Wendy's Web Search Blog

Whether you're looking for a rare book, a used book, an audio book, or a comic book, chances are you can find it on the Web using one of these excellent book search engines. Read more in my article titled Top Ten Book Search Engines.

And speaking of book search: Did you know that you can find free, yep, FREE, books on the Web? Read my article titled Free eBooks on the Web to find free downloadable eBooks.

You really should be at a barbeque or something right now, instead of inside looking at a computer, but since you are, and you chose this site, you get the Extra Special Independence Day Blog Spectacular.

Here are a few web goodies for your Fourth of July amusement.

Fourth of July History

• The US Census Bureau has put together a very good history/information fact sheet all about the Fourth.
• A Capital Fourth from PBS: Includes history and etiquette of the American flag, a chronological timeline of the holiday, and various patriotic reflections.
• Fourth of July Celebrations Database: From American University. This is a huge resource, and has such Independence Day tidbits as Numerical Symbolism and the Fourth of July, a Chronology of Musical Events, and more general and specific historical references.
• Independence Day: If you've ever had a vague hankering to read the Magna Carta in its' entirety, or sit down to do a little light reading with the Declaration of Independence, then this is the place. Includes these and more historical documents in their entirety, a (somewhat annoying) MIDI jukebox full of patriotic songs, and more.

Fourth of July Celebrations

• All over the country, there will be major parties and celebrations going on. We're planning on going to Fort Vancouver.
• Independence Day Celebrations: Information on various celebrations all over the world.
• Celebrating the Fourth: From the US Department of State. Includes the President's proclamation and radio address, photo galleries, and historical resources.

Fourth of July Food

• National Hot Dog and Sausage Council: The best press copy ever: "Fourth of July Is 'Top Dog' Holiday for Weiner Lovers. Americans Associate Hot Dogs Most Closely with Independence Day - and Exercise Their Freedoms of Choice in Toppings and Buns."
• Hot Dogs and America: I wish I had known about this one. ""Hot Dogs As America" will offer a selection of ten of the most tempting hot dogs from ballparks and cities around the country, in celebration of Baseball As America, the first major exhibition to examine the relationship between baseball and American culture, on view at the American Museum of Natural History from March 16 through August 18, 2002." Excuse me, Curator, sir? Half of the display over there seems to be missing.
• Barbeque: All bbq, all the time. Mmmm....barbeque....
• Star Trek Barbeque: To boldly barbeque where no man has barbequed before. Grilled meat just tastes so much better when you're wearing a polyester space outfit, complete with pleather boots.
• I.F.O.C.E, or the International Federation of Competitive Eating. Alka-Seltzer is apparently a big corporate sponsor here, for obvious reasons. Perhaps Pepto-Bismol and whoever represents ipecac syrup should send their people to meet IFOCE's people, we'll have a meeting, we'll take a memo, etc.

Fourth of July Fireworks

• The National Council on Fireworks Safety: Includes state laws and many multimedia presentations of various governmental employees nagging you to put it down! Put it DOWN! Do you want to set yourself on fire? Do you? I didn't think so. Here's a sparkler. Yes, it's fun. It's FUN! We're here to have fun, not set people on fire! Don't make me get the angry voice out because then we-NO! We do NOT think it's "cool" to scare your sister and make her cry with the dang Roman candles tied to Dolly Love and Kiss! Get over here! I swear, you're driving me to Crazytown. Yes, you are. Yes, you ARE.
• The Underappreciated Art of Firecracker Labels: We went and got a few fireworks yesterday and I got a good look at what we'll soon be blowing to smithereens. These pictures are actually quite good. Too bad we'll be blowing them to smit-did I already say that? Yes. We'll be blowing things up. Yay!
• Flickr Fireworks: All the pictures at Flickr that have been tagged with the word "fireworks." There's some pretty impressive ones here. I'm sure I'll come home with my usual masterpieces of blur, smudge, thumb, and/or unidentified floor of some kind.
• Cyberfireworks.com: Create your own fireworks show-you even get to choose the location, among which are the Las Vegas Strip, New York City, and the Grand Canyon. This would be fun for kids.

Fourth of July Games

• Fourth of July Scavenger Hunt: The Fourth Of July Web Search scavenger hunt is all about America: the history of Independence Day, various Fourth Of July monuments, identification of historic sites, and Presidents. Plus, it's a great way to test your Web search skills!
• Fourth of July Printables: Fun and free printables for the younger set.
• Fourth of July Online Games: A whole list of fun games to keep the kids occupied for a few minutes while you get the hamburgers ready.
• Fourth of July Puzzles: Fun puzzles for kids of all ages.

Find flight information fast on the Web; you can track a specific flight, or see what the travel conditions are looking like at almost any airport in the world.

More Flight Information

• Flight Patterns: See an amazing animated representation of airline flight patterns coming in and out of the United States, as well as the interior.
• Find Last Minute Vacations on the Web: If you have an itch to get out of town, but haven't booked way in advance at your favorite hotspot, have no fear - the early bird doesn't always get the worm. You can find lots of good deals on last minute vacations on the Web.
• SeatGuru: Talk about your niche sites! SeatGuru is the place to go for information about the seat you might be sitting in on your next flight - no word if it will get you away from that crying baby, but every little bit helps.

Need a map? How about driving directions, an atlas, help with planning a walking route, or an auction close to you? You can find all these and more in Ten Ways to Find a Map on the Web.

Looking for a new search engine?

There are literally hundreds of really great niche search engines on the Internet that focus on specific topics: images, jobs, blogs, etc.

You can find all sorts of great stuff using these alternative search engines that you might not be able to find on the more well-known search engines; plus, many of these niche search engines have really interesting features that are fun to play with. Here are my picks for the top ten niche search engines out there on the Web.

I got this question from a reader recently:

Is there a way I can find high school classmates for free online? Every place I've found so far wants to charge me money!

Yep, there sure is - and it's called MySpace. Find out how to connect with high school and college classmates from years gone by in my article titled Use MySpace to Find High School Classmates.

Smartphones - cellphones that offer e-mail, fax, pager or Web access - are a great way to get to the Web when you're out and about. Here are my picks for the top ten Smartphones.

Whether you're looking for romance or just a new friend, you can find both with my picks for the best free online dating sites on the Web. These sites are all 100% free, they are extremely easy to use, and most of them take less than a minute to sign up and get going.

If you haven't checked out the About Web Search Site of the day lately, you've been missing out on a few doozies. Here's what I've found in the last few days:

• JustinTV: Watch TV online with your friends
• Awesome Highlighter: Highlight and share content online
• GlassDoor: Get an inside look at a company
• Lucidpedia: learn how to lucid dream
• JibJab: Original content and satire

The Site of the Day has been around for more than two years now; check out the Site of the Day Archives to find even more great websites.

BitTorrent technology, while somewhat controversial, is here to stay....and you can use it to download completely free and legal content on the Web.

In fact, you can use BitTorrent to download music, movies, software, and more - and since BitTorrent is so easy to use, the rise of useful BitTorrent tools seems to have no end in sight. Here are my picks for the top fifty most useful BitTorrent tools that will increase your BitTorrent productivity.

Not sure what BitTorrents are? You'll want to read What Are BitTorrents?, or BitTorrents 101.