Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights For Everyone To See

If you haven’t had occasion to visit the North Pole or been lucky enough to see them from a passenger jet (far warmer than the North Pole), now you can, in a small picture, time lapse kind of way, see the aurora borealis for yourself thanks to Astronomy North. The truth is, you have to see them live to be sure it isn’t some kind of photography trickery. Scientists will tell you that the lights are magnetic energy set off by charged particles from the sun hitting earth’s atmosphere. If you say so. They are on the A-list of natural displays.

http://www.astronomynorth.com/Replay2008.html

KEXP-Indie Band Radio

Indie fans may already be familiar with Seattle radio station KEXP’s talent for uncovering new and promising musicians. Now they can enjoy listening to these bands online, as streaming audio, with an archive of live performances dating back to 2001.

http://www.kexp.org/aspnet_client/live.asp

Henchman’s Helper

Just ask any supervillain what you’d need to outfit your secret hideout in order to plan and carry out evil deeds. Your garden-variety megalomaniac will naturally admit to needing a number of constantly updated weather maps, live webcams from around the world, and a map tracking day and night on earth, for starters. Check out Henchman’s Helper for a look-see on how it’s done.

http://henchmanshelper.com/

Better Than Drugs

If you have absolutely nothing to do–and a long time to devote to doing nothing productive due to the mesmerized state you’ll find yourself in, check out This Is Sand. The site is extremely easy to use since there’s very little to it. Just click on the square, read the instructions and start making your piles of sand. If you want to make it more elaborate, you can change the color of your sand with a rainbow to choose from. Then you can save your ‘piece’ in their gallery.

http://thisissand.com/

Want To Hear The Earth Grumble And Hum?

Listen to strange and mysterious sounds from the earth as supplied by NoiseAddicts.com.

http://www.noiseaddicts.com/2008/08/strange-sounds-earth-bloop-hum-mistpouffers/

Slumdog Millionaire Movie Script At Simply Scripts

Are you looking to read some Hollywood movie scripts, TV scripts or plays?  Simply Scripts has hundreds of scripts available for free to read online.

http://www.simplyscripts.com/

If You Love Jane Austen’s Pride And Prejudice

It is now a truth universally acknowledged that a young woman named Dee Dee Baldwin, in posession of a good sense of humor, must be in want of attention. OK, that’s lame but Dee Dee Baldwin’s page on Facebook which is a very funny version of Pride and Prejudice isn’t.

http://www.pemberley.com/janeinfo/ppv1n01.html

Altered Book Art

Altered book art is quite the thing these days if you pay attention to the trends. Take a look at photographer Cara Barer’s award-winning sculptures as supplied by The Telegraph:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturepicturegalleries/4209077/Book-sculptures-by-photographer-Cara-Barer.html

Lest you think innocent books are being damaged in this endeavor, Barer began her series with a telephone book found on a Houston sidewalk.

There is, in fact, an International Society of Altered Book Artists. Check out their website:

http://www.alteredbookartists.com/

We have our very own altered book artist right here in Essex. Watch for news of Marlene Lenker’s altered book art in the Library, coming soon!

Smashing Tutorials

Smashing magazine is an online magazine founded in 2006  which delivers useful and innovative information for designers and Web developers although plenty of their content is useful to computer-knowledgable people as well. Their aim is to inform readers about the latest trends and techniques in Web development: clearly, precisely and regularly. Check out their free tutorials to improve your Photoshop, Web 2.0, Dreamweaver and Illustrator skills, among others.

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/category/tutorials/

Travel Via Kayak

Kayak is a free travel search engine started by founders of Orbitz, Travelocity and Expedia who believed in a better online travel experience. Kayak is not a store.  They search hundreds of travel sites from all over the world, provide the information to you in an easy-to-use display and send you directly to the source to make your purchase.  Once you make your choice, they link to the travel sites to make your purchase. Kayak allows you to choose which site to purchase from– through an online travel agency or consolidator such as Orbitz or Airfare.com. Kayak’s search engine can find all kinds of travel products– from flights and hotels to rental cars and cruises.

http://www.kayak.com/