Links to Interesting Web Sites

Financial Information

Abnormal Returns  Links to other links
Accounting terms  What the bean counters mean
American City Business Journals  Regional wannabees
Angry Bear  Blog by financial eggheads
Annual Credit Report   Yours. Free. Right here.
Annuity Museum  Fascinating history of a promise to pay
Bankrate  Help find the best interest rates
Better Business Bureau  Search a business’s bona fides
Big Charts  Minute by minute trading data to check your broker
The Big Picture  Rare blog with good graphics
Bloomberg  The business news service, not the man
Bureau of Public Debt  Buy those bonds, notes and bills here
Business Wire  Official line from the company
CalcMoolator  All kinds of financial calculators
Calculated Risk  Economic analysis up the blogzoo
Canada Stockbroker Disciplinary Records  Who got blamed, eh?
CFA Institute  No scandal among chartered financial analysts
Charles Schwab  Quick stock quotes from discount brokerage king
Consumer Price Index Since 1913  How much cheaper back then?
CNN Money  Latest happenings in business
Corporate Information  Company profiles worldwide
The D&O Diary  Watching corporate boards shirk their duties
EconBiz  Business studies and economics information
The Economist  International financial view from London
Economic History  Chatty economists, lots of neat links
Enigma  Cross-indexes public records by name
Federal Trade Commission  Warnings on many industries
Financial Times  Pinko business newspaper in London
Footnoted  Blog that reads the fine print
Forbes Business-oriented web site and publication
Fraser  Nifty economic data compiled by the St. Louis Fed
Free Erisa  See how underfunded your own pension plan is
Free Edgar   Smart retrieval of SEC filings
Free Lunch  Huge amount of economic data
Hedge Fund Adviser Records  Check out that secretive outfit
Internal Revenue Service  Taxing information
Investment Adviser Records  Check out that money manager
M&A Law Prof Blog  Dotting the I’s and crossing the T’s
Morningstar  The Bible on mutual funds
Motley Fool  Amusing but informative financial information
Municipal Bond Information  Finally, free online statements
PR Newswire  More official line from the company
Quatloos  Heads-up on scams, frauds, dubious investments
Quicken Financial Network   Personal finance advice
Raging Bull  Where unverified market gossip reigns supreme
Rank And Filed Highlights corporate connections
Securities and Exchange Commission  Public company filings
SEC Actions  A critical look at the agency that missed Madoff
SEC Info  Makes sense out of raw SEC documents
Seeking Alpha  Financial blog of financial blogs
The Simple Dollar  Personal finance blog
Social Security   Figure out what you got coming
Spendster  Public AA for spendthrifts, one bill at a time
State Securities Regulators  Where to blow the whistle
The Street.com  Broad financial coverage
Tax-Exempt Form 990s  Get the skinny on tax-dodgers
Tax Terminology  Some basic concepts
10-Q Detective  Sleuthing out the good stuff in SEC filings
Ticker Sense  Blog by Birinyi Associates
United Kingdom Parliament research reports  More than Brexit
Vanguard  Lots of financial information here
Yahoo Finance   Best investor chat around
Zillow  Computer estimate of a property’s value

General Research

About  The skinny on nearly everything
Acronym Finder  A guide to alphabet soup
American Rhetoric  Live feed of famous speeches
Answers.com  Hot quick source to everything from Gurunet
Census Data  Plenty of numbers here
CEO Express  Well-designed links to just about everything
Dictionary Plus  thesaurus
Dictionary.com  For various languages
The Discourse  Database of Canadian information
Double-Tongued Word Wrestler Dictionary  Includes slang
The Elements of Style  William Strunk’s classic work on writing
Encyclopedia Britannica  Great book but barely afloat
First Gov  Owner’s manual to the Federal Government
FreeDictionary  Lots of technical definitions
GlobalStat  Worldwide data sorted by topic
Library of Congress  Terrific way to track down old books
Merriam-Webster Online  Dictionary
One Look  Word definitions drawn from 100 dictionaries
Questia  Another paid Web site that is a virtual library
Reference Desk  Still another good collection of reference sites
Search Systems  Links to public records
Smithsonian Institution  Wide scope
UN Data  United Nations clearinghouse
University of Michigan  Wide collection of links to statistics and data
USA.gov  Portal to the Federal Government
Wayback Machine  Amazing archives of the entire Web back to 1996
Wikipedia  User-written encyclopedia of uncertain veracity
Wolfram ImageIdentify  Figure out what that picture is of
Wordnik  Combo dictionary, thesaurus that pronounces words
Yahoo Answers  Post your question and the world answers

Internet, Computers and Wireless

Bandwith Meter  Measure the speed of your Internet connection
Broadband Home Central  How to set up that home network
Bug Me Not  Enter Web sites without registration
Cell Reception  Provides map of nearby cell phone towers
File Extentions  Index to obscure computer file extensions like .vcd
File Info  Another listof computer extensions like
Internet Domain Lookup  The skinny on domain owners if not hiding
Internet Traffic Report  Congestion on the information superhighway
Namechk  Name available check on dozens of social sites
Net History Amazing story of the Internet
Search Engine Showdown  Critiques the backbone of the Web
Spyware Info Tipoff sheet about Internet snoops
Spyware Warrior  Tips on shaking that virus
Tech Crunch  Review Internet sites and services
Tech Dirt  The Page Six of the tech industry
WiFi Freespot.com   List of no-cost wireless access
Wi-Fi Planet  How to get wireless

Media, Entertainment and—Gasp!—Gossip

ABC  Major broadcast network with newsy site
Arts & Letters Daily  Points to humanities-oriented material
Associated Press  The granddaddy of wire services
Blank on Blank  Audio of old interviews
BBC World Service  Listen to its famous radio reports right here
Book Publishing Industry Directory  Everyone who’s anyone
Box Office Mojo  Movie stats galore
Breaking News  When you got to know the scoop right away
BusinessWeek  Dying financial pub owned by bond-rating scammer
Buzzfeed  New hot news site on the Web
Chicago Tribune  World’s Greatest Newspaper in bankruptcy
Christian Science Monitor  Top pub nobody reads
Classical Music Radio Stations Online  Hear Mozart right now!
CNN  Good for breaking news
The Dallas Morning News  Sad testimonial to family control
Deadline Hollywood Daily  Once run by the former Nikki Finke Greenberg
Drudge Report  Conservative gatekeeper
E! Online  Brad and Jennifer and Angelina and other such stuff
eWeek  What’s happening in the digital world
Forbes  Business-oriented web site and publication
Fox News  When you like your news with a spin from the right
Gawker  Gossip from New York and beyond
Gizmodo  New gadget blog
Google News  Fastest way to grab breaking news
The Guardian  Making a run in the U.S.
The Huffington Post  Blog of blogs
LA Observed  Online critique of things Los Angelesan
Los Angeles Daily News  Now edited elsewhere
Los Angeles Times  Not what it once was
MSNBC  TV spin from the left
MSN Money  Lots of material here
Music Archive  Huge number of performances, all for free
National Geographic  Without the dirty pictures
National Public Radio   A decent site, All Things Considered
New Mexico Magazine  Touts Land of Enchantment
Newser  Another news web site helping to sink newspapers
News Links  Links to media outlets worldwide
The New York Observer  Gotham weekly no longer thoughtful or witty
The New York Post Gossip Columns  The best in daily dish
The New York Times  Still the U.S. newspaper of record
O’Dwyer’s P.R. Newsletter  Spin about the spin
Old Newspapers  From 1880 to 1922 digitized by the Library of Congress
OMG!  Yahoo’s entry in the under-served celebrity-news market
The Onion  Satire, not news, but who cares?
Opera Broadcasts  Daily listings of when the fat lady sings
Overlawyered  Daily accounts of why there are too many lawyers
People  If you live for gossip and gossip alone
Press Think  Journalism blog by Professor Jay Rosen
Pro Publica  Paul Steiger’s life after The Wall Street Journal
PR Watch  Amusing dissections of paid propaganda and media spins
Public Domain Review  Lists literary properties losing copyrrights
Pulitzer Prizes  All the winners since the very first one in 1917
Radio Locator  Locate that AM or FM outlet
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press  Name says it all
Retraction Watch  Sadly, a lot of material to work with
Reuters  Detached foreign view with funny spellings
Salon  Online magazine of note
Science Daily  News on the next breakthrough
Scriptsales.com  Track those movie deals
Slate  Another online magazine of note
The Smoking Gun  Collection of gossipy documents
Sunday Times (London)  Surprisingly interesting to non-Brits
Talking Biz News  Giving business news outlets the business
TMZ  Its boss preaches privacy on TV, violates it on the Web
Toronto Globe and Mail  Canada’s top newspaper
TruthDig  Links to political journalism
United Press International  A shadow of its former self
Vancouver Sun  A lot less since retirement of David Baines
The Washington Post  Bezos-owned and poop from the nation’s capital
Weather Channel  What it’s doing outside, everywhere
Wired  Intersection of technology and culture
USA Today  Free searches back to 1987
Vice  Canada-based newssite with European dash

Political Information

Fact Check  Tries to keep pols on the straight and narrow
Fund Race  Plots addresses of political donors on a map
GOP USA  Red meat for red states
Open Secrets  Campaign contribution data
Politico  Increasingly the go-to site for political coverage
PolitiFact  Features the “Truth-O-Meter”
Project Vote Smart  All about candidates
Republican Offenders  Amusingly long list of GOP miscreants
Spinsanity  Another set-’em-straight site
Wonkette  Political gossip blog

Search Engines and Portals

A9  Search engine from Amazon.com
All The Web  Norwegian import with very broad coverage
AOL  Search engine with a tilt toward partners and own sites
Altavista  Still a damn good engine
Ask Jeeves  Stunning search logic using ordinary questions
Bing  Microsoft’s promising challenger to Google
Deja News  Indexes Usenet posting by everyone
Dogpile  Searches other search engines
Duck Duck Go  No-frills browser
Google  Also searches other engines, plus deleted pages
Google Groups  Searchable archives of newsgroup postings
Internet Archive  Dig up that old Web site
Mahalo  Claims to be “human-powered”
Microsoft Live Search  Surprisingly decent coverage
MsDewey.com  Scantily clad host talks back at you during searching
MSN  It’s a search engine, too
Search Mash  All-in-one Google engine for Web, video, blogs, pix
Stumble Upon  Your past searches help guide this engine
Wayback Machine  Amazing archives of the entire Web back to 1996
Wolfram Alpha  Newest engine touts “computational knowledge”

Services

Angies List  Review of home services
Get Human.com  Find the codes to evade company phone trees
Missing Money  Find unclaimed accounts in 37 states
Unclaimed   Find unclaimed accounts in 50 states
Zillow  In case you missed it above

Sites for Searching Blogs

Alltop  Blog-posting collector by industry
Flickr  Search for photos by name
Google Blog Search  Claims it can search minutes-old postings
Sphere  A comer in blog-searching
Technorati  Yet another source for researching blogs
Twingly  Still another search engine

Soccer

Advice to Referees  The fine print on offside
American Youth Soccer Organization    Everyone plays
FIFA  110 years of questionable oversight
Laws of The Game 2014-15  Slimmest rulebook in sport
Major League Soccer   Limited popularity outside Seattle
U.S. Soccer Federation  American umbrella

Specialty Searches

Banished Words List  Lake Superior State University’s gift to the world
BRB Publications  Interesting but a stalking horse for paid services
Canada Statistics  Pin down those numbers up north, eh?
Centers for Disease Control  Health info galore
Copyscape  Check for plagiarism
Federal Campaign Contributions  Democracy at work
Federal Prisoner Locator  Records of past and current inmates
Find A Grave  Searchable by last name only
Fix Ya  Helps diagnose things that break down
Footnote  Documents in the National Archives
Genealogy Records  Mormon Church’s famous archives
God Checker  Mythology encyclopedia
Graves of Famous People  Exhaustive index to final resting spots
Healthopedia  Links to medical information
How Stuff Works  The basics on the basics
Interment.net  Google-powered index to the deceased
Internet Movie Database  Track down Hollywood trivia
Justia  Free search of federal-court civil cases, and more
Landings  All about specific pilots and planes
Lifehacker  All kinds of shortcuts
Museum of Hoaxes  When it sounds too good to be true
NETRonline  Direct link to government public records
Nonprofit Organizations  Forbes list of 200 majors
Nonprofit Governance  BBB Wise Giving Alliance ratings
Open Secrets  Details the best democracy that money can buy
Patent and Trademark Server  Index goes way back—to 1790
Project Gutenberg  Full-text of many old books in public domain
Public Resource.org  Copyright records, building codes and more
Public Records Search  Free and paid sources
Search Engine Guide  Links to specialized Web findings
The Straight Dope  Basic answers to basic questions
Social Security Death Index  Dearly departeds back to 1933
State FOIA laws  Every single one
Tributes.com  Claims 90 million death records
U.S.Gen Web  Geneaological site that links to others
U.S. Postal Service  Figure out the freight and the rules
U.S. Supreme Court  Research about the Supremes
Web MD  Reference manual for the body
Who’s Alive and Who’s Dead  Lists deceased Playboy playmates
World Health Organization  Early word on the next epidemic

Telephone Numbers and Addresses

Anywho  AT&T’s directory assistance
Infospace   Another phone and address directory
InfoUSA  Still another phone and address directory
Reverse Phone Directory  Get name or address from number
Search-It-All  Another reverse directory
Switchboard  Also provides maps and directions
WhitePages.com  Also pulls up email addresses and bios
Zip Codes In A Radius  Find out who’s nearby

Travel

Airfare Watchdog  Real people searching for real discounts
Airline Crashes  Details every airplane crash since 1970
Alamo Car Rental  A tad cheaper than others
American Airlines  More accidents than most other carriers
Amtrak  Puts the drama back in long-distance travel
Avis  They try to try harder
BiddingTraveler  Helps you game Priceline.com
Bing Travel  Run for better or worst by Microsoft
Booking Buddy  Helps search other travel sites
Cheap Tickets  Another place to look for air deals
City Search  Guides to the city you are visiting
Czech Airlines  When you really want to take a flyer
Currency Converter  How many pesos to the dollar?
Delta Air Lines  Made “Change in Atlanta’’ famous
Driving Directions  How to get anywhere on the road
Driving Distance Calculator  In miles, not six-packs
Enterprise Car Rental  Also on the low side
Expedia  Book those airfares here
Fare Compare  Good for traveler with flexible dates
Flight Aware  Check if your flight went over a war zone
Flightstats  Tells you how often a specific flight is late
Flightrader 24  Another way to track that flight
Fly.com  Another ticket Web site that searches other ticket Web sites
Flyer Talk  When you have to vent
Flying Distance Calculator  Figure out the frequent flyer mileage
Foders  Lots of travel information
Frommers  Lists cut-rate deals
Frontier Airlines  Lower fares, but not low fares, through Denver
Gas Buddy  Find the cheap gas station while on the go
Google Maps  Current king of online mapping
Google Pedometer  Figure out the length of your daily walk
Google Places  Review of local services and restaurants
Hertz  King of rental cars
Hipmunk  Airfares displayed in a clever design
Inside Trip  Search airfares by price, speed, comfort or ease
Itasoftware  Zeroes in on cheapest days to fly
Jet Blue  Discount carrier that goes coast to coast—in good weather
Kayak  Better than most at finding lowair fares
Lonely Planet  Oriented toward backpackers
Los Angeles Transit   Featuring subways to nowhere
Mapquest  Ex-king of online mapping
Mesa Air  Getting around New Mexico and environs
Metrolink  Southern California’s commuter train system to nowhere
Mile Maven  How to get maximum frequent flyer points
Mobissimo  Another site to check for best airfares
New York City Transit  Get that subway map here
New York City Trafficcams  When you’re really, really bored.
Orbitz  Best for finding flights
Point Maven  How to get maximum frequent hotel points
Priceline  Frankly, you often can do better elsewhere
Seat Expert  Spotlight airplane seats with the most legroom
Seat Guru  Does the same thing as Seat Expert
SideStep  Search engine for best travel deals
Sit or Squat  Find the nearest bathroom
Southwest  Long beyond hot pants
Speed Trap  Smoking out Smokey
Spirit Airlines  Discount flights mainly along the East Coast
Thrifty Car Rental  A dubious outfit, from my dealings
Time Zones and Current Time  Set your watch right here
Travelocity  Good place for last-minute airfares
Trip Advisor  Helpful in booking hotel rooms
Trip Connect  Share your travel war stories
TripitCreate  complete itinerary for your big trip
US Airways  Nonstop service into the Hudson River
Walk Jog Run  Calculates distance of your jogging route
Weather Channel   Local conditions anywhere in the world
World Health Organization  Check for outbreaks before you go
Yapta  Monitors airlines for fare cuts after ticketing
Yelp  Restaurant reviews

Video, Image and People Searching

AOL Video Search  Serious place to look for tape
Bing  Microsoft’s entry into violation of personal privacy
Blinkx  One way to find that clip online
CVGadget  Site governed by “Dutch law”
Facebook  Check out that person here
FriendFeed  Canvass all the social networks at once
Google Video  Broad coverage of the medium
Google Image Search  Still the best for stills
iSearch  Promising people search site
LinkedIn  A Facebook for professionals
My Space  Check out that high school student here
Peek You  Promises more than it delivers
Picsearch  Name says it all
Pipl  Proclaims it searches “the deep Web”
Snitch  Name says it all
Spock  New entry in the field
Spokeo  Says its searches 42 social network sites
Tube Surf  Searches all the video search sites
Twitter  A Facebook for techies
Wink  Surprisingly effective people searches
Who2  Lots of biographies here
YouTube  Where copyright law is a dead letter
Zabasearch  Search public records by name
Zoom Info  Good at finding official bios on the Web