SafeRoadMaps, at http://www.saferoadmaps.org/maps/index.htm, is brought to you by researchers in the Center for Excellence in Rural Safety. The site actually has two aspects; information on traffic safety laws on a state-level, and fatalities shown on street maps with additional information.

If you choose the "Safe State Maps" tab, you'll get to choose a state and several different ways to filter the accident information -- speed, driver age, whether alcohol was involved, and so on. Once you've selected your filters you'll get a map with little icons all over it denoting where fatal accidents occurred. (More about the little icons in a moment.) You'll have to do at least some filtering or you'll get so many little accident icons on a state map you won't be able to see them all. (The site has a couple of sample "safety profiles" so you can get an idea of what information is available

Do you want to help save the planet? Cure Sally Struthers: "Sure, we all do!" But oh, how much better it is when we can both go green and save some green too. A new database wants to add some financial as well as altruistic incentives for you to get more energy efficient. It's available at http://www.greenmadesimple.com/ .

The site contains a variety of information on using renewable energy resources and conserving energy in the home, but I want to focus on the financial incentive database, which is on the left side of the front page. Choose the kinds of incentives you're looking for (you can choose from Appliances, Lighting, Cars, Energy Audit, Solar, or Financing) and enter your zip code.

I chose all the categories and entered WRAL's zip code -- 27606. I got back 23 results. Some of these results were duplicates (looks like Duke Energy's multistate programs all got lumped under North Carolina)

When I heard about this tool, I was all excited, sure I had found a reason for my husband and I to upgrade our cars. Not so much. But perhaps you will have better luck.

Edmunds.com has released a new tool called the Gas Mileage Savings Calculator (hereafter referred to as the GMSC.) The URL is http://www.edmunds.com/calculators/gas-guzzler.html . Here's how it works. Click on "Select a Vehicle" and Edmund's will walk you through the process of getting the make and model information of the car you want to buy. After you select the vehicle Edmund's will give you information like the vehicle's cost and MPG. (The cost is going to be approximate, of course.)

After that you choose the car you want to trade in. (This only goes back to 1990; you can't get information on trading in your Ford Pinto.) Edmunds.com will give you an approximate trade-in value (No matter what car I looked

Education.com has made its SchoolFinder tool national! This tool allows you to compare information about schools in a certain area. You won't be able to get everything you need to know about a school here, but it's a start. It's available at http://www.schoolfinder.education.com .

You can do a city/state search, but I found it easier to search by zip code. I did a search for 27604 and got a map of schools in the area. There's also a list of the schools with checkboxes. Choose a few schools you want to look at and click the "Compare Selected Schools" button.

You'll notice that the list has both public and charter schools. The public school listings tend to have more information available than the charter schools. When I did a comparison of Brentwood Elementary (public) and Hope Elementary (charter) I was able to get the following information about Brentwood: the enrollment, the number

The Smoky Mountain Sentinel, way out in Hayesville, North Carolina (or perhaps we're way out from it) has started a Wiki to chronicle the history of Clay County, North Carolina. It's hosted at http://smsentinel.wiki.zoho.com/HomePage.html.

A Wiki is an online way for many visitors to edit a Web site at the same time, though not all Wikis are that open. The Smoky Mountain Sentinel is inviting the residents of Clay County to help edit the new resource.

What's on the Wiki thus far? Sports records, a list of service and civic organizations, newspaper information, and a list of servicemen killed in military conflicts. You can get a full list of available Wiki pages at http://smsentinel.wiki.zoho.com/sitemap.zhtml .

This isn't all the Smoky Mountain Sentinel is doing to document the county. There's also a