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Google’s kid friendly search engine
For those of you who monitor your child’s internet use, make this their search engine. KidRex provides safe searches for kids, by kids. It highlights kid-associated sites throughout the web. The search engine is powered by Google Custom Search and utilizes Google SafeSearch technology. Sites that may contain explicit sexual content are screened and deleted using SafeSearch while your child is searching topics. The researchers at KidRex do test the search engine daily in an effort to make your child’s internet encounters the best possible. Although KidRex admits that it is not 100 percent perfect, it does ask that parents report any sites that slip through using their webpage removal request tool. There is no surefire way to keep inappropriate sites away from kids, but KidRex is a great way to try.
Making plans just got easier
Whichdateworks was designed with the event planner in mind. It is the tool when planning any of the following: dinner parties, weddings, birthday parties, family reunions, vacations, study groups, sports practices…really, the list is endless. This website helps you and your guests choose a date that is convenient for all. It’s a simple four step process: what, who, when and send. 1. Enter the event. 2. Upload your email addresses and select those you would like to invite. 3. Select the dates that you are either available or unavailable on the calendar. 4. Send it to your guests to determine which days available you have in common. It puts an end to, “Well, we wish we could go but we already have plans.” Whichdateworks gives you the power to pick a date that is great for all your guests, so no one has to miss your party.
Your music when you want it
Whether you’re a music genius or someone (like me) who just learned how to use their iPod, this website holds the key to your musical world. They call themselves the “most comprehensive analysis of music ever” and with 25 million registered users, making them the largest online music service, they obviously are. This site contains an enormous amount of music and tenaciously determines each song’s genre or “genes.” Pandora’s goal is to “capture the unique and magical musical identity of a song – everything from melody, harmony and rhythm, to instrumentation, orchestration, arrangement, lyrics and, of course the rich world of singing and vocal harmony…it’s about what each individual song sounds like.” Other cool features: create your own radio station or purchase the songs, after a complimentary listen, directly from iTunes or Amazon MP3. Love music? This is your soul.
Pretty straight forward, it’s how stuff works
This site is great for those who are fascinated with how stuff works. Howstuffworks is a subsidiary of Discovery Communications and was founded by North Carolina State University Professor Marshall Brain (of course!) in 1998. Howstuffworks presents the makings of everything in laymen’s terms: as the site explains, “In addition to comprehensive articles, our helpful graphics and informative videos walk you through every topic clearly, simply and objectively.” I learned how a Swiss bank account works and how telephone country codes work, it literally covers anything you can imagine and would ever want to know about. It’s a great source for curious kids or inquiring adults.
In this economy, why wouldn’t you shop around?
This is simple brilliance. Everyone needs gas at some point; why not find the cheapest in your town? Visit Gaspricewatch and enter your city and state or zip code. This brings up a map of your city and the prices at all of the gas stations. It even tells you when they were last updated (last 12 hours, 24 hours or 24+ hours). Just for fun in the upper right corner Gaspricewatch tells you the town with the highest prices nationally, the national average and the town with the lowest average price. There’s even a tab that gives you gas saving and buying tips. For instance, Wednesday morning is the best time to buy gas because the weekend rates have settled. On the other hand, Thursday morning around 10 a.m. is the worst time because the oil companies have driven the price up again.
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