Online site is a handy source to honor the dearly departed

When the time comes for looking up death notices, Legacy.com can be helpful. It’s a linked collection of 76 of the country’s larger newspapers, along with more than 600 worldwide. One area of the site, the guest book, lets people leave condolence notes and share stories of loved ones.

www.maryevans.com : Started in England in 1964, the MaryEvans site has more than 200,000 searchable images covering a panorama of human activity going back to the age of the first cameras and the golden era of poster art.

The site only sells images; we couldn’t find any images that are free to download. Even so, the vast and fascinating variety is mesmerizing.

The site is also buying old, interesting or historically useful images all the time. If you have anything of value, you can offer it for consideration and payment.

Photosynth.net: The very coolest photo application is Photosynth.net, a Microsoft site developed out of technology created by researchers at the UW and Microsoft Research. .TXT wrote about the early version of Photosynth in late 2007.

The tool allows photos to be stitched and spliced together into a 3-D zoomable panel or display. In some instances, Photosynth stitches together dozens or hundreds of images of a well-known historical or tourist site. The user, sitting at a PC, can then use a mouse to scroll about, flying in or out and above the site, as though flying through the location or building.

A great resource is the Photosynth gallery of uploaded “synths” created by ordinary users all over the planet. One synth worth exploring, to see how Photosynth works, is the Grand Canal collection at the site. It’s a combination of 243 color images.

To browse the site one first has to download the Photosynth software. The site uses up gobs of RAM so be sure your machine has an adequate amount of memory.

Infectious.com: If you care to add decals of a dazzling and colorful design or an arresting piece of pop art to your car or truck, one site worth checking is Infectious.com. It’s a new Web site where you find and buy car art developed by people all across the Web, some of whom are well-known designers and artists.

Prices range from $35 to a few hundred dollars for vinyl stickers that attach easily to a car or truck. The company sponsored an “Obama Art Collection” — users can buy logos or designs that loudly proclaim one’s support for the Democratic candidate.

That’s a lot cooler than just another bumper sticker.

The crowd-sourcing approach to Web products — inviting users to upload designs and then selling and splitting the revenue — has taken off. There are also sites for skateboard art, sneaker art and others.

For the sedate crowd looking for old-school paper stationery designs, the place to go (for now) is minted.com. The choices there are not as eye-catching as those on Infectious. But if you write real letters or use invitations, the design choices are brilliant.