Nov 3 Prison and Jail Inmates at Midyear 2002
At midyear 2002 the Nation's prisons and jails incarcerated over 2 million persons. This U.S. Department of Justice site prresents data on prison and jail inmates, collected from National Prisoner Statistics counts and the Annual Survey of Jails in 2002. This report provides for each State and the Federal system, the number of inmates and the overall incarceration rate per 100,000 residents. It offers trends since 1995 and percentage changes in prison populations since midyear and yearend 2001.

Nov 4th Programming Language Inventor or Serial Killer?
We're not entirely sure what brought this site on — is it that computer scientists look a little odd, or that serial killers look so darned nondescript? Hard to tell, but the quiz, nicely turned out in Flash format, kept us amused long enough to find out that we're pretty good at telling the hackers from the, um, hackers.

Nov 5th The Grocery List Collection
In an age when we are all waiting with dread for the next privacy invasion (will it be the government? Our credit card company? Our creepy neighbor with the wireless spy camera?), it's sort of sweet to find a perfectly harmless site that gives the curious a peek into other people's lives. If you've ever written and discarded a grocery list, you just might find it posted here with, possibly, commentary from visitors beholding your scribbles and extrapolating from them their ideas about your life.

Nov 6th Cell's Alive!
Biology students young and old will enjoy this energetic site, which features plenty of information and interactive demonstrations of various animal and plant cells and cellular organisms. There's plenty of gorgeosity afoot on the microscopic level; we were particularly taken with the colorful Crystal Gallery, in which biological samples placed between special polarizing lenses reveal an other-worldly beauty.

Nov 7th Cheap iPod
It has come to our attention that certain members of the Macintosh user community are feeling unloved in the wake of the iTunes for Windows release. We honestly don't know where they get these ideas; after all, now that iTunes for Windows will allow the other 90-something-percent of the world to see what their Apple-centric lives are like, surely mass conversions to their cause are just around the corner. In fact, we're telling everyone within the sound of our keyboard to visit this one-page site and do what's necessary to prove the world's doting fondness for those iPod-loving scamps. The case of our P-III has never looked so stylish.

Nov 10th Shockwave: Mind Games
We planned to cover just one of the many Shockwave games available for free play on their excellent site. The trouble started when we tried to decide which one. The pretty Puzzle Inlay? The bizarre-but-useful Typer Shark? The desperately addictive Daily Jigsaw? The multiplayer, Pictionary-like InkLink? We'd decide, but we have more puzzles to... we mean, we have work we're ignor... um, we gotta go.

Nov 11thCool words
Verisimilitude. Fandango. There are certain words in the English language that are just plain fun to say. Photographer Robert Altman has compiled a list of more than 130 of these tongue-pleasers for your amusement. See if you can make a sentence using smarmy, mastication and Buttafucco. Oh yeah, Altman has posted some photography on his site as well. Go figure!

Nov 12th Beer Finder
Turning 21 has become a rite of passage for many, but how much do you really know about that brewed beverage you've waited more than two decades to imbibe legally? Beer.com offers a closer look at the world's ales, lagers, porters, stouts, bocks and hefeweizens, as well as reviews, features and Q&As. Use the beer finder to learn more about your favorite pints and the people who brew them. And please, drink responsibly.

Nov 13th Law for Kids
Anyone who’s ever listened to kids make up unbelievably arcane rules for a game they’re playing understands that children are indeed apt to have an affinity for the legal system. This site, put online by the Arizona Foundation for Legal Services and Education, attempts both give place to learn about the law (both in general and as it applies to them for, say, curfew laws) and to hear stories from peers who have tangled with it as offenders of victims – along with a few less serious items, like a truly smart-aleck 8-Ball.

Nov 14th Travel in America 1750-1920
This Library of Congress project presents 253 published narratives from Americans and international visitors traveling around the country, along with those memoirs contained in the 32-volume Early Western Travels 1748-1846. Some authors are famous, some ought to have been, but these writings make for a far more interesting view of America’s history than we remember getting in school.

Nov 17th Ferris Bueller's Dance Off!
First, we apologize. Second, we have no idea why someone thought it would be fitting to give the Hampster Dance treatment to that icon of daredevil 80's youth, but frankly we're a bit disturbed -- kitsch is one thing, but the point of the movie was that there's a hierarchy of kitsch, and... um… sorry. Again. Third, we're contemplating the idea that the Mary-Kate-and-Ashley generation has no idea who Ferris Bueller is, and that makes us feel both a touch sad and infinitely superior. Just like Ferris!

Nov 18th The Veggie Table
Those in the habit of planning big get-togethers for the Thanksgiving holiday find these days, more often than not, that the dietary needs of one or more vegetarian guests must be taken into account. If you’re hoping to provide your guests with more options than just the usual side dishes, check out this simply designed, upbeat site, which has recipes and tips for feeding not only vegetarians but their infinitely more difficult cousins, the vegans. And remember, please: We’re not eating like this to annoy you. Honest.

Nov 19th The Internet can be a wild and woolly place, but there are ways to keep tabs on your child's online activities.For starters, it never hurts to place your computer where it can be readily seen by anyone in the family. This helps reduce the temptation to wander into unsuitable territory. You should also talk to your child about the importance of not sharing personal information with strangers, or entering such data on Web sites without your knowledge. Beyond that, a child's age is a big factor in determining what sort of additional limitations to place on their computer use. For the youngest bracket of Web surfers, parents might consider subscribing to special browser services that let kids visit only preapproved, kid-friendly sites, creating a virtual playground in cyberspace (one resource for such browsers: www.getnetwise.org).

Nov 20th Encyclopedia of Finance
The Encyclopedia of Finance is an excellent resource for basic financial information. It explains financial concepts in a straightforward and easy-to-understand way and is a great companion for the Guide to Online Investing. Happen across a term you don't understand in the Guide to Investing? Search the Encyclopedia for an explanation. Or simply browse the Encyclopedia's tutorials to learn more about financial basics.

Nov 24th Soldier Stories
You read the news accounts from Iraq — you still read them, right? — and whatever your feelings on why we're over there or how things are going, you've got to admit that the vast majority of America military folk are decent people attempting to do the best possible job in a tough, tough environment. This Army site covers some of the acts of heroism that might not have gotten your attention or gained the front-page headlines.

Nov 25th Send Them Back!
We have learned through hard experience that one has to be careful with humor here at Hot Sites, as in a crowd so large there will on any given day be at least one reader who hasn't had a delivery from the Sense of Humor truck. That said, we direct your attention to one of the more scrupulous responses to the RIAA's campaign to prosecute file sharers. If downloading MP3s is like stealing the music from a record shop, goes the logic, why, just as an upright citizen would return merchandise to a store if s/he "accidentally" pilfered it, the right thing for downloaders to do is send the MP3s back to the RIAA — by fax, by snail mail (in printout form), by any means necessary.

Nov 26th The Secret Lives of Numbers
Pick a number between 1 and 100,000. Why did you pick it? What does it mean to you? What does it mean to others? This Java application collects data from certain popular search engines and from it derives an idea of what numbers are popular (that is, much used). The single-digit numbers are a big deal, of course, as are culturally significant digits like 202 (the Washington DC area code), 501 (the trousers), and 1776 (we're not explaining that one) — the application will even explain why some numbers appeal as they do.

Nov 27th ThanksGiving Thanksgiving Day in America is a time to offer thanks, of family gatherings and holiday meals. A time of turkeys, stuffing, and pumpkin pie. A time for Indian corn, holiday parades and giant balloons
So here for your entertainment are some fun Holiday things for you and your family. We've got stories of the Pilgrims and the first Thanksgiving, turkeys to take home, holiday pictures for the kids to print and color, tasty holiday recipes and e-greeting cards to send your friends and family. We hope you find something you like!

Nov 28th Soccer Training Information
Simple and to the point, this site delivers tips for players looking to polish up their game. Run by a group of former pro players, it offers tips on shooting, passing, dribbling, strategy, skills and more, with great specifics on not only improving your mechanics but developing the heart of an aggressive, conscious team player.