USEFUL WEB LINKS
Lois Zells, Salon Forum's resident "Tech Queen," is an intuitive researcher who seems to know where to go for just about everything online.
Did your doctor prescribe a drug that you want to know more about? Have you or someone you know been given a medical diagnosis that you want to investigate? Have you ever forwarded an e-mail that you received, warning friends of some danger, only to find out that it was a hoax? How embarrassing is that? We've all done it.
To find out whether an e-mail forwarded to you is a hoax
http://www.snopes.com/
Enter the key words--what the hoax is about. Occasionally a very new hoax may not be posted on Snopes. To double check, you can also Google the key words and some websites might come up that may reveal whether something is a hoax or not.
One stop information site for TV reporters and print journalists to research and find news stories
http://www.assignmenteditor.com/
It lists links to many other websites for all kinds of things that you might want to research. Lois called it "all things to all people." Links in blue are free, if in red, it requires a subscription. (Most are blue.)
Similar to Assignment Editor above.
For general and specific medical information
Dr. C. Everett Koop, former Surgeon General, has an excellent site to get all kinds of medical information.
For access to information on drugs and also diseases, treatment options and clinical trials
For more than 50 years, doctors have relied upon the Physicians' Desk Reference for the latest, most accurate drug information. Today that trusted knowledge through PDRhealth. The drug information on PDRhealth is written in lay terms and is based on the FDA-approved drug information found in the PDR. It gives plain-English explanations for the safe and effective use of prescription and non-prescription drugs.
For more medical information
This website is a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health
To check out a physician, to see if he/she is licensed and if any disciplinary actions have been taken against him/her.
Click on "Check Your Doctor" on the left. Then when you get to the next page, click on "Continue Search" and enter your doctor's information.
Bargain Shopping
Suzanne O'Connor, who runs this site, spoke at Salon Forum in April, 2007. She is "the maven" for bargains in the Greater Los Angeles area.
Nationally
http://couponing.about.com/cs/aboutcouponing/l/blazwebsites2.html
An A-Z list of shopping websites, including coupons and bargains.
When calling businesses, how to get a person instead of a recording
It lists a huge number of manufacturers and service providers, banks, insurance companies, retail stores, etc., listing their 800# and instructions for each on how to reach a live person. It also rates each on the ease of reaching a human.
Clear instructions on how to do just about anything
You need to register to access the site, but there is no cost.
US Gov't Senior Citizens Resource Page
http://www.usa.gov/Topics/Seniors.shtml
To check out a California contractor and/or make a complaint
http://www2.cslb.ca.gov/CSLB_LIBRARY/Name+Request.asp
So. California Better Business Bureau
http://www.labbb.org/BBBWeb/Forms/General/Home.asp
If you have websites that you think might be of value to others, please forward them to me at: researchbg@cs.com
And if you've