This week we've been reading Einstein Revealed, the accompanying site to the PBS NOVA television show of the same name. As the title suggests, Einstein (otherwise known as Smarty Pants) is revealed here through feature articles, fun and educational games, a comprehensive timeline and related links. What emerges at this fascinating site is that Uncle Albert was clearly light years ahead of himself, in a universe of his own. (Obligatory pun intended.) So, all things being relative, now that we're on the same wavelength, we'd like to offer this: welcome to Picks.
For more on the subject of natural law, try Earthweek: A Diary of the Planet, which offers, quite literally, news of the world. "Affected by all of the changes humans have made to this planet, the Earth continues to make its own news, with hurricanes, floods, droughts, forest fires, volcanoes and much more. Earthweek chronicles these events with an unprecedented weekly summary of natural history." Using maps, text and graphics, read about everything from killer caterpillars in Brazil to extreme temperatures in Woomera, Australia, and the South Pole, with a smattering of tropical storms thrown in for good measure. Earth shaking news, indeed.
Doubtless, the temperature in Woomera, Australia, is on the warm side of things. But if you really want HOT, the kind of hot spelled with a capital H, capital O and capital T, you'll have to look elsewhere. Enter the Romance Writer. Be sure to fire up your JavaScript-capable browsers to view this site, which randomly generates romance stories, the sultry likes of which we've (thankfully!) never seen before. Each time you reload the page, the Romance Writer automatically cooks up a sizzling new story. Sample titles: A Kiss Under The Silver Moon, Fear Under The Arches, The Forbidden World, The Darkest City Of The Heart... Need we go on? Ah, the bliss that is Computer Generated Writing.
From automatically generated text to television sitcoms. Perhaps not a giant leap, but a leap nontheless. Which is our way of saying: the next time you're planning a vacation to Los Angeles, stop in at Audiences Unlimited, Inc. for free tickets to a number of those network TV shows that are taped before live audiences. It's simple, really. Pick your show, tell 'em how many tickets you want and where to send them, and Audiences Unlimited will do the rest. The only real challenge here is deciding which'll be more fun: an evening with Murphy Brown or Roseanne. You decide. It's your trip.
Stamp on Black History, created by a handful of high school students from the Washington, D.C. area, is a celebration of some of the black American men and women who have been honored on United States postage stamps. In the words of the site's creators, "Black Americans have made important inventions and discoveries, created great works of art, and excelled in science, music, medicine and sports. They have played important roles in America's history." This site, one of the many excellent Thinkquest '96 finalists, introduces us to the lives of many of these historic figures, including Louis Armstrong, Frederick Douglass, Jelly Roll Morton, Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, Bessie Coleman, W.E.B. DuBois and many others.
In other news, the folks at the Sacramento Bee have collected a bunch of all the "best" political jokes that the late night talkshows have had to offer this election season. Visit Kampaign '96 to catch up on the (sometimes too easy) humor we've been privy to from the likes of Jay Leno, David Letterman, Dennis Miller, Conan O'Brien and Bill Maher. The jokes represented here cover much of this year, "from the hot days of midsummer to the chilly rains of November," and fall into categories such as The Race Warms Up, Sex Scandal No. 1, Sex Scandal No. 2, Debate Preparations and The Final Days, amongst others.
So, is that an enormous collection of links to Bananas on the Net on your website, or are you just happy to be here?
Don't like bananas? You'd rather participate in a near-death experience research project? Fine. Go ahead. It's your life. Remember, it's almost a grave matter. You dig?
We imagine that in some circles "near-death experiences" will be the topic-du-jour, so to spook, as various parts of the world celebrate Halloween this week. If you still haven't gathered together your favorite collection of Fright Night links, head on over to Yaboo!, where they've done the job for you. Find sites on everything from ghost stories to Halloween safety, from the origins of the holiday to growing giant pumpkins, and everything ghoulish and gruesome in-between. Yaboo! Hmm. The name has a nice ring to it. Do you Yaboo!? Okay then: put on your bravest face. Take your pick(s).