Cartoonbank

Do you have a favorite New Yorker cartoon? If so, check out Cartoonbank. It’s a warehouse of New Yorker cartoons that you can view. But there’s much more than just viewing a favorite cartoon—you can have a reprint made and framed, send e-cards, create vanity cartoons, and more. Hey, you might even find that cartoon drawn by Seinfeld’s Elaine Benis.

Making the Macintosh

In Making the Macintosh, Stanford University has started an ongoing Web site to chronicle the Macintosh and how it was developed. Stanford is in a unique position to do this because the university has information from the original engineers and technical writers. The site is rich with information about how the Macintosh came to be. There are also a number of photographs, some of which have been rarely seen. It’s a great complement to books like Apple Confidential.

From Making the Macintosh

MSN’s Computing Central: Bandwidth Speed Test

If you want to know how fast your Internet connection really is, check out this Web site. All you have to do is go to the site and it will determine the speed of your connection. There is also a thermometer that graphically displays your current speed, compared to such things as 56K modems, ISDN, and T-1 lines.

The Dialectizer

Imagine Microsoft’s Web site written by the most backward redneck in Arkansas or Elmer Fudd writing the content on USA Today’s site. Envisioned by Samuel Stoddard, this site converts otherwise proper English into several “lesser” dialects. The Dialectizer reads the text from the Web site of your choice and runs a script that changes key words into one of several different dialects. You can choose from Redneck, Jive, Cockney, Elmer Fudd, Swedish Chef, Moron, Pig Latin, and Hacker.

TrafficStation

With maps of most major US cities, TrafficStation helps you keep one step ahead of a nasty traffic jam. All of the traffic information updates itself per minute—there’s a clock that displays the last update. In cities that participate in traffic congestion readings, you can see just where the light, medium, and heavy traffic is. Additionally there are markers to denote construction areas, traffic accidents, and police/fire incidents.

If you register with my TrafficStation, you can get customized traffic reports and even have e-mails sent to your computer or cellular phone when traffic gets particularly nasty. The street information is restricted to major arteries within these cities, and there’s no way to zoom in to a particular area. But, if the bulk of your travel is on a highway, this site may be of some use to you.

TrafficStation

MacToolbox

There are lots of Mac help sites out there, so what makes MacToolbox so unique? Odd as it might sound, I like the personal feel of it. Of course, there’s great content—lots of excellent resources ranging from helpful books to Mac performance specs. You’ll find a great help section and all kinds of odd facts about the Mac.

The whole site just feels friendly and approachable. And it’s probably because the site is run by one individual—Darren Edwards. This is a great example of the kind of creativity the Macintosh fosters.