Thursday, June 26, 2008

New Links on our web for the week of June 26, 2008 Books and Reading Good Reads "a social networking site dedicated to book lovers everywhere. Here you can post up books you've read or are planning to read on your virtual book shelves and get book suggestions based on what others have reviewed." (DS) Health Mayo Clinic: Fitness Center "The Mayo Clinic offers a wide range of outreach services for the general public, including websites providing basic information about cancer, smoking cessation techniques, and others. Their online Fitness Center website will be a real boon to anyone who is looking to pick up some basic fitness awareness, learn about strength training, or read up on sports nutrition. First-time visitors can start by reading through the "Fitness Awareness" area, which answers questions like "Why exercise?" and also provides information on getting warmed up before exercising. Further down the site's homepage, visitors can also use the "Ask a Mayo Clinic Specialist" to learn more treatments for hyperextended knees and other related maladies. Those who know exactly what they are looking for can use the "Find it Fast" feature on the left-hand side of the homepage to look up materials on everything from back pain to tennis elbow." (SR) Leisure Air Travel: Your Summer Survival Guide "This 2007 feature provides tips for air travelers. Includes lists of the most crowded airports (large and regional), planning your trip (getting better airfares and deciding whether to fly or drive), and advice for surviving the lines and hassles and airports. Also includes flight attendant secrets, such as underpacking, using the bathroom before you board, and dressing in layers. From U.S. News & World Report." (LII) Offbeat Travel "This "travel guide to offbeat places and unusual destinations world-wide, with a fresh look at old favorites" features articles on topics such as the birdmen of Beijing, Star-Spangled Baltimore, cruising Norway, and the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. Also includes an essay on "The Function of Travel Websites and How to Evaluate Them," travel book reviews, and hotel news. Also links to sites about New York and New Mexico." (LII) Waymarking "This site, which bills itself as "a scavenger hunt for unique and interesting locations in the world," allows users to add photographs and descriptions of locations as designated by a waymark, "a physical location on the planet marked by coordinates (latitude/longitude) and [which] contains unique information defined within its waymark category." Site is browsable by categories or waymarks (and often by postal code). Categories include castle, firehouse, and art museum." (LII) The Lonely Planet Guide to Experimental Travel ""Experimental Travel has its roots in the varied practices and philosophies of modern alternative thinkers from the Surrealists to the Psychogeographers. Experiments such as travelling to a particular grid reference on a map, or simply wearing a horse's head around town, are all classic examples." This companion to a book of the same name provides brief descriptions on 41 offbeat travel ideas such as backpacking at home, and nostalgia travel. From Lonely Planet." (LII) TripIt "TripIt is a personal travel assistant that automatically organizes all your travel plans. TripIt is free and makes it easy to Quickly organize all your travel plans -- flights, hotels, cars, trains, cruises and more, Automatically get itineraries with all your plans, weather, maps, restaurants and more, Easily access your itineraries via paper, email, personal calendar or mobile device, Share your trips and see where you overlap with friends and colleagues" (DLS) Teen Sites Girls Health "a web site made just for you! There’s lots of cool information you can use. Maybe you want to start working out or you’re stressed out about school. There are lots of different topics to choose from. Take a look!" Sponsored by the US Dept. of Health and Human Services, so you know you can trust the information here. (GovGab) 11:28:54 AM

© Copyright 2008 Jocelyn Shaw. Last update: 11/18/2008; 3:03:12 PM. Photo curtesy of Marjorie O'Brien