In Brief / March 2010

The expanding online universe is so immense that, in theory, we could easily fill all the pages of this magazine every month with a list of useful or entertaining sites that most people have never heard of. Since that won’t happen, we’ll do the next best thing and cull through the blogs and Web sites that your fellow readers have suggested.

Marian suggests a recently launched site, waffleizer.com. She writes, “Yes, this is an odd subject for a blog! I first heard about it on unclutterer.com, another great site.” The brainchild of Daniel Shumski, Waffleizer  transports the humble breakfast staple to a new niche in the world of everyday noshes. One look at the blog and you’ll see why he has quickly engaged the interest of chefs and foodies. All of the recipes are accompanied by eye-catching photos that will have you looking at waffles as a new food item in your kitchen. Check out the waffled aloo parantha, a potato-filled flatbread popular in India, or the waffled brown sugar–banana cake.

In the right hands, waffles can look like art — and so can phone books. See for yourself at projectsgallery.com/Queral.htm. Alex Queral, a Phildelphia sculptor, spends weeks on each of his creations by painstakingly cutting away bits from the depth of phone book pages to create a 3-D image of a famous face. So far, he’s created uncanny likenesses of Obama, Lincoln, George Carlin, James Brown, Jimmy Carter, Michael Moore, Jack Nicholson, Ringo, Willie Nelson, and more. Have a look — you won’t believe you’re looking at a phone book. And thanks to Andrea for the recommendation.

Mitch, a self-described Anglophile, suggested we look at PsyBlog (at spring.org.uk). Thanks, Mitch. We find this site to be fascinating, and so will many of our readers. Published by Jeremy Dean, a researcher at University College London (where he also earned a degree in research methods in psychology), PsyBlog enlightens in unexpected ways. A few topics we found of particular interest: how stereotypes can influence our behavior without our knowledge, how we quickly sense how others view us and play to these expectations, and how rewards can backfire and reduce motivation. The site is packed with ideas, insights, and a large number of relevant links.

Paul, a history buff, urged us to check out eyewitnesstohistory.com, and we’re a bit surprised we hadn’t heard of this before. As the name implies, this site is a collection of first-person verbatim accounts by those who witnessed significant moments in world history. From the home page, you can select from time periods ranging from Ancient World to the present. Each era or century then holds subcategories. (For example, under Ancient World, you can select Everyday Life in Greece, Gladiators, Pompeii, Dining with Attila the Hun, and 20 others). This is a site in which you could immerse yourself for hours without a sense of time passing. Thanks to Paul for this suggestion.

Lance Elko
Editor