T N.

Entertain yourself! - If you've ever listened to public radio on the weekends, you've probably heard This American Life, hosted by Ira Glass. It's a one hour radio show that comes on weekly, true and untrue stories of people's lives and experiences, all following a theme per week. Every week you get a fresh new perspective or view on life in the United States that you may never experience or may have never even fathomed. I love it because it provides some cerebral entertainment, without requiring much from me - just a turn of the radio knob and there's Ira Glass, giving me a dose of reality in 3 or 4 short "acts". Follow it up or precede it with some CarTalk and you've got a great start to the weekend morning. On thislife.org, you can hear free streaming episodes, dating back to the show's birth in 1995. There are some that aren't accessible but most are there for free, with only a couple that you'd have to buy. I see each episode as a real collector's item, a drop in the time capsule of our collective lives.

I used to wonder who shopped at Cost Plus World Market. It sounded like a cheesy faux international fair... until I actually ventured inside of one and ended up leaving with some large vines and branches for my apartment. The website has most of what's in the store but doesn't quite capture the feeling of being inside the store. Think a cheaper pottery barn type place.

I wrote a review for JackSpade.com recently so I thought I should write one for KateSpade.com as well. After all, I actually did buy a buy from that site. I'm a sucker for simplicity, and after a long, drawn-out hunt for the perfect plain black Kate Spade handbag at local retailers, I settled on getting it directly from katespade.com. A step up from the Jack Spade website, Katespade.com offers views inside the bags, zooming ability, and details that are needed to make your decision. In the end, I was happy with my bag, it came promptly and with a cute cover bag to keep it clean and safe when I'm not using it.

The Education Trust, an organization that advocates for students, developed this useful tool to compare different statistics across all the colleges and universities in the United States. You can find the graduation and retention rates, tuition rates, median SAT / ACT scores, demographics, etc. If you're looking at one school, you can find similar schools, and for those trying to decide between schools, a comparison tool is available. Similar tools like this are available through sites like U.S. News and World Report, but I don't find to be as exhaustive.

Everyone talks about Shazam, but I find it pretty overrated (other than the name, which is a good one - it can pose as a noun or a verb...). SoundHound, on the other hand, is pretty underrated. I got both for my iPhone and find that SoundHound can identify all of the songs that Shazam couldn't. So say I'm in a clothing store and a catchy tune comes on. Shazam has no idea what it is, can't find a match. SoundHound? Bam, it's got it.

Evidence Based Mummy is one seriously awesome blog for parents and educators who want some filtered, but still accurate information on the latest research and findings related to child development. Rachel Robinson is a smart mama who makes information easy to access and relevant. So much better than reading Parent Magazine or that other fluffy hooha stuff. I subscribe to EBM via RSS and have shared quite a few of her articles with my staff.

Landsend clothes aren't usually what I wear on a day to day basis, but I bought a couple things there when I lived in Seattle. The good thing is that the clothes last a loooong time. Very durable, well-made stuff!

I learned about this tool from Alexis Madrigal's column in the Atlantic. As part of my job, I go between typing in English and Spanish. And even though my Spanish is pretty poor, considering 4 years living in Latin America, I still know where accents go, based on the way words sound. Rather than going back and forth between my Spanish/English keyboard menu, which is kind of a pain, copypastecharacter is a super easy way for me to get those tildes in place without sweating it. Truly awesome tip.

For those who are looking into Preston University for a degree, do so with caution. Preston engages in questionable practices, according to various sources online (find out for yourself if you google "Preston university scam" or "Preston university fraud"). I recently wrote a blog post for Sitejabber on for-profit universities and institutions like Preston: http://www.sitejabber.com/blog/2010/08/22/online-diploma-mills/

For those who are looking into Preston University for a degree, do so with caution. Preston engages in questionable practices, according to various sources online (find out for yourself if you google "Preston university scam" or "Preston university fraud"). I recently wrote a blog post for Sitejabber on for-profit universities and institutions like Preston: http://www.sitejabber.com/blog/2010/08/22/online-diploma-mills/

For those who are looking into Preston University for a degree, do so with caution. Preston engages in questionable practices, according to various sources online (find out for yourself if you google "Preston university scam" or "Preston university fraud"). I recently wrote a blog post for Sitejabber on for-profit universities and institutions like Preston: http://www.sitejabber.com/blog/2010/08/22/online-diploma-mills/

I remember being addicted to this online puzzle years ago: http://shygypsy.com/farm/p.cgi. It's hard for me to explain, but essentially you're trying to create a word map, starting with one phrase / clue: "on the farm". You guess words that are related to that phrase, and uncover more and more of the word map. Words connect to each other, moving further from the original phrase / clue, things get complicated, interesting and frustrating all at once, and you just have to try it to see what I'm talking about...

I don't actually even subscribe to Scientific American but I will when I return to the states. For now, I receive weekly email updates in my inbox and I love it. Scientific American packs up science for me into nice, bite-size, pop culture-y chunks. I need information and I need it fast - that's when SA comes in handy.

Okay, I have no idea how many folks here need to use a website that is exclusive to Guatemala but I wanted to give this website the props it deserves. Getting things shipped from the U.S. to here is not easy; the taxes that must be paid, the pick-up process, the high probability that you might not really get it, etc. can make it a hassle. Iguama has been a godsend. You can order anything and get it brought to your doorstep for some extra dollars more. I got a book I ordered within a week of buying it. Really nice service for those of us here!

I only just saw a segment on CNN about this website. I love the idea - trade in your old electronic items for cash so that these guys can refurbish them or reuse the parts. You wouldn't get much for these items (I found my Canon Powershot S50 which is still in good condition would receive $5; the newer the models, the more you get, though) but at least you're recycling and finding something to do with this stuff. If your item isn't worth anything to them, they'll still recycle it for free. Not bad either. And shipping is always free. Who doesn't have that stash of old electronic items that you feel too bad to trash but also aren't sure what to do with?

If you like Chuck Norris facts or are all about Ron Paul, you may like Ron Paul Facts. Most of them are pretty meh, but there are occasional winners. Did you know that the Declaration of Independence is printed with Ron Paul's blood? Or that Ron Paul is so fast he can steal home plate, but his conscious won't let him do it? If you want to know more, check out the website.

Ze Frank is one of those guys who likes to sit in the middle of technology and art to see what he can do to combine both. On his website zefrank.com, he explores all sorts of ideas and shares them all through his creations of programs, games, "educational" videos, etc. Some products are really interesting/entertaining. A lot is interactive. He asks for participation, and this can lead to really varied and interesting perspectives. One of his innovations is the scribbler, which turns anyone's crappy scribblings into "art": http://www.zefrank.com/scribbler/

Tudou is a Chinese video sharing website, the Chinese Youtube, if you will. When I can't access episodes of Project Runway or Top Chef anywhere due to networks' restrictions, I can find it on Tudou. What's even better is that sometimes the episodes are loaded on one video rather than on several videos. They also have full-length feature films.

Poketo.com has a lot of adorably hip t-shirts, bags, houseware that look like they come straight from Japan (but are actually made in the U.S.). Some of the tees (100% cotton) are pricey and others are pricier; the designs of the shirts are actually taken from original artwork At first touch, the t-shirts are as soft as a baby's bottom, but after several washings, the design fades, and the shirt itself gets pilly and is not so soft anymore. The company does well with website purchases, is responsive and ships the next day.

The Queens Library website looks like it would be a great resource for those folks who can physically visit it. The best part about the website is that it offers the Tumblebooks service (normally a couple hundred bucks) for free. Tumblebooks are e-books for children, and the site also has some books for adolescents. However, the e-books are wonderful for little ones up to age 13 or so, as all the illustrations are shown and usually the readers are quite good. My students love Tumblebooks, and I love the Queens Library for providing this service for free! Tumblebooks are here: http://www.queenslibrary.org/index.aspx?section_id=16&page_id=314