Archive for the ‘New Websites and Resources’ Category
Wednesday, September 30th, 2009
From the Announcement:
Today the Anne Frank House is launching the official Anne Frank Channel on YouTube containing existing and new images about Anne Frank. These include excerpts from interviews with Otto Frank and witnesses like Miep Gies, as well as [our emphasis] previews of the virtual museum of the Anne Frank House, soon to be opened to the public. With the Anne Frank Channel on YouTube, people around the world will be able to explore the life and significance of Anne Frank through unique images.
The channel opens with the only existing film footage of Anne Frank, made during the wedding of her neighbor on 22 July 1941. In another film, Nelson Mandela talks about the strength he derived from Anne Frank’s diary during his imprisonment on Robben Island. The channel will also contain a series of new interviews with people who knew Anne Frank personally.
And there’s more. On YouTube, visitors can follow the development of the virtual museum, which will soon enable people to visit the Anne Frank House online. Visitors can watch the ‘making of’ the online secret annex in 3D. The virtual museum will be launched on 28 April 2010 as part of the 50-year anniversary celebrations of the Anne Frank House museum.
Access the Official Anne Frank YouTube Channel
Source: Anne Frank Museum
Hat Tip: Library Stuff
Posted in History, Multimedia Search, New Websites and Resources, Resources, Resources for Educators, Source File | No Comments »
Sunday, September 27th, 2009
Century Foundation Launches insideiran.org to Provide Insiders’ View of Political Crisis in Iran
The Century Foundation today launched insideiran.org, a special project taking readers inside the political crisis in Iran. The centerpiece of the project is a Web site, www.insideiran.org, which features articles, analysis, and the latest media reports from some of the world’s most prominent Iranian scholars, journalists, and bloggers who are either inside the country or who live temporarily outside. The project will also feature a newsletter than can be delivered by email to those who sign up.
Century Foundation fellow and Iran analyst Geneive Abdo will lead the project and serve as editor for the Web site. The project is supported by a grant from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund.
As Iran’s internal crisis continues and information from inside the country becomes even more scarce, insideiran.org will be a critical resource, providing news analysis and provocative thinking that cannot be found elsewhere. This material is particularly relevant for policymakers, as the U.S. administration prepares to talk with Iran’s leaders at the highest level of negotiations since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Despite the Iranian government’s attempts to impose a technological blockade, insideiran.org will tap into the networks of commentators who have managed to find innovative ways to get their voices heard outside the country.
Source: Century Foundation
Posted in Government Documents and Political Information, New Websites and Resources, Source File | No Comments »
Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009
From the Article:
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has launched a revamped Web portal that agency officials say is more user-friendly, interactive and informative than its predecessor.
The upgraded site allows applicants for citizenship and related benefits to follow the progress of their cases. They can choose to receive notifications through e-mail messages or text messages when the status of an application changes, the agency said.
The redesigned USCIS.gov has, for the first time, a Spanish language version. It also provides access to national trend data and raw data that can be used in additional applications.
Access the New U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Web Site ||| Spanish Language Version
Note: News RSS Feed Available (Not Working at the Moment)
Source: FCW
Posted in Government Documents and Political Information, New Websites and Resources, Portals, Resources | No Comments »
Sunday, September 20th, 2009
Note: The G-20 Summit September 24-25, 2009, will take place in Pittsburgh, PA.
From the Article
News junkies, social studies teachers and anyone just fascinated with the outpouring of information related to the upcoming G-20 summit in Pittsburgh might want to play around with this Web site set up by a local advertising agency.
Mullen’s new G20Buzz.com is set up [our emphasis] to pull information from online services such as Google News, Twitter, Flickr and YouTube. Anything that’s tagged with the G-20 label should show up, said Aaron Clark, who designed the site for the Strip District agency.
Read more
Access G20Buzz.com
Source: PP-G
Hat Tip: P.W.
See Also: Official G-20 Pittsburgh Web Site
See Also: Must See Pittsburgh (via Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
Includes Blogs and Twitter Feed and Archive.
See Also: Official G-20 Pittsburgh Media Center
See Also: G-20 Pittsburgh Summit Press Room
See Also: Official G-20 Web Site ||| FAQ
See Also: Interactive Graphic: G20 Pittsburgh: Objectives and action (via Financial Times)
Posted in Business and Economics, Calendars and Special Events, Media, New Websites and Resources, Social Media, Source File | No Comments »
Friday, September 18th, 2009
From the Announcement:
The Center for Applied Linguistics Collection contains 118 hours of recordings documenting North American English dialects. The recordings include speech samples, linguistic interviews, oral histories, conversations, and excerpts from public speeches.
From the Web Site
The survey’s documentation covers social aspects of English language usage in different regions of the United States. It reveals distinctions in speech related to gender, race, social class, education, age, literacy, ethnic background, and occupational group (including the specialized jargon or vocabulary of various occupations). The oral history interviews are a rich resource on many topics, such as storytelling and family histories; descriptions of holiday celebrations, traditional farming, schools, education, health care, and the uses of traditional medicines; and discussions of race relations, politics, and natural disasters such as floods.
The collection includes recordings from forty-three states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and parts of Canada. They were made from 1941 to 1984, with the bulk being recorded between 1968 and 1982. In some cases, transcriptions made by the collectors are available as part of this web presentation.
Access the American English Dialect Recordings
It’s possible to browse the collection by:
+ Title
+ Name
+ Subject
+ Place
Source: American Memory Project (via Library of Congress)
See Also: From the British Library: Sounds Familiar (3/2007)
Posted in Archives and Special Collections, Arts and Humanities, History, New Websites and Resources, Resources for Educators | No Comments »
Monday, September 14th, 2009
Note: Clicker is currently in private beta. Stay current as the when the service goes live via the Clicker blog or Clicker Twitter feed. On the homepage, you can register to be added to the beta list.
From TechCrunch:
While there are no shortage of video search engines out there, Clicker believes its offering is superior because it creates a structured database of programming, organizing shows by things like network, genre, and show name. This type of data not only allows for better search results, but it allows you to browse content without having to do text-based searches, which you probably won’t be doing when television and future web-enabled tablets start to serve up this content. Clicker already has a deal with Boxee.
The goal is really to be the best search engine for video content. Clicker will point you in the direction of whatever you are looking for (and will do embeds if they’re available), but won’t serve up the videos themselves. They will also delve into surfacing content not explicitly produced for television, but is still high quality web video content. But they don’t want to be YouTube, which is cluttered with user-generated content. Clicker is going for a different market.
From the Clicker Blog:
Clicker aims to provide the most comprehensive, unbiased and user-friendly way to navigate what’s available (and just as importantly, what’s not) to watch online, where and when you can find it, and finally, what’s worth watching amongst your infinite choices. We have made it our mission to make it dead simple for you to find the RIGHT SHOW, RIGHT NOW.
To accomplish this, Clicker is a hybrid of many other kinds of information and entertainment sites: one part directory, one part search engine, one part Wiki, one part entertainment guide, and one part DVR. At the heart of it all is a massive structured database, created by a team of people from search, media, data and content management backgrounds.
From day one, Clicker has mapped more than 300,000 episodes, from over 5,200 shows, from over 1,200 networks – in addition to 1,200 movies (soon to be 14,000 movies with the addition of Netflix), and 50,000 music videos from 20,000 artists. All of this programming is organized by episode, show, network, media type, title, and artist, as well as over 1,000 categories and sub-categories.
Source: Clicker Blog / TechCrunch
UPDATE: See Also: Clicker: More Than Just A Video Search Engine (via SEL)
Posted in Databases, Directories, and Guides, Media, Multimedia Search, New Websites and Resources | No Comments »
Saturday, September 12th, 2009
USDA and HHS Unveil New Food Safety Consumer Web Site
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, the co-chairs of the Obama Administration’s Food Safety Working Group, unveiled a new consumer Web site today at www.foodsafety.gov/. The site is designed to help consumers and families get all the latest information on food safety and food recalls in one convenient place.
The new site features information from all the agencies across the federal government that deal with critical food and food safety information, including preventive tips about how to handle food safely, alerts on life-saving food recalls, and the latest news from the key agencies.
www.foodsafety.gov provides consumers with one easy place to sign up to receive email and RSS alerts on recalled or potentially unsafe food, as well as get information from the top scientific experts across the government on food safety. Later phases of the site to be launched will include recall feeds for texting and mobile phones. The site will also feature a foodsafety.gov widget that the public and the media are encouraged to download and promote on their Web sites and social networking sites. The widget will instantly update viewers with the latest food safety recalls and will be a valuable public health and safety tool.
Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture
Posted in Government Documents and Political Information, New Websites and Resources, Source File | No Comments »
Saturday, September 5th, 2009
NCSL launches online resource with latest updates on emergency plans
Most state health officials are planning for when—not if—a swine flu outbreak occurs.
As the federal government develops a national strategy to address the H1N1 virus for the fall and winter flu seasons, the National Conference of State Legislatures has developed a comprehensive webpage with resources for states. Since states are first responders to public health emergencies, state legislators and legislative staff now have a wealth of valuable information in one location.
“These online resources will help state legislators and legislative staff stay abreast of the federal and state responses to this public health alert,” said William T. Pound, executive director of the National Conference of State Legislatures. “Because there are many unknowns, scientists are working diligently to understand this emerging virus and its potential effect on the public’s health. As more detailed information becomes available, NCSL will provide relevant updates.”
Source: National Conference of State Legislatures
Posted in Government Documents and Political Information, New Websites and Resources, Source File | No Comments »
Sunday, August 30th, 2009
Cutting-edge web tool compiles latest climate data to let users see impacts at local and global levels
A new tool that for the first time allows people to easily see how climate change will directly impact their states shows America’s heartland will suffer the greatest jump in temperatures over the next century – with some states potentially heating up more than 10 degrees F, according to an analysis by The Nature Conservancy.
The state-by-state, country-by-country temperature projections are part of a new tool called Climate Wizard that allows people to use an interactive map to explore past and projected climate change data on their computers. With Climate Wizard, users can zoom in on any location to quickly see how temperatures and precipitation may change by month, season or year under different emission scenarios.
Source: Nature Conservancy
Posted in New Websites and Resources, Science, Source File | No Comments »
Thursday, August 27th, 2009
USDA Announces New Global Agricultural Trade System Database
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) recently launched an enhanced U.S. foreign agricultural trade searchable database called the Global Agricultural Trade System (GATS).
…
The GATS database, which replaces the current U.S. trade data system, will provide users with U.S. agricultural data not previously available from FAS, including U.S. Customs District trade data, monthly and annual trade data going back to 1967, and U.S. state export data. Users will also be able to use GATS to produce charts and graphs.
GATS will help exporters and government officials keep up with fluctuations in U.S. agricultural trade. This information can help formulate marketing and negotiating objectives and strategies. Policy makers, program administrators, farmers, exporters, food aid organizations and others will be able to use this information to plan activities and make decisions.
+ Direct to database
Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture
Posted in Business and Economics, New Websites and Resources, Source File | No Comments »
Wednesday, August 26th, 2009
Carnegie Mellon researchers develop tool to rank death rates
Have you ever wondered what the chances are that you may die in the next year? Would it be from illness or an accident? Is it something you can control? Or is it completely out of your hands?
A new Web site, www.DeathRiskRankings.com, developed by researchers and students at Carnegie Mellon University, allows users to query publicly available data from the United States and Europe, and compare mortality risks by gender, age, cause of death and geographic region. The Web site not only gives the risk of dying within the next year, but it also ranks the probable causes and allows for quick side-by-side comparison between groups.
Suppose you wanted to know who is more likely to die next year from breast cancer, a 54-year-old Pennsylvania woman or her counterpart in the United Kingdom.
“This is the only place to look,” said Paul Fischbeck, site developer and professor of social and decision sciences and engineering and public policy (EPP) at Carnegie Mellon. “It turns out that the British woman has a 33 percent higher risk of breast cancer death. But for lung/throat cancer, the results are almost reversed, and the Pennsylvania woman has a 29 percent higher risk.”
“Most Americans don’t have a particularly good understanding of their own mortality risks, let alone ranking of their relevant risks,” said David Gerard, a former EPP professor at Carnegie Mellon who is now an associate professor of economics at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wis.
The researchers found that beyond infancy, the risk of dying increases annually at an exponential rate. A 20-year-old U.S. woman has a 1 in 2,000 (or 0.05 percent) chance of dying in the next year. By age 40, the risk is three times greater; by age 60, it is 16 times greater; and by age 80, it is 100 times greater (around 1 in 20 or 5 percent). “The risks are higher, but still not that bad,” Gerard said. “At 80, the average U.S. woman still has a 95 percent chance of making it to her 81st birthday.”
Source: Carnegie Mellon University (via EurekAlert)
Hat tip: PW
Posted in New Websites and Resources, Science, Software and Web-Based Applications, Source File, Statistics | No Comments »
Wednesday, August 26th, 2009
The Office of National AIDS Policy’s new site
I wanted to take a minute today to introduce you to the new White House Office of National AIDS Policy (ONAP) webpage. We hope you will visit here often for updates on our progress in developing a National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS) and in helping the President to advance his HIV-related policy agenda. You can also use this page to provide feedback regarding the NHAS and other HIV/AIDS issues.
From this page, you can use the tabs to navigate to other pages to learn more about the ONAP team, our plans for developing the NHAS, how to submit comments and public input for the NHAS, and how to contact us.
Source: White House Blog
Posted in Government Documents and Political Information, New Websites and Resources, Source File | No Comments »
Monday, August 24th, 2009
AAAS Debuts New Voting Research Database to Aid Study and Improvement of Elections
Paper trails and exit polls, vote suppression and hanging chads—problems in the U.S. system of choosing political leaders have become high-profile concerns in recent years, casting election results in doubt and eroding public confidence. Now AAAS is launching an extensive database of voting-related research to aid researchers, election administrators, journalists, and others interested in the workings of voting process.
The ambitious project—the first of its kind in the United States—will permit fast, free access to research focused on a broad range of issues, from absentee voting to polling places and voting technology. The database currently has about 500 entries, most of them published since 2000, and the collection will grow considerably as more research is added.
+ Research Database on the U.S. Voting System and Voting Technology
Source: American Association for the Advancement of Science
Posted in Databases, Directories, and Guides, Government Documents and Political Information, New Websites and Resources, Source File | No Comments »
Monday, August 24th, 2009
The new blog is titled: Pushing the Envelope.
From the Web Site:
It provides a forum to discuss different aspects of the Postal Service and how it can be improved.
See Also: Other U.S. Government Blogs
Source: USA.gov
Posted in Business and Economics, Government Documents and Political Information, New Websites and Resources, Resources | No Comments »
Monday, August 24th, 2009
From the Announcement:
In the late 1990’s, professor Jan Jennings struggled to talk with her interior design students about design practices that had been used throughout history and across cultures, such as a dramatic staircase in the lobby of a luxury hotel, two similar chairs situated side-by-side in a large space, or columns in a restaurant ornamented by decorative means. For decades—even centuries, in some cases—these reiterative examples have gone unnamed and undocumented.
Today, Jennings, a professor in Design and Environmental Analysis, leads a multidisciplinary research team of faculty from the Colleges of Human Ecology, Arts and Sciences, and Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University in building a new knowledge base for the creative dimension of design. The project is the first of its kind to assemble contemporary design theory in a searchable, online database that includes imagery from real buildings.
Access the Intypes Database
Source: Cornell University
Posted in Databases, Directories, and Guides, New Websites and Resources, Resources | No Comments »
Thursday, August 20th, 2009
Free Press Exposes Astroturf Groups
Today, Free Press launched an online interactive tool to expose phony grassroots groups hired by big phone and cable companies to advance their political agenda. These “astroturf” organizations — many of which also work for the health insurance, energy and tobacco industries — are mobilizing to spread misinformation about Network Neutrality and Internet policies.
Free Press’ new tool — available at www.freepress.net/astroturf and easily posted on any blog or Web site — tracks the huge amounts of money that phone and cable companies spend on lobbyists and campaign contributions; it reveals the contradictory and dishonest claims about Net Neutrality and other issues from top industry executives; and it puts a spotlight on the deceptive activities of groups like FreedomWorks, Americans for Prosperity, NetCompetition and the Heartland Institute.
“The fake grassroots groups are spending major resources to deceive the public and promote agendas of the corporations that sign their paychecks,” said Timothy Karr, campaign director of Free Press. “We need transparency, accountability and honest debate. The crucial policy decisions being made right now about the future of the Internet must be based on independent research, reliable data and facts. The phone and cable companies must stop distorting the issues and hiding behind their astroturf groups, sock puppets and hired shills.”
Source: Free Press
Posted in Fast Facts, Government Documents and Political Information, New Websites and Resources, Source File | No Comments »
Thursday, August 20th, 2009
What the College Rankings Won’t Tell You
How much will it cost? How is it ranked? And how hard is it to get in? Many college guides and rankings answer these questions. But there is one question that none of them even ask: What will students learn?
A new, free website for parents and students, WhatWillTheyLearn.com, does just that.
Launched today by the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, WhatWillTheyLearn.com will be featured in a full-page ad in U.S. News & World Report’s 2010 college rankings, which are released tomorrow. The website evaluates colleges and universities based on their general education curricula: the core courses aimed at providing a strong foundation of knowledge.
WhatWillTheyLearn.com assigns each institution a grade from “A” to “F” based on how many of the following seven core subjects it requires: Composition, Mathematics, Science, Economics, Foreign Language, Literature, and American Government or History. Only a handful get A’s.
Note: Includes just 100 colleges and universities.
Source: American Council of Trustees and Alumni
Posted in Databases, Directories, and Guides, Education, Fast Facts, New Websites and Resources, Source File | No Comments »
Tuesday, August 18th, 2009
DoD Launches New Web Portal
The Department of Defense today launched a new home page, http://www.Defense.gov , designed to invite participation from the public and make military news and information more accessible. The new Web site will provide quick access to those sites that are most sought by Web site visitors, including DoD social media sites, the Pentagon Channel and DoD news stories.
Prominent on the new home page is a new “We Want to Hear From You” feature that will give users the opportunity to ask questions of Defense Department leaders, vote on policy issues they want explained, and explore frequently asked questions and answers. The new site, http://www.Defense.gov, replaces http://www.DefenseLink.mil as the department’s main Internet entry portal. DefenseLink will remain a news Web site and may be accessed from Defense.gov. Visit us online: http://www.defense.gov.
Source: U.S. Department of Defense.
Posted in Government Documents and Political Information, New Websites and Resources, Portals, Source File | No Comments »
Saturday, August 15th, 2009
Consumer Reports “AdWatch” Takes Hard Look at Health Reform TV Ads
Consumer Reports magazine is launching a new blog dedicated to separating the fact from fiction in TV ads about health care reform that are flooding the airwaves during Congress’ August recess.
The Consumer Reports Health blog “Health Reform AdWatch” — now online at http://blogs.consumerreports.org/health — finds that an ad sponsored by health insurers doesn’t tell the full story about patients’ pre-existing conditions. Another TV spot by a strange-bedfellow coalition of industry and patient advocates is found to be “vague” and “simplistic.”
The goal of “AdWatch” is to help people weed through the claims made by these ads, and it directs people to comprehensive, well-researched information about health care issues.
Source: Consumers Union
Posted in Media, New Websites and Resources, Source File | No Comments »
