Starting in 1996, Alexa Internet has been donating their crawl data to the Internet Archive. Flowing in every day, these data are added to the Wayback Machine after an embargo period.
There are a number of organizations with sites on the
Internet that we think are worth highlighting. We have been and are involved
with many of these organizations in some way -- as a participant or as a
customer.
The Summer Science
Program is an educational organization that exposes selected high
school students to advanced topics in mathematics, astronomy, physics, and
computer science. Unique for its hands-on, practical approach, SSP
challenges its students to calculate the orbits of minor planets
(asteroids) from their own observations via a telescope, measurements, and
calculations. The results are submitted to the Minor
Planet Center at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and are
catalogued there.
For a flavor (even though
somewhat different) of what the kids do, check out this nifty tool
called
J-Track 3D that is offered by NASA. It tracks the earth
orbits of over 500 satellites. The 3-D applet allows you to rotate
the earth and tilt the perspective, to zoom in and out, to select a
single satellite from a long list or from a constellation of
satellites like the Iridium system. A fun little toy that can be
educational for kids interested in satellites and space.
I participated in the program in 1978 and felt it was an
extremely valuable experience. If you know of a young person (junior in
high school) who is interested in six weeks of high-powered physics and
astronomy over the summer, check out their
website or
download
the application form or look at the nifty
program poster.
The Bush School is an
independent K-12 school located in Seattle. It offers a broad liberal arts
experience from art to zoology. The school just completed construction of
a new state-of-the-art Math and Science building. In addition to
academics, the school offers a strong athletic and
wilderness program. Notable alumni include Meg Greenfield (of Newsweek
magazine) and Chris Dederer (of the band Presidents of the USA).
The Seattle
Children's Theatre is the leading producer of new works and classics
of children's literature that are targeted for the stage. In the 1999-2000
season, plays ranged from a sequel to The Wizard of Oz to When I
Grow Up I'm Gonna Get Some Big Words which presented the history of
the civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s. The theatre provides
professional theatre and theatre education experiences to children of all
ages. In addition to live performances, the theatre also offers a
wide range of acting classes for children. If you're in Seattle with
kids, then check it out. (Click
here to see the booklist for the current play.)
McAdams Wright Ragen,
my family's investment management firm, provides a complete range of brokerage and
investment services - with an emphasis on a personal approach. They offer expert, tailored advice based on a prudent asset allocation model
and supported by thorough research. The objective is to build balanced
portfolios using a mixture of value stocks, growth stocks, and fixed
income securities.
Hobbies and other cool stuff. (OK, I admit it;
you can let me grow up but you can't take the boy out of me yet!)
Boomerangs
There is something extraordinarily satisfying
about mastering the 'simple' skill of catching a boomerang after throwing
it 50-60 yards. Bailey's
Boomerangs offers
A good variety of boomerangs for sale
2-3 auctions per year (that partially support the US
Boomerang Association) offer a wide variety of collectibles
Links to a ton of other 'rang sites.
Kites
If boomerangs are fun, then kites have to be
fun too. Once Upon A Breeze
offers a wide variety of kites to satisfy everyone's interest: stunt
kites, parafoils, cool kites, and kid's kites.
We are often asked to make recommendations on how to get to
the San Juan Islands and things that people can do there. To help make this
easier for our friends, we've put together this quick quide to San Juan Island.
Both sides of our family held reunions over the last 12
months. We put together a family
reunion survey for each; the survey was designed as an ice-breaker and a
way to identify common interests across different Take a look at our surveys --
and some of the answers that our family came up with.