Google Street View Guys

Most people now know about Google Maps and its popular street view. The method used to get the street view photos require a special car with a 360 degree camera on the roof. This car drives the highways and byways of America and the world recording street view scenes. Have you ever wondered what the driver and navigator talk about as they travel the roadways of the world? At College Humor someone has. And here it is in "Google Street View Guys."

International Magic Week (October 25-October 31)

Belated Happy Magic Week. Sorry for the late notice. But this is indeed International Magic Week. Of course the week ends on October 31 and is Halloween but it is also the anniversary of the death of one of the greatest magicians that ever lived--Harry Houdini. Some time this week everyone should go out to their favorite search engine and visit an online interactive magic site. There are lots of them out there. The first time you participate in a magic trick and it seems like the Internet has read your mind it's a little freaky. But catch your breath, relax and concentrate. You'll be able to figure out most of the tricks if you give it a little thought. You can start your journey by visiting RealMagic.Net or reading the article Teach Math Magic During International Magic Week. There's a trick in the latter that's seems very appropriate for the week following Halloween. Math teachers will probably find both sites a lot of fun for themselves and their students.

If You Don't Know What It's Called, Maybe You Know What It Looks Like

There are a multitude of dictionaries on the Internet. But sometimes it's not so much defining something as it is trying to come up with the right term for a thing. That's where the Visual Dictionary comes in. You can look things up visually. It begins with basic category words. After clicking on the first category, more are displayed. Then the pictures begin. I tried looking for a horse's withers. I didn't know what it was called but I found it through the Visual Dictionary.

As Lincoln Reaches Bicentennial, Lincoln Penny Hits 100

This year marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln. It also marks the 100th anniversary of the introduction of the Lincoln penny. This year the U.S. Mint is honoring these two anniversaries with four special versions of one cent coin. There will be four different reverse sides (tails), each depicting a different time in Lincoln's life. They are pictured here. The log cabin represents his birth state of Kentucky. Reading a book while on a break from railsplitting in Indiana, his professional growth in Illinois and the capitol dome in Washington, D.C. round out the quartet of special coins. To find out more about the Lincoln penny, read "100 Years of the Lincoln Penny."

$2 Bill--The Facts, the Myths, the Weird

While the U.S. Treasury doesn't print a whole lot of them, the $2 bill is still a member in good standing of the paper currency of the United States of America. "Two Dollar Bill--Fact and Fiction" explores the history, legends and just plain strange information about this least frequently seen member of the paper currency of this country. Discover the various historical figures that have appeared on the "deuce." Does the fact they are seldom seen make them worth more than face value? Find out what Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple Computing, does with the $2 bill.

Cisco Produces Short Video on the Future of Shopping

Go shopping with your spouse and you spend 80% of the time waiting while they are in the changing room trying on one more item. Take a look at how the same shopping trip will be in the not to distant future. This is an advertisement for Cisco. I'm not sure how much of this technology is available now and what is predicted for the near future. If it's not here now, I hope it gets here soon. Future of Shopping

Physician's Desk Reference Online

Probably one of the best medical reference books around is the Physician's Desk Reference, commonly referred to as the PDR. There is now an online version of this great resource. It allows the user to reference the prescription drugs they are taking, check for contraindicated drugs, find information on various diseases and conditions, along with discussions on clinical trials and surgery. This is a site well worth putting in your favorites list.

This Car is Fueled by Sea Water

This is a video from the BBC program "Top Gear." it demonstrates a car made by Ford that runs on sea water instead of gasoline. This is currently a concept car but seems to work pretty well. The demonstrator takes it for a test drive in Germany. It also discusses how easy it is to change the cars overall design. The driver can drive from the right or left side of the car. The steering mechanism moves back and forth. To go from a family coupe to a sporty convertible, just unbolt one shell and replace it with another. The other unique aspect of this car is that it has no pedals. All travel controls work from the steering mechanism. Look at the HyWire and see what you think.

What's Your Secret Identity?

Ever wonder what superhero you would be if you were a superhero? Well now you can find out by taking a short personality survey. Which Superhero Are You? will analyze the results of your survey and come up with a probability percentage for 11 superheroes that might fit your persona to varying degrees. My answers matched up with those of the old neighborhood webslinger, Spiderman. Both DC and Marvel comics are represented.

Walking in Cold Weather

Winter's coming soon. For those who would incorporate walking in their fitness activities, it might be workj their time to read "Walking in Cold Weather." The article contains suggestions for proper preparation and strategies for walking in the cold.

Let Google Alerts Track What Interests You

Google Alerts is a tool provided by Google to help you conduct searches even when you're not online. It does this by tracking the changes in sites that might be of interest to you. If there is some topic that you would like to track 24/7, Google Alerts will do it for you. For a brief description and strategy for using this Google application, read: "Get Latest Results With Google Alerts." If you want to jump right into it go directly to Google Alerts.

Is That Your Picture?

The question would better be phrased is that picture the one you took with your camera? Did you post one of your own photographs and could someone else be using it on their web site? The answer is it could happen and you'd probably never know about it. That is until TinEye came along. With TinEye you simply upload your photo and TinEye looks through the Internet to see if anyone else has "borrowed" it.

How Much?

You've been throwing your spare change in a jar now for a couple months. You think you'd like to take it to deposit it in the bank. The problem is you're unsure of whether there's really enough to make it worth your while to count it out or to ask the bank to count it. Well the Coin Jar Calculator has a solution.

Weigh the coins

Grab a handful

Count out the number of each type of coin (penny, nickels, dimes, etc.)

Enter the info into this site and it will give you it's best guess as to how much it comes to.

King Midas had nothing on these guys.

Crime Map

If you live in a large metro area or a large enrollment college town you can get a nice little view of recent crime in your area at Spot Crime. If you live in a smaller town or suburb, you won't get to see too much. The image represents a part of a map with the icon key immediately above.

Did You Know

So far it appears as if there are now four Did You Know videos posted on YouTube. These short videos present all sorts of interesting statistics about how technology is affecting our culture. This usually carries various metaphors and analogies to past events. If you go out to YouTube and search for "Did You Know," (no quotations) you will find the first video in the series, "Did You Know" and then versions 2, 3, and 4.0 appropriately labeled. Here is a link to the latest one, "Did You Know 4.0." You'll have to do your own search in YouTube to see the others. Sources are provided for the statistics at the end of the video but you'll need to view these in full screen. Also make sure you have your pointer on the pause button as some of the data pops on and off quickly.

Create a Professional Image with Email

In a 2007 study by the American Management Association, it was discovered that 28% of companies have terminated employees for improper use of company email. For ideas on how to make yourself look more professional through the use of better email format techniques, read "Creating a Positive Image With Email." It discusses everything from the proper type of email address to the signature at the end of your message and everything in between.

Autumn Gem: A Movie About an Extraordinary Woman

As a former member of the faculty of Columbia College Chicago, one of the things I miss most about the school is the special events that were always going on somewhere at the school. This is about one of those events--an event I found out about the day after it happened.

There was a screening of the film Autumn Gem. This film was co-produced and co-directed by Rae Chang, a film maker, dancer, martial artist, and all around artist. Her film is about the life of Qiu Jin (1875-1907), a Chinese revolutionary heroine and women's rights activist. She lived in a China much different from today. This was a China where women were subject to footbinding, arranged marriages, and denial of education. This biographical documentary tells the story of the woman considered to be China's first feminist. The Autumn Gem website has a list of additional screenings, as well as a trailer and additional historical information. It's scheduled to be released on DVD at the end of October 2009.

National Cyber Security Awareness Month

October has been declared Cyber Security Awareness Month by both the U.S. and Canada. This is the time to review your security settings for your computer/s. Make sure you have the latest updates for all security software such as anti-virus, firewall, and spam filters. For a set of Guidelines for Safe Social Networking visit "Social Networking Safety Guidelines." For more information and additional sources concerning cyber security visit Homeland Security.

Google Labs--Google Technology of the Future

Google does more than just keyword searches for sites on the Internet. It searches for images, is the parent company of Blogger where this site is located, provides free software like the photo-editing software of Picasa, and a whole lot more. Many of these Google offspring have their start in a Google engineer's mind. Google is smart enough to allow its employees a place to test their ideas. This place is called Google Labs. For an overview of what's in Google Labs read Google Labs--Home of New Google Apps. Then go to Google Labs and see the current set of experiments going on today. Then visit again next month and see what's still around and what has gone away. Be certain to read instructions for using these experimental applications.

Happy Birthday, Monty Python

Lots of birthdays this month. Monty Python turns 40 today. It aired for the first time in the United Kingdom on October 5, 1969. With a mere 46 episodes of the original series, it soon became an icon to the European and American cultures. It spawned 3 motion pictures and a Broadway Musical, for which it won 3 Tony Awards. It even managed to impact the computer world with its spam skit. Long before the first junk email was sent, Monty Python was using the word. When the technology cam along and the bad online behavior began to happen, "spam" was the obvious choice. For a link to more Monty Python sites and the origin of spam for junk email, read: Forty Years of Monty Python.

Happy Fiftieth Birthday, Twilight Zone

“There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call the Twilight Zone.”

With these words, Rod Serling launched untold numbers of nightmares upon the world of television viewers. Today is the fiftieth anniversary of the premiere episode from the unique dramatic series. In that fifty years it has won Emmys, Golden Globes, Hugo awards and more. It has been made into a movie with another scheduled for 2011. Two attempts to revive the show have been made--one in Australia (3 seasons) another in the United States (1 season). It's a staple on the rerun circuit of SyFy channel and dozens of local late night broadcasts. Read more in the article: Twilight Zone Hits Fifty