Content changed 2003-01-28 01:11 GMT. .

Feed My Ego >> Scott Ventura >> Scott Ventura's List of Links

Scott's List of Links

• Friends: People I know.
• Personal: Things that I do.
• Web Design: Things that lead to good sites.
• Software: Things I use on computers.
• Funny: Things that I laugh at.
• Interesting: Things that make me think.
• Music: Things that make sounds.
• Miscellaneous: Everything else that deserves a link.

Friends:

• Matt Beecher and Jill Sakai
• Rob Haskins
• Nick Weich
• Tony DiPasquale

Personal:

• The University of Rochester Symphony Orchestra and Chamber Orchestra, a site for which I was responsible, as the "Information Systems Manager" for the orchestras.
• The UR Computer Science Department is the place that made me the programmer I am today. There are some really nifty research programs there.
• Shady Side Academy was my high school.

Web Design

• useit.com is the home of Jakob Nielsen, a world-famous usability specialist. The Alertbox column provides excellent design information geared towards usability instead of "cool" site design.
• Ask Tog runs along similar lines to the AlertBox column, and Tog is now working with Jakob as part of the formidable Nielsen/Norman Group.
• The Web Design Group provides tutorials and references on web standards in a way that encourages good coding and layout style. Their documents are more readable than the official ones, though not as thorough.
• The World Wide Web Consortium is still the de facto source. If you want to know the nitty gritty of what is and is not HTML, this is the place.
• Bobby is a service of the Center for Applied Special Technology. It's a very sensitive validator which highlights problems with the accessibility of the HTML. It may seem like a pain to get the full Bobby seal of approval, but it's worth it.
• Best Viewed With Any Browser are words that more sites need to live by. This campaign features links to some excellent resources.

Software:

• Opera is the browser that now tops my charts. It smokes Netscape in terms of speed, and it's a tiny install as opposed to IE. It's exceedingly customizable, usable without a pointing device, and user-comment driven. It's not free, but it's a nice piece of work.
• CD Wizzard is a CD Audio player with three display modes, CDDB capability, and good database facilities.
• Arachnoid is billed as "A great place for people who think." I consider it a great source of software. I use EasyTerm, which filled my need for a telnet client that didn't activate numlock. I also use About Time for my SNTP needs.

Funny:

• For excellent weekly doses of real-life comedy delivered by email, try Randy Cassingham's This Is True. These news-of-the-strange collections are always sublime. Randy also publishes the Stella Awards, which discuss abuses of the US court system. These are somewhat funny but mostly thought-provoking. Most importantly, Randy does his homework and does not publish urban legends.
• I do so love "Weird Al" Yankovic.
  • Yankovic!, A site done up to look like Yahoo!. Very good.
  • Bermuda's Files, Al's drummer's site with a ton of great stuff.
• For a dose of Letterman-style comedy delivered weekdays, try Top Five.
• International Obfuscated C Code Contest, If you've ever thought your C code was hard to read, you were probably wrong. These programmers make an art of stylized and disguised programs.
• Tour the IHTFP Hack Gallery, where the best of MIT's pranks are documented.
• This Modern World is a heavily satirical strip that appears nationwide in newpapers and online in Salon.
• While drinking and coding should almost never be mixed, you can make an exception when writing a program to sing 99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall.
• I never get to Brunching Shuttlecocks in a normal way. I always seem to stumble on their humor somewhere else, but I always laugh when I get there.
• The Institute of Official Cheer by James Lileks has to be seen to be believed. The author blends journalistic sensibility with stranger-than-fiction material to make big laughs.

Interesting:

• Internet Movie Database has everything you wanted to know about well over 100,000 movies. It's very easy to blow inordinate amounts of time, so enter at your own risk. :-)
• Salon Magazine is always good for an interesting read. They feature excellent writing and interesting opinions.

Music:

• SPEBSQSA is the "Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America". I'm finally a member, singing with and maintaining the web site for the Chorus of the Genesee.
• I used to play in both the UR Symphony Orchestra and the UR Chamber Orchestra.
• I love musical satire, which makes me a natural fan of PDQ Bach and "Wierd Al" Yankovic. I already have links to them in the Funny section of this page.
• The River City Brass Band is one of Pittsburgh's finest musical ensembles.
• Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra
• The Contemporary A Cappella Society of America is a warehouse of a cappella information.

Miscellaneous:

• Infinite Illusions sells wonderful toys. I'm personally attracted to their yo-yos.

This page was lovingly hand-crafted by Scott Ventura, who is solely responsible for the contents. Scott is also the sole owner of the content of this page, including all of the graphics. Send comments or questions.