WWWebsite
Potluck
Guidelines, Etc.
Basics
Guidelines
Samples: 2006 or 2007
Mail In
Your Links
Past Potluck
Entries
Basics
We are requesting that each
person submit at least two URLs -- the line
at the top of your browser that usually reads something like:
"http://www.interestingplace.com" or something
similar (and may have more after that, something like: "/gbx/widget/zotz.htm"
to point to a specific page or item). With each link submitted,
include a brief (one paragraph ought to be plenty) explanation
of what you find interesting about it or why you think people
ought to see it. Some things may be obvious, but your personal
reasons are of interest, too.
Unless you have a lot of really
neat sites to offer, we would generally prefer you trim the list
down to no more than six or so, but that's up to you. More
entries will not make you more likely to win any prizes we give
away; more interesting entries may....
We would prefer that you not
jump through hoops to make your submissions "active links"
(i.e, click on them and go directly to the site; usually shown
as underlined text). Simply copying the URL and pasting it into
the body of your email should be fine.
Guidelines for Submissions:
1. Submit your entries via
e-mail to potluckentry@omug.org with a Subject line of "WWWebsite
Potluck Entry -- YourName" (where 'YourName', of course,
is your name).
2. Entries should be received
no later than October 10th, 2007 to allow time to organize the
collected entries and verify that all are active sites and don't
violate the guidelines for content.
3. What we are looking for
are the "UNs" -- the unusual, the uncommon
and the unlikely. Do not submit ordinary sites featuring
things you can find anywhere on the Web (such as eBay, Amazon,
Project Gutenberg, etc.)
4. Commercial sites are fine,
but once again, if it sells the same things you can find at Dillards,
J.C. Penney's or Walmart, we have no interest. A site which sells
custom propeller beanies, tie-dyed kilts, or Alice in Wonderland
memorabilia, now...
5. If you are going to submit
a link to a site that fits a common category (such as blogs, desktop
pictures, photo albums, shareware, etc.), please choose one that
deals with either a very specific subgroup, or one which is organized
or designed in a unique fashion
6. We trust our members' sense
of propriety (we really do), but I suppose we really ought to
mention that submissions should not be rated more than PG-17 as
the motion picture industry would put it (if you think an R-Rated
site just really oughtn't be missed, be sure to provide
a warning that some of the content may be a little much, and the
board will check it out and make a decision).
2006 Samples
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Here's a site which has something
both artistic and visual -- it's not a site with potato chips
that take unlikely shapes (state outlines, religious icons, celebrities,
etc.), but it does have original sculptures created in an unusual
fashion, and really remarkable competition winners, too.
Click on the button on the left to see
the CANSTRUCTION site....
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Here's a site which falls into
a general category (recipes and food info). However, unlike a
big site such as RECIPES.COM, this has a very narrow focus, and
it has a light and attractive design as well.
Click on the button on the left to see
the LEMON FLOWER site....
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As our final example, here's a
site which is commercial (i.e., you come here to buy merchandise),
but a trifle out of the way. If you ever had the desire to take
ship with Blackbeard or Anne Bonney and sail off (from Penzance
or any other home port) for the merry life of a pirate, this
is the site for you!
Click on the button on the left to see
the DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES site....
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2007 Samples |
| Time improves many things, and a year and a half more
experience crawling around the World Wide Web has left us with
an improved ability to choose examples -- as did our experience
in seeing how everyone took last year's examples to heart. Below
you will find commentary on four different sorts of sites which
should help give you ideas for this year's WWWebsite Potluck.
Read the text, then click on the button to see what we mean! |
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One type of site that makes a
great "find" to share is a site or other resource that
offers a unique or interesting service, access to a resource
that most might think to tap, or one which has not been available
until now.
In this example, we consider Curriki.org
-- a 'wiki', or collaboratively maintained and updated body of
interconnected knowledge or information (the best-known example
is probably the WikiPedia, an on-line and ever-growing encyclopedic
reference).
Curriki is similarly structured, but
is intended to gather educational curricula, course materials,
and educational reference materials. Click on the 'Go See!' button
at the right to take a look....
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Another sort of site we'd like
to see contributed is one which show interesting new applications
of human ingenuity.
Have you ever heard of 'Instant Prototyping',
'3-D Printing', or 'Fabricators'? The concept is simple: we all
know we can print 2-dimensional images, either drawings or photograph
using the 2-D printers we all own. Wouldn't it be neat (especially
for inventors, artists and custom builders of all sorts) if we
could 'print' actual three-dimensional, solid objects that you
could hold in your hand? It calls to mind the 'replicator' units
in the TV series Star Trek: The Next
Generation (and others).
Well, technology has begun to approach
a practical version of this device (though nowhere nearly as
advanced as the ones on TV). Commercial, high end prototyping
systems cost tens of thousands of dollars, though the prices
are beginning to start downward. This sort of leaves the home
computer enthusiast out of the running, doesn't it?
Well, don't start pouting yet, pilgrims
-- enter Fab@Home.Org: a group of technophiles, Ubergeeks and
wild-eyed barnyard inventors who think anyone should be able
to have a system at home that can build anything their computers
can design. What's more, they don't seem to think that they should
limit themselves to specialized plastic materials. They want
a unit which can build their creations out of plastic, epoxy,
silicone, or even cheese or chocolate! What's more, that is just
the sort of system they're building. The two Steves (Jobs and
Wozniak) must just love these guys, even though I wouldn't expect
Apple to announce 'iFab' anytime soon. Click on the 'Go See!'
button at the right to take a look....
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As we agreed back in 2006, just
because a site is commercial (by which I mean it exists to sell
real products for real money) doesn't mean it isn't worth sharing
with your fellow members. However, it should be something a little
out of the way: unusual, unlikely, even off-the-wall completely.
Skip ordinary sites where you can buy things you could just as
likely find at the local shopping mall, but by all means include
the special, the bizarre (but tasteful) and the obscure.
Case in point (as Rod Serling used to
say): Anyone remember the show David Hasselhoff co-starred in
before he retired to run around on the beach with Pam Anderson?
His co-star wasn't human. Instead of a sexy alien or an animal,
is was a car.
That's right, KITT -- the Knight Industries
Two Thousand -- the Trans Am with more bells and whistles than
a clock factory. How many of us would have loved to jump into
that driver's seat and drive off into the sunset? Or even jump
into the passenger seat and let KITT drive us into the sunset?
Well, it seems that enough people still live that fantasy that there is an actual
market for the necessary replacement parts, modifications, and
decorative add-ons to convert a real TransAm into a convincing
replica. Where to find them? Try Knight Replicas. Click on the
'Go See!' button at the right to take a look....
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One more thing. A link doesn't
have to lead somewhere 'worthwhile', fascinating, or commercially
oriented to be worth sharing. Sometimes it's just enough to be
funny.
Have you been following the growth of
Google? Some fella in a trench coat whispered in my ear from
the shadows that a documentary is in the works over at the History
Channel. Working title: 'The Search Engine That Ate Cincinnati.'
With a growth curve like that, it should
be no surprise that people try to create jokes and spoofs based
on slightly skewed ideas to what new service Google might offer
the world this week. One perhaps prescient vision is the new
'Content Blocker' service for web browsing. Click on the 'Go
See!' button at the right to take a look....
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| Well, that's enough examples for this year. Once you've
decided what links you want to share with the rest of us, use
the Mail In Your Links feature by clicking on the envelope button
below. We'll be waiting by the mailbox!!! |
Mail In Your Links
Click on the envelope below
to create an e-mail message in your regular e-mail program which
will correctly send us your entries....