| Guggenheim.com This "virtual gateway to global culture" combines "unmatched curatorial expertise and collective talent" to create an exhilarating piece of eye candy. The breadth and depth of the site is already incredible, and it promises to be an ever-expanding online repository of cultural content. The broadband section blows away almost everything we've seen on the Web, and the narrowband site is amazing as well. The currently featured exhibits include "The Art of the Motorcycle" and "French Art, Russian Collectors," both incredibly rich in content and style. Moving through this site provides an experience like none other on the Web. |
| Powers of 10 October 10, 2001, the second international Powers of Ten Day, has come and gone, but don't let that stop you from exploring the universe of decimals. Based on a nine-minute 1977 film by Charles and Ray Eames, noted designers and visual thinkers, the Powers of Ten CD-ROM and companion web site explore and illustrate the concept of scale in space and time. The web pages present a dense and diverting grid of ideas, woven from images, facts, and links to people, patterns, and relevant tools. We clicked on the close-up of a strand of DNA, and found ourselves at miniscule 10 nanometer scale (0.00000001 meters), another click and we were 100,000 light years out, looking back at the Milky Way's starry spiral of stars. That's powerful stuff! |
| Frontline: Looking for Answers Another outstanding companion piece to a PBS's Frontline program, this site, co-produced by the New York Times, "investigates the roots of the Islamic terrorist network, and the anti-American hatred that feeds it, and traces how the trajectories of bin Laden and al-Zawahiri met in the mountains of Afghanistan." It expands on the original reporting with extended interviews from U.S. intelligence experts, as well as ambassadors and dissidents from Saudi Arabia and Egypt, to offer explanations of the hatred, a look at failed intelligence, and ideas on how to avoid future attacks. |
| Tired of carving the same grinning, gap-toothed jack-o'-lantern year after year? Need some inspiration before tackling the ol' pumpkin this Halloween? Then head over to Giant Pumpkin Carvings where you can gape at works of art sculpted from giant pumpkins (and squash too!). The front page features a 912-pound pumpkin carved into a memorial to New York City firefighters. Other masterpieces featured on the site range from the fairly traditional to the intricately detailed to the downright creepy. After ogling some of these humongous sculptures, you may find carving your standard-issue pumpkin small potatoes. |
| The Peacemakers Speak "In this era of globalization, there is nothing that happens in one country that does not affect the rest of the world," says Archbishop Carlos Belo of East Timor. This site reflects that statement with the comments and reactions of 15 Nobel Peace Prize Laureates to the September 11th attacks on the U.S. From Nelson Mandela to the Dalai Lama to Yasser Arafat, these are individuals who have experienced violence and suffering in their homelands, and their experiences give them a unique perspective on the recent American tragedies. Some of the Laureates give advice, while others assert solidarity with the U.S. All condemn the attacks, but they each have their own eloquent and thoughtful views on what the future holds. |
| The Legacy Project The Legacy Project revisits the tragedies of the 20th century in the hopes that positive, creative, and cathartic dialogue can flourish today through an examination of our past. To that end, the organization provides a global compendium of conflicts and holocausts, complete with historical overview and related visual art presentations of each culture. One exhibition, The Art of Afterwards, discusses the art that was inspired by years of grappling with the consequences of catastrophe The numerous works housed in the Filmography and Library sections convey a simple, yet pertinent message for people today: Humanity, in all its diversity, is inherently the same in its self expression. We may choose different colors to paint our pictures, but we all grieve, remember, hope, and dream for the same things. |
| Dismuke's Virtual Talking Machine Listen to one man's fabulous collection of 78-rpm phonograph records in streaming Real Audio format. Dismuke's offering ranges from upbeat "tiddlywink" music of the late 19th and early 20th century; acoustical recordings of ragtime, patriotic World War I tunes, early jazz, and light classical; and popular electrically recorded dance music of the roaring '20s and the Depression era. Tune in to Dismuke's Hit of the Week, a web homage to the 15-cent cardboard "singles" sold at newsstands during the dark days of the Great Depression. We tapped our toes to the jaunty 1926 "Cheer Up," smiled at the nostalgic "If I Had A Talking Picture of You," and savored a classic rendition of "Let's Have Another Cup 'O Coffee." |
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