Here are a few internet sites that help you find useful information
-From downloading a book to read, or have books read to you,
to
-Making an international call, to
-Looking up health hoaxes, to
-Finding out how to address an envelope to a foreign country,
to
-Researching public information available on the internet!
Read E-Book Classics
Nothing promotes the Net’s “information wants
to be free” philosophy quite like Project Gutenberg
(http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/cgi-bin/sdb/t9.cgi/). The
site offers free downloads of more than 6000 electronic books
in ASCII format, an eclectic selection ranging from fairy
tales of the Brothers Grimm to the writings of Winston Churchill
and William Shakespeare. A worldwide network of mirror sites
ensures you’ll get your downloads quickly.
Have E-Books read to you!
Do you want to have books read to you or read to your kids?
Try: http://www.librivox.org. Here you can download
high quality books in MP3 formats for FREE. Dracula;
Jack London books; Mark Twain; even Agatha Christie; and many
more! If you’ve ever enjoyed falling asleep as
someone read to you, here’s where you can go and fall
asleep with a smile on your face. (Be warned though,
some of these stories are so riveting that you may not be
able to fall asleep.)
Make an International Phone Call
Sometimes it can be a bit tricky to make that phone call home
when you’re traveling in another country. We usually
don’t remember our own Country Code. So here are
two great sites to help solve this problem. To find
the International Dialing codes for all countries go to: http://www.kropla.com/dialcode.htm.
To find the area codes within a country (usually listed by
city), go to: http://www.numberingplans.com/?page=dialling&sub=areacodes
Research Public Records
Every US state has different rules about what records the
public can access. The http://www.searchsystems.net site offers
links to thousands of records, categorized by geographical
region and subject. You can find links to records about foreclosures,
professional state licenses, property reports, missing-person
databases, and college alumni lists, among others.
Sort Out Valid Health Concerns
Some pretty far-fetched stuff can make its way into your in-box,
so check the facts before you join the rumor mill. The CDC’s
list of hoaxes (http://www.cdc.gov/hoax_rumors.htm) can help
you determine what you should take note of and what you should
ignore. Poisonous perfume samples sent through the mail? That’s
just a hoax. Ditto those reports about tainted Coca-Cola and
Pepsi.
Take the Guesswork Out of Foreign Postal Addresses
Postal conventions vary widely from country to country. Wondering
if you should place the street number before the
apartment number, or vice versa when you’re mailing
a package to Italy? The Columbia University site’s guide
to international postal addresses (http://www.columbia.edu/kermit/postal.html)
sorts out confusing postal rules, codes, and abbreviations.
