~ Early Web Links ~

A specialized web tool by Ben Bullock that lets users draw kanji characters by hand with a mouse and have them automatically recognized, making it invaluable for looking up unfamiliar Japanese characters. The site also offers multiple lookup methods including multiradical, four-corner, and SKIP codes, with support for over a dozen interface languages.

Behind the Name is a comprehensive encyclopedia of first names from around the world, covering etymology, history, and cultural origins for thousands of given names across dozens of languages and traditions. Visitors can browse by letter or origin, check name popularity by country, explore namesakes, and even use tools like a random name generator and baby name advisor.

Cyndi's List, maintained by Cyndi Ingle since 1996, is one of the web's most comprehensive genealogy link directories, organizing over 317,000 curated links across hundreds of categories including surnames, DNA projects, family associations, and newsletters. This particular section focuses on surname research, offering alphabetically sorted links to family-specific sites, social networking resources, surname mapping tools, and DNA studies for researchers tracing their family history.

InternetSlang.com is a comprehensive dictionary of internet slang, acronyms, and abbreviations drawn from chat rooms, SMS, Twitter, blogs, and online forums, browsable by letter or searchable by term. Running since 2002, it covers thousands of entries and even allows users to submit new acronyms, making it a living reference for the ever-evolving language of the web.

Howtopedia is a collaborative wiki dedicated to practical knowledge and simple, accessible technologies for sustainable and ecological living. Its breadth is impressive, covering everything from agroforestry and water sanitation to food processing, energy, and emergency preparedness, making it a kind of Wikipedia for appropriate technology.

Hosted on the MIT Sloan School of Management server, this site archives the six-year 'Inventing the Organizations of the 21st Century' research initiative, which ran from 1994 to 1999 under professors Thomas Malone and Michael Scott Morton. Visitors can explore working papers, a Process Handbook, profiles of innovative organizations, and a manifesto outlining new models for 21st-century business structures.

The original Flat Stanley Project, created by Dale Hubert in 1995, connects classrooms and homeschoolers worldwide through a beloved literacy activity where kids send a paper 'Flat Stanley' figure to schools, celebrities, and public figures who return it with a completed journal. With templates, curriculum resources, and a global exchange network spanning dozens of countries, this site has been fostering cultural connections and children's writing for 30 years.

The Vocational Information Center's Electronics Career Guide is a comprehensive reference hub listing dozens of electronics-related job titles, from Avionics Technician to Broadcast Engineer, with links to salary data, skill requirements, and training pathways. With over 360 links covering career descriptions, certification resources, tutorials, and industry schools, it serves as a thorough one-stop guide for anyone exploring a career in the electronics field.

Ian Fieggen, aka 'Professor Shoelace,' has spent over two decades building the internet's definitive reference on shoelaces, covering more than 100 lacing methods with step-by-step tutorials and thousands of photos. The site is home to the famous Ian Knot, claimed to be the world's fastest shoelace knot, and includes an interactive lacing tool, knot comparisons, and detailed guides on shoelace construction and lengths.

Karl M. Bunday's Learn in Freedom site has been a comprehensive hub for homeschooling and education reform resources for over seventeen years, linking to more than 1,000 external sites across forty-plus pages. Visitors can explore topics ranging from socialization research and language development to college admissions for homeschoolers and self-directed learning philosophy.