cool-sites.html

Web-master would like to hear from members about any interesting sites, particularly those which might appeal to seniors. Since we have interests covering an extremely wide field, this gives you plenty of scope, so get those mice...meece?...mouses?...clicking!
Be aware that these sites may not all still be available. Websites close or move for one reason or another and it is a big job to go through and check every site, so it is not checked frequently. Also, the server for the site might just be down at the time you try it. Just go on to another!

Please note:

The sites listed on this page are not active links, ie., they will not take you anywhere by clicking on them. That would be too easy!
We want members to practice their web skills.

ENTER URL

You can copy any of the URLs (internet addresses) listed here, paste into the window below, then click on the Go! button or hit your ENTER key. This should take you to that address.
Click your BACK button to return to this page.
(To copy & paste, highlight the address by holding down your left mouse button and dragging completely across the address, then go right click/copy over it, then right click/paste over the window).

You need the full address to use this window. Please do not try to search for subjects with it.
To do that, go to our Web Search page and use the search engines there.

http://toolbar.google.com

For those who use Google a lot to do their web searching, you can download a toolbar here which integrates with Internet Explorer 5 or higher. It should appear under the IE Explorer bar and will be aways ready. Saves bringing Google up when you want it.

http://sp.ask.com/docs/toolbar/

Not happy with Google?
Go to this address and download the Ask tool-bar. This used to be called Ask Jeeves, who knows why they dropped Jeeves, the very English butler. It also needs IE5 or higher.

http://www.dogpile.com/

Here you can download the Dogpile tool-bar, which has a number of options, including a pop-up blocker and a news-ticker.

You can have this, that, or all of them installed and can turn them on or off, as you wish, in your View/Toolbars window.

Be warned, however, that most of these tool-bars collect some information when you use them, such as tracking what sites you last visited and what sites you visit while using it.
The information sought is usually not personal, unless they give you an option of providing such in some instances, for which an information field will be displayed.
Please read the Privacy Policy each of these tool-bar sites provides, before you decide whether or not to download.

http://www.notetab.com/

Many people use Windows Note Pad (In Windows Accessories) for composing and saving text files, such as copied and pasted information, writing letters, etc.
At this site, you can download a free, powerful programme called Note Tab which contains many useful features.Write text, write HTML, use a calculator, write mathematical expressions, to name a few.
There are many insertions listed in the menus and libraries which come with it, which you can make with a single or double click.
This programme is a "must have".

Here are a few food recipe sites.
There are cooking sites further down the page.
There is nothing like having plenty of variety in food!

http://www.abc.net.au/secretrecipes

(The above is a mish-mash of shared "family recipes" from many nationalities).

http://allrecipes.com

http://www.recipesource.com

http://vegweb.com

(The above is vegetarian).

http://www.diabetic-recipes.com

(As you might have guessed, the above deals with diabetic recipes and life-style).

If you want to impress the grand-children, try this one.
Believe it or not, most kids love this kind of thing. It is a "weird recipe" site. Most of the recipes are supposed to be edible! Others are very doubtful.

http://bertc.com/recipes.htm

http://www.landonline.com.au/

This is the site for Skyview, mentioned in an address to our members by a representative from Landcare WA.
There are supposed to be pictures available on this site. There are some maps; other than that? Good luck!

http://www.askted.com.au

Has a wide range of information pertaining to Western Australia. You can even find stock market reports.

http://www.learnthenet.com

http://www.deja.com.

Used to be portal to Usenet but now points to Google pages, where you can find forums or newsgroups, where you can ask questions or just read the questions of others and the answers elicited.

http://www.howstuffworks.com

As the name suggests, tells you how stuff works, eg. click on gas turbine engine and you get a clear description of the workings of said engine, complete with pictures. Covers many subjects.

http://www.coolquiz.com/trivia/

A huge collection of trivia, plus links.Random trivia,informed me that Masachussets first cultivated it's own watermelon in 1629. In those days, nothing was wasted. The rind was pickled, the juice was drunk, the seeds were toasted for snacks and the flesh was eaten. (Doesn't say anything about the vine!). Random quote gave me this gem: "I wear my wife's eyeglasses because she wants me to see things her way".

http://www.sandlotscience.com

A collection of optical illusions. These are interactive.Learn while you play

http://www.cheftalk.com

Hungry? Recipes to test the taste-buds.

http://www.snopes.com

A collection of urban myths, giving various versions.

Yes, it includes horror and sex. Shock, horror!

http://www.about.com

About various things. There is a Better Homes and Gardens quiz which can reveal your personal tastes in home decor. More inter-active stuff. I was revealed to be "eclectic". Pardon?

More of this later, as we delve. Always being "eclectic", of course.

Later delvings:-

http://www.members.aol.com/ccrarebit/page/rabbit.html

Will take you to a collection of pages, mainly for and about seniors, its homepage being the Net Hutch of Cc Rabbit. It's funny...ish. One page of it was mentioned in one of our past News-Letters.

"I know that I am mortal, a creature of a day; but when I search with my mind into the multitudinous revolving spirals of the stars, my feet no longer touch the Earth, but beside Zeus himself I take my fill of ambrosia..." (Ptolemy)

http://www.fourmilab.ch/homeplanet/

For astronomy buffs. At this site, you can download a programme which you can install on your computer, free. Two versions, full and light.
Try the light version first, if you like it, you can upgrade to full version. You can change various options in the programme so that it gives you a view of the night sky WHERE YOU LIVE.
You can even track satellites, names of which are listed. The charts are mathematically programmed to change over time, synchronised with the movements of the stars. Check the star-charts on your computer at night, walk outside, look up and there it all is!
You do not have to be on the internet to use it. Once installed, it is working.

http://www.seds.org/nineplanets/nineplanets/

Another astronomy site. Said to be an amateur site it is far from amateur in content.

http://www.heavens-above.com/

Star charts, etc, etc. You can feed in the name of your town (Busselton, in our case) or exact co-ordinates if the name of your town is not listed.
You have to view this one on the internet. ( No, this is not the site with similar name on our Links page!)

While we are star-gazing, here are a couple more.

http://www.jrmooneyham.com/future_history_timeline.html

http://hubble.stsci.edu/

http://www.msss.com/

MSSS.com provides a gallery of over 123,800 photographic images of mars, taken by the orbiting Mars Global Surveyor, since approach in mid-1997 to present day.
Presented by Malin Space Science Systems, in conjunction with NASA.

Abalone to Zabaglione

Are you into cookery? Here is a collection of sites to titillate your tastebuds. Heaps of recipes from all over the world, cooking terminology,utensils,ingredients, you name it. There is plenty on healthy and vegetarian meals, as well as those other disgusting ones!
If you do not want to cook, you can just drool.

http://www.asiarecipe.com/ http://eat.epicurious.com/ http://www.globalgourmet.com http://www.fatfree.com http://www.simplygreatmeals.com.au/

http://www.quackwatch.com

A site devoted to advice on quackery and medical misinformation.

Many club members, plus other visitors to this site, are interested in photography, in one form or another. The latest is of course, digital photography but there are still many who are devoted to the traditional camera. These sites will give you all the information and advice you need, on buying or using cameras. Some also give advice on scanners.

http://www.buy-n-shoot.com http://www.photo.net http://www.askthecameraman.com http://www.steves-digicams.com http://www.megapixel.net http://www.photographytips.com http://www.kodak.com.au

Here are a few sites that should be able to supply you with the answer to just about anything you want to know about computers and the internet. Some include tutorials.

http://www.answersthatwork.com http://www.compukiss.com http://www.computing.net http://www.computertim.com http://support.microsoft.com/ http://www.pctechguide.com

http://www.seniornet.org/php/

The Seniornet Organization in the USA.

Most people should know all about Hotmail by now. You know, the free internet e-mail service?
It is not the only such service available. Here are a few more.

http://www.mbox.com.au http://www.mail2web.com http://mail.yahoo.com http://mail.lycos.com http://www.softhome.net http://www.hotpop.com http://mail.excite.com

Dictionaries

There are a few odd dictionaries about. Here are some of them. The Macquarie Dictionary is included here, not because it is odd but because it contains a Book of Slang.
The Devil's Dictionary was written by Ambrose Bierce in 1911. Many of his definitions are just as accurate as they were then.

http://www.acronymfinder.com http://www.blueray.com/dictionary http://www.thedevilsdictionary.com/ http://www.aaaugh.com/dictionary http://www.macquariedictionary.com.au http://www.pseudodictionary.com http://www.symbols.com http://www.enchantedlearning.com/dictionary.htm

(The Enchanted Learning site is included mainly for your grandchildren.)

Looking for online information on banking , personal finance, online share trading, and the like?
There are many sites available but possibly the best Australian site is:-

http://www.infochoice.com.au

GENEALOGY

A few of our members are interested in genealogy, which is "looking up the family tree" and tracing the descent of person or family through the ancestral line.
The sites listed below are a collection of genealogy search engines and directories.
The search engines work like Google, Ask Jeeves, etc. in that you enter a search term and get a number of sites in response, therefore you need to use specific search terms such as full names or locations.
Otherwise you are likely to receive an overwhelming number of responses.

The directories contain records and resources which include census records, passenger lists, obituaries, military records and personal history web-sites.
The information in any of these sites is not necessarily correct, so cross checking is recommended.

You will find that many sites contain large numbers of links to similar sites and there will be a lot of repetition of links.
Also, there are some sites which offer free search up to a point, beyond which you have to pay to continue.
Quite a lot of sites seem to tend to steer you to those pay for search sites.
(Funny thing, that!)

http://www.searchforancestors.com
http://www.genealogyportal.com
http://searches.rootsweb.com
http://www.cyndislist.com
http://www.coraweb.com.au
http://genealogy.about.com
http://genealogyregister.com/web.html
http://www.genhomepage.com

There are also Surname Search or Find sites, such as:-

http://www.ancestry.com
http://ancestry.co.uk
http://www.genealogy.com/ifftop.html
http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/frameset_search.asp
http://rsl.rootsweb.com
http://www.surnamefinder.com

There are many others and most if not all will have links to them on the sites listed above.
GOOD LUCK!

MacWHO ?

If you are of scots ancestry and want to look up your tartan (should we re-phrase that?), or clan history, etc., try this site.