Welcome to this week's selection of Picks, where we've been doing our best to beat the heat. We thought about the pool, considered air-conditioned movie theaters, but in the end decided those activities can't enrich our lives nearly as much as suffering through triple-digit temps while crouched anxiously over our keyboards. Our advice to those who are wilting under the summer sun: get a damp washcloth, drape it over the back of your neck, and please, at all costs, stay at your computer!
Okay, good, you're still with us. Crank up your desk fan. Move your chair so you're sandwiched against your keyboard drawer. Put your hands up over your head. Wail in abject terror. Now you're ready for Inventing the Scream Machine, a detailed look at the history of everybody's favorite summer escape, roller coasters. You'll learn about the 15th Century origins of the attraction: "Russian Mountains" allowed thrillseekers to ride down long wooden ramps on slabs of ice with straw seats. Follow the work of noted coaster designers such as John Miller and Ron Toomer. Learn the physics behind gravity-powered rides. When all is said and done, you may still have to stand in an hour-long line for the Sooper-Looper, but at least you'll be able to entertain your friends with your encyclopedic coaster knowledge.
A sure way to avoid scorching temperatures is to retreat into a shell. May we suggest the protective cocoon of the dMarie Time Capsule? Here you'll be able to relive the headlines, sports scores, music, art, and costs of living in years gone by. Enter a date into the Time Capsule and you'll get back the skinny on that specific period in history. In 1905, bread cost four cents a loaf, a postage stamp cost two cents, New York won the World Series, and apparently the summer was absolutely beautiful. Those were the days...
Speaking of history, the last decade has offered some truly miserable weather. If you concentrate hard enough on rotten winters, maybe the current summer swelter won't seem so bad. For help with this, visit Billion Dollar U.S. Weather Disasters--a project of the National Climatic Data Center. The site lists 33 disasters dating from 1980 through to the present. A number of the listings are accompanied by special reports; order your very own copies, or read them online for free. Remember the Blizzard of '96? How about the Southeast Ice Storm of '94, when parts of northern Mississippi saw as much as 6 inches of the cold, hard stuff? Does the March '93 Storm of the Century ring any bells? Aha, thought so. Grab the kids, fill the cooler, head out to the beach while you can.
If you're ready to get away, it makes sense to get really far away. To explore your options, you'd be well advised to build a solar system. By figuring out the relative distances between the sun and the planets, you can get a much better idea of how cool it'll be on Pluto, and just how many frequent flier miles you'll rack up getting there. Of course, there are other benefits to summering on distant planets. It seems that while you may not look any better in a bathing suit, a visit to any of the moons of Jupiter will result in terrific weight reduction. Don't believe us? See for yourself by calculating Your Weight on Other Worlds.
If you think you've got it bad in the heat, consider the athletes that have to compete day-in and day-out on a 110-degree playing field, decked out in multiple layers of gear and padding? Okay, so most of them make a bundle and can afford to cool off by having someone fan them with palm fronds. That wasn't always the case, as you'll see when you visit ESPN's SportsCentury, a look at the greatest athletes of the last 100 years. After reading the profiles, you'll realize that sports heroes don't automatically start their careers with big signing bonuses and end them with cushy commentator jobs. The site features a new athlete every weekday, and in September the cable network will begin an 18-month series of shows on sports in the 20th Century. Sounds like a hot ticket. Sorry. Sounds like a cool idea. Aaaahhhh...much better.
Speaking of simmering heat, what do you know about the crisis in the Balkans? Perhaps you've been following news in the region from afar, hearing about the latest developments in Kosovo, or about the U.N. activities in Bosnia. Well, if like us you've always wanted a behind-the-scenes overview of the situation, something that puts it all into context, then head on over to the ABC News special report, A Beginner's Guide to the Balkans. Click on an interactive map for a brief lesson on each of the region's countries, follow a timeline that begins in 7000 B.C., peruse a list of Who's Who (everyone from Slobodan Milosevic to Richard Holbrooke), and much more at this fascinating introductory site.
We're going to go out on a limb here and say that the average person actually manages quite well in the summer heat, thank you very much. But then again, who likes to be just average? Well, the folks at Webdweller certainly do. They are, after all, in the business of creating a picture of the average human face. How so? Easy: build a web page asking visitors to submit images of their own faces. As you collect the thousands of submissions, morph them into one face, an average of the entire bunch, then display the morphed image on your web page. Join in, why don't you--sometimes it's just fine to be average.
That's it for the long, hot Picks of Week. Join us next week when we'll tackle the always suprising topic of very lonely supermodels. Until then, keep your feet on the ground, keep your head in the refrigerator, and, as always, keep reaching for your pick(s).
If you know of any timely, informative, or wacky web sites, please drop us a note. Also, feel free to send any general thoughts or comments about Picks.