200 years of farming available on Internet
Original letters, reports and papers documenting 200 years of farming history are available on the Internet, in a new site established by the National Agricultural Library in Beltsville, Md.In addition to material gathered by the Agriculture Department in its 140 years, the site includes "manuscripts dating to the late 18th century," said Brian Norris of the USDA.
"The new Web site includes a searchable guide to the collection, a map to help Web visitors navigate the site, highlights of the collection and historical photo images and graphics."
The site is at (www.nal.usda.gov/speccoll/collect/history/index.htm).
Celebrate birthday with an online bash
An Internet service facilitating online birthday parties is typical of the kinds of virtual social gatherings being built on the Web.
Called The Virtual Birthday Party, a Web site at (www.iBirthday.com) offers free birthday-related services that include parties and e-mail or telephone reminders of upcoming birthdays.
Visitors to the site who wish to host an online birthday party build a list of invitees, who then receive e-mail invitations. They swap embarrassing tidbits about the guest of honor in advance of a pre-arranged party time. When the party is ready, the guest of honor and invitees receive e-mail telling them of the online party.
Guests choose an online persona from a list of animated characters that range from a "toga man" to a businesswoman. There are non-human characters as well.
With development partner Kodak PhotoNet, the party can be customized to include pictures of anyone at the party.
The site builders are hoping to cash in on the $10 million birthday gift market, so the site also facilitates online birthday gift shopping.
Web site posts guide to holiday theater
For the second year, American Theater Web has published its online guide to holiday theater, a resource for finding holiday fare on stages throughout the country.
"We've reviewed the schedules available for over 1,800 theaters in all 50 states and found shows that are holiday-related or are just something that would be appealing to the family during this time of year," said the founder, Andy Propst. The site (www.americantheaterweb.com) also features a sweepstakes that will give visitors a chance to win tickets to theater productions.