Did you ever see a picture of a platypus and just wonder to yourself, "What was God smoking when He came up with that one?"  Just start with an otter, slap on a beaver's tail and duck's bill, toss in some webbed feet, and make it lay eggs.  Pretty creative use of animal body parts if you ask me.

On a different note, have you ever had hobo stew?  All you need is a big cauldron, fire pit, and some creative neighbors.  Start with some kind of soup base, and then just have all your friends come over and throw stuff in it, preferably food, to make a stew.  Cooking tip: Green fuzz on

anything is not normal, so keep an eye out for what's being tossed in.  And always expect that someone is going to play amateur Emeril and dump in a Michelob "just to add some taste."

What do the platypus and hobo stew have in common?  Well, the whole is bigger than the sum of the seemingly unrelated parts.  That is the theme of this week's column.  I would like to point you to more

educational web sites, but throw in some non-related web sites as well.  Consider this week to be the platypus issue.

Continuing with last week's theme of educational sites, Refdesk.com is evidence of why the Internet was created.  If you can think of a topic, this site has references for it.  For example, I counted links to NINE

different dictionaries and FIVE different encyclopedias.  Review the 2000 college rankings, check out a 3D atlas, connect to just about every source of media, find a doctor, house, job or lawyer, or click on the list of lists.  For me, going to Refdesk.com is like shopping.  Unless I know specifically what I'm going in for, I'm guaranteed to find everything else but what I went in for.  This site takes discipline.  Skeletons have been found in front of computers where people have died from lack of nutrition and sunlight.  In each documented case, this site was eerily found to be the webpage they were using last.  Go ahead and check it out, I dare you.  Just don't call me for help if you do, you've been

forewarned!

Free-ed.net gives you free online courses, tutorials, and activities about computer information systems such as database management,

multimedia, graphics, operating systems, networking, etc.  You'll learn just enough to be dangerous. 

This next site called AltaVista Translations is so neat.  You can enter text into a box and it will translate what you wrote.  You can convert from English to French, German, Italian, Spanish, or Portuguese, and vice versa.  Ciò è un articolo che eccellente state leggendo.  Just for kicks, send your friend an e-mail written in Portuguese and see what language he writes you back in.  I'll bet it can't be translated, or read out loud in church.     

If you're thinking about starting an investment club, check out the American Association of Individual Investors homepage.  Learn about investing basics, stocks, mutual funds, portfolio management, etc.  If you become rich and famous after visiting this site, just remember who pointed you there.

Lastly, if you want to get a hearty chuckle, AND you have some deep yen to see turtles dance in pink tutus, then check out TurtleDance.  Even funnier is HamsterDance, but when I went to that site, it said that the hamsters were on a little vacation until next week.  Check 'em out when they get back.   

Well, I've got my cauldron bubbling and the guests should be arriving soon.  If I'm ever going to get my refrigerator cleaned out, I'd better do it now before they get here.  Have a good week.       

Getting More of an Education Online