CLICK AND DOUBLE CLICK: TRY SOME QUIRKY SITES ON LEAP DAY

It's Leap Day. Feb. 29 only comes around every four years, so it's the kind of day that encourages us to be a little bit wacky. It seems like a good day to look at some Web sites that are a bit off kilter.

Fasten your seat belts. It could be a wild ride.

Where does your money go? Bills, of course.

But where do your dollar bills in your pocket go?

A site called "Where's George" bills itself as the Great American Dollar bill locator.

www.wheresgeorge.com

This is one of those sites where you can participate. The only glitch is that everyone who gets your dollar must participate, too.

To "play" you're suppose to enter the denomination, year of the series and serial number. They also ask you to add your zip code and, if you so desire, a short note about the bill. This would include where you got it, its condition, etc.

You must register and log in to track your bills, but it's free.

Then the trick is to write this Web site on the dollar bill. I wouldn't advertise the fact or the Mint may accuse you of defacing the money.

The site boasts of 166,515 users who have entered in more than 2.4 million bills, totaling nearly $15 million dollars.

Are you the kind of person that pops the bubble wrap when you get a package? Then I have a site for you.

www.urban75.com/Mag/bubble.html

You can while away the hours with Perpetual Bubblewrap at this site. You don't even need to click. Just roll your mouse over the bubbles and they pop. The only trouble is they come right back. You can hear the little "pop" as each bubble bursts.

This site bills itself as "the ultimate in time wasting."

It's not as therapeutic as the real stuff, a co-worker pointed out. But, hey, it's free.

OK, now for more serious stuff (kind of). Let's go to the site that burst the bubble on Fox's show on marrying a millionaire.

www.thesmokinggun.com

This online magazine prides itself on posting exclusive documents -- cool, confidential and quirky -- that can't be found elsewhere on the Web. The material comes from government and law enforcement sources, via the Freedom of Information requests and from court records.

This is the place often credited for breaking the Millionaire groom's "dirty secret" that he had been the target of a restraining order barring him from going near an ex-finance. You can read many of the original court documents at the site, including the restraining order and the ex-financee's petition.

If you're new to the site, you might also want to take the Unabomber interactive quiz, developed from documents contained in Ted Kaczynski's federal court file. You can find it in the archive. The quiz incorporates 40 of Kaczynski's answers to a 567-question psychological test. Find out how many of your answers match with Ted's. It's a bit creepy.

OK, let's go from creepy people to creepy movies -- cult movies that is. Let's visit the Astounding B Monster movie site.

www.bmonster.com

You can search the site by title, actor or key word, or search the site by category.

The B movies featured on this site typically had some kind of monster from the Blob to Dracula. The current feature on the site is a story about Lon Chaney Jr.'s performance as Son of Dracula. I guess I missed that one.

Under the index, you can find some interesting stories on B-movie stars. There's also some unusual Top 10 lists, like top 10 brain movies, top 10 monsters you get the picture.

Anyone for "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes?"

public.csusm.edu/public/public_html/veres/

Are you a bowling fanatic? After a particularly close bowling match, do you ever wonder "what if?"

This Bowling Score Calculator lets you play with your score. It answers such questions as "What if I would have got the strike in the 5th?"

Now you'll know.

Just click above the frame and the corresponding ball score values. Ten is obviously a strike. It calculates your score using an applet.

With March just around the corner, you might be tempted to tell people: Go fly a kite. Well, you might also recommend they visit Kitecast, which offers weather forecasts and information for kiteflying.

www.kitecast.com

If you click Virtual Kite, you can select your city, check the wind conditions and see Dr. Dewpoint's kite fly. St. Louis would be the closest spot for virtual kite flying..

According to this site, no one really knows who invented the kite, but they pose some interesting theories. You can also check out Kite Flying 101, which offers some pretty sophisticated advice. I guess Charlie Brown never knew about this site.

Don't forget to check out kite flying tips. For example, wind of 5 to 15 mph makes for the best flying weather.

And since it's Leap Day, you might want to learn more about it. After all, it only comes once every four years.

www.rog.nmm.ac.uk

The Royal Observatory Greenwich, London are experts in time. To learn more about Leap Year, click on Information Leaflets and then click the link to Leap Year.

Leap years were introduced into the calendar by Julius Caesar. The site explains why the added day is needed in clear language. In the FAQs, you can learn more about leap years and time in general.

The year 2000 is a leap year, but 1900 was not. To be a leap year, the year number must be divisible by four except the end-of-century years, which must be divisible by 400.

Oh, by the way, these guys aren't celebrating the millennium until Jan. 1, 2001.

See you in Cyberspace.

Joni Adams is managing editor of the Southeast Missourian. You can e-mail her at click@semissourian.com.