Welcome to the 74th issue of Cool Tricks and Trinkets offering weekly insights into new, cool, useful, fun, unusual and interesting sites on the Internet.

In this issue:

- I Want My Me.TV
- Cool Utility 
- The Buzz of Bees
- Short Takes
- Under the Sea
- Educating Your Pet
- In God We Trust
- Web Wordsmith 
- Notes from the Road 
- Subscribers' Sites

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In the 1967 movie "The Graduate", Dustin Hoffman was given one now famous word of advice as a career pursuit, "plastics". If the movie were filmed today the word would be "wireless".

MeTV.com will soon be providing broadcast quality full-screen movies to PCs with broadband Internet access. That in itself is nothing special, but with their soon to be released wireless transmitter, users will be able to broadcast movies from their PC to any television within 150 ft.

The site currently offers a limited selection of 10 minute movie clips in categories such as action, drama, horror, martial arts and sci-fi. Worth a look.

I Want my Me TV - MeTV.com (requires high speed access to fully appreciate)

With all the viruses, bugs and potential conflicts in computers programs, it is hard to keep up with all the new fixes and patches being added daily.

BigFix is a utility that scans your entire computer for potential system conflicts and provides automated solutions to them all in one place. After running this program, BigFix detected problems in my Internet Explorer, Pentium Processor, Windows 98 security settings and pointed me to the proper company sites where I was able to download the fixes. This is a really useful program.

Cool Utility - Big Fix (free)

We all know about the birds and the bees, but most of us know very little about bees, other than they sting, make honey and don't like bears.

Tales From the Hive is a fascinating PBS site that takes us on a virtual tour through the "anatomy of a hive." Learn the distinctions between a Drone, a Worker and her majesty, The Queen as well as how the colony functions. Check out the interactive "hot science section" where bees communicate with each other by dancing. Try your hand at successfully interpreting a bee ballet.

The Buzz About Bees - Tales From the Hive

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SHORT TAKES:

How many time have you asked the video clerk, "when will____ be out on video?" Video ETA provides a listing of almost every movie you can think of and includes information on when it will be released and on what formats. A bookmark special!

Video ETA

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On a TV show, when it comes time to write a star out of the script, the writers usually arrange for an untimely death. This site includes a list of shows of everything from Tom & Jerry to Party of Five and allows you to write an ending for your least favorite character. Users may vote on their favorite fictitious characters demise.

Who would you kill?

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Had e-nough of e-branded products? Well, this recent innovation may change your mind. Electronic ink or eink, poses as ordinary liquid ink but when an electric field is applied, white particles within it move to the top thus hiding the ink. Apply the opposite charge field and the ink will reappear.

Electronic Ink

Turn your friends on to Cool Tricks and Trinkets, click here.

Of all the places humans have explored, the ocean floor still remains a dark and puzzling mystery.

This fascinating site offers a virtual voyage with the scientists of Extreme 2000 who will dive to depths of 1.5 miles off the coast of Mexico. Join the expedition as they investigate hydrothermal vents and the bizarre creatures that live in total darkness on the sea floor.

Extreme 2000: Voyage to the Deep

It's a classic story: family sees dog, falls in love with dog, takes dog home, dog makes mess in the house, six months pass, dog goes straight to the pound, family is upset, dog is confused, and nobody wins.

Animal training and health is filled with many myths and misnomers. Some of which are nothing short of barbaric. Hitting, yelling and rubbing his nose in it, are all signs of a misinformed pet owner.

Pet Education is a comprehensive site containing articles on pet healthcare as well as dog and cat behavior. Learn the basics of puppy training, housebreaking, nutrition, and many other issues that could save unnecessary frustration for you and your pet.

Educating Your Pet

You can reach some of the most sophisticated people online by sponsoring Tricks and Trinkets. Email me for details at info@tricksandtrinkets.com

Do Buddhists believe in God? What is Jihad and what role does it play in the lives of Muslims? How can you quiet your mind and body? The answer to these and many spiritually oriented questions are offered with style and grace at Beliefnet.

This multi-faith independent, non-profit entity, has gathered an accomplished group of journalists who attempt to provide fair and reliable information on the world's religions. This content rich site contains information, discussions, and columns from some of the leading thinkers in spirituality today.

In God We Trust - Beliefnet.com

For the terminally lazy, it is too much to ask to look up the definition of a word we don't know. The context of the sentence is enough to provide the gist of it. Well, what if those very definitions were a mere mouse click away?

Enter: VoyCabulary. This new web tool conveniently links all the words on a web page to any number of online references such as the Merrian-Webster Dictionary and Thesaurus as well as a medical, computer and acronym dictionary.

Web Wordsmith - Voycabulary.com

It's difficult not to get the travel bug when you come across a site like this. I almost packed up the laptop and headed off for Spain. <g>

Notes from the Road is one of the best personal travel sites we have reviewed. It is a narrative supplement to the newsletter, "Travels in City and Country" and contains virtual postcards from Yosemite, Central America, the West Indies and the Iberian Peninsula.

Notes from the Road

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

~ Living Internet - A GREAT site about all things web related.
Bill Stewart <billstew@livinginternet.com>

~ Pearls Pad - Family History and Genealogy mainly with reference to New Zealand. Pearl Wilson <pearlw@ihug.co.nz>

~ Useless News - Worthless forums, pointless graphics, and uninteresting links. Jordan.Sim.Kohl <geo_cosmic@yahoo.com>

~ SOUTHERNSOUL - An inside look at the Stax & Hi recording studios in Memphis. GrooveDog <grvdog@webtv.net>

~ Your webmaster guide to the BEST on-line FREEBIES
M.-J. Taylor <mj@cyber-key.com>

~ The Book Shelf - Searchable online bookstore with a wide variety fiction and non fiction. Theresa Ratliff <tess_f_28@hotmail.com>

~ Millennium Pop - A journal of the popular arts.
Tim Riley <triley@publicinteractive.com>

~ Barb's Christian Webpage Barb Nelson <bnelson@up.net>

~ Heathers Burrage's Personal Web Page
Heather Burrage <HethrSk8er@aol.com>

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        ------oOOo-(_)-oOOo--------
         You could labor ten years under a master
          Trying to discern whether the teachings are true.
           But all you might learn is this:
           One must live one's own life.
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                            \_)

Charles Kessler