Givle.com
An Adelaide accountant and web enthusiast, Richard Khoo, has set up a site that mirrors Google, called Givle.com.
It is based on the blackle.com site – which is Google with a black background. The idea is that when you use a black background when searching, it reduces the power consumed by your monitor by a small amount every time you search, when compared to having undertaken a normal google search on a white background. The savings are larger for CRT monitors, but a savings is still present for LCD monitors, every little bit helps.
Givle has been set up to earn revenue through the Google Adsense program. But unlike other sites, funds raised go to charity, rather than into the pockets of the webmaster. In fact this was the main reason Givle was established.
Givle have decided that the first charity they will support is ‘Carpets for Communities’ a grass roots, poverty empowerment program which is helping to bring children begging at the Thailand/Cambodia border, back home and into school. They provide a grass roots economic program for the children’s mothers to work at home and create hand crafted carpets & rugs from offcuts which have been gratefully sourced from local manufacturers.
Carpets for communities
As mentioned above, this is the charity being supported by Givle.
On the site at the time of my review, is a profile of one of the early participants. It reads:
Meet Ruet, a 43-year-old widow and mother of twelve. She lives with nine of her children in Dey Thmey Village, Cambodia near the Thai border. Before joining Carpets for Communities (CfC), five of Ruet’s children spent their days as umbrella holders, shielding sun from tourists as they crossed the border into Cambodia. They didn’t go to school, and their work left them vulnerable to child trafficking. The family subsisted on the meager 120 Baht ($3) they averaged each day.
Through CfC, Ruet has been empowered to make a change. The money she makes selling her hand-hooked carpets helps her support her family and enables her five school-aged children to go to school.
Unusual Hotels of the World
Two friends, who had spent many years visiting & promoting destinations all over the world both personally and for corporate activities decided to create a definitive guide for the many hotels around the world that offer their guests something unusual about their stay. Be it that guests stay underground, inside an igloo, up a tree or even underwater, Unusual Hotels of the World has set out to be the online location for travellers from around the globe to access information and subsequently book rooms at unusual hotels.
Woodpecker Hotel (Vasteras, Nr Stockholm, Sweden)
Tree house set 13 metres above a Swedish public park, with rope ladder access only.
Thirteen metres is a long way up any tree, let alone a 130 year oak tree in the central park of Vasteras near Stockholm, Sweden. Reached via a sturdy, but wobbly rope ladder the platform has an impressive view of the park below and out to the lake beyond. Pull up the rope ladder and you retire to find the treehouse well thought out and equipped. From an IKEA bed and duvet, heater and cooking facilities to the most valued of all items when you’re at the top of a tree, a toilet, Mikael has thought out your needs. There are even a few books in a small library.
Surprisingly you never quite escape the background noise of the city centre. I’m not enough of a bird watcher to appreciate birdsong from the crack of dawn, but at night the only reminder of civilization is the faint roar of traffic on the road far below. If you want peace and solitude, don’t forget to turn off your mobile – coverage is rather good from this treetop vantage point.
Jules Undersea Lodge (Key Largo, Florida, U.S.A.)
The original undersea hotel, where suitably qualified divers must swim 21 feet below the surface to gain access to this 2 roomed hotel. Kitchenette, TV and beds await those who choose to book.
When guests visit Jules’ Undersea Lodge in Key Largo, Florida, they discover that the name is no marketing gimmick. Just to enter the Lodge, one must actually scuba dive 21 feet beneath the surface of the sea. Entering through an opening in the bottom of the habitat, the feeling is much like discovering a secret underwater clubhouse. The cottage sized building isn’t short on creature comforts: hot showers, a well stocked kitchen (complete with refrigerator and microwave), books, music, and video movies. And of course there are cozy beds, where guests snuggle up and watch the fish visit the windows of their favourite underwater “terrarium”. Jules’ Undersea Lodge manages to reach a perfect balance of relaxation and adventure.
The interior has two living chambers, each 20 feet long and 8 feet in diameter. One chamber is divided into two 8 x 10 foot bedrooms; the other is an 8 X 20 foot common room with dining and entertainment facilities. Between the two chambers is a 10 X 20 foot “wet room” entrance area with a moon pool entrance (similar to a small swimming pool), a shower and bathroom facilities.
Dylan Messaging
To promote the release of the new album Dylan: His Greatest Songs compilation, this site gives all Dylan lovers the chance to create a customised version of that famous Subterranean Homesick Blues video. Simply type in your message across ten blocks, to have your words appear on Bob’s giant cue cards. When you’re happy with the results, you can send the video to a friend.
Download.com
Do you like downloading software and games on your computer? Ever wonder what everyone else is downloading? Check it all out at download.com where you can see all the most popular MP3’s, CD Burners, Internet Tools, Games, Animations, Screensavers, Wallpaper, and so much more. Its worth a look and you might get a few ideas too.
AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition is the top download – no wonder, it is a good program and it’s FREE.
There’s also stories about Adobe previewing its free, online version of photoshop. With one click, you can fix red eyes or blemishes. The application also generates a thumbnail of an image with various effects, like sepia tone, which people can click on to select. With the image editor, you will also be able to create slide shows, share pictures with others and embed photos in Web pages.
Exercise online
Summer is coming which means it’s time to get ready to fit into your bathers again. We all know that regular exercise is a crucial part of this regime – as well as being good for health – but it can be hard to get to the gym. This useful site makes it easy to learn how to workout and plan your schedule from the comfort of your own PC.
It has simple, animated examples of over 100 exercises for all different muscles so that you can learn new techniques, keep your routine diverse, and correct bad form. Simply select a specific muscle group, lazily drag your mouse over it, and then get out of your chair and try it!
It is quite comprehensive with easy-click buttons to focus on chest, shoulders, triceps, back, biceps, forearms, traps, lower back, abs, quadriceps, hamstrings, calves, and shins.