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.