|
ABE
|
The American
Book Exchange is the single best place we’ve ever found to purchase books
– whether new, old, rare or just plain hard-to-find.
Check the price from
Amazon and then go beat the price on ABE.
It's a clearing house for thousands of dealers all over the world.
|
|
Air America Radio |
Charlie leans left in our
family. Anne stands staunchly in the middle. So, this is where
Charlie goes to listen to on-line radio talk from "progressives." Anne
keeps going to Minnesota Public Radio
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/
|
|
Amateur Gourmet |
It's a blog for those
who love food and love to cook it. It's loaded with good stuff and delicious
stuff.
|
|
Apple Movie Trailers |
Watch the "previews" of the
current movies to find out what you want to spend your money on. It requires
a current version of Quick-Time.
(See also:
Yahoo Movies)
|
|
Area Code Listing |
Ever wonder where that area
code is? Someone leaves a message on your phone and you'd like to know
from where they called before you return it. Here's the place to go...
|
|
Atlantic Magazine |
One of America's great, great
magazines on-line. Unfortunately, most of it now requires a subscription to
view. This may soon cause this site to disappear from our list. On the
other hand, maybe not, because there still is plenty of good, free
stuff.
|
|
 Bartleby
Great Books on Line |
Get to know this one and how it works and you’ll never be without it
again! Want a portal into great reference books
(encyclopedia, dictionary, thesaurus, etc.)? Try
Bartleby Reference.
(Another portal into great books is
Project Guttenberg)
|
|
Bartleby Reference |
Start here to begin researching any question
or topic. It is the very best place to begin!
|
|
Better Homes & Gardens |
It's a classic and it's loaded with good,
practical information about managing your home and yard.
|
BBC
World Wide
Interactive Learning |
You’ll need to spend some time here to learn just how valuable this site
can be to your own education – continuing education, that is.
|
|
Book
Crossing |
Love books and want to share your love? Here’s a great way!
Charlie’s a member and loves the idea behind this terrific web site!
|
|
Bookwire |
This may be a
way to start selling the books
you've written.
|
|
*Canterbury Park |
is a horse racing venue south of the Twin Cities and it also hosts some
card gaming.
|
 CDW
|
Here's where we go when we want to buy
computer peripherals. They've treated us great and their service is
fast. The inventory these folks keep on hand is nothing short of
phenomenal. They'll assign a personal account manager to you and he (or
she) will make certain you're happy. If you are interested, our manager
is Jesse Drolema and he does a great job for us.
|
|
*City Pages |
This is a good source of information about
'what's going on' in our town. It also includes some good reading.
|
|
Comedy Central
|
Hardy, har har!
It's not the easiest site to maneuver around on (or
in), but you can find out what's happening in upcoming comedy and get
many wonderful and funny video clips. I start my day on this site
about once a week.
|
Congressional Directories
U.S.
House of Representatives
U.S. Senate |
Want to find your
congressional representative quickly, or actually find others as well.
Here's where you go...
|
|
Consumer World |
This is a good substitute for
Consumer Reports which now has a
subscription fee.
|
|
Craig's List |
This is a poor man's
EBay and it works really well and without all the hassle. If you like
trading and selling on the Internet, try this one out.
|
|
Currency Converter |
This universal currency converter really
works and, in this more global world, it is an important tool.
|
|
Diary of Samuel Pepys |
We've thrown this one in just
for the heckuv it! It's a well done site, however, and you might want
to take a look.
The neat thing about this site is that it is so heavily 'hyperlinked' to
other valuable reference information. Spend time here and you'll become a
Pepys expert.
|
|
Dictionary |
Need we explain
this one? Also try
Bartleby Reference (where Charlie goes
regularly).
|
|
Drudge Report |
News with gossip added.
Did Matt Drudge start it all? Maybe not, but he
made it all crazy and his original site deserves attention.
|
|
Roger Ebert |
The king of the movie review
as far as we're concerned. Roger Ebert supplies tons on information about
'the movies' on his very attractive and well organized web site.
|
|
Entertainment Weekly Magazine
|
Keeping up on the world on entertainment
in a rag that's very well written and also well organized.
|
|
Epicurious
|
This one’s been on our
top-ten list for a long time. If you like food, you’ll love this web
site.
|
|
ESPN
Sports |
For sports news in general, we have not found a better
place to go.
|
|
Evite |
This is instead of “invite” and will let you
send out electronic invitations to a party or simple get-together via
the wonderful World Wide Web.
|
|
Exploratorium
|
This is the On-Line home of the San
Francisco Museum of Science, Art and Human Perception.
|
|
Fact Check |
This is a way to check up on
the politicians and "to hold them accountable." It's from the
Annenberg Foundation and we find it extremely useful. One candidate
says one thing and another says something completely different, so who is
right? You go here. You read. You decide.
|
|
First Gov |
This is the federal
governments web portal, opening up thousands of web sites and pages of
information to you about your nation. One of the sites it can lead you to is
one we use often:
http://www.science.gov/
(which includes sections about agriculture).
|
|
Food 4-1-1 |
" ...the ultimate food
resource for everything on the Web related to online food shopping
opportunities." That's
a quote from the web site and I've found it pretty accurate.
|
|
Free Cycle |
This one might sound
complicated, but it's not. It's goal is to reduce land-fill.
Give away your junk to people who might want it. Remember? "One man's
trash is another man's treasure!" You log on to your community (area
or region) and post what you want to get rid of. You can also look for
treasure yourself. It works and it's a good idea. Instead of
sending an old chest of drawers or a boom-box to the dump, list it and
someone will likely arrange to come over and pick it up from you.
|
|
Google |
We couldn't leave this off
our list of practical sites. It is the KING of search engines.
|
|
Google Earth |
Wait, wait! This may soon be the hottest web site in the
world! It is likely to win ALL the awards! In this case, Google
boggles the mind. Look at your backyard! Look at Central Park.
It's all wild and wonderful. You can download a very adequate,
absolutely free version of the Google Earth software.
|
|
Google Map |
This replaces all the other
maps services we formerly played around with. It's simply simpler,
faster, cleaner and accurate.
|
|
*Guthrie Theatre |
One of America's finest theaters -- right
here in our own community. Other excellent theaters in town include:
Mixed Blood Theatre
The Penumbra Theatre
State and Orpheum Theatres
Ordway Center
|
Harvard
Business School
Working Knowledge |
Reports and insight from the
Harvard Business School.
We've spent time on this site, looking for advice and ideas and came away impressed. I think business men and women should know about this site
and visit it occasionally.
|
|
Health Finder |
Not satisfied with Web MD?
Then here is a service
of the U.S. Gov’t that will help you find information about health
matters from hundreds of thousands of sources.
|
|
History Net |
With an emphasis on U.S. History, this site
has marvelous and unusual essays on history subjects.
|
|
Hot Wired |
If you’re interested in the Internet, here’s
the place to keep up to date on all the news that’s fit to post!
|
|
How Stuff Works |
I remember purchasing
these books when the kids were young -- especially for Mark! Now you
can find it on the web and find out how it works. Plus, there's a
whole lot more. Spend time here and you won't regret it.
|
|
iChef |
This is an excellent food and
recipes page. Though there are hundreds of such pages, we usually start here
or go to
Epicurious.
For lamb recipes in specific, there is not better place than our own
Sheepy Hollow Recipes.
|
|
Internet Movie Database |
This one’s for movie freaks!
|
|
Internet Public Library |
This is good.
It's going to get better. It is broken down into subject categories
and leads you to both books and links in that subject area. Watch this
baby grow!
(A service of the University of
Michigan School of Information)
|
*Jazz in the Twin Cities
The Dakota
Hot Summer Jazz Festival
Twin Cities Jazz Society |
You should check in at any of these local
web sites to find our about the very lively jazz scene in our town. If you
just looking for an evening out and a good dinner, start with The Dakota,
a very lovely jazz cafe in the heart of downtown Minneapolis.
|
|
*KFAN |
Minnesota sports talk radio for a change of
pace!
|
|
Library of Congress
|
You have to spend time on this web site
before you start to realize what a gold mine of information it contains.
|
|
Lonely Planet |
These folks publish the best travel guides in the English language and
their web site is very helpful, too.
|
|
Meatrix
|
Whether you want to fight the factory farm or not, this
is one helluva well-done web site. We've
never seen a better one!
|
|
Marianna's Nordic
Territory |
This site in Finland wins our prize for the
best personal web site. It greatly influenced the design of our
own page. Try Marianna's recipe for Salmon Lax. Enjoy!
|
|
*Minneapolis
Magazine |
This local monthly is well known for their "best of"
lists -- from best haircuts to best restaurants and more.
|
|
Minnesota Home Page |
Here's how to get to the
State of Minnesota government page. From there it's easy to jump
into the Explore Minnesota page.
|
|
Mississippi
Review |
For ones who love to read!
|
*Museums in the Twin
Cities
Science Museum
Weisman Art Museum
Minneapolis Institute of Arts
Minnesota
History Center
Walker Art
Center
|
There are a host of
outstanding museums in our metropolitan area. Several of them are
considered world-class. The Science Museum and the Minnesota
History Center are in St. Paul. The other three are in
Minneapolis.
|
*Music in the Twin
Cities
The Minnesota
Orchestra
St Paul Chamber
Orchestra |
Two outstanding orchestras maintain full season schedules and normally
play to full houses. Check them out...
|
National Geographic Society
hidden lin
here 4 |
As you might expect, this one is a great web
site by a great organization!
|
National Opinion
Columnists
David Broder
Ellen Goodman
Michael Kinsley
Cal Thomas
George Will
|
Here's a list of the National
Opinion columnists we like to read and often do... Actually, these are
columnists Charlie likes to read (though Anne certainly enjoys Ellen
Goodman).
Yahoo's Opinion Page will lead you to
opinion from newspapers around the country. |
|
National Poetry Series |
For the poet in you!
|
Natural Resources
Defense Council |
It’s about something we all should be
interested in; i.e., defending the earth!
|
|
Netflix |
This may be the single best way to rent flix.
|
|
Nolo |
Have you a will, or want to write a new one,
or do some other legal stuff on your own?
|
|
NPR
|
National Public Radio On-Line and doing it
really well.
|
|
NY
Times |
This used to be
Charlie's favorite and #1 site, but now part of
it is by subscription only and that causes the rating
to go down a bit. Nevertheless, he pays the annual subscription
price and could not live without visiting this web site daily. It's a
Sunday morning treat to spend a couple of hours over the NY Times.
|
Oxford Dictionary
of the English Language |
"The definitive record of the
English language." To take full advantage of this service you need to
be a subscriber, but the free portal will at least give you a sniff of this
distinguished publication.
|
|
PBS |
The Public Broadcasting System On-Line
and doing it really well.
|
|
PC Magazine |
America's leading
personal computing magazine. It has now and has been since day one.
Get the heads-up on new products and get ratings on current technology.
PC Mag gives out tons of awards to great links. It deserves one
itself.
|
|
People Living with Cancer
|
When
cancer strikes close to home,
you find sites like this!
|
| Poetry Daily |
For the poet in you, too!
|
|
Prairie
Home Companion |
It's not easy to get tickets, but everyone must
see this great production at least once. Their web site is interesting,
too.
|
| Project Gutenberg |
Wait, wait! This is an incredible web site. It is
one of the most important on the world wide web. It's just not that
easy to use and that's the only reason it didn't win one of our awards.
Nevertheless, if you want an on-line copy of War and Peace or,
perhaps, the Voyage of the Beagle, here's a place to find them and
thousands more. Really! It's a researcher's dream.
|
|
Public Agenda |
They call themselves
“a nonpartisan opinion research and civic engagement organization,” and
we've found no reason to doubt them. Good information on
crucial and contemporary issues.
|
|
*Pulse of the Twin
Cities |
This local publication
primarily deals with the arts, entertainment and dining, but it occasionally
tackles some tough political issues also.
|
|
Recycling |
This link will take you to
the Internet Consumer Recycling Center and answer most of your questions
about this important subject.
|
|
Reference Desk |
This site is loaded with
information and portals into many research worlds on the Internets.
Many use it as a one stop shop for getting to dictionaries, encyclopedias
and atlases. For that, though, I'd prefer to go to
Bartleby Reference.
|
|
Roberts Rules of Order |
If you are ever required to leading a
meeting and want to do it in the classically correct manner, this site
will provide the information you need.
|
Rhyme Zone
Rhyming Dictionary |
So far, this site has worked flawlessly. It goes far beyond helping one
find rhymes, it also works as a thesaurus and much, much more.
|
|
Salon |
Many think it’s just a blog, but it is an extraordinary web site filled
with top-notch essays on cutting edge current events. You
can either subscribe for about $35 per year or you can watch a product ad
each time you go to an essay or story. We do the latter!
|
|
SeniorNet |
Why this web page? Well, I (Charlie) are one and Anne is moving closer.
This
"is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization of
computer-using adults, age 50 and older. [Their]
...mission is to provide older adults
education for and access to computer technologies to enhance their lives
and enable them to share their knowledge and wisdom."
|
|
Shareware |
If you know what
shareware is, you’ll want to visit this site. If you don’t,
you probably won’t.
|
|
Shutterfly |
We don’t use this one
because we do all of our own photo work, but
we have friends who
swear by this site for printing their photos and a whole lot more.
It’s a well-organized site. Try it!
Our children prefer
Kodak Gallery.
|
|
Slate |
We
haven’t figured out who or what’s behind this one, but it’s a
wonderful news and information site.
|
|
Smart Money |
Now that the Wall
Street Journal (on-line) wants you to pay a subscription rate, I've switched
over to this excellent web site. It won't be as helpful to the
professional, but it serves my purposes well.
|
|
Smithsonian
Magazine |
The on-line version of one of our favorite periodicals.
|
|
Smoking Gun |
Like to get into some of the juicy stuff – from
politics to entertainment – and get all the ripest gossip?
|
|
Snopes |
Keep hearing a dumb rumor
that you just can't believe and don't want to be true. I get these in
emails all the time. Here's a good place to start checking it out!
If Snopes doesn't work, try
Truth or Fiction
|
State & Local Government
Web Sites
|
Here's the place to begin if
you want to find the web site for a state or local government unit...
The
State of Minnesota
[click
here to go to the Minnesota home page]
|
|
Street
|
Business news and fascinating business
articles in an attractive format; however, there is a subscription fee
and many won’t find it worth it.
|
|
Strunks Elements of Style |
If you write, you know
about Strunks. How valuable to have it on line. You can also go to
Bartleby's Reference page and scroll
down to "English Language Usage" and see links to many other manuals.
|
Target
|
 (This is the easiest on-line
shopping site we’ve ever visited. Target has won many awards for its site
and now we give it another very prestigious one! And, we nearly gave
it the prestigious "trophy award.")
|
|
Tate Galleries of Britain |
Sometimes you find wonderful sites because you’re out there in space
looking for items for someone else. That’s the case here.
Our daughter will be studying art in England
during the winter of 2005 and we found this wonderful site as we began
looking into the subject.
|
|
Tolerance |
Teaching children to be tolerant may be one of
the most important roles of the parent. Here’s help!
|
|
Truth or Fiction |
Check out that email you've
received, guarantying huge results if you reply to it and send it on to a
god-awful bunch of embarrassed friends. This site will tell you if
it's truth of fiction. If that doesn't work, try
Snopes
|
|
UGO – Underground On-Line |
You
wouldn’t think old fogies, such
as we, would enjoy a site like this, but
there’s lots of information about entertainment possibilities for even
us! Actually, we just
posted this one to make you think we're hip.
|
|
United States Newspaper List |
This is a site we use
frequently. Newspaper web sites are listed by state. Want to check out
a story in Philadelphia or find an obituary in Mississippi, this is a good
place to start.
|
United
States Postal Service
hidden
line goes right here
|
We
probably go to this site than any other except the NY Times. Need to find a
zip code fast? This is the place. Want to calculate postage? Here you
go! If we gave out 5-star ratings, this web site
would get 6 stars.
|
|
Urban Dictionary |
Hard to tell these days
if "bad" is "good" or "not so good" or "absolutely terrific." Are you
fat? Or is it phat? Here's a dictionary into the world of
"current" lingo.
|
Veterinarian Manual
by Merck |
This is a helpful page for
those with animals for whom they are responsible. It will lead you to
other helpful sites.
|
|
Volunteer Match |
Sponsored by the William
Randolph Hearst Foundation, this web site can help you find volunteer
opportunities in your community.
|
|
Weather |
The Weather Channel’s on-line version because
sometimes we just plain need practical weather information!
A visitor to our web site suggests that
National Oceanic &
Atmospheric Administration's
weather information is better, with
up-to-the-minute radar information.
|
|
WebMD |
This is a very useful and helpful site regarding
questions of health and illness.
|
|
What Is
|
…is a wonderful
place to get answers to your questions about the new and exciting
IT
world.
|
|
White Pages |
This works very
well and has rarely failed us when we're searching for phone numbers and/or
addresses around the nation.
|
|
Wikipedia Free Encyclopedia |
This is an on-line
encyclopedia that really works and they don't charge a subscription fee.
|
|
World Citizen Guide |
This one was
the top pick in the 2004 Webby Awards in the ‘activism’ category – and
that’s very prestigious. We came upon it because
we have a kid about to leave
for a study-abroad term and that’s what this one is all about. It shows you
how to be a good visitor and how to get the most out of your experience.
|
|
World Atlas |
This service works quite well
when we want to find out something about a far-flung nation.
|
|
World Time Server |
This is an extremely handy
page. Find out what time it is anywhere in the world and find a number of
handy time tools.
|
|
World Wide Web Consortium |
What is
the web? How did it get started? How does it keep operating? Who sets the
standards? The answer is the World Wide Web Consortium? Unless you’re
absolutely fascinated with the subject, as we are,
you can avoid this one.
For those craving to better understand how the Internet
works and how to take full advantage of it, one section of the Stimulus Page
is chocked full of good stuff
Stimulus Internet 101
|
|
Yahoo Movies |
An alternative to Apple
Movies. It's a way to view previews of up-coming or current flicks.
We go to this site often and always find it working well and efficiently.
It's a great free service. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles
that
Apple Movie Trailers has got, but it sure is easy and quick.
|
| |
|
|
Currently under
Review
We're examining the following web
sites
to see if they are worthy enough to be moved up
to our list of 'best sites on the World Wide Web!'
|
|
Alibaba |
A trading web site we're checking out. Buy and sell
online. Find suppliers and buyers. It's very popular and is near
the top in web site visits.
|
|
Better Business Bureau |
If this site works well
enough, it might be a valuable place for all consumers to know about.
We're checking to see if we can get information about companies before we
use them.
We do know complaints can be filed at the
BBB
Serving Minnesota & North Dakota
|
|
Center for Public Integrity |
It seems to me that both
conservatives and liberals ought to appreciate this organization that seeks
to find where there is waste in government spending and corruption of
government officials. So far, we're fascinated.
|
Center
for Responsive Politics
or Open Secrets |
They claim to be our "guide
to the money in U.S. elections. The question is: How many people care
enough to check in and find out where it's going and where it came from.
|
|
Christian Science
Monitor |
Some consider it one of
America's most important news sources. We're taking a peek.
|
|
Common Errors in English |
This is a subject that
interests us a great deal and we're looking it over to determine whether or
not it's helpful.
|
|
Counter Punch |
This is an alternative news
source, produced by progressives, that may end up on our recommended list.
Give us more time to look at it.
|
|
Gather |
This is one of the classiest
and most diverse blogs on the web. I think public radio is behind it.
We're taking some time to look it over and really enjoying it so far.
|
|
GO |
This is one of the hottest
sites on the web. It provides a portal into other sites and many people use
this as a home page. We'll let you know over the next several weeks.
|
John Gilbert
Cars & Trucks |
We enjoy reading John W.
Gilbert's reviews of new cars and trucks. He's as good as they come.
You can find out tons about fuel conservation. Gilbert also writes a
great deal about hockey for those of you interested in that sport.
|
|
Gore Vidal Index |
You will need hold a certain
fascination for Gore Vidal in order to appreciate this web site. There
are interviews with the man about current issues and the enormous levels of
current stupidity in our nation. I watching now to see how regularly
it is updated and refreshed.
|
|
Greenpeace International |
It's clearly a very controversial organization, but their
goals are clearly something we need to admire. Their means of getting
to their end goals are sometimes shocking.
|
| |
|
|
Human Rights
Watch |
Someone needs to watch and,
perhaps, we need to watch the watchers.
|
|
Internet Archive |
This is a highly visited site
-- in the top 100 worldwide. It appears to be loaded with significant
research capabilities. We'll keep looking at it for you.
|
|
Just Joking |
Anne loves to find a good
joke occasionally, take it out with her on her daily activities, and share
it at the appropriate time. There are hundreds of sites like this and
we trying to determine which is the best one.
|
Mayo Clinic
Tools for Healthier Lives |
There appears to be an awful
lot of tips and advice on ways to live a healthier life. We like what
we've seen so far.
|
Meat Matters
from British Meats |
We're checking out this site
that appears to be loaded with wonderful meat recipes. The range of
recipes is quite good and I think this page will eventually be moved to our
favorites list.
|
|
MENSA International |
If you think you're up to it
and have the courage, go on and pay MENSA a visit and take their workout
too. This is a very beautiful web site and it works flawlessly also.
|
|
Michael Moore |
You love him or hate him!
I admire his creativity and his passion for a free and beautiful America.
His web site? He digs deep and comes up with the stuff that just gets you
angry and makes you want to cry. Those of you on the right will want to
avoid this. Too much truth will spoil your illusions. I'm pretty
sure this one will be moved up soon and will likely get a big trophy from
us.
|
|
Mother Jones |
Lots of people have been
recommending this one to us. It's too early to make a call. Here's what they
say about themselves:
"Mother Jones is an independent nonprofit whose roots
lie in a commitment to social justice implemented through first rate
investigative reporting."
|
NASA
National Aeronautics
and Space Administration |
This is a spectacular web
site and it takes you to spectacular places. So far we are blown away
by the WOW affect on this site. I think it will be solid in content,
too.
|
|
National Gallery of Art |
This looks like a very well
done web site with lots of potentially helpful information. We decided
one thing already: It's very tastefully attractive.
|
|
Nobel Peace Prize |
Obviously, this web site is
worth examining to see if it fits any of our criteria.
|
OJR
On-Line Journalism Review |
This site comes to us from
the University of Southern California and the Annenberg Foundation. The
project examines the quality and accuracy of on-line news and reporting. We
think it's a worthy service and so far we've been fascinated by it.
|
|
Pew Research Group |
This organization has a great
reputation. We're checking now to see how their web site is.
|
Photography:
The American Museum
of Photography
|
More than one of us in this
family is terribly interested in photography, so this is one of the
photographic sites we want to know more about.
|
|
Project
Censored |
Sonoma University, in
California, sponsors this site. It attempts to present news stories that the
mainstream media is withholding from the public. We began examining
this one on 1/12/2005 and we'll either recommend it or discard after our
examination period.
|
|
Rabble.Ca |
Here's a way to keep up on
the progressive political community in Canada. How good is it?
We'll know after a while.
|
|
Science Magazine |
Anne subscribes to this
periodical, so we thought we'd examine their web site. So far, no verdict.
|
|
The United Nations |
A lot of blood has been
spilled to create this organization. Some would too easily ignore it. Yet,
it remains our greatest hope for world peace and sensible international
diplomacy. But, how good is the web site? We'll let you know!
Perhaps even more important are their subsidiary web sites:
UNESCO (United Nation Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization).
UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund)
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Webbie World
Awards |
The pioneering organization
of those which grant web awards. If you want to look beyond what we've done
here, this may be the place to begin.
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World Hunger
Education
Service Associates |
This is an elderly
organization that stays committed to it primary goal; that is, teaching
people how they can get involved in feeding the hungry. It is painful shame
that hunger and starvation exist in our world when there is such an
abundance of food.
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