Kevin Shelly's Home Page

Links to Information and Good Stuff

[ info on the web | computing | genealogy | other ]

Welcome to the third millennium AD which began on January 1, 2001.
I support Free Speech on the Net

Hobbies and Interests

Special Services
- National Do Not Call Registry (United States) to avoid telemarketing calls. (added 2003 Jun 28)
Online Games
- Eternal Lands an MMORPG (massively multiplayer online roleplaying game) now in beta status and open to play at no charge. Linux, Macintosh, FreeBSD, and Windows clients are supported. A 3D accelerated graphics card is required. Characters advance in skills they use. Player to player combat is limited to certain areas of the world. The client is now open source and can be found in the BerliOS Developer Open Source project repository. Also see official Eternal Lands forums(new forum url 2004 Aug 25). My guild is The Mercenaries. There is also a French language version Landes Eternelles.
- Knight Online an MMORPG for Windows open to play at no charge (although during peak times only paying customers are allowed to log in). This is a combat oriented game instead of skills-based but it adds party capability (a group sharing experience and treasure). Each character is in one of two opposing factions at war with the other.
The Internet is an information resource
- News:
  - Slashdot. News for Nerds. Stuff that matters.
- internet finding aids: Alta Vista | Lycos | Excite | HotBot | LookSmart | Yahoo! | Google | Google Groups
- Wikipedia the free online encyclopedia
- List of fictional things characters, places, organizations, etc.
- What time is it? Ask the U.S. Naval Observatory
- US Postal Service Zip Code lookup
- telephone directories online: AT&T | Switchboard | teldir (infobel.com) | InfoSpace
- CATNYP New York Public Library Catalog
- IRIS Rutgers University Libraries' Information System
- The Constitution of the United States of America
- United States Code includes rules for the respectful use of the flag of the United States of America. added 2002 Dec 03
- How Stuff Works URL fixed 5 Apr 2008
- Urban Legends Reference Pages
- HealthMap global disease alert map - very cool - map where disease outbreaks have been reported worldwide added 2008 Jul
- Look for toxic waste in your neighborhood with EPA Envirofacts Warehouse - select EnviroMapper
- Travel:
  - New Jersey Transit site includes train and bus schedules
  - Amtrak
- Language-related resources:
  - How to type international accent marks and diacriticals new URL 27 Aug 2002
  - Babelfish Language Translator for text or web pages
  - Swedish-English dictionary
  - EuroDic multi-language dictionary new url 27 Aug 2002
- Map Resources
  - US Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System
  - Map generator from the U.S. Census Bureau
  - Mapquest
  - DeLorme map company
  - MapsOnUs
  - The Swedish Gazetteer
  - Terraserver database of satellite photos of the USA
- Health Resources
  - Bicuspid Aortic Foundation
- Infant & Child Issues
  - Child Passenger Safety from US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
  - CJ Foundation for SIDS - Sudden Infant Death Syndrome
  - New Jersey Family Care can provide health coverage for uninsured New Jersey families.
  - The Catastrophic Illness in Children Relief Fund of New Jersey can help with medical bills.
- Job Search Sites
  - Monster.com
  - Dice.com tech jobs
  - NJ.com for New Jersey jobs
  - New Jersey Help Wanted
  - MVSHelp for jobs using real computers
- Native Plants - Many people are still planting highly invasive non-native plants that suppress other species and reduce biodiversity.
  - Native Plant Society of New Jersey encourages use of native plants in landscaping. See the References for what to plant in New Jersey and what not to plant (invasive plant species).
  - Garden Web
  - Wildflowers
- Sign Language and Deafness:
  - National Association of the Deaf
  - Gallaudet University
- Better Business Bureau of US & Canada includes info on charities
- What's That Bug?
Computers
- Organizations:
  - ACM organization for computing professionals offers free technical courseware to members.
  - ACGNJ probably the oldest computer club still in existence.
- Computer shows
  - Trenton Computer Festival the oldest annual computer show in continuous existence includes many talks and seminars. It will be held April 22-23, 2006 at The College of New Jersey in Ewing, NJ.
  - Tri-State runs commercial shows in the New Jersey area
- GNU/Linux - a free clone of the UNIX(TM) Operating System for 80386+ systems and others
  - The GNU Project provides many of the programs that make Linux into a complete UNIX-like operating system.
  - Linux Documentation Project new url 15 Nov 2005
  - Linux Information HQ
  - Linux Tips & Tricks
  - Linux Newbie Administrator Guide new URL 14 Apr 1999
  - IBM developerWorks has stuff for Linux, Java, etc. including some open source!
  - Linux Journal magazine's web site
  - Linux Gazette an online magazine
  - Linux distributions: Slackware, Debian, Gentoo, Ubuntu
- MVS and OS/390
  - IBM zSeries (S/390) info
  - See also IBM OS/390 Manuals Online
  - The CBT Tape MVS Freeware Home Page
  - Hercules, a S/390 emulator for Linux
    - Hercules Home Page
    - Hercules Discussion Group (now hosted on Yahoo Groups - requires no-charge registration) - see also Hercules MVS Users discussion group. See also Gmane for newsgroup or web access to the Hercules list, Hercules MVS list as well as other email lists.
    - New User Documentation Effort
    - Instructions on generating and running OS/360 on Hercules
    - Jay Moseley's Hercules-related Documentation new URL 2002 Oct 17
  - MVSHelp has a great bulletin board plus job postings.
- Home pages for interesting software packages
  - Memtest86 a stand-alone (no operating system required) memory test for x86 architecture computers. added 2005 Dec 17
  - Pretty Good Privacy free encryption package
  - AVG offers a free antivirus program
  - Internet Junkbuster proxy that can filter advertisements, cookies, etc. from your browser. Check show proxy args to see if you have it installed correctly and check show http headers to see what information about your system is being sent to any web server that asks. See also Waldherr.org for some Junkbuster configuration suggestions.
  - PHP a free HTML preprocessor that can be used with a web server to display dynamic web content. See 7 Reasons Why PHP is Better than ASP.
  - check out the Internet Relay Chat (irc) home page
  - Mozilla an open-source web browser
  - RealAudio - get real-time audio broadcasts on the net
  - DOSEMU allows many MS-DOS programs to run under Linux on x86 systems
  - WINE allows some Windows programs to run under Linux on x86 systems.
  - PuTTY a free SSH client for Windows and other platforms added 2004 Jun 30
  - APLX an APL interpreter available for multiple platforms (version 1.1 free for personal use under Linux)
  - Blassic a "classic" BASIC interpreter available for Windows and Linux. new url 2007 Mar 12
  - Bas another BASIC interpreter for "UNIX" systems.
  - Sylpheed email client for Linux and others.new url 2007 Mar 12
  - OpenOffice.org a free "office" software package (word processor, spreadsheet, etc.)
  - EnZip freeware zip compression utility for Windows.
  - giftrans (c source code) - A tool that can convert gif files to GIF89a format and can set one color as transparent.
- Other places to find interesting software
  - The Converter's Paradise with (MS-DOS and Windows-based) programs to convert between various file formats - mostly images, audio, and video new URL 2003 Aug 24
- Java References
  - Java Tutorial from SUN
  - IBM developerWorks tutorials and training includes JAVA technology tutorials
  - Introduction to Programming Using Java online textbook
  - Java Programmers FAQ
  - Sun has online Java API documentation
- HTML and Website Development References
  - W3 Organization documents the official web-related standards
  - Web Authoring FAQ
  - The Bare Bones Guide to HTML
  - Caching Tutorial
  - Make your web site "Viewable With Any Browser"
  - HTML validation:
    - W3C's HTML Validator
    - WDG HTML Validator
    - Bobby analyze web pages for accessibility
  - Putting various characters into your documents: See How All Character Codes Display in Your Browser
  - Bruce Clay's Web Site Advice
- Anti-Virus, Virus Hoaxes and Computer Security references
  - CIAC Virus Hoaxes page should be checked before spreading a virus warning - most of them are known to be hoaxes and are documented here! new URL 2003 May 16
  - Vmyths more on computer virus myths
  - Gibson Research Corporation - provides some free security checks of your computer's internet connection! added 2002 Apr 04
  - insecure.org has a free security scanner, Nmap.
  - CERT has tips on reducing your computer's exposure to internet attacks
  - UNIX Security page from Matt's Web World
  - Top 20 Internet Security Vulnerabilities URL change 2007 Jan 22
- Vintage Computers and the History of Computing
  - Vintage Computer Festival promoting the preservation of obsolete computers.
  - Charles Babbage Institute Center for the History of Information Processing at the University of Minnesota new url 2003 May 16
  - Bitsavers archive of software and documentation for obsolete/defunct computer systems. added 2006 Juan 22
Genealogy
- Genealogy Organization Meetings
  - Monmouth County Genealogy Society (new url 13 Aug 2002)
  - Amateur Computer Group of New Jersey - Genealogy subgroup new url 2003 May 15
- Family Associations and Specific Surnames
  - Mechling Historical Association
  - Schoonovers in America includes a Schoonover Master Tree
- Surname Search Sites
  - FamilySearch, the LDS Church genealogy web site includes a search facility plus access to the family history library catalog online! added 12 Jun 1999
  - RootsWeb Search Engines page
  - Genealogy.com (Family Tree Maker) - MyGenealogy.com - subscribed online data library
  - Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild (new URL 2003 Oct 6)
  - NUCMC the National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections of the U.S. Library of Congress
  - Ancestry's Search Center try census search page (some data base searches are free, some are not)
  - US Government Official Land Patent Records Site (requires cookies and JavaScript)
  - Index to New England Naturalization Petitions 1791-1906 mostly German nationals
  - Cemetery Records search site
  - GenealogyLinks.net
  - Locality-specific:
    - Indiana:
      - Indiana Marriages before 1850 newer url 2004 Aug 12
    - Illinois:
      - Illinois State Archives has some searchable databases - (new URL 17 Feb 2001)
        
        see the state-wide marriage index through 1900 (not yet complete) and
        see the new state-wide death index 1916 through 1950
    - Missouri:
      - Missouri State Archives births and deaths through 1909
    - New Jersey:
      - See the Red Bank Register Master Index as well as other genealogy links on the Red Bank Public Library web site. added 2003 Sep 15
    - Ohio:
      - Ohio Historical Society Ohio Death Certificate Index
      - Licking County, Ohio resources including births, deaths, and obituaries added 11 Feb 2002
    - New Mexico:
      - Curry County, New Mexico Obituary Search on NMGenWeb new url 2006 Aug 9
    - Ireland:
      - Irish Origins
    - Sweden:
      - Bridge to Sweden
- Genealogy-related Events Listings
  - GenieSpeak's Event Listing page on the GenieSpeak Genealogy Speakers Bureau web site
- Genealogy-related Information
  - Information on the Gregorian Calendar date changes
  - The Learning Center features several genealogy "How-Tos" and some other genealogy-related material added 7 Sep 1999
  - Genealogy World has some good tips and information on genealogy research.
  - for definitions of diseases you may find in death or medical records, check out Glossary of Ancient Diseases or Glossary of Diseases both added 2002 Jun 30
  - Finding Passenger Lists arrivals at US ports from Europe
  - GEDCOM information on the familysearch.org website added 2004 Jun 30 since other GEDCOM reference page disappeared
- Vital Statistics Sources:
  - New Jersey Department of Health
- Genealogy Web Site Directories and Other Resources
  - USGenWeb linking to genealogical information across the USA new url 2004 Aug 12
  - National Genealogical Society
  - Federation of Genealogical Societies new URL 2007 January 22
  - New England Historic Genealogical Society added 2003 Jun 28
  - The Genealogical Society of New Jersey added 2003 Jun 13
  - National Archives (USA) Genealogy web page
  - Library of Congress (USA)
  - New Jersey Division of Archives & Records Management added 2004 Apr 02
  - Cyndi Howells' list of genealogy sites on the Internet new URL 19 Feb 1998
  - Check out this list of genealogy indexes and databases on the web added 9 Dec 2002
  - genealogybranches.com helps locate some good finding aids. added 23 Mar 2004
  - Census Online pointers to census transcriptions by state and county added 28 Aug 1998
  - Newspaper Abstracts new 9/20/2001
  - Peggy Loos' extensive genealogical charts of her family
  - FamilyHart Pennsylvania Dutch Database over 238,000 linked names new url 09 Jan 2001
  - GenealogySF Page
  - Genealogy Gateway to the Web
  - U.S. Newspaper Program to microfilm U.S. newspapers (new url 9/16/2001)
  - CGAH - United Methodist archives
  - U.S. Civil War Homepage
  - FuneralNet funeral home directory
  - Hardin County, Ohio Genealogy Research Center
- Genealogy-related Vendors and Publishers
  - The Everton Publishers - publications
  - Ancestry - online databases - CD-ROMs
  - Heritage Quest - publications - CD-ROMs
  - gencd.com - CD-ROMs - downloadable data
  - CompuGen Systems - supplier of single surname indexes to Indiana and Ohio newspapers (and Indiana directories and Indiana land records) - customized reports new url 2008 Jul
  - Family Line Publications is now part of Willow Bend Books - books
  - Mechling Associates Western Pennsylvania Genealogy and History Books - new URL 9 Jul 1999 - books
  - Sistler Genealogy publisher focusing on Southeastern U.S. - books new url 2008 Jul
  - Retrospect Publishing focusing on Pennsylvania - CD-ROMs
  - Genealogy Book Store - books - CD-ROMs
  - Society of Genealogists Bookshop in the UK - books
  - Frontier Press - new URL 9 Jul 1999 - books
  - Higginson Book Company - books
  - Heritage Books - books - CD-ROMs
  - T.L.C. Genealogy Books and Search Services - books
- Surnames I am researching include: Allshouse, Anderson, Ashton, Ballinger, Bartholomew, Baugh, Borden, Brown, Cahill, Clunn, Cooperrider, Davis, Decker, Dodridge, Dusthimer, Elms, Fox, Frazier, Holmes, Huff, Hyde, Lewis, Lindahl, Luckenbach, Mechling, Mitchell, O'Brien, Olson, Orr, Otterman, Pell, Perryman, Ridenour, Roper, Roupach, Schoonover, Shelly, Throckmorton, and Wilcox.
Mathematics
- Check out Pi Land if you are interested in mathematics or Pi in particular.
Music
- MidiWorld
- SWIL Filkbooks
Humor
- Toddler Property Laws from a humorous email message I received
- Helpful hints for present and future evil overlords:
  - See the Evil Overlord List on the Evil Overlord, Inc. web site.
  - See also the Evil Overlord Lists on thalia.org.

Other People's Pages

Free Range Librarian a blog by K.G. Schneider

Specialized Resources

My collection of merchants on the web
My collection of media-related references

Stuff to be added to this page

More personal genealogy
More pointers to useful or interesting pages

Here's how to contact Kevin email changed 10 Mar 2003. This page has been moved from its previous home at infionline.net (previously infi.net and injersey.com) to http://mywebpages.comcast.net/kjshelly/.