On a fairly regular basis I list links to websites that I have discovered. These are sites the give helpful hints and useful info about topics ranging from finding jobs to saving money on grocery coupons to improving what you can get out of your webcam. You'll find links to sites that shows you the moons of Jupiter to the intricacies of a butterflie's wing.

 

Check back every so often to see what else I've added. And if you've come upon a site you think I should include then please send it to me. I send out a new list with my regular emails to my sphere that is at 3,500 and growing as of 2/26/10.

 

I have to give credit where credit is due. Though I have found some of the site below totally on my own most of them come from www.Komando.com. Kim Komando is a radio host and web personality who is an expert on computers and the Internet. So I pass along many of her great finds to you with the hope you'll get as much enjoyment and information as I do.

 

2010 Sites:

www.checkingfinder.com
So, maybe you're looking to make more on your checking account. Or, maybe you don't earn interest from your checking account. In that case, pay a visit to CheckingFinder. Its goal is to help you find high-interest checking accounts. Of course, you want to choose carefully when selecting a deal. You don't want to get hit with ATM fees. Nor do you want to pay for online banking or bill pay. You don't have to worry about these things with CheckingFinder. Banks featured give you free online banking and bill pay. They'll also refund ATM fees.
http:www.youtube.com
Looking for music online beyond iTunese. There are many sources out there. But you may be overlooking one of the best music sites: YouTube. Sure, it doesn't sell downloads. However, it is a great place to discover new music and watch music videos. In fact, YouTube has its own music discovery tool. Just visit the site and enter an artist's name. It will create a video playlist for you. The playlist will include songs by the band you specified. It will also include music from similar artists.  You can remove songs you don't like from the playlist. Or, use the tools to add other songs and artists that you like. When you're done, you can save your playlist for later!

http:www.momondo.com
It’s never too early to plan a vacation. Especially when it’s snowing and cold like it is here in Raleigh over the last few days. Maybe you'll be able to get away during the kids' spring break. Or, maybe you want to think about summer plans.  Well, here is just the site. Momondo searches sites to help you find the best airfare. You can also use it to find hotels and rental cars. You can book reservations on Momondo. Or, it will take you to sites where you can book them. Of course, you may need some help deciding where to go. In that case, be sure to check out the City Guides. It's a fun way to get some travel ideas!
http://www.destinationrx.com
Prescription drugs can be expensive. The costs really add up if you're on several. But there are ways to save. For example, you can comparison shop. Or, you can switch to a low-cost alternative. How do you comparison shop prescription drug prices? Easy! You just go to Destination RX. Enter the name of your drug. Specify the dosage and how many pills you need. Then, you have several options. Click Pharmacy Pricing and enter your ZIP code. This will help you compare prices at local pharmacies. Or, click Comparable Drugs. This will help you find generic alternatives. They can save you a ton of money. Prescription drugs can be expensive. The costs really add up if you're on several.
http://www.eatright.org
Along with exercise, a good diet is the best thing you can do for your health. It will help you maintain your ideal bodyweight. And it will help you avoid diseases. We may hear conflicting information about the risks or benefits of certain foods. So, when you're looking for diet information, visit a reliable source. The American Dietetic Association is one such source you should check. At its site, you can learn about nutritional needs and maintaining a healthy weight. You'll learn to spot fad diets and how to talk to your kids about weight. There's also food safety advice. Or, read up on the role nutrition plays in preventing specific diseases. It’s never too late to start eating better, and if you’re shut in due to snow and ice like I am there’s really no excuse.
http://www.mystershop.org

This job sounds like fun if you can find a position in your city. You'll find plenty of mystery shopping opportunities on job boards. Or, you may see online ads for mystery shopping. However, many of these opportunities are scams. You'll have to pay to enroll in a program. So, if you're interested in mystery shopping, be careful. Start at the Mystery Shopping Providers Association's site. You'll learn more about mystery shopping and how it works. There's also an extensive database of mystery shopping opportunities. You won't get rich from mystery shopping. But it's a fun way to put a little extra cash in your pocket.

www.lab.andre-michelle.com  A cool music site for those Mozart's among us.

www.fitday.com  FitDay will help you take control of your diet. Simply set your weight- loss goals. Then, keep a journal of what you eat. You'll get detailed nutrition information on the food you're eating. This will help you monitor fat, protein and carb intake. With FitDay, you'll be able to monitor your progress. And you'll see where your weaknesses are. It's also a great way to motivate yourself!
www.familysearch.org If you want a good place to start searching for your ancestors then start at this site. This site combs through public records to find the information you need. It will even perform international searches. Building your family tree is a great way to spend time with your family. Who knows what fascinating people are your ancestors.
www.mymilemarker.com My Mile Marker is a great site for tracking your mileage. Its clean, simple design makes it easy to use. Once you sign up, you can add your car to your account. Then, enter information about your last fill-up. Enter your odometer reading, along with the number of gallons and price. Of course, recording a single fill-up isn't going to tell you much. But, stick with it, and you'll get valuable information. You'll see how many miles per gallon you're getting. You'll also see projections. For example, you can see how much you'll spend on gas in a year. Or, see how many miles you'll drive. That's handy if you're on a lease!
www.merriam-webster.com But consoles are not always convenient. They're not very portable. And game play can go on for hours.That's why so-called casual games have become popular. You can play them on your laptop virtually anywhere. And they don't require a lot of time. You can play for a few minutes at a time. Casual games are a great way to relax. They can help you clear your mind and focus on something simple. There are word searches, word Sudoku and more! I'm sure you'll enjoy taking a little break from your busy week!
www.walletgarden.com What if your wallet was stolen and you had no clue as to how to contact all of the companies you had credit cards with. Banks and credit card companies print customer service numbers on their cards. Without the cards, you'll have to do some searching for these numbers. In the meantime, someone could be running up your credit card balances. Wallet Garden can help. It stores your bank and credit card numbers online. Wallet Garden doesn't store account information. Its only purpose is to store customer service numbers.
www.fillanypdf.com Need to fill out a government form? Your best bet is to download it in PDF form from the Web. There is a problem with PDFs: They're difficult to work with without expensive software like Adobe Acrobat. But there's an easy solution if you want to fill out a form: Visit FillAnyPDF. You can upload your PDF file to the site. You can then click anywhere on the PDF form and begin typing. You'll also find simple highlighting and redaction tools. You can even add a signature! When you're done, you can download the PDF and print it. Of course, you can also invite others to complete the form. FillAnyPDF is a great way to reduce paper usage. Instead of faxing forms, simply use FillAnyPDF! I think this is a great product and I use it often.
www.spaceflight1.nasa.gov Have you ever wanted to track the course of manmade objects like the International Space Station or the Hubble Space Telescope. There are all kinds of objects in the night sky. This site will tell you exactly when you will be able to see them. The SkyWatch applet may take a few minutes to load. When it opens, you can enter your ZIP code. Or, click to specify your location. You can then see when certain satellites will be visible. You can also do a reverse search. It will identify satellites that you've seen

2009 Sites:

www.makinghomeaffordable.gov Are you eligible for government help with refinancing your home mortgage. Check here to find out.
http://truecar.com/ A site to give you useful information about buying a used car.
www.epa.gov – A great place to research fuel-saving additives and gadgets is the EPA's site. It'll give you the skinny on a wide range of products!
www.BugMeNot.com It will provide you with registration information for a ton of websites. All you need do is enter a site's address. You'll get a list of account names and passwords. That is, provided a user has submitted the information to BugMeNot. You can access the site without receiving unwanted e-mail.
www.pricepinx.com/ Use this site to make online shopping even easierAll you need do is install a bookmark in your browser. Then, when you're on a site's product page, highlight the price. Next, click the Price!pinx bookmark. Price!pinx does all the work for you. You'll receive a notification if the price drops! Price!pinx can also help you with low-price guarantees. It's great for cash-strapped families!
www.simplyhired.com/ Looking for a job? These jobs aren't on Simply Hired's site. Rather, Simply Hired does the heavy lifting for you. It searches other job sites and lists openings in one place.
To make things even easier, Simply Hired will alert you to jobs that match your search. http://buzgate.org/ This is a great resource for small business owners or those who want to become small business owners.
www.mygrocerydeals.com/ This helpful site gathers grocery store circulars. Once you sign up, you can view items that are on sale in the Triangle or any area you are interested in. Then, you can construct a shopping list from the sale items. You'll see how much you'll spend, along with your savings. You can also add other items to your list, even if they're not listed on the site. Then, you can print or e-mail your list. How convenient! But things get better. You can customize the deals you're shown. For example, you can opt to see deals from certain stores. Or, select the types of food you eat frequently.
www.govbenefits.gov/govbenefits_en.portal Have you ever wondered if you or someone in your family or your business might qualify for a government program? There are two ways to learn about benefits programs. First, you can answer a series of questions. This will show you programs for which you may qualify. Or, you can search for particular types of benefits. For example, you can look for career development assistance. You can look for grants, loans, tax help and much more!
www.billshrink.com/ Look for ways to shrink your bill from cell phone plans to credit card plans

www.yawcam.com Get more uses out of your webcam: security, pets, babysitters, etc. Yawcam features: Video streaming, Image snapshots, Built-in webserver, Motion detection, Ftp-upload, Text and image overlays, Password protection, Online announcements for communities, Scheduler for online time. It’s available for Windows XP and Vista – Sorry Mac owners.
www.jingproject.com/ Ever need a screen capture program. A great choice is TechSmith's Jing. This free program makes screen captures a snap. You can record videos or still shots. It really is so much easier than Print Screen! Jing sits on your desktop until you're ready to use it. All you need to do is click Capture and drag your mouse over the screen. Use Jing's comment feature to make notes on your screen captures. Jing even gives you Web storage for your captures. That makes sharing easy!
http://yardcare.com/ Maybe it is time for you to completely re-do your landscaping. Or, maybe you just want to plant some spring flowers. No matter your needs, visit yardcare.com before you begin.
It features a wealth of advice for making your lawn the most it can be. From planting a lawn to choosing gardening tools, it's all at yardcare.com! Of course, when it comes to yard care, advice isn't one-size-fits-all. You'll want advice tailored to the Triangle or if you’re not yet here then just find your region and garden away!
www.disaboom.com This site is about disabilities, with blogs, personal profiles and a lot of information about various disabilities.
www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/ A great source of information about public health, from nutrition to information about disease prevention
www.google.com/ads/preferences/plugin/browsers.html Are you concerned about what some websites like Google have on file about you. This information is stored in a database at Google. You would likely be embarrassed if it were made public. And you certainly wouldn't want a criminal to gain access to it. Fortunately, you can opt out of Google's new advertising program permanently. The steps are different from browser to browser. In some cases, you download a plug-in for your browser. In other cases, you'll need to change your browser preferences. Find out now what you need to do to maintain your privacy!
http://stilltasty.com/ At StillTasty, you can learn more about food safety. Learn the difference between "sell by," "best before" and "expires on" dates. There is also a large database of foods. Find out how long something will keep in your fridge or freezer. There are also tips for extending food life spans. You'll also want to check out the frequently asked questions section. And don't forget to read the tips for handling food safely!
http://tineye.com/ Have you ever wondered how many websites might have your photo or a photo of your children out there for everyone to see? Or, maybe you downloaded a photo. Now, you want to remember where you found it. If so, you'll want to head over to TinEye. You can upload an image from your computer. Or, simply enter a Web address for a photo. TinEye will scour the Web for similar copies of the photos. I was amazed by how well this site works.
http://www.invite43.com/ Start by naming your event and selecting a site name. Then, add important details and a map. You can also create a custom design and password protect the site.
You can then send a link to your site to the guests of your choice. They will be able to RSVP to your invitation quickly and easily. There is no registration needed. You also get tools to manage your guest list and guestbook. This is a fun, free and easy way to organize your events!

www.freebirthdaytreats.com/ This is one of my favorite sites. You can find businesses that offer freebies on your birthday. Search for your location and then by category. Unfortunately I have to wait until January 22nd to take advantage myself.
www.musopen.com Download free and legal MP3 files of classical music and even the sheet music that you can then play if you have musical talent.
www.nextstop.com/ Find cool, fun local attractions for things to do this summer.
http://www.mos.org/sln/sem/sem.html If you like looking at the strange and wonderful photos you can only get with a microscope then visit this site. Great for kids looking for something to do. You can see scales on moths, spider claws, grains of salt and so much more.
www.libraryspot.com/ With the power of the Internet it’s a wonder that anyone goes to the library anymore. But if you want a library online start at this site. You'll find a wealth of information. Look up quotes, double-check grammar and usage, or find calculators. Of course, the LibrarySpot offers so much more. You never know what you'll find until you start exploring. In that respect, it's much like a traditional library! And do try to go to our local libraries.
www.turtlebay.org/caltranseaglecam.php Now this is a fun site for adults and kids, especially if they are interested in birds. It is interesting to see the eagles take turns incubating the eggs. And the size of the nest is impressive, too. Of course, the eagles have worked on the nest for several years.

www.windows.ucar.edu/ Windows to the Universe will help your children understand our world. They can read about geology, physics and life science. But your kids might find the information on outer space the most fascinating. They can learn about space weather, space missions and more. There are also plenty of activities to keep your children busy. They can send postcards, play games and puzzles, and watch videos.