Reference

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The Periodic Table of Awesoments

December 21, 2008 in General, Reference | 2 comments

The Periodic Table of Awesoments, almost intolerably awesome.

via Joshua Blankenship

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Google Maps: Street View Added to Driving Directions

May 1, 2008 in Free, Reference, Service, Site News | 2 comments

Here is a new feature I stumbled upon last night. Google Maps has added the street view feature to driving directions. Now you can get a glance at the route before you even get in the car. When you look up driving directions on Google Maps, a little camera icon will appear next to the streets. If you click on the icon the street view will pop up on the map. From here you can zoom in and pan around to get a good look at the surrounding area. If you don’t see the camera icon, street view may not be supported in your city.

Overall it is a great addition. However, I only see one real good use for it. Sometimes when you are driving, street signs can be hard to see. This can be especially true late at night in a poorly lit area. With this feature, you can get a look at the houses and landmarks surrounding the intersection. This will make it easier to recognize your turn on those easy to miss streets.

Google has provided some other great uses in this video. Some of them seem a little far fetched to me, but your millage may vary.

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WikiHow

July 17, 2007 in Reference, Wiki | No comments

Almost everyone knows about Wikipedia. It is the free online encyclopedia that is editable by anyone with an internet connection. It is a great resource for some quick knowledge on various subjects, like the early history of playing cards.

WikiHow is based on the same idea as Wikipedia, anyone can write and edit articles. The difference is that WikiHow is composed of how-to articles. So when you are done reading about the history of playing cards, you can go and learn how to build a tower of cards.

WikiHow is an excellent reference when you are interested in a new hobby or a technique to make your life easier. Just today I visited to learn some basic techniques of meditation.

If you are ever bored and looking for things to read, the article of the day at both WikiHow and Wikipedia are great places to start.