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Index of this Section
Web Resources
- Atheistic Web Resources
- Return to Top
- Educational Web Resources
- Return to Top
- Episteme Links Philosophy Resources on the Internet
- Adherents.com Religion and Geography Statistics (huge)
- CUNY ARIS Religion Membership Statistics (in America) (covers "No Religion")
Search Engines
- Search the Positive Atheism Web Site
- The Best
- Return to Top
- Google (the easiest; our site is usually indexed within a day of posting)
- HotBot (the most powerful; search any site from initial results)
- NetScape (the best for research and other serious scholarship)
- The Big Eye ("a catalog of links to ... the best Web Sites" -- Newsweek)
- Beaucoup Search Engines (a list of over 300 search engines: multi-lingual)
- DMOZ (noncommercial)
- Librarian's Index to the Internet (like Yahoo! with fewer listings: tightly controlled)
- Lycos
- Aport (Russian engine: indexes text only! provides text of dead docs! in English!)
- Northern Light (save results in folders for interactive searches)
- Lycos: Find Links To Your Site
- AnalogX Top 100 Search Keywords (Check the top 100 internet-related keywords for the last 7 days. Second list shows phrases. Recalculated once per day. Speaking of class priorities, at this writing, MP3 is the top English term and the word for "Real Estate" is the top Spanish term.) Plus, check out the
Top 100 MP3-Related Keywords (At this writing, "Metallica" is the top term used in search of free downloads. Hah! Look what they did to themselves with their greedy hullabubbalouie!)
- Search Engine Comparison Chart by Diana Botluk
- Language: Translators, Dictionaries; Reference (Human Languages)
• The Most Versatile Word in the English Language (PAM Pick!)
- Monty
Python (requires Flash™) (Note: Click 'Play' whenever it lets you!) Long overdue update: We eventually tracked down the creator
of the Flash™ video and obtained written permission to post it. This copy has since become the only legitimate copy online. Shame on those who have removed the credits and posted it elsewhere.
• Dictionaries and Similar Word-Level Reference Works
- RhymeZone Rhyming Dictionary (PAM Pick!) including Definitions, Synonyms, Antonyms, Extensive Masking, Similar Sounding Words, Homophones, Heterocables, Bigasandlights, Autowaters, Abstinentrefuses -- uh, okay -- and, uh -- Shakespeare, Mother Goose, Quotations, even Games and Puzzles, and much more: a complete resource! Fun, too
- Roget's Online Thesaurus
- SpellCheck.net -- Free Online Spell Checker
- OneLook Reverse Dictionary (look up words by their definition!)
- Common Errors in English (PAM Pick!) ¡Flash! Now in paperback! ¡Flash! by Paul Brians ¡Flash!
- World Wide Words Michael Quinion writes about International English from a British viewpoint
- The alt.usage.english FAQ (Mark Israel's archive) (the newsgroup's archive) (links to seven 'mini-FAQs') (info on the various versions)
- WordWizard || Index to Numerous Offline Resources {Frames-based site}
- Twists, Slugs, and Roscoes: A Glossary of Hardboiled Slang the language spoken by Marlowe, Spade, and Hammer when they got in a turf war with Cagney, Bogart, and Robinson: "Close your yap, bo, or I squirt metal!!"
- PanGaia Pagan Glossary (PAM Pick!) religious words spelled and defined
- Lovingkindness Religious Language Newsletter Suzette Haden Elgin studies on the use of religious language, particularly words, with an eye toward noting its often powerful effect even on nontheists
- Chicago Manual of Style (15th Edition) Q&A (PAM Pick!) Check this Online Questions and Answers Column Monthly!
- Synonym.com (PAM Pick!) Yesss!!
- Antonym.com (PAM Pick!) Unbelievable!!
- Un•Scramble (PAM Pick!) Incredible!! Includes: Dictionary (Definitions; Synonyms; Antonyms; Related Words), Rhyming Dictionary (Alphabetical by Syllable), Unscramble (Arrange Jumbled Letters into Real Words), Crossword Finder (Enter Word with "?"s to Indicate Missing Letters), Find (Enter Substring to Find Larger Word).
- The Double-Tongued Word Wrester (PAM Pick!) Dictionary "A growing dictionary of old and new words from the fringes of English."
- The Grammar Lady
- The English Place Consortium (UK) {Grrrr! Must Register to log on at all!!}
- Everybody Loves Their Jane Austin: The Anti-Pedantry Page: (singlular versus plural uses of the word their in Jane Austin's writings)
- Acronym Finder searchable database giving the meanings of over 336,000 acronyms and abbreviations, including those pesky internet abbreviations that lazy typists use in their e-mails
- The Opaui Guide to Lists of Acronyms, Abbreviations, and Initialisms on the World Wide Web
- Phonetic Alphabets 170 alphabets in 33 languages. (These are quite varied: just invent your own to meet your needs. Being hearing impaired, I do best with words at least two syllables or longer; a monosyllabic word is often no improvement over the letter itself. Here's the list I use to verify letters and numerals over the telephone: Able, Baker, Charlie, Delta, Echo, Foxtrot, Germany, Hotel, Indigo, Juliet, Kenya, London, Monkey, Nancy, Ocean, Peter, Québec, Robert, Susan, Texas, Uncle, Victory, Whiskey, X-Ray, Yankee, Zeppelin; for numerals say Zero, not Oh, and say Niner, not Nine.
- OneLook (Multiple-Dictionary Search) (PAM Pick!) wildcard capability; crossword puzzle mode; reverse lookup (enter the definition); install a right-click context menu for MSIE-based browsers
- Translation Langenberg Numerous translators, Language Identifiers, etc., on a single page.
- Babel Fish Translation from AltaVista
- Color Deficiency Test (requires Flash)
- Wikipedia.org (PAM Pick!) "Wikipedia is a multilingual project to create a complete and accurate free content encyclopedia.... you can edit any article..." (How they prevent sabotage is a queston that crosses my mind every time I log on! -cw)
- PhatNav a Wiki for the kids -- Pretty!! Unlike the big Wiki, this one has ads
- Microsoft Typography a good starting point for learning about fonts
- Braille Through Remote Learning
- xe.com Currency Conversions (the powerful and efficient currency services that the new global economy demands)
- Bali & Indonesia Online How Far Is It? find out the distance "as the crow flies"
- Driving Distance Between Two [American] Cities
- Convert-Me.com (PAM Pick!) "How many Biblical Cubits does it take to mark the length of an Astronomical Light Year?" "And how many Old Russian Zolotniks fit into a container measuring one German Doppelzentner?" Convert almost any measurements, such as: Weight, Mass; Distance, Length; Capacity, Volume; Area; Speed; Temperature; Time; Pressure; Energy; Work; Torque; Power; Circular Measure; Computer Storage. Converting Distance and Length (for example)? Choose among the following: Metric, British & American, Japanese, Thai, Old Russian, Nautical, Typographical, Astronomical, Ancient Roman, Biblical, Ancient Greek. Q. "How many scruples does it take to find something more productive to do than to spend half an evening playing with this diobolical web site's source code?" A. "It doesn't matter, now that they've opened up their newForum!"
- Social Security Administration's Baby Name Data Lists of the most popular names for boys and girls, based upon their data, dating back to 1990. Bet you didn't know that America's Social Security Administration conducts research on baby name popularity and naming trends. Well -- they don't, actually! But they do have a whole box full of data, and someone in the administration either decided or was ordered to put it to good use. And useful it is! Did you know that there are (according to this) at least seven different ways to spell the now-popular girl's name, Kaitlin? Also included are Kaitlyn, Kaitlynn, Katelin, Katelyn, Katelynn, and Katlyn (but left out is one that's probably somewhat popular in the American South: Kate Lynn).
- Area Codes || NANPA (North American Numbering Plan Administration) || US Area Code Maps (Flash, HTML, Canada [CNAC]; Time Zones: PDF: [for printing]; JPeG: [for viewing])
- Area Codes by number
- Ten Big Myths About Copyright Explained by Brad Templeton
- Get Soft Stuff: Literature, Music, Art, and the Like
- Return to Top
- AnyBook4Less.com "Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine"
- ABE.Books.com (American Book Exchange) "45 million books: Used, Rare, and Out-of-Print Books You Want!"
- AllPosters.com "The World's Largest Poster and Print Store!"
- The Classical Music Archives (Membership: $25 per year; many "free" files. We're curious to hear the MIDI sequence of the entire Das Rheingold, and are accepting gift memberships to this fascinating web project.
- Clitical.com's 'Sextoys: A Brief History' -- Fully Illustrated. (Speaking of "Soft Stuff"...)
- Jonathon Earl Bowser
- Dictionary.com's Online Bookstore a list of English Language guides and references for sale (Note: PAM recommends the Encarta World Dictionary over American Heritage or Merriam Webster's.)
- Fonts.com is the current name of the place where we currently purchase most of the fonts that we bother paying for (a great many are available for free or are shareware; PAM Tip: you get what you pay for!). A few months ago, we bought fonts through EyeWire, and before that, Image Club (or was it EyeWire then Image Club?), and before that a few other things and before that Adobe's font sales department, and before that, uhh, well --
- Gemm.com World's Largest Catalog of Music! (Okay, now you can just forget about Amazon, Tower, CD Now, and all the others with those Gilliganesque Gotta-Get click-through links without which your music page "just ain't shee-it"; here's the more straightforward and easier to use and less exploitative staple to their alternative) "If you can't find it here, fuhgeddaboudit!' -- Rolling Stone"
- Impermanent Press Excerpts from their book, "Killer B's: The 237 Best Movies You've (Probably) Never Seen" (changes each week).
- Impermanent Press New Discoveries Since the Publication of "Killer B's: The 237 Best Movies You've (Probably) Never Seen."
- PAM's DarkMark Award: www.negativebeats.com gets Positive Atheism's DarkMark. This MP3 source (like so many "free" music sources) is a vicious Adware-Malware distributor -- the sneakiest culprit we've experienced to date. Do not install their toolbar. Just don't do it. Okay? Everything they claim they have is easily found with a simple click. You don't need a special toolbar to get what they have because, as they admit on their front page, many other sites have allegedly stolen "their" material and are (Guess what?) letting their readers have it without need for a MalBar.
- OpenOffice.org (PAM Pick!) This is a multiplatform, multilingual office suite -- kinda like Mickeysoph Orifice or WeirdPervert, except that it's free! (It also features an SQL database package!)
- Ots Play CDs and MP3s (etc.) with this stuff! Just do it!! Graphically emulates a pair of (vinyl) turntables that you can scratch (!) with your mouse, use your mouse to make it sound like you're spinning the record with your finger ("Wwaaah-ooowar-ree-bee-bee-bee-bee-bee-brroooww") change pitch and-or tempo and-or mechanical "turntable speed" (pitch plus tempo), play a whole song backwards (!) or just part of it, set compression and EQ, and much more (including the ability to introduce flaws into the sound, such as scratchy records or a cheap, wobbly belt-drive turntable). Best of all is their algorithm for creating segues: OTS actually creates a special map of the song, and determines with over 99 percent accuracy the length of the "talk-up" and "talk-out" times (archaic radio DJ talk for intro and outro).
- Roger McGuinn's Folk Den (PAM Pick!) Roger McGuinn's distinctive voice and love of folk music made The Byrds such a joy to listen to, especially toward the end of their existence as a band. (Check the album that was mistakenly titled ("untitled"), which has recently been given a shot of steroids resulting in an entire CD of previously unissued material!) Within a month or three of our starting the project that eventually became Positive Atheism (autumn, 1995), Roger began recording and uploading one folk song each month to this incredible (and refreshingly raw) web site! The Creative Commons Music Sharing License allows sharing and rebroadcast of this music under certain, specific conditions! Unfortunately, the older works are available only in the Real™ format. ( Grrrr!)
Powell's City of Books "A great reason, in and of itself, to vacation in Portland, Oregon" -- Cliff Walker (and several others)- Rate
Your Music (PAM Pick!) Forget
Amazon: don't even go there! Instead, use Rate
Your Music as your only source for your large-sized MP3
cover-art images! Ah, but that's just the beginning! Rate
Your Music is an online community of people who love music. "Share
your musical knowledge and opinions with others by rating albums
and writing reviews." Rate
Your Music features authoritative discographies (double-checked
by We, The People), track listings (triple-checked
by We, The People), release histories (quadruple-checked
by We, The People), plus homegrown reviews
(written by We, The People). This one gets
the (PAM Pick!) for
being the epitome of how the Internet is supposed to
work!
- ReelRadio (PAM Pick!) If you're enough of a "radio freak" to know what AIR CHECKS are, this is where most of them live that have been posted to the web. Track down the jocks you used to just love listening to when you were so much younger (like Tom Maule! like Lee Simms! like Bobby Ocean! -- Oh! He's still working!), listen to hour after hour of samples of the classic acts you've always respected (Wolfman Jack! Gary Owens!) chart the professional evolution of pure talent (The Real Don Steele); hear some truly one-of-a-kind radio (John Lennon spinning records on KHJ, filling in for Charlie Van Dyke in 1974). Makes a truly unique "oldies station" to put on when you have company! See also: Boss Radio Forever.
- Twofifty
- Web Gallery of Art
- WebMuseum, Paris
- The Worldwide Art Gallery
Web and Technical Tools (for Your Computer)
- New Section!!
- Geeks, Tweaks, and Flat-Out
Freaks with
Reeking Beaks taking Leaks while that Seek Muthuh Peeks
- Learn
to Operate That -- Whatever -- You Just Bought
- Fix
the Bugs Inherent in All Things Computer Related
- Alter
Your System's Looks and Behavior (Within Limits)
- See the prototype of our new Web Guide! It's gonna be hot! It's gonna be HOT!! Daily Update || Most Recent
Tested Edition
-
The Langa List Fred Langa is the former Editorial Director of Windows Magazine. As with most in this list, the free e-mail newsletter is the primary
portal for readers to access whatever else is cooking on the site. His site is more than just an archive of his twice-weekly Windows-advice e-list (and other writings). Many a good tip and lots of answers can be found here. Warning: if you take your Mac
a little too seriously, you’re not gonna like at least some of what Fred has to say!! By the way, Information Week has assembled a comprehensive list of
Fred’s columns, all available online.
- I
am Not a Geek (Dot) Com Our first entry into this new section
is is a very thorough resource for learning how to make your system
run better, with advice and discussions ranging from simple hands-on how-to
to identifying which e-mail-borne critters might be slowing your
-
To qualify for this lest,
we must haved utilized a web site to one extent
or the other in our quest for a smooth-running (and smooth-looking)
work environment. Keep in mind that we are writers, not computer experts, but
have had to learn a thing or two about computers in order to get any writing
done at all! -- The PAM Staff
- Anti-Virus, Anti-Spy·Ware, Anti-Ad·Ware
- Return to Top
- Free E-Mail
- Return to Top
- The Purple Turtle yourname@PurpleTurtle.com (very slow, of course)
- E-Mail Hell (yourname@RetardsRule.com; yourname@IKillClowns.com; yourname@MyFingerSmells.com; yourname@BabiesTasteGood.com; etc. Most spam blockers block these addresses!)
- SpamCon disposable email addresses
- Yahoo! E-Mail
(the best of the big-name free e-mail services...) We apologize to our readers for
having recommended Yahoo E-Mail, and sincerely hope that the inconvenience we experienced exceeds that experienced by all our readers combined.
- Where to Store Large Files
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- Internet Archiving
- Return to Top
- Web-Based Services, Good and Bad
- Return to Top
- iKobo "The Fastest Growing Money Transfer Company" ("...and you thought PayPal was arrogant and unresponsive!" -- Cliff Walker, PAM Owner)
- Browsers and Plugins, Good and Bad
- Return to Top
- Mozilla.org Home Page
- Community; Support Options
- MozillaZine forums and such
- Application Packages
- The Mozilla™ Suite {free} (PAM Pick!) (the development version of NetScape; constantly updated; fully loaded with controls: for example, stop windows from opening unless YOU physically click a link to open them, which means no more popup anything! This is the browser we try to use at home [Mickey$oft's "Default Browser" setting (a cruel joke indeed) notwithstanding! Note: if you know how to make a non-MSIE browser the absolute default browser -- no matter what (even when clicking links on Outlook Express e-mails) -- we'll post it here: Mickey$oft Tech Support is not talking, except to tell us that this is impossible].)
- Mozilla
Firefox™ {free} Mozilla Firefox is a speedy, full-featured
browser that makes browsing more efficient than ever
before: comprehensive popup control; tab browsing; integrated
Google™; "Find
As You Type"; downloadable extensions and themes. We uninstalled
Firefox within a few hours because it does not meed our
admittedly quirky style: For one, Firefox has too
many "built-in
decisions," if you will (that is, much of what is customizable
in Mozilla Suite’s browser is “hard-wired” in Firefox).
For example, the Button Bar has features that we'll never
use but that cannot be removed without a doctorate in
computer sciences or a kindly friend likewise qualified;
When you remove everything from Mozilla's Button Bar, however,
all that's left is "Home" and "Bookmarks." We
can live with that!.
- Mozilla
Camino™ (formerly known as Chimera) is a web browser for Mac OS X that has a Cocoa user interface, and embeds the Gecko layout engine
- Mozilla
Safari, the Mac OS X default Web browser
- Mozilla Bugzilla™ bug-tracking system (software) for your software development team
- SecureIE plus PrivateIE {PAY} ("tightly restricts what web sites can and cannot do to you ... by specifically addressing malicious behavior from websites"; Internet Zones deny privileges for all but most trusted sites; block Flash™, popups; route downloads through virus scanner)
- CrystalPort Internet Browser {PAY} (when we didn't pay [it wasn't worth payin' for], it croaked without warning)
- Miscellaneous: Goodies That Fit Nowhere Else; Doo-Dads Dat Defy Description
- Return to Top
- The Bonzer Web Site of the Week Long-time PAM friend, supporter, and all-around good guy Randy Cassingham ("This is True"; "Get Out of Hell Free"; "Honorary Unsubscribe") overviews a different web site each week. Be careful! The choice for "Bonzer" honors sometimes reveals an involved sense of irony on the part of the editor.
- Radio Program Recorder Digitally record (on air) radio shows for later listening
- Boot Disk City
- BootDisk(dot)Com (special application for archiving in case of emergency)
- StartDisk(dot)Com (almost complete collection of links to and copies of emergency boot disks for various operating systems)
- Shell Extension City "Configure Your System Wickedly"
- ChangeDetect (was MindIt) Notifies you when a web page has been changed (free!)
- The File Extension Source (PAM Pick!) Cleaning out your directories of unknown files? Can't figure out what the .PMS extension means, or what program those .GAS documents go to? And what the hell is a .PUD file? This Web site lists many of them (although some say there are over a million different extensions in computing by now).
- InfiniteCrosswords.com you can play offline: never run out of crosswords again!
- The Amazon Honor System collect donations for your web site ("allows the Web site to raise money for continued operations without resorting to intrusive banner advertisements" -- or the ubiquitous Amazon click-through, a less-intrusive form of the banner advertisement)
- PayPal "Dear PayPal Member": collect some but not all of the donations for your web site (PAM Tip: Hold the Shift key while you click the Reload button (in Windows) in order to clear the initial advertisement that usually displays before you can access your account.)
Awareness and Action (Activism and Self-Protection)
- Anti-Censorship Activists; CensorWare WatchDogs
- Return to Top
- Internet Content Rating Association (we are members of this group; to see our tag, choose View, Source on our Front Page)
- PeaceFire Anti-Censorship WatchDogs
- ReligiousTolerance.org
- The Goods on CYBERsitter
- American Family Association (Rev. Wildmon) "American Family Filter" (these folks hate anything that has an even remotely sexual context)
- Intrusion and Fraud: Spam; Telemarketing; Junk Mail; Door-to-Door
- Return to Top
- Virus Hoaxes; Scams (Nigerian 419, etc.); Urban Legends
- Return to Top
- AntiVirus Software (In Order of Preference, Based Upon Recommendations)
- Commercial
- "Free is a Very Good Price!" -- the advertising slogan of a (has-been) Portland, Oregon, Appliance Dealer
- One option for saving a small amount of cash for these grotesquely overpriced utilities is to find one of those (we think scrupulous) internet retailers who sells OEM versions as a slight mark-up from their cost to computer dealers. We bought a copy of the Turkish (slash) Israeli version of Norton Internet Security for a little over half what the thing costs to download from Norton (shipping, you know). Now, it turns out that NIS is one turkey of a program (pun intended) and we were finally able to get back into our computer, wrest control of it back from Norton, and eventually uninstall the bulk of this little terrorist on CD. A full six months later we discovered some little Symantec something or other loading itself every time we boot! Norton and Symantek notwithstanding, if you want a program but do not like the asking price, tracking down one of these retailers might be worth your while.
- Firewall Deals from Mickeysoph (as in Mickey Mouse and Sophomoric)
- Software Vendors offer Free Trials lasting up to One Year; Trials via Microsoft tend to last longer than those offered at the respective vendors' web sites. (together these should outlast any computer!) PAM Tip: Be sure to e-mail each company's tech support department -- by hand -- and insist upon having detailed instructions for completely uninstalling every trace of the firewall program after it expires: do not depend on the Windows™ Add-Remove Programs feature! Some code will inevitably remain on your system, but at least hedge your bet on this one -- for numerous reasons that are inappropriate for this page.)
- for Windows™ versions 95, 98, and 98SE
- for Windows™ 2,000
- for Windows™ ME
- for
Windows™ XP (pronounced as if expectorating bronchial phlegm: "Windows Eccchh! Pfweee!!")
Yer Outta Luck, because Mickeysoph wants you to install the latest in a long series of security patches before they'll even talk about
firewall!- Bwaa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-haaa!!
- for Linux™
- Fire-What? • Auntie-Who!? [in other words: (none) ]
- for Windows™ XP [Later:] Truthfully, the Windows XP Service Pack 2 ships with a software-type firewall. (This is no substitute for the hardware variety, we're told, but better than being the hacking equivalent of naked, we suppose!) Also, SP-2 (as it's affectionately called) not only plugged up all but the most essential gateways into the computer and includes beaucoup protection (except adware and virus protection), but most of these utilities install with the default setting of "On," meaning that protection is up-and-running from the get-go, and if you want them to stop running, you've got to go in and turn it off. This is good, considering how few people bother to learn even the basics of how to do much more than point and click. (Make sure everybody logs on with a password, no matter how simple the children's passwords need to be!)
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Positive Atheism does not recommend any of these sites; you are probably smart enough to take care of yourself: you certainly don't need our advice. We list these sites as a courtesy,
hoping (beyond hope) that this information might assist you to further enhance your enjoyment, heighten your awareness, and hone your abilities.
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We do not list sites which place restrictions on who may enter, including pay-to-enter sites (of course), one site that bumps you to a special page if you surfed to their front page directly from certain other sites, one site created by a stunningly arrogant specimen of self-flattery whose special script gives you a pompous lecture if you try to visit using a certain brand of browser (Jeez! What next!?). If you see any such sites listed here, please contact us. For now, this does not include register-to-enter sites, simply because if we did, our Web Guide would be all of one page long. We nevertheless frown upon this and similarly intrusive Internet practices.
We also do not link to (but reserve the right to list) web sites whose creators have copied and posted Positive Atheism's material without permission. We are currently considering a move to expand this ban to sites which have grabbed and mirrored material from PAM friends and supporters who have joined our anti-mirroring effort.
*** NOTE: If you find one or more URL listings to be out of date (i.e., you've tried on several different days) please drop me a line and I will investigate and, perhaps, hide the listing. Three asterisks (***) means that I have had trouble and am still investigating (read: still hoping). Some are simply matters of awaiting e-mail replies from the site owner over mistakes, etc.
We warn about flickering banners and other intense animation because some have health problems that can be adversely affected by these things, and PAM is beaucoup accessibility conscious. We warn about java (etc.) errors likewise because we are into accessibility, but mostly because some systems croak when such errors occur; better to be safe than sorry, we say!
Listings on this page do not necessarily imply endorsement by Cliff Walker, any "Positive Atheism" Associates, or Internet Infidels, our gracious web hosts.
306 = #330066 = 051.000.102 = Red: 051; Green: 000; Blue: 102
MetaPad (PAM Pick!) Windows NotePad on steroids!
