Website of the Week: BookSwim

OK I know it isn't really right for me to call it "Website of the Week" since it has been months since I've posted one, but I still like the alliteration.

Anyway, the site is BookSwim.com

They are self-described as Netflix for readers.

BookSwim is the first online BOOK RENTAL LIBRARY CLUB lending you paperbacks and hardcovers direct to your house WITHOUT THE NEED TO PURCHASE! Whether it's New Releases, Bestsellers, or Classics, we've got 80,000 titles to choose from, with FREE SHIPPING BOTH WAYS! Read your books as long as you want -- no late fees! Even choose to purchase and keep the titles you love!

It sounds like an interesting ideas. Especially for those books you read fast and then look to give away because you don't want them to take up precious shelf space. (Think chick-lit or airport reads.) The site is in beta right now and I am hopeful that there will be two improvements:
1. More options in pricing plans like Netflix has. Right now the options are limited and the price is a little high for more books than I could read in a month. I would like to see something more like $5.00 a month for 2 books like the lowest level Netflix plan.

2. More new titles. The selection looked current, but not up to the minute.

Website of the Week (or there abouts): True Mom Confessions

True Mom Confessions

It's like a real life version of taxi-cab confessions. Some of them are hilarious, some of them I can click the "me too" button for and some are kind of sad, but they're all interesting to read.

What's your confession?

Does it suck?

Wondering if that new cell phone you're thinking about is cool or not? Thinking about going to a movie, but aren't sure if its any good? Well, then this new site is for you! It is sucks/rocks.

When you enter a search term, sucks/rocks searches the web for several positive and negative phrases using that term. The score is the fraction of positive results to the sum of positive and negative results, normalized to 10. You can stack up results next to each other so if you wanted to decide what movie to see you can enter the titles of 4 or 5 movies and see which one got more positive ratings.

I'm not sure how scientific it really is, but it is cool none-the-less.

Website of the Week: LibraryThing

Do you like to read? Are you slightly OCD? Yes? Then boy do I have a site for you...LibraryThing!

LibraryThing lets you create a library type catalog of your books. There is the ubiquitous tagging, connecting with other users through the many, many groups and recommendations. Recommendations are based on several different criteria so you can pick the one that works for you. The service even includes a blog widget which you will see I have started using if you look to the right ----->

I am thinking of starting a separate account for Zoë. The kids' lists are not nearly as expansive as the adult lists, but it might be fun anyway and it might help drive expansion in that area. I am always looking for new kids' books for Zoë and to give as gifts.

Website of the Week: Enlighten Holiday Party Excuse Generator

'Tis the Season for all kinds of festivities. Anyone who knows anyone has no doubt been invited to at least a party or two. But some parties are more appealing than others, right? So, Enlighten Holiday Party Excuse Generator is here to help! All you have to do is answer a few simple questions about the upcoming event and the perfect little excuse note is generated for you.

You've just got to try it for yourself!

Website of the Week: Pacific Whale

Can I still call this "Website of the Week" even if I don't update it exactly weekly? Well, it is my blog so I guess I can! Besides, I like the alliteration.

OK, now on to the website. Pacific Whale (pacificwhale.org) is a site dedicated to protecting the whales and dolphins of the Pacific Ocean. They have all kinds of educational information including kids' camps and ocean cruises and other eco-tours (of course, you have to be in Australia, Hawaii, or California to participate).

Plus, if you are looking for a holiday gift for the person in your life who is somewhat ecologically minded or even a child who is into sea life, you can adopt a whale or a dolphin. Adoption packages start at $35 and you get an adoption certificate for a named whale or dolphin.

Website of the Week: Go Fug Yourself

Go Fug Yourself. I've actually been a fan of this site for quite some time. It's one of my favorites for the morning or afternoon coffee break. If you enjoy fashion and especially the worst-dressed list, this site is for you. To be fair, they do give credit where credit is due.

In case you're not sure what "Fug" mean, be sure to check out their FAQ page.

Website of the Week: Second Life

I suspect I am the last person to hear about this site, but just in case there are few people out there who might happen upon the this blog and also have not heard of this site, here is your chance to get in the know.

Second Life is basically like one of the Sims games only you're not the only one playing in this world. Over a million other people are too.

From the site itself:

Second Life is a 3-D virtual world entirely built and owned by its residents. Since opening to the public in 2003, it has grown explosively and today is inhabited by a total of 1,243,436 people from around the globe.

This looks so really cool and absorbing and I did spend about an hour exploring the other day, but I came to the sad conclusion that I don't have nearly enough time these days to spend any significant time on this site. And you definitely need time to make this work well for you.

This is kind of a strange recommendation, right? Do as I say, not as I do. However, if you're into these kinds of games and you make time in your life for them already and as mentioned above you are among the microcosm of people who haven't yet heard of the site, all I'm saying is it might be worth your while to check this out. At the very least you will now know what the heck people are talking about.

Website of the Week: Grey Matter

I admit it. Like millions of others I am a huge Grey's Anatomy fan. Therefore I probably don't even need to tell you how disappointed I was to realize that there is not a new episode on tonight. Ugh! I was so looking forward to getting into bed and firing up the Tivo.

For nights like tonight and any other moment I am having a Grey's Anatomy jones, I have discovered a great site, really it's a blog, from the writers of the show. It's called Grey Matter. The writer of that week's episode posts so there is one posting per week. They don't give away plot details, but there are lots of nice insights into the show's development. And if you're into it, there are about 500 to 700 comments per post.

So, go get your fix because 7 days can be a long, long time.

Website of the Week: Picasa

At home I am a Mac user, but at work I am forced to use a PC. So, here's one for all you PC users who don't have iPhoto...Picasa!

Picasa (brought to you by Google, of course) is software that helps you instantly find, edit and share all the pictures on your PC. Every time you open Picasa, it automatically locates all your pictures (even ones you forgot you had) and sorts them into visual albums organized by date with folder names you will recognize. Picasa also makes advanced editing simple by putting one-click fixes and powerful effects at your fingertips.

Picasa also makes it a snap to share your pictures – you can email, print photos at home, and make gift CDs. And with the new Web Albums feature, you can upload your photos to the web very easily. It syncs amazingly well with popular web albums like Kodak's (formerly Ofoto). And it even lets you publish directly to popular blog sites like the one I use. The photo of Zoë in the previous post was published through Picasa in about 10 seconds.

It really is incredibly easy to use and is almost as good as having iPhoto on a PC.

Website of the Week: eBeanstalk

eBeanstalk.com is the gift that keeps on giving for babies and kids. As a matter of fact every 3 months a new gift arrives for the kid of your choice. Place your order by age and and every three months they’ll send a new toy — every one chosen by development experts and moms to correspond to the child's age.

For Birthdays and Births simply click on the appropriate age category and you will be taken to a page where you can select one of the recommended gift series, or customize your own. Their reccommended series are great and keeps the need to think for yourself down to a real minimum.

For non Birthdays you can click the 'shop by age' button. And deliveries include instructions explaining why the toy is so perfect, which skills it will help develop, and the best ways to play with it together.

The only bad thing is that for kids older than 5 you're on your own. Their age ranges end at 4 to 5.

Website of the Week: Ideal Bite

Everyone knows it's not easy being green, but this site makes it just a little bit easier. Ideal Bite is basically an email newsletter sign up. The newsletter is emailed daily and contains simple tips and suggestions for leading a more planet-friendly "green" existence. The site itself also contains a tip library of past mailings.

The tips themselves are, for the most part, realistic and relatively simple changes to your activities of daily living. Plus you are given the facts, helpful resources and good suggestions for carrying out the changes.

Go for it and maybe green will be the new black.

Website of the Week: NameVoyager

This week's site is a cool tool that is part of babynamewizard.com. It is the NameVoyager. Very useful for soon-to-be-parents, but the site is fun for everyone. See how popular your own name is. NameVoyager presents the info in a cool, fun-to-use graphical interface.

For the record the name "Zoe" hit an all time high as the 54th most popular name. In 2005 it was down to 59th. The name "Emily" was the most popular in 2002, the year my Zoe was born, but that was recently usurped by the name "Emma."

Website of the Week: NY Times US Open Blog

OK, it is really a just a blog and not an entire site, but it is really good. NY Times US Open Blog is about as close as it comes to actually being there when you can't watch TV. In fact sometimes its better than watching on TV because it sums up the heart of each match really nicely. It kind of reminds me of the inning wrap-ups you can get for Major League Baseball games as ESPN.com. The coverage is insightful as well as enthusiastic.

One bit of advice -- catch the blog this week before it's gone -- at least until next year!

Website of the Week: labelitorloseit

Someone I used to work with turned me on to this website when I was complaining about having to constantly write Zoë's name on all her sippy cups and tupperware for lunch and snacks at daycare.

The good people at labelitorloseit.com make waterproof stick-on labels. You can have your child's name or anything else you want printed on them plus you can pick a little icon to add some pizazz. They are essentially an amazing sticker. The best part about these labels is they survive many, many trips through the dishwasher and the microwave, but when you want to remove the label, they come off easily and don't leave any sticky mess behind. You get a set of 60 labels for $13.95. 60 labels could last you for years so it is definitely money well spent.

I haven't tried the iron-on labels yet, but if they are half as good as the stick-on kind, I am sure they are excellent.

Website of the Week: jacksonpollock.org

Bring out your inner artist with this fun and addictive site -- jacksonpollock.org You can create your very own Pollock-esque art with a few clicks and strokes of the mouse. When you're done, just print it out and voila!

Website of the Week: Monk-e-mail

Are you looking for just the right way to send that special message or party invitation? Or perhaps you just want to give a friend a giggle? Then check out Monk-e-Mail.

I received my first Monk-e-mail the other day from my good friend Heather and I nearly fell out of my chair laughing. Thank you Heather!

Here's how it works: You are given a selection of chimps to choose from. After that choice is made you make all sorts of selections about what the chimp is wearing, accessorized with and where he/she is. Finally you choose a voice -- there are pre-recorded messages, you can enter text that is converted to speech, or you can record your own. Then you send the message off to all your loved ones.

I really think I am going to have to use this for my next party invites.

Website of the Week: mentalfloss.com

I haven't been very prolific with the posts lately, but I do have a new website of the week to share: mentalfloss.com.

This site is the online home of Mental Floss, the magazine. Even if you haven't heard of the magazine this site is worth checking out -- especially the blog which is full of incredibly witty and trivia laden info that you never knew you needed to know.

Blog entry authors include one of my favorites, David Israel who's novel Behind Everyman I wrote about here last year.

Website of the Week

I've decided to start a new feature (technically the first feature) at ZoesMom and that is Website of the Week.

This week's site is: Fontifier.

Stealing the description right from their own site:

Fontifier lets you use your own handwriting for the text you write on your computer.
It turns a scanned sample of your handwriting into a handwriting font that you can use
in your word processor or graphics program, just like regular fonts such as Helvetica.

For anyone who is a little turned on by fonts, this is just so cool. I've had mine done (of course) and I am using it for a scrap book I am creating for Zoë. It is so cool! And it is cheap -- only $9 for a completely customized and personal font.