A load of websites or places that for one reason or another I like and/or find useful!
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Computers •
Online Radio Stations •
IRC •
Lasers •
Webcomics •
Other
I run Linux, on my desktop. Ubuntu is a great linux distribution for beginners, personally I like the look and low system resource usage of Fluxbuntu, although that distribution has yet to make a proper release.
Sourceforge is a great place to find free, reliable software with no spyware, for almost any operating system, though it can be a pain to navigate if you're not used to it.
Slashdot and OSNews are great places to find out computer news, with the former covering all sorts of other technology and science too.
How To Think Like A Computer Scientist is, I think, a wonderful resource if you want to learn how to program computers. There are four versions, each teaching a different language - Java, Logo, C++, and Python. This site is what taught me the basics of C++, even though I had prior programming experience in other languages.
There are a lot of online radio stations I listen to, here are links to some of them, and useful online radio station resources.
Shoutcast is a great site if you're looking for a particular type of station, it's like Google for online radio. You can search by genre, keywords, bitrate, etc. It's very handy :)
SomaFM is a great, commercial free collection of 11 radio stations of different genres, mostly electronica although with a great indie station, all supported by listener donations (which also get you things like free CDs and Tshirts, depending on how much you give). It's very alternative stuff, the kind of obscure stuff I like :)
Trip Hop Stop is really nice for fans of trip hop, it has a large variety of stuff so it's not just all your stereotypical trip hop or anything. This station is responsible for getting me into Ladytron, and I'm very happy with the 3 Ladytron albums I've bought!
ECnet is the IRC server I feel most at home, my laser chatroom is there, and it's a generally neat place! It's accessable by any IRC client at irc.ecnet.org, or by java chat :)
ircatwork.com is a very handy webpage, allowing you to use IRC from almost any computer with a web browser - no java needed, even. It's basically an open CGI:IRC proxy, allowing you to connect to any server and channel you wish :)
There are a variety of great resources available online for laser hobbyists, and general information on lasers, here are some of the ones I like and use.
Laser Pointer Forums is a very friendly forum, with a lot of very knowledgable members, and loads of great information if you search through threads. We're very much a community there, always happy to help each other out, and we're always friendly to newcomers (as long as they obey the rules and treat people with respect) :)
Candle Power Forums is a great forum for all things light related, including lasers (there's a whole section just for lasers), and from what I've heard, is more likely to have information on non-portable lasers than LPF.
Sam's Laser FAQ is a frequently used resource for laser hobbyists, covering all sorts of information, even how to repair the lasers in CD-ROM drives and similar! Also has a lot of information on larger, lab style lasers, safety information, information on such things as building power supplies for argon lasers, etc.
Laser Chat is my own website (yes, shameless self-advertising!), a chatroom for laser hobbyists, with many of the same very knowledgable people from LPF in it. It is a pretty good resource if you want to talk to someone in real time about lasers - advice on buying, building, or repairing them, or good if you just want a general chat with some other laser geeks :)
Wikipedia also has many good articles about lasers, although of course remember it's Wikipedia - mistakes will happen by people who don't know what they're talking about, vandalism will occur, and less scrupulous companies *cough*W.L.*cough* will try to use those articles as an advertisement platform for their own dodgy products.
Out of the various companies that sell high powered handheld lasers (the type that can do things like light matches and cigarettes, pop balloons, burn through thin dark material, or etch into objects, etc), there are three that from their great reputation in laser hobbyist circles, for quality, customer service, etc, I would recommend to anyone. Those three are...
Nova Lasers, their X-series is great for a reliable, reasonably priced first high powered laser, same size as a laser pointer but instead of being <5mW, these lasers are in the 15-125mW range. Divergence is a little high (up to 1.2mrad, or milliradians), but these are great value, and great lasers. They also have some fantastic optics available, such as diffraction gratings that make hundreds of little beams appear from one laser, or make interesting patterns appear on the wall, and optics that reflect and manipulate the laser beam in various ways. I also know firsthand that they have excellent customer service, they're always quick to reply to questions, and seem happy to help me out with my X-85 even though I got it second hand rather than bought it from them.
Optotronics, their RPL handhelds have wonderful specs, 165-350mW, with a <1mrad divergence (usually <0.92mrad), a one year warranty as standard, an optional tailcap that lets you adjust the power of the laser, and running on rechargable lithium ion batteries (which, along with a charger, are included with these lasers). Even better, unlike a smaller pen style laser, as long as you use an adjustable tailcap with these and set it to about mid-way (which will usually give almost full power), these lasers can be left on for a very long time without heat / duty cycle issues! They also do a blue version of the RPL, although only up to 30mW - blue DPSS lasers aren't nearly as efficient as green DPSS lasers.
Laserglow, who have, unless I'm mistaken, the highest power portable laser on the market - the Hercules (although many people refer to it as a baseball bat, as it is very big for a portable!) - available up to 400mW as standard, with higher powers available upon request (I've been told by them that their highest rated Hercules ever rated at 600mW, with a peak of around 750mW, but a unit rating that high would be incredibly rare!) - every Hercules owner I've seen talking has been very happy with their purchase, though Laserglow are a bit more expensive than Nova and Optotronics. However, they have some great deals on bulk purchases, and a wonderful 5mW green that has a constant on operation (push the button once for on, twice for off, instead of holding the button to keep it on), and a 100% duty cycle (can be left on until the batteries die).
All three of these companies sell very good low power laser pointers, too! Power ratings in mW are average ratings, usually taken over at least 60 seconds.
Out of all the webcomics that are floating around online, there are some absolutely amazing hidden gems, some pretty good ones, and a lot of utter crap. These are the ones that I read, some can make me think, laugh, cry, because they have well written, thoughtful storylines, and because they pull you in and won't let go, some are just kinda fun! All links are (where possible) to the first page of a comic, so one or two are a bit crappy to start but get much better (as would be expected when an artist/writer gains experience and practice).
1/0 by Tailsteak
Starts out as a very silly comic, with no fourth wall at all, but eventually begins to question the nature of fiction,
religion, society, etc. It's very much worth reading. "Tailsteak" decided, some way through the comic, that his aim was
to create exactly 1,000 strips, and this is what he did. It's a very sweet story in places, and very thoughtful in others,
with an incredibly odd collection of characters - anthropomorphised molecules, a detached, sentient eyeball with a very
abrasive hostile personality, a character made almost entirely of grass, and an earthworm amongst others, all living on
the decomposing corpse of a throwaway character from Sluggy Freelance.
Argon Zark! by Charley Parker
The *first* ever webcomic, apparently, still going after 12 years! About two people who get sucked inside the
internet, fighting conspiracies and generally exploring. Very funny and creative, always taking advantage of
new technologies as they become available for animation and interactivity - animated gifs, javascript, dhtml,
and most recently flash. Updates very very slowly.
Cool Cat Studio by T. Campbell and Gisèle Lagacé
The story of a commercial art studio and it's employees and their friends, doesn't get too weird until stories about
aliens, ghostly possessions, and clones start to mingle with stories of office romances, deadlines, and picky clients.
Diesel Sweeties by Richard Stevens
Giant pixels the size of your head! This amusing comic, in a world where robots and humans live together (but
nothing else is much different), is drawn in a style that makes it look like an old 1980s computer game. Very
funny, occasionally obscure, with a large cast of characters, all with their own quirks and problems.
Errant Story by Michael Poe
Elves, magic, flying sarcastic crude cats and disgruntled assassins. This does have a very interesting storyline
and quite a bit of humour, with some really good artwork in places. Can be hard to tell what's happening in
one or two of the more...actiony scenes though.
Freefall by Mark Stanley
Freefall is the story of a very ethical genetically engineered sentient wolf, on a future human colony, and
her very unethical employer, a member of the only alien race humans have ever encountered. Explores
ethics issues related to advanced artificial intelligence, as well as often just being very funny and silly.
Funny Farm by Ryan Smith
The characters in this webcomic are *not* anthropomorphic animals. However, the readers *perceive* them as
such, while everyone else in the fictional world doesn't. But the evil PC on a robotic body who wants to take
over the world really is an evil PC on a robotic body who wants to take over the world. Funny and well drawn,
with very interesting plotlines.
General Protection Fault by Jeffrey T. Darlington
Geeky humour centred around a fictional small software business and the people who work there, including
sentient slime moulds (ew)! Many silly stories, and many epic and deep stories, can be appreciated by geeks and non-geeks!
Help Desk by Christopher B. Wright
A parody of the computer industry and current events, mostly mocking Microsoft but also Dell, Apple, SCO, the RIAA, and
anyone else who deserves it. Very funny at times, at least, if you're a computer geek and understand the references, and
issues made fun of by this comic.
Kernel Panic by Christopher B. Wright
By the same author as Help Desk, the adventures of a group of System Administrators working in a small company, and trying
*desperately* to be allowed to keep using UNIX based systems rather than the more shiny and CEO friendly, but less
functional and stable alternatives.
Kid Radd by Dan Miller
The story of old 8-bit video game characters, released from their games and gaining sentience, carving a world out of
spare space on internet servers long after the real world has tossed them aside as obselete. Doesn't start out very
serious, but turns into an emotionally deep, exciting story, beautifully rendered by clever html, with the occasional
animations and cutscenes present. It's a great comic, and all the retro 8-bit artwork (apart from the odd cameo) was
drawn from scratch by Dan Miller - this is *far* from being another cut and paste sprite comic.
Minus by Ryan Armand
I'm really not sure how to describe Minus. Beautiful art, huge strips, about a little girl who seems to have magical
abilities to do anything she wishes on a whim, or create anything that she imagines, with other people often caught up
in the effects.
Order of the Stick by Rich Burlew
Stick figure D&D comic! But very nicely drawn and styled for stick figures, and very funny, even if you don't
completely understand pen and paper RPGs (which I don't). Great story writing usually, too :)
Pastel Defender Heliotrope by Jennifer Diane Reitz
Beautifully drawn science fiction story, especially later on, each page is almost it's own painting with vibrant colours
and fantastic landscapes. Also a great and thoughtful story, about a doll animated to life by advanced alien technology,
and the (very closed minded and bigoted) society around her, as that society attempts to explore other universes to
colonise and exploit.
Penny and Aggie by T. Campbell and Gisèle Lagacé
Penny and Aggie is mainly centred around the title characters, two girls of very different social circles who at times
absolutely hate each other, and their friends. It's a very nicely drawn and well written comic, and worth a read, as long
as you're not put off by the concept.
Questionable Content by Jeph Jacques
A great comic about a world almost identical to ours, except with sentient computers and robots, and a group of quirky
people living in it. Really funny at times, kinda deep at others, and certainly worth reading. The artwork goes through
many changes, and the current artwork is very clean and nicely drawn.
Schlock Mercenary by Howard Tayler
A funny science fiction comic with a very intricate storyline, updated daily in colour, Schlock Mercenary is *very* worth
reading if you're into clever and funny science fiction. It's been running for many years now, and the archives will keep
you occupied (and hopefully entranced) for a very long time!
Sluggy Freelance by Pete Abrams
Sluggy Freelance is a very old, very respected webcomic - in over 10 years, it has updated daily, except for 2 days out of
those 10 years. Sometimes that update is a filler or a sketch, but this comic is very worth reading the decade of archives
it has. It's usually very silly and bizarre, although there are many plot threads, twists, and long running story arcs to
keep the strip interesting, although it does start out with mostly short, non-serious storylines.
Something Happens by Thomas K. Dye
Something Happens is a surreal comic, very funny, with no actual continuing storyline. Each new comic depicts a different
(and often very strange) situation each time, and it's definitely worth trying out.
Two Lumps by J. Grant and Mel Hynes
A humourous comic about two cats, but this definitely isn't another "Garfield" - a mainstream print comic would never get
away with what Two Lumps does. Funny, different, and sometimes a bit gross and wrong.
Unicorn Jelly by Jennifer Diane Reitz
Jennifer Diane Reitz's first large webcomic, Unicorn Jelly (now completed) is a great story, of humans trapped in a
different universe with very different laws of physics, it's very philosophical, and plays with the issues of magic vs.
science, amongst other issues - there are many layers to this story, and many events can be interpreted as
either magic or science, depending on your viewpoint - it is left ambiguous on purpose. Very worth reading, and could
change how you view the world in general.
Venus Envy by Erin Lindsey
The story of a teenage transsexual girl trying to survive high school.
This comic's just so touching, very funny in places, other places made
me cry because they were just so sad and emotionally intense.
xkcd by Randall Munroe
Odd, surreal, geeky humour, sometimes based on maths and science, sometimes very philosophical, and to start
with, often a random sketch of something. A lot of it is very obscure geek humour, I'm a geky girl and I don't even
understand every strip.
Yu+Me by Megan Rose Gedris
Touching story of a teenage girl coming to terms with being a lesbian, getting a girlfriend, and facing discrimination
from others because of who she loves. Still manages to have a lot of humour, and a lot of storyline outside that one
issue, and the artwork is great.
Zap! by Chris L. and Pascalle
Zap starts off as a very silly science fiction story, but gradually progresses into a more and more serious story, of an
amnesiac man who by chance joins a resistance movement against a corrupt government in a dystopian future. This government
is full of internal back stabbing, and various factions all fighting for power, or their own agenda.
These are resources/links that just don't really fit into any of the previous categories.
FreeJapaneseLessons.com has so far been very helpful in teaching me Japanese, including the Japanese alphabets. I've not been spending as much time as I should lately on this, so I have no idea how good the later lessons are, but it's been helpful for teaching me katakana and hiragana at least.
Erowid is one of the best websites you can visit if you ever want to find out about legal or illegal recreational drugs, from tobacco to LSD, whether you wish to try them or not. You can read a neutral point of view on them (as opposed to either a "drugs are bad!" or "drugs rock!" viewpoint), read people's experiences with them, their legal status in various places, and dosage recommendations, amongst other information. (I do not endorse the use of any drugs, legal or not, but from an educational point of view, this is a great site. Also, if you ever did want to try out recreational drugs, you should always find out as much as you can about them beforehand, so that you remain safe.)
marianne's space (xmoogle.org) and all of its contents (unless otherwise stated) are ©2007 by Marianne Ibbotson. Nothing from this website may be published on other websites or reproduced in other media without my explicit permission, again, unless otherwise stated or allowed by the licenses of individual files.