Maps of all kind:

1.) David Rumsey Historical Map Collection
2.) Maps.com: Commercial
3.) Platial: Personal maps
4.) Google Maps
5.) Yahoo Maps
6.) Mapquest
7.) Nighttime!
8.) MapMachine: Some theme maps
8.) Google Earth
9.) Google Moon
10.) Google Mars


Snippets:
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DVD: Miles Electric: A Different Kind of Blue (2004). Documentary on the music of Miles Davis, with focus on his innovative style. Interviews with fellow musicians. Includes his performance at the Isle of Wight in 1970, a Rock festival in the south of England with 600,000 attendees. Good interviews, great perfomance. Overall rating 7 out of 10.
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DVD: House of Sand and Fog (2003). 126 min. w/ Jennifer Connelly (Kathy, from A Beautiful Mind), Ben Kingsley (Behrani, from Ghandi). After the book by Andre Dubus III. Woman, deserted by her husband, gets evicted from her house under allegations of not paying her taxes. A Persian refugee/imigrant buys the house at an auction and moves in with his family, but the former owner refuses to accept this. Even though every character makes grave mistakes, the plot has a natural flow, spiraling downward. Ends in drama. Good acting. Gripping story. Always gives the viewer a sense of suspense. Overall rating 7 out of 10.
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Evolution: Darwin. Exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History in NYC. Nov 19, 2005 - Aug 20, 2006 (Extended). Includes live tortoises and a green iguana (from Clyde Peeling's Reptiland in Allenwood, PA). Notes to Online Exhibition: Charles Darwin's grandfather, Erasmus Darwin, had already formulated ideas of evolution several decades prior, but was not taken seriously. Jean-Baptiste Lamarck proposed that use of a body part would make it stronger, but thought this quality was then inherited. Darwin's voyage on the 'Beagle' was from December 1831 to October 1836. He brought back specimens of more than 1,500 different species, hundreds of which had never before been seen before in Europe. On the Galapgos Islands, many animals had no fear of humans, making them easy to catch. Darwin, who as a student at Cambridge had formed a club dedicated to eating animals "unknown to human palate," cheerfully sampled the iguanas. Glyptodont: an immense shelled animal that looked like a giant armadillo. Penguins usually live in Antarctica or the southern tip of South America. One species lives on the Galapagos Islands. Darwin kept his theory of evolution secret for two decades before publishing it in 'The Origin of Species' (1859), only prompted by emerging competition with the young naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace. A follow up publication was 'Descent of Man' (1871).
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History: Alien and Sedition Acts: Acts of Congress passed during the administration of President John Adams, who signed them into law in 1798. These laws were designed to silence and weaken the Democratic-Republican Party. The acts increased the residency requirement for American citizenship from 5 to 14 years, authorized the president to imprison or deport aliens considered "dangerous to the peace and safety of the United States" and restricted speech critical of the government. Negative reaction to the Alien and Sedition Acts helped contribute to the Democratic-Republican victory in the 1800 elections that made Thomas Jefferson president. Congress repealed the Naturalization Act in 1802, while the other acts were allowed to expire.
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Life: GasBuddy. Compare gas prices across the U.S. Includes maps and historical price charts.
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Art: Andrew Wyeth: Memory and Magic. Philadelphia Museum of Art. March 29, 2006 - July 16, 2006. Retrospective of the works of the American artist over seven decades. Ticket includes audio tour. In self-portraits, Wyeth usually did not show his face, but -- for example -- his shoes. Strong symbolism (e.g., grass, doors, windows). Unfortunately, Christina's World (1948) was not on display. Overall, good exhibition, but crowded at times.
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Art/Science: Places & Spaces: Mapping Science. New York Public Library, Science, Industry, and Business Library. Attempt to physically show what and where science is today, how different branches of science relate to each other and where different branches of study are heading. Some comparisons to early topographic maps. Podcast from the New York Academy of Sciences with explanations. Includes a map of Henry Smith Williams' (1863-1943) 'History of Science' (all 4 Parts) created with TextArc. Also includes map and globes by Ingo Gunther from his 'Worldprocessor' project.
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Literature: Fifteen Thousand Useful Phrases by Greenville Kleiser (1868-1953) at Project Gutenberg.
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Sightseeing: The Beast Speed Boat, operated by Circle Line, 42nd St., NYC. Ride on the Hudson River to the Statue of Liberty and back.
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