Miles Mendoza's Website of the Day ... and more!

Yahoo Finds 2007

>> Yahoo Finds 2007
Search engine Yahoo's selection of the most innovative and interesting sites of 2007 includes several past Website of the Day selections:
>> Move Me
>> Doggy Snaps (and Catster)
>> Do The Green Thing

RSPCA Cyberpets

>> RSPCA Cyberpets
The web has plenty of downloadable virtual pets which live on your desktop, but most of them are only available for Windows computers and few of them have any educational value.
Hats off then to the RSPCA whose virtual cartoon cat and dog are available for both Windows and Apple Macs. Before you start your download you’re invited to read through a series of tips about pet care, designed to help younger pet enthusiasts understand the costs and time involved in properly looking after most household pets.

Friday Quick Links

>> National Flea week
Improve your flea awareness with extensive flea factoids, or sign up for free email or SMS reminders to de-flea your pets

>> Change Your World
Pledge to make one less car journey next week … If all UK drivers do the same car traffic will be reduced by 10%. The aim is to show that even small changes in behaviour can make a big difference

>> Shrek the Third: Shrek Sudoko
Why play with numbers when you can play with ogres, donkeys and pusses-in-bootses?

>> YouTube Clip of the Week: Fainting Goats
According to Wikipedia, a fainting goat is a breed of domestic goat whose external muscles freeze for roughly 10 seconds when the goat is startled. See them in action here.

Doggy Snaps

>> Doggysnaps
Last November I alerted you to Perch Engine and described it as MySpace for anglers. But until now I’ve failed to bring you a site offering social networking for dog lovers. So let’s smash the champagne over the hull of Doggysnaps which invites you to “upload, share and comment on canine photos and yap about all things dogs”
When you have registered you will be taken to 'your kennel' which is where you organise yours and your dog's profile, upload photos and ‘describe your pooch’s personality’. From the kennel it’s easy to browse other users profiles, comment on pictures, add them to your favourites, and ‘sniff around for other dogs’!
STOP PRESS: Steve asked if there was a similar service for cat fans – For that take a look at Catster which we featured on Website of the Day back in August 2005.

Morph your photo into a picture of an endangered animal

>> YouWild
This new site from non-profit organisation Defenders of Wildlife uses an entertaining online tool to raise awareness of the threat to endangered species. Anyone can upload a digital photo and have that photo morphed into one of about 15 different endangered animals including chimps, polar bears, owls, hyenas and sea otters. You can save and share your morphed photo and the page which showcases your morph carries links to a petition asking the American government to take action to address habitat loss, climate change, and other threats to endangered wildlife.
>> See Miles morph into a bald eagle

Ugly animals, Life on Mars video clip, Trumpton Quiz & 24 game

>> Ugly Overload
Last month we drew your attention to Cutecore - a site devoted to photos of various adorable fluffy, furry and downy animals.
Ugly Overload is the yin to Cutecore’s yang – it’s the web’s premier collection of photos of creatures more likely to make you go ‘eurgh’ than ‘aaah’.

>> Media Guardian: Kids Classic Spoofed for Life On Mars
>> Watch the Life on Mars/Chigley spoof clip (Windows Media format)
>> Life on Mars: Official site
BBC One’s terrific time-travel cop show returns for a second (and final) series this spring. Fans of the show will love this clip which turns John Simm’s character DI Sam Tyler into a Chigley/Camberwick Green-style puppet

>> Trumptonshire Quiz
Most people who grew up on Camberwick Green, Trumpton and Chigley will recall Windy Miller, Mrs Honeyman and firemen Pugh, Pugh, Barney McGrew, Cuthbert, Dibble & Grubb – But can you name Mrs Dingle’s dog, Chippy Minton’s wife, or the very first character ever to appear on Camberwick Green?

>> 24: CTU Agent.com
Sky have created a terrific site to promote the new series of Kiefer Sutherland’s real-time anti-terrorist thriller 24. Enter your mobile number, email address and the access code 99K36F. You will then receive emails and texts from Sutherland’s character Jack Bauer and other characters from the show, who apparently need your help to apprehend their terrorist nemeses!

Vet Help Direct

>> Vet Help Direct
Interactive flow-charts to help you establish if (and when) your pet cat, dog or rabbit may need to see a vet.

Cute and not-so-cute animals

>> Cutecore
>> How Big Is Your Slug
Having a bad day? What you need is a cute animal photo to distract you from the drudgery of a busy Friday at work (or school). Cutecore collects photos of pretty much every species – as long as it’s cute. You’ll find cats in Superman outfits, snoozing puppies and assorted gerbils, bunnies and ducklings. If you prefer your animal-life to be slimy rather than furry or downy, How Big Is You Slug may be a safer bet. Here also you’ll find loads of photos, but only shell-less garden molluscs are welcome here.
You’re encouraged to photograph your favourite slug next to a tape measure, to help authenticate its gargantuan proportions.
Prizes are offered to the largest slug found by Christmas and you can play their animated Massive Slug Game while you wait

Big Bubble

>> Big Bubble
It’s Day 79 in the Big Bubble tank and tankmates Nat (A 24 year old Glaswegian goldfish chef) and Sarah (22, a guppy promotions girl from Bradford) are both up for eviction. You can follow developments live on the Tank Cam or discover what the tankmates think of their fellow fish in the Diary Tank. I’m hoping that ex-roadie Dave (who travelled the world with Voodoo Death Fish) will win this year’s contest.

Monkey Mondays

>> Monkey Mondays
Not many sites promise you a monkey in your mailbox once a week, so (if you’ll allow me a bit of alliterative licence) I reckon I can get away with billing this as your leading web-based postal primate resource. Canadian artist Rob Elliot hopes that the simian artwork he emails to subscribers every Monday will “provide a bit of levity in what is widely agreed to be the worst day of the week”. In fact Rob offers more than just monkeys - the pictures run the full gamut of primates from orang-utans to lemurs and mandrills.