IMDB: the Internet Movie Database

Want information on a movie or an actor/actress? Information on cast and crew listings for each episode of every TV series? Want to know whom a certain character was played by and want to read a biography about the character and memorable quotes from them?

Do you want plot outlines? Spoilers? Instant viewing of over 6,000 movies and television shows from CBS, Sony and a number of independent film makers, with direct links from their profiles?

IMDB is the one place you can find all these things.

The IMDb website consists of one of the largest accumulations of data about films, television programs, direct-to-video products, and video games, reaching back to each medium's respective beginning. In many cases, the information goes beyond simple title and crew credit, but also includes data on uncredited personnel, production and distribution companies, plot summaries, memorable quotes, awards, reviews, box office performance, filming locations, technical specs, promotional content, trivia, and links to official and other websites. Also, the IMDb tracks titles in production, including major announced projects still in development.

The database also houses filmographies for all persons, cast and crew, identified in listed titles. Filmographies include biographical details, awards listings, external links, and information about other professional work not covered by title entries in the database such as theatrical and commercial advertising appearances.

The IMDb also offers ancillary material such as daily movie and TV news, weekly box office reports, TV listings, cinema showtimes, user polls and ratings, and special features about various movie events such as the Academy Awards. The website also has an active message board system. There are message boards for each database entry, found at the bottom of each respective page, as well as general discussion boards on various topics.

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Net Crafting

NetCraft has been around for a long, long time -- since 1941 -- and I remember seeing their catalogs when I was a kid.

In their words:

• Three generations of fishermen have come to Netcraft with their fishing tackle needs. With thousands of different components, materials, tools and accessories in stock, we are the largest source of fishing tackle components anywhere. Lure makers, fly tyers, rod builders and net makers worldwide know us as the source for hard-to-find parts.
• Serious fishermen know that we stock a wide selection of the newest, most innovative products in the sport fishing community. When you're looking for tackle that you've only heard about, look to Jann's Netcraft.

Tons of materials for building rods, making lures, and constructing nets and a lot of how-to information are packed into their site. They have everything from molds for casting lead sinkers to a DVD on trapping snapping turtles.

Their catalog is free.



Memphis Net and Twine is geared toward two different areas: sports that use nets, and fishing.

Their roots are in the fishing industry. "Memphis Net & Twine has custom made commercial fishing nets, sports nets, and nets for industrial applications since 1962. Our staff of skilled net makers have years of experience crafting nets by hand built to your custom specifications."

They carry a lot of varied items like commercial grade gill nets, fish and animal traps, deer repellents & netting, net making supplies, fish farming supplies and small boats.

On the other hand, they carry boots, bleachers, balls, and pitching machines, as well as fencing, flooring and storage racks, for golfers and most team sports.

They have the usual instructional materials and free catalogs.

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Radio Reference

For utility radio enthusiasts, Radio Reference is the most complete site of its type, covering scanners, shortwave and general coverage receivers, military and ham radios, and all the antennas and accessories. It has a database of frequencies, live audio feeds of police and fire and EMS broadcasts, and forums for all kinds of radio related topics from railroads to antennas to storm chasing.

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Add a Toolbar, Help the NRA

Internet Explorer | Firefox

If you are a gun owner, prospective gun owner, or 2nd Amendment supporter, whether you own a gun or intend to, here is a chance to help the NRA. Replace your Google Toolbar with the NRA toolbar add-on.

From the NRA-ILA, here's the download page:

The NRA-ILA Toolbar (which uses Yahoo! search) allows you to stay connected to NRA-ILA and raise valuable contributions, without spending a dime! As you use the toolbar to search and shop, you will raise funds that go directly to NRA-ILA. You will be able to track your donations in real time, and watch as your donations grow! From the NRA-ILA Toolbar you will receive updated messages directly from NRA-ILA, keeping you up to date with breaking NRA news.

It's Mac OSX, Firefox and IE friendly, and it works, it does not remove any other toolbars in your browser.

You will have the NRA logo in the upper-left hand corner of your screen whenever you launch the browser, and having it there makes a statement whenever you use the internet.

Joining the NRA is a good idea too: it is the single most competent and comprehensive organization in our country protecting our 2nd Amendment liberties and their right to own a firearm if we so choose.

The Internet Craftsmanship Museum

Joe Martin, the owner of Sherline Lathes and maker of machine tools, started a foundation in 1997 to encourage excellence in craftsmanship with emphasis on metalworking projects at the small end of the size scale. One of the results is this online museum of miniatures.

This is not the kind of dusty old museum you walk into and wander around... The goal here is to collect and present information about craftsmen from around the world and the projects they build, to not just show the projects themselves, but to present everything about the builder and the project. What is featured here is craftsmanship in many forms. This site is a collection of the work of many craftsmen and contributors giving freely of their time and expertise.

The "Art" of great craftsmanship

"A person who works with his hands is a laborer.

A person who works with his hands and his brain is a craftsman.

A person who works with his hands, his brain and his heart is an artist"

—Louis Nizer

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Vintage Nostalgia!

Modern Mechanix features regular posts of pictures, articles and ads from the golden era of magazines, the first (roughly) half of the twentieth century. Sources range from Playboy to Popular Science, from Redbook to Cosmopolitan and Scientific American, and covers topics from Amelia Earhart's electric scooter to diet aids.

There are also a lot of links to related sites that deal with vintage magazines and technology.

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The Great Northern Railroad

This Great Northern site was set up by a railroad fan, and has an enormous amount of information on the GNRR, its lines, rolling stock, and history.

From the introduction:

• This website includes all kinds of information on the Great Northern. You can also help with sending information and pictures you have.
• Much of the history of the Great Northern Railway is still around. Many structures are still in use, some altered to fit new purposes, lots of rolling stock has escaped repainting and some locomotives are on display at former Great Northern served towns. Many miles of the original Great Northern routes are still serving the railroads of today.
• This website shows what was found on discovery trips with the purpose of sharing it with other fans of the Great Northern Railway and to provide an easy source for information to help explore the old Great Northern lines.

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WorldCat

WorldCat is the world's largest network of library content and services. It lets you search the collections of libraries around the world.

Need a book or just want to reread an old favorite? Look it up here and then go through inter-library loan to get it.

If you have a library card, you can:
# Search many libraries at once for an item and then possibly locate it in a library nearby.
# Find books, music, and videos to check out.
# Find research articles and digital items (like audiobooks) that can be directly viewed or downloaded.
# Link to "Ask a Librarian" and other services at your library.
# Post your review of an item, or contribute factual information about it.

You can search for popular books, maps, music CDs and videos.
You can locate digital content, such as downloadable audiobooks.
You may also find article citations with links to their full text; authoritative research materials, such as documents and photos of local or historic significance; and digital versions of rare items that aren't available to the public.

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Benchrest Central

If you are interested in accuracy, Benchrest Central is the place where the big boys play. If you think a dot that covers 3/8" at 300 feet is too big and scope adjustments that move the crosshairs 1/8" per click at a hundred yards are too coarse, this is the place for you.

It bills itself as "The Absolute Source of Accuracy Components, Services, Accessories,
and Information for the Precision Shooter" and that pretty well sums it up. Ads, forums, events, records and record holders, FAQs, it's all there.

The Forums have 29,000 threads, 258,000 posts, and over 16,000 members reading and posting more. If you have a question or want to find some facts on different rifles, scopes, bullets, powders, techniques or anything else that helps you hit what you shoot at, this is the place to look.

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Got Tractor?

The internet's largest tractor resource, over 7,329 tractors listed

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Farm Tractors TractorData has information on 6,456 farm tractor models from 162 different manufacturers. CaseIH Ford John Deere Kubota Massey Ferguson New Holland Show all tractor brands...

Lawn Tractors There are 873 lawn tractors from 38 different manufacturers listed in the database. Cub Cadet John Deere Massey Ferguson Snapper Toro Wheel Horse Show all lawn tractor brands...

If you have a tractor question, this is the place to look for an answer. Everything is sorted by brand, and year or power. The history and technical specifications are listed for each model, and a photo if one is available. Bonus features are news on the latest tractors, a classified section for buying/selling tractors, and a store for souvenirs and after-market shop manuals.

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BibliOdyssey

BibliOdyssey. It is a book and a website, a collection of eclectic historic science and art images from rare books and prints. Both are full of excellent scans of book art and samples of illustrations from obscure manuscripts, annotated and commented.

It is the Internet's finest collection of archival worldwide artwork: Books ~ Illustrations ~ Science ~ History ~ Visual Materia Obscura ~ Eclectic Bookart

If you like books or art, BibliOdyssey is worth visiting.

The site is a gateway to a ton of related sites, too, and has information on where and how the author locates his material. The author digs out unique old tomes on everything from nuclear reactor layouts to medieval maps and illuminated manuscripts, scans and posts the illustration and tells the background of the books.

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Airrows!

Combine archery and rimfire shooting, shoot arrows out of your Ruger at up to 435fps, twice the velocity of a compound bow or crossbow.! All you need is the $380 Airrow conversion barrel for your 10/22 or 77/22. Since the new barrel is the same diameter as the factory target barrel, it is considerably chubbier than the standard barrel and you will have to open up the barrel channel in your stock or get an extra one.

Switching the Ruger from the Airrow back to its normal barrel only takes a few minutes.

These are legal to own and use, but I suspect that you would have to skip the archery season for big game and wait for the firearm season. Since average accuracy is around one inch at fifty yards, this conversion makes an expert archer out of anyone that can shoot, and the blank ammunition used is quieter than conventional .22 ammo.

In other words, this setup has the potential to lead the shooter into temptation. Yeah, I want one! Go to their website for more details and information.

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Lifehacker is a blog that covers tips and tricks for streamlining your life with computers (and sometimes without). Updated several times daily, Lifehacker points out software downloads, web sites, do-it-yourself projects, howto's, tutorials, shortcuts and tips for going beyond the default settings and getting things done in the most clever, unexpected and efficient ways.

Think of Lifehacker as self-help for power users. It digs deep into the technoweb to publish totally life-altering tips and tricks for managing your life. Its readers are avid consumers of software programs, hardware gadgets, and “life hacks” that make their days more efficient, whether at work or at home. Updated over 24 times per weekday, Lifehacker is a bustling, authoritative hub for both pupils and professionals of productivity, with nearly five million unique visitors a month.


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The "Weird Books" Room

Welcome to AbeBooks' Weird Book Room - heralded by the New York Times, Canada's Globe and Mail, The Times of London, and The Guardian (UK) as the finest source of everything that's bizarre, odd and downright weird in books. We now have 101 crazy and strange titles about every oddball aspect of life you could possibly imagine and a few things you couldn't possibly imagine. We invite you to not only revel in our collection of literary oddities but to also send us your suggestions. This page is updated regularly and is worth checking back on every now and then.

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A Sampling:

The Haunted Vagina
Carlton Mellick III

The Sex Life of the Foot and Shoe
William A. Rossi

The Bible Cure for Irritable Bowel Syndrome
Don Colbert

Face Lifting By Exercise
Senta Maria Runge

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Varmint Al

When you combine an engineer performing engineering structural analysis at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and and a varmint hunter/gun nut in one person, and he puts up a web site, you get something like Varmint Al's.

Al is a man of many interests: a ham radio operator, shooter, hunter, machinist, hiker and dog owner, and the "eclectic" tag in his site title is accurate.

I guess I'd sum it up as readable, but sometimes very technical. For example, below is an illustration of the forces and motions in a gun as it is fired from one of his articles.

FEA (Finite Element Analysis) Rifle Barrel Dynamic Pressure Analysis of a 6PPC rifle barrel

If you are interested in ballistics, gunsmithing, bench rest shooting, accuracy, varmint hunting, or all of the above, you will enjoy a visit to his site.

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Martindale's Calculators

Martindale's Calculators On-Line Center contains over 23,785 Calculators & Spreadsheets, over 3,710 Courses, Lectures, Manuals, Handbooks, & 1,000's of Movies, Videos, Simulations & Animations.

Need a calculator for brewing beer? Figuring bullet drop? Wave height? Wind Chill? A goat Breeding/Kidding calculator? Gotta estimate the ft-lbs of impact in a hockey check? You'll find calculators for all these and 23, 780 more on this site.

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Opinions on Epinions

Epinions is a general consumer review site that was established in 1999. Epinions was acquired by Ebay in 2005 and is part of Shopping.com. It hosts consumer-generated reviews, buying tips and advice, ratings, price information, and is searchable in a number of ways from price to product type. Visitors can read reviews about a variety of items to help them decide on a purchase or they can join (for free) and begin writing reviews. Epinions is a free comparison shopping service that helps consumers compare millions of products from thousands of stores across the Web. The stores listed on Epinions pay to participate in Epinions' Merchant Network program.

The Epinions Merchant Network program uses a performance-based model in which stores bid for enhanced placement (color logos or higher placement on the page) on applicable product results and pay on a per-click basis. Epinions also allows users to re-sort the list by price, store name, and consumer store rating.

Epinions is committed to providing shoppers with the most comprehensive online shopping experience.

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Free Targets

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Targetz is the best single source I have found so far, offering hundreds of free targets that you can download and print.

Targetz™ Category Descriptions

Targets - Everything from Classic Bull's Eyes to Modern Geometric Shapes.

Game - Lions & Tigers & other game oriented targets for hunters.

Fun Targets - Fun Shapes, Games and unique targets for when you want to shoot at something different.

Multi-Part - Full size silhouettes and oversized targets that print on multiple pages. Just tape them together and shoot!

Novelty - Take Osama, Saddam and targets like them next time you go to the range.

AccurateShooter.Com has bench rest and novelty targets.





Remington offers a lot of stuff like owner's manuals, score cards and wallpaper, but they also have a few targets.

Turkey Target (PDF: 47 KB)	Target 1 (PDF: 41 KB)	Target 2 (PDF: 42 KB)
Target 3 (PDF: 36 KB)	Target 4 (PDF: 24 KB)	Target 5 (PDF: 2.764 MB)

GlockFaq supplies handgunning targets, everything from NRA standard to bowling pins, Saddam Hussein, and beer bottles.

Bow And Arrow Hunting offers a life-size deer target. Yeah, you print the pieces and tape them together.

Hunting Net has sighting in targets designed for scoped rifles with 1/4" click adjustments.

Several places offer this target for troubleshooting your handgun technique. Reverse it for Lefties.

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