Net Picks

New Years Resolution Generator - If you are having problems coming up with New Years resolutions, try the New Years Resolution Generator. Statistical, the odds are against you fulfilling your resolutions. Why they fail and what you can do about it is the subject of a Psychology Today article titled New Years Resolutions, Why They Don't Stick.

Google Doodles -  Do you enjoy when the Google logo is altered for special events as much as I do? Doodles are the fun, surprising and sometimes spontaneous changes that are made to the Google logo to celebrate holidays, anniversaries and the lives of famous artists, pioneers and scientists.

World's Worst Cultural Mistakes - Did you know that talking over dinner is considered a social faux pas in China, Japan, and certain African countries? Blowing your nose in public could earn disdainful looks in Saudi Arabia and France. Don't perpetuate the world's worst cultural mistakes. Another website which will help you steer clear of embarrassing cultural missteps is Cultural Crossing. Culture Crossing provides users with valuable cultural information about every country.  It also promotes understanding of your own culture, by exploring the values, communications styles and other elements that guide your actions, interactions and reactions.

Recipes for January - Southern Living, planetgreen.com, Food Network and Woman's Day.

American Sabor: Latinos in U.S. Popular Music - "American Sabor" is based on a Smithsonian Museum exhibit that explores the influence of Latino musicians in post-World War II America through the lens of major centers of Latino music production-New York, San Antonio, San Francisco, Miami and Los Angeles. The website is fully multimedia enabled. The Juke Box section has over 40 streaming tracks. "The Mixer" allows you to explore the musical components of of a variety of genres of Latino music.

40 Best Android Apps for 2011 from PC Magazine

50 Best iPhone Apps for 2011 from Time Magazine

Planet Earth is a video instructional series on Earth science and astronomy for college and high school classrooms and adult learners. This series presents visually spectacular tours of the seven continents as it makes connections between our solar system and Earth's oceans, climate, and mineral and energy sources. It unifies Earth science, astronomy, and comparative planetology into an integrated discipline that relies on common scientific methods. There are 7 episodes, each an hour long.

Healthy Sleep - Who doesn't love a good night's sleep? The Division of Sleep Medicine at Harvard and WGBH have collaborated to produce the Healthy Sleep website to help "illuminate the relevance of sleep, explain the underlying science of sleep, and, most importantly, provide practical information for getting the sleep you need." Visitors interested in getting the sleep they need will find the many videos and interactive features here well worth their time. Under the "Why Sleep Matters" link, visitors will find an interactive timeline entitled "Historical and Cultural Perspectives of Sleep". The "Consequences of Insufficient Sleep" gives visitors the choice of several short videos to watch, including those that address the consequences of driving while drowsy, the link between disease risk and poor sleep, and the public safety and performance issues that arise due to insufficient sleep. The "Getting the Sleep You Need" link has many tips for visitors on how to approach poor sleep habits, including when to seek treatment.

Luminous, The Art of Asia - This website accompanying an exhibition at the Seattle Art Museum (SAM) allows visitors to explore selected works of the Art of Asia in detail. For example, after clicking on "Explore the Art" on the homepage, visitors can view a 3-minute video that explores the museum's conservators' work with Seated Guanyin, a Chinese wooden sculpture from the Song period (960-1279) that had been both painted and gilded by prior owners. Another shorter video shows kids reacting to Crows, a pair of six-paneled Japanese screens, Edo Period 1615 - 1868. There are several videos abut Gate, a specially commissioned piece by Do Ho Suh, a contemporary Korean artist. Gate recreates a gate into the artist's father's house, augmented with projected images based on other works in the museum's collections. In the videos, watch Gate being installed, observe the animated imagery, museum goers reactions, and hear curators discuss the piece