Pile 'O Previous Picks for 1997:

Dec 19th 1997

Monty Hall Puzzler

The CarTalk puzzler a few weeks back concerned the Let's Make a Deal puzzle. You've got three doors. You pick one. Monty show that one of the remaining doors led to a "zonk." You are given the opportunity to change your selection. Should you?
I must admit, even though I consider myself a "math guy" I got this one totally wrong.
This web site explains the problem, shows some proofs, and lets you play the three-door game. It keeps statistics on the how the choices add up, providing imperical evidence in case you weren't convinced.

Dec 15th 1997

Lorin's Left-handedness Site

Lorin Elias has put together an extensive site dealing with pretty much everything about being left-handed. Well researched and well produced, this site should prove an excellent reference for Lefties.

Dec 4th 1997

Laura's NYC Tales

Describes as "Wild, funny and completely true stories inspired by the life of a quirky, single NYC gal. Also includes an informative Insider's Guide to NYC & a 1986 letter from Natalie Merchant."
Laura and her friends have put together a delightful web site that's part diary, part documentary and part rant. Visually cohesive, both the writing and the artwork have a great style.
You'll spend hours at this site!

Nov 26th 1997

Ann-S-Thesia's Aesthetic Pharmacy

Ann Stretton has created a clean and lovely site which features her artwork and opinions.
She has a section full of original banners, icons, and animations for use on your web pages.
Her art includes abstract metallic mix media pieces and some very nice jewelry. The "Pharmacy Phairy" offers tongue-in-cheek advice on web design and digital art techniques.

Nov 25th 1997

U.S. Submarines, Inc.

Everything you need to live underwater.
Really.
This site contains lots of information on submarines, submersibles and underwater habitats. Pretty pictures and nice visual design support the good information.
There are two (!) splash pages and some unusual site navigation techniques, but this site is still interesting and entertaining.

Nov 23rd 1997

The Onion

OK. It's been a long time since the last "Pick of the Litter."
For our grand reopening, we feature one of the finest sites on the web. The Onion is produced in Madison Wisconsin by some very troubled people. The headlines tell it all:
Bill Gates to Get Half
Coca-Cola Introduces New 30-Liter Size
It's Not A Crack House, It's A Crack Home
Alzheimer's Sufferers Demand Cure For Pancakes

The Onion is recommended for readers over 18.

May 4th, 1997:

Bell Labs Text-to-Speech Synthesis

You can test out the cool text-to-speech technology from Lucent Technologies via a web page. The quality of the male voice is outstanding. Of course they have fun stuff too: Madrin Chinese, Songs, and a Pig-Latin "translator."

April 6th, 1997:

The Math Forum

"Where there is matter, there is geometry" - Johannes Keppler
The Math Forum is a project funded by the National Science Foundation which features this web site, mailing lists and newsgroups all devoted to the exploration and use of mathematics. The site is well organized with fun features like "Ask Dr. Math." I was working on project which involved some fun geometry problems. Not only did The Math Forum refresh my memory, but it showed me solutions I didn't know about.
Teachers, students, parents, or people who just need some math-oriented answers will find The Math Forum one of the best resources on the web.

March 30th, 1997:

Eggman

A special Easter pick. All kinds of egg and egg-company related information.

March 9th, 1997:

T.V. Theme Song Central

"Tim" has collected and archived a comprehensive collection of TV theme songs in .WAV format.

March 2nd, 1997:

NetScrape

"YOUR GUIDE TO WASTING TIME ON THE NET"
A dead-on spoof of Netscape's ubiquitous home page.
I noticed a number of similar spoofs have disappeared over the last few weeks, so check out these sites before the lawyers do.

February 16th, 1997:

The Short History of the Lobotomy

Just what it says - in gory detail. This most bizarre history of one of medicine's darker periods makes for facinating, if somewhat repulsive reading.
This site is NOT FOR THE SQUEAMISH!

February 9th, 1997:

Writer's Block

NIVA's quarterly on-line magazine, Writer's Block, provides the professional writing community, including technical, scientific, and business writers, with a fascinating glimpse of the challenges in documentation and communications today. It contains articles, columns, interviews, book reviews, and much more.

January 19, 1997:

Yvonne Craig

This is one of those "Content" picks - not particularly stunning interface or layout, just fun facts.
Yvonne Craig is the woman who played Batgirl on the original Batman T.V. series. She will also be remembered forever as the Orion Slave Girl in the original Star Trek series. This web site chronicles her extensive T.V. career and tries to sell you autographed cards, posters and pictures. Lots of bat-links and bat-pics.
Holy Hyper-web Batman - it has a fine list of Batman links, RealAudio and VR!

January 5, 1997:

Web Soup

Oh, this thing is cool.
Carl Roth has written a program that scans a bunch of the "cool site" sites. This information is then cataloged and presented for your surfing pleasure in plain text. If you like cruising around the web then you MUST bookmark this site.

Site design and implementation by Lon Koenig©1997
Last Updated: Sunday, November 23rd 1997