Weekend update research links

...and a couple news tidbits I just couldn't resist: In Guatemala, Mayan priests say they'll have to purify sacred land after GW Bush's visit next week. According to one spokesman, the visit will bring 'bad spirits'.

And in Georgia, Zell Miller says we would have 45 million more Americans to staff our military and pay into Social Security if we just hadn't aborted them all after Roe v Wade. Uh, yeah. And more traffic, more demand for housing and energy, more crime, more people needing welfare and health care and Chinese imports.

The links:

Reference:

ATM locator databases, links from Resourceshelf.

Database on introduction of aquatic species, from FAO, tracks nearly 5000 species.

PhillyHistory: photo archive hundreds of thousands of photos highlighted, from Philadelphia's department of records. Photos can be searched by address or neighborhood, and can be purchased.

Statistics:

Data Planet Subscription-based access to statistics from government and other sources. Minimum $49 for month's access.

TrafficSTATS, project of AAA and Carnegie Mellon; has FARS and NHTS data, allows you to calculate "the travel risks for millions of different combinations of transportation modes, demographic variables, and a host of other parameters."

Governments, Politics:

BNA Web Watch: Government Contractors, a webliography.

2007 Congressional Pig Book released (press release). Direct to the pig book summary, or you can download an Excel file of the pork.

Project Vote releases new study on voting fraud: full PDF here. The headline: "Claims of “Voter Fraud” Often Manufactured, Exaggerated for Political Purposes".

Oppo Depot brings opposition research to Web 2.0. Find or contribute the dirt on presidential candidates.

Journalism:

Rural Journalism Reporting Resources, part of the U Ky Rural Journalism and Community Issues site (which also contains the Rural Blog, a great resource for stories, often cited by Al Tompkins).

People:

Ancestors on Board has searchable outbound passenger lists from British Isles ports covering 1890-1909 (will go to 1960).

Business:

Telcodata.us: has databases of
telcos, exhanges, codes, switches, etc.

From Businessjournalism.org: Guide to online calculators, and Business Glossary/

From MIT's library: Business Database Adviser, leads to databases in MIT's library, so may not be available without password, but is a good guide. Choose type of info you want and it gives you a list of sources.

Online Lookups from Quentin Sager Consulting, offers telco searches, SSN validator, bank routing number validator.

Tools:

Google Video-- search for documentaries; a great collection here.

News:

Reuters Africa, news portal including blog news via Global Voices.

Public Records:

Online Lookups from Quentin Sager Consulting, offers telco searches, SSN validator, bank routing number validator.

Fun/Entertaining"

Couchville lets you create an interactive TV listing guide for your local TV source.

Pretty Penny Books: service finds books available at Amazon.com for a penny (plus shipping). Some really good stuff here.