Pencil Sharpening: "Falling Daughter"?

Why We Love the Internet #3,443,214: If Frank Lloyd Wright was 19 years old today, would he be designing Flash movies?

If the tumbling girl gets stuck, drag her around (or through) the obstruction with your mouse. Bizarre, but fascinating: <http://www.planetdan.net/pics/misc/tetka.html>.

Jazz: Basie Centennial

"Once More Once: A Centennial Celebration of the Life and Music of Count Basie," from the Institute of Jazz Studies at Rutgers, celebrates the 100th anniversary of the birth of the Kid from Red Bank. The site features essays on the bandleader's life and music, numerous photo essays and sound files, and a selected discography.
<http://newarkwww.rutgers.edu/ijs/cb>

Technology: Is the Neighborhood Red or Blue?

A New Jersey businessman and a website that posts political contributions have created a way for your cell phone or Blackberry to detect how many Democrats or Republicans live in an area and how many have made contributions to political parties. "red | blue (pronounced 'red or blue') is a free Java™ app that figures out where you stand, or perhaps more accurately, where you are standing in our politically polarized country." Great for canvassers, fund raisers, and for anyone wanting to find out if the neighborhood is one they'd care to live in. <http://www.gravitymonkey.com/
gravity/monkey/redblue/>

Global Warming: Paleoclimatology

"Paleoclimatology Program's main goal in creating this comprehensive website was to help educate, inform and highlight the importance of paleoclimate research; as well as to show how paleoclimate research relates to global warming and other important issues regarding climate variability and change....We provide the paleoclimatic data and information needed to understand the climate of the past, in order to assess the current and potential future climate in the context of natural climate variability" -- from the website. <http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/
paleo/globalwarming/home.html>

Politics: Karl "The Architect" Rove

This is the companion site for a joint report by PBS' Frontline and the Washington Post that looks at the life and career of Karl "The Hammer" Rove, chief political adviser and enforcer for President George "The Kidder" Bush. The full program, which can be viewed on line, has biographical data, a chronology, essays about theGOP and politics in the state of Texas, interviews with political figures, news articles, and lesson plans. <http://www.pbs.org/
wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/architect/>

Tools: How to Use Google's Calculator

This tip sheet on Google's built-in calculation function demonstrates how to use the search engine feature to "add up a list of numbers, convert from miles to kilometers, or evaluate some other mathematical _expression." <http://www.googleguide.com/calculator.html>

The Arts: Jean-Luc Godard

This backgrounder from the British Film Institute about the French director of such New Wave classics as Breathless, Weekend, Band of Outsiders, and Alphaville includes a bio, filmography (filmo?), articles, and links to other resources, some in French, on the filmmaker. <http://www.bfi.org.uk/features/godard/>

Pop Culture: LooseyLucy online magazine

I take it as a positive sign that the subject of the "Under-Hyped" column in 1/1 of LooseyLucy is the estimable and underheralded David Alan Coe and that the following quote by Hunter Thompson graces the home page: "The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side." The editors promise "fun and helpful information and links to websites of interest for musicians and all artists at heart. Check out LooseyLucy's Links for Indie Musicians for helpful articles and links! LooseyLucy's Fun Links has a variety of entertaining and informative links on other subjects, as well as LooseyLucy's Sign of Loopy Times. Each month, in LooseyLucy's Recommendations, we will recommend a book, CD, or movie to watch (old or new)."
<http://www.looseylucy.com/main.htm>

Pencil Sharpening: WebCrossWords

This is not your father's internet crossword. The interface is user-friendly, you can adjust the skill level, "pause play", "save" and "reset puzzle," print a hard copy, etc. <http://www.webcrosswords.com/>

Egyptyology: The Petrie Museum

The Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology at University College London was conceived and funded by , Amelia Edwards, a nineteenth century Englishwoman who developed a great respect and reverence for Egyptian antiquity during several extended visits to the Middle East. After Ms. Edwards' endowed the institution that bore his name in 1892, Professor William Flinders Petrie continued an ambitious program of excavations that resulted in a plunderage of international stature. <http://www.petrie.ucl.ac.uk>

Health: The Cholesterol Lowdown

Pfizer and the American Heart Association offer resources, including cookbooks and fact sheets, with information on what affects cholesterol levels and what you can do to reduce high levels of dangerous fats in your diet and your bloodstream. <http://www.s2mw.com/cholesterollowdown/>

Resource: Environmental Media Services --Climate Change Facts

"EMS is a nonprofit communications clearinghouse dedicated to expanding media coverage of critical environmental and public health issues. We build relationships with top scientists, physicians, and other experts to bring journalists the latest and most credible information. EMS was founded in 1994 by former Time, Newsweek and Sports Illustrated journalist Arlie Schardt. Schardt also headed the Environmental Defense Fund in the 1970s. EMS is a nonprofit funded by foundations and individuals working to improve public understanding of environmental and public health issues." -- from the website. <http://www.ems.org/climate/facts.html>

Folklore: Figures de la Bible (1728)

Figures de la Bible offers hundreds of high-quality reproductions from a 1728 version of the Bible "illustrated by Gerard Hoet, and others." The site, from the Bizzell Bible Collection, University of Oklahoma Libraries, includes accompanying Scriptural texts. A little creepy, but fascinating.
<http://www.mythfolklore.net/lahaye>

Apps: Seeing what the colorblind see

"Vischeck is a way of showing you what things look like to someone who is color blind. You can try Vischeck online- either run Vischeck on your own image files or run Vischeck on a web page. You can also download programs to let you run it on your own computer

"Roughly 1 in 20 people have some sort of color vision deficiency. The world looks different to these people: they often find it hard to tell red and green things apart. This often means that they sometimes can't see things that 'color normal' people can see (examples).

"Many pictures, documents and web pages are hard for color blind people to read because the people who designed them didn't think about the problem. Vischeck lets them check their work for color blind visibility. It is also interesting to anyone who is just plain curious about what the world looks like if you're color blind." -- from the website.
<http://www.vischeck.com/vischeck/>

Apps: Record and Send Voice Messages using Email

"Vemail is voice email software that lets you record and send voice messages instead of text using ordinary email. What's more, Vemail voice email software is free!...To send a voice message with Vemail simply enter an email address and then press and hold down F6 while speaking. When you have finished recording, the message will be compressed and sent as an email automatically. Almost anyone can receive and listen to the vemail as it can be played with the standard player installed in most PCs....Vemails are much faster than typing. They improve electronic communications by letting people speak rather than type. You will also find Vemails more personal because voice is much easier and natural than typed text. The software is very easy to use and in a short time you can be quickly sending Vemails where in the past you would have spent a long time typing." -- from the website. Download: <http://www.nch.com.au/vemail/vesetup.exe>

Biographies: My dinners with Andres

"Peoples Archive is dedicated to collecting for posterity the stories of the great thinkers and creators of our time. Biologists or filmmakers, physicists or craftsmen, the people whose stories you see on this site are leaders of their field, whose work has influenced and changed our world." -- from the website.

The technology is almost as remarkable as the people being videotaped. This is one not to miss. <http://www.peoplesarchive.com/>

Science: How Volcanoes Work

"This website is an educational resource that describes the science behind volcanoes and volcanic processes. Each section in the menu builds upon previous sections. For users who lack fundamental knowledge of volcanological principles and terms, it is best to proceed through the website in a progressive manner. More advanced users will find each section self-contained and can navigate through the website as their interest dictates." - from the website. <http://www.geology.sdsu.edu/how_volcanoes_work/>