findingDulcinea

The Most Memorable News Stories of 2008

As the year draws to a close, we look back on the stories that captured the nation (and the world) in 2008.

Our staff put together a list of the 10 Stories That Defined 2008 that includes the election of Barack Obama, the Beijing Olympics, Somali pirates, and the collapse of Merrill Lynch and Lehman Brothers.

Some articles from 2008 that didn't make our staff's list were huge hits with our audience, so with that in mind, here is a list of the top five most popular (according to traffic) findingDulcinea stories from 2008.

5. McCain Taps Relative Unknown Palin as VP. The story of McCain's choice of Sarah Palin for his running mate nearly broke our site record for most visits to a story in a single day, and was a good indication of the media frenzy that followed Palin throughout the campaign.

4.On This Day: Witold Pilecki Allows Himself to Be Captured by the Nazis.  Nearly 70 years after it happened, people are still captivated by the story of a man who risked his life to provide information about Auschwitz to the Allied forces from within the walls of the concentration camp.

3. Scientists Develop a Possible Cure for HIV. The world was stunned in November to learn that scientists had engineered "super T-cells" that might be able to attack the virus, testing of this could begin as early as next year.

2.Gay Penguin Egg Snatchers Get Their Own Brood. Many people were intrigued to learn that this couple from a Chinese zoo had been stealing eggs from other penguins and replacing them with rocks, the zoo finally caved in and gave them an egg of their own to raise.

1. Males of All Species Becoming More Female. A shocking study indicated that chemicals released into the environment were causing males of many species (including humans) to develop more feminine characteristics.

Keeping Those New Year's Resolutions

For many of us, every New Year’s Day is the same. We declare our regrets, recognize our shortcomings, make resolutions, and then a few days later bid farewell to the year that was and forget it all.

Whether your pledge is small and simple or frustratingly hard, New Year’s resolutions can seem impossible to keep for a week, let alone a year or more.

However, as we all follow in the footsteps of the mythical King Janus—who was said to have had two faces so he could look forward and backward, and who inspired early Romans to pledge to make themselves better each new year—we must remember that there is no shortage of help available to each one of us.

Whether you want to shed pounds, quit smoking, or make the world a better place, there are Web resources available to help make your resolution become a reality.

Those who are getting ready to quit smoking can start by watching introductory videos on Joel's Quit Smoking Web site. A professional cessation coach, he offers clips that can be read or watched sharing advice for your first two weeks of the quitting process.

If shedding a few (or many) pounds is one of your goals this year, the Weight-Control Information Network is provided by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. The latest research on weight control sits alongside several downloadable publications on nutrition, physical activity and diet.

Or maybe you'd like to do some good for the world. Visit VolunteerMatch, which matches up volunteers and organizations according to their preferences, almost like a dating service.

Chris Coats
Senior Writer

For a comprehensive collection of New Year’s resolution resources, check out finding Dulcinea’s Guide to New Year’s Resolutions.

Healthy Baking Solutions

Winter is the time for baking: learning something new, teaching kids some culinary skills, and making the house smell great. If, like many people, your New Year's resolutions for 2009 include fitness and weight loss, you might be interested in healthier baking recipes. These sites, derived from our Baking Web Guide, can lead you in the right direction.

Cooking Light magazine offers tips for low-fat baking and substitutions for the usual high-calorie ingredients you find in most baked goods. This reputable magazine guarantees you won't sacrifice taste in the process.

Betty Crocker has "Healthy Baking Tips" that also mention ingredient substitutions. Try typing "low fat" in the search box on the upper right to find some lighter dessert choices.

Vegan recipes are a good way to discover low-fat baking. Goodbaker sells low-fat, organic baking mixes and also offers free recipes and low-fat baking hints. You can also "Ask Goodbaker" any vegan baking questions.

Post Punk Kitchen is a public access vegan cooking show. Although it covers vegan cooking of all kinds, the Post Punk baking section is especially helpful for advice on how to cook vegan.

The number of people diagnosed with celiac disease (requiring a gluten-free diet for life) is on the rise, and you can often cut calories when baking with gluten-free mixes, which typically use some combination of rice, tapioca and soy flour and sometimes call for sweeteners like agave syrup instead of sugar. Arrowhead Mills sells a variety of such products, including all-purpose mixes.

Liz Colville
Senior Writer
Audience Development

Women Firsts in 2008

As most of us know, Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton were big achievers in 2008. But there are many other women from around the world who set milestones this year. FindingDulcinea teamed up with WowOwoW, otherwise known as The Women on the Web, to profile 20 such women, including Olympic swimmer Dara Torres, New Hampshire's first female senator Jeanne Shaheen, Clinton, Palin, and 16 more. 

Visit WowOwoW's photo essay to see pictures and learn essential facts about the women.

Visit findingDulcinea's special section, 2008 Firsts for Women, to learn more about each of these women's lives and how they achieved their unique accomplishments.

Liz Colville

Senior Writer

Audience Development

Get Holiday Hangover Relief

Dr. Aaron Carroll and Dr. Rachel Vreeman of Indiana University's Medical School specialize in "medical myths for the holiday season."

They've done two lists so far, and 2008's, summarized by the New York Times blog Well, includes more evidence that there is, sadly, no cure for that peskiest of holiday guests: the hangover. The, ahem, sobering reality: "The researchers found no scientific evidence supporting any type of cure for alcohol hangovers. Because hangovers are caused by drinking too much alcohol, the only way to avoid one is to drink very little or not at all."

While there may not be a cure to over-drinking (or, for that matter, overeating), there is still a trove of good Web sites and products that can help you feel better after one or several nights of dehydrating, calorie-packed revelry.

Coconut water is "nature's sports drink," and you'll be seeing it populating more and more supermarket shelves as beverage companies catch on to this simple and delicious potassium-sodium cocktail. BeYouTV, an online health magazine, explains that the drink is low in sugar, cholesterol-free, 99 percent fat-free and low in calories.

Acetaldehyde may sound like something you find in a petrie dish, but unfortunately you'll also find it in your body after you drink. In a very interesting article about what alcohol does to your body, educational site SoYouWanna explains that it's a "nasty chemical critter" that has a starring role in every hangover. Arm yourself with knowledge to help you minimize overzealous drinking.

Pricky pear cactus extract was studied by some researchers at Tulane University in 2004 and discovered to be helpful in preventing the symptoms of a hangover. The extract can be found at some health food stores; take it a few hours before drinking commences and it may "alleviate symptoms such as dry mouth and that nauseated, can’t-stand-the-sight-of-food feeling."

Bananas can help counteract the diuretic (dehydrating) effect of alcohol and caffeine, which many people use to minimize hangover headaches and fatigue. An article on holiday hangovers from the Food Network Web site explains that bananas are full of the electrolyte potassium, which, together with sodium can help get you upright again. The article adds that different cultures have different ideas about which foods can help you overcome yet another hangover symptom, nausea.

Food and timing play a crucial role in hangovers; the site RealBeer has some great tips about drinking water, drinking on a full stomach, knowing how different alcohols affect you and spacing out your drinks adequately.

Liz Colville
Senior Writer
Audience Development

Now that you're sufficiently educated about the effects of partying too hard, find resources on "Making the Most of New Year's" in our Web Guide on the subject.

And if you're still craving more hangover science, read Newsweek's 2007 article, "Why Hangovers Can't Be Cured."

Top 10 News Stories of 2008

On October 6, Lehman Brothers CEO Richard S. Fuld, Jr. is heckled by protesters as he leaves Capitol Hill in Washington after testify before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on the collapse of Lehman Brothers  (Susan Walsh/AP)

It’s time for publications to review their reportage from the year and release their lists of the biggest stories of the year. At findingDulcinea, we plan to do the same next week, but in the meantime, here’s what some other news sources had to say.

Time magazine’s list of the year’s “Top 10 News Stories” leads with the first reports of the investment banking crisis in September. But if you want a list that goes beyond general news, Time has that covered in the “Top 10 Everything of 2008,” which includes such categories as the year’s top underreported stories, oddball news stories and crime stories, as well as non-news categories, such as movies, late night jokes and children’s books.

Foreign policy buffs who think they know everything that is going on in the world may reconsider after reading Foreign Policy’s list of “The Top 10 Stories You Missed in 2008,” which picks the surge in Afghanistan that occurred earlier this year as its top story.

There have been many scientific breakthroughs this year; New Scientist magazine focuses on the increase in brain research in “Your amazing brain: Top 10 articles from 2008.”

It’s been another scandal-filled year for our nation’s celebrities and their nearest and dearest; MTV highlights the worst behavior of celebrity parents (and parents of celebrities) in “The Top 10 Most Notorious Celebrity Parents of 2008.” The year’s most offensive? MTV points to Rufus Humphrey, Lily van der Woodsen, Bart Bass and Howie Archibald, the parental characters in the popular TV show “Gossip Girl.”

Soojung Chang
Senior Writer

Beat Winter Fatigue

As the cold, dark, damp nature of winter sets in, reclaim your positive spirit online by managing your energy levels during the season.

Elemenja will mentally prepare you to keep up with a winter exercise regimen. Don’t let yourself join the 30 percent of the population who lets their exercise routine hibernate during the winter months. Find encouragement for getting exercise indoors, or embrace the cold air by participating in one of many great outdoor activities, including Nordic walking, trail running, snowshoeing and skiing.

Stimulate yourself intellectually and emotionally by creating or revamping a list of things you want to do in life that you haven’t done thus far. My 50 helps you to discover your wishes, interests and goals, and connects you to others who have the same interests.

Food cravings change seasonally, and The Skinny Chef will help you prepare winter-specific meals to boost your energy levels. The site offers hearty and healthy recipes, loaded with the vitamins, nutrients and antioxidants needed for the cold months.

Healthy Discovery explains how to create your own spa experience at home. Reward yourself with rest and rejuvenation without breaking the bank, or even leaving the comfort of your own home.

Jen O’Neill
Writer

Cold and dark getting you down? Read “Tips for Beating the Winter Blues.”

“6 Sites for Conquering Holiday Stress” can help before and during those tense moments at Christmas or Hanukkah.

60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Members of the Elders Group meet with French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, December 7, 2008 in Paris (Thibault Camus/AP)

December 10, 2008 marks the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. How is the day is being honored and what current events are affecting human rights law?

The Elders, an organization dedicated to easing human suffering, and which is composed of such world leaders and statesmen as Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu, partnered with similarly minded groups to launch the Every Human Has Rights campaign a year ago today. The campaign, which is still going strong, asks individuals worldwide to call on governments to “uphold and protect” human rights.

Amnesty International, which is part of the Every Human Has Rights campaign, has also joined with the Irish Times this past year to publish a series of pieces by well-known Irish writers about the UDHR; Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney wrote the first one, “Human Rights, Poetic Redress.” 

Today, the General Assembly of the United Nations is considering the new Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. If approved, it would give a right of individual complaint concerning the rights to health, housing, education, etc.

And what does the world think about the UDHR? The World Public Opinion found that a majority in 25 nations polled support most of the principles set out in the UDHR, and a majority in most of those countries believe that the UN should have the “power to go into countries to investigate human rights abuses.”

For more information on where to find international news, please visit our International Politics Web Guide.

Kate Davey
Co-founder & Audience Development

FindingDulcinea is a Finalist for a Mashable Open Web Award

Mashable, the influential blog covering "all that's new on the Web," is currently hosting the second annual Open Web Awards, which it calls "the only multilingual international online voting competition that covers major innovations in web technology." The categories for this year's Open Web Awards include search and social search, social bookmarking, social news, widgets, photo sharing, video sharing, fashion, social shopping and several more. Last year's winners included Mahalo, Twitter, Facebook, Netvibes, woot! and Meetup.

We are proud to be a finalist in the search and social search category along with two other sites, Artiklz and Scour.

The best explanation for why we're nominated for this award probably comes from Mashable itself; Paul Glazowski wrote this lovely review of findingDulcinea in July of this year.

The final round of voting is going on now until December 15. Vote using the blue widget in the sidebar to the right. Be sure to confirm your vote via e-mail. You can vote once every 24 hours!

Thanks for your support, and wish us luck!

Liz Colville
Senior Writer
Audience Development

Find Funny Online Videos—Without YouTube

FunnyorDie.com

People searching for funny online videos usually go to YouTube first, but that’s not the only, or even the best, place to find a good old-fashioned funny cat video, a bit of amateur sketch comedy or other guffaw-worthy material. Here are a few sites that can give you a laugh. (FYI: most contain material not suitable for work or children).

The names behind Funny or Die (Will Ferrell, Adam McKay and Chris Henchy) are enough to get most interested in taking a look at the site. It offers a mix of user-generated stuff and professionally produced videos that these guys (and other famous funny people, like Michael Cera and Jack Black) have released exclusively on the site. Well worth a browse.

Hulu was put together by Fox and NBC as a response to users wanting free video (and going to illegal measures to get it). Not only can you watch sitcoms and SNL sketches here for free, but you can also get some full-length comedy films. The high quality of the videos alone makes Hulu much better than YouTube.

CollegeHumor.com’s videos sometimes err on the side of immature, but college-aged and twenty-something dudes will find much to laugh about here. Worth checking out are the oldie-but-goodie prank wars between two interns for the site.

And, if you, like me, have a taste for the classics, then look no further than the Web site of the show that may have started the whole funny video craze: ABC's “America’s Funniest Home Videos.” If you enjoy watching wedding follies or crazy pets, this is the place to do it.

There are many, many, other funny video sites out there, so use the comments section below to suggest some of them.

Haley Lovett
Audience Development

Check out findingDulcinea's "Must-See Video" section for an archive of funny, strange and cool videos from around the Web.

There's a section of our Web Guide to TV that will give you some resources for watching TV online.

And for a closer look at the mainstay YouTube, check out our Web Guide  to Understanding YouTube.

BCS Breakdown: A Holiday Tradition

The Florida Gators' mascot, Albert, greets fans at a rally prior to the 2007 BCS Championship against Ohio State (Ted S. Warren/AP)

Another holiday season, another round of complaining about the state of the BCS championship series and how one team or another has been shafted out of the top spot. No matter what changes are made, year after year, one team finds itself called back just short of the goal line, due to some difficult-to-understand ranking average or, in this year’s case, a computer ranking overruling both on-field performance and live opinion.

The team in this case is the Texas Longhorns, who ended losing their slot in the championship game to the Oklahoma Sooners, even though Texas had shared a common record with Oklahoma, and had also beaten them by ten points in October.

While this year offers few clear solutions, there is no shortage of opinion on how to fix the system.

The College Man offers a slew of possible alternatives, including evening out the schedule of conference championship games to assure an equal amount of time on the field across the NCAA.

As if the federal government had nothing better to do, a few congressmen echoed President-elect Barack Obama, who called for a playoff system to replace the current computer polls, and introduced legislation to launch a DOJ investigation into the existing system.

Sports Illustrated’s Stewart Mandel expands on Obama’s theme, proposing that the other bowl games should act as semifinal contests to determine which final two teams will face off in the national championship.

Chris Coats
Senior Writer

Visit our Web Guide to Football for more quality sites on the BCS and everything else football-related. The guide has sections for finding player bios, stats on the NCAA and NFL, learning about the sport, and more.

Stress-Free Online Gift Shopping

Shopping for holiday gifts can go from hectic to relaxing if you just go online. Overstock and Amazon are obvious places to begin, but there are other excellent sites that will enhance your gift selections and help you stay within your budget.

Bluefly comes to your rescue when you’re shopping for the most discerning fashionista. Find designer clothing, shoes, handbags and other trendy bargains sure to make you, your bank account and the gift recipient pleased in one fell swoop.

Graveyard Mall dubs itself the place “where high prices come to die.” Check the daily deal, offering items 80 percent off the retail price, or visit the dollar store, where items actually are one buck, or close to it.

Froogle lets you and the other gift shoppers in your family create and share shopping lists, keep track of the products on it for potential bargains and search for items by category from many vendors.

NetGift helps you select the ideal present, from the mainstream to the obscure, available at up to 50 percent off the retail price. Browse gifts by type or recipient (man, woman or child).

Etsy is the online marketplace for handmade goods. Support up-and-coming artists by purchasing high-quality and unique artwork, knickknacks, jewelry, clothes and more.

Red Envelope helps you select just the right little something for the person who seems to have just about everything.

Jen O’Neill
Writer

Check out feature on "5 Sites for Homemade Holiday Gift Ideas" and our Web Guide to Gift Giving for more great Web resources for holiday shopping.

Last-Minute Holiday Travel

The Temple of the Grand Jaguar, Guatemala

As December kicks off, many travel Web sites are buzzing over last-minute holiday deals. Once you’ve shaken off your turkey coma, a last-minute holiday sojourn awaits, courtesy of the informants below.

The National Geographic blog Intelligent Travel lists “Big Apple Deals” for holiday time, including special family packages at luxury hotels like the Plaza Hotel, and chic boutique hotels like the Kimpton Muse.

Independent Traveler lists new low fares on American Airlines flights to and from the United States and Canada, including New York to Orlando for $89 each way, and Washington, D.C., to Miami for $90 each way. Travel dates are for two weeks in December and early January.

Jaunted suggests an alternative to the typical Christmas vacation: a two-week volunteer trip to Guatemala City. The trip is offered through Cross Cultural Solutions, and does not come cheap. The total price for two weeks, which includes room and board, is nearly $2,600.

Smarter Travel lists the latest sales on Icelandair flights from the United States to Europe, such as Boston to London for $449.

Sarah Amandolare
Senior Writer

Visit our Budget Travel Web Guide for more quality travel sites to help you find an affordable getaway, or our feature "6 Sites for Hotel Deals."