http://www.Bartleby.com/: Language usage books, encyclopedias and literary works such as "Columbia Encyclopedia" of quotations, "Gray's Anatomy", "King James Bible", works of William Shakespeare, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Plato, Ulysses S. grant, etc.
Tech dictionary and links
to other dictionaries and encyclopedias
"The only online dictionary
and search engine you need for computer and Internet technology
"the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit."
Access to a number of dictionary, almanac, encyclopedia resources
Microsoft's online access to a dictionary, encyclopedia, etc.
Have to sign up for more comprehensive information
http://www.bartleby.com/65/ Columbia Encyclopedia "Containing nearly 51,000 entries (marshalling six and one-half million words on a vast range of topics), and with more than 80,000 hypertext cross-references, the current Sixth Edition is among the most complete and up-to-date encyclopedias ever produced"
Access to wide range of library resources. Includes access
to online libraries, references, encyclopedias, maps, almanacs,
http://www.dictionaries.travlang.com/ Language translation dictionaries as well as language instruction. Watch out for all the ad banners--very intrusive.
"Biographies, links to dozens of Web pages. Search for a
person or field of study, or test your memory with lists of
presidents, popes, kings and queens at this UC San Diego Web
http://www.google.com/language_tools?hl=en Google provides a translation tool: type in a word phrase or page or enter a URL and Google will translate into one of fourteen languages at my last count.
http://www.google.com/ My favorite search engine. Check more for many possibilities such as http://scholar.google.com/ which searches only scholarly (peer reviewed) publications
(for kids) The first performs a search like Google (but
less sites and does not seem as accurate. The kids site
(which I like tries to answer questions)
http://www.altavista.com/ An oldie but goodie "During the spring of 1995, scientists at Digital Equipment Corporation's Research lab in Palo Alto, CA, devised a way to store every word of every HTML page on the Internet in a fast, searchable index. This led to AltaVista's development of the first searchable, full-text database on the World Wide Web." Also has a translation at http://babelfish.altavista.com/
General Info time, measurement,
exchange rates, zip codes, phone numbers
Zip codes available for all parts of the country. Type in a city and
the zip codes.
http://www.digitaldutch.com/unitconverter/ "..converts area, density, energy, force, length, mass, power, pressure, speed, temperature volume and bits and bytes." Also "..standard atmosphere calculator computes atmospheric properties like density, temperature, pressure and speed of sound up to 86 kilometers altitude."
http://www.oanda.com/convert/classic: $ converter with current exchange rates for 164 currencies
Google Satellite view of many locations
http://www.terraserver.microsoft.com/ Satellite Maps from Microsoft. Views of many locations
http://www.mapquest.com Reportedly the "best" and "easiest" to use map source. You can also get driving directions to a location
Yahoo maps and directions--pretty good for locations and directions as
well. I currently use this.
http://maps.google.com/ Google's maps and directions----pretty good as well, I also use this
www.mapblast.com/ Microsoft's maps
http://plasma.nationalgeographic.com/mapmachine/ Generate maps of world climates, political and cultural, etc.
http://factfinder.census.gov Source for population, housing, economic and geographic data.
online search tool for federal government Web sites. It promises
to search every word of every U.S. government document online --
30 million pages -- in a quarter of a second or less."
Information and links on California government, business, recreation,
http://www.truthorfiction.com/ "Inspirational stories, virus warnings, humorous tales, pleas for help, urban legends, prayer requests and calls to action to see if they are TRUTH! or FICTION! "
http://www.cjrdaily.org/ "CJR's mission is to promote better journalism. We do that by helping working journalists to figure out and execute their mission in a difficult and shifting environment. And as a media monitor, CJR is also a resource for all Americans who want the best possible version of their free press."
http://www.consumerreports.org/ "Consumer Reports® and ConsumerReports.org® are published by Consumers Union, an expert, independent nonprofit organization whose mission is to work for a fair, just, and safe marketplace for all consumers and to empower consumers to protect themselves." My main source of information about items I might want to purchase. Requires monthly fee but CSUB people can access published material at this library address Consumer Reports as long as you have your RunnerID. Click Academic Search Elite is suggested as the easiest search source.
http://www.kbb.com/ Kelly Blue Book give car prices (dealer, private seller) for specific cars, accessories and locations. Great site for determining what is a fair price.
http://www.cartalk.com/menus/info.html "Actual car information from Click & Clack the "Car Talk" guys on NPR. Also check their home page of more info http://www.cartalk.com/
"Everybody wants a new car. But from a purely financial point of view, there is no question that buying a used car is always cheaper, even in the long run. To learn more, order Tom and Ray's pamphlet How to Buy a Used Car: Things That Detroit and Tokyo Don't Want You to Know. To order, send (check or money order) to Ruin, P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475. You can also order online
News (My current Favorites)
http://www.npr.org/ National Public Radio a good source for US and world news
http://www.latimes.com/ Los Angelas Times, a good source for LA, California, US and world news
http://www.nytimes.com/ New York Times, a good source for New York, US and world news
http://www.sfgate.com/ San Francisco Chronicle, a good source for LA, California, US and world news
one of the most helpful sites we've come across for reference
and arcane trivia alike. Fact Monster would deserve praise just
its math section -- a quick reminder of basic math concepts, presented
clearly and offered without embarrassment. Fact Monster gets much of
reference data from the unimpeachable Information Please almanac."
How Things Work
The beginning source for many of these was the San Francisco Chronicle "Web making space -hogging reference tomes obsolete" 8/5/01 and "ONLINE GUIDE Quick Facts 2" 8/12/01 by John Batteiger, Chronicle Staff Writer