Works of Reference
Wikipedia
is (so says their main page) a multilingual project to create a complete and accurate
free content encyclopedia.
They are working under the terms of the
GNU Free Documentation License and are doing quite a job.
The number of contributors (and therefore the number of edits per day)
increased dramatically in 2003, so you might exspect some sluggish
reaction depending on time of day and resulting server workload (they're working on that).
Similar projects include
Wiktionary,
WikiBooks,
WikiQuote,
WikiSource.
Ever wondered what a particular acronym stands for? Have a look at
Acronym Finder
(AF) and be amazed.
Search Tools
I usually rely on the famous (infamous)
Yahoo,
Altavista and
Google search facilities. (Choosing the right question will yield
Browsers
Not-so-current browsers of various brands you'll be able to find at the
Browser Museum.
Web Authoring
Of the literally thousands of valuable sources on the web, a recommended one is
SelfHTML (available in Deutsch, Français, Español), created by Stefan Münz and his team, useful as a learning and reference tool. You'll find hints on the use of CSS, JavaScript, CGI/Perl, and PHP.
A similar site is
SelfPHP (in Deutsch) written by Damir Enseleit and Matthias Hupp, which provides a vast function reference. — This online book is an exhaustive
PHP functions
reference. — And then there's
Dr. Web (in Deutsch), which presents a wealth of articles suiting beginners and advanced users alike. —
The
Web Design Group
has published a short (but immensely readable)
CSS Guide.
Disk Tools
In preparing larger IDE hard disk drives in conjunction with older mainboards (going beyond the DOS barrier) I have often used Ontrack's Disk Manager with excellent results.
To check a hard drive's integrity they have their Data Advisor available for free.
To refurbish older floppies I use the ScanDisk facilitity which came with MS-DOS 6.22; in tricky cases I go back to
DiskFix from Central Point Software's PC Tools package (acquired and buried by Symantec in 1994).
Y2k Compliancy Check for PC Hardware
There are some free test tools on the Internet:
From Ontrack you can get their Y2k Advisor.
Others to follow ...
Intl Standard Date/Time Notation
You're invited to read Markus Kuhn's introduction to
Public NTP Time Servers
Worried about the accuracy of your network's time? You might think of improving it by using time signals sent via the Internet.
Here comes a comprehensive list of International Time Sources maintained by
David L. Mills at the University of Delaware. (This project evolved due to apparent abuse of the time servers. The list is now maintained in a TWiki of the NTP Public Services Project.)
If you like to read French why not try Les Serveurs de Temps NTP Français.
We use, with excellent results so far, a simple time client by Paul Lutus called
AboutTime
which may also be used as a server to distribute time on a local
network. This tool is provided as
CareWare,
a touching idea in this money-driven world of ours.
— (Same goes for his Java based web editor
Arachnophilia.
You are also encouraged to read his article
Boycott Microsoft!
dealing with the recent changes in Microsoft's company policy.
Or have a look at this real-world example of a
Manual Page
and share his view about missing customer support.)
Atomic Time
In central Europe another conveniant way of keeping exact time is locking in with DCF77, a VLF time transmitter situated right in the middle of Germany about 25 km to the south-east of
Radio Amateur DF4OR ('Ekki' Plicht) visited the Mainflingen site in 1999 and brought back this illustrated
report.
A small aerial/receiver module plugging into the computer's serial port will provide quite accurate time for most applications. A possible source is the so-called
RPC-Funkuhr
(Sure RPC DCF77 Funkuhr) sold by a German company.
Intl Currency Codes
If you ever wondered what the appropriate three-letter code for the Italian Lira would be (or rather was, as it went obsolete like the DEM on 2002-02-28), have a look at this discussion of
A wealth of information about countries and their currencies is provided by Internationale Wechselstube GmbH
(IWS)
in Frankfurt am Main.
As for the current rates, here is a
currency converter, and
Bankleitzahlen / IBAN / BIC
Looking for the identification/routeing code number of a particular bank?
Try
Find the International Banking Account Number
(IBAN |
IBAN)
explained, courtesy of Frankfurter Sparkasse 1822.
This SWIFT code search tool
(BIC online)
will help you getting on with international (EU) money transfers.
European VAT numbers
To find out whether a VAT number provided is valid, use the
Software Installation Troubleshooting
Sick and tired with the behaviour of your recent software
installation?
Have a look at Microsoft's
TechNet.
There's a wealth of information at your fingertips. In special cases there might be help from the contributors to the
EventID
database.
If in need for a hotfix, you might want to give
The Hotfix Share a try (you'll be asked to register before using this privately operated site, but that's common with most forums nowadays).
In case of Novell products
you could search their vast
Knowledgebase
or use their
Product Updates
service.
Weather Information
Have a look at a recent weather satellite picture to see the earth's atmosphere in action ...
And here you'll find a five day's forecast for Frankfurt am Main in
BBC Weather style.
English Bibliography
Glenn Fleishman from Seattle provides a nice (free) title database under isbn.nu, even giving price comparisons for multiple online booksellers.
You might also want to try the catalogue of the LoC (Library of Congress).
WebMail
Here you can check your T-Online or FreeMail account.
Both links will open a new browser window when called. Simply close that window to return once you have finished.
Hosting / Our Provider
We are hosted by
One.com (B-one), situated in Denmark. They are inexpensive and at the same time provide a good service and a well-staffed live chat support. They run
Linux servers with SSI and PHP5;
unfortunately they do not provide
Perl. — This link will open a new, resizable window generated with the JavaScript "window.open" method. Close it to return.
Theatre
Enter the world of
Lutz Görner. He really is able to give life to poetry ...
When in Frankfurt am Main, why not visit
The English Theatre
in the Kaiserstraße and enjoy one of their quality performances. They moved to their new premises in 2003.
Music
To try something different, unusual (and at times experimental)
have a look at
If you care for classical violin and piano pieces, try
Cembal d'Amour. They carry a range of digitally remastered rare recordings of famous people like Jascha Heifetz et al.
If you think (as I do) that music should at least sometimes be fun, then consider listening to (and watching in action) the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain (short: the "Ukes"). They have their own website, and there is the well-done German/English fan page with loads of info and picx. Some clips of them performing will easily be found on YouTube.
T'ai Chi Kineo
Get moving with T'ai Chi Kineo, presented by UTCKA teacher Christian Spaeth. His place called
"RAN"
in Frankfurt am Main is open several times a week.
Other Links
Be patient -- this list will no doubt grow as time goes by ...
Broken Links
We'd be obliged if you reported broken links
by sending a short notice to info@airkreuzer.com.
The Small Print
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Last modified on
2018-08-31 09:45 UTC