Soople claims to "soften all the fantastic (advanced) functions Google offers." Essentially it rearranges the advanced search features of Google in a way Soople hopes makes them easier to use.

The U.S. Department of Education now offers an RSS feed. The feed delivers press releases, information on the No Child Left Behind program and federal learning resources, among other things.

Gigalaw.com, which offers "Legal Information for Internet Professionals," also offers RSS feeds.

Into the Blogosphere collects academic (read: jargon-filled, dull, pretentious) commentary on the "rhetoric, community and culture" of blogs. Consider, for example, this from Steve Himmer of Emerson College in The Labyrinth Unbound: Weblogs as Literature:

"This absence of a discrete, 'completed' product makes the weblog as a form resistant to the commoditization either of itself, or of any one particular interpretation.

These features, I argue, characterize the weblog as a distinctive literary and creative mode, something richer and more nuanced than viewing it as simply the outcome of a specific toolset or formal structure allows for."

Need I say more?

"Any Hoosier with a computer and Internet access is now a mouse-click away from free software that will provide e-mail, word processing, file sharing and other tools," the Indy Star says.

ResourceShelf's DocuTicker gives daily pointers to new reports by government agencies, think tanks and others.

The Substance Abuse Information Database, or SAID, " provides a one-stop source of information with summaries and full text of materials relating to workplace substance abuse issues."

Newslookup.com is yet another news search engine. This one lets you specify whether you want your news from the Internet, radio, TV, magazines or newspapers.

This Italian site lets you look up records for more than 12,000 auto races.

HTTrack is a free program that lets you download a "mirror" of a Website to browse offline.

Just because they're scientists doesn't mean they got it right: A study (PDF) found that there was at least one statistical error in 38 percent of the articles published Nature and 25 percent of the articles published in the British Medical Journal. Remember that next time you report on a newsworthy scientific study and feel the urge to exhibit an exaggerated respect for the author's findings.

Sony offers The Independent Record Store Directory.

You can find the proposed constitutional amendments on Indiana's November ballot here. A list of candidates is here (PDF).

Why you would want to regularly run 26 miles and destroy your joints in the name of physical fitness is beyond me but MarathonGuide.com is there to help. It offers scheduled races the world over, news, articles and more.

Bookmarklets are Internet bookmarks that do handy things for you: Search a Web site without having to visit the site first, collect all the links or images on a Web page, convert measurements, look up word definitions, translate a Web page and more. This article in PC Magazine explains more about them and tells you where you can find them. They install with just a click or two.

An example is Lushe.net, which makes it easier to use Google to search just the sites that interest you.

Findory.com offers "Personalized News." It remembers which sites you look at, then creates your own front page of stories it thinks matches your interests.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal used mapping to study where home invasions happen in that city. The main article is here.

About.com explains database keys.

The National Interagency Fire Center offers fire information and statistics.

The Center for Spatially Integrated Social Social Science offers lots of information on using geographical information system (GIS) mapping to do social science research. This is the kind of stuff that would interest journalists too. For example, social scientists have used mapping to study poverty, urbanization, and politics. Check out the GIS Cookbook, which is oriented toward beginners and seeks to explain what GIS is "with minimal GIS jargon." It has a glossary too.

This site tracks Web feeds from electronic academic journals.

There's a growing Google backlash, especially over its experimental email service, Gmail, which I happen to like. This site says Gmail is too creepy.

It's intended for students writing academic papers but it might help you too: Purdue offers a site on understanding and avoiding plagiarism.

Entrez lets you search multiple databases on medicine and related sciences at once, including PubMed, PubMed Central, population data sets, mapping data and more.

SItrends.org is a clearinghouse for information on service industries, including reports, statistics, laws and more. Service industries is economic jargon for businesses like retail stores, insurance brokers, accountants, and so on, as opposed to factories.

All about birds is just that.

Newsroom-l, a discussion group for journalists, is soliciting new members in the wake of SPJ-L being shutdown.

Drug discovery@nature.com "is an entirely free information resource for everyone with an interest in drug discovery and development."

Florida's Department of Law Enforcement has created a database of tatoos on current and former prisoners. They say it makes it easier to identify criminals.

Ohio newspapers banded together and exposed how little respect public officials pay to that state's open records law. From one story: "At least half of agencies or officials don't know or don't appear to care what the law requires."

The cell phone industry wants to create a national cell phone directory but is facing resistance from those who say it will be exploited by telemarketers.

About.com writes about "Reducing E-mail Overload and the Stress That Comes With It."

IRE has updated its "Mortality, Multiple Cause-of-Death Public-Use Data Files." "The Mortality Multiple Cause-of-Death database contains detailed information found in U.S. standard death certificate records from the United States and its territories," the site says. "The data includes information on causes of death as well as detailed information about the deceased. Some of these details include the decedent's age, race, sex, marital status at the time of death and much more."

The Census Bureau now offers an RSS feed.

So does the Indianapolis Star.

If you don't know what RSS is read this PC World article, which I've mentioned before.

SharpReader, by the way, is a good, free RSS reader I've been using lately.

 

Jim Malone says BoatU.S. is a good site for looking up boating information - including each state's number of boat registrations, accidents, information on taxation and more.

The National Archives and Records Administration recently began putting World War II enlistment records for more than 9 million soldiers online. A press release is here.

One way to learn more about Microsoft Word, Excel or Access or get help is to check the Microsoft Discussion Groups.

A study claims dust on your computer could be toxic.

The Centers for Disease Control puts data from the National Immunization Survey online.

The Library of Congress has a page devoted to technical and research reports on economics and business.

You can find out what others are saying about a particular Web site by using Google's experimental WebQuotes. Search expert Mary Ellen Bates says it's a good way to spot fraudulent sites.

Art a GoGo offers news and information about the art world that "is entertaining and accessible." That implies, of course, that most art news and information is neither of those things.

"The AmosWEB GLOSS*arama is a searchable database of 1800 economic terms and concepts."

"HURISEARCH is a HUman RIghts SEARCH engine" that searches more than 1300 non-governmental organizations.

"Best of History Web Sites aims to provide quick, convenient, and reliable access to the best history-oriented resources online."

Nieman Watchdog, where the motto is "Questions reporters should ask," "connects reporters and editors with experts, at Harvard and elsewhere, who can help frame probing, penetrating questions in various fields, and then serve as sources."

Dan Froomkin opines on what the news business can do to take better advantage of the Internet.

PC World has a good article, "News on Demand," explaining RSS, how to use it and why you should care. "Tired of browsing around the Web for timely information?" the article asks. "RSS readers deliver exactly the news you need--fast."

Higheredinfo.org offers data and other information about colleges and universities.

They're dying out at my house but there may still be time to get in a good Cicada meal. For that, you can refer to the 11-page cookbook "Cicada-licious: Cooking and Enjoying Periodical Cicadas." (PDF) Or you can can put it in storage bring it out 17 years from now.

MoreGoogle, which isn't affiliated with Google, adds more features to the most popular search engine, including preview thumbnails of Web pages, an open in new window button, site statistics and a quicker way to retrieve older versions of a site. You have to install a free program to use it.

This article aimed at lawyers offers lots of links to information on PDFs that may be useful to you.

Poynteronline's The Design Desk offers some interesting examples of how people are using Macromedia's Flash for graphics.

"KidsCamps.com is the Internet's most comprehensive resource guide and directory of day camps, overnight camps, special needs camps, sport camps, special interest camps, art camps, family camps, camps for rent/lease, and more!"

BioethicsWeb "offers free access to a searchable catalogue of Internet sites and resources covering biomedical ethics."

Fagan Finder now offers a "Quotations and Proverbs Search."

"GovLoans.gov is your gateway to Federal loan information."

Medical News Feeds is a "Medical News and Weblog Aggregator."

You can get quick information on local gas prices in Yahoo by typing "gas" and a zip code. At the top of the search results will be links to GasPriceWatch.com and GasBuddy.com with local station prices for that zip.

"The Sociable Media Group investigates issues concerning society and identity in the networked world. We address such questions as: How do we perceive other people on-line? What does a virtual crowd look like? How do social conventions develop in the networked world? Our emphasis is on design: we build experimental interfaces and installations that explore new forms of social interaction in the mediated world."

Barbecuen on the Internet claims to be "the leading edge in outdoor cooking." It offers information about BBQs, recipes and tips on grilling for those so inclined.

The U.S. Census Bureau has just unveiled a new site called Quarterly Workforce Indicators. "Just as national economic indicators measure the performance of the overall economy, the QWI measure the performance of the local economy - where jobs are, for what kind of workers, how much workers can expect to make and employers expect to pay them."

Yahoo's new toolbar claims to find and remove spyware and other unwanted programs.

The Dartmouth Flood Observatory is "a research tool for detection, mapping, measurement, and analysis of extreme flood events world-wide using satellite remote sensing."

SociologyOnline offers news and information about sociology from a Nottingham Brit who describes him as the site's "owner, manager and tea-boy."