Location digits

FedEx tracking numbers

example search: "fedex 999999999999"
Remember to put the word "fedex" before your tracking number

UPS tracking numbers

example search: "1Z9999W999999999"

USPS tracking numbers

Vehicle ID (VIN) numbers

Patent numbers

example search: "patent 5123123"
Remember to put the word "patent" before your patent number

FAA airplane registration numbers

example search: "n199ua"
An airplane's FAA registration number is typically printed on its tail

FCC equipment IDs

example search: "fcc B4Z-34009-PIR"
Remember to put the word "fcc" before the equipment ID

Telephone area codes

UPC codes

Enter "upc" and then the numbers under the bar code

Labels: Products, Search

Even rodents can use some help

"James Auger and Jimmy Loizeau have been collaborating on projects since the concept of the audio tooth implant was first conceived in October 2000."

Auger-Loizeau.com

Night-vision survival goggles



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Labels: Humor, Products

Pre-Orwell Porcine

..." loyalists have claimed Freddy as the ancestor of more famous literary pigs such as those in George Orwell's "Animal Farm" (1945). In fact, in "Freddy the Politician" (first published in 1939 as "Wiggins for President" ), the animals foil a crafty gang of woodpeckers who try to seize control of the Bean Farm by making extravagant promises - a revolving door for the henhouses, cat-proof apartments for the rats and so on. In his book "Fairy Tales and After," the critic Roger Sale pointed out that :Freddy the Politician: "not only preceded Orwell's work but is a good deal more careful with its materials and, for that matter, shrewder about its politics... The actions emerge much less mechanically than do Orwell's."

Freddy's readers have called him a porcine prince, a pig of many parts, a paragon of porkers, a Renaissance pig. As the problems he faces require, he is by turns a cowboy, a balloonist, a magician, a campaign manager, a pilot, and a detective. But he is the most unheroic of heroes: he oversleeps, daydreams, eats too much and, when not suffering from writer's block, writes flowery poetry for all occasions. His tail uncurls when he gets scared. Although lazy, he accomplishes a lot, because "when a lazy person once really gets started doing things, it's easier to keep on than it is to stop."

See:
FreddythePig.org

Bibliography:
Freddy's books

Also:
Teacher's guide to Freddy the Pig

Freddy's Bookstore

Recorded Books



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Labels: Books

How dey do dat?

David Packer has a web site at Sheepfilms.co.uk .

The site has a collection of strange and funny short films and animations.

If you would like to learn how to create a GIF mini movie, he's written a tutorial:

How To Make This Film



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Labels: General, Tutorials

Will not fit in vending machines

"Welcome to the Coin Page. This site is intended to provide high quality coin and coin related images for public use. So if you offer an image of a coin you must agree to allow public use of the image. You may reserve the right to forbid the sale of your image in any form."

Also:
MoneyInstructor.com:
Printable Play Money



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Labels: Free Stuff, General

2 lawyer jokes= 1 C bread crumbs

• 1 C Coke = 1 C Pepsi
  
• sunrise = sunset
  
• 1 wasp = 14 ants
  
• 1 hug = 5 handshakes
  
• 1 punch in jaw = 8 middle fingers
  
• 1 stomach flu = 10 staff meetings
  
• licked by dog = gift of ugly necktie

(more on site)
Substitution Chart

Lennon also maintains a blog with provoking stories:

May 14, 2005

"M. gives V. a birthday gift: a lamp in the shape of a Caribbean woman's head, bearing a large basket of fruit. V. reacts with appropriate enthusiasm, thanking her friend profusely and affectionately.

Six months later, M. happens to be in V.'s neighborhood on a morning when V. is holding a yard sale. The lamp bears a price of one dollar. V. is nowhere to be found, but her husband is manning the cash box. M. buys the lamp.

The following year, M. again gives V. the lamp for her birthday. Confused, V. tries to remember if it was in fact M. whom had given her the lamp last time. At any rate, a wave of contrition causes her to set the lamp up on a table in a distant room of her house and more or less forget about it.

The following year, M. is arrested for drunk driving and calls V. to pick her up at the county jail. V. does so. Her friend is still drunk, and spends the night on V.'s sofa, which V. later finds stained with, apparently, M.'s urine.

It takes a week for V. to throw the lamp angrily into the trash. So unsatisfying is this impulsive act that she actually calls up M. to let her know she has done it. M.'s response is a pause, followed by the words, "What lamp?"

It is at this moment that the friendship ends."

Labels: General, Humor

Graph-ology

"Excel Charts For Dummies will show readers how to professionally display data in presentation-quality charts. How to create attractive charts and why to use specific charts in particular circumstances. Lots of real-world examples with step-by-step tutorials. How to embed graphics and pictures into charts; then use them in impressive PowerPoint presentations or Microsoft Word documents. The book features a 16-page full-color insert of the best Excel charts 'works of art.'"

Labels: Books

and other graphics

" Finding quality images and photos for complementing an important article, essay or news report is already quite a challenge for many. Imagine when the goal is not just too find good images, but find some that you could openly and freely use without needing to pay royalties or one-time publishing rights to someone."

Free Photographs and Other Visuals

A dozen sources are listed including:
PD Photo.org

"PDPhoto.org is a repository for free public domain photos. Unless something is clearly marked as being copyrighted, you can assume it is free to use. But if you intend to use an image you find here for commercial use, please be aware that standards for such use are higher. Specifically, you should assume no model release was obtained. And pictures featuring products or property should be used with care. The photos are here to be used, but I don't want you to get either of us in trouble over it."

Labels: Art, Free Stuff

Pictures and history

" Abercrombie is the dirt digg'in, hose pull'in, shovel flipp'in, dozer boss'in, rotor lov'in, firefighter in all of us. Abercrombie has always had more questions than answers. Abercrombie is unable to stop asking why. He feels people are capable of and willing to do a much better job if they understand the "why" in addition to knowing "how". Abercrombie likes to push people's buttons sometimes to provoke an honest response. Abercrombie has a few of his own buttons get pushed occasionally, although he seems to be getting better at slowing his emotional responses."

WildlandFire.com

Fire Photos



Basic Firefighting Training

Other fire stuff:

How Fire Engines work
Fire Engines

Tacoma Fire Department
Seattle Fire Department
Queensland Fire and Rescue
(Including sirens, like the Phaser).

Wheels of Fire: Famous Fire Engines (Wales)
Fire Museums on the Web

SPAAMFAA, privately owned Fire Trucks
Fire Truck Graveyard



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Labels: Activities, History, World

What's on your card?

There's data encoded in your Social Security number! (not a lot, but some).
You can tell in what state the card was issued:

"The first three (3) digits of a person's social security number are determined by the ZIP Code of the mailing address shown on the application for a social security number. Prior to 1973, social security numbers were assigned by field offices. The number merely established that his/her card was issued by one of the offices in that State."

Social Security Number Allocations

If you're an employer, you can verify if the number is valid:
Social Security Number Verification
(There are three types of cards)

Here are some stories about Social Security :

" The most misused SSN of all time was (078-05-1120). In 1938, wallet manufacturer the E. H. Ferree company in Lockport, New York decided to promote its product by showing how a Social Security card would fit into its wallets. A sample card, used for display purposes, was inserted in each wallet. Company Vice President and Treasurer Douglas Patterson thought it would be a clever idea to use the actual SSN of his secretary, Mrs. Hilda Schrader Whitcher.



The wallet was sold by Woolworth stores and other department stores all over the country. Even though the card was only half the size of a real card, was printed all in red, and had the word "specimen" written across the face, many purchasers of the wallet adopted the SSN as their own. In the peak year of 1943, 5,755 people were using Hilda's number. SSA acted to eliminate the problem by voiding the number and publicizing that it was incorrect to use it. (Mrs. Whitcher was given a new number.) However, the number continued to be used for many years. In all, over 40,000 people reported this as their SSN. As late as 1977, 12 people were found to still be using the SSN "issued by Woolworth."

History

Other things on the site include:

Slider puzzles
(Including such luminaries as: Otto von Bismarck, Frances Perkins, and Arthur Altmeyer )

Both Nixon and LBJ recorded conversations in their offices. The SSA has some of them you can listen to about SS matters:
LBJ and Nixon tapes

Social Security Number



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Labels: Answers, General, History, Reference

Shape or substance

"The legibility of a typeface should not be evaluated on its ability to generate a good word shape.

Word shape is no longer a viable model of word recognition. The bulk of scientific evidence says that we recognize a word's component letters, then use that visual information to recognize a word. In addition to perceptual information, we also use contextual information to help recognize words during ordinary reading, but that has no bearing on the word shape versus parallel letter recognition debate. "

The science of word recognition
by Kevin Larson
From EyeMagazine

Suggested by:
Microsoft Typography

Also see:
Cmabrigde



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Labels: Answers, Reference

VERITAS ODIT MORAS

• Arts
  
• Letters
  
• Daily News
  
• Literature
  
• Philosophy
  
• Art
  
• Ideas

"Otto Preminger, hearing a group of fellow émigrés speaking Hungarian, said, "Don't you people know you're in Hollywood? Speak German."

Labels: Magazines

See property from a pigeon's view

"Perfection in harbor living. Spectacular harbor view. Central location by shops and restaurants, yet quiet and serene. Approximately 2000 s.f., 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 2 parking. Ground floor, heated water's edge patio, granite kitchen, gas fireplace, atrium shower, sound system in all rooms and more. Feels like being on a luxury cruise liner."

Labels: Search

Government You Can Dance To

"Louisville, Ky., recently launched a tax amnesty program, much like those elsewhere. Under the program, if your business pays its overdue taxes by May 31, the city will waive penalties and interest. If you don't, it promises to come after you using some new computer systems that, the government says, will finger the tax-dodgers.

But Louisville has added a couple of twists to its initiative: It has billboards around town warning people to pay up, a digital countdown clock that tells them the days and hours left until amnesty expires - and, of course, it has its own rock song. Huh? That's right. Louisville's amnesty program comes with its own rock anthem by a local group called, appropriately enough, the Accountants. Their song, which you can hear here, is a hard-driving number that warns people owing occupational license fees and business profit taxes,

"You laid low and you've not paid,
But don't be afraid,
Your only chance to improve your finance,
If you come clean you'll save some green."

"When I get up at six I gotta get my fix
start the day with a couple of clicks
Forget the shower, forget the shave
forget the news in the USA Today
When I hear the hard drive hummin'
I know the buzz is comin'
I get a rush when I see
twenty one messages waiting for me"

"I used to be one of the front line guys
Till the bosses upstairs seduced me with lies
They said 'we'll promote you, and you’ll call the shots'
But I didn't know it was such a tight spot

In charge of these people who once were my friends
Now I'm their boss and that’s where it ends
Its not worth the small change that I make
Taking this job was my biggest mistake

Caught in the middle, want to quit every day
But I’ve got a family and mortgage to pay"

Labels: Humor, Music

Alternate search display

Labels: Search

Page turner

"FindArticles is focused on delivering the best and most essential search results. There are different kinds of searches. You can cast a wide net and see what you catch, but we believe there's a better way. Why not rely on credible, freely available information you can trust? By working with the best sources, we have assembled all the essential publications covering a wide range of subjects - and are continually adding to our collection.

Our publications and subjects are organized by major categories: Arts & Entertainment, Automotive, Business & Finance, Computers & Technology, Health & Fitness, Home & Garden, News & Society, Reference & Education, and Sports.

Discover exactly what you need at FindArticles, using either browsing or searching techniques. Select a specific publication up front, or start with a general search and then include or exclude publications. Insert new search terms as needed to pinpoint the most relevant results. Then sort results by article date, length, relevance or publication name. It's all very easy to do here.

FindArticles has articles from thousands of resources, with archives dating back to 1984. That means you get to search for exactly what you need, from millions of articles not found on any other search engine. Please think of us any time you want to Find Articles."

Labels: Reference, Search

The Internet is part smart, part just weird

"Linky considers himself something of an intellectual, and tends to choose culturally enriching, "brainier" sites to share with us. Dinky, on the other hand, cannot seem to keep a serious thought in his head, and quite often veers off into the bizarre, grotesque and far-fetched. Sometimes they bicker, but as long as you get a cool link or two out of the deal, who cares?"

Here are some of the recent finds:

Mind reading card trick

MyCatHatesYou.com

Coin manipulation

Watch the computer paint



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Labels: General, Humor

World wide Economic Data

"Gapminder is a non-profit venture for development and provision of free software that visualize human development. This is done in collaboration with universities, UN organizations, public agencies and non-governmental organizations.
It all started in 1998 from an idea to enhance the understanding of world health. We developed prototype software showing time series of health statistics as moving graphics and varying life conditions as 360° photo panoramas from homes, schools and health facilities. From the prototype emerged the Dollar Street project with Save the Children Fund in Sweden and the World Health Chart project with WHO. Within the later project, Gapminder developed the free software Trendalyzer that turns boring time series of development statistics into attractive moving graphics."

GapMinder.org

"Gapminder offers some interesting interactive uses of technology to humanise economic data. These include "Dollar Street", in which you tour homes that are representative of various incomes, as well as several colourful interactive graphs of health, income and education."
The Economics Subject Centre of the UK's Higher Education Academy, 2004

"For the last year, Fabrizio Cassol (best-known as leader of AKA Moon) has been practicing intensively on the aulochrome. As there is only one model in existence, he is the instrument's only practitioner. Early this year, he premiered a composition by Philippe Boesman written specifically for aulochrome and the night before this presentation played the aulochrome in an improvised music context for the first time.

So, what does it sound like? Well, the aulochrome is essentially two soprano saxophones brought together by a double mouthpiece (with two reeds) and a common key mechanism. Each key is split in two, so the tubes can be played in unison or separately at will. The double mouthpiece means that the saxophone player's mouth muscles get much more of a workout than on a regular mouthpiece. Fabrizio said that he was observing trumpet and trombone players and asking them how they dealt with the demands of their instruments on their embouchure."

Be.Jazz Blog:
Aulochrome - Antwerpen

Introduction to the Aulochrome

Jazz Review.com:
The Aulochrome
The Instrument of the Third Millennium

Also:
Francois Louis.com



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Labels: Music

After Rent and Groceries

..."a 'thick, A5, black plastic bag'.. With little handles, of course - can't forget those.
But hidden behind this mini-bin liner facade is a thermological, nutrition preparation device of truly impressive proportions. For, as its name suggests, the Toastabag allows you to cook things in a toaster. Not in every toaster, just the thick-and-thin kind that most people have nowadays. All you do is bung the ingredients in the bag, pop it down in the toaster and wait."

Here's a video of a sandwich that might have been made with spam.

Pet Phone

"The patent pending PetsMobility™ PetsCell™ will be compatible with existing cellular and satellite GPS technology. The PetsCell™ will allow pet owners to talk to their pets as well as allowing owners to request assistance should they become incapacitated and require help. In addition, and perhaps more valuable, pet owners will have a peace of mind that if their pet is lost and someone finds their pet wandering the streets, with a simple press of a button on the PetsCell™, the auto dial function will dial the owner's home alerting the owner to retrieve their pet.

While on vacation, at work, or on the road, pets can be contacted by that friendly recognizable voice of their owners."

"When cats walk or climb on your keyboard, they can enter random commands and data, damage your files, and even crash your computer. This can happen whether you are near the computer or have suddenly been called away from it.

PawSense is a software utility that helps protect your computer from cats. It quickly detects and blocks cat typing, and also helps train your cat to stay off the computer keyboard."

Labels: Products

PDA for $3.00

" The Hipster PDA (Parietal Disgorgement Aid) is a fully extensible system for coordinating incoming and outgoing data for any aspect of your life and work. It scales brilliantly, degrades gracefully, supports optional categories and “beaming,” and is configurable to an unlimited number of options. Best of all, the Hipster PDA fits into your hip pocket and costs practically nothing to purchase and maintain."

1. get a bunch of 3"x5" file cards
   
2. clip them together with a binder clip
   
3. there is no step 3

"There is an immense amount of satisfaction in writing on paper - we tend to forget that in this digital-toy-crazed world we live in. The Moleskine has lovely paper - crisp, creamy, and smooth - that is a pleasure to write on. I use a four-nib Rotring pen that has a mechanical pencil (great for sketching), a roller ball pen, a bright orange dry-lighter, and a PDA stylus tip - all contained in a very precision-machined metal barrel.

I also enjoy flipping through my journal pages, reviewing sketches, diagrams, and ad hoc notes. With the Tablet PC, I get a near-paper experience but the best thing about paper is that it requires no batteries!"

Also from 43 Folders:
More Moleskine Hacks

Rohdesign.com:
WSJ Moleskine Article: More Linkage



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Labels: General, Products

Doorway or PC?

U.S. Geological Survey Earthquake Hazards Program Website

"Earthquakes pose significant risk to 75 million Americans in 39 States. The USGS is the only Federal agency with responsibility for recording and reporting earthquake activity nationwide. Citizens, emergency responders, and engineers rely on the USGS for accurate and timely information on where an earthquake occurred, how much the ground shook in different locations, and what the likelihood is of future significant ground shaking.

The USGS estimates that several million earthquakes occur in the world each year, but many go undetected because they occur in remote areas or have very small magnitudes. The USGS now locates about 50 earthquakes each day; 20,000 a year."

• Current Earthquakes
  
  
  • USA
    
  • World
  
  
• NEIC Current Earthquake Information
  
• ShakeMaps
  
• Seismogram Displays
  
• Past & HistoricalEarthquakes
  
• Earthquake Notification E-mail

Also:
Ask USGS
Earth Science Information Center

Tsunamis research at USGS



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Labels: Answers, General, Reference, World

More than affordable software

"RUNit is a simple but yet powerful launchpad. RUNit gives you quick access to applications, documents, folders and shortcuts. Unlike many other launchpads RUNit doesn't occupy any space on your screen - you only see it when you actually use it.

RUNit defines a "hot area" on your screen where a click of the right mouse button makes the RUNit launch-menu appear .The "hot area" can be any border of the screen or even the whole screen."

"The Pricelessware list is a compilation of software collected through a yearly vote by the participants of the "alt.comp.freeware" newsgroup. It is a list of what people have voted as "the best of the best in Freeware".

• Business-Home
  
• Desktop
  
• File Utilities
  
• Graphics
  
• Organizers
  
• Multimedia
  
• Security
  
• Web Design
  
• Internet
  
• Programming
  
• Text
  
• System Utilities

Labels: Free Stuff

Statistical treasure trove

"Census 2000 and Trend Data going back to 1990, 1980, and sometimes even further, on a growing list of topics, including population growth, population by race, age structure, family structure, and income."

"Many of the most important social trends affecting America have a strongly regional flavor. Figure out where you fit in with demographic maps showing where the elderly predominate (think: the Great Plains), where the nuclear family is (and isn't) the norm, and how "diversity" breaks down regionally."

"State and county-level rankings by population growth, race, educational attainment, language, gender, and more."

"Segregation Exposure and Dissimilarity Measures for 1246 individual US cities with population exceeding 25,000 and for all metropolitan areas, based on single and multiple race populations as identified in Census 2000."

CensusScope

University of Michigan:
Social Science Data Analysis Network

The site was suggested by the eclectic J-WalkBlog of John Walkenbach.




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Labels: Answers, General, Reference

Pumpkin chunkin

"I thought it would be fun to have a Web site that was dedicated to the development of home-brew devices for propelling weird objects through the air. When I put up this page in early 1995, I had no idea that there was so much interest in this kind of foolishness. I apologize for not updating stuff as often as I should, but I have a day job now...flipping burgers at Dairy Queen."

The Mechanical Toys Page
Including:


Instructions to Build a Mouse-Trap Car

Also:

Links to other mechanical toys

The Trebuchet at NF/ Observatory

"The NF/ Ranch is a small cattle ranch in the Mimbres Valley (New Mexico). The earliest signs of human occupation are from 1000AD, when the Mimbres Indians occupied sites along the Gallinas River, just down the hill. A Spanish fort was built over some of these ruins arround 1600, for protection against the local Warm Springs Apaches. Now the residents include Bill, Ty, Nick, Cindy, Amber, and Kaelin along with the animals at the ranch. Ty and Nick are currently perfecting a Trebuchet, a high tech siege weapon from the 10th century."

If you're near New Mexico Make 'em fly or make 'em pie

Also:
Trebuchet MS Font




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Labels: Activities, Products

"You filthy pragmatists, I'm going to get you!"

"Those who have seen the 1983 movie "A Christmas Story" know Jean Shepherd as the voice of Ralph Parker as an adult. Others who grew up in the New York Metropolitan area during the 50's, 60's and 70's may recall the nightly radio show he did on WOR 710AM five nights a week for forty-five minutes and the two-hour Saturday night "Live at the Limelight" shows.

... a stunt he liked to pull, was the hurling of invectives. He would instruct his listeners to place their radios in the open window of their house and turn the volume way up. He would then yell over the radio things like, "You filthy pragmatists, I'm going to get you!"

Shep often said that there was 5 to 10 hours of preparation for each of his nightly shows, and yet fellow WOR personality Barry Farber, and one of his engineers, Herb Squire say that it all came from the top of his head. Herb claims that Shep would come into the studio with only a scrap of paper with a few notes, or perhaps an article someone had sent him. He would sit down behind the mike, and as the theme song would play Shep would ease into 45 minutes of non-stop chatter. He would start out talking about a particular subject, and through the course of the show, would side track to other related topics. But as his theme music at the end of the show came to a close he managed to tie it all together and bring the show to an end."

"10:15 P.M. The WOR news and weather are out of the way. A bugle sounds, and a sprightly theme song comes trotting on the air. The theme has a double meaning: it is the one that calls the horses to the gate at Aqueduct, and it is the Bahnfrei Overture, composed for an operetta by Eduard Strauss, the only member of the Strauss family who did not make good. Presently, Shepherd's clear, rowdy voice intrudes. 'Okay, gang are you ready to play radio? Are you ready to shuffle off the mortal coil of mediocrity? I am if you are.' There is a noise like a mechanized Bronx cheer (BRRAPP!)- it is Shepherd blowing his kazoo. At other times he twangs his Jew's-harp (BRROING!). 'Yes, you fatheads out there in the darkness, you losers in the Sargasso Sea of existence, take heart, because WOR, in its never ending crusade of public service, is once again proud to bring you--(EROICA SYMPHONY UP)-- The Jean Shepherd Program!'"

Bob Kaye:
Shep In Concert! Video Clip

JeanShepardPodcast




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Labels: General, Humor

Great clips

Paul Blanchard has produced a series of video clips, mostly based on his kid's elementary school.

Explore Paul's web site

You can also subscribe to his YouTube collection.

Labels: General

By Michael Perry

"... The village board sent someone around to recite nuisance ordinances chapter and verse, but beyond rearranging the bikes and aligning the camper with the speedboat - feng shui primitif - nothing has changed. You take what you can get in this life. Someone calls you white trash, you go with it, and fight like hell to keep your trash. You understand it is a matter of distinctions: yuppies with their shiny trash, church ladies with their hand-stitched trash, solid citizens with their secret trash. In a yard just outside town, a spray-painted piece of frayed plywood leans against a tree. It reads Trans Ams: 2 for $2000. It has been there for two years."

Labels: Books

Thoughts and Tick Tocks

Brad McCormick has the kind of web site that is built to be thumbed through. There are some serious linkage pages:

What Time Does Your Computer Think It Is?

And also a collection of his thoughts and others. I found it worthwhile to just surf from spot to spot.

There is good stuff at almost every click.

"Happy the person who can find genuine interest and satisfaction in something nobody else wants -- for then (s)he has a better chance of being allowed to have it. "

"Big problem: How to avoid wasting one's life to earn one's living. "

"When will we advance to a level where not just owning persons (slavery) but also renting them (wage labor) is outlawed and abolished? "

"Some persons can judge [many] books by their covers. Other persons can't judge a book even by its contents. "

"Why not speak, conciliatorily, of the complementary sex (gender), rather than, oppositionally: 'the opposite sex'?"

Labels: General, Humor

and other cool stuff

Also:
Cabaret Mechanical Theatre

Timber Kits


And:
the Paper Airplane Museum



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Labels: General, Products

Tied Up?

The KnotPlot Site
By Rob Scharein

"Knot theory is a branch of algebraic topology where one studies what is known as the placement problem, or the embedding of one topological space into another."

The site includes a collection of knots.



You can, also, download a program called KnotPlot to develop your own knots


Click to see more moiré knots.

Animated Knots

Other nots:

Ripley's Believe it or not!

Hot or Not



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Labels: Activities, Tutorials