Links and Resources


Links referred to in my Bio
Cool and Interesting People
Queer Links
Gender Issues
Activism & Issues
Science Sites
PalmOS device links
Motorcycle Stuff
Humour & Entertainment
Web Programming & Graphics Stuff
Other Interesting Links

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Links referred to in my Bio

Alt.polyamory home page
This is the Frequently Asked Questions listing from the Usenet newsgroup Alt.Polyamory. The term "polyamory" refers to an openness to multiple simultaneous romantic/loving/sexual relationships. If you want to know more, see the FAQ!
Homepage of the Australian Bisexual Network
The ABN are a very worthy bunch of individuals who campaign for bisexual rights and bi visibility, and their homepage includes a number of useful resources.
Society for Creative Anachronism Home Page
This is the "official" SCA website. My local group's home page can be found here.
La Trobe University Home Page
This is the home page for La Trobe Uni in Melbourne, Australia - the uni I am enrolled at as a student.

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Cool and Interesting People

The Big Scary Housewife
One of the multiple weird and wonderful websites written by a very good friend of mine. This one is definitely worth a visit, especially if you're having an odd moment...(you'll see what I mean when you get there.)
CJ Cherryh's Home Page
My favourite author of all time - she writes hard SF and good fantasy, with real, three dimensional, complex people... not a cardboard character to be seen! Her articles on writing technique are a must for any hopeful writer who wants to improve their technique.
Stef Maruch
Stef is a regular poster on alt.polyamory, and an interesting and thoughtful person. This is amply demonstrated in her "poly posts archive", which is well worth browsing through. A very canny and sensible woman indeed.
Serene
Serene is a charmer, a delightful conversationalist and a poet. She also hangs out on alt.polyamory and the Wombat mailing list, and has an irreverent sense of humour. What more need be said?
Eric S Raymond
Eric Raymond is the author of "The Jargon File" and many other interesting tracts. His website is full of opinion pieces and writings of all kind, and is a fascinating place to browse.

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Queer Links

Queer Resources Directory
Browse in here for hours! Here are articles relating to topics as diverse as Queer culture, parenting, media, events, history and more!
Lesbian, Bisexual Gay Humour
Some of these are a bit dodgy...however, I particularly recommend "hints for hets" which I currently have stuck to my fridge.
The Wombat Web Page
Wombat is a mailing list for bi and bi-friendly women. It has a LOT of subscribers, and topics range from gender politics to movies to what sort of situations are appropriate for wearing glitter in one's cleavage (just to cite a few recent examples). Wombat women are tres cool!
Anything That Moves
Subtitled "the magazine for the uncompromising bisexual", which I think says it all.
Bi Community News
This is a UK bi magazine. Its not as pretty as "Anything that Moves" but has lots of fascinating articles (and back issues).

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Gender Issues

The Angels' Dictionary - an Androgyny RAQ
An RAQ is a Rarely Asked Questions list (in case it isn't obvious), and this site discusses androgyny, which is here defined as being indeterminate in gender (as opposed to "intersexual" and "hermaphrodite" which refer to people who are indeterminate in physical sex). Fascinating and quite tongue-in-cheek in places.
Gender-Neutral Pronoun FAQ
Scroll down past the first screen or so of links that appear, and you'll find an interesting and thorough disquisition on the subject of the use of gender-neutral pronouns in the English language. Nifty stuff indeed.
Kate Bornstein's Gender Aptitude Test
This is a very tongue-in-cheek quiz with which you can measure your own personal level of gender enlightenment - at least, according to Kate Bornstein. It's lots of fun, and very silly.
Laura's link list
These were compiled by Laura Anne Seabrook about transsexual issues and politics. Some of these are great - I particularly recommend the writings of Riki Anne Wilchins, about a quarter of the way down the page.

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Activism & Issues

The world is full of Bad Stuff, misinformation and injustice. I sometimes suspect that since so many of the things that a lot of people have Issues about tend take a similar form, that there is the same underlying mechanism and reasons behind the oppression and harassment of many diverse groups of people. Much as I would like to do my bit for all of these very valid Causes, I can't. I can only do so much. So here are some sites relating to a few Issues that I have a particular interest in, and that present some of the major arguments of each.

Action for Aboriginal Rights
The Kooris are Austrlia's indigenous residents and they lived here for thousands of years before Europeans arrived. In the last two hundred years or so the European colonists and invaders have stolen their land, shot and poisoned them and attempted to wipe out their culture. Finally that is starting to change and white Australians are starting to accept the value of the Koori people and culture; but there is still so much systematic racism and oppression in many aspects of white Australian culture that it can be quite sickening. This site contains information on many of the major issues facing Kooris in Australia today.
Feminist.Com
This is a vast site that covers a wide range of feminist thought. The layout can be a bit odd in places; but the articles are wonderful, and include many classics of feminist rhetoric. I've yet to work my way through a small fraction of the literature available here. If you're even slightly interested in the range of ideas and opinions that can be found under the Feminist rubric, do yourself a favour and check this site out.
About.Com's Attention Deficit Disorder web resource
Attention disorders are a class of neurological differences/problems that are widely misunderstood. There is an astonishing amount of misinformation and disinformation spread by ignorant people on this topic, and this site attempts to counter some of that. It is hosted by Bob Seay, who is a person with Attention Deficit Disorder himself, and he provides a very broad selection of material here that ranges from simple "what is ADD" sorts of stuff through to attempts to counter some of the more hostile anti-ADD propaganda that is put out by certain organisations for their own reasons. While Bob makes his own views about these controversies clear, he is very fair-minded and provides some of the best coverage of these issues that I've seen.
The Fat Person's Home Page, and MaryMc's Fat Acceptance Stuff
Fat Acceptance (also known as Size Acceptance) is a movement that aims to promote tolerance of size diversity and counter the "you've gotta be thin" mentality that causes so much anguish to so many. They make some very interesting points. One thing that I found particularly noteworthy was the references to a large amount of little-known medical research that makes it clear that being fat per se is less of a risk to health than actively dieting, which can do a surprising amount of damage to an otherwise healthy body. It is also interesting to note that a lot of the "well known" ideas about diseases related to being fat are not actually supported by the research literature.

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Science Sites

Interesting Human Factors Sites
"Human Factors" is the term Americans use for the field of Ergonomics. It is a field of study that looks at "making tasks fit people" - which is to say, taking into account human strengths and weaknesses at the design stage of a task, rather than just asking people to adjust themselves to a badly designed task. (Ever worked in a badly designed job? Then you'll know what I'm on about here.)
ErgoWeb: The Place for Ergonomics
A site for material related to the Ergonomics field. While not exactly exciting to the casual browser, it has a lot of useful references and information that are of value to the professional Ergonomist.
1st International Conference on Novice Driver Issues
This site has downloadable papers and abstracts on this topic, as well as fascinating discussion fora. I find it of particular interest since my thesis topic relates to the development of hazard perception skills in novice drivers. A very good site on this important topic.
Road Safety Links
Compiled by the Institute of Advanced Motorists, this is a comprehensive collection of links relating to road safety in all its forms, and is regularly updated.
Bad Human Factors Designs
If you are unsure why Ergonomics is important in product design, look no further...
National Severe Storms Laboratory
This is an American meteorology lab whose purpose in life is increasing the accuracy and timeliness of forecasts for tornadoes, cyclones, hailstorms and other unhelpful weather. This site includes information both on the storms themselves and on the technology being developed to study them.
NASA's Space Science website
And this is the site to visit if you want to know what NASA's currently up to. It lists all the current projects under way, with lots of info about each one; and it has a pretty complete list of NASA's past missions and what they achieved. Good stuff on space science, from the horse's mouth.
The Houghton Mars Project
This describes a fascinating project whereby manned missions to Mars are simulated in an environment that are analogous to Mars conditions in a number of ways. It is taking place on Devon Island in the Canadian Arctic, and my friend Brian is one of the folk involved with this project, which makes it even more interesting to me!
HubbleSite
Space Science pretties! The Hubble Space Telescope takes the most glorious astronomical photos from orbit, and this site is stuffed to the gills with the best of them. It has a huge archive of images, each with a clear description of exactly what it is you are viewing. Planets and nebulae and galaxies, Oh My!

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PalmOS device Resources

Palm Inc official website
Palm are a company very committed to encouraging third party developers, and there are a lot of interesting resources on their site. Of course, the site also has all the latest greatest Palm devices and accessories made by these folks as well.
Handango PalmOS software archive
This is one of several really useful PalmOS software archives on the web. Make your PalmOS device tapdance!
Palm Gear HQ
Another good software archive.
Eurocool
The third of my favourite PalmOS software archives. This one's notable because you can filter software according to whether it is freeware, shareware or commercial, which is nice.
TaleStuff
These folks are makers of nifty plug in hardware for your palm device, such as the Talelight (a little light that plugs into the hotsync port and can be software-driven). Nifty stuff.
A Palm-powered robot kit
I think this one's in the "daft-but-cool things you can do with your Palm" category...
Minor Demons software
Then again, some things are just plain daft... the "Gaydar" app was kinda fun, if a bit limited in it's long term entertainment value. But you'll probably get a giggle out of any of their stuff, if you're not too easily-offended (some's a bit... er... "impolite"!).
Some PalmOS software devlopment resources
And when you get bored with all of the stuff available through the software archives, write your own apps. Here are some development tools.

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Motorcycle stuff

Zebee Johnstone's Guide to buying a Second Hand Motorbike
Zebee is a font of wisdom for those coming to the Usenet newsgroup aus.motorcycles for advice, and one day I presume she got sick of answering the same questions about bike purchasing again and instead assembled her accumulated thoughts on this topic for the benefit of all.
Cameron Simpson's MotorCycle Page
Cameron Wilson is also a stalwart of aus.motorcycles, and he has compiled this site of interesting bikey bits.
131 Ways to Drop Your Motorcycle
Another gem found on aus.moto. You'll cack yourself laughing in places...I know I did!

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Humour & Entertainment

Warp Graphics and Elfquest
Elfquest was the first comic aimed at adults that I came across, back when I was an undergrad, and I still have a soft spot for it.
OMNI Magazine
For a slightly more colourful and less technical view of science, Omni magazine's a damn good read.
The Lurker's Guide to Babylon 5
Babylon 5 is the only tv show I would go out of my way to watch...a damn good series, and this site has everything the true B5 fan needs to appreciate the show fully! (Well, maybe not everything, but you know what I mean....)
The Force.Net
This is a vast resource dedicated to Star Wars fans (of which I am one). It contains, among many other things, all the latest goss on Episode 2 (in case you might be curious), and is a fascinating place to spend hours browsing on matters StarWarsian.
Purity Tests!
Dozens of 'em...from the bog-standard sort to the "Gillian Anderson purity test" or "international baccalaureate purity test" (go figure). I scored 52.4% on one (but I'm not telling you which!)
The Centre for the Easily Amused
This site is an absolute classic! Where else would you find such gems as "the time wasting calculator", "useless web cams" or a "stress relief aquarium" (where you can electrocute, bomb or otherwise torment a helpless cartoon fish)?
And the Bride Wore...
Here is a site devoted to sartorial disasters of the matrimonial kind. I find the commentary particularly amusing.
Virtual Bubble Wrap
This is another one of those sites for the Easily Amused among us. While away hours and hours with this perpetual bubble wrap.
Hot AIR
The website for the Annals of Improbable Research, which is devoted to scientific research that "cannot or should not be reproduced".
The Worst of the Web
This will keep you entertained for days. Go on, you know you want to...

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Web programming and Graphics Stuff

The Barebones HTML Guide
This is not an HTML tutorial; it is more of a "cheat sheet" that lists the various HTML tags and gives examples of proper formatting of each. It also includes links to other useful HTML how-to sites on the web.
Advanced HTML Tutorials
Now this is a tutorial. Or more accurately, a collection of tutorials. It has a huge collection of "how to" articles on a wide range of very useful topics, along with articles, FAQs and discussion fora. All in all, a hugely useful website.
Moyra's Web Jewels
Moyra is a graphic artist who produces some utterly glorious web graphics for other folk to use on their websites. There's a wide range of different stuff here (suited to a variety of tastes), but they are all beautifully implemented. This site is a visual feast... but may be rather slow to load if you don't have a fast connection.
The On-line POV-Ray Tutorial
POV-Ray is my ray-tracing package of choice. This may have a lot to do with the fact that it is freeware [grin], but also has plenty to do with its power and versatility. However, it does have a bit of a steep learning curve. I found these on-line tutorials so much help that I printed out the ones I referred to most often, and keep them in a folder next to my computer for frequent reference.
POV-Ray VFAQ
Here we have another useful reference that helps demystify the Arcane Secrets of POV-Ray! The VFAQ in the name (standing for "very frequently asked questions") says it all.
The Internet Ray-Tracing Competition
Some ray-tracing devotees take their art very seriously. Here is an introduction to some of the best ray-traced graphics around, which can give you an idea of what you can do with ray-tracing software if you really know how to drive it!
Web Pages That Suck
And just for a change of pace, here is a website devoted to web design abominations. The author describes in detail exactly *why* they suck, as well. Some parts of the site are little frame-heavy, such as the "tour" of worked-example sucky sites - the featured "sucky page" appears in one frame, the critique in another and the site navigation links in a third. The "Daily Sucker" section seems to be a little more gracefully handled, and is quite a lot of fun since it consists of real-live sucky sites rather than worked examples.
HTML Hell Page
And in a similar vein, here's Eric Raymond's rant on the topic of web design abominations. I've got to say, I think I agree with him on most of them.

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Other Interesting Links

Slashdot
Subtitled "News for nerds, stuff that matters", this is a magazine/discussion forum focussed on the on-line world. With a technical, geeky flavour it covers stuff like open-source, online censorship, Usenet, web design, and programming, just to select a few. I find it interesting and thought-provoking in a whole bunch of ways.
Eric S. Raymond's essay on "How to Become a Hacker"
Eric Raymond is the editor of the Jargon File, and Knows Of What He speaks. For a briefer introduction to hacker culture than said Jargon File, this essay is a pretty good start.
URouLette
This can be fun on those really slow days. Click on the roulette wheel and get sent to a random site. Whee. Most of 'em are boring commercial sites for holiday resorts in Upper Squinton-on-Yawn; but there are some gems squirreled away among them.

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