Genealogy -- My interest in genealogy started in 1959, when I interviewed my maternal grandmother concerning relatives and ancestors in order to make a visual chart of the relationships. I got my late wife interested as well as my son, who now has pretty much taken over the ongoing research. We've been able to trace my family back to the early 1800's and my wife's family back to the 1600's. During the early 1980's our family research got to a point that, whenever I drove the family past a cemetery, the kids would say, "Oh, can we stop and see who's buried there?"
National Archives Genealogy Holdings
Genealogical Resources Elsewhere on the Internet (list created by National Archives)
Ancestry Search
Astronomy/Space -- Ever since about 4th grade I've been interested in the night sky: stars, constellations, planets, meteors, comets, etc. In my post-college years I've become more interested in planetary orbital calculations, planetary conjunctions, and eclipses (the last solar eclipse over North American soil was in 1989; the next one won't be until 2017). When I purchased a reflecting telescope for my son, I was simply amazed at seeing Jupiter with its 4 major moons and Saturn with its rings. It was a neat experience to have seen Halley's Comet in 1985-86. For me, this was my once-in-a-lifetime viewing; my kids, however, might still be alive (they'll be in their 80's) when the comet returns in 2061 with a much better view.
AstroLinks
NASA Home Page
Links to Space-Related Sites
Approximate Astronomical Positions (useful formulas and links)
Weather -- Not only have I been interested in the night sky but also the day sky, in terms of observing clouds (and their beauty at times) and learning more about predicting weather.
The Weather Channel
University of Illinois Weather Machine
Current Weather Maps
Chicago Area Weather
Chicago Weather Forecast
WebWeather
Cloud Gallery
Oceanographic Products and Services Division, NOS, NOAA (very good tides resource)
Tides and Tide Prediction (excellent resource!)
Navigation (and other marine) programs and information files (Peter Bennett)
WWW Tide and Current Predictor
Nautical Software Products (Tides & Currents for Windows, etc.)
Mathematics -- Mathematics and especially numbers have always interested me. I was a math "major" in high school, winning several awards in state math contests. One of my favorite magazines during my high school years was Recreational Mathematics Magazine because it dealt with number theory, unusual but interesting applications of mathematics, and mathematical puzzles. I'm rather analytical by nature, and I enjoy searching for patterns in numeric data. I particularly enjoy the relationships between mathematics and music.
The Math Forum Internet Resource Collection
Stock Market -- My main interest is not in investing and related topics but, rather, in attempting to predict market action. I have done extensive research into all sorts of technical indicators (even some rather arcane ones) and developed two of my own: a modification of the Sensitive Index (invented in the 1930's by Stephen Gargilis and used by him as the basis of his financial service through 1965, when he retired) which makes it valid for all market levels (without having to change the formula ever so often), and an original index which relates price and volume to show visually the strength or weakness of market movement.
Technical Analysis of Stocks and Commodities ("the traders' magazine")
Interactive Quote's Tutorials on Technical Analysis
Decision Point's Technical Analysis Short Course
Equity Analytics' Tutorials on Different Technical Indicators
Peter's Window on Wall$treet (indicator formulas, etc.)
"Interpreting Technical Indicators" by Richard W. Asplund (Optima Investment Research)
Historical Indicator Charts
Daily Indicator Charts
Decision Point Market Timing & Charts
The Stock Room: Relative Strength and Technical Analysis Interactive Charts
Jack's Picks: PolyDimensional Analysis
Stock Market Forecasting (price pattern predictions by Galateia Corp.)
Market Cycles
Investment Research
CPCUG's Investment Special Interest Group
www.alphachart.com (requires Java)
NYSE Historical Statistics
Data Library--Trade Tools, Inc.
Global Financial Data (long-term historical data)
Pinnacle Databases (historical data)
Invest-o-rama! - Directory of Technical Analysis Sites
Astrikos Financial Links (some arcane resources)
Wall Street Directory (yellow pages)
Usenet:misc.invest.technical (technical analysis)
misc.invest.technical FAQ (1994)
Magic / Conjuring -- Since 4th or 5th grade I have found magical illusions to be fascinating. I've always loved trying to figure out how they were done. Sometimes some of the simplest things stump people the most. Thus, initially, I appreciated the entertainment value of magic the most. Although I'm not a practicing magician, I've collected a few specialized books and purchased a number of illusions (such as the linking rings, a variation on the floating ball, and others), and so I pretty much know the "secrets" and techniques of illusions and sleights of hand. Thus I now appreciate not only the entertainment aspect of magic and conjuring, but also the skill and craftsmanship of magicians in performing this art.
The All Magic Guide
Magic Show (magical tips and news)
The Titanic -- I've been interested in the Titanic disaster since the early 1980's. Robert Ballard's discovery of the sunken remains in 1985 was an exciting event for Titanic buffs. The various books I have, the National Geographic videotape and various television specials, and James Cameron's blockbuster motion picture have been very useful to understanding the event in 1912 and the period since.
The Titanic Home Page
In Memoriam: R.M.S. Titanic
Ocean Planet: How Deep Can They Go? - The RMS Titanic
RMS Titanic
R.M.S. Titanic: Eternal Legacy
The Beale Ciphers -- This cryptographic mystery has fascinated me since the early 1980's, when I first read about it in Creative Computing. Supposedly, one Thomas Jefferson Beale buried somewhere in western Virginia a large amount of gold and silver that he and friends had discovered out West. He left behind three ciphers indicating where, what, and who. The second cipher was supposedly solved by numbering the words in the Declaration of Independence and substituting the first letter of the word for the corresponding number in the cipher. The first and third ciphers remain unsolved. The treasure, if it exists, has been estimated to be worth between $15 and $30 million. Like others, I have tried my hand at computer programming to assist in solving the puzzle.
The Riddle of the Beale Treasure
The Mystery of the Beale Treasure
"Legends of treasure ignite a search for gold"
Beale Bibliography
Old-time Heroes and Superheroes -- When I was a kid growing up on a farm, nearly the only comics and adventure stories we had (other than gift books such as the Hardy Boys, Tom Swift, and Nancy Drew) were what my father had bought years before, in the 1940s: Superman, Captain Marvel, Green Hornet, Green Arrow, etc. In subsequent years I became interested as well in others, such as Batman, Buck Rogers, and especially Flash Gordon. In the early years of television, during the 1950s, a local television station broadcast old movie serials every Sunday noon. I must have seen all three Flash Gordon serials (1936, 1938, 1940) at least three or four times and loved them every time. I vowed to myself as a kid that, if these films (and other Flash Gordon-related materials) ever became available to the public, that I would acquire them. I have the reprintings of the original comic strips, the three serials, the feature film versions (abridgements) of the serials, and the 1980 remake of the Flash Gordon saga starring Sam Jones. I managed to get a couple of the paperback retellings of the Flash Gordon tales published back in the 1970s or 1980s, and in the early 1990s I bought the 9-issue comic retelling of the stories. As I have time and opportunity (both in short supply!), I try to acquire other Flash Gordon items as I become aware of them.
John Breslin's Sci-Fi Page (comics heroes, movies, TV shows, etc.)
The Unofficial Flash Gordon Movie Page (1980 film only)
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