El Dorado County Library's What's New on the Internet for the Week of March 31st, 2008

What's Hot on the Internet This Week
Week of March 31st, 2008
The arrow indicates a recommended site and a points to a site with local information.

All About Global Warming

"Global warming is the term used to describe a gradual increase in the average temperature of the Earth's atmosphere and its oceans, a change that is believed to be permanently changing the Earth’s climate forever. While many view the effects of global warming to be more substantial and more rapidly occurring than others do, the scientific consensus on climatic changes related to global warming is that the average temperature of the Earth has risen between 0.4 and 0.8 °C over the past 100 years. The increased volumes of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases released by the burning of fossil fuels, land clearing, agriculture, and other human activities, are believed to be the primary sources of the global warming that has occurred over the past 50 years. Scientists from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate carrying out global warming research have recently predicted that average global temperatures could increase between 1.4 and 5.8 °C by the year 2100. Changes resulting from global warming may include rising sea levels due to the melting of the polar ice caps, as well as an increase in occurrence and severity of storms and other severe weather events." This site from Live Science provides details on the implications of this perceived warming. (Subject(s): Environment & Ecology)

Alcatraz History: This Website will provide users with "A definitive, comprehensive and historic history of the infamous Alcatraz Island Federal Penitentiary." "Welcome to AlcatrazHistory.com! Alcatraz History was designed to help introduce you to the rich history of Alcatraz during the penitentiary years and many of the inmates who called "the Rock" home. From the mid 1930's until the mid 1960's, Alcatraz was America's premier maximum-security prison, the final stop for the nation's most incorrigible inmates. Today, Alcatraz is a place of contradictions, with a grim past and an enduring future as one of San Francisco's most prominent landmarks and tourist attractions. AlcatrazHistory.com explores this history through brief narratives and photos, and serves as an excellent reference for researchers seeking a basic collection of information." You can further explore the famous island by using this site Museum Collections at the Rock: Alcatraz Island, which has been produced as part the the National Park Service's Museum Management Program. (Subject(s): Alcatraz Island (Calif.)--History & United States Penitentiary, Alcatraz Island, California--History)
All About Table Tennis: "Ask a random selection of people whether they've ever played table tennis (sometimes called ping pong by the uninitiated!) at some time in their life, and you'll get a "yes" more often than a "no". Whether they've played at school, at a youth club, at a sports centre or at a dedicated TT club, it's one of those games that just about anyone can play. In fact it's a sport that's said to be played by around 300 million people worldwide.... So what will you find right here on my web site? Well, if you want to know what equipment you should buy, let me help you by passing on my 35+ years of experience so that you know what you should look out for. Perhaps you're interested in the history of the game or you want to know the difference between table tennis and ping pong? You'll find all that here. If you're a player yourself, perhaps you're looking for some tips and techniques on how to play this great sport, or how to improve your game? Or maybe you need to know the rules? I've got that covered too." (Subject(s): Table Tennis)
AllReaders.com: This is an interactive Web reading site which is noted for "Featuring detailed book reviews from all genres as well as featured authors, latest book reviews, or you can enter a book review and get listed as a scholar!" "There are a zillion book review sites out there, but ours is different! For starters, we classify books based on plot, setting, character, and writing style. Therefore, if you know what kind of book you like, you can find other authors who write similar kind of stories." (Subject(s): Books--Reviews)
BBC Radio 4: Arthur C. Clarke: The Science and the Fiction: "Sixty years ago this month, in October 1945, the magazine Wireless World published an article by a relatively unknown writer and rocket enthusiast. Its title was: "Extra-Terrestrial Relays: Can Rocket Stations Give World Wide Radio Coverage?" Today, the author's name is known throughout the world. He is the science fiction writer Arthur C Clarke, and his prediction of satellite communications has come true in ways even he never imagined. To mark the anniversary, Heather Couper travels to Sir Arthur's home in Sri Lanka to hear his own story." This interview was conducted on Wednesday 5 October 2005. For another appreciation for the recently deceased scientist and author, visit this page at Salon: Brilliant Careers: Arthur C. Clarke. (Subject(s): Clarke, Arthur Charles, 1917-2008)
Backpacker Magazine: "Backpacker Magazine is your source for gear reviews, outdoor skills information and advice, and destinations for backpacking, camping, hiking, and other outdoor activities. Plan trips, download hikes, find gear, and learn outdoor and survival skills." (Subject(s): Hiking)
Book Reporter: "Ever craved a good book and just not been inspired by anything you see? Or felt annoyed that you bought a book that was merely so-so? Or closed a book and JUST wanted to talk about it? We know what this feels like. The Book Report Network aims to solve these reader dilemmas, with thoughtful book reviews, compelling features, in-depth author profiles and interviews, excerpts of the hottest new releases, literary games and contests, and more every week. We hope you'll visit our websites and discover why since 1996 the Book Report Network has been the best place online to talk about your last great read --- and find your next one." This is but one site under the Book Report Network; a couple of the other sites available are: Authors on the Web and Kids Reads.com. (Subject(s): Books--Reviews)
Books in Depth - Newspaper Book Reviews: This Web index provides readers with "Your direct link to Book Reviews in Newspapers, Periodicals and leading websites around the world." The papers and periodicals containing these reviews are listed alphabetically by the name of periodical. (Subject(s): Books--Reviews)
Campana Brothers Select: Works from the Permanent Collection | Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum: This is the online companion to an exhibition on view February 15–September 28, 2008 at Cooper-Hewitt in which designers used the Cooper's collection as a tool to create the items in the exhibition. "“In studying Cooper-Hewitt’s permanent collection, our attention was drawn to a broad range of objects, with no obvious relation among them. Rather than limit our selection method, we decided to simply adopt the basic criterion of “I like that”—just as we usually do while we are creating. We ventured into the collection prepared to be seduced by design, with no preconceived judgments. In our spontaneous and openhearted choices, we attempted to form alliances between concepts that seemed familiar despite the boundaries of time, function, and language. We came up with a list of more than forty works, ranging from book illustrations to furniture and intricate textiles.... Our goal is to create through these objects a bridge between design and poetry, the hidden desires of wellbeing, the fantasies of daily life. We want to bring not only a dream, but also rupture, into design. Making furniture is our method of breaking boundaries—a combination of joy and investigation. Museums taught us to look underneath the object and discover the arts and crafts of our work. In return, we wish to give Cooper-Hewitt our perspective on how emotions are created, which expresses the subtle line between art and everything in the creative world.”" –Fernando and Humberto Campana. (Subject(s): Interior Design)
Carthage Lives: "Welcome to the Most Comprehensive Web Resource on the Life of Hannibal Barca and the Punic Wars Between Rome and Carthage.... Hannibal Ad Portas! This is a Latin saying, which means 'Hannibal is at the door'. The fear of Hannibal became so great that it was said Roman parents would use it as a way to threaten their misbehaving children. If a child was bad, the parent would tell them that Hannibal was coming for them - the modern equivalent is the 'bogeyman'.... This site can be approached from a number of directions: you can follow the tours shown below: the Punic Wars or the life of Hannibal himself. You can follow the life of Scipio Africanus. Or you can look at the people, places and battles involved. For an historical overview look at the different timelines. Or read excerpts from the historical sources." For those interested, even more historical information about Hannibal, Italy and the invasion of both Spain and the Roman homeland can be found at Second Punic War, 218-201 BC (Subject(s): Hannibal, 247-182 B.C. & Punic War, 2nd, 218-201 B.C.)
British Museum - Chinese Jade: "Jade has always been the material most highly prized by the Chinese, above silver and gold. From ancient times, this extremely tough translucent stone has been worked into ornaments, ceremonial weapons and ritual objects. Recent archaeological finds in many parts of China have revealed not only the antiquity of the skill of jade carving, but also the extraordinary levels of development it achieved at a very early date.... This tour illustrates examples showing the development of Chinese jade from around 5000 BC to the modern period. The subtle variety of colours and textures of this exotic stone can be seen, as well as the many different types of carving, ranging from long, smooth Neolithic blades to later plaques, ornaments, dragons, animal and human sculpture." (Subject(s): Jade)
Cholera Online: A Modern Pandemic in Texts and Images: "Epidemic cholera is an acute, painful, and often fatal disease which ravaged nearly the entire world during several severe outbreaks during the 19th century. It is a diarrheal disease which can cause death by dehydration to an untreated patient in a matter of hours and is extremely contagious in communities without adequate, modern sanitation, as most of the world was in 1817 when it first left India. News of its spread and impending approach often sent panic into entire nations, and health professionals were largely at a loss as to how to treat or prevent it until modern epidemiological and laboratory techniques were developed later in the century. Cholera continues to pose problems for public health officials; the latest major outbreak was in South America, originating in Peru in 1991, causing over 500,000 cases and over 2,000 deaths." This online exhibition has been prepared by the U.S.'s National Library of Medicine (Subject(s): Cholera--History)
Citizen Milton: "John Milton was born 400 years ago, and his ideas about citizenship are still relevant to us today. The author of the greatest epic poem in English, Paradise Lost, was also a reforming prose writer, a member of a revolutionary government, and the victim of censorship, whose daring positions we now consider vital to modern governance. Advocate of freedom of the press, transparency in government, public debate, education for liberty, the right to divorce, the disestablishment of the church and the abolition of monarchy, Milton espoused positions radical even by today's standards. The cornerstone of Milton's concept of liberty was the virtuous citizen, an individual endowed with reason to make choices and to act freely in the world.... This exhibition gives an account of this remarkable writer, with especial focus on Milton's concept of citizenship and the ways that later artists grappled with the complex legacy of his powerful words." This is the companion Website for an exhibition continuing through April 2008 at the Boedlian Library at Oxford University. "The exhibition, curated by Sharon Achinstein, includes not only first editions but Milton's continuing legacy in politics, print and the visual arts, especially printed editions." (Subject(s): Milton, John, 1608-1674)
Europa: Environment and Waste: "As European society has grown wealthier it has created more and more rubbish. Each year in the European Union alone we throw away 1.3 billion tonnes of waste - some 40 million tonnes of it hazardous. This amounts to about 3.5 tonnes of solid waste for every man, woman and child, according to European Environment Agency statistics. Add to this total a further 700 million tonnes of agricultural waste, and it is clear that treating and disposing of all this material - without harming the environment - becomes a major headache.... The EU is aiming for a significant cut in the amount of rubbish generated, through new waste prevention initiatives, better use of resources, and encouraging a shift to more sustainable consumption patterns." This site attempts to explain how the Europeans are planning to handle this monumental problem. (Subject(s): Environment & Waste)
Exalead: "Exalead offers you new tools that allow you to find the information you seek on the Web quicker. Start your search from the search box found on the Exalead home page. The Exalead search engine currently offers two types of search: * Web search: search the entire Web for information in different formats (web sites, Word documents, .pdf files, etc.) [and] * Image search: search for photographs, illustrations and icons from all over the Web... Exalead also offers advanced search functionality. (Subject(s): Searching--Other Search Engines and Indexes)
Fossil Mysteries: "Fossil Mysteries, a highly interactive exhibition, explores big themes in science: evolution, extinction, ecology, and Earth processes. Abundant fossils, models, murals, and dioramas offer unique multi-sensory experiences. You'll see the world—past and present—in a whole new way." This is the online companion from the exhibition which is on permanent display at the San Diego History Museum. (Subject(s): Dinosaurs & Paleontology)

How Debt Consolidation Works

An article from the Website How Stuff Works written by Jane McGrath: "You see advertisements for it all the time -- "Get debt-free and lower your monthly payments! Call now!" Debt consolidation ads are as ubiquitous as diet pill ads and sometimes just as outlandish. Despite the remarkable claims, debt consolidation isn't magic and doesn't really eliminate your debt (at least not immediately) because it involves getting new debt. That's what debt consolidation is -- taking out one new loan to pay off all your other loans. Still want to call now? Be warned: You may wind up in worse financial straits than you were before. Dealing with student loans, car loans and mortgages, as well as any other debts is daunting. If you can pull all those expenses together under a lower interest rate, like many ads boast, you will end up making lower payments. In addition, the idea of lumping several payments into one might appeal to you. Indeed, with this process, you are far less likely to forget to pay a bill. It seems like a win-win situation. But is it too good to be true? Yes and no. If you dive into a debt consolidation deal without reading the fine print, hidden fees can worsen your financial situation. You may even owe money for longer, and it might cost you more long term. However, when entered into cautiously, debt consolidation can help you get control of your finances. In this article, you'll find out about the different methods of debt consolidation, how to tell the bogus deals from the legitimate ones and how to combine those pesky student loans (or not). Read on to find out if you show some of the telltale signs of having too much debt." (Subject(s): Debt)

Ibiblio: the Public's Library and Digital Archive: "Home to one of the largest "collections of collections" on the Internet, ibiblio.org is a conservancy of freely available information, including software, music, literature, art, history, science, politics, and cultural studies. ibiblio.org is a collaboration of the School of Information and Library Science and the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at The University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill." (Subject(s): Libraries)
JetStream - Online School for Weather: "Welcome to JetStream, the National Weather Service Online Weather School. This site is designed to help educators, emergency managers, or anyone interested in learning about weather and weather safety. The information contained in JetStream is arranged by subject; beginning with global and large scale weather patterns followed by lessons on air masses, wind patterns, cloud formations, thunderstorms, lightning, hail, damaging winds, tornados, tropical storms, cyclones and flooding. Interspersed in JetStream are "Learning Lessons" which can be used to enhance the educational experience." (Subject(s): Weather--Instructional Aids)
Wikipedia - List of Video Sharing Websites: "Video sharing refers to websites or software where a user can distribute their video clips. Some services may charge, but the bulk of them offer free services. Many services have options for private sharing and other publication options. Video sharing services can be classified into several categories, among them: user generated video sharing websites, video sharing platform / white label providers and web based video editing. Please note that websites that are solely search engines and do not provide the hosting of their video content (such as Singingfish) are not included in this article." (Subject(s): Video)
Major League Baseball: Events: Opening Series 2008: As you may know, Major League Baseball opened its 2008 season in Japan. The Boston Red Sox and the Oakland A's traveled across the Left Pond to Japan for a short 2-game series on March 25th and 26th. This precluded the mainland beginning of play by about a week. So, here's the official Website for that historic event and in addition you can find links to all the teams, players, games and stats that make up the League. (Subject(s): Baseball)
NRDC: OnEarth Magazine: Mammoth Mystery: This is an article by Sharon Levy: "Did climate change wipe out North America's giant mammals, or did our Stone Age ancestors hunt them to extinction? ... Conventional wisdom once held that rising temperatures at the end of the Ice Age caused the mass extinction of big Pleistocene beasts, known collectively as the megafauna. In the 1960s, Paul Martin, then a maverick paleoecologist just beginning his career at the University of Arizona, published his theory that North America's giant mammals had perished in a "blitzkrieg" of hunting by the continent's first human settlers. Since then, the cause of the die-off has been hotly debated in a flurry of studies that look back at the vanished giants in inventive ways." This article attempts to provide information on this dispute through the words of Guy Robinson, a paleoecologist at Fordham University. The homepage for the periodical can be found at OnEarth Magazine. (Subject(s): Mammoths--North America)
Memory Maps: "Memory Maps is about people and their relationship with place. It is about objects that are associated with particular areas as well as prints and paintings of named locations. But most importantly it is about writing about place. In recent years a new form of writing has emerged drawing on fiction, history, conversation and memoir. The site includes contributions in the genre from contemporary writers such as Iain Sinclair and Lisa Appignanesi and it also includes opportunities for visitors to send in their own writing for publication on the site. The Memory Maps website is a collaboration between Marina Warner, Professor of Creative Writing and her department at the University of Essex and the V&A. For this reason we have started by focusing on Essex." (Subject(s): Memory & Writing)
Military History Encyclopedia on the Web: "Welcome to HistoryOfWar.org. We aim to make our site your first call for information on any aspect of military history. If we don't have what you want, then contact us via our military history discussion forum or contact us directly. Currently we have 2,253 articles, 644 pictures, 290 maps and over 1,641,800 words in original articles. We don't just cover the best known conflicts, although we do have good coverage of the First and Second World Wars, the Napoleonic Wars and now the American Civil War." (Subject(s): History--Military)
The Monster Librarian: "The Monster Librarian welcomes you! This site is dedicated to all the books that are creepy, scary, and give us the willies. It is meant to be a resource for readers and librarians. For readers of horror, this is designed to be a site where you can find other books that fall into the horror category that you might be interested in reading. For librarians, this site provides tools to help in collection development, readers' advisory, and program planning. While the site will have information on current mainstream horror it will also include in the various lists older books that may be of interest." -- Dylan Kowalewski aka The Monster Librarian. (Subject(s): Horror Fiction)
Mortgage Calculators: "Bankrate.com's mortgage calculators can help you figure out how much you can afford, how much you should borrow, and more." In addition to the 2 calculators, this site also contains links to many additional related calculators, up-to-date national mortgage rates as well as a series of reports grouped together under the title Mortgage Basics. For more free information on services offered by lending institutions, visit this site's homepage at Bankrate.com. (Subject(s): Mortgages)
The New York Review of Books: "With a national circulation of over 125,000, The New York Review of Books has established itself, in Esquire's words, as "the premier literary-intellectual magazine in the English language." The New York Review began during the New York publishing strike of 1963, when the present editors, Robert Silvers and Barbara Epstein, and their friends, decided to create a new kind of magazine—one in which the most interesting and qualified minds of our time would discuss current books and issues in depth." This is their companion Website with current full-text articles available as well as articles from the archive. However, some of the articles require a subscription or fee to see or print the entire piece. (Subject(s): Books--Reviews)
Novel Guide: "Novelguide.com is the premier free source for literary analysis on the web. We provide an educational supplement for better understanding of classic and contemporary Literature Profiles, Metaphor Analysis, Theme Analyses, and Author Biographies." "Novelguide.com is continually in the process of adding more books to the website each week. Please check back weekly to see what we have added." (Subject(s): Literature)
Open Vault - WGBH Media Library and Archives: "Open Vault provides online access to unique and historically important content produced by public television station WGBH for individual and classroom learning. The ever-expanding site contains video excerpts, searchable transcripts, a select number of complete interviews for purchase, and resource management tools." "For over 25 years WGBH Media Library and Archives (MLA) has preserved, catalogued, and provided access to materials produced by WGBH. It currently houses more than 10,000 boxes of material, more than 500,000 items, and more than 50,000 audio, video, and film masters." Some of that material is available from this Website. (Subject(s): Archival Resources & WGBH (Boston, MA))
OperaGlass: "Welcome to OperaGlass. Here you can get detailed information on many operas, including: * Libretti * Source Texts * Performance Histories * Synopses * Discographies [and] * Rôle Creators, plus pictures, background information, and more; also commemoration calendars, special features, and pointers to other opera information sites." (Subject(s): Opera)
Overbooked: a Resource for Readers: "Overbooked is a web site for ravenous & omnivorous readers. Overbooked provides information about fiction and readable nonfiction. Overbooked originals include annotated lists of nonfiction, fiction and mystery books which received starred reviews, themed booklists, featured titles lists and hot lists of hard cover US fiction releases. Established 1994. This site contains large files." (Subject(s): Books--Reviews)
NASA - The Ozone Resource Page: "NASA Data Reveals 'Average' Ozone Hole in 2007. Each year, the depleted region in Earth's protective ozone layer over the Antarctic, or "ozone hole," reaches its largest size during a period in September. Data from a NASA satellite are now in, and images created from the data reveal the extent of the hole in 2007 was about average when compared to measurements from the last few decades. Data from NASA's Earth-observing Aura satellite show that the ozone hole peaked in size on Sept. 13, reaching a maximum area extent of 9.7 million square miles just larger than the size of North America. That's "pretty average," says Paul Newman, an atmospheric scientist at NASA Goddard Space Fight Center, when compared to the area of ozone holes measured over the last 15 years. Still, the extent this year was "very big," he says, compared to 1970s when the hole did not yet exist." The complete article is available from this site plus news, scientific studies and other reports and studies on the Ozone and the "hole." (Subject(s): Ozone)
SourceWatch - Your Guide to Names Behind the News: "Welcome to SourceWatch—your guide to the names behind the news. SourceWatch is a collaborative project of the Center for Media and Democracy to produce a directory of the people, organizations and issues shaping the public agenda. A primary purpose of SourceWatch is documenting the PR and propaganda activities of public relations firms and public relations professionals engaged in managing and manipulating public perception, opinion and policy. SourceWatch also includes profiles on think tanks, industry-funded organizations and industry-friendly experts that work to influence public opinion and public policy on behalf of corporations, governments and special interests. Over time, SourceWatch has broadened to include others involved in public debates including media outlets, journalists and government agencies. Unlike some other wikis, SourceWatch has a policy of strict referencing, and is overseen by a paid editor. SourceWatch has 34,432 articles." (Subject(s): Politics--United States)
Film.com - Summer Movies: "When it comes to the movies, this summer is chock-full of big names and high expectations. The summer of 2007 was good; we had Live Free or Die Hard and Transformers in there, but this summer the list of titles is glorious for the average movie-goer. While I find myself curious and excited about a chunk of these flicks, I've narrowed it down my five faves. Check it out!" -- Michelle Sanders. But this includes previews, pre-opinions and analysis and trailers for all the hot (and not so hot) 2008 summer blockbusters. See what you want to see! For a different take to the up-coming films, visit the Official Guide to the Summer of 2008 from FirstShowing.net. (Subject(s): Movies)
Travelers in the Middle East Archive (TIMEA): "The Travelers in the Middle East Archive (TIMEA) is a digital archive that focuses on Western interactions with the Middle East, particularly travels to Egypt during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. TIMEA offers electronic texts such as travel guides, museum catalogs, and travel narratives, photographic and hand-drawn images of Egypt, historical maps, and interactive GIS (Geographic Information Systems) maps of Egypt and Cyprus. In addition, TIMEA provides educational modules that set the materials in context and explore how to conduct historical research." (Subject(s): Middle East--History)
USDA: The Food and Nutrition Information Center: "The Food and Nutrition Information Center - a leader in food and human nutrition information dissemination since 1971. Provides credible, accurate, and practical resources for nutrition and health professionals, educators, government personnel and consumers." The information available here is grouped around several topical headings: Dietary Guidance, Diet and Disease, Food Composition, Weight and Obesity, Food Safety, Food Labeling and Dietary Supplements amongst others. (Subject(s): Diet, Food, Health and Nutrition)
WHO 60th Anniversary: Our Health, Our Future: "This year marks the 60th anniversary of WHO. This special occasion presents WHO with an opportunity to celebrate achievements in global public health over the last 60 years, demonstrate the impact of WHO's work and address challenges for the future. This web site will continue to evolve throughout the course of the year and it will provide updates on the implementation of the activities detailed in the framework below. WHO's 60th anniversary celebrations (WHO60) will consist of a variety of activities and events that will take place throughout the year, covering a range of public health issues and particularly emphasizing issues linked to WHO's six-point agenda." (Subject(s): World Health Organization (WHO))

Christian Science Monitor: Campaign 2008: Patchwork Nation

"Nearly 305 million people live in the United States, according to the US Census Bureau. Yet in recent elections it’s all been about fitting into two categories: red states that vote Republican and blue states that vote Democratic. But this red/blue breakdown of political opinion doesn’t explain what underpins the voters’ decisions. That's what this effort, funded by the Knight Foundation, a nonprofit philanthropic organization based in Miami, explores in real time during the 2008 presidential campaign. We’ve identified 11 places across the US that represents distinct types of voter communities. They are Monied ’Burbs, Minority Central, Evangelical Epicenters, Tractor Country, Campus and Careers, Immigration Nation, Industrial Metropolis, Boom Towns, Service Worker Centers, Emptying Nests, and Military Bastions. For example, Sioux Center, Iowa, typifies Tractor Country. As the 2008 campaign progresses, the Monitor will write about what issues matter in each of these communities, how the issues affect residents’ votes, and how the candidates tailor their messages to a particular audience." The newspaper itself can be reached from this link: The Christian Science Monitor. (Subject(s): Elections--United States & Politics--United States)


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