Theme Night progressive dinner, 2003 Family Camping Weekend

• Computer Pitstop  
  Great diagnostics for your computer
• Test the Speed of Your  Internet Connection  
  Its always good to know how fast you're going, right?
• CNet: 
  Your Web Empress' favorite tech site and pure Geek Heaven.  Impartial reviews, technical assistance for software or hardware problems, and anything else that has to do with electronics. Don't buy anything with a microchip in it without checking here first.
• Google Toolbar 
  I love Google and this toolbar is just awesome. I especially like that it blocks pop up ads and keeps a running tally of how many it has spared me from.  
• Internet Traffic Report 
  Live performance stats of internet routers worldwide. When the internet seems to be slower than usual, you can go here to see why. A bit geeky but very cool. 
• TechNet: 
  Microsoft's technical site. Tech support for software issues, download patches, etc
• Extension Reference Table:
  A complete list of file extensions. Explains why you can't open that file someone emailed you when it turns out to be written in some obscure software you don't happen to have installed on your computer. By the way, this same website has a killer list of technical references 
• Clear Your Clipboard: 
  If you are doing lots of copying and pasting while working in Windows your computer will start to slow down from all that stuff sitting on your clipboard.  Here are easy instructions on how to clear it.

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overworked mouse

• Email Hoax List 
  Check here before you forward emails about new computer viruses, dying or missing children,  or free tickets to DisneyWorld.  

Just so you know, ANY email that claims something will happen if you forward it to a certain number of people is a hoax. To fact is that email tracking technology simply does not exist. Nothing is going to happen no matter how many people you send the email to. more about this

• Hoax Busters
  Same information as the site above but lists hoaxes by category

• Urban Legends
  Urban Legends Urban Legends (Snopes) This is one of the best places on the web to find out if something is fact or fiction. Not to spoil the surprise, but it's usually fiction--except they really did find a pair of severed hands bound in handcuffs on top of a building near the WTC on 9-11. Creepy...

• Nostradamus Predictions and Sept 11: 
  Despite all the emails to the contrary, Nostradamus did not predict the destruction of the World Trade Center.  In fact, scholars believe he mentioned a place that might be America only one time in his entire writings. 

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• Email Stripper: 
  One of my favorite freebies, this is a tiny little program that removes the formatting symbols (all those >>> thingies) and funky spacing out of emails that have been forwarded so many times that they're impossible to read. A few clicks of the mouse gives you a clean version to paste into a new message. Nifty! 
• Bug Me Not:
  Its really, really annoying when websites require you to create a user account (to register) with the site before seeing a news story. Why spend five minutes going through all that hassle when you can go to this website and get a generic log-on ID. I couldn't do without this one. 
• Get Human:
  A website that tells you how to defeat those automated voice systems that answer the phones at most companies. BellSouth is absolutely the worse company for trying to avoid talking to its customers, but thanks to this website I now know how to get around the system and actually speak to an employee.  (Of course, they don't still give a rat's ass about helping me but at least I made them talk to me).
• Exact time of day
  Go here if, for any reason, you need to know the precise time. Official government site, your tax dollars at work. 

• The Smoking Gun 
  A site that specializes in posting strange stuff, particularly info that famous people would rather you not see such as their arrest photos, divorce papers, autopsy reports, wills, etc. I look anyway.

• The Straight Dope
  I love this site if for no other reason than it gives me endless trivia to bore other people with. 

• SmartMoney:
  Anything you could possibly want to know about investing and managing your money. Great tutorial on the stock market. I'm hoping this site saves me from living in a cardboard box when I retire.

• Historical Weather Database:
  A database that allows you to look up weather conditions for a specific city on a specific date in the past. Oh yeah, they have today's weather too but what fun is that? 

• Published Article Lookup: 
  A database of thousands of published articles searchable by topic.
  

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• Neal Boortz: 
  The undisputed king of talk radio in Atlanta. Whatever he says is what we argue about the rest of the day down here.
• Rush Limbaugh:  
  I think too much of his content is available only to subscribers but I'll post him here anyway.
• The Drudge Report: 
  The ultimate site for news, rumors, and political gossip
• Whitewater Chronology: 
  It's good to have the facts, ma'am. 
• How Tax Laws Work 
  A simple explanation that anyone can understand
• Wall Street Journal's Best of the Web.
  You can also subscribe to their email newsletter (free) which should be a part of your daily reading regime.
• Ranking of all US Presidents
  by 78 scholars in history, law, and political science. I'm happy to report that my personal all-time favorite historical figure ranks 5th on the list. Not bad.

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• Name Database: 
  A big database that tells you how common your first and/or last name is.  Kinda interesting how far down Dockins is on the list--way, way, way down there.
• Dialectizer: 
  A site to translate any website into your choice of dialects.  
• GhostSites: 
  A site that captures the final websites of dying corporations. Sorta like a funeral home for companies. Eerie. 
• Ghost Town: 
  A woman rode her motorcycle through Chernobyl, Ukraine and posted the photos she made of a city abandoned in an instant in 1986 following the worst nuclear accident in history. 
• OSHA Violations Database:
  Look up any company to see it's history of OSHA violations. I guess this one might qualify as "useful" if your own employer shows up sporting a long list of safety violations. 
• Gallery of Regrettable Food:  
  No useful purpose whatsoever with this site; just a museum of food ads and recipes from the 1950's and earlier.  Have some Pepto Bismol handy. 
• Los Angeles airport:
  A world class way to kill some time by watching airplanes circle LAX.  Set the perimeters to "80 miles" range and choose a peak travel time (late afternoon is a good choice) to see the unbelievable number of planes in the air around LA. If nothing else, this site will greatly enhance your respect for air traffic controllers. 
• International Butler's Guild: 
  As soon as I get filthy rich, I'm gonna need this site.  Until then, it's a great place to get the definitive answer on how to fold a dinner napkin into a rose or tie a bowtie.  You never know when questions like these will crop up.
• Chinese Astrology: 
  This site is a hoot and the awful English translations make it ever better (but then, my Cantonese is nil so I'm not complaining). I am a black chicken born in the year of the green sheep, need to sleep in a metal bed facing West, wear lots of gold, and watch out for my large colon. Useful info.
• Get a Chinese Name: 
  While you're at it, get your name in Chinese characters. You just never know when you might need to fill out important papers in Peking.
• Teresa Strasser: 
  This girl has a great writing style and her site is a combination of blog and dry humor. 

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