A great way to celebrate is to go to POETS.org (from the Academy of American Poets) and sign up for their Poem-A-Day emails. Be sure to check out the rest of their site where you can catch up on new books, listen to daily historic recordings (how cool is that?), get ready for Poem In Your Pocket Dayand more!
If you register (it's free) you can create your own poetry notebook, participate in discussions, and subscribe to newsletters.
They also have a thing called Poetcasts which is the official podcast (like an online radio show) of the Academy of American Poets. Once you have subscribed they will download and you can listen at your leisure.
So Peeps, go forth and make some poetry on this 1st of April 2010!
If you are interested in independent and free documentary films you will want to go to : SnagFilms where you can choose from 1,000 different films on many topics.
"SnagFilms is committed to finding the world‘s most compelling documentaries, whether from established heavyweights or first-time filmmakers, and making them available to the wide audience these titles deserve."
"We make it easy for you to find a film that shines a light on a cause you care about. You can then open a virtual movie theater on any web site, so any one can watch your favorite SnagFilms for free.
SnagFilms can be summed up in four words: Find. Watch. Snag. Support."
You can search by topic, what's hot, channels (of their supporters), and a to z
Topics cover everything from the humorous to the disturbing and all points in between. Films with adult content are clearly labeled as such. Film lengths vary from minutes to hours but all appear to have commercial intros....FYI.
Those savvy folks at Amazon.com are now offering a FREE Kindle version for PC: Kindle for PC
So now all of us who can't afford a new Kindle can still buy their ebooks (all 400,000 of them!) and read them on our computers.
And even if you have a Kindle with this application you can access your library, notes, marks and more from your computer.
One can't add notes or highlight, search, or zoom & rotate images on a KindlePC (like you can on a bona fide Kindle) but these are evidently upgrades coming in the near future.
Pretty sly, Amazon.com!
P.S. Miss Bun has had an opportunity to play with a Kindle and found the whole experience rather fascinating. (She is waiting for the price to come down though, given current public librarian salaries and all, before taking the digital plunge.)
About Vintage Printable
"Vintage Printable provides public domain antique scientific, naturalist, and other images for you to print or download. The illustrations here are curated or, tossed as has been pointed out, by me, Swivelchair, an anonymous biopharma worker"
Besides spending huge amounts of time feasting on the marvelous images to be found here, might I also suggest that you take a look at the site's About and Public Domain Manifesto page?
Swivelchair's take on the issues of copyright, public domain and who controls (or would like to control) access to information is important for everyone to know about. You may be surprised to find out who some of the players are in this game.
(Miss Bun is of the persuasion that Swivelchair ROCKS!)
(I've gotta say that the AIP does a fantastic job of bringing this branch of science to life especially for those of us with degrees in the humanities! Kudos!) Check it out!
Wilson A. Bentley, aka "Snowflake Bentley", from Jericho, Vermont was only 19 when he made the world's first photomicrograph of a snow crystal in 1885. His process was so unique and innovative that professionals at first doubted his results and his veracity.
"In 1898, at the age of 33, he began to publish articles of his findings and images. He published 49 popular and 11 technical articles about snow crystals, frost, dew, and raindrops, including the entry on "snow" in the 14th edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica."
During his lifetime he filled nine notebooks with 47 years worth of observations and lived to see his book, Snow Crystals, published.
To learn more about this fascinating scientist & his work check out these links:
What would Christmas be like if this wonderful story had never seen the light of day? Go to David Perdue's site and find out how Charles Dickens saved this holiday.
Ok, so hibernation time is just around the corner (You're feeling very sleepy...) and in case you were wondering what that's all about take a look at this very good website created by a group of 5th graders for a competition put on by ThinkQuest (see below):
The Deep Sleep Did you know there are four different ways animals deep sleep? Check it out!
What is this ThinkQuest I speak of?
ThinkQuest is a protected, online learning platform that enables teachers to integrate learning projects into their classroom curriculum and students to develop 21st century skills. It is provided as a free service to K-12 schools around the globe by The Oracle Education Foundation.
On the ThinkQuest site you will find the project area (here you can take a tour of ThinkQuest...fyi); a competition space where the technology contests happen and the ThinkQuest Library that houses all the projects and is a pretty nifty learning resource.There is also a professional development program for teachers.
School administrators must enroll their schools to participate in a project or competition but anyone can access the ThinkQuest Library and check out the competition winners.
You can search the library by age group, country, and subject category. There are over 7,000 websites created by students from around the world and they are amazing. Enjoy!
The Rare Book Room is a fascinating site that gives viewers access to high quality resolution images of some of the world's greatest books from some of the world's greatest libraries.
Who or what is behind this endeavor, you may ask?
Why, that would be Octavo, a company from California, whose " purpose is to use the best in advanced technology to uncover and enhance the seminal ideas of the past in ways that will provide inspiration for the present and future. Through our published editions, Octavo facilitates preservation and enables discovery for a wide range of audiences." There are about 400 books (all that have been digitized to date) that may be searched by category, author, or library.
These include works by Shakespeare, Ben Franklin (Poor Richard's Almanac & Experiments and Observations on Electricity), Galileo, Lewis Carroll, Charles Darwin and more!
The National Library of Australia where you can click on "Explore Our Digital Collections" from which you can explore the Australian story through photos, audio recordings, maps, printed manuscripts, printed music & more. Be sure to click on "Online Exhibitions" under "Other Online Resources" (its on the middle right) to find out what a Bunyip is and how it fits into Australian culture.
There are many other fascinating things to look at and learn about here so take your time on this site.
Miss Bun (no relation whatsoever to the aforementioned creature!) has noted that visiting National Libraries is one way to explore another country without undue trials or tribulations (or expense)!
MrsP.com is the place to go if you like reading and being read to, interactive games & activities, videos, and contests.
Oh, and there is also the part about this being a free, safe & secure site for children that is ad free & subscription free as well.
Mrs. P is wonderfully played by the actress Kathy Kinney and reminds Miss Bun of the character Mrs. Doubtfire (from the film of the same name). Who can resist the accent?
There are plenty of options you can choose from to make your visit enjoyable like read along options that are great for beginning readers, ESL students & home-schoolers.
Click on the "Note to Parents" link for a reader's guide with ratings.
This site is meant to be explored so hone your mouse-clicking skills and don't be afraid to try different things out. (Hint: The bunny in front of the fireplace leads to coloring & activity pages.)
As far as Miss Bun is concerned Mrs. P puts the PLEASURE back into reading where it belongs!
According to the About Page this site was founded, and is edited, by John Mark Ockerbloom in 1993. John is currently a digital library planner and researcher at the University of Pennsylvania. He is solely responsible for the content of the site.
Their reason for being: "The Online Books Page is a website that facilitates access to books that are freely readable over the Internet. It also aims to encourage the development of such online books, for the benefit and edification of all."
Here you will find an index to books online; links to directories and archives; special exhibits; and info on how you can promote the growth of online books. Be sure to check out the special features section which includes: A Celebration of Women Writers; Banned Books Online; and Prize Winners Online.
What a great resource for everyone and especially for educators!
So Many Books, So Little Time! (Did Frank Zappa really say this?)
The Book of Numbers is an animated altered book which reminds Miss Bun of Monty Python. (Yes, Peeps, librarians sometimes have surprising eclectic tastes.)
The people behind the work are the Polish Multimedia Designers at Bubbly Numbers, Artur Stefanski and Kasia Michalska.
Since 1997 a volunteer staff of writers, storytellers, musicians, graphic artists and engineers have been bringing us these stories free of charge because they "like doing it & the purpose of storytelling is to pass stories on to others".
If you dare to take a look you will find new tales on the home page & an archive of oldies but goodies to search by category on the right.
The newest stories provide a free audio player to listen with while older stories in audio can be purchased in their bookshop for $2.25 each. You may also subscribe to their RSS feed to receive new stories as they are posted at no charge.
All stories have a free illustrated print version and may be printed for personal, non-commercial use.
Short Stories at East of the Web is one of the largest online collections of short stories organized into nine categories: fiction, romance, crime, sci-fi & fantasy, humor, horror, hyperfiction, children's and non-fiction.
The site has handy features such as new titles, a story of the day, top picks from readers and editors, and even a random story generator.
All stories have an age rating and specific elements that may not be suitable for some readers are highlighted in red in the story description.
You will find materials and features for teachers (& homeschoolers) and convenient devices such as doubleclicking on a word will bring up the dictionary definition as well as the audio pronunciation. And there are also story guides.
Stories can be read online, printed or downloaded for reading offline or on hand held devices.
If you are so inclined you can also submit your own stories for publication.
This image is of President Woodrow Wilson and his newborn grandson, Francis Sayre, Jr., taken in 1915 and can be found on a wonderful vintage photography blog.
The Shorpy Photo Archive is an online archive of thousands of high-resolution vintage photos from the 1850s to 1950s. Its namesake, ShorpyHigginbotham, was a teenage coal miner who lived 100 years ago.
You can search Shorpy for something of interest or you can peruse several galleries by subject as well as by photographer. And there is an opportunity to participate in the site. By creating your own free account on Shorpy you can share your own vintage photographs. Visitors to the site are particularly interested in images from the dawn of photography to the 1940s.
This is a great site that offers an intriguing window into our past. Enjoy!
Seeing the title you might think that this is a site only about birds but you would be mistaken! (Although there is a ton of info on our feathered friends!)
This from their "What We Do" page:
"The Cornell Lab of Ornithology uses the best science and technology--and inspires the widest range of people and organizations--to solve critical problems facing wildlife.
Our mission: To interpret and conserve the earth's biological diversity through research, education, and citizen science focused on birds."
Don't you just love the term "Citizen Science"?
"Citizen science is a way foryou to learn about birds, science, and conservation by participating in real scientific studies. As a partnership between the public and professional scientists, we make up one of the world's largest research teams!"
There are several projects that are available to get involved in so be sure to check out the Citizen Science page for more info. (What an opportunity for classroom students and homeschoolers!)
There is just so much great information on this site that I couldn't possibly direct you to all of it so here are some of my favorite highlights:
The Bioacoustics Research Program has made the CLO a world leader in whale and elephant communication and population monitoring.
Be sure to look at the video about the Blue Whale discovered singing in New York coastal waters!
The Macaulay Library contains an online archive which is the worlds largest archive of animal sounds and video.
You can search for audio or video or browse the archive by animal group.
Be sure to register for an account (it's free), sign up for several eNewsletters, check out their blog (Round Robin), follow them on Twitter, look at the NestCams and so much more!
Be prepared to spend some truly quality time here! You'll be glad you did! Enjoy!
Their catch line: Riveting talks by remarkable people, free to the world.
Needless to say that caught my attention because: 1) I like to hear interesting people talk and 2) I like to share ... so a site like this is a little bit of Nirvana come my way. (I hope you will think so too.)
Here's the concept: TED stands for "Technology, Entertainment, Design" and is actually an annual conference that was started in 1984 to bring together folks in these three disciplines.
Since that time, the scope of the conference has broadened and the annual conference now brings together the world's most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives (in 18 minutes).
TED's mission: Spreading ideas.
They do this by making the best talks and performances from TED and partners available to the world, for free. More than 400 TEDTalks are now available, with more added each week. All of the talks feature closed captions in English, and many feature subtitles in various languages. These videos are released under a Creative Commons license, so they can be freely shared and reposted.
There is a TED blog, you can subscribe to TEDtalks with an RSS feed, you can join (for free) the TED community and save your favorite talks, discuss your ideas, get the newsletter and more.
You can search TED by themes, speakers, talks, and translations. Each of those categories has several ways to limit results including things like: "rated jaw-dropping" and "most discussed".
Here is a talk I listened to that has forever changed the way I will look at the art of crochet, coral reefs, and geometry. Check it out:
ARKive is "a unique collection of thousands of videos, images and fact-files illustrating the world's species."
Their mission: " is to gather together the very best films and photographs of the world's species into one centralized digital library, to create a unique audio-visual record of life on Earth.
Preserved and maintained for future generations, ARKive is making this key resource accessible to all, from scientists and conservationists to the general public and school children, via its award-winning website."
You can search ARKive's continually expanding collection by using the search bar at the top of every page. You will also find educational resources, a Google Earth plug-in and more!
Sign up for MyARKive (it's free) and you can personalize your ARKive experience by making you own scrapbooks and video downloads.
MAPS ETC is the place where you can search over 5,000 maps representing many different time periods.
Their friendly license allows teachers and students to use up to 25 maps in non-commercial school projects without further permission. All maps are available in JPEG or GIF files for screen display as well as PDFs for printing.
You can browse the galleries or search the database to find what you are looking for.
(The map on the right shows the Encampment at Valley Forge, 1777-1778.)
So, Peeps, get out your compasses and start mapping!
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