Favorites - PENCELAND.com

Favorites (all links)

My website originally consisted of one homepage with links to sites I had bookmarked in my browser in a format similar to what you see here. This page, the last remnant of that, functions as sort of a catch-all now, in the categories above. Maybe this page should just be called "Links."
As you can imagine, a lot of these links will change or cease to exist from time to time, so I periodically run a link checker to verify and correct (or delete) them. I try to do this on all my pages.

Favicons for sites that have them are shown next to the links.

Amusement

A fascinating turn-of-the-century story (last century)
World Wide Web – this is the world's first website created at CERN in 1993, reassembled in 2013
List of tallest buildings in the world

      Interactive

RinkWorks – online entertainment
     The Dialectizer – after some controversy, the Dialectizer is back!
     Fun With Words – a celebration of the English language
The Oracle of Bacon – the Kevin Bacon game
Greeting Cards by 123Greetings – allows you to schedule the card to be sent on a given day
sodaconstructor – this is really cool
The Internet Archive – take the Wayback Machine to websites of the past
     My site on the archive
The Nerdity Test – Version (5x³-3x)/2
Rediff Guide to the Net: Features:Do All Orientals Look The Same? – take the test
Go To Quiz – some interesting quizzes
     What kind of accent do you have? – living half my life on the West coast and half my life on the East coast I may be a combination
     What mental disorder do you have? – and you thought you were healthy
Parkour.NET – an art to help you pass any obstacle; to go from point A to point B using only the possibilities of the human body
StepWhere? – find Running, Walking and Hiking Trails
     Hingham Cemetery – my daily dog walking route
Virtual Age Calculator – What is your life expectancy?
Young Me / Now Me – then and now photos
     youngmenowme blog
Draw a Stickman – pretty cool!
World Heritage List – cultural and natural heritage sites around the world
Radio Garden - shows every radio station in the world—just click to listen

     Silly & entertaining
h2g2 - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy – a guide to life, the universe and everything
MovieMistakes.com – watch films differently
Webby Awards – the "Oscars of the Internet"
Welcome to Crunchy Gods
TheSimpsons.com – explore the world of The Simpsons
King Features Syndicate – distributor of comics and editorial cartoons to newspapers
RoadTrip America: Funny Signs
Mullets Throughout History – everything you ever wanted to know about the hairstyle
Dave's Classic Limousine Pictures
Typo Hunt Across America – the Typo Eradication Advancement League (TEAL) hits the road (read the blog—it's hilarious!)
Yogi Berra Quotes

     Informative?
Juggling Information Service
Australian Slang
Legendary Surfers – by Malcolm Gault-Williams
Am I Annoying? – the most and least annoying people and things (based on votes)
Real Names of Famous Folk
NNDB – tracking the activities of noteworthy people, both living and dead
The Apostrophe Protection Society (APS)
Kilroy Was Here – the origin of this slogan
Google Trends – see what the world is searching for
Yiddish Glossary – from my bashert to my zaide
Teen Chat Decoder
Interesting United States Weather Facts and Extremes
MIStupid.com – Stupid Facts
Life's Little Mysteries
National Hurricane Center – get updates and find out what precautions to take on storms
Defunct businesses of yesteryear – I shopped at many of these stores
List of defunct retailers of the United States
Super Bowl Winners

     Other
The Smoking Gun – serious amusement
The Obscure Store & Reading Room
Jerry Dunn - America's Marathon Man – 200 marathons in a year!
Molecular Expressions: The Silicon Zoo – computer chips under the microscope
Large Letter Postcards
MC Hawking's Crib – Stephen Hawking himself (the Hawkman) enjoyed this site
Shopcat.com – a site for cat lovers
Julian Beever – anamorphism in Pavement drawings, wall murals, fine art paintings
     More Julian Beever
Eric Grohe Murals and Design – check out his Works In Progress and Projects
Akiyoshi's illusion pages
xkcd – a webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language
The Quotations Page
Gizmodo.com the Gadget Guide
Bill's Retro World – some great memories here
Julian Opie – his LED walking sculptures of Julian and Suzanne (click to see this! ) were exhibited by the ICA on the Northern Ave. bridge in Boston for awhile
Famous Armenian Inventors – I got this from my colleague Ariss, who is Armenian
List of motor yachts by length
     A Look At 20 Of The World's Most Staggering Yachts
What's Your Number? – figure out where you fit in the 7 billion world population
Damn You, Auto Correct!
The 50 Worst Cars of All Time
Diffen.com – compare anything
The Top 75 'Pictures of the Day' for 2012 – click on any of these fantastic photos for more info
The Cayan Tower – one of many twisted buildings in the world
TinEye – reverse image search
AFI's 100 Greatest Movie Quotes
18 most annoying things people do in airports – includes a link to 20 most annoying things people do on planes
House styles
World University Rankings | Times Higher Education (THE)
The U.S.-Canada Border Slash
The Brown sisters - Forty Portraits in Forty Years – click on the first photo to start a slideshow of the rest
An Amazing, But Little Known, 9-11 Story
28 Stunning Bridges Around the World
Access my Vax records – this is MASS.GOV, so only for Massachusetts

Information

(for technical info see Internet & technology links)

Dictionaries & grammar reference

Dictionary.com

Merriam-Webster OnLine

OneLook® Dictionary Search – search dictionary web sites for words and phrases

Wordorigins.org

yourDictionary.com – huge reference in many languages

Specialty Dictionaries

AskOxford.com – classic grammar errors and helpful hints

Urban Dictionary

1 – a slang dictionary

Entertainment (see also Music)

The Internet Movie Database

Rotten Tomatoes – movie reviews

Best movies (Tomatometer of 100%)

Worst movies (Tomatometer of 0%)

Movie Review Query Engine (MRQE)

All Music Guide

1 – a highly cross-referenced database of music and musicians with sample cuts

General reference

Wikipedia

1 – online encyclopedia

Information Please – online Dictionary, Internet Encyclopedia, & Almanac Reference

Bartleby.com – unlimited access to books and information

Virtual Reference Collection: MIT Libraries

Librarians' Index to the Internet

The Internet Public Library

Refdesk.com - Facts Subject Index

How Stuff Works – like the title says

Fact Monster – Online Almanac, Dictionary, Encyclopedia, and Homework Help

Directions Magazine – your GIS News Source

Popular baby names – get top male & female names of any year from the Social Security Administration

The Six Living Generations In America

Global, geographical, historical, & cultural

World Facts and Figures

CIA World Factbook

History Central

World Rulers

Geographic.org - Geography, climate, countries, Maps, Flags, Population

Flags Of The World

License Plates of the World

The Kennedy Assassination Home Page

Taliban restrictions on Afghan women – too outrageous to list under Amusement

World Wonders – the Seven Wonders, etc.

Judaism 101

Historical Maps of the United States – General Libraries, University of Texas at Austin

Vietnam Wall – memorializing those who gave their lives in Vietnam

BrainyHistory – what happened on any day in history, including birthdays

Today in History – historic events and birthdays for ANY day

Harvard Dialect Survey Results – interesting study on how words are pronounced in different regions of the country

All About the World Ocean – all about ocean basins

Travel Games and Geography Activities: Learn About the World With Technology – interesting geography activities

Education

U101 College Search – Directory of Colleges and Universities in the United States and Canada

Kid Info – homework and student, teacher/parent reference resource

U.S.A. Geography Web Games

Measurements

A Dictionary of Units of Measurement

Interactive Units Converter

The Universal Currency Converter

Weather Underground – get current conditions and forecasts for anywhere

Miscellaneous

FactCheck.org – reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics

Gethuman – steps to find a human on companies' automated phone-systems (previously Find-a-Human)

Travelocity.com – online reservations

The Speedtrap Exchange – I hear this knowledge actually discourages speeding

World Architecture – 1000 places to see

Digital Archive of American Architecture

American Architecture – American house styles starting in the 17th century

Artcyclopedia – the Fine Art search engine

License Plates USA – United States License Plates

American Rhetoric: Top 100 American Speeches by Rank Order

Dead or Alive? – keeps track of celebrities

Daily Download – spotlight on the media

Obsessive-Compulsive's Guide: Top 12 Organizing Tips

FlightAware – live flight tracking—check delays and cancellations

Transforming World Atlas – some interesting facts about a changing world from Bank of America / Merrill Lynch

Forward Progressives – Forward Thinking for Progressive Action

This Day in History – What Happened Today

Travel Alerts and Travel Warnings

Tracking Your Travels: Landmarks Around the World

The Statue of Liberty and Famous US Landmarks

1 Website is maintained by member users

Government & Civic U.S. Capitol

(don't miss Political satire)

U.S. Senate

U.S. House of Representatives

U.S. Supreme Court

The Whitehouse

POTUS.com – the Presidents of the United States

Massachusetts' senators (my home state)

Ted Kennedy's website

John Kerry's website

Departments & agencies

The Library of Congress

U.S. Census Bureau

State & County QuickFacts

Internal Revenue Service (IRS)

Social Security Administration

Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC)

U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT)

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) – auto safety issues, including recalls

U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)

The Vault – search FBI records

Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)

The World Factbook

Consumer & citizen support

Federal Trade Commission (FTC)

Better Business Bureau

Federal Consumer Information Center (FCIC)

U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission

Consumer.gov – your resource for consumer information from the federal government

Consumer Protection Association

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)

Miscellaneous

LocalCensus.com – Census & Business Information

The Federal Web Locator – Federal Government information at your fingertips

Resources for Legislative Researchers - THOMAS (Library of Congress) – includes current voting records

U.S. Constitution

The Federal Judiciary

Capitolimpact.com – governmental and political information

United States Postal Service (USPS)

ZIP Code Look-Up and Address Information

United Nations

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) – this stuff is so cool

Nations Online Project – A Destination Guide to Countries and Nations of the World

50states.com – States and Capitals, also flags, songs, birds, etc.

The Official U.S. Time – exhibits about time, clocks, daylight saving, and calendars

Clinton Presidential Center – Bill's got a website now

A Guide to The United States Supreme Court

Health

Prevention.com

WebMD

MedicineNet.com – MedTerms Medical Dictionary Index

MEDLINEplus

A.D.A.M. Medical Encyclopedia

RxList - the Internet drug index

MyHealthfinder

HHS.gov - U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

MD Travel Health

Discovery Health

American Heart Association

National Institutes of Health (NIH)

World Health Organization (WHO)

National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NN/LM)

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

Health Related Hoaxes and Rumors

familydoctor.org

ClinicalTrials.gov – linking patients to medical research

MDAdvice.com

National Institute on Aging

Alzheimers Disease Education & Referral Center (ADEAR)

Find a Doctor – Doctor Reviews & Ratings

Alternative

Alternative Health News Online

National Center for Complimentary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM)

AlternativeMedicine.com

Do it yourself

Herbal Remedies

Active First Aid Online

Maps

(there are also a few map links in the Information section)

Google Maps – check out the Street View

Bing Maps - cool Bird's Eye views (this is Microsoft's answer to Google)

Mapquest

WorldAtlas.com

World Maps

World Map (Political) 2002

Quick Maps

Infoplease Atlas

Maps and Geography of the World

Yahoo! Maps and Driving Directions

World timezones map – shows current times around the world in 12- or 24-hour format

US timezones

Lynn Salmon's Map Resources – links to maps

Live Weather Images: WeatherImages.org – radar & satellite imagery, weather maps, & weather cams

Travel Geography for Kids

World Geography, Cartography and Mapping Skills for Transportation

Topographic Maps, Points of Interests, and Places to Visit

Satellite views

(read more at Slashdot)

GlobeXplorer – clickable & zoomable images

TerraServer – clickable & zoomable images

Space Imaging

DigitalGlobe

Blogs (weblogs)

Wet Asphalt – my nephew Eric

JonesWare Central – my neighbors across the street

dooce

New York Hack – cabbie Melissa Plaut talks about life in NYC

Cabs Are For Kissing – NYC cabbie Eugene Salomon

Pictures From A Taxi – NYC cabbie Eugene Salomon

MetaFilter Community Weblog – we're all in this together

My friend Karl's posts

Albino Blacksheep

Margaret Cho BLOG

Talking Points Memo – by Joshua Micah Marshall

Everlasting Blort – diving for the wisdom of pearls in your eyes

Blogger.com – push-button publishing for the people

Dave Barry's Blog – the unofficial Dave Barry blog

MetaTalk - TheWeblog – from the UK

Jeremy Zawodny's blog: The 10 Habits of Highly Annoying Bloggers

The Smirking Chimp – expresses so many of my views

15 Minute Lunch

Directories

Blogarama

Blog Catalog

Videos and Multimedia

See amusing videos on the Videos page.

Video sites

TV shows and movies

Hulu – owned by NBC

TV.com – owned by CBS

Veoh

Joost

Audio (see more under Email jokes)

War of the Worlds – this 1938 Orson Wells radio broadcast caused panic in the U.S.

Telemarketer's Nightmare Call – a hilarious recording from a radio show

MP3 songs

My songs

Get the Truth Shinjitsu - truth; reality

See more under Hoaxes & Urban legends

Fact Checkers - get the real story behind what you read in the newspaper or see on television or online.

Snopes.com – rumor has it

Politifact.com – sorting out the truth in politics

FactCheck.org – consumer advocate

TruthOrFiction.com – Seeking truth and exposing fiction

Truthdig – drilling beneath the headlines

CNN Political Ticker – all politics, all the time Fact Check

The Straight Dope – Fighting Ignorance Since 1973

USAFacts.org – Government data to drive fact-based discussion

The Sixties Peace symbol

(for 60s music see the Music page)

I graduated from high school in 1966 and started my many years of college in the late 60s, so I was primed to experience all that time had to offer.

Sixties.net

pOoTer's pSycheDelic shAcK – psychedelia, acid rock, garage, 60's punk

The Summer of Love

Photographs from the Sixties – Viet Nam and the San Francisco Bay Area 1966-1971

Baby Boomer HeadQuarters: the Sixties

1969 Woodstock Festival & Concert

Wavy Gravy's Homepage

Hippy.com: Welcome to Hippyland

The Summer Of Love - Gallery

The history of the PEACE SIGN

Eel Pie Dharma – a memoir / haibun, by Chris Faiers

An interview with a Vietnam draft resister 35 years later – sounds like we had a common experience (I was a resister)

R. Crumb, cartoonist

Robert Crumb was one of the most prolific underground cartoonists of the late 60s.
Zap Comix, which featured so much of his work, are available in reprints (I still have my original copies).