Review: "Random acts of kindness"-inspiring you to practice kindness!

The Random Acts of Kindness provides free educational and community ideas, guidance, and other resources to kindness participants.

About the foundation: As people tap into their own generous human spirit and share kindness with one another, they discover for themselves the power of kindness to effect positive change. When kindness is expressed, healthy relationships are created, community connections are nourished, and people are inspired to pass kindness on.

Established in 1995 as a nonprofit organization, The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation is a resource for people committed to spreading kindness. We provide a wide variety of materials on our website, including activity ideas, lesson plans, project plans, teacher's guide, project planning guide, publicity guide, and workplace resources on our website at http://www.actsofkindness.org/ all free of charge.

The Foundation has no religious or organizational affiliations; we encourage the practice of kindness in all sectors of society.

The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation is the United States delegate to the World Kindness Movement, an organization that includes various nations. People in these countries promote kindness within their countries' borders and are creating a global network of kindness and compassion.

As people from different cultures and from all walks of life are joining to spread kindness, they are creating a powerful, synergistic action throughout the world.

Download link: FREE kindness stuff

Becoming a member is easy and FREE.

Another exciting service site offers free is that you can create your own kindness site. The purpose of the site would be to share your kindness activity or project with other people.

Link to start your own kindness site, but you have to register first to do it: Start your own web site

Read and download FREE e-books!

You would be surprise to know that internet has 1 million free electronic books. Reading lovers who enjoyed reading and downloading free e-books from "World eBook Fair", which was held from July to August4th-2007.

World eBook Fair grants you free access to a variety of 1/3 million free eBooks that you can download for personal use, for the month from July 4 - August 4, 2006.
In the following years, they plan free access to 1/2 million eBooks in 2007, 3/4 million in 2008, and ONE million in 2009.

Visit the World eBook Fair, World eBook Fair, July 4th to August 4th 2008 to download for FREE your sellection of One Million eBooks.

Project Gutenberg has been joined by The World Public Library and Digital Pulp Publishing, Internet Archive, along with Jim Baen [R.I.P.], in the creation
of The World eBook Fair, providing you million of e-books free. Let's have more information about Project Gutenberg where you can still download and read FREE e-books.

Project Gutenberg: It is the first producer of FREE electronic books(ebooks). It has the first and largest single collection of free electronic books, or eBooks.
Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.

According to WikiPedia-free encyclopedia "As of October 2007, Project Gutenberg claimed over 22,000 items in its collection, with an average of over fifty new e-books being added each week.

These are primarily works of literature from the Western cultural tradition. In addition to literature such as novels, poetry, short stories and drama, Project Gutenberg also has cookbooks, reference works and issues of periodicals. The Project Gutenberg collection also has a few non-text items such as audio files and music notation files. Most releases are in English, but there are also significant numbers in many other languages."

According to The Wall St. Journal, 10/29/91 report:
" Today There Are 1 Million Free Electronic Books On The Internet. In large part, this is the result of efforts by Project Gutenberg, and their 50,000+ volunteers, who have been creating just such collections of electronic library materials starting two decades before their word "Internet" ever appeared on the front page or cover story of any major modern media outlet."

Project Gutenberg has over 100,000 electronic books available, and the target audience they have in mind is 1.5% of the world in this decade, and 15% of the world in the next decade.
Don't laugh, 15% of the world is already on the Internet now. . . .
However, even at only 1.5%, that is 100 million people.
Just 1/2 of the current United States population. . . .
If we get the average one of those 100,000 eBooks to those 100,000,000 people we are targeting. . .that is TEN TRILLION eBOOKS!!!

Project Gutenberg has never received even one million dollars in total donations over all these years yet has given away ONE TRILLION dollars worth of eBooks at just 10 cents a copy for 10 trillion eBooks.

Don't forget to "Visit the World eBook Fair, WorldeBookFair.com, July 4th to August 4th 2008 to download for FREE your sellection of One Million eBooks."

Link:
World eBook Fair

Review: "Dr.toy's Guide" --dealing in educational toys and products!

The Institute for Childhood Resources, a not-for-profit organization has created this award winning site.

"Dr.Toy's Guide" is called world's first website to provide information on the best in toys and educational products, offers year-round, award-winning toy and children's product information plus timely articles, useful resources, links and much more. These include toys, dolls, games, puzzles, books, software, CDs, audio and video discs and tapes, creative materials, construction toys etc.

Behind the scene: The person or expert behind the site is "Stevanne Auerbach, PhD"

More about Dr.Toy:
Dr. Auerbach, an established speaker, consultant, and author, is trained in child psychology, education, special education, and child development. Dr. Auerbach has a well-earned title, "Dr. Toy", dating to her first assignment with "Creative Playthings" (1968) where she developed its first education marketing program

Dr. Toy, Stevanne Auerbach, PhD, has been for many years one of the nation's and world’s leading experts on play, toys, and children's products. With 30 years of direct experience, Dr. Auerbach includes educationally oriented, developmental and skill building products from the best large and small companies in her four annual award programs. Many parents, teachers and toy buyers use Dr. Toy’s guidance in making selections.

Dr. Toy has written 15 books and many dozens of articles about play and toys for national and regional magazines and newspapers, has been featured as an expert in articles by others, and has been a featured guest on radio and television programs throughout the country and outside of the USA.

* Dr. Toy's Tips on Selecting Toys and Other Children's Products
* You can also ask any question relating kids toys at thisLink
* Enter your e-mail at provided box and get ready to receive their newsletter at your inbox. Click here

Some of the Dr. Toy's favourite sites

Edutainment sites for kids and parenets!

Edutainment is a term deriving from two words "Education" and "Entertainment" and it is well understood that the sites which are educational based but provide entertaining stuff are called "Edutainment" sites.

"Circle 1 Network" is an edutainment company, Combining learning with laughing and growing by sharing.
"Circle 1 Network" specializes in Web sites for parents and teachers looking for appropriate and educational online play to capture the interest of kids of all ages.
It was established in 1995. They have 3 sites,


1- KidsCom Jr., a Web site for kids and preschoolers. There are kids' games, educational and learning games, online coloring books, preschool activities and other games for preschoolers. (For kids 3-7 age)

Tips for internet safety from KIdscomjr.com

* Always have good manners and be polite when talking to someone else online.

* Ask your parents to spend time with you while online so that you can show them some of the neat things you can find online.

* Only use the Internet when your parents tell you it's OK, and only for as long as you are supposed to.

* Don't give out personal information like your address, telephone number or school name to anyone unless you have permission from your parents.

* Never meet with a cyberfriend or key pal unless your parents go with you or you have their permission to go alone.

* Don't break copyright rules by taking words, pictures or sound from someone else's Web site without their permission.

* Don't respond to any e-mail messages you get if they are strange, mean or upsetting to you, and tell your parents or teachers right away.

* Don't send pictures of yourself or your family to anyone unless you have permission from your parents.

* Stop right away if you see or read something on a Web site that upsets you and tell your parents or teachers about it.

* Don't put words, pictures or sounds on other people's Web sites without their permission.


2- "KidsCom" has kids games, chat rooms for kids, a virtual world, virtual pets and other child activities. kids' games focus on fun, learning and Internet safety. (For kids ages 8-15)
Link to the site: Kidscom.com

3- The third site is Parents talk which is a parenting magazine with parenting tips, family activities, crafts for children, help with a difficult child and other parenting information. Get parenting advice from parent experts. Share your stories and insights on the parent message boards.

If you want to ask any question go to the Link
- Register at their message board section to share your feelings on everything from parenting to health and well being.
Message board link

You may read articles about variety of topics like:

- Building self esteem, foundation for learning

"Make Stuff"- A site for hobbyist and crafters!

This is one of the site, where you can get a lot of "Do it yourself" ideas. People having interest in making crafts would like browsing these kind of sites, as there are a lot of projects, crafts to start working on. There is a lot of stuff at each page of the site, and it is distributed on topics basis, so its easy for you to search for your interest item.

Topics:

Crafts & Projects Great ideas for all kinds of crafts and projects for any season.

Cooking Recipes, and cooking tips.

Kid Stuff Easy art, crafts and cooking projects your kids can do.

Gardening For people who love to grow stuff!

Formulas & Remedies Homemade insect repellent, fertilizers, lotions, potions, bath salts.

Recycle It! Make something with it!

Sewing, Knitting, crochet, quilting and sewing projects.

Holidays Valentine, Easter, Mother Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas

I liked the page where there is a list of resources or ingredients used in different projects. And site has also guided where you can find those things.

* Resource list

* Link Pages takes you to the other craft or hobby sites.

Search at "Ask for KIDS" for educational stuff!

"Ask for Kids" (formerly known as Ask Jeeves for Kids) is an educational based search engine.

* Ask for Kids allows kids to ask questions and perform web searches, such as "When did Hawaii become a state?" or "What's it like to live in space?"or even "Convert 122 inches into feet" in the same way they would ask a parent, friend or teacher.

* The home page provide you with a picture of a pile of books with the names: Dictionary, Thesaurus,Almanac,Biography,Science,Clip art,Astronomy,World Atlas,Math help and history. So easily you can search for your subject.

* You can click on the link "Fun & Games", if you have finished searching and now want to relax, and play some online free games.

Why "Ask for Kids" was created?
In their own words:

"Kids have great imaginations and are curious by nature. That's why Ask for Kids has created a fast, easy, and safe way for kids to find information and answers online. Ask for Kids is primarily an educational Web site that kids can use for homework help and research for school projects.

Each Web site included in Ask for Kids is carefully selected by an editor. We include only "G-rated" pages and those written specifically for children. We select sites for the quality and depth of their content, and for safety. This criteria extends to the content of the pages presented on the Ask for Kids search results page, as well as the content of pages directly linked to on those results.

Ask for Kids focuses on modernizing its search engine technology, and giving kids tools that would make their searches experience better and more satisfying."

Create a free Islamic blog!

I have been blogging from few years, but could not get in touch with good Islamic blogs. But as blogs are getting popularity I could see many quality blogs which are created within year or so. And I like browsing blogs, due to a personal touch, but web sites providing same information don't attract my attention. The main reason of blog popularity is the freshness of content, recent news and thoughts, relevant to today's modern life.

I was really impressed to see My Minaret, which is a blogging network, providing free WordPress blog. If you have a little knowledge of WordPress or blogging, you can start blogging now at: My Minaret

Some features:

* There are 32 exciting Islamic themes, and you are free to choose any one for your blog.
* You can post content, images, video and audio links that can be played inside the blog.
* You can use this blog for Dawah purposes.





Manage content at your site: Guide to manage content

*** My blog at MyMinaret

Few Islamic blogs of note!

I usually check the Islamic sites, but as there is a professional touch, and most of the informations are alike, I rather prefer to read blogs. I am starting a new series of posts about Islamic blogs with some description. Here are few blogs of note:

1- Islam-Way for a perfect life:
Created by Yaasir Nazeerally, who is from a middle-class family from camp de masque pave. Currently employed in the Municipal Council of Beau Bassin Rose Hill - IT Section. Yaasir is a young active muslim, who have just started this blog in September. But being a youth, his articles are really very impressive.

* This is the article I liked at this blog Islam and youth a reality check

I hope that more posts would come, so keep checking the blog for updates.

Blog link: Islam-way for a perfect life


2- A glimpse into the life of a Muslimah: Created by "Umm Yusuf" . I am quoting the introduction of blogger and blog in her own words:

"I am an American convert to Islam, Alhamdullilah (all praise and thanks be to Allah. I was born and raised in the southern US. So, you can probably guess that I enjoy many outdoor activities. Such as: traveling, sight-seeing, and just generally spending time outdoors. I also enjoy learning how to cook (it’s a definite work in progress). Most of all, I like to learn and share my religion, Islam.
My goal for this blog is to share my thoughts and experiences as a muslim convert. If you are looking for debates then this is not the place for you as i will not indulge in debating or arguing my religion or way of life. However, if you are here to share your ideas and experiences in an intelligent way and with an open mind then welcome and enjoy!

I am not a writer. I do not profess or aspire to be one. My entries probably have plenty of gramatical errors and while I use spell check, I’m sure there are some misspelled words. But try to look beyond the writing to the core message of my posts. My mission is to get the ideas across as bumpy as the writing may be."

The posts I liked at the blogs are:
* 19 Things Sisters can do for Islam in America(or anywhere in the world really)

* Islamophobia Test- Will People React To Woman Being Abused While Wearing Hijab??

3- "For The Students, From The Students, By The Students." Yes this is the motto of an Indian school site Aymen's page, run by two MBHS Students - Aymen Mohammed and Aamer Ali,(now managed by Bestkids Web Solutions)

Aymen's Perception On Schooling:

"A school should not be a preparation for life. A school should be life."


Note: More sites would be added in future!