Due to changes over at Subter.com, this last column I wrote was never published there.  I'll be reincarnated in another form beginning in February of 2006.  See you then!

 

The Internet reminds me of a giant loose-leaf notebook, with billions of pages.  Every day new pages are added to the notebook, and old pages fall out.  When you open the notebook you might find an old favorite, maybe a random oddity or gem, or even something horrible.  Occasionally you find that one of your favorite pages has fallen out, never to be seen again.  Some of the pages cross-reference other pages, sending you on a treasure hunt for new information, and every now and then you come across a page that just keeps unfolding outwards, bigger and bigger. 

 

Considering the sheer size of the notebook, how is it we manage to find anything useful, and keep hold of it when we do?  It seems to me it would be very unwieldy, hard to hang onto without fumbling and dropping all over the place.  Do web pages blow away in the wind?  Maybe.  I always wonder what happens to them when they disappear.  Perhaps some careless user let the page slip through their fingers when a large gust of wind came by…

 

What can be found on the Internet, and how do we find it?  With a little bit of effort, nearly anybody can create a web page, thus the wide variety and high number of offerings we face.  If you take away the business sites, the major corporate sites, and all of the other “professional” sites, you’re left with an interesting mish-mash of education, entertainment, and personal obsessions.  The Internet provides an amazing medium for the average guy or gal to be creative, be serious, or be crazy.  I’m constantly amazed at what people will take the time to do, whether it be make funny little cartoons, or build large collections of esoteric information.

 

Much of what we find is actually introduced to us by friends or acquaintances.  How often have you gotten an email specifically sent to share a website that somebody else thinks you’ll like?  Word of mouth is one of the best ways to find and share the gems of the Internet.  As mentioned earlier, websites will direct you to more websites in a never-ending link fest.  One can spend hours following links – just start off reading one blog, and click away at the links they share with you.  You never know where you’ll end up!

 

Since I’ve been using the Internet, I’ve managed to gather an interesting collection of websites representing many facets of what cyberspace has to offer.  With billions of pages to choose from, obviously my collection is just a tiny speck in the online universe.  Maybe you’ve seen some of these websites, and maybe you haven’t.  Either way, I’d like to share some of my favorites with you this month.  If you like them, share them with your friends, and keep the cycle going!

 

SHARING

 

Library Thing – Catalog you own book collection!

http://www.librarything.com/index.php

 

What bibliophile hasn’t dreamed of somehow organizing and cataloging their personal book collection?  Liar.  Of course you have.  The only problem is the amount of work required, right?  Well procrastinate no longer – you can now very easily keep track of the books you own right on the Internet!  It couldn’t be any simpler, either.  To sign up, just type in your user name and a password, then you’re off and running!  To add a book, just search by title, author, or keyword – click on the book and voila!  Instant library.  If the search doesn’t bring up your title, you can add the book manually or import the information from another location.  The fun doesn’t end once you’ve added your titles.  The next step is tagging them, much like you might your photos on Flickr.  That’s right – you can add whatever descriptive keywords you want to your library!!!  No bizarre cataloging rules necessary, though you can use them if you like.  The user interface for editing your library entries seems to be fairly user friendly, and in some cases you can change the way items are displayed for your editing purposes.  You can add reviews for each book too.

 

Not only can you build your own library – you can look at everyone else’s library too!

 

 

Photo Friday

http://www.photofriday.com/

 

If you like taking photos, or even just looking at interesting photos, then be sure to check out the Photo Friday Challenge site.  Each Friday a new theme is announced, and anyone that wishes to can post an entry.  Viewers may then vote on the photos they like best, and a small handful are highlighted as noteworthy entries.  No prizes for the winners; just the opportunity to share your photos with the world.  The number of entries differs each week, but I note that the trend is well over 500 most weeks.  The fun of this site comes in seeing how different people choose to interpret the week’s theme, and if you’re a photographer yourself, choosing a photo to submit.  Some past themes:  yellow, warmth, retro, massive, nerdy, rural, luscious…you get the idea.

 

 

Gypsy Journal

http://www.gypsyjournal.com/

 

Travelers love to write about their adventures, and love to read about other’s experiences traipsing about the world.  Unfortunately, not everyone can be Rick Steves.  On the bright side, however, everyday travelers can post their adventures to the Gypsy Journal website.  Friends and family can track the whereabouts of their loved ones via this site.  Perhaps you’re interested in traveling to a particular area of the world, and would like to read real-life experiences of other travelers – then this is the place to do it.  The site also provides travel tips, and a forum where fellow travelers can compare notes.

 

PostSecret

http://postsecret.blogspot.com/

 

We all have secrets.  Sometimes, we long to tell those secrets, but don’t know who to tell.  Now there is a place to tell your secret, in the form of an anonymous postcard.  Each Sunday a new batch of secrets is posted.  The images are both beautiful and touching, and you may find that you are not alone in your secret longings or feelings.  I wonder as I look at them, how the senders must feel when they see that their submission has been selected for all the world to see.  Relief?  Shame?  A sense of peace, perhaps?  The project has been so successful that there is now a book available, also called PostSecret. 

 

WORDS

 

Internet Anagram Server – I, Rearrangement Servant

http://www.wordsmith.org/anagram/index.html

 

“I hurl in a bag sir!”  Seasick?  No, it’s an anagram for my online moniker, Librarianguish.  Or how about “I is hurling a bra,” or “A bar gin, hi I slur.”  The fun never ends when you type something into the Internet Anagram Server.  Amaze your friends – or laugh heartily at the anagrams their names produce.  This site is one of my favorites for simple entertainment and fun with words.  The anagrams don’t always make sense, but sometimes the fun is in the absurdity of it all.  And the quantity – Librarianguish generated 31,090 different combinations!  Here’s a few more from the Anagram Hall of Fame:

·        Heavy Rain? = Hire a Navy!

·        Tom Cruise = So I'm Cuter

·        Mother-in-law = Woman Hitler

·        Snooze Alarms = Alas! No More Z's

·        The Public Art Galleries = Large Picture Halls, I Bet

·        Da Vinci Code plagiarism trial = Voiced aim: grill parasitic Dan (from the recent news topical category of anagrams)

Word Spy
http://www.wordspy.com/

Interested in new words and the way language changes over time?  You’ll probably enjoy poking around at Word Spy then.  In their own words –

This Web site is devoted to lexpionage, the sleuthing of new words and phrases. These aren't "stunt words" or "sniglets," but new terms that have appeared multiple times in newspapers, magazines, books, Web sites, and other recorded sources.

The site’s main page lists recent posts, with links to the top 100 words of the week (based on look-ups), and a list of subjects, in case you’re not sure what you’re looking for.  Word Spy is definitely a great place to keep up with new words you’d like to add to your vocabulary!

Thinkmap Visual Thesaurus

http://www.visualthesaurus.com/?vt

 

When I was in library school, we talked a bit about advances in Internet searching and display, to allow for a more visual way of doing things.  As time passes, I’m beginning to see more and more of this sort of thing, such as searching by color.  The Visual Thesaurus displays the results of your search in a graphical manner that allows you to see relationships between words that aren’t as obvious in a traditional thesaurus.  The only drawback is this is a program that must be purchased for either desktop of online use!  Drats.  At least you can briefly test the thesaurus online and see how it looks.  Give it a try!  If you spend a lot of time looking for interesting words, the cost might be worth it.

 

The Phrontistery – Obscure words and Vocabulary Resources

http://phrontistery.info/index.html

 

In my very first column, I recommended a book called There’s a Word For It, by Charles Harrington Elster.  The Phrontistery is the online equivalent to that book, for the true logomaniac that enjoys discovering new words.  Forthright, the host of the Phrontistery, has amassed a dictionary of over 15,000 rare and obscure words in his dictionary.  You can explore glossaries, or the compendium of lost words.  There are other treats on the site, including A Loquacious Location of Lipograms (writings that omit a certain letter), and a collection of interesting emails that readers of the site have sent in.  I will be the first to admit I was completely distracted by the emails.  I can’t help it – they were the source of some head shaking, a bit of cringing, and many laughs.

 

Engrish.com

http://www.engrish.com/index.php

 

Sometimes other languages don’t translate well into English, as you can see here at Engrish.com.  Mere words cannot describe this site – only images will do.

 

 

 

 

DO – IT – YOURSELF ART

 

ArtPad – Digital Canvas

http://artpad.art.com/artpad/painter/

 

Fancy yourself to be an artist?  Now you can try your skills out online.  No expensive supplies to buy; no toxic clean-up chemicals needed.  Just sit back and let your creative muse guide your mouse, as you paint your masterpiece.  When you’re finished, you can replay it and watch it take shape before your eyes, or email it to all of your friends!

 

Typogenerator

http://www.typogenerator.net/index.php

 

The premise of this site is very simple – type in any text you’d like, and the generator searches images.google for the text, then combines it with found images and random effects to create a poster of your words.  Once the first poster has been created, you can keep or destroy the text style, colors, or background and try again.  I’ve created some very nice posters, my favorite of which is this one!

 

 

 

LUNACY

 

All of the above mentioned websites are fine and good, but I must admit that some of my favorite things on the Internet are also the strangest.  I’ll leave off most commentary on the following sites – just explore and see for yourself!  Some of them are funny, some are creative, and some are downright freaky!

 

The Lord of the Peeps – Fellowship of the Peeps

http://lordofthepeeps.com/lotp/fotp.html

 

Peep Research – Library usage habits of Peeps

http://www.millikin.edu/staley/fluff/peep_research.html

 

Peep Research – how Peeps are affected by various change in conditions

http://www.peepresearch.org/

 

There seems to be an entire Internet cult devoted to the manipulation and dramatization of stories using those favorite Easter sugar blobs, Peeps.

 

Etiquette Hell

http://www.etiquettehell.com/content/eh_main/gen/eh_index.shtml

 

Think your relatives, coworkers, or acquaintances have bad manners?  Think again.  It could be worse.

 

Cheeky Squirrel Name Generator

http://www.cheekysquirrel.net/squirrelname/index.php

 

Name Generator Generator – a collection of many generators in one place!  Convenient.

http://rumandmonkey.com/widgets/toys/namegen/

 

Hobbit Name Generator

http://www.chriswetherell.com/hobbit/

 

Elvish Name Generator

http://www.chriswetherell.com/elf/

 

Vampire Name Generator

http://www.emmadavies.net/vampire/

 

Not happy with your name?  Try one of these on for size.  There were numerous other generators to pick from; just type “name generator” into Google and you’ll have hours of fun.

 

Industrious clock

http://www.lares.dti.ne.jp/%7Eyugo/storage/monocrafts_ver3/03/index.html

 

Somebody had to write all these numbers.  Then somebody programmed the site.  Wow.

 

5ives – Merlin’s lists of 5 things

http://www.5ives.com/

 

An interesting collection of one person’s “top five” lists.  Of everything.

 

Eugene Mirman -  the Marvelous Crooning Child

http://www.eugenemirman.com/

 

This site scares me.

 

1974 Weight Watcher’s recipe cards

http://www.candyboots.com/wwcards.html

 

Bento Pictures

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~msittig/bento/

 

Did people really eat this stuff?

 

Odd Pics

http://www.anomalies-unlimited.com/Odd_Pics.html

 

Really strange things to look at.

 

 

 

As you might imagine, I could go on for a good long time sharing fun links with you.  However, the time is nigh to wrap up for another month.  I’d like to add a special thanks to Syd, who happened to share several of the above sites with me – I can’t take all the discovery credit!

 

Happy New Year!