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The Cool Tricks and Trinkets Newsletter #341 3/10/5 |
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Welcome
to the 341st issue of the Cool Tricks and Trinkets Newsletter
~~~~~ Cool Tricks and Trinkets is made possible by~~~~~~
A1 Discount Hotels
(an affiliate of Hotels.com), offers discount rooms in over http://www.a1-discount-hotels.com Visit us online or call our operators at 888-511- 5743
Discover nature at home at E-nature, the National Wildlife Federation's full-service web site for nature lovers. Want to attract creatures to your own backyard, or find out what poisonous snakes might be in the local park? E-nature can help with its Local Field Guides, searchable by zip code. The site takes visitors beyond their own fence, too, with field guides for 5,000 species and a ParkFinder, offering maps, species lists and reviews of parks and wildlife refuges nationwide. But the site's distinction is its local focus. Use the online habitat planner, learn how to have your yard certified by the National Wildlife Federation and get expert answers to nature questions, like why birds fly into windows. Enterprising Women While the scales are not yet even, women have been steadily becoming a stronger and more influential force in the business world for the past three hundred years. 'Enterprising Women' tells the individual stories of 40 women whose work has helped to lay the very foundation of American business. Travel back in time to meet an 18th Century print shop owner, a 19th Century dressmaker, a 20th Century corporate executive and other women who, against all odds, made their mark in the cutthroat and sexist world of business. Visitors can read through the biographies of these inspiring women, play a fun game entitled 'Mind Your Own Business", or submit their personal success stories to the site. http://www.enterprisingwomenexhibit.org/ Improv Everywhere If you like the successful British prank show 'Trigger Happy TV', then you will get a kick out of the American 'consortium of silly people' known as "Improv Everywhere". Founded in New York City just a few years ago by Charlie Todd, the group prides itself on its ability to create organized fun and chaos. Scroll through the Missions section and read about the over forty harmless pranks the young troupe has pulled, including highlights such 'Celebrity Trash' and the annual 'No Pants' stunt. Due to popular demand, there is also a DVD for sale, but if you have a fast connection you can download video clips of some of Improv Everywhere's funniest bits free of charge. http://www.improveverywhere.com/ SHORT TAKES Phone a Babysitter Nothing is more precious to us than our children, so it is important to have a reliable source when looking for a babysitter. PhoneaBabySitter.Com is an online service for parents that links them with reliable babysitters in their local area.
Learn the geography of our wonderful country at this cool educational site. Simply drag each state to its proper location and watch as they become united!
Warning signs may be a bit dull in the States, but in Japan they are quite unique. Take a look through this gallery of Japanese signs to see how they creatively convey caution in the Far East. http://www.juergenspecht.com/documentations/?number=1 Enjoy the newsletter? Tell your friends to subscribe by sending an email to: cooltricks-join-request@list.adventive.com San Francisco Amusements Sponsored by the San Francisco Museum and Historical Society, "Amusing America" showcases the evolution of amusement parks in the Bay Area. Amuse yourself by discovering some of the many hidden wonders of America's past at this cool online exhibition. Visitors to the website will find a great selection of old photographs and information about the birth and growth of San Francisco (and America's) amusement industry. There is an archive of images of all the original Fairs, Theme Parks, Gardens, Expos, Hippodromes and other sites that made the San Francisco of the 19th and 20th centuries so unique. http://sfpl.lib.ca.us/news/onlineexhibits/amusing/ Liberated Games One of the best things about the Internet is, of course, that there is a lot of free stuff out there. From email and encyclopedias to music and newsletters, it is possible to spend years enjoying the Net without paying a penny more than your connection fee. Liberated Games is a website that tracks all of the video games that have been legally 'liberated' in playable form for the gaming public to enjoy. Look through the list to find great free games such as Grand Theft Auto 2, Doom, Heretic, Quake and Wolfenstein 3D as they were legally released, in either Source Code or Binary Executable format. http://www.liberatedgames.com/gamelisting.php Discovering Music with the BBC If you don't really "get" jazz, world music or classical music, leave it to the British to explain what makes great music great by tuning in to BBC Radio's Discovering Music, where each week a major musical masterpiece undergoes a thorough diagnosis. Four musicologists
are your guides through the series, which uses recordedexamples to analyze
context and content in a complete concert performance featured in the
current week on BBC's Radio 3. Visitors may tune in, then re-experience
the music with the help of new listening tools and new insights from your
learned tutors. Visit the archive of past programs by clicking on a composer,
reviewing play lists or, for the http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/classical/discover.shtml
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In language, because of improper pronunciation or creative license, a word's original spelling changes on a mainstream or "real-life" usage scale. These "semantically reanalysed" words are called eggcorns, a term that was coined by linguists who are more interested in understanding how people manipulate their own language than about correcting their grammar. The Eggcorn Database was launched a few months ago, and is a 'lexical database' of eggcorns for linguists and philologists to enjoy. Browse or search the archive to see what eggcorns you are currently using. Well-known "eggcorns" (acorns) include "mute" point (moot), "barbed" wire (bobwire) and "backpedal" (backpeddle). Ukulele Books If you love to read books and you love to play the ukulele, then you've come to the right place. For those that tend to not associate books with ukuleles, this site is worth visiting for its originality and creative inspiration alone. Artists Peter and Donna Thomas of Santa Cruz, CA have created a series of hybrid books built within actual working ukuleles. Scroll through their series of twenty-three books, look at pictures of these original creations, and read descriptions of the content within the unique instruments. http://www.baymoon.com/%7Eukulelebooks 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 ctt@net-market.com ~ Laura Gibson Jewelry - Classic Elegance with a Twist
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