Favorite Slightly Geeky Non-Music Websites

[bhodges]

One of my favorite websites is Internet Traffic Report, which monitors Internet data flow around the world.  Sometimes if my connection is acting up, I stop in to see if North America has a low overall number, or extreme "packet loss" (i.e., data loss) as they call it. 

I also like Thinkpad's Visual Thesaurus, that displays synonyms visually, in a tree-like format.  It may or may not be better than using other methods, but it's sure entertaining.

And one more: Sodaplay, which allows you to build strange creatures out of "masses and springs," and then (if they are built properly) to animate them.  They also have a number of pre-built constructions that you can examine and play with.

--Bruce

[toledobass]

I like this one for cocktail stuff:

CocktailDB

Allan

[orbital]

I've just come across this: www.wordle.net

It does not do anything majorly important  It just points out the most heavily used words in a piece of text within a cloud. However, I got interesting results when I pasted full texts from ebooks that I have. Some of the major themes from the books come out giving pretty accurate results.

[Opus106]

"Slightly Geeky"? Perhaps.

http://www.worldwidewords.org/index.htm

[rickardg]

Display various global statistical indicators in animated graphs or maps using the fascinating and enlightening Gapminder project.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Anyone here tried playing Wordle?  This is a different game than what someone listed above.  I heard about it on the news today--that it had been purchased by the New York Times.  It's still free for at least the time being.

Basically, you have 6 tries to see if you can figure out a 5-letter word.  If the letter is not in their word, it appears greyed-out  (after you have entered your first word of course).  If one or more of the letters is in their word, but it is in the wrong position, it appears with a yellow background.  If the letter is in the word and in the correct position, it has a green background.

And, from what I understand, you can only try to play the game once a day?

First time, did it in 5 tries. 

PD

p.s.  It seems to be on different websites.

[Florestan]

If you're into history of mathematics cum cultural history this slightly geeky site is for you. Possibly the best such site that I am aware of.

https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/

[Brahmsian]

Anyone here tried playing Wordle?  This is a different game than what someone listed above.  I heard about it on the news today--that it had been purchased by the New York Times.  It's still free for at least the time being.

Basically, you have 6 tries to see if you can figure out a 5-letter word.  If the letter is not in their word, it appears greyed-out  (after you have entered your first word of course).  If one or more of the letters is in their word, but it is in the wrong position, it appears with a yellow background.  If the letter is in the word and in the correct position, it has a green background.

And, from what I understand, you can only try to play the game once a day?

First time, did it in 5 tries. 

PD

p.s.  It seems to be on different websites.

Yes, I just started playing Wordle (NY Times) yesterday, along with Canuckle (Canadian themed).

I'm pretty sure some others on GMG do as well (Karl?) I'm late to joining the highly popular diversion. 

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

The sites I like while I am unsure if they are geeky.


Science news. I particularly like articles about quantum physics, evolution, and astronomy.

https://www.livescience.com/

http://www.sci-news.com/


News analyses/discussions by academics. Writing is accessible.

https://theconversation.com/us


Some (univariate)statistical findings.

https://www.statista.com/topics/5994/the-coronavirus-disease-covid-19-outbreak/#topicHeader__wrapper


Nearly/allegedly unbiased news sites.

https://www.allsides.com/unbiased-balanced-news

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/


Philosophy discussion.

https://onlinephilosophyclub.com/forums/

[T. D.]

I like chess and many sites would pertain. I'll spare you.

I solve a lot of British cryptic crosswords. There's a discussion forum at

https://www.crosswordsolver.org/forum/

which has several clue-composing contests ("Clueless", "Peer Review") each week. I regularly enter those and find them a lot of fun.

[fbjim]

https://urbanrail.net/

Metro maps from around the world. As someone who loves a nice subway ride, fascinating.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Yes, I just started playing Wordle (NY Times) yesterday, along with Canuckle (Canadian themed).

I'm pretty sure some others on GMG do as well (Karl?) I'm late to joining the highly popular diversion. 

Nice to know that I'm not alone here!    I've since discovered that there are various take-offs on it:  Quordle (you solve 4 words at one time but also get a few more guesses to solve them); Octordle (8 words); Sedecordle (16); Lordle of the Rings (tried that twice but rather frustrating for me as I 've forgotten a lot of the characters names and places PLUS it contains common words that are supposed to be part of the narrative).  There's also Crosswordle (Yup, shaped like a crossword puzzle but no clues).  One other interesting one (for me anyway) is Absurdle (There is no pre-determined word but rather you are left to "chase the program into a corner".  You keep on narrowing down the options that the program has to the only word that could be left and need to do it with as few chances as possible but you do get unlimited tries).

I like chess and many sites would pertain. I'll spare you.

I solve a lot of British cryptic crosswords. There's a discussion forum at

https://www.crosswordsolver.org/forum/

which has several clue-composing contests ("Clueless", "Peer Review") each week. I regularly enter those and find them a lot of fun.

Haven't tried chess before but do appreciate those who do play it and are good at it.

The sites I like while I am unsure if they are geeky.


Science news. I particularly like articles about quantum physics, evolution, and astronomy.

https://www.livescience.com/

http://www.sci-news.com/


News analyses/discussions by academics. Writing is accessible.

https://theconversation.com/us


Some (univariate)statistical findings.

https://www.statista.com/topics/5994/the-coronavirus-disease-covid-19-outbreak/#topicHeader__wrapper


Nearly/allegedly unbiased news sites.

https://www.allsides.com/unbiased-balanced-news

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/


Philosophy discussion.

https://onlinephilosophyclub.com/forums/

The science ones could be quite tempting for me.  I do enjoy reading about science and nature.

PD

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Nice to know that I'm not alone here!    I've since discovered that there are various take-offs on it:  Quordle (you solve 4 words at one time but also get a few more guesses to solve them); Octordle (8 words); Sedecordle (16); Lordle of the Rings (tried that twice but rather frustrating for me as I 've forgotten a lot of the characters names and places PLUS it contains common words that are supposed to be part of the narrative).  There's also Crosswordle (Yup, shaped like a crossword puzzle but no clues).  One other interesting one (for me anyway) is Absurdle (There is no pre-determined word but rather you are left to "chase the program into a corner".  You keep on narrowing down the options that the program has to the only word that could be left and need to do it with as few chances as possible but you do get unlimited tries).
Haven't tried chess before but do appreciate those who do play it and are good at it.
The science ones could be quite tempting for me.  I do enjoy reading about science and nature.

PD

Yes the science news sites are super fun sites. They change the way you see the world and history, and enrich your life!

[Brian]

Anyone here tried playing Wordle?  This is a different game than what someone listed above.  I heard about it on the news today--that it had been purchased by the New York Times.  It's still free for at least the time being.

Basically, you have 6 tries to see if you can figure out a 5-letter word.  If the letter is not in their word, it appears greyed-out  (after you have entered your first word of course).  If one or more of the letters is in their word, but it is in the wrong position, it appears with a yellow background.  If the letter is in the word and in the correct position, it has a green background.

And, from what I understand, you can only try to play the game once a day?

First time, did it in 5 tries. 

PD

p.s.  It seems to be on different websites.

I like Wordle, Worldle (guessing the country), Framed (guessing the movie based on still images), and have also tried Duotrigordle (you have to do 32 Wordle puzzles at the same time!).

[Todd]

MarineTraffic.com is fun, even in its "free" version: https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/centerx:-127.4/centery:28.9/zoom:2

You can track where various ships currently are and their destinations.  There are multiple, similar tracking sites. 

[greg]

https://yyyyyyy.info/

for the avant-garde, refresh it to get a new screen each time.


https://this-person-does-not-exist.com/en is a classic, probably most people already know about this.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

I like Wordle, Worldle (guessing the country), Framed (guessing the movie based on still images), and have also tried Duotrigordle (you have to do 32 Wordle puzzles at the same time!).

I did see that there was one movie-related one...probably Framed, but I'm very sporadic about movie watching, so I expect that it wouldn't be a good one for me.  I'll have to check out the Wordle one!  And also the Duotrigordle one.  I also found out that there's one in which you need to solve 1,000 words (Kilordle)--not for me thanks...maybe if I was laid up with a broken leg? lol  If this helps anyone:  I've found that a small notebook is very handy to have on hand (Mine is 3 1/2 by 5 1/2 inches which I purchased at a grocery store.  It's spiral bound.  I open it up and use the left hand page for words 1-8 and the right hand side for words 9-16 when doing the 16 word game.  The problem with this bigger game is that you can't see all of the words and guesses at the same time and either need to scroll down or click on the number squares at the top to move down.  I wish that he would also number the grids too (as sometimes) I'll accidentally put the info into the wrong grid!   

MarineTraffic.com is fun, even in its "free" version: https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/centerx:-127.4/centery:28.9/zoom:2

You can track where various ships currently are and their destinations.  There are multiple, similar tracking sites. 

I've checked out that site before--back when the ship Ever Given was stuck in the Suez Canal.  Ever Forward (also owned by the same company), I see, is apparently still stuck in the Chesapeake Bay! 

PD

[DavidW]

https://stellarium.org/

Now you can just go to the web version, doesn't need to install.  Find interesting things to look at in the sky.  This newsletter is updated every month with more targets suitable for binoculars or small telescopes:

http://binocularsky.com/newsletter/BinoSkyNL.pdf

If you use them together you can plan an interesting evening provided you have the necessary equipment and a sky relatively clear of light pollution.

[Brahmsian]

I like Wordle, Worldle (guessing the country), Framed (guessing the movie based on still images), and have also tried Duotrigordle (you have to do 32 Wordle puzzles at the same time!).

Thanks Brian. I just tried the Wordle (guessing the country) yesterday for the first time on your suggestion.

Adding it to my morning along with Wordle and Canuckle. 

[Pohjolas Daughter]

https://stellarium.org/

Now you can just go to the web version, doesn't need to install.  Find interesting things to look at in the sky.  This newsletter is updated every month with more targets suitable for binoculars or small telescopes:

http://binocularsky.com/newsletter/BinoSkyNL.pdf

If you use them together you can plan an interesting evening provided you have the necessary equipment and a sky relatively clear of light pollution.

Wish that I had a decent pair of binoculars and/or telescope. 

Thanks Brian. I just tried the Wordle (guessing the country) yesterday for the first time on your suggestion.

Adding it to my morning along with Wordle and Canuckle. 

The Powers-That-Be in the universe must be feeling particularly kindly towards me today as I tried Worldle (got it right away) and also the daily Framed one...that or just dumb luck!  In the case of the movie, I had watched it not too long ago and was very impressed by it, so got it on the third try.  Oh happy day! 

PD