Spot Cool Stuff: Websites

Just Say Hi Online Quizzes

Sun, 25 May 2008 14:27:38 +0000

You are in an enclosed school yard staring down a group of angry and determined five year olds. No one has any weapons. How many do you think you could take in a fight? Find your answer through a quiz from Just Say Hi. Some other questions you could get an answer to: How much is your dead body worth? What are your chances of surviving a zombie apocalypse? And how many germs live on your keyboard?

(For the record, Spot Cool Stuff is perhaps a little wimpy and could defeat 12 five year olds.)

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Improbable Research

Thu, 08 May 2008 22:48:53 +0000

We suspect that you’ve never wondered how to quantify the exact side effects of sword swallowing. What is surprising is that some one else has. And that they’ve written a paper on the subject. (Conclusion: “Sword swallowersrun a higher risk of injury when they are distracted . . .”). Improbable Research — and its print publication The Annals of Improbable Research — catalog scientific research being conducted into areas that would wouldn’t think any self-respecting scientist would go near. The site navigation is a little confusion to us; if you are just browsing you’d do well to start with the posts about the lg Nobel (a sort of unofficial Nobel prize for improbable research). And please, do not read this site and sword swallow at the same time.

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The New Shelton Wet/Dry

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 12:16:38 +0000

The New Shelton Wet/Dry is like a photographic non sequitur and we sure do like pizza. The site’s tag line, What Matter Who’s Speaking, gives a sense of this photo blog’s surrealist nature. Put on some Pink Floyd, take some stash from that coffee can in the fridge (if that’s your thing), and click through the captivating visual images on this site. We were especially mesmerized by the shadow art made from shining a spotlight on strategically sculpted trash and by the offerings in the photo illusion category.

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Click on the photo to see the post:

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BeFunky

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 22:36:06 +0000

At BeFunky you can make your digital photographs look as if they were drawn cartoons and sketches. Of course, you could do the same thing in PhotoShop if you own it and if you are reasonably proficient at it. But using BeFunky’s free service has two advantages. It is easy to use — play with a few settings and the website does the rest. And BeFunky makes it easy to share your photos on MySpace, Facebook, Friendster and other community websites. Check it out.

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The photo we uploaded to BeFunky and the cartoon and sketch versions that resulted:

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Second Rotation

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 22:52:29 +0000

If you are like us you buy a lot of gadgets. Which means that you, like us, have a lot of old gadgets you no longer use filling drawers and cluttering closets. Sure you’ll sell the higher value ones on eBay — or think about selling them on eBay, maybe, possibly, someday — but often it doesn’t seem worth the hassle. Problem is, throwing out your old electronics isn’t a good option either, not for your wallet and not for the planet. (Do you know how long it takes a toxic battery to decompose in a landfill?)

Into this digital dilemma comes Second Rotation, a company that will buy your old cameras, computers and MP3 players and recycle them in an environmentally friendly fashion. Select the item you are selling from their website and answer a few simple questions about its condition to get the trade-in value. And then comes the really cool part: If you agree to the trade-in price you can print a shipping label off the Second Rotation website and ship your item to them for free! Once Second Rotation receives your package they’ll mail you a check or deposit your funds via PayPal. Now, if only there were a website that would so easily buy all our mismatching socks . . .

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Tasty Insect Recipes

Sun, 20 Apr 2008 17:04:27 +0000

Tasty Insect Recipes, from Iowa State University’s Department of Entomology, is a tiny website but large in its quirkiness — get recipes for cooking up your everyday insects. Options include banana worm bread, chocolate chirpie chip cookies and mealworm fried rice.

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43 Things

Sun, 20 Apr 2008 16:53:03 +0000

When we first visited 43 Things it struck us as a decidedly uncool website. Who cares whether Suzi_1 wants to drink more water or Melanie122 wants to loose weight? On the 43 Things web community people declare their life goals and give reports on their progress. And the more time we spent on the site the more we found it inspiring and informative. More interesting than following one particular person’s goals is following the communities that spring up around a shared goals. Not every goal has an active and intelligent participation so look around further if you are disappointed with you initial experience.

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Instructables

Sun, 20 Apr 2008 16:12:11 +0000

This is one of the coolest sites on the web and so, by definition, it is one of our favorites. Learn how to add Bluetooth to your iPod, construct an electricity-producing wind generator from an old scanner, turn a calculator into a metal detector, create a hologram, make a wallet from duct tape and much much more. On the community-run Instructables people give and receive how-to advice on all manner of things, from quirky to practical. What’s great about it is the (usually) easy to follow instructions, with photos and/or video of each step. Check it out.

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Click on photo to see the instructions:

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fboweb.com

Thu, 10 Apr 2008 11:52:23 +0000

There are dozens of flight tracking sites out there that can tell you if your flight is on time (or, rather, how late it is). King of them all is fboweb. They get their flight data directly from air traffic control so their information is more current and accurate than even the airlines can provide. Plus, their site includes a ton of features including the opportunity to listen to live feeds from air traffic control and recent past flights your aircraft has taken. The coolest of all: Your flight’s data syncs up Google Earth, letting you look at a 3D rendering of exactly where on the planet your aircraft is.

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English Russia

Wed, 09 Apr 2008 19:48:24 +0000

Vodka, babushkas, authoritarian leaders — these are what come to mind when most people think of Russia. English Russia sets out to break that stereotype by showing that “something cool happens daily on 1/6 of the Earth surface.” Granted, several of these “cool” things are done by babushkas drinking vodka. Nevertheless, the photos and blog posts on English Russia show a side of the world’s largest country more interesting, quirky, depressing and hilarious than you could possibly imagine.

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A few of the photos from EnglishRussia.com. Click on the pic to read the blog post:

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