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 DAILY TREATS
This page is no longer updated. However, you can still check out some of the many sites on this page.

 

TIP:CREATING A DESKTOP SHORTCUT   08/23/99

WISCONSIN CIRCUIT COURT ACCESS    09/02/99
Find out if someone you know has been charged with/convicted of
a crime, who has sued/is suing whom for divorce, who, in general, is being sued
and by whom. Check on yourself and see what comes up.

FOR WOMEN ONLY   09/02/99 

GOD IS GONE. DETAILS AT TEN.   09/6/99

FOR SERIOUS COOKS ONLY  9/10/99

THE SINGER SOLUTION TO WORLD POVERTY  9/24/99

FOR REAL GREEN BAY PACKER CHEESE HEADS   10/17/99

THE ULTIMATE SOURCE?   11/9/99

YOU'LL WANT TO SUBSCRIBE (free) TO SOME OF THESE.  11/25/99

TRACK DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL FLIGHTS IN REAL TIME AT FLYTECOM.  12/1/99

THE DEFINITIVE ARTS AND CULTURE GATEWAY CAN BE FOUND AT WORLD WIDE ARTS RESOURCES 12/29/99

FREE BOOKS AT netLIBRARY  12/30/99

CAR TALK, INCLUDING HOW TO BUY ONE  12/31/99

WANT TO KNOW WHO OWNS THAT PROPERTY, HOUSE, BUILDING? GO TO THE DANE COUNTY REGISTER OF DEEDS.  1/2/00

BUYING A HOUSE? THIS IS A MUST-SEE SIGHT!  1/2/00

BUYING A HOUSE IN MADISON? WANT TO KNOW WHAT IT WAS ASSESSED FOR? CHECK OUT ASSESSORS. 1/3/00

MASTERS OF PHOTOGRAPHY  1/4/00

LINKS FOR GAMERS  1/5/00

BEAUTY, MAKE-UP, SKIN CARE TIPS  1/6/00

TIP. INTERNET SHORTCUT TIP   1/12/00

ASK AN EXPERT: FREE ADVICE 1/13/00

ARE YOU A MUSICIAN?  YOU'LL LIKE THIS.  1/16/00

SEND VIRTUAL FLOWERS, CARDS, AND MUSIC AT THE VIRTUAL FLORIST.  1/20/00

AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION'S RESOURCES FOR KIDS, TEENS, AND PARENTS  2/05/00

JUST FOR FUN: SUPERBAD  02/19/00

DIGITAL ART OF LARRY CARLSON FOR COOL WALLPAPER   2/29/00

FBI'S 10 MOST WANTED  3/1/00

YOU'LL BE AMAZED IN THE CAVE OF MAGIC.   3/5/00
And, no, I don't know how it's done, so don't ask. But if you figure it out, tell me.

ABSURD.ORG: DON'T WORRY ABOUT WHAT IT MEANS. JUST TURN OUT THE LIGHTS AND ENJOY THE EYE CANDY3/6/00

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF WOMEN'S HISTORY  3/08/00

YOU'LL BE AMAZED AGAIN: TRENDY MAGIC  3/09/00

 YOU'LL FIND THINGS YOU'LL  WANT TO KNOW HOW TO DO AT LEARN.COM/ . DON'T GO THERE IF YOU HAVE STUFF TO DO.  3/10/00

TIP.KEYBOARD TIPS 1  3/11/00

BASEBALL LINKS  4/12/00

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL  4/13/00

POWERS OF TEN: FROM QUARKS TO QUASARS.  4/14/00
AT ONE END OF THIS VISUAL JOURNEY IS THE IMMENSITY OF THE KNOWN UNIVERSE; AT THE OTHER, THREE QUARKS WITHIN A PROTON. 
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

DO YOU LIVE TO FISH. . .OR FISH TO LIVE? THIS TREAT IS FOR ALL YOU FISHERMEN. OR IS THAT "FISHERPERSONS"?  4/15/00

NUCLEAR BLAST MAPPER: EVER WONDER WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF A NUCLEAR DEVICE WERE DROPPED ON MADISON, ON YOUR HOMETOWN, ON YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD? 4/17/00

ARE YOU A GAMBLER? HEADING FOR THE CASINO THIS WEEKEND? CHECK OUT THE WIZARD OF ODDS TO PICK UP SOME GAMBLING TIPS AND STRATEGIES. 4/18/00

AUTOSHOP: ANSWERS ON AUTOMOTIVE REPAIR, MAINTENANCE, AND OPERATION  4/21/00

NEED SOME FREE LEGAL ADVICE? 4/22/00

1000's OF JOKES AND OTHER FUNNIES BY CATEGORY  AND RATING( G-R ) AT JOKEINDEX.COM  4/26/00

WEBBY AWARDS: THESE AWARDS ARE TO WEB SITES WHAT OSCARS ARE TO MOVIES.4/28/01 

GENEALOGY: TRACE YOUR FAMILY ROOTS. FIND OUT ABOUT YOUR ANCESTORS, WHERE THEY CAME FROM. . . .  Also click here for more resources to help you find your roots. 5/8/00

DATING, MATING, RELATING  5/16/00

PC SECURITY: CAN ANYONE CRAWL INTO YOUR COMPUTER WHILE YOU'RE CONNECTED TO THE INTERNET? TO FIND OUT, GO TO GIBSON RESEARCH CORPORATION AND CLICK ON SHIELDS UP. THEN, IF YOU'RE CONCERNED, GO GET ZONE ALARM ( FREE). NOT SURE HOW TO DOWNLOAD AND INSTALL APPLICATIONS FROM THE INTERNET?  CLICK HERE5/18/00

WEIRD WISCONSIN ( IS THIS REDUNDANT?) 5/22/00

ACCOUNTING STUDENTS: WEB RESOURCES 5/25/00

GREATEST ENGINEERING ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE 20th CENTURY  5/27/00

HUMAN GENOME PROJECT
HUMAN GENOME SEQUENCING
These two sites deal with what is arguably the most significant scientific achievement in human history. 5/28/00
You might first want to check out The DNA Learning Center.

TRY THE MENSA WORKOUT. YOUR BRAIN WILL ENJOY THE EXERCISE. 5/29/00

ASIAN-AMERICAN CULTURE( click on page 14)  5/30/00

LATINO CULTURE( click on page 11) 5/31/00

QUEPASA! 5/31/00

HOW FAR IS IT: FIND THE DISTANCE BETWEEN ANY TWO CITIES ( AS THE CROW FLIES); THEN SEE A MAP OF THE TWO PLACES, AND THEN GET A MAP WITH DRIVING INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO GET THERE. 6/6/00

SAVE $$$!! DOWNLOAD AND PRINT GROCERY COUPONS FROM MY COUPONS. OTHER COUPON SAVINGS, TOO. OTHER COUPON SITES INCLUDE COOL SAVINGS DEAL-FINDER, COUPON SURFER,BIG COUPONS, VALUE PAGE.6/17/00

DISCOVER HOW DIFFERENT THE WORLD IS AT YOUR NATION. 6/18/00

YOU'LL FIND A SELF-HELP LAW CENTER AT NOLO.COM.  6/19/00
The one legal site to take to a desert island --The New York Times

ONE ACROSS: COMPETE FOR CASH AND OTHER PRIZES DOING. . . CAN YOU GUESS? 6/20/00
This one's for you, Shelley!

DO YOU KNOW WHO YOU REALLY ARE, WHAT YOU'RE REALLY LIKE? TEST YOURSELF ( AND YOUR FRIENDS ) TO FIND OUT AT Emode.com.
WANT MORE? CLICK HERE (click on page 11). 6/21/00

A MUST READ! BLUEPRINT OF THE BODY  6/24/00
CLICK HERE FOR MORE.

Epinions: Unbiased advice on over 100,000 products and services to help you make better buying decisions. 6/25/00

VetInfo: Comprehensive resource dealing with medical and behavioral problems in cats and dogs. Also a good resource for learning about veterinary science and the practice of veterinary medicine. Good site for animal tech. students. 6/25/00

WAY TOO PERSONAL: Adventures in Internet dating 6/26/00
Warning: This site contains adult situations and humor and is not intended for minors or sensitive viewers.

THE STAR ARCHIVE and CELEBRITY ADDRESS LIST: Get the addresses of and write to your favorite celebrities. At Celebrity Address List you'll find a list of do's and don'ts for letters to celebrities. 6/27/00

Alight: For the 14 to 26 size women living in a size 6 world. 6/28/00

For those who have vowed never to eat anything with a face. . .Veggies Unite. 6/29/00

FOR THE GUYS: How To Be Romantic 6/29/00

DARWIN AWARDS: A celebration of those who have improved the gene pool by removing themselves from it. See how incredibly stupid people can be. 6/30/00

MOVIE SCREEN SAVERS AND DESKTOP THEMES 7/5/00
AND TOP 100 SCREEN SAVERS

MOYERS ON ADDICTION: Excellent series on addiction, including real-life stories, the science of addiction, treatment and prevention( for the next generation). 7/10/00
Also see the Infofax Index from the National Institute on Drug Abuse for health effects of specific drugs.

Find out if someone you like likes you with no risk of rejection at eCRUSH. 7/11/00
And find out how you rate as a date. eCRUSH. 7/11/00
And find out how you rate as a date.

At Sleepnet you'll find "everything you wanted to know about sleep but were too tired to ask." 7/14/00

Revive your love life at Dating 911. 7/15/00

Mommy$avers: " The premier site for frugal living, money saving tips, work from home, parenting advice." For thrifty moms. 7/17/00
Also see Moms Online. And check out the other Oxygen sites that you can link to from this page.

Thinking about getting a dog? Already have one? Then check out DIGITAL DOG. 7/18/00

INTRODUCTION TO COSMOLOGY ( the origin and evolution of the Universe) 7/18/00
And while you're at it, try Solar System Live

Do you love art, as in great paintings? Then you'll love MARK HARDEN'S ARTCHIVE. Excellent site for great art wallpaper. 7/20/00

If someone close to you has a disability, then both of you will appreciate CanDo.com. 7/21/00 

BELIEFNET: "The source for spirituality, religion, and morality." Covers nearly all religions. Even if you aren't a believer, you'll find this site interesting and informative. 7/22/00

DID YOU KNOW? Fascinating facts and amazing stories. 7/24/00

eLibrary Tracker will search its database for new articles on your favorite topics and deliver the headlines to your e-mail address. 7/26/00

Yahoo's Insurance Center is a good source for information about insurance. 7/27/00

LEARN SPANISH at this free, comprehensive online tutorial. This one's an award winner. 7/28/00

Find out everything about your favorite group at UBL, the Ultimate Band List. 7/29/00

GOLDEN RASPBERRY AWARDS for the worst movies. 8/02/00

UnderWire is a "smart, fun, provocative Web site for women." 8/03/00

PHYSICIAN REFERENCE: With these resources( click on page 6)you can check-up on and evaluate a physician's record. 8/05/00

TIP. NEED MORE SEARCHING POWER? Try a search utility. Two that I use are COPERNIC 2001 and BULL'S-EYE. Unsure of how to download files from the Internet? Then click here. 8/06/00

AFRICANS IN AMERICA  OUTSTANDING!! 8/07/00
Did you see the PBS series? 

For POLICE SCIENCE STUDENTS and anyone else interested in police work (click on page 10). 8/08/00

FOR CAT LOVERS:  Cat Fanciers      Cindy's Cat Pages 8/09/00

Resources for Working Moms( click on page 12). 8/11/00

Tell SPYONIT what to look for on the Net, and it will notify you when it finds it by e-mail, web phone, ICQ or on Spyonit's web site. I use it to find out when favorite movies will be on TV. Cool, huh? 8/12/00

 TIP: If you click on a link and nothing happens, try this: Right click on the link and select Open in a New Window. Another tip: If you click on a link and get an error message, right click on the link and select Open. 8/13/00

TERRIFIC FREE BROWSER TOOL: GuruNet works in any PC application and in your browser when you're online. Just click on any word and hit the alt key and a small window opens up with reference information ( dictionary, thesaurus, encyclopedia, and related/relevant links to other sites). 8/14/00  

The Net has resources that will teach you how to do just about anything. You can find them with The Tutorials Search Engine. 8/15/00

Field guides from the National Audubon Society, including local wildlife guides, to everything living, along with sky and habitat guides, can be found at eNature. You'll never be stumped again by a wildflower, tree, butterfly, or constellation. 8/16/00

Five Biggest Threats To Your Privacy Online 8/17/00

Smart Strategies To Help Protect Your Privacy 8/18/00

TIP.SEARCH TIP: If you have Internet Explorer 4.0 or greater--and why wouldn't you?--click on and highlight the address bar, type in what you're searching for. Now hit Enter. On the left side of your screen, Internet Explorer's search engine will appear with your search results. While you are there, customize this search engine for maximum performance. You might also be able to search like this with Netscape Navigator. Someone let me know. 8/22/00

Need an expert's help and free advice, but don't know where to go, whom to ask. At AskA+Locator, you can search for experts' sites by subject. 8/23/00

STRESSED OUT? Get some relief at Stress Inc., The Commerce of Coping.
The stress industry is waiting for you and your money. 8/25/00

HOW TO MAKE A WEBSITE AND CREATING WEBSITES OVERVIEW 8/26/00

WAYCOOLGAMES: 3-D games that download in seconds. 8/28/00

Tour the Cosmos
at the
The HubbleSite
"Out of the ordinary. . .
Out of this world."
8/30/00

Do you need an antivirus program running all the time? YES! The best one is probably Norton's, which also scans your e-mail. Another good one is McAfee's. Once you have installed an antivirus program, you have to update it regularly from the Net since new viruses are developed daily. I update every 3-4 days. To learn how viruses work, how to avoid them, and what to do if your computer is infected, go to CNET: VIRUS ATTACK, and at TREND MICRO, you can trace the minute-by-minute progress of current virus outbreaks. 8/31/00

Want to spruce up your browser's toolbar? I've been having fun at Hotbar.com, where you'll find over 30,000 skins to choose from. Hotbar downloads and installs in seconds. This is a cool Web toy! And it's free. You'll also like the buttons added to your browser. They'll help you discover the Internet. 9/01/00

DIALPAD lets you make free long distance phone calls using your computer. 9/02/00

Click a button, and the HUNGER SITE donates food to starving people around the world. Be sure to click on Donation Totals. You'll be amazed. 9/04/00

iPING is a free, personalized notification service that will, for example, give you a wake-up call every morning that contains your own personal wake-up message, a joke, weather, or music. iPing will also deliver reminders to your cell phone and pager. It will even send you e-mail reminders via your cell phone. And you can contact groups of people at once without ever picking up a phone. I just love the Internet!! 9/5/00 

TIME TRAVEL
Is it possible, likely? Find out for yourself. 9/7/00

CREATING YOU FIRST WEB SITE: The easiest way to start is to launch the Web-authoring tool that comes with your browser. Netscape's Communicator includes Composer: Choose Start-Programs-Netscape Communicator-Netscape Composer to run it. Internet Explorer 4.0 includes Front Page Express: Choose Start-Programs-Internet Explorer-Front Page Express to run it. If you have Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher, choose Start-Programs-Accessories-Internet Tools-Front Page. With these tools, if you can point and click, you can have a site up and running in no time. You might also want to check out Homestead. And take a look at the 8/26/00 daily treat above.

If Front Page isn't installed and you use Internet Explorer 4.0, choose Start-Settings-Control Panel and double click Add/Remove Programs. Pick the Windows Setup tab, double click the Internet Tools in the Components list and check Microsoft Front Page Express. Click OK twice to start the installation. If your browser is I.E. 5.0 or higher, you can download Front Page Express 2 at www.windowsupdate.microsoft.com/ 

You can find a good Front Page Express tutorial here.  

You can find a good Composer tutorial here.

If you want to play around with HTML authoring tools, try www.pageresourse.com for dozens of Web design tutorials, including beginning HTML guides.

Once you have created your Web site, you'll want publish it on the Web. There are hundreds of places that offer free server space for personal Web sites. Use a search engine and type in " free Web hosts " or start here ( click on page 12). 

Got it? Now do it!

HAVE FUN! 9/7/00

AstroCenter is astrology and related matters on steroids. Free, personal, comprehensive daily horoscope. . .and much more. 9/8/00

PROTECT YOURSELF FROM IDENTITY THEFT. 9/9/00

Journal E: A Matter of Life and Death 9/10/00
Compelling and riveting!

At It's Your Turn you can play chess, checkers, backgammon, Battleships, and 40 other games one-on-one when you want to play and with whom you want to play. And you both don't have to be logged on at the same time. 9/11/00

Getting married? Then you'll want to go to THE KNOT. Of course, it's a site for women. Men don't plan weddings, which are for brides, not grooms. 9/10/00

EHOW is a database of simple instructions for everyday tasks, from removing crabgrass to making paper airplanes for the kids. Thousands of how-to's with all the products you need to do them. 9/11/00

ICE BOX: Beyond South Park. Some are tasteless, vulgar, nasty, but all are funny. And created by some of the best writers around.
FOR MATURE AUDIENCES ONLY! 9/12/00

Online privacy services at ANONYMIZER. 9/14/00

Find out about the 400 richest Americans.
At last count Bill is worth 85,000 million! 9/15/00

THE 100 MOST INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE OF THE LAST 100 YEARS.
Whom would you pick as the most influential?
9/16/00
See if you and and TIME agree.

Take online courses that "Power Professional Development" at MSN's Encarta Extension. The courses will cost you, but their value, extensiveness and convenience make them well worth the money. THIS IS THE KIND OF STUFF THAT MAKES RESUMES STAND OUT FROM THE CROWD. 9/17/00

MARIJUANA SPECIAL REPORT from the highly respected New Scientist. 9/21/00

Gather facts about entertainers, athletes, politicians, business leaders, and anyone else in the headlines. Over 30,000 detailed-packed profiles at INFOPLEASE:BIOGRAPHY. 9/22/00

BEER!! Everything you could ever want to know about beer and everything related to beer at the 150,000 page REAL BEER website.9/24/00

LISZT is the mailing list directory, with over 90,000 mailing lists. From this site, you can subscribe to free e-mail about almost every concern and area of interest you can think of. For example, I get daily tips about using Word, Front Page 2000, Internet Explorer, Windows 98, and information about anti-virus protection. This is one site you'll want to check out. 9/28/00

At AAANewsletters.com you can subscribe to 175 free newsletters and zines in many subject areas. 9/29/00

The Joe Cartoon Co. Lots of fun here!! 10/1/00

Listen to Jazz at JazzFM. "The Home of Jazz on the Internet." 10/6/00

At ThriveOnline you can get medical information, fitness tips, sexual and relationship advice, nutrition information, stress management suggestions, weight loss ideas self-diagnostics. 10/8/00

InnoculateIT is free antivirus software that you can download and install from the Internet. Just make sure that you update it weekly. 10/13/00

NET PRIVACY: Everyone should read these two articles on Net privacy from the June 2000 issue of PC World: Privacy 2000 and Privacy Special Report. Do it now! 10/13/00

Many sites offer online cooking instruction. Here are four of the best:
Cooks Illustrated, Corningware e-School, Fabulous Foods, Joy of Baking. 10/16/00

Solve-It-Yourself Mini-Mysteries at Mystery Net's The Case. 10/18/00
For longer, more challenging mysteries, try
Clue Chronicles
If you're a serious mystery lover, then head for
MysteryNet.com.

Mad City Vibe bills itself as " Madison's fastest growing social network", coordinating up to 20 activities each month designed to get you connected to others with similar interests. 10/20/00

LEARN CPR: Instructions and illustrated guides. 11/01/00

Walk 1,200 miles across Africa online: Congo Trek. 11/02/00

Looking for a particular picture/image? Search for it at Ditto.com.
And at Lycos Multimedia, you can search for audio, video. and pictures.  11/04/00

JunkBusters can help you get rid of junk e-mail, junk mail, telemarketing calls, and data about you. 11/05/00

Access to public records/information at US SEARCH. Want to do a thorough background search on someone? This is the place to go. Some searches are free; others will cost you. 11/10/00

Love to read short stories? You'll find a selection of the best--classics and modern--in multiple categories at short stories at east of the web.  11/11/00

TWISTED HUMOR. Just that: funny jokes, hilarious images, outrageous audio and video files. 11/12/00

Cool, hip, contemporary, ChickClick is for women only. Contains links to sister sites. 11/13/00

The Great Globe Gallery on the World Wide Web: Just go there there and check it out. Make sure you don't have anything to do for the next few hours. " Get the whole world in your hands with globes that speak your language." 11/14/00

The Nine Planets: A multimedia tour of the solar system. 11/18/00

Slashdot: "News for nerds. Stuff that matters." Award winning, critically acclaimed site dealing with matters of science and technology. 11/19/00  

BAD SCIENCE: Examples of bad science taught in public schools, universities, and offered in popular articles and textbooks. 11/20/00

Games Domain: What it says, it is. 11/22/00

Space Station: "A rare inside view of the next frontier in space exploration." 11/26/00

Search Engine Spying: Want to see what other people are searching for in real time? At this site you can spy on a variety of search engines. 11/27/00

Are you in the military? A thorough resource for military personnel can be found at Military City. 12/01/00

LegalDocs: This site allows you to prepare customized legal documents online. You can then have them previewed at no cost. 12/6/00

For Fire Science students: U.S. Fire Administration  Firefighting.com 12/7/00

When I have a question, I usually go to AskMe.com. I almost always get good advice. 12/13/00

Real Time FLIGHT ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE Information. 12/26/00

A Biography of America, the interactive companion web site to the video series and telecourse, stands by itself as an interesting and informative source of American history. 12/29/00

Origami is the art of paper folding. Find out how to do it at Joseph Wu's Origami Page. 12/30/00

SheNetworks is for women. 1/02/01

Who is He - Who is She: Background checks, personal profiles, dates, potential mates, perspective employees/employers, nanny checks, criminal record checks. Be sure to read the Internet Horror Stories and Safety Tips. 1/03/01

Watch movies and animations at your computer. Alwaysi.com has 700 independent shorts that you can watch in full-screen mode. Atomfilms has more than 1000 short films and animations from 30 seconds to 30 minutes long. At the Bijou Cafe you can watch contemporary shorts, cartoons, and classic serials. 1/04/01

You can start learning sign language at HandSpeak. Animations help you master the hand gestures. 1/08/01

If you drive, you'll want to check out The Ticket Assassin. What to do when and after the cop stops you. While developed for California drivers, most content applies to all states. 1/09/01

ADVENTURES OF ENLIGHTENED MAN: More on the frustrating and often confusing relationships between men and women. This and more can be found at Relationship Central 1/16/01

TIP. CLEANING UP YOUR DESKTOP: You can make all that icon clutter on your desktop go away and still have all your shortcuts a click away right from your taskbar. You can then enjoy your favorite wallpaper without those pesky icons getting in the way. You'll need Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher to do this. IE simply blows away Netscape Navigator with more features, and it seamlessly integrates with Windows 98. If you don't have IE, you can get it here. Enter "internet explorer" in ZDNet's Search For window and click GO. Go for the full version. Internet Explorer will download and install itself. Be sure to disable your antivirus program; then enable it after installation is complete.

OK, here we go. This is simple. Right click on you desktop. Select Active Desktop-View as Web Page. Right click on desktop again and select Properties. Click on the Effects tab. Click in the "Hide icons. . ." box. Click OK.

Almost there! Right click in an empty space on your taskbar. Select Toolbars; then click on Desktop. Now put your cursor right over over the little bar to the left of Desktop in your taskbar and drag it to the right until you don't see anything but Desktop and those two little arrow heads. Click on those little arrow heads and you'll find all your shortcuts. Right click on one and you can select Rename for a name you like. If you select Sort by Name, your shortcuts will be arranged alphabetically. Next time, I'll explain how to change your wallpaper( the background on your desktop). 1/18/01

TIP. CHANGING WALLPAPER: Wallpaper is the background on your desktop. Windows comes with its own wallpaper. Right click on your desktop. Select Properties, then Background. Play around here for awhile. Try different Display options. 

You can also right click on any image/graphic on a web site and select "Set as Wallpaper." Next time: the best wallpaper and screen saver on the Net.
1/21/01

Probably the best one-stop source for wallpaper is Webshots. Here you'll also find what might be the best screen saver around, and it's free, as are the millions of images you can use for your screen saver and wallpaper. In fact, if you like, you can have your wallpaper change every hour. This is a must-visit site. 1/22/01

Like pro basketball? OnHoops 1/23/01

Never pay e-tail! At these sites you can get good stuff at bargain basement $$:
Overstock    Andy's Garage Sale     SmartBargains 1/24/01

LIVE@: The place to find out about live online events. 1/25/01

HOUSE OF BLUES: Good place to find live music webcasts. Most are free. 1/26/01

AMG All Music Guide: Search by albums, artists, songs, styles, and labels. 1/27/01

MARKETING STUDENTS: What drives marketing people? 1/29/01

EVERY RULE: From etiquette to sports to games of all kinds. if it has rules, you'll find them at the place that has "every rule in the universe." 2/1/01

GREATEST FILMS: Specializing in classic Hollywood/American films. 2/3/01

ScienceMaster: Bills itself as "the Internet's science learning website." Covers all the major science categories. Interesting, informative, easy to understand. 2/5/01

PYRAMIDS: The Inside Story. 2/8/01

Cyberwrench: Automotive repair and maintenance website. Troubleshoot your car's problems. There's even a sound diagnostic tool. 2/9/01

Learn to type online (free) at Learn 2 Type. 2/14/01

The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World . . . and a world of knowledge. 2/16/01

Can't find that damn user/owner's manual? Try LiveManuals. 2/21/01

You can find out where to get it cheaper at the best comparison shopping site on the Web: mySimon, where you can compare products and prices. 2/23/01

Think Quest: Some of the most interesting and informative sites have been created by teachers and their students, often with multi-national cooperation. 2/24/01

All Recipes: Recipes, meal ideas, cooking advice. 2/28/01

Looking for a sound or sound effect? Try FindSounds.com/ 3/4/01

TIP: Basic Machine Maintenance. At least once week, perform these computer maintenance tasks: First, run Disk Cleanup; then, run Scan Disk; then, defragment. Always choose the Thorough option when running Scan Disk. You can do all three of these by right clicking on your drive's icon in Windows Explorer and then clicking on Properties. Look down to the right for Disk Cleanup. Click on Tools tab for other two. You can also find these three tools by clicking on Start-Programs-Accessories-System Tools.

Make sure your screen saver is disabled before doing any of these. To do this, right click on your desktop, select Properties, then Screen Saver. For screen saver, select "None". Click Apply-OK. Doing these simple tasks will help keep your machine running fast and trouble-free.
3/6/01

ABC's of Parenting: If you're a parent. . . . 3/8/01

WeMedia Disability Community  3/9/01

SoYouWanna.com: Teaches you how to do all those things you didn't learn in school. 3/14/01

The Electronic Zoo: If it's about animals, you'll find it at this virtual zoo. 3/15/01

Find a restaurant no matter where you are or where you're going at Menus.com 3/16/01

Are you New to the USA? 3/20/01

Tongue Twisters 3/24/00

Whatever or whomever you need to investigate, you will probably find the investigative resources at Webgator. 3/25/00

Ideas.com:Do you have any good ideas? Safely sell your ideas to top companies. See what companies are looking for specific ideas. 3/27/01

Want to Improve Your Memory? Head to Mind Tools 3/28/01

Government's 50 Greatest Endeavors 4/01/01
And you didn't think there were any. . . .

Are you in a relationship? Might find some helpful advice at Relationship Central.
4/02/01

Sex & Relationship Advice for women. 4/03/01

Secrets of Successful Flirts 4/04/01

Flirting manual, dating guide, dumping tutorial, kissing explained. . . .You'll find these and more at Adolescent Adulthood. 4/05/01
I'm on a roll with relationship sites! 

Love and Learn: Another good place for relationship advice. 4/05/01

The Nation's Report Card: See how well public school students are doing, including Wisconsin's. 4/6/00

Awesome astronomical images from the Anglo-Australian Observatory. 4/07/01

Windows to the Universe is a graphics intensive site about the Earth and Space sciences. 4/08/01

Know someone with impaired eyesight? IE Speakster is a free voice synthesizer that reads web pages to users. All they have to do is right click within the browser and select IE Speakster. 4/10/01

The Virtual Sun  4/11/01

Seeing, Hearing, and Smelling the World: Making sense of our senses. Interesting, fun with terrific graphics and animations. 4/12/01

Modern Humorist: Funny stuff!! 4/13/01

Campus Security Statistics 4/15/01

NATURE: Triumph of Life 4/16/01

Dawn of Humankind 4/17/01

Product reviews and reports by Consumer Search 4/19/01

Omni's Computer Humor Page 4/20/01

Family Law by the American Bar Association: Divorce, custody, child support, alimony. . .you get the idea. 4/21/01

Cracking the Code of Life from the PBS NOVA show. 4/22/01

Dangerous Things 4/23/01

Go to www.weatherbug.com to get a cool free download that will, among other things, put the current temp. in your taskbar. 4/26/01

Human Space Flight from NASA. 4/28/01

Find out Who's Alive and Who's Dead. 4/29/01

Taking a test? Say, for certification? Check All the Tests, "the best place to find tests to test your knowledge." 4/30/01

Earth's largest Internet radio network can be found at Live 365 , with over 33,000 stations. 5/01/01

Complete the IPIP inventory to find out what you're really like. This is the standard personality assessment used by psychologists. It contains 300 items and takes about 40 minutes to complete. After completing it, you'll receive your personality assessment in a few seconds. 5/06/01

1900 vs. Now: Contrast then with now. 5/07/01

Lightning Explorer: Find out where lightning is striking right now. 5/08/01

How to Become a U.S. Citizen: Step-by-step tutorial. 05/10/01

World's Tallest Buildings 5/12/01

NASA'S Planetary Photojournal. . Great images/wallpaper. 5/13/01

Picturing the Century: One hundred years of photography from the National Archives. 5/14/01

Audubon's Multimedia Birds of America: A real Net treasure that includes the full text, color plates, figures and bird calls. 5/18/01

American Cultural History: The Twentieth Century 5/21/01

Mysportsguru: FREE lessons in baseball, tennis, basketball, bowling, golf, inline skating, soccer. Improve your performance/skills. 5/23/01

Delta Wildlife and Nature Photography 5/25/01

Essentials of Music  For classical music lovers. 5/27/01

Learn Free: Multimedia learning video book guide provides free online instructions in a variety of areas. 5/28/01

Color Matters: Color can sway thinking, change actions, cause reactions, raise your blood pressure, suppress your appetite. Explore this one! 5/30/01

WORD POLICE: Do you have what it takes to be a word cop? Take the entrance exam and find out. 6/01/01

Live Web View: Your Window Over Rome. You can control the live cameras as you tour Rome. 6/03/01

Top Economic Events of the 20th Century. 6/04/01

Wildbrain:The Animation Network is the site to visit if you like animated stories. 6/07/01

If you have asthma, you'll want to check out Breath of Life. 6/08/01

Warning labels for dummies. You know. . .for everyone but you. 6/10/01

Beyond Affliction: The Disability History Project. 6/11/01

Guide to Black History from Britannica. 6/17/01

Free games, entertainment, stress relief at the 9 to 5 Cafe. 6/20/01

Men's Issues On The Internet. 6/23/01

Women's Issues On The Internet. 6/24/01

Conceiving A Clone. While you're at it, check out the other Think Quest entries. 6/25/01

The Slab. Find out for yourself.

Frequently Asked Questions Of The U.S. Government. 7/2/01

Looking @ Earth: Views of our planet from above. 7/5/01

Relationships Resources 7/8/01

Road Trip Guide from Rand McNally 7/10/01

Want to lower your bills, save money? You don't? Then don't go to LowerMyBills. 7/12/01

Thinking about starting your own business? Then visit the Startup Journal. 7/16/01

WOOF! is for dog lovers: How to select, feed, and train, as well as behavior modification. 7/18/01

At Tutorialfind you can "find tutorials on absolutely anything." 7/19/00

The National Women's Hall of Fame 7/20/01

If you like catalogs, you'll love The Catalog Site. 7/22/01

At The History Net, you'll find a home if you enjoy learning about the past. . . and I don't mean the dry textbook stuff. 7/23/01

U.S. Economy at a Glance 7/26/01

81 Secrets for Smart Computing 7/27/01

100 Hot Sites: Based on popularity. 7/28/01

Basics of Space Flight: Training module designed primarily to help Cal Tech's Jet Propulsion Laboratory's operations people identify and understand the range of concepts associated with deep space missions. Check it out if you are interested in interplanetary space flight. 7/30/01

Sports Central is for you hardcore sports fans who want more than just the scores. 8/1/01

EMERGENCIES AND FIRST AID 8/3/01

CATS: Just about everything. 8/6/01

DOGS: Just about everything. 8/7/01

Care For Pets: By the American Veterinary Medical Association. 8/8/01

Traffic Ticket Information Center 8/10/01

Exploratorium Snacks: Learn from and have fun with these science snacks. 8/13/01

COMPUTER FUNDAMENTALS 8/21/01

Pogo is one of the best game sites on the Net. 8/23/01

 If you need to know how to do something, you'll probably find a tutorial at FindTutorials. 8/24/01

Renderosity: Online graphic artists' community. 8/25/01

Capture the Moment: The Pulitzer Prize Photographs. 8/27/01

US Latino Websites, Latino Web Portals 8/28/01

MapQuest: Where to go; how to get there. 8/29/01

TIP: Want to have GOOGLE, considered by many to be the most powerful search engine on the Net, on your toolbar so that it's always with you when you're using your computer? Click here and run the 5 sec. installation. 8/30/01

AMG All Music Guide 9/2/00

NASA's Image Image Library 9/4/01

TIP: The question came up: How do I selectively print a portion of a document/page without printing the entire page/document? Left click on the first letter. Then move your cursor down to the last letter, and, while holding down the Shift key, left click on it. What you want to selectively print is now highlighted. Now, click on File/Print. When the print window opens, click on Selection, then on OK. Give it a try. Click on the T in TIP. Now, hold down the Shift key and click on the end of this sentence. Follow the instructions to print only what you've highlighted. 9/5/01

TIP: Put the Merriam-Webster Dictionary on you IE or Netscape Navigator toolbar. Just highlight a word and click on the dictionary icon. 9/7/01

Welcome, Firefighters Brothers and Sisters! 9/8/01

Think history is dry and dull? Biography of America might just change your mind. I periodically work my way through this site, one section per day.9/10/01

The Harvard Medical School Family Health Guide. 9/11/01

The Human Face 9/12/01

Sonicnet: Probably the best music site. 9/17/01

Stem Cells: A Primer  9/18/01

Police Science Students: Corrections and Law Enforcement. 9/22/01

How To Clean Anything. 9/23/01

EMusic:  "The Internet's Most Popular MP3 Music Service" 9/26/01

Free E-Mail Stationery For Outlook Express and Outlook, Plus Free Screen Savers and Wallpaper. 10/01/01

HyperArt: Digital art and modern art photography. 10/02/10

EMERGENCY MEDICINE 10/13/01

EMERGENCY MEDICAL AND FAMILY HEALTH GUIDE  10/14/01

INFORMATION AND ITS COUNTERFEITS: PROPAGANDA, MISINFORMATION, AND DISINFORMATION 10/16/01

50 BEST GAME SITES 10/19/01

Fast Facts About American Women 10/20/01

YumYum: The recipe website for everyday cooks. 10/21/01

Consumer Search: Product reviews 10/22/01

CARFAX: Vehicle history reports. Find out that used car's history before you buy it. 10/24/01

The Odds of Gambling: You may never again gamble or purchase a lottery ticket.10/25/01

Artcyclopedia: Guide to museum quality art on the Internet. 10/31/01

Art History Resources On The Net 11/01/01

Find A Grave 11/04/01

Need to remove a stain? Go to Stain Removal. 11/05/01

Free Virus Scan 11/09/01

Utorials: Write what you know; read what you don't. 11/10/01

Internet Scam Busters 11/11/01

Do It Yourself: Stop junk mail, e-mail, and phone calls. 11/12/01

American Field Guide: Immerse yourself in the great outdoors with sights and sounds without ever leaving your desk . Over 1,400 video clips. 11/15/01

Ebert & Roeper and the Movies 11/17/01

The Roots of American Music 11/19/01

Buyer's Index: Search 20,000 web shopping sites and mail-order catalogs with over 300,000,000 product offerings. 11/23/01

College Stories: . . . .and I'm not talking about how to be a successful student. 11/24/01

Consumer Sentinel: Facts on consumer frauds and scams, identity theft, consumer tips. 11/25/01

EMusic: World's most popular MP3 service. 11/27/01

Dumb Crooks 12/03/01

MIT'S Artificial Intelligence Lab  12/04/01

Heroic Stories: A new one e-mailed to you each day.12/09/01

Temperature Extremes In The U.S. 12/10/01

Auto Troubleshooting Guide: Now what's wrong with this damn thing? 12/11/01

HOW NOW: Magazine for graphic designers. 12/15/01

Buying and Owning a Home: Everything you need to know. 12/16/01

Pregnancy Health Center: From preconception to postpartum. 12/18/01

Addictive Games: High quality and free. 12/20/01

Trade Secrets: The truth about the thousands of chemicals that surround us and how a part of our daily lives has been compromised. 12/26/01

Radio Locator: Find the radio station, type of music, even stations from other countries with this comprehensive radio station search engine.12/27/01

Wild World from National Geographic. 1/02/02

24-7 Online Psychology Network: Talk to a psychologist now. 1/04/02

Keyboard Shortcuts 1/09/02

Symantec Free Security Check: Free virus and security check for your PC. Also, check out Gibson Research ( Click on Shields Up ). 1/11/02

MVTV: The ultimate Hollywood stock photo resource. 1/14/02

Television Archive: September 11, 2002 1/15/02
Don't miss this one!!

AVG Anti-Virus System is a free anti-virus program that can be downloaded and updated from the Web.1/16/02

How Verbal Self-Defense Works 1/19/02

Famous, Rare American Documents: Treasures from the National Archives. 1/20/02

Do It Yourself: Home improvement, repair, remodeling guide.1/21/02

Rescue 1 F.D.N.Y 1/22/02

Hangover Remedies 1/24/02

Crime Library 1/29/02

Getting Married? You'll want to visit these sites. Of course, they're for women. Men just want to get it over with. The Knot   Modern Bride    Wedding Channel  2/02/02

Global Issues That Affect Everyone 2/06/02

Ten Commandments for Con Men 2/07/02

Top Ten Dot Cons: "Scam artists can be just a click away." 2/08/02

Travel Wisconsin: Places to go, things to do.2/09/02

TIP: To jump quickly to a web site, go to the address bar at the top of your browser and type in the web site's name. Then hit Ctrl-Enter. For example, type in CNN, and then hit Ctrl-Enter. The rest of the URL will magically appear and you'll instantly jump to CNN's web site. Try it now. 2/10/02

Free Investing Classes Online 2/14/02

Journeywoman: An online travel magazine for women. 2/15/02

ESL Cyber Listening Lab 2/16/02

Fraud Trends 2/22/02

Vehix: "Road map to the automotive world." Ready to buy or sell? 2/22/02

Savings and Investing Basics 2/24/02

LOVE AND PERSONALITY TESTS 2/26/02

YEAR REVIEW 2001 2/28/02

WEATHER: : No, not the forecast! 3/1/02

FIND ARTICLES: Free article search. 3/2/02

Online Rhyming Dictionary for poetry and songwriting.3/5/02

INDEX OF THE ALMANACS 3/9/02

TIP: KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS 3/10/02

E-MAIL TRIVIA: Spice up your e-mail with jokes, poems, quotes, music, on this day, did you know. . . . 3/12/02

F-SECURE: Virus security information center. 3/16/02

TOP TEN VIRUSES 3/17/02

VIRUS ALERTS 3/18/02

The Genetics Revolution 3/23/02

Handy How-To Tips 3/24/02

ASTRONOMICAL IMAGES from the Anglo-Australian Observatory. 3/25/02

ATTACK ON AMERICA at Global Security's website. Content you won't find on CNN or FOX, including satellite images of Afghanistan. 3/26/02

BIOGRAPHY OF THE YEAR 2001 3/27/02

Where Is( right now ) The International A Space Station? 3/28/02

Cable Modem Help: Answers for cable modem users. 4/01/02

BugBios: Insects on the Web. Stunning images!! 4/02/02

UFO's at the CIA's electronic reading room. 4/07/02

Trace Your Family's History. 4/08/02

Survivalist Information Library: You won't believe this one! 4/10/02

Landmarks in 20th Century Science 4/11/02

E-Mail Games 4/13/02

Frequently Asked Questions of the U.S. Government 4/14/02

Clinical Depression : What you need to know. 4/15/02

When Was The Dawn of Man? 4/18/02

Do You Suffer From Weather Mania?4/21/02

Free Music Downloads At Artist Direct. 4/22/02

U.S. Economy At A Glance 4/23/02

Bankrate.com: Mortgage rates, auto loans, credit cards, practical financial matters. 4/25/02

Practical Guide For Improving Your Memory 4/26/02

Most Expensive Homes In America 2002 5/05/02

The Tornado Project Online 5/08/02

Earth's Current Temperature And Clouds 5/09/02

TIP: Copy and Paste. You can copy just about anything from a web page--images, graphics, highlighted text--and paste it on to an e-mail,  word-processed document, Power Point presentation. Just right click on what you want to copy and select Copy from the menu. Then put the cursor where you want to paste it. Go to the tool bar and click on the paste icon or click on Edit-Paste. 5/11/02

Baseball Think Factory 5/13/02

Baseball Reference: 5/14/02

Funny Photos 5/15/02

Free Screen Savers: You can even make your own screen saver.5/17/02

Computer Virus Myths And Hoaxes 5/18/02

The Industry Standard: For Net heads only. 5/22/02

Best Free Reference Web Sites 2001 5/24/02

The National Portrait Gallery: What did they look like? 5/27/02

Workout: Just do it!! 5/29/02

TIP: To jump to the top of a web page, hit the Home key on your keyboard. To jump to the bottom of a web page, hit the End key. 6/4/02

Worldwide Internet Music Resources 6/5/02

Unwanted Telephone Marketing Calls 6/6/02

Logic Puzzles: Bend your brain. 6/8/02

Body Language 6/10/02

Get Big: Body building and fitness info. 6/13/02

Great Images from NASA's library of images. 6/14/02

Worst Of The Web 6/15/02

Are You A Riddle Nut? 6/16/02

AfriCam: See Africa. . .live! 6/19/02

Homeland Security 6/20/02

TIP: You can scroll one line or more at a time by using your up and down arrow keys. 6/21/02

Trend Micro Virus Information: Virus alerts and advisories, plus free online virus scan.6/25/02

Health and Environment from TIME's Visions of the 21st Century. Be sure to check out the other areas in this series.  6/26/02

The Lazy Gourmet Cooking Page: "For the cook in all of us."6/27/02

Better Business Bureau: See if that retailer has had any complaints. 6/29/02

eComplaints: Not being listened to? Want to file a complaint against a business? 6/30/02

Most Expensive Homes In America 2002 6/31/02

TIRED OF THE LOUSY SERVICE AND TREATMENT FROM AMERITECH? HERE'S A LIST OF LOCAL SERVICE COMPETITORS FROM THE PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION. 7/02/02

The Useless Pages 7/04/02

Reel Top 40 Radio Repository: Did you grow up listening to a top 40 station? Go back and listen again. 7/05/02

An Atlas Of The Universe 7/06/02

TIP: Online Help--No matter what you're doing on your PC, if you need online help, press your F1 key.7/07/02

Online Books Page: You'll be amazed at the books found here that are available free online.7/08/02

The Skyscraper Museum 7/09/02

The Nation's Report Card from the National Center For Education Statistics. 7/10/02

NFA Self-Study Courses for firefighters and fire science students from the U.S.Fire Administration. 7/11/02

SPINNER: Simply the best Net radio site for listening to music, every kind of music. Download the free Spinner 4.0 Internet Radio with 150 channels of free music, or listen from the site. You can also listen to full cuts from latest CD's. 7/12/02

Kids Health: For parents.7/13/02

Rock & Roll at 50: : A history in pictures. 14/02

Sports Central: "All sports all the time." 7/15/02

Depression After Delivery: Postpartum depression resource.7/16/02

Building Big: Large structures and what it takes to build them. 7/18/02

TIP: You can move backwards and forwards on the Net by holding down the Alt key and pressing your left or right arrow key.7/19/02

The Unbound Bible: Collection of searchable Bibles, including 42 versions in other languages and Bible tools. 7/20/02

The LifeStyle Optimizer: Relocation, best places to live, crime climate. . .you get the idea.7/21/02

Web Talk Guys Radio Show: Listen to their broadcasts.7/22/02

The Clothing Network: A portal for clothing, apparel, and garment stores.7/23/02

The Catalog Site: Includes alphabetical listing of most catalogs. And you can purchase catalog items from this site.7/23/02

BIBLE CONTRADICTIONS 7/24/02

Encyclopedia Titanica: A resource for anyone interested in Titanic research. 7/25/02

Recipe Source: Tour source for recipes on the Internet. 7/27/02

NASA Human Space Flight 7/28/02

The Slab Directory 2002: ABC Science Online.7/30/02

Global Issues That Affect Everyone 7/01/02

Traffic Ticket.Com: Traffic ticket attorney locator and traffic ticket information center. 8/01/02

American Psychological Association Help Center 8/02/02

Atomica Archive: History, science, and consequences of the atomic bomb.8/03/02

Booklend: A lending library by mail.8/04/02

The Adam Health Illustrated Encyclopedia 8/06/02

Simpson's Contemporary Quotations 8/07/02

Rationality Of Islam 8/08/02

Brain Candy: Trivia Collections of Unusual Facts 8/11/02

TIP: Just enter the name of the site you're looking for into your browser's address window and hit Ctrl-Enter. The rest is filled in for you. 8/12/02

The Parent's Home Office: You have kids. You work at home--or  at least try to. 8/13/02

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution 8/14/02

Unisys Weather: Not just another weather site!8/15/02

CEO Express: For Business majors. Business portal for executives created by a CEO.8/16/02

TIP: Your browser should be Internet Explorer 6.0. Hands down, IE beats other browsers, including Netscape. First, web masters design web sites to be compatible with IE. Many sites have features and content that can be experienced only with IE. Second, IE blends seamlessly with Windows Operating Systems. Finally, IE simply has more features than other browsers have. You can get it here. 8/18/02

MAILSHELL: Easy-to-use anti-spam technology. 8/19/02

YAHOO: Elected Officials, Issues & Action, Election, Media Guide 8/20/02

America on Alert: From the TIME archive.8/21/02

Internet Hoax Busters 8/24/02

House Of Blues ( Live ) Digital Radio Network 8/25/02

National Drivers License Database: Find anyone's drivers license and photo, including yours. 8/26/02 

The Encyclopedia of Television 8/27/02

Stories of the Century Quicktime Movies 8/28/02

TIP: If your computer won't start ( boot up), then restart in Safe Mode. Restart your computer using Ctrl-Alt-Delete or turn it off and turn it back on. As soon as something appears on your monitor, hold down the Ctrl or Shift key. From the menu that loads, select Safe Mode and press Enter. Once you are in Safe Mode, run Scan Disk and then restart your computer. To run Scan Disk, go to Start-Programs-Accessories-System Tools-ScanDisk. Scan Disk will probably correct the problem. If it doesn't, click on Start-Help in Safe Mode and start exploring.8/29/02

Thinks.com: Fun and games for playful brains. 8/30/02

The Planetary Society SETI Page: Use your computer to help SETI search for life on other planets. 8/31/02

The Complete History Of The Discovery Of Cinema 9/01/02

Repair Clinic: Appliance parts and repair help.9/02/02

Roots Web: Trace your roots, and look for your ancestors. 9/03/02

Fire Safety Fact Sheets from the U.S. Fire Administration. 9/05/02

Ultimate Rollercoaster 9/06/02

EMail Trivia: Spice up your e-mail.9/07/02

Cagey Consumer: Internet scammers and scams.9/08/02

Trade Secrets: This PBS Moyers report reveals how the public's right to know about the thousands of chemicals that surround us has been compromised. 9/10/02

Photos Of The Great War 9/11/02

Children Of The Camps: Japanese American children behind barbed wire during World War II. 9/13/02

TIP: Do not use your ATM bank card for Internet charges. Someone, after acquiring your card number, could empty your checking account. If someone, after getting your card or card number, runs up unauthorized charges, you're liable for only $50. 9/14/02 

Humor Links 9/14/02

You Are Where You Live: Find out who you are. 9/16/02

Radio Locator: List of radio stations on the Interner.9/20/02

QuitNet: A free resource to quit smoking. 9/22/02

Stress Management Techniques 9/25/02

The Sweet Lure Of CHOCOLATE. 9/26/02

AAA Foundation For Traffic Safety: Interesting research on traffic safety. 9/28/02

Cooking.com: Love to spend time playing in the kitchen? Get out your credit card! 9/30/02

American Currency Exhibit  10/1/02

A Science Odyssey 10/4/02

Great River Road-Wisconsin: Breathtaking road trip! 10/6/02

Islam: Empire of Faith 10/8/02

National Air And Space Museum 10/9/02

Bill Gates' New Rules 10/10/02

Movie Review Query Engine 10/11/02

TIP: Don't simply delete an application/program. Application programs are usually found in folders under Programs. If you delete the program's folder and its contents, you haven't gotten rid of all of it. Other parts of the program are in other places on your hard drive such Windows' registry.

To remove an application/program, you must uninstall it. Go to Start-Settings-Control Panel-Add/Remove Programs. Many applications have their on uninstall programs. To find out, go to Start-Programs. Move your cursor over the program you want to remove and double-click uninstall. 10/12/02

All Things Southern 10/13/02

Radio-Locator 10/14/02

The New York Review of Books: Much, much more that just book reviews. This is heavy-duty brain food for those who like to think and be well informed. Not for intellectual light weights! 10/15/02

The Parent's Home Office: You have kids. You work at home. . .or at least you try to.10/16/02

MIDDLE EAST CRISIS:
Israel And The Palestinians: In Depth ( BBC )
Mideast Struggle For Peace: In Depth ( CNN )
Battle For The Holy Land ( PBS Frontline )
10/17/02

Stress Relief And Other Desktop Toys 10/20/02

Explore At Scientific American 10/21/02

SISSYFIGHT 2000 10/25/02

Roswell UFO Crash And Project Mogul 10/27/02

Rate Yourself: How do you measure up? 10/29/02

Science Toys You Can Make With Your Kids 10/31/02

Sherlock Holmes 11/1/02

Portals To The World 11/2/02

Today's Front Pages: 133 front pages from 23 countries. 11/04/02

The Civil War: The PBS series by Ken Burns.11/6/02

Guide To Law Online 11/10/02

Free Answers: "Solve computer-related problems simply by asking questions in plain every-day language." 11/13/02

The Webby Awards: 2002 Winners 11/15/02

The Unbound Bible: Collection of searchable Bibles and Bible tools.11/16/02

Healthy Pets Healthy People 11/20/02

BBC: Country Profiles Includes audio and video clips. 11/21/02

Mental Health Information  11/22/02

The Underground Railroad: "You are a slave." 11/23/02

Remembering Nagasaki 11/25/02

Quote Geek: "Your favorite quotations online." 11/26/02

Fire Safety 12/02/02

The World's Water 12/5/02

Standardized Test Success: For parents! 12/6/02

BBC Learning: Subject listing 12/8/02

Clocks And Screensavers: Free downloadable clocks 12/10/02

Hubble Wallpaper: Spectacular images of "out there." 12/12/02

RealEstateJournal: City Profiles 12/16/02

Secrets Of The Dead: Crime scene investigations meet history.12/18/02

MSNBC's Health Library 12/20/02

Planetary Fact Sheets 12/21/02

Silent Movies: As in before talkies. . . .12/22/02

A Four Step Way Of Dealing With Conflict 12/26/02

TIP: If you have trouble restarting your PC, try this: Restart your computer. The moment you see anything come up on your monitor, hold down your Ctrl key. When a menu appears, use the arrow keys to select Safe Mode and hit Enter. Once in Safe Mode, run ScanDisk. Make sure Thorough is selected. To run ScanDisk, go to Start-Programs-Accessories-System Tools-ScanDisk. After running ScanDisk, restart your PC. Hopefully, everything's up and running. If the menu comes up again, select Normal and hit Enter. 12/28/02

Stories Of The Century Movies: You can watch them now on your computer. Included is a clip of the A-bombing of Hiroshima. 1/01/03

Famous Birthdays: Who else was born on your birthday? 1/08/03

MP3 Newswire 1/10/03

Studs Terkel's Conversations With America 1/13/03

MEDLINEplus: Interactive health tutorials on diseases/conditions and tests/diagnostic procedures. 1/17/03

The Gene Hunters1/18/03

The Literature Network: Literature Online 1/24/03

Kite Aerial Photography 1/26/03

The Police Notebook: Loads of helpful information!! 2/02/03

Mind Tools  2/03/03

Mathematical Lego Sculptures 2/05/03

Interactive Music Museum 2/06/03

TIP: You can find many small programs on the Net that will prevent you from getting disconnected while surfing. The one I've used for two years with good results is Stay Connected. 2/08/03

Museum Of Broadcast Communications 2/13/03

The September 11 Web Archive 2/16/03

HORSES 2/20/03

Wisconsin No-Call List 2/25/03

Recipe Source: Searchable online archive of recipes.2/27/03

Webtender: Drink recipes and bartending guide. 3/01/03

From The U.S. Department Of Homeland Security: BE READY 3/03/03

Paleomap Project: Includes impressive animations. Winner of several science web site awards.3/07/03

Yahoo! In Spanish 3/09/03

The FutureMinders: For serious astrology believers! 3/11/03

World Time Server: Any time, anywhere. 3/18/03

MSN Maps & Driving Directions 3/19/03

Women Of The Century 3/21/03

African Voices 3/28/03

Explore The Moon: See what it's like to walk on the moon. 4/3/03

How Space Shuttles Work 4/5/03

Free Online Spell Checker 5/15/03

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Virtual Guide Books 5/19/03

Einstein Archives Online 5/22/03

Merck Veterinary Manual 5/24/03

The Encyclopedia Of Television 5/27/03

Web Accessories: Add new features to Internet Explorer. 5/28/03

U.S. Secret Service: Know Your Money. 6/05/03

What Time Is It? 6/08/03

TIP: You can copy and paste just about any image and text found on a web site. Say you want to email an image from a web site. Open your email and place the cursor where you want the image to appear. Right click on the image on the web site and select Copy. In your email, click on Edit in the toolbar and select Paste. You can do the same with highlighted text on a web site. 6/13/03

The Webtender: An on-line bartender. 6/14/03

GOOGLE TOOLBAR: Put Google's toolbar on Internet Explorer's toolbar. Take the power of Google with you anywhere on the Web. 6/19/03

Tox Town: Cool site. . . .and scary! See what's poisoning you. 6/20/03

United Press International News Photos: 1000's of photos captured daily by UPI's global network of photographers. 6/21/03

Movie Review Query Engine: Find out if it's worth the money. 6/25/03

Screen Saver Of the Day 6/26/03

United States Counties 6/27/03

Internet Clocks, Counters, And Countdowns 6/28/03

Free Pop-Up And SPAM Blockers 7/03/03

Merck Manual of Health Information: Home Edition 7/04/03

Home School Research 7/05/03

The Library Of Congress: : You couldn't explore this resource in a lifetime. 7/06/03

Fire Photos 7/07/03

Urban Legends Reference Pages 7/10/03

Wisconsin Police And Sheriff Departments 7/11/03

Stress Management Techniques 7/13/03

Stories Of The Century Movies 7/15/03

Company Annual Reports 7/18/03

Chapter One: First chapters of selected new books.7/21/03

Geek.com: The Online Technology Resource 7/28/03

Country Profiles: Guide to history, politics, and economic background of countries. 7/29/03

Web Accessories 7/30/03

TIP: Get a free virus scan at Trend Micro. 8/01/03

Original Penpals Website: Mailfriends, penpals, ecards, postcards, chat, find friends.8/4/03

Depression: From the National Institute Of Mental Health 8/4/03

NOVA ROMA: Rome reborn. 8/06/03

Madison, Wisconsin, City Profile 8/10/03

Totally Off The Record: What's your work story? 8/13/043

100 Greatest Songs From The Past 25 Years from VH1. 8/16/03

Shutterline: Advice, digital camera forum, photo contests that you can enter. 8/19/03

Every Rule In The Universe, All Categories 9/10/03

America's Best: Science, Medicine, Artists, Entertainers, Society, Culture  9/12/03

International Country Calling Codes 9/13/03

3D Screensavers 9/14/03

National Gallery Of Art: Online tours, exhibitions, beautiful wallpaper.9/19/03

Nation's Report Card: National Center For Education Statistics 9/20/03

The New SAT 9/21/03

Encyclopedia of Finance: Become financially/money literate. 9/22/03

Auto Directory 10/02/03

Radio Station Guide 10/03/03

An American Time Capsule 10/04/03

National Mental Health Information Center 10/17/03

Astronaut Photography Of Earth 10/19/03

War Report: Iraq and Afghanistan: Articles, documents, analyses 10/20/03

Information USA: Authoritative resource for foreign audiences seeking information about American society, political processes, official U.S. policies and culture. 10/30/03

Recipe Source: Recipes on the Internet 10/31/03 

Women Of Our Time 11/01/03

African Voices 11/06/03

The Dialectzer: Convert English texts to comic dialects. 11/10/03

The First Thanksgiving 11/15/03

Eat Chicken: The ultimate chicken recipe database. 11/24/03

Free IQ Tests from the International H IQ Society. 11/26/03

Genetics Home Reference: Guide to understanding genetic conditions. 11/29/03

BBC Learning: Explore, participate, learn. 12/29/03

Every Rule In The Universe 1/02/04

Free Screen Savers 1/05/04

Frugal How To Articles 1/07/04

PC Virus Security Information Center 1/10/04

Investing Basics For A College Education 1/14/04

Portals To The World From The Library of Congress 1/16/04

Lifestyle: Your guide to better living. 1/18/04

TIP: No matter what you're doing on your computer, if you have a question about it or need help with it, press the F1 key. For example, if you are sending an e-mail and are not sure how to send an attachment, simply press F1 while your e-mail is running. 1/19/04

National Highway Traffic And Safety Administration 1/24/04

Search Systems: Largest Free Public Records Data Base Collection 2/12/04

Mysteries: The Number 11 In 9/11/01   2/13/04

New And Used Textbooks 2/15/04

The Google Compute Project 2/26/04

The Classic IQ Test 2/29/04

Today's Front Pages 3/5/04

Spotting Fad Diets 3/15/04

Wired For Books 3/17/04

Search Cancer 3/19/04

American Slave Narratives 4/1/04

Basics Of Space Flight 4/04/04

Degree Search/Match: Find the right school. 4/10/04

EconData.Net: Regional economic data on the Web 4/14/04

FunnyMail  4/29/04

Hand Speak: Visual Languages 5/2/04

Lower My Bills 5/04/03

Historical Atlas Of The 20th Century 5/25/04

A Cheat Sheet For Millionaires To Be 5/30/04

Images Of Wisconsin 6/3/04

Textbooks: New And Used 6/5/04

Writers On America 6/6/04

Gardening From The BBC 6/15/04

Becoming Human (You don't need broadband; just a little patience) 6/16/04

Economic Statistics Briefing Room 6/17/04

The White House 6/18/04

Barnes & Noble University: Free online courses and reading groups 1/15/05

TheBigDay Wedding/Honeymoon Registry  1/16/05

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 


 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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CREATING A DESKTOP SHORTCUT: The icons on your desktop ( what you see on your monitor after you turn on your computer when everything stops loading ) are shortcuts. You can easily put a shortcut to any application or Web site on you desktop. To create a shortcut to this Web site, first click on "Home" above. Next, right click on any empty space on the home page. Now, select "Create Shortcut " and left click on it. A shortcut to this Web site's home page is on your desktop.

To create a shortcut to an application, click on "Start"; then select "Programs." Move your cursor to the application that you want to create a shortcut to. Right click on it. Make sure you click on the icon that opens your application. Select "Send to" and click on "Desktop (shortcut)." It's that simple!

What if the application/program is not in your programs folder? Click on "Start", to "Programs", to "Windows Explorer."  In Explorer, click to open the folder containing the application/program you want to create a shortcut to from your desktop. Right click over the application icon. Select "Send to" and click on "Desktop (shortcut)." Make sure you click on the program's .exe.

 

 

 

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bulletGOD IS GONE. DETAILS AT TEN. Sometimes good writing serves no purpose other than to amuse and entertain. NOTE: Links in this article do not work.
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Skeptical Inquirer Subscribe Back Issues Comment to the Editor
: July/August 1999  

God Is Dead, After Weather and Sports

Mike Reiss

Late in the millennium, astrophysicists perfected the Grand Unified Field Theory, found the last scraps of "missing matter" in the universe, and proved, quite by accident, that God does not exist. Or, at best, God was not a very awesome particle, one billion-billion-billionth the size of a pea, with the static electricity charge of an infinitely small sock stuck to a tiny sweater. The media reported this story with the same breathless style they used in "Salt is a Killer" in 1991 and "Salt is a Miracle Cure" in 1998. And the public reacted to reports of God's non-existence as it had to such shocking stories as Darwin's theory of evolution or Michael Jackson's pederasty:

Day 1: That can't possibly be true.

Day 2: I kind of knew it all along.

The jig was up for religious leaders all over the world, and many decided to come clean. From Britain, the long-suppressed introduction to the King James Bible was released: "This is a booke of instructional tayles for children and the weak of minde, and not to be taken too seriously." Israeli archaeologists confessed that the Dead Sea Scrolls were a rather crude forgery which contained such glaring anachronisms as "toothpaste," "steam engine," and "Phil Silvers." And Chinese scholars admitted that the chubby smiling Buddha began life as a corporate logo for pickled eel in the third century; he was, in effect, the Bob's Big Boy of his time.

And so the world began to accept life without God. Christians who had been searching for an excuse to skip church now had a humdinger. Jews could finally eat pork without guilt, and found it didn't taste nearly as good that way. Contrarily, millions of starving Hindus were quite happy to eat the sacred cows which had sauntered through their streets for centuries. By year's end, India's leading killer had gone from hunger to hypertension, and the clichι of the portly, red-faced Hindu was born.

All but the most fun religious holidays soon passed into obscurity. Easter: in. Lent: out. Hanukkah stayed, while Yom Kippur was replaced with Hanukkah II. Ramadan, the Moslem period of fasting, sobriety, and sexual abstinence, was shortened from twenty-eight days to twenty-eight seconds. Christmas, which had long ago been stripped of any religious meaning, was virtually unchanged.

All over the world, houses of worship lost their tax-exempt status and were forced to shut down. Mosques became banks, cathedrals were converted into multiplexes. Dozens of small churches were turned into a chain of coffee shops called "St. Arbucks." They were wildly successful in 2003, and bankrupt a year later.

In 2008, the Catholic Church had a massive going out of business sale, auctioning off all its religious art. The Last Supper now graces the lobby of Mitsubishi International in Osaka. The Sistine Chapel ceiling was moved intact to Trump's Vaticasino in Atlantic City; cigarette smoke has undone all the restoration work and it now looks worse than ever. Larry Flynt bought the Pieta, and what he's done with it is too gruesome to speculate on.

The Vatican, now stripped of its treasures, installed a water slide to attract tourists. It didn't work. As for the Pope, he became just another celebrity, famous for being famous. He had a talk show on the USA Network, he did a brandy ad, he cut a country and western album. His infomercial for a vibrating massage chair can be seen on many cable channels at three a.m. He married Linda Evans.

One thing did not happen in the post-God world: there was not a total moral collapse. People who didn't have sex because they were too religious now didn't have sex because they were too ugly. A Dallas man who didn't kill his hated wife out of fear of God, now didn't kill her out of fear of the Texas Department of Corrections. In fact, he never killed her-they remained married for fifty-eight years. In the last six years of his life, the man grew demented and began to think his wife was his mother; he died more in love with her than he could possibly imagine.

And so the Godless world plugged along-people were lustier, greedier, prouder, angrier, more envious, gluttonous, and slothful-but not so much you'd notice. They were also a little happier, until July 18, 2036, when geologists taking deep core samples discovered there really was a Hell and we were all going there.

 

About the Author

Mike Reiss co-conceived and produced The Simpsons television episode "The Springfield Files" (The Simpsons meet the X-Files) described in the September/October 1997 Skeptical Inquirer. He lives in Los Angeles.

 
   
   

 


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SINGER'S SOLUTION: In this beautifully crafted essay, Peter Singer offers a simple solution to world poverty. He carefully leads his readers to his solution through a series of comparisons using hypothetical (made-up ) examples. He doesn't preach to, scold, condemn, or criticize his readers.  He does make them reflect and question. When you finish reading this essay, you will know what you should do to implement Singer's solution. 

           Do you find Singer's reasoning persuasive? Explain.
           Are his comparisons valid? Explain.
           Does Singer effectively anticipate and address your reactions and questions? Explain and 
           provide examples.
           Do you find Singer's essay to be coherent, his reasoning easy to follow? Explain.
           Where is Singer's thesis statement?

The Singer Solution to World Poverty

A contentious ethicist explains why your taste for foie gras is starving children. By PETER SINGER Illustrations by ROSS MacDONALD

The Australian philosopher Peter Singer, who later this month begins teaching at Princeton University, is perhaps the world's most controversial ethicist. Many readers of his book "Animal Liberation" were moved to embrace vegetarianism, while others recoiled at Singer's attempt to place humans and animals on an even moral plane. Similarly, his argument that severely disabled infants should, in some cases, receive euthanasia has been praised as courageous by some — and denounced by others, including anti-abortion activists, who have protested Singer's Princeton appointment.

Singer's penchant for provocation extends to more mundane matters, like everyday charity. A recent article about Singer in The New York Times revealed that the philosopher gives one-fifth of his income to famine-relief agencies. "From when I first saw pictures in newspapers of people starving, from when people asked you to donate some of your pocket money for collections at school," he mused, "I always thought, 'Why that much — why not more?"'

Is it possible to quantify our charitable burden? In the following essay, Singer offers some unconventional thoughts about the ordinary American's obligations to the world's poor and suggests that even his own one-fifth standard may not be enough.

 





In the Brazilian film "Central Station," Dora is a retired schoolteacher who makes ends meet by sitting at the station writing letters for illiterate people. Suddenly she has an opportunity to pocket $1,000. All she has to do is persuade a homeless 9-year-old boy to follow her to an address she has been given. (She is told he will be adopted by wealthy foreigners.) She delivers the boy, gets the money, spends some of it on a television set and settles down to enjoy her new acquisition. Her neighbor spoils the fun, however, by telling her that the boy was too old to be adopted — he will be killed and his organs sold for transplantation. Perhaps Dora knew this all along, but after her neighbor's plain speaking, she spends a troubled night. In the morning Dora resolves to take the boy back.

Suppose Dora had told her neighbor that it is a tough world, other people have nice new TV's too, and if selling the kid is the only way she can get one, well, he was only a street kid. She would then have become, in the eyes of the audience, a monster. She redeems herself only by being prepared to bear considerable risks to save the boy.

At the end of the movie, in cinemas in the affluent nations of the world, people who would have been quick to condemn Dora if she had not rescued the boy go home to places far more comfortable than her apartment. In fact, the average family in the United States spends almost one-third of its income on things that are no more necessary to them than Dora's new TV was to her. Going out to nice restaurants, buying new clothes because the old ones are no longer stylish, vacationing at beach resorts — so much of our income is spent on things not essential to the preservation of our lives and health. Donated to one of a number of charitable agencies, that money could mean the difference between life and death for children in need.


Related Article
Princeton's New Philosopher Draws a Stir (April 10, 1999)


All of which raises a question: In the end, what is the ethical distinction between a Brazilian who sells a homeless child to organ peddlers and an American who already has a TV and upgrades to a better one — knowing that the money could be donated to an organization that would use it to save the lives of kids in need?

Of course, there are several differences between the two situations that could support different moral judgments about them. For one thing, to be able to consign a child to death when he is standing right in front of you takes a chilling kind of heartlessness; it is much easier to ignore an appeal for money to help children you will never meet. Yet for a utilitarian philosopher like myself — that is, one who judges whether acts are right or wrong by their consequences — if the upshot of the American's failure to donate the money is that one more kid dies on the streets of a Brazilian city, then it is, in some sense, just as bad as selling the kid to the organ peddlers. But one doesn't need to embrace my utilitarian ethic to see that, at the very least, there is a troubling incongruity in being so quick to condemn Dora for taking the child to the organ peddlers while, at the same time, not regarding the American consumer's behavior as raising a serious moral issue.

In his 1996 book, "Living High and Letting Die," the New York University philosopher Peter Unger presented an ingenious series of imaginary examples designed to probe our intuitions about whether it is wrong to live well without giving substantial amounts of money to help people who are hungry, malnourished or dying from easily treatable illnesses like diarrhea. Here's my paraphrase of one of these examples:

Bob is close to retirement. He has invested most of his savings in a very rare and valuable old car, a Bugatti, which he has not been able to insure. The Bugatti is his pride and joy. In addition to the pleasure he gets from driving and caring for his car, Bob knows that its rising market value means that he will always be able to sell it and live comfortably after retirement. One day when Bob is out for a drive, he parks the Bugatti near the end of a railway siding and goes for a walk up the track. As he does so, he sees that a runaway train, with no one aboard, is running down the railway track. Looking farther down the track, he sees the small figure of a child very likely to be killed by the runaway train. He can't stop the train and the child is too far away to warn of the danger, but he can throw a switch that will divert the train down the siding where his Bugatti is parked. Then nobody will be killed -- but the train will destroy his Bugatti. Thinking of his joy in owning the car and the financial security it represents, Bob decides not to throw the switch. The child is killed. For many years to come, Bob enjoys owning his Bugatti and the financial security it represents.

 

You shouldn't take that cruise, redecorate the house or get that pricey new suit. After all, a $1,000 suit could save five children's lives.


Bob's conduct, most of us will immediately respond, was gravely wrong. Unger agrees. But then he reminds us that we, too, have opportunities to save the lives of children. We can give to organizations like Unicef or Oxfam America. How much would we have to give one of these organizations to have a high probability of saving the life of a child threatened by easily preventable diseases? (I do not believe that children are more worth saving than adults, but since no one can argue that children have brought their poverty on themselves, focusing on them simplifies the issues.) Unger called up some experts and used the information they provided to offer some plausible estimates that include the cost of raising money, administrative expenses and the cost of delivering aid where it is most needed. By his calculation, $200 in donations would help a sickly 2-year-old transform into a healthy 6-year-old — offering safe passage through childhood's most dangerous years. To show how practical philosophical argument can be, Unger even tells his readers that they can easily donate funds by using their credit card and calling one of these toll-free numbers: (800) 367-5437 for Unicef; (800) 693-2687 for Oxfam America.

Now you, too, have the information you need to save a child's life. How should you judge yourself if you don't do it? Think again about Bob and his Bugatti. Unlike Dora, Bob did not have to look into the eyes of the child he was sacrificing for his own material comfort. The child was a complete stranger to him and too far away to relate to in an intimate, personal way. Unlike Dora, too, he did not mislead the child or initiate the chain of events imperiling him. In all these respects, Bob's situation resembles that of people able but unwilling to donate to overseas aid and differs from Dora's situation.

If you still think that it was very wrong of Bob not to throw the switch that would have diverted the train and saved the child's life, then it is hard to see how you could deny that it is also very wrong not to send money to one of the organizations listed above. Unless, that is, there is some morally important difference between the two situations that I have overlooked.

Is it the practical uncertainties about whether aid will really reach the people who need it? Nobody who knows the world of overseas aid can doubt that such uncertainties exist. But Unger's figure of $200 to save a child's life was reached after he had made conservative assumptions about the proportion of the money donated that will actually reach its target.

One genuine difference between Bob and those who can afford to donate to overseas aid organizations but don't is that only Bob can save the child on the tracks, whereas there are hundreds of millions of people who can give $200 to overseas aid organizations. The problem is that most of them aren't doing it. Does this mean that it is all right for you not to do it?

Suppose that there were more owners of priceless vintage cars — Carol, Dave, Emma, Fred and so on, down to Ziggy — all in exactly the same situation as Bob, with their own siding and their own switch, all sacrificing the child in order to preserve their own cherished car. Would that make it all right for Bob to do the same? To answer this question affirmatively is to endorse follow-the-crowd ethics — the kind of ethics that led many Germans to look away when the Nazi atrocities were being committed. We do not excuse them because others were behaving no better.

We seem to lack a sound basis for drawing a clear moral line between Bob's situation and that of any reader of this article with $200 to spare who does not donate it to an overseas aid agency. These readers seem to be acting at least as badly as Bob was acting when he chose to let the runaway train hurtle toward the unsuspecting child. In the light of this conclusion, I trust that many readers will reach for the phone and donate that $200. Perhaps you should do it before reading further.

Now that you have distinguished yourself morally from people who put their vintage cars ahead of a child's life, how about treating yourself and your partner to dinner at your favorite restaurant? But wait. The money you will spend at the restaurant could also help save the lives of children overseas! True, you weren't planning to blow $200 tonight, but if you were to give up dining out just for one month, you would easily save that amount. And what is one month's dining out, compared to a child's life? There's the rub. Since there are a lot of desperately needy children in the world, there will always be another child whose life you could save for another $200. Are you therefore obliged to keep giving until you have nothing left? At what point can you stop?

 





Hypothetical examples can easily become farcical. Consider Bob. How far past losing the Bugatti should he go? Imagine that Bob had got his foot stuck in the track of the siding, and if he diverted the train, then before it rammed the car it would also amputate his big toe. Should he still throw the switch? What if it would amputate his foot? His entire leg?

As absurd as the Bugatti scenario gets when pushed to extremes, the point it raises is a serious one: only when the sacrifices become very significant indeed would most people be prepared to say that Bob does nothing wrong when he decides not to throw the switch. Of course, most people could be wrong; we can't decide moral issues by taking opinion polls. But consider for yourself the level of sacrifice that you would demand of Bob, and then think about how much money you would have to give away in order to make a sacrifice that is roughly equal to that. It's almost certainly much, much more than $200. For most middle-class Americans, it could easily be more like $200,000.

Isn't it counterproductive to ask people to do so much? Don't we run the risk that many will shrug their shoulders and say that morality, so conceived, is fine for saints but not for them? I accept that we are unlikely to see, in the near or even medium-term future, a world in which it is normal for wealthy Americans to give the bulk of their wealth to strangers. When it comes to praising or blaming people for what they do, we tend to use a standard that is relative to some conception of normal behavior. Comfortably off Americans who give, say, 10 percent of their income to overseas aid organizations are so far ahead of most of their equally comfortable fellow citizens that I wouldn't go out of my way to chastise them for not doing more. Nevertheless, they should be doing much more, and they are in no position to criticize Bob for failing to make the much greater sacrifice of his Bugatti.

At this point various objections may crop up. Someone may say: "If every citizen living in the affluent nations contributed his or her share I wouldn't have to make such a drastic sacrifice, because long before such levels were reached, the resources would have been there to save the lives of all those children dying from lack of food or medical care. So why should I give more than my fair share?" Another, related, objection is that the Government ought to increase its overseas aid allocations, since that would spread the burden more equitably across all taxpayers.

Yet the question of how much we ought to give is a matter to be decided in the real world — and that, sadly, is a world in which we know that most people do not, and in the immediate future will not, give substantial amounts to overseas aid agencies. We know, too, that at least in the next year, the United States Government is not going to meet even the very modest Umited Nations-recommended target of 0.7 percent of gross national product; at the moment it lags far below that, at 0.09 percent, not even half of Japan's 0.22 percent or a tenth of Denmark's 0.97 percent. Thus, we know that the money we can give beyond that theoretical "fair share" is still going to save lives that would otherwise be lost. While the idea that no one need do more than his or her fair share is a powerful one, should it prevail if we know that others are not doing their fair share and that children will die preventable deaths unless we do more than our fair share? That would be taking fairness too far.

Thus, this ground for limiting how much we ought to give also fails. In the world as it is now, I can see no escape from the conclusion that each one of us with wealth surplus to his or her essential needs should be giving most of it to help people suffering from poverty so dire as to be life-threatening. That's right: I'm saying that you shouldn't buy that new car, take that cruise, redecorate the house or get that pricey new suit. After all, a $1,000 suit could save five children's lives.

So how does my philosophy break down in dollars and cents? An American household with an income of $50,000 spends around $30,000 annually on necessities, according to the Conference Board, a nonprofit economic research organization. Therefore, for a household bringing in $50,000 a year, donations to help the world's poor should be as close as possible to $20,000. The $30,000 required for necessities holds for higher incomes as well. So a household making $100,000 could cut a yearly check for $70,000. Again, the formula is simple: whatever money you're spending on luxuries, not necessities, should be given away.

Now, evolutionary psychologists tell us that human nature just isn't sufficiently altruistic to make it plausible that many people will sacrifice so much for strangers. On the facts of human nature, they might be right, but they would be wrong to draw a moral conclusion from those facts. If it is the case that we ought to do things that, predictably, most of us won't do, then let's face that fact head-on. Then, if we value the life of a child more than going to fancy restaurants, the next time we dine out we will know that we could have done something better with our money. If that makes living a morally decent life extremely arduous, well, then that is the way things are. If we don't do it, then we should at least know that we are failing to live a morally decent life — not because it is good to wallow in guilt but because knowing where we should be going is the first step toward heading in that direction.

When Bob first grasped the dilemma that faced him as he stood by that railway switch, he must have thought how extraordinarily unlucky he was to be placed in a situation in which he must choose between the life of an innocent child and the sacrifice of most of his savings. But he was not unlucky at all. We are all in that situation.

September 05, 1999

 

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