When Grandma Glidewell was complimented on her food, she would say modestly, "I don't think I got quite as good a do on that as last time." Well, I'm finishing this issue in a bit of a rush, since we're helping friends move from Virginia to North Carolina over the weekend, and I leave it for you to decide whether I got as good a "do" on it as usual. I did find some extra-good sites for tax help and for kids on rainy days. Very different problems, but either one can give you a roaring headache if not properly dealt with.

     Also, the section on free e-books will lead you to hundreds, and the section right after it will explain why you're not likely to curl up on the sofa with a good e-book any time soon.

     With best wishes for a wonderful spring,

     Janette

----Table of Contents----

1. The Diet Experts Get Clobbered
2. Help With Figuring Taxes
3. Hiking, Bird Watching, Fishing, Mountain Biking
4. Slackpacker.com
5. Speed Clean Your House
6. The Flylady Has Become Famous
7. When You Get Rain, Let Your Brain Gain
8. Rainy Day Resource Page For Kids
9. A Year In Bread
10. Free E-Books
11. Reading Your Free E-Books
12. More Help In Buying Or Selling A House

1. THE DIET EXPERTS GET CLOBBERED

     Maybe you've heard, they had this one-year nutrition study that tried four different weight loss plans on 311 women. The women were treated like average dieters, in that they were asked to read the book by their diet's author and take off from there. They did, however, have more professional encouragement to stick to their diets than most dieters. For all the good it did them.

     As it turned out, most of the 311 lost little or nothing; the losses below are group averages. (The study only counted pounds that stayed off, not pounds that were lost and then regained.) Most of the women should have lost far more than they managed to lose - so in both of those respects they were typical dieters. The results averaged out as:

     Atkins very low carbohydrate diet - 10 pounds lost.

     LEARN mainstream diet lowering fat and calories, increasing physical activity - 5.7 pounds lost.

     Ornish diet, extremely low in fat - 4.9 pounds lost.

     The Zone low carbohydrate diet with lots of fruits and vegetables, some lean protein - 3.5 pounds lost.

     The LEARN diet resembles the advice offered by nutrition authorities and by Weight Watchers, where Bill and I weigh in each week. (So far, Bill is down 8 pounds and I'm down 6.) But the LEARN diet got clobbered by Atkins, as far as weight loss was concerned.

     Bill said, "Whoa! Don't do anything reckless." He thought I was going to send Weight Watchers down the toilet, which I wasn't. I was waiting to see what good old Sally Squires would say in her next Lean Plate Club column, now that her sensible diet recommendations had seemingly been smashed by Atkins. Well, she started out with, "Put down your steak knife and quit salivating over the butter." And Sally proceeded to show absolutely no repentance or remorse for her diet advice. Nor has Weight Watchers shown any repentance or remorse. Their idea is that we should learn a healthy, tasty way to keep our weight down, and stick to it. As Weight Watchers Coach Millie says, "Don't do anything you wouldn't be willing to do for the rest of your life." So on Sunday, at a family celebration, I followed Millie's advice and ate a chocolate chip cookie and two brownies. Because I am in no way willing to give up brownies for the rest of my life.

     You'll find Sally's whole column here:

Sally's column

2. HELP WITH FIGURING TAXES

     The trend to Internet super-sites is even true for help with taxes. The following Tax and Accounting Sites Directory has been created by ACCOUNTANTS WORLD. The selection is absolutely excellent, far better than what you'd get by Googling the subject. (How do I know? Guess.) Find the directory at:

http://www.taxsites.com/help.html

3. HIKING, BIRD WATCHING, FISHING, MOUNTAIN BIKING

     Find all that information and more at this "outdoor super-site" for the U.S. and Canada. But this excellent source of outdoor information IS NOT FREE - in fact, it's $49.95 per year - and we Internet cruisers have gotten used to freebies. For families who do a lot outdoors, the TRAILS.COM maps and wide-ranging information may make it well worth the price. Check it out here:

http://www.trails.com/

     And, frankly, I couldn't find anything as extensive as Trails.com for free, but there's still a lot of good, free information out there. Below is one good source, and I'll list others in future newsletter issues.

4. SLACKPACKER

     SLACKPACKER gives you good, free information about North American hiking trails. And not just that. They cover things I never heard of, such as "bouldering," and "peakbagging." Find their U.S. INFORMATION here:

http://www.slackpacker.com/

     CANADIAN HIKING TRAILS. I've printed a lot of U.S. hiking information, but nothing about the scenic beauties farther north. Slackpacker.com says, "Hiking enthusiasts like you have created excellent web pages on hiking trails in Canada -- then posted those pages on free web servers -- only to be ignored by search engines. The purpose of this site is to provide a way to find these personal hiking pages, and make your research easier."

http://www.slackpacker.com/map_canada.html

5. SPEED CLEAN YOUR HOUSE

     Learn from the professionals. I did. The site says professionals carry all their cleaning materials around with them, saving time. So I put mine in a plastic bucket and headed down the hall for the bathroom. Then I realized I'd forgotten the glass cleaner. Trekked back to the kitchen for that. Then I realized I didn't have the right size of cleaning rags. Trekked back to the utility room for them. And then I trekked back to the kitchen one last time, to put water in the mop bucket, as it wouldn't fit under the bathroom faucet.

     It's great advice once you work out the kinks.

http://organizedhome.com/

6. THE FLYLADY HAS BECOME FAMOUS

     If the idea of speed cleaning your house merely depresses you, maybe you should try the Flylady instead. She's here to help discouraged housekeepers or "families living in CHAOS (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome)," as she puts it. I wrote about her last year, but because this world is still full of CHAOS, I'm writing about her again. She's very good at what she does - so much so, that she's now going on lecture tours. But you can still learn to deal with your own CHAOS in the comfort of your home:

http://flylady.com/

7. WHEN YOU GET RAIN, LET YOUR BRAIN GAIN

     Find here the Internet version of a whole raft of picture puzzles - all free, all calibrated to be easy, medium, or difficult. And all will presumably keep your brain humming along in tip-top shape. The puzzles are meant for grownups, but older kids will like them too. And there must be about a hundred, with more coming along all the time.

http://www.allstarpuzzles.com/picture/index.html

8. RAINY DAY RESOURCE PAGE FOR KIDS

     This site leads to other kids' sites with subjects fascinating to kids. Little boys who love dinosaurs will find much of interest. Another link takes kids to the "Ask an Expert" site, which "connects you with hundreds of real world experts, ranging from astronauts to zookeepers." And then there's the interactive "Easter egg toss." And more, of course.

http://www.cpinternet.com/~sarah/index.html

9. A YEAR IN BREAD

     Always wanted to bake your own bread? These people started baking March 21 and, they say, "We're going to spend the next year sharing bread-baking tips, techniques, resources, and recipes. We'd love to have you bake with us."

     If you hurry, you can get in before they get too far ahead of you!

http://ayearinbread.earthandhearth.com/

10. FREE E-BOOKS

     The Internet is awash in free e-books these days, and I'm going to tell you about a bunch. As you know, an e-book doesn't arrive with black print on white paper. It's first downloaded into your computer, and you have a choice of what to do with it after that. E-books are easy to download: I've got the instructions on my websites. First go to the Free Ezine Material on my Delightful Food site:

http://delightfulfood.com/FreeEzines/index.html

     Scroll down, past Inspirational and Food and Health, to the Internet section. The bottom item is, "Downloading An E-Book Into Your Computer." Highlight the article, then hit Control-P (print). Or, instead, highlight the article, hit Control-C (copy), go to your Microsoft Word program, and hit Control-V (paste). Either way it's all yours now.

     THE BEST FREE-E-BOOK LISTING I've found is Australian. Find it here:

http://www.e-book.com.au/freebooks.htm

     These sites are not guaranteed to be family-safe, but most of them list classics that you will actually urge your kids to read. And the Australian site itself is safe - all the sites I list on Tour the Sites are safe - but I can't vouch for the sites leading from it. So be sure, after a session of checking out these sites, to run your anti-virus program. (I'm sure y'all have now purchased a good one, preferably SpySweeper, the most highly rated, which you can get at www.download.com.) If you don't have a good anti-virus program, don't do any Internet searches. Please. As I cruise through the Internet, I've picked up bad stuff in surprising spots. One was a Christian directory that had been taken over by Russian gambling and porn operators, in much the same way that a ship would be captured by pirates, and yes these things really happen.

     A SAFE SOURCE OF FREE E-BOOK CLASSICS is Bartleby.com. I wasn't surprised to find the King James Bible or Shakespeare's works. They are widely available on the Internet for free, as are many standard reference books now out of copyright. (You have to pay for the new, copyrighted reference books with the latest information, as is only fair.)

     BARTLEBY.COM has a good selection of classic fiction and poetry, plus the entire 70-volume edition of HARVARD CLASSICS. A lot of people have paid a lot of money to have the Harvard Classics sitting on their bookshelves, in case they or their children should desire to uplift themselves by reading the greatest classics of Western civilization. And some determined souls have given themselves an in-depth education by working methodically through all 70 volumes. (Before your dreams get too rosy, try a sample book. They are not easy reading.) Find them here:

http://www.bartleby.com/strunk

     If you are a HOME SCHOOLER, you may be able to find scholarly commentary on these classics through Google. If you sample a book and think you'd like it in regular-book form, you can of course buy it or borrow it from your library. And if it's not on the library shelves - and it probably won't be - ask your librarian for an inter-library loan.

     AND HERE'S TO FREE INTELLECTUAL UPLIFT!

11. READING YOUR E-BOOKS

     If e-books are wonderful and free, why don't people curl up with a good e-book from time to time? Because the only comfortable way to curl up with an e-book costs at least $400. That's why.

     Though if the e-book is short like my Internet Predators book, you can print it out on your printer and comfortably read it on the sofa that way, but you probably don't want to do that if it's 300 to 500 pages. And you'll find that reading an e-book in pdf format while it's still on your computer is uncomfortable after a few minutes.

     FREE WAYS TO READ E-BOOKS. If you don't mind having the text backlit, go to E-BOOK CROSSROADS. Their offerings are not all free, but some are, and each has its good points.

http://www.ebookcrossroads.com/ebook-readers.html

     TOP OF THE LINE E-BOOK READERS. One costs $400, and another that does more is $820, but these devices are the wave of the future. As such, they are bound to go down in price and up in utility. In the meantime, those who are turned on by technology can get the $820 iLiad, which lets you read and write just as easily as if you were holding a regular-type book and a regular-type pad of paper.

     Golly.

     Learn more of its wonders here:

http://www.irextechnologies.com/products/iliad

     And find below a review of the $400 Sony E-Reader, the other wave of the future. Its screen is NOT backlit and is therefore as easy on the eyes as a regular book. The print is large, and the reader is book-size, so you could actually curl up on the sofa with it.

E-Reader

     Students are the ones most likely to use these, once textbooks come out in e-book format, as an e-reader the size of one book can hold up to 80 e-books. I hear rumors that textbook manufacturers are starting to put texts into e-book form, so portable e-readers are definitely the coming thing.

12. MORE HELP IN BUYING OR SELLING A HOUSE

     If you're new to Tour The Sites, check the March 15 issue to find valuable real estate information. And below you'll find more valuabale sites. I listed them last year, and they're just as helpful today.

     TO FINANCE your new home, go to Lendingtree.com, where you can get mortgage bids from lenders all over the U.S. Even if you go with a local lender, you can still use these bids to negotiate better terms.

http://lendingtree.com/

     How about houses FOR SALE BY OWNERS? These are often bargains for both buyer and seller. You may want to list your home for sale using one or all of these sites, and do check out their listings for the area to which you're moving. Here are some sites to try:

http://owners.com/

http://www.forsalebyowner.com/

http://www.fsbo.com/

     HOMES FOR VETERANS, FOR LOW AND MODERATE INCOMES. If you're a VETERAN, you can find especially good mortgage terms here:

http://homeloans.va.gov/

     And if you're in a LOW OR MODERATE INCOME category, click on the sites below, run by government-sponsored Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Fannie Mae's Home-Path site helps you to find property without going through a realtor. Freddie Mac's Homesteps, on the other hand, works through realtors who choose to take part in their program.

http://home-path.com/

http://homesteps.com/

MISSED SOME ISSUES?

     Have I got a solution for you! Now that we are using a frame for each issue, you can just look over to your left and find all the back issues nicely set out. Simply click on the ones you missed. That means too that if your e-mail service provider gets sticky and decides that Tour the Sites is spam (it is NOT spam), you can foil it and find the newsletter at this address.

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WARNING!

     If your e-mail box sometimes gets full, you are in danger of falling off the subscription list of Tour the Sites. Not because I want to lose you, but because, if your box is full when I send out a newsletter, you are automatically kicked off the list. I don't like that policy, but I don't have any say. If you change your e-mail address or get a new kind of spam filter, you may also fall off. So do keep an eye on your newsletters, which should arrive around the first and fifteenth of each month. If you haven't gotten one for a month, let me know and I'll be happy to put you back on the mailing list. Because I'd really hate to lose you.

Janette
Newsletter@tourthesites.com

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© Copyright 2007 Janette G. Blackwell. All rights reserved. You may copy and use portions of this newsletter for noncommercial, personal use only. You may forward a copy to someone else as long as the copyright notice is included. Any other use of the materials in this newsletter without prior written permission is prohibited.