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 Most Useful Personal Sites!

Locate Your Kin: U.S. Surname Distribution
If your last name is Smith, you'll find your relatives (both close and distant) wherever you roam. If you've got a more obscure surname, try plugging it into the U.S. Surname Distribution gizmo at Hamrick Software's site. You'll get a U.S. map that's color-coded by the distribution of people with that last name, determined by census data. You can choose 1850, 1880, 1920, or 1990 to see how a particular family name migrated across the U.S. over time. More than one in a hundred people living in Mississippi were named West in 1850. Perhaps one of them was superspy James West.

Set Your Watch: USNO Master Clock Time
Were you late again? Chances are excellent your watch isn't quite right. To know for sure, consult one of the most up-to-the-second authorities, the U.S. Naval Observatory's USNO Master Clock Time. It takes only a minute. And besides, unless you're talking about tequila shots, the early bird indeed gets the worm.

Decide on a College: Peterson's
If you're not content (or eligible) to go to Dad's or Mom's alma mater, use the Web site of the renowned print reference Peterson's to find a few options by name, or specify a field of study, student-body size, location, and other specs to get matching schools. Additionally, many of the colleges listed here let you file your application online through Peterson's.

Plan a Better Date: Love@AOL Date Planner
So you haven't had too many second dates lately? Reassess your personal hygiene, then try freshening up your usual agenda with the Love@AOL Date Planner. This inquisitive wizard asks you questions about your budget and mood, among other considerations, then makes suggestions from a list of more than 200 activities.

Fix Your VCR: VCR Repair Instruction
When you hear the unsettling sound of videotape crunching off its spools, consult VCR Repair Instruction before hitting the dreaded authorized repair center. "Removing Cassettes That Won't Eject" is just one of the pleasingly practical sections in this tutorial, which is organized by brand name and model number. Each model's rap sheet includes typical snags you may encounter with it and details solutions for the easier problems. And in case you're brave enough to disassemble your VCR, the listings include drawings of key internal parts. You won't be quitting your day job with all this newfound knowledge, but you may save a few dollars.

Promote Online Privacy: Center for Democracy and Technology
On the Web, there's precious little privacy-the folks in marketing want to learn every last detail about you if they can. If you want to do something about the loss of privacy on the Web, become a Privacy Watchdog at the Center for Democracy and Technology. Snoop out a site's privacy policy, and you can write up a privacy report and send an autogenerated e-mail message to the Webmaster of the site you just rated.

Update Your Software: SoftWatcher
If you've worked with computers for a while, you know that there are very few usable programs labeled version 1.0 (it's more likely that you'll be wanting version 4.06). SoftWatcher can help you find out when the programs you use get updated. SoftWatcher tracks everything from popular Microsoft programs to the most obscure shareware, and they even offer e-mail notifications when products you use are updated.

Avoid (Human) Virus: InterlliHealth Flu-O-Meter
Alas, software can't protect you from the flu. But you can track outbreaks of the dreaded "bug" at the InteliHealth Flu-O-Meter page (click on "Where's the Flu?"). The site's interactive map, updated weekly with the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control, features a color-coded rating system to assess the proliferation of flu cases, state by state. (Red, for example, means that flu is "widespread"; green, that it's "absent.") Just move your screen cursor over the state in question to determine its "flu-edness." If your locale scores high, you might want to consult the included links to flu-shot facts and treatment tips.

Send Email Through Time: Mail to the Future
Time travel is the stuff of science fiction, but you can send an e-mail message into the future at Mail to the Future. Register for free and you can send mail to yourself or to others at a specified date and time in the future. You can also review messages that are waiting to be sent in your "queue." Simpler and easier to use than a full-blown Web calendar, this site sure beats tying a string around your finger for a quick reminder.

Heal Thyself: HealthScout
There's a lot of medical information, both conventional and alternative, out there on the Web. HealthScout is a different kind of health site, because it's personalized: Enter data about yourself or your family and you'll get articles from medical journals and experts that relate to your health condition(s). Log on to the site daily to see the latest relevant, reliable articles that apply to you, no matter what your ailment. Even if you don't use the personalized news service, you can still take advantage of all of the articles as well as the drug and doctor finders and the 7-minute checkup. (As always, none of the information here is a substitute for the advice of your physician.)

Pick Your Poison: Epicurious Drinking Dictionary
Just what is Trockenbeerenauslese, and would you want to put it in your mouth? Search at the Epicurious Drinking Dictionary and you'll find out. It's a dictionary of everything having to do with wine, cocktails, beer-anything booze-related, from absinthe to Zombies. This is more than just a list of cocktail recipes, although the entries are linked to the Drink File of recipes. If you've been drinking gin-and-tonics because you couldn't mix anything more complicated, maybe it's time to learn how to make a Sazerac.

Watch Your Weight: Health Body Calculator
Though Ally McBeal star Calista Flockhart has taken some flak for being too thin, many of us could actually stand to lose a few pounds. But how much should you weigh, and what should you eat to achieve this goal? Enter your age, gender, activity level, and body measurements (the more specific, the better) into the Healthy Body Calculator, and it will quickly report back your ideal weight range, your body-frame size, and your body-mass index. And since you are what you eat, the site also shares some nutritional wisdom to supplement all those vital statistics.

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