High Tech Times- Last Stop before the Millennium

High-Tech Times Article 027

Last Fun Stop for the Millennium!

Welcome back to the High-Tech Times. For this last issue of the year, century, and millennium, I debated whether to bring you more info on Y2K, but decided that any of you who haven’t taken care of those problems probably won’t benefit from anything else I can tell you with less than 30 days to go. And most of the technology problems I’ve encountered over the past month have already been covered in my earlier columns. So I’ve decided give you some fun stuff instead.

Let’s start out with the Weather Underground <www.wunderground.com>, who can provide amazingly accurate weather forecasts for any Zip code. For the past 90 days, they have been 92% accurate; that compares very favorably with KITV (61%), KGMB (68%), and KFVE (73%) (by my own count). And right above the forecast is a link to “Astronomy” that will give you a view of your nighttime sky along with your weather.

For those voyeurs among you, browse over to <www.camarades.com> to view some personal online cameras. Yeah, I know, there are lots of those cameras on the Web, but if you already have a video camera connected to your computer, this site will let you set up your own online Webcam within a few minutes. And you can even send e-postcards to all of your friends around the world with your video image, and a link to your new Webcam.

And if that doesn’t tie up enough of your Internet bandwidth, <chili.rt66.com/ozone/cam.htm> is the granddaddy of all live Webcams around the world. I particularly like the Watering Hole Cam in South Africa, the Cyberia Edinburgh live Webcam, and the Rome live view with camera control.

Want to know how high our local ocean tides will be for the next six months? Wander over to <www.opsd.nos.noaa.gov/tides/westHONO.html> and find out. Then go view our little corner of the planet at <www.ssec.wisc.edu/data/west/latest_westvis.gif>, and see what’s happening between Hawaii and the Mainland -- from 22,000 miles up! Wander through the Bishop Museum at <www.bishop.hawaii.org/>, and don’t forget to send a Hawaiian e-postcard showing our Hawaiian treasures.

I mentioned this next Web site last year, but I still enjoy Internet Accessible Machines at <www‑cse.ucsd.edu/users/bsy/iam.html>. They’ve more than doubled the number of strange devices that can be controlled by you via the Internet, including PumaPaint, a paint-by-Web robot, and “Where’s Fatso” <www.as220.org/where_is_fatso.html>, that allows you to track the whereabouts of a very large cat at MIT in real time.

Are there any fractal fanatics out there? If so, you’ll love all the links at <www.eclectasy.com/fractovia/fractal_generators/fractals_freeware1.html>, especially as all of them provide freeware for downloads. Some of these programs even let you generate your own fractals - headaches, too! And since the Web is laid out fractally, browse over to <www.cybergeography.com/atlas/atlas.html> for a great conceptual look at the Internet in map format.

If you subscribe to Oceanic Cable, you can check out the TV listings at <www.gist.com/previewlistings/tv1.dpg?genres=All&channel=All&chanArea=HI51407>. It’s free, and a lot more accurate than TV Guide! You can even click on a program to see a brief summary. Want radio stations instead? The folks over at <wmbr.mit.edu/stations/> claim they list over 9000 radio stations accessible via the Web.

Wake up your kids, or the kid in you with Lego MindStorms <www.legomindstorms.com/>. This is not your parents’ Legos!

Want free artwork? Try <www.mccannas.com/>, with some excellent tips and tricks for PhotoShop, Corel, and Painter, as well as downloads. Or travel over to <www.pixelfoundry.com/> and see what my buddy Kai Krause can show you about making PhotoShop sing and dance. Still not satisfied? Try browsing through the listings at <mambo.ucsc.edu/psl/cg.html> to see what the pros are doing.

How about fonts? Hundreds of them! Head over to <www.acidcool.com/> and download to your heart’s content. Looking for tons of 32-bit software? The folks at <32bit.bhs.com/default.asp> claim that they have the best “shareware, freeware, trialware, and drivers on the Internet.” [They may be right!] Tired of Microsoft Office? Sun Microsystems offers their StarOffice Productivity Suite free for the download at <www.sun.com/products/staroffice/get.cgi>.

Well, I hear some leftover turkey calling me. So for my last weird and wonderful site, browse over to <8ball.federated.com/> and have your fortune read. This isn’t some Javascript simulation, but a real Mattel model 3048AA fortuneteller that’s shaken (not stirred) by a Lego MindStorm robotic cradle. A Linux server delivers your prayers for guidance, and returns a live Webcam view of the action, and your answer.

On that fortunate note, I wish all of you Happy Holidays, and a bugless Y2K! See you next millennium.