Virtual Cave, where visitors explore solution caves dissolved from solid rock, sea caves carved by the ocean, erosional caves made by particles whipped by wind and water, and lava tube caves formed by flowing lava. The amazing variety of caves is explored in words and images without risk of violating the caver's motto to "Take nothing but pictures and leave no trace of your visit." If the keyboard isn't tactile enough for you, links to the US Show Caves Directory and the National Speleological Society can guide you to safe and respectful visits to real live caves. http://www.goodearthgraphics.com/virtcave/ SUBSCRIBERS' SITES - Many of our subscribers have fascinating on-line projects. This weekly section will introduce you to some of these sites. Please let me know about your project so that I might mention it in this section. Write me at info@tricksandtrinkets.com ~Intelligent Content Design - "Content is the Key" ~My Deer Garden - Deer Resistant Garden Design
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~Wan
An-shih
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