SciFaiku 03/18/99
http://www.crew.umich.edu/~brinck/poetry/manifesto.html
You guessed it -- minimalist poetry based on science fiction cliches. Find insight, enlightenment and maybe even humor. You can also post your own creative works and read the Review-o-Rama if you need literary guidance.
L.A. Live
Make sure you have RealAudio, then prepare to listen to a wide variety of concerts by alternative Rock bands. If you're lucky, you might catch a live show.
TUNES.COM
Imagine an infinite listening booth connected to every other music lover in the world. Billing itself as the "largest click-and-play" music store on the Internet, Tunes.com boasts a database of 163,000 performers and a dizzying 1 million song titles(!), 200,000 of which can be previewed with RealAudio software. The site also supplies personalized recommendations (provided you tell it what you like by rating other albums), picks by celebrities (Carlos Santana, Bill Clinton, Steve Young, etc.), band information from the All Music Guide, and something a real-life record store can't offer: the ability to send music via e-mail.
MUSEUM OF MODERN ART, NEW YORK
A marvelous representation of New York's Museum of Modern Art, with graphic selections from their remarkable collection of treasures. Van Gogh, Rousseau, Johns and everyone else in recent art history.
REQUEST LINE
It's more than just a music 'zine. Concert reviews and band interviews are supplemented by tales of magical basements and rock-star hair regimens.
LAUNCH!
The coolest music magazine on a CD-ROM also has an addictive Web site. Before you go out and buy the Rolling Stone of the digital generation (you know, at a bookstore or newsstand), fire up your browser and read free music reviews, interviews with major acts and even listen to a few select tracks.
UnfURLed
What happens when you mix one part Yahoo! and one part MTV? UnfURLed, the new mega-comprehensive directory of music Web sites. The intense graphics take a little while to get used to, but you'll soon discover plenty of "dope" choices. Sort through the searchable browsable artists index, or cull music facts from the "encyclomedia." But be sure to give yourself plenty of time to explore: you can also download song clips, read gossip and rants, participate in online surveys, get news on upcoming concerts and browse the pop charts!
SOUNDS OF THE WORLD'S ANIMALS
http://www.georgetown.edu/cball/animals/animals.html
If you were raised in the good old USA, then you would swear that a Pig goes "Oink," right? But you'd be wrong in Japan, where pigs go "buubuu" or in Sweden, where pigs go "noff." Click on an animal or a language to learn a lesson that's larger than every barnyard on the planet: cultural diversity.
PLUGGEDIN
If you're not plugged in, then you're probably out of touch (with the music world, that is). Load up Microsoft's new plug-in, Net Show, and experience plenty of audio offerings, including songs, concerts (live), and interviews. You'll also find a handy schedule of upcoming concert "net casts" and a list of radio stations that broadcast over the Net.
Glassdog
One thing is for certain: This site pushes the limits of Web design. It's alive with all kinds of low-bandwidth movement and great-looking graphics. Not much of a coffee-break diversion; more of a 1-hour time killer. Lots of rants to read and places to explore.
THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART
Your tax dollars at work (at least you U.S. taxpaying citizens), bringing phenomenal artwork to Washington, D.C., tourists and residents alike. But wait--thanks to the magic of the Web, you can see it all from the comfort of your own computer: plenty of info on thousands of paintings and other artistic masterpieces. Just pick a tour (some have audio narration) of your favorite stuff and start soaking in the culture!
myLAUNCH!
Brought to you by the CD-ROM music magazine LAUNCH, this site is a great example of how the Web can deliver personalized content (thanks to technology from FireFly). Upon entering, you'll be asked to rate a dozen or so bands. Based on your preferences, myLAUNCH will build you a customized music Web site, complete with news, articles, interviews, reviews, concerts, and upcoming releases--but only for the bands LAUNCH knows (or predicts) that you'll like.
ADAWEB
Like an online kunsthalle, Adaweb unites challenging, interactive made- for-the-Web pieces with ongoing dialogs about art and technology--and it duplicates the kind of cool, sleek feel conveyed by most important contemporary art spaces. You'll find Jenny Holzer's mutating digital adaptation of her provocative truisms and Julia Scher's oblique look at voyeurism, "Securityland." The chat areas are more critical and salon-like and feature major artists and thinkers working in conceptual and electronic art. The design is an appealing mix of hypertext and color-soaked Photoshop scans.
SONICNET
One of the better-written music mags online, Sonic Net gets bonus points for a slick but easily navigable design. Besides the usual reviews and features, there's the Global Chat, which has run the gamut, starwise, from Perry Farrell to Genius/GZA; cybercast concerts; and the downloadable Action Ready Singles. The brand-new alt.access section attempts to organize the Web's overwhelming number of music resources--and almost succeeds.
Mr.Smarty Pants
http://www.auschron.com/mrpants/
The site actually offers an interesting and rare intellectual experience: Given the unrelated nature of the topics covered, and the sheer volume of information stored under each topic, we can safely assume that this is, indeed, EVERYTHING that Mr. Smarty Pants knows. When have you ever had such a complete picture of one man's mind?
Bed and Breakfast Inns
lists inns by state, describes most in detail, and provides maps to each, thanks to a cool link to the MapQuest Web site. Sleep in a nice room, get a homemade breakfast (and often a dinner, too), and soak up some local charm. It'll do you good.
THE VANGUARD GROUP
A true rarity: an excellent Web site operated by a financial services company (in this case, one of the largest distributors of no-load, commission-free mutual funds). Besides plenty of information about Vanguard's respected investment portfolios (operated on an at-cost basis), you'll find high-quality educational materials and courses here. A nifty new feature lets you check in on your Vanguard accounts: Click a mouse to pull up current account balances, performance data, and recent transactions. Just don't expect any investment sales pitches or hype about high returns. Vanguard remains an investor's best friend.
UCR Governmental Library
http://lib-www.ucr.edu/govpub/
UCR Library have put together an excellent site for searching all things governmental. Among the Internet resources you can search are databases, electronic journals, electronic books, bulletin boards, listservs, online library card catalogs, articles and directories of researchers, and more. There's a gold mine of information here!
FIND IT WITH WEBFINDER
http://ds.internic.net/ds/webfinder/WebFinder.html
When you're looking for a quick and easy way to go directly to an organization's main Web page (as opposed to, say, searching for information that may be on that organization's entire site), InterNIC's WebFinder is the search engine of choice. Unlike most search engines, which search for data inside the HTML code of millions of Web pages, WebFinder searches the InterNIC database of organizations to find the appropriate Web server. If a likely Web server exists, a link to the URL for the root page of that server is presented (with the name of the organization) for you to follow. WebFinder uses two types of information to find organizations: keys and hints. Keys refer to direct information about the organization (its name, for instance). Hints are pieces of information that describe the organization (its address, what state the organization is located in, and so forth).
MAKE THE CALL
http://www.yahoo.com/search/people
If you'd like to call someone you've lost contact with over the years, you might have trouble finding the phone number. Don't pay the phone company for information. Just navigate to and enter the name, city, and state. In the wink of an eye (if the Net isn't too busy), you'll have that phone number. If you'd rather send e-mail, use the same page to track down adresses.
Fortune Daily Business Report
http://www.pathfinder.com/fortune/fbr/
Here you can find quick feature stories about leading companies, most of which teach quick lessons about how and how not to do business--and all of which make pretty good conversation fodder at the lunch table. If you'd like to stay a little longer, take the links to a daily in-depth feature or to the Fortune home page, where you can read articles, monitor the Dow Jones Industrial Average, get stock quotes, and more. This is an EXCELLENT Web financial publication.
WEBNOIZE
Claiming to be the first Web-based publication devoted to covering music on the Internet, Webnoize is both an invaluable resource and a pretty good read. Informative site reviews and thoughtful reporting on industry news complement features that flesh out the trends behind the headlines. The Sitings section monitors changes on the major music sites, and the Happenings section delivers a fairly thorough list of the week's music-related chats and online concerts. The site hits just a few sour notes: There's a paucity of pictures, and the frames-dependent makes navigation confusing.
SEARCHING FOR THE RIGHT THING TO SAY
http://www.columbia.edu/acis/bartleby/bartlett/
When you're at a loss for words, let someone else do the talking. Just stop by the Bartlett's Familiar Quotations page, enter a topic, and you'll be served up a dish of appropriate quotes. Or if you're looking for something pithy from someone in particular, you can browse the quotes by authors' names.
The Web Garage
Have them check out your page and tell you if it's running up to snuff. The free tune-up option checks your page for load time, spelling, dead links, popularity (how many other sites contain links to yours), and HTML design; the entire procedure takes seconds, unless your home page is unforgivably slow to load. This is one of those extremely practical and valuable uses of the Web that makes you wonder what everyone else is doing.
RealPlanet
Guide to international RealAudio and RealVideo programming on the Web. The first "showcase" event included holiday greetings in ten different languages, an animation short with a holiday theme, and a list of Christmas Web sites. In addition, Out There News in London has created mini- documentaries highlighting stories about Bethlehem. The Real Planet will feature one event per month. Upcoming features include the winter Olympics and a international music festivals.
UPSIDE NEWS
No idea which shadowy media giant is secretly behind this one, but actually quite a smart daily news/analysis page. Often gives you a snappier overview than paging through all the TechWeb and PC Week headlines at www.newshub.com/tech/
ALTA-VISTA TRANSLATIONS
http://babelfish.altavista.digital.com/cgi-bin/translate
Need a web page translated into another language? Alta-Vista can help with their Translation Service. It will make an attempt at converting a web page to/from English and French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish. The translations aren't perfect with hilarious results.
INTERACTIVE INVESTOR
Ziff-Davis launched a new site devoted to the wired investor, at
http://www.zdii.com/To keep track of your stocks, still the Portfolio Manager at
http://investor.msn.com/HELP CHANNEL AND WOW
The Help Channel, aims to be the first stop in anyone's search for answers to common computer problems and the best place to look for great, undocumented tips and secrets. The Help Channel includes the Web's biggest database of tips and FAQs -- all fully searchable and browsable -- as well as highlights of how-tos, advice columns, and bug alerts from across all Ziff-Davis publications.
HOT OFF THE WIRE
http://wire.ap.org/APwire/pages/main/?FRONTID=HOME
Unlike the old days, when we had to wait for the television, paper, or radio to give us the top stories off the Associated Press wires, Internet users can now stop by the AP Web site to get up-to-the-minute news for themselves. Looks like Tom, Peter, and Dan might be looking for work
WHO NEEDS A DICTIONARY?
http://www.bucknell.edu/~rbeard/diction.html
Well, most of us do at one time or another. If you don't want to leave your desk and drag out a 20-pound book, just go to and enter your word. This site includes dictionaries in 130 languages. You can also find a number of dictionaries that will translate English words into another language. Need to know what a Spanish word means in English? Click on Multilingual Dictionaries and take your pick. This site returns searches surprisingly quickly
MADELEINE'S MIND
Toon Town meets the Web in this superbly animated Shockwave serial. The Elders have killed Madeleine's dad, and now they're after her and the revolutionary psychic key he planted in her head. It's the key that triggers both her imagination and the narrative. Waiting for the scenes to load can feel like waiting for the plot to advance on General Hospital, but with a little patience you'll find that this spooky sci-fi scenario draws you deeper and deeper into Madeleine's Mind. Two new scenes per week keep you coming back.
THE VALUE OF A BUCK
http://woodrow.mpls.frb.fed.us/economy/calc/cpihome.html
If you're searching for information on inflation and the Consumer Price Index (CPI), Rob Grunewald and the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis have created a site for you. In addition to information on how the CPI is calculated, as well as links to other helpful articles, the "What is a dollar worth?" site offers a simple interface that lets users choose two years between 1913 and 1997 (at present) and calculate the change in value for any dollar amount in this time period. The calculator works both forward and backward in time. The site also provides an annual table of the CPI, including yearly inflation rates.
FABRIC 8
What do you get when you cross a Web design firm with an interest in funky fashion? Answer: Fabric 8. A mall for the new millennium, this house of style hosts a handful of independent San Francisco clothing and jewelry designers under one digital roof, providing an information-packed, graphically fresh showcase for unique designs. You can also read reviews of CDs, hear RealAudio samples, and purchase them immediately; or check out the multimedia artist of the month. The "linky dink" section transports you to other hot spots for window shopping on Web.
INTERNET TRAFFIC REPORT
http://www.andovernews.com/trafficreport.html
The site "measures the performance of major Internet routers around the world once every hour" and then rates U.S., European, and Asian traffic on a not-so-thoroughly explained but easy-to-understand 0 to 100 scale. You can drill down to ratings for major metropolitan areas, too. And if you're techno-minded, you may be interested in the links to software reviews, free source code, and more.
THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOKS
Online NY Times readers have long bemoaned the absence of the paper's essential books section, missing since the Gray Lady emerged on the Web. Those complainers can now rejoice! Times Books is up, running, and available to anyone who completes the free subscription form. Bibliophiles will slaver over the savvy and informed book reviews, the daily updates of news from the publishing biz and the unbelievably thorough archives, containing all of the section's reviews, interviews, and news notes since 1980.
BUSINESSWEEK COMPUTER ROOM
http://www.businessweek.com/tocs/computer.htm
A must-bookmark for seekers of hard techy news, BusinessWeek's editors organize a year's worth of the magazine's computer industry news and add updated columns and articles. Columnist Steve Wildstrom covers such wide-ranging topics as multifunction devices, MMX, and high-tech ads in pop culture (titled "Cars, Beer, and Web Browsers"). Finally, an interactive guide to computer buying called Maven helps you pick the best new system, notebook, modem, printer, or monitor for your needs, by providing clear readable comparisons of chip speed, price, and other specs.
THE INTERNET MOVIE DATABASE
The IMDb is the ultimate movie reference source and covers everything you could ever possibly want to know about movies. It's fully hyperlinked both within the database and to thousands of external sites and is updated continuously
Carpal Tunnel and Repetitive Motion Injury
http://www.go2ssc.com/a-tow/risk.htm
It includes instructions for several stretches and exercises you can do, without embarrassment, right at your desk--and it even includes simple, no-wait animation illustrating each one. It's a fast, easy-to-follow, and useful source of important information.
EDITOR'S CHOICE: WHATIS.COM
If techy computer acronyms (like HTML, Java, and TCP/IP) scare you, fear not: This "interactive computer encyclopedia" can tell you what it all means. Click your way through entries arranged alphabetically by phrase or by preset categories (Books, Software, Graphic Design, How the Internet Works, etc.), or use the handy search engine. Neo-Webmasters can find pithy design tutorials. And handiest of all, the definitions are hyperlinked to one another. Very impressive.
SHAREWARE CITY
Here, you'll find tools that will help you recover wasted hard drive space, boost the performance of your CD-ROM drive, and more.
Fraudulent Invention Promotion Firms
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/alerts/invnalrt.htm
tips you off to these scams by helping you identify some of the standard lures these frauds dangle before you. Plus it provides handy links to the Government Patent Office and National Fraud Information Center Web sites--places you should visit BEFORE you need to.
FILEDUDES
When you arrive at the FILEDUDES website, located at you can search for a specific keyword, view recent additions to the site in the "What's New" section, check out the "Random Pick of the Day", or jump right to the category list for Windows 95, Windows 3.1 or Macintosh. If you're visiting for the first time and you don't have something specific in mind, just click on the entry for your computer's operating system and you'll be find a grid listing categories
AMOS KNOWS ECONOMICS
http://amos.bus.okstate.edu/glossary/
From "laissez faire" to "yield," Mr. Economy (Orley Amos, professor of Economics at Oklahoma State University) provides definitions for a wealth (get it?) of economic terms at the AmosWorld Economic Glossary site. And if you don't find what you're looking for there, follow the links at the bottom of the page to Ask Mr. Economy or the AmosWorld home page.
Idea Site for Business
http://www.ideasiteforbusiness.com/ideamenu.htm
Right from the home page, you can link to 206 free marketing ideas (nothing earth-shattering but many more than you alone could dream up in the five minutes it takes to scan them). If you trust the Webmasters with your e-mail address, they'll send you an idea-a-day by e-mail, to help you build an idea library of your own. At this site, you can also find links to articles and services, including free access to more than 1800 editors to whom you can mail your press releases. Not a bad site to visit periodically
UNTITLEDMAGAZINE (books)
http://www.untitledmagazine.com
For examples of why the genre both aggravates and compels, visit UM, an "independently operated, nonprofit online magazine dedicated to the advancement and expression of photojournalism." The four contributors (all in their mid-20s) display intriguing snapshot essays whose subjects range from vérité camera-unconscious folk to everything-but-the-rabbit-ears posers. Worth visiting and taking seriously. —SG
CONTENT 4 DESIGN 4 LINKS 1 OVERALL 4
NEW 1
Want to read some zines, but tired of trudging through the muck for the rare treat? Let the oddly named New1 do the legwork for you. This hub culls some of the best zines around and presents them from its homepage. A glorified links zone, sure, but an edited one as well. Updated weekly, the site features pubs with a NYC state of mind, such as The Greenwich Village Gazette and The Manhattanite. Adjust the Warhol on your wall, order out some bagels, and start surfing.
FITNOW.COM
Each week, a streaming video tutorial offers advice, tips, and interviews on a variety of fitness topics. Or click into the message boards. But remember--your abs won’t become boards if you just sit there typing.
YOU WON'T FIND SOME OF THESE IN BARTLETT'S
http://www.shocking.com/~rsadelle/quotes/
Here you can find hundreds of quips and witticisms from folks who haven't yet made Bartlett's radar screen--from Shana Alexander to Zsa Zsa Gabor, with folks like Jay Leno and Carol Leifer in between. If you only want to read quotes from one person, jump to his or her name from the home page; if you'd like to scan the site, our advice is to pick an alphabetical segment page (that is, A-C or D-J, for example) and scroll, thereby avoiding repeated downloads of the page
The Mining Company
The Mining Company is a network of over 500 sites, each with a specific topic. Each site, thus each topic, is run by an individual person, a Guide, who is experienced in that field and has completed an online training process. The Guide for each topic hunts for the best links (and keeps them updated), writes articles about the topic
A NEWSGROUP TO CALL HOME
http://cs1.presby.edu/~jtbell/usenet/newgroup/
Are you telling me that of the 300,000 newsgroups out there, you can't find one on your favorite topic? It's hard to believe, but I suppose it could be true. Now, I guess you're wondering how to go about creating a new newsgroup. Well, it takes a lot more time and effort then we could describe in a single tip--so how about we just point you to the information so you can get to work? (Be sure to drop us a note so we can let the rest of our subscribers know when you've got your newsgroup online.)
JUST IN CASE THREE CONCERTS A WEEK AND A MILLION CDS AREN'T ENOUGH
You can fill whatever music void remains in your life by visiting L.A. Live: If you have RealPlayer software installed you can listen to and sometimes even watch--everything from the latest Porno for Pyros concert to a "coffee break" interview with Joey Ramone.
FIGHTING IGNORANCE SINCE 1973 ... (It's taking longer than we expected)
Go straight to the index to skip the marketing stuff and get Cecil's inimitable answers to questions like, "How come when men get old, hair starts growing in their ears and nose?" and "Does eating rice at weddings cause birds to explode?" Not only do you get the real answers to these important questions, but you also you get them in Mr. Adams' always surly and usually funny style. The only way to do him justice is to quote him, and we don't have room to do that.
WHAT'S HAPPENING?
http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/nsolo/wfb-all.htm
Want to know what's going on in Antarctica? How about Europe, Asia, or South America? No problem. All you have to do is navigate to the CIA's World Factbook. You'll find it at
HOW TO GOOF OFF AND NOT GET CAUGHT, TIP 3001
If you read a business magazine with your feet up on your desk, you're goofing off, but if you read the same magazine on your computer screen, hey, you're working! With that in mind, why not point your browser to BusinessWeek, at where it appears you can read the entire text of the current issue, plus any back issues you have time
THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY
http://www.alcyone.com/max/lit/devils
Ambrose Bierce formulated the final version of this biting dictionary more than 80 years ago, but it still packs a painfully funny one-two punch. To wit: "BRIDE, n. A woman with a fine prospect of happiness behind her," and "PRAY, v. To ask that the laws of the universe be annulled in behalf of a single petitioner confessedly unworthy." You can find other sites with more background on Bierce--and even other e-texts of the Dictionary--but this one is our favorite.
OTAKU WORLD
The average American may view cartoons as Saturday morning kids' stuff, but Japanese of all ages consider cartoon manga and anime an authentic and serious literary form. Otaku World (the word otaku is used in Japanese to designate both a geek and a manga/anime enthusiast) sets itself apart from other manga appreciation sites, thanks to a search engine that scours the Web for pages on favorite characters and series, an encyclopedic assortment of links, and a great collection of desktop themes for Windows.
IF YOU CAN'T STAND THE HEAT...LEARN TO LAUGH ABOUT IT?
Spoof site that essentially makes fun of everyone's worst fears about the Web. From the moment you enter, this site plays on your worst fears of cyberpiracy, first by displaying Windows 95-like error messages on your screen and then by pretending to hand your computer a "virus cookie" while your computer speakers gasp. Once you get over this, you can settle down and enjoy the joke--especially if you take the "comically" link before going anyplace else. But be careful: Despite all the claims that this is just in fun, several links off the site take you, unannounced, to sites that have been "hacked" to include nudity and pornography.
SHOCKRAVE (computers)
A minor miracle of efficient programming, Macromedia's new online playground, ShockRave, features a constantly updating roster of interactive games and cartoon clips as well as several streaming audio music channels. The Toons section--which features exclusive miniepisodes of South Park, Dilbert, and Peanuts--is particularly entertaining. What's more, these clips download fast, thanks to economical animation and several different Macromedia streaming technologies. The games are just as quick (check out the addictive King Putt) and you can crank tunes from a dozen or so different music channels, organized by genre. But the real story here is the site's speed. The programmers have taken care to deliver everything in small, digestible chunks, and it pays off. --GM
SEARCHING FOR MORE E-MAIL
You know what an Internet e-mail discussion list is, right? It's a way for you to receive more e-mail than you could possibly read--and also to send your own inane and off-topic messages to hundreds or thousands of people who don't even know you. Easy--you use Liszt, The Mailing List Directory.
Z PLACE FOR FILEZ
The next time you're on the prowl for a particular shareware application or game--or even a graphic, movie, or sound file--we suggest you start at Filez. This site helps you locate all kinds of applications, files, and resources with one brief stop. Just check out these stats and then check out Filez. Total number of files: 75,000,000 Number of sites cataloged: 5,000 Types of files: All (shareware, graphics, sounds, movies, and so on)
CYBERATLAS
You'll find bushels of useful Web-related info here, whether it's the latest salary profiles for the digital job market (good ammo for that raise request you're preparing) or current statistics on Net usage. Sources range from industry think tanks to the mass media--and so, accordingly, does the quality of the information. But we appreciate the quirky nature of this site's half-scholarly, half-pop-cultural approach to Web math.
THIS TIME, A FAIR FIGHT
First, make sure you've installed Macromedia ShockWave (if you haven't, you can download it from this site). Next, choose your celebrity opponent from a truly representative sampling of genders and psychological extremes, ranging from Mike Tyson (male expulsive) to Martha Stewart (female retentive) to Marilyn Manson (all of the above and more). Wait for the game to load, click a button, listen to your opponent taunt you (Ms. Stewart mutters something absolutely incendiary about an apricot glaze), and swing from your heels. Be warned: These folks can weave, bob, and punch--Pamela Anderson smacked us silly.
MUSIC NEWSWIRE
http://www.musicnewswire.com
When it comes to getting news, many of us prefer just the facts, ma'am. If that's you, then bookmark Music Newswire, a resource of pop music news from various sources (all information resides on linked sites). It's not a new idea; I-Music's News Agent, for example, culls headlines from various online music sources, too. But Newswire's extended reach (Vibe, Rolling Stone, USA Today, NME, CNN, ATN, MTV, etc.) and its practical breakdown of information set it apart. You'll find industry and label news alongside artist happenings--all with full attribution.
IF ONLY SPIRO AGNEW HAD THIS SITE HANDY
http://www.genius2000.com/anagram.html
What's in a name? Visit the Anagrams Genius site, at and you'll get an exhaustive answer. Just type in your full name and your e-mail address, and within a few hours you'll get a message containing as many possible grammatically correct--or nearly grammatically correct--phrases as can be constructed using all the letters in your name, PLUS a list of the longest words that can be made using some of the letters. Our test run (with a very long name) yielded 200--yes, 200-- phrases and 34 long (10-letter or more) words; although none of them was particularly funny or useful as an insult, it was still pretty impressive. If you don't know why Spiro Agnew could have used this service, we can't tell you; if you don't remember who Spiro Agnew was, good for you.
JUST QUOTES (money)
Money's important. It's not everything, but it's important. And carefully managing your money is vital to your financial health. But who's got time? Sure, information on the Web makes it easier, but you still have to search for dozens of sites to get the info you need--unless you turn to Just Quotes. This ingenious site houses links to financial news sources, stock quotes, and indicators from dozens of sources (such as Reuters, PR Newswire, Quicken.com, and Stock Point) onto one convenient page. But here's the real deal: Type in a company name you wish to track, and all those links are automatically calibrated to pull information on the company you specified. Bookmark the page and you can monitor your portfolio quicker and easier than ever before. --EH
THE LAWS OF THE LAND
http://www.legalonline.com/statute2.htm
LegalOnline hosts the site State Laws on the Internet, which links you to sites where you can locate information about laws for just about every state in the union. Just point your browser to and then scroll through the alphabetical listing to locate the state you want to research.
A PAGE TO CALL HOME
Why scour the Internet for news and information when you can have it delivered to your desktop for free? Although its name sounds like a nickname for your Uncle Bubba, My Yahoo is actually a customizable Web site that provides links to news and information that match your interests. After you tell My Yahoo which topics interest you, it provides a page with news headlines, current weather conditions (with links to a forecast for your region), stock prices, and more. You can also view additional links for these categories: Web, Business, Portfolios, Entertainment, Sports, and Technology. It all adds up to a great home page.
CITIES IN YOUR SIGHTS
http://www.usacitylink.com/citylink/
CityLink is essentially a clearinghouse for city- and state-specific Internet sites. (In fact, CityLink claims to have "the Internet's most comprehensive listing of World Wide Web pages featuring U.S. states and cities.") It doesn't cater to ISPs or specific companies, and it offers an easy-to-use, searchable interface for locating sites of interest. Whether you're planning a trip to a new city, are relocating, or just want to find out what's going on in your home town, CityLink points you to the sites that highlight your destination.
Music Videos All the Time on SonicNet
A relaunch of online music site SonicNet boasts more news about artists, a deeper database of music information, and audio and video channels playing music and music videos all day. Nicholas Butterworth, SonicNet's president, called the site a "first step in our music network vision." Radio SonicNet is a 24-hour-a-day new music station courtesy of the interactive cable music video network, The Box. SonicNet says one feature permits the listener to skip the current song and move ahead to the next one. The site also says its Streamland channel is the Internet's first site for full-length music videos on demand.
INTERNET TRAFFIC REPORT (development)
http://www.internettrafficreport.com
Contemplating downloading the latest version of Netscape Communicator? Before you attempt to tow that 18-ton semi down the information superhighway, you'd better check the traffic. The Internet Traffic Report is a helpful tool for gauging how quickly data traffic is moving on the Internet in general, or in your area in particular. The graphically represented, easy-to-understand results can let you know if the file from San Jose will speed along the wires at a reasonable speed, or if thousands of folks are currently online downloading that silly Ally McBeal dancing baby. --EH
4INTERNET.COM
If you don't have time to look through the 1,983,052 returns that your search requests produce, check out this new online community of Web sites. 4Internet is a hub of 120 locations so far (expanding to 1,500, they say) all created by the 4Internet team. These specific subsites cover weather, health, parenting, cars, computer news, and just about anything else you can imagine. Find the topic that interests you from this central launch point--or the next time you want to conduct a Web search, put a 4 in your URL, as in www.4yourtopic.com.
YOU TOO CAN BE MR./MS. SMARTYPANTS
http://www.pcwebopedia.com/index.html
What do technological acronyms like ISDN, SDRAM, and MMX actually stand for? What can a "gopher" do for you on the Internet, besides gnaw on your network cables? And for the love of mike, what's a motherboard--or, for that matter, a daughtercard? The PC Webopedia can actually answer these questions for you--fast.
SIDE-BY-SIDE SEARCH RESULTS
Metacrawler search sites have been around for quite awhile--they're simply sites that take advantage of other search engines by letting you enter your query once and then sending that query to any number of search engines before giving you a combined list of results. Earlier this year, OneSeek changed the metacrawler paradigm by launching a site that displays the results from two or three search engines side-by-side. Of course, this approach only works for users who have wide monitors, but if you want to see whether this suits your style, it's worth checking out.
ONE-STOP SEARCHING
http://www.iTools.com/find-it/
If you find yourself jumping from one search engine to another, first searching the Web and then looking for shareware and then searching newsgroups, it may be time to bookmark the FindIt page. From this one location, you can search the Web with AltaVista, OpenText, or Yahoo; scour Shareware.com, locate newsgroup postings with DejaNews, and track down people with Internet Address Finder.
'SCUSE ME, HAVE YOU GOT THE TIME?
Want to know what time it is in Taiwan? Or Boston? How 'bout Cape Town, or Cairo? The next time you need to know the local time anywhere in the world, go to the Local Times Around the World site at
INFOSEEK INDUSTRY WATCH (books)
We all like to keep abreast of our respective industries, but sometimes the time just ain't there. This new service from Infoseek presents top news stories in industries from aerospace to utilities. What sets it apart is its presentation: Click on a subject, and the center box displays the day's five top headlines (with option to get more). Run your cursor over a headline, and a box appears offering two bite-size paragraphs summarizing the article. You can then decide whether you want to read the whole thing, or keep skimming. Clean, intuitive, and efficient--three words we're coming to appreciate.
A SHORT COURSE IN DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY (hardware)
Digital cameras are fast becoming among the hottest gadgets around, due largely to the coupling of increased quality and lower prices. Now Dennis Curtain, former editor at Little Brown and a published author, has launched a free crash course in the art of digital photography. His detailed, well-organized chapters lead you quickly through the history of digital cameras and into helpful how-to sections. News flashes, links to vendors and tools (PaintShop, Shockwave, and so on), and a tour of digital photography sites round out this online jackpot. —EH
HOW CAN WE CALL THIS A WEB SITE IF IT DOESN'T HAVE A SPINNING GIF?
If your Web site needs animation or other graphic accents that are beyond your capabilities to produce, go to Andy's Art Attack. Then take the Free Images text link and start downloading all the graphic doodads you want: animations, backgrounds, buttons, letters, and more. The image quality is excellent, and the site has some really neat features--for example, before downloading a background, you can click on it and preview it as the background for the current page. Plus, Andy offers loads of free tips for working with these graphics or making your own. Even though the site can be slow and confusing at times, stick with it--you're bound to find something free that you can use.
ASK AND YOU SHALL EVENTUALLY RECEIVE
Information Please, the electronic incarnation of the Information Please World Almanac. Information Please looks great: It's organized into sensible sections, searchable on a variety of levels, and contains scads of information--there probably isn't a bet that can't be settled on its electronic pages. But like several sites we've encountered lately, it's slow--very, very slow--not only during searches, but even during transitions from one page to the next. Even so, it's faster and less expensive than going out and buying the book.
OPEN WIDE AND SAY AAAAAAAAGGH
Feeling overly comfortable about the state of clinical or holistic care? Quackwatch should fix that. The site's creator, retired psychiatrist Stephen Barrett, has built -- and continues to build -- an exhaustive library documenting quackery in all its forms. Sample article topics include how to spot a chiropractic advertising gimmick, why you should be suspicious of acupuncture, and the truth about Vitamin C (this last one is entitled "The Dark Side of Linus Pauling's Legacy"). Nothing is sacred here: Barrett includes even heavy hitters like Herbert Benson and Deepak Chopra in his list of "Nonrecommended Sources of Health Advice." Peruse this eye-opening site at the risk of massive hypochondria.
WHATCHA RECKON THAT STRANGE HUMMING SOUND IS, BEULAH?
Why, that's the sound of generations of deceased farmers spinning in their graves--because the Farmers' Almanac is now available on the Web, at Actually, traditionalists needn't be appalled: By and large, the site features the same folksy and sage content you'd find in the paper version. Find out about this day in history, pick up quotes you can use to charm business associates, and get a quick recipe for tonight's dessert--all in about three or four minutes. You can't beat the handy tips; when we visited, we learned how to sterilize toothbrushes to prevent recurring winter colds. About the only hint of techno-modernity is the site's personalized weather service (for which you have to register); our quick scan of the winter forecast for our area revealed it to be chillingly (no pun intended) accurate.
If you'd rather have a faster (and weather-free) almanac experience, try the Daily Almanac, at where you can quickly find out who was born on what day, and what "month" it is (April is "Cancer Control Month" and "America's Heartland Development Month.")
http://shoga.wwa.com/~mjm/almanac2.html
Thesaurus of Geographic Names
http://www.ahip.getty.edu/vocabulary/tgn.html
The Thesaurus of Geographic Names is a huge browsable and searchable "structured vocabulary" of almost 1 million place names and 900,000 places around the world. Information in the thesaurus is garnered from such Getty projects as the Bibliography of the History of Art, the Foundation for Documents of Architecture, the Getty Center Photo Study Collection, and the Getty Information Institute's Vocabulary Program. Each entry contains latitude and longitude; place names and types; and geographical, historical, and economic information; as well as a list of the sources of that information.
E-Conflict World Encyclopedia -
A very interesting site with 1,400 pages of information about the nations of the world. Site author David Driggs hopes the site will help to eradicate conflict by increasing cultural awareness. There really is a goldmine of information here, including National Anthems (in text and MIDI format), Flags, Maps, Weather and statistics about each country.
THINNING THE BUSINESS WIRE
Unless you're the most hungry of Web hounds, a quick visit to the Business Wire site presents more news articles and press releases than you can shake an amortizing calculator at. Each day, Business Wire offers hundreds of daily business-related announcements in ten categories, including daily news, hi-tech, health, entertainment, corporate news, and IPOs on the Net, among others. In fact, this site is so packed with headlines, it's almost easy to miss the Search feature, which is listed just below the logo at the top of the page. Clicking the Search link displays a new window that lets you query the last week's archive; this capability ensures that Business Wire only displays links to stories that actually interest you. Bear in mind, however, that companies listed on this site paid a fee for the service and not all companies subscribe.
GAUGE THE GAUGE
Buying a new or used car? Before you visit a dealer, visit Kelley's Blue Book on the Web: Here you can find out what a dealer will give you as a trade-in on a car, what the dealer will sell that car for, what a dealer pays for a new car, and what the dealer charges YOU. In other words, you'll learn enough not only to know whether you're being gouged, but also to do a little gouging yourself. Some information on the site is incorrect--for example, a Volvo 850 is a front-wheel drive car but listed here as a rear-wheel--but this is nit-picking: A quick visit to this site can save you hundreds or thousands of dollars (or at least make a used car salesperson very uncomfortable for a few moments--and you can't put a price on that).
ZIP PLUS FOUR
http://www.usps.gov/ncsc/lookups/lookup_zip+4.html
Whether you're searching for a Zip code to match an address you already have or seeking the extra digits to a Zip+4 code, the Postal Service is here to help. Just stop by the Zip+4 Code Lookup site and enter the address. The server returns the zip code.
SPRING STINKS WHEN YOU CAN'T SMELL
Here, you can click on a map to "drill down" the weekly pollen counts in major metropolitan and suburban areas of the United States. A chart depicts not only the pollen count for the week past but the count for the same week last year, which is apparently a pretty good predictor for the future. The site also includes general allergy information, a ShockWave-based "allergen matching game" (like "Concentration," with neat sounds, but utterly pointless), and, perhaps most importantly, the Pollen Information Hotline number at the National Allergy Bureau (800/9-POLLEN).
INVESTOR WORDS (finance)
Don't you hate it when mechanics or doctors flaunt their knowledge (or your ignorance) by using words that only someone with years of training would understand? Brokers and accountants are no different, but now you have a new deciphering weapon at your disposal. This extensive glossary defines thousands of investor-related terms, from "abatement" to "zero-sum game," and weaves extensive hyperlinked cross-referencing into most definitions. An excellent bookmark for the online investor. --EH
ONE-STOP SEARCHING
http://www.albany.net/allinone/
The All-In-One Search Page is another one of those sites that give you access to more search engines than you'll ever want to use. Although this site provides a gateway to the searching capabilities of the major search engines, you'll probably find it more useful for conducting a specialized search. If nothing else, All-In-One Search Page is worth a visit just to see the number and variety of search engines gathered here.
THE DOG HAUSE (living)
Did you know that if your cat nudges your feet in the morning, it wants to stay inside, and if it nudges your face, it wants to go out? Those and dozens more pearls of folk wisdom can be found on this new site dedicated to pets and pet lovers. But this isn't a one-trick pony. You'll also find jokes, idioms, and superstitions, plus free clip art and fonts, sound files, an oversized kennel of links, and much more. DH's marriage of solid design and sophisticated technology--an honor to Bauhaus design philosophy if ever we've seen one--makes any visit a pleasurable romp. --EH
BACAN LATINO (services)
Not another misspelled six-degrees-of-Kevin-Bacon game, but a Latino-specific search engine servicing the U.S. Bacan means "cool" in Spanish, and this site is definitely cool in that it helps foster community among the Web's Latin users. Search within English-language topics such as Arts and Humanities, Computers, and Travel, and the service returns Spanish- or English-language sites that have a Latin bent. Though the current database is nowhere near as big as Yahoo's behemoth, we hope the bulk will increase exponentially in the next few Web years. --EH
"Alta Vista Language Transmorgrafier"
http://www.archive.org/%7Eart/babelphone.html
Type in the text you want "transmorgrafied," select the language of the original text, and then select the different languages your want your text translated into. You can select up to five different languages.
CYBEROASIS
New print magazines, online 'zines, e-mail mailing lists, and Web sites launch every week, and they all need content. Just who is going to create it? A writer, that's who. A much maligned group (but the smartest), this is the audience to which David Eide directs his monthly publication. In it, Eide includes valuable links to various Web sites, including--this month--one on the practical nature of writing; quotes directly from freelance writer-advocate ASJA Contracts Watch e-mail newsletter (favorably reviewed here) and Richard Thieme's Islands in the Clickstream (also favorably reviewed here). You'll also find pointers to all sorts of smaller and useful publications or short descriptions of Web sites, like
SEARCHING THE UNDERGROUND
When you get tired of the mainstream point of view or grow weary of the "facts" according to corporate-owned media, it's time to put a little "Dis" in your Information--and that's exactly what the DisInformation search site offers. Calling itself "the subculture search engine," this site offers a searchable database of more than 30 million documents. It also collects and indexes the most subversive, "hidden" material on the Web, rates the results on a scale of 1 to 4 all-seeing pyramids, and lays it all out in a browsable format. Categories include Propaganda, Revolutionaries, Censorship, Counterculture, Counterintelligence, and Newspeak.
GETTING THERE FROM HERE
As you're preparing to hit the road this summer, be sure to stop by DeLorme's CyberRouter site. This handy site shows you the fastest (or shortest) route between any two points. Just enter the starting point and destination, and CyberRouter returns text-based instructions. Then follow the Maps link to view your route. It's the best way to get there from here.
Mining Company
http://urbanlegends.miningco.com/
Hands down, David Emery runs one of the best urban legends sites on the Net (even though he looks like David Copperfield).
THAT'S WHY IT'S THE "WORLD" WIDE WEB
Yelloweb Europe is a European Web directory that lets users search in seven languages: Dutch, English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, and Russian. The catalog of sites is maintained by an editorial staff (in other words, people--not software--catalog the sites) and can be searched in three ways:
A Quick search by keywords
A Topic search by subject
An Advanced search, allowing the same selection as the Quick search with an additional selection by host country
NASHUA?
http://pathfinder.com/money/best-cities-97/five.html
Looking for a place to start a new life? You may want to consult Money Online's Best Places to Live page at which ranks the 300 largest metropolitan areas in the country. However, our advice is to read it more for the information
REFERENCE SOURCE FOR GROUPS AND LISTS
If you're looking for a new way to search for (or through) newsgroups and mailing lists, check out the Reference.com site. In addition to getting kudos for the sharp design, we also rate it highly for the variety of ways it lets you search:
Simple Search lets you search the collection of newsgroups and mailing lists by entering a keyword or a term. This option finds all the messages that contain your search word(s).
Browsing lets you see all the messages in a newsgroup or mailing list in which you are interested, assuming you already know the name of the group or list.
STOP BY THE REFERENCE DESK
http://www.lib.lsu.edu/weblio.html
Maintained by librarians and staff of Louisiana State University Libraries, the Webliography is a collection of annotated listings for WWW sites and resources. This guide is compact and easy to use, while still managing to be thorough--which is exactly what you'd expect from a site designed by librarians. Among other things, you can find useful links to electronic publications, governmental organizations, and a whole bunch of reference materials.
AH, YOU THINK YOU'RE SO SMART
http://www.assiniboinec.mb.ca/user/downes/fallacy/fall.htm
Ever lose an argument even though you knew you were right? It's not uncommon: Many of the people you deal with every day don't know anything, but have mastered enough rhetoric to talk a fly off a dunghill. The answer is to call their disputatious bluff--and Stephen's Guide to the Logical Fallacies at
EVERYTHING BUT THE TAMAGOTCHI
I certainly didn't need the Flea Index link at the Acme Pet site to tell me that we're in for six months of itching and scratching (like I'd never noticed the annual crop of little red welts before), but that's just the tip of the information iceberg at this all-pets, all-the-time site. No matter what kind of animal(s) you cohabitate with, you can find links here to all kinds of information. Search by keyword or browse by fur, feather, or fin.
STRESS INC. (living)
http://stress.jrn.columbia.edu/
"We're mad as hell, and we're not going to take it anymore!" Chances are, if the Network characters who screamed that phrase had visited this site, they might have been a little more chill throughout the film. Sponsored by some enterprising students at the Columbia School of Journalism, Stress Inc. takes a look at the tall tales and buckets of money that the commercialization of stress has created. Read well-written essays discussing stress as it has been portrayed in the worlds of advertising, publishing, pharmaceuticals, fitness, and more. Getting stressed just reading about it? Thankfully, the site offers distracting games and quizzes. But ... what if you don't get a high score?
IT’S ABOUT TIME.
http://www.hilink.com.au/times
Well, if you’re crazy about time, check out for the current time all over the world. This site expresses time both in relation to Greenwich Mean Time but also to the current time zone in the appropriate area, e.g., Eastern, Central, Daylight Savings, and so on. Apparently the site connects to a local host in the area selected in order to retrieve the correct time, because some sites indicated the local host was not responding so that the correct time could not be determined.
WAV SEARCH ENGINE.
I get mail now and then asking if I can help find a particular .wav (audio)files. Check out the search engine at
ZIP 2 IT
Whether you're traveling, just moved to a new city, or simply want to know what's going on in your hometown, the Zip2 City Guide offers a convenient way to search for business, people, and events in cities all across America. Not only can you quickly locate a business in your target city, but you can also find your way around with the accompanying maps and detailed door-to-door directions. Also, because Zip2 has created partnerships with local newspapers, you can search for meals, movies, exhibits, and events--and then read a local review. In some cases, you can even see menus, movie times, or links to Web sites.
FORGET THE NEW TAURUS. CAN I HAVE A 1972 GRENADA FOR THE WEEKEND?
For those of you unfamiliar with Rent-a-Wreck, let us fill you in: This alternative to the big auto-rental guys lets you rent used (sometimes very used) cars for very low prices. Rent-a-Wreck's Web site, at is in keeping with the low-budget gestalt: less-than-fancy graphics, less-than-flashy city locator (you first enter the city and then pick the state, and you have to underline spaces), and less-than-fancy commerce (you fill in a form, the company calls you back for your credit card number). Even so, this is a publicly traded company with offices from coast to coast--so take it seriously, especially if you need inexpensive, unglamorous transportation. It sports a good travel links page, too.
THE WEB'S POPULARITY CONTEST
Although it claims to lead you to the "best" sites on the Web, 100hot.com actually only lists the most popular sites. Still, this site provides an interesting catalog of what Web users around the world are viewing, and its "fat free" search capabilities may prove useful if for no other reason than it filters out a lot of crap simply by not including Every Joe's homepage (unless, of course, Every Joe has a VERY popular site).
FREE AND PRIVATE E-MAIL
http://www.yahoo.com/Business_and_Economy/Companies/Internet_Services/Email_Providers/Free_Email/
To keep your e-mail mailing list mail separate and private from your personal correspondence, get a free e-mail address from various companies and use it only to subscribe to mailing lists. A good suggestion is to use a generic name to maintain anonymity. Warning: You may have to surf a Web interface to access your mail, which might make downloading slower. Check out a list of many of them on Yahoo's site at I saw many interesting looking ones such as 3Dmail, Wowmail, MauiMail, Katchup, and others you've probably heard about.
FAMOUS FOLK ONLINE
http://www.biography.com/find/
The highlight of the Biography site (based on the popular program from the A&E Television Network) has got to be its Find feature, which lets you quickly search more than 20,000 biographies, straight from the Cambridge Encyclopedia Database and Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography. Search by entering a full or partial name, using either capital or lowercase letters. You can even search by well-known nicknames (Jackie for Jacqueline, for example).
THUS SPAKE THE BARD
http://the-tech.mit.edu/Shakespeare/search.html
Have you ever wished you could get an exact reference to the play, act, and scene containing any quotation from any of William Shakespeare's works? (If not, you might be surprised at the number of people who actually answer "yes" to this question.) Thanks to the hardworking Jeremy Hylton, you can. Just stop by his Complete Works of William Shakespeare site and use the handy search feature.
THUMBS UP OR THUMBS DOWN?
If you've ever made the mistake of basing your movie-going decision on one review--only to discover that the reviewer (like, say, Roger Ebert) must have been sniffing glue to recommend what turns out to be an incredibly lame movie (like, say, Dark City), you're going to love Cinemachine: The Movie Review Search Engine. Here, you just enter the name of the movie, and you're quickly guided to a handful of reviews from sources as diverse as Mr. Cranky and USA Today. (Yes, you'll also find the glue-sniffing Mr. Ebert here, too.) The database of reviews seems pretty extensive, so you'll also want to check it out before you next trip to the video store.
SEARCHING FOR DEEP THOUGHTS
The Center for the Study of Language and Information (CSLI) have begun the task of creating a "dynamic encyclopedia" of philosophy. Entitled the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, this encyclopedia is published on the Internet and receives contributions from many of the world's top philosophy scholars. The aim of the encyclopedia is to be responsive to new research and advances in the field, and to provide the means whereby the authors have direct access to their entries and the ability to update them whenever necessary. "It's a living document," Zalta says. "It will evolve as research progresses." While the entries are currently rather limited, additions are being made all the time (follow the What's New link at the Table of Contents page). Naturally, a search engine is also available so you can search the entries for a key word or phrase.
TAKE A HIKE (OR A BIKE RIDE, OR A CAMPING TRIP . . .)
Looking to get back to nature for a bit? Why not do it on some of the land that you pay to maintain? Recreation.gov at is a one-stop resource for information about recreation on federal lands--and it's the slickest government site we've seen to date (looks like we're going to have to stop being so cynical about government sites--on the whole, they're improving faster than most commercial ones). Search for federally managed land by state or specific recreational activity; zero in on the location using a zoomable map; read a detailed description of the resources and activities available at the site; even get a national weather service forecast for that area for the next couple of days. This looks like an excellent way to plan that last-minute escape.
THE TECH MUSEUM (science)
"Wow, daddy! Look at the 5 1/4-inch floppy on that 286!" At the Tech Museum in San Jose, California, exclamations such as those might actually be commonplace. Scary? Ah, it's all in your perspective. Curious? Check out the recently revamped official site of the museum, with profiles of industry pioneers, a PC Web-cyclopedia, top sites, and scores of other online exhibits. Educators will love some of the new sections geared especially to teachers, and students have plenty of interactive fare to keep them entertained as well. It's amazing to see how far technology has come and to take a peek at where it might be heading. --EH
ROUGH CUT
Subtitled "Your Own Private Hollywood," this amazing film zine fills its plate with everything from industry headlines and hot gossip to new video releases, box office grosses, celebrity interviews, a complete listing of film festivals around the world (updated monthly), and a concessions stand that reviews the latest set of Power Rangers. Plus a search engine. With 400+ reviews to scan, you'll need it!
RATENET (finance)
Looking for the lowest rate on a mortgage, car loan, credit card, or just about any other sort of loan? This new service, offered by DataTrac, PR Newswire, and IDC Financial Publishing (IDC is owned by IDG, which owns PC World), tracks the interest rates of more than 11,000 banks and loan institutions across the country and updates them daily. Read financial review reports on lenders, or search by type of loan, the best rate, or local providers. This site is a data gold mine.
DOCTOR DICTIONARY
The Online Medical Dictionary--Graylab CancerWeb Dr. Graham Dark of the Gray Laboratory Cancer Research Trust (U.K.) has created the Online Medical Dictionary, an extensive resource of more than 46,000 brief definitions of terms. It includes acronyms, jargon, theory, conventions, standards, institutions, projects, eponyms, history, and "anything to do with medicine or science." The OMD's definitions are cross-linked to other definitions, as well as to other Web sources; and you can search or browse the dictionary alphabetically or by topic.
SUPERNEWS WREN
Trying to find a particular newsgroup can often be an exercise in frustration and futility. Enter Supernews' new Web-Reading News interface. Currently in beta, the site lets you use its search engine to filter newsgroups by keyword. Rather than transporting you to a newsgroup reader to peruse the results of your search, WReN then lets you view the contents directly from within your browser. Simple and effective.
YAHOO! MOVIES
Yahoo branches out yet again in its bid to be the portal of choice for Web surfers everywhere. The latest site, Yahoo Movies, offers a selection of movie news and reviews, new-release info, related Web events, box-office rankings, and more. If you're into movies but can't take all the plug-ins and other page puffery usually associated with official sites, this one will at least give you the skinny before you dive in.
SAY IT WITH A SYMBOL
Symbols.com--the Encyclopedia of Western Signs and Ideograms--is an online version of Carl G. Liungman's "Thought Signs" encyclopedia of graphic symbols. Provided by HME Media, the site contains more than 2500 Western signs, arranged into 54 groups according to their graphic characteristics. Ranging from "Cro-Magnon carvings in mammoth teeth to hobo signs and subway graffiti," the signs are clearly drawn and thoroughly described. To search for the meaning or history of a sign, you can use either the Graphic Index or the Word Index. For example, you can use the Graphic Index to search according to the symbol's axis, symmetry, whether the lines cross, and so on. If you don't know precisely which symbol you're looking for, you can browse the symbols according to these categories, or by key words and concepts using the Word Index. Unfortunately, the search engine is limited to the Graphic Index, but the Text Index is well organized for speedy browsing.
WHAT'CHA LOOKING FOR?
Have you ever wondered which keywords and phrases other Internet sleuths are using as they search the Web? Well, there are a number of tools out there that give you a glimpse into the life of search engines. For starters, you can stop by the Search Voyeur or MetaSpy sites to view a handful of randomly selected real-time searches straight from the Magellan and MetaCrawler search sites. (MetaSpy offers two options, one of which filters obscene searches.) Each glimpse into the life of these search engines comes with links that take you to a page of results for any search in the list.
Search Voyeur:
http://voyeur.mckinley.com/cgi-bin/voyeur.cgi
MetaSpy:
http://www.metaspy.com
Photo.net
Start with What Camera Should I Buy?, then go to Where to Buy a Camera, Film Recommendations, and My Labs Page (all under Equipment Reviews). You can keep going from there. You'll find tons of information, mostly in text format, although the pictures are quite interesting (most of these are black-and-white and small). A Travel Guide section helps you be in the right place at the right time with the right equipment, plus there's stuff about framing, body painting, and how to scan photos for the Web. This is a good site, with everything but the kitchen sink thrown in.
YOUR CORNER NEWSSTAND ONLINE
Despite its unfortunate name, the Ecola Newsstand is a very handy resource for locating newspapers and magazines online. This site lists more than 6100 newspapers and magazines, according to these simple criteria: Maintained by paper-printed publication, Present actively updated English language content, Offer unrestricted access. Naturally, a search engine is available to quickly locate the news source you seek, but you should plan to stay a while and browse the racks.
A GOOD INVESTMENT IN FINANCIAL INFORMATION
The FinanceWise search engine is the first we know of that focuses solely on financial content. This site indexes only sites evaluated by the FinanceWise staff and found to contain content "of interest to the financial world." However, you have to register (it's free) before all the features become available.
ETHYL, I HAD THAT DREAM ABOUT YOU AND THE BUTCHER AGAIN...
Plagued by horrifying, recurring, or just plain ridiculous dreams? Make an appointment with the Dream Doctor, at Start at the Dream of the Day, where you can read a dream submitted by a reader, followed by the doctor's comments, followed by the dreamer's thoughts on the comments. Interesting enough. Then dip into the dream categories: women's, seniors', supernatural, men's, romance, and so on. The doctor--actually, it's not clear whether he's an MD, but he does run a center for sleep disorders--is neither sensational nor afraid to draw conclusions, which means this site is not only interesting, but educational, too. Plus you'll find useful information to help you cope with actual sleep disorders, such as apnea, snoring, night terrors, and more. A well-designed, informative site.
ON-LINE HARDWARE RESOURCE
Check into Tom's Hardware Guide Web site for detailed explanations and reviews of motherboards, chip sets, processors, and other hardware devices. Tom's site provides readable yet technical descriptions of the latest in hardware innovation.
ONE FOR DOCTORS AND PATIENTS
The Medical World Search site is designed to meet the needs of professionals in the medical field by focusing its index on sites containing medical-related content. The Medical World search engine routinely "crawls" a selection of the "most high-quality medical sites" on the Web and then locates and indexes the words and terms that match those contained in its medical thesaurus. Although Medical World Search site is aimed at doctors and researchers, I'm sure there are plenty of patients out there who will find this site useful, too.
BITE THE BIG APPLE
The New York Times has launched New York Today, a guide to all that's entertaining in the city that never sleeps. Plus, the book reviews, fashion news, and cooking columns can help even those of us noncoastal types sound like we can tell an oeuvre from an omelet.
EBIG
What the Internet badly needs is a well-respected curator or librarian who is willing to take the time to point the rest of us in the direction of the "truth nuggets."Well, the nice folks at the Encyclopedia Britannica want to be that "nugget-pointer-outer." They have launched a new, FREE service called the "Britannica Internet Guide" which you can find on the Web at
SNAKE-OIL-B-GONE
Looking for a way to separate the health-Web-site wheat from the health-Web-site chaff? Then start your search at healthfinder,this government-run service reviews health sites for "general reliability and credibility" and then organizes those that pass muster into easy categories: hot topics, news, prevention, infant/teen/adult/seniors issues, and so on. Our favorite aspect of the site: You can read a capsule review of each link before jumping to it, which saves you lots of surfing time. The site runs fast, too--the search engine in particular is one of the fastest we've encountered on the Web.
FUN FACTS FROM YOUR FRIENDS AT THE CIA
http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html
Here you'll find a very dry but extremely thorough summary of what appears, at first glance, to be every country in the world (face it, we're not going to check). You get a complete rundown of each country's geography; population; government, including governing body and political leaders; economy, including summaries of economic assistance from the UN and from other countries; communications; military establishment; and "transnational issues," usually dark topics such as illegal drug traffic or international border disputes. The site doesn't have pretty pictures of the countries' flags, but the maps are excellent. And where else are you going to learn that Afghanistan is the world's second-largest illicit opium producer after Burma?
DEATH INDEX
http://www.ancestry.com/ssdi/advanced.htm
dead folks don’t have privacy,so if you know their number - or even if you don’t -- you can get lots of info(date of birth, date and place of death by just entering the first and last nameof the dearly departed.)
Microsoft's FrontPage 98 Web site,
http://www.microsoft.com/frontpage
http://www.microsoft.com/frontpage/resources
http://www.microsoft.com/frontpage/resources/3rdparty.htm
Here, independent software vendors entice you with sample themes, administrative add-ons, easy e-commerce options, graphics, plug-ins, and more. Most of these third-party tools include free or trial samples as well as discounts.
THAT AND 12 RUPEES WILL GET YOU A CUP OF COFFEE
Need to know how many Albanian leks you can get for your dollar? Believe it or not, you can find the answer in lots of places, but our current favorite is the Olsen & Associates Currency Converter. When you get to the home page, skip all the other stuff and click on the Original link (under Currency Converters), where you can very quickly find out how much any of 164 currencies is worth in any of the 163 others. Or save yourself the pain of on-the-spot mental arithmetic and let the site generate a wallet-size cheat sheet you can print, cut out, and take along with you--an excellent convenience. (And if you're planning a vacation, Albania may be an excellent choice: a dollar will get you upward of 156 leks.)
EVERYTHING BUT THE MYTH OF FINGERPRINTS
http://www.pantheon.org/mythica
Are you one of the unenlightened masses who thinks that mythology is either Greek or Roman? Well, surf your close-minded self over to Encyclopedia Mythica. Click the Search link, and presto, a comprehensive index of myths confronts you, covering Aztec, Celtic, Haitian, Norse--you name it, this site's got it. From here you can work your way to any of 4200-plus articles on legendary characters and topics--solid, short, easy-to-read articles that provide the most important facts. If you ever struggled through a high school mythology course, you'll really appreciate this site's genealogy tables. Boy, did that Zeus get around.
HERE'S A BAD IDEA BUT A NEAT SITE
sports the most frightening motto we've seen to date: "Let the Web decide." But it's really not as scary as all that. Give SpellWeb two alternatives--two different spellings of the same word, two cities, two supermodels, or two of anything else you care to pit against each other--and it uses the search engine of your choice (HotBot, Alta Vista, Excite, or Northern Light) to determine the "winner," based on the number of occurrences on the Web. Good news for grammatical sticklers ("regardless" is hundreds of times more popular than "irregardless") but bad news for Dan Quayle: Even 99 out of 100 Web typists know it's "potato," without the "e."
GET FIDO AND FLUFFY FACTS FAST
A veterinarian has developed a Web site with information on dog and cat health problems, plus general information on what life is like as a practicing vet. Most of the information is presented in a question-and-answer format, but a search engine helps you get to the topics you need.
Britannica Offers Portal for Students
Encyclopedia Britannica announced a Web navigation service featuring a searchable directory of more than 125,000 sites that have been selected by Britannica's editors for their quality and usefulness. It is available free . "The Web makes millions of pages of new information available, but some of it is questionable, and much of the best of it is hard to find," said Britannica publisher Paul Hoffman. "Our Web-savvy editors separate the kernels of quality information from the chaff and present it in an engaging, contemporary way." The site also includes original columns by experts and a feature called "Bookmarks of the Smart & Famous," which reveals peoples' favorite Web sites.
HEY, MAYBE BILL GATES WILL DECIDE TO TAKE OVER YOUR BACKYARD
http://www.terraserver.microsoft.com
Microsoft has assembled what it says is the world's largest database, and it looks like Microsoft isn't kidding. TerraServer contains satellite images of the most populated areas on earth. You can view a map of the world and click on shaded areas you'd like to see, or you can enter the name of the city, state, province, or country you'd like to explore. Unless you're used to aerial views of your hometown, navigating can be a little disorienting at first. (You can scroll the view in eight directions.) Tip: Choosing a big landmark--such as a river or an airport--can help you get your bearings.
BEFORE YOU MAKE A SITE, PAY A PILGRIMAGE HERE
http://www.useit.com/papers/webwriting/
Writing for the Web, is a site every Web-site creator should visit--and by the look of things, few have. This site is a little treasure chest filled with common sense. Everywhere you look are topics and ideas such as "be concise," "the need for speed in Web page downloads," "use half the word count of conventional writing," and more. The site has lots of examples and data to illustrate the points, too, and it practices what it preaches. Witness the first sentence of an article entitled "How Users Read on the Web." The sentence is, "They don't."
NO HOST BARRED
http://microsoft.saltmine.com/frontpage/wpp/list/
Thinking about switching ISPs so that you can get support for FrontPage extensions? Or have yet to determine which ISP will have the honor of hosting your FrontPage web? Consult Microsoft's list of Web Presence Providers Who Host Sites Created with FrontPage 98. Using the pull-down menus on the left side of the page, you can specify which state you live in (to see ISPs servicing that state), or you can view an alphabetical list of all ISPs. (There are more than 600 ISPs listed this way, so you may want to go the old state route first.)
GUIDE TO GOOD SITES FOR STUDENTS
Here's a great resource for kids working on research papers, school projects, or plain old homework. StudyWeb has created a collection of more than 73,000 links to informational sites arranged by topic. Although you can enter keywords in the home page's Search box, the listing of URLs you receive may be a little cryptic. A better idea is to drill down on your topic by clicking the progressively narrower categories. For example, click Literature, then British Literature, and then Shakespeare. Once you get to the list of sites, you'll find a brief description, the age group the site's recommended for, and a notation about its visual content. StudyWeb also has a section on resources for teachers. (You might want to warn the kids about the Search the Bookstore option, though; it links to Spree.com's electronic bookstore.)
MAKING FINE ART MORE ACCESSIBLE
http://www.thinker.org/imagebase/index.html
The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco site has 50 percent of its collection in files that you can access from the Internet. Most museums only have 5 percent of their collections online, but the San Francisco museums have set a goal to make 100 percent of their collections accessible through the Web. You can search the Imagebase.
WANT TO VISIT A NATIONAL PARK?
http://www.gorp.com/gorp/resource/us_national_park/main.htm
One great resource is the National Parks page of the Great Outdoor Recreation Pages Web site. Read about "hot" summer parks (Glacier Bay and Grand Teton were featured when we last visited) or find the places that are best for hiking, fishing, paddling, or whatever your favorite outdoor activity might be
Career Index
Westech Virtual Job Fair launched what it called the Web's largest career site, Career Index at . The site's creator, Paul Burrowes, said it indexes the Web's best job sites and allows access to more than one million job listings. "It's one-stop shopping," he said.
RADIO MOI
http://www.musicmusicmusic.com/radio-moi/
Tired of the radio stations in your area? Why not create your own? Thanks to a Canadian company and the Internet, it's now possible. Radio Moi allows visitors to download a car stereo-like faceplate, pick and choose from thousands of songs available (in an MP3 format), and listen to the streaming songs of their choice, free of charge. The hitch? Occasionally, you'll hear an ad for Coke or another sponsor, but the ads are short and rarely played. Search for songs by artist, title, genre; listen to other members' preprogrammed shows; or create your own. Sign up now while it's still free; hints of a fee-based future are sprinkled throughout the site.
DIALECTIZER.
http://www.rinkworks.com/dialect/
We’re all entitled to a bit of pure foolishness at times and that’s what you’ll find where The Dialectizer will take your text and convert it to thedialect of your choosing. Select redneck, jive, cockney, Elmer Fudd, Swedishchef, moron, or Pig Latin. And until now, you thought Neat Net Tricks were so useful, right?
HEALTH BUILDER
Phys is loaded with simple ideas for staying healthy and happy (and if there's anyone who appreciates simple, it's us). During our last visit, we consulted the animated Snack-O-Matic to learn how healthy our favorite snack foods are, with some surprising results (never knew those Pop Tarts were so relatively benign). We also discovered a little-known cause of shin splints (would you believe NOT stretching your calves?). Phys offers this and boatloads of other information in a short, easy-to-remember format. Add in its ten easy-to-use health calculators (ideal weight, caloric need, and so on--all much simpler to use than any of the counterparts we've seen), and you've got the fitness site to beat.
WHO'S GOT MY TLA?
Here's a fun site that can come in handy. The Acronym Finder web site contains a
database of more than 55,000
acronyms and their meanings. Look up WOPR and WOW! Very cool.
GETTING HEALTH ANSWERS
HealthAnswers is a consumer-oriented health site with some pretty heavy-duty sponsors, including the American Academy of Family Practice Physicians and the American Academy of Pediatrics. Click Get an Answer to see a listing of popular topics like smoking cessation, nose and sinuses, or pediatric health. Or type a keyword in the Search box. You can check out the bulletin boards to get even more information.
MUSEUM?
http://www.museumca.org/usa/state.html
This site isn't fancy; it's simply a list of links to most of the museums in the country, sorted by state. And although we didn't have time to test every link, the ten we did test worked (you usually get at least one clinker in ten if the site isn't being maintained). There's also a link to museums of the world, in case your summer travels take you beyond our borders. This site is a solid, easy-to-use starting place.
YOU'VE HEARD OF EYE CANDY? THIS IS EYE COD LIVER OIL
http://members.tripod.com/~cosmics/TurkeyAward/index.html
The Golden Turkey Awards is essentially a summary (with comments) of balloting conducted by film critics Harry and Michael Medved to determine what you, the viewing audience, consider the worst films and film performances. The results do not disappoint; heck, even the categories (such as Most Embarrassing Movie Debut, Worst Rodent Movie, and Worst Movie of All Time) do not disappoint. If you hate bad movies, this is the place to go for fellowship and commiseration. If you love bad movies--and you've gotta admit, there is something compelling about them--well, this could be your video rental list for the next year.
HOW IS A WATERPARK LIKE UNDERCOOKED MEAT?
As you might expect, the Hot Topics section of the site is loaded with news about salmonella, E. coli, and food product recalls. By searching the database, you can also find out how to safely can your own tomatoes or dry your own fruit. We especially liked the Food Safety IQ Quiz because it shows that food safety is nothing more than common sense. Take the quiz and see what we mean.
SITE ZIPS ZIP CODES TO POSTAL PATRONS
Have someone's street address but don't know the Zip code? Finding Zip codes is easy at the United State's Postal Services Zip Code Lookup and Address Information page. Just type in the address, city, and state, and the USPS gives you the place's Zip+4 code. You can also match cities with their Zip codes.
EYE-OPENER
Seen enough of the paper-thin, dull-eyed, underdressed, and defeated-looking women that populate fashion ads? So has About Face, an organization fighting the representation of women in advertising: This site's sheer volume of unhealthily depicted women is unsettling on two levels: First, it's just hard to look at, in much the same way a concentration-camp documentary is hard to look at. Second, if so many companies are using this style of advertising, it must be working--and what does that say about us as consumers? If you don't have time to look at everything, at least see the Top Ten Offenders section; it tells (and shows) you which companies are the worst, relates facts about the impact of their advertising, and gives you addresses to which you can write and complain.
ATTENTION NET POTATOES!
Shape Up America!, an organization founded by former surgeon general C. Everett Koop, sponsors a Web site that provides a lot of fitness information with several interactive quizzes and tools. You can even calculate your body mass index (BMI) online. (That controversial measure has been endorsed by government health officials but is likely to push more Americans into the obese category.) You can access the meatiest content by clicking the Education button. There you'll find electronic versions of many of the organization's brochures, including "Fitting Fitness In." (Oh no! Will that mean surfing the Net less frequently to get some real exercise?)
THE ACRONYM FINDER
Don't you just hate it when peopletalk over your head with a bunch of initials? Some of themhave become commonplace, such as LOL and ROFL or evenROFLMAO. But never again should you feel discounted (do the teenagers still call it diss'ed?) when someone whips out abunch of acronyms. You whip out your computer and go to where there were, at last count,55,973 acronyms and abbrevations which will assuredly causesomeone to straighten up and talk clearly, PDQ.
A BIG DATABASE OF JOKES
Rec.humor.funny originated as a USENET news group. Now it has an editor to select the best jokes, maybe polish them up a bit, and put them on the Web. You can check out current jokes and recent jokes, and, best of all, you can search the archives by keyword. (Boy, these guys sure have a lot of "Bill Gates" jokes.) Be aware, however, that some jokes are a bit risque.
A SITE FOR CAR SHOPPERS
AutoWeb helps car buyers research models, look for member dealers--even get insurance quotes from State Farm. The research links let you get Kelley Blue Book values for your old car, check out the AutoWeb forum, and keep up to date on recalls and service bulletins.
PRACTICAL LEARNING THROUGH THE WEB
Learn2.com bills itself as "The ability utility." It has concise tutorials on everything from cooking to finance to automobiles (yes, you can learn to change a tire or change your oil here). Browsing is a lot of fun, but you can also use the Search feature.
TURN YOUR RADIO ON.
http://www.frodo.u-net.com/radio.htm
You can turn your multi-thousanddollar computer into a, well, a ten dollar radio! What agreat use for high technology. Just stroll over and make sure you have Real Audio, which you can download on that site, turn yourvolume up (you do have a sound card, don't you?) and listento radio from all over the world. You do remember radio,don't you? That thing that was made obsolete by television,that was made obsolete by the computer, that now featuresradio (is this full circle, or what?)
EFF Net Culture Humor
http://www.eff.org/pub/Net_culture/Folklore/Humor
EFF Net Culture Humor contains several dozen jokes and stories relating to Internet
culture. I liked the "Abort, Retry, Ignore"
poem, which is a parody of Poe's "The Raven."
Best of Rec.Rumor.Funny
http://www.netfunny.com/rhf/best.html
The Best of Rec.Rumor.Funny is a collection of the best jokes from this popular Usenet
newsgroup. Some are not suitable for children, but they are all labelled so you'll
have advance warning of items you may want to skip over.
http://yoyo.cc.monash.edu.au/~mist/Humour/meiss/humor/shiftkey.html
The Shiftkey FAQ is a funny parody of the Usenet-style Frequently Asked Questions
documents.
CAN A SEARCH SITE MAKE YOU LOOKSMART?
LookSmart is an up-and-coming alternative to the really big hitters in Web guides, such as Lycos, Yahoo!, and Excite. The editors at LookSmart have reviewed about 250,000 Web sites to include in their directory, and you can browse more than 12,500 subject categories to find what you need. When you enter words into the search engine, you'll get hits from sites in the LookSmart directory, plus search results from the whole Web through Alta Vista's search engine. Using LookSmart favorites, you can personalize the site with your favorite magazines, news sources, lives chats, and local information.
SAY CHEESE!
Philip Greenspun has developed a terrific resource for photographers called, appropriately enough, Photo.net. He has written a number of excellent articles on choosing films, buying cameras, understanding optics, and more. In addition to original content, the site also links to carefully selected sites that have complementary information. And Greenspun also shares his expertise on digital photography and the Internet. Some pages may take a bit longer than the average time to load, but you'll be rewarded with well-saturated, detailed sample photographs to enliven the accompanying how-to information.
HIGH-BROW LAUGHS
Every hour, the New Yorker posts a different cartoon from its vast archives. Bookmark the site for frequent chuckles, usually at the expense of the Manhattan social set.
HOUSE HUNTING RESOURCE
Realtor.com, sponsored by the National Association of Realtors, offers several ways to help you track down the house you want and find a compatible realtor. You can also check mortgage rates through the site. The Resource Center has plenty of articles to help you before, during, and after your move.
QUOTEMANIA
Can you ever have too much stock quote information? For the folks at justQuotes.com, the answer is undoubtedly a resounding "NOOOO." Type in a company's name or stock symbol, and you're presented with 200 links that you can click for specific numbers on that company--everything from basic quotes to option quotes to performance graphs covering the past year, five years, ten years, or more. You'll probably find all the options confusing at first, but once you settle on three or four of them, this site could become your stock site of choice.
LEAVE THE CAR AT HOME
Who among us enlightened Internet fans hasn't fantasized about one day going online from home to work instead of battling traffic to get to the office? Well, if you'd like to see if telecommuting jobs in your area of expertise are available, check out the Telecommuting Jobs Web site. Not only can you search for jobs, but you can also get resources and links to information about the joys and the drawbacks of working from home.
CRAYON
Got a little Hearst riding inside that head of yours? Wish it were YOU who was ordering Jimmy Olsen and Clark Kent out on assignment? Well, now you can--kind of. CRAYON is a loose acronym for Create Your Own Newspaper. The site probably won't inspire much journalistic ambition in kids, but if you're tired of clicking through multiple sources in the morning to get your daily dish of information, simply decide which ones you want displayed on your "front page," and voila! You've created your own rag, and no trees were killed in the process.
A CURE FOR MATH ANXIETY
The Math Forum is a resource for students, teachers, and researchers. A search engine lets you use keywords to find topics in the Forum, and outside links help you get even more information on those nagging words problems.
EVERYTHINGBLACK
http://www.everythingblack.com
EverythingBlack is a directory of more than 1,600 links to information on black history, business, education, entertainment, and more. Each link is accompanied by a capsule comment about the site. There's also news especially for people living in some of the largest urban areas in the U.S., including Atlanta, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C. You can also find bulletin boards and chat areas through the directory.
216 COLORS NOT ENOUGH FOR YOU?
Colormix, lets you turn the 216 colors supported by most Web browsers into any of 10 million Web-safe colors. The process couldn't be simpler: You mix two or three colors to create a swatch and then right-click and download the swatch to use as a Web page background tile or graphics program fill color (if your graphics program can import fill colors). And this service is free--our favorite feature in a Web-delivered service. Visit and do your part to add color to cyberspace.
SEARCH FOR PICTURES WITH LYCOS
http://www.lycos.com/picturethis/
Lycos has developed a site that gives you access to 40,000 free images that you can download onto your system. The Now & Then Image Gallery contains everything from photos of celebrities to digital images of Leonardo da Vinci's works. The site's search engine lets you search by keyword, or you can browse through categories arranged by topic. In addition, the search engine lets you search for sound files.
AT LEAST THEY DIDN'T NAME IT "INVESTAMUNDO"
If you're a casual investor--or someone who lets someone else do the investing for you--then skip quietly to tomorrow's tip. But if you'd rather watch a Trans Lux screen than a first-run movie, there's only one place for you: Investorama. Investorama is primarily an extensive directory of investment sites on the Web, with more than 8000 links organized into 89 categories. Heck, just enter a company name--you don't even have to know the symbol--and you get 75 direct links to stock information and quotes for that company. But when your eyes get bleary from reading numbers, you can also read daily stock briefings, scan an economic calendar, search for stocks that meet your criteria, or even find out who the site's author, Doug Gerlach, is. He's done a nice job.
SCRUBBING UP
MedicineNet won't dispense medical advice--a point it makes clear before you read any of the site's many informative articles (we surfed with cookies disabled and so got to read this disclaimer many, many times). But it will very likely teach you something you didn't know--and sometimes should know--about medicine and health care. When we visited, feature articles included "Hospital Deaths--What is the Most Dangerous Month" (in case you're planning your next stay), "New Muscle Identified," "Goosebumps--What they Are?" and our favorite, "Medical Humor, That's No Joke," a discussion of bodily fluids (often called "humors"). Those crazy doctors--how do they stop laughing long enough to treat their patients?
KEEPING HOUSE
HouseNet is a guide to all sorts of information you need to keep your shelter beautiful and in good working order. You'll find sections on home improvement, lawn and garden, and home decorating, plus sections for online shopping and money-saving tips. You can browse the site, using these categories, or use the search engine to find exactly what you need. One especially neat feature is Neighbor Hints, a collection of tips and tricks from fellow HouseNet users. You can reach Neighbor Hints through the Go Directly To drop-down list at the bottom of the page.
MATH FOR HOME OWNERS
http://www.interest.com/hugh/calc/
Hugh's Mortgage and Financial Calculators is a collection of useful tools for analyzing your finances, especially those pertaining to your home. Hugh has also written some articles on the basics of mortgage interest and taxes. Now, he's even added a Roth IRA calculator to help you figure out if you should use a conventional IRA or convert to a Roth.
THE LOWDOWN ON THE HIGHBROW
http://wwar.world-arts-resources.com
Absolutely Arts is an impressive guide to the humanities, including the visual and performing arts, architecture, and literature. You can browse information by clicking one of dozens of categories. Or use the search engine to enter keywords; it includes a drop-down list that lets you select a segment of the huge database for your query. For example, you can limit your search for "Domingo" to the Opera database to save time and get the most relevant results.
CAVEAT CYBER-EMPTOR
http://www.consumerreports.com
Consumer Reports has always understood a fundamental premise of consumerism: You have to pay money to get something of value. It has never given its ratings away for free, and it's not about to now just because it's on the Web. What you will find for free, though, is a lot of good, general information in various short-feature articles. When we visited, we found pieces on smart back-to-school purchases (including computers), investment risks, treatment for Lyme Disease, and more. And if you want the ratings and in-depth studies, you can subscribe to the site and get them electronically, which may be more convenient for you than getting them on paper. We didn't subscribe, but we bet if you do, you'll get what you pay for.
TOP OF THE ASH HEAP
Want to know who's doing the most polluting in your neighborhood? Point your browser to Scorecard, enter your Zip code, and--presto--you've got a list of who's doing the dumping, what they're dumping, and how what they're dumping can make you sick. But there's a big drawback here: Once the site scares you, it requires you to be something of a statistician to understand the severity of the health hazard that these chemicals pose. While the site can open your eyes to the state of industrial pollution where you live, it could do with a little more plain-English explanation--something even your congressperson might understand.
IDEA GENERATOR
http://www.link.cs.cmu.edu/lexfn/
"Lexical FreeNet" otherwise known as the "finite relationexpression Network." This program allows you to searchfor relationships between words and concepts thatmight never have occurred to you before. If you'reinterested in how two seemingly unrelated concepts canbe connected, try entering a concept into each of theboxes, select some relations to allow, and you may besurprised at the results. You can also determine how acertain word is related to various other words in thedictionary, find out what two concepts directly havein common, and, if you're writing rhymed poetry, youcan enter two concepts that you wish to rhyme. You canfind respectively synonymous or related words thatrhyme or sound alike. Or, you can shake your headand wonder what this is all about, but it's somethingto check out if you're a great thinker.
A SITE THAT REALLY RATES
Of all the Web sites we've reviewed, Bank Rate Monitor, may provide the most '90s-appropriate service yet: It lets you quickly find the lowest interest rates for mortgages, auto loans, home equity loans, even credit cards. As if this weren't useful enough (just try to do it yourself over the phone or through the newspapers), the site also provides important news and information almost every consumer needs to know. For example, we found a very informative article on how credit card companies are planning to charge fees to customers who maintain a zero balance from one month to the next. This is one of the few sites you'll see in which virtually all the content is excellent--and useful to most people.
GOT QUESTIONS? ASK MR. BRAIN
How Stuff Works, is just what you'd guess it is: a site that explains how everyday things--such as car engines, CD players, cellular phones, refrigerators--work. And yes, it's written by a man named Brain--Marshall Brain, author of ten books, including nine computer guides. The information here is very complete--in fact, sometimes too complete. Many times the kernel of information you need is buried beneath historical notes, discussions of related devices, and sometimes, a bit of pedantry (for example, his explanation of electric motors opens with a two-screen list of all the electric motors you might find in each room of your house). We're not saying that it's not all valuable knowledge--just that some sections could do with a brief summary at the top.
FREE STUFF FOR YOUR WEB PAGE
http://www.freeindex.com
Is "free" your favorite four-letter word? Are you attempting to create or maintain your own Web page? If so, you'll love FreeIndex.com, a site full of links to places offering free Web space and e-mail. You'll also find links to software for creating rotating banner ads, guestbooks, chatrooms, and much more.
THE USED CAR BIBLE December 3rd, 1998
http://www.kbb.com/cgi-bin/cgi.exe?kbb+uc+guc
The Kelley Blue Book tracks the trade-in values of used cars, as well as the prices that
dealers are getting for particular models. The trade-in value of your car takes into
account its model, year (back to 1978), mileage, options, condition, and geographical
area--information you can enter by pointing and clicking on the form. You enter
information in much the same way to find the Blue Book Suggested Retail price.
MICROSCOPE
http://www.microscope.com
Whether you're a seasoned advertising professional or someone creating a banner ad for
your home page for one of the many banner-swapping services, one thing is true: A little
constructive criticism never hurts. What's more, if the criticism is leveled by some of
advertising's sharpest minds, you know to take particular notice. Microscope serves up a
weekly petri dish for online advertisements, pitting two current campaigns against the
critiques of three rotating ad professionals. Learn what they think works and what
doesn't, how to spruce up your ads, and the secrets of targeting your audience. You'll
have to wade through some industry jargon, but most of the advice is discernable to all.
THE SCIENCE BEHIND THE NEWS
http://whyfiles.news.wisc.edu
When you want to find out more about the science behind the news, turn to the Why Files, a
project of the University of Wisconsin Graduate School, funded by the National Institute
for Science Education. The home page features easy-to-understand articles about science
topics discussed in the news. During hurricane season, for example, you might
find an article about new research into the storms--along with basic information to help
you understand what the heck the meteorologists are so excited about! Use the site's
search engine to quickly find information on a particular topic. Or if you're in the mood
to browse, click the More Stories box, where you can find dozens of articles on current
topics in physical science, biology, social science, health, and environmental science--as
well as an entertaining and informative section on the science behind sports.
WRITERS' GUIDELINES
http://www.columbia.edu/acis/bartleby/strunk/
William Strunk compiled his best advice for writing well in The Elements of Style. Now
you can access his wisdom through Columbia University's Web site. Although the guide lacks
a search feature, you can easily browse through its table of contents for the information
you need. Strunk emphasizes avoiding common errors ("Words and Expressions Commonly
Misused" is a real eye-opener) and writing concisely. Although written in 1918, most
of the information is relevant today. And E. B. White--Strunk's student and the author of
Charlotte's Web--has updated the guide several times. Though White's latest
edition isn't available online, you can almost certainly find it in your neighborhood
bookstore.
WINAMP
http://www.winamp.com
http://www.mp3.com
About five years ago, a computer with a pair of speakers was considered pretty slicked
out. Nowadays, however, nearly every desktop computer is sold with a multimedia sound
offering. But what do you do when you've listened to all your CDs and you're hungry for
some new sounds? Turn to the Internet, of course. Far and away the most popular form of
audio files is the MP3 format. Granted, many of these files are illicit recordings of
copyrighted material, but the number of legitimate music in the MP3 format is
increasing steadily. Mainstream and independent acts alike are releasing songs in MP3.
Interested? First you'll need to download a free MP3 player, and WinAmp is far and away
the most popular one out there. Download this puppy, then head on off to MP3 and you'll
have plenty of new sounds to enjoy in no time.
TIP: SECOND THAT EMOTION?
http://www.utne.com/lens/bms/9bmseq.html
Daniel Goleman, a psychology Ph.D. from Harvard, has recently proposed that emotional
intelligence--and not high IQ--may be the most valuable trait a person can have in today's
competitive society. Which may be reason enough to take The Emotional IQ Test, at Granted,
the questions may seem odd--if you've never had children, you may have no frame of
reference for answering some of them--but forge ahead. When you submit your answers, you
receive not only a score and rating but also an explanation that doubles in your first
E-IQ lesson. Who knows, sooner or later, companies may force you to take an E-IQ
test before they hire you.
360 ALASKA
http://www.360alaska.com
Although Alaska has shed its original name of Seward's Folly, it has yet to overcome one
stigma: It's pretty darn cold. If you make it up north and can brave the chill, however,
you're awarded some of the finest beauty that North America has to offer. But wait--what's
this? A Web site that lets you glimpse 360-degree panoramic views of the state from the
comfort of your own heated home? It's true folks--this site lets you choose from a couple
dozen spots in the state and take in the beauty, either with or without sound. Let's hope
the dogs of the Iditarod don't catch wind of this.
TIP: ONE-STOP STOCK INFO
http://www.stocksheet.com
Stocksheet, from Media General Financial Services, lets you quickly access reports on more than 8,000 public companies. The fastest way to access a report is to enter its ticker symbol, but you can use the symbol lookup feature if you know only the company's name. The home page also lists various statistical reports available through the service, such as the biggest gainers and losers for the day, stocks with the highest five-year growth rates, and stocks with the highest return on equity.
THE WIRE
http://wire.ap.org
With all the journalistic scandals that erupted this year (Stephen Glass, Mike Barnicle,
Patricia Smith, the CNN Nerve Gas story, etc.), finding news you can trust has become
tricky. Where's a discerning media reader to turn? The Associated Press has stood for
journalistic integrity for decades now and stands as a beacon for forthright reporting.
Now you can have the latest AP headlines in the format you want to see them, either listed
in headline form or linked through your local paper. Tired of wading through stories of
lost dogs and fender benders? Get the news you want and cut to the chase.
TIP: DO YOU RATE?
http://www.rankthis.com
Want to know where--or if--your Web site turns up in a search on a particular keyboard?
Rank This, at can tell you in about 30 seconds. Just enter the keyword in question and
your URL; then click a search engine button. Rank This tells you whether your site appears
in the first 200 results, shows you the top ten results, and even lets you review the
entire list of sites found
in the search. You can also subscribe to a newsletter of tips and techniques for improving
your rank. If you have a Web site, you ought to visit this page.
INFOSPACE
http://www.infospace.com
"Whatever happened to...." Ever find yourself trying to remember where that
childhood friend or college flame now lives? With the modern world becoming more crowded
and Byzantine, tracking down someone you've lost touch with becomes increasingly
difficult. Infospace cuts through the foggy web of memory to help you find that elusive
person. Enter the information you have on the person (name, location, and so on), and
Infospace will return addresses, phone numbers, or, for a
fee, government records. Like most money-making sites, Infospace has mutated into a
portal, offering news and weather as well.
AUTOSURFING.
I came across a URL the other daythat set me to thinking. At http://www.uroulette.comyou can click on the roulette wheel and head off to arandom web site. I thought Neat Net Tricks hadmentioned an even better site, one that continues tosurf for you until you tell it to cease and desist,and lo and behold there it was, in the archives, asthe very first item in the very first Neat Net Tricks,Issue #1, July 1996. I tried the URL, thinking by nowit had probably gone to that great cyber cemeterywhere all dead links go, but no, it's alive and well athttp://www.mit.edu:8001/people/mkgray/moved.html/autopilot.html So, on a rainy or snowy day when you're in astare-at-the-screen mood, lean back and let Autopilotsurf for you. And think, this is where Neat NetTricks started.
AT A LOSS FOR WORDS?
http://www.careerlab.com/letters/default.htm
If you need to write a business letter but don't know where to start, 200 Letters for
Job Hunters, at is that rare Web site that underpromises and overdelivers: It actually
offers 239 well-written letters useful not only to job seekers but also to those who are
perfectly happy with their jobs but who need to correspond on sticky or sensitive
subjects. Samples available for your
reference include the "I don't have a resume" letter, the "Hey, friends,
you know anyone who's hiring?" letter, the "Look, we both know you're going to
fire me, so please let me resign" letter, and even the "It's about time I had a
raise" letter. All these and--in case you neglected to do the necessary math--235
OTHERS, for free. We like this site.
LEARN2.COM
http://www.learn2.com
Sometimes life presents us with predicaments that we can't handle ourselves, but that we
aren't comfortable asking others how to deal with either. Other times, we don't ask for
help because we feel we should know how to do it already. Fortunately, within the
anonymous ether of the Internet, a helpful site such as Learn2.com is here to help.
Learn2.com is all about helping you help yourself. No, it isn't a mushy New Age manual,
but helpful, solid advice about such diverse topics as how to deal with bad breath,
prepare for an earthquake, change your oil, and just about everything in between.
TIP: MONKEY SEE, MONKEY DON'T DO
http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com
As you move around the Web, you'll find great sites that'll inspire you. And you may want
to borrow ideas (and source code). But keep in mind that the Web has its losers, too. What
if you can't tell the difference between jewels and junk? Point your browser to where you
can check out some of the things you shouldn't do on your own Web page. Here, you'll find
all sorts of goodies, from the Daily Sucker to tips on how you can prevent your site from
making the list
DICTIONARY.COM
http://www.dictionary.com
The English language is an odd, unwieldy thing. Ask any multilinguist to list some of the
toughest languages to learn, and English will probably rank near the top. No
masculine/feminine breakdowns, odd lingual loopholes--it's a nightmare to try and figure
out. Of course, that's no excuse for native speakers not to be able to put a sentence
together or spell things correctly. If you're among the grammatically challenged, you
might want to bookmark Dictionary.com for future term papers, presentations, or important
e-mails. The site is a hub for all the top dictionaries, thesauri, and stylebooks; and it
also offers some basic English language tutorials.
ReviewFinder.
ReviewFinder makes finding product reviews a lot faster and easier than flipping
through magazines you really don't want to
buy. What's more, most of the reviews have direct links to the Web sites that sell the
products.
The Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
http://www.ahip.getty.edu/tgn_browser/
The Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names (TGN) is like the Geographic Nameserver on
steroids. The TGN lets you search for city (or "place") names and retrieve
records for places, including vernacular and historical names, coordinates, place types
and other relevant information. For example, if you search for "Tuscaloosa" (my
current hometown), like any other search engine TGN will show you all of the
"hits" for that particular search term. The third hit on the Tuscaloosa page
(Tuscaloosa -- inhabited places) takes you to a page that shows you:
- The city's latitude and longitude
- A brief, one sentence history of the city
- Where the name "Tuscaloosa" comes from
as well as some other information about the city's major industries.
COMPUTING INFORMATION ROUNDUP
http://www.ars-technica.com
Ars Technica, which bills itself as the "PC Enthusiast's Resource," provides
news and opinion about developments in the world of personal computing. The site targets
power users--whether they use Windows, Windows NT, Linux, or BeOS--with original (and
usually opinionated) coverage and links to significant stores from other sources. The home
page provides features from the last few days, plus links to subsections, including a
Buyer's Guide and Tips from the Crypt. Fortunately, you can find the information you need
quickly with the Search Ars feature.
MIDI EXPLORER.
http://musicrobot.hypermart.net/search.html
If you're searching for that hard-to-find music file, youcan't go wrong with the Midi Explorer. With direct access to over one-half million midis and nearly 60,000 web sites listing .mid files! The only downside is the method of search severely limits to titles without spaces or punctuations, so use just a key word and go from there.
AUTOMATIC LINKS.
Another lazy way to surf the net when you're sitting there wondering "what else is
there to do with a machine I spent the family
fortune on?": Go over to http://www.metaspy.com/ where you can get an automatically
refreshed list of 10 of the most popular web links every 15 seconds.
TIP: KEEPING THE BAD GUYS LOCKED UP
http://www.parolewatch.org/welcome.htm
The mission at Parole Watch, at is "to inform the public about cases in which
violent felons are coming up for parole and to empower the public to voice its opinion on
these cases." In other words, this is a place where you can first read about what the
soon-to-be-paroled did to land themselves in prison and then inform your elected officials
that you want them to finish their
sentences (by "them" we mean the felons, not the elected officials, although the
two groups have been know to intersect). While this site deals primarily with New York
parole cases, it offers links to corrections agencies and parole boards in other states.
ACRONYM FINDER
http://www.mtnds.com/af/
With Y2K threatening to be TEOTWAWKI PDQ, you better stop playing your TAFKAP records and
hope for a good ROI on your bunker. Uh, what? In today's increasingly confusing world,
acronyms are becoming common in conversation. Sometimes--as in the sentence above--a
combination of them can be pretty overwhelming. The next time your friend starts
spouting alphabet soup, you'd do well to stop by the Acronym Finder to decipher what it is
he or she is actually saying. The interface is simple: Type in the acronym, and the site
searches through nearly 70,000 known acronyms and returns what it finds. We tried to stump
it on computer arcania and scientific esoterica, but it had us in every instance. A
valuable bookmark.
TIP: TO GOOD MENTAL HEALTH
http://www.mentalhealth.com
Internet Mental Health is an award-winning site maintained by Phillip W. Long, M.D. It
provides a wealth of information on mental and emotional disorders and their treatment. A
large section on drugs used to treat the disorders explains what the drugs are supposed to
do and their potential side effects. The site even includes an "online
diagnosis" feature that, as the site notes, is NOT a substitute for seeing a trained
mental health professional. However, the diagnosis feature does help clarify the criteria
used to classify mental health problems.
STAT MARKET
http://www.statmarket.com
Here's a little secret. Promise not to tell? Many people become writers or editors because
they hate math. That's right. As one of the only majors in which you don't have to take
any math classes, English is a godsend for the many numerically challenged among us. But
for every number-phobe, there's a number-freak. And if you crave both numbers and the
Internet, Stat Market will make you a very happy person indeed. View the latest statistics
and percentages in a wide, uh, number of Internet trends. Check on Microsoft's browser
lead over Netscape, operating system trends, plug-ins, and more.
TIP: 454 DICTIONARIES IN ONE
http://www.onelook.com
OneLook Dictionaries is a site that allows you to "metasearch" as many as 454
online dictionaries to find the definition or spelling of a particular word. According to
the site, more than two million words are accessible through its search engine. After you
enter a word, OneLook provides a listing of dictionaries defining that word--which can
help you find one in the right context. For example, a search of the word
"rascal" provided links to the Phrase and Fable dictionary, a Shakespearean
dictionary, an acronym finder, and Jane's Defence Index, where you can find that RASCAL is
also an acronym for "Radar di
Scoperta e Controllo Aereo Locale," a short-range air radar used in Italy. Choosing
the General option gives you access to standard sources, such as various versions of
Webster's dictionaries, while choosing the All option goes after the word in all available
dictionaries (which may take a bit longer, of course)
KNOCKS & PINGS
http://autos.yahoo.com/repair/tree/0.html
Yahoo! Autos features a site to help people track down what might be wrong with their
cars, based on sounds, sights, and smells that seem unusual. If you're already pretty sure
what type of problem you have--say, it's a starting or braking problem--you can begin at
the system level and work toward more specific causes. When you work your way into the
repair index, you can find answers to maintenance questions, such as "How often
should I replace spark plugs in my engine?" and "How much air should I put in my
tires?" You can also find links to more extensive online repair manuals for some
topics.
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