Jul 29, 2007 - 04:03:35 CDT
If you want to keep track of how the temperature each day compares with the record highs in the state, download the monthly weather calendars from the Bismarck office of the National Weather Service (www.crh.noaa.gov/bis/calendar.php).Among the interesting items on each printable PDF calendar are the record high for each day and the average temperature for each day based on a 30-year average. For example, the record high for today, July 29, is 104 degrees, set in 1999. The average temperature for this day is 86 degrees. Historically, the warmest July on record in the state was in 1936, when the month averaged 83 degrees. The coldest July was in 1915, when the monthly average temperature was 63 degrees.
Despite the recent run of upper 90s and 100s, we're nowhere near making this July the hottest on record, if my math based on daily weather stats from the Web site hold up. You can check out daily climate data by clicking the "local" link under the "Climate" category in the lefthand navigation bar.
You also can get the current forecast, view satellite images and radar, check current weather warnings and a lot more at this site. This truly should be one of your top 20 bookmarked sites if you have any interest in the local weather.
Here are a few useful "hot weather" sites with tips on how to stay cool:
"When It's Hot, Play It Cool"
www.cdc.gov/nasd/docs/d000001-d000100/d000004/ d000004.html
"Keep A Cool Head"
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/06/070627143722.htm
"Cool Tips For Hot Days"
health.msn.com/guides/summerhealth/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100141130
"Tricks To Keep Your House Cool"
freshome.com/2007/06/25/ tricks-keep-your-house-cool-this-summer/
N.D. wins books
North Dakota finished third in the top five vote-getters in the recent Cheerios/First Book "Book Donation Challenge" (www2.firstbook.org/ericcarle) - and it's due to everyone who went online to take the challenge and vote.
From March 1 to June 16, people were encouraged to answer various trivia questions from books featured in the "First Book" program, a nonprofit effort aimed at encouraging literacy among young people.
By answering a question correctly, you got to cast a vote for a state to receive books. The more questions you answered correctly, the more votes you got.
The five states with the most votes will each receive 20,000 free copies of the children's book, "The Tiny Seed," by Eric Carle. The books will be distributed through programs in the state aimed at helping disadvantaged children.
When I first wrote about this challenge on May 20, North Dakota was in 14th place.
Less than a month later, the state finished third in voting.
So, congratulations to North Dakota and to all those who took the time to go online, answer the questions and vote. Your efforts will help make a difference in the lives of many young people.
I learned about the book challenge from the folks at Barnes and Noble in Bismarck who, in turn, found it through The Literacy Site (www.theliteracysite.com). This is one of six sites run by GreaterGood (www.greatergood.org) where people can donate to a charity without spending a cent.
By clicking on a sponsor's link, 1 percent of the fee paid by the sponsor goes toward the purchase of children's books. Two clicks covers 2 percent, and so on.
The other sites, accessible via navigation tabs at the top of the home page, focus on hunger, breast cancer, child health, the rainforest and animal rescue.
Hard to Simpsonize
There are some grumblings making the online rounds these days about the Burger King-sponsored site where you can convert a photo of yourself into a Simpsons cartoon character (www.simpsonizeme.com). It seems the "Simpsonizer" is a victim of its own success - so many people have gone to the site that it's hard to get through or successfully convert a photo. The site is part of the numerous promotions surrounding the recent theatrical release of "The Simpsons Movie," based on the popular weekly Fox network television show.
When the site does work, it works beautifully - I managed to quickly generate a "Simpsonized" version of myself that looks fairly accurate.
If you have trouble with the Simpsonizer site, you might try going to the official movie site instead (www.simpsonsmovie.com). There, you can create a Simpsons "avatar," which allows you to build your own cartoon character. By manipulating facial and body features, you can generate a reasonable two-dimensional approximation of yourself.
(Keith Darnay is the webmaster and designer for bismarcktribune.com. His Web site, featuring this column going back to 1995, is at www.darnay.com.iec.)
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