Sightings: One excellent site each day.

Previous Sightings
August, 2002

AceJS
This relatively new JavaScript site lets you download free scripts. While it doesn't have a huge range of scripts yet, some of the techniques are interesting. It's worth waiting through the long (and boring) intro--once. After that, bookmark the pages you find most interesting. (sighted by Russell Jones)

PalmSpot
Own a Palm Pilot? You'll find a wide range of downloadable applications, games, time-wasters, news, and accessories at this site. Skip the Flash intro. Although the site bills itself as "a catalyst for handheld technology" it's primarily a Palm site. You won't find much for other OS's here. (sighted by Russell Jones)

Shady Records
The official Web site of the recording label for rap star Eminem may not become one of your bookmarks, but insofar as it demonstrates good information design, easily accessible multimedia and extra goodies, as well as a look and feel that will appeal to its target audience, this is a well-executed site. Do I need to warn you that there's adult language here? Nah. (Sighted by Lori Piquet)

FlightView
This site tracks all commercial airplanes in U.S. and Canadian air space and lets you look up the arrival and departure time of any flight on any airline. But check out the map that let's you see the progress of all flights currently on radar. I don't know what it's useful for, really, but it's cool. (Sighted by Lori Piquet)

NoFeeRental
This site lists apartments available for rent in Manhattan. I chose it because I've never seen an apartment rental site that was so consistent and complete and umm ... well apportioned! Every (almost) apartment listed has lots of photos, which load super fast. There's a quick link on each listing to information about the neighborhood. The most important info is easy to find. And the search is excellent. (Sighted by Lori Piquet)

Neil Gaiman
On this site, not only do you get to keep up with the latest happenings of a fantastic author through his daily journal, you can also admire the clean, artistic design. After you click past the landing page (which loads quickly even though it's graphics intensive) the design of the underlying pages is lovely. The nav bar icons use cute, clever mouseovers and the overall design is carried over through the icons to the header images. A very well designed, non-flash site. There is also a detailed site map just in case you lose your way. (Sighted by Robyn Pearson)

Spy Museum
Did you always want a shoe phone or a camera in your coat button? The international spy museum showcases *real* spy toys like these and has a well-designed site to entice you into a visit. Simple navigational mouseover effects that don't weigh down the page carry through the site and make browsing more fun. The introduction page is a heavy, long, but appropriate, Flash intro but the rest of the site is fast-loading and fun. You can even send a coded message to a friend. If we told you more, we'd have to kill you. This message will self-destruct in 10 seconds. (Sighted by Robyn Pearson)

My Pet Skeleton
A really good artist deserves a really good gallery site. And that's what this is. Things aren't labelled really well in here, for example, in the More section. But I think that's by design. It adds to the creepy mytique somehow. You'll find your way around fast enough. (Sighted by Justin Whitney)

Kaleidosoup
Three words: Animated Flash kaleidoscopes. No more. No less. (Sighted by Lori Piquet)

Vector Lounge
The initial experience here isn't great. It took me awhile to figure out where the content was. I picked it because once you start clicking on the various "projects" (pay special attention to No. 5 Singapore and No. 4 Amsterdam) there are some pretty interesting experiments in vector graphics. It's good creative grist if you're into that sort of thing. (Sighted by Lori Piquet)

National Geographic
The online version of the venerable National Geographic print magazine offers both new content and supplemental pictures and text that didn't make it into the printed version. Of course, the photography is superb. The site itself could use a little updating, and a lot fewer popup ads. A wide variety of travel, nature, and conservationist content as well as the trove of links and specialty maps make the site well worth your time. (sighted by Russell Jones)

The Theban Mapping Project
The Theban Mapping Project's goal is to build a comprehensive archaeological database of the thousands of tombs and temples located in Thebes. Not only is there a lot of information handled on this site, it also comes in several different forms. There is an interactive Atlas of tomb mappings, including the ability to pan or zoom any of the more than 250 detailed maps, elevations or sections, sixty-six narrated tours of the Valley, a 3D exploration of the corridors and chambers of one of the largest and most beautiful tombs, KV 14, a comprehensive and searchable database of text and images of the Valley of the Kings, and articles about the Valley of the Kings. There's also a glossary, bibliography, timeline, and additional Egyptological resources. (Sighted by Erin Gannon)

EphemeraNow
The graphical design of this site absolutely catches the essence of its content. Dedicated to the classic camp of pop culture advertising campaigns of 50 years ago (or more), the navigation is untraditional and there's definitely a dearth of text. The imagery stands on its own. The splash page does seem completely unnecessary, though. (Sighted by Lori Piquet)

5 Tigers
Tigers! Everybody loves 'em. Most folks know they're endangered, but how many know what is being done to secure a future for them? The 5 Tigers site contains a wealth of great content to cater to any audience--from kids to conservation professionals. Oh, and it looks pretty good too. (Sighted by Nigel Hodgetts)

FuzzySoftware.com
Although slow, this site contains a large number of resources for ASP and ASP.NET developers, including complete applications, components, downloadable code, and tutorials. The "all-blue, all the time" theme is a little hard to read, but the site's link-heavy navigation makes it easy to find what you're looking for. (sighted by Russell Jones)

Chili!Soft
Need to run your ASP pages on non-Windows systems? You can find out how here. Chili!Soft has been the premier choice for building ASP solutions on Unix systems for several years. It's been acquired by Sun, and renamed to SunOne Active Server Pages. Click the Products tab to get more information. (sighted by Russell Jones)

Welcome to Leeds Castle
While the Leeds Castle Website is well laid out and easy to use, it is a fairly ordinary. It was the intro that I loved! Simple, yet dramatic and fun to watch, it really caught my attention. I went back to watch the intro several times! (Sighted by Jim Johnson)

Flash 99% Good
An odd name for an odd site that bills itself as a "First Aid Manual for Usable Flash Sites." You'll find a short tutorial and tips with some excellent advice, populated with live Flash examples from the author's own real-world experience. Be sure to click on the "Bad Flash" item on the menu. Well done! (sighted by Russell Jones)

AbandonedPlaces.com
While most people travel Europe to see museums, castles, and churches, Henk van Rensbergen likes to visit abandoned buildings. His collection of photographs is stunning and his commentary about them is thought provoking. The photos take a while to load, especially on a modest-speed connection, but the index wheel in the photo gallery is worth the wait. (Sighted by Stefan Gruenwedel)

Kaliber10000 {The Good Vibe Provider}
Kaliber10000 {The Good Vibe Provider} was submitted by a faithful yet stumped reader, Kent Schnaith, who had this to say about the site: "I don't know what to call it, but they sure do it with style." Apparently run by Danish programmers for the sheer fun of it, the site is mainly a designer gallery that features the work of designers from all over the world. Initially, the site seems very busy and confusing. This is the illusion--if you spend about a minute clicking, the way they've organized the content may not be typical, but it's certainly original and interesting. Lots of interesting stuff to see and do. (Sighted by Kent Schnaith with additional commentary by Erin Gannon)

Homestarrunner.com
Anonymously submitted to our suggestion box, Homestarrunner seems to be the hobby of a talented Flash animator. Each time you come to the site it randomly loads a different Flash interface but you can select each of them from the home page. Once you learn the characters, spend a few minutes watching some of the cartoons; they're pretty funny. Don't miss "First time here?" (Sighted by Lori Piquet)

Don't Link to Us!
David E. Sorkin's site is a collection of deep links to sites that prohibit deep links to their sites. His site's design or navigational structure isn't what's notable. What is important is David's exposure of the idiotic policies dreamed up by ignorant lawyers and the imbecilic Web site owners who presumably pay them. URLs do what they do for a reason; they make the Web work. Check out this archive of stupidity and e-mail him any inane policies you stumble upon so we can expose this scam for what it is. (Sighted by Stefan Gruenwedel)

Massive Corporation
This parody of a corporate Web site is hilarious--don't miss the Feline and They sections. Subtle humor and excellent site design make you wonder if they're serious for a few minutes. (Sighted by Bill Edwardson)