(000501) Mike the Headless Chicken
http://www.miketheheadlesschicken.org/

Mike The Headless Chicken Days
City Of Fruita
Fruita, Colorado, USA

As a big fan of different Pioneer Days held by cities and towns around the world, it was a treat to find this site for Mike the Headless Chicken. Mike was a very famous chicken who lost his head on September 10th, 1945 and toured the nation as a medical curiosity. It seems that Mike's owner, Lloyd Olsen was thinking of his mother-in-law while preparing the Wyandotte rooster and took a special pleasure in cutting the animal's neck. What happened next was astounding — Mike lived for months without a head! Read all about the events which followed and about the annual celebration of Mike the Headless Chicken. This year, Fruita will hold Mike The Headless Chicken Days on May 19th and 20th. Events include the Chicken Cook-off, a Chicken Dance Marathon with The Chris Rouse Polka Band, and the Run Like A Chicken With Your Head Cut Off 5k Race. What fun!  (Back to top of page)

(000502) For Artist
Forensic Art - Illustration - Artist Images
http://www.forartist.com/index.htm

Stephen Mancusi
New York, New York, USA

Forensic art is a fascinating form, used to put a faces on simple descriptions of people or from the remains of the deceased. Stephen J. Mancusi is the senior forensic artist for a New York City area police department and uses this new site as a portfolio and calling card. Visitors will find examples and explanations of forensic and illustrative artwork in addition to more traditional styles. A different and interesting kind of site.  (Back to top of page)

(000503) Paul Roub: Rock, Paper, Scissors
http://www.paulroub.com/rps/

Paul Roub
Weston, Florida, USA

The game is simple enough, rock breaks scissors, scissors cut paper, paper covers rock. Three choices — two players, in this case it's you versus the computer. Sure you could play this game with another person but after a dozen or so rounds somebody always ends up getting frustrated for losing so often. A game that requires its players to make fists and point fingers can get ugly really fast. Maybe this is a better way.  (Back to top of page)

(000504) Audible.com
http://www.audible.com/

Audible, Inc.
Wayne, New Jersey, USA

With more than the standard Books on Tape fare, Audible.com goes one step further — there are no Cassettes tapes or Compact Discs. Content can be sampled, purchased, and enjoyed on your computer. Duplication and shipping costs are practically nonexistent and Audible.com boasts prices that can be 40% of comparable retail. Audible.com uses both standard streaming audio and a proprietary media player, the AudibleManager software package is a free download and allows for playback and organization of your audio programs. It will also facilitate the transfer of audio programming from Audible.com to AudibleReady portable audio devices, including the Diamond Rio 500 which holds up to 28 hours of audible.com programs or up to two hours of MP3 music. Content is indeed king here, abridged and unabridged versions of hundreds of titles — more than 20,000 of hours of audio content, there is something for every taste and interest.

The original content at Audible.com is the clincher though, my current favorite is comedian Robin Williams' weekly series plainly known as Robin Williams @ audible.com (http://www.audible.com/rw/site_link.html). The half hour shows feature interviews and insight into the life and times of the host of the show, Robin Williams. Intended for mature audiences, the first eight episodes are being given away, and so far are funnier than all heck. Forget everything you know about comedy if they convince Jonathan Winters to go into the studio with Robin Williams for an episode or two. The Charter Membership period only runs through May 18, 2000 and promises a 15% discount on all purchase through the end of the year, so have a look soon. Original content, best sellers from the top publishers, classics and even treatments of books that were too painful to sit down and read the first time are at Audible.com. This is a great product and site.  (Back to top of page)

(000505) Cinco de Mayo, the Real Story
http://www.execpc.com/~shepler/cincodemayo.html

John E. Shepler
Rockford, Illinois, USA

A part of John Shepler's A Positive Light (http://www.execpc.com/~shepler/), Cinco de Mayo, the Real Story briefly explores the impact Mexico's battle with France may have had on the United States. Cinco de Mayo does not mark Mexican Independence Day as many people believe. Instead it honors La Batalla de Puebla, a turning point in the war between Mexico and France. Over simplified perhaps, but an excellent starting point for anyone interested in the Mexican holiday of Cinco de Mayo.  (Back to top of page)

(000506) Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield Village
http://www.hfmgv.org/

Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield Village
Dearborn, Michigan, USA

In an attempt to preserve a quickly vanishing America, Henry Ford started to move and reassemble buildings of historic importance. In the late 1920s and throughout the 30s, Ford acquired the Eagle Tavern, an 1850s stagecoach stop; Thomas Edison's Menlo Park Laboratory complete with the trash dump and out buildings; Noah Webster's Home, the 1823 Federal and Empire-style home where Noah Webster finished the first American Dictionary of the English Language; the Wright Brothers' Home and Cycle Shop where Orville and Wilbur Wright began work on heavier than air flight; and the Suwanee Riverboat which is a reconstruction of the paddle steamer Thomas Edison travelled on right here in Fort Myers, Florida, the boiler and other parts were salvaged from the sunken original Suwanee in 1930. Today, all of these slices of Americana are staffed by people in period costume providing a glimpse into the past back to Colonial times.

If Greenfield Village wasn't enough, the Henry Ford Museum houses exhibits such as 100 Years of the Automobile in American Life, an exploration of the history and evolution of the automobile; Fully Furnished, pieces from the museum's furniture collection which includes a 17th century William and Mary highboy and other items; Made in America which takes a close-up look at American industrial history and its impact on everyday life; the chair that President Abraham Lincoln was sitting in the night he was assassinated; Edgar Allan Poe's Writing Desk; George Washington's Camp Bed from the 1770s; the 1961 Lincoln Continental President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in; a 1952 Oscar Mayer Wienermobile; and perhaps the most telling of this great collection and Henry Ford 's obsession — a test tube that may contain Thomas Edison's Last Breath.

The chair Lincoln was assassinated in.

The Lincoln Kennedy was assassinated in.

Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield Village is not part of the Ford Motor Company but is instead an independent, not-for-profit, educational institution accredited by the American Association of Museums. Hundreds of thousands of school children visit the Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield Village every year and if you are ever in the Detroit area, a visit is highly recommended. This site contains on-line exhibits and additional information about the history in and of Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield Village. Be sure to look at the site map (http://www.hfmgv.org/sitemap.html) here so as not to miss important sections like the Preservation Fact Sheets (http://www.hfmgv.org/histories/cis/pfs.html) which provides a curators's insight on storing heirlooms and other old stuff at home. During the past few years I've had the pleasure of revisiting both Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield Village and can offer the following advice — if you haven't been since you were a kid, go again soon and plan on spending at least a day at each.  (Back to top of page)

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(000507) ForwardGarden.com
Where forwards belong
http://www.forwardgarden.com

David Eder
Scottsbluff, Nebraska, USA

Occasionally an e-mail message comes along that is funny enough to read a few times and forward to someone who will get a kick out of it. Keeping those same messages for any length of time on a local server or in a free browser-based account can get out of hand. Hardly ever worth printing, these messages and their content will eventually leave your mind once deleted. Then it happens, a month or two down the road you are trying to remember that joke so and so sent that had something to do with three pigs in a bathtub. You write to the half dozen people who may have sent it to you, and all day they wonder about you and your obsession with two pigs in a bathtub. You still are without the joke, then you remember sending it to ForwardGarden.com for future reference. Open to all, the 1,500 entries currently at ForwardGarden.com will eventually become a bloated repository for all those crazy messages that forward several times around the world before falling dormant. Those messages will live on at ForwardGarden.com and visitors can find the original message and more along the way. This is not private storage, messages are available to all, so be careful with what you send up. Visitors can also rate individual messages on a six-point scale. As many messages of this nature can contain absolute hogwash, it would be nice to see ratings on accuracy — especially with trivia and the like. There are several sites like ForwardGarden.com out there, but it's nice to see a project like this when it is new. A fresh look, easy navigation, and a built in forwarding feature that allows visitors the opportunity to wake up those two pigs in the bathtub and send them out on yet another voyage.

In case you were wondering…

There's these two pigs sitting in a bathtub. One pig says to the other "hand me the soap will ya?" and the third pig says, "What do you think I am, a typewriter?".  (Back to top of page)

(000508) Vermont SIRI Material Safety Data Sheet Archive - Site One
http://siri.uvm.edu/msds/

Vermont SIRI Material Safety Data Sheet Archive - Site Two
http://siri.org/msds/

Daniel Woodard, MD and Ralph Stuart, CIH
Hosted by the University of Vermont
Burlington, Vermont, USA

Originally Site du Jour of the Day (980723)
July 23, 1998

Site du Jour of the Day episodes are occasionally full of stories and suggestions, not to mention pointers about things that carry a potential hazard if safety rules are not followed. Adult supervision and/or common sense are usually enough to keep trouble at bay. Safety is an important factor of survival, part of that is knowing the risks associated with things before trying or using them. For example, many of us have used the chemical solvent Benzene bare-handed for years, completely unaware of any of the potentially serious health risks that come with the product.

Manufacturers in the US and several other countries are required by law to provide Material Safety Data Sheets for such products but as Dr. Woodard explains, "This website was started because in fifteen years experience as an emergency physician, I have found that no one exposed to a potentially hazardous material ever has a paper MSDS for that product immediately available, and the cost of purchasing this information from commercial providers is simply not justifiable when many of my patients can't even afford to fill their prescriptions".

Employers must make this information available for products used in the work place and this is great if you are looking for something to read at lunch or in the event of an emergency, but for residential reference a visit to Vermont SIRI MSDS Archive could save the time or expense involved in contacting companies for Material Safety Data Sheets or worse yet, calling the Poison Control Hotline. Bookmark this site, visit and become familiar with the interface used to search the database. It's free and could someday save a life. For that reason it is still one of the most important sites ever featured as Site du Jour of the Day.  (Back to top of page)

(000509) Reef Ball Foundation
http://www.reefball.org/

Reef Ball Development Group Ltd.'s Designed Artificial Reefs
http://www.reefball.com/

Reef Ball Development Group, Ltd.
Bradenton, Florida, USA

These two sites are maintained by Reef Ball Development Group, Ltd. and look at different aspects of the same product. A Reef Ball is a concrete dome riddled with holes of different shapes and sizes, and are used to create artificial reefs. The manufacturing process starts by filling a Fiberglass mold with poured concrete, an inflated bladder inside the mold serves two purposes; it allows the Reef Ball to have a hollow inside, and facilitates floating the Reef Ball to its desired location at sea. The bladder and other smaller toy balloon-sized devices are used to open up the Reef Ball allowing underwater creatures hiding and feeding place once the Reef Ball has been positioned on the sea floor. The increased surface area gained by making the Reef Balls an irregular shape has also encouraged coral growth in new and repaired reefs. Common pointers at both sites look at diving and other environmental sites, and there are two options available for people interested in making Reef Balls. The first is a vacation package, a nice trip to the Tropics and a chance to help build a reef system. The second is an idea I'm glad to see. Eternal Reefs allows people to become a part of a Reef Ball after death. Cremated remains are included in the concrete mix and a memorial plaque is fastened to the Reef Ball before submersion. Morbid perhaps, but a nice alternative to the traditional urn on the mantle. Smaller versions of the Reef Ball are also available for saltwater aquariums through the site. A clever idea no matter how you look at it, these Reef Ball sites should prove interesting to anyone with an interest in diving, conservation, or things you have never seen before.  (Back to top of page)

(000510) WHquestion
Think global - Ask a local
http://www.whquestion.com/

Assaf Hochberg
Neuronia Inc.
Tel Aviv, Israel

Using a search engine or combing newsgroups and FAQ files have always been ways to locate the answer to a question. A good old-fashioned library works wonders as well, but there is nothing like directly asking a person who has knowledge in the field you are interested in. WHquestion, still in beta test phase, addresses that need in a unique way — questions on all subjects can be asked and answered at one site. While still seeking out resident experts, WHquestion is open for business and of course questions. The search for people to answer questions has lead to a ratings system which may eventually lead to stock options being offered to the best and brightest. The questions currently being asked are not terribly difficult to answer if you know how to dig in the right places around the world, say like the library. But for people who do not know these things or are just dim, WHquestion might be a really good resource. Users will make or break WHquestion and after registering it is a free service. Here's a chance to be seen as outstanding in your field or to finally find the answers to questions you have always wondered about. Or both.  (Back to top of page)

(000511) How Web Servers' Cookies Threaten Your Privacy
http://www.junkbusters.com/ht/en/cookies.html

Junkbusters
http://www.junkbusters.com/

Junkbusters Corporation
Green Brook, New Jersey, USA

A message arrived shortly after sending out the Site du Jour of the Day episode for May 10, WHquestion (http://www.whquestion.com/) (SdJotD 000510). A concerned reader wrote that "This site makes you agree to allow them and their suppliers and advertisers and god knows who else to put banners, cookies, and all sorts of stuff onto your computer. That's ridiculous". Cookies are basically markers different sites place on your browser to identify you during future visits and track your viewing habits at that site. The practice of placing Cookies is very common, being asked to agree with the practice is not common at all. Most site that use Cookies keep the data collected to themselves but there is always the possibility of that information being used for other purposes. How Web Servers' Cookies Threaten Your Privacy is a section at Junkbusters and it explains how Cookies work much better than space allows for here. Visitors will find methods and tips on disabling the defaults on a browser ultimately giving the user a choice about who is allowed to place Cookies and who isn't. If you use the mail client included with your browser it is entirely possible that people can see more than the pages you have visited at a particular site — sometimes your e-mail address and name is right there for the world to see. Junkbusters looks at other aspects of privacy as well, such topics as unsolicited e-mail messages (Spam), and targeted banner advertisements. Suggestions for different software settings and utilities available at the Junkbusters site come in quite handy for keeping your identity private and annoyance level low when looking at different sites. As for the security of the information submitted when you subscribed to Site du Jour of the Day, let me assure you that the personal data and e-mail addresses are used solely for development and mailing of Site du Jour of the Day episodes. Somebody recently said that Big Brother will not turn out to be the government at all — it'll be business. Junkbusters contains a lot of eye-opening information that will change the way you think about your browser software, sites you visit and even the Internet itself. Big Brother is indeed watching.  (Back to top of page)

(000512) Buddy Ebsen Creations - Actor, Artist, Writer
http://www.buddyebsencreations.com

Buddy and Dorothy Ebsen
Buddy Ebsen Creations
Long Beach, California, USA

_________________________________

Cooter's Place in Space
Official site for Cooter's Place and Cooter's Garage
http://www.cootersdukesofhazzard.com

Ben Jones and Alma Viator
Sperryville, Virginia, USA

Not really related to each other, these two sites do share a similar vibe. Buddy Ebsen, the gentleman actor who is probably best known for his role as Jed Clampett on the television show The Beverly Hillbillies and Ben Jones who played Cooter on the show Dukes of Hazzard have established these sites to promote themselves and their businesses outside of television.

Buddy Ebsen Creations is the official site of Buddy Ebsen fine art limited edition serigraphs and original artworks and books. Buddy Ebsen's film credits include some great pictures — Between Heaven & Hell, Walt Disney's Davy Crockett, The One & Only Family Band, and Breakfast at Tiffany's. The streaming Filmography Clip here is entertaining and well worth looking at. Be sure to look for information about ordering signed copies of Buddy Ebsen's Autobiography The Other Side of Oz and limited edition fine art prints.  (Back to top of page)

(000513) Abraham Lincoln Online
http://www.netins.net/showcase/creative/lincoln.html

Abraham Lincoln Online
West Des Moines, Iowa, USA

Perhaps the greatest of all American Presidents, our sixteenth held a maturing country together through the worst of times. Differing opinions on subjects such as slavery and industrialization nearly ripped the United States in two. Timing, if nothing else gave Lincoln a place in history that no President since has been honored with. Abraham Lincoln Online is staffed by volunteers and offers resources galore on current and past texts, historic places, and news of Lincoln. Intentionally an incomplete listing, Abraham Lincoln Online is the best of the lot though.  (Back to top of page)

(000514) American Museum of Straw Art
http://www.strawartmuseum.org/

American Museum of Straw Art
Long Beach, California, USA

The American Museum of Straw Art is dedicated to preserving a craft with roots in a bygone agricultural society, and the folklore the form contains. After a fire nearly wiped out the American Museum of Straw Art in the mid-1990s, curators have had a difficult time generating interest from volunteers, visitors and patrons but things seem to be getting better. The American Museum of Straw Art site contains exhibits of Straw Art from around the world, a history of the museum, Artist Showroom, and gift shop. Thanks to Lynnie Williams for the wonderful suggestion.  (Back to top of page)

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Copyright 2000, Edward J. Pelegrino. All rights reserved.
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Updated May 14, 2000

This Archive has been opened times since May 6, 2000.