SETI@Home - SETI is an acronym for the Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence. Searching for E.T. is a tedious task. Worse than looking for the proverbial needle in the proverbial haystack.
The SETI@Home data comes from the Arecibo Radio Observatory in Puerto Rico. You've probably seen it on the Discovery Channel, the Learning Channel, or PBS. It's that huge dish built into the ground surrounded by mountains.
Someone at SETI figured out that by splitting up data into small packets and using millions of computers to process the data through the existing internet, they could get the data processed for FREE by people like me. The computers processing the SETI@Home data are collectively the most powerful supercomputer in existence. One of these days, a home or office computer like mine or yours is going to discover irrefutable evidence of intelligent life elsewhere in the universe.
Or not. I figure it's 50/50 - either we will, or we won't.
If you want to participate in this worthy quest (and you KNOW you do), follow the link above and download the application software. You don't have to stay online to crunch the data. The application will download a packet to work on, and when it's finished a few hours later, it will upload the results to SETI and download another packet. Et cetera, et cetera, ad infinitum. Plus, it operates as a VERY KEWL screen saver when you're running it.
Astronomy Picture of the Day - You've probably heard of NASA. If you haven't, then you are too stupid to own a computer, so unplug it, box it up, take it back to where you bought it, and see if they'll give you your money back. You could go to www.nasa.gov and literally spend the rest of your life browsing around in their vast array of web sites. They have MILLIONS of pictures in their image archives. Or you can do what I do, and bookmark NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day site. The daily image is about four times the size of the pics shown here, and if you like, you can click on it for a LARGE high resolution image. Each image comes with a paragraph explaining what you're looking at (assuming, of course, that the NASA astronomers know what you're looking at). Guaranteed to make you feel even more insignificant than you already feel.stuff
The Door - The world's pretty much only religious satire magazine. My sister Liz told me about this site. People who don't know her well usually mistake her for a fairly normal, well-adjusted person. Those who are better acquainted with her, however, are not deceived by this thin facade and understand that under her goodness-and-light exterior she harbors a truly twisted sense of humor. If you visit this site and are offended by it, I'll gladly provide you with her email address so you can flame her for recommending it to me.
PythOnLine - And now for something completely different. If you're a Monty Python fan, you have to see this.
anncoulter.org - Ann Coulter... beauty AND brains... what a combination!
WSJ Best of the Web Today - James Taranto pulls tasty tidbits from various places on the web on a daily basis and recaps them here in digest form. You must put this on your daily browsing schedule.
Nealz Nuze - The daily program notes for the Boortz radio program.
rants and blogs
Kim du Toit - Writer, raconteur, grouch. Interesting guy. Worth reading.
HIT & RUN - Continuous news, views, and abuse by the staff of Reason.
Right Wing News - Fighting for truth, justice and the American Way.
Right-Thinking from the Left Coast - A Conservative comments onliberalism, leftists, and life in the San Francisco Bay Area.
alternate internet news
I don't know about you, but I'm fed up with the mainstream news media. I don't want to discuss why here, but I will offer a few links that you can check on a daily basis to keep up on what's really going on out there. In addition to the main content of these sites, you'll also find links to other interesting things that will crank your awareness up a couple of notches.
CAVEAT - If ignorance is bliss, then awareness is paranoia.
The Federalist - Veritas Vos Liberabit - Thrice-weekly non-partisan news and commentary on current events in light of the Constitution of the United States. Equally critical of those on both sides of the aisle.
In their own words:
The Federalist's highly condensed format summarizes a wide spectrum of reliable information from reputable research, advocacy and media organizations. The Federalist's content is carefully selected to provide...a brief, informative and entertaining survey and analysis of the week's most significant news, policy and opinion.
The Federalist is the most concise, well-written, informative, and entertaining publication of which I am aware.
The Drudge Report
NewsMax
World Net Daily
