Thank you for visiting Dr. Paul L. Chessin's Favorite Places II. (Please be patient while this page downloads completely.)
(This edition was created February 24, 2000)
Prepare a cup of coffee, sit back, and enjoy some Beethoven ... ...
FUN WITH ANIMATIONS NOSTALGIA, RADIO, TV USEFUL INFORMATION LITERATURE -- Still more web sites. MUSIC, MUSIC, MUSIC FUN AND GAMES -- PUZZLES, GAMES, JOKES, CARTOONS! MYSTERY! INTRIGUE! SPIES! MAGIC !!! ELECTRONIC POSTCARDS MATHEMATICS --Serious and Fun NASA - SPACE - PICTURES!! ART & MUSEUMS, Galleries and Photography! STORIES & STORY-TELLING PHILOSOPHY & RELIGIONS
FUN WITH ANIMATIONS
Many of my friends delight in inserting animations in their e-mail. That's fun. Nancian has compiled a lovely collection of pages. Start at this --Homepage, and be sure, if you ever have one of those days, to proceed to -- Cowboy Page for insights and more ! Are you a fan of La Bamba! ?? Then visit -- Froggie Dance ( scroll but be patient ) for fun!! In fact, if dancing things amuse you, you should check out -- Dance in our Pants where over 250 titles (in alphabetical order) are listed ! And since there is an animated dancing -- Cheeseburgers In Paradise is worth a visit !! Another neat site is Easy on the "dance pages" This is my version! There's even The Jewish Dance Page and finally, for now, this Animated GIF Finder has over 168 pages! of free stuff while Animated Gifs populate this site of Sandy and Bill Eakle (click on any image!).
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NOSTALGIA, RADIO
More and more the Internet has become a portal to live broadcasts from radio and television stations around the world, feeding a stream of data to a browser equipped with plug-ins to manage the data flow. In addition home pages are evolving with audio files of recorded programs. I continue to return to the homepage of Abbott and Costello to relish their Who's on First routine At Broadcast.com one can sample segments from audios available for purchase. For example, there's mystery to be heard at AudioBooks Subject - Mystery -- how about a 40+ minute reading of the Hound of the Baskervilles ? or that endearing Rumpole of the Bailey ? unabridged, 6 stories read in an hour 20 + minutes! One merely clicks on the image to start the story streaming to the speakers. While we're at it, check out samples of other broadcast subject at Audiobooks -- Biography, Comedy, Fantasy, Fiction, History, Non-Fiction, Western .... Oh yes! don't overlook Fibber McGee & Molly, nor Edgar Bergen & Charlie McCarthy nor the 29 minute segment of the radio program (Oct. 26, 1944) of Abbott and Costello .
USEFUL INFORMATION
I start with a remarkable site maintained by the University of Oklahoma. A veritable starting point for investigating the Internet, it is called, Wormhole to the Rest of the Internet and is part of the more general Exploring the Internet!--Oklahoma University.
A well written piece entitled, NewbieNET ... ASK! Someone Knows! then, How Microprocessors Work For the Newbie - Cyber Course™ -- Starting Page where beginners to the Internet may learn about netiquette, basic e-mail, file compression (downloads), newsgroups, spam, internet "myths," how to "FTP," how to find people on the Web, internet relay chat, and more. Scrub The Web (a Search Engine)
I have come across a web site designed by a Mr. Malek in which he disperses freely a steadily increasing number of computer-related tips, hints, and informative articles. MalekTips - General Computers. He also provides author-contributed links and descriptions to public-domain,freeware, and shareware software available over the Internet.Visit his Internet Basics, Feature Articles, Windows 95, Windows NT, Web Development, DOS, and, his Master Index.
ZDNet webpages provide much useful information in this direction. Visit, for example, Get a Head Start for some tricks to make your computer start faster; Optimize Your Hard Drive with information on how to clean up unecessary or redundant files, defragmentation, etc.; Shed the Nonsense meaning those temporary files (so-called); Take Out the Trash, that is, clearing out that Recycle Bin!
Real-time E-mail Machine Translation
The Oyez Project at Northwestern University, Oyez Oyez Oyez, has created this Web site to deliver digitally encoded versions of complete oral arguments in several dozen cases before the US Supreme Court. (This proof-of-concept received a significant boost from the National Science Foundation (for hardware support) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (for content support) to build a vast multimedia relational database on the U.S. Supreme Court). The OYEZ Project now comprises more than 900 hours of audio materials, summaries of 1,000-plus Supreme Court opinions, biographical materials on all 108 justices, and a QuickTime virtual-reality tour of the Supreme Court building. ... A remarkable web site. leading to -- "The Supreme Court's Greatest Hits", where you are taken into the courtroom as an observer by having access to the oral arguments, text, and images.
The start of a never-too-late to read An Abridged History of the United States
Current reports from the Alternative & Complementary Medicine Center - HealthWorld Online InteliHealth - Home to Johns Hopkins Health Information: Discovery Health Home Culinaria Online gives cooks access to thousands of recipes, tips, and techniques -- check it out: Culinaria Online The Violin - a web site created with the aim of "unveiling the mystery behind the violin; going into its history, its manufacture, discovering the composers and musicians who play it, and learn how it is played".
LITERATURE
The Pulitzer Prizes provides much historical fact on these awards. Salon.com -- I visit Salon for a different take on the day's news. Other links are good, too. Electronic Text Center -- University of Virginia in particular its The Modern English Collection at the Electronic Text Center online electronic books The On-Line Books Page from Carnegie-Mellon.... and its Books On-Line: Archives (foreign). WWW Virtual Library: Complete overview NetLibrary which offers a free collection of more than 1,000 public domain eBooks--many supplied by the Gutenberg Project in an easy-to-read format. You have to register for access to ALL the titles, but every month you can choose from several featured titles without registering. Check out its home page, Main Library. Literary Resources on the Net from Rutgers is another excellent sources of links Mr. William Shakespeare and the Internet, and, as well, The Complete Works of Shakespeare from MIT. Poetry Today Online : The Ring Of Words Home Page. This ring, started in July 1996, connects writers all over the net, and provides links to stimulating literary sites. Pilot-Search for Literary Sites Some reference works == The Oxford English Dictionary Online Dictionary of Phrase and Fable And some guest pages from some literary clubs and guilds. == Doubleday Book Club® and its Doubleday Large Print The Science Fiction Book Club® The Literary Guild® Mystery Guild® which leads to ... EDGAR ALLAN POE - Selected Tales Finally, on tape ... Audible.com Store and Books On Tape, and Talking Book Topics and Braille Book Review
ON THE LIGHTER SIDE, sites on composers, musicians, classical (symphonic) and popular music, including opera and stage musicals abound (some with downloadable selections). Since the last edition of this list, I have come across so many sites with MIDI and other formatted music files, that it is overwhelming. At the risk of becoming redundant, I have cited several below. Listen, download, enjoy.
MusicSearch: The Internet's Music-Only Search Site The best of MIDI - what is MIDI is a good starting point. MIDI Haven and Midi Haven - (D Files) (mostly Disney) Valkhorn.com -- High Quality MIDI Files - Main Page Midi, Midi, and more Midi. If you want more, try the MIDI MINI place, JK's MIDI GrabBag Playlist, or this remarkable collection, by WordSmith, of Poetry and musical selections, including a "Christmas Carol MIDI Tree." Incidentally, since first visiting Japan in the 60's, I've gotten attached to some of the music of that era, many samples of which are available here- (Old Japanese Pops - MIDI library in 60's and 70's and 80's). Explore MIDI Newsgroups - Discover the Rest of the Net Favorite Wavs and Midi Ring should get you started. Flamenco Ring and especially, ROBERTO LORENZ Flamenco Page and Neil's Guitar midi files page ClassiCat (classical music catalogue) George Frideric Handel, Gustav Mahler, among many Peter, Paul & Mary Solon's Music Page The Music Shoppe - Midi Ring 50's juke box page The MIDI Farm Internet. Kmel MIDI Music From UC Santa Barabara, discover why the word SHUTTLE is used in this site: Voice of the Shuttle: Music and Dance Page Frank Sinatra Tribute and A Frank Sinatra Page, and The Frank Sinatra Sound Archive Karaoke midi files and Sing Along- Parodies (some xxx lyrics and photos), some with sound accompaniment. The Mudcat Cafe presents The Digital Traditions Folksong Database Search Page Broadway and Show Tunes-MIDI Music- -(weekly 06/22/98). In fact, Musical 101 - is a splendid history of the genre. The International Lyrics Network From Indiana U - Worldwide Internet Music Resources - Song Lyrics; Libretti The Lyrics Library - Main Collection - A and Full-text Search Lyrics Sites From Crescendo, software products and Free Music Files And from Europe, music seek - the international music search engine, and FREE Midi, Kostenlose Midis- 100 Midi-links All Recordings by Dudu Fisher is an example of ethnic offerings. Another would be Israel Gimel -the Israeli-Jewish-Yiddish-Hebrew-Folk-Cultural Music Midi Free Library or JMN - The Jewish Music Network. Then find Jose' Feliciano Midi files; the classical guitar of Andrés Segovia; the sounds of guitarist John Williams ; and for the piano, try the Internet Piano Page(Main Page) ... Songs More recently with MP3 on the internet, there is Free MP3 Music Downloads, Audio Software, Hardware, Genres, News besides. Representative of choir rendition is St Peter's Cathedral Choir Finally, for now, the Ultimate MIDI Page - and ... the following site which is it. Here are enough downloads to overload your computer. The citations above are good but here is the MOTHERLODE containing such tidbits as musical editors, players, recording, restoration, cataloging, drums & percussion, ear training, guitar, karaoke, label printing, metronomes, midi players and sequencers, mod, mp3, mpg, multitrack recording, plugins, sound card drivers, streaming audio, tuners, video and multimedia, wavetable editors, and more: Music Software - Shareware Music Machine
FUN AND GAMES
STILL ON THE LIGHTER SIDE, here are some web sites for Fun and Games ...
Let's start with the WWW taking your picture. The camera is a Cyber Camera .
Puzz.com is the web's largest resource for IQ tests, puzzles, trivia, games & contests for entertainment & education. All free. Here, for example, Analogies, IQ Tests, Trivia, Puzzles & Contests at Puzz.com ; and Answers to Cryptoquotes: Cryptograms of Sayings by Famous People and here, its Master Index for All Puzzles, Tests & Games. Today's ANI-GRAM Animated Anagram Humor! This website Fun with Words is dedicated to amusing quirks, peculiarities, and oddities of the English language. Here's is a site about wordplay which is entertaining and educational. American Crossword Puzzle Tournament Homepage WorldWide Scrabble OKbridge Play Checkers ! from Alberta, Can. Games Place (Melis) Games Domain - games center Game Spot Happy Puppy - Game Center From Brown U. Puns, puns and more puns Yahoo! Entertainment: Humor, Jokes, and Fun:Parody:Song Parodies The Official Jerry Lewis Comedy Museum and Store The King's Page of Humor Jokes for the Jolly Humor Archive Ken's Jokes Page Mike's Jokes -Providing Clean Jokes Since May 1999 And now, Deep Thoughts..., Deep Thoughts - 2 and more Deep thoughts and other rubbish Loads of Cartoons here in this CARTOON INDEX Comic Strip List Weekly Alibi- Cartoon Features Pen & Pixel -- Web Site of Mitch Lemus Public Domain-Humorous Advice Column MITStudent Fun Stuff Page NY Times -Cartoons The OpenText Index - Cartoons Comic Strips and More Humorous Funnies at UExpress Andrew's Humor Page! Todd's Humor Archive - by date Oracle delivers by e-mail a daily dose of humor. This is theOracle Service Humor Archives, and Best of: Humor Index The Laffatorium A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum COOL Humour GeeTrish! Hilarious Pictures, Cartoons, Fun Downloads, Great Humor Games Domain JigZone -Online Jigsaw Puzzle From U of Minnesota, Prairie Resources and Games Twenty Questions Mathpuzzle.com Zeeks! Fun and Games for kids
There are so many talented "webbers" who have collected their artistry onto web pages. I have been inundated with amusing email attached to which are some of these offerings. Quite a few of the attachments are uplifting in their messages. - Do explore, read and feel better inside. I in turn commend you to go directly to these sites either to view and be pleased, view and download for further use, or view and forward to your penpals.
Cuttyhunks is the name of an island where the creator of this lovely web presence grew up. She adopted that as her screen name. I am so moved by these pages especially since my mother's name, also, was Rose. Time will be well spent visiting Cuttyhunk's Home Page Hugs From Kathy - this time, a grandmother from Staten Island (I cited a page from Kathy in California, earlier).
MYSTERY! INTRIGUE! SPIES!
Who doesn't like a mystery? A Spy story? Intrigue??
MysteryNet.com: The Online Mystery Network: The place for everything mystery ..... including .... Mystery Genres: History of the Mystery is a good starting point. You will find succint histories on Edgar Allan Poe, Agatha Christie, Sherlock Holmes, Dorothy L. Sayers, Perry Mason, Ellery Queen, The Shadow, Dashiell Hammett and Hard-Boiled Fiction, Television Mysteries including, Nancy Drew, The Saint, and his own web-page Leslie Charteris' Simon Templar, alias The Saint For the children, there's Kids mysteries: -- TheCase.com for Kids: mysteries to solve, scary stories, magic tricks, and contests Cops & Spies Mata Hari Worldspy.com Using Yahoo's search on, CONSPIRACY, or 60 Greatest Conspiracies of All Time, CIA: The World Factbook Master Home Page, or its index on Publications, Related, are these sites: Spy Book Fact of the Day Archive , INFOWAR.COM - Information Warfare, Projecton Intelligence Reform, and from Mr. Weberman, Weberman: JFK Assassination , etc. , and with the Freedom of Information Act, FBI Files Secret No More
MAGIC !!!
Web Trick, Web Trick II , and Web Trick III Greg's Magic Bus - Bus Stops Links History of Magic Magic Showroom Bad Fads Museum
ELECTRONIC POSTCARDS
ELECTRONIC POSTCARDS have become steadily popular. Here are few other sites offering these freebies.
The Palm Beach Post Postcards Webshots Postcards and for daily wonderful wallpaper offerings. Kosinski Greeting Cards SXYS Love Links cards Postcards Online Jody Henderson's Virtual Greeting Cards -- a delightful offering from Leitchfield Community Pool Virtual Insults Greeting Cards -- to be different.
MATHEMATICS --Serious and Fun
Mathematics was my field of study, so I naturally look for websites treating the subject in some way. Come, explore with me.....
MATHEMATICS-An Introduction From Swarthmore, Math Forum Home Page ; and Ask Dr. Math The History of Mathematics on the World Wide Web And even Calculus on the Web, from Temple U -- an Internet utility for learning and practicing calculus Engineering, Science & Mathematics Topics and from Virginia, EricW.Weisstein, Eric's Treasure Trove of Mathematics Mathematical BBS, Frequently Asked Questions in Mathematics, and FAQs in science and mathematics From the Mathematics Archives, UK, WWW Server, Software Collections, and WWW Software Sites From Florida State U, Math Education; from MIT, Mathematics Problem Solving Task Centres; Problem Of The Month List; Then there's Cornell's Theory Center Math and Science ; and, Internet Center for Mathematics Problems The Geometry Center Welcome Page, Knots and Braids, Famous Mathematical Curves And again,there's Helping Your Child Learn Math, Understanding Mathematics from Utah In Numbers Theory, this century saw the genius of Paul Erdos. Here is Erdos Number Project Home Page; and don't overlook the Fibonacci Numbers and the Golden section. In fact, here's a brief introduction from scratch to all that you need to know about Pi and the Fibonacci Numbers, references to Pi through the ages, Archimedes' Constant, and, why not a History of Mathematics online ? ... or selected significant Topics ? For some mathematical amusements, check out this site on Magic Squares, and Suzanne Alejandre's Magic Squares, and Gerry Quinn's Mathematical Games Page From Towson, this collection of Science and Mathematics Internet Sites al-Khwarizmi's Equation Problem Page Unsolved Mathematics Problems Some (Utah) Favorite Mathematicians, including Archimedes and the Computation of Pi, Isaac Newton - U of Utah, and (Penn) Albert Einstein Online Finally, these tidbits - Mathematical Quotation Server and Links to Mathematics pages
NASA - SPACE - PICTURES!!
NASA and the Space Projects have become steadily popular. Here are few new-ish sites offering these delicacies. I include other web sites on Science, Medicine and Technology as well.
First, a primer, NASA Thesaurus Since I was on the Computing Team for Project Mercury, naturally NASA PROJECT MERCURY Reports interest me. Browsing the NASA Homepage leads to such pages as ... Project Apollo Information, and the July 1997 Mars Pathfinder Mission, especially [National Space Science Data Center - Photo Gallery: Mars ] , NASA Photo Gallery and ... Planetary Photojournal: NASA's Image Access Home Page -- A collaboration between NASA's Planetary Data System Imaging Node, the Solar System Visualization Project, and the Jet Propulsion Lab's Media Relations Office, NASA's Planetary Photojournal offers user-friendly, continually-updated access to approximately 2,000 images from various solar system exploration programs. [Users can choose from a number of spacecraft/ instruments for different images of each of the planets in the solar system. Photos come as thumbnails and in full resolution TIFF format. A New Releases link contains the most current pictures.] Check out the NSSDC Photo Gallery and for Discovery Online, Discovery News-Mars. Even Yahoo! in its News and Media:Current Events: cited Mars Pathfinder NASA Earth Observatory Other sites on this subject, include:- Mars Pathfinder - Welcome to Mars!, Space Views: Mars Pathfinder - homepage, SpaceViews: Mars Pathfinder: Links, Live from Mars, Richard's Atronomy Links and Planetary Mysteries which can lead to Mt. Wilson Project Technological marvel ! But what exactly do engineers do? This Discover Engineering Website, provided by the National Engineers Week and Discover Engineering team, is dedicated to showing just what engineers do. From the University in Melbourne,WWW History of Science, Technology and Medicine:= Alphabetical List of Sites, List of Biographical Sources, Museums exhibitions and images, and Overview The Technology Education Lab Ohio State Engineering Guide MIT's Technology Review Home Page Science Hobbyist From U of Penn, THE SCIENTIST-Life Science News From McGill, TIPTOP:TIPTOP: Physics Around the World Also, Scientific Organization Lists Since much of my career centered about the digital computer, I frequent old haunts, such as ... Commercial Computing Museum - Computer History Web Sites, and from from Oxford Univ., BOB'S COMPUTER MUSEUM with its (Links to Computer Museums) , IBM Portable PC, PC/XT, PC/AT, even the PS/2 Mod30 Not to forget the software side of life, check out The Software History Center courtesy of Univ. of Melbourne; and the History of Computing Information, and along with citations of some the work of that singular mathematician, Dr. Bernard Dimsdale, Fellow of IBM, with whom I had the privilege of working. (I have written of Bernie elsewhere). Computer Science Bibliography Collection along with Events in the History of Computing
ART & MUSEUMS, Galleries and Photography!
So much art and so many museums have come online to allow their fine works to be visited. Here are a few I return to.
Artcyclopedia The Guide to Museum-Quality Art on the Internet Art Museum.net Home Page-- An Intel-sponsored site presenting exhibits from art museums the world over. With so much biographical and critical information included with each exhibit, one can learn a lot here, maybe more than one can at a real museum. From Carnegie-Mellon Art and Architecture Mark Harden's Artchive: The First Impressionist Exhibition, 1874 From U of No Carolina, WebMuseum - Famous Paintings exhibition Incidentally, works of art may be downloaded for personal collection and viewing, See, for example, MONA LISA a JPEG image 743x1155 pixels, courtesy Univ. No. Carolina; or, BOTTICELLI:BIRTH OF VENUS a remarkable JPG. Or, MICHELANGELO:DAVID, or VENUS DE MILO a GIF image available at the Louvre. For a detailed study of its ceiling, you might want to visit the Sistine Chapel in Vatican Modern Masterworks - a site that is part of ThinkQuest (an educational resource for teenagers), dealing with basics in Modern Art: Art in the 20th century, modern era, movements, celebrated artists, artist biographies, paintings, sculptures, pictures, works of art, impressionism, post-impressionism, fauvism, expressionism, cubism, futurism, dadaism, surrealism, de stijl, constructivism, abstract expressionism, pop art, kinetic art, op art, minimalism, conceptual art, Pablo Picasso, Claude Monet, Salvador Dali, Henri Matisse, Joan Miro, Vincent van Gogh, Paul Cezanne,among others, with critiques and analyses. A treasure site. The WWW Virtual Library: Art from Fisk Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
STORIES & STORY-TELLING
Story telling is a wonderful activity. There is so much on the WWW, whether for adults as in mythology, or for children, this genre ought not to be overlooked.
Here in Fairy Tales: Origins and Evolution is a ring devoted to Fairy Tales, Folk Tales, and Mythology In this page of Tales of Wonder or this one, Tales of Wonder, from UC, Davis, is an archive of folk and fairy tales of many countries. From Surrey, Storytelling Links and the companion site Tall Tales on the Web And, thanks to Daryll Bellingham for his site, Storytelling in Australia From the Wonder Society, its site, Wonder Society And .. Fake lore, Multiculturalism, and the Ethics of Children's Literature Some Hasidic Stories StoryTelling Master Index From Calgary, Children's Literature Web Guide
PHILOSOPHY & RELIGIONS
As I had indicated in Aftermath, I developed an interest in philosophies and religions. Since the last edition of these "favorites", I have come across and marked the following:=
In the general area of history and "textbook" introductions, from Paul Halsall/Fordham University with links to Medieval Sourcebook: Introduction, and Internet Ancient History Sourcebook: Main Page, Internet Jewish History Sourcebook, Internet Islamic History Sourcebook, and Internet Indian History Sourcebook Wow! read about this intriguing, educational, thought-provoking Internet History Sourcebooks Project
From Harvard, CentralAsia - Archive - Miscellaneous and its Forum for Central Asian Studies Japan Web Guide (its culture and just about everything else one would want to know) DivisionTheory: The Lost Secret of Life After Death, as discovered in the Nag Hammadi Scriptures. These scriptures integrate and reconcile -- Science and Religion, Christianity and Reincarnation, Near-Death Experiences and Past-Life Regression, Ghost Reports and Jungian Psychology, Bible Studies and Nostradamus' Prophecy -- as explained in Peter Novak's book, The Division of Consciousness: The Secret Afterlife of the Human Psyche. This site belongs to The Science and Theology WebRing The Works of Flavius Josephus Jewish-American History on the Web Jewish World Review Current News. Also - The Jewish Week - Specials ... and ... Mail-Jewish Digest (Hypertext Edition) Jewish America's Home Page The Kosher Net History, Politics, Study, etc. Shamash Home Page, and Andrew Tannenbaum's Judaism and Jewish Resources from the shamash sites Judaism - Home Page "LIVING WITH MOSHIACH" Online Jerusalem Tour; more information at Virtual Jerusalem, and Virtual Jerusalem Channel Guide which includes pointers on the day Yom HaShoah. In fact, here for information on Jewish Holidays Der Bay - Anglo-Yiddish Newsletter. The stated mission is to foster the preservation and continued propagation of the Yiddish language (mame-loshn) and the associated Yiddish culture, music, theater, literature and poetry. One can learn bout ISLAM here Then from Leicester University, Religions, Inter-Faith Dialogue and Pluralism Then the Patron Saints Index (sample here): Isidore of Seville
Thank you for coming here and reading through these "hot" buttons of mine. If you haven't visited my other pages, Click on one of these links: Aftermath - my history Recollections (at the end of the IBM career) Favorites I (My original set of "favorite" places on the WWW) Favorites III (My next set of favorite places on the WWW) Photos from Project Mercury, 1959 Nancy's set of useful URLs ..... . ..... .. and some activities involving me, Royal Palm Performing Arts Theatre Florida Chapter, Townsend Harris Alumni Association Computer Club at Poinciana If you have some favorites you think I might like, or to send other comments, do write me [If you find this page interesting enough to warrant returning, here is a neat way to be informed whenever it is altered.] Receive email when this page changes Click Here • Powered by Netmind • This site is managed by Aruba Consulting, Inc., Los Gatos, California
Click on one of these links: Aftermath - my history Recollections (at the end of the IBM career) Favorites I (My original set of "favorite" places on the WWW) Favorites III (My next set of favorite places on the WWW) Photos from Project Mercury, 1959 Nancy's set of useful URLs ..... . ..... .. and some activities involving me, Royal Palm Performing Arts Theatre Florida Chapter, Townsend Harris Alumni Association Computer Club at Poinciana
