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The Cool Tricks and Trinkets Newsletter #265 9/25/3 |
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Welcome to the 265th 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: - Information
Overload
http://www.a1-discount-hotels.com Visit us online or call our operators at 888-511-5743 <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 care@a1-discount-hotels.com
Is it possible to measure the amount of information in the world? With a constant supply of new books, film, advertising and technology produced every year, as well as the expansion of the Internet, it would seem to be an impossible task. But a study by the faculty and students of The School of Information at the University of Berkeley has actually calculated what they deem to be society's 'Information Overload'. The
website maps out the findings of the Information Study and breaks down
the world's data into four categories; Print, Film, Optical and Magnetic.
While it turns out the world produces almost 2 exabytes (1 exabyte = 1
billion gigabytes), it is striking to learn that less than 0.01 percent
of that information comes to us through the printed word (newspaper, books,
magazines, etc.). Your wonderful weekly edition of The http://www.sims.berkeley.edu/research/projects/how-much-info/ The Beauty of Wine Labels While many sites herald the joys of what is actually inside the bottle, Stratsplace.com pays tribute to the beautiful labels placed on the worlds finest wines. Connoisseurs can view labels from wines all over the world, including Australia, Argentina, Chile and even China. The site was created by a lovely husband and wife team who have a passion for the beautiful artwork that has been seen on wine bottles for over a century. Check out the section on the art of Mouton. Along with surprisingly evolved and abstract artwork, visitors can read the story of how this lovely couple has actually been threatened with legal action by the owners of the wine label they admire so much. http://www.stratsplace.com/labels.html Guide To Road-Trip Fast Food One of the wonderfully harsh realities of an American road trip is the inevitable, affordable though sometimes perilous diet of fast food. With endless choices situated next to every freeway exit from New York to San Francisco, how does the modern nomad make the crucial choice between adrive-thru dinner at Wendy's or White Castle? Much more than just a road restaurant reference, tesg's Guide to Big Chain Road Food Consumption is a hilarious documentation of one man's dedicated journey through the large and small chains that make up our fast food nation. Restaurants are separated by cuisine (burgers, mexican, etc.), with each review offering a bit of history on the chain as well as hysterical anecdotes of our hosts' drive-thru experiences. http://www.99w.com/evilsam/ff/
The multicolored mystery cube of the 1980's has found new life in the art world. Rubik's Cube Art is an 'electronic coffee table book' that showcases the work of artists who use the famed cube as a medium to create cool artwork. http://www.wunderland.com/WTS/Jake/CubeArt/
As a child George Vlosich III began using the canvas of an Etch-A-Sketch to create magic. What began as a game has evolved into astonishingly high-quality art that serves as a timeline of his life. Considered to be 'pop art', his work hangs in museums and galleries all over the world. George's Etch-A-Sketches have even earned him a trip to The White House! http://www.gvetchedintime.com/
Want to know if the girl you met in a chat room is actually a girl? Using a simplified version of an algorithm, the genie actually analyzes written text and determines whether the author is male or female. I tested it out and, believe it or not, it seems to work (its success rate is around 80%). http://www.bookblog.net/gender/genie.php Compendium of Lost Words Philologists and lexicographers will love this collection of over four hundred 'lost words'. According to the Compendium, there are a number of prerequisites that need to be met before a word can be considered officially 'lost'. One of the key rules is that while the word must be found in the Oxford English Dictionary it must not appear, in its Modern English context, anywhere on the Internet. A few minutes spent perusing Forthright's Phrontistery will transform visitors from humble wordsmiths to well-armed, hypenemious aretalogers. http://phrontistery.50megs.com/clw.html ESPNgamer Leave it to ESPN to provide X-BOX and PS/2 fanatics with the ultimate website for sports video games. The site is actually very similar to a regular sports website except that it caters solely to the world of video game athletics. Visitors can check out the latest releases on everything from Basketball to Auto Racing to Extreme Sports games. You can vote on the Greatest Sports Video Game Athlete of all time, read reviews from the site's editors and visitors, and check out the 'release schedule' to find out about upcoming releases. http://sports.espn.go.com/espngamer/ New-Wave Photos Phillip Carly's gracious website, New Wave Photos, is an archive of his personal concert photography from the 1970's and 80's. The encouraging response he has received in the last year since posting his website has inspired him to begin shooting musicians once more. A true music buff, Phillip has shots of literally hundreds of Punk and New-Wave bands and musicians, from long forgotten no names to world famous groups like The Ramones. Like so many small sites, the enjoyment in cruising through New Wave Photos comes from the personality of the individual himself. Visitors will find an endless amount of photos to look at, since Mr. Carly has gone to the effort of posting just over 11,000 of his own concert snapshots!
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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 ******************************** The Blackout As if being the most widespread power loss in history were not enough, the recent Northeastern Blackout can now claim to have its own official website. 'The Blackout' as it has come be known, is well documented in this site that is replete with amateur snapshot photography of that bizarre and frightening day, a day that saw seven oil refineries shut down and dozens of major cities stand still. Clicking on any of the images will reveal a biography of the image (city, location, description of events, etc.), as well as comments from previous visitors. There is a link to the 'Blackout Support Center', sponsored by the American Power Conversion Corp., as well as a link to a site where you can buy a Blackout Survival Kit complete with solar-powered phone rechargers! http://blackout.textamerica.com/ The Red Kitchen The Red Kitchen was founded by a few self-proclaimed 'Blogomaniacs' who love to cook and wanted to create a weblog to share their recipes and kitchen tips. The site has a very homemade feel to it (each chef's is called by her first name that appears in red), and is updated regularly with great new recipes. In addition to a regular stream of new recipes, Red Kitchen also has links to sites where you can buy great cookbooks and cooking products. Guests will love the down-home vibe of the site, where they can read mini-interviews about the different cooks in this virtual kitchen. 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 ~Hostile Undergarments for Smiling Professionals ~Jewish Holiday Reference Card ~The Official Wallace & Ladmo Fan Club
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