Back to Best of the Web by L Ritzel

Pls Click for useful Sites in following Categories:

eCollaboration tools (Having talked about the Information Age for some years we now have entered the Collaboration Age. Here some of the Webs most usefull and innovative tools available on the WWW)

Cyberhelpers (some virtual helpers, once you know them you could not live without them anymore)

Innovative Searchtool (or what is beyond Google and Yahoo?)

Finding Multimedia on the Web (Sounds, Images and Animations)

eSwitzerland (Helpful sites about Switzerland)

Travel Helpers (You are planning vacations and need some virtual help)

Information from the World Wide Web

A bit more technical Sites for the Teckies among you

Fun and Leisure

Travel Helpers (You are planning vacations and need some virtual help)

	It certainly helpsWindows Genuine Validation tool to know the time in other countries, specially in your preparation for your next trip. A rather nice and visual appealing approach is TimeTicker
	The coolest of the cool if it comes to Geographical software is not available online but for FREE download. Once again has the companie behind Google brought us the ultimative Georgraphical Saltelite Worldatlas System. Just download GoogleEarth and then "fly" to places that you always wanted to visit, see it down to the single house and even indulge in a kind of 3D side view. Cool - Cooler - The Coolest. But even the coolest tool has competition, and this competition is brought to us by NASA, check out their free 184 MB download WorldWind. It shows the borders of all the worlds countries with thousands of place names and you can even call up temperatures from anywhere around the globe and, if you are so inclined, you can even check out rainfall, barometric pressure and cloud cover as well.
	Created by the co-founders of Orbitz, Travelocity and Expedia, Kayak is a comparison-shopping website that helps consumers make informed decisions in their travel planning. Kayak.com offers a comprehensive search engine that scours over 60 online travel sites, providing prices and itineraries for more than 550 airlines and 85,000 hotels. Kayak.com's results page displays more choice of available itinerary/price combinations than any other online travel site and is the only travel search engine with MultiBook™, a breakthrough technology that lets the consumer choose where to purchase the preferred itinerary. Kayak.com is also the first travel search engine to offer consumers the ability to access user-created reviews and ratings as well as other relevant travel information.
	Did you ever loose your luggage when on a international trip? If yes then you know how much stress this involves. This website won't bring the luggage back, but it at least can help you to trace it back and get an idea if you need to go shopping or if you should just take another beer at the ariport. Check it at my LostBag
	Good weather - bad weather? so important for your next travel destination, check it out. The weather of the WORLD on one site at Wunderground
	Scenario: You are some two hours away from your well deserved vacations to... Of course you did not find time to learn some of the local language as you intentionally wanted to do. But there are still some hours left in the plane. Visit the site from Tavalang and choose among almost all languages of the world and you will get the most important basic wording you will need to survive for some days.
	Scenario: Even managers need sometimes to break out and leave their eMails, their Business behind. If you visit this site you either will immediately want to leave for some exotic destinations or at least might forget that you are actually in your room, staring at the computer. In this full-blown guide to many nations, For example can you also listen to the world's oldest rain forest at night, sample the local fruit, or hang out in an Iban longhouse. Geographia is one beauty of a site, dive in... An alternative site about the same topic but in German language is Schaetze-der-welt
	Virtualtourist offers a flavor of international travel from the comfort of your computer desk, this great site brings a whole world of people who were born to travel, together into one big online community. Virtual Tourist is a travel site with a difference, as it's mainly comprised of pages of content created by its members - people from every walk of life, scattered across the globe - and the information contained in these pages provides a truly diverse commentary. Getting started is as easy as opening your passport, assuming you can find it, that is. Just register to get your own personal homepage on the Virtual Tourist server then use the simple formed-based page editor to compile pictures and text in up to 8 chapters. You can include anything you think is interesting or noteworthy, from travel tips to sightseeing musts in either your home country or some place that you've visited during your travels. Rooting through the other member's pages is fun and informative. Search for a place, keyword, or for a particular member's homepage, then browse through the many links returned for relevant information. One resource of particular note is the Meetings and Events scheduler, where members can post information about pre-arranged get-togethers with other Virtual Tourist members. It's this sense of community and belonging that really sets this site apart from others like it, although obviously all care should be taken when arranging to meet strangers over the internet, especially if you're travelling to an unfamiliar country.
	Scenario: Anyone who's been travelling will know that the invention of the Internet - and more specifically, Web cafes - has completely changed the nature of how we stay in touch on the move. Gone are the days when the best your family could hope for was a few hastily scrawled lines on the back of a picture postcard that arrives 3 weeks after you do. Continento illustrates this with some style. This relatively new site provides a comprehensive set of tools and functions for you to map your travels abroad as they happen. The registration process is free and easy, allowing you access to your own little section of the website to build your travelogue. Just click to start a new Map and then enter a title and description. Once your map is set up you can start adding the details of your stops. The site then marks your dates and progress on a world map, and allows you to enter notes about the location, such as cultural observations or anecdotes. One really great feature for those that are carrying a digital camera, is that you can also upload pictures you've taken along the way, freeing up valuable space on your memory card and ensuring that your holiday snaps remain safe, no matter what. Emailing your family and friends with the details of your Continento map will enable them to log on whenever they want and catch up with your progress.
	Scenario: Have you ever dreamed of exploring the pyramids of Egypt? If so, enter here, wander through the chambers and passageways of the Great Pyramid, and learn about the pharaohs for whom these monumental tombs were built. You can also follow the 1997 field season of a team of archaeologists as they excavated the bakery that fed the pyramid builders. You can do so at Nova
	As an alternative to the mighty Google Earth (presented earlier) another application free to download. EarthBrowser is a three dimensional model of the earth with constantly updating live information. Exploring the earth is fun and easy with a point and click interface that lets you rotate and zoom to any desired location. EarthBrowser's dynamic nature makes it an information resource that is always useful and fascinating. Monitor weather in over 17,000 locations worldwide with EarthBrowser's live weather updates. Full seven day forecasts and hourly weather conditions updates let you know the weather without waiting for the local television forecast. Animated clouds let you see cloud fronts, hurricanes and weather systems as they move across the globe. Watch the night shadow travel across the globe showing the seasons. View country and states, tectonic plate boundaries and local time zones. Live earthquakes and volcanoes have links to in-depth information on each particular quake. Click on any country flag to go to a website with detailed information.
	Maps from all over the world, on your screen or as well on your PDA from one of the oldest KillerSites on the Web - Mapquest
	Scenario: You have only 15 Euro in your pockets, but still need to go for a business trip to London. Check one of the easiest, fastest and cheapest way to get there, Easyjet . I normally would avoid to make advertising for any specific product or brand, but in this one I am ok to make an exception, similar to Dell, EasyJet website is just a fantastic sample on how B2C business should be done online. Easy, Fast and Userfriendly and very customized
	Travel the world by 360 degree interactive virtual reality panoramic images or get the feeling on how to be dishes inside a dishwashing machine?.From a Swiss Origin comes a real cool collection of incredible Virtual Reality 360 degree images at VR Mag. Another Website with similar content is at Cubic VR - QTVR. Pre-rendered VR Guide to vr panoramas in QuickTime - Just about the coolest visual experience you can have beside the Real thing. If you can't afford your overseas vacation, just spend some hours on this site and let yourself (needs Quicktime PlugIn)
	Something similar; a collection of many 360 degrees panoramas from all over the world by Berkeley University. Some even include sound so you can really dive into the fullscreen panorama pictures