Category Archives: Neat-o Sites

Hey – did you see this site? It’s neat.

Black+Google=Blackle

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Blackle.

It sounds like a custom search that interjects ‘izzle’ where appropriate, or perhaps a custom KKK search. Or like ‘backles’, a word I learned while reading the new Miranda July book.

But it’s not. It’s a crunchy, hippie computer thing!

A high schooler showed this to me today (for me, this denotes a change in my information sources – it used to be BoingBoing and Jason, and now it’s 17-year-olds).

It’s straight-up Google, but with a black background and white text. From the about page ” Blackle saves energy because the screen is predominantly black. ‘Image displayed is primarily a function of the user’s color settings and desktop graphics, as well as the color and size of open application windows; a given monitor requires more power to display a white (or light) screen than a black (or dark) screen.’ Roberson et al, 2002.”

Your New Distraction

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Yahoo Games has a bunch of wordy games. When I worked at Schmabbot, and sat in front of a computer with nothing to do, I’d play. My Scrabble/Boggle abilities became enhanced.

So why not become addicted to a word game? It’s good for your brain. Here, play Boggle against lots of people, and make up word.

24 Hour Meme

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First there was the 24 Hour Comic. “an annual event where cartoonists around the world each try to create 24 pages of comics in 24 hours.” October 20th, 2007

24 hour comics

Then there was the 24 Hour Zine Thing.

24 hour zine thing

Now there’s the 48 Hour Book Challenge. “That special contest that allows you to read guilt-free for as long as you can stand it.” It’s going on RIGHT NOW.

48 Hour Book Challenge

I love the idea of forgoing the laundry, errands, bathing, etc. to lay around and read for an entire weekend. If I weren’t working right now, I’d be participating. I like the idea of finding a couple of different places to read over the course of the two-day period. On the beach, on the deck, lolling around in bed, on the couch, with the cat, at the kitchen table, at a cafe … it feels very hedonistic to me – book porn.

Naturalizer

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Marylaine posted a link to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services website, which has a .pdf of typical questions found on the naturalization exam.

(Hey, Keem found the newest version of the exam!)

Some of the questions I knew (What are the colors of our flag?), some were hard (Why are there 100 senators in the US Senate?), and some I can’t imagine answering in a way that is easily quantified (Who is Martin Luther King, Jr.?).

Go check it out!

Volunteer to proofread for Project Gutenberg!

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This is a word geek’s secret pleasure. Yes, editing can be a drag. Proofing is editing’s ugly younger cousin from Nebraska. Distributed Proofreaders is a volunteer organization that provides proofing for Project Gutenberg.

Distributed Proofreaders

Still, having a hand in proofing all the public domain books that are being digitized is a good, helpful thing. I don’t know how many times I’ve had to read an article for class that has a misspelling because it wasn’t proofed. We might as well work on this as the stuff comes out, instead of waiting until it’s a problem.

Come on, sign up. I’m going to, and I’m super cool.

Knit a tit.

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tit bit

That’s right. I said it. From the Knitty.com fall surprise, I learned about Tit Bits, a website that provides both knitted fake boobies and support (get it – support!) for breast cancer survivors. Knitty has a free pattern for making your own tit, and although I don’t have anyone in my life who needs a new breast, I thinkI might make one anyway, just in case.

(Much like making a penguin jumper, just in case there’s another oil spill near Antartica.)

Site for my mom

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Kittenwars header
Kittenwar.com is a site where you choose between two pictures of kittens. There’s a list of the winningest kittens, and the losingest kittens. I haven’t looked at losingest yet, I bet they’re mangy.