relaxation
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abelard visits many other sites while researching data to include in documents being written for the abelard.org site. The lighter fruits of this research are gathered on this page. The sites shown on this page are presented only when
they are fun and/or interesting, and of good quality.
Inclusion amounts to an endorsement by abelard, an endorsement that is supported by the GoldenYak Award . There is further information on this growing award system here. Sites are not included because of payment in cash or in kind (reciprocal links).
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Automated translators on the net |
freetranslation.com
babelfish
(altavista)
Google |
Here at abelard.org, we investigate websites in various languages. When outside translation is needed, one or more net-based automatic translators are sometimes used. Then the results are compared and refined with a dictionary. (We also use 350,000-word French-English and Spanish-English dictionaries.) google and babelfish both give similar levels of
barely intelligible translation quality, freetranslation
generally gives a clear translation, and online-translator appears to
be the most fluent. |
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The Clockarium - the Museum of the Art Deco Ceramic Clock in Brussels. Displaying more than a thousand Art Deco mantel clocks, on three floors of a Belgian Art Deco house. The website includes many images, information and links to mirror pages in French, German, Italian and Polish. [Note that faience means ceramic in French.] |
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DAISIE - Delivering Alien Invasive Species In Europe project So far, DAISIE has illustrated information on the 8996 alien species occurring in Europe, contributed by 1598 experts on biological invasions in Europe. There is information from 63 countries/regions (including islands) and 39 coastal and marine areas.
[Also see this news item: |
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- Technology, Entertainment, Design “TED began in 1984 as a conference devoted to the converging fields of technology, entertainment and design. Over the years, the scope has broadened. But the formula remains the same: Gather the world's leading thinkers and doers; offer them four days of rapid-fire stimulation” |
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This is an impressive site on fashion, with sections on fashion from many historical periods. Detailed period data starts from the 18th century, continuing to the present day (2008). There are also sections on topics such as undergarments, pattern-making and wardrobe planning. |
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a useful, readable picture of prices over a century Part of the 1997 Annual Report of the Dallas Fed [Federal reserve Bank], the annual report taking up the final third of the document. The first two-thirds of this document is an fascinating 1897-2007 survey of price and quality changes, highly illustrated and a cornucopia of facts!
For the cost of cars in labour-hours over the past century. Each year, the Dallas Fed. includes in the first part of their annual report a themed, generally optimistic survey of how that theme area has changed and improved. Here some more examples: 2006: Globalizing the Knowledge Economy. How the spread of information throughout the world is raising living standards. 2004: Lifetime education. How salaries are closely related to education and experience. 2002: The American journey to better working conditions - safety, physical comfort, mental interest.. |
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to
play with as you strive over the hot computer A children’s singalong site, from the US government! The songs are grouped under the topics: |
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THE
WATCHISMO TIMES As well as showing the watches’ exteriors, the blog shows clear photos of many mechanical watch workings. |
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engadget “new news of the goings on in the world of gadgets and consumer electronics, [...] also a resource for readers to find out about the products and services out there that they never knew existed.” |
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Per-Andre
Hoffmann A world-wide travel photographer whose work is well worth a look. Unusually, Per-Andre knows how to use a camera. A sample photo is here at abelard.org. |
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Treehugger.com “web magazine, dedicated to everything that has a modern aesthetic yet is environmentally responsible” |
butterflyutopia Brilliant website for rather unusual, pretty presents. This site sells acrylic-embedded colourful, exotic butterflies. |
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flickr Similar to webshots.com, contributors add photos, collections of photos, on a myriad subjects. (Search function is crude, being limited to working with one word only and in an unintelligent fashion.) |
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community.webshots.com
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Fred’s
Airshow Journal Stunning and pretty photographs taken at US airshows. |
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VISIBLE
EARTH
A rich visual scientific resource. Images are catalogued by subject, satellite/sensor and location. The Browse page has a complete list of categories and sub-categories with links. [For further sites from NASA] SSLink thanks to mII. |
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John
James Audubon from the Museum of civilisation, collection of the Seminary de Quebec. |
Catalogue of all 435 images from Audubon’s great work of illustration: The Birds of America. The linked page gives English, French and Latin names of the birds, leading to Audabon's drawings and descriptions. |
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stonehenge (part of english heritage stonehenge area) A virtual 360° tour of this ancient historic site – spin round on your ‘heel’ and have a close-to panoramic view of the stones.. There is also an interactive map and an interesting timeline of when Stonehenge was built. |
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new, impressive blog [note that the author finds that term unaesthetic] |
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alphabetical listing of gemstones, both familiar and obscure. Descriptions, illustrations and links to further related sites. |
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One of the better encyclopedia-type sites on the net, with information on different types of engines, and much more. This is a useful site for mechanical and gadgetry basics in many areas, but is less interesting elsewhere. For instance, watch the animations of engines cycling: petrol, diesel And there is much basic information and explanation on the site, for instance on petrol. Animations of various other engine types can be found at another site. |
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NASA (homepage) Excellent educational resource.
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Daily
interesting satellite photos/photographs |
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Nationmaster.com
Major statistics site.
[Lead from Limbic] |
A wide range of
conveniently accessible statistics. |
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The site documents a fascinating project to map and photograph the whole Californian coast for erosion monitoring. | ||
[upgraded from three GoldenYaks] |
Limbic provides links to many sites of interest, as well as commentary. The most interesting blog i have yet seen. Good to see someone adventurous and creative working in this recent form. | |
Gorgeous, fine quality, coloured illustrations taken from magazines (the example here is much reduced). American ephemera from the 40s, 50s, 60s a golden age of graphic art illustration. In several sections, including cars, wagons, trucks, decor, old ads. (Lead from Limbic) |
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Andy Capp Hard-working, chivalrous, wealthynot! There are a variety of sites showing Andy Capp strip cartoons. This one provides cartoons for the previous 30 days. There are also sites providing background, both to Andy himself and to his chronicler, such as this one. This site provides a useful specialist search results on many comic strips and cartoons, including our lovable reprobate. |
See also this item in abelards news zone. Mr Capp has cleaned up his act in this more moral age. He no longer appears with a fag permanently stuck to his lower lip. |
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Exhibition showing satellite pictures of the Earth Library of Congress, James Madison Building, Washington,
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This is a seriously pretty range of images from around the world. The link provided is to the lead-in page for the 40 enlargeable thumbnails of the images in the exhibition. | |
This is an interesting developing resource, with much information for those concerned with the current state of sea fishing and its ecological impacts. |
Use the All Fish List to find factsheets. These give information on a sea-critters fishing status, as well as conservation notes and links to related offsite resources. The Regional Cards page provides access to the factsheets, but in a more awkward fashion. Advice on printing a wallet-sized copy of the Regional Card is available here. |
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Electron microscope image gallery | colourised
micrographs of common and not so common insects and creepies. Pretty in
a weird sort of way. [site indicated by Limbic] |
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a
great search facility. Type in the city that interests you. Class drawings
of each building. [site indicated by Limbic] |
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part of the Australian Museum online This site is helpful in responding to queries. |
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photos of collections from about 200 top fashion designers | ||
sound photos of flowers | ||
This is the page on Barnett Newman. |
a fine arts repro poster site with comprehensive stock |
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gallery of Ford model T cars | ||
articles by ... | articles by camilla cavendish | Increasingly, Camilla Cavendish
shows promise. She is remarkably rational, thoughtful and steady in what
I have read so far. There is a considerable sample of her articles at the link given. |
articles by christopher hitchens | Long part of the socialist establishment, Christopher Hitchens has, like a few others, discovered that his integrity will not allow him to go along with the intellectual dishonesty of the cult. | |
articles by charles krauthammer | a clear thinker who is usually worth a read | |
articles by Samuel Brittan | economics articles of some competence | |
articles by Malcolm Gladwell | psycho-social articles of some competence | |
Historical Atlas of the Twentieth Century | interesting,
if limited, collections of events and other items relating to the twentieth
century. Which war killed most people? Which regime? [site indicated by the auroran sunset] |
email email_abelard [at] abelard.org © abelard, 2002, 5 september the address for this document is https://www.abelard.org/news/interesting-sites.htm ... words |