Paltalk’s public and private Screening Rooms should be a big hit

Paltalk, established in 1998, is a rapidly-growing Internet chat service featuring text, voice and video chatting, open only to Microsoft Windows users at the present time. Screening Rooms allows members—up to 5000 in number—to watch videos (home-made or licensed) together and discuss them using text, voice, or video chat. Groups of fans can now congregate to comment on a particular music video. Video artists will have a venue to show off their creations and gather feedback. Parents and adult children will be able to meet in a private room and view videos of the grandchildren without having to travel long distances. Co-workers at various commercial sites will be able to view training videos and interact with experts at head office. The possibilities are endless.

http://www.paltalk.com/

Dr. Gifford-Jones launches his own web site

Dr. Gifford-Jones, an internationally-syndicated Canadian medical journalist, writes a popular newspaper column on current medical topics. He has just launched his own web site, enabling readers to access many of his previous columns. He writes about everything from the benefits of Vitamin C to instructions for avoiding “wrong-side” surgery. Dr. Gifford-Jones writes with a sense of humor that allows him to present serious topics in a lighter vein.

http://www.mydoctor.ca/user/index.asp?id=3520

Is Internet censorship obsolete?

Many people live in countries subject to Internet censorship, and are unable to access information available on blocked sites. The Psiphon project offers a solution to this problem. It requires the cooperation of Psiphon providers in censorship- free countries who facilitate the linking. Psiphon is a service of the CiviSec Project operated by the Citizen Lab at the Munk Centre for International Studies at the University of Toronto. The CiviSec Project is funded by the Open Society Institute.

Web users contact the Psiphon site, and receive passwords and Web links. When the Psiphon search bar appears on their screens, they may begin surfing the Net free of blocking by government agencies. Net censors observe a nondescript IP address and have no idea which site the Psiphon user has accessed. The encrypted message appears to be one of the millions of encrypted financial transactions running through the Internet. Prospective users should visit the FAQ and Forum sections on the site to learn how the system works and how to minimize discovery by censors. Any system is vulnerable to government investigation and users should be aware of the risks involved in bypassing censorship protocols. Government investigators might even set up bogus "anonymous" proxy sites to lure and track censorship law violators. Be sure you know well the person who agrees to set up your Psiphon connection.

http://psiphon.civisec.org/

For a discussion about how certain countries attempt to defeat programs like Psiphon, go to: http://www.peacefire.org/circumventor/list-of-possible-weaknesses.html

Check out another program called Freegate, available at the Download.com site:
http://www.download.com/Freegate/3000-2085_4-10415391.html

The Journal of Hispanic Ufology reports strange, new UFO incidents

This is the official site of The Journal of Hispanic Ufology, (est. 1998), which features information re paranormal and UFO events which have occurred in Mexico, Spain, South America, and the Caribbean. Reports are filed by correspondents in over twelve Spanish-speaking countries.

There is a shocking report made by police officers in Argentina. On November 11, 2007, they encountered a strange craft on the road and four alien figures in the vicinity of Irene in the District of Coronel Dorrego. If you understand Spanish, you will find a more detailed report of the incident at the following link:

http://www.analuisacid.com/coronel_dorrego.htm

Another incident occurred at the Vizcaino power plant, located in the Mexican state of Baja California Sur, on June 8, 2007. A senior engineer took a photo of a UFO over the facility on June 8, 2007, using a Sony DSC-P41 camera.

What amazes me is that reports of sightings in Hispanic countries rarely appear in North American media outlets. The Inexplicata blog attempts to fill this information gap.

http://www.inexplicata.blogspot.com/

Arizona school teaches survival skills for national emergencies

The Aboriginal Living Skills School, founded by Cody Lundin specializes in “wilderness skills, primitive living skills, and urban preparedness”. According to Lundin, fewer than 1 in 10 people in the U.S. have the skills necessary to survive a national emergency involving the loss of basic utilities, like electricity and water over an extended period. The 2005 Hurricane Katrina disaster demonstrated how vulnerable an urban population is when a catastrophe strikes. Many people have to fend for themselves, dealing with the lack of potable drinking water, food shortages, loss of medical emergency facilities and the breakdown of law and order. Lundin’s website features details on the courses he offers and two books he has written on the topics of wilderness survival and urban disaster preparedness.

http://www.alssadventures.com/

Change a long URL to a short one

Sometimes when I sent an email containing a link with a long URL, like http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=OlgC4bWhVMw, it would be broken into two parts during transmission. That was inconvenient for the person receiving it, having to paste it back together. Now I use a free service called TinyURL.com to convert a long URL to a short one.
People who have one of those free websites with long URLs will also benefit from this service too. Now http://www.my-internet-isp.com/~myusername could look like http://tinyurl.com/3.

Check it out at http://tinyurl.com/

Entrepreneur makes transition from bricks and mortar to online storefront

Running a retail operation from a standard "bricks and mortar" storefront is a tough business. The overhead is often high, and includes items like rent, advertising, wages, utilities, and financing. The man in the video below had been importing and selling pottery products from Mexico at four outlets. When Walmart came to town, the competition was too much. He decided to start from scratch with an online travel business storefront and has never looked back. Click on the picture below to hear Kim’s story.

An onsite community for moms to gather and talk

Kaboose.com is a gathering place for moms to exchange ideas on a variety of topics, including parenting and school, pregnancy, general health, recipes and food, crafts, holidays and fun, and games. The many discussion boards offer threads on dozens of topics of interest to mothers. One special feature is Kaboose TV, which enables users to watch videos on a variety of topics, e.g. reducing your child’s temper tantrums, curbing your child’s bossiness streak, what to do when your child chooses bad friends, and protecting your child from “stranger danger”. http://www.kaboose.com/

Advice for keeping children safe in a dangerous world

John Walsh, the host of America’s Most Wanted, and Julie Clarke, creator of Baby Einstein, have teamed up to provide a wealth of child protection resources in TheSafeSide.com. Here you will be able to obtain DVDs titled “Internet Safety” and “Stranger Safety”. The site enables users to download resource material on those topics useful to both families and schools.

http://www.amw.com/ John Walsh’s original America’s Most Wanted site

http://www.thesafeside.com/ child safety site

http://www.familywatchdog.us/ track registered sex offenders in your neighborhood

Which is better, cable or DSL Internet service?

If you need to compare cable vs. DSL (telephone-based) Internet service, check out Webopedia.com at the following link:

http://www.webopedia.com/DidYouKnow/Internet/2005/cable_vs_dsl.asp

This online encyclopedia of computer technology information will answer most of your questions relating to your computer. It’s a great source of information for students taking an introductory computer course and requiring definitions of various computer devices, e.g. “hub”, “router”, or “switch”. Puzzled about the term “Web 2.0”? Check it out here:

http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/W/Web_2_point_0.html

Childproofing for school

It's not enough for parents to send their kids off to school with warm mittens and a healthy lunch. Now they have to make sure that they wear the latest in safety clothing. A UK company called Bladerunner offers a GPS Tracker Jacket for your child. When your son or daughter moves outside a pre-set range, you get an alert on your cell phone. You even have the ability to track your child's movements on your computer. Or, how about a knife-proof hoodie? Check out the site here: http://www.bladerunner.tv/index.php

Christmas is around the corner. What teen wouldn't love to find a bulletproof backpack under the tree? At $195.00, it's a bargain for parents. http://www.mychildspack.com/

Teachers rated by students and parents

Do sites that enable parents and students to rate teachers anonymously serve a useful purpose? Some teachers would benefit from comments about them on the site. If students consistently rate them as boring, then perhaps some teachers might take a look at their style of teaching. When parents and students heap praise on teachers for their work in the classroom or on the sports field, they encourage good teachers who often do not receive enough feedback about their performance from the public. The important thing here is that comments be made honestly and in the spirit of constructive criticism. The site moderators appear willing to delete pointless and hurtful comments.

http://www.ratemyteachers.com/ (United States)

http://www.ratemyteachers.ca/ (Canada)

Medical information written and edited by practicing physicians

Unlike many medical information sites on the Internet, eMedicineHealth.com contains articles written and edited by practicing physicians. The content of this website is not designed to sell health products. The site is designed primarily for use by qualified physicians and other medical professionals, although the general public will find it useful when researching diseases and disorders.

http://www.emedicine.com/

Should you buy an extended warranty for electronic appliances?

Shoppers shell out extra money to purchase “extended warranties”, but often have a difficult time getting the store to honor the warranty. Some customers may even have to take the store to small claims court to get satisfaction. Unless the appliance has complex electronics with high repair costs, don’t waste your money. Read the ConsumerAffairs.com articles below for some scary details.

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2007/11/bestbuy_warranties.html

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2006/11/cr_warranties.html

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2005/extended_warranty.html

Professional musicians will record customized love songs just for you

Have you ever wanted to give your sweetheart the perfect gift, one that could never be found in a store? One that would really suit your lover? A new website will enable you to have professional musicians compose a personalized song for you to give to your loved one.

The process is easy. First, you choose a song from several available on the site. Listen to the songs by various artists in different genres until you find the one you like. There’s pop/rock, R &B, jazz, country and many more. Next, using the template of the lyrics provided, customize the song by substituting names and phrases of your choice. Then proceed to the checkout and pay for your song. Within a week or two, you download your song from your computer as an MP3 file or receive it in the mail on a CD. Prices range from $169 to $219. You may even hire a songwriter to write a whole song from scratch just for you.

Have fun with your customized song. Arrange with a local restaurant to play it during your meal. Play it on your stereo during a romantic candle lit dinner. Load it as an MP3 on your lover’s music player as a surprise.
http://www.tailoredmusic.com/

Avril Lavigne fights back after blogger attack

When Perez Hilton used his blog to take cheap shots at Avril Lavigne, Avril decided to do something about it. The result is her revenge blog, which may be more about publicity than revenge. Avril doesn't have a mean bone in her body.

http://www.perezlavigne.com/

Why are many working women trading 9-to-5 jobs for Internet home-based businesses?

The typical downtown office job involves a hectic daily routine combined with expensive and time-consuming commuting to and from work. For working women who are mothers, it means daycare expenses and the shuttle back and forth from the childcare centre. Now in the Internet age, women are going online and utilizing their expertise and work skills to earn significant income working from home. Home-based website businesses also qualify individuals for tax write-offs not available to employees in general. Women with online businesses like being their own bosses, and having the freedom to set their own hours. Most women report increased time with their families and a new flexibility in the planning of vacation time. Click on the picture below to hear Nicole’s story.

Disappearing bees—how will Colony Collapse Disorder affect your life?

We stand on the brink of a disaster that could make global warming look like a Sunday school picnic. Bees in Canada and the U.S. are disappearing fast, and scientists are not sure why. There are dozens of theories, but no definitive answer. Without bees there will be no fruits or vegetables, because bees do the pollination required to grow them. We must find answers soon, or many agricultural producers will face bankruptcy and consumers will have rapidly dwindling food choices. Watch The Importance of Bees video at the link below.
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/bees/impact.html

What can you do to help the bees?
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/bees/help.html

How much fish should pregnant women eat?

The Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition recently recommended that pregnant women eat at least 12 ounces of fish per week in order to get enough omega-3 essential fatty acids. The group believes that the health benefits of fish outweigh the risk associated with the consumption of small amounts of methyl mercury. http://www.hmhb.org/oceanfishpr.html

Below is a link to a relevant article on the WashingtonPost.com website.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/19/AR2007101902609.html?nav=emailpage

Check out this site for a list of mercury content in fish:
http://www.nrdc.org/health/effects/mercury/guide.asp

I was not surprised to see tuna on the “high mercury” list. Many veterinarians discourage cat owners from feeding tuna to their cats.

Now everyone can be a news reporter or journalist

NowPublic is a website which empowers everyone to gather and report news events from around the globe. The site enables contributors to upload text, photos, videos, and audio reports. Users of the site may view or submit news items in several categories, e.g. crime, culture, emergencies, health, sports and technology. Although the site pays for certain instances of reporting, most news is contributed by volunteer reporters. I find the concept fascinating—to be able to find out news before the major media outlets have a chance to send a news team to an event, or even to learn about events that conventional media outlets will not cover. News censorship may now be obsolete. Nonetheless, the veracity of reports may be an issue, and would be subject to fine tuning by other contributing reporters and the editors of the site, similar to the Wikipedia process.
http://www.nowpublic.com/

Would you know what to do if your baby stopped breathing?

The Parents.com website has a section called ParentsTV which features six video channels. The Baby Basics channel contains a series of videos on topics like baby CPR, breastfeeding, massaging your baby, burping your baby, and childproofing your home.

Here is the link: http://www.parents.com/parentstv/

The site also has other sections containing information on toddlers, preschoolers, and teens.

Now you can add voice to your blog, website, online ads, and auctions using your telephone or cell phone

With Voice2Page, you will be able to add a voice recording to your blog or website, or even an online ad or auction, by using your home phone or cell phone to call a toll-free number. Simply follow the instructions to record greetings or change them, 24-7. The Voice2Page site provides the code; you cut and paste it into your website. This system would be an effective tool for people who operate real estate sales websites, for example. Prospective customers would hear your voice, and with this added human touch, might be more inclined to stay on your site to hear what you had to say. I used Voice2Page to try out a voice greeting on this blog. The 15-second message plan is free, but it’s possible to upgrade to premium services giving you longer message times.
http://www.voice2page.com/

Find the Internet video you want with this site

Clipblast is a website which allows you to search over 4000 web video content provider sites and find the video you want. Suppose you wish to find a video about Bruce Springsteen. Simply type his name into the Clipblast search box and within seconds, you’ll get over 3300 video clips with thumbnail pictures to help you find the video you want. I wanted to find a video about fixing my bicycle, so I typed in “fix bike” and found several videos on the topic. This sure beats going to all the different sites and searching their archives.

http://www.clipblast.com/

New BlogTV video channel challenges YouTube

BlogTV is a new, user-friendly online video blogging channel that allows anyone to broadcast live video on the Internet. Users have their own page where they archive live webcam broadcasts and fans can subscribe and get updates as new material is added.

http://www.blogtv.com/ (the new U.S. site)

http://www.blogtv.ca/ (the original Canadian site)

The raw food lifestyle

I encountered this website when I was looking up the nutritional content of molasses. What I read on this site led me to immediately throw out the box of molasses I had in the kitchen cupboard. Apparently, molasses is full of toxic substances picked up during processing.
This site features a huge library of information on various health topics, e.g. reasons to eat raw food, vitamins and minerals, rest and sleep, the vegetarian diet, detoxification, overcooking food, reasons to avoid meat, value of fasting, dangers of a high-protein diet, feeding of infants, allergies, and hay fever.

http://www.rawfoodexplained.com/

New site displays images uploaded to public Blogger blogs

Blogger Play gives you a continuous stream of images that were just uploaded to public Blogger blogs. Click on the image to access the blog post containing it. Click on “show info” to view the post title, an excerpt of the text of the post as well as some profile information on the blogger who uploaded the image.

http://play.blogger.com/

See pics of your favourite Hollywood stars and breaking news on X17

This site contains dozens of candid shots of Hollywood stars accompanied by comments about the photos. There’s lots of interesting gossip here!

http://x17online.com/

Mystery chemtrails in the sky worry people in Ontario, Canada

While surfing the Net, I discovered a website reporting a strange phenomenon referred to as “chemtrails”. People in various parts of Ontario, Canada have seen unfamiliar aircraft flying crosshatch paths in the skies, leaving white trails containing chemicals of an undetermined nature, which drifted to the ground. At first I thought that this might just involve the misinterpretation of common vapor trails left by jets. But, in one report of spraying in Espanola, Ontario in 1999, a man reported feeling fine particles landing on his face, causing a stinging sensation. Several hundred residents of the area sent a petition to the Ontario Ministry of the Environment requesting that they intervene to stop U.S. jets from spraying over their community. Water samples showed elevated levels of aluminum among other contaminants. Residents complained of mysterious flu-like symptoms and other ailments which followed spraying operations.
I photographed two white jet aircraft in the sky above Kingston, Ontario, in September 2006 making a mess of a bright sunny day sky with their grid-like arrangement of trails.
Check out the chemtrail site at the links below.

Espanola, Ontario incident: http://www.holmestead.ca/chemtrails/completehealth.html

Index to the holmestead.ca site: http://www.holmestead.ca/index-ct.html

ADHD (Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) Experts on Call site offers new hope

Children with ADHD face difficulties at school, at home, and in social interaction in general. Many parents and caregivers need help and often don’t know where to turn. The Experts on Call website shown below offers support in the form of an educational hot line featuring live chat online with experts in ADHD, e.g. teachers, counselors, school nurses, teacher aides, doctors and parents. The site also lists a toll-free number, accessible from both Canada and the U.S.

http://www.adhdexpertsoncall.com/awarenessday/after.asp

Teenager creates website that pays for her university education

It all began when Nori Evoy, now 16 years of age, went on a vacation for the second time with her dad to the Caribbean island of Anguilla, in August of 2002. Fascinated with Anguilla, Nori expressed an interest in establishing a website to help other people discover this sunny paradise. Her father, Ken Evoy, a Canadian physician and Internet entrepreneur, encouraged Nori to try her hand at using his Sitesell website business package. With a minimum of assistance from her dad, Nori built and developed a website which today earns her enough money to cover all her educational expenses and more. Read her story and check out her website at the link below.

http://case-studies.sitesell.com/smallbiz28.html#TEENS

Transparency International—a global corruption watchdog

This organization monitors corruption in both public and private sectors. It fights against bribery in the construction and defence industries, as well as underhanded tactics in political party funding. Corruption in the judiciary of various countries is a target for this group. They offer a “corruption fighter’s toolkit” and an “anti-corruption handbook” for those who wish to participate in the anti-corruption process. Teachers may wish to take a look at these two publications: Teaching Integrity to Youth and Stealing the Future: Corruption in the Classroom.

http://www.transparency.org/

New software saves printer paper and trees

A new software program called GreenPrint deletes the blank pages that follow documents printed from the Internet. A “print overview” page allows you to decide what to delete from your website printout, thus saving paper and ink. The program also includes a PDF writer, which converts a document with one click.

https://printgreener.com/index.html

Monitor your home or business computer

If you install Webwatcher on your computer, you will be able to remotely and secretly monitor all activities on your home or business computer, including e-mails, instant messaging or chat, banking activities and word processing. This amazing, highly-rated program is the answer to protecting your children online, or monitoring the activities of anyone who has access to your computers. No one will know that your computer is bugged.

Never again worry about whether an unsavory stranger is chatting or arranging a date with your teenage child. Find out whether someone in a chat room is making inappropriate advances towards your spouse.

Click on the Webwatcher icon below to learn more about this marvel of technology.

How our lifestyle is making us sick

Sidney Ross Singer and Soma Grismaijer are medical anthropologists who investigate cultural factors in the etiology of common health ailments. They are the co-authors of Dressed to Kill: The Link Between Breast Cancer and Bras (Avery, 1995). Their website contains practical advice about modifying your lifestyle to avoid medical conditions such as sleep apnea, bladder infections and prostate enlargement.

http://selfstudycenter.org/

Magic Tricks for everyone

Pubtricks.com is a very entertaining site. I stumbled across a video on YouTube of one of their card tricks called This N That. Watch the tricks for free and buy the solutions if you are interested in learning how to do magic tricks.

The YouTube video of the This and That card trick: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tScm-eZInBE

The site with all the tricks: http://pubtricks.com/index.php

How to find out if your cell phone is being bugged

This video by Vortex Technology in Woodland Hills, California, will help you determine if your cell phone has been compromised and is relaying information to a hacker.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujosfSkHFrQ

First Nations National Day of Action—Canada: June 29, 2007.

The Assembly of First Nations represents all First Nations citizens in Canada. On June 29, 2007, the organization plans a National Day of Action to wake up Canadians to the plight of First Nation citizens in Canada. There are many issues requiring action in Canada, including aboriginal poverty, and equitable resolution of land claims. First Nations citizens want a share in the “good life” in Canada, and want their fair share of the resource wealth related to land which was once their own.

http://www.afn.ca/

Flying machines in ancient India—myth or reality?

The Vedic literature of India contains many descriptions of flying machines called Vimanas. Scholars have discovered detailed accounts of the construction and operation of several types of civilian and military flying machines. The aircraft used for military purposes employed weapons capable of destroying large concentrations of soldiers on the ground and entire cities, with consequences resembling the use of nuclear weapons. Were these the mere ramblings of imaginative writers, or evidence of ancient advanced technology? Decide for yourself.
http://www.hinduwisdom.info/Vimanas.htm

Here is a related site:
http://www.hinduwebsite.com/sacredscripts/hinduism/vimana/ancientvimanas.asp

Your cell phone could be spying on you!

Anyone who buys the software sold on the Flexispy website will be able to spy on you with your own cell phone. Parents can spy on babysitters. Spouses can spy on each other. It is possible to track the movements of other people and listen in on their conversations anywhere in the world. Information goes from your cell phone to the spy with no way to trace who’s doing the spying. Say goodbye to privacy.

http://www.flexispy.com/index.html

War with Iran predicted by John Hogue

John Hogue believes that war with Iran could come as early as this summer. He bases his prediction on the prophecies of Nostradamus. This website contains many of John Hogue’s past writings and predictions about world political events. This is scary reading, considering Hogue’s reliance on fact-based material to interpret Nostradamus.

http://www.hogueprophecy.com/

Work at home moms can operate their own website

It’s a mother’s dream to have a job that can be done from home. It means more time with the kids—the freedom to work when you wish, not when the clock dictates.

In this video, one young lady tells in her own words why she’s glad her mom has a home business.

This video says it all: http://wahm.sitesell.com/smallbiz28.html

Power your Ontario or Alberta home with “green” Bullfrog electricity

Customers who sign up with Bullfrog Power pay a few cents more per kilowatt, but know that their electricity comes from “green” generators using “clean, emission-free sources like wind power and low-impact water power” rather than oil or coal. Any home or business may participate in supporting “locally generated renewable power” with no disruption to their regular service.
http://www.bullfrogpower.com/

Eyes on Darfur: a global satellite neighborhood watch

Amnesty International has established the Eyes on Darfur site for the purpose of enabling people around the world to keep an eye on villages “at risk” in Darfur, an area in the western region of Sudan. Satellite images will reveal to the world any atrocities in progress. Examples of “before” and “after” pictures of burned-out villages testify to past genocidal activity. The hope is that “private citizens, policy makers, and international courts” will join with Amnesty International in an effort to secure international monitoring and intervention in the crisis.
http://www.eyesondarfur.org/

The mother of all online how-to manuals for doing all kinds of things

The wikiHow site is billed as a “collaborative writing project to build the largest, highest quality how-to manual”. It promises “solutions to the problems of everyday life” and boasts over 20,000 articles written and edited by volunteers.
http://www.wikihow.com/Main-Page This site is fun to browse
Many people embark on a hike in the woods with little knowledge about what to do if they get lost. One page on this site has a practical instruction sheet on survival in the woods. Click on the site below.
http://www.wikihow.com/Survive-in-the-Woods
http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Bread Make your own bread.

Watch how fast the population of the world increases every second

The population of the earth is well on its way to 7 billion. Watch the geometric progression happen in real time on this site. Your computer should be able to run the Java applet that the site utilizes for the computation. Will we reach the point where there won’t be space enough for everyone on the planet? With food production increasing arithmetically, will there be mass starvation?
http://www.ibiblio.org/lunarbin/worldpop

Getting along with people who are different from us

Wouldn’t the world be a better place if everyone got along better? Let’s learn a lesson from these unusual animal friendships:
http://letsbefriends.blogspot.com/

Are genetically engineered foods safe?

Grocery shoppers are finding it more and more difficult to avoid food that has been genetically modified. Many processed foods contain quantities of GM foods buried in the list of ingredients. Should people be worried about GM food, or is the media making a fuss about nothing?
Here is a site which contains general, balanced information on the topic:
http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/elsi/gmfood.shtml
Genetic Roulette, by Jeffrey M. Smith, an investigative reporter, is an exceedingly scary book on the genetic modification of food. After briefly skimming through this book at my local book store, I’ve drawn up a list of foods to avoid. Margarine is at the top of my list. I’ll substitute olive oil for GM oils like canola and corn. More information about the book may be found here:
http://www.seedsofdeception.com/Public/GeneticRoulette/index.cfm

Guidance for students and teachers planning a science fair project

The Kenneth Lafferty Hess Family Charitable Foundation operates its Science Buddies program with one goal in mind: to help students and teachers everywhere in their efforts to undertake an effective science research project.
Resources on the site include a Topic Selection Wizard, an interactive tool designed to enable students to choose a science research topic appropriate to their needs and interests. The Project Ideas section of the site serves as a “starter kit”, which describes the subject matter, provides bibliographic material and Internet-based sources of scientific data, as well as suggestions for experiments. The online student guide gives step-by-step instructions, beginning with scientific research methodology, typical research proposals, photos of actual science fair projects and checklists to ensure success.
What sets this site apart from other science fair information sites is the mentoring component, which enables students to interact with volunteer science and technology students and professionals. The Ask an Expert staff-monitored online forum allows students to ask questions about their projects, particularly helpful when students have trouble accessing teacher or parental assistance. The result is a higher-quality project produced by students who enjoy what they’re doing and develop a keen interest in science.
http://www.sciencebuddies.org/

A new site to keep track of global financial markets

Whether you invest in stocks, mutual funds, futures, or Forex, you’ll like this free financial website. There is no registration requirement and no pop-ups or big ads so common on other sites.
The site features a portfolio manager and optional email alerts, useful charts and tools, as well as news stories about global market events.
http://new.quote.com/

The history and the future of technology from a scientific point of view

Scientist J. Newcombe Hodges discusses coming developments in technology in his new book entitled A Primer for Tomorrow. The book begins with a history of technological development, moves into an introduction to quantum physics, gravity, electromagnetism, bio computers, and a commentary on our progress toward teleportation, anti-gravity, time travel, and the replication of the human body. He writes in an engaging manner, with the aim of igniting passion for science in the mind of the reader. He suggests some of the economic factors which tend to put the brakes on rapid technological change.
The author is offering this first book in a series as a free download, in Adobe Acrobat format, at his website. If you don’t have it on your computer, you may download the Adobe Acrobat Reader for free on this site as well.

http://www.tamashii.com/ When you reach the site, go to “Enter and Welcome to Tomorrow”. Next, click on “The Book”. There are full instructions about downloading the book to your computer.

Explore your family tree with ancestry.com

If you go to this free site, simply enter factual details about you and your immediate family and you’re on your way to delving deeply into the history of your family. You’ll need to know basic information about your parents, e.g. birth date, place of birth to begin the search engine. Any information you supply is treated confidentially, and only the details you specify are entered into the public tree. Of course, the more information people in your family enter into the public sector of the site, the more complete the family tree will be.
This site prides itself as being “the world’s largest online collection of historical records and family trees”, with over 257 million people, over 144,000 family stories, and 1,000,000 photos in the data base. The site includes links to other data bases, including U.S. birth and death records, census and immigration information, and U.S. military records.

http://ancestry.com/

Free office suite program looks a lot like Microsoft Office

Open Office is a free program that has many of the features of Microsoft Office. The average computer user, or even small business owner, may not want to invest hundreds of dollars in Microsoft Office. Open Office is a full-featured office suite which includes a word processor, presentation program (resembling Powerpoint), a spreadsheet program, a vector drawing tool, and a data base program. The program is available in many languages, including Irish Gaelic , Scotch Gaelic, Hindi, and Esperanto, Japanese, and German. Updates are free.

Open Office is a multi-platform program, meaning that it is compatible with Linus and Mac. It works with many other office suite products. I've used it to open Wordperfect documents received in an e-mail attachment. Users who are computer-savvy may participate in the development of the program.

http://www.openoffice.org/about_us/new.html

Gardening experts answer your gardening questions

According to their website, Toronto Botanical Garden is a volunteer-based, charitable organization whose purpose is to inspire passion, respect and understanding of gardening, horticulture, the natural landscape and a healthy environment.

The site offers fact sheets on a multitude of gardening topics, a forum which enables readers to ask questions and receive answers about gardening. There is also a telephone information line for those who prefer to speak with gardening experts. Ontario, Canada residents may access a toll-free gardening hotline at 1-888-777-7048 from 11:00 am-4 pm, Monday to Friday. Anyone outside Ontario may reach a special info line by calling (416)-397-1345 Mon.-Fri., 10:00 am-1:00 pm (EST) and Sat., Sun. and Holidays from noon to 3 pm.

http://www.questions.torontomastergardeners.ca/

Sites for helping your child with elementary and junior high school math

Both of these sites are colorful and instructive, providing a good review of some basic math concepts. Browsing through them will help you choose appropriate sections for your child/children.

http://www.coolmath4kids.com/ Elementary and junior high topics
http://cemc.uwaterloo.ca/mathfrog/english/kidz/order.shtml Review of basics and some math games.

Flickr-- a place to store, organize and share your photos for free

This site allows you to upload your photos, organize them into thematic sets, and share them with friends and relatives. You decide on the privacy level for your photo archive, allowing the world to view your photos, or limiting them to people who know your password. This is a handy site for people who travel a lot and wish to share their photos without having to process them through an email account. Drag-and-drop your photos onto a world map to identify locations where photos have been taken. Explore the world through the public photo archive. Do fun things with your photos, like creating calendars, photo books, and postage stamps. Basic accounts are free, and will enable you to see how the site works. Upgrading to a “pro” account for US$24.95 annually gives you unlimited uploading of photos among other benefits. Flickr is now a Yahoo company, which gives it a measure of stability.

Well worth exploring: http://www.flickr.com/

Open Medicine: an independent, international general medical journal

A number of former editors of the Canadian Medical Association Journal have established an open-source, peer-reviewed medical journal, completely separate from the Canadian Medical Association. This site, called Open Medicine, aims to promote academic freedom and integrity by eliminating the possibility of editorial bias related to association with research material funded by drug and medical appliance companies. No advertising material will be accepted from such pharmaceutical and medical corporate sources. There is no subscription fee and no print edition.

A revolutionary site: http://www.openmedicine.ca/

Try this online dictionary/thesaurus with built-in word pronunciation

This useful site enables you not only to find the meanings, synonyms and antonyms for words, but to hear how the words are pronounced. Anyone learning English would appreciate the latter feature.
The site includes specialized dictionaries in the fields of computing, law, medicine, and finance. You can also look up the meanings of common acronyms (like URL) and idioms in the English language. Writers will find this site invaluable.

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/dictionary.htm

Teachnology.com: for teachers who want to incorporate technology into their classroom

Teachnology is the site for teachers who wish to utilize technology in the classroom.
The site also contains a vast collection of online resources and support tools, and free classroom materials designed by practicing teachers. For small annual fee, educators may purchase a membership which allows access to an extensive archive of reproducible lesson and evaluation materials.

A popular site with teachers: http://www.teachnology.com/

Can you solve these Canadian historical mysteries?

Who actually started the fire that burned Montreal in 1734? Marie Angelique, a black slave was accused of the crime, tortured, hanged and burned in a bonfire. Was she really guilty?
One day in 1880, several members of the “Black” Donnellys were killed when their farm in rural Ontario was set afire. Later that night someone murdered another member of the Donnelly family. Who was responsible for this crime and why was no one ever found guilty of the crime?
If you’re a history buff, you’ll enjoy trying to solve these mysteries by researching the events.
Home page: http://www.canadianmysteries.ca/mysteriesen.html

Let the online games begin!

This is the best collection of free flash and java games I’ve ever found. I got started on Helicopter, and then went on to Desert Storm, and finally 50 States. Almost three hours disappeared into thin air! These games are truly addicting. You can do most of them quite well without a joystick.

Give it a try: http://www.addictingames.info/

Will this diet help reverse the rising tide of autism?

Donna Gates is a nutritional consultant, author and lecturer who has developed a program to help people overcome candidiasis and other immune system disorders. After many years of research in search of a cure for her own candida-related health problems, Donna wrote the book, The Body Ecology Diet. It combines the best of the concepts involved in Chinese medicine, macrobiotics, natural hygiene, raw foods and mega-supplement therapy.

Donna has conducted research with autistic children, placing them on a supervised diet containing fermented or cultured foods. With the establishment of a healthy ecosystem in the intestinal tract, the children begin to digest the high quality fats which enable their immune and digestive systems to gain the strength required to overcome infections.

Home page: http://bodyecology.com/index.php

Article about autism: http://bodyecology.com/autism.php

HowStuffWorks: a practical online encylopedia

HowStuffWorks is a fun site to explore and a great source of practical information.
Learn how to build your own computer by watching seven videos featuring step-by-step instructions. Find out how to do minor electrical repairs around the house. Get your stalled lawnmower running again using the tutorial on small engine repairs and maintenance.

There is a huge library of science and engineering topics. If you want to discover how autofocus cameras work, how GPS receivers work, or how diesel locomotives work, it’s all here on this site, in both print and video formats.

Home page: http://www.howstuffworks.com/

Direct links to some interesting articles:
http://www.howstuffworks.com/build-a-computer1.htm
http://home.howstuffworks.com/how-to-do-home-electrical-repairs.htm
http://home.howstuffworks.com/how-to-repair-small-engines.htm
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/buying-selling-channel.htm
http://travel.howstuffworks.com/timeshare.htm

Medical doctor investigates Phoenix, Arizona UFO reports

Lynne D. Kitei M.D. is well known as a physician and public health educator. She has held the position of Chief Clinical Consultant at the Arizona Heart Institute’s Imaging/Prevention/Wellness Center in Phoenix, Arizona.

On March 13, 1997 she, along with thousands of people, witnessed a phenomenon in the sky above Phoenix, Arizona which has been dubbed the “Phoenix Lights”. Eyewitnesses reported a silent, mile-long, v-shaped formation of lights. After seven years of researching the topic and gathering photographic evidence, Lynne has gone public on her website.

Very strange: http://www.thephoenixlights.net/

Protecting your children from automobile dangers

The Kids and Cars organization believes in the right of children to be protected from the preventable dangers which can arise when they are in and around a motor vehicle. This site describes various dangerous situations and what parents can do to prevent them.
Power window strangulation and hypothermia are two of the most common non-traffic events reported in the media.

Legislation to improve child safety features in motor vehicles is pending in the U.S. The site contains a video of Senator Hillary Clinton speaking on this topic at a press conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on February 27, 2007.

Home page: http://www.kidsandcars.org/

Breaking news about inventors and their inventions

Nathan Ball’s invention is right out of Spiderman! His battery-powered Rope Ascender device, with a 250-lb carrying capacity, will allow firefighters or soldiers to “reverse rappel” up a 30-story building in 30 seconds. Nathan won the 2007 Lemelson-MIT Prize for his invention.

This site contains dozens of interesting stories about inventors and their technological projects.

Home page for the site: http://makezine.com/blog/

Nathan’s story: http://www.makezine.com/blog/archive/2007/02/ask_nathan_ball.html

How to survive outdoor emergencies

With the increasing popularity of outdoor activities, children and adults need to know survival tactics and methods of avoiding and treating various injuries and conditions.
You’ll find everything you need to know on this site. Print out the information and save it in a binder to carry along with you on your next trip. It could help save your life.

Informative: http://www.surviveoutdoors.com/

Are humans the product of off-world intervention?

After receiving a degree in psychology from Tulane University at New Orleans, Lloyd Pye trained with the U.S. Army as a Military Intelligence agent. Upon completion of his military career, Lloyd began research in anthropology, specializing in hominoids, which led him to the astonishing conclusion that humans could not have evolved on earth.

Lloyd published a book entitled Everything You Know Is Wrong—Book One: Human Origins, which proposes an Intervention Theory directly opposed to Darwinism, Creationism and Intelligent Design. He claims his theory is science based, supported by ancient historical records, puzzling details about megalithic structures located around the world, and recent discoveries about our own DNA.

Intriguing evidence: http://www.lloydpye.com/

Geologist predicts earthquakes with accuracy

Jim Berkland, working as a geologist with the California Government, made a prediction that a major earthquake would hit the Oakland Bay Area during the 1989 World Series. When the earthquake occurred as predicted, his employers suspended him and ordered him to stop making quake predictions.

After he retired, Jim began again to announce “quake windows” on his Syzygyjob website. He bases his predictions on tidal flooding tables derived from Lunar Perigee. When the moon is closest to the earth, gravitational pull on the earth is greatest, triggering quakes. Jim also monitors lost pet notices in the newspapers. Pets tend to run away from home when they sense an impending tremor.

Shocking site: http://www.syzygyjob.com/

Canadian contractor rescues ripped-off homeowners

Every day on his popular TV program, Holmes On Holmes, Mike Holmes puts the spotlight on shoddy renovations, explaining how homeowners have been cheated by careless and incompetent renovators.

Often Mike and his team have to tear out everything and start fresh, narrating the process to the viewers. This website showcases upcoming projects, including his charitable work, and videos featuring tips for homeowners.

Great site: http://www.holmesonhomes.com/

Surfing college students cash in on Internet boom

Frustrated with minimum wage jobs and long work hours, many students have looked to the Internet to supply much-needed income. Up until now it has been difficult to launch a profitable website because of the high up-front expenses and the expertise required to run it.

Canadian physician, Dr. Ken Evoy, has invented an all-in-one program called Site Build-It! which solves these problems. His system allows anyone to build a professional-grade website capable of generating significant income and paying for itself very quickly. Dr. Evoy’s daughter, Nori, began using his system as a teenager, and now earns enough money to pay all her college expenses. Read her story on this site.

Click here for details: http://students.sitesell.com/smallbiz28.html

Are you at risk of a heart attack or stroke? Find out here.

The Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario, Canada has developed a personalized risk assessment tool designed to help you identify your risk of heart disease and stroke. After you complete the assessment questions, you will receive an action plan for healthy living.
Click the link below to get started now:
http://ww2.heartandstroke.ca/Page.asp?PageID=1689&Stream=Risk&media=fsi

E-mail large files for free on this site

Most free email services allow you to send attachments up to a 10MB limit. Ordinarily, if you wish to send a file of photos or text larger than that, you would have to break the file into separate smaller files and send them separately. With the Sendthisfile service, you upload files to their server. There is no file size limit and no limit on the number of files sent. You have the option of sending files in “secure” mode. When you fill in the e-mail address of your intended receivers, they will receive an e-mail inviting them to pick up the file you have uploaded.

There is a basic free account for occasional personal use. There are other paid plans for more frequent users, as well as business and professional users.

Recently I used the free service to send three separate 50MB files, which took about two minutes each.

Click here: http://www.sendthisfile.com/

Supermodels around the world

Supermodels.nl is the portal to a community of 734 supermodels and 34,000 fans. The site features a list of supermodels by first name, including brief profiles on each, and more than 42,000 portfolio photos.

This site provides news from the modeling industry, highlighting various models and their most recent agency associations. In addition there is a list of model agencies by country and models enlisted by them. There is also a list of photographers who work with supermodels.

Membership in the site is free and are able to post on forums and receive a newsletter containing background stories, news, and gossip. Members have unlimited and unrestricted access to the supermodels movie archive and “big scan” photos, as well as recordings of shows, interviews and other videos.

Home page: http://supermodels.nl/

Do you ever dine alone? SoloDining is the site for you!

For anyone who dines solo, this website contains a wealth of information. There are tips and strategies for eating alone at home, at a fast food outlet, or at a fine dining establishment. The site offers advice on efficient, low-cost grocery-shopping for one, a list of restaurants that offer “communal dining” tables, and reports on solo dining-friendly restaurants in Canada and the U.S.

Restauranteurs will find advice on making the solo dining experience more appealing for customers.

A helpful site: http://www.solodining.com/

The Classroom @ Sea Project: Drilling the Mid-Atlantic Ridge

Early in March, 2007, a team of scientists from Durham University, Cardiff University and the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, will travel aboard the RRS James Cook to investigate an area of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge known as the Fifteen-Twenty Fracture Zone (FTFZ). The scientific team on board the ship is led by Prof. Roger Searle from University of Durham, Dr Chris MacLeod (University of Cardiff) and Dr Bramley Murton (NOCS).

Seismological research has determined that the FTFZ appears to be a gap in the crust of the Earth thousands of kilometers wide. The mantle, located in the interior of the planet, is typically covered by crust several kilometers thick. The crust thickness averages about 18 miles (30 kilometers) under the continents, but is only about 3 miles (5 kilometers) under the oceans. It is light and fragile. The mission will attempt to determine whether the ocean crust was dislodged by geological faults or never formed in that area.

This voyage of discovery has been designed as an interactive project for students. The site features a diary which, beginning March 5, 2007, will display accounts of onboard events of interest. The website includes informative modules describing the marine geology and biological environment. Teaching aids and reproducible worksheets are provided. In addition, the site gallery will contain photo highlights of the cruise. Students around the world will be able to e-mail members of the team and ask questions about the excursion.

Climb aboard: http://www.noc.soton.ac.uk/gg/classroom@sea/JC007/about.html

Psycho-Geometrics: Try this personality test based on geometric shapes

Dr. Susan Dellinger is the author of the Psycho-Geometrics system of communication. Her system combines the science of understanding people with the art of influencing them. Dr. Ellinger has acted as a consultant for many high-profile corporations, offering workshops designed to improve communications among staff through the implementation of her unique method of understanding human communication.

According to Dr. Dellinger’s system, your personality may be associated with one of the following basic shapes: circle, square, rectangle, triangle, or squiggle.

As a test subject, you respond to the question, Which of the five shapes best describes you as a person? Your choice will be an indication of your personality type. When you do the test at the link below you will be amazed at how accurately the system categorizes your personality.

Of course, this system of geometric psychology is useful for identifying the beliefs, values and attitudes of employers, co-workers, employees, customers, spouses, and children. Armed with this critical information, you are in a position to modify your communication style in order to relate effectively to other people in your life.

Personality test: http://www.psychometricshapes.co.uk/

A video of Dr. Dellinger in action: http://www.drsusan.net/

Why more than 90% of small business websites fail

Today there are more than 100 million websites on the Internet. Small business owners pay a lot of money to have someone build a web site and host it. Then they're usually on their own to face the challenge of attracting traffic to that website. Potential buyers use search engines like Google and Yahoo to look for a product or service. If a website is buried below sixty thousand other sites in a particular search category, it has little chance of generating traffic. The site just sits there in cyberspace. This is the basic problem faced by the small business website owner. How do you construct a site which reaches the upper levels of search engines?

Dr. Ken Evoy, a recognized expert on website traffic generation, has developed a comprehensive web-building system called Site Build It!, which has produced sites so efficient that 62% of them score in the top 3% of all websites in terms of traffic ranking. In other words, traffic to these sites is higher than 97% of all sites on the Net. In fact, 35% of Site Build It! sites are in the top 1% of all sites on the Net. Predictably, these sites are receiving higher numbers of potential customers, which greatly increases profitability for their owners.

On his site, Dr. Evoy briefly describes and explains how his system operates to deliver the high volume of traffic required to achieve success.

Worth reading: http://webhosting.sitesell.com/smallbiz28.html

Linda Moulton Howe’s Earthfiles—environmental and paranormal mysteries

Linda Moulton Howe, an investigative journalist and editor of Earthfiles.com, is an Emmy Award-winning TV producer. Linda’s site reports news on scientific and environmental events. Today’s stories include the mysterious and growing disappearance of honey bees and amphibians. There is also a report on the “Noah’s Ark” seed vault, installed by the Global Crop Diversity Trust, inside a mountain at Svalbard, Norway, designed to archive seed samples of the world’s plants in the event of a global catastrophe. Linda's site features extensive files on UFOs and the aerial drones that are now appearing in our skies.

The site’s archive, accessible by subscription, contains stories about crop circles, ufo incidents, cattle mutiliation, and other unsolved mysteries. Podcasts are available on a number of topics.

Fascinating information: http://www.earthfiles.com/

BLDGBLOG: Architectural conjecture—Urban speculation—Landscape futures

This blog is entertaining and informative. One entry describes a brand of tiles employing patterns based on highway interchange designs. You could have your bathroom walls look like a road interchange in Barcelona or Bogata.

Another entry describes a vertical cemetery in Santos, Brazil, which looks like a skyscraper from a science fiction film.

Other entries speak about urban problems, like China’s “cancer villages”, whose inhabitants are becoming victims of extensive water and air pollution. There was a reference to “Chinese Death Vans”, mobile execution-by-injection clinics that serve small villages unable to afford to send criminals to major cities for execution by firing squad. Apparently this system makes the harvesting of organs more efficient too.

It’s a keeper: http://bldgblog.blogspot.com/

Consumers bite back at arrogant retailers

Do you have a consumer complaint about a product or service? Post it to the Consumerist website and watch their agents go into action. They investigate complaints, put pressure on the offending merchants by writing a story about their misdeeds, and often gain satisfaction for consumers.

One of today’s top stories on the site is about problems customers of Verizon Wireless is having with some clients’ accounts. Rather than suffer in silence, customers are using the power of the Internet to battle this giant.

The Consumerist site also contains articles designed to educate shoppers. Here are a few titles of articles on the site today:

“50 ways to save at the grocery store”

“12 ways to save on utilities”

“Investing basics: the savings account”

“Easy, cheap DIY cleaning formulas”


Keep this site handy: http://consumerist.com/

Downloading of music MP3 files with no copy restrictions

Puretracks, a Canadian-owned company, today made available 50,000 tracks with no Digital Rights Management restrictions. You can burn them, e-mail or copy them to your computer, MP3 player, or cell phone. Although the songs are from minor labels, there is hope that major labels like Universal and Warner will work with their artists to drop the digital locks on some of their music for promotional purposes.

Home page: http://www.puretracks.com/content/viewer.aspx?cid=GlobalNav_Home

Scientists to embark on North Pole Inner Earth expedition

Dr. Brooks Agnew, who has a PhD in physics, is leading a North Pole Inner Earth exploratory team of 33 scientists in late August of 2007. The $2 million project will utilize a Russian nuclear-powered icebreaker, the only civilian vessel capable of making the 20-day round trip.

Seismographic analysis has determined that the crust of the earth is up to 800 miles thick, and that there are vast cavernous chambers within parts of this crust. Previous North Pole explorers have speculated that there is a polar opening in the crust of the earth leading to a vast underground area. Dr. Agnew’s team will attempt to find this opening and employ high tech gear to investigate the extent of this “inner earth”.

Fascinating site: http://www.ourhollowearth.com/VoyagetoHollowEarth.htm

Why build just a website when you could build a business?

If you’re interested in starting up an Internet business, beware of the bargain website trap. A cheap website is worthless if it fails to generate a high volume of qualified traffic. Dr. Ken Evoy, an expert on business website construction, offers some valuable tips for novice and seasoned entrepreneurs alike. His Site Built It! system demonstrates what it takes to deliver large numbers of qualified visitors to a website.

Take a look at Ken’s site: http://buildit.sitesell.com/smallbiz28.html

Use your computer to make free voice and video calls

SightSpeed is your doorway to free, unlimited voice and video chat. You can record video messages for use as video email or embedded in a blog. Hold voice and video chats with Windows and Mac SightSpeed members around the world. SightSpeed 5.0 was PC Magazine’s Editor’s Choice for September 19, 2006, based on exceptional video quality.

A business version of SightSpeed is available for $4.95 per month. Multi-party video conferencing and priority technical support come with this model.

At the present time, I’m using Skype, but I’m planning to try SightSpeed and compare the video quality, especially during times of high member usage.

Take a closer look: http://www.sightspeed.com/

An interracial dating opportunity

Although interracial dating is the focus of this site, many members may just wish to have an Internet friendship with people from other cultures.

In the Blog section of the site, open to the public, members write about their experiences with interracial dating, recording their thoughts and feelings. Other members are allowed to comment on blog writings and exchanges can occasionally become quite emotional.

Success Stories recount how members have met someone, have become friends and expanded their knowledge of people from other cultures. Many have decided to date. Still others have fallen in love and are happily married.

The Forums are open to the public and describe both the advantages and the possible issues for those who get involved in interracial dating. It’s not always an easy thing—especially for the families of the individuals concerned. Topics also include “family”, “friendship”, “health”, “jokes and anecdotes”, “religion”, “romance” and many more.

Basic membership in the site is free, as are lifetime ads. Feel free to browse the site before you join to determine whether interracial chatting/dating is right for you.

This site could change your life: http://www.InterracialMatch.com/i/af5026400

Kathleen Keating reports on End Times

Kathleen Keating is an investigative journalist who reports on paranormal topics from a spiritual perspective. Her topics include the predictions of visionaries, forecasts of disasters coming to the U.S. and the world. Keating’s podcasts are carried on the Enigma Radio Network. She is the author of many Catholic/Christian themed books. Her latest work, Torn Sky: Project Jerusalem, is an “end times” novel featuring characters attempting to make sense out of the chaos of today’s world.

Home page:
http://kathleenkeating.com/news/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1

Some of her Enigma Radio Network podcasts may be heard here: http://www.podango.com/podcast_episode/26/10349/The_Enigma_Files/09262006_The_Enigma_Files_with_Kathleen_Keating

Alex Jones warns about the coming U.S. police state

Alex Jones is a conspiracy theorist, controversial radio talk-show host, and documentary filmmaker. He grabbed headlines when he publicly questioned the mainstream media account of the September 2001 terrorist attacks. Jones has produced films on topics ranging from the New World Order, government-sponsored terrorism, and the imminent establishment of a police state in the United States. A new film by Alex Jones, Terror Storm, exploring documented cases of government-sponsored terrorism, is available on Google Video.

The Infowars website contains shocking news items about the extent of surveillance in society, the proliferation of RFID (wireless) chips, the transition to a cashless society, the trend to embedded microchips, and the machinations of the Illuminati. Jones points to the accelerating convergence of advancing technology and the political ambitions of the “elite”.

A scary site: http://www.infowars.com/index.html

Dave McMurtry Changes lives in Colombia, S.A.

Dave McMurtry visited Colombia, South America, for three months back in 2002 and observed first-hand the plight of families displaced by civil strife. He noted that seventy percent of the population of Sincilejo, which is located 2 hours by road from Cartagena, consists of displaced people living in huts constructed of scrap wood and metal. Dave decided to help some of these people by building 25 permanent houses, including the infrastructure for sanitation facilities. Dave seeded the development with his own time and money and has watched his new “village” grow beyond his expectations as additional money has flowed from interested supporters. The project includes a counseling center designed to utilize the skills of the unemployed in the construction of the houses.

In an effort to keep his friends, family, colleagues, and the general public informed about his progress on the project, Dave set up this blog. Anyone wishing to contribute financially may do so by donating via the site to Habitat For Humanity, which has created a special account for Dave’s project, and undertaken to issue tax receipts.

An inspiring story: http://www.helpdavechangelives.org/

Bath, Ontario, Canada group fights Lafarge plan to burn tires

Residents of Bath, Ontario, Canada have established a website to help coordinate their fight against Lafarge Canada’s plan to incinerate tires in its 34-year-old cement kiln. The company claims that there will be no toxic emissions as a result of their energy-saving initiative. People who live downwind from the plant have their doubts.

It appears that the Ontario government has given the green light to the project, with the proviso that air quality studies be done when incineration begins later this year. The Clean Air Bath group wants a preliminary Environmental Assessment completed before any burning of tires takes place. There is some concern about reports that other Lafarge plants engaged in the burning of tires have caused significant deterioration of air quality in affected communities.

Watch this site for developments: http://www.cleanairbath.com/

Home based business a popular option for retirees

Many people who retire wish to spend more time with their families, enjoy leisure activities, hobbies and travel. A number of these folks have chosen to establish a home business, giving them the freedom they crave, yet providing a reasonable supplement to their income.

Most people don’t have a great deal of computer expertise and prefer an “all-in-one” package which allows them to build an Internet business without having to deal with the technical details.

Dr. Ken Evoy, a physician living in Montreal, Canada, has invented an “all-in-one” program, which he calls Site Built It! This system allows people who have no technical knowledge to construct a professional-grade website capable of generating the traffic needed to attain profitability.


More details here: http://retire.sitesell.com/smallbiz28.html

Whitley Strieber’s roundup of strange news

Whitley Strieber’s unknowncountry.com reports on the latest “edge” topics, including UFOs, crop circles, unorthodox archaeological theories, and prophecy. His wife, Anne Strieber, is the managing editor of the site.

Whitley Strieber’s is well known for his book, Communion, published in 1987. It is claimed to be a true account of his alien abduction experiences, which occurred primarily at his upstate New York cabin.

Mr. Strieber also hosts his Dreamland radio program. Author and mythologist William Henry is a frequent guest host. Emmy award winner Linda Moulton Howe is a regular science reporter for the program. The people associated with this site have dedicated their lives to the unraveling of some of today’s strangest mysteries.

Fascinating site! http://www.unknowncountry.com/

LiveScience: An entertaining review of science news items

LiveScience.com reports the latest in scientific research, with topics ranging from human and animal biology to the forces of Nature. What’s different about this website is that the items reported on the site are so unusual and intriguing, and are briefly described with a minimum of technical details.

Here are some examples of the topics on this site:

“Huge ‘ocean’ found underneath Asian continent”
“Antiviral paint kills flu on contact”
“10 amazing things you didn’t know about animals”
“Video: seeing machine for people with macular degeneration”
“Death disks: urban flying saucers designed for U.S. military”
“Garbage cans pack spy chips”
“Genetic upper class: could the human race split?”
“Military shows off new ray gun”
“Huge ‘printer’ would build a house in 24 hours”
“Robots get soft, human-like skin”
“Fish capable of human-like logic”
“Why bats are more efficient flyers than birds”
“Genetically-modified skin cells fight infection”
“Invisible mountains revealed under Greenland ice”


Awesome site! http://www.livescience.com/

American First Nations--the real history

Daniel N. Paul is perhaps best known for his book entitled, We Were Not The Savages, which details the European invasion of North America, concerted attempts at genocide, and its aftermath. The book concentrates on the Mi’kmaq and their interpretation of events.

His website, danielpaul.com, contains a wealth of information, including paintings and photographs, and the historical background of his books. Dr. Paul’s intention is to provide users of his website with an accurate account of the history and aspirations of Native Peoples.

An eye-opener: http://www.danielnpaul.com/

Gigscore: classifieds for musicians

Are you a musician looking for a band, or a group looking for a guitar player? Perhaps you are a new band looking for a serious gig. Gigscore is the place to start. Upload your profile at the site and work could find you. The site also features breaking news from the music industry.

Take a look: http://gigscore.com/

The Junkman shoots down false claims, fake scams and scares

Mr. Steven Milloy, the founder of JunkScience.com, exposes any source of flawed or distorted information. He denounces false or exaggerated claims, and illogical interpretations of the results of scientific studies used by various activist groups. Mr. Milloy has a particular interest in what he refers to as “fake scams and scares”. The site lists a number of recent news items, accompanied by Mr. Milloy’s incisive, and sometimes humorous comments. He refers to himself as “The Junkman” in his relentless pursuit of truth.

Have a look at this site: http://www.junkscience.com/

Are children’s birthday parties getting out of control?

Many parents feel pressured to put on expensive and elaborate birthday parties for their children because other parents are doing so. Does it have to be that way? One group of mothers says no, and has set up a website to help change this out-of-control custom.

On their site, they outline what exactly is spiraling out of control about birthday parties, how things got that way, how kids and parents have been affected, and what can be done to solve the problem. They offer suggestions for alternatives to the usual format of birthday parties. Visitors to the site may take a “Birthday Pressure Quiz” to determine the extent of the pressure they are under concerning birthday parties.

Visit the site: http://www.birthdayswithoutpressure.com/

Is raw food better for you?

According to this website, cooked food contains fewer nutrients. Rather than cooking vegetables, throw them raw into a blender with some spring water. This “whole juice” will contain the valuable plant fiber as well as the natural enzymes needed for digestion. I’ve tried this myself, combining various vegetables and juicing them in my Vitamix, a heavy-duty blender. It sure takes all the work out of eating raw vegetables. As well, it’s cheaper and more nutritious than anything you would buy in a can or jar. For variety, experiment with different combinations of veggies and seasonings.

The site features recipes for raw, vegan and vegetarian dishes.

Check out the home page: http://www.living-foods.com/

Some interesting reading: http://www.living-foods.com/articles/

The Altavista Babel Fish language translation engine

Would you like to translate a phrase, a sentence, or a whole paragraph from one language to another? This site will do that for several languages, including, English, French, Spanish, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Portuguese, Russian, Greek, German, Korean, Italian, Japanese, and Dutch. Translation is not quite as accurate as what would be accomplished by a human translator. As well, the system works well with European languages, but has a difficult time handling Asian to European and vice versa involving anything more than simple words and phrases.

Have fun with it: http://babelfish.altavista.com/

The "Site Built It!" System: A way to build a website that performs!

There are all kinds of sites on the Net offering simple website-building tools and cheap hosting. But the website offered usually lacks an effective marketing component. The website just sits there, looks pretty, and takes up space on the Web. What was needed was a user-friendly website package which would enable anyone to set up a professional-grade website designed to attract visitors and convert them to willing buyers of goods and services.

A Canadian physician, Dr. Ken Evoy, invented a system which combines website-building, hosting, and marketing in one package. The system teaches you how to design a site that will generate a high volume of traffic and sales. That’s the prescription for profitability.

This site contains a video tour of Dr. Evoy’s system. After viewing the presentation, I was impressed with how the system automates all the complexities of web-building and allows novices to get in on the boom in Internet marketing.

The tour starts here: http://videotour.sitesell.com/smallbiz28.html

Canadian Brass: musical excitement

This band’s repertoire ranges from classical music to blues, with a definite Baroque flavor. The scope of their performances includes the work of J.S. Bach, Vivaldi, Pachelbel, Gabrieli, Beethoven, Wagner and many others. The brass quintet, which has been in existence for 35 years, has recently announced the addition of five trumpet players to their group.

Click on the blue box in the lower right corner of the home page to sample their music. Johann Sebastian Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in d minor, with Fred Mills on the trumpet, is representative of the talent in this world-renowned concert ensemble.

Canadian Brass home page: http://www.canadianbrass.com/

Times Square, New York—live images

Watch what’s going on at Times Square, New York via Earthcam. Scroll down the Times Square Earthcam page to get the feeds from a total of 16 different cameras. There are archives of images from previous days.

Times Square, New York: http://www.earthcam.com/usa/newyork/timessquare/

Earthcam home page for other worldwide live cams:
http://www.earthcam.com/

UFOs-- the phenomenon that won’t go away

UFO Evidence has articles on various theories about UFOs, sighting reports, cases involving famous people and UFO photographs.

Home page: http://www.ufoevidence.org/welcome.asp

Learn how to do almost anything

Here you’ll find the instructions for a myriad of common activities, organized by category.

Would you like to jump start your car in a safe manner? Print out the “How to charge your car battery” article and keep it in the glove compartment.

Want to brush up on your sheet music reading skills? Check out the “How to read sheet music” article.

There are hundreds of instructional articles on this site and it’s entertaining just to browse them.

Home page: http://www.howtodothings.com/

Battery article:
http://www.howtodothings.com/automotive/a2782-how-to-charge-your-car-battery.html

Sheet music article:
http://www.howtodothings.com/hobbies/a2683-how-to-read-sheet-music.html

How good are your driving skills when you’re distracted?

The Insurance Bureau of Canada’s website features a virtual driving test. It is designed to show you how various distractions, e.g. using a cell phone, affect your driving. It’s fun and sure makes a point!


The driver test: http://www.clickonthis.ca/default.asp?page=roadtest

Scary distracted driver videos: http://www.clickonthis.ca/default.asp?page=driver

Successful Affiliate Marketing: Dr. Ken Evoy offers valuable information

Many Internet entrepreneurs have discovered that it’s possible to make money by directing people to the websites of various merchants. These merchants handle all sales transactions and delivery of products, and remit a commission to the owners of the websites that sent them customers. It’s important, though, to have a high-traffic website to take advantage of this opportunity.

Dr. Ken Evoy, a Canadian physician and Internet marketing consultant, has valuable advice for anyone planning or already involved in Internet affiliate marketing. Without sufficient traffic, a website will fail to achieve results. Dr. Evoy reveals here what it takes to build a website that will generate massive traffic and significant revenue.

More information: http://affiliatemarketing.sitesell.com/smallbiz28.html

Advice for parents: How to raise smart, healthy, caring, and responsible kids

Here you will find a chart of 40 “developmental assets” every child and teenager needs. Use the chart as a checklist to help you monitor whether your child is on track for success in life, and as the basis for intervention when things go wrong.

There are tips for moms and dads, describing in detail strategies for instilling in their children healthy attitudes and values, as well as suggestions for establishing boundaries and expectations for harmonious family life. Being a fully-involved parent is not easy, and this site will help you develop the skills you will need.

This kind of information is more important than ever in a society where many children learn their attitudes and values by default from their peer groups and the media.

Well worth a visit: http://mvparents.com/

Skype: Free long distance calling on your computer

Many people have an Internet connection and are unaware that they can make free and unlimited long distance calls to friends and relatives within Canada and the United States who also have an Internet connection. Both parties have to download and install Skype, a free program. In addition, each caller has to have a headset with a microphone, or a dedicated handset called a SkypePhone. These are inexpensive and available at any electronics store.

The program is designed to let you know when other users are online so that you can invite them for a chat. If I find someone is not online, I often make a 10-second call on my regular phone and have them go online and meet me on Skype. Then I can talk as long as I wish.

Skype has other functions available for use in the free program. The group chat is an example. Users are able to establish and moderate a group public chat on a topic of their choice. These chat rooms are interesting to monitor. Some users wish to improve their Spanish language skills and set up a chat for this purpose; the possibilities are endless. Conference calls with up to nine people are possible. It’s a great way to organize a trip or hold an informal meeting.

Installing a webcam enables users to conduct free video chats. It’s a great way to keep in touch with friends and relatives who live thousands of miles away. My Logitech QuickCam Communicate STX is one of the webcams that is designed to work with Skype, and performs very well. Look for the Skype logo on the box if you’re shopping for a webcam. Check reviews for products on the Net before you buy.

For a small annual fee, a Skype user can now connect directly with any telephone in Canada and the U.S., using the SkypOut National plan. Where can you get unlimited long distance calling within Canada and the U.S. for an annual fee of US$29.95? International destinations are available for pennies per minute on the SkypOut International plan. The traditional telecommunication companies are beginning to feel the heat.

Check it out: http://www.skype.com/helloagain.html