Best Beach & Sport Sunscreens | EWG's 2011 Sunscreen Report | EWG's Skin Deep

Best Beach & Sport Sunscreens | EWG's 2011 Sunscreen Report | EWG's Skin Deep

Ian's Shoelace Site

You probably haven't given too much thought to your shoelaces since you were about five. You probably didn't think there was much to give any thought to. I certainly didn't.

Well, check out Ian's Shoelace Site, a quirky treasure trove of information related to the humble shoelace. Looking for some stylish alternatives to the basic pattern you use on every pair of shoes you own? Wonder what method is best for hiking or biking or hacky sacking? Want to remedy a sore spot? Eager for a shortcut to speed up the lengthy process of tying a standard shoelace knot? Need a solution if you can use only one hand? The answers are all here.

Detailed instructions and illustrations are accompanied by hundreds of user photographs. You may be surprised by how much time you end up perusing this site.

Fast Food: Ads vs. Reality

These days, I wouldn't touch this stuff even if the real thing looked like the ads. But this series of side-by-side comparisons is amusing whatever your tastes may be.

Foodscapes

I just learned (from a fellow member of the Palo Alto Camera Club) about a British photographer, Carl Warner, who, among other things, produces spectacular "landscape" images made entirely from food. For example, the water in the image above is made from salmon fillets, the rocks are bread and potatoes, and the little boat is a pea pod.

To see more foodscapes, go to his website and click on the orange box for "Fotographics."

Sarah Palin Fictional Quote Generator

We can't afford to lose a multi-faceted solution where it is the taxpayers.

- Sarah Palin Fictional Quote Generator v1.0

NetFlix Origami

If you're ever stumped about what to do with the leftover red-and-white tear-off sheets from your NetFlix DVD envelopes (or if you're on the lookout for some really cheap gifts), check out NetFlix Origami.

The site provides detailed instructions for how to make about a dozen different kinds of animals, planes and other items.

If you're not already sold on NetFlix, this seems like a pretty compelling reason to sign up.

California Coastal Records Project

I just discovered a very cool site: the California Coastal Records Project.

Pilot Gabrielle Adelman and her husband, photographer Kenneth Adelman, have photographed the entire California coastline, from Oregon to Mexico (excluding Vandenberg Air Force Base). They have processed and indexed over 30,000 individual photos, which you can search by location or simply "cruise" up and down the coast.

I very quickly located the beach and tidepools where we took the kids during our recent visit to Costa Noa. It's in the center of the picture, just to the south/right of where the trail leads down from the highway.

And here's the site of Julia's birthday party and the sandstone hill the kids had so much fun exploring.

Judging a book by its cover

I love bookstores. I can hang out in a bookstore for hours, browsing the shelves category after category. But I also appreciate the convenience, selection and price (as well as "value-added features" such as reviews, rankings, recommendations, etc.) offered by online sites such as Amazon.com.

I recently stumbled across Zoomii, an impressive site that brings much of the visual experience of a brick and mortar bookstore online.

The site is integrated with Amazon, for both browsing and purchasing. But I've come across a number of great books using the Zoomii interface that I had never seen (and don't know that I would ever have discovered) using Amazon directly.

Here's a good two-minute tour of the site:

Belief-O-Matic

Unfortunate name aside, the Belief-O-Matic (http://www.beliefnet.com/story/76/story_7665_1.html) is actually pretty cool. It's a personality quiz about your religious and spiritual beliefs.

You answer 20 thought-provoking questions about your concept of God, the origins of the universe, the afterlife, morality, human nature and a range of other issues. Belief-O-Matic will then give you a rank-order scoring of how 27 different and diverse faiths match your beliefs.

You should note that the site expressly disclaims legal liability for the ultimate fate of your soul.

Here's a sample question:

Dancing

You may be one of the almost 5 million YouTube viewers who have already seen "Dancing" since it was posted several weeks ago, but if not, you should check it out. It's a 4½-minute video of a guy doing a simple, silly dance in dozens of places around the world. That's it.

But while his little jig is whimsical, his inspired video is surprisingly captivating and uplifting.

It's a testament to both individual creativity and shared spirit (not to mention the power of modern communications media) that an "ordinary" guy can so easily touch the hearts and brighten the day of millions of people around the world.



[NOTE: For a higher quality version of the video (which I recommend), follow this link to YouTube and select the "watch in high quality" option under the views counter.]

Local Harvest

If you’re looking for locally-grown organic food, check out www.localharvest.org. You can enter your zip code, and the site will give you a listing of farmers’ markets, family farms and other sources of sustainably grown food in your area.

It was through this site that I discovered Eating with the Seasons, the CSA program we’re trying.

The Local Harvest site was mentioned by Michael Pollan, in In Defense of Food, a book I highly recommend.

Intrade Prediction Markets

A site I’ve found myself checking almost every day the last few months is Intrade, an exchange where investors can trade on predictions about real world events just like stocks. It’s been particularly fascinating to watch the various predictions about the presidential primary contests and the upcoming general election. “Smart money” or not, Intrade investors clearly seem to think (more than 2:1) that Obama will win the White House this fall.