KSFO's Web Wanderer

The Links for May 22, 2004

Mendoman says: "Ever find a band you love and either want to know if there are any side projects or bands that you've never heard of that have a similar sound? Check this site out. I'm a bit of "rainman" when it comes to music, but this site opened my eyes to even more good music. Just enter a band or performers name in the box and submit."

I checked this out - and it's KILLER. A display opens up that looks like a bunch of floating orbs, connected by curved lines. In the center is the artist you asked for, and following the line out from him are related projects, band menbers, etc. It goes several "layers of separation". Click on any other orb, and it recenters and establishes additional links from that point. You flow from artist to artist.

As you're navigating, there is a box displaying released CDs for the artist. In browsing, I quidkly found an album by a related artist that I didn't know existed. Click on the picture of the CD - it brings up another browser window, set to Amazon, where you can view details and order!

I've found many of the artists I like are related to others I like. This site will show you additional ones, and you can easily see what albums you might have missed.

This rocks. Visit the site when you have plenty of time to browse - you'll lose track of time.

Check it out. Thanks, Mendoman!

Will driving to a cheaper gas station save you money? - Santa Rosa Steve

Santa Rosa Steve says: "Should you drive farther for cheaper gas? With prices across the country heading higher, saving a few pennies on a gallon of gasoline sounds attractive. But would driving across town in search of cheaper fuel really save you money? Find out with this calculator."

The calculator looks at the capacity of your gas tank, how many miles per gallon your car gets, the differences in prices between your local station and the cheaper one, and the distance between them. You then get a bottom-line for the net savings from traveling for gas.

Luckily, for me, the cheapest station is the closest one, so it's a no-brainer. If your local station isn't the best deal, you should give this site a go.

Thanks, Steve!

Jay Maynard's TRON costume - Mendoman

Mendoman says: "If you liked the movie "Trekkies", you will like this site. This is one man's quest to build the perfect Tron costume."

This site is a tribute to one man's mission - building a perfect TRON costume. It glows, like in the movie. You see his description of how he made it, plus 35 photos of the work involved.

Very impressive, from a true fan.

Check it out.

Technovelgy - Wine Country Larry

Wine Country Larry sent me the site, with the simple warning: "May be time consuming." He was right.

Science Fiction authors come up with cool ideas. Years later, many of these inventions actually do exist. This site is dedicated to those ideas which grow from an author's dream to reality. The site features over 600 items which later became reality.

The main page has "Science Fiction in the News" - up to date entries of stuff which now exists.

You can browse the site by invention category, or by book. Some books, like 1984, are featured in special links.

It's a very cool site - again - you'll need time to browse this one. Check it out.

Thanks, Larry!

Killer Quiz - Wine Country Larry

Wine Country Larry found this fun one.

It's a quiz. You see a picture of someone, and have to guess if he is a computer programmer, or a serial killer.

I scored 5/10, and was advised "it might be best to avoid a career in either law enforcement, or I.T. recruitment."

Fun stuff. Thanks, Larry!

GoogleWar - Solinas

I love Google Hacks. This is a fun one. Take two search terms, and see which appears more than the other in the Google listings.

What does it mean? Probably nothing. But it's interesting. It can be viewed as a measure of popularity.

Here's a few wars I did:

The Beatles beat The Rolling Stones, but Elvis beats The Beatles
Ford beats Chevy
"Tastes great" beats "less filling"
"Breath mint" beats "candy mint"

You can check out the "most recent" wars, with the winning search term is highlighted. You can also check out the most popular searches. I see people comparing blog providers.

Like any search engine, if you see what people are searching for, you'll see some naughty words. So - this site is not the best for kids.

Still - worth playing with. Check it out.

Free For All!

"Free For All" picks are hot, FREE items or services. It can be software, online services, you name it - but it's got to be free, with no strings attached.

Spoofstick: Detect faked websites - Santa Rosa Steve

Santa Rosa Steve found this fantastic program.

Everyone has probably gotten a spam email, referred in computer circles as "phishing". These emails are surprisingly devious - they make you think that some company you do business with needs some personal information to verify or fix your account. Some actually go as far as warning you about scams, then saying "click here to protect yourself." I've seen a number where the links are crafted to look legit in your address bar of your browser, but you're really taken to another site.

Spoofstick is a great toolbar add-in. It clearly tells you where you really are. You get a "You're on (whatever).com" message to clearly see what site you're on.

In general, you should NEVER respond to any of these emails. If you're adventurous like me, you like to check them out. This is a cool tool for doing that.

Great find! Thanks, Steve!

Technofiles Free Plugins - Santa Rosa Steve

Santa Rosa Steve says: "I don't get around to reading Technofile as often as I should, but I invariably find items of interest under "Latest articles." Also, I recently found a 'must-see' page for graphics enthusiasts titled, "Where to find free plugins for Photoshop-compatible programs" (March 28, 2004)"