Welcome to the Insight List, the Web directory of resources that provide true insight, not just factoids and numbers. You won't find any search engines here, just knowledge. Dangerous? Perhaps, but if you are sick of surfing and want to learn, if you want depth in addition to breadth, here's the place to look. Sources of General Knowledge Here are the sights that contain huge amounts of information on an equally huge variety of topics. The Internet Public
Library, and The Online Books Page Sources of Specific Knowledge If you want to learn a few things about human nature look no further than Don't Spread that Hoax! and The AFU and Urban Legends Archive. The former is an archive of all those forwarded emails you're always getting. No, Nokia won't send you a free cell phone, no matter how many people you forward this message to. The latter archives and (dis)proves, urban legends in general, from the traditional (Two Teenagers and Hookhand) to the food-related (McDonalds uses earthworm meat as filler in their hamburgers!) to the truly bizarre (which I won't even mention). Afterwards, you'll ask yourself, "Who could be so gullible to believe this stuff?" That's a good question, but a better one is, "Who could come up with these stories in the first place?" Have you ever wanted to learn computer programming? Better yet, have you ever wanted to learn a new way of thinking, in which procedures are mutable objects? Look no further than Logo, the programming language. Visit The Logo Foundation to find out what it is, then go download Softronics MSWLogo for Windows. Unfortunately, there's not a whole lot of information on learning the language online, or on the concepts that inspired its creation. So you like math. (If you don't like math, skip this paragraph, or go back to the previous one.) You've solved every problem your calculus teacher could give you, and won money from him in the process. Now what? Try your hand at some real math problems. This is Extreme Mathematics folks, not for the faint-of-heart, or the weak-of-mind. First, take a look at the Problem Of the Week page. Fun math puzzles and problems from all different areas of study. These may be hard, but they are solvable; not so with the next site. Unsolved Problem of the Week Archive, home to three dozen unsolved problems, unproven conjectures, and the like. At least these are easy to grasp (high school algebra or above). The Clay Mathematics Institute has posted seven great unsolved problems on its site, and is offering $1 million each for solutions, but you'll need a Doctorate just to understand the problems, let alone try to solve them. Halfway between the two is Mathsoft's Unsolved Mathematics Problems. These are difficult problems, simply explained, with investigations into the problems to help you get started. You may need help with those math problems. Get Maxima, the free, open-source computer algebra system. Sure, it has a few rough edges, but you can't beat the price. Maxima is one of the family of CAS's derived from the original MIT Math lab's MACSYMA. With the new xmaxima interface for Windows and X, and the Web-enabled Netmath, and the cool 2-and-3d plotting engine OpenPlot, you will never be bored. Every once in a while, I get in the mood to do some biblical scholarship. If you have moods like that, then you need The Online Bible. Dozens of different translations, topical indices, commentaries (including John Gill's mammoth Expositor) and a host of other resources, you will never need to look further for insight into the Bible. (Note that some of the resources have a hostile anti-Arminianist slant to them.) |
============================================
Copyright © 2000 Andy Clifton