[donspatch] 2008-01-15
- From: Don Crowder <don@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: Donspatch <donspatch@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 15 Jan 2008 04:37:08 -0600
Don's Patch #86, January 15, 2008 from
http://www.don-guitar.com
Online version: http://www.don-guitar.com/currentissue.html
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First word, from Don:
I've mentioned before that I'm a Fantasy and Science Fiction
reader; a fellow named Isaac Asimov was one of my favorite
writers and I always wanted to write him a letter, thanking him
for the hours of enjoyment and the many things I learned from
his books, but I kept putting it off. After he died I felt
guilty because I'd never thanked him. Since then
I've written and emailed dozens of authors, artists, and
composers and, once in a while, I even get a response. I
recently read a short story by Alan Dean Foster (entitled
Village of the Chosen) which I really enjoyed and, because I've
read many of his books and never thanked him for them,
I tracked down his website... http://www.alandeanfoster.com/
... and sent him an email. He surprised me by answering my email
and in the course of a brief email exchange he mentioned some
comic strips he likes and gave me links to them. I like the
first two but the third one may be an acquired taste. Here they
are:
http://www.comics.com/comics/chickweed/
http://www.slagoon.com/cgi-bin/sviewer.pl
http://www.gocomics.com/pibgorn/
Incidentally, Piers Anthony... http://www.hipiers.com/ ...is
another author who took the time and trouble to send a personal
response.
I hope everyone survived the holidays. Things are moderately
calmer at our house and that's about all we can hope for so, no
complaints.
Don
Our feedback form (goes to both of us):
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http://www.don-guitar.com/babbleon.html
Don at myspace.com http://www.myspace.com/donguitar
Don's blogs.
http://www.lockergnome.com/nexus/eldergeek/
http://don-guitar.blogspot.com/
Lisa at myspace.com. http://www.myspace.com/81825549
Lisa's blogs.
http://www.lockergnome.com/nexus/dirtgoddess
http://thedirtgoddess.blogspot.com/
Section One by Don.
Hagstrom guitars are made in Sweden and have been around for
a long time. They were endorsed by many musicians the best known
of whom was probably Frank Zappa but they have many fans.
http://www.hagstrom.org.uk/index.html
Another, not-so-famous Hagstrom playing guitarist is Cordell
Jackson. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtZjK8x5kGU&e
Music at UCC (National University of Ireland): Web resources for
study
and research in music. http://www.music.ucc.ie/wrrm/index.html
Paula Katherine Marmor's "Best of Legends".
http://bestoflegends.org/
More from Paula.
Renaissance, the Elizabethan world. http://elizabethan.org/
Life in Elizabethan England: A compendium of common knowledge.
http://elizabethan.org/compendium/
Blackwork embroidery archives.
http://www.blackworkarchives.com/
Her personal home page. http://www.elizabethan.org/paulakate/
An interesting game. http://legendsthegame.net/
Werewolf legends from Germany.
http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/werewolf.html
Planet Ozkids. http://www.planetozkids.com/index.html
Yeah, I know, everybody's heard of the Darwin awards but the site
is filled with interesting reading.
http://www.darwinawards.com/
Indian (American) legends. http://www.indianlegend.com/
American history of the wild west.
http://www.thewildwest.org/interface/
Author Aaron Shepard. http://www.aaronshep.com/
FEMA for kids. http://www.fema.gov/kids/
Legends of Zelda fan site. http://www.zeldalegends.net/
Folktexts is a library of folktales, folklore, fairy tales, and
mythology.
http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/folktexts.html
A TV jingle quiz (Lisa and I got most of them).
http://www.mentalfloss.com/quiz/quiz.php?q=59
It's a jingle out there. http://www.jinglefreaks.com/
End of Section One.
This publication is only mailed to verified
double opt-in subscribers, and is brought
to you by me, Don Crowder, my wife,
Lisa Miller, and //www.freelists.org
Section Two by Lisa
Talks by the world's thinkers and doers.
http://www.ted.com/
Some thoughts and resources on dying.
http://www.dyingwell.org/default.htm
http://www.hospicenet.org/
http://skdesigns.com/internet/spirit/death/
The Philippine Madrigal Singers is one of the
world’s best choirs, read and listen.
http://philmadrigalsingers.com/the_choir.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epT2dc2z0nc
The scientific basis of emotional intelligence.
http://www.danielgoleman.info/blog/
Think you might win the Lottery? How to do
it right, and oh-so-wrong.
http://lotterygenius.notlong.com
http://lotterydunce.notlong.com
Caregiver Magazine. http://www.caregiver.com/index.asp
Maria Mazziotti Gillan, a wonderful poet.
http://www.italianamericanwriters.com/Gillan.html#poem1
I had never heard of this disorder.
http://digestive.notlong.com
National Organization for Rare Disorders.
http://www.rarediseases.org/
Don and I like to "cook once, eat many times". Here's
a set of newbie instructions to help you do the same.
http://www.wisebread.com/assembly-cooking-for-newbies
This is a priceless picture, apparently the cat is
going to be fine. http://one-down.notlong.com
Preserving food for special diets.
http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-Fact/5000/5352.html
Revision 3, Online TV. http://revision3.com/
Dedicated to excellence and fairness in early education.
http://www.coreknowledge.org/CK/index.htm
End of Section Two.
At the time this issue was posted,
the current subscriber count for
this publication was 387.
This issue's collection of news,
magazine, and/or informational
sites (chosen for maximum
diversity regardless of "spin").
http://www.pointofinquiry.org/
http://www.hitechsquad.com/
http://raynesworld.blogspot.com/
http://machinegunkeyboard.com/
http://www.theage.com.au/
http://www.falloutcentral.com/
http://www.motherjones.com/
http://www.petertan.com/
http://lightroom-news.com/
http://www.answers.com/
http://www.deadwhitemales.net/
http://ambernight.org/
http://www.theendoftheuniverse.ca/
Section Three by Don.
Here are some terrible jingles...
http://www.jinglesforpringles.com/home/
...and some aspiring jingle singers.
http://www.singthejingle.com/
Norman Barrington's radio pages. http://www.normanb.net/
Educational resources from Houghton-Mifflin.
http://www.eduplace.com/
The UK government online. http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/
The UK Parliament online. http://www.parliament.uk/
Info on marketing and search engines.
http://searchengineland.com/
The weird and wonderful world of Internet Explorer.
http://www.positioniseverything.net/explorer.html
The Australian government online. http://www.australia.gov.au/
A guide to Australia. http://www.csu.edu.au/australia/
A variation on a popular word game.
http://home.arcor.de/romanov/showcase/erudite/erudite_e.htm
An eclectic, odd possibly senseless comic
http://www.beaverandsteve.com/
The Constitution Society. http://www.constitution.org/
They say of themselves; "The Economic Policy Institute is a
nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank that seeks to broaden the
public debate about strategies to achieve a prosperous and fair
economy." http://www.epinet.org/
George Orwell. http://www.orwell.ru/
I don't suggest you purchase one of these, unless you need a gift
for the science-geek-who-has-everything, but isn't it
interesting that they exist? http://www.kleinbottle.com/
Fairy tales for the erudite.
http://www.physics.sfsu.edu/~senglish/fairy%20tales/fairytales.html
Dasher is an alternative I/O technique for operating a computer.
http://www.dasher.org.uk/
Years ago, in Little Rock, I worked for a couple of fellows who
refused to own anything. Their solution was to rent or lease
everything. Here's another take on the same general concept.
http://www.ehow.com/how_111392_buy-nothing.html
Finally, a holiday I can afford.
http://hybridweb.co.nz/buynothing/
End of Section Three.
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Section Four by Lisa.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy.
http://www.bartleby.com/59/
One of my favorite topics of discussion,
Biological Altruism.
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/altruism-biological/
This is a commercial site, but has some very
interesting reading about biological function.
http://www.altcancer.com/lugols.htm
Google Guide to effective searching. Really good.
http://www.googleguide.com/
It's possible that at some point, we
will no longer be able to lie.
http://nolie.notlong.com
http://www.noliemri.com/
I am so busted.
http://darmano.typepad.com/bloggers_anonymous/
Read about and listen to pipe organs.
http://nersp.nerdc.ufl.edu/~bodinew/
http://pipedreams.publicradio.org/listings/2008/0801/
I've learned a lot of tips and techniques for
better time and life management from this site.
http://www.stevepavlina.com/
The new field of neuroethtics.
http://www.cognitiveliberty.org/proj_neuro.html
Writing classes by a wonderful and
well-respected author, Orson Scott Card.
http://www.hatrack.com/writingclass/index.shtml
Senior Women Web.
http://www.seniorwomen.com/index.html
Hetty Green, legendary Wall Street investor, and by all
accounts, a bit of a nut case.
http://www.financialhistory.org/fh/1996/55-1.htm
Creativity, clarity and happiness.
http://thinksimplenow.com/
Expert legal help. http://www.expertlaw.com/index.html
Whole Foods Market has a great, information packed
site that should be interesting to anyone.
http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/
The US Transportation Security Administration. Lots
of good info here. http://www.tsa.gov/
This YouTube Video features two of my favorite voices,
Bonnie Raitt and Norah Jones.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzDUi_L6MzA
End of Section Four.
Our feedback form: http://www.don-guitar.com/contactme.html
We welcome all comments,
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Section Five by Don.
Keeping kids safe on the web. http://saferkids.notlong.com
The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.
http://www.missingkids.com/
Webwise (from Ireland). http://www.webwise.ie/
Be safe online. http://www.besafeonline.org/
If your Outlook Express has no spellchecking capability
(because you didn't pay big bucks for MS Word), here you go.
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=2952
When I was a kid my favorite comic (in the newspaper) was
Pogo... http://www.pogopossum.com/
...by Walt Kelly. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Kelly
Marilyn White's Pogo site. http://www.igopogo.com
A site devoted to illustrative art with biographies of 105
artists, and thousands of images. http://www.bpib.com
The Lambiek Comiclopedia of international comic
artists. http://lambiek.net/artists/index.htm
Something to sing about? http://singeruniverse.com/
I'm an old fogey so I'm supposed grump about the way
young people behave (it's my job, right?) so I was a little
surprised when my young friend Alina expressed similar
sentiments in her song "Pull Up Your Pants" (music link).
http://www.riffstar.com/a/Alina/Pull_Up_Your_Pants.html
Her YouTube page. http://www.youtube.com/alinamusix
Her MySpace page. http://www.myspace.com/alinamusic
One of the few reasons why I still occasionally turn on my
Windows machine is to get an address or phone number out
of a little program from freakspan... http://zigmax.tripod.com/
...which is called "Fone Book".
http://zigmax.tripod.com/Freeware.htm
A few days ago I made what I thought would be a fast google
search for an online Bible and discovered that finding one isn't
a problem; the problem is choosing one.
http://www.biblegateway.com/
http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/
http://www.blueletterbible.org/index.html
http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/
http://www.allaboutgod.com/the-bible.htm
http://www.ccel.org/wwsb/Romans/10.html
http://www.bible.com/
http://www.allonlinebible.com/
http://bible.cc/
http://bible.oremus.org/
http://www.devotions.net/bible/00bible.htm
http://www.o-bible.com/
http://www.carm.org/bibleonline.htm
http://www.ibs.org/niv/index.php
http://unbound.biola.edu/
http://www.onlinebible.net/
http://www.ccel.org/olb/
http://www.audio-bible.com/bible/bible.html
http://bible.crosswalk.com/
http://www.bible-history.com/
After all that I got curious about the Koran.
http://quod.lib.umich.edu/k/koran/
http://etext.virginia.edu/koran.html
http://www.temple.edu/ih/Koran/OnlineTexts/
http://www.islam.tc/quran/
http://www.freekoran.com/
The Bible, the Koran and more are available from this
site. http://www.sacred-texts.com/
End of Section Five.
Archives for this ezine
are available online here:
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The current issue is also
available on our website.
http://www.don-guitar.com/currentissue.html
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Section Six by Lisa.
Unlimited access to books and information on the
web, free of charge. http://www.bartleby.com/
Watch hundreds of videos online. http://peekvid.com/
Portal site to almost everything. http://www.buzzle.com/
A method to control or eliminate back spasms.
http://www.somatics.com/back_pain.htm
Personal finance sites written by real people.
http://www.ncnblog.com/
http://www.thesimpledollar.com/
http://www.thedigeratilife.com/blog/
http://www.getrichslowly.org/
http://www.moneysmartlife.com/
An incredible musician, Quinn Sullivan, plays his own
composition with his band. Oh, and he's 8 years old.
http://quinnsings.notlong.com
Personal productivity, life hacks, and simple ways to
make your life a little better. http://www.43folders.com/
Travel the world with 10 lbs. of luggage, or less
http://travel10.notlong.com
Every rule-of-thumb in one place.
http://rulesofthumb.org/
I *think* I'm losing weight. http://maid-in.notlong.com
The real beginner's guide to podcasting.
http://podcaster.notlong.com
The Travel Channel. http://travel.discovery.com/
One of the world's foremost online promoters,
Seth Godin's site and blogs are very interesting.
http://sethgodin.typepad.com/
A good organizing site.
http://www.organize-simplify-transform.com/
End of Section Six.
The Linux Corner.
Linux basics tutorial guide for beginners.
http://www.aboutdebian.com/linux.htm
Debian newbie help documentation.
http://newbiedoc.berlios.de/wiki/Debian_newbie_help_documentation
An article on removing SUSE and replacing it with Etch (Debian).
http://www.desktoplinux.com/articles/AT8550165372.html
This is a cute little video featuring penguins (the penguin is
the official Linux Mascot).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vx2BZxE2WFQ
The One Laptop Per Child wiki. http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Home
An interview with OLPC's Founding CTO
Mary Lou Jepsen, by Sean Daly.
http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20080107182525297
What exactly is a Linux "Live CD"?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LiveDistro
A PDF tutorial on "test driving" Linux with a Live CD.
http://www.geeks.com/techtips/ttpdfs/TechTips118.pdf
This interesting Linux commercial was created by IBM.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8333280591924223277
Would you like to attend a Linux User Group meeting, virtually?
The Melbourne (Florida) Linux Users Group offers streaming
audio, IRC chat and remote desktop access to their meetings.
http://www.mlinux.org/staticpages/index.php/virtual-meetings/
Nixbit is a Linux software blog. http://nixbit.com/
The Trinity Rescue Kit offers "CPR" for your
computer, whether it be Linux or Windows.
http://trinityhome.org/Home/index.php?wpid=1&front_id=12
Our friend Lee Parmeter is the driving force behind our local
Highland Lakes Linux User's Group http://www.hllug.org/
Here are some links he's posted to that list.
An illustrated dual boot site from the Australian Outback.
http://users.bigpond.net.au/hermanzone/
Anyone using, or considering, a dual boot system should have
Herman's Super Grub Disk in their tool-kit.
http://supergrub.forjamari.linex.org/
alternate link: http://sgd.benjamin-butschko.de/
A Little Humor.
A man encounters a pirate in a bar. They strike up a
conversation, and the man asks the pirate how he suffered his
various injuries. "Arrgh, I lost me leg fighting over buried
treasure in the tropics. I lost me ear in a barroom fight with
another pirate -- he bit me ear right off." The other man
points to the pirate's arm and asks, "How'd you get the hook for
an arm?" The pirate replies, "Arrgh, I lost me arm when a winch
tore it off in a terrible storm at sea." "And how did you lose
your eye?" The pirate says, "Arrgh, I had a terrible itch in me
eye." "You lost your sight because of an itch?" The pirate
explains: "Aye, it was me first day with the hook."
Tips for This Issue.
For XP.
http://www.onecomputerguy.com/windowsxp_tips.htm
http://freepctech.com/pc/xp/xpindex.shtml
For Vista.
http://www.howtogeek.com/tag/windows-vista/
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2704,2114942,00.asp
For Mac.
http://www.mactips.org/
http://www.thinkmac.net/
http://www.mactipsandtricks.com/
For Linux.
http://www.linux-tips.net/
http://www.brunolinux.com/
Some nice wallpaper images (for any platform) from
the National Geographic. http://natgeowp.notlong.com
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/lewisandclark/wallpaper.html
http://womenofsaudi.notlong.com
http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/titanic/desktops.html
Contributions From Our Readers.
Links from readers are always
welcome and you can even write
your own link descriptions if you
like. Guidelines are available here:
http://www.don-guitar.com/descriptivetext.html
From our web sibling Jo-Ann (Jo) Burton:
( Jo's site: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sharinglinks2/ )
The oldest map of the world.
http://www.atamanhotel.com/catalhoyuk/oldest-map.html
List of problems solved by MacGyver.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_problems_solved_by_MacGyver
714 things to be cynical about.
http://www.i-cynic.com/things.asp
The Keepers of Lists. http://www.keepersoflists.org/
Hollywood height chart.
http://www.usedwigs.com/hollywood-height-chart/
History of Russian nesting dolls.
http://russian-crafts.com/nest/history.html
An interesting blog. http://dzeni.blogspot.com/
Fractal animations.
http://www.fractal-recursions.com/files/anim/anim.html
The Mandelbrot Monk. http://mandelbrotmonk.notlong.com
Fake is the new real. http://www.fakeisthenewreal.org/
From our web sibling Vinette (Vi) DePhillipe:
( Vi's site: http://360.yahoo.com/vinette1 )
Here's a good short story Vi sent me in an email (I went and
found it on a website).
http://www.yuni.com/library/docs/213.html
From our web sibling Michael Harding.
Slurk is a Metasearch engine. http://www.slurk.com/
This site describes itself as a "Linux hacking portal".
http://www.linuxhaxor.net/
Vicki Hartsfield sent me a video on IBC and I felt the topic was
worth covering in more detail so here's a mini-feature on it.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2391552883902549081
http://www.ibcresearch.org/
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Sites-Types/IBC
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/inflammatory-breast-cancer/DS00632
From our "other brother" Bill (Beeyil) Lanoue.
( Bill's blog http://ncvietvet.blogspot.com/ )
Here's a pair of funny videos.
http://members.shaw.ca/anabw/grease.htm
http://marriageresourcecenter.org/videogallery/4/med/VideoWidget8.htm
From our web sibling John Lepse.
( John's blog: http://hucknjim.blogspot.com/ )
Here is a very cool new concept in alternate energy (video).
http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1214137061?bctid=1233395616
A tech support resource. http://help.protonic.com/
Here are two of those evil words which get the ezine filtered.
http://www.freeware-software.org/
From our snow-bird neighbor, "Chah'-lee Nahd'-ohne"
The higher lessons, a view from West Point.
http://www.talkingproud.us/EditorChoice041207.html
Editor's note: The link, above, came from a pretty cool website.
http://www.talkingproud.us/index.html
From our web sibling Jon Reed.
Hero performed by Michael Israel in New York (video).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZFkZiwMLZ4
The Florida home of John Travolta and Kelly Preston.
http://www.jumbolair.com/Architectual%20Digest.htm
From our web sibling Dan Urban.
Lots of guitar goodies. http://pirilloonguitars.notlong.com
Thank you Jo, Vi, Michael, Vicki,
Beeyil, John, Charlie, Jon and Dan.
Last word, from Lisa:
I've completely switched over to my Linux computer in
the last couple of weeks, just like Don did a few weeks
ago. My part of the ezine is now written, saved and
transferred to Don's computer for uploading on my
PCLinuxOS. It's a philosophical as well as very practical
step for us, and we hope you all will take a look at Linux
whenever you get the chance. Oddly enough, when I go back
to my Windows box, there's an odd feeling of unreality. Like
visiting a new place, it takes about 3 days to become
acclimated to one's surroundings. Now Linux feels like
home.
We never stop looking for ways to entertain and inform
our readers, so if you have a comment or suggestion for
sites or subjects you'd like us to look into, please let
us know. We welcome your favorite sites and cool
discoveries, as well.
'Til next time,
Lisa
Our feedback form (goes to both of us):
http://www.don-guitar.com/contactme.html
Lisa at myspace.com. http://www.myspace.com/81825549
Lisa's blogs.
http://www.lockergnome.com/nexus/dirtgoddess
http://thedirtgoddess.blogspot.com/
Don at myspace.com http://www.myspace.com/donguitar
Don's blogs.
http://www.lockergnome.com/nexus/eldergeek/
http://don-guitar.blogspot.com/
Our personal news page.
http://www.don-guitar.com/babbleon.html
Don Crowder and Lisa Miller
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
4:20 AM CST - Buchanan Lake Village, Texas, USA
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