KSFO's Web Wanderer

The Links for March 1, 1997

National Weather Service: Listener Dudley sent this one in. This is the National Weather Service site for the San Francisco Bay Area. This site has everything you would want in a weather site - hourly weather summary, current reports, precipitation reports, marine information, weather maps, forecasts, hazards, etc. And it's all geared for the Bay Area.; This site also has information for aviators, sailors, etc. This is a big, full site with lots of content.; This is also a MUST VISIT site before taking a trip. Where else can you get up-to-date information
Astronomy Picture of the Day Archive: Listener Mike sent this one in. It's a feature of the Laboratory for High Energy Astrophysics at Nasa. Every day, a new photograph is featured. Absolutely beautiful stuff. There's a ton of photos there - going back to June 1995.; Now, I'm a guy who doesn't know his asteroid from a hole in the ground. But - this site, besides housing great pictures, is educational. Accompanying every photo is a description of what you are seeing by an astronomer. The descriptions are fully hyperlinked to other photos and descriptions. The site also offers a very usable index and search engine.; This is a very cool site - well worth a visit.
Star Links: Today's goofy site will take a bit of explaining. Ever hear of the Kevin Bacon game? Players try to connect any actor or actress to Kevin Bacon (who made his movie debut in 1978's Animal House), in as few steps as possible. For example, Marlon Brando was in The Missouri Breaks with Jack Nicholson, who co-starred with Bacon in A Few Good Men. That gives Brando the magic Bacon number of two.; Well, a couple of guys figured out to query the Internet Movie Data Base, and generate Bacon numbers for pretty much any actor or actress. This site was named "The Oracle of Bacon at Virginia". Playing with this site is mildly amusing - more for the concept than anything else.; In true Internet fashion, variations quickly were developed. If you're not interested in Kevin Bacon, how about Arnold Schwarzenegger? There's an Arnie Game. Also an Elvis Game.; Which brings me to this pick - Star Links. Star Links plays the Bacon Game with ANY two stars. Play with this site for a while, and you'll find quite a few surprises. For example - Sandra Bullock has:
A Bacon Number of two
An Arnie Number of two
An Elvis Number of three
And a BUSTER KEATON number of two
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