.
Hotlink for 16 to 23 September, 2001
NASA's Planetary
Photojournal
A collaboration between NASA's Planetary Data System Imaging Node,
the Solar System Visualization Project, and JPL's Media Relations Office,
the site give you easy access to all the public documents available from
the various Solar System exploration programs. Nearly 3000 images, of
everything from the Sun to Pluto, plus planetary moons, various comets and
several asteroids.
Hotlink for 23 to 30 September, 2001
Permanent Missions to
the United Nations
The UN sponsors this website. It has many useful subdirectories,
including links to the websites of all the Permanent Missions, (which
themselves have links to information about their respective countries,
governments, cultures, etc.). There is also a search engine which allows
you to search all the web sites of all the Permanent Missions, so you can
easily compare what each one has to say about monetary policy or refugees
(or whatever). You can also link directly to UN.ORG resources, which
suggests that you might be interested to note that this site uses the new
top-level domain name "int", or "international", and not un.org.
Hotlink for 30 September to 7 October, 2001
The European Union On-Line
A huge amount of information can be found here, about the European
Union and about its member states. After selecting your language of
choice (the site is available in 11 languages), you can read "News", with
good discussions of key issues, or read about the "Activities" of the EU,
in 28 areas ranging from Agriculture to Transport, or you can learn about
the different institutions of the EU, read its official documents, or you
can learn, in the "ABC" section, all about EU history, symbols, and
treaties. At European
Governments On-Line you can see the official government sites of EU
members, and of non-member European states.
Hotlink for 7 to 14 October, 2001
Live Weather Images
A very extensive privately-run weather data site. The main weather
page includes current images, forecast maps, satellite imagery, doppler
radars, plus surf and aviation information. Also includes an "interactive
page" at which you can calculate sunrise and sunset, heat and wind chill
indices, and tides, and wide selection of weathercams.
Hotlink for 14 to 21 October, 2001
World
History Maps from HRW
Holt, Rinehart and Winston have published on the web a very useful
and wide-ranging collection of maps. This page is the directory for their
World History maps -- with subdirectories of maps covering everything from
"The Beginnings of Civilization" to "The World Since 1945". There is also
a nice collection of outline maps, useful in a variety of ways (including
as tools for the" Mapping The World By Heart" curriculum). You might also
find their American
History Maps Section useful.
Hotlink for 21 to 28 October, 2001
Action-Dignite-Humaine
A huge and complex site dedicated to human dignity and global
understanding. On this page, "The World and More...", a world map allows
you to select a region, and each region brings up a list of countries (and
other entities) within that region, which you can select, and this opens a
page of information and links about that country. Other main headings
include "Acting Positively", "The World of Employment", "The Juridical
World", "Life Surroundings", "Useful Information", "The Humane World",
"The World of Health", and "The World of Disability". The English
translations are imperfect ("usefull informations"), but clear.
Hotlink for 28 October to 4 November, 2001
The Trail Database
A phenomenal database, organized for browsing or for searching, that
catalogues the world's hiking trails. Hiking trails from Samoa to
Finland, from Bhutan to the Cape Verde, are listed, described, mapped, and
explained. The site manager, Henk, has his own collection of "Henk's
Hikes", while many hikes and locations are submitted by others. The page
begins with a useful set of links on safety and health and maps and
weather and lodging.
Hotlink for 4 to 11 November, 2001
Kindergarten
Resources
Pages specifically for Kindergarten are not usually chosen for our
weekly hotlink, but this is a well-conceived and broadly applicable list
for educators at many levels. It's not a site, it's just a one-page
"Internet Hotlist" compiled by a "tech integrator" in Ottawa. There are
links to the Ontario Curriculum (worth a visit even if you're not teaching
in Ontario), but also lots of very useful and even remarkable links on
language arts, broad themes, learning-center ideas, and more.
Hotlink for 11 to 18 November, 2001
Earth Calendar
A fascinating site, presenting a vast worldwide "holiday" database in
selectable ways. For example, "Holidays By Religion" gives you holiday
listings for several of the world's major religions, and also for
Zoroastrianism, Wiccan & Witchcraft, and Stregherian. Among the nicest
feature: select "holidays by country", and you're given a list of
countries; when you pass your cursor over the name of a country, its
national flag is shown. Be aware that the word "Holiday" is interpreted
quite broadly -- not only will you find well-known and important days --
days of independence and other national and regional celebration days,
but, for example, you will also find listed in the U.S. section such
"holidays" as "Elvis's Birthday" and "National Clean Off Your Desk
Day". Still, an impressive and thoughtful compilation, worth bookmarking.
Hotlink for 18 to 25 November, 2001
ESRI Map Book Gallery
Every year, GIS users from around the world bring samples of their
work to the ESRI User Conference. ESRI selects a sample and produce a
mapbook, which is released at the following year's conference. These maps
and stories show how hundreds of thousands of people across the world are
using GIS to analyze data and solve problems. The 16th map book, prepared
for the 2001 User Conference, is now online. Special care went into making
this volume accessible to educators with a range of Internet access
speeds. You'll see examples from agriculture, business, cartography,
conservation, disaster planning, electric & gas, environmental, geology,
government, health & human services, law enforcement, local government,
military, natural resources, oceans & seas, petroleum, pipeline, planning,
public safety, telecommunications, tourism, transportation, and water &
wastewater.
Hotlink for 25 November to 2 December, 2001
WWW Virtual Library: International
Affairs Resources
Thousands of links in a huge range of topics related to international
affairs. There are media sources -- International TV and radio listings,
journals and magazines; there are listings of and links to
every imaginable organization -- NGO's, IGO's, the UN, EU, and US, and
research organizations; and there are detailed listings by region and
country, as well as by topic.
Hotlink for 2 to 9 December, 2001
The Canadian
West
A lovely little site, full of useful information, centered on the
question: How did Westward expansion play out in what is now the Canadian
provinces? The first section, "Anticipation" allows you to access early
maps that show European cartographers' best guesses at the western lands.
Under "Contact", learn how the fur trade and scientific expeditions
impacted the future of the land and the peoples living there; finally,
under "Accommodation", you can witness the urbanization and
industrialization of Canada in the 1920s.
Hotlink for 9 to 16 December, 2001
Kidon Media Link
If you're looking for a media website from anwywhere in the world,
this is a very powerful place to begin. Select a region, or a specific
country, and the site returns links to TV, Web, Press, and Magazine sites
for that region or country. Quickly find and read the latest Afghan news
from newspapers throughout South Asia; see what European newspapers are
saying about events in the US. You can also see what's on TV tonight in
Islamabad, or read local news in local languages around the world.
Hotlink for 16 to 23 December, 2001
mesoamerican Ballgame
Take me out to the ballgame, as played in Mesoamerica, the
subtropical area between present-day countries of Mexico and El Salvador.
Learn about the eight major cultures found in this area between 1500 BC
and 1519 AD, as well as the effect of the Spanish conquest in this region.
Then, explore the architecture of the court, as well as the the balance
between sport and religion within the game. Offline activities include
creation of masks, clay effigies, headresses and clay ballgame figurines.
Hotlink for 23 to 30 December, 2001
The Euro
On New Years Day, "E-Day," the citizens of 12 European countries --
Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, Germany, Greece,
Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain -- will start using a
single currency, the "euro." You can find EVERYTHING you could possibly
want to know about the euro at this site; there's still more information
at The Euro Press
Kit Page. If you want to see what the new euro notes and coins look
like, take a look at
Euro Banknotes and Coins. To see exchange rates, check The Euro
Conversion Page . Daily news can also be gleaned from
Yahoo's Euro page. Finally, check the UK Yahoo page which covers the
debate about whether the UK should, or should not, join the European
Monetary Union:
Yahoo's Euro-debate page.
Hotlink for 30 December, 2001 to 6 January, 2002
The United Nations
Redeisgned and extensive, the United Nations website provides all
kinds of information on programs, issues, member nations, and more; also
worth a visit: The UN Wire Website.
The United Nations Foundation redesigned the site and it offers an
improved look, along with greatly enhanced functionality. It continues to
feature the most current information on UN and international events.
For more information, please