Bill has filled the bird bath, thinking that on a nice spring day the birds will enjoy water sports. And we've had a few nice days, bird bathing weather, followed by cold, windy mornings when the bird bath has ice around the edges. I do not notice our many birds breaking the ice in order to bathe.

     Our cat Tivoli is enjoying the birds in her own way. She knows she can't make it to the bird bath before the birds see her, but she makes that little clicking sound in the back of her throat. Which means she feels about the birds the way I feel about Mounds candy bars, though neither of us gets to do much about it right now.

     As the surest sign of spring, about a hundred thousand tourists have descended upon Washington, D.C., to see the cherry blossoms. Which blossoms an icy wind blew away before most of the tour buses arrived. And then nature turned sarcastic, sending white snow to take the place of the pink blossoms. Which snow was pretty for the little while it lasted but not at all what the tourists had in mind.

     The most unfortunate tourists are the drum majorettes. Each year high school bands from all over the country seek the honor of playing in the Cherry Blossom Festival parade. And each year the majorettes march with their little bitty outfits and their long, bare legs, twirling their batons, which warms their arms but not their legs. Everyone else in the band wears a warm outfit, I notice. I am always pleased to see a majorette with a bit of extra weight to keep her warm. She can fight flab later. First she has to survive the Cherry Blossom parade.

     Janette

----Table of Contents----

1. 100 Radio Stations Of Your Very Own
2. Gospel Music Galore
3. Golfing Vacations
4. Don't Throw Away That Toxic Cellphone!
5. Earth 911
6. Playing Twenty Questions
7. So Much For The Polish Hackers
8. Summer Jobs For Young And Old
9. Build Your Resume
10. I Love Plants
11. All-America Flower Selections
12. For The Young Cook
13. The Recipe Ladies

1. 100 RADIO STATIONS OF YOUR VERY OWN

     The folks at Pandora want to create "the most comprehensive analysis of music ever." So far they've studied the songs of more than 10,000 artists, evaluating the musical qualities of each song for 400 attributes.

     AND NOW THEY WANT TO DO SOMETHING FOR YOU! You can sign up with Pandora to invent your own personalized radio station to play "your" music. Or, to be exact, you can create up to 100 different personalized music stations! You do need high-speed Internet access, though. Sorry, dial-up won't work.

     You start with a singer you know you like, then Pandora leads you to other songs it thinks you will also like. You can evaluate them with a thumbs up or thumbs down, and eventually Pandora should lead you to some wonderful songs you just love and didn't know existed. You turn these songs into your own private radio stations, and there you are!

http://pandora.com/

     It's so easy to get started with Pandora that it's like riding a horse. A horse, that is, who takes off before you've gathered the reins. I finally learned that the "galloping" sensation was caused by my popup blocker. It kept me from reading Pandora's step-by-step instructions. If you have problems with your popup blocker, Pandora can help you make an exception of their site. Click here:

http://pandora.com/popup_blockers.shtml

     YOU MAY LIKE FINETUNE BETTER. Frank Ross, who has given us so many good leads, has led us to Finetune.com, a site similar to Pandora.

     FINETUNE.COM may be easier for you to work with. I haven't tried it, but Frank loves it and mentioned no problems with popup blockers. He says Finetune also gives you more control over which artists you listen to. I suspect that Pandora has a wider song base, and Frank likes Pandora's biographies of musicians, but Finetune.com has something Pandora doesn't: click on "Stations" and find existing radio stations of all kinds. Both sites are free.

http://finetune.com/

2. GOSPEL MUSIC GALORE

     My brother Dave has a dog affectionately named Gaither, which name will ring a bell with other southern gospel music fans. Which fans are by no means all from the U.S. South. Dave's gospel group, Daystar, is from Montana, and last year it sang at the Milk River Gospel Jamboree in Malta, Montana. Malta's up by the Canadian border, which I guess explains why most of the southern gospel groups at the jamboree were from Canada. Southern Canada, admittedly, but who knew that southern Canadians were disporting themselves in that fashion?

     You can find the schedules of many U.S. and Canadian gospel groups at:

http://www.americangospel.com/

     You can also purchase gospel music at the site I gave you a few weeks ago:

http://www.christianmusic.org/cmp/buy.htm

     AN INSPIRING MUSICAL VACATION: Gospel music jamborees, festivals, celebrations, and such, are all over the place, but I couldn't find a master list that you could use to firm up your vacation plans. Google actually failed me. Branson, Missouri, is famous for its music, of course, and Pennsylvania and Wisconsin advertise their gospel music celebrations too. As do Canada, Australia, and many other places. So, if your family would enjoy an inspiring musical vacation, try googling "gospel music," adding the name of the area you want to visit. If you have a favorite group, you can also see if they're listed on the Americangospel.com site, given above.

     WARNING: these music sites are fun to visit, but they will suddenly! suddenly! blast you with loud music. If your nerves aren't that great, turn down the volume on your computer before you get under way.

3. GOLFING VACATIONS

     Find at the site below golf travel destinations around the world. But don't stop there. Buy what they call a "golf home," which, I gather, allows you to sleep sweetly at night, with the calm assurance that your golf course is only a few feet away. That way, even when you're on your last legs, you can crawl out onto the course, stagger to your feet, and try one more time for the hole-in-one you've always dreamed of.

     More prosaically, this site will also give you golf tips, golf forums, and news of local golf tournaments.

http://www.golflink.com/

4. DON'T THROW AWAY THAT TOXIC CELLPHONE!

     Send it to COLLECTIVE GOOD instead. They say, "Mobile phones and other mobile devices (pagers, PDAs) present a growing threat to the environment. As of 2007, there are more than 750 million mobile phones waiting to be recycled in the U.S., either in drawers, or already in the waste stream. Another 150+ million or so will be added this year and even more next year. Once in the waste stream, these devices may leak lead, mercury, cadmium, arsenic and other toxic substances into the water supply. Municipalities often incinerate their waste, instantly putting these toxic elements into the air, and they return to earth in rain water. Since life on Earth depends on water, the threat is clear."

http://collectivegood.com/environmental.asp

5. EARTH 911

     This wonderful site helps you recycle many things, especially things that would harm the environment if simply put in the garbage. See what it offers here:

http://www.earth911.org/master.asp

     ELECTRONICS RECYCLING. Perhaps you have a way out-of-date computer or monitor. It's too old to give to someone else, yet you don't want to damage the environment by sending it to the garbage dump. This excellent site tells you about dangers to the environment, and gives you options for disposing of your old electronics devices responsibly.

http://www.earth911.org/master.asp?s=lib&a=electronics/elec_index.asp

     THE EPA'S BASIC RECYCLING SITE not only gives sound advice on disposing of old electronic equipment, it helps you buy responsibly in the first place. So do check it out before you buy anything electronic:

http://epa.gov/e-cycling/basic.htm

6. PLAYING TWENTY QUESTIONS

     Did you know that your computer can play Twenty Questions with you - and in a number of languages too? It can if you go to the site I'm giving you below. The site tells you to think of a certain kind of word. I picked "people," and the site said it had to be someone famous. I thought of Nelson Mandela. The computer finally guessed his name, but it took more than 20 questions. It took 29 questions, to be exact. I'd say it's a pretty smart computer, though.

     To see if you can outguess the computer, go to:

http://www.20q.net/

7. SO MUCH FOR THE POLISH HACKERS

     Those Polish hackers did so stir my imagination. Microsoft was rumored to have brought them in to make its new Vista version of Windows hacker-proof.

     Well, the Polish hackers just bombed.

     Microsoft recently announced an emergency patch for its various Windows programs, including Vista. Which means it's still critical that you receive AUTOMATIC PATCHES for your computer, whichever Windows version you use. The patches don't cost a penny, and you'll need only a few minutes to set yourself up for them, but you do have to spend those few minutes.

     You see, criminal hackers are constantly looking for holes in the code "armor" of all Microsoft products, but especially Internet Explorer. As soon as they find a hole, they attack users through that hole, looking for credit card numbers and other financial information. You do not even have to visit a dangerous site for this to happen. Hackers lurk in popular sites like MySpace and YouTube, nailing unpatched computers.

     On the second Tuesday of each month, Microsoft releases patches for the latest holes. Innocent souls might say, "Well, that takes care of it. The hole is patched." Not so. Most of the hundreds of criminal hackers don't know about a hole until Microsoft patches it! As soon as they hear about the patch, they immediately attack the people who haven't gotten that patch.

     If you don't have automatic patches - or if you're not sure whether you do - hasten right now to the site below and sign up. Automatic patches are free, and they'll save you from a nasty experience. You'll also want to see that the kids' computer is patched. Hackers target kids' sites. You'll find your Microsoft automatic patches here:

/automaticupdates.mspx

     If you use a Mac, sign up for automatic updates here:

http://www.apple.com/macosx/upgrade/softwareupdates.html

8. SUMMER JOBS FOR YOUNG AND OLD

     Now's the time for young people to lock in that summer job, if they haven't done so already. Seniors too. Members of both groups are likely to be free in the summer, and both have special opportunities available.

     Here are some good places to start:

http://www.summerjobs.com/

http://www.coolworks.com/

     FOR THE OLDER AND BOLDER: Click on Coolworks' "Older and Bolder" category to find opportunities for seniors around the world. I see that many have already been filled. At least I figure that's what "watch for more jobs next season" means. I will try to cover this topic earlier next year.

http://www.coolworks.com/older-bolder/

9. BUILD YOUR RESUME

     ADD AN INTERNSHIP TO YOUR RESUME. Those wonderful "About" people have an "About Summer Jobs and Internships" page where young people can find the internship best for them:

Internships_and_Summer_Jobs.htm

     And the following site will help you get an internship with the U.S. government. It says, "We help the Federal Government attract the best and brightest."

http://www.studentjobs.gov/

10. I LOVE PLANTS

     I LOVE PLANTS puts you in touch with other U.S. gardeners by listing garden blogs state by state.

http://iloveplants.com/

     And, for gardeners around the world, it has articles on different types of gardens, such as vegetable gardens, organic gardens, woodland gardens, fairy gardens. If you live where summer nights are warm and it's pleasant to sit out on the patio and talk, you may enjoy a night garden. The following article on the site tells about night-scented flowers and flowers that are beautiful in the moonlight.

http://www.mastergardenproducts.com/gardenerscorner/Nightgardening.htm

11. ALL-AMERICA FLOWER SELECTIONS

     Each year a few new flowers pass their tests with flying colors and become All-America selections. The test? Being grown by gardeners all over the U.S., without any special care, taking the problems - heat, drought, insects, whatever - as they come.

     If the idea of a "night garden" appeals to you, please note that one of the All-America selections for 2006 was "Perfume Deep Purple" nicotiana, which sends out waves of sweet scent after dark. If your nursery doesn't have it, you can buy the seed at Parkseed.com.

http://www.all-americaselections.org/

12. FOR THE YOUNG COOK

     The numerous "cooking with kids" websites come in two varieties: those with recipes little kids and Mom make together, and those with recipes older kids make by themselves with maybe some input from Mom. This excellent recipe page is for older kids:

http://www.recipeladies.com/kidscooking.html

13. THE RECIPE LADIES

     The kids' section of the Recipe Ladies' site, mentioned above, is just one of its offerings. The site has been around for years collecting good things for us to enjoy. I was visitor 83,674 and you will be visitor ?

     Recipe Ladies is a personal site, with none of the cold glitz of the larger sites. I especially like the Family Heirloom section, with a photo of each family member who contributed. The Animal Crackers section, for the parents of young children, is also good.

http://www.recipeladies.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.