Pinterest

The latest Internet craze among friends, family and fellow librarians is Pinterest, the "fastest Web site in history to break the 10-million-visitors-a-month threshold." Their mission is to "connect everyone in the world through the 'things' they find interesting." It's a "virtual pinboard...that allows you to organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web." A pin is an image that you add to Pinterest from the Web, via your Pin it button; each pin links back to the site it came from. Add the Pin it button to your Bookmarks Toolbar and just "push" it and add a caption to images you find while surfing the Web. Photos are organized by pinboards which represent your interests. For instance, I have pinboards for travel, recipes, favorite reads, etc. You are basically putting together scrapbooks of photos that link back to their original web source. You can browse pinboards created by other people and repin their photos to your boards. Choose to follow all of your friends' pins or select boards; you can also add comments to others' pins. My cousin shares new and favorite recipes through her board. If you're planning a wedding, reunion or party, make that board "collaborative," which will allow approved friends and family to contribute to the board with images, comments and ideas. When you sign up for your Pinterest account, the site automatically "follows" your Facebook friends who are also on Pinterest and alerts them via email. Check out more details on the website. Just be aware - Pinterest can be addictive!

National Bike Month

May is National Bike Month. More cities are adding bike sharing programs and bike lanes to their roads. If you ride your bike to work everyday or if you're a recreational biker, you'll find lots of useful information at League of American Bicyclists, an advocacy group whose mission is "to promote bicycling for fun, fitness and transportation..."

Their key programs are Bicycle Friendly America, Bicycle Safety and Education, National, State and Local Bicycle Advocacy and National Bike Month. The Bike Month events section lists activities going on in your community. Be sure to read the Ride Better page for detailed "Rules of the Road," commuting tips and bike maintenance and fix-it information. Read their Bike League Blog or click on Cycling in Your Area to find bike clubs, bike shops, organized rides and much more. Sign up for their newsletter for all the latest news.You can now get biking directions on Google maps, maps.google.com/biking. Directions include "walk your bike" where riding would prove dangerous. Hover over "Traffic" directly on the map to find bike trails, dedicated lanes and bicycle friendly roads.

Women's Health Month

May is also Women's Health Month. HealthyWomen is an independent, nonprofit health information source for women whose mission is "to educate, inform and empower women to make smart health choices…" This site is dense with information on health topics from A to Z. Click on the health centers tab at the top of the page and select a disease or condition, for instance, Heart Health. The Heart Health page has links to featured articles, "most read," related conditions, ask the expert and more. Other categories include: healthy living (diet & nutrition, recipes, fitness, managing stress, beauty & aging, alternative medicine, sex & relationships, family health & wellness); pregnancy & parenting; midlife & beyond (menopause, aging well, empty nesters); womenTALK (blogs, videos & podcasts, surveys, contests). Ask a Doctor Online Now features 16 doctors who are available to answer your individual questions "ASAP." You can also sign up for one or all of their 5 monthly newsletters.

Another comprehensive site is EverydayHealth. Browse Health A-Z, Drugs A-Z, Symptom Checker, Food & Fitness and Health Tools.

Use their symptom checker, my calorie counter, drugs & treatment, healthy meal planner or find doctors & hospitals. You can download a free "Women'sWorks Health Tracker Journal" to record your medical information, and, of course, sign up for their newsletter.

Older Americans Month

We celebrate Older Americans Month in May. There are loads of websites for senior citizens on the Internet; I'll highlight some you might not be familiar with. Lovetoknow Senior citizens is "exclusively for senior citizens and their unique needs." They offer advice on a wide range of subjects: aging and health (exercises, depression, caring for elderly parents); estate and financial planning (IRAs, 401(a) retirement plans); special interest interviews; retirement planning; senior fashion and hair; activities for seniors.

"The starting point for baby boomers and seniors" on everything from entertainment to skin care, senior sites, crafts/hobbies, grandparenting, genealogy, travel, technology, second act jobs/careers and much more, is GrandmaBetty.com. You'll find links to over 1,000 information sources and products.

Any grandparent could spend hours in Grandparents' Web. You'll find articles of interest to grandparents, tip of the week for keeping in touch with grandchildren; letters from other grandparents, activities for grandchildren; a discipline primer for grandparents, fun at grandma's house, names grandchildren give their grandparents and much more. Read a series on grandparents raising grandchildren or another series on visitation rights for grandparents of divorced children. This only scratches the surface of what this site offers.

Are you a senior looking to rejoin the dating scene? Senior Cupid is a dating site for senior singles over 50 which you can join for free. They also offer links to senior date ideas, senior greeting cards, forms, blogs, online chats and daily senior news.

Best Gift Gadgets for Granny has ideas specific to seniors.