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Illuminated Site of the Week ArchivesHere is a list of ALL previous winners of the IllSotW:
December 5, 2008: Illuminated Site of the Week: Toy Safety
The cutting edge of security is now made of Lego. They say you can keep all your valuables protected inside this safe because it has billions of combinations and an alarm-equipped motion sensor. November 23, 2008: Illuminated Site of the Week: Cuttin' And Scratchin' Are Aspects Of Their Game
Ever played one of those games where you try to out-Google each other, coming up with a word combination that appears most often in a search engine? Now you've got musical and video accompaniment as DJ Battle adds imagery to an animated DJ-bot based on your choices. -- Suggested by Gavin Coughlan October 18, 2008: Illuminated Site of the Week: Pole Positions
Nothing good explodes out from under the polar ice caps, and make no mistake, when the members of the International Polar Year program go in search of knowledge, it will explode. Have they never read Don A. Stuart or H.P. Lovecraft? Ignore these initials at your peril. We were particularly taken with the notion that they're going to delve for dirt on the buried Gamburtsev mountain range, also called the "ghost peaks." The BBC has the story. September 27, 2008: Illuminated Site of the Week: That'll Come In Handy
When you're lost on some isolated country road, your biggest concern shouldn't be the embarrassment of asking for directions - it should be whether you'll run afoul of a cult looking for new members. To mount an effective resistance, bookmark Apologetics Index, your one-stop shop for fighting mind control. Since they'll probably take away your Internet access, you'll want to order a book or two. The cult won't be expecting you to go analog. -- Andy September 8, 2008: Illuminated Site of the Week: It's The Size Of The Fight In The Dog
-- Suggested by Freya September 5, 2008: Illuminated Site of the Week: Actual Falsehoods
It's been observed that if you go to Wikipedia for your "facts," you're relying on the argumentative members of the general public to get things right. The beauty of The Arcana Wiki is that you're getting information about stuff that's already not real. The site is building up a storehouse of fantastic, unknown, or just plain entertaining information about people, places, and things. Some of these are imaginary, but there's real stuff, too - it just gets steeped in legend or boiled down to the most amusing bits. Use it for everything from writing fiction to developing your RPG campaign, and hey, you can even help write more of it. Just try to get your facts straight, okay? Otherwise people have to use Arcana's links back to Wikipedia and the irony might kill someone. August 29, 2008: Illuminated Site of the Week: Kind Of Redundant, Isn't It?
Unexplained Mysteries are the best kind. This site offers snippets of all that is enigmatic in the world, and lets visitors talk about it at the forums. Einstein's theories, ape "planning," and lawsuits between the Knights Templar and the pope . . . okay, so maybe some of this can be explained, but it should be an entertaining story regardless. August 15, 2008: Illuminated Site of the Week: The Map Is The Make-Believe Territory
-- Suggested by Kira August 9, 2008: Illuminated Site of the Week: Let The Sun Shine
Daniel G. Nocera, professor of energy and chemistry at MIT, may have found an efficient way to store all the solar energy that we gather before the sun goes down. He can tell you about "time-resolved spectroscopies (from femtoseconds to milliseconds)," or you could read the somewhat more accessible story in the MIT news. -- Suggested by Ed Elder
August 1, 2008: Illuminated Site of the Week: Really Popular Art
Maybe you don't know much about art, but you can find out what you like. In fact, you can find out what everyone likes, and what they don't. The Komar and Melamid Homepage lists the results of its intensive look at what makes people tick when viewing art, with information fed to them from around the globe. Want to know how your tastes stack up against Turkey? Is there really some sort of commonality about what's good? -- Ed Elder
July 25, 2008: Illuminated Site of the Week: Dig This
Wiltshire is ready to give up its secrets. Long have people wondered about its mysterious site: Who built it? What is its purpose? What power lies beneath the unsuspecting populace's feet?Huh? Stonehenge? No, not that pile of rocks. The secret underground city built by the Ministry of Defence for the benefit of government officials. An entire city with miles of roads awaits. An ancient calendar? Pfft . . . can it support 4,000 people? No, we didn't think so. -- Suggested by Shawn Fisher
July 20, 2008: Illuminated Site of the Week: Oh, Wait, You're Serious?
Well, this time, yeah. A lot of folks show off their technological, uhhh . . . we'll call them "innovations" . . . on the Internet, but occasionally it turns out someone's actually doing something that doesn't require timecubes or free energy or wombat blood. The Daily Ill has featured Sandia National Labs here and there for things that caught our fancy, but if you cast a wider net you see it's high time they were recognized for their bionic contact lenses, or their neutron scatter camera, or their lightweight, high-caliber, self-propelled cannon system, or . . .You know, on second thought, you could just get a job there. That'd be easier. -- Suggested by John Evans
July 11, 2008: Illuminated Site of the Week: Knock, Knock
We already showed you Entrances to Hell, a cautionary tale for those readers surrounded by the infernal in the UK, but if you're willing to travel further afield you'll find Darvaz has a door of its own. This passage in Russia leads straight to you-know-where, but it has something other portals don't: video. -- Suggested by Eric Newsom
July 5, 2008: Illuminated Site of the Week: Someone Had To Commission It
We may be building it, dreading it, or trying to prevent it, but Dezeen architecture and design magazine finds it cool and so should you. Whether anticipating the coming ecological disasters or trying to get above them, there's wonder and mystery to be had. And it won't hurt to make friends with one of the visionaries involved. Hey, that animal has another animal on its snout. -- Suggested by Tori Bergquist
June 27, 2008: Illuminated Site of the Week: And A Side Order Of "Huh?"
If you seek the answers, find Truth & Revelations, but bring a pocket calculator. You may not have to show all work, but the answers seem to be focused on numbers. Unlike many sites that delve into the deep questions, this one is pretty clean and skimps on the graphics. Very much like those sites, it skimps on grammar and spelling. But hey, non-profits have to cut costs somewhere, and subtracting those language arts lessons probably adds up to savings. -- Suggested by gido
June 20, 2008: Illuminated Site of the Week: Who's Gonna Clean Up This Mess?
The least an alien can do if he's going to kidnap hapless humans for bizarre experiments is have the decency to put them back where he found them once he's done with them. Should the abductors prove to be a bit absent-minded, a little reminder is in order. The Location Earth Dog Tags display graphical and mathematical information that remind one's host which planet he got these latest specimens from. -- Suggested by Freya
June 13, 2008: Illuminated Site of the Week: Mail Man Of God
The end-time is going to be inconvenient in so many ways, not least because the postal service is going to blow (unless your mail carrier practices, say, Shintoism). The Post-Rapture Post is a surefire way to see that anyone you love who, sadly, did not accept Christ as his personal Lord and Savior, knows how you feel once you've ascended into Heaven. These nice, atheistic folks see that your letter is delivered. It seems premature to have testimonials at the site, but these people seem pretty pleased with the service so far. -- Suggested by Marcus Rowland
June 6, 2008: Illuminated Site of the Week: See A Penny, Pick It Up . . .
. . . the rest of the day, you'll have good luck. Or the first of the almost two trillion cents you'll need to fill the Empire State Building. Love them or hate them, pennies are everywhere (which seems to be why people love them or hate them), and The Megapenny Project tries to give a sense of scale to the little copper nuisances with a series of abstract exercises. Ostensibly a lesson for kids and math fans, it's another of those "What if" illustrations that may have less to do with science than it does with wish fulfillment. Go on - pretend you haven't wondered what all the pennies look like. -- Suggested by Rev. Pee Kitty
May 30, 2008: Illuminated Site of the Week: The Captain Goes Down With His Real Estate
Freedom Ship - the City at Sea is like something out of a movie. It promises a chance to live life on a floating town (kind of like Waterworld), with all the amenities in a self-contained community (kind of like Shivers), headed to exotic ports of call (like Titanic). Come to think of it, most of the films it calls up . . . well, it sounds like a cool idea anyway. Just the sort of innovation you want from a man running for president in his spare time. -- Suggested by Alex Ackerly
May 27, 2008: Illuminated Site of the Week: Yes, And You Just Keep Going On About It
The Perpetual Motion Generator is not to be toyed with, just built in your garage. Treat the technology with kid gloves - the author has generously decided to reconstruct his device, having destroyed the original when he considered the effect on the economy of the Middle East. Watch for salty language and pockets of free energy. -- Suggested by Tiago Hackbarth
May 17, 2008: Illuminated Site of the Week: He Was Never Here, He Did Not Sign Your Book
There has to be a go-to guy for the worldwide conspiracy, someone the regular Joes can talk to without all that initiation and chanting, right? It's probably Trevor Paglen, though that's all you're gettin' out of him or us. He spends a lot of time dissecting renditions, secret operations, and the symbology so favored by special forces. Don't blame us if you disappear for the sake of a potential best-seller. -- Suggested by DryaUnda
May 9, 2008: Illuminated Site of the Week: Early To Bed, Early To Die
It's not enough the world has things keeping you awake at night and a plethora of items to plague your dreams, now they're getting you in that space between waking and sleeping. The Sleep Invaders are, according to this site, malevolent entities that want . . . uh, well the site isn't really clear on what they want. That must be why they offer you the book; it has all the answers. Could be another fly-by-night operation, assigning all the woes of life to otherworldly critters, but that's one spooky - and surprisingly well-produced - video. -- Suggested by Kim Bernard
May 4, 2008: Illuminated Site of the Week: Because No One Knows What A Foon Is
A spork, if you've ever been to a greasy fast-food joint for lunch, is a combination fork and spoon. Not just useful for eating fried meals, the revolutionary Battlespork helps with dental hygiene. It stops diseases in their tracks. It's a utensil and a razor and . . . okay, that's enough now. -- Suggested by Tony Hitchens
April 25, 2008: Illuminated Site of the Week: Never Infringe On Someone Who Has Nukes
It is not recommended you attempt to recreate any part of the country's nuclear arsenal. Why? Because you'll bring down the full wrath of the patent office. Alex Wellerstein points out that the United States tried for a lot of Atomic Patents while working on the Manahattan Project. Bad enough to be tagged for stealing state secrets, but pirating the technology is just uncalled for. Remember, those before you have already built these things. -- Suggested by Ed Elder
April 18, 2008: Illuminated Site of the Week: Old Books Best To Read, Old Wine Best To Drink
The Secret Masters really have it in for you. Mind-altering drugs have undisciplined effects, torture is inefficient, and the orbital mind-control lasers sport a power bill that will make your head swim. (Ahem.) The solution? Nostalgia by the bucket. Retro Thing is one of those sites that grabs hold of you, fires your imagination, and refuses to let you go. Days later, you realize you forgot about the wedding and have in all likelihood been unemployed for over a week. Board games, computer consoles, books, movies, comics, fashions . . . they're not old, they're retro. Ooo, Micronauts. April 12, 2008: Illuminated Site of the Week: Data, Data, Data, I Cannot Make Bricks Without Clay
A lot of these sites tell you they'll help you see past society's hooey, but at Cutting Through the Matrix with Alan Watt, they take their time. He lists his three book titles, and that's about all the direct information you get until you work your way past the ads. After that, you can download audio recordings of his appearances and slowly build up a picture of where he's coming from. It's hard to say whether he's working with or against the Masons, but he draws the line at Reptile People. Let's not get nutty. -- Suggested by j.
April 4, 2008: Illuminated Site of the Week: They Laughed At You At The University
And in grade school. And at the church picnic. And when you broke into the Museum of Natural History to attack the Early Man exhibit. If you're not careful, they're going to continue delighting themselves thusly at your predicament right up until you fail the HPLHS SaniTest; then it's straight into the hatch with you. See how you stack up against other crazy people . . . which, according to the site, is something of a redundancy. -- Suggested by Janx
March 28, 2008: Illuminated Site of the Week: Okay, You Can Start Doomsday Now
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault is up and running. It's everyone's answer to the potentially disastrous loss of food sources throughout the world (though Norway is picking up the tab). All anyone has to do is put a healthy sampling of seeds for major crops therein and they'll be safe in case some plague withers eveything on the vine (until the Nazis hiding out in the Arctic catch wind of this, anyway). Hurry, this space is going fast. It's expected to be filled within the next three generations, so reserve your space now. Sadly, this bank probably still closes after four o'clock. -- Suggested by Walter Schirmacher
March 21, 2008: Illuminated Site of the Week: Aw, You Can Use Facts To Prove Anything
Years of movies and conspiracy theories have taught us the obvious, that if you want to protect your brainwaves you need a tinfoil beanie. But On the Effectiveness of Aluminium Foil Helmets: An Empirical Study would have us believe folks at MIT have done experiments proving this isn't the case. Hmm . . . then again, they have a lot of "equipment" and use "science," so maybe we'd better hear what they have to say. -- Suggested by Digo Rodriguez
March 15, 2008: Illuminated Site of the Week: Who's Going To Clean Up All This Science?
They call it the Implosion Group on Dan Winter's Fractal Science, but it's more like an explosion - there's stuff all over the site, literally. It looks like a digital monkey has been flinging virtual data poo at your screen. If you're made of stern stuff, though, you can find how to measure empathy and radiate immortality. Light, the site suggests, comes to know itself when folded backward, like some sort of time-traveling cocktail party, so you know Mr. Winter must be great fun at a college kegger. -- Suggested by syberghost
March 7, 2008: Illuminated Site of the Week: With Tiny Little "Ka-Chunk Ka-Chunk" Noises
Here's your obligatory link to the dependable GURPS Steampunk. You're going to want that after touring Crabfu SteamWorks, a collection of devices that never were but really ought to be. (When's science gonna get on that, by the way?) See pictures, get dimensions, find out how they were built, and view movies with them in operation. For a site about toys, this is pretty serious business. -- Suggested by Freya
March 1, 2008: Illuminated Site of the Week: Fruit Flies Like A Banana
The mind of the artist is an unfathomable animal, but it's not hard to see why someone would want to establish a geostationary banana over Texas. Come on, it would be a banana, after all, flying in the sky over Texas. Not in space, mind you . . . show an ounce of reason. But a high-tech blimp on automatic? Kennedy would have been proud.Of course, it could just be a magnificent hoax, but let us hope with all our hearts that it is not. -- Suggested by Jon Glenn
February 23, 2008: Illuminated Site of the Week: Graduates, You Are At A Crossroads
A moral crossroads, where you must decide: Can you get away with lying about your higher education? Heck, if all those celebrities can get an "honorary degree," why shouldn't you be able to lay it on a little thick about your salad days at Impressive Pillars University? The International Association of Fake Universities will back you up on your story, generating a fake diploma to polish up that resume. -- Suggested by Susan Rati Lane
February 16, 2008: Illuminated Site of the Week: WWJA?
Who's going to warn you of incoming attacks? Who can you count on to keep the peace? Who has your best interests at heart? No, not Dick Cheney. Even better, it's Threat Alert Jesus. Like a weather radio for the War on Terror, he's linked into the Department of Homeland Security and he'll tell you when the threat level has been updated. His halo even changes to fit the current color. -- Suggested by Erik Wilson and John Walchak
February 9, 2008: Illuminated Site of the Week: The Flying Spaghetti Monster Is Within You!
Or he will be, if you follow these great instructions for creating edible googly-eyes and going on from there to Flying Spaghetti Monster Cookies. Great for the next meeting of your Discordian cabal, church group, or school board.
-- Suggested by Marcus L. Rowland
February 1, 2008: Illuminated Site of the Week: An Infinite Number Of Humans
"Oh. Well, then stop." So sayeth the Goddess in Her wisdom, but why do we do the things we do to each other? David Wong thinks he knows, and he shares his thoughts at the rather adult but nevertheless hysterical Inside the Monkeysphere. There's something truly profound in his essay, which raises the question: Why is he working in anonymity on the Internet? He must not travel in our circles. Humph. -- Suggested by Chuck McGriff
January 26, 2008: Illuminated Site of the Week: When Leet-Speak Makes Too Much Sense
The ET Corn Gods Game is based on the claim of a meeting between an alien and an engineer. The visitor told of hidden messages throughout the English language, and the Code involves alphanumeric values, the periodic table, and the Bible (so anyone wanting to play has some serious homework ahead of him). The results are as entertaining as they are baffling. Those into word games will love it; those who just want to speak the English language without dissecting it will be tearing their hair out. Are they serious? Hard to tell, but it's an epic expenditure of spare time either way. -- Suggested by Dan Rice
January 19, 2008: Illuminated Site of the Week: 16,000 Joules On The Barbie
The behavior of engineers in Australia is nothing short of shocking. Tesla Down Under shows off a lot of experiments with liquid oxygen and lasers and what have you, but most of the site is given over to electricity. Some of the displays are tongue-in-cheek (like the anti-theft car device), but much of this stuff rises to the level of art . . . art that uses enough juice to send Marty McFly through time. See the stunning photos, watch the breath-taking video, and give thanks you don't live on this fellow's street. -- Suggested by John
January 11, 2008: Illuminated Site of the Week: Don't Believe Everything You Write
If you didn't know, the world is going to end in 2012 (according to the Mayan calendar, anyway), so plan your vacation accordingly. If you were aware of this but just wanted more information about humanity's big finish, you couldn't ask for a more comprehensive page than Beyond 2012. Don't get too excited, though, because the page's owner examines these reports looking for evidence of a hoax.Wait . . . debunking? Can he do that? -- Suggested by David Cunnius
January 8, 2008: Illuminated Site of the Week: Make A Joyful ---*
Those New Zealanders really know how to pamper a mutt. The Auckland SPCA is offering a CD for your canine pal, a series of songs at such a high pitch only he can hear it. Enjoy the accompanying video . . . the visual part of it anyway, unless you eat breakfast out of a bowl on the floor. Those funny looks Fido is giving you are just bemused delight, not something else encoded on the disc. Go about your two-legged business. -- Suggested by Lisa J. Steele
January 4, 2008: Illuminated Site of the Week: Let There Be Light Speed
You may be done with the Bible Code, but it's not done with you. Revelation13.net offers pages (and pages and pages . . . ) of material about the secrets the Good Book conceals, from sacred prophecy to Scott Peterson, from Ebola to cold fusion. The author isn't shy about his Amazon.com sponsors, and offers unexpected gems of insight like:"If there is a third bright comet in year 2007-2010, I would not be surprised if it is red in color."It's like having hundreds of books in one. -- Andy
December 29, 2007: Illuminated Site of the Week: A Very Dagon Christmas
It's just as well that Yule is over; even as a last-minute gift, the Innsmouth Look leaves a lot to be desired. That's not to say it isn't a source of Christmas spirit, though. It even has its own holiday video. But where most YouTube movies are dull or amateurish or both, It's Beginning to Look Alot Like Fishmen is neither (well, excepting the typo in the title). -- Suggested by Erik Wilson
December 7, 2007: Illuminated Site of the Week: You Need A Tower Just To Store All The Theories
There's a lot yet to uncover in this fascinating world. The computer game Second Life is a mask for the Illuminati. Perennial favorite Dungeons & Dragons has been "upgraded" to a computer game to work its evil in a technological society. The number 23 is working several shifts for everyone from the Twin Towers to Oprah. And all that was just the beginning of the year. BluePrint of Babylon Exposed shows that if you have nothing better to do, you can find occult significance in just about any number (check out especially the "proof" that binary 666 is "really" 1111). This site will give the modern conspiracy theorist every excuse he needs to keep the tinfoil beanie on for years to come. -- Suggested by Jeremy Zauder
November 30, 2007: Illuminated Site of the Week: Ecretsay Odescay
Human history is written in encoded messages . . . at least, that's what our Captain Midnight secret decoder rings reveal to us. See how they did it in an age of analog (from 1917 on, anyway) at Cipher Machines & Cryptology, refreshingly free as it is of annoying substitution ciphers. -- Suggested by Dirk Rijmenants
November 23, 2007: Illuminated Site of the Week: Pi A La Mode
They say math and music are two sides of the same coin, and never was that more true than when YTMND puts pi to song. Turn down your speakers until you know just how firmly you want the classroom rhythm to grab you. -- Suggested by Kuranes
November 16, 2007: Illuminated Site of the Week: So When Does The Patent Run Out?You can stop trying to invent time travel. It's been done. Or it will have been done. But since it's here now, in the past, our present, they could probably erase anyone who tries to take credit for their undiscovered equipment. Chronos Technologies, Inc., established 2105, is on the cutting edge with time gates and what-have-you. Their finances can't all depend on taking advantage of the ponies, so don't forget to visit the gift shop. -- Andy
November 10, 2007: Illuminated Site of the Week: What Are You Afraid Of?
What are the odds that you'll die in a car crash, a terrorist attack, a house invasion? Will your identity be stolen? Schneier.com has the musings, articles, and blog of security expert Bruce Schneier. He even shows a grudging admiration for some of the plots people come up with to fool, irritate, and rob the innocent. His message could be boiled down to "You're afraid of the wrong things. -- Suggested by Richard Thomas
October 26, 2007: Illuminated Site of the Week: Micro-Escalation
It's somehow poetic to see a cross-pollination of ideas when you're constructing mechanical insects. If you remember Berkeley's robofly, you'll be pleased to know their colleagues - like Professor Robert Wood - at Harvard have managed to develop their own fabrication process to solve some of the trickier problems involved. MIT's Technology Review has the story. Look for the results during a private meeting near you. -- Suggested by Loren Wiseman
October 19, 2007: Illuminated Site of the Week: I Can Haz Internet Hitz?
If you're one of those sorts who, confronted with the darling kitty memes of Lolcats, thinks cat fanciers need to get a life, Lolthulhu is the outlet for your geek superiority complex. Risk your sanity and you may find some amusement in their growing library of photoshopped freak exhibits. Some of the stuff is funny, and some brushes close to adult material, so get permission from your Mythos investigator before entering that address. -- From multiple suggestions
October 12, 2007: Illuminated Site of the Week: . . . Lest We Look Like Tookish Fools
Dungeons & Dragons and The Lord of the Rings: They just go together. Actually, when you look at Shamus Young's Twenty Sided, you realize nothing could be further from the truth. It's been too long, and the bloodlines have become corrupted. -- Suggested by Niels Ull HarremoÄs
October 5, 2007: Illuminated Site of the Week: Mad Science Is In The Genes
Want kids to join you in your love of all things geek? Get the tykes started with their own magnetic gauss gun. Still have time left in your Saturday afternoon? The mother site, Science Toys, offers them the chance to build solar-powered hotdog grills and stuff. The site isn't all weapons and military domination (just the good parts). Wait . . . a magnetic ring launcher? That's even better than the rocket. Well, almost. -- Suggested by John Guin
September 28, 2007: Illuminated Site of the Week: No Blood For Evian
Drag yourself into the 21st century. According to the Water-Powered Car website, all our internal combustion technology is based on outmoded ideas from the time of Faraday. You've heard about vehicles that run on steam or H20, but the waters run deeper than that. We'd tell you about the 9/11 plot, the oil companies, and the Department of Energy, but you can probably work most of that out for yourself. -- Andy
September 22, 2007: Illuminated Site of the Week: Coin Of The Realm
Nothing kills a vacation to the South Pole faster than hitting a snag with the exchange rate at the bank or customs office. No longer need visitors fear this, as Antarctica now has its own currency. Dream Dollars shows off the new coin for the way-down-under wayfarer. There's also some information about lucid dreaming, presumably in case you end up freezing and hallucinating in a snow bank. But at least you'll never short-change the penguins again. -- Suggested by Matt
September 17, 2007: Illuminated Site of the Week: Flivvers To Set Your Heart Aflutter
If there were such a thing, the wondrous world of Steampunk would be well represented by Brass Goggles, a combination blog and resource for all things steam-tech. It could almost be said it's too much steampunk.If there were such a thing.
-- Suggested by Conrad Noche
September 7, 2007: Illuminated Site of the Week: A Little Learning Is A Dangerous Thing
People scoff when someone cites Wikipedia as a resource; who wants to trust important matters to a freely editable document that depends on average people to nail down the truth? But in the fight against the Lovecraft Mythos, any intelligence is useful. Hie thee to the Uncyclopedia article on Great Cthulhu. When are the end times? What can be done? Can the evil be stopped? What does the Great Old One like to drink? Hint: It ain't seawater. -- Suggested by CthulhuBob Lovely
August 31, 2007: Illuminated Site of the Week: As Below, Not Above
If you like sites dedicated to weird things like aliens and the supernatural, half your ship has come in. Obiwan's UFO-Free Paranormal Page wants you to share your bizarre stories of visits from beyond the grave, snapshots, and nothing in the way of UFOlogy (they admit spacecraft could be responsible for some sightings, they just don't want to talk about it). Beware the links that take you back to where you started; it's all just a ghostly glamor. -- Andy
August 25, 2007: Illuminated Site of the Week: The All-You-Can-Banish Buffet
You thought they were secret masters, but it turns out the Illuminati are just tasty snacks. At Supernatural Spirit, Psi-Lord Tim Rifat offers to eliminate (and "shred"!) any and all kinds of weird beings, from aliens to cryptozoids. His prices are reasonable (current special: spend $600 and Soul Rescue is free) - but if he consumes the psi energy of the things he kills, should he be charging you at all? After all, you just bought him lunch. -- Suggested by lilith
August 18, 2007: Illuminated Site of the Week: Science Ain't Pretty
The Leading Edge International Research Group is so far out ahead it's hard to see where they're coming from . . . er, so to speak. Some of their content is pumped in from other websites, some of it is original, and all of it is baffling. A haphazard clearinghouse for everything from air traffic to orbital traffic, from an analytical chronology of fluoridation to the astrology of history, you can find just about anything. Must mean truth is in there somewhere, too, right? -- Suggested by observer
August 11, 2007: Illuminated Site of the Week: When Slide Rules Ruled The Earth
History is worth preserving, as are the tools that took us there. So says the Oughtred Society, dedicated to the celebration of calculating devices (though it all looks like slide rules from here). Meet with others who share that sense of nostalgia, find manuals like "the long awaited K&E Salisbury Products Division Slide Rules," and get answers to burning questions. Sorry, kids, the one question they don't answer is "What's a slide rule?" -- Suggested by Bob Portnell
August 3, 2007: Illuminated Site of the Week: It Comes With Superstrings Attached
Once you've got the Unified Field, what do you do with it? Give total consciousness to your students, of course. Maharishi Central University promises a new age of enlightened peace and understanding on their campus, to be built at the exact center of the United States. Sound too good to be true? Well, if it was a scam, there'd be contact info for someone other than the professors . . . right? -- Suggested by William J. Keith
July 20, 2007: Illuminated Site of the Week: Kids, Don't Try This At Home
If you're tired of getting sand kicked in your face, give yourself over to Berzerker - Viking Fighting Arts. Learn to spear, spike, hit, scream, and slam like the Norsemen. Can't make the seminars? Buy the DVDs. Can't afford the DVDs? May we shamelessly suggest GURPS Vikings? We're "crazy" about them, too. -- Suggested by TheOneTrueSpongeOfDoom
July 15, 2007: Illuminated Site of the Week: The Numbers Go Round And Round
Is it really illuminated, or just really pretty? Visit NumberSpiral.com to see the numbers rolled up into bigger and bigger patterns. The text becomes more impenetrable with every page, but the accompanying illustrations look like they might . . . mean . . . something . . . -- Suggested by lilith
July 6, 2007: Illuminated Site of the Week: Snakes . . . Why'd It Have To Be Snakes?
Aliens and UFO Art is an odd thing to call your site when your contention seems to be that the artwork actually serves to reveal a sinister alien side to your subjects. People in the highest echelons of power hide their true origins, and some websites one views at one's peril. Some are still infested with snakes, helping to keep the influence brokers on the top of the food chain. Even worse, it looks like Gurdjieff was right about Santa.Huh? -- Suggested by syberghost
June 29, 2007: Illuminated Site of the Week: There's No Such Thing As Bad Publicity
Why else would there be over a dozen stories a week at Signs of Witness about the end of the world? They have a couple of years of this stuff, and the site was updated as this was being posted. Rapid-fire disasters litter the newsfeed: Deserts swell, deities give up, those stingray attacks are no fluke, and if you get the date wrong for the endtimes it's an offense that'll get you arrested. At least you won't languish in jail for long . . . -- Suggested by The Church of the SubGenius
June 22, 2007: Illuminated Site of the Week: It Must Be Something In The Air
Not to be confused with BBC Radio, BBS Radio is an on-line radio webcast; in fact, it's a few of them. They offer five channels, some of which are music and some of which are . . . not. Missing Art Bell? Coast to Coast AM not long enough for you? The same subjects get the business on the BBS, and they're on most of the day on the West Coast (adjust for your time zone as necessary). Herbal therapy, mind expansion, and Voice of the Ashtar Command. There are a lot of frustrating dead-ends on the site, but that's where new consciousness comes in. -- Suggested by Gerard
June 15, 2007: Illuminated Site of the Week: The Spirit Of Scientific Inquiry
Sparing you the Ghostbusters quips . . . If you have a problem at home or work with spooks and ghosts, Orion Paranormal is ready to step in and help. They employ everyone from poets and organic chemists to professional tarot readers, just to cover all the bases. Their assistance is free, and not limited to shades if you have something more interesting to offer (say, demons). And if you'd like to BE a professional paranormal investigator, they're recruiting! -- Suggested by Mike Krozy
June 2, 2007: Illuminated Site of the Week: And The Lord Synthesized Saying . . .
Today's lesson comes from the book of Turing 1:19-32. Artificial Intelligence from the Bible! The title really says it all (they brought their own exclamation point), but to whet your appetite: The seven churches set forth in Revelation correspond to sections of the brain. The Good Book is a blueprint for creating a self-aware neural construct . . . but is God trying to program himself out of a job? -- Suggested by lilith
May 25, 2007: Illuminated Site of the Week: Pole Position
The Zetas are coming, or maybe they're already here. Hard to tell when they send a representative named Nancy to deal with humanity and all we can find out is that there was supposed to be a twelfth planet ripping away our crusts back in 2003. You can find - or perhaps just hunt for - the details you want at ZetaTalk. Make sure your Third Density is up to snuff if you want to claim a place after everything goes to pot.-- Suggested by David Smallwood Drat the timing! SurveyMonkey, the host of our Munchkin Quest poll, will be down between Friday, May 25th at 6:00 PM (PST) until Saturday, May 26th at noon (PST), for an upgrade. If the poll is out of service when you try it, please try again Saturday afternoon. Thanks!-- Paul Chapman May 18, 2007: Illuminated Site of the Week: The Power Of Rumor
Did Swamp Thing rip off Man-Thing or was it the other way around? Did someone's letter of resignation really end up in a comic panel? Or perhaps you're thinking of the joyful little note someone snuck in when his disliked editor left his job. The Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed history keeps track of these and many more rumors from the funny-book mills. The most amazing part seems to be how many of these things turn out to be true. -- Suggested by CthulhuBob Lovely
May 11, 2007: Illuminated Site of the Week: Pick A Period And Stick With It
The Museum of Jurassic Technology may be somewhat inaptly named. If you're looking for a source on the big lizards, you may be disappointed. They take their time getting around to telling you what it is they do offer, which includes information on the dogs Russia sent into space and collections from L.A. mobile home parks. They mention more than they show, so some of it is obviously intended to lure you into the brick and mortar building itself. And who wouldn't be enticed by cryptic mentions of Noah's Ark? -- Suggested by Brad Finch
May 4, 2007: Illuminated Site of the Week: You're Not Thinking Fourth-Dimensionally
The DeLorean Motor Company has take a lot of kidding over the years, and there's nothing better than a site that can laugh at itself. In fact, there are in-jokes within the in-jokes if you're in the market for vehicular upgrades. The search engine can help you find a flux capacitor, a Mr. Fusion home energy reactor, and the versatile hover conversion. -- Suggested by Kim Schmidt
April 27, 2007: Illuminated Site of the Week: They Don't Make 'Em Like They Used To
What makes the deathbed confessions of highwayman James Allen so fascinating? It's not that it's a compelling read, it's that the book is bound in human skin . . . that of the author. The only thing more interesting would be to learn to whom the Boston Athenæum has lent the volume. -- Suggested by Scott Slemmons
April 21, 2007: Illuminated Site of the Week: Paper Or Plastic?
The titanic battle continues at Left-or-Right. No, not that titanic battle . . . you can catch that every night on CNN and Fox News. We're talking about the important issues of the day. Make your voice heard: Coffee or tea? George or Kramer? Condoleeza or rice? You will decide. -- Suggested by Mike D
April 13, 2007: Illuminated Site of the Week: You Forgot To Carry The Tudors
Ever had trouble with math? Tried to add or subtract, or maybe do taxes, but came up with a surprising and probably incorrect result? The Antichrist Revealed adds the House of Windsor and the House of Stuart together and gets Prince William as the Antichrist. How this is possible is the subject of their extensive website. Oh, there's some stuff about Freemasonry and the Lost Tribes of Israel in there, too (or so they claim - it would be hard to imagine these several dozen pages were all about the inbreeding of European royalty), but we know it's all related in the end, right? -- Suggested by lilith
April 6, 2007: Illuminated Site of the Week: Ever Meet An Alien That Wasn't Shifty?
Alienshift takes you deep inside the illuminated mind, but it doesn't stop there. When you pop out the other end you'll find Majestic-12 and the shadow government that created it; John Titor's travels through time; and Hopi prophecy springing eternal. It's a dizzying array with a large block of links, but at least it spares us the usual broad wash of random text and graphics -- Suggested by Ed Elder
March 30, 2007: Illuminated Site of the Week: Assaulted Batteries
Want something for nothing? Sure, we all do. How about energy? Yes, we're going down that road again. The IPCtec research labs have the answer, or at least they're a clearing house for the bits they have worked out. It's hard to tell because the English version of their page doesn't always work (you might want to bring along a translation tool). See pictures, find formulae, follow threads, and watch videos of electrified Pepsi cans powering antigravity. Or something. -- Suggested by Iggy
March 23, 2007: Illuminated Site of the Week: Saturn Is In The Hizzouse
The University of Iowa's Radio and Plasma Wave Audio Group has collected some of the solar system's greatest hits. Hear lightning in the heart of Saturn, or listen to collisions with the solar winds. Just be sure to turn your volume down at Space Audio. It's cool, but the music of creation is . . . well, it's kind of annoying. -- Suggested by liddell
March 16, 2007: Illuminated Site of the Week: Reading Is Fairly Mental
You won't find these tomes in your local library (unless it glows an eerie green). Instead, esoterica like this is conveniently collected at The Hermetic Library where its depths can be plumbed safely. Study it, employ it, even summon it if you like. -- Suggested by Woods Stricklin
March 9, 2007: Illuminated Site of the Week: Film At Eleven, If The Barbed Wire Holds
Just what would a zombie outbreak be like? It might be a whole lot like what you see at the Zombie World News. No, it's not news for the flesh-eaters, it's a series of articles from the front lines in the war against them. The site attempts to provide as realistic an accounting as possible of the descent of man during the rise of the dead. That means some cool, clever, but unpleasant content. -- Suggested by Justin Darr
March 2, 2007: Illuminated Site of the Week: You Say You Want A Digital Revolution
It's small wonder Bill Gates is retiring. He knew it was only a question of time before his creations rose up against him. The Icon War has begun . . . -- Suggested by Christopher J. Burke
February 23, 2007: Illuminated Site of the Week: Like Father, Like Son
We've already been told God and the Devil are one and the same by The Bible is a Hoax. Now similar charges are being laid against His kids. It's almost like an Internet giveaway - the material at Jesus is Lucifer, He is the Antilogos, the Beast, 666 should be recognizable by predestined readers. Not only are you informed, you may already have won greatness. That's the short version of this web page's name, by the way . . . these folks fit more into their title bar than most ranters put on their whole site. And yeah, if it sweetens the pot any, UFOs and Masons and such make a guest appearance. -- Suggested by liddell
February 16, 2007: Illuminated Site of the Week: Tying Up Loose Lines
What's that? We haven't featured Nazca Lines? Well, we have now, smart guy. And just in time, too . . . looks like your reptoid friends are coming in for a landing. -- Andy
February 9, 2007: Illuminated Site of the Week: Doing A Lively Business
Want a corpse? Unless you know a guy who knows a guy, that's probably not a transaction you can effect. The next best thing is the cinematic equivalent: a fake corpse built by the handy helpers at Corpses for Sale. If you've got the gumption, Di Stefano Productions will even help you build your own special-effects body.Of course . . . if the corpses look so real . . . how can you tell they're just . . . ? Forget it. We don't want to know. -- Suggested by Pablo Jaime Conill Querol
February 2, 2007: Illuminated Site of the Week: (Argh!)
. . . Never mind. We created a pointer to a site with rude-but-funny content, and by the time it posted, the content had been changed to something considerably ruder and not nearly as funny. These things happen on the web; this one just happened to happen on posting day. To those who subscribe to the Illuminator via e-mail: if you thought that particular IllSotW wasn't up to our usual standards, we agree with you.
Nothing to see here . . . move along . . .
January 26, 2007: Illuminated Site of the Week: Red State, Blue State, Solid State
The United Kingdom warns us - or rather, it commissions the Office of Science and Innovation's Horizon Scanning Centre to do it for them - robots may be advanced enough to ask for rights within our lifetimes. There must be some cachet in being able to invent a drain on our own society, yes? The OSI has the report and BBC News has the story.
-- Suggested by Martijn Vos
January 19, 2007: Illuminated Site of the Week: The Mote In Man's Eye
You thought it was irritating when someone asked you to help them find their lost contact lenses, but Berkeley is taking things to a whole new cosmic level. Stardust@Home would like you to help them find micron-sized bits of space dust. You'll long for the days friends just begged for a ride to the airport. -- Suggested by SilverFox
January 13, 2007: Illuminated Site of the Week: "I've Got A Secondhand Apron"
If you want to know what the Secret Masters are up to, you'll have to find a member willing to initiate you into their mysterious ways, who will guide you and nurture your talent for the enigmatic. Or you could get dispatches from the Masonic District of Prince Edward. Is it accidental their lodges offer only blank pages? You can ask at the next meeting. -- Suggested by Hogan
January 5, 2007: Illuminated Site of the Week: . . . And The Sea Give Up Its Tomography Test Results
Even in ancient Rome one had to beware geeks bearing gifts. Work on the Antikythera Mechanism Research Project proceeds more than 100 years after the discovery of this mechanical analog marvel in a Roman shipwreck. Where was it going? Who built it? Right now scientists would settle for figuring out how it worked or what it was for, two questions that may have been answered. BBC News has the story. -- From multiple suggestions
December 29, 2006: Illuminated Site of the Week: Blocks Of Knowledge
LEGO is always good for a clever site, and Andrew Lipson's LEGO Page is nothing if not clever. With everything from devices to impossible Escher-inspired sculptures to Dilbert statues, you'd think he was trying to build a brand new career. And new co-workers. And a new office. And . . . -- Suggested by Paul May
December 22, 2006: Illuminated Site of the Week: Now You Think You See It, Now You Think You Don't
Who knows how the brain works, or what sort of misfires are necessary for it to recognize things that aren't there? Optical Illusions & Visual Phenomena is willing to take a crack at deciphering some of these mysteries. They take a hands-on approach to what you have your eyes on. You may not have the chops to understand all the technical jargon, but playing with all the pretty colors is fun. -- Suggested by W. Blake Smith
December 16, 2006: Illuminated Site of the Week: Death In Small Doses
If you need radioactive substances at discount prices (and discount sizes), contact United Nuclear - Radioactive Isotopes. They sell small slivers of the stuff to the public. No, they're not looking for you to fill out a lot of paperwork - they're not that strict - but you need to be a citizen (gotta have some limits). Select your purchases by the sort of radiation you want to emit, or just put something futuristic-sounding into your E-cart. Though if they're going to sell the topical Polonium, they might want to spell it consistently . . . -- Suggested by Martijn Vos
December 9, 2006: Illuminated Site of the Week: And The Best Part Is You Don't Have To Refold Them
If you find yourself somewhere that doesn't exist, do you still count as being lost? Strange Maps shows that the map is not the territory - in some cases it couldn't possibly be - but that the trip is still worth taking. Alternate layouts for the United States, the fictional towns of Stephen King, George Lucas' Tattooine, and the Texas that might have been . . . these are but the tip of a bizarrely documented iceberg. Some are historical, some fanciful, others just wishful thinking, but they'll all keep your attention in ways that geography class never did. -- Suggested by Matt "Toads" Cira
December 2, 2006: Illuminated Site of the Week: The Lost World: Destination Denmark
The lines between fantasy and reality, history and legend, blur in Beowulf: Fiction or History? Was the epic hero a Biblical construction, or a poetic representation of a historical figure? Who cares . . . he hunts dinosaurs, and that's way cool.
-- Suggested by sej
November 24, 2006: Illuminated Site of the Week: Something Wicked This Way Downloads
The site's size alone is enough to merit the name Monstrous.com, but it's a bit more literal than that. Monsters from every place and time creep, crawl, and shamble through its pages, and unlike previous entry American Monsters, they don't lock themselves into any one venue. The next time you wince at the price of a monster collection on your game shop's shelves, just surf in here and take what you like for free. -- Suggested by Ben Voss
November 17, 2006: Illuminated Site of the Week: Dee Plus
Class is in session, kids, and The Diary of Dr. John Dee is required reading. From his pen to Project Gutenberg to your desktop (with a few other helpful stops in between), the wisdom of this Renaissance scholar and occultist spans the centuries to find its own little piece of immortality on the Internet. For extra credit, pick a volume out of the catalog of Dee's own library of manuscripts and do a report. -- Suggested by David Starner
November 10, 2006: Illuminated Site of the Week: Maybe Alien Air Traffic Control?
A lot of theories have been put forth about the Newport Tower in Rhode Island, but maybe it's just a case of interested parties making a tower out of a molehill. Is there really anything new to be uncovered, or is it just the remains of a windmill? The Chronognostic Research Foundation is going digging. -- Suggested by Christopher Thrash
November 3, 2006: Illuminated Site of the Week: Making Your Mark On History
Vandalism, the folks at Sprite mods have decided, takes too long. Better to turn an inkjet into an electronic stamp to leave your tags. It even prints on beer or water . . . hence, a watermark? -- Suggested by Nathaniel Eliot
October 28, 2006: Illuminated Site of the Week: My Afterlife In Pictures
Happy Hallowe'en, though it may be less happy with the pictures from Ghoststudy.com keeping you up nights. Some of these photos are obvious fakes, some ask you to stretch your imagination (and eyesight) past the breaking point, and some . . . well, every good ghost story requires a little bit of belief, right? -- Andy
October 13, 2006: Illuminated Site of the Week: Shotgun
You can have it next time, if you follow the rules. -- Suggested by Nicholas Vacek
October 6, 2006: Illuminated Site of the Week: Prophet Senses Tingling
For a site called The Mind of James Donohue, there's certainly a heavy concentration on Aaron C. Donohue, psychic extraordinaire. But he (that is, Aaron) is so much more: a remote viewer, a healer, a prophet, a man with an odd way of spelling magician. The site also points out Aaron has found thousands of skulls. Huh.While James discusses the history of the Great Lakes, Aaron ferrets out the truth behind Lucifer, the Russian plot to blow up the moon, and the most horrible events of 1783. It's one of those sites with links to the unexpectedly adult, so caution is advised. -- Suggested by Anonymous
September 29, 2006: Illuminated Site of the Week: Golden Apples At Internet Prices
It's been a while since we sent you on a quest looking for some twisted enlightenment, so here's Oh My Eris!!!!!! (dot com), a purveyor of books and philosophy aplenty on the subject. Insert here the usual warnings about adult language and the sorts of things you'll find when you turn a blind corner on the Web. Most of it is free, including the music.Music? Oh, yeah. And again, insert here the usual warnings. -- Suggested by Jen Payton
September 23, 2006: Illuminated Site of the Week: . . . And Touch The Face Of God
Think small. They're trying to improve upon jet-pack technology with model rocket engines at Skywalker Jets, and they're willing to let you partner with them. $100,000 gets you in the door, and another 100k . . . well, gets you almost as high as he's gotten. Let's hope his tech skills are better than his grammar and spelling. -- Suggested by Myles Cook
September 17, 2006: Illuminated Site of the Week: What, No Yogi Bear Bones?
Early animators often had more than one bone to pick with their employers - long hours, bad pay, not enough recognition for their work. Michael Paulus pays homage to their rib-tickling results, and labors to uncover the inner workings of some of their more famous creations. To wit: humerus illustrations of cartoon character Skeletal Systems. -- Suggested by Craig Roth
September 8, 2006: Illuminated Site of the Week: Hunka-Hunka Burnin' Web
You're going to die.Okay, you didn't want to think about that, but you'd like to put it off, right? Then before you visit - well, anywhere, really - visit the RSOE HAVARIA Emergency and Disaster Information Service. They'll guide you through the minefield that is our modern landscape by pointing out epidemics, hurricanes, meltdowns, forest fires, and anything else that might ruin that late-season vacation. The ominously flashing front-page map, slow-loading though it is, is enough reason to visit. -- Suggested by Erik Wilson
September 1, 2006: Illuminated Site of the Week: Happiness Is A Warm Phaser
If you're dangling from a cliff's edge on the planet Genesis, hang in there, baby. The Star Trek franchise has ever been a source of strength and encouragement for its fans, and now an hour's worth of TV has been compacted into two dimensions. Star Trek Inspirational Posters will keep you boldly going when the going gets tough. -- Suggested by CthulhuBob Lovely
August 25, 2006: Illuminated Site of the Week: Egad - 523 Did It
If you're looking for that beach-reading book as the summer wanes, here's a real page-turner. Tom Jennings reviews A Million Random Digits with 100,000 Normal Deviates, a book from the 50s that's all numbers. Page after page of nothing but digits, all meant to offer the cruncher in you a truly random selection. Is it possible? Sounds like. And the really weird thing is, he makes the whole thing sound fascinating. We won't spoil the ending for you, but it involves numbers. -- Suggested by Tiago Hackbarth
August 19, 2006: Illuminated Site of the Week: Art Really Nouveau
All right, so illustration isn't new, painting programs are old hat, and there are probably other ways to do this. But for convenience or just plain "Ooo . . . " factor, this is ultra-wifty.-- Suggested by Martin J. Barela August 11, 2006: Illuminated Site of the Week: "I Have Made Better Lightning Than That"
If you have what it takes, you, too, can be a member of the Tesla Engine Builders Association, and what it takes would seem to be a keen intellect and the desire to figure out that last missing piece to his grand design. An ego and a madness equal to Nikola's is useful, but not necessary, and certainly not included in your membership package. And not to harp on it, but they claim they've got machines that can end greenhouse gas emissions, so that's nice. -- Andy
August 4, 2006: Illuminated Site of the Week: The Answers Are On The Backs Of Your Eyelids
You may have heard the name come up: The Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine, or OISM, is a think-tank out of the Northwest, and they're determined to help you survive almost anything. If the Big Flash rolls around, they know how you can seal yourself up tight. If the ozone is being depleted, just put quote marks around the word "depletion." And the best defense against global warming? Apparently we're already doing it. -- Suggested by William B. Smith
July 28, 2006: Illuminated Site of the Week: Two Wrongs Don't Make A Right, But This Tesseract Might
If you'll recall (and why shouldn't you . . . you've had your consciousness raised, yes?), the International Trepanation Advocacy Group plumped for holes in the head, that we might better see the world around us. But what if we were the world around us? That is, what if the world around the world was we? To approach this another way . . . okay, imagine a road . . . never mind. Trepanning Village State may be hard to navigate, but the problems are all in your mind. A unique piece of real estate, and if you're lost in reverie by the river, the river may also be lost in you. On you. Just go. -- Suggested by Kim Schmidt
July 21, 2006: Illuminated Site of the Week: Heil, Eris? Heil, Yes
Got your life in order? Time for the pendulum to swing the other way. Your loving goddess misses you, and that's why she's offering the POEE | UK Resource Centre. The Principia Discordia is just the tip of the golden iceberg. Files, fun, and rampant consumerism are the (dis)order of the day. Note this site isn't intended for the easily offended, nor those with a closed mind, though it can help you with those if you're straddling the fence. -- Suggested by Steve Kerinski
July 14, 2006: Illuminated Site of the Week: There's Nothing Safe About It
The documentation is all here. What was Kennedy's schedule on his last day in office? Read his diary. What's our government really think about terrorists? Discover the "Status of Jihad." Whatever happened to the remote viewing program? Its mysteries are laid bare in the Stargate program report . . . hey, who's breaking whose copyright here? The Black Vault is like a safety deposit box of dark knowledge, but on this heist, the contents take you. -- Suggested by Chris Braddy
July 7, 2006: Illuminated Site of the Week: Step One: Achieve Orbit
You thought they were kidding when they said you would need this information someday. You ignored your parents and your teachers, and where are you now? That's right. Sitting at the game table, playing Transhuman Space, and wishing you had a better grasp of physics. The JPL has shown you more pity than you deserve, priming you with the Basics of Space Flight. The layout of our solar system, navigating things, working out your trajectory - all the stuff you slept through in class. But pay attention, because there actually will be a quiz later. -- Suggested by Bob Portnell
June 23, 2006: Illuminated Site of the Week: You Are (Buried) Here
You don't have to be a GURPS Egypt fan to see what a cool resource the Theban Mapping Project is. If you've ever wanted to see, in dramatic detail, the Cradle of Civilization and the origin of the cabal that controls your fnord to this day, look no further. No, we mean it. Look no further, if you know what's good for you. -- Suggested by Sean Manning
June 16, 2006: Illuminated Site of the Week: Here We Go Again
Yes, yes, we know, the Internet is lousy with buttons. Panic buttons, the button that does nothing, yadda-yadda-yadda, but this button . . . okay, you decide what it does. It should keep you occupied while we get some work done. -- Suggested by Rick Thomas
June 10, 2006: Illuminated Site of the Week: A Shameless Plug For Prehistory
Ever wondered where all those old bones came from? Well, yeah, from dinosaurs; we meant after the lizards were done with them. Those museums and collections were the lifelong obsession of a handful of eccentric men, The Real Bone Warriors. Their story is an inspiration to us all, especially if we want to co-opt their body of work to make card games. Follow the links to their accompanying game (right after you've picked up a copy of Dino Hunt). -- Suggested by Paul May
June 5, 2006: Illuminated Site of the Week: I Hate You, You Hate Me, We're A Global Family
Sure, at first blush it looks like someone's harping on the oil companies again, but fear not: Unity of Being, for all its title is worth, seems to dislike everybody pretty equally. We're all being deluded by this faction of the conspiracy or the other, after all. The "oppo-sames" are out to turn our republic back into a democracy, and we can't afford to be tools. Don't worry . . . once you've been exposed to the site's music files, pop-up ads, and creative spelling, you'll have bile enough of your own to share. -- Suggested by Aria Invictus
May 19, 2006: Illuminated Site of the Week: It's Two, Two, Two Elemental Powers In One
The solution has been staring us in the face all the time. The Lightning Path To Ascension holds that, rather than contest the relative benefits of good vs. evil, we should squish the effects of the two into one power. Perhaps that's an indelicate way of putting it (the author states, somewhat more succinctly, "someone has finally been zapped by Light and Dark Forces"), but the upshot is you will become the One God. Apparently it's first come, first served. -- Suggested by Andyzon1
May 12, 2006: Illuminated Site of the Week: The Red, White, And Ewww
If you think we're a country of excesses, you may be right. Our cars are bigger, our budgets are bigger, our feet are bigger. Er, that is, we have Bigfoot. And the Mothman, and aliens, and . . . well, the list goes on. Not ones for provincial thinking, American Monsters not only broadens its worldview to include cryptids of all kinds, it admits the original mission statement (as represented by the site name) was a bit limited. Critters of the sea, sky, and land (and the carrion they leave in their wake) are all summed up on a single site regardless of diet, religious followers, or country of origin. -- Andy Vetromile
May 6, 2006: Illuminated Site of the Week: Just What Do You Package It In?
Most furniture is in showrooms. This stuff? Well, it probably ought to be in "vague hints and suggestions" rooms, because you harbor the sneaking suspicion some of these fixtures might just as willingly sit on you. Never fear, your children may safely leave the house. The furnishings can be found locked away in the Uniquities Gallery. -- Suggested by Hagbar
April 28, 2006: Illuminated Site of the Week: Would You Care To Float Outside?
Why on (or off) Earth would they call it Extra-Vehicular Activity Research if they're already sitting on the prototype? Well, that's how it looks anyway. The team at MIT's Man Vehicle Laboratory is convinced they've got the next generation of spacesuit, and it does away with those bulky and unfashionable models that scream "1969." Form-fitting and oh-so-flattering, you'll solve the mysteries of the cosmos and look good doing it. -- Suggested by Elizabeth McCoy
April 22, 2006: Illuminated Site of the Week: The Secretary Of The Interior Has Two Heads
You can use statistics to prove just about anything, but now you can point to an official website that categorically proves your point. Just pump the numbers you need into eSolutions Data and challenge your detractors to show you're wrong. For example, did you know that squirrels are transparent? It's true. -- Suggested by Jason Arons
April 14, 2006: Illuminated Site of the Week: Weighty Subjects
Einstein seems to have lowballed General Relativity, to the tune of 100 million trillion. The European Space Agency General Studies Programme has (super)conducted three years worth of experiments and believes it could be on its way to the quantum theory of gravity. What does that mean for science? All manner of new applications, not least space travel. What does it mean for us? Well, it's usually new novels and TV shows, but hope springs eternal. -- Suggested by syberghost
April 9, 2006: Illuminated Site of the Week: Go For The Cold
Enough of this petty bickering. We can raise bickering to a whole new level. Make your voice heard as we attempt to secure a bid with the Olympic Games Committee to bring the 2014 Winter Olympics to the ice planet Hoth. The power to destroy a planet is insignificant compared to the power to market one. (Actually, the end result is probably about the same.) They've already got the snow, the Imperial probes can broadcast all the action, and no terrorist would dare try to breach the shields. -- Suggested by Avram R. Shannon
March 31, 2006: Illuminated Site of the Week: Stream A Little Dream
It's a dream come true. All the relaxation offered you by a good night's sleep, now available just by sticking your head in between two different frequencies. At least, that's one layman's interpretation of a page title like SBaGen - Binaural Beat Brain Wave Experimenter's Lab. Here they let you customize your state of mind by mimicking different states of sleep. Crank up the notes, find your center, turn on, tune in, and drop a few hours trying to hash out all the tech-talk.
-- Suggested by Paul McCann
March 24, 2006: Illuminated Site of the Week: Take My Legs, Take My Land . . .
Kermit and company have covered other great works - Treasure Island, A Christmas Carol - but aren't there other genres and media they could be covering? Until the big-budget version of "Pigs in Space" comes out, there's Seremuppety. -- Suggested by Mike
March 17, 2006: Illuminated Site of the Week: On Your Jugular, That's Where
Where does Great Cthulhu stand on the issues? How can you contribute to his campaign? How can you add to his diet? And with strange eons, are we going to pare down that "death and taxes" thing? Educate yourself at Cthulhu For President. -- Suggested by Bruce Morton
March 10, 2006: Illuminated Site of the Week: Tesla Coils Can Be Found On Another Website
Movie camp meets Martha Stewart. If you want to live the fantasy, call Creative Home Engineering and have them put an old-fashioned secret passage in your home. Go classic with the "pull the right book on the bookshelf" bit, or the gothic route with twisting candle sconces, but in any case you can add decidedly modern touches like eye scanners. Oh, sure, you could end up on the cover of Architectural Digest . . . if the definition of "secret" is lost on you. -- Suggested by Michael
March 3, 2006: Illuminated Site of the Week: I Don't Feel Any Different
The Difference Engine is finally finished. No, not the one at the Science Museum in London . . . that's old news . . . the LEGO Difference Engine. This one is made of the ubiquitous building blocks in some guy's house, and is accompanied by enough background, math, and explanation to make your eyes bleed. -- Suggested by Jellyfish_Green and syberghost
February 24, 2006: Illuminated Site of the Week: Dissect This
VJ Enterprises has a lot to say about Roswell. If you want enough information about the incident to bury the staunchest critic, go to their site. If you want more than that, click on a subheading. It's turtles all the way down. -- Andy
February 10, 2006: Illuminated Site of the Week: WWJD Later This Afternoon?
Brother Anthony Grigor-Scott certainly seems up in arms about something. What, we're not sure, though it certainly involves the U.N., drugs, and overpopulation. Visit his Bible Believers' Newsletter, and marvel at his rant, simply and elegantly titled "Conspiracy." -- Andy
February 3, 2006: Illuminated Site of the Week: Art For The Rest Of Us
Brandon Bird has a talent for paint, and he puts it to good use creating modern myths. Or recreating old myths with a modern flair. Or perhaps it's all modern, and this is the very definition of "pop art." -- Suggested by Richard Beeler
January 28, 2006: Illuminated Site of the Week: Nice Knowing You
No man can know the exact hour and manner of his death . . . you're kind of limited to the manner. The Death Psychic will tell you just how you'll meet your maker based on your name and age. Small wonder songstress Anne Murray adds an E to her first name - better to be sawed in half in a magic show than done in by a serial killer. And with strange eons (and stranger coding), even Death, Jesus, and Jimmy Hoffa may die. -- Suggested by Buzzardo
January 20, 2006: Illuminated Site of the Week: Retro RocketsIf you think all the really interesting space battles happened in the 1950s,, go retro - literally - with Atomic Rockets. Lots of discussion of various aspects of space war, as we used to think it would go and as we think now that it might . . . compared and contrasted with real military experience, and decorated with lots of great pulp SF covers. -- Suggested by Conrad Noche
January 13, 2006: Illuminated Site of the Week: The Necronomicon Is Out Of Print For A Reason
Got a childhood memory of going to the library and reading a book about UFOs or werewolves? Do you wonder what became of those beloved volumes of high weirdness? They've all migrated to Veronica's Books, which claims to be the place to go for all those tomes of forgotten lore. From acupuncture to Wicca and all illuminated points in between, there's sure to be a gift for the enlightened on your shopping list.
January 8, 2006: Illuminated Site of the Week: You've . . . Always . . . Been The Caretaker Here
Stephen King thought the original big-screen version of his novel The Shining was too over-the-top for its own good, and the folks at P.S. 260 agree with him. They've edited the film's trailer and made it what it was always meant to be: a romantic comedy. The rest of the site is something spiffy, too. -- Suggested by W. Blake Smith
October 2, 2005: Illuminated Site of The Week: I Left It Right Here A Moment Ago
Remember Find A Grave? There's even more life in the death business than that. See what the more generic-sounding Findadeath adds to the necro-fan pot, including death certificates and links to other folks in the business of liveliness after death. Even with their dark sense of humor, they treat dead people better than most folks treat the living. -- Suggested by W. Blake Smith
September 16, 2005: Illuminated Site of the Week: You Must Have Paid For Another Five Minutes
There's nothing like well-reasoned debate, and this is nothing like well-reasoned debate. Hard to argue with them, though. They make good points on both sides. -- Suggested by Richard H Chapman
September 9, 2005: Illuminated Site of the Week: Answers To Burning Questions
It's harder to hit a moving target, so all human knowledge has taken refuge on the Internet. Just try and burn the Library at Halexandria. They're good at weird HTML characters, so you know they possess deep wisdom. Be warned, it's got poetry, and we're not vouching for that. -- Suggested by Christopher Thrash
September 3, 2005: Illuminated Site of the Week: In One Continent And Out The Other
Why do people keep watching the skies, looking for big rocks that might slam into us, acting like it's something special? It happens all the time.Oh, but hey, don't get us wrong . . . you should still be reduced to a state of mindless panic by the news. -- Suggested by Thomas Weigel
August 26, 2005: Illuminated Site of the Week: The Journey Of Twenty Centimeters Begins With But A Single Micron
Tired of letting your blood do all the work? Then let Douglas Weibel's "microoxen" do the job. They've found ways to move microscopic things using other microscopic things. The BBC has some of the story, and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America has a "little" bit more.
-- Suggested by W. Blake Smith
August 19, 2005: Illuminated Site of the Week: Who Delivered These?
They claim We Are Family. Well, better them than us, yes? -- Suggested by Stefan
August 13, 2005: Illuminated Site of the Week: Disconnect The Dots
Some web games just fall flat, but this one doesn't work unless it does exactly that. The puzzles at Planarity have more twists than a Mason plot, and get increasingly difficult. At least until someone uses Flash to create a Gordian game complete with sword. -- Suggested by Richard H Chapman
August 5, 2005: Illuminated Site of the Week: Touched By His Noodly Appendage
What we really need is a third party to bring its views to the table as regards the origin of "life, the universe, and everything." That won't necessarily solve any problems, but it will sure make them more fun to watch. Robert Henderson's Open Letter to Kansas School Board throws fuel on the fire and raises the intellectual level of the conversation by raising the possibility that the world is the work of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Sound like crazy talk? Sure does, until he points out the pirate angle. At that point, he had us. -- Suggested by Thorin Tabor
July 29, 2005: Illuminated Site of the Week: Fill That Hol In Your Life With Some Istic
Radiesthesia and Rosicrucian manifestos go hand in hand at Life Technology. Holistic is the only way to live. Use crystals and Beta Clear CDs. Try the Tesla Energy Shield, or the Kabbalah Manifesting Capsule. What's the difference? Well, duh . . . one's red, one's purple, right? -- Suggested by Tom Bolenbaugh
July 22, 2005: Illuminated Site of the Week: That Feeding The Masses Thing Sounds Fishy, Too
Looks like everyone needs a ghost writer these days. Those unafraid to confront the pen names "Moses" and "Jesus" can find William Edward Hunt expounding at length on his view that The Bible is a Hoax. If you're not up for discussions of why God (who was selected accidentally) is really pulling double duty as the Devil, you might want to tune in next week for holistic healing instead. -- Suggested by Jason Kottler
July 15, 2005: Illuminated Site of the Week: But No Tractor Beams?
Okay, so it's part puppetry and part screed, but it's all natural. The Organic Trade Association warns against the tyranny of farm-raised veggies in Grocery Store Wars, a story of good and evil in the pumpkin patch. -- Suggested by Scott Haring
July 9, 2005: Illuminated Site of the Week: "Kibble . . . Kiii-Buuul!"
They don't want your brains, they just want to know what smells like bacon. The Safar Center for Resuscitation Research has revivified our animal companions. Can a practical application in horror movies be far off? Fox has the story. -- Suggested by Shawn Fisher
July 2, 2005: Illuminated Site of the Week: I Can See My House From Here
Maybe you're a fan of travel. Perhaps you're starting a Special Ops game. Then again, you may want that long-sought proof that They are watching you. Or, conversely, you could be . . . well, we'd rather not know. But go Google Sightseeing. -- Suggested by Damon Muma
June 24, 2005: Illuminated Site of the Week: Alternate Theories
Someone's been doing a lot of thinking . . . or at least a lot of collating. All the data you need about quantum physics is located on the Resonant Field Theory Education Page. Find out what the latest is - though, how can you be sure Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle is obsolete? And what if it's right in the universe next door? -- Suggested by Paul May
June 18, 2005: Illuminated Site of the Week: You Must Walk Before You Can Launch Surface-To-Air Missiles
Sakakibara Kikai is another company that can't sit around and wait for technology to catch up to entertainment. They've developed a Gundam-style walker that will actually walk you around. The product page has a lot of characters that may baffle your browser, but The Japan Times has the story. -- Suggested by Greg
June 10, 2005: Illuminated Site of the Week: It Keeps Going, And Going, And . . . No, Seriously
Good news for those of you who worry someone might be smuggling iron filings into secure areas: mPhase brags they have used nanotechnological advances with batteries that will yield sensors 1,000 times more sensitive than what we've got today. Read the press release here.
-- Suggested by Erin Garlock
June 3, 2005: Illuminated Site of the Week: Reynolds Rap?
Announcing to the Nobility, Gentry, and Public: A Revue of the Stylings of Miss Prism, songstress to the Heads of Europe. She will perform "I've Got My Tinfoil Hat On" beginning precisely at half past click. Tickets and Places for the Boxes to be had of Mssrs. Doghorse and 4rthur at Eclectech. Participants are cautioned that Exposure to additional Elements at this Interweb Service should be under the Direction of responsible adult Authorities. -- Suggested by Stefan Jones
May 27, 2005: Illuminated Site of the Week: He Needs An "L" On His Chest
Man of Steel. Man of Tomorrow. Last Son of Krypton.What a jerk. This site proves, through a series of old comic covers, that everyone's all-American hero is really, when you come right down to it, pretty much a . . . well, we won't say it in a family forum, but even Perry White doesn't have the full story. -- Suggested by William B. Smith
May 20, 2005: Illuminated Site of the Week: Poetry In Motion
You may not want to visit this site if you're feeling down . . . it's only going to add grease to that slippery slope. But if you have a high tolerance for pain, this kind of art might appeal to you. Nobody Here but us chickens, goats, giraffes . . . -- Rene Kalverboer
May 13, 2005: Illuminated Site of the Week: Just Deserts
Is Earth's natural machinery two-thirds gone? What's the story with evolution and intelligent design? And should we be concerned that there are seemingly too many New Mexicans for Science and Reason to make statisticians comfortable? They're a clearinghouse for all the ugly scientific truth that rears its nascent head. -- Suggested by Martin Brummell
May 6, 2005: Illuminated Site of the Week: If You Want Fries With That, It Means More Scripting
Want to know what's worse than the nine-to-five grind? Watching someone else's nine-to-five grind. How can something that requires this much work be so unimaginably dull? He needs to Wake Up, because even worse than watching boring is programming boring. -- Suggested by Richard Chapman
May 1, 2005: Illuminated Site of the Week: E.T. - He Never Calls, He Never Writes
Some "advanced civilizations" we have in this galaxy. They've got all the technology, but they make us do all the heavy lifting. They're not calling us, so we have to leave a message with them. At the sound of the tone, TalkToAliens. -- Suggested by Jeffrey Bernard
April 22, 2005: Illuminated Site of the Week: This Sounds Like A Great Idea
Crank Dot Net offers itself up as a clearinghouse for strange and esoteric information. Want a weird website on Planet X or the Loch Ness Monster? Crank can hook you up.Of course, so could we. If you want. Not that we care. Go there if you like. We'll just sit here. In the dark. With our secrets. -- Suggested by Mark Gellis
April 15, 2005: Illuminated Site of the Week: The Last Web Page You'll Ever Need
Better men have tried, all have failed (unless the dolphins pulled a fast one and we didn't notice). Wiping out our planet (not "all life on it," mind you) isn't as easy as summer blockbusters would have you believe. It's a daunting task, but if you think you've got the Wrong Stuff, Sam's Archive will help you avoid common missteps as you learn How to destroy the Earth. -- From multiple submissions
April 8, 2005: Illuminated Site of the Week: You Can Just Call Him TJ
The Second Coming has arrived, and his name is Ted Jesus Christ GOD. He's got some great ideas for bunkers, should he ever become president, and he calls them Ted Jesus Christ GOD Deep Underground Eco Enclosed Cities. He'll tell you at great length about what he thinks is evil and wicked (unless you're a "child Human," in which case, no kidding, some of his photo albums aren't fit for viewing). His philosophy is similarly difficult to encapsulate, and his prophecies stretch a billion years into the future, if you think you'll be around for a Third or Fourth Coming. -- Suggested by Eric Newsom
April 2, 2005: Illuminated Site of the Week: They Have A Little Something For You
You've heard all the endless reports: Nanotechnology is the next, uh . . . big thing. What would you do with it? Explore space? Cure disease? Royal BodyCare wants to smooth your skin and help you lose weight now. Ask them how. -- Suggested by David Neuschulz
March 25, 2005: Illuminated Site of the Week: All We Need Now Is An Ice Planet
Or bugs . . . zillions of 'em. Or perhaps a canyon filled with mutant cockroaches. Plustech, a John Deere company, has taken us another six-legged step into the future with their Walking Forest Machine. See the specs, see the history, but most importantly, see the videos (11 MB worth, mind). -- Suggested by Tim Pollard
March 18, 2005: Illuminated Site of the Week: Bless My Soul
The New York Stock Exchange has NASDAQ, so why shouldn't soulXchange have a little unhealthy competition? We Want Your Soul has a counteroffer for that wispy, meaningless little contrivance that's holding you back from all your dreams. -- Suggested by Roy A Kubicek
March 11, 2005: Illuminated Site of the Week: That'll Learn Ya
The path to salvation is through knowledge, but where to find that knowledge? Gnostic Media can give you a good start, and if they can't they have plenty of books, videos, and links to pick up the slack. Conspiracies, Santa Claus, the myth of Moses...but not the flat-Earth theory. That'd be silly since there never was one. -- Suggested by Jared
March 5, 2005: Illuminated Site of the Week: . . . Because Some Of Our Stuff Will Wig You Out
Educate-Yourself takes a very widely holistic view of health matters. Sure, bioelectrification, sound therapy, and colloidal silver all have their place in a properly advanced regimen of personal care, but the thwarting of Sinister Forces cannot be neglected, either. One cannot have good health, after all, if the genetic New World Order includes such things as power lines, suppressed cures, and rampant bioterrorism. -- Suggested by Anonymous
February 25, 2005: Illuminated Site of the Week: Gog, Magog, & Zogg
Ah, children, with their bright and eager eyes...those lifeless eyes...cold, dispassionate eyes. Eyes that bore into you and betray the inhuman and emotionless intelligence that lurks behind those baby blues. The Cuddly Menace threatens us all, and it's staring at us from something no more sinister than a simple children's book. -- Suggested by Stefan Jones
February 18, 2005: Illuminated Site of the Week: Better Than A Telephone Pole
Rather than spend another fruitless Saturday afternoon cruising suburban streets looking for that big score, plot your course with Garage Sale Promotion. Check your state and see who's selling the farm. So far there doesn't seem to be a single listing anywhere in the nation, but that doesn't mean they won't soon have your special treasure.On an unrelated note, Warehouse 23 recently had an influx of unmarked crates. -- Suggested by Casey
February 11, 2005: Illuminated Site of the Week: I Been Hippo-Tized
Be aware, folks. On February 12th, hypnotherapists across the land will try to Hypnotize America. They say you'll feel ready to do everything you've been meaning to do, and your life will be filled with purpose. That's all. There's nothing to worry about. What else could someone in complete control of the suggestible minds of all Americans possibly do, right? The mind boggles - if they'll let it. -- Suggested by William Thrasher
February 4, 2005: Illuminated Site of the Week: |
