Miscellaneous links

Curta.org http://curta.org/

About the amazing Curta compact mechanical calculators, sold 1948-1973. They now sell on eBay for $300-$1000. See also January 2004 Scientific American article by Cliff Stoll. People invented lots of mechanical calculators, but this was the only one so capable that could be held in the palm of the hand.

The Curta Calculator Page http://www.vcalc.net/cu.htm

Another Curta page; this is a very long single page

Timewise Rally Computers (Hawthorn Woods IL) http://home.comcast.net/~timewise1/

Expert Curta calculator repair and cleaning

Aerobie (Palo Alto CA) http://aerobie.com/

If a Frisbee is like a prop plane, Aerobie is like a jet. Astonishing high-tech rings that fly much faster, farther, and more stable than Frisbees. The Aerobie Pro is the flagship. The hard part with an Aerobie is not distance, it's accuracy.

Understanding Evolution http://evolution.berkeley.edu/

When well-meaning religious people who think evolution conflicts with faith try to force their local schools to teach so-called "Intelligent Design," I tend to think they have been let down by both their past science teachers and their current ministers. ID is just creationism in sheep's clothing, a gossamer pretext for religion in the public schools. If ID is discussed in school at all, it should be in the context of metaphysics, theology, and current events, and never in the same room with evolution.

Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP) http://www.csicop.org/

Great resources for debunking pseudo-science

Good News from the Front http://goodnewsfromthefront.com/

Good News from Iraq and Good News from Afghanistan blogs, to counterweight the dogged "if it bleeds it leads" coverage of the mainstream media.

US Flag Rules and Regulations http://www.ushistory.org/betsy/flagetiq.html

Guide to proper respectful display and handling

How far is it? http://www.indo.com/distance/

Gives road mileage between US cities

How to Toilet-Train Your Cat http://www.karawynn.net/mishacat/toilet.html

I almost put this on the Crawled page, but it isn't a joke site. Some cats really can be taught to use flush toilets. Some cats won't, of course.

Internet Movie Database http://us.imdb.com/

US site: comprehensive search forms

Iwillknot.com http://iwillknot.com/
Animatedknots.com http://animatedknots.com/

How-to sites about knot tying

DTV Answers http://dtvanswers.com/

What you need to know about the February 17, 2009 switch to Digital Television (DTV)

Nielsen ratings, Yahoo! TV http://tv.yahoo.com/nielsen/

Recent Nielsen TV ratings

The Oughtred Society http://www.oughtred.org/

"Dedicated to the history and collection of slide rules." Named after William Oughtred (1574-1660) inventor of the slide rule.

PBS Online http://www.pbs.org/

Scientific American magazine http://www.sciam.com/

Estes Rockets (Penrose CO) http://www.estesrockets.com/

I was exposed to model rocketry during middle school, courtesy of the local Eagles lodge, and then on impulse built and flew a three-stager while in college. It's a cool thing to get your kids into, if they're not all thumbs. Model rocketry isn't dangerous if properly supervised, but they'll have trouble assembling the rockets if they're not deft with their hands.

Purse Brite organizer http://www.pursebriteorganizer.com/

A clever lighted organizer for large purses, easy to transfer quickly from one purse to another, instead of the usual dump & load process

Shambala Preserve http://www.shambala.org/

Tippi Hedren's big cat sanctuary

TV Guide Online (new URL) http://www.tvguide.com/

US National Parks By Name http://www.nps.gov/parks.html

Operation Migration http://www.operationmigration.org/

Teaching migration routes to captivity-raised endangered whooping cranes and other waterfowl, by imprinting them on and leading them with ultralight aircraft, in the eastern US and Canada

WeatherNet http://cirrus.sprl.umich.edu/wxnet/

Sponsored by The Weather Underground at the U of Michigan

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