| March 24, 2002 |
Tate Online: Turner Collection
The  Turner Bequest consists of nearly 300 oil paintings and around 30,000 sketches and watercolors that were left to the British people by English painter J.M.W. Turner (1775-1851). Now, the Tate Collection has made this immense and influential body of work available online. Turner is known for his impressionistic paintings of light, fire, sailing ships, seascapes, and naval battles, as well as sunrises, sunsets, and images from travels in Europe. Search the collection by subject, place name, date, or other parameters; browse the preselected collection highlights; or click through seven decades of the artist's sketchbooks for a page-by-page look. (in Arts & Humanities > Artists) |
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| March 23, 2002 |
Sims Survivor
Two  great pop culture tastes that taste great together -- the TV show Survivor and the computer game Sims. The premise: eight virtual people trapped in a virtual house with limited resources. Instead of winning contests and voting people off, the characters are subjected to the whims of the Sims game -- but you'll still find the requisite scheming and sexual intrigue. Things really heat up in episode four, a robbery spoils the group's fun in a subsequent chapter, and catfights often liven up the action. Who will be the ultimate Sims Survivor? (in Television) |
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| March 22, 2002 |
American Folklore
Oh,  the Internet, where word of mouth is as good as gold and hoaxes spread like wildfire. What better medium to preserve an oral tradition like folklore? This simple, no-frills site catalogs tales from all 50 states. Learn how the Devil tricked God into giving him Florida's east coast or read about the birth of that other infamous troublemaker, the Jersey Devil. If you prefer, thumb through by subject to discover why dogs chase cats (a "tail" of marital discord from Virginia). Or read an Eskimo folktale about the first tears shed by a human. Any way you look at it, you're bound to enjoy these tales, both tall and short. (in Cultures and Groups) |
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| March 21, 2002 |
The Dictatorship.com
Who  was the nastiest, most despised, and fearsome dictator of the 20th century? Names like Castro, Duvalier, Hitler, Mao, and Marcos spring to mind. And hey, don't forget Pol Pot, Mussolini, and Kim Il Sung -- they were pretty bad hombres, too. This tongue-in-cheek site dissects infamous deeds and atrocities and pits autocrats against each other for the ignominious title of Dictator of Dictators. We won't give away the outcome, but there are no Cinderella stories in the final round. While you're poking around, stop by the "Who's Hot and Who's Not section" -- Slobodan Milosevic continues to slide, while Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe remains red hot. (in History) |
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| March 20, 2002 |
Internet Public Library
Created  at the University of Michigan in 1995, the Internet Public Library recently celebrated its seventh anniversary on the Web. This vast virtual library offers a variety of exhibits and educational materials, answers to reference questions, a browsable catalog of nearly 20,000 electronic texts, and an annotated guide to web sites. Some exhibits, such as the Isle Royale Travelog, a sound project called Live @ IO, and the ever-popular Lighthouses: A Photographic Journey, focus on regional treasures from the Great Lakes. The appealing mix of displays also covers dinosaurs, trains, a gallery of Pueblo pottery, anarchist images, and music history. (in Reference) |
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| March 19, 2002 |
American Museum of Natural History Congo Expedition
In  May of 1909, scientists Herbert Lang and James Chapin set sail for the Belgian Congo. When they returned to the states 5 1/2 years later, they had collected an enormous number of zoological and anthropological specimens. For a brief overview of the expedition, watch the Flash introduction, then use the interactive itinerary to follow their voyage from New York to Western Africa, and up the Congo River to the Ituri Forest region. And don't miss the Galleries section, where you'll find the incredibly interesting Map Gallery that charts the development of European knowledge of African geography from 1562 through 1940. With more than 2,000 photographs and dozens of field notebooks, this site begs to be explored. (in Regional > United States) |
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| March 18, 2002 |
JCPenney Catalog Fall/Winter 1980
Remember  1980? Odd color palettes and synthetic fabrics were all the rage, and these questionable fashions could be found shimmering on the pages of the JCPenney catalog. This site provides scans of numerous pages from the two-decade-old Penney's Fall/Winter collection. Check out a real hoot of an owl-themed bathroom, a disturbing bearded skier, comfortable bowling shoes ("always a point-maker"), and, of course, Underoos. If these teasers whet your appetite, browse the entire hideous collection of clothes that beg the question, "What were we thinking?" (in Fashion and Beauty) |
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