Showing posts with label Websites. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Websites. Show all posts

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

The George Orwell Diary Blog (and food)

"It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen."

Every once in a while you come across something on the web really worth spending some time on. Sunday, I read of a weblog that posted the exact entries, seventy years later, of George Orwell's diary. It is an Englishman's diary of the time, weather, bird watching, personal health and the like, but that in itself is interesting, considering the author.

Here's the link. http://orwelldiaries.wordpress.com/

Also, since this is a food weblog, make sure you read the description of how to preserve fruit without sugar or heat that Orwell attaches from a newspaper clipping. He says it really works. As best as I can tell they have just begun releasing the pages, so you don't have much catching up to do.

Finally, my lifetime dream is to be able to write one sentence as good as the first line to Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, quoted above.

Saturday, May 3, 2008

New and Now a Saturday Regular Feature

Sunshine from: http://small-impressions.blogspot.com/

About a year ago I had more time on my hands than I wanted. One way I chose to fill the time was to write, and particularly to write in this weblog. Another time-killer was exploring the web via StumbleUpon, a social network application that delivers a grab-bag of web pages based on the "stumblers" likes and dislikes.

About 75% of what you stumble upon is not worth much thought, about 20% is worth a little time to investigate, and about 5% is very good and worth bookmarking. The painting (above) is pulled from one of the websites I found and still enjoy frequently. I like the choice of artwork posted on this website, especially the paintings of the blog host.

That's it, that's my post for Saturday, a good website on art with many contemporary artists.

http://painting.stumbleupon.com/

Sunday, December 30, 2007

17 Ways To Get Free Books

Every once in a while you stumble upon a website that has interesting and helpful information in a easy to read package. I think The Frugal Panda is one of those sites. What first caught my attention was their headline advertisement (see my headline above) . It has all the basic components of piquing curiosity:
  • everyone stops at the word "free". It doesn't have to be at the front of the sentence. You still see it and stop.
  • men like lists, and "17 ways" incites list curiosity.
  • the word "books" shows that it's not just a tease to attract me to the site. If I like books, I am interested, if I don't, I move on. You could change the word to "furniture" or anything else and the people interested will continue. But, "17 Ways to Free . . ." doesn't work for me because it is not specific enough, especially for internet advertising.
But as important as the headline, the site delivered as promised. At first glance and in the detail. Here's the link:

17-ways-to-get-free-books

What do you think?

Saturday, December 15, 2007

USA Today's fun "Who should I vote for President " quiz.

Mike Huckabee has come from the back of the pack to be a front runner in Iowa. Polls did predict him doing well in the Iowa caucus many weeks ago but the media has just caught on. Because of his ascendance and the descendance of others I have issued a new poll. See poll to the right.

And if you want to take a fun and graphically impressive quiz on who you most agree with on major issues, click this USA Today site.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008

My "suggested candidate" after taking the quiz was R. Guiliani (for whom I will not vote), then Mike Huckabee, followed by Mitt Romney.

For those interested in presidential politicals: New York Times Sunday Magazine, lead article on Mike Huckabee. http://www.nytimes.com/pages/magazine/index.html


Saturday, September 29, 2007

My Favorite Food and Drink Websites

If you are just looking for a recipe, there are the commonly known and frequently visited, Yahoo Food, Food Network, etc. These sites are a little different, offer more commentary, and have specific suggestions. Got a good site? Let me know.

1. Probably my favorite website for food, restaurants, news and commentary. Who else has articles like, New Yorks Best Street Food.
New York Times Food: http://www.nytimes.com/pages/dining/index.html

2. Plenty of interesting food facts and commonly held but untrue beliefs. Does searing meat really hold in the juices? Kitchen Myths: http://www.pgacon.com/KitchenMyths.htm

3. There are hundreds of coffee websites. I have a few I go to all the time. This site they say, is the first. Coffee Research: http://www.coffeeresearch.org

4. The following website is more for the vegetable gardener. But if you want helpful North Texas gardening information, this is great. Gardening Tips for North Texas:
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/county/smith/tips/tips.html

5. I like people who are knowledgeable but not arrogant, especially when it comes to wine. This a great blog and suggests wines according to cost per bottle.
Chelsie Wines: http://chelsieswines.blogspot.com

6. Another good coffee website: Coffee Geek: http://www.coffeegeek.com

7. A well done blog with clear recipes, Family Food: http://familystylefood.com

8. Want to make a better cup of coffee? http://blog.liferemix.net/your-coffee-sucks-cheap-coffee

9. Okay, one more coffee website thanks to Jeromey: Sweet Marias, suggestions on roasting your own (that's roasting not growing your own). http://sweetmarias.com

Saturday, August 11, 2007

Think You Can Make a Better Burger?

If you think you can make a better burger than the next guy, enter Emeril's and Good Morning America's, "Best Burger" contest, next year, this year the contestants have been narrowed down to five with the winner being picked Friday. The recipes and a chance to vote are available on the ABC news site. And there's a Cypress, Texas representative:
News story: http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Recipes/story?id=3462979&page=1

Tuesday, August 7, 2007

I Got Nothing, but . . .

There are some pretty good websites of Fort Worth interest: My "links" (see sidebar, to the right) has three of them:
Fort Worth Architecture: my son introduced me to this one, and for those of you interested in architecture, building, engineering this is the place to go. The forums are active and by my observation, informed and influential.
Fort Worthlogy: All around information on Fort Worth with another bent towards the commercial building sector, as they say, "dedicated to encouraging and chronicling smart urban growth in Fort Worth, Texas." 50,000 recorded visits, which ain't bad, for a local interest site. (I'm about 49,000 short of that)
Fort Worth Foodie: As it suggests a site dedicated to diners and especially the "happy hour" crowd. Good information and easy to get around.
A common thread through all these sites is an interest in a "living downtown" in contrast to a place to work and leave. Fort Worth has good momentum that even a housing slow down probably won't effect. When I visit the suburbs frankly I get depressed, it's a matter of personal preference I know, but the sameness of the landscape, architecture, shopping, etc., just puts me in a bad mood. An architect friend of mine told me, "we will never know what effect eight foot ceilings have had on man's imagination. . ."
I like the old architecture in Fort Worth, and some of the new, but everyone who lives here has grown to appreciate what we have and the direction we in which we are going.